ANTI-AGING MEDICINE: WHERE? INSIGHT?

I had something very disturbing happen last week while in an exam room with a patient.  She saw my certificate of membership with the American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine (ACAM) and asked, “What do you guys offer that is anti-aging?  I need some of that.”  For a minute, I was speechless.  I couldn’t believe that someone who had been our patient since 2009 did not know what we do that is anti-aging.  And then I thought, “Is it really not that obvious or do people not understand what anti-aging medicine is?”

Anti-aging is defined by Webster’s as something used or tending to prevent or lessen the effects of aging.  ACAM defines it as a medical specialty founded on the application of advanced scientific and medical technologies for the early detection, prevention, treatment, and reversal of age-related dysfunction, disorders, and diseases.

EVERYTHING WE DO AT INSIGHT AND RESTORE IS ALL ABOUT ANTI-AGING!

People don’t always understand that there is a big difference between healthspan and lifespan.  Healthspan is how long you live and are functional and can enjoy your life.  Lifespan is how long you live birth to death and many of those years may be full of sickness and disease and non-functional.  Our goal at Insight and Restore has always been to help you change your lifestyle so that your healthspan equals your lifespan and you enjoy your life to the fullest until the day you die.

Since the first anti-aging conference that I went to in 2005, my medical practice has continued year to year to radically change.  I finally learned how the human body can restore and heal itself if given the right tools.  I learned how I can help people change their choices and become healthier than they’ve ever been.  I’ve continued to learn more and more and apply it to my clinical practice.  It excites me every day to share what I’ve learned with my patients and see them make choices that will ultimately add healthy years to their lives.  That’s worth getting up in the morning for!

So what do we do here that is considered anti-aging medicine?  Here’s just a sampling of the services:

1.      Bio-identical hormone replacement therapy

2.      Weight loss/nutrition counseling

3.      Gastrointestinal balance and healing

4.      Stress reduction

5.      Exercise

6.      Neutraceuticals instead of pharmaceuticals

7.      Hormone balance

8.      VI Peel

9.      Detoxification & Far Infrared Sauna therapy

10.  IV vitamin therapy

11.  And more….

Most people think of anti-aging medicine as skin peels, Botox, skin care, face lifts, etc.  But anti-aging starts from the inside out.  There’s not enough product you can slather on or enough skin to peel off or lift up that can totally take care of the aging process.  You have to do all of the things I’ve listed above, start with the inside first, AND do the skin care.

Starting as young as possible is ideal.  I started using anti-aging products on my face in my early 20’s.  I did it to help decrease acne but it has helped prevent wrinkles.  Yeah!  Once I started learning anti-aging medicine, I added in all of the things listed above.  However, it is NEVER too late to start.  Anything you do from the list above will help increase your healthspan.  Our bodies are amazing!  As soon as you start giving them what they need, they start the healing and restoration process.

I encourage you to not get distracted with all of the external treatments promoted as “anti-aging” and forget the importance of the internal treatments.  In the end, the internal treatments are what count the most.  I can personally live with a few wrinkles as long as my mind and body work well and I can enjoy every moment of my life!

If you haven’t fully grasped how what we do is anti-aging medicine or you are not sure what else you can and should do, I urge you to make an appointment with your nurse practitioner to develop a plan for you.  We love doing these things for ourselves and for you.  We are always here to help!

 

Sincerely,

Tabetha L. Smith, FNP-C

CONFESSIONS OF AN AVERAGE AMERICAN

CONFESSIONS OF AN AVERAGE AMERICAN

I have a confession:  I am an average American when it comes to diet and exercise.  Most of us, me included, get so caught up in our daily activities and responsibilities that what we eat and how much we exercise is just an afterthought. Leaving diet and exercise as an afterthought is extremely dangerous to our future health.  We may feel fine now but chronic disease will catch us in the end if we don’t pay attention now.

I was not a very athletic active child.  I was born sick – multiple allergies and asthma.  I was in and out of the hospital most of my early years for asthma and almost died several times.  Those kinds of health problems definitely do not inspire one to be athletic! ☺ I felt like I couldn’t breathe half the time.

So, exercise has never come easy to me.  It’s not something I love to do or look forward to doing.  I’ve never been on a sports team.  I was a cheerleader in high school but it wasn’t a super athletic or active team.  Just like most of us, I have to purposefully make myself exercise.

I have been a nurse practitioner for 16 (17 in May!) years now and have counseled thousands of people on nutrition, weight loss and exercise.  Some succeed and change their lives forever and some fail.  In all of them, I have seen reoccurring themes that I have also seen in myself that must be changed.

The first reoccurring theme that I have seen is the “all or nothing” mindset.  We start a diet or exercise regimen and are 100% committed for a few weeks or months. Then, if we fall off of it for a day or two (or week), we feel like failures and stop it all.  We either do everything or we do nothing.

An “all or nothing” attitude is extremely dangerous to our health!  When it comes to your long-term health, ANYTHING IS BETTER THAN NOTHING.  If you drink an extra glass of water every day, eat one less candy bar, use 1 teaspoon less sugar in your coffee, walk around the block once, or take the stairs at work, that is one step closer to better health.  Anything is better than nothing at all.

I confess that I love chocolate, sugar, bread and pasta!  I will never be able to give them up forever.  I know this fact so why beat myself up for eating them and feel guilty all the time.  I’m just human and an average American.  I acknowledge that I cannot be perfect all the time.  But, I have to try to be perfect some of the time (and probably most of the time!) in order to be as healthy as possible.

This statement may seem radical and crazy; but I give you permission to eat the foods you love some of the time.  Don’t feel guilty.  Food is something to be enjoyed.  Enjoy!  Just keep it to a minimum and eat healthier most of the time.  My personal goal is, on Monday-Friday, I try to eat only whole foods – lean proteins, nuts, legumes, fruit and vegetables and drink water.  On the weekends, I cheat in moderation and try to limit that to one meal a day.  I’m from the South and love sweet tea so I sometimes indulge in a sweet tea on the weekend as well!

The second reoccurring theme that I have seen is the “I’m too busy” mindset.  We are all caught up in work, kids, church, volunteer work, etc., and we use up every minute of every day doing “something” until we fall into bed at night.  We can’t possibly find time to exercise, can we?!

I am an average American and I have spent hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars on gym memberships and exercise equipment.  I usually get too busy to go to the gym a few months into the membership and the exercise equipment just sits.  I bought a very expensive elliptical machine that I literally never used for 3 years! Ha!

At the end of 2010, I read about high intensity burst exercise programs.  They are short and sweet but you get more “bang for your buck”.  I committed to one of those programs in January 2011 and used my elliptical (finally!).  I committed to a 20 minute workout 2-3 times a week first thing in the morning.  The way I see it, I have no excuse and nobody else has any excuse not to be able to exercise 20 minutes 2-3 times a week!  And, I have stuck to it and I have seen amazing results in my metabolism. 

I have now added in doing some stretching and weight lifting (only what I can do at home) 2 days a week.  And, most importantly, I keep this bare minimum of exercise as a fixed part of my schedule, no compromise, and look for opportunities to do more exercise.  If it’s a beautiful warm day on the weekend, I get out and ride my bike for an hour.  I sometimes take a line dancing class.  I meet friends to walk the loop (instead of go out to eat!).  You have to AT LEAST do the minimum but more exercise is always better!

Here’s the program:

1.      Do exercise program as soon as you get up before eating or drinking anything other than water.  Drink water while exercising if possible.

2.      Start your activity (elliptical, treadmill, recumbent bike, walking, jogging, riding bike) and warm up for 3 minutes.

3.      Exercise as hard and fast as you can for 30 seconds (anaerobic).  You should feel like you can’t breathe and talk at the same time and couldn’t possibly go another few seconds

4.      Go back to normal aerobic speed for 90 seconds.

5.      Repeat the 30 second/90 second rotation 7 more times (total of 8 rotations). 

6.      Extend the last 90 seconds for another minute (2 ½ minutes total) and slow down and cool down during that time period.

7.      After exercising, wait 30 minutes to 1 hour before eating.  You get more benefit from the exercise program if you drink a protein smoothie afterwards and avoid sugar for at least 2 hours. 

Please do not start any exercise program without consulting your medical care provider first.  Also, be mindful of your current fitness level.  I had not exercised in a while when I started.  I decided to do 4 rotations and increase by 2 rotations every 2 weeks.  After the first time, I almost passed out.  I literally thought I was going to have to call out for help! 

When it comes to exercise, the reality is:  MOVE IT OR LOSE IT.  The more we do the healthier we will be.  So, try to do more than what I’ve listed above each week if you can.  However, even a little exercise is better than no exercise.  So, if you can only make the 20 minute 2-3 times a week commitment, still do it.  You get extra health benefits from the above program so it should really be the bare minimum of exercise that you do each week.

Please don’t feel guilty about being an “average American”.  I’m one too.  We all have to start somewhere and anything is better than nothing at all.  My goal for myself and for all of my patients is for us to live healthy active lives with no physical limitations or prescription drugs until the day we die.  If you already have some physical and health limitations, any step you take in changing your diet and exercise habits will decrease those limitations and help you feel much better. 

Your health is one of your most precious commodities.  You only get one body.  Once you wear it out you can’t trade it in for another one.  Don’t throw it away!  Start something today!

Sincerely,

Tabetha L. Smith, FNP-C, Average American

 

©Insight Family Health Center, January 2014

TOP TWO EXCUSES

TOP TWO EXCUSES

 

As you know, I spend a lot of time counseling patients on prevention of disease and lifestyle change.  My top two prevention and treatment of disease topics are weight loss and increased exercise.  The top two excuses for not being able to change their health that I hear back from patients are “I don’t have enough time” and “It’s too expensive”.

Here is the Reality Check that I offer to you:  It is IMPOSSIBLE to be healthy and prevent disease if you do not maintain a healthy weight and if you do not exercise.  There is no way around these two facts.  There are not enough drugs and medical technology in the world to keep you healthy or to make you feel good without also maintaining a healthy weight and exercising.  That is a researched fact.  And, the positive note is that, if you maintain a healthy weight and exercise, you may not need any drug or medical treatment.

I often see patients who are already on 3-4 (or more!) pharmaceutical drug treatments for various ailments who are still feeling bad.  They often want another quick fix in the form of another pharmaceutical.   However, the more drugs you take the more likely they are to interact and give you different or increased negative symptoms.  That is a researched fact.  No way around it.

I have been a nurse practitioner for 16 years and I have lots of observational data on patients.  I’ve learned 2 things from my study of people:  1) People make time for what they want to make time for & 2) People find money for what they want to find money for. 

I often listen to patients telling me they don’t have time while also telling me about all the out-of-control activity in their lives.  Believe it or not, your children do not each have to be in 3 or 4 different activities after school.  You don’t have to snooze your alarm for thirty minutes and waste that time.  There is help out there to help you organize and manage your time better.  I urge you to talk to a counselor or life coach and get better control over your day. 

I heard Joyce Meyer say recently that “I don’t have enough time” really means “This behavior/choice is not important enough for me to do”.  If you don’t respect and value yourself and your future enough to make maintaining a healthy weight and exercising a priority in your life then nothing about how you feel physically is going to change for the better.  No one, including me, can make anyone do what they don’t want to do and no one can help someone who doesn’t want to help themselves.

I also often listen to patients telling me that they don’t have enough money to eat healthy while they play around on their latest iPhone and iPad or flash me their beautiful manicure or brand new clothes.  I know a lady who has chosen to only shop for clothes in resale shops (no brand new clothes for years!) in order to save money to add to her food budget in order to buy healthy real food.  She has clearly made a difficult choice in order to live a healthier longer life and to feel good. 

Multiple studies have proven that it is not so expensive that you can’t afford to eat healthy.  I find the biggest error that people make is that they try to maintain eating out a lot and eating processed food a lot while also trying to buy more healthy whole foods.  Trying to do both will break your budget! There is great help to be found in the booklet “Good Food on a Tight Budget” provided by the Environmental Working Group.

The whole purpose of Insight Family Health Center & Restore Health & Wellness Center is to provide guidance and support to you as you make new and better health choices that will ultimately make you feel better and live longer.  We don’t have any quick fixes, but we do know what will ultimately help you change your health.  We are here to help but we can’t make you do it.  I urge you to take advantage of us as a resource as you take on the new adventure of choosing a healthier lifestyle.

We all make time for and spend money on what we really want to.  What’s your choice?

Sincerely,

Tabetha L. Smith, FNP-C

 

4 PILLARS PERMANENT WEIGHT LOSS SEMINAR

When:  Begins Thursday, January 9, 2014 & Ends the week of March 24, 2014. 

                Group classes will be held on Thursday evenings from 6 PM – 8 PM on January

                9, 2014, January 30, 2014, February 20, 2014, & March 13, 2014.

Location:  Insight Family Health Center

Goal:  To educate and mentor patients in developing health strategies that address body, soul, and spirit resulting in permanent weight loss for the patient.

Theme:  Consistency is the KEY to victory – permanent weight loss.

4 Pillars of Permanent Weight Loss developed during the program:

1.      Self-Awareness

2.      Self-Control

3.      Self-Discipline

4.      Accountability

Program Includes:

1.      Weekly either group or individual session spread over a 12 week time period – 12 weeks of professional accountability and education!

2.      4 – 2 hour group education classes with a nurse practitioner

3.      4 – 1 hour individual sessions with a counselor

4.      4 – 1 hour individual sessions with a Registered Nurse Educator

Cost:  (Care Credit is available for payment)

·        Level 1:  4 Pillars Plan Only

1.      12 group or individual meetings

2.      Total Cost $426

Ø  3 Automatic Draft Payments of $142 each

Ø  Full Payment up front - $399 (save $27)

·        Level 2:  4 Pillars Plan + Energy Boost

1.      12 group or individual meetings + 12 weekly MethylB12 Injections

2.      Total Cost $510

Ø  3 Automatic Draft Payments of $170 each

Ø  Full Payment Up Front - $485 (save $25)

·        Level 3:  4 Pillars Plan + Energy Boost + Detox Boost

1.      12 group or individual meetings + 8 Myer’s MVI Intravenous Infusions with MethylB12 & Glutathione + 12 Far Infrared Sauna Sessions + 4 MethylB12 Injections

2.      Total Cost $1152

Ø  3 Automatic Draft Payments of $384

Ø  Full Payment Up Front - $1099 (save $53)   

Registration:

          Call (910)508-2802 to register.  Space is limited to 25 participants!