I had already written today’s article when a story in today’s Health and Science Section of the Washington Post caught my eye and I thought I would pass the gist of it along to you. It’s a true to life example of how Exercise and Good Nutrition can help heal. It’s about how 69 year old writer Pat Conroy, author of novels such as “The Prince of Tides”, “The Lords of Discipline”, and “The Great Santini”, made a change in his lifestyle and went from major physical problems, to health and fitness.
The article, written by Nora Krug, is about how Conroy found himself in a hospital with Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and a bad liver. Conroy said “no” to additional major hospital care in favor of a self-help program of physical recovery (watched over by his doctor according to Conroy’s blog). According to the article, Conroy lost 25 pounds, quit drinking, and normalized his blood pressure. The article points out that Conroy’s physical recovery demonstrates that “no matter your age or how far you’ve fallen, there are still ways to regain your health.”
How did he do it? According to the article, it’s wasn’t easy to start, and is still challenging. In fact when he was first diagnosed with diabetes in 1996, he was told to lose weight and exercise more. According to the article, he said that he just didn’t do what he knew was necessary.
So, following his critical trip to the hospital three years ago, Conroy started to finally take action. He went on a real and workable diet and started going to a gym. But not just any gym — he partnered with a Personal Trainer and together they created their own, somewhat Spartan fitness studio (see last week’s article, Energy Bite 98).
At age 69, Conroy combines strength, stretching, balance and cardio exercises into a series of daily and weekly variations, all prescribed by his business partner and personal trainer.
Here is a key point, and I quote directly from Nora Krug’s Washington Post article:
“ ‘The thing that surprises me,’ he says of his workouts, ‘is that I keep coming back. I thought I would get sick of it. Now I have made it a part of my daily life, like writing. It’s been habit-forming.’ “
The moral of this story? First, it’s never too late to start exercising and eating right. Second, exercise and healthful eating can put you on the road to physical recovery from major physical illness and other physical challenges. But please don’t take this as a suggestion that you avoid doing what your doctor tells you. If fact, if you have serious illness or injury, you should always pay attention to your doctor’s advice.
For a hilarious and enlightening read, here’s a link to Conroy’s own blog post where he describes in his own humor-filled words, his journey from illness to health through exercise and nutrition. Conroy’s own blog post makes a pretty powerful statement and is well worth reading. One suggestion from Conroy’s blog: Never hire your next door neighbor as your nutritionist. It can really get annoying.
The full article by Nora Krug, can be found on Page E1 of the Health and Science Section of today’s (Aug. 18, 2015) edition of the Washington Post.
Thank you for reading.