He is
virtually forgotten now; one would have thought that would be impossible given
his massive girth! Today marks the 14th anniversary of the death of Christopher
lee Rios, better known as Big pun. He died on February 7th 2000 of a
massive heart attack at the peak of a successful but ultimately short career
that only showed the beginnings of what would have been a successful career. In
case you are wondering what big pun has got to do with a fitness and health
blog, don’t worry his is a cautionary tale of how you could lose that which we
should cherish above all: good health and life itself.
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| A slim Big pun before he lost the battle |
Big pun was
born Christopher lee Rios on November 10th 1971 in the Bronx, New York
of Puerto Rican descent. His was a difficult life, with a drug addicted mother
and his father died while he was young. He reportedly struggled with his weight
from them on and as you can see from these pictures, sometimes he won the battle
and sometimes he lost the battle.
He dreamt of
fame and fortune as a rapper and this came into fruition when he teamed up with
fat Joe (who is no longer fat by the way!) With the release of his hit song “still
not a player” in 1997 featuring Joe ( click on the video to watch) he became a household name and fortune was
not far behind, unfortunately neither was a health crisis.
He had
always battled with weight issues but with success he really indulged his appetites,
too much partying, drinking, smoking weed and eating mountains of junk food
took their toll and him and his marriage. He became violent and abusive to his
family, this depressed him and he ate more so the vicious cycle continued till
his weight ballooned to 698 pounds (317 kilograms!)
Something had
to give, in the end it was his heart. Christopher Rios suffered a massive heart
attack on February 7th 2000 and was pronounced dead on the spot. His
corpse was so heavy it took 8 men to lift him off the bed!
Why am I going
through this trip down memory lane? It’s because this could happen to any of
us. While we may never be Grammy nominated rappers, we are all subject to the
same pressures : personal, environmental, and biological that influenced Big pun’s
huge weight gain and created the conditions for his fatal heart attack. Today I
would like briefly write about some of the lifestyle changes you can apply to
stave off and even reverse weight gain and never have to worry if a heart
attack is around the corner. I hope you find them educative and I would love to
get your feedback on this.
- BE PHYSICALLY ACTIVE:
Be physically active every day of your life, scientific
research has shown that moderate to heavy physically activity for a at least 30
minutes five days a week has been shown
to reduce blood pressure , cholesterol and weight. No matter how little the
increase, something is better than nothing.
- CUT DOWN ON ALCOHOL:
I know this will not be a popular lifestyle change but hear
me out. While it has been established that “SMALL” amounts of alcohol i.e. a
glass of wine every day can be beneficial to your overall health, but a large
majority of people drink too much wine, beer and liquor. This overdosing
negates any positive health benefits associated with alcohol and can lead to
weight gain, high blood pressure as well as liver disease.
- CHANGE YOUR DIET:
A healthy diet is one of the greatest weapons in your fight
against weight gain and heart disease. Now this is an issue that has been
flogged time and again, but the truth remains you have to eat natural and
nutritious meals, cut out as much processed foods as possible. This includes
sugar flavoured soft drinks, junk food, margarine, salted processed meats as
well as white bread and white rice. Opt for whole grains instead; these include
whole grain bread, pasta, oatmeal as well as brown rice and our local ofada
rice. Avoid fried foods like the plague! If you must cook with oil then use oils
rich in omega 3 fatty acids like extra virgin olive oil. It would also be a
good idea to cut down on red meat, kpomo, shaki, intestines etc. A healthy replacement would be fish and
chicken.
- QUIT SMOKING:
Smoking will kill you. Need we say more? If you are an adult
and don’t smoke good for you, but beware of second hand smoke. If you do smoke
please quit and I do know it’s not that easy but think of this: smoking hardens
the arteries and this can lead to heart disease.
- REDUCE STRESS:
Stress is a leading contributor to heart disease, when your
stress levels are high your body literally poisons itself and these poisons
find their way to your heart. Apart from leading to heart disease and stroke,
stress can make you seek emotional comfort in binge eating or drinking thereby
worsening an already bad condition. When you feel overwhelmed by life’s
challenges just take a step back, breath and relax it helps. You should also
endevour to sleep for at least 7 hours a night. I know this is difficult in
lagos but its worth a shot.
Do have a lovely day!
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