Remembering--On Memorial Day

To my knowledge I have never lost a relative fighting in a war or conflict. I don't know the deep misery that one feels when someone loses a son/daughter, brother/sister, father/mother or any relative. There must be a mixture of emotion of sadness and pride. Grieving at the loss but proud of the willingness to go into harm's way for the sake of our country. There have been hundreds of thousands of young men and women that have died for the right for me even to write these words on a blog. The average age of these fallen soldiers is around 25. My lived dreams and hopes in a family and career for my 54 years has been on the lost dreams and hopes of these heroes. My church does a special service every year to honor all the branches of our fallen military. I cry every year. Just to hear the songs chokes me up. I over heard a grandmother talking about the worry of her grandson going to Afghanistan. By what she said, he is willing to do what's required of him. I believe this is the common thread of all of our service men and women. As Toby Kieth's song says, the soldier doesn't want to die but if dying is what it takes to protect his/her country then let it be. Many of our soldiers don't die but are severely wounded physically and mentally. I remember a patient from 1980 that was a veteran of the Vietnam War. This was not long after the American pull out. Out of honest, heartfelt curiosity I asked what it was like in Vietnam. He went into a blank stare and just sat there for a minute or two and a tear began to roll down his face. He shook his head and said, "Doc, I can't talk about that". I felt bad but thanked him for serving our country. That is something we cannot do enough is thank our military men and women, as well as our veterans, for their service.
On this Memorial Day remember our fallen soldiers. Thank a veteran and service man/women for serving our country. If it happens that they are deployed and have the possibility of paying the ultimate price for our freedom they will know that it will not be in vain and that we do appreciate what they do for us.
John 15:13 says "Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends". Christ did this for all of us that we may have eternal life. Thank you to Him.
Again, thank you to all that have paid the ultimate sacrifice for me to be able to share this blog with you and thanks to all of of our veterans and current military men and women for your service.

BELLY FAT-------LOSER!!!!!!

The "Dickie Do disease", I won't explain. The "Dunlap disease", as in "yo belly dun lopped over yo belt!" The spare tire or a pot belly. All of these are names describing Belly Fat. This fat is dangerous because in can leave you susceptible and increase your chances to get diabetes, cancer and heart disease. There is a type of fat called visceral fat which is biologically active. This activity causes hormonal changes leading to inflammation throughout your body, as well as increasing the risk for breast cancer and diabetes. Age, genetics and menopause all play a roll in this belly fat. Of course lack of exercise and poor diet are factors too. Fast food and foods high in carbohydrates and fats are the biggest culprits.
A 40 inch waist for a man and a 35 inch waist for a women put you into this category. So, what do you do to lose this fat, to be a "belly fat loser"? Aerobic or cardiovascular exercise is the starting place. Even moderate exercise can help. 45 minute to an hour 3 times a week or 1 hour 15 minutes of stretching exercise 2 times per week is helpful. Increasing muscle mass with weight lifting is very beneficial because muscle burns calories all the time. Get your diet cranked up with whole grains, fruits and vegetables.
As always, a 1/2 gallon of water per day is great. You can get more information like this from us at Sparlin Health Care from our Mediadoc program, where this info comes from.
If you're not under Chiropractic care, you should be. This is an avenue not only for back pain and injury but a primary way to keep your over all resistance high.
All I ask is that you give me a chance. AND be a belly fat loser!!

Career Days

I spent Friday April 30, 2010 at Park Middle School in Atlanta. That's less than 2 miles from Sparlin Health Care, my office. It's a place ,that unless you drove by there you'd never know there was a school even there. As a matter of fact I actually found it originally, by mistake, as as was driving through that area looking for churches to visit. Churches are good about having Health Fairs, etc., so I go looking for opportunities for myself and the junior doctors to participate. I saw this school and it was like a fortress to get into, rightfully so as to where it's located. I was still able to speak with someone and leave my card. Several days later I received a call to be invited to a health fair. I was unable to attend but sent another junior doctor to participate. It was a good contact for him. A couple of weeks ago they called and invited me back for Career Day. I love doing these because it's a great opportunity to educate not only the kids and teachers as to the benefit of chiropractic care but to encourage these youngsters to chose a career path that they can have fun doing. I teach about what chiropractic is and the education we go through to get our degree and be licensed. I stress to them to choose a career path that they can enjoy and be able to go to "fun" every day and not just "work" every day. Since both Loretta, my wife, and now Rebecca, my daughter, are both educators I take the time to encourage the teaching/education field also. I really believe some of these kids have untapped talents. We all need to encourage them to find their talents and learn ways they can use these talents to determine their career path. This makes it easier for them to go through the process of all the education it takes to reach their dreams. Talking with these kids you can see bright spots and dull spots. You can tell which teachers encourage participation and those that don't. They can't get too much praise and encouragement. Park Middle School is doing a good job with this. I was pleased and proud to be a part of this Career Day. Congrats to them for all they are doing. Keep it up. Maybe one day one of these kids from one of these career days will show up and introduce themselves as Dr. So and So and tell me that he or she chose their career path because of something I said and the encouragement I gave. I pray for all the kids, teachers, administrators and other career speaker/motivators that these career days are positive and that we all get out of them something that is special just for us. Also, Thank You to Camaron! Camaron was my guide and host ALL DAY. You did a great job my friend. Again, thank you.