NEW YEAR LESSONS FROM 2020, WHAT A YEAR ITS BEEN!!

I don’t know about you, but 2020, WOW, WHAT A YEAR IT HAS BEEN. There are lots of things to discuss but I see one common theme no matter the subject. I will try to focus on health but the main theme I see is that no matter what, things don’t always happen like you expected. RIGHT? Nothing that I had envisioned happened based on the goals I set in December 2019. I had visions of more GRANDKID TIME, more travel and more time at the gym. GUESS WHAT? NONE OF THAT OR ANYTHING ELSE FOR THAT MATTER WENT AS PLANNED.

But guess what? Some things actually got better. I ended up spending more time with my wife, completing a bunch of projects around the home, getting lots of calls from people that I hadn’t seen or heard from in a while and took a month long car trip through Texas to New Mexico (stayed with relatives) and back. I even learned how to create a pretty good workout at home. Once our office was allowed to open, I couldn’t wait to get back to work. I missed all of the interaction with my patients and staff and enjoyed the slower pace. So, overall lots of things in my life got better and I enjoyed them more than I had before the pandemic.

As far as writing down my goals each year, I usually follow a chart I created that I call “THE STAR OF DAVIS”. But this year I mainly wanted my focus to be much simpler.

So, I’m going to just tell you my focus on HEALTH. I have narrowed it down to what do I need to do be and stay healthy at my age (Senior Citizen) and here you go.

A. Eat healthy-as you know, for me, I strongly believe in the PALEO DIET. I have learned from being in this on this diet that my body is very sensitive to and does not like dairy products or grains. Every time I cheat, I suffer the next day a lot.

B. Exercise regularly-I believe that it is crucial to get at least 150 minutes of aerobic exercise per week and lift some weights or as I learned at home, lots of pushups, sit ups and dips at least 2-3 days per week.

C. Keep my BMI (Body Mass Index) below 25. Above 25 I am considered overweight. Under 25 and you will live a lot longer. Above 30, you are considered OBESE. I am currently about 24.8

D. Drink 8 glasses of water per day. I strongly believe in filtered water and not tap water.

E. Go to my doctors, (including the Dentist) and have a physical. I have a female primary care doctor (Dr. Camille Goff) and I love her. I also go to a cardiologist (Dr. John Seger my partner in this), gastroenterologist (Dr. Matt Tompson-his dad is a dentist so I love him also) and my urologist (Dr. Larry Baum) he is awesome.

F. KEEP ON WORKING-I read a study several years ago about what age you retire and then how much longer do you live? If you retire before age 50 (who can do that?) you will live to age 94. If you retire at age 65, you are dead by age 68 (this is exactly what my dad did) and if you keep on working you will live to age 94 again. So, keep on working (at least part time).

G. Floss twice daily and brush after every meal. And of course-no SUGAR. Dr. Charles Mayo has said that preventive dentistry can add 10 years to your life!

H. NO SMOKING-both my parents smoked, so I never have. But, if you do, QUIT!

SUMMARY – In my opinion, if you just follow the simple 7 steps listed above, I think you will probably live an extra 10-20 years longer than you would have. It’s not that hard.

“THE MOUTH IS THE WINDOW TO YOUR HEALTH”. BRUSH AND FLOSS TWICE DAILY, AVOID SUGAR FOR 2020 AND SEE YOUR DENTIST AND PHYSICIAN ON A REGULAR BASIS.

Spiker Davis D.D.S. spiker@thepaleodentist.com John Seger M.D. Matt Guerre D.D.S.

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RANT AND RAVE-I cannot get over how many people choose to avoid things that they know they should do but just can’t rally to make things better. Is there anybody out there that thinks smoking, eating junk food, eating lots of sugar, avoiding exercise, avoiding the doctor etc. is really good for you?