Shift Your Mindset From Illness to Wellness
Two years ago, I turned 50. Like most who reach significant milestones, my 50th birthday was a time for self-reflection. I thought about my many blessings, including my wife, children, and health. I reflected with pride on my life and career. However, for the first time in my life, I also contemplated, quite seriously, my mortality. I’ve long told anyone who would listen how I planned to live to 100. So, when I turned 50, I was officially at the midpoint in my life. Instead of counting up on my next birthday, I could start counting down the years left. I know that’s no way to live, but it forced me to reflect on how I would spend the next 50 years.
I’m a pharmacist by training. I’ve spent most of my career helping people manage chronic illnesses like diabetes, hypertension, and heart disease. Twenty years ago, I founded a company that specialized in assisting people to manage the multiple medications they take for numerous chronic illnesses. In too many cases (like tens of millions of cases), people are taking 10 to 15 or more medications unnecessarily. Overprescribing is a real problem.
Our lifestyle and our mindset too often lead us down a path where we are too heavily medicated. Instead of addressing the root causes that lead to poor health, we settle on the presumed easier fix that medication promises. My story is no different. I am already on two chronic medications to mask the harm my lifestyle created. I work long hours, constantly under high stress, eat poorly, drink too much, and sleep too little. Instead of investing in lifestyle changes, I started a medication to treat my blood pressure and another to help me sleep.
By only using medications and not addressing my lifestyle, I was ignoring the impact on my health span. Health span refers to the length of time someone is in good health. My career as a pharmacist has taught me that health span is as essential as lifespan. When I tell people that I want to live to 100, I really mean that I want both my health span and my lifespan to reach 100. It’s also clear that the most effective way to improve health span is through nutrition and exercise, particularly weight training exercise. Medications were treating my illnesses; I needed to shift to working on wellness.
A year ago, I started making significant changes. I left the corporate world and opened a boutique fitness studio called Body Fit Training (https://www.bodyfittraining.com/). The studio is a group strength and conditioning model designed to grow lean muscle mass. Research is clear that exercise, particularly exercise that includes weight training, can dramatically increase health span. I’ve also made small nutritional changes, reduced my drinking, and improved my sleeping habits. I noticed changes in a few short months. I know the changes are positively impacting my health span.
I encourage everyone to think about their current mindset and start focusing on your wellness. Make the small changes in your life that align your lifespan with your health span.
