Healthy Living Tips for Men
May 26, 2011
Photo Credit: befiitter
A lot of the wellness tips out there tend to be focused on women, but guys need to take care of themselves, too! Here are a few tips specifically for men to stay healthy:
Exercise. Although strength training is good, men must do cardiovascular exercise 5 times a week for 30 minutes to reduce their heart disease risk by 50%. As arteries get clogged, the blood supply to vital organs is diminished, which is also why we have an epidemic of erectile dysfunction. More exercise for a life of vitality!
Have a healthy outlet for stress. Get connected spiritually and/or with a good friend so you can unload your mental stress.
Help your prostate. There are easy ways to incorporate good foods for your prostate; increase asparagus, oysters and lots of fresh fruits and vegetables. Remember to get your annual prostate exam, too!
Take care of your structure. Your spine will support you as you age if you take good care of it; it can be the source of a lot of pain if you don’t. Get some preventative spinal care at your lifestyle chiropractor!
Guys (or ladies that know guys well) – what are additional ways you keep yourself healthy?
Wellness Tips: Staying Safe at the Gym
May 19, 2011
Photo Credit: lu_lu
A big part of wellness is staying active. Although it’s great to get outdoors for a run or bike ride, sometimes the weather just doesn’t make it possible. If you head into the gym, are you staying safe?
Here are a few ways to make sure you’re taking care of yourself as you take care of your body:
- Drink a lot of water. Proper hydration is key for injury prevention.
- Take the time to stretch after your workout. Stretching inhibits muscle activity and you want your muscles fully activated during weight training.
- Meet with a trainer at least every 6 weeks to make sure your form is correct, to increase your intensity and to mix it up.
- When using the treadmill, do not hold onto the handles as it can actually cause more injury. Instead, walk with your hands at your side in a regular motion.
- Make gradual increases to your workout routine. Increase the time and work on your form before increasing your speed and exertion level.
- Take the time to warm-up and cool-down. Start out at an easy pace and light exertion for 3 to 5 minutes before increasing your exertion to your target level. Take another couple of minutes to cool down at a lower exertion level at the close of your workout.
- Make sure you wear shoes with good traction to prevent against slipping.
What additional ways to do you make sure you keep yourself safe at the gym?
Children’s Health and Longevity Threatened by Lifestyle Choices
May 18, 2011
Photo Credit: Tela Chhe
According to the British Medical Journal, The Lancet, 50% of the babies born since the year 2000 are expected to live over the age of 100. Additional research is concerned that our current generation of children may be the first generation in recent history to see their life expectancy go down.
How can this be? Doesn’t it seem like a contradiction to see so many children living longer than ever while their overall life expectancy goes down? The answer is sad yet simple in that the other 50% of children are expected to die younger and sicker than ever, not because of their genetics, but because of their unhealthy lifestyle choices.
It is not rocket science to understand the connection between lifestyle choices, quality of life and longevity. A healthy life requires a lifestyle that includes healthy food, exercise, strong social circles and a healthy spine and nervous system, the 100 Year Lifestyle, as well as avoiding destructive habits such as smoking and excessive stress. On the other hand, a 50 to 60 year lifestyle includes unhealthy eating with excessive sugar, calories, sitting, lack of exercise and an unhealthy spine and nervous system. Smoking is guaranteed to cut years off of your life as are other unhealthy habits such as excessive sugar, alcohol and drug intake.
In what type of lifestyle are you raising your children? Is the environment in your home contributing to a 60 year lifestyle or a 100 year lifestyle? You will often hear people say as they get older, after they are diagnosed with diseases like heart disease, cancer and diabetes, that these diseases run in my family. This implies that they have a genetic disposition to these diseases. While there is a genetic component to these conditions, it is actually a very small component. These diseases are mostly lifestyle diseases. Based on the lifestyle in which your children are being raised, they are either inheriting the lifestyle habits that contribute to a 60 year lifestyle or they are inheriting the lifestyle habits that contributes to a healthy, active, positive, productive 100 years and beyond.
Our office is filled with individuals and families who are committed to maximizing the expression of their genes by living their ideal 100 Year Lifestyle. By providing a positive environment filled with healthy lifestyle education and chiropractic care, we are helping our community raise healthy drug-free families who make the choice to stay active and healthy over the course of their entire lifetime.
If you have not been healthy and you are ready for a change, it is not too late for you. Our office provides care to many people who have lived from crisis to crisis and become tired of the suffering and the roller coaster ride. The good news is that, because of the amazing ability of your body to adapt and heal, it is never too late to change.
Begin shopping in stores that sell organic food. Fill up your shopping cart with fresh fruits and vegetables, lean meats and whole grains. Avoid high fat foods like cookies, cakes, and cereals that are high in sugar as well as white flour and white rice. Turn off the TV and the video games for awhile and get outside with your family for walks and bike rides and come in together for your chiropractic appointments.
In 1903 Thomas Edison said, “The doctor of the future will give no medicine but will interest his patients in the care of the human frame, in diet, and in the cause and prevention of disease.” It is 2011 and the future is now. You do your part by making good lifestyle choices and we will do our part keeping the master control system of your body, your nervous system, functioning at its full potential so you can enjoy good health now, for 100 years and beyond.
Reprinted with permission from The Family Practice.
Health and Healing From the Inside Out – Find Your Inner Strength
May 16, 2011
Photo Credit: velvettangerine
Where does health come from? This is a question that many people do not ask until they lose the vital commodity of health. However, if you understand where health and healing come from, you will be able to heal quickly from pain, sickness and dis-ease while keeping your body and mind functioning at optimum levels throughout your lifetime. The simple answer to this question is that health and healing come from within.
From the moment you were conceived, your body developed from a single cell into trillions of cells without anyone from the outside telling you what to do. Your nervous system was the first organ system to develop in the womb which then grew branches to form your heart, lungs, digestive system and every other organ of your body. Driven by an Innate Intelligence and communicating over your nervous system, all of your body parts developed in the right place with the inner knowledge of how to function and keep you healthy.
This same Innate Intelligence that drove your development also has the wisdom to help your body heal. It coordinates your immune system, digests your food, extracts and delivers nutrients and oxygen, pumps your blood and eliminates waste products.
Trillions of functions take place in your body every day without your conscious knowledge, or your doctor’s knowledge for that matter. As long as there is no interference to the expression of this intelligence within you, you will remain healthy with a high healing capability from the inside out.
Even healthy thoughts promote healing from the inside out. Research shows that optimists perform better in school and are more likely to heal from acute and chronic conditions than their pessimistic counterparts. Since your thoughts are completely under your control, choose healthy thoughts to maximize your inner strength and healing.
Your nervous system, which includes your brain, spinal cord and all of the nerves that branch to every cell and tissue of your body, provides the communication pathway that orchestrates inner health and healing. Your body receives messages from the environment and sends them up to your brain which responds and sends signals back to your body. When this communication pathway is clear, and the messages can get through accurately and without interference, your Innate Intelligence will adapt to the circumstances around you and keep you healthy and functioning well from the inside out.
Unfortunately, interferences over this nervous system pathway, known as subluxations, can cloud the messages which in turn can lead to internal dis-ease. Dis-ease, in turn, leads to disease.
For example, pressure on the nerves in the neck can cause sinus headaches and allergies. Pressure on the nerves in the stomach can lead to stomach aches and digestive disturbances. Pressure on the nerves to your ovaries and uterus can cause a wide range of female problems from cramping to inconsistent menstrual cycles.
Rather than treating symptoms by taking medication and experiencing the side effects that follow, tens of millions of people are making choices that promote the health and healing from the inside out approach that chiropractic offers. Think about it, if you do not get to the cause of your problem and you only treat the symptoms from the outside, then your destiny becomes drug dependence rather than nurturing your body’s natural health potential.
You will be amazed, when you commit to health and healing from the inside out, how much inner strength you really have. Find out what is interfering with the innate expression of your health through a chiropractic check up and Lifestyle Care. Make an appointment today.
Reprinted with permission from The Family Practice.
Shredded Chicken in 3 Easy Steps
May 12, 2011
Photo Credit: janineomg
A big part of taking care of yourself is making sure you put good food into your body. As a small business owner, mother and wife, I know time can be limited for making a healthy meal that tastes good. With that in mind, here’s an extremely simple recipe for shredded chicken in three easy steps:
- Place 4 chicken breasts in a crock-pot and cover with salsa
- Cook on low for 8 hours
- Shred the chicken with a fork (it will break apart very easily)
The shredded chicken can be enjoyed on tacos, in burritos, over rice and more. Feel free to get creative and try it with other types of sauce too – just make sure you avoid a lot of extra sweeteners and processed foods!
20 Years Younger? Really?
May 10, 2011
6 Healthy Living Tips for Busy Moms
May 5, 2011
Photo Credit: |vvaldzen|
It’s no secret that moms are busy people. As a mother and small business owner, I know it can be difficult to stay healthy and sane with everything that needs to be done.
Sometimes moms think sacrificing their own time and health for their family is just what needs to be done, when really their families would work much better with a healthier, happier mom. Plus they’ll be around longer to enjoy their family!
With that in mind, and with Mother’s Day just around the corner, here are 6 tips from one busy mom to another:
- Fit in 10 minutes of exercise where you can. Park far from the store and walk quickly. If you watch TV at night, there are many strengthening exercises you can do that are really easy, including writing the alphabet with your big toe. Do it with both feet and strengthen your ankles and calves.
- Schedule in your exercise as an appointment that cannot be rescheduled. Workout for something such as your first race or your first triathlon. Find something that interests you a few months away and start to train for it! It commits you, and makes exercising have a GOAL. You never know, you might just find a new joy!
- Get over needing to look put together to go anywhere. If you get to work out in the morning, then have errands to run and can’t fit in a shower until later…oh well! Decide not to let your hair and makeup get in the way of what you need to do for yourself.
- Have raw, healthy snacks accessible at all times. I always have nuts, dried fruit and lots of water with me. That way I’m not tempted to stop at a coffee shop – or worse – when I get peckish.
- Prepare big batches of food! If you don’t like eating the same thing for a few days, freeze the portions needed for your family in your freezer during the week and use them the following week.
- Use time management that works for you. Schedule your week so you can stay organized. Start by making a list of all the recurring tasks that happen each week like laundry, cooking, shopping, errands, exercise and bill-paying. Those can be on set times and days, then add in the one-time tasks or events for the week. Don’t overbook and don’t take out your self -care time! Look at your week on Sundays, make sure you have everything scheduled that you need to get done-including YOUR time for exercise and self-care.
Don’t You Want To Join Us?
May 3, 2011
Thank You Silicon Valley
