August 30, 2024 “Dodge That Bullet!”
You might think you don’t have time to hit the gym, cook healthy meals, or meditate. You’ve been told you’re prediabetic, your blood pressure is slightly elevated, and you’re gaining weight. Many health issues start subtly, and you only have so many chances to get it right. Many people are playing Russian roulette with their health, and it progresses in stages.
Playing Russian roulette with your health means taking unnecessary risks with your well-being. This phrase implies recklessly disregarding potential consequences, such as engaging in unhealthy habits, ignoring medical advice, or neglecting preventative measures. It serves as a stark reminder to prioritize your health and make informed decisions to avoid harm.
How Nutrition Affects the Stages:
Stage 1: When you eat something that doesn’t agree with you (heartburn, upset stomach, headaches, etc.), it’s your body’s way of saying it doesn’t want or need this. Ignoring these symptoms or taking a pill to fight the adverse reactions doesn’t change the fact that your body still doesn’t want it. Eventually, the results will manifest in your lab work, joints, or inflammation. This is your first chance to make a change.
Stage 2: Continuing to eat things that initially made you feel bad can lead to prediabetes, high cholesterol or high blood pressure. You might be placed on medications. This is your second chance to make a change.
Stage 3: You don’t take your meds as directed because you don’t like how they make you feel and don’t change the lifestyle that got you here, you might face kidney failure, a heart attack, or a stroke. This is really your final chance to make a change.
The question is, do you recognize this as your final chance?
A Real-Life Example:
This week, I was starting an IV on a client who came in for a vitamin B12 & IV drip. When I took his blood pressure, it was high. I asked if he had high blood pressure, and he said yes. I asked if he took any medications for it and if he took them regularly. His response almost took me out.
He said he takes his blood pressure meds on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. I said I have never heard of this type of schedule for blood pressure medication and asked if his doctor put him on that regimen, and he said no, he put himself on that schedule because he didn’t want his body to get used to the meds. You can imagine my blank stare.
Further questioning revealed he also has high cholesterol and diabetes—a triple threat. When I asked if he was taking those meds, he just put his head down.
I asked if he was interested in getting off the meds, noting that it would require exercising and eating healthy. He stated, I’m a very busy person and that would require me to cook and the way my life is set up I have to be able to get things on the go. Then he went on to say plus I gotta watch my pockets y’all be charging an arm and a leg for fitness. I told him that while he’s worried about an arm and a leg, at the rate he’s going, he might lose a kidney or possibly his life if he doesn’t make changes quickly. Dare I say, he is at his final chance. Additionally, we have classes as low as $19 a month, so he couldn’t have been talking about us.
I told him he is a walking time bomb playing Russian roulette with his health, and sooner or later, things will become irreversible. His job or busy life won’t matter anymore. It can be challenging to find time to take care of your health with busy schedules, but not paying attention to your health could mean missing out on your best life! So, take the time to start that fitness regime, cook healthy food, and take any medications as directed, this will give you one more chance to dodge that unhealthy bullet coming your way. No Mess.
