Well, the big game not only is over but also has quickly faded into yesterday's news as fans dimly set their sights on next February and Super Bowl L, to be played at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California.

No sooner had I put my attention on a sugar cutback as a means of scoring good health points in the year ahead than along comes Valentine's Day.

As not to be seen as a big stick in the mud, I must call an immediate timeout to wish an early "happy Valentine's Day" to the love of my life, my wife, Gena, before going any further.

Any holiday that focuses on love is a good one, and this year it not only falls on a Saturday, giving couples an opportunity for more elaborate celebrations, but also comes at a time of more discretionary spending and low gas prices, to boot.

According to the National Retail Federation, the average person celebrating Valentine's Day this year will spend $142.31, an increase from last year. Consumers are expected to spend $19.6 billion to celebrate the holiday this year — $2.1 billion on candy alone.

And here's the thing: If that box of candy is around, we're going to eat it, all of it.

As noted last week, sugar already makes up 25 percent of the total calories we consume. Among other things, excess sugar can contribute to obesity and elevated blood pressure in both children and adults. It has been identified as a driver for pre-diabetes. It causes harmful fat storage, noticeably on the abdomen, and promotes several markers for poor health, inflammation and high blood pressure being just two examples.

This is not a call for sacking sugar. It is a call to be constantly aware of health experts and their uniform pleas for moderation, especially in the consumption of sugar and salt. So here's my game plan for the second half.

3rd Quarter: Spread Formation

As the spectacle surrounding events and the hyping of our holidays get bigger and bigger with every passing year, so do we the people. The bigger we get the more deadened we seem to become.

It is not just adult health that is experiencing a sedentary shift. In May, Medical News Today reported on a study suggesting that children who spend more than two hours in front of a TV, computer or video game system each day have an increased risk of high blood pressure. An earlier study published in JAMA Pediatrics also found that children who have a TV in their bedroom are likelier to become obese.

In case you haven't noticed, we're fat and getting fatter. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, since 1980 the nation's obesity rate among adults has doubled. Among children, it has tripled.

It is not just the size of football linemen that has grown at a staggering rate. Obesity is an equal-opportunity epidemic. It touches men and women, rich and poor, all races and ethnicities, in every state. According to Mark Huffman, an assistant professor of preventive medicine and cardiology at Northwestern University, if Americans stay on this path, 83 percent of men will be overweight or obese by 2020. Women are right behind them, with 72 percent projected to be overweight or obese by then.

As for kids, according to a recent study published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings, nearly 1 in 4 U.S. children ages 2 to 5 are overweight or obese. It is no coincidence that almost 80 percent of kids ages 1 to 3 exceed the recommended maximum level of daily salt.

Not surprisingly, it was recently confirmed that many packaged meals and snacks for toddlers contain what experts consider to be worrisome amounts of salt and sugar. This early introduction to high levels of sugar and salt is potentially creating an early-in-life taste for foods that may contribute to obesity and other health risks.

We have to become more mindful of what we consume, especially processed foods. Turning the tide requires limiting maximum daily intake of sugar and salt. As a rule of thumb, the World Health Organization has proposed that added sugar make up only 5 percent of a person's daily calories. Suggested daily intake of salt should not exceed 1,500 milligrams, and toddlers should have no more than 210 milligrams of sodium per serving.

4th Quarter: Go for the Win

To win back public health, we have to build up our defense against the growing trend toward overindulgence and dwindling physical activity.

"As the population ages, sedentary behaviors will become more prevalent," notes Dr. Miguel Angel Martinez-Gonzalez of the department of public health at the University of Navarra in Spain. "This poses an additional burden on the increased health problems related to aging." His comments were part of findings recently published in the Journal of the American Heart Association.

This goes beyond the amount of time spent in front of a TV watching a marathon sporting event or awards show; there's the emerging habit of watching on demand a season's worth of a favorite series in one sitting. This trend of "binge watching" is a relatively new phenomenon, but research is showing that the habit is driven by the same impulse that fuels other addictions, including addiction to drugs, involving the firing up of dopamine receptors, the reward center of the brain.

This leads to another piece of disturbing news. According to shocking new research from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, by the end of today, an average of six people will have died from alcohol poisoning.

What group is dying more than any other? It is not drinkers who are considered alcoholics. They account for only 30 percent of the deaths.

The study found that binge-drinking white men between the ages of 35 and 64 are dying most often from alcohol poisoning. Equally shocking was the amount of alcohol that can lead to alcohol poisoning. In some people, as few as five alcoholic beverages in a two- to three-hour period can cause it.

We need to wake up and reverse our field if we're to break through the cycle of binging and overindulging and have a chance of winning back our good health.

Write to Chuck Norris (info@creators.com) with your questions about health and fitness. Follow Chuck Norris through his official social media sites, on Twitter @chucknorris and Facebook's "Official Chuck Norris Page." He blogs at http://chucknorrisnews.blogspot.com. To find out more about Chuck Norris and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.