Yesterday, we went to visit some close friends of our family. The mother and father are both highly respected doctors. Sometime during our dinner conversation I asked them what they thought about the current debate on health care. They looked at each other and laughed and then said, "everybody is asking us that question."
Then they got serious and said something that I think we all know. The simplicity of their answer surprised me. They said that the reason our health care costs are so astronomically high is because so many of us are unhealthy.
The diseases that are killing us are being brought about by our own doing. As a society, we smoke too much, drink too much, eat too much and sit around and do nothing too much. Those activities and behaviors are causing us to need care that we wouldn’t need if we made different lifestyle choices.
Exercise Is Medicine
Like I said, this is not new information. We have been hearing it for a very long time. There are tons of programs that seem to be saying the same thing, but for some reason we continue to smoke, drink, eat and sit ourselves to death.
Sadly, we don’t seem to mind. Fast Company reported the burden of our poor health back in 2007. The article was really on change, it was titled Change or Die. It reports on a study that found that nine out of ten people who are told by their doctor that if they don’t change their lifestyle they will die, are actually unable to change their lifestyle and they actually die. The Frito’s Bandit is killing us. We are having trouble escaping his grasp. I highly recommend that you follow the link and read the article. It is very powerful.
As a member of the United States Association of Triathletes, USAT, I receive a quarterly publication called Triathlon Life. Steve Jonas, a regular contributor to the publication wrote a terrific article on exercise and what we can do to improve our health. Sadly, I can not find a link to the article to pass along.
In the article, he mentions a new organization called Exercise Is Medicine. The vision of this organization "is to make physical activity and exercise a standard part of a disease prevention and treatment medical paradigm in the United States". Their website is awesome.
They are advocating exercise as treatment. Last fall they were influential in helping the Department of Health and Human Services establish new guidelines for physical activity. For the first time ever, doctors are able to write a prescription for exercise, just like they can for medicine.
Lifestyle Exercise
Many of my clients claim to be too busy to exercise. I know it is hard to get it in each day, but there are ways to deal with it. Perhaps the best way is to incorporate your exercise into your daily life. You can do this by using the stairs instead of the elevator, parking as far away as possible at work or when you shop, or getting off of your public transportation routes one stop early. Be creative. There are a lot of ways that you can get that extra work in without going to the gym.
It is just as easy to change the way you eat. When you shop, look for healthier food. When you eat out, drink water instead of the endless soda glass. A few minor changes will make a big difference. Think healthy. It tastes better.
I think it takes just as much time to be unhealthy as it does to be healthy. With a little bit of effort, any of us can get the recommended 150 minutes per week of moderately intense physical exercise. We just have to plan our day around it. We must want it. If we do, we will see that we get it. Think about it. That is only 2 1/2 hours of exercise per week. How much time do you spend watching TV. Get a treadmill in front of you TV and use that time more efficiently.
To Your Health
Living a healthy lifestyle is one of the best things you can do for your future. We all benefit as a society when you do it, but I don’t want you to do if for that reason. I want you to do it so that you can fully enjoy the best years of your life. There is a reason they call our advancing years the golden years. It is because they can truly be the most stress free and enjoyable years of our life. I want to be healthy so I can grow whole instead of old.
What is the smallest possible change you can make today in the way you eat that will produce the biggest results in your health? How about exercising? What can you do to improve your fitness levels? Don’t become a victim of "use it or lose it". Just do something today that will help you get in shape.
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