Welcome to Wellness Wisdom—Your Weekly Guide to Thriving After 50
Each week, you’ll find simple, effective health tips, inspiring insights, and practical strategies designed to help you feel your best—physically, mentally, and emotionally.
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Wellness Wisdom Weekly - Your Guide to Living Well After 50
Wellness Wisdom Weekly - Your Guide to Living Well After 50
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Imagine a basketball game. A player scores 40 points while ignoring open teammates. He gets all the glory, maybe even a spot in the draft. Meanwhile, the player who makes the team better goes unnoticed.
This is how America treats health.
Welcome to Issue 17 of Wellness Wisdom!
🏥 The Healthcare Crisis No One’s Talking About
🏥 The Healthcare Crisis No One’s Talking About
Introduction
A System Built on Sickness
The Power of Environment
Community-Based Health in Action
When Healthcare Means Caring for Health
Designing Cities for Vitality
The Future of Wellness Starts with Us
Closing Thoughts from the West Egg Wellness Team
Why America’s $4.4 Trillion Health System Keeps Making Us Sicker
Imagine a basketball game. A player scores 40 points while ignoring open teammates. He gets all the glory, maybe even a spot in the draft. Meanwhile, the player who makes the team better goes unnoticed.
This is how America treats health.
We say we want wellness, vitality, and long life. But what we reward—what makes money—is sickness. Surgeons earn when they cut. Hospitals profit when beds are filled. Pharmaceutical companies thrive when you’re dependent on prescriptions. Very few industries benefit from you being healthy.
The result? Chronic illness has exploded. In 1980, about 3 in 10 middle-aged Americans had a chronic disease like heart disease or diabetes. Today, it’s 6 in 10. We now spend a mind-bending $4.4 trillion a year—over 17% of our economy—on healthcare. And yet, our life expectancy has fallen to 76.4 years, its lowest level in nearly two decades.
We’re rewarding all the wrong things while still hoping for wellness. That’s not just inefficient—it’s tragic.
The High Cost of Treating What Could Have Been Prevented
Much of what afflicts Americans today is preventable: heart disease, Type 2 diabetes, stroke, some cancers, and Alzheimer’s. These conditions account for 90% of our healthcare costs—and most begin years, sometimes decades, before a diagnosis.
Here’s the kicker: The U.S. ranks last among wealthy nations for deaths from preventable diseases. And our prevention strategy? It’s mostly cosmetic.
We spend:
💸 $200 billion a year on diets, even though most people give up within weeks
🏋️ $160 billion on fitness programs, yet only 1 in 5 Americans gets 11 minutes of daily exercise
💊 $150 billion on vitamins and supplements, despite no proof that any supplement extends life
The pattern is clear. We're chasing quick fixes rather than redesigning our daily lives.
What’s needed isn’t more willpower—it’s better systems.
Healthy Living Shouldn’t Be a Struggle
Here’s a radical idea: what if you didn’t need to force yourself to “be healthy”? What if your daily life naturally nudged you toward vitality?
That’s what happens in many places where people live the longest and healthiest lives. Not because they try harder—but because their environment helps them.
Think about it:
🏃 Daily activity is built into routines—walking, gardening, doing chores, visiting neighbors.
🥗 Meals are simple, plant-based, and often prepared at home with whole ingredients.
🧘 Purpose, meaning, and strong social connections are central to daily life—not distractions from it.
People in these communities don’t go to the gym. They don’t hop on trendy diet plans. Their healthy lives aren’t the result of personal discipline; they’re the result of thoughtful design.
Now, imagine bringing that mindset to American neighborhoods.
A Small Town's Big Transformation
Let’s look at an American example of what’s possible when you change the environment instead of blaming the individual.
In Albert Lea, Minnesota, a small town with an aging population and rising healthcare costs, leaders decided to try something different. Instead of telling people to diet or exercise more, they redesigned the town:
🚲 Built sidewalks and bike lanes to encourage movement
🛒 Worked with restaurants and grocery stores to offer and promote healthier options
🤝 Encouraged walking groups, volunteer opportunities, and social clubs
🏫 Partnered with schools to promote healthy lunches and classroom movement breaks
The result? In just 18 months:
The average resident’s life expectancy increased by three years
Healthcare costs dropped by 30%
Community engagement soared
No miracle pills. No strict regimens. Just smarter design.
How Public Health Systems Can Help Everyone Thrive
In some parts of the world, health systems are built not just to treat illness, but to prevent it in the first place.
Take a look at this public health model:
🩺 Mobile health teams visit every household annually
👶 Infant care and maternal education are prioritized
❤️ Early warning signs like high blood pressure are caught before they cause damage
📉 As a result, deaths from communicable diseases drop, infant mortality plummets, and life expectancy climbs
A proactive approach like this costs a fraction of what we spend—and it works better.
Now ask yourself: why don’t we have something similar in every community in America?
What Happens When Places Prioritize Wellness
What if your neighborhood was designed with your well-being in mind?
In cities that have taken that approach, the results speak for themselves:
🌇 Sidewalks and parks encourage people to walk, not drive
🍎 Grocery stores feature affordable, real food in prominent spots
🚌 Public transportation is accessible, reducing isolation for the elderly
🚭 Policies discourage harmful habits like smoking and excessive alcohol use
And when local hospitals invest in these efforts, they often see massive returns:
In one city, a local hospital saw a 54% decrease in healthcare costs over six years
Obesity dropped by nearly a quarter in just five years
Residents reported higher satisfaction, lower stress, and greater connection
But here’s the catch: these systems don't profit from you being sick. They thrive when you thrive.
Creating a Culture Where Health Happens Naturally
We face a choice in America: keep rewarding illness—or start building a system that rewards health.
That means:
🌻 Designing homes, neighborhoods, and cities that promote movement and connection
🍽️ Making healthy food the easier choice, not the expensive or confusing one
🧑🤝🧑 Building social structures that reduce isolation, especially for older adults
💡 Funding prevention instead of reacting to disease
And most importantly, it means shifting our mindset.
Let’s stop asking people to constantly resist temptation, buy more products, or force new habits into their busy lives.
Instead, let’s help people live in a world where healthy choices are automatic—where the default lifestyle supports vitality, not burnout.
When one hospital in Florida committed to that shift, its leadership went against the advice of its Chief Financial Officer. They chose health over profit—and their community is now thriving.
At West Egg Wellness, we believe you deserve to live that way too.
Let’s create a world where wellness isn’t something we struggle for—
…it’s something we simply live.
Here’s what we know to be true: You can’t out-supplement a bad system. You can’t out-diet a broken environment. And you shouldn’t have to.
We exist to help build a better path—one grounded in purpose, simplicity, and community.
At West Egg Wellness, we’re inspired by stories like Albert Lea’s. They prove that health doesn’t have to be hard. With the right environment, good choices become second nature.
So take the first step. Not by buying a product, joining a gym, or overhauling your diet—but by asking:
How can I shape my surroundings to support the life I want to live?
We’re here to walk that path with you.
Stay well,
The West Egg Wellness 50+ Team
A Small Town's Big Transformation In a world obsessed with miracle diets, fitness apps, and pharmaceutical breakthroughs, one small town quietly rewrote the rules on wellness—and in the process, transformed lives.
Albert Lea, Minnesota, a modest community with an aging population and a rising tide of healthcare costs, made a bold decision: instead of telling people to live healthier, they changed the environment so that health happened naturally.
This is the story of how one town sparked a national movement—without a single new drug, diet fad, or wearable device.
If you’re new to West Egg Wellness 50+, be sure to click on the Getting Started icon. There, you’ll find free downloadable materials designed to help you take those first steps toward better health and nutrition. From simple meal planning guides to beginner-friendly fitness tips, these resources are created with you in mind. It’s a great way to jumpstart your wellness journey—don’t miss it!
If you have any questions, thoughts, or comments you'd like to share, I'm always happy to hear from you - just send a message to info@westeggliving.com
I'm here to help!
Thank you for joining us for this edition of Wellness Wisdom! We hope you found inspiration, encouragement, and a few practical takeaways to support your wellness journey. Remember, lasting health isn’t about perfection — it’s about small, consistent steps.
We’re honored to walk alongside you as you create a stronger, more vibrant life after 50. Stay tuned for next week’s issue packed with more tips, insights, and motivation. Until then, be kind to yourself and keep moving forward — you’ve got this!
The content provided by West Egg Wellness 50 Plus is for informational purposes only and is not intended as medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult with your healthcare provider before beginning any new health, fitness, or nutrition program. Individual results may vary. West Egg Wellness 50 Plus makes no guarantees regarding specific outcomes.
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I love the video on this one.
I will try dinking water every hourr like I am trying to go 250 steps each hour.. Encouraging idea.
This is great information. I love the new layout. I cannot wait for the next edition!!!
Thanks Riaan.
Great article!