On Men's Health Week, Cool infographics and Preachy Tweets
Men's health week is something I never really paid much attention to before. The best thing about young is being carefree and only concerning yourself with, well...yourself. However as my fourth decade on this earth(My 30's for those of you about to ask if I'm in my 40's. RE-do your math) is well on it's way, father time has started to slap me upside the head every so often forcing me to take another look at things.
I noticed it in how hangovers last a little longer. The way the music in the bar is a little too loud sometimes and is obviously not as good as when I was in my teens and early 20's . Oh, and now I actually need to work out to keep myself from being the physical embodiment of black flubber (90's reference oyeee).
As I spoke to guys my age and slightly older, I sensed we all felt something was different. For so long, we defined ourselves by our physical prowess or our invincibility. How some could drink a fish under the table or eat absolutely anything and still look like a professional swimmer. Now we were lucky to be able to stay out till midnight without yawning several times.
Slightly more serious to my musings, was realizing just how many guys I knew had started to suffer from certain things we thought only old men suffer from. A listlessness at work in wondering if they were ever going to be successful. Where once it was okay to talk about all the potential we had, now..people expect experience. The relationship with our parents is different too. They're frail now. They lean on us . Us?I mean..what do we know...Woe unto them!
Seeing my father age and speak about all the things he took for granted gave me pause. I realized that the changes he said he started noticing were exactly the same as the ones I was experiencing. "You think you have time. You don't", he said as pinched the nice bit of flab that covers my abs.
You don't"
So these tweets below are me talking to myself, to young men and old men and men who sometimes wake up feeling young and other times feeling old. I'm imploring us to take care of ourselves-mentally, physically , emotionally-because we don't have time to waste. Let's not become just another statistic. Whether you're 16 or 60, investing in your health is going to do more for you than you can imagine .
Know your health Facts
Speak up...and listen to the men in your life. they might really need you
And don't forget the boys downstairs
Cheers chums
Twitter thread 1
You don't"
So these tweets below are me talking to myself, to young men and old men and men who sometimes wake up feeling young and other times feeling old. I'm imploring us to take care of ourselves-mentally, physically , emotionally-because we don't have time to waste. Let's not become just another statistic. Whether you're 16 or 60, investing in your health is going to do more for you than you can imagine .
Know your health Facts
Speak up...and listen to the men in your life. they might really need you
And don't forget the boys downstairs
Cheers chums
Twitter thread 1
Some
fit the role well & thrive.
Others are crushed by the weight of expectations& often suffer
silently.Self medicating with booze, drugs or other unhelpful behaviors.
Coupled with lower expectations to be expressive,men often have fuzzy
ideas of how they feel.
#MensHealthWeek
Pent
up emotional frustration and pressure is one of the causes of unhealthy
lifestyle choices making men the leading fatalities in all preventable
diseases caused by lifestyle choices.
Men also lead the way in suicides,work place fatalities&violent
altercations
#MensHealthWeek
A
man trying to do the right thing may be called upon to sacrifice his
health& well being for others. In the quest to provide, he's
expected to pour out his life.
It's romanticised. Idealized.
We must also be cognizant of the harm and sacrifices this is causing.
#MensHealthWeek
It's not unmanly to ask for help
It's not unmanly to take care of yourself
It's not unmanly to be "in your feelings"& allow yourself to be sad, anxious or terrified.
Simply burying these away won't help. Dealing with them in a mature way eases the burden.
#MensHealthWeek
Also, let's remember that we as men have the ability to let other men off the cross of these unrealistic expectations.
Give each other space to be vulnerable.
We can demand responsibility of each other without asking each other to treat ourselves as dispensible
#MensHealthWeek
Think of the strong men in your life.
Check on them. They will be stand off ish and may not be able to process your concerns.
But check on them. Regularly. If you see unhealthy patterns, tell them about your concern.
Help them.
#MensHealthWeek
And
most especially, for the boys in your lives. Teach them that they need
to be balanced.
That their lives matter and aren't fodder for society. That they need to
know when they can power through and when to say "I'm in trouble"
#MensHealthWeek
Twitter thread 2
Day 3 of
So one of the best things, you can do for yourself when you're young is form good habits.
When you're in your early 20's, you're pretty much invincible. You can do foolish things and come out totally unscathed.
#MensHealthWeek
You can drink from 6pm to 6am and have a tiny hangover that you can choose to get rid of by eating the greasiest meal you can find.
You can smoke several packs of cigarettes & still have a clear throat.
You can stay up for days and still look great.
#MensHealthWeek
Then you reach your later 20's and the hangovers start lasting a little longer.
The fast food calories are adding up and, well, there's more of you to love.
People can start to tell that you smoke. You get out of breath a little easier, your voice is changing.
#MensHealthWeek
Basically you're slowing down just a tad.... You're not as invincible as you'd like to think.
But often, our egos don't let us register these small changes. After all, as you get older, you tend to make more money. More money means more chances to live it up.
#MensHealthWeek
The sacrifices of youth are forced on us. The sacrifices of adulthood though, those you must choose.
To be careful about what we put in our body.
To enjoy but in moderation.
To find a good trade off between having a good time and good health.
So, as a man who's now coming to terms with my lost invincibility. I'll say -
Start working out /exercising early& often.
Eat responsibly. This doesn't mean nothing but roots & leaves, but minimizing those foods to occasional indulgences.
Save some money.
#MensHealthWeek
On save some money .
It's absurd to hear someone tell you to save when you feel broke
But hear me out.
Set a savings goal. Just 50k a month. To start. You'd be surprised how you can accomplish this.
#MensHealthWeek
This saving is exclusively for you to be able to get health insurance/emergency
There's even mobile microinsurance plans you can get to cover hospital stay and broken bones.
Anyone who's known a young guy knows we injure ourselves almost out of principle.
#MensHealthWeek
We can get away for awhile being carefree and reckless in our teens&early 20s.
But in our late 20s to our mid 30s, we have to be disciplined so the next 40 years aren't a complete mess .
It's crazy to see my former classmates get high blood pressure,diabetes etc
#MensHealthWeek
To wrap up, the cliché is
Youth =Time 
plus Health minus Money 
Young Adulthood =Less time plus less health plus more money
Middle age = What is time plus Why am I tired plus Why so many bills
To avoid a "typical middle age", we need to act now.
#MensHealthWeek
plus Health minus Money
Young Adulthood =Less time plus less health plus more money
Middle age = What is time plus Why am I tired plus Why so many bills
To avoid a "typical middle age", we need to act now.
Let's not repeat the mistakes a lot of our fathers, uncles and brothers made.
The Subtle lie that we always have time to do the right thing.
Start now, guys .
Have a great evening.
#MensHealthWeek
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