Motivation...It's all a game
Motivation and effort, motivation to exercise, motivation to eat right, motivation to food shop...it all takes motivation.
Why do I say it's a game? Because, like anything in life you have to convince yourself to take various actions. It is all mind-games. You can tell yourself it is easier to sit on the couch and watch t.v. than to get up and go for a walk, or to go to the gym, but, is it easier on your health?
You can tell yourself, it is easier to go through the McDonald's drive-thru, or to Shake & Steak stand and order a (high-calorie) meal, but is it easier on your waist-line? Is it overall-easier on your wallet?
No. The price we pay to treat diabetes, heart disease, and a multitude of other health-related diseases is overwhelmingly more expensive than to prevent them through exercise and healthy diet. The physical and emotional price we pay when our quality of life dramatically declines because of disease is much more than the discomfort we may feel while working out or cooking.
I have so many patients who tell me life is so difficult either with heart disease or diabetes, or with renal disease. Many patients with kidney disease have to come in for dialysis for 4 hours, 3x/wk. So, that person is spending 12+ hours a week to take care of their disease when they could have perhaps prevented it in the first place through 3.5 hours a week of exercise and maybe an additional 3 hours a week of food shopping and cooking.
When you do the math 6.5 v. 12 hours, it takes 1/2 as much time to prevent the disease than it takes to treat it.
Quality of life is huge for people. Yes, we in the United states have a high standard of living, but shouldn't that include a high quality of life? Can quality of life not be measured by happiness? Activity level? Ability to do everything you want to do?
I was hiking this past weekend, the hike started at 7800 feet above sea level and we hiked up 2.5 miles to an elevation of 9500 feet. The hike guide stated that the hike would take ~4 hours round trip. Well, I'll tell you what, we made it up the mountain in 1 hour and 10 minutes and down in 1 hour and 10 minutes, stopping for a picnic lunch.
To me, that is a high quality of life. Being able to do with my body whatever I want to do. Being healthy enough to start hiking over a mile above sea level and do so quickly. I love the challenge. If I were sick or had heart disease, this may not have been possible. If I had renal disease, this definitely may not have been possible.
Let's get motivated...It's a game. Why not win it?
Why do I say it's a game? Because, like anything in life you have to convince yourself to take various actions. It is all mind-games. You can tell yourself it is easier to sit on the couch and watch t.v. than to get up and go for a walk, or to go to the gym, but, is it easier on your health?
You can tell yourself, it is easier to go through the McDonald's drive-thru, or to Shake & Steak stand and order a (high-calorie) meal, but is it easier on your waist-line? Is it overall-easier on your wallet?
No. The price we pay to treat diabetes, heart disease, and a multitude of other health-related diseases is overwhelmingly more expensive than to prevent them through exercise and healthy diet. The physical and emotional price we pay when our quality of life dramatically declines because of disease is much more than the discomfort we may feel while working out or cooking.
I have so many patients who tell me life is so difficult either with heart disease or diabetes, or with renal disease. Many patients with kidney disease have to come in for dialysis for 4 hours, 3x/wk. So, that person is spending 12+ hours a week to take care of their disease when they could have perhaps prevented it in the first place through 3.5 hours a week of exercise and maybe an additional 3 hours a week of food shopping and cooking.
When you do the math 6.5 v. 12 hours, it takes 1/2 as much time to prevent the disease than it takes to treat it.
Quality of life is huge for people. Yes, we in the United states have a high standard of living, but shouldn't that include a high quality of life? Can quality of life not be measured by happiness? Activity level? Ability to do everything you want to do?
I was hiking this past weekend, the hike started at 7800 feet above sea level and we hiked up 2.5 miles to an elevation of 9500 feet. The hike guide stated that the hike would take ~4 hours round trip. Well, I'll tell you what, we made it up the mountain in 1 hour and 10 minutes and down in 1 hour and 10 minutes, stopping for a picnic lunch.
To me, that is a high quality of life. Being able to do with my body whatever I want to do. Being healthy enough to start hiking over a mile above sea level and do so quickly. I love the challenge. If I were sick or had heart disease, this may not have been possible. If I had renal disease, this definitely may not have been possible.
Let's get motivated...It's a game. Why not win it?
posted by Dana M. Ellis, MPH, R.D. @ 3:23 PM
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