“It looks like you’ve lost weight,” said a colleague to an older man near me. “I’ve lost about 13 pounds,” the older person replied. “Is that a good thing, or bad,” I chimed in.

“I went to Texas for a month and ended up staying there for three,” the older man explained. “I started feeling badly just before I was scheduled to return. The doctors in Texas were wonderful. They had me diagnosed and prepped for heart surgery within hours. If I had tried to drive myself back home without going to the doctor first, I wouldn’t have made it back home.”

We often take our health for granted. We use excuses like, “Oh, it’s just the flu” or “I’m just a little light headed, but that’s not unusual.” Also, there’s the constant debate about the benefits of medical screening versus receiving unnecessary medical intervention.

How are we as laymen supposed to know the difference between everyday aches and pains, and symptoms of something more ominous? Here are five simple steps that everyone can take to help keep ourselves in better health condition.

Everyone knows the risks of smoking. Personally, I haven’t met an older person yet who doesn’t suffer from the effects of their lifelong smoking habits. Cancer and respiratory diseases are a few of these effects.

Almost everyone I know eats too much, and usually the wrong things. We don’t necessarily have to give up the food we love, but we need to be more sensible about how much and how often we eat unhealthy foods.

Everyone I know absolutely hates to exercise, me included. Exercise is essential to strengthen our bodies, improve our muscular balance, and speed up out metabolism, an important part of helping our body burn up unnecessary calories from over eating.

Are you someone that avoids medical exams like the tax cheat avoids the IRS? You’re not alone. By having an annual exam, you and your doctor can discover medical issues early, when they can be treated less aggressively.

Finally, don’t forget to be safe and avoid preventable accidents. Wear your seat beat, don’t talk on the cell phone, and slow down when driving. Turn on lights so that you can see hazards in your path. Don’t climb on ladders without someone there to hold the ladder steady for you.

“I thank the good Lord I’m still here,” said the older man after his heart surgery. “The doctor gave my heart another ten years before I need to have any more major surgery. I plan to use all of that time wisely,” he concluded.

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