When I started personal training twelve years ago I realized the age bracket that I would be helping. On average, It was ages 20-60. The range was from competitive athlete to seniors looking to stay active and healthy. You might ask, what's changed? Not much really. There is still a need for this group of folks but whats startling is the major number of teens needing help. Im not only talking about highschool football players who want to stay in shape in the offseason. Honestly, it's young teens dealing with adult health issues. Diabetes, high blood pressure and obesity to name a few. Are parents to blame? Are schools to blame? Are they to blame? To and degree, yes. But to a major degree, NO! Im a parent myself to a wonderful one and a half year old son. I find it awfull when I shop for his snacks, dinners and juices, I find that the trend of obesity starts at his age. It's soo convienient to buy processed dinners, snacks, and juices because they are by major companies. You trust them. I grew up on them. Guess what? I have battled my weight my whole life! Not since I turned thirty, my whole life! I don't expect parents to cook every meal for their children. We don't have time for that. What I wish is that parents would express the importance of natural foods. I know it's not appealing to your children. It wasn't to me. Start with snacks like peanut butter and apples. Not the best but it beats twinkies. The idea is to trade a poison with a band-aide. It still has to be appealing but still healthy. Take this past week. Im driving my clients nuts with this new pizza recipeit i found. Pizza is my favorite food but it's been at least 2 years since I had a slice. No fun at all but neither is being overweight. I found a no sugar, high fiber low carb tortilla wrap and the rest is history. I came up with a pizza recipeit that saved my life! Ill be posting a video of me making it on my site. It's awesome guys and very healthy. I believe we are all somewhat diciplined. Let's say its going to a movie. I think we are more inclined to get regular popcorn rather than buttered. Does it taste better? Well, no. But we are educated enough to know it's just plain bad for you! You still get what you want but with good choice. Thats what it's all about. Better choices and not doing without. Not everyone cares about six pack abs but rather getting off diabetic, blood pressure and arthritis medication. There is a definite "reality" between real fitness and the pressure of the media's perspective. We are real people with real schedules and lives. Do you get paid to look paper thin? I could not tell you the last time I purchased an exercise magazine. I used to read all of them before the internet was around. It was my outlet to knowledge. A horrible outlet at that. It was 1990's marketing that appealed to quick fix programs. I did it all! I swallowed every word. I did every training routine. Guess what? I lost over 100 pounds in one year! Impressive right? Well, it's not. I became a "gym nut". I spent hours a day at the gym. I became obsessed. I also developed an problem with my body. What everyone saw, I didn't see. Everytime I looked in the mirror, I only saw things I needed to improve. It has been a real journey that until know I have become comfortable with. What do I want to accomplish with this weeks column? Very simple. I want parents to pull the blanket off their eyes. I want young teens to realize that they have a choice for their health. And finally, I want everyone to realize that it's okay not to understand how to take care of their fitness level. It's complicated. All you have to do is common sense all of the time, not some of the time if you want to stay healthy and happy. Until next time, thanks for reading the trainers corner. If you have any questions regarding health and fitness, please feel free to email me or visit us onlie at www.fitfactorysevierville.com anytime.