Here's a tally of what we eat and what we spend on food or exercise equipment in the United States each day:

If you stop eating these junk foods, you'll be on your way to a forever-young life and you'll feel a lot better along the way.

 

Eating better will also have an impact on your wallet. A healthier lifestyle leads to increased productivity, employee morale and job satisfaction. And as you enjoy your job more, take less sick days and are more productive, you make more money faster.

 

Studies have shown that employees who change to healthier eating habits increased their productivity up to 600 percent, leading to earnings increases of more than 12 percent in the first year.

 

So where do you begin? Best-selling author Pam Smith, who lives in my hometown of Orlando, Fla., is a leading authority on good eating habits. Years ago when all of our 19 children were at home, Pam helped feed them and offered nutritional advice. Here are her rules for good eating habits:

 

• Eat early. Your first meal should be when you get up in the morning, not in the middle of the day. Your body needs fuel to help start the day well.

• Eat often. You're not eating giant meals often, but you should be eating lots of small meals throughout the day.

• Eat balanced. You must be eating from the major food groups, which, by the way, do not include Twinkies and Krispy Kreme Doughnuts. You need to be eating the right mix of protein and good carbohydrates, which includes fresh vegetables, fruit, grains and other healthy foods.

• Eat bright. The brighter and shinier the fruit and vegetables you eat, the better they are for you.

• Eat lean. Make sure you're eating foods that are low in fat grams to help keep those extra inches off your body.

• Water is the beverage of champions, not Gatorade or Coca-Cola or iced tea.

If you're going to keep the youth and vigor you enjoy today, you'll have to learn to control your weight. Only you can control your weight. It's a matter of being disciplined about what goes into your mouth. Don't let excess weight and overeating thin your wallet and rob you of a life meant to be lived to the fullest.

 

By Pat Williams, senior vice president of the NBA’s Orlando Magic and one of America’s best-known sports executives. He drafted Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal, and 12 of his former players have become NBA head coaches. He is the author of 40 books and a devoted father to 19 children. E-mail him at pwilliams@orlandomagic.com, or visit patwilliamsmotivate.com.