As a teenager, i took great pride in consuming gallons of coke and heaves of pizzas with taste and aroma, the determining factors of my life. I did not care about a healthy living. Fast food, fast paced life, tension filled days without exercises was my daily routine.

One day, early in the morning, there was some commotion in my neighbor's home. I went in to see what was it all about. Our friendly 40 plus neighbor was being shifted to hospital with chest pain. He is a man who like me was in the same category of lifestyle. I offered to go with him.

Accompanying him to the hospital and surrounded by activities at the hospital with blaring sounds of ambulances, shrieking wheels of the stretchers, white-coat doctors, and duty bound nurses. I could see my neighbor was not alone in such a condition. There were so many like my neighbor. This brought much impact on me. I decided to find out the reasons behind such a scenario.

Our neighbor reached the destination, ICU under the care of a nice, calm, visibly happy gentleman, a learned cardiologist. My stay at the hospital, helping my neighbor brought greater help to me by reinventing my lifestyle.

The helpful cardiologist gave me three "mantras" of hearty health and healthy heart.

Diet: Balanced diet low on fat, plenty of vegetables, fruits, handful of nuts devoid of saturated fats and transfats (like cookies, cakes, pastries etc.)

Daily dose of exercise: Aerobic exercises thrice a week like walking, jogging, cycling for an hour and weight bearing exercises twice a week.

Divine lifestyle: Positive outlook, mental happiness without tensions, meditation, and yogic breathing exercises. No room for jealousy, anger, hatred etc.

These 3-D's have helped me redefine my outlook on life. Health is the greatest wealth that one can have and that too easily achievable with some discipline.

Tags & Keywords : Nutrition, exercise, and mental health