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April 26th, 2010
Date__________________
- Did I wake up with “attitude of gratitude and ask what am I grateful for”
- Did I do some light stretching after my shower?
- Did I eat a healthy breakfast? (high fiber, low sugar, fresh fruit, good protein)
- Did I take my supplements to complement what I don’t get in my diet? (Good Multi, Fish Oil, Vitamin C, Anti-Oxidants, Co-Q-10)
- Did I Exercise or plan to today? Look at myself naked in the mirror to know why? (20 minutes interval cardio training, 45 minutes yoga or strength training, be mindful of intensity level, push yourself )
- Did I eat healthy snacks (Ultrameal, fresh fruit, raw nuts)
- Did I feed and challenge my brain? Use it or lose it!! (read, crossword puzzle, learn a new skill, teach a new skill, turn off the TV at night, spend time with friends, family, social groups such as reading club, bridge club, community learning center, etc.)
- Did I drink 50-70 oz of water (keep a water bottle with you in the car or at your desk)
- Did I practice (4-7-8) breathing, Inhale for a count of 4, hold for a count of 7 and exhale for a count of 8, repeat 5 times. Complete twice a day.
- Did I avoid High Sugar Carbohydrates after 2pm? (anything with flour, refined sugar or high fructose corn syrup)
- Did I read at least one food label today and learn from it?
- Did I love someone or serve someone or something today?
- Did I get 5-7 servings of vegetables in my diet?
- Did I eat a healthy dinner with my family if possible? (lean protein with veggies, interact and listen to family)
- Did I drink something or do something to sooth my body before sleep (chamomile or green tea, read something light, practice meditation)
- Did I go to bed at a time that will allow me to get 7-9 hours of sleep?
Read this everyday until it become a habit after about 4-6 weeks
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April 16th, 2010
Join the Newtown and Yardley 8WW offices at the Bucks County health & fitness fair this weekend, April 17th & 18th. It’s being health at the Bucks County Expo Center at the Sportplex in Feasterville. Presented by Aria Health there will be over 75 exhibitors, cooking demos, spa treatments, fitness classes, fun activities for children and lots more. Look for our 8WW booth. Goto www.bucksfitfair.com for more info.
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April 4th, 2010
With all the reality TV programs focused on childhood obesity, most recently, Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution, it is at forefront of our minds. The ‘it’ of course is childhood obesity. As if it isn’t bad enough that we Americans are unhealthy, we so kindly pass these habits right on down to our children. Healthcare reform has now passed and the bottom line is – WE CAN’T AFFORD IT. We simply, as a nation, cannot afford to pay for healthcare for all Americans if we don’t put the steps in place to get healthy. And no matter what side of the political fence you are on, unless YOU take responsibility for YOUR health and that of your family, we are all just kidding ourselves. This week at the Acme (pronounced A-ce-me for anyone older than 65 like my mom-n-law), the grown man behind me in line had (and I’m not kidding), Coco Puffs®, Nutrigrain® bars (a funny attempt at something healthy), Pop tarts® (oh please don’t get me started), steak and green beans (Thank God) in his cart. Do we have a problem or do we have a problem!!!
At our wellness center, we focus on the do and not the should. In another words. when a patient says to me, ‘well, I’m trying…. or I should” they might as well say, “I’m not doing it.” There’s ‘doing’ and ‘not doing.’ Exactly can we being doing today to get our children (and frankly ourselves) healthier?
- Remove all hydrogenated oils and high fructose corn syrup from your home. It’s very simply. It you see those two terms in any ingredient label in your pantry, get rid of the food. And never, ever, ever buy it again.
- Involve your children in cooking. When they are young they can gather the ingredients for you. As they get older they can help pick the recipes, prep the ingredients, measure the amounts, etc. My 11 year old can now completely make dinner, especially our crock pot recipes.
- Children do as you do, not as you say. I know you know this, but you don’t apply it.
- Repeat after me, No More Soda…. and again…. No More Soda. Simply a horrible addition to our SAD (Standard American Diet). Water is a perfectly acceptable beverage for the entire family.
- French fries are not a vegetable. They are a high glycemic index, trans fat laden, waist building, red corn syrup covering (i.e. ketchup) attempt of being a vegetable.
- Eat in at least 5 of your 7 evening meals.
- Make a fiber and protein rich breakfast for your kids. My favorite is the McChranowski as I like to call them. A Thomas English Muffin Light®, one egg, one Boca Burger®, one slice low fat cheese, and some salsa). Little fruit on the side, and voila, an amazing high fiber, high protein, healthy carb breakfast for our boys. (and of course their vitamins, one multi, one Omega-3 fish oil, vitamin C, vitamin D, one probiotic).
- Since we cannot yet rely on our children being served a healthy lunch at school, pack your child’s lunch. Thomas English Muffin Light® and Arnolds Sandwich Thins® are a nice alternative to 2 slices of white bread.
- Consume foods that rot. If it doesn’t go bad then it is bad. A Twinkie® lives a very very long life. And apple does not.
- Shut off the electronics. Of course this will hopefully lead to a more active lifestyle, but it also limits marketing exposure. Between the drug ads with the 52,000 side affects, the corn farmer’s lobby telling me that corn syrup is healthy, and Nickelodeon and Disney channels with commercials that are warping our kids’ minds and bodies, I’m not sure weather to laugh or cry
If we can begin to put the above steps in place, we are making a giant step forward for mankind and childkind.
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March 26th, 2010
I’m reading Caroline Myss’ book Invisible Acts of Power. She quotes Marian Wright Edelman, ” Service is the rent we pay to be living. It is the very purpose of life and not something you do in your spare time.” I have always said to our 8 Weeks to Wellness patients that by getting healthy physically, emotionally, spiritually and nutritionally, you are able to serve more. Life is so so so so much more enjoyable when you learn to become less selfish and more self’less’. And believe it or not when you are unhealthy by YOUR OWN choices, you are selfish. Being selfless rather than selfish means that you aren’t thinking less of yourself but rather your are thinking about yourself less often. Have a wonderful Friday and weekend.
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March 14th, 2010
Every issue of Oprah’s Magazine ends with a page called, “what I know for sure.” It got me thinking. If helping you achieve your optimal health potential is our goal, what do I know for sure will help you achieve this. And I continually return to two concepts that I know for sure, without a doubt, with 100% assuredness, and with unwavering certainty. How’s that for being sure!
First I know that I know that I know that your thought life determines the quality of your life. So many people ‘poo-poo’ all this positive thinking mumbo jumbo. But the same people that don’t place value on their thought life happen to be the same people that wake up each and every day to a rather dreary existence. Two things are amazing about your thoughts. First, they are free. Second, they are a choice. Your thoughts don’t choose you. You choose them. Each day when you put your feet on the floor you get to choose how to react and how to think about what life brings to you that day. You get to plant goods seeds at the start of your day. You get to ‘think about and thank about’ what your day may bring. I believe knowing and more importantly, applying, this simple principle can greatly change your life.
The second thing I know for sure is that our purpose during our relatively short time on earth is to serve. What we serve can vary from serving dinner to serving your family to serving your boss to serving on a missionary team to serving a compliment to serving a meal to the homeless to serving a tennis racket. It’s all in the ‘serve.’ And this includes serving yourself too. When we focus outside of what we think, need and feel and place our focus on service to others, our life is immensely better. I’ll give you an example. Joanie C., a patient in our practice over 40 years, once asked an elderly woman if she would like her cart (that she was putting away) while in the parking lot of a grocery store. The elderly woman said thank you and also let Joanie know it was her birthday. Joanie immediately went into her car and got the bouquet of flowers she had just purchased for herself and handed them to this elderly woman and said Happy Birthday. So I ask you, who got more out of this, Joanie or the elderly woman.
Think better thoughts. Serve more. These are two things I know for sure. It’s a simple as that.
Make it a great week.
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Healthy Lifestyle, Meditation |
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March 7th, 2010
Just got back from an amazing trip to Chicago where The Masters Circle held a fantastic seminar for chiropractors, staff and family. I was able to present on a topic called, “Why Wellness Works.” Of course much of my presentation revolved around the Eight Weeks to Wellness Program. 8WW is changing lives one person, one community, one city, one city, and eventually one country at a time. A program that consists of chiropractic care, on-site hard exercise, a healthy eating program, massage therapy and meditation instruction, how can you go wrong? If fact you can only GO RIGHT. So share 8WW with your family and friends. It IS how we will change the face of healthcare in America by taking the focus off of sickness care and disease prevention, and placing it on wellness care and restoring God-given health potential. Make it a great week!!! Spring is right around the corner. Yipeeee.
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February 26th, 2010
We recently attended a great seminar in NYC recently with Dr. Jeffrey Bland who is recognized by Dr. Mehmet Oz as one of the leading scientists in the field of nutrition in the world. He shared a story we’d like to share with you. Dr. Bland said several weeks ago he was presenting to a large audience and the medical doctor he was presenting with was unable to attend because he was on his way to Haiti to provide medical services there. Dr. Bland said as he walked up to the stage his thought was “what on earth am I going to say to these people regarding nutrition while tens of thousands of people have died or were injured in Haiti.” And then he said it was as if a light bulb went off in his head. While the deaths in Haiti are heartbreaking, what is equally tragic is the ten of thousands of lives that are lost EVERY year in the United States due to preventable diseases… diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and cancer. This analogy was indeed eye-opening for us as well. Nothing we aren’t aware of. But it certainly gives us resolve to continue doing what we are doing with our 8 Weeks to Wellness® program.
And as if we don’t have enough preventable deaths related to our lifestyle choices, we learned last week about the deliberate cover-up of deaths caused by Avandia, a top diabetes drug made by GlaxoSmithKline. According to FDA scientists, this drug is linked to 83,000 heart attacks. The company knew about this increased risk — and so did the FDA! Yet both the FDA and GSK conspired to hide this information from the public, says the U.S. Senate committee report.
We need to all take collective responsibility for this. For years now we have put the responsibility of our health into someone else’s hands. Our doctors will get us healthy by prescribing a pill for every stinkin’ symptom we have. Our government will make us healthy by ensuring that our ‘medical care’ is covered by our insurance. Of course we realize that this is all coming to a huge head now as our current healthcare infrastructure is imploding. And while we recognize that there’s a time and place for medicine, it isn’t every time and every place, and it doesn’t take the place of making excellent healthy living choices each and every day. Visit an 8WW center near you and let us help!!!
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February 22nd, 2010
Yes it is a happy Monday. Do you know why?? Because I decided it should be. Yes happiness is in fact a choice. Stop thinking about good health habits. Do them!! Wake up 30 minutes earlier and spend quiet time. Read an inspirational book. Pray. Mediate to a great CD. Exercise. TODAY!!. Plan your meals today. Little bit of protein, little bit of carbs, little bit of fat at every meal. Drink y0ur water. Your goal should be half your body weight in ounces each day. Give thanks. Thank your significant other. Thank your family and friends. Thank your co-workers. Yep, today is a happy day. Because I decided it should be.
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February 19th, 2010
I’ve just reread Good to Great by Jim Collins for the 4th or 5th time. It’s one of my all-time favorites and I highly recommend it. In the book Jim Collins talks about a trait that CEOs of great companies share. He describes the trait as the ‘mirror and the window’. He explains that great CEOs when facing adversity or problems look in the mirror and blame themselves or take personal responsibility. The weaker CEO’s look out the window and blame their problems or adversities on situations or people outside of themselves.
On the other hand, when crediting their success, great CEO’s rarely look in the mirror or take the credit. They look out the window and give the credit to the people around them, as opposed to other CEO’s that take the credit for their companies successes.
We should take a look in the mirror and take responsibility for that which we can control. Likewise, we should look out the window and thank those around us who make our lives beautiful: our children, spouses, friends, wellness coaches, mentors, etc… Build a team of people around yourself that will hold you to a high standard of living life. Steven Covey teaches us in his best selling book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, that responsibility means the ability to respond. When you look in the mirror and accept responsibility for the current health status, rather than looking out the window and blaming others, you will be able to respond by making better healthcare choices. Do you blame your genetics for your health (looking out the window) or do you know you could make better healthcare choices (looking in the mirror). Do you blame your boss for working you too much and therefore you don’t have time to exercise (looking out the window) or do you commit to waking up 30 minutes earlier each day to begin an exercise program (looking in the mirror). Take responsibility for your health by choosing to respond to your health with a proactive approach. And find a great wellness center that can hold you accountable to this higher standard.
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Healthy Lifestyle, Recommended Reading |
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February 17th, 2010
Dr. Dane’s, co-founder of 8WW, is flying to Chicago on Thursday, to celebrate the grand opening of Dr. Jason Fennema’s 8WW center, the Ravenswood Health Center holding their first 8WW orientation 2/18/2010. Dr. Fennema and his team are making a difference in the health of the people of Chicago. Way to go!
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Chiropractic Care, Healthy Lifestyle |
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