June is
National Men’s Health Month, timely with Father’s Day in June. This post is to encourage you to be an
advocate for the health of the men in your life. I’m grateful for these National months and days;
it gets the conversation started for us.
I have many
men in my life that I value and pray they live a long and healthy life. I have my husband the love of my life, I am a
mom to four sons, I have my father and father-in law, I have a brother and five
brother-in-laws. I am surrounded by
great men.
I am
grateful that our pastor is health conscience and frequently reminds us to get
those important screenings like mammograms, colonoscopy, and annual
screenings. Preventive care is some of
the best medicine and the food we eat is also medicine to be mindful of.
Since June
is National Men’s Health Month I want to encourage you to play an active role
in the health of the men in your life. I
know in our family I am the one who purchases the bulk of the food in our home,
I prepare most meals. I can set my
husband and sons up for success by feeding them healthy foods. I am by no means a nurse or super healthy,
all organic person. But I know if I have
fresh veggies and fresh fruit on the counter my sons will eat that, if I have
cookies on the counter they’ll eat that.
So I play a big role in providing healthy choices for them. Everything in moderation is key. If I have the ingredients to make healthy
smoothies, my husband will make smoothies to take for breakfast which is much
healthier than stopping for a fast food breakfast sandwich or burrito.
Aim to have
less of these items in your diet: red meat, dairy, refined sugar, and processed
foods. Eat foods that are rich in
antioxidants, lean protein and heart healthy foods.
When you are
having a family movie night, instead of eating ice cream and cookies all the
time, swap those out for some healthy snack items, snack on popcorn, fresh
fruit, frozen grapes, apple slices with peanut butter.
Those small switch ups make a big difference in the long run.
I am the one
who schedules my boy’s annual doctor and dentist appointments. I know sometimes men don’t visit the doctor
for those annual screenings, many times they just don’t think to visit the
doctor other times even in pain they let things go and try to work through the
pain. Encourage the men in
your life to get things checked out, schedule the appointment for them, go with
them. I know sometimes just like men don’t
like to ask for directions, you know they will find the way, they can be that
way with their health, and not want to ask questions, so ask the questions for
them.
Get active
with your family! This is something I
need to get better at, in the early years of our marriage my husband and I went
to the gym together quite often, but once we had kids the gym exited our
life. There are many things you can do
to stay active without a gym membership, go on family walks, bike rides, go for
a hike, swimming, and make it fun so it doesn’t seem like exercise. My sons enjoy being outside and active, but with electronics all around us in this technological world we live it it's easy to not recognize how much screen time and sedentary time you are having.
Our men’s
health affects the entire family. Many
men are the breadwinners in their family, if they come ill it can take a
financial hit on the family. Many times
women are care givers for their elderly parents; if you can encourage your
parents now to eat healthy and stay active they will have a better quality of
life in their later years. It's not fun when you have a loved one facing a health crisis, even if it's a small crisis. So let's do everything we can to help those we love have the best life, healthy and strong.
Use the
month of June and National Men’s Health Month, to communicate with the men in your life
the importance of healthy choices. Start
with simple changes like eating healthier, get moving, and making prevention a
priority.
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