In July 2011, I received a phone call at work from my wife, telling me that my dad had a heart attack. I instantly left work and sped faster through the streets of Orem than is legally allowed...by a long shot. I picked up Lola (who was about a week and a half out from delivering our son, Ethan) and we sped up to the IHC hospital in Murray. When we arrived, we received word that my dad was doing okay. The doctors said it was a minor heart attack, thankfully. However, I don't ever consider any heart attack as being "minor"...it's a life-sustaining organ! We were able to see my dad a short time later and he looked terrible. He was weak, and seemed much older than he really was. A short time later, he had a non-invasive surgery done to put in three heart stints and later two more, with a grand total of five heart stints. He's been doing well every since.
Now, my dad is not the first in his family line to suffer from a heart attack. My uncle had a bad heart attack a couple years back which resulted in heart stints and being on disability because he cannot do the heavy lifting and hard labor he used to do. My grandfather (we called him "Pappy") died of a heart attack when I was in the fourth grade, and heart stint surgery was made available to the public a year or two later. This surgery could have helped him live longer. My grandfather also had a brother who died of a heart attack.
With all of this strong family history, and having my dad's genes to boot, I was feeling legitimate anxiety sometime during the holiday season. I know, I know...great time to be worried about what I eat! But I believe I am the provider and protector of my family. If I am not around to provide and protect them, I don't really trust anyone else to do it for me. My wife is my best friend, and I know that I am hers. We share a wonderful spiritual, deep connect that I cherish. As for my little buddy Ethan, my love for him is a very close second to what I have for my wife. I can't stand the thought of him losing his dad too early in life. Now, I think I am relatively healthy. I try to run 5-6 times a week, I work at a running specialty store as a second job, and I try to eat as healthy as I can...but I can polish off a whole domino's pizza if I want to and sometimes I want to! My biggest fear is twenty years down the road, developing a sedentary lifestyle, putting my health in the backseat, and having a major health crisis which will serve as my wake-up call.
I feel like that it happens that way all too often.
I am actually sitting here right now with The Biggest Loser playing in the background. They keep talking about the "obesity epidemic" that is plaguing the United States. As hard as the contestants work and as much as they emphasize exercise, I think a little more talk about nutrition would probably help. I've watched documentaries about nutrition, very good documentaries, leaving me with a better direction on what to do to better my health habits. "Forks Over Knives" and "Hungry for Change" are the two that I've watched so far.
Lap-band surgeries, Liposuction, tummy tucks, I'm pretty sure none of those matter if you're not willing to eat well enough. And it's hard. There are cheap fast-food restaurants everywhere, candy, and companies willing to deceive you into buying their dieting products that do not work. It's not easy.
Where do I stand amidst all this? I'm going to eat healthier, in every true sense, in order to be my family history of heart attacks. I will help my family too.
--Ryan
