Author Tom Rath On The Health Wake-Up Call He Got At 16 Years Old (VIDEO)

Author Tom Rath got a wake-up call that would change the rest of his life when he was just 16 years old.

The writer of "Eat Move Sleep: How Small Choices Lead to Big Changes" spoke with HuffPost Live's Nancy Redd about living with Von Hippel-Lindau Syndrome, a genetic disorder that spurs growth of cancerous tumors. Rath said struggling with the disease has led to a nearly constant assessment of his health habits and how they're contributing to his well-being.

"I first found out I had cancer on my eye and lost an eye to this disease when I was 16, and I've since had cancer in my kidneys and pancreas and a host of other areas," Rath said. "So for the past 20 years, I've spent time literally almost every day trying to figure out what are little things I can do with my own lifestyle habits in order to essentially extend my odds of living a little bit longer."

Hear the full conversation about small choices that can change your life in a big way at HuffPost Live HERE.