Lifestyle Maintenance With Cathy McMillan

Lifestyle Maintenance With Cathy McMillan

A few weeks back I was assigned to film a wellness lecture on campus. It’s titled, the Jackie Thompson Wellness lecture, presented by Cathy McMillan, a Kinesiology professor here at WIU. Some the faculty and staff created the event to go along with efforts to get the Western Illinois University staff to understand better how to live well.

This year’s lecturer talked about the “Sense and Cents of a Healthy lifestyle.” It was some what centered on the idea of Lifestyle Epigenetics. It’s a scientific theory that is on the forefront in the health and wellness world. The basic premise is that most all people can change their own genetic destiny because lifestyle can affect your genetic makeup or our genes. I found the description below on a Lifestyle Epigenetics Facebook page. I also posted two links for the lecture.

Epigenetics may be defined as the study of heritable and reversible changes in genes induced by environmental entities, including nutritional factors. In layperson’s terms, this means that an experience can switch genes on or off and this modification is inherited by future offspring.
Epigenetics is a relatively new science that bridges the gap between nature and nurture.
See www.epigenetics.cc for more information

Short Lecture video: http://youtu.be/FUZxkW3oJlw

Full Lecture Video:  http://youtu.be/Vcknvp-QNJQ

I hope you keep striving to create a healthy environment around you; behave in such a way that your conscience will let you sleep at night and commit to changing or maintaining the genetics from which you came.  As Cathy attest to it in her lecture, “In the stages of change model, there is pre-contemplation, contemplation, action, maintenance and the relapse.” It is totally ok to start over. It’s actually expected to stop at some point and at least re-contemplate your future.

The foods and drinks and cigarettes and other behaviors your parents had, will only affect your health if you let it.  I never trusted in the old saying that, “The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree”. Finally now there’s scientific proof that we don’t have to settle for what our parents choose in lifestyle and wellness. “Genetics, Environment and Behavior, are the three major factors in influencing our health and longevity.” Said McMillan.

My family has always dealt with high blood pressure and heart disease so this subject had my full attention. I will be adding this idea to my lifestyle because I’m still looking for new ways to break the chain created by the worlds past generations. I want to pass more positive genes onto my children and let the sprit of good health and wellness, live in my family long after I’m gone. My behavior as a man, a spouse, a father and just a human being, are only as good as I make them. I believe I’ll only be as good as my best tool, so I hope Lifestyle Epingenetics can give me the upper hand I’m looking for.