Editor's note: Americans may be living longer and even exercising a tad more, but they're not necessarily healthier, . Myriad reasons exist: too much bad food, too little good food, a sedentary lifestyle, smoking, drinking and just plain living in the wrong area of the country. Yahoo asked readers: What is your biggest obstacle in the way of a healthier you? Here's one response.
Tell us in the comments about your biggest health hurdle.
FIRST PERSON | If you go to the Grand Canyon, you'll see a sign that says, "This is the type of person we typically have to save." It's not a heavyset individual that they show. It's someone who looks to be in perfect physical shape.
The message is clear. Just because someone looks like he or she is in good shape, that doesn't mean the individual is necessarily healthy or behaving wisely.
I am 42, 6-foot-2, weigh about 190, and have a lean frame. I run several times a week, and compete in local 5k races. I don't eat many sweets, fast food burgers, drink much, or smoke. I had people in my small Georgia town near Atlanta tell me I was healthiest person they knew.
But I wasn't.
During a recent health fair, I was diagnosed with having abnormally high blood pressure, too much bad cholesterol, too little "good cholesterol." My doctor confirmed the results.
Change involved consuming more fish, nuts, spinach, and eating smaller portion sizes. I had to cut down on my sodium intake. I couldn't bear to eliminate coffee, but I'm down to a single cup a day.
But that was only half the battle.
I also had to cut down on something else I grew to like too much: stress. Ever since I can remember, I liked to put a lot of pressure on myself. It's like a football player playing like the score is tied in the fourth quarter, even on the first play. I love the adrenaline I get from hard work in teaching, research, writing, presenting, serving on committees, biting off more than I could chew. My department chair told me to take it a little easier at work.
What really got me to change happened when a friend in our church, who also ran in races, gave 120 percent at work, and had a healthier physique than mine died suddenly of a massive heart attack that stunned our community. His widow's presence at our bible study meetings, and the sight of her kids with ours in their youth meetings, was a constant reminder that just because you look healthy doesn't mean everything is okay.
So I have a blood pressure machine. I'm eating better, stressing less, and made full professor earlier this month without losing any efficiency at work. I win more running awards nowadays. And I'll keep it up, as I have a frequent reminder of what happens when you don't.
John A. Tures is a professor of political science at LaGrange College in LaGrange, Ga.
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