We’re out of shape. The numbers don’t lie.

When the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute released its county health ranking report Dallas County ranked as one of the least healthy counties in the state.

It’s no accident. We have some of the best restaurants around and when people dine out, it’s not always easy to push the plate away.

We are also in a region that can fry just about everything. If you put these two things together, you have a problem.

There are certain factors working against us, but only if we let them. The cure for this growing illness doesn’t come in the form of a pill or magic tonic. It starts with you.

A little will power is all it takes to lead a healthy lifestyle.

It doesn’t take hours in the gym to keep your body functioning properly. All you need is some activity to get the blood pumping, get your heart rate up and burn off a few of those calories that come with some of our favorite foods.

No one likes fried foods more than me. During the summer of 2000, I discovered a little thing called the Fry Daddy. If it was edible, I could fry it. By the time fall rolled around, there was about 30 pounds more of me to love. Even worse, I put about 5 new pounds on a friendly yellow lab named Bubba.

One night when Bubba and I were sitting on the couch sharing some steak fingers and watching the Braves, I realized something had to be done.

We started walking, one hour in the morning and one hour at night. Our metabolisms sped up and we started getting healthier.

At that point, Bubba and I got back to the outdoors taking hikes like we had done before the evil Fry Daddy came into our lives. It was fun for both of us and made a tremendous difference.

The final step was putting the Fry Daddy away for good and getting on balanced diets.

Strictly dog food for Bubba and a healthier diet for me.

In the end, it worked like a charm. All it took was a little will power to get the ball rolling.

Living a healthier lifestyle isn’t as hard as it seems. Determination and persistence can go a long way.

It’s time for us to do what we can to put the Black Belt near the top of the state. If you don’t make the changes for yourself, do it for your families.