Health, wealth and happiness Part 2

In Part One of Health, Wealth and Happiness Attainable but Not Immortality I presented a compelling argument that one of if not they most dangerous conditions that can and does shorten human life is obesity. Yet little if anything is done by the vast majority of our world population. Weird but true the prevailing attitude seems to be something like, “Yeah, Ok so what. Let’s just grab another slice of pizza and open another bottle of beer.”

I recall once being told by an undeniably obese medical doctor that if I survived I would never walk again. At the time I was in the Intensive Care Unit having recently suffered a near fatal congestive heart failure that was to a large part the result of my own state of obesity. But I was utterly flabbergasted to actually hear this pronouncement from a clearly obese physician. If even a medical doctor who surely knows better than most of us just how deadly obesity truly is nevertheless chooses to remain himself in a state of obesity, what chance does the rest of us have?

The problem is that the vast majority of us take what I call the Egyptian approach to things, we just don’t want to hear the truth. That is we simply remain in da Nile, or more correctly in a state of denial. From time to time my lovely wife would suggest that perhaps I should stop smoking cigars, drinking alcohol and lose some weight.

That was a truly loving suggestion from a beautiful woman I have adored for decades.  I knew she was right and I knew her comments came from love and yet I always offered this response. “Ah geez, Winston Churchill led Britain through a horrible war that his nation ultimately won yet the whole time he drank lots of cognac, smoked cigars like a forest fire and he was clearly a very large [obese] man. But he lived until age 90, far better than most. So what is your point?”

A classic example of deep denial in the face of overwhelming evidence about a very serious subject. It can easily  become difficult if not impossible to truly find health, wealth and happiness if you persist in remaining in denial by reciting an obviously extremely rare exception. Oh and by the way Winston Churchill died from a stroke, another disease clearly connected with obesity.

I remember once meeting a man who had been in the Israeli Air Force so he told me. On two occasions he had to bail out of his aircraft and both times his parachute failed to deploy and yet somehow he managed to survive. Assuming his tale was true would his story be a good reason to go skydiving and leave the parachute at home?

The virtually universal and overwhelming problem is that for many, if not most of the human species it is just much easier to ignore or explain away a real problem than it is to face it and fix it. The trouble with that all too common approach is that not infrequently doing that can truly be deadly.

Exasperating this problem is the simple fact that the overwhelming majority of physicians’ a/k/a medical doctors make their living and generally a very well compensated living, by treating disease and NOT by advocating good health. If they actually devoted at least some of their time to informing their patients on how and why to adopt a healthier lifestyle their practice would ultimately shrink significantly.

This is by no means entirely the fault of the physician either because were he or she to take that approach most of their patients would simply move on to a different physician willing to just write a prescription or two and move on. That sadly is the world we have created for ourselves. No need to actually fix the underlying problem when all we need to do is take a pill or two and everything is fine except, of course, for that underlying problem that will ultimately kill us.

Just one example of how dangerous this situation truly is consider this: One of the larger health problems in the world today is Type 2 Diabetes. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 30.3 million Americans have Type 2 Diabetes. That is just a tad shy of 10% of our population inflicted with a potentially deadly, and largely preventable, disease because it is often brought on by or at the very least exacerbated by obesity.

Do we address the obesity? Generally not; rather our fine physicians prescribes a drug by the name of Metformin . The problem with that is twofold. First Metformin does not address the underlying problem of obesity and the other is that in some rare cases Metformin can even be fatal. So it can happen that the drug you are taking to improve your life can, on rare occasions, end it.  Also know that Metformin will not rid your body of Type 2 diabetes but proper diet and exercise can.

Here we see a catastrophic health problem engulfing our world, and what do most of us do? Engage in denial and rely solely on medical treatment while ignoring the underlying problem. Why? Because there are psychological elements, not just the obvious physical elements. Fortunately, there are well designed programs that address the full range of issues that must be addressed to successfully beat obesity. One such program is Lindora and here is how they describe the issues and how they deal with them.

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Our comprehensive four-phase approach teaches you how to lose weight, how to keep it off, and how to improve your health for life. No “points.” No potions. No group meetings. No surgery. You’ll stay focused and motivated as you achieve rapid results. Many people who have “tried everything” find they’re able to achieve lasting success with Lindora Clinic.*

What Makes Lindora Unique?

• The program is rooted in science.
• Medically based and supervised
• Treat the whole person; address biological, psychological and environmental factors
• One-on-one sessions with medical experts
• Eat better, move more, stress less philosophy
• Nutritionally designed foods to help you achieve your goals
• Supplements and services to help accelerate your results
• Fitness programs designed to help you move more
• Strategies for combatting stress*

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The bad news is that Lindora is located only in Southern California and it costs about $100.00 a month which isn’t bad at all given its effectiveness in helping you beat a very serious health issue. There are also three well known weight loss services/programs that are national. They are Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig and Nutrisystem. Sure anyone can simply start using such apps as My Fitness Pal and Samsung Health to track calories and exercise and they do help a lot, but the big advantage of these other programs is that there is a powerful social element with each participant interrelating with and providing emotional support to others within the group and that truly can make the difference between success and failure. Yes there is a cost but it is fairly modest and by the way, just how much is your life worth?

Fortunately we live in a diverse world where nothing fits or satisfies or serves everyone. Many people like and benefit from group oriented programs to deal with weight loss and healthy living. I on the other hand prefer the “get the basic information and just do it” approach. It worked for me and it got me to lose 120 pounds and keep it off. That approach is set out in my book: Lose Live, available on Amazon Kindle for only $4.49 or as paperback from Lulu.com at just $12.98. Either way you get a lot of very focused, proven effective straight advice on how to own your issues and fix them

Whateverå approach suits you best, if you want to enhance your health and even give yourself an opportunity for greater wealth by living longer then you absolutely must be honest with yourself. Own the problem and dedicate yourself to fixing it with whatever guidance and help works best for you. Doing that successfully also contributes mightily to your overall happiness. Oh and while true that obesity is not about fashion you will feel much better about attending your next high school reunion.

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Lose Live is available here.