I'm Warning You: Change Your Lifestyle

Just thinking out loud (and keeping in mind that the only people looking at this already engage in an active lifestyle). But still.

Like many of you my daily routine has had a few extra hills to get over the past few months - things like remembering to grab a face covering before heading out the door, washing my hands (more frequently), using hand sanitizer when it is around, avoiding unnecessary trips and indoor places, keeping hand wipes in the truck. If you wanted to, I am sure you could find reminders of these things around you every day - in the form of signs posted on doors and windows, commercials on tv, news reports, the internet, etc.

One thing that has remained the same is my dedication to keeping active. There is a statistic going around noting that the United States, with only four percent of the worlds population, has become burdened with a whopping twenty-five percent of the worlds COVOD-19 cases. We know that the virus hammers a body's respiratory system and is especially problematic for people with underlying health issues. Americans have long been known for living a sedentary, couch-potato lifestyle, consuming large quantities of unhealthy foods, with large segments of the population suffering with chronic obesity.

While some underlying health issues relate to age, or genetics, or disease not related to lifestyle choices, I find myself wondering how many of them are related to unhealthy living choices made long years in the past, and how many of the serious COVID cases, and indeed, deaths can be attributed to the same.  

Mask mandates, physical distancing, avoiding crowded, closed spaces. All good, and necessary, advice for the first half of this year. Other than a few deranged individuals no one really wants to cause another person to fall victim of the COVID-19 virus. We know that people with underlying health issues are far more likely to be impacted by the disease than those who are healthy. And that is the rub, as they say, isn't it?

By all means keep the mask PSAs, keep the hand washing PSAs, but to them, perhaps, add some active lifestyle PSAs. This will not be the last pandemic, and it has been suggested that outbreaks may be more frequent, and more virulent in the future.

As a society we tend to be much more focused on the present, with little regard for the future.

With that in mind, get out your bikes and ride. Whats good for the body is good for you.