Hey peeps!  Wow, a lot of you wanted in on that Whole Foods action, eh? Can’t blame ya!  Times are tough, but healthy eats are not meant to ride out waves of financial woes.

Speaking of woes, let me tell about something that made me go “whoa!” (what am I Joey Lawrence in Blossom?)

The other night, I had to take my twin to the E.R. as he was experiencing chest pain and shortness of breath. I’m sure you guys would agree that there are some things you don’t chance out — one of them is chest pain…even if you are 25.

We were in the ER from midnight to 4:30 a.m.  It was a loooooooong night.  After conducting an ECG and taking x-rays, the Dr. deemed my bro’s symptoms non-life-threatening as nothing conclusive was found.  It’s most likely stress-related, but possibly a lung issue.  He has to take it up with a general practitioner now.

ERs seem like the perfect way to scare someone into shaping up. They leave you feeling vile and wanting a second chance to ensure you never have to end up there again. Only, my brother isn’t out of shape. He is young and fit.  So what gives?  Ahhh it’s quite possibly that little thing us healthy lifestyle bloggers seem to brush off when we’re too busy weighing ourselves and counting our calories (ok, maybe that’s just me)… MENTAL HEALTH!

It was a not-so-gentle reminder that “health” is a holistic issue.  It doesn’t come from exercise and diet alone, from will power or worrying. It’s the entire package of how we live, what we put into mind, body and soul.  I hate to sound all new-agey, but seriously — we all know that we are short-changing ourselves and being counter-productive by segmenting out our health to the purely physical (or purely mental).  So, the cranky one over here learned a little lesson.  It was a dear diary moment. Looking at your twin holding his chest — and this is the twin with the happy-go-lucky-demeanor we all know and love — will give you a cold sweat and smack in the face.  You never want to be sitting next to someone you love and wondering if he will be seen in time and if he will be alright. Screw that.

So, there are three simple tangents/rants issues I would like to raise:

1. Take care of your mind. I can’t tell you how to do this. I am, after all, the other half to my twin, so I’d be lying if I said I didn’t suffer like him from the physical tolls of stress.  I’ll be honest, I’m going to be looking into some yoga classes for both of us.  I know guys typically brush off yoga as some female-centric frou frou joke — but you spend the night in an ER holding your chest and then tell me the alternative of deep breathing and holding “tree” doesn’t sound a little more appealing.
2. Take care of your body. Sitting in the ER, I was shocked to see so many unhealthy-looking people.  Doesn’t it seem obvious you will see unhealthy-looking people in an ER, you ask? What does “unhealthy” look like you also ask?  Well aside from the obvious signs of severe obesity, coughing, sneezing, moaning and zombie-like walking, it’s just a general aura.  It deeply saddens me that some people, even such young people!, wait until it’s too late to start taking care of themselves.  Don’t wait!  Don’t put your health off until tomorrow — you never know what tomorrow will or won’t bring.  Do it now.  Sure there are some health factors out of our control, but so what?  Do everything you can about the things you can change or improve and do it now. Did I say NOW yet?
3. Insure/Ensure your health.  Look, this is not supposed to be a political issue – this is a simple, straight and narrow ethical, human rights issue — we should all have health insurance. Don’t tell me people abuse the system. Don’t tell me this a socioeconomic issue.  My twin does not have insurance and until recently I did not either.  We are kids who have gotten free rides to top public universities and graduated in the top of our class.  We are kids who have held jobs in corporate America since we were 15.  If you are age 25 or near there (so about to be cut from your parents’ insurance, or faced with the lame and impractical high cost of COBRA), please seek out a feasible health insurance plan if you have not already. At the end of the day, our health care system just reinforces that you need to ensure your health as much as you need to insure it.
   

Ok enough of that — I think I’ve made my convoluted point.

Links to Check Out:

• Enter to win a Lucy Style Strength Outfit by July 13th from ThatsFit.com here
• Check out Cranky Fitness’ blog here on weight loss blogs to check out (thanks for including me, Crabby!). Make sure you comment and leave links to your favorites!
• Check out NPR’s “Top Ten Reasons why the BMI is Bogus” list here (I know I saw this on someone else’s blog, but can’t remember whose! Thanks to whomever it was and feel free to comment if you wrote about it)
  
• Check out ABC News’ post, “Just How Bad Are ‘America’s Unhealthiest Meals’” here to see the actual, and immediate, tolls a fatty meal will take on your body (I know I saw this on someone else’s blog, but can’t remember whose! Thanks to whomever it was and feel free to comment if you wrote about it). How is it possible that it took so long for menu laws to gain momentum and that they are still not in full effect every where?  To me, this is an urgent national health issue!

<3, The Cranky One

Tags: emergeny room, health care system, health insurance, Whole Foods