Men and health fitness

sion, mental health, oppression, obesity and violence you name it. Some men don’t care to eat and live a healthier lifestyle. I’m not here to counsel or judge but to speak the truth. Dear men, living in health matters. Not to show off your muscles to another woman or to prove to the world for validation but come to the place of becoming healed eternally, emotionally, physically and spiritually and to be able to become the best version of yourself. I find that there is so many counseling sessions, conferences and events for woman more than for men these days. But not enough shows to build an empower men to be the best version of themselves. In this article I’ll dive into the reason why men need to stay fit and healthy.

Men you can live in health and pass that legacy down to your sons and the next generation. It’s not always about the woman being healthy. As I think and meditate on men health and fitness. I see some men wising up and some not wising up. I find some men always pointing figures at the woman as the problem. Question to ask yourselves today as you read this article; who’s the most to die early? My answer is men. We have more woman in population. Let’s do a reality check. According to my research, I discovered that average man pays less attention to their health than the average woman. Compared to women, men are more likely to

• Drink alcohol and use tobacco

• Make risky choices

• Not see a doctor for regular checkups

Major health tips for men:

• Visit your doctor- Schedule yearly checkups with your doctor and keep these appointments. Your doctor can help monitor your weight, blood pressure, and the level of cholesterol in your blood. Excess weight, high blood pressure, and high blood cholesterol are risk factors for cardiovascular disease. Your doctor can recommend lifestyle changes, medications, or other treatments to help get your weight, blood pressure, and blood cholesterol under control (Rogers, n.d.).

• Eat natural foods and stop relying on steroid’s (Rogers, n.d.)

• Workout and stay fit (Rogers, n.d.)

• Get your vitamins (Rogers, n.d.)

SAKRED SYNERGI

“I’m not telling any White people my business!”

This was my response to my aunt after a year of being in an abusive relationship in my early 20’s. I didn’t know where that response came from, or why I said it, all I knew was that Black people didn’t go to therapy, it was a “White people” thing. I knew I would either get laughed at or frowned upon by my peers, and that was not an option for me.

I was too strong, I thought, I could handle my own problems. It’s done and gone so I’ll be all right.

Little did I know, those two years of trauma shaped the next 10 years of my life, and it wasn’t for the better. It wasn’t until I talked to a professional that I realized how this trauma forced me into a bitter cocoon for the better half of my life.

So why did it take me so long to seek help?

Where did this notion come from that Caribbeans don’t go to therapy?

When was living with unhealed trauma a positive thing?

Here are some reasons why Black people don’t do therapy.

The Caribbean has a long history of slavery, colonization and oppression. Our hardship as a people has washed us into a tunnel of self-reliance and a reluctance to seek outside help. We have developed this “figure it out yourself,” attitude, because asking for help would ex-pose a sign of weakness and we are anything but weak! Right? I mean, in the Black family, a male child is not even allowed to cry. Any expression of emotion is deemed “soft” and is fol-lowed by ridicule and a push to “man up.” This leaves our Black boys imprisoned by their own feelings that they’ve been taught at a young age to suppress. Why would they now, as adults, feel that it’s ok to express those bottled-up emotions to a perfect stranger?

The lack of access and understanding about mental health has also left many to believe false notions. It is thought that things like depression, anxiety and sadness is just a normal part of life that doesn’t need to be addressed. Many growing up in poverty-stricken neigh-bourhoods aren’t worried about their depression, they are more concerned about providing for their family or dodging violence.

The answer to this is usually God.

“Go read your bible and pray,” my mom would always say if she saw that I was feeling down. Leaning in on a higher power and reading holy books can definitely bring comfort in times of despair, but I also feel that must be coupled with pro-fessional help to get to the heart of the problem. I know many religious folk who are depressed and feeling just as hopeless as anybody else, but they are bound to the bible, and they feel it is their only solution.

Would you enjoy being called, “Soand-so’s crazy child,” in your tight knit community? Like all other cultures, we are not exempt from gossip. Nobody wants to be the one to bring shame or negative attention to the family, so troubles are kept in the home and outside help is refused. This is a dangerous and prideful way of living, as many people in the islands deemed “crazy” on the road only need the proper attention to get the help they require.

Have you ever thought about how many people live and leave this world in sadness? Feel-ing unfulfilled and unaccomplished? Pondering the pain that life’s experiences have dished out can leave a bad taste in anybody’s mouth. Nobody in this world is exempt from trying times, so how we deal with it will be the determining factor of our overall well-being and mental health.

When we: learn to laugh in the face of stigmas, release old paradigms that no longer serve us and begin to afford ourselves the grace we deserve, then can we begin to see a clear path to inner peace and healing.

I speak from experience when I say that counselling helped me release a lot of trauma; it peeled away the layers of the cocoon I had built around my heart and soul. Therapy is a safe, non-judgemental place where you are encouraged to be vulnerable and release your worries and stress. Many of us want to fill our cups of life with wealth, happiness and free-dom but our cups are dirty and filled with pain, resentment and anger. We must all empty them first of what no longer serves us to make room for what we truly want. Will you continue to embrace the false belief of Black people not needing therapy? What steps towards your personal development are courageous enough to take so you can live your best life?

Men are assailed by the diseases that can affect anyone—heart disease, stroke, diabetes, cancer, depression… But they also have unique issues such as prostate cancer and benign prostate enlargement. Many of the major health risks that men face can be prevented with a healthy lifestyle: regular exercise, a healthy diet, not smoking, stress reduction, and alcohol consumption in the moderate range (no more than two drinks a day) if at all. Regular checkups and screening tests can spot disease early, when it is easiest to treat. So don’t be an average man — get on board with protecting your health today men (Men’s Health, 2023).

• Break unhealthy habits. Smoking is one of the worst things you can do for your health. Secondhand smoke is also very dangerous. Other healthdamaging behaviors include excessive alcohol consumption and recreational or habitual drug use. Lastly, if you use recreational drugs, it’s important to stop. They’re linked to many health conditions. For example, cocaine use can cause heart attacks and strokes. Injected drugs of all sorts can lead to serious infections and skin breakdown at the injection sites. Some men also use anabolic steroids to increase muscle mass. This can lead to serious health consequences. Possible outcomes include sterility, heart disease, skin disease, and behavioral problems (Rogers, n.d.).

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