An underlying principle that sits behind all weight loss programs, weight loss diets, exercise programs and health and nutritional initiatives is that YOU are solely responsible for your current health and weight.

If you are overweight, then it is up to YOU to diet, exercise and control your impulses on your way to achieving your weight loss goals. 

I am the first person that believes we are all in control of our destiny, including our weight and overall health…yes we can’t ignore the fact that an overwhelming trend in society today is toward obesity — so can we really entirely lay blame at the foot of individuals?

What really made me think of this question was this story about How Our Environment plays a key role in our propensity to eat…specifically — could our day-to-day environment at home, at work, what we watch on TV, what we see when we are out at the movie theatre, have something to do with how fat we are as a society? 

Just as subtle body movements, past experiences and thoughts, our beliefs, word triggers and other triggers impact our behavior without us knowing it - could it be that the businesses behind selling fatty foods have gotten really good at “triggering” us to want more and more food -even without us knowing it?

Imagine that you eat an extra 30 grams of fat and 400 calories when you are out at the movies because of the smell of buttered popcorn in the air?

While I would never fully support the notion that we can shrug off personal responsibility for anything - including our health and weight loss, I think that we must become much more aware of what is around us — smells, advertising, positioning of certain foods so we can gain control of those who are trying to influence our eating habits. 

 It makes perfect sense that a long-lasting weight loss program must incorporate awareness and training on response to the multititude of stimulus we are hit with each and everyday trying to get us to eat more fat…perhaps a good alternative is to spend time each day networking and watching ads about exercise and weight loss to help counter the negative, fatty food triggers that are no doubt impacting our decisions every day.