According to a study by Michigan State University, a healthy lifestyle is defined by four basic criteria:
* Not smoking
* Maintaining a healthy weight
* Eating right
* Exercising
Of the 153,000 respondents, only 3% participated in all four of what are termed healthy lifestyle characteristics.
Seriously? THREE percent? That’s absolutely rediculous. I want to know how many of the people who read this (I don’t really want to use the word “readers”. “My readers,” that makes me sound pretentious.)
Ok, let’s go over the list again:
* Not smoking (Check! I definitely do not smoke.)
* Maintaining a healthy weight (Check! They said it was under a BMI of 25. I’m at 21.6.)
* Eating right (Check! I eat VERY well. I’ve done very, very well lately of not having candy (except the occasional one chocolate kiss, with almond), I eat tons of spinach and egg whites, some skim milk and no fat yogurt, lots of fruits and veges, and nothing that is “bad” for me (except diet soda, which Megan hates). I don’t eat Cheez-Its, or Doritos, or anything like that)
* Exercising (Check! I run 2+ miles 6 days a week (at least!), and do strength training less than I should, but I do do it)
Now…. how is that so hard? I don’t understand. I also sleep well, I try to get 8-9 hours a night. Usually on the weekend, though, I can only get about 7 cause I come home from work so late. But still, that’s pretty good. I also walk 10,000 steps a day, even if I don’t run. Today, I am so sore from doing lunges and squats yesterday, that I couldn’t possibly run. But I went to the gym anyway, and walked for 45 minutes VERY slowly. But I did it.
Oh, and I definitely want to spread the word on the site www.realage.com. It’s a site where you answer a bunch of questions, and then you find out what your “real age” is. They take all of these different aspects of your life, and see how it changes how healthy you are, and basically, how “old” your body REALLY is. Not eating well makes you older, but exercising makes you younger. Wearing your seatbelt also makes you younger, because it’s healthy, and shows that you have good health habits.
Anyway, my Real Age is 16.2 (I’m really 24.3). My brother, on the other hand, is really 21.4, and his Real Age is 27!!!!!!! He doesn’t eat well, or exercise, or take vitamins, or do anything else that’s good for him. I have CANCER, and I’m still in better health than my brother. That says something about how poor his health really is.
Here’s what they tell me is making me older: (a few of the MANY)
Not enough Omega-3
Not enough strength training
Driving too fast
Not having enough support
Worrying too much
Dealing with heartburn
Oh, and living with cancer
It is a GREAT site for learning what you need to do to improve your overall health. It’s written by the doctors who write all the You! books. They are where I turn when I have questions about whether coffee is good for me, what kind of vitamins I need, and what I can do to get rid of my cold as fast as possible (500mg of vitamin C four times a day, chicken noodle soup, and zinc lozenges)!! One of my dad’s Studebaker friends is the illustrator for all the books, and that’s how I got into them.
So, please, readers, tell me how healthy you are. Do you follow all four? At least three out of the four? And, sign up for Real Age, and tell me both of your ages. It’s a GREAT site!
