Grant Regional | aspire to live well | Spring 2018

WHY Inside A journal devoted to helping you live well. Spring 2018 2 Live well with a chronic illness 7 Raise a glass to good hydration “I didn’t know it at the time, but 2017 was going to be a year of change. A year that would set the stage for the rest of my life,” says Jon Jackson, of Cassville. “At my annual physical in April last year, my doctor punched some numbers (weight, age, cholesterol, blood pressure, etc.) in a model and said, ‘You have a 10 percent chance of dying in the next 10 years.’ This was the same thing he said the year be- fore. My reaction was that those seemed like pretty good odds to me. He was shocked and said, ‘Oh no, it should be down around 3 percent.’ This stopped me in my tracks and made me take a long hard look at myself. I asked him if I was overweight and needed to see a nutritionist. He said yes, you are obese and yes, you should see a nutritionist.” Changing his fate “A new perspective became crystal clear,” Jon continues. “Thoughts of my family’s history of heart disease flooded my mind. My dad, uncle and brother had heart issues at the young age of 61. I made the decision right then and there—that wasn’t going to be me. My 61st birthday was fast approaching, and I knew this was an opportunity to change my fate.” —Continued on page 4 J OU RN E Y TO S U CC E SS Finding my and getting to the Jon Jackson’s focus on a healthier lifestyle leads to his 100-pound weight loss HOW