The Cost of Being Unhealthy | Blogs

Feb 12

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The Cost of Being Unhealthy

Sat 12 Feb 2011 21:06:24 | 1 comments

It’s true! When you choose an unhealthy lifestyle, you may be choosing an expensive lifestyle. Recent research published in the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine has reiterated the increasing costs associated with the growing chronic disease burden in the United States. And it’s not just costs incurred by health insurance or healthcare system – it’s costs you incur as well!

When you choose unhealthy behaviors (like using tobacco or not getting any physical activity), you’re doing more than just potentially increasing your medical bills or your risk for developing diabetes or heart disease. Think about the cost to your body – such as sore knees, depressed mood, and snoring. These are all real consequences from even a few days worth of unhealthy behavior choices. It’s easy to see how these choices can snowball, posing a real threat to your long-term health!

You can commit today to making better choices. It doesn’t have to be difficult. Simply committing yourself to enjoying the fresh citrus fruit available this month rather than going through the drive-through window is one easy thing you can do. Bored with the gym or your exercise videos? Go outdoors to exercise! Perhaps skiing or sledding for those of you who have snow, or a hike for those of you are lucky enough to have sun is a great way to get your physical activity in. All of these healthy behavior choices may cost a little bit of money and time initially….but it will save you so much more in the long run.

Dr. Elizabeth Ricanati is the mother of three children and founding medical director of The Cleveland Clinic's LifeStyle 180 program. She is a regular columnist for ShareWIK.com

More Dr. Elizabeth Ricanati articles, click here.

©2011 ShareWIK Media Group, LLC. All rights reserved. ShareWIK does not provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. For more information, please read our Additional Information, Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

Comments

http://iuhealth.org 14 months ago

Reading this is a fresh of breath air. I have to catch myself when I get into a habit of inaction. I used to work out several times a week and recently I started talking myself out of going to the gym. Several months later I workout maybe twice a month. It just snowballed and now I barely have the drive to go once a week anymore. Got it turn it around!

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