In 2012 the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that 1 in 3 Americans were obese. Since then many Americans stepped up to the plate, and aspired for a healthier lifestyle, however, many others have chosen to ignore this. Although they are adults and can make their own decisions, they may find that they have set their children on the wrong path.

The actions of the adults in our generation reflects upon their children, as the CDC also claims that “Childhood obesity has more than doubled in children and quadrupled in adolescents in the past 30 years.” Many children have echoed their parents’ avoidance of the issue, believing that their health is due to circumstance.

Many teens say that healthy foods are too expensive, and although this may be true, there are other alternatives. Fruits like apples, peaches, and plums are never expensive, many people believe they are because they look for the kinds branded as “organic,” when in reality, the inorganic are still much healthier than chips. Organic foods might sound better, but the USDA states that they only need to be officially 95% organic to be considered organic, if you’re paying for higher nutritional value, wouldn’t you want it to be the best?

Also in the fruit section, are the vegetables, if the taste throws you off, sautéing them in olive oil, salt and pepper tastes delicious. Hummus, spinach-artichoke dip and ranch (low fat) are also great ways to improve vegetables. When buying vegetables, don’t go for the big stalks that look like they came right from the garden, those will taste better but tend to be more expensive. Go for the store brand, bagged products.

For people that aren’t fruit or vegetable lovers, there are many other foods available. Baked beans, for example, are high in protein and low in fat, and are really cheap. Instead of going to the seafood sections that will cut up a nice huge filet of fish you’ll find that being frugal is much easier when buying canned salmon and tuna.

Accompanied with a good diet is a healthy amount of exercise gym memberships are also expensive, and can be intimidating, since getting out of one can be very difficult. However, some quality gyms such as Fitness Evolution have memberships at only 10 dollars a month.

Regardless, gyms aren’t necessary to keep in shape. Cardio can be done outside and push-ups, sit-ups, leg raises, jumping jacks, lunges and much more can be done at home, without a fancy gym with three pools and a billion treadmills that play ESPN

Another common excuse is that they don’t have time. A quality amount of exercise does not require hours of pain, you’re not training for the Olympics. Twenty minutes of High Intensity Interval Training, will do just as much good as a 3 hour workout. Many offices have gyms that their employees can go to for free, as well as a shower, so people can workout in the morning and then go to work, or vice versa.

Going to the gym, eating healthy and trying to become healthier is hard, and it’s very intimidating, but these excuses should not hinder anyone from living healthy.