Correcting Unhealthy Choices

When it comes to leading a healthy life, not everyone can claim a medal for good behavior.

But if your past is checkered with bad habits and unhealthy choices, never fear. The Early Show Medical Correspondent Dr. Emily Senay shares some ways to repair the damage and prevent further harm.

Whether it's smoking, bad diet or sunbathing, it's never too late to change your "evil ways" and make a difference to your health, Senay says. Just stopping the bad habits is enough to help in many cases, and there are other ways to compensate for the bad choices in your past.

Quitting smoking starts a healing process. Senay says the beneficial effects are immediate, as it is shown in the following data by the American Cancer Society:

• After 20 Minutes: Blood Pressure Decreases
• After 1 Day: Heart Attack Risk Decreases
• Within 3 Months: Circulation And Lung Function Improve
• After 1 Year: Heart Disease Risk is Half That of a Smoker
• After 5 Years: Stroke Risk is Reduced to Non-Smoker Risk
• After 10 Years: Lung Cancer Death Rate is Half That of a Smoker
• After 15 Years: Heart Disease Risk Reduced to Non-Smoker Risk

Senay says a bad diet is usually too much fat, sugar and salt, resulting in familiar problems like obesity, high cholesterol and high blood pressure, which all are risk factors for heart disease and diabetes. The good news is that the damage -- like hardening of the arteries -- is caused slowly over the years. There's plenty of opportunity to take action to stop the progression.

To remedy a bad diet, Senay recommends losing excess weight and keeping it off. Obesity in itself is a major health risk. Try to stick to a low-fat, low-salt and low sugar diet. Get regular exercise. Even a modest amount keeps many diet-related problems at bay and helps your body work more efficiently.

And, Senay says, if you know your diet has been less than perfect in the past, be proactive. See your doctor and figure out a program to monitor your health and rectify mistakes.

There are other problems that can develop from bad diet, such as osteoporosis. It is caused if you haven't had enough calcium in your diet in your younger years. Weight-bearing exercise, a diet with plenty of calcium or calcium supplements and even medication can help to strengthen bones weakened by bad diet.

If you got too much sun in the past, Senay says the best thing to do is avoid further sunburn by wearing sunscreen and staying in the shade where possible, especially if you got severely sunburned in your youth. It's definitely a mistake to think that the sun won't cause potentially serious damage over time. See your doctor for regular checkups.