What we call health care in the United States of America is really sickness care. This is because too many of our fellow Americans (not us, of course) are sitting back waiting for their doctors to rescue them with a drug, surgery or other medical interventions each time they get yet another illness. Rather than taking personal responsibility for their own health and well-being, they are looking to the medical establishment to save them every time they get in "trouble" due to repeated poor lifestyle choices. This greatly increases the health-care costs for all Americans -- both sick and well.
The majority of politicians in Washington seem to think that the answer lies in dismantling our current health-care system and replacing it with a nationalized one. If we allow them to do this, we'll merely be trading one set of problems for another. This proposed solution has a price tag of hundreds of billions of dollars, that we don't have, that will be unfairly passed on to future generations.
There is a better solution. We can dramatically lower health-care costs in America by simply taking care of ourselves -- en masse. Just as we as a nation made going to the moon a major goal, we can make Shaping Up For America a priority. We can deal with this crisis by taking and encouraging personal responsibility when it comes to staying well.
But will it work? You may be wondering if something so simplistic can make a difference. The answer comes from an unexpected source, reality TV. We have three examples from the 2009 edition of TV's Biggest Loser show that illustrate what taking personal responsibility for one's own health and well-being can do in just a few months' time.
Ron Morelli, 54, started the show weighing 430 illness-promoting pounds. Despite bad knees, a shoulder problem, cardiovascular disease, breathing problems, high cholesterol ... Ron was able to lose 192 pounds. More importantly, this resulted in his successfully eliminating his dependence on three blood-pressure medicines and four diabetic medicines he relied on to stay vertical. Further, after just months of exercise and an improved diet, his blood tests were back in the normal range and he was fit enough to walk a full 26.2-mile marathon despite his "bad" knee.
Forty-eight-year-old Helen Phillips went from 257 unhealthy pounds to a svelte 117. The third oldest participant out of 22 (most were in their 20s and younger), she won the contest by losing over 54% of her weight.
The oldest competitor ever, Jerry Hayes, 64, won the at-home $100,000 prize. Having been eliminated from the ranch (where competitors get support and supervision in their attempt to lose weight) at the end of the second week, Jerry went from 369 pounds to 192 almost entirely while at home. According to Dr. Huizenga, the show's resident doctor, Jerry, who suffered from a host of health problems, including diabetes, gout and sleep apnea, was able to rid himself of five diseases and six medicines. It should be noted that Huizenga stated on the air that one of Jerry's medications was the cause of his collapsing during the first hour of the show's first workout, requiring Jerry to be taken to the hospital to recover.
Helen, Ron and Jerry show that age should not be an excuse for not taking care of ourselves; they made all these improvements in their health and well-being in a matter of months with just diet, exercise and an improved attitude. The medical costs to do all this were negligible.
Think about the health-care costs for just these three individuals had they remained at their beginning weights and kept their many and expanding health issues. Now imagine the drain on the health-care system were these three examples to be multiplied by tens of millions of other Americans who have allowed their weight to soar and their health problems to escalate! Remember, about two-thirds of Americans are said to be overweight or obese and half of these, or almost 100 million by my math, are obese. These weight-challenged individuals will typically have more and more health problems associated with their being obese and out of shape as they age -- think: 75-million boomers entering their more-likely-less-healthful 50s, 60s and 70s.
Let's turn things around. Now imagine tens of millions of Americans taking responsibility for their own well-being and therefore needing much less medical care. Can it be done? If a reality TV show can do it, then surely America can do it, too. Let's take the solution out of the hands of the politicians who, in a matter of months, have put us 10 Trillion dollars in debt, and let's put it in our own hands!
Every American needs to know that by each of us taking more responsibility for our own health and well-being, by being models of it, and by encouraging others to do the same, we can create an army of super-healthy Americans united to bring health-care costs under control. Will you help make Shaping Up For America a grass-roots movement that makes America once again fiscally, physically and mentally the healthiest country in the world?
Ed Mayhew is a speaker (Need one? A good one?) and the author of Fitter After 50, Fitter for Life, and AGE BLASTERS: 3 Steps to a Younger You Visit Ed at: www.YouCanGrowYounger.com www.FitterForLife.com Ask for your F*R*E*E Fitter After 50/Fitter for Life e-newsletter
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