On turning 50 and other thoughts

Those of you who regularly read this blog probably think that I am somewhat obsessed with health and health care, and you'd probably be somewhat correct in your assertions there. I turned 50 last spring and will be 51 this year, and in the past two years, 15 of my friends my age or younger have died from conditions ranging from heart attacks to diabetes and other preventable diseases. It comes as quite a shock when your friends begin to die at far too youthful ages. I don't know if our generation's sedentary lifestyle compared to that of our parents is a contributing factor, but I wouldn't be at all surprised if it was. After all, we're living in an age where you can construct a several thousand dollar home theatre system that saves you from having to go to the movies and is every bit as good, if not better, than going to the movies themselves. We have the Internet, cell phones and other gadgets that keep us from having to get up out of our chairs and do something. We have supersized cars with iPod ports, DVD players and other entertainment systems that we use to drive Suzy and Johnny to their overscheduled lives and in which to zip about town guzzling huge amounts of gas. Is it any wonder that when I go to the mall or anyplace else where there a lot of the public can be seen that there are so many overly obese people? You know, people blame the insurance and pharmaceutical industries for the increasing cost of health care, but when you really sit down and do the math, caring for all those obese people and the complications of their health as a result is extraordinarily costly. Our health care system doesn't focus on preventive care, it focuses on disease care. Why not encourage people to get healthy and reward those who do by lowering their health care premiums, co-pays and deductibles? It would prove to be a powerful incentive for all those obese people to consider losing weight and getting their health back if they knew that it would mean lower costs to them.


I saw this cartoon in today's newspaper that says it all about why people are overweight. Although it's funny, it's also too true. Supersized chairs in front of supersized home theatre systems and tons of unhealthy snacks like candy and chips to go along with it all. When I go to the grocery store and I see people's carts filled up with pop and chips and other junk food, I just want to scream at them about what they are costing the rest of us in health insurance costs. I've gone a long way toward changing my eating habits. I snack on soy protein bars and granola bars and have found them to be incredibly satisfying. Yes, I love Cheez-Its and Doritos and other junk like that, but I can do without them. Yes, I am occasionally tempted by candy bars in the staff room vending machines at work, but I remind myself of the cost to one's health by noshing on such junk. I am at the age now where my health becomes an even more important thing to protect. I've long regarded age 50 to be the kind of unofficial entrée into middle and old age, and already, I have discovered that my body is far more high maintenance than it once was. I have to do more to keep my weight down and stay physically fit than I did 25-30 years ago. I can't consume junk food without serious consequences. If I'm going to eat something like pizza or burritos, I make sure to include lots of healthy vegetables on them. Oh, I occasionally overindulge in food, but as they say, everything in moderation. I weigh myself regularly to keep myself honest. Probably the one thing I don't do enough of and need to do far more of is to drink water. That's probably my biggest shortcoming and something I just really need to work on correcting. Other than that, I know that I am somewhere along the right path to staying healthy as I get older. After all, if you don't have your health, you don't have anything.