I posted about this a little bit on my Facebook LIKE page but the topic has been so engrained in my head lately that I feel the only way to get it out is to share my thoughts with you here. 

I've been in the health & fitness field for many years now and I notice a ton of trends, myths, common mistakes and even common opinions. 

One common opinion I hear all the time is "fast food is poison," "McDonalds is the devil," "you'll get cancer if you eat that Big Mac" and the list goes on. Now I'm not here to argue any of these points because if we boil it down to the REAL PROBLEM, none of these things even matter.

The REAL PROBLEM comes down to CHOICE - that's it. McDonalds makes a product, YOU choose to purchase that product or not. So if their product is unhealthy, crap, creating obesity or anything else I constantly hear then stop buying it. Does it need to be any more complex then that?

Some people will claim they didn't know but in a world where information is right at our finger tips I'm having trouble accepting this as an excuse. The fact is it's always easier to blame someone or something else rather then ourselves for a problem. 

So here's some of my thoughts...

First and foremost people are trying to over simplify and place blame on McDonalds for a very complex problem like obesity. I doubt McDonalds has ever actually killed anyone, or if they have, the number is so low it's not worth investigating. Do they contribute to the obesity of America - YES, but there are MANY factors that create that problem - YES, not a single fast food chain. 

Second; make better choices. There's that word again - choice. I'm not going to pretend that eating healthy is always fun. Hell I'll be the first to admit when I drive by a McDonalds my mouth waters a bit for a double quarter pounder. The difference is I keep driving by. I make the CHOICE to be more healthy, spend a little more time, spend a little less money and cook my food at home. 

Third; stop making excuses. You do have options and if you put in a little effort to remove the road blocks in your brain you'll come to realize that eating healthy is actually pretty cheap and easy. There are tons of resources on the web to help you learn this. 

Look...

There isn't ONE single reason for America being unhealthy but if we were to try to come up with a single label guess what it's YOU. 

Maybe that's a hard fact to stomach. Maybe you'll never come back to my blog again. If so then I've hit a nerve and I've done my job. 

Still hate McDonalds? Do something about it. I haven't been on this planet very long and I don't have a MBA from Harvard but I do know if businesses don't have customers, they fail. Want to hurt McDonald's the most? Stop giving them your money and attention. 

Let's STOP blaming others for our decisions, actions and our mistakes. Let's take back personal control. Let's take back ownership of our own lives and make better decisions so that we can all live a happier healthier life. Live by Design.