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Simply Your Healthiest Holiday Season Ever!

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DFHappy Holidays everyone,

This is the best time of the year, don’t you think?

The leaves are changing. There is a cool bite in the air. It is a time for families and friends to come together and celebrate the harvest, thanksgiving and the beginning of a new year.

It is also a time when we have the tendency to ignore how our bodies work and what can happen when we consume treats, processed foods, and alcohol. We stop giving our bodies the simple factors that allow it to heal.

As wonderful as it can be, the extra activities of the holiday season can add increased stress to our lives and over-burden our digestive and immune systems. We put off exercising, we eat poorly, and we don’t get enough sleep. We don’t allow time to sit and be still, or to reconnect with those activities that bring happiness into our lives.

Remember, health and wellness is a lifestyle. It is not something you can buy in a bottle or create at the gym a few times a week. How we chose to live our lives will create the health, fitness, and wellness we desire.

Making the most of this holiday season is a gentle reminder of how amazing you are.

Give yourself a moment to feel how you would like your holiday season to be. Feel it filled with loving moments with friends and family. Make those moments about sharing your thanks for having them in your life, not about the deserts and alcohol. Treat yourself with time to eat well, and prepare wholesome meals for your family. And again, feel how fortunate you are for all that you have.

Create some activities special to fall and winter – ones that get you outside and close to nature. Autumn is a wonderful season for hiking, riding horses, playing football, roaming pumpkin patches, bike riding, photography, raking leaves, canoeing, or whatever you enjoy.

Winter is even better with all its activities. Give yourself permission to get out there and be a kid. Make a snowman, take a brisk walk, go sledding, skiing, or snow mobiling. You can still hike, ride horses, and bike ride.

Winter doesn’t mean you are supposed to lock yourself up inside, sitting in front of the T.V. waiting for spring.

Our bodies love to move and be active. Give yourself this gift, and you will find that the ten pounds most of us put on over the holidays isn’t on your hips or around your stomach. Do you know what that means? You are already ten pounds ahead of the game, and you will move into the New Year with a healthier, happier, spirit, mind, and body.

Here are a few simple steps to create for your holiday season.

Take a moment to actually visualize how you will feel the day after New Years: happy, healthy, and proud that you did so well through the holiday season. Really live in it.

Create a small list of five key thoughts you will focus on each day such as:

  • eat well  – lots of vegetables, clean proteins, and little bits of fat.
  • get sound sleep – this is when your body repairs and rebuilds
  • drink lots of water – hydration is so important to your health.
  • breathe – take time to be still and quiet your mind.
  • get outside and move – start to really enjoy your outside environment.

Here are a few of my best ways not to fall prey to the abundance of sweets and such.

I always make sure to eat or juice before going to a holiday party, even if they are serving food. This way I am not inclined to crave sweets. Remember:  sweets and junk food are not the reason for getting together. This is a time for celebrating our family and loved ones. You can easily do that without ice cream, pies, alcohol, and pizza.

I always prepare myself ahead of time by visualizing myself having a wonderful time without diving into the cheese dip, and the rest.

I make sure to drink water in a wine glass with lemon, so it has the same feel of participating with the group, and folks are less likely to tease me into drinking.

Most of the time people want you to drink because they are, and they feel uncomfortable if you are not.

I make sure never to take food home with me.

I keep my kitchen filled with wholesome foods so there are no temptations.

Believe it or not, this is not challenging at all. The key is to remain focused on your desire to feel and be healthy and happy. Every time you do it right, it gets even easier. After a week or so you won’t even think about it.

You already have the ability to do so.

I would like to leave you with one last thought.

Only you can take responsibility for your life and everything about it.

Most folks hear the word “Responsibility” and think, ‘Oh great, one more thing I have to do.’ We already have responsibilities to our partners, our kids, our work, and our groups.

In actuality, responsibility is a gift.  Look at the word “Responsibility,” and let’s break it apart into two words. Response–Ability or having the ability to respond.

It is my feeling that having the ability to respond means that you have been blessed with the knowledge, skills, and abilities to take care of, solve, resolve, teach, share, and express who you are and what is important to you in each and every moment of your life.

Having the ability to respond and how you respond determines your life.

Use your gift of  “Response-Ability by expressing the best choices for your health, happiness, wealth, and wellness.

Have a holiday season full of happiness, health, and well being!

I wish for all of you Vibrant Health!

One Size Does Not Fit All

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Fotolia_49656615_Subscription_XXLWe always hear “Everyone is different,” but when it comes to exercise and the latest diet, most folks don’t question the validity of the program … they jump on the wagon with everyone else, hoping for the fantastic results advertised.

It is important to understand exercise and food are medicine and need to be prescribed based on the client’s genetics, needs, and abilities.

Let us look at food and how the body can respond (a good effect) or react (a poor effect.)

This is a basic understanding so that you can begin to grasp how your body works.

Some of us are considered Fast metabolizers (protein types) while others are Slow metabolizers (carbohydrate types [don’t get excited]), and then there are hybrids called Mixed types (a combination of protein /carbohydrate).

Here’s a simple breakdown of how each one works:

Protein Types 

Protein types are able to breakdown carbohydrates at a faster rate, which then allows the sugars (glucose) into the blood steam at an elevated rate. Normal levels range from a fasting level of 70–100 decimeters to 135–140 decimeters after a meal. When levels go above this, you begin to feel the negative affects.

 As a protein type you do best on vegetables as your carbohydrate source, and higher purine proteins (meat, fish, fowl, eggs). Protein sources such as salmon, red meats, dark meat poultry, and organ meats have a higher fat and/or purine content.

Carbohydrate Type

A carbohydrate type is a slow oxidizer and breaks down carbohydrates at a much slower rate. This releases the sugars (glucose) into the blood stream at a tolerable rate so there is an appropriate insulin response.

Carbohydrate types usually do better on lite meat proteins such as chicken breast, white fish meats, egg whites, and more vegetables. Remember when I said “Don’t get excited?” Here’s the catch to being a carb type. Just because, as a carbohydrate type, you can handle carbs better, doesn’t mean you should be eating pasta, breads, grains pastries, and sugars.

Mixed Type

Then there is a Mixed type. These folks vacillate between a Protein type and a Carbohydrate type. They have the most variety in their food choices but also have more of a challenge knowing their responses to the foods they are eating. For instance, if they are working out hard, they may feel the need for more protein. When they are spending more time working at their job using their minds concentrating, they may wish to increase their vegetables (carbs) intake.

These different metabolic types help us understand why some folks do really well on high protein diets such as the Atkins, and others do not. Some folks do great on high carb/low fat diets while others pack on the pounds.

So this is why one size can’t fit all.

Here are a few keys to help you to begin understanding what type you might fall into.

Signs you could be a fast oxidizer:

  • After eating a high carbohydrate meal you feel a cloudy head, tired but wired.
  • After eating a meal with carbs you feel hungry or want to take a nap.
  • Highs and lows in your energy.
  • ADD/ADHD symptoms.
  • Anxiety
  • Headaches.
  • You may possibly have chronic issues such as depression, toxicity, neck/shoulder pain, lower back pain, sleep poorly, adrenal stress, immune system issues, diabetes, constipation or diarrhea.

Signs you could be a carbohydrate type:

  • After eating a high fat/protein meal you feel lethargic, sluggish, too heavy in your gut, crave sweets, or some kind of stimulants such as coffee or tea.
  • You may possibly be dealing with chronic depression, overweight, toxicity, not getting a good response from aerobic exercise, neck/shoulder pain, lower back pain, aging too quickly, adrenal fatigue, ill health, low energy, and bad body odor.

You’ll notice that many of the chronic responses for both of the types are the same. This is because when you are eating incorrectly for your type, your body can react in common ways.

Here is a good way to start once you have figured out your possible type:

  •  A Protein type should consume dark, heavier proteins/fats with vegetables.
  • A Carb type should stick to lighter proteins and more vegetables.
  • As a Mixed type you get to experiment a bit more trying a couple days as a protein type, and then the next couple days as a carb type. You can then take note of the differences in how you feel.

You see, your body will actually tell you what type you are by it’s response (good) or reaction (poor) to the foods you eat.

When you eat a meal and it is right for you, you will actually have more energy than before you ate. You should feel a state of well-being, and should be able to sustain good energy till your next meal 3.5 to 4 hours later. You should have a clear head with good mental focus, and have no cravings for sweets or more food. This means eating the right foods in the right portions. Overeating is not healthy. It takes an incredible amount of energy for your body to breakdown/digest, and assimilate food.

We always want to choose high quality foods that have been minimally processed. This means organic, free range, wild caught, no hormones or antibiotics, no pesticides, herbicides, rodenticides or chemical fertilizers.

Once you begin to feed your body the way it is designed, all manner of health benefits will begin to emerge.

There really is no big secret to eating healthy and enjoying the benefits of properly feeding your body. These benefits include losing excess body fat, which has for the past forty years become a national obsession with little result.

Eating healthy for your individual type is so simple.

Quality foods that are not processed are first and foremost. Secondly, becoming aware of eating what feels best for your body. Lastly, choosing the right portions without overeating. These three simple steps will go a long way to increasing your health and wellness so you feel and perform at your very best.

Start feeling what your body is telling you every time you eat and drink. Your body is amazing. It is giving you feedback every moment of the day. All that is required is to embrace what your body is telling you, and then take note. With just a little bit of attention you will quickly begin to understand how to eat in order to heal yourself and allow your body to thrive only on the foods it truly needs.

If you would like help with this, just drop me a line. I’ll be happy to coach you through it.

How to Start an Exercise Program

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Starting an exercise program begins right from where you presently are, even if that means you begin on the couch.

DFTNThe first step is to dream big.

Visualize how amazing you will feel with a healthy, fit and happy body! What does that look like for you?

Cut out photographs, make a collage, create a dream board… the more the better. The point is to really start living the dream of total fitness in your mind. Then you can move that vision into your body through the actions that evolve from your imagination.

You create your own dream, your why, and your purpose.

Starting an exercise program begins right from where you presently are, even if that means you begin on the couch. You want to make your dream a reality in your mind in order to create health and fitness in your life.

This dream becomes your north star, your road map to your destination.

Now you are ready to create your plan! Ask yourself what is the “who, what, where, when” of your plan.

Who will you work with? A DVD program, a trainer at the gym, an instructor-taught class, or maybe even working with a group of friends?

I highly recommend working with a qualified, skilled coach/trainer. A truly qualified coach possesses all of the knowledge, motivation and resources you will need to achieve your goal to complete fitness. They are not usually the trainers staffed at your local gyms, and so it might take a bit of looking to find the right wellness coach for you.

I recommend seeking out a CHEK Practitioner, in your area. This can be achieved by going online to www.chekinstitute.com, and looking under“find a Practitioner.”

What type of exercise makes you feel good: Pilates, yoga, weights, boot camps, martial arts, Zumba, boxing? You get to pick.

Where are you performing your fitness routine? Will you be working out at home, a gym, or a studio?

When is the best time of day for your workout?

Most importantly, you must remain focused on the big picture. Visualize how amazing you are going to feel with this newly created health and fitness.

Of course, it is important that you consult your doctor before starting any exercise program. But don’t worry. This can actually be fun! A good doctor will recommend a full exam that includes checking your weight, height (which you can then use to determine your BMI – body mass index), blood pressure, heart rate, cholesterol, and fasting glucose levels. Your doctor can then discuss with you the option of slowly weaning you off any possible medications for diabetes, high blood pressure, cholesterol, ect.) It is always a good position to know where you are starting in your health program, so you can reassess how you are progressing along the way.

Start your exercise program at a low level. Don’t overdo it in the beginning because the body needs time to adjust. Your joints need to stabilize, and your muscles need to adapt to new movement patterns. In this way you will progress in a manner that proves safer and faster. This will allow you to progress through your exercise regime in a way that doesn’t cause pain, which could result in injuries that slow your progress.

It might also be helpful to have a support group of friends that are consistent and committed to making similar lifestyle changes. Even if you’re new in town, there is information to be found online that will direct you to a local group in your area.

Here is an important tip: don’t do diets!

Yes, they are everywhere. You cannot escape them on the television, radio or even online. Yes, they will most probably allow you to take the weight off in the beginning, but once you begin to stray or stop these programs, the weight most certainly will return, with a few more bonus pounds added.

The best way to eat is the most simple and effective way. Eat only real food that you prepare yourself. Ingest quality proteins, fruit, vegetables (grown mostly above ground), and quality fats from your proteins. Now this is general, and we have not discussed portion sizes, but you can go to my website and get all this information at www.holistichealth-fitness.com

Becoming aware of what works for you will help you the most in achieving a healthy lifestyle. This includes understanding what food, exercise and healthy routines you are most receptive to. The more aware you become, the easier it is to get results without stumbling around trying everything out there.

In my first article, I spoke of the Six Fundamentals of Health: paradigms, breath, hydration, exercise, nutrition and sleep. Each one of these components is part and parcel to you creating the healthy, happy, vibrant body and life you desire.

Create the plan that works for you. What times in the day work best for you to exercise? How much time do you have? Set a schedule and make a calendar so you can check the days off.

Because of my schedule, exercise needs to be done first thing in the morning. If you have kids, this could also be the best time to exercise. Completing your workout before your family and the resulting demand on your time arise reduces conflict in the morning routine.

For your schedule, exercising might mean taking forty minutes during your lunch break to take a class, or exercising after work before you go home. You decide what works best for you. It may be a combination of the three.

When it comes to food, getting your shopping done all at once helps with time.

When I go shopping, I purchase most of the foods I need all at once. I also take advantage of my local farmers market. This provides me the opportunity to buy all of my vegetables for the week, and sometimes even all of my meats. I usually purchase a whole chicken, a few pieces of red meat, and a big piece of salmon. As soon as I get home I cook the meats. I decide whether to bake or grill a dish, or sometimes I will slow-cook the meat in a crockpot. I also cut about a two-quart Tupperware bowl full of mixed vegetables that will last me about five meals. Once the meats are cooked, they go into the refrigerator in separate Tupperware containers. Each night I prepare the following day’s meals and snacks along with making that night’s dinner.

I have a nice insulated food pack that I carry with me to work. This way I always have my food with me.

When it comes to water consumption throughout the day, it can be just like food. If you don’t have it with you, you won’t drink it. So go get yourself a liter bottle (or larger if you can find one), and make it a container that is fun for you. Choose one in your favorite color, or with a clever design. Do your best to drink water throughout the day. Most everyone should be drinking half their body weight in ounces every day.

Achieving total health really is all in the planning. So give yourself permission to sit down and figure out your plan before you start. Having most of it in place will go a long way in accomplishing your goals, and a lot less stress will be involved.

Go to www.holistichealth-fitness.com and start reading through the blogs. Check out all the websites and articles on the Library media page. You’ll find everything from water to breathing right there!

I am always here to help and support you.

I wish for all of you Vibrant Health!

The Building Blocks of Health & Fitness

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DaveOur bodies are amazing. Do you realize within each of us lays the body’s innate ability to heal itself?

All we have to do is simply nurture our bodies with a few easy steps, and our bodies will do the rest.

I first learned of these 6 Foundational principles for Health at “The CHEK Institute” during holistic lifestyle courses, and thoroughly encourage anyone interested in a deeper understanding to do the same.

“First Things First” as my Dad always said, so let us start at the top.

Paradigms – Did you know that your mind is actually designed to create your results in life?

Most of us walk around thinking we are a slave to circumstance, but in reality once you learn the process, creating what you want in life becomes almost second nature.

We will focus our attentions to health and wellness, but understand this works with every part of your life.

Step 1. Decide what it is you want your health and fitness to feel and look like.

Step 2. Visualize with deep emotional attachment already having this health and fitness

Step 3. Daily Affirmations with joyful emotions of what it feels like to already have this health and wellness.

Step 4. Live as if you already have this health and fitness.

This will set up a vibration in your body that will radiate out to the universe. You are literally telling the universal consciousness or God what it is you want in life. “Ask and you shall receive.” Things, circumstances, people, ideas, will then begin to flow to you.

“God helps those who help themselves.” It is your job to look, listen, feel, and be open to these opportunities. When they present themselves, don’t hesitate, act upon them. Take that step that is being offered to you, or you know you should do! It will lead you to the next step and the next, until you reach your goal. You are being given the help you have asked for, you must take the opportunity being given.

Breath – the Diaphragmatic Breath is so important to the health of the body and mind. Find time each day to sit in a quiet place, and breathe through the nose. Allow the stomach to fill, and the chest to expand and rise. Hold a slight pause at the top, and then exhale through the nose, with a additional pause at the bottom. Throughout this exercise it is important to quiet your thoughts. Follow your breath in and out, and feel the breath move through your body.

This will begin to retrain your brain how to breathe diaphragmatically. The more you practice, the easier breathing becomes. This relaxed breathing allows the body to move into a parasympathetic state, and in doing so inhibits stress and the damage stress has on the body. As you become more comfortable with diaphramatic breathing you can begin to integrate the process into your everyday life.

Water, water, water. You know where I’m going with this already, don’t you? My gosh look at yourself, where would you be without water. Water is critical to every body function down to the cellular level.

The noticable effects of dehydration begin as soon as 2% body weight is lost. I weight 168 lbs so 2% is 3.36 lbs of water. That’s just over a quart, and believe it or not that is not a lot.

The quick and easy fix is to begin your day with at least 16 ounce of water and possibly up to a quart. Then spread it out throughout the day. Eight ounces every hour or so, (that’s easy.) Bring a quart water bottle with you or even two.

Here’s another tip. Drink 8 -16 ounces of water 30 minutes before each meal. This helps in digestion and will satiate your appetite so you won’t over eat.

One of the many benefits of water is detoxification. Your skin will look much healthier when you are not overburdened with toxins and dehydrated. Guys might not care about looking like the Marlboro Man but I bet every woman does!

By the way coffee (a diuretic), alcohol, sugar, (including all those sodas, diet or not), will have a similar aging effect, on the skin and body. I’m just sayin.

Food is medicine. It can promote healing or lead to illness and disease. What you eat is critical to your health. Eat the bad kind of foods, or too much of even the good kind, and you are setting yourself up for health challenges. It’s all about giving the body what it NEEDS, not what you want.

I tell all my clients, when it comes to food “Go back to the Old Time Farm.”

All the food you consume should be free from synthetic hormones, antibiotics, synthetic industrialized fertilizers, herbicides, rodenticides, and fungicides. They should not be GMO (Genetically Modified). Animals and fowl should be free range grass-fed, or wild game. Fish should be wild caught, not farm raised. Stay clear of all preservatives, additives, natural flavors (very deceiving) or artificial flavor. All are foreign to your gut, and your liver (the poor thing has to filter it all as best it can) and will build up over time causing issues, and intolerances. The long term effects of GMO foods are unkown at his time, but science is already seeing noticeable health issues.

Exercise. Come on, get out and move that body. “Move it or lose it” is so true. Exercise comes in all forms, from gentle modalities such as Tia Chi and Chi Gong, to high intensity workouts, and everything in between.

It is important to remember that how you begin and what you chose for exercise depends on your overall health and condition. It is recommend you consult your doctor first before starting any exercise program. Once done, I would suggest seeking out a qualified personal trainer to guide you. Postural correction, stretching and exercise selection along with all its variables must be designed for you and your needs, not what everyone else is doing. Following the crowd can often lead to disapointing results, and injury.

As dad would say, “If you’re going to do it, do it right.”

Sleep. Who doesn’t love to sleep? Why then are so many of us suffering from not getting enough quality sleep? We always suffer for it the next day.

Sleep is critical for our bodies because it is during our sleep that the body repairs and rebuilds. Remember I mentioned that our bodies have the innate ability to heal themselves? Well, much of this healing occurs during our sleep. So if you are not getting quality sleep, you are robbing the body of precious healing time.

For starters getting to bed by 10 pm and waking at 6am will help. In general terms 10pm to 2am (during non REM cycles) the body is repairing and rebuilding tissue growth, muscles and organs. Then from 2am to 6am (during REM cycles) the body shifts over to brain function. So give your body the rest it needs and it will give you the health you deserve. Paul Chek; How to Eat Move and Be Healthy; The Chek Institute, 2003.

Life is about expressing our passions and living to our full potential. Creating real health and fitness in our lives will give us the vehicle to do this.

I wish for all of you Vibrant Health!

Published March 2013

Sources

Paul Chek; The 6 Foundational Principles for Health; The Holistic Lifestyle Coach 1, 2; Paul Chek, 2003.

Bob Proctor; The goal Achiever; Life Success Productions; 2003.

Roshi Philip Kapleau; The three Pillars Of Zen; Anchor Books; 1989.

Dr. F. Batmanghelidj; Your Body’s Many Cries for Water; Global Health Solutions;1995.

Paul Chek; How to Eat Move and Be Healthy; The Chek Institute, 2003

 

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