You're reading this column. You're interested in fitness and health. You try to eat the right things. You get to the gym as much as your jam-packed schedule allows. Give yourself a few seconds to think about what wellness means to you.

To define wellness, you need to define health. Most people believe they are healthy when they feel good. If you're stuffed up, coughing and not in pain, you're healthy.

Assuming the absence of disease equates to health is like believing every couple that isn't broken up or divorced is in a perfect relationship. It's simply not the case, there can be issues happening behind the scenes. In two thirds of people with heart problems, their first symptom is a heart attack. And two thirds of the people who have that heart attack end up dead. So to speak plainly, for the majority of people, the first symptom of heart trouble is death.

Believing that if you have no symptoms, you don't have to worry about disease is dangerous. "Health is a state of optimum physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity," according to Dorland's Medical Dictionary

We have to get out of the disease state before we can enjoy true health. The Father of Modern Medicine, Hippocrates said, “Look well to the spine as the cause of disease.”

What does that even mean?

It means that all disease has underlying causes. Your nervous system is the master system in your body, and it controls everything, especially healing processes. The spine is important because of its extremely close relationship to your brain stem, spinal cord, and nerves. Misalignments of the spine cause damage to the nervous system and thus cause damage to organs and your health. Chiropractic care, building core strength and protecting your spine are a first step toward guaranteeing a healthy future.

Too many fitness programs focus solely on your appearance and don't focus on health. It's my job when someone first comes to my gym to shift their thinking from, "I want to look good in a bathing suit" to "I want my body to function in a state of wellness."

Next time you're in the gym, remember that what you're doing isn't just to make yourself look better, but to help you live a long and healthy life.

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