In a North American market ironically dominated by the illusive image of “thin is in, reality holds that most are now saddled with saggy, wobbly backsides and unsightly stomachs. Let's face facts: these don't make for good health.

Yes, we all want that appearance of youth, associated with creativity, vibrancy, and strength. But we have a hard time focusing our mind past the next meal at McDonalds or a greasy pizza joint. The result – fast food 1, willpower 0. Nearly 47% of Canadians and a belt buckling 70-75% of Americans are considered either overweight or obese.

Crowded city streets, sedentary jobs, and lack of recreational activities have engineered activity right out of our lives and led to unhealthy bodies. We no longer realize the basic effectiveness of movement and resistance exercises.

After diet, exercise makes up a smaller portion of overall health, but it’s amazing how lack of it deteriorates our bodily condition. Not only is it vital to keeping us trim, it adds years to our life, and life to our years.

Just 60 minutes of daily exercise; a relatively small portion of our daily time, is associated with substantial reductions in body weight. And this without any caloric reduction, according to a 2000 study in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

The trick to achieving this is three fold: (1) consistency (2) consistency (3) consistency. Don’t expect to get something for nothing. Eating properly and exercising diligently have proven to be the right mix of effort which leads to dramatic changes in physique. But this takes some measure of self-discipline. Insignificant results stem from lackluster efforts.

As a Personal Trainer, I always advise my clients that cardio alone is not enough. Weights maximize results and reshape your entire physique, carving curves and muscle out of fat, like no other training regimen can.

For balance, I also advocate functional training to enhance the coordinated working relationship between the nervous and muscular systems, making an individual's activities of daily living easier to perform.

Add to this mix high-quality food like lean chicken and fish, egg whites, fresh fruits and vegetables, nutritious grains like whole brown rice and oatmeal and loads of pure water, and you have a recipe for success.

Remember, fast foods create big butts, and super-sized meals build super-sized butts. Eating too much unhealthy foods and getting too little exercise will make your rear will look like those foods - soft and spongy!

Jorg J Mardian, RHN, RNCP, CPT is a Nutritional Practitioner and Certified Fitness Trainer. You can reach him at (250) 498-2727 or go to his website at www.prohealthjournal for cutting edge "Health Intelligence" articles.