Growing up, I was overweight and had extremely poor health choices such as eating junk food, binge eating and doing little to no exercise. however, 4 years back I decided that I’ll turn this around and I started by discovering myself and the reasons behind my choices to be able to undo them and then I lost weight and then today, I’m on the path of getting certified as a fitness instructor and working as an assistant coach in a fitness facility. that being said, most of my research is from personal experience and some of observation of clients and I interviewed a couple of friends and lastly, there was one aspect I found some secondary research about.
To begin with, our culture typically glorifies food and almost all outings and generosity is shown through food outings which encourages people to always be up to eat at anytime because it is the most widespread form of leisure. also, our cultural food is mostly very dense and very unhealthy and most foods is made with unhealthy means such as oils and butters and therefore the foreign idea of choosing healthy foods when outside and also buying healthier groceries such as subtituting oils with olive oils and healthy fats.
Secondly, our lifestyles are typically very busy even as little kids from the wide range of activities our families sign us up for to our adolescent years where we’re busy with our social lives and studies and then work. having a busy and fast paced life disables us from being able to pursue healthier eating choices as we always need something on the go and the unhealthy meals are much more widespread and having to meal prep is a burden to many. upon interviewing 3 of my friends, they confirmed this by saying that for example on campus rhe ratio of healthy meals to unhealthy ones is almost 2:5 and the hectic life of university, extra curriculars, sports and social lives always encourages them to eat out and eat whatever is available. busy lifestyles also disables many people from excercising as they either do not have the time or are drained of their daily activities and have no energy to workout.
upon interviewing my friends, I also found that peer pressure is a huge factor. upon spending time with colleagues and seeing them opt for their unhealthy habits people tend to cower away from standing out when in the middle of the group. also, in younger ages they may be put under the spotlight or get made fun of because they are opting out of eating dense foods or eating lighter meals whilst their friends aren’t. also sometimes their friends are vocal about it by saying that they should enjoy the same meals or encouraging them to eat together at unhealthy food joints.
lastly, some people are put off due to the increasing social pressure of being healthy and fit which is actually very contradictory. during the interviews, 2/3 participants mentioned that the uprising fitness industry and people who are becoming fitter by the idea actually threatens them and has them feeling extremely self conscious to an extent that they are too embarrassed to go the gym feeling like they would never be able to compete and would feel like they are being scrutinized.
upon researching previous articles, I found that family plays a huge part as well. a family’s encouragement or discouragement can make or break a healthy habit. to begin with, the “food rules” families set for their children in younger ages has actually been proven to majorly influence a person’s nutritional options as they mature and choose their own diets seeing that it had already become their normal habits. (Contento et al., 1993; Herzler, 1984; Rozin, 1988) also, whether the families explain why some food groups are prohibited or favored actually made a huge difference in making conscious food choices later on. Family scrutiny was also a huge factor, when families tend to criticize weight in their children actually encourages or discourages a healthy lifestyle. for example a family that calls their children fat or too skinny and constantly makes fun of them and scolds them for not doing anything about it has children that are less likely to want to make changes and actually start to believe that they will never change on the other hand, a family that encourages healthy eating to be able to develop and change habits for a better lifestyle and actually encourages and provides incentives and are careful with words can provide a huge motivational factor for their children
sources:
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/135910539700200105
