Fear is a terrible motivator!

Discussion about the most prevalent chronic diseases is finally occurring, along with acknowledging that all of these diseases have something in common.

I'm specifically talking about diabetes type 2, heart disease, and Alzheimer's disease.

When you make lifestyle changes to improve one disease, you decrease your risk of getting the others. That’s the reality and it’s also a good thing!

Suppose you have a heart attack. Most people are highly motivated by fear to make drastic changes immediately to get healthy and recover. But fear diminishes rather quickly, and then you begin to go back to your old routines. Most women would avoid getting pregnant if the fear of pain were a good motivator!

So there has to be something else to motivate you. Something that is sustainable and doesn't feel like work.

I believe joy is the answer.

An example that hit home for me this past week was when I did a cognitive assessment on someone who has noticed memory loss and other frightening changes. The evaluation did show that they had early cognitive impairment.

So when I discussed options for how she could slow this down and maybe even reverse some of it by eating less meat, more vegetables, going for walks daily and avoiding processed and sugary foods. Her face fell, and she commented how terrible her life would be if she did that.

She said she loved meat and ate lots of it, and she loved her sweets.

That was so sad to see. Because to her, she didn't know the joy in these changes, mostly because she didn't realize how good they could be. Her vision of a new lifestyle was eating raw vegetables and nothing else.

After discussing this further, we found out she loved soups. We talked about how she could increase her vegetable intake by adding more to her soups, decreasing the meat and adding things like legumes which she liked.

We talked a lot about her lifestyle and how she could make these changes and not feel like she was missing out.

The more "all in" you go right away for someone who already has a disease developing, the better and faster the results will be. The changes will be more sustainable if you enjoy them and love what you do.

It's essential to find good resources and a sense of community when you're changing your habits and behaviour to feel supported and enjoy the journey that is your new life.

That's why it's best to start thinking about your brain health decades early.