Mistake #1: Our beliefs about health and treatment of the body is flawed.
You don’t “catch” disease like you would a cold, or the flu. Degenerative diseases such as cancer, heart disease, diabetes, or dementia don’t materialize out of thin air, they are developed over time and dependent on various lifestyle choices and personal environment conditions. The only way to get to the root of disease is to understand how your personal environment (diet, stressors, exercise, trauma and toxins in food, air and water) interacts with your genes. Your genes are fixed. You can’t change them. However, you can change which genes get turned on or off, and how that affects your physiology, by changing those environmental inputs. Hence, you can change.” – Dr. Mark Hyman
WHAT YOU CAN DO:
1) How do you view health, or the idea of sickness? What does optimal treatment look like for you?
2) Are you ready to make some changes that require intense reflection and appreciation of what your body is telling you?
3) Are you really eating food to fuel your health? Do you eat whole foods? Are you following a disease-promoting diet that makes you unable to repair, regulate and heal?
4) What are the stressors in your life? Think about family, financial pressures, work, and community.
5) Have you been exposed to chemical trauma: i.e. toxins in the air, water or in food and has that disturbed the balance of your health?
6) Have you experienced physical trauma?
7) Are you seeing a specialist for each and every symptom you have, without anyone addressing your body as a whole functioning system?
8) Do you blame others or yourself for your physical ailments? If so, why?
Mistake #2: Our own thoughts and beliefs are infinitely powerful and can impact our health negatively and positively.
What we believe about our bodies is crucial to how we manage our health. What causes, or worsens 95% of all illnesses? Stress. What is more important than cholesterol, blood sugar and ANY other risk factor in determining whether you will live a long and healthy life? It is your attitudes, the quality and quantity of your relationships, and spiritual beliefs. After researching this topic thoroughly, the two biggest factors that can increase the length of your life are: 1) Eating breakfast 2) Having psychological resiliency.
WHAT YOU CAN DO:
1) Become aware of your internal dialogue and how you speak to yourself. Do you beat yourself up, or celebrate your successes? Read Learned Optimism by Martin Seligman, Ph.D.
2) Stop complaining. It does not help. Check out www.complaintfreeworld.org
3) Learn how to ACTIVELY relax. DO something. Try learning new skills such as meditation, deep breathing, yoga, biofeedback, progressive muscle relaxation, take a hot bath, get a massage, get out in nature, etc…
4) Exercise. It has been proven better than, or equal to Prozac for treating depression.
5) Improve your diet. Cut out excess caffeine, alcohol, refined sugars, and eat regularly to avoid the short-term stress of starvation on your body.
6) Take a multivitamin and nutrients to help balance the stress response – be sure to get some diagnostics before you start taking every vitamin under the sun. Hair analysis and Spectracell tests are a great way to do this.
7) Examine your beliefs, attitudes and responses to everyday situations and interactions. What is working, what doesn’t. Reframe your response. It’s not that big of a deal. I promise.
8) Get support from friends and family. Surround yourself with loved ones and people who will be honest with you.
Mistake #3: Making wishes, goals, dreams, but fail to act.
In order for you to take action on your health you need that significant moment where you make a conscious decision to change. Research proves better outcomes when we consistently track our progress. Stop wishing and start doing.
WHAT YOU CAN DO:
1) Make it a game – leverage public accountability, measurement equals motivation.
2) Make it competitive – potential loss is a greater motivator than a potential reward based on research from the Center for Experimental Social Science at NYU.
3) Take micro actions – Make small and temporary goals so you won’t feel so overwhelmed.
4) Be the best you, you can be – Ask friends and family for feedback.
Mistake #4: You don’t get all your nutrients from a “balanced diet.” Our food has changed as well as the means of producing food. – Dr. Ron Grabowski, D.C., N.D.
WHAT YOU CAN DO:
1) Avoid the Standard American Diet – fast food, burgers, pizza, chicken nuggets, processed foods, etc…
2) Opt for a plant based diet (approx. 80% of your food) – Eat more nutrient dense foods = fruits and vegetables, legumes, and whole grains.
3) Get your Omega 3’s and Omega 6’s – these are healthy fats and fish oils found in salmon, bluefin tuna, sardines, shellfish, and herring. Vegetarians can gain the benefits of DHA from seaweed- and algae-based foods, but the omega-3 fatty acids are more concentrated in fish.
4) Avoid trans fats – they lead to high blood cholesterol, heart disease, cancer, diabetes, immune dysfunction, obesity, and reproductive problems. Trans fats are most common in baked goods and for cooking in most restaurants and fast-food chains. When shopping, avoid any product that lists “partially hydrogenated vegetable oil.”
5) Avoid refined carbs. Check the label carefully before you buy and make sure the words “whole” or “whole grain” appear before the name of the grain. Many breads that are labeled “12-grain,” “stone-ground,” or “hearty wheat” actually contain refined-grain flour.
6) Moderation – eat broth soup, or lightly dressed salad before you eat to help you eat a balanced portion. Oftentimes we eat more than we need to.
Mistake #5 We have insufficient ways to cope with stress.
The consequences of allowing stress to rule our life are not only emotional. Physical structures throughout the human body take a beating. Tiny spines on the dendrites of brain nerve cells are worn away by the effects of stress hormones. Stress also affects the immune response and is associated with increased fat around the organs, which is a serious health risk. A zone at the tail-end of each chromosome, called a telomere, unravels as we age. In recent years, scientists have found that when we are under stress, telomeres come apart more quickly.
WHAT YOU CAN DO:
1) It pays to be optimistic – optimistic people do better in all areas of life than their pessimistic counterparts. It’s not about false hope, denial, affirmations, or plain positive thinking, optimism is much more powerful. It contains the belief that no matter what happens, things will get better and circumstances will improve.
2) Exercise – interval training increases the efficiency and function of the mitochondria, and strength training increases the amount of muscle and number of mitochondria. Try my friend Courtney’s amazing exercise programs to help you get started https://mommastrong.com.
3) Eat whole real, colorful plant food and less processed foods.
4) Supplements such as acetyl-L-carnitine, alpha lipoic acid, coenzyme Q10, n-acetyl-cysteine, NADH, D-ribose, resveratrol, magnesium aspartate can be helpful.
Mistake #7: Ignoring community and opportunities to build relationships, spiritual development
Who you surround yourself with matters. If you have an obese friend you are 47% more likely to be obese yourself. If you have a happy friend, you are 15% more likely to be happy, if that happy friend has a happy friend then your chance of happiness goes up 10%, and if that friend has a happy friend, your chances of happiness goes up 7%. What??? Crazy right? We are ultimately connected in this spiritual universe. Our loved ones, tribe, surround yourself with the right people, makes a huge difference.
Social interaction and support is vitally important to your well-being. Social wellness means cultivating meaningful relationships. Your ability to handle the stress of life is significantly enhanced when you have social support, whether from formal organizations (like churches or community organizations), or from informal sources, like family and friends.
Spiritual wellness means finding a sense of purpose and meaning in your life. Some people may find meaning in their religious beliefs, while others may find it in more secular pursuits-in their profession, or in charitable work. Ultimately, wellness means achieving a state of harmony in your life, a balance between your own needs and the needs of others, between your outer life and your inner life.
Mistake #8: We don’t know how to sleep!
Researchers have found that during the dreaming phase of sleep, your brain saves procedural memories—how to play a game, or the moves to your favorite dance. There is also evidence that during the deepest phase of sleep, your long-term memories are being processed and stored in your brain. The most dramatic evidence of sleep’s importance to memory is found in people with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Part of their brain can actually shrink away. OSA sufferers are sleep-deprived because a structural defect temporarily blocks their breathing, causing them to wake frequently and gasp for air throughout the night. In addition to memory impairment, those who sleep too little are more likely to be overweight, irritable, less alert or depressed.
So, how much sleep is enough? The National Sleep Foundation recommends that adults get 7 to 9 hours of sleep per night, although individuals have different needs within that range. The most serious health effects from sleep loss occur in those regularly getting less than 5.5 hours a night.
WHAT YOU CAN DO:
1) No alcohol and caffeine too close to bedtime.
2) Keep a regular sleep schedule, even on the weekends.
3) Ease into sleep with soothing, relaxing activities for an hour or so before bedtime, and sleep in a room that is dark, quiet, cool and comfortable.
4) Avoid screens before bed.
Mistake #9: We don’t move enough.
This is going to be somewhat contradictory information because the healthiest, longest living groups of people don’t necessarily “exercise as we think of on the treadmill.” Instead, they move naturally throughout their lives and do not adopt the stationary lifestyle that most Americans succumb to.
Adventists are known to live the longest in the US and one of the key aspects of their culture are long nature walks each week.
To build strength or lose fat, it doesn’t take a lot of time. It’s a myth. Small changes can net large results.
Exercise Facts:
- Raises level of endorphins for a feeling of well being and reduces stress
- Combats chronic disease and disorders like hypertension
- Accelerates your metabolism and helps control weight
- Improves heart and lung functioning, thereby increasing endurance and improving the efficiency of circulation throughout your body
- Improves sleep
- Gives you more energy
- Improves sex
- Decreases levels of LDL cholesterol and increases levels of HDL cholesterol
- Lowers risk of heart attack and stroke
- Increases flexibility and range of motion
- So move your body every day! Start 5-10 mins/day and build from there.
