When we think of fast food, we think of grease, fat and just plain bad food. Well, at least when we talk about fast food, that is what we say. It is hard for me to believe that people really dislike it when I see a full drive-thru every time I pass a restaurant.
No matter what time of day you go by, there will be a line around the building at every fast food joint you see. Morning, noon and night, people line up for it. Breakfast, lunch and dinner, we have to have our fast food.
How did this start? Well, the key word is fast. I understand the concept of getting food quickly and how that can make the day feel easier. I understand the concept of not making your own food and somehow feeling like you are still getting what you need.
That is where we have gone astray. When you eat fast food, you are not getting what your body needs. It is easy, it is quick, but is not complete. I don’t need to tell you about what you are getting. The calories, the fat and the sodium speak for themselves. You can see that just by looking at the food.
What we miss is the nutrients that real food provides. That is the scary part. We don’t get any of the vitamins or minerals that keep us going. In order to function at a high level, we need so much more. With a fast food diet, we are barely getting by from day to day. Yet, we still do it.
One thing that has me even more upset is the marketing machine. Fast food is fast food. The burger and fries have always been the burger and fries. They don’t claim to be healthy. They don’t try to sell you on their health benefits or make you think they are good for you. They simply taste good and that is all they need.
There is a new wave of restaurants that is trying to tell you something different. You’ve heard the slogan “Eat Fresh”. You’ve seen calorie comparisons and comical views of people eating too much fast food and popping out of their close or breaking chairs. Who is showing this to you? The people that are making food that is no better. The people showing you this information simply want you to eat their unhealthy food rather than someone else’s unhealthy food.
A sub sandwich, while the calorie total may be slightly lower than a burger by volume is a misleading choice. The content of a sub can tell you more than just the total calories. Think about sodium and fat for starters. Often, they put cheese, sauces and fatty meats on the sub which gives you more than enough fat and sodium. They also use white bread, or “wheat” bread that is the same only a little darker. This doesn’t give you any satisfaction or nourishment. The additives and preservatives are another story altogether. Let’s just say that your body is either working really hard to break this stuff down, or it basically going right through you without you absorbing much.
Why do we eat this stuff? Well, it does look better than a burger. It has less fat and at least you can try to put more vegetables on it. Given the choice, I suppose it is the lesser of two evils, but the fact remains: fast food is evil.
With choices like this, how can we see it as anything else? You can choose between bad or worse. When it comes to making choices about what we eat, there should be something better. What happened to good? Oh yeah, there is also a restaurant telling us to “eat good” by going there. This is not even a better choice. It is just using the word good. When it comes to fast food, good has nothing to do with healthy.
The real problem is that food has nothing to do with health. When we go through our day, we are just getting by. The options that are right in front of us are the options we choose. The fast food companies know this, which is why they keep pounding the message home: eat more of this…please!
Just because it is convenient, doesn’t mean that it is easy in the long-run. Just because it is cheap, doesn’t mean that it won’t cost you in the long-run. No matter how good they say it is, make them prove it to you. Take a closer look at what you eat and remember that if you can get it in a drive-thru, it can’t be that good for you.
Sure, you can find options that may be a bit better. It may not be as bad, but remember what you are comparing it to. Fast food is fast food. There may be degrees of poor quality and unhealthy ingredients, but if you truly want to live healthy, this can’t be your idea of a healthy choice.
Is it better to eat a grilled chicken sub than a burger? Yes it is. Is it healthy to eat grilled chicken subs every day? Probably not. That is the real message here. Making a healthy choice is a good thing. The problem is that fast food has many of us fooled into thinking we are making healthy choices. What we are really doing is choosing the lesser of two evils. Guess what, we are still choosing an evil.
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Set Real Goals for Real Success
We all have goals. At least we all have things we want to achieve. What is the difference? There is actually a big difference between a goal and something you want. Something you want can become a goal, but you have to make it a goal.
It takes a specific action in order to achieve something. There are the steps it takes to start moving in the direction you need to move. There are the many challenges that you will have to overcome and finally there are the ideas that you will need to generate in order to solve these problems and continue to progress despite the many challenges you face.
If you just want something, you can’t possibly go through these steps. It takes more than wanting something to start making changes, analyze and overcome challenges. It
takes more than just wanting something to achieve it.
What does it take? It takes a goal. Actually it takes a series of goals that will take you progressively through the steps you need to create new habits and change your lifestyle. But it all starts with one goal. If you have a goal, just one goal, you can achieve anything you want to achieve.
I know this may sound quite dreamy and even a little “pie in the sky”, but in fact it is the exact opposite. The dream is for you to think that by wanting something you can have it. By simply wanting, hoping and wishing, you can and even feel that you should have something. That is the mindset that many people have these days and it is leading us down the wrong path.
What path is that? Well, health is my thing. I think it, talk it and live it every day. Naturally, the path I am talking about is the health of the average person. I don’t have to site statistics or show you any scary details about what is happening right now. You know as well as I do that our country is suffering from many epidemics that we have brought on ourselves. We brought them on ourselves despite knowing exactly what we need to do to stop them.
We can prevent everything we are dealing with if we can change our mindset. Right now our mindset is something like this:
“I want to live a healthy lifestyle.”
“I want to look and feel good.”
“I want to live a long and happy life.”
“I want to hear good news when I go to the doctor.”
“I only want to see the doctor for routine check-ups to make sure everything is STILL GOOD.”
These are all great things to want. They are even great things to say. They are statements that we are all saying every day. Unfortunately, they are rarely goals. They are nothing more than statements about things we want. The things we want are important, but at this point, they don’t seem to be important enough to achieve.
We all want to make these statements true. What will it take to start achieving these things and making them true? It will take goals. Each of these statements is an opportunity to set a goal. A goal is nothing more than a destination or a point that you desire to reach. In health it may be a weight, size or simply a feeling. It can also be a specific number of days, hours or even minutes of exercise. A goal can be eating a certain food or not eating at a certain restaurant. No matter what you want to achieve, there is a goal that can help you achieve it.
What happens if we don’t set real goals? Well, that is even more simple that when we do set goals. There are very few options here. When you don’t have a goal, you don’t succeed. That is all there is to it. Can you take a trip without a destination?
Well, you can certainly drive around, but until you decide where you are going, you aren’t really going anywhere. Don’t get me wrong, when it comes to life, I am an “enjoy the journey” person. I am certainly enjoying the ride as I go, but I am on my way to somewhere that will bring me great satisfaction.
This is where most people get hung up and give up on their goals. They look at the destination and feel like it is too far away to reach. It is easier to say, “I would love to be there.” but it is more challenging to say, “I want to be there and I will take action in order to get there.”
That is the difference between wanting something and having a goal. When you have a goal, you have a plan to get something. When you just want something, you are not taking the steps needed to actually get it. You have to want something before you can decide to take action, so it is a good thing when you can identify something you want.
When you want something enough, you will take the steps necessary to get it. When you really want to achieve something, you will set a goal to get started in that direction. The most common mistake that people make is trying to look at each achievement as something that they have to do in one step or with one goal. Actually, most habits are many goals wrapped into an entire series of habits. Once you set one goal and start making progress, you can handle each challenge as it comes. If you just sit back and hope that something will happen, you will keep seeing the whole picture and it will never appear to get easier. It will always look like this big daunting thing that you don’t think you can realistically achieve.
Once you can set a goal, even one goal, you are able to start breaking down each thing you want and taking it step by step. Nothing worth doing is easy. I’m not going to sit here and tell you that living healthy is easy and you should be able to do it with no problems. That would be mean and would actually keep you in the mindset that it can’t be done.
In fact, that is happening all over the country as we speak. Someone just read another article or saw another report on what they should be doing. The remembered that they are not doing it and it felt even further from reality when they saw yet another story about how they should be able to do it. The reality is, we know what we should be doing. We know what we can do and we want to do it, but we are not doing it because we have yet to go beyond wanting.
We are still making statements about what we want, but we are not taking action. Once you take action, you can take statements like this:
“I want to live a healthy lifestyle.”
“I want to look and feel good.”
You can turn these statements into real action. The difference between wanting and doing is the practice of setting a goal. These statements can be goals with some slight adjustments. They could look like these instead:
“I am going to exercise before work on one day.”
“I am going to bring lunch from home a few days this week so that I don’t eat fast food everyday.”
These statements are simple. They don’t take a ton of effort, but they will make a big impact on your lifestyle. If you can make these statements, you are on the right track to setting real goals. If you can make these statements true, you are achieving those goals and succeeding.
What is the difference between simply wanting something and actually achieving it? It comes back to goals. Wanting something is great. We all want things in life. Some of us are getting what we want, while others just keep on wanting. The only difference is goals. Setting a goal means that you are actually going to do something to get what you want. If you set a goal and reach a goal, you are succeeding. So when you break it down, setting real goals leads to real success.
It takes a specific action in order to achieve something. There are the steps it takes to start moving in the direction you need to move. There are the many challenges that you will have to overcome and finally there are the ideas that you will need to generate in order to solve these problems and continue to progress despite the many challenges you face.
If you just want something, you can’t possibly go through these steps. It takes more than wanting something to start making changes, analyze and overcome challenges. It
takes more than just wanting something to achieve it.
What does it take? It takes a goal. Actually it takes a series of goals that will take you progressively through the steps you need to create new habits and change your lifestyle. But it all starts with one goal. If you have a goal, just one goal, you can achieve anything you want to achieve.
I know this may sound quite dreamy and even a little “pie in the sky”, but in fact it is the exact opposite. The dream is for you to think that by wanting something you can have it. By simply wanting, hoping and wishing, you can and even feel that you should have something. That is the mindset that many people have these days and it is leading us down the wrong path.
What path is that? Well, health is my thing. I think it, talk it and live it every day. Naturally, the path I am talking about is the health of the average person. I don’t have to site statistics or show you any scary details about what is happening right now. You know as well as I do that our country is suffering from many epidemics that we have brought on ourselves. We brought them on ourselves despite knowing exactly what we need to do to stop them.
We can prevent everything we are dealing with if we can change our mindset. Right now our mindset is something like this:
“I want to live a healthy lifestyle.”
“I want to look and feel good.”
“I want to live a long and happy life.”
“I want to hear good news when I go to the doctor.”
“I only want to see the doctor for routine check-ups to make sure everything is STILL GOOD.”
These are all great things to want. They are even great things to say. They are statements that we are all saying every day. Unfortunately, they are rarely goals. They are nothing more than statements about things we want. The things we want are important, but at this point, they don’t seem to be important enough to achieve.
We all want to make these statements true. What will it take to start achieving these things and making them true? It will take goals. Each of these statements is an opportunity to set a goal. A goal is nothing more than a destination or a point that you desire to reach. In health it may be a weight, size or simply a feeling. It can also be a specific number of days, hours or even minutes of exercise. A goal can be eating a certain food or not eating at a certain restaurant. No matter what you want to achieve, there is a goal that can help you achieve it.
What happens if we don’t set real goals? Well, that is even more simple that when we do set goals. There are very few options here. When you don’t have a goal, you don’t succeed. That is all there is to it. Can you take a trip without a destination?
Well, you can certainly drive around, but until you decide where you are going, you aren’t really going anywhere. Don’t get me wrong, when it comes to life, I am an “enjoy the journey” person. I am certainly enjoying the ride as I go, but I am on my way to somewhere that will bring me great satisfaction.
This is where most people get hung up and give up on their goals. They look at the destination and feel like it is too far away to reach. It is easier to say, “I would love to be there.” but it is more challenging to say, “I want to be there and I will take action in order to get there.”
That is the difference between wanting something and having a goal. When you have a goal, you have a plan to get something. When you just want something, you are not taking the steps needed to actually get it. You have to want something before you can decide to take action, so it is a good thing when you can identify something you want.
When you want something enough, you will take the steps necessary to get it. When you really want to achieve something, you will set a goal to get started in that direction. The most common mistake that people make is trying to look at each achievement as something that they have to do in one step or with one goal. Actually, most habits are many goals wrapped into an entire series of habits. Once you set one goal and start making progress, you can handle each challenge as it comes. If you just sit back and hope that something will happen, you will keep seeing the whole picture and it will never appear to get easier. It will always look like this big daunting thing that you don’t think you can realistically achieve.
Once you can set a goal, even one goal, you are able to start breaking down each thing you want and taking it step by step. Nothing worth doing is easy. I’m not going to sit here and tell you that living healthy is easy and you should be able to do it with no problems. That would be mean and would actually keep you in the mindset that it can’t be done.
In fact, that is happening all over the country as we speak. Someone just read another article or saw another report on what they should be doing. The remembered that they are not doing it and it felt even further from reality when they saw yet another story about how they should be able to do it. The reality is, we know what we should be doing. We know what we can do and we want to do it, but we are not doing it because we have yet to go beyond wanting.
We are still making statements about what we want, but we are not taking action. Once you take action, you can take statements like this:
“I want to live a healthy lifestyle.”
“I want to look and feel good.”
You can turn these statements into real action. The difference between wanting and doing is the practice of setting a goal. These statements can be goals with some slight adjustments. They could look like these instead:
“I am going to exercise before work on one day.”
“I am going to bring lunch from home a few days this week so that I don’t eat fast food everyday.”
These statements are simple. They don’t take a ton of effort, but they will make a big impact on your lifestyle. If you can make these statements, you are on the right track to setting real goals. If you can make these statements true, you are achieving those goals and succeeding.
What is the difference between simply wanting something and actually achieving it? It comes back to goals. Wanting something is great. We all want things in life. Some of us are getting what we want, while others just keep on wanting. The only difference is goals. Setting a goal means that you are actually going to do something to get what you want. If you set a goal and reach a goal, you are succeeding. So when you break it down, setting real goals leads to real success.
Friday, July 1, 2011
Marketing Wellness Internally
With healthcare costs on the rise, many businesses are trying to improve employee health through wellness programs. Employee engagement is the biggest factor in the success or failure of a wellness program, but it is often difficult to get employees engaged.
The fact is your employees want to be healthy. They want to change and they will change if structure is there to support their health. How do you engage your employees? It’s the same concept that your business uses to get customers engaged. It’s all about marketing.
You have to help your customers understand why they need your product or service. You have to make sure that your customers are aware of your product or service. You have to help them understand the value. You even have to support them to make sure that they are educated on your product or service so they know how to purchase and how to use it properly.
The same principles apply to wellness. You have to help your employees understand the need for changes in health in order to improve your company’s healthcare costs. You have to make sure that they are aware of the control they have over their health and the effects on their costs. You have to support them to make sure that they are educated on health so that they can participate and be successful.
Just like your customers want to use your product or service, your employees want to participate in wellness programs. Your business is successful because you are filling an important need for your customers. Your employees have an important need too. They have a need to be healthy. By applying the same tactics, you can successfully market your wellness program to your employees and they will buy in.
When employee needs are in line with company needs, it makes sense to make the investment. Just as you make an investment to keep your clients happy, investing in your employees is a good idea. Clients continue to be paying customers because they are happy. Employees continue to be good workers when they are happy and healthy, which also keeps your company moving in the right direction. In fact, with more energy employees can be more productive. With better health, they cost your company less while providing even better results.
Marketing to your customers is all about communication and understanding their needs. As you listen and provide quality, they buy in and everyone is happy. Marketing wellness to your employees has the same affect. Wellness is going to keep your good people doing good work and save your company money, which will keep your company on the path to success.
The key is to communicate the message to your employees in order to get them engaged. When customers are engaged, your business will be successful. Marketing helps you achieve that success. You also need employees to be engaged for your business to be successful and internal marketing is the key.
The fact is your employees want to be healthy. They want to change and they will change if structure is there to support their health. How do you engage your employees? It’s the same concept that your business uses to get customers engaged. It’s all about marketing.
You have to help your customers understand why they need your product or service. You have to make sure that your customers are aware of your product or service. You have to help them understand the value. You even have to support them to make sure that they are educated on your product or service so they know how to purchase and how to use it properly.
The same principles apply to wellness. You have to help your employees understand the need for changes in health in order to improve your company’s healthcare costs. You have to make sure that they are aware of the control they have over their health and the effects on their costs. You have to support them to make sure that they are educated on health so that they can participate and be successful.
Just like your customers want to use your product or service, your employees want to participate in wellness programs. Your business is successful because you are filling an important need for your customers. Your employees have an important need too. They have a need to be healthy. By applying the same tactics, you can successfully market your wellness program to your employees and they will buy in.
When employee needs are in line with company needs, it makes sense to make the investment. Just as you make an investment to keep your clients happy, investing in your employees is a good idea. Clients continue to be paying customers because they are happy. Employees continue to be good workers when they are happy and healthy, which also keeps your company moving in the right direction. In fact, with more energy employees can be more productive. With better health, they cost your company less while providing even better results.
Marketing to your customers is all about communication and understanding their needs. As you listen and provide quality, they buy in and everyone is happy. Marketing wellness to your employees has the same affect. Wellness is going to keep your good people doing good work and save your company money, which will keep your company on the path to success.
The key is to communicate the message to your employees in order to get them engaged. When customers are engaged, your business will be successful. Marketing helps you achieve that success. You also need employees to be engaged for your business to be successful and internal marketing is the key.
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