Did you know the average American will gain approximately 10 pounds between now and the end of the year? 10 pounds! I know it is not pretty, but close your eyes and picture a 10-pound pile of ground beef. That is what the average American is going to pack on…frightening! That is why we are kicking off a Biggest Loser Contest in my office this week through the end of the year. While the rest of America will gain 10 pounds per person we will lose at least 10 pounds per person by the end of the year.

He was only 46 and dead from a heart attack. The doctors had been telling him for years he had to start exercising, eating right and lose some weight or something like this might happen. Every time he left the doctor’s office, after they added another medication to his cocktail for lowering blood pressure, lowering his cholesterol, and the array of other crap he had, he would swear he was going to get his life and health under control. He would start out great for the first week, but then fall right back into his old bad habits of hitting the snooze bar in the morning instead of going to the gym and eating crap all day.

Sound familiar? It should, over 50% of our society struggles with it. He really was just an average guy in America. We are an obese nation in the midst of an epidemic that no one wants to talk about. Everyone would rather talk about terrorism, war, economic meltdowns, natural disasters. The reality is an epidemic which will kill more Americans than all of that kind of crap combined is right under our noses and under our control to stop NOW, but no one ever seems to want to talk about it or do anything about it. We would rather criticize other people for things beyond our control as opposed to actually doing something about the things in our control. It is easier because we don’t have to be held accountable for it. Talk about frightening – talk about a ticking time bomb. The scary thing is we don’t even know the total ramifications of how obesity will affect our children and future generations. It causes cancer; heart disease and diabetes just to name a few.

So, what does this have to do with MOJO you ask? Well, I was almost that guy. Nearly 15 years ago, I had gone from 5’10” – 170lbs when I graduated college to 5’10” – 210lbs at 31. I had convinced myself it was okay.  I really was not much different than everyone else…I wasn’t fat…I just had “big bones.”  Sound familiar?

A year earlier, the doctor was ready to put me on all of that crap to lower my cholesterol and blood pressure, but I talked him out of it and convinced him to give me 6 months to exercise, lose weight and see if I could do it on my own without medication. Six months past and of course I postponed my doctor’s appointment because I hadn’t done anything…nothing had changed. Finally, a year later I decided to go see him again. I was able to convince him again to give me 6 more months. He told me that was it, and if I couldn’t do it, I had no choice but to go on medication “for the rest of my life.”  That was the moment I was at the intersection of the major “Y” in my life. Somehow I was fortunate enough to not just give in and take the easy road like most people, but take the hard road. It was the short-term pain for the long-term gain. I often talk about how life is a continuous series of Y’s in the road. I don’t care what it is in life, the key is when you get to the Y’s, 99% of the time you don’t want to go with the flow – you don’t want to go with the pack because they will lead you off the cliff. You need to break away and go the hard way, up the mountain, in the end it is where all of the rewards are.  And trust me, when I finally took control of myself, the rest of my life took off like a rocket, my relationships, my job…everything. Because to get more of what you want in your life, you have to work on you a lot more than the other “stuff.”  Unfortunately, because most people don’t ever have a breakthrough and take the right turn at the “Y” is the reason why I think people go to their grave never getting what they want in their lives.

Reflecting back to that time almost 15 years ago, the hardest part of the “old” Tom was everyone liked him, but did not respect him. He certainly could not inspire anyone. The old Tom was one of the top sales people in the company, he was managing one of the top offices in the country, everyone thought he had a great life, but it was always a struggle and hard. Everyone thought I was happy with my life, but it sucked except for my friends and family. I woke up every day with anxiety, tired, depressed and was going to WORK! Not anymore…now I wake up every day to play the best game in the world…the game of life!!

Today, I would consider myself pretty healthy and fit. I am not on medications and my cholesterol and blood pressure are normal. Look, I am not special. If I can do it, anyone can and as tough as it was to be that person nearly years ago, I am so thankful I lived that experience. It really makes me appreciate how I feel and the life I have today. And trust me…my life today is much easier than my life 15 years ago.

So, if you want to get more of what you want in your life, start taking control of it.  Once you do that it will be contagious in all the other areas of your life.  The better you get, the better your life gets.  Trust me…I experienced it first-hand.

So what is the right weight for my height?
How much should you weigh according to your height? This height to weight chart is a guideline to an Adults ideal body-weight: