It seems that America today is built for everyone to be overweight. Food is more unhealthy, more available, and come in larger sizes. We don't walk anywhere, we drive literally everywhere we go and then complain when our parking spot is too far away. We don't get enough exercise because we sit inside and stare at a screen for eight hours a day before driving home only to stare at a screen for another three or four. And, the majority of the population lives like this so since our neighbors and best friends aren't changing their ways to be healthier, why should we?
Our bodies need exercise daily. Back in the day, when our parents were growing up, they did not have to worry about getting their daily amount of exercise in because they had to walk or ride their bikes to half of the places they were going. That took care of itself. Nowadays, we have fancy cars to hop into and deliver us to the place of our choice much quicker and easier than walking. Our parents used to walk miles to the grocery store or to a restaurant without complaints, and it was very good for them. Walking places can be physically healthy and mentally relaxing too. Today however, my friend who lives ten houses down the alley wont even walk to my house. He says "it is like a two second drive so I am basically not using any gas." That is when you know today's life is skewed.
Part of the problem though is that we simply don't have the time in our busy days to walk places or to go work out. We don't have the 2 hours it takes to get ready, drive to the gym, work out, shower, put on clothes, and drive back. Well the truth is that you dont need that much time at all in order to get a day's worth of calorie expenditure in. If your day really is packed to the point where you dont have any more than twenty minutes to spare, then change shoes, put on some shorts and take a twelve minute jog around the neighborhood. That should get you about a mile and a half a good sweat with almost no time used to do it. Simple exercise outings like that can improve your health exponentially and save you from feeling guilty about sitting in a chair all day and eating that double cheeseburger for lunch (I am not saying that running a mile everyday justifies eating a double cheeseburger for lunch everyday, not even close).
Sometimes it is good to look around at people these days and think about what we can do to help ourselves and society be a little bit better and healthier. One thing everyone can do is exercise a little more. Sacrifice that short car ride and take the fifteen minutes to get a little work in. Hopefully that little bit of exercise will turn into a lot sooner or later, and what do you know, it could add double digit years on to your life. Who knows.