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Most of us have experienced peer pressure at one time or another,
most likely when we were adolescents. At that time, it was pretty
blatant: ’Buy these jeans, everyone else has them’…‘You need to make
the basketball team, otherwise you’ll be a loser’…‘Try a sip of this
punch or a smoke, it makes you feel great.’ As we get older, however,
peer pressure is more subtle…more damaging. We are confronted with
judgment and pressure from friends, family, colleagues and even the
media, day after day, often all in conflict with one another.
Kellie, a friend of mine, grew up in a household where healthy
eating wasn’t practiced. If anything, fatty meats and fried foods 
were
quite the norm. As an adult, however, she has become more and more
aware of what she should eat and what she should avoid. It hasn’t been
easy for her - trying to break years of conditioning - but she is doing
a great job and seeing the benefits of it each day.
Recently, Kellie went out to dinner with some friends of hers and
while she ordered a grilled-chicken breast with steamed vegetables, her
friends ordered the same old greasy fried food they always had. Kellie,
received a lot of flack: ‘miss perfect…miss healthy…miss
goody-to-shoes.’ She ignored their comments and after the meal, she
knew that she had made the right decision. All of her friends proceeded
to unbutton their pants in the car-ride home, feeling stuffed and
uncomfortable. Kellie, however, felt satiated, healthy and good about
herself…a true reward. What Kellie experienced, unfortunately, isn't
uncommon. She was criticized for making good choices. In this
situation, she was able to rise above it, but it isn’t easy: When
people who you are close to don’t support you in your choices, it can
be detrimental and undermine you in reaching your goals.
Being healthy is a choice, just as being unhealthy is a choice. It
isn’t something that you are born with. I find it so aggravating when
people mock those of us who choose to be healthy.
If we did that to those individuals who are fat, out of shape, etc., we
would be considered insensitive, demeaning and cruel. Well, it goes
both ways.
If you have been unhealthy for most of your life and are trying to
change, it takes a lot of work. If it didn’t, 65% of Americans probably
wouldn’t be overweight with 31% being obese. Even when you have been
healthy for some time, it still takes willpower and determination to
stay that way. It isn’t easy saying ‘no’ to chocolate chip cookies
while the rest of your office digs in. It isn’t easy getting up for the
gym at 6am when you could sleep in until 7am after a late night. It
isn’t easy maintaining balance when traveling for work. Choosing to be
healthy takes continual effort, consistent motivation and great
self-respect.
For those of you who are in the process of making changes in your
life to be healthier, surround yourself with people who either ‘get-it’
or respect you for it. If people tear you down, tell them that it is
your choice to be healthy, and if they have a problem with it, then
they should keep it to themselves. Negativity is the last thing you
need. It is hard enough to make the right choices without it. Trust in
yourself and your choices...for they'll pay off in the end.
