Mary Nickles speaks at JLSC for health
KUTV Channel 2’s morning anchor, Mary Nickles, said Americans take better care of their cars than their health at the National Wear Red Day celebration hosted on the College of Eastern Utah campus Feb. 2.
Nickles was in Price to make people aware that heart disease will kill more women than all cancers combined.
KUTV Channel 2’s morning anchor, Mary Nickles, said Americans take better care of their cars than their health at the National Wear Red Day celebration hosted on the College of Eastern Utah campus Feb. 2.
Nickles was in Price to make people aware that heart disease will kill more women than all cancers combined.
As part of Channel 2’s Check Your Health series, Nickles tells people about how exercise helps people feel better about themselves. “A 40-year-old, nonsmoking woman will lose seven years of her life if she is overweight … I am hoping by saying it a little different each time that maybe someone else will hear it and they will decide to make a difference.
“We plan for and invest in our financial future, not many plan to invest in their health future. Do you realize that 50 percent of Utah women are obese?” she said.
“When I turned 40, I decided to exercise. I lost 25 pounds by lifting weights twice a week and watching what I ate,” she added. Now I coach my twin daughters’ basketball team. They turn 10 this month and I have the stamina to run up and down the court with them.
Nickles told the importance of getting screenings. “It’s easy to do, it may take an hour of your day. Make it an annual event and choose a day that you can remember every year, like on your birthday.” Don’t deny yourself food; diets are horrible. You simply need to watch what you eat and portion control.
Everyone needs to get checked. Make changes in your life. Remember baby steps help you improve.
The better you take care of yourself now will help create memories for your grandkids, she quipped.
“Women are so busy taking care of everyone else, they don’t take care of themselves. You can and need to make a difference,” she said.
In Utah, five women a day die of heart disease or a stroke. Utah is filled with health resources, yet 22 percent of all female deaths in Utah die of heart disease.
“Getting healthy gives you more life. I cannot emphasize that fact that obesity takes seven years off your life. Be healthy and active; park at the outskirts of the parking lot, take the stairs, turn off the television and walk unless you are watching Channel 2 news,” she smiled.
She urged the 300-plus women in attendance to Check Your Health website for the latest health news and tips. “Honestly, once you start, you can’t stop.”
The event was sponsored by the Southeastern Utah Health Department in Price and Castle Dale. The Downtown Alive Association is hosting special savings and screenings Feb. 9-10 in Price. Look for the Go Red posters in the windows of participating businesses.
