Self-Care is the Best Care

Meet my friend, Dr. Scott Stoll, Founder of Fully Alive!
Author and speaker, Dr. Scott Stoll, is a spet in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and a member of the Whole Foods Scientific Medical Advisory Board. As a former Olympian and team physician for the U.S. Bobsled and Skeleton Federation, he can be heard on his radio program, Health Minutes, and in lectures and health immersions around the country.

Dr. Stoll founded Fully Alive in order to pursue his passionate interest in helping individuals and families regain and maintain excellent health for a lifetime.

“So many people spend their health gaining wealth, and then have to spend their wealth to regain their health.” ~A.J. Reb Materi, Our Family

Health Care in the 21st century has become a very expensive and impersonal machine that schedules more patients in an hour than time allows, and more tests and appointments than a Day-Timer can hold. Expenses are rising at an alarming rate: total out-of-pocket expenses rose by 45% in the last decade and the average family deductible has increased by 30% in the last two years. Tragically, a senior without prescription drug coverage pays on average 34% of their after-tax income on health care. What happened? We now have more tests, more medications, more appointments, more diseases, and less time, money, and quality of life. Can you escape the current that carries everyone to the same painful destination?

Yes, you can take back control of your health destiny and reset your destination and future. You don’t need to face the same diseases that afflict millions today. You don’t have to die from a heart attack, suffer the ravages of diabetes, succumb to dementia, and struggle against a sick and tired body. The good news is that these diseases and a host of others are preventable and, in many cases, reversible. How can you avoid these common diseases that afflict friends and family? The answer is simple—Self Care.

Self-care is a new way of looking at your body and your future. Instead of blindly committing your health care to the hands of an impersonal system hoping for a positive outcome, you instead decide to take personal responsibility for your health and your future. The first step is to recognize and accept that the lifestyle choices that you make each day—the food you eat, your activities, the stress you hold, and your sleep—will significantly impact your health, your future, your finances, and the lives of your loved ones.

Self-care begins with a resolute decision that you value the people in your life, your dreams, and your goals more than the foods and activities that would destroy them. Often, people choose the short-term pleasure of unhealthy foods, while ignoring the long-term pain and sacrifice that follow bad habitual decisions. They focus on the here-and-now and the immediate “feel good”, and trade the invaluable for the passing pleasure of a bowl of ice cream.

When you change your focus you change your life. Live for a purpose or a cause, live for others, live for your dreams, and then the daily decisions about what to eat and how to live suddenly become purposeful, important, and very clear.

Then you need to begin taking action by developing an achievable and sustainable plan to recover and protect your health. Here are five simple steps to start your journey to renewed health.

5 Simple Steps for Self Care

Diet:
There is no more powerful influence on your health than your diet. Food is never neutral; it will either support and strengthen your body or damage and erode your health. A simple action step might include stopping to pick up the ingredients for a smoothie, purging your pantry and refrigerator of unhealthy, disease-promoting processed foods, or planning a weekly menu rich in vegetables and fruits.

2. Stress:
If you were playing the card game of health, stress would be the wild card. Stress can quickly erode a healthy body. Studies have linked it to diseases such as cancer, heart disease, autoimmune diseases, immune suppression, high blood pressure, and strokes. Learning to overcome the stress of life is an important step in self-care. Perspective is one key to overcoming stress as you step back and place the stressor in the context of world events and your lifetime. Another simple action step that you can take is to stop and practice deep breathing. Slow, rhythmic breathing, in through the nose and out through the mouth, helps the body release stress and normalize blood flow and hormonal levels

3. Toxins:
Tobacco, alcohol, and drugs destroy cells in the body. In fact, tobacco is the largest contributor to free radical damage of the cells and DNA. It has been strongly linked to heart disease and cancer. Regular participation in any of these activities will result in long-term damage to the body and the need for health care services. Self-care recognizes the potentially harmful effects of these toxins and chooses instead to pursue a lifestyle free of toxins.

4. Activity:
Every day we have a choice to move or sit. Our culture promotes sitting; sitting at a table, at your desk, in the car, or on the couch. Self-care recognizes your body’s need to move for health. It seeks opportunities during the day to walk the stairs, wall sit, work on posture, and schedule time for dedicated exercise and stretching. A simple action might include doing a wall sit while on the phone to strengthen your legs. Alternatively, sitting on the floor while watching TV allows you to do push-ups, sit-ups, and stretches. Redeem the time each day to move your body.

5. Celebrate Success:
Self-care recognizes the physical and financial rewards of good health and celebrates success. The money that might have been spent on co-pays, deductibles, procedures, or lost work days can be reallocated to a long-anticipated vacation, a wonderful healthy meal catered into your home for friends and family, or simply saved for another day. The celebration will help to solidify the tangible benefits of your decision and make any perceived sacrifices worthwhile. A healthy lifestyle opens wide the doors of opportunity, so enjoy.

Congratulations on your decision to take control of your health destiny. Remember, your body is the vehicle that will carry you through life. You don’t get to trade it in after 50,000 miles! A strong, healthy body will provide you will abundant opportunities and adventures that are impossible with a failing body. But, it all begins with the self-care decisions that you will make today. Choose wisely and live richly.
To learn more go to www.fullyalivetoday.com