As we are filling boxes and arranging everything for the big day, er weekend of moving, I’m realizing that all of the exercising I have been doing as of late is going to pay off.  This is going to be an Olympic event of sorts.  There are couches to cram out of doors, heavy boxes of books and everything else we have collected over the years.  While I am strong and know it, I also know that this man has his limits as does every other body and person.  Just imagine with me for a moment that all of my belonging weigh about 2 tons.  Since I will load it out of the old house and into the new house I will essentially be moving 4 tons.  Wow.  So my spine could really take a beating and I could be in some serious pain at the end of this.  The personal problem I have is that since I am the chiropractor, I can take care of all of our help, but what about me?  I’ll have to grin and bear it until I get back to my chiropractor on Monday.

So as if excitement and emotion stress of moving is not enough I have some tips on how to minimize the damage to your body when you make this move.  There will be some so it is all about damage control.  My first bit of advise is the best and that is, hire someone else to do it.  Sit back with a soothing beverage and let the good vibes roll.  Seriously, not everyone will want to afford that or it just doesn’t seem practical.  So get a team of people to help.  Remember if you are moving 4 tons, spread that around and the work is less.  Make sure you plan your moving time in such a way that every one can take some periodic breaks.  Stretch often!  Drink plenty of water, also.  And use a dolly!

Then when it comes to lifting you will want to use the buddy system and lift from your knees.  Most people make the mistake of lifting with their backs instead of their knees.  Those are the ones that will be in trouble the next day.  So bend your knees, bring the box close to your body and lift with your legs.

Make moving day a lot of fun and invite your friends to help you.  At the end have pizza and celebrate the day.  Then get that much deserved massage and chiropractic adjustment.

So the punch line is this; you are only as healthy as your habits will allow you to be.  If you have a habit of watching TV for several hours on end each day in the name of breaking in that new couch, well you will get the appropriate results.  If you find yourself reaching for the Splenda to pickle your liver with, you get what you sow.  The same is true for the habits you don’t do.  An example would be how you get to work in the morning.  I live 1.5 miles from my Fort Collins chiropractic office.  I can drive it in probably 10 mins. from door to door.  I wan walk it in roughly 20mins.  Which has more benefits?  I have done this so many times that it doesn’t feel natural to drive anymore.

So the punch line is that you are a sum of your habits.  Realize that health is more than what you feel and take stock in the habits that keep your vitality 0n the increase.  Create some new habits as these will have a paramount impact on the final outcome of your life and potentially how long.  Fort Collins people are very lucky in that we have a community habit of health where ever you turn.  Health food stores all over the place, plenty of trails, bike lanes, beautiful weather, nutrition offices, chiropractic offices and more.  There really isn’t any excuse other than your habits.

Keeping Heart Healthy at McKenzie Place.

Dr. Jeremy and crew will be at McKenzie Place on Friday April 6th at 2:30 providing a presentation on how to be Hearth Healthy in today’s world.  Heart disease is the number one cause of death in America and is virtually avoidable if you follow a few simple lifestyle rules.  Join us in the theater to learn how to not only prevent this from being your course in life, but rather how to increase your energy and enjoy the life and relationship you have!

McKenzie Place is an elegant retirement community that is all about Five-Star Fun. Above all else, McKenzie Place wants residents to have more fun than anyone. They do this by setting colossal standards for quality and choice in guest services, amenities, resort-style living, and in all things “fun.” Driven by a genuine respect for residents and their families, McKenzie Place’s highly-trained employees and staff strive to exceed customer expectations every day.

Investing in Wellness and regular Chiropractic care can same you some serious Green!

It’s scary isn’t it when faced with a new wellness plan from your chiropractor and seeing the cost laid out on paper. Yikes! Really that’s what it’s going to cost for an  adjustment? If you’re one of the lucky people who are already Chiropractic converts (as many of you reading this blog probably are), then you know that the dollar amount attached to an adjustment is miniscule compared to the benefits attained from regular wellness care. For those who are not in the know, or are still on the fence about continuing with the care you started, let’s compare general medical costs (which include GP visits, prescription drugs, over the counter medicine, insurance etc.) with basic chiropractic care.

Discover Wellness, written by Dr. Bob Hoffman, D.C. and Dr. Jason A. Deitch, D.C. includes information from the journal of Health Affair, which outlines that for every single person in the US, the average health cost is $6,280 per year. That’s over $25,000 per year for a family of four! In these harsh economic times we’re all focused on saving as much money as we can. According to Discover Wellness, we can also save an average of 50% on healthcare costs by creating a “wellness lifestyle” which includes regular spinal adjustments. Following is a formula which puts into perspective the savings earned by a family of four who follow a wellness lifestyle.

$6,280 x 4 = $25,120   Present cost of health care for a family of four

$25,120 ÷ 2 = $12,560   50 percent savings due to wellness lifestyle

$12,560 ÷ 12 = $1,047   Monthly savings to invest

$1,047 per month is a substantial saving to everyone and just think of what you could do for your family’s future by investing that money every month. There are many aspects to living a “wellness lifestyle” but one of the most significant is regular visits to your trusted Chiropractor.

Each Chiropractor’s office is different when comparing fees just as every medical practitioner has a different price, so let’s get an outside perspective. According to costhelper.com, the average Chiropractic office visit costs $65 with prices ranging from $34 to $106. These prices are based on individual  visits however, wellness Chiropractors who are not looking just to fix your pain, but get to the root, achieving and maintaining all around wellness.,  Usually they will place their patients on wellness plans that discount individual visits and are therefore more cost effective. Wellness plans are designed to get the body functioning at its optimal level and eliminate the need for other outside help, such as over-the-counter medications and many prescriptions.

If you are already a Chiropractic follower then please share your experience with others who haven’t yet heard about the many benefits of Chiropractic, including the ability to save you some green. March is our Chiropractic is Green month so stop by the office and keep up with our blog to learn how to get on the road to wellness using the Green method!

Do you leave your health to luck?

LUCK: [luhk] noun:  The good fortune, advantage or success, considered as a result of chance.

I used to be what I considered the most unlucky person.  This was all purely based off of the fact that I never won any drawing or raffle I entered.  Then I remember after a 10k race that my name came out of the “hat” for a prize drawing.  I was so excited as I pranced up to claim my prize.  It was a big deal for me.  Then I realized that I won a bottle of wine and was only 16 years old.  What luck!?  My parents enjoyed that bottle, though!

Too often I see the attitude of luck, or chance pervading the thoughts of people and their health.  ”He is so unlucky, he has heart disease and has to be on all of those medication.” “I’m so lucky that even with smoking a pack a day I don’t have lung cancer.”  Or what is even worse is people with the attitude that no matter what they do they are going to either get XY or Z or not.

The reality is, however, if we leave our health to luck, just like our money, we’ll come out the the losing side just about every time.  Think of your health like putting quarters in a slot machine.  While there may be some strategy to minimize your risk, you are still counting on a timing mechanism to land just right so that you get the payout every time.  It doesn’t happen every time, but you may get lucky every once in a while.  All the same you have no control over the outcome.  Now take that same amount of money and invest it in something with meager returns, such as 4%.  Keep doing that and over the years with compounding interest, you’ll have a handsome some of money someday.

Put your health in that same scenario.  Play the health slot machine and it may work out from time to time.  But if you invest it, you can count on it later!  I would rather count on my health later than  leave it to chance.  Based on what we see in the elderly, chances are you will be on the losing end.

So take action and create a plan for your health.  Choose foods from the earth.  Get exercise that burns fat.  Eliminate toxins from your body.  Get more sleep.  Get chiropractic care.  And lastly, change your mindset because health is a game of intention and action.  Luck is for leprechauns

Your Health is like a bucket. What are you going to fill it with?

“Life is like a box of chocolates.” A notorious quote from Forest Gump about what we are dished out in life.  Here’s a new one, “Your health is like a bucket.”  What are you going to fill it with?  In our youth we take our health for granted.  We try to regain it in mid life.  We preserve what we have left in a elder life.  that is all too often what typically happens in America.  I think the greater problem is that we go through life unconscious about many things, including our health.  We don’t give attention to the things that are in our face ripping us out of our comfort zone.  These days we don’t save money until we want a new car.  We don’t turn the TV off until the power goes out.  We don’t give attention to our health until the alarms go off to tell us that we never really had it to begin with.

There is a flip side to that, however.  You can look around and realize that there is a significant problem.  There are more sick people, prescribed drugs being used and far too many tears being shed in this crazy high stress world.  Something isn’t working and it is what we are filling our buckets with.  Everything we do and every habit we endorse for ourselves is a pebble that goes into our bucket.  Laziness?  Add a pebble.  Poor sleep?  Add another pebble. Lots of chemical consumption? Add a couple more pebbles.  Relying on the medical institution to keep you healthy?  Add a pebble  Junk food diet?  Add a rock for this one.  No Exercise?  Add a bigger rock.  High stress drama?  Add a boulder.

Now what’s the score with all of those rocks in your gallon bucket?  You are spilling over.  You are sick.  You have to react.  So you can either add more to your bucket or take some of the stones out.  Let me put it another way.  You can believe in the rest of the quote that says, “You never know what you’re gonna get.”  or you can make some conscious choices on the habits you choose for yourself and make some not so profound choices for your health.  The kind of choices that keep you young and vibrant for most of the days of your life rather than chasing they health you squandered before your got a chance to really enjoy it.  What’s in your bucket?

Chiropractic prevents heart disease

It is true, Chiropractic does help prevent heart disease at the very core.  I’m sure that if you are reading this you are thinking, “there is no possible way.” Stay with me for a moment and think this through.  At the very root of heart disease is a lifestyle of neglect, poor choices and probably relying on health to come from a bottle instead of the amazing healer already inside your body.  We could probably use a focus on our health much like the care we would give to a brand new $100k sports car or sparkly new dream home.  We would keep it clean, tuned and put only the purest best gasoline in there.  We would use it, love it, but not abuse it.  So where have we gone with our own bodies?  We choose fast food over delicious home grown organic veggies.  We choose the TV instead of going to the gym or exercising.  We choose prescriptions and surgery instead of taking care from the beginning.

So how does chiropractic help?  At the very surface most people go to a chiropractor when they hurt enough and can’t do something important to them.  So if chiropractic can locate the cause of someones problem and help the process of removing the interference they can start to not only feel better but start functioning better in their lifestyle.  If their pain is what is keeping them from exercising then chiropractic just enabled them to prevent heart disease.  Usually along with exercise comes a level of at least conscious eating habits if not better ones.  Just releasing a person from pain’s grip can create a waterfall of healthy success!

Oh wait, there is more!  This is the best part.  Had you ever thought about the idea that your heart has a nerve supply?  It does and the most important nerves come out of your spine just at the top of the shoulders before the neck.  If there is just a little pressure, torque, or twisting on those nerves, how well do you expect your heart to work?  Nowadays with the stress of life and so much media consumption we have terrible posture.  Look around and you’ll see slouching shoulders and forward protruding necks everywhere.  If there is pressure on those nerves, you got it, they are going to have a heart functioning less than 100%.  Chiropractic serves primarily to remove the interference on those nerves to allow your body to function.  Implementing it as part of your personal health care plan will have paramount effect on your health.

Sugar is not so sweet on the heart leading to obesity and heart disease.

The grocery stores have a complete aisle loaded with valentine’s chocolate and candy.  Everywhere you turn business’ and people are sharing those little sugar hearts that say “be mine.”  Even my inbox is stoked daily with offers from candy makers imploring me to be sweet to the one I love.  Sugar, sugar, sugar, it’s everywhere.  I shouldn’t be surprised this is the way it is for most holidays.  The reality is that sugar is everywhere now days, not just the obvious candy.  It’s in the drinks, it’s in the soup, french fries, sauces, syrups oh my!  It is everywhere.

Many of the people that I talk to say that they don’t eat much sugar.  To most people that means that they don’t eat it by the spoonfuls in their coffee.  What we fail to consider is that most anything grain based, like wheat, or that has an ingredient ending in -tose is a sugar.  It really is everywhere but not unavoidable.

The challenge is that sugar is very addictive.  It’s addictive in the very chemical sense that even illegal drugs are addictive.  To prove that point eat nothing but meat, veggies and drink only water for a week.  Pay very close attention to your energy, attitude and cravings.  You will see what I mean.

Sugar’s reputation is gain such bad reputation that there are various new laws at the state level calling for it’s regulation in school lunches and other programs.  There are even editorials suggesting we should have a sugar tax or regulations similar to those put on medications.

One would argue that we need sugar in our diets and that is true.  The problem is that we are eating tons more sugar that our ancestors did and we have a host of health problems to boot.  Sugar consumption is at the root of a lot of our lifestyle heath issues today from diabetes, cancer and heart disease.  If you study cultures that don’t consume much sugar, these diseases are pretty much absent and they are living amazing vibrant lives into their 90′s and beyond.

Sugar really has made a mess of our health.  And since we are all addicted to it, I don’t see it getting better any time soon.  Sugar is very acidic and inflammatory.  That means when you have it in excess in your body you start a disease process that will affect every system in your body.  As to your heart, when you consume larger quantities of sugar you are prone to obesity that is a risk factor to heart disease.  Additionally, studies show us that increase in sugar consumption lowers your body’s good cholesterol but increases fats circulating around in your blood stream.  All these factors are powerful indicators pending heart disease.

So what do we do about it.  We trained ourselves or our children to crave sugar, so untrain.  The simple tips I will give you are to cut out fast food, reduce grains, drink more water, focus on foods that come from the earth and not from a can or package.  We could get more detailed than that, but let’s keep it simple.  Finally, on Valentine’s day, eat a few pieces of chocolate with the one you love, but leave it at that.  The day after put your sense back on and realize that you are eating for a healthier life where you enjoy your years and don’t merely fade out with heart disease in your early 70′s.

Your posture can be an indication of health and potential heart disease

Your posture has so much to say about your health.  It is true.  Just spend some time watching many of the elderly in our society and you will see what I am talking about.  You will see a lot of slouched, head down, humped backs and rigid movements.  Then ask yourself, better yet ask them, what health challenges they are dealing with.  Undoubtedly you will hear about aches and pains, but go beyond that.  Most of them are on blood pressure medications and other heart disease medications.  In fact the number one cause of death in America is heart disease.  It is a lifestyle disease and is avoidable.

Beyond the obvious of changes to, or starting an exercise or eating program, you need to take a good hard look at what chiropractic can do for your heart and posture.  The reality is that we live our life through what our brain is programmed to do in response to stimulus from the nerves in your body.  That network of communication has to go through your spine.  If you have misalignments or decay in there the communication is probably hampered.

Now your heart has a nerve supply.  Do you want the nerves going to your heart working at 100% or is 80% okay with you?  So if over the years of your life you had any physical, chemical or emotional stress, there is a good chance that you have a less than perfect spine.  That is unless you have actively visited with your chiropractor and did home care directed at providing for the integrity and function of your spine and nerve system.  If you do have a less than perfect spine and posture, especially in the upper back where the nerves to your heart come from, then your heart is probably functioning at less than 100%.

If you or your loved ones has less than good posture, consult your chiropractor.  Corrective measures can be taken to instill better posture and health.  The bonus is that you will have more energy and feel better.  This will help motivate you to more activity and taking better care of  yourself.

A few tips to get you started are to limit how long you are in one position.  If you are sitting take frequent breaks, or go the next step and practice sitting up straight on an exercise ball.  Another crucial tip is with how you sleep.  If you are waking up tired, sore, or exhausted, you never completely shut down and let you body regenerate.  You might need a new mattress or some spinal aids to support your body while you sleep.

There are so many things that you can do to help your posture beyond those two tips, but its a start.  If you are serious about making changes to your posture and health, give your chiropractor a call.  We are the experts on how to help the body heal and change from the inside out, ensuring you have a nerve system working as close to 100% as possible.

Buy a heart from Inner Vitality and support the Open Door Mission

Everyone is getting all caught up in the frenzy of flowers, candy and amore this month.  It’s getting hard to find a reservation for that V-day dinner you want to make an impression with.  With all that happening we have been calling out heart disease and taking massive action to live a lifestyle devoid of its perils.  We want you to Have a Heart, a healthy one at that.  But when we say we want you to Have a Heart, we mean something else.  Specifically we want you to have a heart for the homeless.  This month we are going to donate the proceeds from any new client that comes through our door to the Open Door Mission in Fort Collins.  Instead of our usual fees we are selling hearts for $20 that entitle a friend of family member our complete new client consult and examination.  That $20 goes to support the services at ODM.  So at your next appointment you can buy a heart for a loved one and know that you are not only investing in their health but the life of others in need of a little love this time of year.

The Open Door Mission is a member of the Association of Gospel Rescue Missions and is one of Colorado’s respected non-profit Christian charities. Assisting needy children, women, and men, we act as examples, without forcing our beliefs on others. Our duty is to the community. Through guiding those who arrive here to a new, steadfast way of life, we give people an opportunity to become productive members of the community.  Focusing on long-term solutions rather than on “band-aids,” the shelter offers both 24-hour, 7-day-a-week emergency shelter services as well as drug and alcohol programs, job and educational assistance, church services, Bible studies, transitional housing for ex-prisoners, and free counseling. It is our mission to provide immediate assistance to men, women, and families who are struggling with homelessness, while emphasizing the services that will help them stay off the streets permanently.