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>> Living healthy is about feeling your best.
From September 27th through October first,
Baltimore is hosting the country's first Healthy City Days, five days to celebrate health
and learn what we can do to live healthier.
Being healthier doesn't have to cost anything, and it doesn't have
to mean big changes to your life.
But it does take commitment.
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>> Being healthy is important to me because I have been a witness
to my parents' health challenges.
My mother died unexpectedly from asthma and heart disease,
and my father has had actually now three bouts with different types of cancer.
And so I've been particularly sensitive to the need to watch
and observe how healthy I maintain.
The other piece is, is work is stressful.
I pastor a church.
And, when you're trying to take care of a congregation, you can't take care of them
if you haven't taken care of yourself.
>> Being healthy is important to me because it gives me more energy to play with my kids.
It makes the quality of my life on a day-to-day basis better.
>> Being healthy is important to me because I recognize that, for individuals like myself
who are very engaged and involved in business and community, it's important not only
to be concerned about longevity but quality of life.
I commit long hours and I recognize that a healthy lifestyle positions me to be able
to do all the things that I do in an effective manner.
>> Life is significant, and life is valuable.
And we have a responsibility to live life to its fullest.
As we seek to live life to its fullest, we have a responsibility to protect the temples,
which is our body, and to live in a healthy way.
>> Being healthy is important to me because it's about quality of life.
It's about having that standard of living that we all dream of.
It's about being engaged in everyday activities.
Something as simple as being able to walk a flight of stairs
without getting winded is a quality of life issue
that may seem small but, far too often, we overlook.
>> Personally, I exercise often.
I cycle; I walk.
I love spinning.
But the most important thing to me is that I schedule it into my workday.
And I work out usually somewhere between six and 6:30 in the morning so that, if something comes
up during the day, it hasn't interrupted my exercise.
>> I personally am getting better at exercising and watching what I eat.
When I crossed that big 40 threshold, I recognized that my body changed.
And so I needed to be more aware and sensitive of what happens during the course of the day
when I eat, what I eat, how much I eat and all those things that can be kind
of challenging when you pastor a church.
>> On a day-to-day basis, I run.
I go to the gym.
I bike. Last year, I participated in my first triathlon, which was a huge deal.
And it was not about, you know, the time record set.
I didn't set any land speed records, but it was about finishing it
and just accomplishing a goal for me.
>> Personally, I maintain a healthy and balanced diet.
I drink lots of water, about a gallon a day.
I work out three to five times a week.
And I also maintain regular doctors' appointments and try to take time
for myself periodically to manage the many stressors that we all face in life?
>> I count calories.
I know exactly the calorie content.
I read the labels.
I read the numbers.
I understand how many calories I'm going to take in.
I make certain that I eat smaller portions and I eat more portions during the day.
Very important.
Sometimes we load up on our meals.
But, really, when we load up on our meals, our bodies get confused and it thinks that it has
to store that extra food that we eat for later on.
But the body responds when you eat smaller portions more frequently during the day.
So I do that.
The second thing I do is that I make certain that I exercise.
So, for example, when I go to a drive-in mall or go to a mall
or something, I don't park the closest.
I park the furthest away.
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>> I think that each of us has a responsibility to do anything and everything that we can
to make us healthy on a daily basis.
And those things don't need to be big things.
It's small things like, if you can walk instead of drive, then do that.
If you can cycle instead of drive to get somewhere, then that really is doing something
that is good for the environment; and it's also good for the individual.
>> I would advise others to do a number of things to stay healthy, to include taking a trip
to the doctor; talking to your physician; knowing what your target weight is,
knowing what your blood pressure is; becoming more aware about your personal needs.
>> To make ourselves healthier, I think each of us has to be as knowledgeable as we can be
about what our particular body needs are.
I was surprised when I started training again how much I really didn't know about health
and nutrition when I thought I was probably one of the more informed people that you would find.
But the reality is that we always need to stay as informed as responsible.
Get the information, talk to the doctor, talk to dieticians as necessary to make sure
that we're informed in our eating habits and in our health habits.
>> My organization is involved in making Baltimore a healthier city on a daily basis.
Our staff interact with wide members, members of the community at large.
But recently an opportunity has come up where we think we can make a big difference.
And that is the zoning of Baltimore is being revised.
And that hasn't happened in several decades.
And it's a way, we think it's a way of helping to make Baltimore be a healthier city
by effecting the ways that neighborhoods are built; making it easier and safer for people
to walk in their communities; giving them opportunities for exercise that's outdoors.
And so, not only does it contribute to a healthy community, but I think it helps
to strengthen community bonds and bonds between neighbors.
And we're very much interested in continuing that and also having the public take ownership
of that and contributing to the zoning that's being revised.
>> What New Life and St. Matthews are doing, both churches are doing,
we have periodic health fairs coming in October, October 28th and 29th.
At St. Matthews, 416 East 23rd street, we will have a two-day day of service.
There will be diabetes testing, high blood pressure testing.
There'll be people from other health agencies across Baltimore City.
There'll be *** testing.
We know now that it's a 20-minute swab test,
and a person can get the results within 20 minutes or so.
So we'll have people representing a wide cross-section
of health agencies in Baltimore City.
>> I think it's very important that organizations such as mine, as churches,
nonprofit organizations, fraternal, sorority organizations,
link with their local health care centers.
We will a tremendous resource within Baltimore City,
tremendous hospital facilities, medical professionals.
For example, we link with Maryland General Hospital.
I brought them into our Bible study class.
We had a six-week healthy living program.
Out of that healthy living program, I not only taught Bible verses but they also brought
in dieticians, brought in other medical professionals to talk
about good living and healthy living.
>> We promote healthy bodies, healthy minds, healthy neighborhoods.
We do that on a regular and consistent basis.
In our summer and after school program, it is all about nutrition and being active.
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>> Baltimore's strengths in the realm of health is that it's got critical mass of people
that are genuinely interested in contributing to making the health of the city better,
organizations such as foundations, Abell Foundation, the OSI Foundation, Casey;
as well as world-class institutions like Hopkins, University of Maryland, Morgan State,
and others that I may be forgetting; community health organizations like our FQHCs.
It's really exciting to be in a place where all of these aspects of society are really just
at the ready to contribute what they and their organizations can
to making Baltimore a healthier city.
>> Well, recently Baltimore's strengths in the realm of health were evidenced in the ranking
of this being probably the healthiest city in terms of health care.
I think that is a major strength that should be applauded.
The paradox in all of that is that we still have the same health disparities
that you would find in major cities.
And so now we have to benefit, take the benefit of having good health care,
make it available to those who need it, gets the information and then work to make sure
that we can live healthy and live longer.
>> Baltimore's strengths are, one, first, the mayor,
the city government encourages good living and good habits.
It starts there.
You need -- you need someone to come and cheer the community on.
The second thing is that we have an extensive network of community organizations, nonprofits,
faith-based organizations that act as support.
And then the most -- I mean, the tremendous asset, can you believe we have all
of these tremendous universities and colleges.
We have these tremendous medical facilities right
within the geographic boundary of Baltimore City.
I think that this is a tremendous city to live in.
One time we talked about Baltimore being a -- really, Maryland being America in miniature.
But you can think about it, you have wooded places to walk, to go.
You have waterways in which to experience that.
You have beautiful mountains, good plains.
You have all kinds of agricultural products produced right here
within the surrounding area of Baltimore.
This is a tremendous place to live.
>> There are things that we still need to do to make Baltimore a healthier city.
So, for example, cardiovascular disease,
heart disease is the number one killer of people in Baltimore.
So there are very concrete things we can do and that individuals can do.
So, for example, stop smoking; exercise more; and eat more fruits and vegetables.
And, again, it's not -- those are not things that need to all happen at once.
What we're asking for is for people to take small steps and to really build on those steps.
And, collectively, we can really help to improve the health of Baltimore.
>> We need to become more educated ourselves and about our environment.
We need to take a total assessment and take responsibility for our lives.
A lot of times people join health clubs or start a diet and they expect some magic to occur.
You didn't get that way magically.
It's going to take more than magic to get away from it.
You have to take stock.
You're going to have to make some sacrifices.
One of the biggest things I hear is that I don't have time to work out.
It doesn't fit into my schedule.
Well, you've got to make time because sickness will fit into your schedule.
And all of the negative aspects of not being healthy,
if we don't take stock now, we'll pay for them later.
>> The Healthy Cities Initiative is important because it helps to highlight
on an everyday basis how health is really central to everything that we do.
And it really helps to focus individuals on the fact that, you know,
something simple like walking to the supermarket makes a difference in your overall daily life.
And to the extent that we can highlight what's being done across the city in terms
of helping communities improve their health, we should be doing that.
And so that's why this initiative is so important.
>> I think the Healthy City Days is an excellent idea, and it's so important.
Because, oftentimes, we get caught up in our daily activities and we're not mindful
of the simple things that we can do to become healthier.
And it's important on an individual level, a community level,
and just as a whole as a community.
Each individual committing to be healthier makes our community stronger and our city healthier.
>> The Healthy City Days Initiative is important because the city's strength,
the city's potential is actually reflected in the quality of life of its citizens.
And if our quality of life does not exemplify who we believe Baltimore City really is,
then we're going to have this contribution that's going
to be observed by those who don't live here.
And so the way we can really honor the city that we live in is to make sure
that we're the best citizens that we can be in the city that we love.
>> Be a part of Healthy City Days, a week that can change your life and our city.
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