Hitting the reset button on your lifestyle

By Dr. Paul Anderson, occupational and lifestyle medicine, HealthPartners

It’s no secret that being a firefighter takes a toll on your body and your mind.

Physically, firefighters perform intense work from the time they leave the station until they put away their gear at the end of a shift. All that intensity seems manageable when you are young, but as you age, managing the physical work can be increasingly stressful and create injuries. Mentally, firefighters witness traumatic events and perform tasks that would be very emotionally difficult for anyone to process. Over time, the mental effects of witnessing trauma, death, poverty, domestic strife, and chronic illness can leave a firefighter dealing with depression, anxiety, and chronic post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The typical firefighter career story starts out with health, strength and mental resilience but ends with a list of health and emotional problems waiting for the firefighter at retirement.

But the typical story is changing for the better, and the old story doesn’t have to be your story. Even basic attention to healthy habits like diet, exercise, sleep, and stress management can slow or even reverse the health effects of working as a firefighter. Over the course of your career, attention to your body and mind can bring you to retirement with your health intact and the emotional energy to enjoy your next chapter.

So, where to begin? The American College of Lifestyle Medicine (ACLM) identifies 6 pillars of a healthy lifestyle:
  1. Healthful eating of whole, plant-based food
  2. Increase physical activity
  3. Develop strategies to manage stress
  4. Avoid risky substances
  5. Improve your sleep
  6. Form & maintain relationships

Each of these pillars is important by itself and each one of them has profound effects on the other health areas as well. If you are tired of your old health journey and you are interested in finding a new direction for your health journey as a firefighter, take a moment to look over this diagram from ACLM and read a little about the different pillars of a healthy lifestyle. It’s never too late to start building healthier habits for your mind and body. This spring, we’ll take a deep dive on each of these six ares on the MnFIRE blog to help you improve your health.

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We can’t believe it is that time of year, but this weekend will be our closing weekend. We have had a great summer at Tommy’s Tonka Trolley, and enjoyed beautiful weather. This Saturday, as we do every year, we will be providing free ice cream along with our good friends at Sebastian Joe’s and donating the profits to a charity. This year we have chosen to donate our money to the Minnesota Fire Initiative. The vast majority of firefighters in Minnesota are volunteer. They have significantly higher risk for mental health, illness, Cancer, and cardiovascular disease. Minnesota Fire Initiative helps firefighters and their families. We are happy and excited to welcome the Excelsior Fire Department and their truck to come down and make the day festive. We are very hopeful to raise some good funds for Minnesota Fire Initiative. The law firm of Schmidt and Salita will also be matching your donations. So come down and enjoy some great Sebastian Joe’s ice cream while it lasts and all of our other treats. We just asked that you make a worthy donation to this wonderful organization . We are open at 11 AM. We expect, weather, permitting, to be open until 5 PM (or until we run out) The Excelsior Fire truck will be down near the trolley for all to come see. The weather is supposed to be beautiful and we are excited. Please come down and join us. Again we want to thank Sebastian Joe’s for helping us donate. @tommystonkatrolley @mnfireinitiative @sebastianjoes @schmidtsalitalawteam ... See MoreSee Less

Thanks to everyone who stopped by our table at the Minnesota State Fire Department Association Annual Conference last week! We enjoyed chatting about how we can continue to help firefighters across the state get the physical and mental health resources they need. ... See MoreSee Less

Thanks to everyone who stopped by our table at the Minnesota State Fire Department Association Annual Conference last week! We enjoyed chatting about how we can continue to help firefighters across the state get the physical and mental health resources they need.
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