Optimize Before Your Demise

I have heard many stories of the health toll that working as a nurse has taken but we often don't prioritize it as an issue. We just succumb to taking meds for issues like high blood pressure, high cholesterol, weight gain, stress, or for whatever the health issue might be.

What if I told you that there is a new direction toward healthy living that involves less drugs and more insights about what can be corrected so you can set yourself up for an OPTIMAL state of wellbeing in your next half of life. It's called Functional Medicine and it is the up and coming medical specialty that will be the next big thing to help take us to the next level of wellness.

I was first introduced to this concept when I attended a nutrition training at Sanoviv Medical Institute in Rosarito Mexico, the first accredited functional medicine hospital in the world and a true healing environment. What an eye opener! At the time I wondered why we haven't embraced this concept in our country.

So I want to share why this is different from what we currently do in the U.S. and how this concept might provide you with the answers you are looking for when you want to truly heal yourself after all these years of working and wearing yourself out. Here's how the two systems compare.

After reflecting on these two lists, which one do you think supports OPTIMAL health? Let me share how all this played out in my life.

My issue: Heart Palpitations.

The first time I experienced this I was premenopausal, didn't know it and neither did my doctor so I had an EKG which was normal. He wanted to put me on an anti-anxiety med, but I refused. I then read about palpitations in Dr. Christiane Northrup's book Women's Bodies, Women's Wisdom and realized it was a normal phenomenon. So I went on with my life.

The next time I experienced palpitations was in the past 2 years and because I was going to Sanoviv Holistic Healing Center for some nutrition training, I asked to be checked out. They performed a very non-invasive stress test, Max Pulse Stress Test and discovered my sympathetic nervous system was on overdrive, my parasympathetic nervous system was almost non-existent and I had borderline adrenal fatigue. I never would have got a test like this from my healthcare provider, and therefore would never have known the underlying cause.

As luck would have it, I was in the right place at the right time so I could start taking action on my own to resolve it. All the healing modalities were available to me there, so I jumped in with both feet and felt what true healing was all about. Most of those practices were already part of my life but I had been slacking off and could feel it! So when I got back home, here is what I did to get back on the path to OPTIMAL health.

Reduced Stress

This is the BIG one!

• Daily Tapping (Emotional Freedom Technique) to break up energy blocks and reduce cortisol
• Daily Chi Machine to balance the flow of energy in my body
• Weekly massages
• Scheduled more "down" time
• Got more rest, 7-8 hours/night is still the recommendation for optimal health
• Monthly Chiropractic sessions

Improved Nutrition

• Got back to eating low-glycemic, lots of fresh produce
• Gluten-free, dairy-free, no sugar
• Organic whenever possible
• Nutritional supplements customized to my needs

Exercised

• Jazzercise 4x/wk
• Walking on opposite days

Guess what happened once I was back on track again - the palpitations went away - and without drugs! As a wellness professional, I already spend most of my time in the Functional Medicine world, but know there are times when I still need to use the services of Conventional Medicine. But it is only for a temporary fix, and the rest of the time it is up to me to be in control of striving for OPTIMAL health.

So if you are thinking about retiring, where will you get the most helpful health information about what messages your body is sending you, what they mean, plus a roadmap to OPTIMAL health? Both Functional and Traditional Medicine have value, but to be honest in the world of Functional Medicine, you are empowered to achieve OPTIMAL health using their best practices for your next best years ahead. Drugs aren't always the answer.

So what path are you willing to take and how healthy do you truly want to be? Would love to have you share.