In my experience, when people are initially presented with the compelling research findings supporting the amazing power of healthy lifestyle changes for beating obesity and preventing or reversing chronic disease, they generally respond in one of three ways.
Changing – About one-third get busy implementing such dietary/lifestyle changes, almost immediately.
Waffling – Another one-third are confused and not sure what to do. They’ve heard so much conflicting information from different sources over the years, how can you blame them?
Rebelling -The final third basically say “Ain’t nobody tellin’ me what to eat and what not to eat. I’m eatin’ what I want and when I want it … and don’t try to stop me !”
Obviously, the members of the first group are well on their way, and will begin reaping health benefits within weeks, if not sooner.
Those in the second group can often be swayed toward a healthy lifestyle, when presented with real life examples of success stories or when reminded that this may be the difference between being around to see their grandkids. They may recall their 60 year old diabetic aunt, who was blind, had both feet amputated and was on dialysis (most of us need not look far in our families to find such nightmare examples that resulted from completely preventable disease).
The third group is more difficult. Sometimes it takes a serious personal health scare, such as a heart attack or stroke, or reaching a weight where even walking is difficult or impossible.
Please understand that is never my intent to force or cajole anyone to adopt a healthier lifestyle. Heal2BFree strives to help you sift through the confusing (often inaccurate) information which bombards you each day, so can make informed decisions regarding your health.
By Dr. Ed James, BDO Healthy Lifestyle Expert
Dr. Ed James draws inspiration from his personal experiences with healthy lifestyle changes, having overcome prediabetes and obesity several years ago. In 2011, he founded Heal2BFree to focus on helping individuals and organizations to develop and implement action plans that help close the health disparities gap between blacks and whites.
Dr. James has given many presentations, including the 2011 National Medical Association Colloquium and regularly contributes preventive health-related articles to some of the nation’s top health publications. He is also the primary author and co-editor of Getting into Medical School – A Planning Guide for Minority Students.
He received his BS in Biology from Bucknell University and earned his MD and MBA from the University of Pennsylvania as a participant in the Penn Med Scholars combined degree program.
For more healthy lifestyle tips and news, visit Dr. Ed at Heal 2B Free.
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