In the desire to encourage a healthier lifestyle with a focus on fitness, it’s easier to communicate the ideas if we can put a face to it.

There are many beautiful faces on display and none more beautiful than the former Fitness Model, Jennifer Rish.

California native Jennifer Rish is a gorgeous woman who is continually on the go. Her day job is one as a nurse while she built a well followed career as a fitness model.

In her late teens and into her 20s she was a kick boxer, gymnast and ballet dancer.

The example that Fitness Models like Jennifer set have started a trend where women are not only comfortable getting in shape but also putting on body mass as well.

If you are a leader, you should never forget that everyone needs encouragement. And everyone who receives it – young or old, successful or less-than-successful, unknown or famous – is changed by it…..John C. Maxwell

According to muscleandfitness.com, “In a way, fitness for women has simply caught up to fitness for men. It’s a lifestyle, it’s a reprieve, and it’s a way for women to surround themselves with women who have the same goals. More and more, women are using the gym as a communal outlet.

More and more women are gravitating toward building curvature from muscle.”

This is the good news, bad news scenario.

While there is a trend of higher participation in fitness, for the masses, there is a need for far more participation not only in exercise but diet change as well.

As reported by the respected governmental site, fitness.gov, here are the figures and trends of health and fitness in the United States.

Physical Activity

• Only one in three children are physically active every day.¹
• Less than 5% of adults participate in 30 minutes of physical activity each day;² only one in three adults receive the recommended amount of physical activity each week.³
• Only 35 – 44% of adults 75 years or older are physically active, and 28-34% of adults ages 65-74 are physically active.⁴
• More than 80% of adults do not meet the guidelines for both aerobic and muscle-strengthening activities, and more than 80% of adolescents do not do enough aerobic physical activity to meet the guidelines for youth.⁵
• In 2013, research found adults in the following states to be most likely to report exercising 3 or more days a week for at least 30 minutes: Vermont (65.3%), Hawaii (62.2%), Montana (60.1%), Alaska (60.1%). The least likely were Delaware (46.5%), West Virginia (47.1%) and Alabama (47.5%). The national average for regular exercise is 51.6%.⁶
• Children now spend more than seven and a half hours a day in front of a screen (e.g., TV, videogames, computer).⁷
• Nationwide, 25.6% of persons with a disability reported being physically inactive during a usual week, compared to 12.8% of those without a disability.³
• Only about one in five homes have parks within a half-mile, and about the same number have a fitness or recreation center within that distance.⁵
• Only 6 states (Illinois, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New York and Vermont) require physical education in every grade, K-12.²²
• 28.0% of Americans, or 80.2 million people, aged six and older are physically inactive.²³
• Nearly one-third of high school students play video or computer games for 3 or more hours on an average school day.²⁴

Encouragement to others is something everyone can give. Somebody needs what you have to give. It may not be your money; it may be your time. It may be your listening ear. It may be your arms to encourage. It may be your smile to uplift. Who knows?…….Joel Osteen

There are a number of videos online where Jennifer demonstrates the effects that a continual fitness and workout regime can create a beautiful body.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qgy4YyG6sA

Progress has been made but there is absolutely room for improvement.

As recent as November of 2015, the New York Times reported, “About 38 percent of American adults were obese in 2013 and 2014, up from 35 percent in 2011 and 2012. Researchers said the increase was small enough that it was not statistically significant. But to many in public health, it was surprising and disheartening.

Middle-aged Americans were hardest hit. Adults ages 40 to 59 had the highest rate of obesity, 40 percent, followed by people 60 and over, 37 percent of whom were obese. About 32 percent of 20- to 39-year-olds were obese.”

The respected site, parentherald.com adds, “A study published in Journal of American Medicine revealed that over one-third of adults and 17 percent of youth in the United States are obese. Obesity is “common, serious and costly” per Center for Disease Control and Prevention. The obesity-related condition includes heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and certain types of cancer. The estimated annual medical cost of obesity in the US was $147 billion in 2008 while the medical cost for people who are obese were $1,429 higher than those of normal weight.”

When you encourage others, you in the process are encouraged because you’re making a commitment and difference in that person’s life. Encouragement really does make a difference.….Zig Ziglar

Cooking and preparing our meals at home can be an exceptional start to better health. The educational site jhsph.edu expresses, “People who frequently cook meals at home eat healthier and consume fewer calories than those who cook less, according to new Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health research. The findings also suggest that those who frequently cooked at home – six-to-seven nights a week – also consumed fewer calories on the occasions when they ate out.”

Diet and exercise in a modern world where there is an abundance of fast food restaurants as a source of a quick meal, the face and body of Jennifer Rish can send an encouraging message that all or most of us need to be persistent in making our health management a high priority.

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Sources: brainyquote.com, Wikipedia, fciwomenswrestling2.com, FCI Elite Competitor, photos thank you Wikimedia Commons.

http://www.jhsph.edu/research/centers-and-institutes/johns-hopkins-center-for-a-livable-future/news-room/News-Releases/2014/Study-Suggests-Home-Cooking-Main-Ingredient-in-Healthier-Diet.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/12/health/obesity-rises-despite-all-efforts-to-fight-it-us-health-officials-say.html?_r=0

http://www.parentherald.com/articles/12553/20151113/obesity-america-rising-despite-aggressive-promotion-healthy-living.htm

Top 10 Sexiest Female Bodybuilders

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FcTy_F52cnQ

https://www.facebook.com/Jennifer-Rish-156452187702969/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qgy4YyG6sA

http://www.muscleandfitness.com/athletes-celebrities/girls/burning-down-boys-club-why-women-belong-weight-room