America's Latest Statistics

It’s Throwback Thursday, and I have to tell you how this all started. My love for fitness goes back to my Richard Simmons days. I was a fit teenager who loved dancing and pretending I could twirl a baton. I would go down to my parents’ basement and either play my Richard Simmons’ album called “Reach” or I would watch the Richard Simmons show. All I can remember is hearing those women tell their stories and then listening to Richard Simmons coaching them and offering them hope. I don’t remember if they showed transformations back then, but here’s what I remember the most. At the beginning of the story I heard hopelessness, despair, and frustration, but by the end there was a smile through the tears. The current obesity are as follows: the overall obesity for America is 36.5%, and the obesity rate amongst African American women is 57%. The stats for people who worked out consistently is around 20%. My question is how many people in the 36.5% and 57% feel the same type of frustration and hopelessness I heard back when I was a teenager. How many people are willing to step out on faith and take a chance on getting healthy and fit? Is there still a smile through those tears that says, yes, I can get healthy and fit?