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Trends, Casualties, and Control

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Longevity trends continue to show that people are living longer than ever. A recent article in The Atlantic (featured image) titled What Happens When We All Live to 100 reveals that life expectancy has increased by three months per year since 1840. If this trend continues, and it appears to be, life expectancy will be 88 by the middle of this century and 100 by the year 2100. This is a staggering statistic.

Interestingly according to The Atlantic, “the lengthening of life spans seems independent of any single, specific event. It didn’t accelerate much as antibiotics and vaccines became common. Nor did it retreat much during wars or disease outbreaks. The trend holds, in most years, in individual nations rich and poor.”
Make no mistake about it, the odds of you living longer than ever are increasing every day. This is happening whether you like it or not.

But how do you make sense of this if you or a loved one have been diagnosed with a life threatening disease or condition? We have all known someone whose life was sadly cut short because of an accident or an injury.

Sadly, there are going to be casualties along the way. Certainly there will be many people who we know that won’t make it to 100. Some people won’t make it to the age of 80. Others, tragically, may not even make it to college or even their first birthday. My father, for example, passed away at 78 after suffering from allopathic-induced Alzheimer’s for nearly a decade.

We all know people who have been casualties and passed way too soon, much younger than 100. This is a sad truth and a reality that each of us face when we are confronted with daily choices and the lifestyle that we choose to live.

This leads us to the important discussion about what we can control and what we cannot control. We cannot control when our time is up. However, for most of us, regardless of our family history, our potential is to live an active, healthy, quality life to 80, 90, 100 years and beyond. To get there in style and enjoy the journey along the way it is important that we make 100 Year Lifestyle choices.

Get Started Today

Create a vision for your extended life and make the changes that will support that vision. Develop good habits, make self-care, fitNESS and true healthcare a priority. Enjoy multiple generations and circles of people, lifelong learning, balancing your time between meaningful work and play time, make good financial choices and become more engaged and involved in the community. This whole life plan is what designing and living your ideal 100 Year Lifestyle is all about.

While the trends are likely to continue and the casualties may also affect our families, it doesn’t change the fact that you are still here and able to read this article. Of course, you can also use a little luck. You will find that the better your choices, the more luck you are likely to have.

Share this with a friend. Don’t use the casualties as an excuse to abuse yourself. Make the most of today, make healthier choices today and enjoy a sensational century!

Schedule an appointment for your family today.

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2014/10/what-happens-when-we-all-live-to-100/379338/

Four and Five Generations the New Norm

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We are the first generation in history that will get to know our family tree four to five generations deep. This consists of newborn babies, parents in their twenties, grandparents in their fifties, great grandparents in their seventies and great, great grandparents in their late nineties and over 100 years old. This will become the norm as people like 107 year old Mike Newcomer connect with his genetic downline.

This is certainly becoming more present in our practices as we attract more generations of families for chiropractic care. This makes sense considering the importance of a healthy spine and nervous system through every phase of of life.

If you are blessed to be able to interact with your family history in this way, don’t take it lightly. Appreciate the history and perspective of your elders. Spend time listening to their reflections of the past and their wisdom while also keeping the perspective that this generation was blindsided by their longevity. Their life expectancy when they were born ninety to 100 years ago was only fifty years. They had no idea they were going to live this long so they didn’t know how to take care of themselves to ensure quality of life as they aged.

These older generations have lived through incredible stress and outrageous innovations. They include to name a few…

22 recessions
The Great Depression
World War 1
World War 2
Vietnan
The development of the automobile and air travel
Inventions like radio, television and the internet
Typewriters to computers
Rotary phones to smart phones
And so much more

In cultures like Japan, elders are appreciated more than in cultures like the United States. And their life expectancy is greater for it as well. Elders are not pushed away and pushed into homes as quickly. If you are blessed to be able to have relationships with the elders in your family history, appreciate them.

Listen to their wisdom
Honor their journey
Ask them about their most valuable lessons
Ask them The 100 Year Lifestyle question that is so relevant for you today, “If you knew that you were going to live this long, how would you have lived differently”?

Unfortunately, I didn’t get to know my grandparents very well, and I didn’t get to know my great grandparents at all. They all died fairly young. I was however, very fortunate to know my wife’s great grandfather, Papa Hy. He was a passionate man who was healthy and strong for his age. He loved his family and his community. He kept himself active and healthy. While his diet wasn’t super clean, he was fit for his age and took very little to no medication. He would make it his business to walk. I remember when we brought the kids to visit him in Florida he would get on the ground and play with them. It was a joy to watch.

We are getting the advanced notice that our grandparents and great grandparent never received. What will we do with this information?

Adjust your lifestyle! The choices you make today, how you live today, will impact the quality of life today and every day along the way. Make today count by making 100 year lifestyle choices. You will have a great day today while you pave the path to a sensational century.

Schedule an appointment for your family today.

Cool and Crazy Crossfitters

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The cool and crazy CrossFit community continues to grow as so do the number of people wondering what the buzz is all about. So, if you’re wondering why all the craze, or you find yourself wondering what exactly is CrossFit, then look no further. We have your answers here!

What Makes CrossFit Cool?

The CrossFit.com website defines CrossFit as, “constantly varied functional movements performed at high intensity.” All CrossFit workouts are based on functional movements that incorporate movements you’ll likely need to do in some capacity through every phase of life, like squatting, dead-lifting, gymnastics movements and more.

It has become all the craze in recent years as people have realized that being able to move functionally is a key component to putting off the nursing home. The high intensity portion of CrossFit is designed to give you cardiovascular endurance, increased strength, and a more supportive structure.

What Makes CrossFit Crazy?

CrossFit has an unprecedented culture that unifies people within their gyms creating an almost family-like atmosphere. As an example, the premier gym in Dana Point, CA, CrossFit Dana Point, has a rock-solid group of about 100 members who share not only workouts together, but also birthdays, cookouts and other celebrations.

Coach Zak Kepner, owner and head coach of CrossFit Dana Point, CA says, “Our ultimate goal is to bring fitness to people, [but] our first and ongoing priority is to build relationships. Healthy relationships lead to trust, trust leads to commitment, and commitment gets results.”

The CrossFit environment is not only constantly varied, but it is also constantly, very uplifting. Everyone cheers for everyone during workouts and it’s the only place that I know of where the person finishing workouts last has the loudest cheering section. This type of encouragement during a workout, regardless of your skill or fitness level, is truly unparalleled anywhere else in any other gym.

The coolest part?

“CrossFit gyms across the globe have this same comradery and family atmosphere.”
Many CrossFit gyms offer something for anyone of any age and some have members well into their 50s. They even offer CrossFit Kids classes, which teach proper movement patterns and encourage healthy activity from an early age in a safe environment.

Alright, I’ve Started CrossFit, How Can I Optimize My Performance?

CrossFit gyms offer a structured nutritional program to enhance results and teach healthy eating and lifestyle habits. This program will help you focus on fueling your body properly so that you have the energy to perform both in the gym, while spending time with loved ones, and while at work producing results.

In addition to exercise and diet, keeping your nervous system clear from interference is a safe bet to keep you moving and recovering properly. When you eat a healthy diet, your nervous system coordinates the digestion and absorption of nutrients into your blood stream, building every cell in your body healthy and strong. The nervous system controls how your body recovers after a workout, and how well your body absorbs those healthy nutrients; a healthy nervous system is essential so that these nutrients are available for better workouts and recovery post-workout.

Having an optimized nervous system allows for better coordination, better balance, and more strength – increasing your potential to set PR’s (Personal Records) time and time again. Optimizing your body’s nervous system with Chiropractic Lifestyle Care at the core of your already healthy lifestyle is of utmost importance.

Schedule an appointment for your family today.

Contributed by Dr. Daniel Kimbley, 100 Year Lifestyle Affiliate Doctor in Dana Point, California

Getting your ESS in Shape

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Getting your ESS in Shape is important for your health, quality of life and longevity, so get moving.

Regular exercise is an important part of self-care and nobody can do it for you. Exercise keeps our minds and bodies healthy. You can do this at any level and any age to make the fitness part of self-care fun and exciting. If you are not currently exercising, are you waiting to be forced into it by a crisis? If you are already exercising, take it to the next level and Get Your ESS in Shape. Your ESS is made up of your: Endurance, Strength, Structure.

Endurance = Longevity

Life is a marathon one sprint at a time. Based on your current habits and health, would you trust your body to take you on a long-distance trek in an emergency? If you had to count on your body to save a loved one, would you be able to? If you had to run away to escape danger, could you? Your endurance is important for all these activities, and it is important for longevity.

If you have good endurance, you will enjoy a great sense of stamina and activity now and while you age. Your energy will be high and you will feel like doing things. You will not be left home alone while your partner goes off to experience the world. You can increase your stamina through cardiovascular, aerobic, exercise that strengthens your heart, burns calories, and increases your energy. Running, cycling, swimming, and power walking are just a few examples of types of exercise that will increase your endurance.

Endurance training is very important to keep your heart and lungs healthy, eliminate stress, and strengthen your immune system. Always exercise with a heart monitor to maximize your results and achieve your goals, while also ensuring that you exercise safely within the normal ranges for your age.

Strength = Independence

Strength training is also important for healthy aging because you are going to want and need strong muscles to keep you confident and maintain your independence as you age. We’ve all seen an older person struggle to get out of a chair. If you have good strength, you are more likely to remain self-sufficient and independent. Strength training can be done through weights, yoga, and Pilates. When you set goals for strength training and continually strive to achieve them, you will be excited to see that your strength can increase as you age. Your muscles can stay strong and defined. The sagging skin and muscles often come from not keeping your body toned through strength-training exercise.

If you are already an experienced strength trainer and have a routine, shake it up a little bit. Try increasing your weight by 10 percent to 20 percent. Get somebody to spot you if necessary and try to squeeze out a few more reps. Vary your exercises on each body part. Personal Trainers and many of the neighborhood fitness centers and chains, like CrossFit, have become extremely popular because they set up your routines and vary them for you. Work out with a partner and challenge each other. You will begin to see a better result. Always maintain good posture when you strength train to ensure that your form is good and your spine stays healthy during your training.

Structure = Activity

In countries where longevity is much higher than the U.S., good posture and a healthy spine are a very high priority. Your structure includes your body shape and physical frame. Keeping your structure aligned and balanced will keep you looking good and help to prevent injuries while you exercise. This will also help insure that your nervous system stays healthy whick will keep you healthier on every level.

How is your structure now? Have you measured yourself lately and set goals for your structure so that it is in the shape you desire over your lifetime? You can measure your structure with your eyes at first and decide how you want to change your shape, or get a tape measure and record your specific measurements. This will give you a starting point for goals that you want to set.

Another important way to evaluate your structure is through a posture test. Stand in front of a full length mirror with your eyes closed. March in place for five seconds, stop, hold still and open your eyes. Is your head tilted to one side? Are your shoulders and hips level? Are your feet straight, turned in or pointed out? Are you hunchback or swayback?

If you are unbalanced, you will be putting unnecessary strain on your structure, spine and nervous system when you exercise and run the risk of injury to your structure and nervous system. Don’t wait for a crisis to force you to take action. Now is the time for a chiropractic checkup.You are way overdue for a chiropractic check-up.

Take it to the highest level: Neurology and Nutrition

Neurology = Function – Nutrition = Fuel

Neurology comes first! Your nervous system controls and coordinates all of your body functions including your muscles, organs and systems. You must have a healthy nervous system for your heart to beat, your lungs to breathe and your balance to be stable. This is why many of the top athletes and performers in the world utilize chiropractic care as a central part of their fitness program.

Your nutritional habits will fuel your life. Consuming a diet filled with organic fruits and vegetables, lean proteins, very low in sugar and processed foods, should be the way you eat as a lifestyle. Isn’t it time you get off the weight loss roller coaster, cleanse, and make healthy eating a daily habit? This will sustain you not just while getting into shape but will keep you healthier as you age.

We’ve all heard the expression “if you don’t use it, you lose it.” This is absolutely true with your fitness. It’s time to get your ESS in shape and live your ideal 100 Year Lifestyle.