It is difficult to sit across from a patient who has been
neglecting, or actively abusing, their health and body for most of their adult
life, listen to the litany of complaints about their health and/or appearance,
and not say, “well, what did you expect?”. Doing this is not only too easy, but
borders on cruelty. I don’t think people consciously set out in life to
purposely screw up their health. With obvious exceptions most kids start life healthy and active. Like the apocryphal frog in the pan, events in
life transpire slowly enough that they don’t see what is happening until one
day they look in the mirror and see someone who, as the title of the popular
documentary states, is “fat, sick, and nearly dead”.
These are the people who are in the last grouping of the
three kinds of people in the world: those who make things happen, those who
watch happens, and those who wonder “what the heck happened?”. The challenge
isn’t pointing this out; that’s the easy part. The challenge is getting them to own up to the fact, face their situation realistically, and make the switch to the first group, those who take charge of their lives and
make the necessary changes to restore their health and bodies. Some are simply
so immersed in our present culture of victimhood and emotionally/psychologically crippled that what
they really need is a "life coach" to guide them through the process of becoming
independent, self-actualizing human beings. It is a daunting challenge that
modern medicine seems ill equipped to meet. Who pays for the life coaches? Even though we would probably save money in the long run, such preventative steps are usually not covered by any insurance. We (physicians and others in the
medical arena) are so conditioned to treat disease that we are only now
beginning to truly appreciate the critical importance of prevention.
Discipline is not easy nor, truth be told, much fun at
times. It means denying oneself at times when it is very tempting to indulge.
It means getting up in the dark to go out for a run, swim, or to the gym;
eating mindfully rather than just stuffing our mouths with whatever is offered
or whatever tastes good; refraining from taking that extra helping at the end
of a meal; and doing a myriad of things each day that benefit our health,
versus doing the opposite. The price of doing this, in my personal and
professional experience, is pennies compared to the cost of the regret that I
see all the time from those who chose differently. On a personal level, it is
the difference between a life well lived and one of constant physical
deterioration and a revolving door relationship with the medical establishment. On an
aggregate, national level, it may just be the difference between solvency and
prosperity for our country and eventual economic collapse under the burden of
medical health care costs. The choice is ours.
Best week yet in terms of doing all three disciplines. The
bike ride allowed me to see how the adjustments and aero bars feel- they feel
good. A little right knee soreness but nothing substantial. Next week I begin
my assessments at the National
Training Center
Week’s Training Summary:
Swimming- Wed. Jan 23: 2575 yds, 2.32min/100 yds, 1:05:03 total time
Bike- Sat. Jan. 26:
55.26 mi @ ave. 15.8 mph, 3:30:00 total time
6.11 mi @ ave. 12.3 mph
(first ride with Sal on her new bike), 0:29:42
Run- Thu. Jan. 24: 5.42 mi @ ave 9:05min/mi, total time
49.13
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