By Madeline Taskier

As I wake up from an “ok” night of sleep with an achy back and maybe a few knee creaks, I often think about what I would have done differently in my 20s and 30s to set myself up for health success and a little less back pain. In primary care, our role is to think critically about prevention and to be more proactive with the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of disease. In taking care of my patients and thinking about my own health as I age, I’ve come up with a few pearls I would give my younger self that can hopefully help simplify how you approach your own health journey. 

1. Prioritize cooking at Home – First of all, cooking at home is much more financially sustainable over time. Second, cooking at home helps reduce exposure to and consumption of processed foods that increase risk for obesity, cardiovascular disease, and metabolic disorders. Preparing your own food is rewarding and also allows you to tailor recipes to your own taste preference. Even better, grow your own food at home in a garden if you are able to. 

1. Understand and Learn About the Basics of Lifestyle – Take the time to learn about the role of nutrition, sleep, stress, and movement in your overall health. Don’t follow random tips from the latest wellness guru on social media and take the time to look into the science and evidence base around these topics. Ask your doctor questions about the data on lifestyle and help you translate it. If you invest in your knowledge of these topics early, you can be much more proactive in coming up with routines that work for you, not against you.

1. Learn Your Family Medical History – Asking your family members proactively about their medical conditions and genetic risk factors helps you understand your own risk for chronic disease. Sometimes starting the conversation can be difficult, but rip off the bandaid and ask the hard questions. It will be worth it. 

1. Don’t Be Afraid of Data – Regardless of whether you hate to have your blood drawn, lab work and regular screening for chronic disease is a key tool in your toolbox for assessing your health status. Ignoring abnormal values or avoiding monitoring abnormal labs can just result in a more advanced form of disease down the road. Face the biomarkers head on and tackle them with your physician. 

1. Comprehensive Fitness – I spent most of my 20s and 30s doing cardio (and a limited amount at that). While this is important, strength and resistance training is arguably the most important thing that you can prioritize early on for your metabolic, cardiovascular, and bone health. It is also never too late to start. 

1. Walking is Non-negotiable-  Sitting is the new smoking. Get out of your chair and move once an hour. Try to get to 10K steps in a day. Full stop. 

1. Invest in Therapy – I would argue that regularly sorting through your past trauma with a skilled and trusted practitioner can be essential to healing. The body truly does keep the score. Trauma, anxiety, depression, stress all imprint in the body and affect your overall health and function. 

• Sleep is medicine – During sleep, the body repairs tissues, builds muscle, consolidates memories, strengthens the immune system, and literally “cleans” the brain. Don’t skimp on it. The phrase “I’ll sleep when I’m dead” in order to take advantage of life is making you approach death faster. 

1. Your body is a great signal – Our bodies go through seasons of change so feeling different in your body is a normal life experience. However, if something feels really “off,” trust yourself and your body. Bring it up with your doctor. A truly thoughtful and curious provider will want to investigate it. There are no stupid questions. 

• Alcohol can be fun, but it isn’t worth it – Alcohol, while enjoyable at times and a way to take the edge off, does not come without risks. Boiling it straight down to the core, alcohol (ethanol) is toxic to the human body. If you can cut it out entirely, this is ideal. Generally no amount of alcohol is healthy. 

1. Surround yourself with community-  So many of our modern systems including work from home, social media, pandemics, you name it, have made us more isolated and contributed to poor mental health. There is strong data demonstrating that overall health is correlated with a strong social network and community. Invest in the people who fill you up and surround yourself with them. 

1. Find a documentation system that works for you – Healthcare is messy and records are not integrated well (at least not at this time). Take a little bit of time to make a folder–I’d recommend a web-based one– to organize your medical records. Make a list of your doctors. Get your vaccine record uploaded. Put it all in one place so you don’t have to think twice when you need something. 

Wherever you are in your health journey, we’re here to help you navigate your health goals and prioritize how to get there.