There’s a lesson to be learned from crawling through mud, jumping over cars, climbing over a wall of hay bales and leaping through flames to a finish line. And, no, the lesson is not that Memorial should be more careful about who it allows to be its spokesperson.

I was one of several Memorial employees who competed in the Warrior Dash over the weekend at Copper Mountain. The 5k race took participants partway up a mountain and through a dozen obstacles. The reward: A viking hat, a T-shirt, and the satisfaction of washing off mud in a freezing cold lake. Nearly 10,000 people registered for the two-day event.

The lesson? Taking an interest in your health doesn’t have to be a drag. To the contrary, a healthy lifestyle should be fun if you’re in it for the long haul. For me, fun was donning some war paint and fake tattoos as I planted my foot on the hood of a car.

In health care, there’s a lot of talk about America’s obesity epidemic and the correlating rise of chronic diseases such as Type 2 diabetes and heart disease. Our staff at Memorial treats such conditions on a daily basis, and the medical literature is chock full with grim statistics about our society’s struggle against inactivity and calorie-rich foods.

For most of my life, I was set to be the next statistic. I hated exercise and loved to eat like Homer Simpson. I was overweight, save for a few months here and there where I would find marginal success on an unsustainable fad diet. 

In my time as a health writer, though, my thinking changed. I realized there was more value in taking care of myself than aiming for the waistline. Moreover, if you’re going to make a long-term change, it must be something you can actually do. Complete self-denial won’t work for too many people. I found a healthier life built around achievable goals and finding new ways to have fun.

If playing a barbarian for the weekend isn’t your thing, maybe it’s a hike, a walk with the dog, or a bike ride with the kids. Maybe its a yoga class or trying something you’ve always wanted to do. I took up ice hockey, despite having never played before.

Memorial CEO Dr. Larry McEvoy talks often about the need to move “upstream.” His goal is to move Memorial beyond being “a patch-up joint” to a health system that keeps people from needing a hospital in the first place.

Maybe moving “upstream” is something we all could stand to do.

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