I've been a little lax in my self care lately. I guess the good thing is that I recognize it and am back to changing it. I know a lot of people fall off the bandwagon in December. I just don't think they equate it to self care. I had to ask Shannon yesterday to stop baking so much! Can you believe it? Here's the problem; she doesn't eat sweets anymore so that means I now have twice as much to eat when she bakes. Since I have very little self control, I'd just rather it not be in the house. Anyway, it's a great time for new year resolutions and a return to self care. Most of us innately understand this; we just have a hard time sticking to this aspect of health. Here are the most important things I see for self care (those things we have to do for ourselves that no one else can do for us):
1) Eat a healthful, natural diet at least 80% of the time (include lots of high quality water).
2) Exercise several days a week (preferably cardio and strength training).
3) Pray daily.
4) Spend time with family.
5) Participate in spiritual development daily (include meditation and reading of good books/scripture).
6) Get adequate sleep (the recommendation for adults is 7-9 hours a night).
I'm sure there are more, but it's easy to note the things that are easy to skip. My new year's resolutions will include these!
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
The Big Picture of Health
If you're sick of being sick, you may need to understand health a little bit better! Firstly, it's not your fault. We're taught from a young age to see the doctor when we are sick. We go to the ER when we fall and bleed badly or break an arm. When we have tonsillitis, we make an appt. with the doctor for some antibiotics. Every parent knows this and often demands it (now who's the doctor?)! So, here's the problem. For most of us, the extent of our health knowledge is, "an apple a day keeps the doctor away." If it was that simple, Washington would be the richest state in the world and we would have far less grapefruit because Florida would be figuring out how to switch crops. Anyway, there is a lot more we need to do for health than just see our doctor when we are sick.
Secondly, it is your fault! If you believe that your health is one of the most precious possesions you have, you need to treat it as such. There is so much information available for you to make educated decisions on healthcare. I've seen people study cars for a year or more before deciding to make an investment that for most will be 5 years or less in their possesion. Think about the planning that goes into buying or building a house. Most people move residences at least 6 times in their lives. Our health is ours forever.
I'm here to tell you that most of us have been duped! For over a hundred years now we have been led to believe that crisis care, the care you receive when you've made a mistake or had an accident, is actually healthcare. It's absolutely not. If you've read my profile, you understand that self care and healthcare consists of things you do before you get sick or lose your health. These things are things that guard and preserve your health. The analogy with driving would be do you obey traffic laws, look carefully at what is going on around you and use common sense when operating your car or do you just drive as fast as you can, ignoring all rules of the road and other peoples' safety, wreck your car and then limp to the mechanic and ask him to fix your wreck? I know there are a few that will say the latter, but for the majority of us, we would rather be prudent and act safely. Please do the same with your health. Big pharma has invested billions (yes, with B not an M) yearly to make you think of healthcare as drugs and surgeries. This is crisis care though. This happens after you've wrecked your body. I'll talk more about self care and health care in the future, but just know already that you have a lot of personal responsibility here. Some things to think about are diet, nutrition, exercise, meditation, prayer/spiritual health, gyms, massage, chiropractic, accupuncture, vacation, safe driving courses, etc. More to follow...
Secondly, it is your fault! If you believe that your health is one of the most precious possesions you have, you need to treat it as such. There is so much information available for you to make educated decisions on healthcare. I've seen people study cars for a year or more before deciding to make an investment that for most will be 5 years or less in their possesion. Think about the planning that goes into buying or building a house. Most people move residences at least 6 times in their lives. Our health is ours forever.
I'm here to tell you that most of us have been duped! For over a hundred years now we have been led to believe that crisis care, the care you receive when you've made a mistake or had an accident, is actually healthcare. It's absolutely not. If you've read my profile, you understand that self care and healthcare consists of things you do before you get sick or lose your health. These things are things that guard and preserve your health. The analogy with driving would be do you obey traffic laws, look carefully at what is going on around you and use common sense when operating your car or do you just drive as fast as you can, ignoring all rules of the road and other peoples' safety, wreck your car and then limp to the mechanic and ask him to fix your wreck? I know there are a few that will say the latter, but for the majority of us, we would rather be prudent and act safely. Please do the same with your health. Big pharma has invested billions (yes, with B not an M) yearly to make you think of healthcare as drugs and surgeries. This is crisis care though. This happens after you've wrecked your body. I'll talk more about self care and health care in the future, but just know already that you have a lot of personal responsibility here. Some things to think about are diet, nutrition, exercise, meditation, prayer/spiritual health, gyms, massage, chiropractic, accupuncture, vacation, safe driving courses, etc. More to follow...
Vacation for Better Health
Well, here I am back from a week in the Caribbean with my family. I haven't had a real vacation in quite a while. Sure, I've taken the long 4 day weekend (I always have 3 day weekends) every now and then, but it's been a long time since I've been away from the office for a whole week! Ok, this is where everyone says, "Ah, poor baby!" I know I am fortunate to be able to balance home and work life well in my profession. Anyway, let me get to the point.
We often go through life in a stressed out mode; a mode that we are doing well enough to function fairly happily, but think that we can't take the time off that we should to unwind because we would lose income or whatever position we have built up in the company. This may relate mostly to people that are self-employed or in upper management positions but can translate somewhat to anyone that may have limited paid vacation time too. My practice management team requests that we take 5 weeks of vacation a year. I've been VERY hesitant to do that in the past. Five weeks of closing down the office could mean a pretty big amount of income lost each year. However, I must tell you how I feel this week returning to work. Refreshed is the best word! I can have 8 busy days in the first 2 weeks back and happily recreate any lost income without feeling strained or stressed. I'm ready to put more effort into the practice again.
So what's the message to everyone? I feel that most of us don't take the time that we should to enjoy family and re-energizing. Ask some questions. Do I take enough vacation time to make my work experience everything that it should be; even a joy? Do I take enough vacation time to let my family know how important they are? Maybe another really important question would be; When I take a vacation, do I allow myself to fully relax and get away from work or am I still in stress mode? This often occurs with post-graduate students worrying about upcoming classes or big exams (boards). Whatever your present situation in life is, take appropriate opportunities to unwind and enjoy life. Use vacation time to help with this.
We often go through life in a stressed out mode; a mode that we are doing well enough to function fairly happily, but think that we can't take the time off that we should to unwind because we would lose income or whatever position we have built up in the company. This may relate mostly to people that are self-employed or in upper management positions but can translate somewhat to anyone that may have limited paid vacation time too. My practice management team requests that we take 5 weeks of vacation a year. I've been VERY hesitant to do that in the past. Five weeks of closing down the office could mean a pretty big amount of income lost each year. However, I must tell you how I feel this week returning to work. Refreshed is the best word! I can have 8 busy days in the first 2 weeks back and happily recreate any lost income without feeling strained or stressed. I'm ready to put more effort into the practice again.
So what's the message to everyone? I feel that most of us don't take the time that we should to enjoy family and re-energizing. Ask some questions. Do I take enough vacation time to make my work experience everything that it should be; even a joy? Do I take enough vacation time to let my family know how important they are? Maybe another really important question would be; When I take a vacation, do I allow myself to fully relax and get away from work or am I still in stress mode? This often occurs with post-graduate students worrying about upcoming classes or big exams (boards). Whatever your present situation in life is, take appropriate opportunities to unwind and enjoy life. Use vacation time to help with this.
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Out for a little ride around the lake
I had a great day Saturday out riding my bike with some friends from Southern Maine Cycling Club(SMCC). These are guys that I pretty regularly train and occasionally race with. Some may have thought that we were crazy! It was 24 degrees when we started with snow on the ground (clear roads) and plenty of rolling hills along the 54 mile ride around Sebago Lake. I especially loved the comments from one gentleman, "You guys must really love to bike!" Ayup, I guess you could say that. However, it's also a heck of a good way to stay in shape. It'll be tough to get out much over the next 3 months, but it will make April feel so much warmer.
What's my point? It's no doubt that exercise is an important part of overall health but often people don't really embrace it as part of their way of life. It winds up being a means to an end, of not getting fat, usually. Biking for me is a perfect example of what people need to do to stay active. My big piece of advice to all my patients is to do something that you really like to do with at least one friend and preferably several. This means multiple people will keep you motivated to continue with staying in shape. SMCC has a message board where people will try to hook up with each other for rides and sometimes even publicly ridicule friends for sleeping in and skipping a ride or over-imbibing the night before and not being able to balance on a bike. An organized group can also be so helpful to motivate you. Ideally, you would also have your spouse's support. Shannon has fallen in love with biking like me and runs the SMCC Women's group ride. She has also taken up cyclocross racing with me this fall. I have rarely felt guilty for competing in many events and have never been made to feel guilty about attending a group ride. Thank goodness for her support!
What's my point? It's no doubt that exercise is an important part of overall health but often people don't really embrace it as part of their way of life. It winds up being a means to an end, of not getting fat, usually. Biking for me is a perfect example of what people need to do to stay active. My big piece of advice to all my patients is to do something that you really like to do with at least one friend and preferably several. This means multiple people will keep you motivated to continue with staying in shape. SMCC has a message board where people will try to hook up with each other for rides and sometimes even publicly ridicule friends for sleeping in and skipping a ride or over-imbibing the night before and not being able to balance on a bike. An organized group can also be so helpful to motivate you. Ideally, you would also have your spouse's support. Shannon has fallen in love with biking like me and runs the SMCC Women's group ride. She has also taken up cyclocross racing with me this fall. I have rarely felt guilty for competing in many events and have never been made to feel guilty about attending a group ride. Thank goodness for her support!
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Drug Free Pain Relief
I'm always happy when a new patient comes in and says that they want to try chiropractic care because they hate taking medications unless they have to. That's the smart choice. I'm equally discouraged when I see someone new on a never ending amount of medications and they still have pain and want a quick chiropractic cure. Now, let me be clear that it's not a personal like or dislike I have towards these patients, but I think it speaks about society and the ill-placed faith we often put in traditional medicine.
I was reading an article while preparing my newsletter on www.oobchiro.com entitled "Serious Drug Reactions Hit New Record High". This article stated that in the first quarter of 2008 there were 20,745 serious injuries and deaths associated with drug therapy. Of these 4824 resulted in death. The Institute for Safe Medication Practice says this represents nearly a threefold increase in deaths over the previous quarter and a 38% increase in injuries from the previous year's quarterly average. Perhaps one of the most shocking parts of the article to me was that Chantix, the "stop smoking" drug, was number one on the list with associated negative outcomes. Another "wow moment" came as I read that Acetaminophen, often referred to as its common brand name Tylenol, also made the top ten list. I wondered how many people take acetaminophen and think it is perfectly safe.
I often encourage folks to try a trial of chiropractic care to help with their aches and pains. It seems funny that people ask what that is? I tell them it's a similar tactic that they do when they take a Tylenol for a few days instead of going to see their doctor right away when they feel badly. The only difference is that there are no typical side effects to chiropractic care except for some occasional soreness. There are certainly no side effects such as liver damage associated with chiro care. You don't have to come into the office after consuming a sandwich so you don't receive any stomach injury, either.
One thing is almost certain with chiro care. When folks come in and make the decision to try a trial of care instead of taking pain medications, they are taking a positive step towards creating good health in their lives.
I was reading an article while preparing my newsletter on www.oobchiro.com entitled "Serious Drug Reactions Hit New Record High". This article stated that in the first quarter of 2008 there were 20,745 serious injuries and deaths associated with drug therapy. Of these 4824 resulted in death. The Institute for Safe Medication Practice says this represents nearly a threefold increase in deaths over the previous quarter and a 38% increase in injuries from the previous year's quarterly average. Perhaps one of the most shocking parts of the article to me was that Chantix, the "stop smoking" drug, was number one on the list with associated negative outcomes. Another "wow moment" came as I read that Acetaminophen, often referred to as its common brand name Tylenol, also made the top ten list. I wondered how many people take acetaminophen and think it is perfectly safe.
I often encourage folks to try a trial of chiropractic care to help with their aches and pains. It seems funny that people ask what that is? I tell them it's a similar tactic that they do when they take a Tylenol for a few days instead of going to see their doctor right away when they feel badly. The only difference is that there are no typical side effects to chiropractic care except for some occasional soreness. There are certainly no side effects such as liver damage associated with chiro care. You don't have to come into the office after consuming a sandwich so you don't receive any stomach injury, either.
One thing is almost certain with chiro care. When folks come in and make the decision to try a trial of care instead of taking pain medications, they are taking a positive step towards creating good health in their lives.
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