By Rick Mautz
Recently, a friend talked to me about the importance of the church being relevant. This thought has stayed with me and I have started to look at most everything that I do and its relevancy to real life issues.
As health ministry director, the first place I began to apply this z was in the area of health. Logically you would think that your health would be the highest on your list of relevant subjects but it is usually relegated to the level of “what ever happens will happen, I have too many other important things to concentrate on”.
Even though it is certainly connected to the matter at hand, we put it on the back burner, and there it stays until something pushes it to the top of our priority list. Unfortunately by that time it is often too late.
Take a look and see if any of these examples ring a bell in your life.
Every year you seem to put on a few more pounds but it is gradual and doesn’t shock you into doing anything until the doctor informs you that you are now obese, or maybe even morbidly obese. And with this condition come the added side effects of high blood pressure, heart disease and diabetes, not to mention your inability to hike and do things with your kids or grandchildren.
You have not been feeling the best, you tire easily and you are always thirsty. You don’t even want to see your doctor because you are in denial and feel that if you don’t have an official diagnosis of diabetes you are OK. When you finally see him, you are relieved when he tells you that you are pre-diabetic. So you don’t have to get serious about changes yet. Would it make a difference if you knew that by the time you have the official diagnosis of diabetes you will have lost at least 75 percent of your insulin-producing cells in your pancreas, all by ignoring your pre-diabetic blood sugar state.
Who enjoys having a colonoscopy? Not me, that’s for sure. So you put it off, you are pretty healthy, why worry? But what if you are the one that gets colon cancer? Early screening could have detected that slow growing pre-cancerous polyp before it was too late. Your family will thank you for making a choice that keeps you in their life for many years to come.
Yes I am out of shape and have not been careful about what I eat. Some people even say I am a heart attack waiting to happen. But I do get a check-up every year, so if the doctor sees anything he can take care of it with medication or surgery, so I don’t worry much. That’s what Meet the Press commentator Tim Russert thought at age 58. Two months after a complete heart workup he dropped dead of a heart attack. For 50 percent of people the first symptom of heart trouble is sudden death. There is not much you can do after that. Remember you are the chairman of the board of your health, you need to take it seriously and make good choices now and not put it off till a more convenient time. You can become heart attack proof through your lifestyle.
Is it relevant enough to save your life?
What will motivate us to see our health and how we manage it as very relevant to our daily lives?
One can assume that someone reading this article has decided, “I am going to make my health a priority. My family is important and I want to be around for a long time.” If so, it is never too late to start on a lifestyle that will improve your health. For instance, I know of people who have been able to achieve non-diabetic blood sugar levels without medication in two weeks. Others, who had risky arteries, became heart attack proof in two weeks.
Here are a few pointers to get you started:
Get the support of those around you, especially the one that does the cooking.
Check out some of the videos on the Rocky Mountain Conference Health Ministry website rmcsda.org/healthy. Check out “The Hidden Epidemic,” and the diabetes section first. Go back and look at these resources often for encouragement if and when you slip up.
For heart health, visit Caldwell Esselstyn’s website heartattackproof.com.
See your physician, and let him know that you are ready to make some lifestyle changes, get a baseline for where you are so you can monitor your progress.
Walking is a simple and safe exercise. Start slow and add a little more as you are ready. Overdoing is the undoing of most good intentions.
A whole food, plant based diet is helpful for each condition mentioned above. You can find great evidence based information on nutritionfacts.org. Great cooking instructions can be found on “Naturally Gourmet” on rmcsda.org/healthy.
Pray for strength to succeed. God is available and able to give you victory.
If I can be of help, please e-mail me at [email protected].
Now, go out and enjoy life with your health as your priority.
Rick Mautz is RMC health director.