Here are some things you can think about directly from the comfort of your living room, After all, exercising your brain doesn't violate the couch-potato code, does it? But what's there to think about? How about the fact that smoking, poor nutrition, and lack of physical activity are major contributors to the nation's leading killers.

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According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), while seven of every ten deaths among Americans are due to chronic diseases, the underlying causes of these diseases are often behaviors you can change.

The American Diabetes Association says that poor diets and sedentary lifestyles cause more than 300,000 deaths a year.


Maybe not. But you might be able to tilt the odds in favor of longevity by making some small changes.

Start with thinking about these:

1. Take a good hard look at why you're resistant to change. What if you could add 10 or 20 extra years to your life and be healthy enough to enjoy that additional time, just by doing things differently? What's holding you back?

2. Become aware of your defense mechanisms. Examine your excuses for being a couch potato, or smoker, or drinker, or overeater. Do you deny or minimize your problem behaviors? Rationalize or intellectualize them? Blame someone else? Get down on yourself?

3. Ask yourself, am I powerless to change without help? Identify the people who are on your side, and ask them to help you. Open yourself up to the help that others can give - whether it's a professional or someone who loves you, or both. If you want to take it slowly, let them know you're only interested in talking about change for awhile, before committing to taking some serious action. According to James Prochaska's book Changing for Good: "Tell your helpers that you are trying to be more open and less defensive, but that you are not ready for action." Yet.

4. Ask yourself, what would make me take action? Maybe you need a push - like your doctor putting on a really serious face and saying, "I hate to tell you this, but…." Or maybe it's your three-year-old hugging you and saying, "I want you to stay with me always, daddy."

5. Consider the cost issues. Whatever your personal reasons for contemplating a change, there's always cost issues to consider. Even minor health risks, such as high blood pressure, can drive up the cost of health insurance, according to the Wall Street Journal. And conditions like obesity, diabetes, and high cholesterol will cost you money to treat - with pills, tests, high-tech procedures and other medical services - as they take a toll on your body. One insurance company study of patients with heart disease showed that people who reduced their cholesterol produced savings of as much as $3,300 per year per person.


More exercise? Fewer alcoholic beverages? Give up smoking? Lower your cholesterol? Manage your stress?

Give it some thought. If you take care of your body now, it's probably a good bet that it won't cost you as much further down the road to keep it running. You could spend that money on vacations and entertainment instead of angioplasty, prescriptions, and doctors' visits. And doesn't that sound like a lot more fun than sitting in front of the television?

If you take care of your body now, it's probably a good bet that it won't cost you as much further down the road to keep it healthy. Think about it.


Getting off your duff does not mean that you need to get in shape for the Olympics! There are simple things that you can do, like walking (even walking downhill is good). Those who are chair-bound or have difficulty walking can still exercise. Chair dancing is also safe, and serves the purpose of extending your life and improving the quality of everyday living. So, take the plunge. It really doesn't hurt.