Longevity

“Happy New Year!” How many times have you said these words to family, friends and coworkers? How many times have you said it over the past decade or two? How many times has it been said to you? Every one of us wants to have a happy, healthy New Year.

To ensure that this is your best year ever, there may be some things that you need to change and you probably already know what they are. Are they the same things you were thinking about last year? This time, let’s make these changes your new lifestyle.

To make changes that last, you will need to determine what your primary motivation for change has been in the past. Has it been crisis or quality of life?

Crisis motivation is caused by pain or suffering that has become so bad it forces you to take action. Crisis motivators include a health scare such as a heart attack, herniated disc or being diagnosed with a disease. For too many people, crisis motivation is their reminder to go to the chiropractor for a series of adjustments. Crisis motivation can also come from not being able to wear your clothes because they don’t fit anymore. Divorce, bankruptcy and a job lay-off are also crisis motivators that may get you moving and motivate you to make the changes that are inevitable. Crisis motivation does not lead to lasting change.

Quality of life motivation is inspired by the desire to live your best life today and every day. Think about what you want and the kind of life you want to live. Do you want to be healthy? Do you want a healthy relationship? Do you want to perform well at work or in sports? Quality of life motivation will lead you from survival to a life where you are thriving and living your ideal 100 Year Lifestyle.

Too many people live from one crisis to another crisis and never make the Critical Transition to the quality of life they deserve. We see this in some people who return with the same or similar condition year after year only with more deterioration and chronicity because they have not made the Critical Transition to Lifestyle Care. How many years will you let pass by before you make your health a priority and make quality of life your primary motivator?

People that have made the Critical Transition from Crisis Care to Lifestyle Care are enjoying a much healthier quality of life and are optimizing their potential with their choices. They get their spine checked as a lifestyle. They make healthy eating a lifestyle. They make being fit a lifestyle. Are you ready to make the transition?

When it comes to health care choices, any person at any age can benefit from chiropractic care as they make changes towards a healthier lifestyle. If you or a loved one are in the middle of a crisis or you are ready for lasting change, contact us to find out how we can help you on your journey to living your best life every day starting with today.

Copyright 2013 – 2014. The Family Practice, Inc., Dr. Eric Plasker and The 100 Year Lifestyle. All Rights Reserved.

“Discipline is getting yourself to do something you don’t necessarily want to do to achieve a result you really want to get.” – Andy Andrews

Most people want to be healthy, want to feel good, want to function well and live a long life. This does not happen by accident. The healthiest and happiest people on the outside have usually done a lot of work on the inside or in private to achieve this goal.

The discipline it takes to be healthy requires healthy choices done consistently for a long time. If you are currently unhealthy or have bad habits many of these choices are not easy at first. Discipline requires that we develop habits, good habits, which we rely on to give us the best opportunity to have a healthy state of being.

If we can discipline ourselves and take responsibility for our lives and we practice this discipline with healthy choices, good habits will become our lifestyle, freeing us to live unencumbered by illness or injury where we enjoy the quality of life we deserve.

In regards to our physical health, we should all become disciplined in the areas of exercise, nutrition, rest and protecting our spine and nervous system through Chiropractic Lifestyle Care.

How are your habits? Are your disciplines healthy? Good habits require discipline that, when put in place, are easy to live with. Bad habits develop when you are not conscious, not responsible and do not discipline yourself. Bad habits may seem easy but they are very hard to live with.

When you are in a health crisis and suffering from a situation that requires your utmost attention, you are likely to be motivated to reclaim your health. You will usually do whatever is required and are more likely to be disciplined to get the result you want. However, as you become stable and relief has been achieved, do you make the critical transition to change your lifestyle? Do you continue on the path to achieve optimum health and peak performance levels?

Exercise, nutrition, rest, good posture and having your spine checked for nerve interference and proper function are the disciplines of many top performers in sports, entertainment and in the board room as well. Top performers are disciplined and make chiropractic care part of the health disciplines they practice regularly so their nervous system can function properly, which is vital to good health.

As it says in The 100 Year Lifestyle, “Learn to love the things that are good for you.” By being disciplined today and every day you are more likely to enjoy a longer, healthier life. See you at your next appointment.

Contributed by Dr. Dennis Buckley
The 100 Year Lifestyle Licensed Affiliate Chiropractor in Pasadena, CA

Copyright 2013 – 2014. The Family Practice, Inc., Dr. Eric Plasker and The 100 Year Lifestyle. All Rights Reserved.

Chronic health problems can affect your quality of life for decades. Whether they are musculoskeletal in nature affecting your back, neck, and limbs or they affect your organs (heart, lungs, stomach, kidneys or sex organs), your daily activities may become limited and your longevity can be compromised. The longer you wait the more suffering these chronic conditions deliver. Research shows that within two weeks of an injury, scar tissue can appear. Why would you wait another day when you can start your healing process right now?

You might choose to hold off on addressing chronic health problems because you have grown used to the problem and consider it normal. It is not normal. You might choose to wait because you feel like you don’t have the money and cannot afford to address the problem. This can be an extremely costly decision. The more chronic health problems become, the more expense is involved to care for them and the more likely you will experience some permanent damage.

No matter how long it has been, there is no better time than the present to start your healing journey. The human body has an amazing capacity to heal itself when you remove the interference to the nervous system and are consistent with chiropractic care and healthy lifestyle choices. The initial care, Crisis Care, can give you the relief and stability you are looking for, take the edge off, and give you hope for a healthy future.

Once your spine and nervous system are stable, and you stay consistent with your care through the Critical Transition, you will notice that your body begins to regenerate. If you are like most people you will feel younger and more energetic during this process. The energy that your body was using to protect you from your chronic condition will be freed up and can be redirected towards a more purposeful and healthy lifestyle. You will want to exercise. You will want to eat healthier. You will want to engage in activities you enjoy. Your newfound health and outlook on life will motivate you to make Lifestyle Care your top priority.

How long have you or a loved one been suffering from a chronic condition? Has it been months, years or decades? Now think about the oldest grandparent in your family history. If you live at least as long as they did and you do not correct your chronic condition now, how many more years of suffering do you have ahead of you? This is not your destiny. Researcher Ian D. Coulter, PhD’s study found that geriatric patients receiving chiropractic care are more active, live independent lifestyles and are less likely to end up in a nursing home.

Nurture the healing capacity of your body and don’t let your condition become more chronic than it is right now. Start your journey of healing and optimize your health by making an appointment today.

© 2014 The Family Practice, Inc., Dr. Eric Plasker and The 100 Year Lifestyle. All Rights Reserved.

Some people are excited about living to be 100. Some are scared of the thought. Either way, it is important to realize that you may not have a choice. 100 year old people are the world’s fastest growing group. How many of them do you imagine planned to live so long?

If your number is not 100, what’s your number? Is it 63? 78? 107? If you had quality years during every one of those years, why would you ever want to check out? When you focus on your number, making quality of life choices and making the most of every day becomes a priority.

Three simple steps will immediately improve the quality of your life from this point forward:

1.Develop a long term vision for your quality of life. Create an image in your mind of how you want your life to look as you age. You can get away with abusing your body and mind for a few months or years but in a little while it will catch up with you. The wake-up call can be devastating. Keeping a long term vision in your mind creates a compass for your life. Most people do not want to wake up in ten years and look in the mirror at a sick, overweight, stressed out, broken down reflection. Instead, paint the picture of your ideal long term vision and make daily choices that support it. <b>Life Changing Principle #3: If you make a change make it with your ideal 100 Year Lifestyle in mind.</b>

2.Make choices today that support the long term vision. Choices that improve your quality of life today will automatically support you in a better quality of life as you age. We see this in chiropractic Lifestyle Care patients who make the health of their spine and nervous system a priority in their life. As they age, they are able to stay active and more functional. Many describe feeling younger even though they are older chronologically.

Healthy food choices fall into the same category. They will help you feel better today and keep you younger and healthier as time goes by. Life Changing Principle #2: Change comes one choice at a time; think progress not perfection.

3.Make the change. If you make the same New Year Resolutions year after year, stop kidding yourself. You have not yet truly committed. Make this year your year. Do not settle for mediocrity. Your current habits are causing you some level of suffering but not quite enough to do something about it. Sooner or later, the comfort of staying the same will become extremely uncomfortable because of a crisis that forces you to take action. Commit to the quality of life changes today and enjoy the benefits for decades. Life Changing Principle #1: Change is Easy. Thinking about Change is Hard. When you commit to change, you diminish the suffering and begin to enjoy your best life every day.

Our 100 Year Lifestyle Affiliate chiropractic office is committed to helping you enjoy the best quality of life possible so that regardless of what your number is, you make the most of every year along the way. We’ll see you at your next appointment!

Copyright 2014 The Family Practice, Inc., Dr. Eric Plasker and The 100 Year Lifestyle. All Rights Reserved.

Time. We measure it, live by it, spend it, give it and sometimes waste it. Most of us wish we had more hours in day, more weeks to complete a project, more minutes before missing the flight, more time to say what we really wanted to say. Yes, timing is everything.

What if we had more time than we thought and we just haven’t discovered that yet? Consider this as the advanced notice that like it or not, want to or not, most of us have the potential to live longer than we ever imagined. What the journey looks like getting there, is up to us. How we use the time will be our legacy.

Measure your time. How much time do you have left? No one knows for sure. Here’s a simple calculation to determine one part of the best guess answer: Take the age of your oldest relative ever and subtract your current age from that number. The answer is your Minimum Potential Years Remaining. Your M-PYR. Genes are only a minor factor for life expectancy. The way you choose to live hour by hour, day to day, from one year to the next is your lifestyle. Lifestyle choices play a major role in life expectancy for you and for your family. If the choices are sedentary, monotonous, stressful, and unhealthy your time may be limited. If the choices are active, exhilarating, positive and vitalistic your time could be extended beyond your imagination.

Measure your time by your lifestyle choices and ask yourself if you like what you see. How you take care of yourself physically, mentally and emotionally now affects the future measurement of your time, your life. Take care of your body and take special care of your spine. It protects your nervous system which is your personal IT system designed to integrate your mind and body for perfect communication between the two.

Live, spend and give your time. Lifestyle choices either free us up to spend time with and give time to others or they consume us in a crisis to crisis survival mindset. Those who live life fully have made daily choices to use their time wisely, to incorporate self-care before crisis sets in, and give out of their abundance. People who are at peace in their life are able to give back to their community. The healthy balance that comes from physical well-being, reduced stress, and habits that strengthen the individual’s passions enable them to make better choices over and over. Develop social circles filled with the type of person who is positive, healthy and focused and be built up while you build up others. Exercise together, serve in your community together, eat healthy foods together, attend inspiring lectures together. If you want to do something different with your life and your time, you can. Change is easy, thinking about change is hard.

Schedule your time. Your schedule will either dominate all of your time or you will be master over your schedule. Set aside time to take care of yourself. If you put it off, and your health suffers, the rest of the schedule can fall apart without warning. You can’t afford to get sick. Overbooking your day, week and month only to be forced to scramble and scurry is detrimental.

Plan ahead, make appointments to get your spine and nervous system checked regularly, and choose to live like time is on your side. But only if you manage it wisely.

It’s impossible to predict exactly how long you will live so why not live your best life every day of your life like you will live to 80, 90, 100 years or beyond? Live your ideal 100 Year Lifestyle starting today.

Copyright 2015 The Family Practice, Inc., Dr. Eric Plasker and The 100 Year Lifestyle. All Rights Reserved.

What if you were told that you only had 24 hours left to live? Once the shock wore off you would urgently pursue, do and handle everything that was important to you in your life.

Would you prepare or acknowledge your most important relationships? Would you do something exciting like parachute from an airplane? Would you meditate or pray to make peace with your maker?

This is a common question that people ask themselves as they make decisions about how they want to live. Here’s another question that is equally important: What if the powers that be looked at you and said something like, “We made a mistake when we told you that you have 24 hours to live. You have 30 days.”?

You might approach this situation differently. You would still feel a sense of urgency but now you would make a longer list and start checking it off. You might take a trip, spend more time with your loved ones, or write your memoir.

What if you were given a decade or even better, an entire century? At some point you would realize that you need to find the balance between immediate gratification and planning for the long-haul. Your adventures would be enjoyed while at the same time you were preparing for the future by taking care of your mind, body and spine. If you didn’t, and you just went at life full speed ahead without a long-term vision in mind, then you might end up with some incredible stories while your body, bank and relationships become beaten and broken.

One of the most interesting things we hear people say when talking about the possibility of their extended lifespan is “they don’t want to live to 100”. But here’s an important point to consider: You may not have a choice. 100 year old people are the world’s fastest growing group and none of these people planned to live this long. If you have relatives in their 80s, 90s or over 100 years old, then the odds are that you will live at least that long or longer. What will your quality of life be like along the way?

Immediate gratification may feel good in the moment but will compromise your health as time goes on. Medications, for example, can mask the pain and cause damage to your heart, liver or kidneys. Be aware and careful not to wear yourself out with quick fix addictions that can slow you down and cause chronic conditions.

People start to feel old when they can no longer do the things that they love or used to be able to do and their suffering becomes chronic. Be proactive.

Find the balance between immediate gratification and taking care of your body and mind for the long-haul. Adjust your lifestyle. Eat healthier, exercise, get plenty of rest and take care of your spine and nervous system with Lifestyle Care. You will enjoy the present more while you also enjoy a sensational century.

Copyright 2016. The Family Practice, Inc., Dr. Eric Plasker and The 100 Year Lifestyle. All Rights Reserved.