Take a look around you at billboards, movies, and social media. The world seeks for perfection and the dieting industry pedals to that desire. Currently one third of the American people are dieting, which means one third of the American population are spending time and money to obtain this ideal. However, 95 percent of dieters fail begging the question, “Can the ideal ever be achieved?”

There are millions of diets all over the internet and each one tells you the exact same thing. About how they can make you lose weight in this new miraculous way. However, many of these diets are bad because they stray too far in one direction. Such as Atkins or Keto that leave out important nutrients that we need and let you consume an excess of one nutrient. For example, Atkins is a low carb diet, but it lets you eat large amounts of saturated fats. This includes foods such as bacon. In many cases people who are on low carb diets have a higher chance of heart problems. These diets might make you lose weight, but in the long term they are hurting you and your  body. Just being on these diets can be harmful to you, but even worse is when people yo-yo diet or diet and then go back to bad habits and then diet again. 

 People who are eating too much or not eating the right food can really hurt themselves. In fact 11 million people die because of poor diets or what they eat. I’m not saying you need to read every label and make sure you get the exact amount of calories prescribed, but we need to be better about keeping our bodies healthy. Many say that they are happy with their weight and do not care if they are overweight, but sometimes being healthy is not about yourself but others. For example, let’s look at Charlene Veasley’s store\y. She says that she always thought that she was just meant to be bigger. With each kid she had, she just seemed to gain more weight. She found herself telling her kids they could not have certain foods while she would have them. This hit her, and she realized she needed to be a better example for her kids. She did not do some fad diet or eliminate certain foods. Instead she just counted her calories and watched herself more. She wound up losing 120 pounds in two years. This changed her world and changed the world of those around her.

Just being more mindful of what you eat and following a more balanced diet isn’t always enough. You also need to be exercising or just being active. This could be getting a gym membership and working out or just simply going on a walk everyday. However, if you are not eating right you probably won’t see any improvement because these two things go hand in hand. However, a lot of studies find also that exercising can help lead to being happier. In one study even just 30 minutes of exercise saw a 30 percent increase in people who claimed to be happy compared to those who did not meet the 30 minute exercise. Exercise is so helpful not just to our bodies, but also to our minds and how we feel about ourselves.

My mom a few months ago wasn’t really overweight, but wasn’t happy about her weight. So she started to workout. It was not anything big, but she would go on a little run or bike ride. At the least she would go on a walk at night with my dad. She also started Weight Watchers. This helped her gain better eating habits that she still uses today. I also saw an instant change mainly in her demeanor and just being happier and feeling more self confident. She ended up losing weight and started following healthier habits. This is what I think is and should be the goal for most people. You don’t need to get this perfect body and eat healthy all the time. The most important part is feeling better about yourself.

Diets and exercise are very important to our bodies and our mental health. Sometimes these are not only just to lose weight, but to also set better habits for the future and to set better examples to those around you. Just imagine if everyone in the world tried their best to be healthier and to get the exercise they need. The number of people who died because of poor eating and exercising would be almost none and the world around us would be a much happier place.