I have a VOICE! And today is my Birthday!

Today I turned 41 years old, and I couldn't be happier to still be around. Honestly, I am so greatful to be able to see my wife and kids everyday, and to do what I was meant to do on this earth... Speak up and use my voice! Use it to help people become healthier, happier people.

Things happen. I completely understand that. I mean most of my family health history forms are filled out with "heart disease". It's almost an easy bet to win to say that I will have a heart attack one day, just because of my family history. Have I done all I can up to this point to try to avoid that from happening? I can honestly say YES, since 1995. That's when I decided to really change my ways of eating. I can honestly say that I have not had one single hamburger, or steak since June of 1995. I have drastically cut my sugar intake. I have increased my fiber and whole grains. I eat more fruits and vegetables than I ever did the first part of my life. And I do my absolute best to never go over three hours without eating something during the day, starting with breakfast. I also don't drink, although that's for other reasons, but that definitely helps in my health as well.

Now if anyone out there thinks that I never cheat, that I don't indulge in bad foods, that I am just a perfect eating machine, you have got to be just crazy, completely out of your mind. Trust me, I plan on eating a lot of my birthday cake. I even made sure I asked for one this year, cause I deserve to eat some. I feel that because I'm still overall pretty darn healthy and still around, I deserve to have that cake. However, I'm still gonna eat every three hours today. I'm still gonna eat fruits and vegges today. I'm still going to take all my vitamins today. I already did my resistance training and ran five miles today.  (By the way, I only work out four days a week. I run four days, and do resistance training on three of those four days. So don't think I'm a workout fanatic that works out five hours everyday either.)

I have a point to this post I promise...

The last few days have been quite rough for me. I learned of someone dying, and I've also visited someone in the hospital that had a heart attack and pretty much died and came back to us. And it just brought back a lot of memories for me... not so good memories. And through all this happening, I have come to learn a lot about myself. I 'm hear to use my voice!

I'm hear trying to save as many people as I possibly can. I'm hear to be honest with you, with the nation, with everyone and anyone, about you taking care of your body. 99.99999999....% of people on this planet don't get it. They don't realize the pain we put ourselves through when we lose a loved one to heart disease, or a stroke, or from diabetes, or something that you could have prevented by making better "health related" choices.

I don't know how fast food restaurant owners live with themselves. I really don't. I understand that they are hard working people like the rest of us, and that they are just trying to earn a living too, but do you think they ever lay in bed at night wondering how many people they are killing, or have already killed? I also understand that it's not their fault. It's the people that shove it down their own throats. It's their own fault! There are so many reasons why our nation is the second worse obese nation on the planet, and first in just being overweight.

I personally think we just don't care or don't think something bad can happen to us, until... something drastic happens. Sometimes.  I mean my own father had many heart attacks and he never started eating healthy, even after. What does it take for someone to realize that it's time to take care of themselves? If I had that answer I would be a VERY famous, very rich person right now.

All I know is that I have a voice and I need to use it! It's my calling to help people, to share what can make you feel better, live healthier, and longer. It's NOT about what your body looks like at all! However, if you take care of your health to the best of your ability, your body will start looking better and better before you know it.

So today I want to use my voice and tell you to get up off your butt and get active. You must also know that your body is mostly made in the kitchen, not the gym. However, it is very important to get active and preform both resistance training and cardiovascular training, as well as eating an overall healthy diet.

You CAN do it! And don't hesitate to help other people do the same. Trust me, everyone needs a BIG push these days, even if they say they don't.


Chad Cannon is the owner of Shaping Concepts Fitness Training Center in Bluffton, SC.