Our society – as advanced as it is (and as advanced as it will ever become) – offers us choices which may be a positive step forward or a detrimental step backward – so to speak. People, in general, strive for comfort, ease in living and convenience. We eat hot-dogs, don’t exercise, eat all the “goodies” brought in by office staff or others, frequent the office lounge and enjoy “500-calorie” coffee and giant sized muffins, and welcome someone going to the fast-food restaurant who kindly asks “What can I get you?” These types of habits compounded by years of ritual form the “tip of the iceberg” that will surely follow if lifestyle modification is not addressed and poor patterns corrected.
Dietitians are warning on a daily basis about the end outcomes of poor lifestyle choices resulting in disease states. While the end disease states are not the topic of this article, we will touch on a few that are highly prevalent: Diabetes (Type 2), Obesity and Morbid Obesity, Coronary Artery Disease, Stroke and the need for tube feeding, Peripheral Vascular Disease and amputations (from PVD and Diabetes), Renal Disease and the need for Dialysis (high prevalence secondary to Diabetes), High Blood Pressure (HTN), Osteoarthritis secondary to Diabetes and Obesity, Liver Disease secondary to Alcoholism, Congestive Heart Failure, Emphysema and End-Stage Lung Disease (secondary to years of smoking) and lastly, Respiratory Failure as a complication of Obesity and Upper Respiratory Infections.
Readers are urged to visit many of the institutions that house these individuals that once were “just like you.” Visit a skilled nursing facility, an acute hospital, a sub-acute unit, a rehabilitation hospital, an outpatient clinic or any other institution that will welcome you (i.e. bring a gift to brighten a resident’s day) and then visualize yourself in their shoes – so to speak.
You may think these diseases can’t happen to you, but listen, the above disease states occur in people who were just like you! They said the same things. This is not just the author’s opinion. It is known truth from many years of working with these individuals. The goal is to improve the quality of all people’s lives by prevention if possible. To effectively do this does not mean to live the life of a recluse and shelter yourself from all of society, but what it does mean is to make good lifestyle choices and do not let the periodic resting on one’s laurels, eating a high-fat, high cholesterol meal, or drinking alcohol in excess to become a habit. The following guidelines are appropriate to follow:
- Eat an overall diet high in fiber (25 grams), lower in salt (less than 2000 mg.), low in saturated fat and overall fat (less than 30% of total calories), low in cholesterol (less than 300mg) with the predominance of calories in your diet from complex carbohydrates, next highest in protein and lastly fat. Water/fluids should be around 1500-2000cc/day (app. 6-8 glasses a day). Overall calories should also be appropriate.
- Alcohol is acceptable generally at 1 serving a day for most women and 2 servings a day for most men (1 serving is 1 beer, 3-4 ounces of wine, or 1 ounce of liquor).
- Exercise 3-4 times a week moderately to include aerobic, anaerobic and muscular training.
- Minimize stress to minimize muscle loss, illness and free radical damage.
- A general multivitamin with minerals may be a great value and generally poses no risks.
- Remember, your body appearance is strongly associated with your habits (good or bad) and habits stem from daily decisions which stem from attitudes and judgments which stem from your past experiences and your knowledge base.
- Make sure your knowledge base is correct and founded on scientific research, not based on what your friend said!
Remember, life can be enjoyable well into your older years without the aforementioned disease states, and that “in-shape” appearance that everyone desires to achieve, need not be the “iceberg” that so few perceive!
