The Most Important Resolution We Haven't Started

Thank goodness its February. As the calendar turns, so does the emphasis on weightloss programs.

It's somehow become a part of our culture that weight loss is at the top of our collective list of New Year's Resolutions. And it roars during the entire month of January. Gym specials, Jenny Craig commercials, cover stories in magazines and newspapers, billboards, direct mail, commercials on the sidebar of Facebook enticing you to find out how Rachael Ray lost 40 pounds. I raced into my gym one day to sneak in 30 minutes on the treadmill and I couldn't get through the lobby - it was full of people with clipboards signing up for gym memberships.

I don't have to quote a bunch of statistics for you to believe me that America is overweight. We have been for some time. That too is all over the news. But let me ground you in the truth - two out of every three adults are obese; one out of every three children is obese. It's an epidemic just like tuberculosis and influenza were in their time. And just like TB and influenze, it is spreading. Silently. The Center for Disease Control has a great map that chronicles the spread of obesity across our nation over the past 25 years. It will shock you. And the trend you will see has resulted in a vastly sicker nation. Diabetes, heart disease, depression, asthma...it goes on and on.

Clearly the billions of dollars spent marketing weightloss programs every January aren't working.

Why?

1. Our love affair with dieting is based on vanity, not improving our health. We use misguided motivation like a class reunion, a wedding, a party. We do it because we want to look good. Perhaps the most famous example of today is Kate Middleton's infamous diet before her wedding. She was perfect and beautiful before - now she is two sizes smaller. Does that make her more perfect and more beautiful?

2. We have grown impatient as a nation - we want silver bullets, not perscriptions for self-discipline. We staple our stomachs, binge and purge, eat cabbage soup for 11 days, and buy toning shoes designed to lift our back sides. We make these choices because we don't want to make deep and important changes in our livestyles; we'd rather sit on the couch and watch others do it on The Biggest Looser.

3. We are not building communities of support. I recently read a great book called Change or Die. Its single message is that in order to make great change in our lives we must establish a community of support. We must surround ourselves with people that can help us change and encourage us every day. I love Michelle Obama's Let's Move campaign to raise a healthier generation of kids. She calls for specific actions from parents, schools, community leaders, elected officials, chefs, healthcare providers and kids; in essence, she has drawn the circle around the support community for our children. What does that look like for our adults?

There is no silver bullet for a healthier nation. So many things are working against us - mass media, powerful marketing, the very way our grocery stores are stocked and arranged. The Value Meal, Big Gulps, our own automobiles. To turn it into a New Year's Resolution is cowardice. And not one of us should stand for it.