One of my favorite topics. I was in my early fifties when I first realized it. I was getting old and out of shape. Poor diet, too much stress, irregular sleep patterns and a lack of exercise was taking its toll. I was developing some health issues but the tests my physician performed showed that everything was “normal”. It was when I first became concerned that my healthspan would end before my lifespan. A change was necessary. If I continued on my current path I was going to be in trouble. I realized it. I also realized that I didn’t want to begin what would likely become a lifetime of prescription medications.
It’s obvious what your lifespan is. From your birth to your death. But healthspan is a little less more difficult to pin down. I define it as being able to physically and mentally able to live the life you want without your health preventing it. Many people have lost their health and aren’t living the life they want. It was my realization that my lifespan would likely exceed my healthspan that led me into functional medicine as a way to regain my health and to reverse the effects of my prior lifestyle.
It took time and required me to make changes but slowly over time my health improved. A lot. My complaints of weight gain, fatigue, burping, heartburn and body aches amongst others improved.
After working with clients whose biggest stressors included their businesses and had sold their business or were in the process of doing so, I also made the choice to transition my chiropractic practice to another provider, sell our home in the north shore suburb of Highland Park, Illinois and move to Arizona. After considering Phoenix, Scottsdale and Mesa, we decided on Tucson, Arizona and moved at the end of 2022 to sunny Tucson where we enjoy year-round biking, hiking and exercise along with cooking and eating good food in the first UNESCO city of gastronomy in the United States.
I’m happy to say that I now feel that my healthspan is getting closer to my lifespan.
If your healthspan is not what you want to be, please give us a call to see if you may benefit from a functional health program.
Functional medicine is lifestyle medicine. At Richart Functional Medicine, we use a thorough patient evaluation, simple lab testing, short term supplement programs and lifestyle modification to treat primarily chronic and lifestyle based health conditions usually caused by a stressful and inflammatory lifestyle.
Welcome to our website! Dr. Robert Richart, D.C., CFMP is a chiropractic physician whose practice is limited to functional medicine via telehealth. He sees patients from the Chicago area as well as Phoenix, Scottsdale, Tucson, Catalina Foothills, Oro Valley, Marana and all areas of Illinois and Arizona. He offers a free 15-minute consultation to discuss prospective patient’s health problems to see if functional medicine may help them.
