Start Living a Healthier Lifestyle and Become an Everyday Champion: It Can Make the Difference in Your Life

What is a champion? Many people think of a champion as someone who just won a contest. I think of a champion as anyone who accomplishes a worthwhile goal. Let me tell you about two people who were champions for their health.

Several years ago, I met a lady who had smoked cigarettes for 50 years. She indicated that cigarettes defined her life. Because of other medical problems, she knew that she had to quit smoking. But this was very difficult for her because all of her friends smoked and, when they did things together, everything seemed to be centered around cigarettes. She had reached the point that she was “scared” to quit smoking.

Realizing that she had to be a champion for herself, she decided to quit smoking. Gradually decreasing her two-pack-per-day cigarette habit, she worked on this endeavor over a period of a year, and now she has been smoke free for the past year. Champions do not have to be well known people that we read about. Champions are people that we see every day.

Let me tell you about another person who was morbidly obese with a history of sleep apnea, hypertension, and diabetes. She desperately needed to lose a massive amount of weight. She did not want to have surgery for weight loss. She wanted to lose weight through exercise and reducing her daily intake. The thought of surgery terrified her.

Friday night was her night to drink beer and eat nachos, french fries, and hamburgers with her friends. Over the years, she had gained a great deal of weight. Due to her health problems, she realized she had to take control of her weight.

She put great effort into reducing her weight by tracking what she ate and eating all things in moderation. She also started exercising during television commercials. Every time a commercial came on, she would get up and do an exercise.

Did you know if you watch an hour-long program, commercials occupy about 20 minutes of that time?

Learn from this woman. Get some 2 or 3-pound dumbbells and do boxing and kickboxing during commercials. Just walking around the room would be a good start if you haven’t been doing any exercise. What an excellent jump start to get you on your way to improving your quality of life and improving your health.

Did you know that being overweight puts you at risk for a number of conditions, such as: osteoarthritis, back pain, cancer, diabetes, stroke, and heart attack to name a few?

Losing weight and increasing exercise help to reduce your risk for cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Isn’t it worth your time to take steps to improve your health and reduce your risks for these conditions?

Make “you” a priority by eliminating unhealthy habits and scheduling some exercise into your daily routine.

Start today exercising during television commercials.

My prescription for becoming an everyday champion is to Take care of yourself.

Remember don’t start any exercise program without the consent of your physician.

©2012 Winifred D. Bragg, MD. All Rights Reserved.