While I had planned to move on to a different topic, I had an interesting conversation last week that prompted this article. I think that looking at this example of weight-loss may aid in helping many people shift their focus when it comes to their health and therefore avoid being doomed in that area.

I was speaking to a friend (who is extremely fit) at the gym who was telling me about their sister. The sister has been over-weight and unhealthy her whole life and had really struggled with weight-loss. My friend was very happy to report that her sister had begun a group program (which I am not criticizing here) focused on weight loss and had made more progress than she had in a long time. The program included exercise and coaching on diet – both great things for your health.

After acknowledging her success and asking a few more questions, I said to my friend, “The thing is that if a person is solely focused on weight-loss…they are completely doomed (only I used a harsher word than doomed).” My friend’s jaw dropped and I could tell that she thought I was a bit crazy!

Here is the thing. If the sole focus is weight-loss (and I am not saying that it is in this program), what is the best possible outcome for this person? That’s right, to lose the targeted amount of weight. Total success would be reaching the target weight. Most people won’t get there but the ultra-successful and most dedicated likely will.

What now? What happens after all of that weight that had been a cause of suffering in her life is gone? Now she has to focus her efforts in keeping it off! The elephant is still in the room and now she won’t even have the motivation of the pain of being fat to keep her in line. Even though she is now thin, she will still be controlled by the weight that she does not want to put back on. This is suffering and this is a lifetime of doom – unless she can learn to shift her focus.

I completely acknowledge the power and value of starting the journey using weight-loss as a motivator to get you started. However, if this focus does not change quickly, it results in the yo-yo doom we see so many people struggle with.

What if the focus instead shifted to having amazing and sustainable energy and vitality? That focus could certainly include weight-loss, but would provide so much more. How about to age gracefully so I can lift weights with my grandchildren? Do you see how weight-loss creates a prison, where a shift in focus creates freedom?

I see the same dilemma in health care. People focus on being pain or symptom free. First of all, some pain is a necessary part of life and being completely pain free for any length of time is impossible so you are failure before you even start!

Also, pain and symptoms are always SECONDARY to something else (like being overweight is secondary to something else) and focusing on what is secondary won’t help you address what is PRIMARY. Fighting pain leads you to a lifetime of fighting pain. It will never end. DOOM.

Instead, why not focus on creating great health, performing and functioning well and expressing life to the fullest. Will you have less pain if you do that? Very likely and when symptoms do inevitably show up, you won’t care so much.

In our office, we focus on Neurospinal Optimization. As the spine and nervous system are optimized a whole host of secondary conditions improve or disappear – often some conditions that the patient did not even tell me about.

I encourage you to implement this way of thinking and living to any and every important part of your life. Parenting, relationships, finances, career, etc. Life is too short to live in our own self imposed prisons and it is a lot more fun to be free.

If you would like to learn more about how we help people in a fun and comfortable setting, you are welcome to attend one of our Introductory Presentations on select Monday and Tuesday evenings. Phone the office for details.

While we are on the topic of weight loss, check out this interesting article and pictures comparing the average man’s body in different countries around the world by clicking HERE.

Unlike many of today’s health ‘experts,’ I believe that people truly WANT to be healthy. It is for this reason that ‘health’ products fly off the shelves, many people are members in health clubs, and we are willing – as a society – to pay high taxes in order to fund public ‘health care.’ Eavesdrop on conversations in any coffee shop and it won’t take long to hear people talking about their health.

So, how is it that something we spend a tremendous amount of money, time, energy and worry on be such a source of challenge, pain and suffering for people? Shouldn’t we be a population brimming with energy and vitality?

The truth is that most people are NOT healthy and this lack of health is a major frustration.

I certainly don’t pretend to have all of the answers to this problem, however having observed thousands of people over the years I have noticed a pattern that is central to whether or not a person is successful in creating health in their life. This pattern also seems to be present when a person is successful in other areas of their lives such as their career, personal finances, relationships and hobbies.

The pattern healthy people follow is that when faced with a challenge….They Go Deeper.

     What does this mean? It means that when problems arise (and they always do, btw) healthy people don’t just look to patch up the surface. They recognize that there is likely something underlying the surface problem that needs to be addressed and their primary focus will be on correcting the underlying cause.

How does this look in real life? Let’s say someone is obese – this is now a medical diagnosis in the United States. So the surface problem is that the individual has a Body Mass Index(BMI) that is too high. If the focus is solely on reducing BMI then there are many different ways to address this problem. Liposuction would be one approach that would handle things quickly, as would bariatric surgery(stomach staple). While I don’t wish to judge either of these procedures – they are what they are – you can see where this will lead if they are the only actions taken. Will this person turn out healthier? Is it likely other – perhaps more serious – conditions will be inevitable in the future?

A healthy person on the other hand would look at the diagnosis of obesity and realize that it is likely secondary to something else. They will look for the deeper cause behind the problem. It may be as simple as a poor lifestyle that needs to be corrected. Perhaps there are some hormonal issues that need to be addressed.

What happens when we look deeper to correct our problems? Two things – first we are much more likely to achieve long-term and sustainable results on the surface problem. Second, we actually improve our overall level of health and, improve performance, correct other secondary conditions, and we may even prevent other secondary conditions from showing up in the future. THIS is where true health comes from!

While many health care practitioners primarily look to address secondary conditions like pain and muscle spasm, at Nexus Chiropractic we focus on addressing Neural Resistance, which can underlie a variety of those conditions.

I will continue this series of articles over the following weeks, looking more deeply at how we can apply GOING DEEPER in a way that can provide solutions to you health and life challenges.