Stay healthy by using the 10 leading health indicators.

YOU CAN CHOOSE to reduce or eliminate up to 7 of them.

According to Healthy People 2010 The top 10 health indicators are:

     Physical activity

     Overweight and obesity

     Tobacco use

     Substance abuse

     Responsible sexual behavior

     Mental health

     Injury and violence

     Environmental quality

     Immunization

     Access to health care

It's not clear if this list is ordered by priority, but it's safe to say all of them are important to stay healthy.

I'm going to focus on the five which we have direct control over and especially the first two since they tend to support the other three. Then I'll briefly discuss one and a half that are not so obviously supported by the focus of this website.

I won't get into immunization and access to health care because they are not within our direct control. Keep in mind that we do have indirect control over these areas through grassroots campaigns and other channels if you want to act on these two.

The five health factors we have direct control over are:

     1)Physical Activity which connects to and directly or indirectly supports all others we have a direct choice about.

     2) Overweight and Obesity which mainly comes down to what, how much and how often we eat. Physical activity is contributes to weight loss and health, but calories consumed is the main cause of weight loss.

     3) Tobacco Use is ENTIRELY A CHOICE, tobacco addiction is hard core, but there's a lot of support to help you. Second hand smoke is another issue because you can't make choices for others, but you can choose to reduce or eliminate the time you spend around second hand smoke.

     4) Substance Abuse is really the same thing as tobacco use, or over eating for that matter. ANYTHING you consume (food, alcohol, prescription drugs), inhale (tobacco, car exhaust or other substances), or otherwise put into your body that causes you harm is substance abuse.

     5) Responsible Sexual Behavior has two simple strategies. USE A CONDOM and choose lower risk and fewer, or ideally ONE partner. If you have further questions about this topic contact me, but I want to focus mostly on topic directly related to this site.

Second to the five health indicators you have direct control over, there are three that you have some or indirect control over.

     1) Mental Health isn't always directly in your control, but an amazing amount of mental health conditions, I'd say MOST can ideally be prevented, or treated by simple techniques you can learn and practice yourself. Healthy thinking and thinking habits tend to lead to a healthy mind.

     2) Injury or Violence are not always preventable, but you can minimize their risks by making good decisions and training your body to be injury resistant.

     3) Environmental Quality is sometimes in your control. As far as what you can control, fitness and choosing where you spend your time, or what you do in toxic environments will keep you healthier.

Finally, Immunization and Access to Health Care are the least in your control, but even they can be improved through citizen action and awareness campaigns, and you personal choice to USE the Immunization and Health Care you have access to. I hope most of the people reading this don't need to worry about these last two.

The details...

Physical activity is almost ENTIRELY within your control check out body building and muscle to find out about how little time to REALLY need to build muscle, gain strength and burn more calories 7 days a week, 24 hours a day.

To learn about other things you can do to be more active, especially if time and price are issues go here.

I have a ton of pages coming soon which will get into no B.S. simple ways you can stay healthy and get more active in any situation.

The Training page will cover all sorts of tricks and ideas to stay active and prevent injuries.

The Exercise Equipment page will give you the goods on what works and how to get the most value out of your dollar.

It'll include reviews of which equipment is a waste of money and which are worth their weight in gold (a skipping rope is worth it's weight in DIAMONDS, get one NOW).

Fitness Tips will give lots of details about specific handy tips I've learned and discovered for myself over the last 27 years of doing this stuff.

Finally The Self Improvement page will give you life changing ideas and techniques. In many ways this is where you and I should start, change your beliefs and thinking to change your life overnight.

To improve your fitness, make the choice, then do something about it. Start with being more physically active, then eating better, and keep going down the list.

Your health is an ever changing masterpiece and you art the atist.