Band members use social media as platform for healthy lifestyles

America’s health is dwindling and weight gain is a common issue nowadays. If anyone is aware of these issues, it’s band members on the road.

Two members of Escape The Fate have been recently sharing their experiences with this struggle over social media, encouraging others to try to eat healthy and exercise as well.

Kevin Thrasher started sharing his personal experience earlier this year saying, “Real talk, took me a long time to get control over my life again. But now with a healthier diet and a more intense workout, I’ve gotten over the ‘hump.’ If I can do it, you can too.” Thrasher encourages his fans, “I thought my metabolism was just messed up until I took an honest look at my lifestyle and made a change. Making progress, and not stopping.” Thrasher has shared many before and after photos of himself while going through this change in not only diet but also exercise. He has made sure to stress that the transformation does not happen overnight, and that to get there one has to keep pushing oneself in a healthy way.

Another band member, Robert Ortiz, has also been sharing his personal struggles but has really been stressing the idea that diet has a bigger impact when trying to become more healthy. “Tryin to keep it up on the road. Honestly, eating properly is a genuine struggle for me. I love to eat.. And I love to eat everything.. And with all the unique food I find on my travels, it’s hard not to indulge. However, I bust my butt to at least maintain. So don’t worry if the progress doesn’t come right away and you don’t have to give up everything you love. Just push to at least move in the right direction,” Ortiz said.

Like Thrasher, Ortiz tells his fans that the transformation doesn’t work overnight, stressing that you have to at least push in the right direction to get started.

Studies show that at least 20 percent of U.S youth between the ages of 12 and 19 suffer from obesity. It is an ever-growing problem, and one of the reasons is that people have been focusing more on exercise than what they eat.

Here’s an example: think of yourself as a machine. The machine works efficiently when you put in good oil.

A time comes around when you chose not to put in good oil, and suddenly the machine starts to malfunction. You try to access the problem, overlooking the oil and go straight to the old parts. You start by trying to replace those old parts, but the machine never really works the same way that it did as you continue to put the same, bad oil into it.

Your body works the same way. Exercising is important, but eating healthy is just as important if you want to really get results.

Health teacher Megan Youngkent recently had this discussion with her classes. “One of the problems is people will try to reward themselves. They say to themselves, ‘I’ve been training for this marathon for a while now, so I’m going to run this 5k, and then I’m finally going to get myself that bag of donuts.’”

Youngkent shook her head slowly as she gazed around the classroom. “What’s most likely going to happen after she gets those donuts? She’s going to stop exercising and go back to her unhealthy eating habits. Then all of her hard work with training for that marathon? Gone, down the drain. Remember, don’t have a reward that ruins your goal. One thing that people talk about all the time when dieting or trying to eat healthy are their ‘cheat days,’“ Youngkent said. “Now let’s say I have a ‘cheat day.’ Do I really want to go back to eating healthy after I taste all the junk I’ve been missing? Now a ‘cheat meal’ is different. It’s one meal, which means you’re less likely to get off track with eating healthy after one ‘cheat meal.’”

One thing to remember is that eating healthy and exercising can be hard to do, especially with a busy schedule, but, like Ortiz said in his post, “Just push to at least move in the right direction.”

Whether you are overweight or just trying to stay healthy, it is important to have some encouragement from people you love, whether they are idols or family members, and there is always a way to get support. You just have to take that first step and get yourself going in the right direction.

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