In many ways we Australians deserve a pat on the back for our collective efforts flattening the Corona virus curve.
Not that this hasn’t come at a cost to our economy and mental health, but has potentially averted us from the devastation of the virus, felt by the US UK and other European countries.
But just when you thought we had turned a corner and could start to return to our new normal life, there’s another curve that’s been looming around the corner for some time, and for some it may even be decades.
Your own physical Crisis Curve.
Now I don’t know where you are at but there’s a fair chance you are like many other adults in Australia and are heading down the path of a very steep and potentially disastrous curve.
Let’s take a closer look.
Your life in your 20s and 30s possibly looked something like this –
You were young, positive and optimistic,
Enjoyed a bit of sport,
Ate pretty much anything and kept yourself in pretty good shape,
Enjoyed a few drinks through the week and a few more on the weekends and could brush off a hangover as though it was a few flies at your mates BBQ.
You felt and seemed unbreakable, just like a trusty old Toyota Hilux.
But life in your 40s and 50s has become somewhat different –
You’ve aged a bit, become a little wiser and a bit more cynical.
Your life seems to be moving faster with more commitments more demands more expectations but at the same time you seem to be slowing down,
Sport is something you reminisce about and watch more often than do,
You still eat anything and enjoy a few drinks even more than you used too, but it doesn’t quite go down as well and you certainly don’t bounce back like you used to,
You’re not feeling as well or satisfied as you remember and you just put it down to getting old.
The Hilux has long been retired and now you are feeling more like an old pair of worn out Volleys.
This is the physical crisis that I’m seeing with many of my clients that is much slower then what we are seeing and hearing about Corona but is certainly just as significant.
Extract from “OECD Obesity and the economics of prevention: Fit not Fat key facts – England, update 2014“
According to a report prepare by Australian Institute of Health & Welfare 2018 – “Australia’s Health 2018 In Brief” –
2/3 of Australian adults are overweight or obese &
1/4 of Australian children aged from 5 to 17 are overweight or obese
We are living longer than ever but half of us have at least one chronic condition and many are linked to lifestyle, from being overweight or obese and doing little activity.
1 in 20 or 1.2 million Australian adults self-reported to having diabetes, however data suggest that for every 4 adults diagnosed with diabetes, 1 adult may be living with diabetes undiagnosed.
Diabetes contributed to 10% of all deaths in Australia in 2016
And this is only one lifestyle illness we have created for ourselves, and not through some wet market in Asia.
As I see it many of you are at a crossroads
You can continue on your trajectory living a modern day lifestyle, deny the facts and pretend it will pass and you can get on with life, or
Take it on board and make a few changes and get yourself back on track and put a plan in place for a long healthy lifestyle.
No doubt you have a huge amount going on, you are struggling to balance work and family commitments and you couldn’t possibly fit in a gym session nevermind a lifestyle change.
As long as you are living up to your role, if you are working hard and being productive that’s the most important thing.
But maybe you are starting to hear your father or brother or mates talk about a few health issues, but dismiss it because it won’t happen to you right?
I’m sure you have more excuses than the pages in that old set of Encyclopedia Britannica’s in the back of your garage.
I’ve heard them all.
Men typically don’t take prediabetes diagnosis seriously because there aren’t many standout symptoms and they typically ignore it and hope that it just goes away.
“60 to 70% of prediabetes diagnosis progress to diabetes”
If the condition develops into Type 2 diabetes insulin is prescribed and injected and blood sugar levels need to be checked regularly, so it’s a very serious life changing disease
Diabetes prevention should begin when we’re young in our 20s or 30s and we should develop good habits for food, lifestyle and exercise.
But even now in your 40s or 50s it’s not too late to change.
What should I do?
Cut the carbs, processed food and sugar
These should be rare treats only and not the norm which is what they have become for many of us every meal and everyday.
Get up and walk
There’s no need to bust yourself with a world record breaking effort every time you get out. Just get up and move at a low heart rate. If you have to open your mouth to breathe while you are exercising You are going too hard. Just move so you can breathe through your nose.
Lift a few heavy things a couple of times a week.
This can be a few solid reps as a bodyweight workout in your backyard or garage for 15 minutes
And to top it off, sprint once a week
This could be half a dozen 10 to 15 second stair climbs or park sprints or on the exercise bike
And stick with it.
“Sounds too easy doesn’t it? That’s because it is. And it works!”
So if you are at a crossroads as I see it you have two options –
Continue on the same path, on the same trajectory living the modern lifestyle where there’s a fair chance you may end up with a chronic disease or a lifestyle related illness or
Listen to the data and the warning signs, make a change and flatten your curve.
The choice yours
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Are you interested to find out more, how to transform your life and if I can help make you bucket list adventures come true.
Call Rod on 0406 566 748
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