In health care today, we spend most of the dollars - in terms of treating disease - in the last two years of a person's life.

Much in the way Olympic athletes optimize their game by paying an enormous - borderline maniacal - amount of attention to things like diet, exercise, sleep, and of course the essential R&R, we all would do well to pay more attention to those key aspects of our lives that comprise our overall health equation.

We all need to figure out what's right for us because nothing about life is one size fits all. Even for an Olympian, that's for sure. And such discovery starts with you paying attention - to yourself.

Keep a strict, predictable schedule 365 days a year that has you eating, sleeping, and exercising at about the same times day in and day out.

When's the last time you really thought about what you eat, how much you move throughout the day, whether or not you feel fantastic when you get up in the morning, and which shoes keep your feet comfortable?

Of all the things a body loves, predictability is one of them.

If your DNA profile puts you at a higher risk of developing obesity, that doesn't mean it's your fate. You can take control of the environmental side of the equation and reduce your overall lifetime risk by a lot.

Cancer is the ultimate nemesis that hangs in the balance for one in three women and one in two men in their lifetime.

We have forgotten that curing cancer starts with preventing cancer in the first place.

We are finally entering an exciting time in medicine where we have the technology to custom-tailor treatment and preventive protocols just as we'd custom-tailor a suit or designer gown to one's individual body. But it all begins with you. You have to know yourself in a manner that you've probably never done before.

I believe we can prevent or delay most disease until the 9th or 10th decade. The goal is to prevent anything that can affect your quality of life prior to those years! By the time many of us get to the 9th or 10th decade, who knows where the new medical and science will take us? I am an optimist!