Statistics covering health and wellness in America are shocking. The CDC states that over 60% of adults in the U.S. are overweight and over 25% or 1 in 4 is obese. The CDC also gives an equally alarming statistic on the growing trend that 40% of adults in America never engage in any type of physical activity.

Could you be taking better care of your mind and body? By answering YES or NO to following 10 questions, you’ll be able to tell just how healthy you are.

1. Do you exercise at least 4 times a week for at least 30 minutes making sure to get your heart rate elevated? (In other words – you are sweating!!)
2. Do you know your know your health “numbers” – BMI, blood pressure, blood sugar, body fat percentage, waist to hip ratio and cholesterol, and are they within normal range? (Remember your ratios – Cholesterol/HDL is ideally less than 3.0; Triglyceride/HDL ratio is ideally less than 2.0. Waist to hip ratio for a woman should be less than 0.80 and for a man should be less than 0.95.)
3. Are you a non-smoker?
4. Do you adapt well to stress in your life, staying calm and relaxed during most of life’s ups and downs, and do you practice mental relaxation techniques such as meditation, yoga, massage, listening to calming music, prayer etc.?
5. Do you understand the benefits of nutritional concepts such as: what, when and how often to eat and proper vitamin/mineral supplementation, and do you take a high quality multi-vitamin supplement daily?
6. Do you avoid whenever possible “fast foods” and foods made with trans fats, saturated fats and highly-processed carbohydrates, such as high fructose corn syrup?
7. Do you understand the importance of adding lots of fruits, vegetables, lean meats and fish, and whole grains to your daily diet and do you get at least 25 grams of fiber from these foods daily?
8. Do you drink at least 8 glasses of water a day?
9. Are you satisfied with how you look and feel and are not overly critical of yourself?
10. Do you keep your mind active and place a high priority on good relationships with friends and family?

The more you answered YES to the above questions – the healthier you are. If you had lots of NOs, perhaps today is the day to get started taking some real steps to better health.

Did you notice there was no question regarding your genetics and whether “this or that” runs in your family? The reason is that I want you to focus on things that you can actually DO something about. What you eat, how you exercise, and how you think are all things that you CAN actually control.

Although it may seem foreign to you, health is indeed a choice. Health is not merely determined by the genetics our parents give us, which is actually just a very small percentage of what determines our overall health. So take some responsibility and CHOOSE to be healthy. And then of course take the right actions steps to make that a reality in your life.