TRY IT: Scare Yourself

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One of coolest things about the internet is the ability to very quickly educate yourself on even the most obscure of topics.

Want to become a professional clown? Make lamps out of recycled newspapers? Become an expert on the mating habits of beetles? The web is there for you.

It can also be a pretty scary place – full of conspiracy theories, health scare sites and an unbelievable amount of spam.

If you can’t tell the difference between information and conjecture, this advice probably isn’t for you.

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Use It to Your Advantage

If you’re reading this blog, you probably have at least some experience with web research.

You pick a topic. You do some searches. You waste 6 hours of your life reading websites about who’s wearing what to the Oscars.

This is no different.

The topic is your health. Your lifestyle. Your family history. Your risk factors.

If you are overweight, find out what the probability is that your kids will be too. If your dad had a heart attack, find out what your odds are.

Insomniac? Find out how that’s related to your weight. Veggie hater? Track the nutrients you are missing from your diet.

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Make it Matter

The more you read about your personal health risks, the more likely you are to start incorporating positive change into your lifestyle.

It may take some time to sink in, but treat it like a school assignment and I’m betting you will learn some things that make you wonder whether that third Krispy Kreme was really worth it.

To get you started, here are some reputable and informative sites on health issues:

• National Institutes of Health
• Mayo Clinic
• Centers for Disease Control (they’re more than just ebola)
• World Health Organization
• WebMD (diagnose that rash while you’re on there)

Of course, there’s Google for checking out your specific health topics but try not to end up on the “saccharine gives you alzheimer’s” websites. There are plenty of them out there.

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Have you ever tried to read up on health issues to scare yourself straight? Does fear work as a motivator? What tidbit of information had the most influence on your lifestyle choices? Know any other good places to read up on fitness and nutrition online? Let me know in the comments!

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