There are also huge numbers of others that are struggling with being overweight or obese including children and others that feel lousy and are tired and worn out much of the time.

How could we have we let ourselves become so unhealthy?

This situation is so worrying that we could not be blamed for wondering what will happen to us, if we will be unlucky and fall victim to a life threatening disease or illness.

Will we be taken from our families before our time with no control over the situation?

If we are living what is considered a "normal" lifestyle and are enjoying the fruits of modern science and technology we are living a very high risk lifestyle. You see, in our modern day world being physically active is no longer needed to survive. Every single piece of "work" has been replaced with machines, household appliances, cars etc.

But there is one major flaw with this situation. What about the human body? We now know that it cannot stay healthy without vigorous activity but that has been removed and replaced to make our lives easier. It doesn't make sense that we would do this to ourselves. But we have.

The human body is hardwired to repair and replace itself at cellular level only when certain hormones (chemical messengers) are stimulated. Intense vigorous activity or movement is the mechanism that triggers this. Without these constant signals to the cells a spiral of declining health follows. In other words "shut down" mode is set in place and degeneration, accelerated aging and a high risk of disease follows.

Our body doesn't actually know how many years old it is, but it does know when it is not being used in the manner it is designed for and has been operating for tens of thousands of years. Just because we make changes to our lives it does not automatically follow that the human body makes changes to its blueprint and how it operates.

The solution is so very simple we could wonder why it is not more widely promoted and talked about. Our present "sickness treatment" system is financially motivated so how would it survive without a constant supply of sick victims? The change is unlikely to come from that greedy and outdated model.

The sensible thing for each of us to do is to take back control of our own health and well-being. This would free ourselves from the scary prospect of being taken out by some premature and preventable disease that could sneak up on us from behind when we aren't looking.

The first step in our own personal prevention strategy is to quickly implement a proper exercise program that contains at least 60% strength training. For this program to work in the best and fastest possible way it is important that it is set up by a fitness professional.

You will need to be shown not only what exercises to perform and how to do them correctly but how intensely and what duration and frequency you need to work at. Only 2-3 sessions per week are needed if done correctly and time is not being wasted on ineffective low intensity activities such as walking, cycling etc.

This simple solution quickly puts back the main mechanism to keep you healthy in literally hundreds of different ways. Most of these will occur on the inside of your body where you can't see them. But you will feel them in a very short time, more energy, feeling better and much more alive, any stress will be dissipated and you will be happier, calmer and saner.

Think of your exercise program as medicine and the impact of this medicine is both healing and preventive. This will go a long way to making the positive changes that will reduce human and financial losses associated with chronic life threatening diseases.

It is the self-health care that we all need to regenerate the body and mind and rekindle the spirit, adding years to life and life to years.