Cafe of Life

Just another WordPress site

chiropractic

Under New Management

by Leave a Comment

Have you ever seen a sign on a business, “Under New Management?” What comes to mind?

Usually it is thoughts of hope, new infusion of energy and resources or the old management wasn’t working, better business, excitement, new people, new systems, new products and new idea…something new and better in a nutshell.

It is interesting to see what is new and better with the New Management especially if it is a business you have used or visited in the past.

Now is a great time to ask yourself “How effective was I managing myself this past year?” In the arena of physical health are you healthier now than last year or worse? Is your weight up, the same, or down? Is your blood pressure higher or lower? What did your lab results look like? How is your energy? How are you sleeping? What is your exercise frequency or at all? How do you feel?

Did you manage yourself well or are you worse off? You may have made New Year’s Resolutions about things you know you needed to change. How did that work out?

Do you need to be under New Management? Not that someone will step in and manage you, but you can hire advisors such as Chiropractors, personal trainers, nutritionists and life coaches but what you really need is a new mindset. This mindset has to be the overriding factor of what you are committed to and plan to accomplish for yourself, your health and your life.

Brutal facts will help you manage your health. People are living longer whether they want to or not. Centenarians, people over 100, are the fastest growing population in the US. The current aging population was blindsided by longevity and now has become the nursing care generation. Chronic illness, obesity and health care costs are rising. The current “health care” system is not working. Something has to change.

Luckily, you can make the change. You can live The 100 Year Lifestyle each and every day and avoid 70 to 90% of the problems people seek care for by changing your lifestyle.

Here is how to be under New Management:
1. Exercise 4 to 6 times per week with endurance exercise, strengthening exercise and stretching. Start off with a few minutes each time if exercise has not been part of your life lately. You can increase your exercise time and frequency as you reach plateaus.
2. Eat for quality not quantity. A new menu is often part of New Management. Be creative!
3. Get proper rest. Sticking to your New Management goals is easier when you’ve given yourself time to rejuvenate mentally and physically.
4. Protect your spine and nervous system by removing interference to the flow of information between your brain and body.

Our office can help you with your New Management. Chiropractors have been helping people regain, retain and optimize their health for over 125 years. Management of your future health can be optimized by seeking care from us to help you live your ideal 100 Year Lifestyle. Introducing the New Management – YOU!

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

Sitting Solutions

by Leave a Comment

The Bottom Line On Sitting

Millions of people working from their homes and offices are spending way too much time in their chairs. This is a habit that can lead to more than just a numb bum!

Too much sitting sets you up for a host of physical problems including poor circulation, chronic back and nerve pain, depression, osteoporosis, swollen spinal disks, fatigue and many other health problems. In fact, according to Health Day News, Canadian researchers found that prolonged daily sitting could cause these problems even if you exercise regularly.

Stand Up for Yourself

According to the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, the U.S. will spend $1.5 trillion over the next 10 years treating a wide range of debilitating ailments resulting from sedentary lifestyle such as diabetes, depression, osteoporosis, certain cancers, and even sexual dysfunction. They’ve even coined their own term, Sedentary Death Syndrome (SeDS), as a growing life-threatening risk for many unsuspecting Americans.

No need to worry though. You can stand strong with these Sitting Solutions:

– 50/10 RULE: Don’t sit for more than 50 minutes. Set a timer and take 10 when it rings.

– BE A SWINGER: Stand with hands on your hips and legs slightly more than shoulder width apart. Rotate your hips clockwise in a full range of motion ten times and then reverse it. Stand sideways next to your desk. Put all your weight on your right leg and gently swing your left leg forwards and backwards 10 times. Repeat with other leg.

– DON’T BE A CROOKED SITTER OR SLOUCHER: Sit up straight. If you find this difficult, uncomfortable or painful, call our office and schedule an appointment. Your spine may have a misalignment with nerve pressure, a subluxation, which needs correcting.

– TAKE YOUR LUNCH BREAK: Get up and go somewhere even if you bring something in.

– GO MOBILE: Attach a portable unit to your stationary phone or use a cell.

– HOLD “MEETINGS ON THE MOVE”: Take a walk through the building, meet clients on a hiking trail or stroll outdoors.

– PUT A LUMBAR PILLOW IN YOUR CHAIR

– INVEST IN AN ERGONOMIC CHAIR

– STAND UP AND SURF: Raise your workstation or monitor so you can net surf and type while standing.

– GO TO THE GYM – BUT STAY OFF THE STATIONARY BIKE

Take Care of Your Spine

Sitting is to the spine like sugar is to the teeth except you can’t replace your spine after it rots away. Chiropractic Lifestyle Care provides gentle adjustments to the spine that can eliminate pain and improve your health.

These Sitting Solutions will improve your health and quality of life dramatically.

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

Body or Health Conscious

by Leave a Comment

Are you Body Conscious or Health Conscious

Unfortunately, too many people are concerned about how they look and not necessarily about their health. Perhaps you do not know the difference between being body conscious or health conscious. The following information will help you understand this critical difference as it relates to the following topics:

Eating Fats

If you are body conscious, you will not eat fats out of fear of adding fat to your shape. If you are health conscious, you will eat a moderate amount of healthy fat because hormones, nerves and cell membranes require fat to function properly.

Eating Sugar

If you are body conscious, you believe sugar gives you energy to workout and if you work out more, you can build larger muscles and look better. If you are health conscious, you know that energy from sugar is temporary, empty calories. You’d rather eat natural whole foods of complex carbs for sustained energy.

Sleep
If you are body conscious, you believe that you will get enough sleep to keep circles from forming under your eyes. If you are health conscious, you recognize that sleep is essential to re-boot your system and rejuvenate your body.

Lifting Weights

If you are body conscious, you lift weights to create larger muscles for a “hard body”, muscular look. If you are health conscious, you lift weights to gain/maintain strength and structural integrity.

Aerobic Exercise

If you are body conscious, you believe that if you do cardio today, you can have dessert and/or eat whatever you want today. If you are health conscious, you believe that if you do cardio today, you will improve your heart strength, your endurance and create a strong heart to serve you for years.

Doing Yoga

If you are body conscious, you may think, “How does yoga help with my body shape? It is a waste of time”. If you are health conscious, you know that yoga centers, stretches and strengthens you from your core. It calms you and helps keep you balanced.

Chiropractic Care

If you are body conscious, you believe that you will go to a chiropractor to help alleviate an ache or pain, so you can workout and look better. If you are health conscious, you know that you will go to a chiropractor to alleviate an ache or pain and continue to utilize care to keep your nervous system working at its best. Like eating healthy foods and exercising regularly, it keeps your body functioning at optimum levels.

So Which are You?

Body Conscious or Health Conscious? Are there any changes you know you need to make? We are here to support you to be the healthiest version of you possible.

Contributed by Dr. Jordan Plasker, 100 Year Lifestyle Licensed Affiliate in Montvale, NJ

Stress Less During Your Commute

by Leave a Comment

Your commute can be a large component of your daily stress load. It doesn’t need to be.

Here are six tips to help you Stress Less and Live More during your commute:

1. Shorten your Drive – Use a traffic and navigation application such as WAZE to improve your daily commute. These apps share real-time information and will help you save time, gas and energy while commuting.

2. Plan Ahead– For a smoother morning, prepare the night before and give yourself some flex time for the unexpected. Create a positive morning routine to keep you focused before you walk out the door.

3. Breathe! – While you are driving, or any time for that matter, if you feel yourself becoming stressed, take a deep breath. Take a few of them. This will calm your nerves and reduce the stress on your mind and body.

4. Learn – Use your commute to learn a new language, listen to personal development resources or audio books. Not only will you be learning and growing as a person, you will also find you begin to look forward to the commute time instead of dreading it. Your commute will be a twice a day opportunity to make yourself better.

5. Build Relationships – As long as your car is set up for Bluetooth and you are not violating any laws, commute time is a great time to stay in touch with family, friends or business relationships.

Take the time to learn all of the features of your system so that you can utilize the technology in a safe and efficient way. Never compromise safety and pay attention to your driving while you connect to the important people in your life.

6. Support your Spine – Sitting can put a lot of stress on your spine. Long commutes can cause spinal problems and aggravate existing ones. Use the lumbar support that is built into your car seat or get a portable one that you can use in your car or take with you to work.

Make an appointment for a chiropractic examination and check the alignment of your spine to ensure that your nerves are functioning properly.

You will be amazed at the difference chiropractic care can make in your life. Starting today, Stress Less and Live More. on your commute and always.

See you at your next appointment!

Stress Less Fitness Tips

by Leave a Comment

These five Stress Less Fitness tips will lessen your Stress and allow you to Live More.

There is an acronym for Fitness in The 100 Year Lifestyle that will ensure you Stress Less, Live More, stay healthy and on top of your game. The acronym takes the word Fitness and uses the N2ESS as follows:

N: Neurology – Stress is a nervous system reaction that can affect your entire body. Your brain and nervous system control and coordinate everything: your heart, digestion, breathing, hormones and muscles. A healthy nervous system is essential in adapting to stress.

N: Nutrition – Good nutrition is important for your body to be healthy. Quality calories come from live foods such as fruits, vegetables, lean proteins and whole grains. They are nutritionally satisfying because they contain vitamins, minerals, fiber and amino acids that are the building blocks of a healthy body. Choose organic or chemical free options. Both empty and excess calories will lead to sickness, low energy, obesity and chronic health problems. Empty calories come from foods such as white sugar, white flour and white rice.

E: Endurance – Exercise can help your body cope with stress in a healthy way. If you have good endurance, you will enjoy a greater sense of stamina now and while you age. Your energy will be higher and you will feel like staying active. You will be able to endure stressful times. You can increase your stamina through cardiovascular and aerobic exercise that strengthens your heart, burns calories and increases your energy.

S: Strength – Your level of strength will determine your ability to remain active and independent as you age. Through regular strength training with a personal trainer or on your own, you can build muscle and stand strong, no matter how many birthdays you celebrate. The saying, “If you don’t use it, you lose it” is definitely true when it comes to strength. Free weights, functional training machines, Pilates and Yoga are all examples of exercises that build your strength.

S: Structure – If your body breaks down at the onset of a new fitness routine, there may be an underlying cause in your structure and spine, such as subluxations. You may experience pain and injuries that become nagging to severe. It can also keep you from getting results.

Chiropractic examinations can reveal underlying problems in your spine that can keep you from getting in shape and also lead to all types of health problems. The opposite of Stress Free living! Don’t wait until you “feel it” to get checked. You may be waiting too long. Why spoil your momentum if you are working out to get in shape, Stress Less and Live More?

Schedule an appointment for your chiropractic check-up today!

Soccer and Chiropractic

by Leave a Comment

Soccer is one of the most popular sports in the world. People of all ages enjoy playing for fun and fitness and billions of fans everywhere gather to watch the most talented athletes in the world play “the beautiful game” every week and especially during the Fifa World Cup.

For many of these athletes, Chiropractic has played an important role in their training to achieve peak performance levels and as a part of their lifestyle.

Dr. Mike Foudy of Mission Viejo, CA, team chiropractor for the Women’s World Cup Championship Team in 1994 said, “all but one member of the team received regular chiropractic care during their training and on the days of their matches. Chiropractic adjustments balanced their spine, removed nerve pressure and optimized the function of their bodies. They felt like they healed quicker from injuries and that the care gave them a competitive edge.”

Recently, 2015 Master’s Champion Jordan Spieth thanked his chiropractor during his Green Jacket speech. Famous athletes in every sport have made chiropractic care a regular part of training, including NFL greats Jerry Rice, Emmitt Smith and Roger Craig.

Dr. Eric Plasker, author of the #1 Best Selling, The 100 Year Lifestyle Workout, was the chiropractor for one of the top youth soccer teams in the nation. During a winning streak that led to a National Championship, Dr. Plasker said, “The team receives adjustments prior to games. During tournament weekends, while the other teams are scrambling to change their lineups due to injuries, our team bounces back fast and brings an energetic advantage to championship games. The players and coach agree that chiropractic care helps them compete at the highest level and avoid injuries.”

For soccer players and for athletes of all ages, there are three components to maximizing your performance and fitness levels that will help you get your ESS in Shape. All three components of the ESS are crucial for any athlete who wants to heal quickly function and at their highest level and participate throughout their lifetime.

“E” stands for Endurance. Cardiovascular fitness is necessary to have a healthy heart and maintain stamina during games. The first “S” stands for Strength. Athletes who are physically strong can get the competitive edge over others. The second “S” stands for Structure which means having a healthy spine and nervous system.

Unfortunately, too many athletes have their ESS out of balance, focusing on one or two of the components of the ESS rather than all three. This imbalance keeps athletes from reaching peak performance levels and can also lead to injuries.

Soccer players must pay particular attention to the balance of their ESS, especially their structure, spine and nervous system. Repetitive twisting on the lower back and hips while kicking the ball can lead to misalignments that put pressure on the nerves. This may cause immediate symptoms such as back, hip, leg, knee, ankle or foot pain, or it may lie dormant and asymptomatic until ‘the straw breaks the camel’s back.’ As time goes on, these imbalances can make an athlete slower and weaker, diminishing the strength of their kick.

Locating these spinal subluxations can be done by a chiropractic examination. During this World Cup season, treat yourself like many of the pros do and schedule a chiropractic appointment. You will get a big kick out of the care.