Category Archive
The following is a list of all entries from the Health category.
Young People Should Know…Your Body Is Going To Rebel
It sucks when things you’ve come to rely on suddenly start malfunctioning. As you get older simple activities that you took for granted suddenly become a comedy of errors. For example, bending over to look at a book on a bookshelf may result in a sharp pain radiating from your lower spine and incapacitating you even though you have to catch a cross-continental flight from Syracuse, NY to Seattle, WA. Yes, this actually happened to me. All I wanted was something to keep me entertained and I ended up with muscular distress. At least I was confined to a stiff seat for six hours and had access to many small bottles of alcohol to relax my back.
Then there ‘s heartburn. I first experienced this while pregnant, which is to be expected. Now I can’t even eat a banana without the risk of burning my stomach lining.
Joints? Sure you can move them, but an innocuous activity like, oh, raking up leaves in the front yard or typing too much at work will cause swelling, stiffness and pain. I’d at least like to earn my pain but nope. Getting older means you suffer for mundane daily activities.
Body weight. We all fight it sooner or later. I’ve never been svelte, but when I was in high school my activity level greatly decreased when my friends got cars. I went from walking or riding my bike everywhere to getting a ride. I gained weight. Then when I decided I needed to lose it I ate less, exercised and it came off pretty easily. There was great rejoicing.
Over 30? Then losing weight is a losing battle, and not in a good way. Eat healthy, exercise, get on the scale and WHAT? I GAINED a pound?!! Screw this. If you’re overweight, lose it now or it will be next to impossible to lose later. Oh, it can be done, but it takes more drastic measures. Better to do it now when your body is bursting with energy.
Allergies increase too. You’d think that if allergies are an immune system issue then as you get older your body could fight off the reactions, but it doesn’t work that way. Last year I finally got tested. I thought my Fall and Spring allergies were a result of my body rejecting grass and tree pollen, mold and mildew spores, and maybe cat dander. What was the offending allergen? Dust mites. I can never escape them. The little skin eating fuckers make me sneeze and wheeze.
My ultimate advice? Take care of your body. You don’t have to run marathons or become a gym rat, but find something you like and do it regularly. Walk more often. Take the stairs. Get up to change the channel on the tv. Limit your video game time and internet surfing. Don’t eat a bunch of crap all the time. Learn to cook your own food, stop eating kiddie cereal for breakfast, avoid the drive-though, and find some veggies you like. Seriously, it could make getting old a lot less painful.
Young People Should Know 