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You are here: Home / Archives for Health and Fitness / Healthy Aging

Healthy Aging

A Lesson For Us All

August 26, 2017 by Claire Fitzpatrick

The following story illustrates one of two huge reasons why it’s hard to change our eating habits:

  • We talk ourselves into believing we are addicted to them.
  • We actually are physically addicted to them.

In this blog post, I am going to address #1.  I’ll address #2 in a future blog post.

Food is an easy comfort.

All we do is reach for it and consume it.

Food becomes a reward we give ourselves for putting up with, and making it through, yet another dissatisfying day.

it’s the same attachment that some of us have with alcohol and drugs.

To ask ourselves to give up our eating habits is asking us to give up the one pleasure that we allow ourselves.

We are so attached to that addiction that we actually tell ourselves that our eating habit is our choice, and we actually embrace the addiction.

We submit.

We succumb.

We release the struggle for a better way, and we accept — for better and for worse — the way we have.

I want to tell you a story.

It is a terrible story.

Last week, a man I know lost his girlfriend to heart disease.

She was not obese. She was not “obviously” ill.

She was relatively young, she was financially successful, and she died — shockingly and instantly — in her lover’s arms.

Let me fill in the details.

I’m going to change the names.  We’ll call him Paul.  We’ll call her  Joyce.

Paul is 43 years old. He is an acquaintance.

He is in the “acquaintance” camp because he’s kind of unbearable.

He’s judgmental. He makes ugly jokes that are designed to hurt, then he says he didn’t mean anything by it.

He’s sneaky. If he can get away with manipulating a situation to his benefit, he will.

He talks about people behind their back, and then when that person is in front of him, he will shower that person with praise.

We all have our stories…

He has a story about that. He suffered abuse at the hands of an ex-spouse, who took everything – his money, his child, his dignity – and moved to another state.

Since then, he’s become a bit unbearable.

Don’t get me wrong. I am sympathetic.  However, that doesn’t mean that I am willing to suffer his abuse.

So I don’t.

About two years ago, Paul re-met an old lover of his from his college years, Joyce.

Joyce had her own story.

She was smart – too smart for her life choices.

She had once worked as an editor for her local newspaper. The newspaper was purchased and went in a direction in which she didn’t agree, so she moved on.

Eventually, she got a job that paid very well but was extremely unrewarding.  She was the director of a bunch of managers at a company whose mission she disagreed with.

She made a lot of money but was never satisfied with her life.

She had had long-term lovers but never married. She was sensitive about what people thought about her, but she didn’t hesitate to tell others what she thought they were doing wrong with their lives.

If you tried to engage her in discussion, she accused you of being insulting. If you tried to respond to one of her criticisms, she told you that you were being defensive.

Joyce and Paul had one thing in common.  Food.

They each had allergies. He has allergies to dairy and wheat. She had allergies to nuts and legumes.  For their allergies, they listened to their respective doctors and were on a great deal of many different drugs.

They also both hated vegetables and they both loved sugar.

So, they spent a great deal of their time and energy together searching for and sharing sugary, starchy foods that met their allergic profiles. When they ate meat, it was processed meat, as cheap as they could find.

That’s actually quite a niche, isn’t it? That’s not easy – finding sugary, starchy foods that are dairy free, wheat free, nut free, and legume free, while at the same time avoiding fresh vegetables. That takes effort!

Neither smoked; that’s one good thing.

However, neither exercised. They didn’t even like to walk around the neighborhood. They drove to the corner store.

They complained of this ache and that ache, of this or that trip to the doctor.

They complained that the doctor could never “find anything,” and would take the pain killers that were prescribed.

But, whenever I tried to tentatively suggest natural, lifestyle changes in answer to Paul’s complaints, he would chuckle at me and say, “I know that’s what you do for a living, but I don’t want to be bothered; and sorry, but I just don’t believe in that stuff.”

So, we didn’t see much of Paul after he started dating Joyce.  When they were together at a party or a function, we chatted politely for a few minutes and moved on.

On the few times we saw Paul when they weren’t together, Paul would grumble about Joyce.

He would complain and tell unflattering stories about her habits.  Afterward, he would declare, “Well, it doesn’t matter. She’s as good as I’m getting. But I’m sure as hell never getting married again. She can forget that!”

It is difficult being close to people like that. It is not emotionally rewarding.

Time went on.

I haven’t seen Paul – or Joyce – for the better part of a year.

Last week, it was reported to me that Paul and Joyce were in the kitchen, putting together a meal.  According to Paul, they were having an argument. “Nothing out of the ordinary,” he reported. “We were just pecking at each other, you know,” when she stopped short and grabbed her chest.

He ran to her and caught her in his arms, just as she was falling.  They both tumbled to the floor.

She died in his arms.

She was 42.

Friends say that Paul is a wreck right now.

The last thing I understand he said to a group of people he visited was, “I wasn’t very nice to her. I wish I had treated her better.”

Was it her eating habits that killed her?

Given that she had seen doctors on multiple occasions to get evaluated for “serious diseases,” I could guess yes.

But I would hazard a more nuanced guess that her eating habits were only part of the story.

You see, food habits, like any habit that hurts us, are symptoms of bigger problems.

Those problems are inside.  They require self-reflection and a willingness to see oneself honestly.

So, the way we relate to food is often a reflection of the way we feel about the way we live.

You never know when the result of a life not-well-lived it’s going to happen.  But in retrospect, you can always say that you saw it coming.

You never know when you’re going to die, but you can often have a direct influence on its length and quality by intentionally living well.

I am 51.  These things are becoming very clear to me in my own life.

As Claire Fitzpatrick, private citizen, I have been to too many funerals of forty- and fifty-something friends and acquaintances to not notice these patterns.

As a chiropractor and nutritionist

I have seen people turn themselves around.

It is the most gratifying thing in the world to know that I have been a small part of their successes.

However, when I have a patient in my office who wants something I don’t offer – a “quick fix” – someone I can’t reach, someone who is a lot like Paul or Joyce, I shake my head and sadly move on.

I can’t help anyone who doesn’t really want help.

I can’t “walk the walk” for them.

Sometimes, the patient isn’t like Paul or Joyce.

Sometimes, the patient is someone who lives with, and takes abuse from, people like Paul and Joyce — someone who has no kind, loving support.

Sometimes, the patient is sweet, giving, lovely, shy, and lonely. Food is their intimate friend.

Sometimes, the patient is sad, depressed, anxious, and suspicious; someone who want to believe in themselves but ultimately sabotages themselves with excessive food (and, very often, with drink).

Sometimes, they want something better for themselves, but they don’t try.

Or, when they do try, when it becomes emotionally difficult to sustain the effort (as it always does), they lack the will to continue and they quit.

These are the cases that break my heart.

I have all kinds of tools to give. I can show how to use them.

For instance, as of this writing, I am hosting a 28-Day Rapid Reset Challenge (click here for details).

But ultimately, any tool I offer will fail if it is not used.

 

I’m not a psychologist.

I am a chiropractor.  I’m sort of a “neuropsychologist” for the body.

However, I do work with psychologists, and I recommend them often. We tend to see a lot of the same people.

You know, I have seen this over and over: Physical pain is worse when we have emotional pain.

Pain — physical and emotional — is frightening and isolating, and so it often becomes part of one’s self-identity.

Physical discomfort is easier to manage and eliminate if one has faith in oneself.

I wish I could reach into your heart and fill you with self-love and belief.

We walk beside you as you heal; but ultimately, we all walk the inner road by ourselves.

The best I can do is be here, continue to tell you how much I believe in you; and that, when you’re ready, I am honored to help.

Filed Under: Healthy Aging Tagged With: addiction, aging, failure, faith, fat, fear, food, food addiction, healing, health, healthy choices, healthy lifestyle, knowledge, love, natural, organic, rage, toxic, weight loss, wisdom

Posture: The One Word that Can Change Your Behavior Instantly

July 20, 2017 by Claire Fitzpatrick

Posture.

You just sat up, didn’t you?

The word, itself, reminds people of the importance of good posture.

We all know that good posture is important.  But why?

Here’s Why

Do you know that your posture can literally determine your mental health? Your emotional health?

How successful you can expect to become?

Here’s one thing I notice about living in Amsterdam, home of some of the tallest people in the world: A good majority of them stoop over.

A lot.

They do the same thing that New Yorkers do, regarding cell phones (known here as “mo-bile” phones). They walk down the street, bent over the tiny screens, typing as they walk…walking into traffic, bikes, me*…

[pullquote align=”normal”]*…by the way, that makes me crazy. I wish these people would just pull over to the side of a building and do their business. Why do these people walk down the street like a zombie, colliding with everything like its nothing?* [/pullquote]

…but I digress…

However, many Amsterdammers tend to slump over without the phones.

They slump over while talking to friends, while eating at a restaurant, sitting at their desks, when speaking in front of a room full of people…its as if they have an imaginary ceiling over their heads, and they have to perpetually duck as to not hit it!

Then I watch the older Amsterdammers, those in their 50s, and 60s, let alone their 70s and 80s, trying to walk down the streets.

Many of them shuffle, their upper backs now deformed after years of stooping, and the gravitational weight of their forward head carriage has worn down their low backs’ ability to stabilize the rest of their body, so their legs are weak from nerve system interference.

Many of them have walkers, or are even in wheel chairs.

Goodness knows about their ability to go to the bathroom, have sex, or even climb the stairs, let alone their ability to enjoy the sailboats in the canals or the beautiful parks on bicycles.

It’s really sad to see, because the Dutch are a very proud people.  One can see, as they make their way slowly down the street shuffle by shuffle, that their lack of independence at a relatively young age is extremely humiliating to them.

It’s unnecessary

It’s so unfortunate, because it is so easy to fix.

One simply needs to adjust their spines and change their posture. And keep doing it.

Americans are not immune.  We slump.  A lot.

It affects everything we do.

It even affects our hormones.  Forward head carriage and slumped shoulders are primal stances of fear and depression.

When we slump forward and rest our weight on our rib cage, we are telling our bodies that we are in danger and that we are helpless.

In contrast, sitting and standing straight, head held high, shoulders open, chest open and available, tells our bodies that we are not only all right, but that we are strong, happy, and victorious.

posture

Amy Cuddy, researcher at Harvard University, and her team, tested this theory out in a series of famous studies; the results of which she presented in a famous TED talk in 2012.

She and her team found that testosterone and cortisol levels improved dramatically after just TWO MINUTES of what they called, “high-power positions,” vs. “low-power” positions.

postureposturepostureThat’s huge.

When we carry ourselves straight and tall, strong in our core, our brain and spinal cord are able to function with less interference and are able to clear waste products from our cerebral spinal fluid into our lymph nodes. This is crucial for brain and body health.

Posture affects

The following quote is attributed to The American Journal of Pain Management. I can’t confirm right now it that is true; if it is, it was written in or before 1991.  However, the quote is said very concisely:

[pullquote align=”normal”]“Posture affects and moderates every physiological function, from breathing to nervous system function, and despite the considerable evidence that posture affects physiology and function, the significant influence of posture on health is not addressed by most physicians.” [/pullquote]

Can you imagine if it is true? That we’ve know this for at least 30 years?

You know that there is a lot of worry about the increasing incidences of Alzheimer’s disease these days.  Did you know that recent research suggests that brisk, purposeful walking 30 minutes a day can reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s disease by 60%?

There’s not a drug out there that can come close to matching that.

How much more effective do you think these results would be if we employed open, strong, proper posture to our walking?

No shortage of help

There is no shortage of postural and fitness professionals who teach the importance core strength and postural alignment.  Yoga teachers, Pilates teachers, all the martial arts, therapeutic exercise, strength training, Rolfers, Alexander Technique, Feldenkrais Technique…of course, the list goes on.

When we have been stuck in a rut of poor posture, chiropractic care is crucial to the success of any program of postural success.

How Chiropractic Helps Posture

When we hold our bodies in any position for a long period of time, the body creates fibrous connective tissue to hold us in that position because it thinks we want to stay in that position.

Even the bones will grow extra bone to try to stabilize the body in a position in which we repeatedly place ourselves. That’s called osteoarthritis.

If the spine starts to do that, the extra bone can grow into the spinal canal and the foramen where nerves pass. That’s when we can get severe nerve interference.

posturepostureposture

If you find it difficult, if not impossible, to achieve healthy posture, it is critical that you get chiropractic care.

Chiropractic care breaks up the adhesions in the spine and joints of the body. It allows free movement of the vertebrae, and thus minimizes interference to the nervous system at the junction of the brain/spinal cord and the peripheral nerves of the body.

It allows the success of using every other technique.

But you can start today. Right now.

Here’s how.

Standing

Get up against a wall, feet shoulder-width apart.  Touch the back of your head and your rear end to the wall. Roll your shoulders back until your shoulder blades are flat against the wall. Drop your shoulders.

That weird feeling you’re feeling is proper posture.

At your desk

The top of your monitor should be level with your eyes. Your legs, arms and hands should all be at a 90-degree angle with the rest of your body. Your keyboard should be close. Make your spine straight by lifting yourself up from your pelvis and tummy. Breathe into your tummy, not your shoulders.

And get up and shake it out every 15 minutes.

Walking down the street

Put the phone away, or use headphones to talk, straighten up and walk forward.

Using your phone

Bring the phone to eye level – not your head to phone level. Yes, it’s uncomfortable. So what? Are you afraid of a little upper body strength

When talking with short people (like me)

Stand tall, look down at me with your eyeballs. As long as your manner is jolly and not snobby, I won’t take offence.  Make me straighten up to talk to you.  It’s good for me, too.

It will make us both jolly. Literally, it will make us happier, healthier people.

For Two Minutes

If you can do any of the above and hold if for just TWO MINUTES, you can improve your health by a magnitude!

Imagine if you hold it for longer? Hours? Days? Months? Years?

How happy and healthy can you make yourself if you do just this? Absolutely free?

C’mon. Straighten up. It’s worth it.

Filed Under: Health and Fitness, Healthy Aging Tagged With: aging, alzheimer's, arthritis, cell phone, chiropractic, health, longevity, mental health, mobile phone, osteoarthritis, posture, senility, walking

Guest Post: Jack Tricarico on Tai Chi

June 26, 2017 by Claire Fitzpatrick

I’ve known Jack Tricarico for going on three and a half years now. 

Jack is an accomplished painter and poet from New York City. He also teaches tai chi and meditation.  He is turning 80 next month.

Since I’ve known him, he has touted the practice of tai chi, and credited it with saving his sanity and his life on many occasions.  

I asked Jack to contribute his story, that it would touch the life of someone who needed to hear it; and he very generously obliged.

When you read his story, you may think that Jack is an understated fellow.  On the contrary; his personality is big and his talent wide. His work is anything but understated!

I highly encourage you to get to know him and his work. Links are provided below.

By the way: the teacher who introduced Jack to tai chi, Eddie Rodriguez, is also a talented massage therapist on New York City’s West Side,  

I refer patients to Eddie very often. A link to Eddie is below as well.

[divider style=’centered’]

Jack’s Story

In the year of 1988, while teaching drawing and painting to high school students at an after-school program in Manhattan, I met a young man named Eddie Rodriguez; who, at the age of 17, was already a black belt in karate, and knowledgeable of other martial art systems.

After the program ended Eddie asked me if I wanted to learn karate. I had never practiced a martial art form before then except boxing in my adolescence which I enjoyed, but had no talent for.

After a few months of practicing karate, I became bored and quit.

Shortly after Eddie again asked me if I wanted to learn tai chi, which he thought I might be better suited for.

He was right.  At the time, I had a close friend who practiced tai chi also, and it appeared to be a discipline I might enjoy learning because it looked so profoundly meditative when I watched him do it.

Before that, I had practiced yoga for a couple of years and Zen meditation sporadically. I enjoyed these disciplines for both the calmness and the energy they produced.

So, in July of 1989, at the age of 51, I began learning the Kuang Ping form of tai chi, an early Yang style technique, from Eddie.

During this time, I was in the midst of an emotionally turbulent relationship with a woman I was nevertheless rapturously in love with.

Practicing tai chi for a couple of hours daily enabled me to maintain some semblance of sanity throughout this affair.

The practice utterly reduced the stress of the continual conflict that went on, sometimes edging toward violence, between my lover and I.

A year after that relationship ended, I met someone else who I eventually married.

Since then, I have learned 3 more tai chi forms: the short Yang style which I learned from Larry Galante, the Chen style and the Yang style classical sword form which I again learned from Eddie.

I have survived 3 car accidents, which caused spinal, knee and nerve damage, and cancer since then.

Today, at 80, practicing 2 to 3 hours of tai chi and meditation daily, I feel better than I did at 30.

This routine has also helped me creatively more than I can imagine.

I am both a painter and poet. My work can be viewed at: New York Art World, web director Johanna Lisi, and Collaborative Pursuits, LLC, web director Courtney Rogers.

I thank Eddie Rodriguez and Larry Galante for teaching me tai chi. It helped save my life.

Jack Tricarico

[divider style=’centered’]

Jack’s paintings are available at the above links; some of his poetry is also on Amazon. For further works of his poetry, you can contact Jack through his art agent here.

Eddie Rodriguez practices massage therapy at 448 West 57th Street, Garden Level, New York, NY 10019. His contact information is here.

Filed Under: Healthy Aging Tagged With: aging, art, healing, health, love, massage therapy, meditation, philosophy, poetry, tai chi, toxic, wisdom

Lipsticks That Won’t Kill You

October 1, 2016 by Claire Fitzpatrick

Looking good doesn’t mean that you have to be poisoned by your makeup. Here are 5 cruelty free lipsticks and lip products that make a point of using healthy, non-toxic ingredients.

[Read more…] about Lipsticks That Won’t Kill You

Filed Under: Healthy Aging, Natural Beauty Tagged With: health, lipstick, longevity, toxic

Adult Onset Anxiety: Can Chiropractic Help?

August 9, 2016 by Claire Fitzpatrick

Adult onset anxiety is a common problem people aged 30 to 55.  It occurs even if life goes well, so the reason we have anxiety seems confusing. Adult onset anxiety makes us forget things, erodes our self-confidence, and makes us moody with sexual partners and children. But what causes it? And, can chiropractic help beat anxiety?
[Read more…] about Adult Onset Anxiety: Can Chiropractic Help?

Filed Under: Health and Fitness, Healthy Aging

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