Alright everybody, glad you can make it to our blog. Here are some basic rules of thumb to help stir you in the right direction. This can seem like typical common sense, and it really is. But sometimes we need to be reminded of these common sense principles to help keep us on our course. So lets begin..
Move-As a human being,we are meant to move. I know….duh! But are we really moving enough? Some people may think that taking the stairs once a week instead of the elevator or taking out the trash more than their roommates is enough. Now a little is better than nothing but this small time movement is not enough. We need to move more! Exercise can help provide more movement in your life. Functional movement dates back to our pre-historic ancestors. These nomadic people moved in search for abundant food sources, if they didn’t move the tribe would die. Of course we do not need to walk from state to state or kill bears with our bare hands. We just need to realize that in today’s time, our technology has made a dramatic impact on our movement. Everything is designed to make you execute any task at the convenience of your chair. This type of sedentary life style has caused an increase injuries and other health related issues like osteoporosis, obesity, muscle pains, and heart disease, just to name a few. Our bodies are biological marvels that are designed to move. The whole premise of ” If you don’t use it, you lose it” is so true in this case. Movement helps our bodies stay functional by working muscles, moving blood, and stimulating the nervous system. Movement challenges all our other body systems! So start small and work up to it. You do not have to be in the gym for hours on end. Start doing 15 minutes of anything active, whether it be walking, bicep curls, abdominal crunch, or garden work. Than build on that every week till you get a appropriate exercise time that works for you. Remember to keep it moving! Your body would thank you.
Eat-Lets face it, eating is a ritual for all of us. It is hard for us to treat food as a medicine. Especially when we can crave food items that contain high levels of fat, sugar,and salt. We know that eating unhealthy can eventually come at a cost. In time, everything adds up. When dealing with proper nutrition, we need to realize that our eating patterns are 70% of our journey towards health. We can not achieve our health goals without providing our bodies with the proper macro nutrients, micro nutrients, minerals, and trace minerals. The processed foods today contain many chemicals that our bodies can’t identify. These chemicals are not just easily removed from the body. To protect itself from these foreign invaders, the body will store them in our fat cells to help contain them. These can stay there for many years if not the rest of your life! Putting organic sourced foods in your body is like supplying your car with its proper fluids to keep it running efficiently. By feeding your body proper nutrition, you can give your body fuel it needs for all of your bodies systems to operate efficiently. This is preventive medicine at its best! Start by making baby steps towards eating. Choose either breakfast, lunch or dinner and make one of those healthy. after you feel you have got the hang of that, add another eating time to it. Pretty soon every meal would turn healthy. Make rewards for yourself. If you do good throughout the week, make a “cheat” day for yourself. Set small goals you know you can achieve so you can build momentum and motivation. Don’t do fade diets, just eat healthy. Keeping it simple can help keep you on course till you are ready to get more detailed about eating. Eating right just doesn’t effect your body but also helps with mental clarity. You will think clearer and respond quicker. Nothing wrong with that!
Rest- Sounds simple? But is it simple when your day is filled with the stresses of work, family, daily errands, balancing friendships, balancing yourself, etc… It happens to us all..our heads hit the pillow only for our minds to hit the track. Running through thoughts and things to do like if your life depended on it. It can be very frustrating. Our bodies and minds need at least 8 hours of sleep to help repair and reset itself. 4 for the body and 4 for the mind. If any one of these hours are disrupted, than the body and mind hasn’t fully rested itself. A poor nights sleep can set us up for a bad day at work or impair our ability to have a productive day. We all have been there before. So how do we get a good nights sleep. Some cases are very extreme and require a doctors attention but for most of us, we can practice certain habits that can help us wind down. Make sure you do not eat too late, the sugar in the food can cause you to get a sugar rush as it is digested, 3-4 hours before you go to bed is most recommended. Read a book or do a puzzle, this type of brain activity can help tire the mind before bedtime. Don’t do late night work, checking emails, crunching numbers, etc, this will only cause your mind to race! Get your morning ritual set up the night before so you do not have to worry about it in the morning, or when your head hits the pillow. Adjust your lighting, bright lights can over stimulate your brain via the optic nerve. Mediation, stretching , or yoga can help calm down the body and mind through the breathing and light blood flow. Also have ” me time”. Hash out anything that can be on the mind(negative or postive) so it doesn’t become bottled up, these thoughts will spill out when you try to sleep. Maybe taking a walk or finding a comfortable place can be the place to think about your worries or frustrations. Hope some of these can help, if not maybe holistic supplementation can work like a melatonin supplement.(our body produces this from our pineal gland- responsible for sleep). Good luck and sweet dreams!
I hope some of these tips can help you, they have helped me and I am honored to share them with you. Good luck in your pursuit towards health! It will be a tough journey but you are a tough person, believe in yourself! Never doubt what you can achieve! Eat well be well
Gary Snyder