CHANGES WHAT A DIFFERENCE A YEAR CAN MAKE

WRITER: RICHARD T. BOSSHARDT, M.D., FACS

SET A 12-MONTH PLAN TO START LIVING A HEALTHIER LIFE.

Alot can happen in a year. There is an apocryphal story about a counselor to a king who was caught red-handed stealing from the treasury and sentenced to die. He was hauled before the king who asked, “Give me a reason why I should not have your head this very minute?” The counselor answered, “Oh king, live forever. I am the best teacher in the kingdom. Grant me a year’s reprieve and I will teach your favorite horse to sing.” Intrigued, the king granted his request. The counselor’s friends said to him, “This is a fool’s bargain. You will not succeed and in a year, the king will have your head.” “Perhaps,” replied the counselor, “but I have gained a year and a lot can happen in a year. The king may die. I may die. The horse may die. Or, who knows… the horse just might sing!”

When I took physics in college, I was introduced to Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity. One of its tenets is time is not fixed. If a person somehow manages to travel at speeds approaching that of light, time literally slows down and that person will age more slowly than a person who is moving slower or not at all.

In a somewhat different way, we see time’s relativity every day. We all start each day with the same 24-hour period, but it seems some people make that time go so much further and accomplish a lot more than others do. It is almost as though they stretch out those minutes and hours in some way. For me, time always seems to speed up at year’s end.

We live in a culture obsessed with time, especially compressing time in order to get as much done in as little time as possible. As evidence of our ever-decreasing attention spans, we multitask, receive our news in sound bites, and communicate in 140 character “tweets” on Twitter. Whether in our personal or professional lives, we want results and we want them now; therefore, long-term planning is not our forte.

A little over one year ago, I decided to make some major changes in my life. At age 60, I had gained more than 20 pounds, my cholesterol was creeping up, and I was worried because heart disease runs in my family. Thus, in 2012, I did two things: adopted a largely vegetarian diet and committed to make my dream of completing an Ironman triathlon a reality.

A year later, I have lost the extra weight and my cholesterol is down to where it was when I was a medical student. It was a 12-month investment of commitment, planning, and effort. Changes did not come easily or quickly but looking back, I am amazed at how different my life is. A month after successfully finishing the Florida Ironman, it is still hard to grasp all that has happened.

The question I have for you, dear readers, is where will you be 12 months from now? The facts are unassailable. Nearly two-thirds of the adult U.S. population is overweight or obese. Eighty percent of U.S. citizens 18 years or older do not perform the recommended 150 minutes of moderate exercise and two days of muscle strength training per week. Seventy percent of all Americans are on one or more prescription drugs for their blood pressure, elevated cholesterol, depression, diabetes, arthritis, etc.

We are victims of our own success and it is killing us and destroying our economic future. Technology has advanced to where we can almost live our lives from a chair. We have made food so inexpensive, plentiful, and accessible that we can eat large portions whenever we wish. As if that weren’t enough, we have made food almost addicting because of its sugar, salt, and fat content. Our medical care has become so effective that we can continue to lead our sedentary, gluttonous lives and rely on medicine to keep us alive despite our growing litany of chronic illnesses. Healthcare costs make up a sixth of our economy; they are soaring and not sustainable.

So, what about you? Everyone has the same 12-month period available at the start of each year. If you lose one to one- and-a-half pounds per week, you stand to lose between 50 and 75 pounds in a year. What difference might that make in your diabetes, high blood pressure, arthritis, cholesterol, and overall sense of wellbeing? How much better might you feel? How much might you save in personal health care costs? Imagine the possibilities.

Ask yourself, “Where do I want to be in one year, five years, or 10 years?” What are you doing today to get there? In all honesty, we can all do better in taking care of ourselves. If it seems overwhelming to think a year ahead, focus on today. After all, a year is made up of 365 todays. Do something today that will move you toward where you want to be a year from now. Find your dream and turn it into a goal by setting a deadline and implementing a plan to get there. Enlist your physician, a family member, or a trusted friend to accompany you, encourage you, and hold you accountable. You have nothing to lose and much to gain. Who knows, in a year, the horse might just sing.