Getting fit and healthy is often one of the loneliest endeavors a person can undertake.  Few would say that making a decision to eat more healthily and exercise more often is a bad one — on the contrary, you'll likely get nothing but praise and encouragement from peers.  The problem is that the praise comes while they eat whatever they wish and choose not to exercise. 

It takes discipline to make the daily decision to be healthy, and that discipline is challenged when family members or friends don't adhere to the choices you are making.  Support in word only is a meager support; it needs action to augment it.

Even if you aren't a religious person, the message in 1 Corinthians 8:13 should strike a chord: "Wherefore, if meat make my brother to offend, I will eat no flesh while the world standeth, lest I make brother to offend."

Imagine that you are on a diet that prohibits any sugar intake (as any good diet should), but every time you come home, your family has pies, sweets, and snacks galore, gorging themselves in front of you.  Most families aren't actually like this, but you can see how difficult it would be for a health-conscious person to live in an environment that didn't support that lifestyle. 

Which is why health and wellness should be a group decision. 

At the end of the day, your health is your own responsibility, but if a family changes its collective lifestyle all together, instead of leaving one person alone, the benefits will flow all around. 

There are very, very few people who wouldn't benefit from a healthier lifestyle.  Just because a person isn't obese doesn't mean they shouldn't be eating right or exercising more often.  Here are a few reasons to get your family or friends involved:

·         Studies have shown that diet and exercise success rates are much higher in situations where families are all making efforts

·         If a family member is eating more healthily and exercising, it is often because there are imminent health risks he or she is trying to avoid; by joining in the diet and exercise, families can demonstrate to the single member that his or her health is important to them, which alleviates some of the pressure from the single member, and distributes the responsibility among the family, making long-term success and change easier

·         A lifestyle change involving diet and exercise for the whole family will teach the younger members of the family good habits early on, and will decrease the chances for health risks down the road. 

Working out and eating right doesn't have to be an alienating experience.  It can and should bring families and friends closer together and bring a higher level of health to whole groups.  Don't let an individual go down a difficult road alone, and don't make it harder by being the one who constantly tempts them.

By-line:

Alvina Lopez is a freelance writer and blog junkie, who blogs about accredited online colleges. She welcomes your comments at her email Id: alvina.lopez @gmail.com.