Woman Takes Serious Illness to Health

Anne Tan was twenty eight years old when she found out she had a serious illness: heart failure and dilated cardiomyopathy in part due to extreme obesity. Doctors told her to lose weight, eat less salt and consume less fat in her diet. Rather than allow her body to succumb to the ravages of poor health, she began a program of exercise, weight loss and a healthier diet. Such a program saved her life.

This story is a problem for many in the world who have let their dietary habits and exercise habits go toward being more obese and sicker when it comes to diseases like diabetes, heart failure, heart attacks and stroke. Sometimes it happens quickly and sometimes it happens over a period of years. People gradually get more tired and stop exercising and spend more time watching television and eating things like pizza and other high calorie snacks.

This has led to an epidemic of the obese and to its resultant diseases of diabetes, heart disease, cancers and stroke. The answer to these maladies? Most of the time it is changing the way you eat and the way you exercise so that your heart stays strong and your weight stays at a reasonable size.

Many people who are overweight are insecure and refuse to see just how much they weigh. They don’t look in mirrors and they don’t own a scale. They just don’t want to know how bad the problem is and don’t want to face what it would take to lose the weight. But successful weight losers say it just takes one day at a time of making good choices and getting out there to do something you like that also exercises your heart. It’s about improving the quality of your life on all angles and feeling good about your body. Even ten pounds is noticeable and you will feel more energetic with that little amount of weight lost.

Start slowly. Walk as far as you can walk and call it a day. In a few days, you will find you can walk further and faster. You may then be able to bicycle or even jog a few steps. Gradually, your exercise tolerance will approach that of normal people.

Get rid of everything in your diet that is processed, too salty or too sugary. Stick with many fruits and vegetables along with whole grains. Keep red meat to a minimum. Know that every day will not be perfect but if most days are, you will do alright.