Do you feel trapped? In a cage? You have the key!

I have a loved one that has been diagnosed with yet another condition/ailment/disease. I told my husband this is how I feel:

   

                                                     

She is trapped in a cage.

I can't reach the lock, the lock is on the inside...

I hand her the key and she takes it.

She looks at me, looks at the key, looks at the lock.

And here I am 'trapped' on the outside,

begging her to use the key, to unlock the lock.

I tell her "just put the key in the keyhole." 

"Turn it & you will be free".

But she just sits down, with the key in her hand,

refusing to use the key.

This is exactly the situation. She has so many conditions that are a result of her lack of exercise and eating healthy. Here's a quick list of what she's been diagnosed with in the last 10 years:

1. High blood pressure
2. Blood clots
3. COPD
4. Borderline diabetes
5. and now: Chronic Kidney Disease
6. IBS
7. Acid Reflex

Why all these things?

1. She's a smoker of 40 years...now says she is 'cutting back'.
2. She's been 50-100 lbs. overweight for about 10 years.
3. She's been drinking regular soda for about 40 years.
4. She's indulged in 3 item combos at her fave Mexican restuarant regularly.
5. She's indulged at buffets regularly.
6. She's sat down in the front of the t.v. w/ 1, 2, 3 bowls of ice cream over the years.
7. She's frequented the discount cake table and eaten a choco cake weekly for a few years.
8. She skips breakfast.
9. She does not prepare healthy meals for herself.
10. She's never had an exercise plan.
11. She procastinated the last 20 years to eat healthy and exercise.
12. She procastinated the last 15 years to give up smoking.
13. She has NOT followed doctors advice to make changes.
14. She's kept that stubborn attitude of "NO ONE's going to tell me how to live".

What is so sad is we have no idea how much longer she has to live. See the irony in that attitude.

Really. All these conditions seem to be 'managed' with meds...(She's nearing 15 diff. pills/day now). But a stroke or heart attack could take her out instantly. And guess what - these were all preventable years ago.

This cage she is in....she put herself there...and only she can take herself out. Are you in a cage? Have you realized what that you can turn the key and let yourself out? I'm pleading with you today: If you don't do it for yourself, do it for your kids, your loved ones.

Let your love for them override the compulsive, unhealthy addictions/behavior. Make yourself healthy by putting in the good and leaving out the bad! Do it today.

Don't procastinate another day.

Do it NOW while it's not too late.

Unfortunately, a day turns into a week, a week into a month, a month into a year...a year into a decade or 2.

Turn the key today - unlock yourself from your unhealthy captivity & LIVE!

Was I too tough on you this week?

Looking over my last few posts, I was worried that I was too hard on you. In fact, I was asking myself, "what's my problem?" Why am I pounding my readers over the head w/ 'push yourself', 'try harder', 'stop procastinating'?

And yesterday, during a conversation w/ a friend, I realized what it is.

In the last 2 weeks, I have had soooooo many conversations with people about health issues that are all related to: lack of diet & exercise.

Do any of you see or understand that diet & exercise are actually PREVENTITIVE measures you can take to avoid many diseases and conditions. Instead, many go with the 'reactive route' of medicines, procedures, prescriptions, and still deal with the diseases/disorders/conditions/discomfort/early death.

Don't even get me started about how I feel that doctors should be more proactive with patients and get them plugged into a regimen to be healthier, until waiting 'til it's too late to just prescribe a pill, injection, potion, or lotion.

In the last 2 weeks, I've heard of people who have been diagnosed with:

• Borderline diabetes (a person that I've shared health & diet w/ over 2 years)
• Chronic Kidney Disease (a person I've pleaded with to give up sodas (4-6/day) for 7 years)
• Diabetes (a person who needs the shots & medicine, who is reluctant to eat better)
• Kidney Disease (a soda-addict that now goes 3X/wk. for their 'blood to be cleaned'/dialysis)
• COPD (this condition will progress thru stages, to the point of chronic pneumonia/on oxygen - this person is still smoking)
• High Blood Pressure (this person says, "I only have HBP"....for now...and they're not making changes w/ their diet/exercise)
• Liver Disease (this person has been a chronic pill popper, pain med consumer)

All these things are pretty preventable through making healthy choices. Can you see why I get so fired up & passionate?

A couple months ago, a friend of mine asked me how I stay motivated to just keep going w/ my workouts and eating lean. Look at that list above - I DO NOT WANT THOSE THINGS!!!! I want quality of life when I'm in my 50s & 60s. I don't want to spend my days when I'm 'retired' in the docs offices, in line at the pharmacy, plugged into machines to breathe/live, etc.

What can you do today? Stop the crazy soda consumption. Give up smoking. Start walking, jogging, a workout program. Drink more water. Decrease your red meat consumption. Cut back on caffeine. Cut back/give up the alcoholic drinks nightly. Stop stuffing your gut w/ cookies/cakes/ice cream - SUGARS. Give up the pizza dipped in ranch w/ a super wedge! Eat the green stuff, the lean stuff, the healthy stuff - and get moving ASAP!

This is why I share a message of self-control. When we control our appetites & desires for unhealthy foods/drinks, we are setting ourselves up for a better life, one of less disease. Hear my heart - make better choices so that you can have a better life! Please.....

P.S. Get your kids off this junk too - people are getting sicker earlier....and we as parents need to be more responsible w/ what we feed our kids! Help them live longer while they have you.