The ironic aspect of “Health Care” in the United States stems from the fact that over half of Americans suffer obesity, heart disease and lung cancer.  They demand health care after they failed to take care of their personal health for most of their lives.  They expect a heart-vein bypass graft operation to save them from their pizza gobbling and ice cream over a lifetime. They want new lungs after 50 million of them smoked all their lives.   They want to lose their obesity with a pill or operation.  Most fail to take responsibility for their own health.

We might rename all “Health Care” to “Sick Care” because over 150 million Americans suffer obesity in various forms.  Estimates show that 200 million Americans fail to exercise whatsoever.
But Americans watch endless hours of television

- 4 hours per day for young children.
- Slightly less for older children.
- 29 hours per week for an adult male.
- 34 hours per week for an adult female.

(Source: www.askville.com )
Can you imagine those hours being used for buying, cooking and eating healthy foods?  How about an hour and a half per day for exercising?  What about reading a good book?

Obviously, our obese and diabetic children grow up under the poor nutritional practices of their parents: junk food, sugary cereals, ice cream, candy, soda pop and salty nachos.

Americans take better care of their cars than they care for their bodies

Have you watched your obese neighbors meticulously wash and clean their cars?  They change the oil, air filter, oil filter and perform needed brake maintenance on their cars while they let their bodies go to hell in a hand-basket.  The dealers state, “Change your oil every three to five-thousand miles, rotate tires and check the pressure regularly…you’ll get the best performance and your vehicle will last and run longer.”
Unfortunately, most Americans do not care for their “vehicle to get through life”, i.e., their bodies.  Thus, over the last three decades, Americans changed from “lean and clean” to “fat and sloppy.”  They shifted from good foods to “fast foods” eaten on the run, in a hurry and filled with all sorts of nutritional rubbish.  Result: 1 in 6 of every U.S. dollar is spent on sick care.

You were born to live a healthy life for your whole life

When you take your car to the dealer for maintenance, you may find other issues that need to be repaired before they become worse.  It’s called “Pre-hab” instead of letting the problem grow to force your car into “Re-hab.”
Same with your body!  Why would you allow your body to become fat, obese and out of shape?  Why would you want it to fail on you as you grow older?   Why wouldn’t you like to enjoy life as much when you grow older as you did when you enjoyed your youth?

“Significant health issues such as osteoarthritis, chronic back and neck pain, diabetes and cardiovascular disease are often chalked up to aging, when they are largely preventable,” said Joe Shukster, health care professional. “They can be created and/or worsened by poor health awareness, lack of education and insufficient self-care, all of which can lead to premature degeneration and dysfunction in any system or structure of the body.  These main killers and quality-limiting issues are often called “lifestyle diseases.”

If 100 percent of the obese and fat people in America ate and exercised down to their correct weight, we could cut our sick care costs by 80 percent or more.  If people took care of themselves with the same care they take of their cars, they could alleviate most of their growing health problems.

If Americans practiced “Pre-hab” rather than wait for their bodies to break down and suffer through “Re-hab”, America would be a much healthier and happier country in which to live.

“Health is the greatest passion.  Contentment is the greatest treasure. Confidence is the greatest friend.”  Lao Tzu

As you accelerate through your life, you will move from youth to middle age to old age.  Wouldn’t you rather hop, skip and run into old age rather than limp, groan and whimper your way to the doorstep of death?

Instead of “Re-hab” how about “Pre-hab” throughout your life?  Lose that weight, slim up, exercise and optimize your health.  Try  www.weightwatchers.com ; www.sensa.com ; and www.jennycraig.com can help you on your journey.  Check out a personal trainer at your local recreation center to get you started in swimming, walking, weights and bicycling.  Choose what works for you 1.5 hours per day, six days a week.

At 65, I take my own advice. I swim a half mile, lift weights, run a mile and bicycle six days a week.  I crunch through 100 sit ups every day.  I stretch in the hot tub and meditate with a still mind.  This summer, I bicycled 4,000 miles coast to coast across America, my 8th time across the USA on a bicycle. I treasure every day of my life.   I expect to pack in as much healthy living as possible before I take my final breath.  You can, too!

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Frosty Wooldridge has bicycled across six continents - from the Arctic to the South Pole - as well as eight times across the USA, coast to coast and border to border. In 2005, he bicycled from the Arctic Circle, Norway to Athens, Greece. In 2012, he bicycled coast to coast across America.  His latest book is: How to Live a Life of Adventure: The Art of Exploring the World by Frosty Wooldridge, copies at 1 888 280 7715/ Motivational program: How to Live a Life of Adventure: The Art of Exploring the World by Frosty Wooldridge, click:

www.HowToLiveALifeOfAdventure.com