Health may be all you have left

January 8th, 2009 at 01:40pm Mike DeDoncker

As people survey the scene of a disaster, it seems someone always says, “Well, at least we have our health.”

Of course, they’re right.

And with the ongoing disaster known as the current U.S. economy threatening to hang on for a  long while, it’s more important than ever to make sure the health you have is good health.

As an example, one of my personal training clients who operates several manufacturing plants in northern Illinois, says that because of the financial collapses on Wall Street the plans of every one of his employees aged 62 to 64 to retire in the next one to four years have been destroyed.

 If they’re lucky enough that my client can keep them in jobs for that long — and he’s not so sure of that — they will have to work an extra three to five years, until they are 68 or 69, and hope things get substantially better in that time just to get close to where they were before last year.

That’s another 600 to 1,000 times that they have to be healthy enough to answer the bell. My guess is that the same is probably true for every other worker, regardless of age.

If, like me, you can’t remember the last time you saw your primary care physician, I suggest you make an appointment. If you don’t exercise regularly, start. If you smoke, try to quit.

You know the rest — eat right by giving up the refined carbs and sugars and going for more whole grains and fruits and vegetables, including the green, leafy kind; get plenty of sleep; learn ways to deal with stress and so on.

The main thing is to find a plan that fits you and stick to it, even if it takes several tries before you succeed.

Nobody knows how bad the economy is going to get, but you’ll always have your health.

Entry Filed under: healthyrockford.com