GRAND Magazine - November/December 2019 - 9

ask dr. gramma karen

A new year, and I hereby resolve ...
BY KAREN L. RANCOURT

working full time. My primary care physician tells
me I am her poster child for aging with good health
and that I should keep doing what I am doing. I took
great pride in saying "None" whenever asked what
medications I take. (Notice the past tense: "I took
great pride ... ")

I recently came across a couple of interesting facts
about resolutions, just in time to usher in the New
Year. First, researchers say about 60 percent of us
make New Year's resolutions. For 2019, here are the
top 10 New Year's resolutions according to a survey
of 2,000 people:
1. Diet or eat healthier (71 percent)
2. Exercise more (65 percent)
3. Lose weight (54 percent)
4. Save more and spend less (32 percent)
5. Learn a new skill or hobby (26 percent)
6. Quit smoking (21 percent)
7. Read more (17 percent)
8. Find another job (16 percent)
9. Drink less alcohol (15 percent)
10. Spend more time with family and friends
(13 percent)
However, this same research found that only eight
percent are successful in achieving their New Year
resolutions.
On a personal level, I have made a resolution that
is not one of the top 10 on the list. Rather, because
of a recent incident, I have resolved - and with the
determination of an eight percenter! - to abandon the take-it-for-granted attitude I have about my
9 GRAND

Nov-Dec 2019

You Can Do All The Rights Things,
And Still ...

overall health. At age 76, I need to be more mindful
of messages my body gives me and not ignore them
just because I have heretofore always worked toward
and enjoyed excellent health.
For example, I have never been overweight, I
follow a Mediterranean diet that works well for
me, and on a daily basis I stretch for 30 minutes and
exercise for an hour, either running, biking, or paddleboarding. For decades I have followed this exercise regimen by getting up early, even when I was

Of particular relevance to my story is that my
blood pressure has consistently been 120/80. In fact,
at my last physical my doctor and I laughed when
she got a reading of 124/80. She said, "Wow! 124
- you must be experiencing white coat syndrome."
Ha, ha. We both laughed. (White coat syndrome is a
phenomenon in which people exhibit a blood pressure level above the normal range, in a clinical setting, though they do not exhibit it in other settings.
It is believed that the phenomenon is due to anxiety
experienced during a clinic visit.)
Two weeks after this physical, I was taking a run
when I experienced a kind of blackout followed by a
myriad of flashing bright lights, lasting two or three
seconds, and then it passed. My usual inclination
would be to ignore something like this: "I'm in great
health. This is nothing to worry about." In the past,
I have paid dearly for this ability to rationalize away
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https://www.facebook.com/GRANDmagazine/ https://www.twitter.com/grandMmagazine https://www.inc.com/peter-economy/10-top-new-years-resolutions-for-success-happiness-in-2019.html https://www.inc.com/peter-economy/14-amazing-superfoods-that-keep-your-body-and-mind-strong.html https://www.inc.com/peter-economy/why-reading-is-the-most-intelligent-thing-you-can-do.html https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/in-depth/mediterranean-diet/art-20047801

GRAND Magazine - November/December 2019

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