The Most Important Piece

One of the most important steps toward health, longevity, and happiness is not what most people focus on. There are people in all types of health and wellness professions that live their lives teaching about nutrition, disease, exercise, movement, sleep, stress, and more, but this information means nothing without one other piece. There is a key ingredient that must be acknowledged and embraced FIRST so that goals can be achieved and health can be sustained.

The missing piece is purpose. It is the why? It is the reason that you get up in the morning, and the reason behind everything you do in the day. More often than not, when I sit down with a client, they have a vague and impassionate understanding of why they want to change. They say they want to be healthy, lose weight, or lower their cholesterol, but generally have not thought about the deeper meaning of these goals. Without purpose, all the knowledge in the world will not result in change. Change must come from within, and only through reflection can we find the strength to succeed. Health and longevity is not something that is attained with 30 minutes a day of moderate activity (though this doesn’t hurt). It is a product of the life you lead, which includes everything from the food you eat, to the place you work, to the relationships you hold, to the hobbies in which you participate. There must be purpose behind the changes you want to make, otherwise, why go through all that work?

What it comes down to is finding that emotional connection to your goals and then keeping that in front of you at all times. If you want to lose weight, start thinking about all those things in your life that will be better because of it. Write it down. Look at it every day.

Start with the basics: “I will feel better”, “I will be out of pain”, “I will have more energy”. Next, think about what that will allow for: “If I have more energy, I will be able to spend more quality time with my children.” Now we have a reason to fight; now we have a reason to change. If the underlying purpose is connected to your children, spouse, work, or some other area you are passionate about, you will have a reason to make the changes that are needed.

This is by no means an overnight process. We can spend our whole lives looking for purpose, but if we never start thinking about it, we will never find it. And I believe that it is only once we find purpose that we can truly achieve health, longevity and happiness. So start today and write down what you want to achieve and why it is important. Look at it every day and don’t stop working toward your goals until they are achieved!

Tall Tales, Truth and My Twitter Diet - NYTimes.com

Tall Tales, Truth and My Twitter Diet - NYTimes.com

What I like about this article is that it touches on one of the most important steps in achieving any goal. Making it public. The more people that you can tell about your goals, the more likely you will succeed. 

This works for two reasons: first, you are now accountable to everyone you know to do what you said you would do. Second, all of the people you tell will now be on your team and help you to succeed. Just think how hard it is to lose weight if no one knows you are trying. Your coworkers keep offering you doughnuts, your friend keep asking you if want them to pick something up from Taco Bell, and at every family gathering, your Mom keeps telling you to go get seconds!

The more people you can tell, the better. So if you have a goal, tell someone and start moving in the right direction today!

Colin

In Related News: Why You Can't Lose Those Last 10 Pounds

Why You Can't Lose Those Last 10 Pounds on Shine

Great article that highlights the importance of food quality. I have recently been spending much of my time researching nutrition and optimal health, and what I have come to believe is that food quality is all that matters when it comes to health and longevity. This is born out of a paradigm shift from thinking that it's all about calories to the more appropriate view that it is all about how your body reacts to those calories. This means that calories are NOT all created equal. Depending on the quality of our food, issues surrounding digestion, hormonal balance, sleep, inflammation and stress can all either be made worse or better.

As mentioned in the article, part of food quality is knowing when to buy organic. Part of it is finding meats that have been fed food that they naturally eat i.e. grass-fed beef. Part of it is to stop eating food that is packaged/processed! And part of it is finding a way to drink quality water. These are not all the factors involved, but they are a great place to start if this is all new to you. The good news about this is that may of the foods that we have been told are "bad" do not turn out to have the negative effect we once thought. Red meat is a great example of a food item that has a rather nasty reputation, but we are finding that if you just eat red meat from grass-fed sources, it is actually very healthy for you!

If this is all difficult to take in, or flies in the face of your beliefs, I encourage you to do your own research and discover your own truth. Enjoy the article, and happy living!

Colin

In Related News: The Importance of Sleep

As I have talked about before, and will surely talk about again, sleep is one of the most important factors when it comes to all things health related. Getting more (and better quality) sleep can help with weight loss, depression, mood management, immune system functioning, hormonal balance, and can even diminish cravings for sugary foods! Sleep, and recovery in general, is one of the least respected aspects of health even though it could literally be the only difference between perfect health and terminal illness. The following article does a nice job of talking about the importance of sleep, so I hope you enjoy the read, but most importantly, I hope you take to heart the implications are of losing sleep. One of my favorite lectures often says that you should sleep as much as you can without getting fired, and I couldn't agree more! People usually do not even realize they are sleep deprived because they have been deprived for so long. As it says in the article, it could take two nights of 10 hours+ of sleep to help return you to normal, and if you have been deprived for a long time, I think that it could take more! So sleep as much as you can and you will truly see a difference in all aspects of your life.

http://www.newsweek.com/2010/06/18/the-surprising-toll-of-sleep-deprivation.html

Good luck and sweet dreams!

Colin

Treating the Cause

It seems that almost every client I work with comes to me with some sort of medical concern for which they are currently taking medication. It could be for high cholesterol, thyroid dysfunction, high blood pressure, insulin issues, migraines, or any number of other factors. My question is, was medication the last resort or the initial recommendation? 

Unfortunately, more often than not, it is the latter. Why is it that as soon as we tell a doctor that something is wrong, we are given pills to take to take care of the problem? What is missed in this equation is the why. Why is something wrong in the first place? We do not become obese, have high cholesterol, have high blood pressure because we are unlucky…we have them because our lifestyle is unhealthy! These are symptoms, not causes, and 9 times out of 10, the cause of a health problem can be linked to sleep, diet and exercise (in that order of importance).

America is one of the unhealthiest countries in the world in spite of our resources and advances in medical and pharmaceutical technologies. Regardless of the advances we make, if we do not come to terms with what our bodies need to survive, then we will never live up to our full potential. If you want to have energy, give your body the rest it needs (sleep and down time in the day). If you want to be without disease or dysfunction, give your body the nutrients it needs (lots of meat, lots of veggies, and plenty of fat). If you want to be strong and without joint pain, give you body the movement it needs (lift weights, work hard). If your body is not getting what it needs, it will shut down…and no operation, 5 Hour Energy, or medication will keep that from happening.

If you are in need of help, search out someone that is going to look at your body as a whole and prescribe a lifestyle change that will increase longevity, not temporarily change the numbers of some test. The world of health and fitness is taking a turn for the better (I think), and there is more opportunity to find these people than ever before. If you are in need of a doctor, look for someone that really wants to know you and know your body (and someone that knows that diet and lifestyle can solve 90% of the issues most people face). If you need a dietitian, find someone that knows the chemistry behind the foods they are recommending, because calories in/calories out just isn’t going to cut it anymore. If you are looking for a trainer, make sure they are making you lift weight! I cannot tell you how many people I see in the gym (with their “trainer”) holding 2lb dumbbells on a half stability ball doing curls. Your body only responds to working hard, so find someone that can coach you on good technique, help you to move better, and then help you to become stronger.

If nothing else, please start questioning what health professionals tell you. Just because they have letters after their name does not mean they know what they are talking about or have helped people get lasting results. I know it can be hard to figure out what is right or wrong, but there is nothing wrong with doing a little self educating before you talk to the doctor—you might learn something that they missed! So remember, if there is something going on in your body that is not right, look at the pain/illness/dysfunction and ask why? It is the why that will lead you to the cause, and the cause is the only thing that matters.

Thanks for your continued support; sorry for not posting in a while, it has been a crazy couple of months. Good luck and happy healing!

Colin