Improving Health Through Nutrition: No Quick Fix

by Michael Wagner, BA, LMT, CFT

We are hardwired with a quick fix mentality...

When recommending dietary supplements to persons with health deficiencies, one of the most common questions we'll hear is, "How fast will this stuff work? If we can help steer people away from the "quick fix" mentality and, instead, adapt realistic expectations for realizing improved health through nutrition, I believe we've performed a great service. That's because the restoration of genuine optimal health takes time and patience the quick-fix mind set will never allow.

True, there are exceptional cases, especially with exceptional supplements or unique circumstances. Some people begin a dietary supplement regime and realize amazing results. But they are exceptions. And although certain symptoms may have subsided, the body very often has a lot more healing to accomplish over the long term.

To assist consumers of dietary supplements to "stay the course" and not quit their program prematurely because they "weren't seeing anything" we need to educate them. Not only about the supplements in their regime, but about their own body and how nutrition supports the body to effect improvements in overall health.

To this end, I've found seven principles worth remembering and passing on to those people we wish to see benefit from nutritional supplements and programs.

1. With nutrition, we are not suppressing or manipulating symptoms as with pharmaceuticals. We are not treating issue specific conditions as with herbology. We are simply giving the body what it needs to heal itself and rebuild itself anew and this takes time.

When correcting nutritional deficiencies, while we won't see instant improvements in most cases, we will be promoting true and lasting healing. Pharmaceuticals may sometimes "work" instantly, yet never address underlying causes and possess unwanted side effects. Contrary to popular thinking, drugs don't heal anything: only the body can do that -- when it gets what it needs.

In Optimum Sports Nutrition, Dr. Michael Colgan explains why patience is the key:

"A principle of nutrition you need to know is physiological dynamics. Unlike drugs, nutrients do not have rapid effects. No quick fix. The business of nutrition is to build a better body. That has to wait on Nature to turn over body cells. A blood cell lasts 60-120 days. In 3- 4 months your whole blood supply is completely replaced. In 6 months almost all the proteins in your body die and are replaced, even the DNA of your genes. In a year all your bones and even the enamel of your teeth is replaced, constructed entirely out of the nutrients you eat."

This time course is well illustrated by the course of deficiency diseases. If I remove all the vitamin C from your diet within 4 weeks blood vitamin C will drop to zero. But, you will see no symptoms of disease at 4 weeks. You will have to wait until enough of the healthy cells have been replaced with unhealthy cells. It is another 12 weeks before the symptoms of scurvy start to ravage your body.

"So when you implement an optimum nutrition program, don't expect to see rapid results. In one of our studies at the Colgan Institute, runners were supplemented to try to improve their hemoglobin, hematrocit, and red blood cell count. But after one month of supplementation, there was no improvement at all. After 6 months, however, all three indices were significantly increased."

"Think of it this way: If you take a neglected houseplant and start feeding and watering it, the leaves may perk up a bit from the improved nutrition. But you have to wait for the old leaves to die off and new leaves to grow before you get a really healthy plant. It is the same with a human body.

When you start feeding it better, you have to wait on physiological dynamics of the body to grow new, improved cells in the improved medium. After 18 years in sports nutrition, the shortest program we will give any athlete is six months". With patience, nature can do its work and produce its miracles.

2. We are all unique. An individual's biochemistry is affected by diet, lifestyle, drug usage, stress, fitness level, genetics, toxins, etc. It's inevitable, therefore, that some people will respond more rapidly than others to improved nutrition. If you're not experiencing results as fast as you'd like, it could be a factor of any number of things. It might be that the body has priorities other than the one upon which you're focusing. For example, you may want to lose body fat while your body may want to lose a tumor you don't even know you have. Give your body permission to have its own priorities and timetable.

3. Positive health changes can be occurring without you "feeling something." Research studies utilizing blood tests, bone density and body fat measurements, etc. confirm this. Improved health begins on the molecular and cellular levels. Latter, this may translate into the alleviation or disappearance of specific symptoms and conditions.

(The already healthy or symptom-free person, especially persons with abundant energy, might take note: Your health benefits from optimal nutrition tend to come in the form of your body's correcting sub-clinical problems-depletions, imbalances and toxic build-ups that haven't yet become clinical conditions or "felt" diseases. In other words, in optimizing and maintaining health, remember "feeling healthy" really only means "feeling symptom free". Actor Michael Landon was "feeling great" on National TV... three months later he died of cancer. Virtually everyone can benefit from improved nutrition since, simply by living, toxins accumulate within our bodies, the body wears out and chronic degeneration slowly settles in. Giving the body what it needs to stay healthy can minimize the ravages of modern living and optimize health.)

4. The greatest health benefits of improved nutrition may well come in the latter years of life. Regardless of the rate your current health challenge is improving, continued optimum nutrition just makes good sense, since the greatest benefits may be experienced in your senior years. While others are painfully shuffling around nursing homes and tending to medicine schedules, you might be enjoying your summers on the Colorado River and winters in Hawaii. Is this the benefit you want? Learn what your dietary supplements can do for you. Then make an educated choice.

5. If you experience a "correcting crisis" while on an optimal nutritional program, stay the course -- it's working! When your body begins cleaning out toxins and metabolic wastes are eliminated, parasites and candida die-off and the like, you may experience uncomfortable symptoms. Because you may feel worse before you feel better, it's important to read the articles and books, which address this phenomenon so you can better understand this process. The correcting crisis, when understood, is a clear indication that your improved nutrition program is truly working and leading you to improved health.

6. Licensed health care practitioners still make educated guesses as to how long it might take to see a specific health improvement using nutrition. Admittedly an imprecise science, but as a starting point, a holistic medical doctor uses the following formula:

For a specific health improvements, figure three months, then add one additional month for each year the chronic condition has existed. For example, a chronic condition of 5 years might be expected to see a good improvement within 8 months, provided the body, mind and spirit of the patient gets everything it needs. Experience with nutraceuticals largely indicated the longer the consumption, the greater the benefit.

7. As one very prestigious medical doctor has well stated, dietary supplements ought to carry the warning: "Not to be taken on an empty spirit." The human mind and spirit are powerful beyond measure. They can easily override any optimal health plan. They must therefore be in alignment with the healing process. Sometimes the individual dealing with it poorly understands the non-physical causes of ill health. If long-term attempts to achieve better health bring minimal or no results, there may be a deeper reasons that need exploration. Caroline Myss' works, including "Why People Don't Heal", or the works of Bernie Siegel, M.D., might be a good starting point. Tend to your thinking; nurture your spirit.

Staying mindful of these seven principles of nutrition and healing will hopefully keep all of us out of the trap of quick fix thinking and help allow us to create the time and patience to achieve true healing and enjoy lasting optimal health.

Good Health Is No Accident...

from www.naturalnews.com

Those who seek answers for their health outside the realm of their own decisions are looking in the wrong place. Health is no accident. Lasting health can only appear as the result of a lifetime of informed, deliberate decisions aligned with nature's principles of health, not the distorted version of health promoted by our backward system of mainstream medicine.

And yet many people still believe that health is something that is bestowed upon them by some mysterious exterior force. The whole effort to raise money to find "the cure" for cancer, for example, is a powerful demonstration of misplaced faith in external healing. This idea that a cure for cancer must come from outside one's self rather than from within is perhaps the greatest conceptual sleight of hand that has yet been pulled off by the sick-care industry.

The cure for cancer is already programmed within. Each person is born with a highly-advanced cellular nanotechnology that already knows how to cure cancer. Activating this inner healing potential is all that's necessary to prevent and cure cancer everywhere around the world, starting right now.

Health happens through you, not to you...

And yet the masses continue to eat cancer-causing foods and pursue cancer-causing lifestyles even while blindly handing over their money in the form of donations to organizations that they naively hope will come along and "save them" someday.

Think carefully about this dynamic: The person believes health is something that happens TO them rather than something that happens THROUGH them. And so they remain stuck, floundering in a pattern of self-inflicted sickness and disease while hoping that some other organization, government or health care plan will somehow save them.

While they wait for that external solution, disease and sickness creeps up on them.

Obesity is what happens when a person spends each day imagining how much they're going to start exercising tomorrow.

Cancer is what happens when a person spends each day eating cancer-causing foods and donating money to Komen for the Cure rather than just getting some sunshine to boost their own vitamin D.

Disease is what happens when people believe they have no role in their own health outcome. So they eat for entertainment rather than for nourishment, and they live for product-induced external stimulation rather than internal fulfillment.

Woosh -- right over their heads!

At this point in this article, by the way, we've already lost 99 out of 100 mainstream people. These concepts -- that health is no accident -- are so foreign to the average pre-programmed consumer that they are incapable of recognizing them, much less embracing them. They've been told so many times that health comes through intervention (vaccines, pharmaceuticals, chemotherapy, etc.) that the idea of health being created from within just doesn't compute for them.

And that's the way mainstream medicine likes it. A population that believes it has no control over its own health is ripe for exploitation by a highly interventionist medical industry. Those who have lost hope in their own inner health potential tend to place their hope in things like silly pink-ribbon fundraisers that promise to "end breast cancer forever" -- a wishy-washy idea that lies somewhere between poetic fiction and outright marketing fraud.

Cancer can never be "cured" through any external, artificial means, regardless of how many billions of dollars are thrown at it. Trying to cure cancer with synthetic medications makes about as much sense as trying to cure illiteracy by feeding children "reading pills."

Health is a determined path, not an accidental occurrence...

Health, like learning to read, is something that must be pursued through dedicated self-advancement. Neither literacy nor health can be endowed upon you with the flick of a magic (medication) wand. They cannot be injected into you through a needle. They can only be achieved by teaching each person how to own their results.

If you wish to learn how to read, for example, you must first accept responsibility that no one else can read for you. YOU must go through the learning and advancement curve if you wish to experience the positive results of being literate.

It's the same with health: If you wish to express health literacy, no one else can do it for you -- no doctor, no vaccine, no cancer non-profit group and certainly not pink buckets of Kentucky Fried Chicken. You must grasp the controls over your own health destination. Take responsibility for the results you are creating with each and every decision you make: Decisions about food, stress, sleep, the use of your mind, the use of your free time, the personal care products you use, etc.

Be an adult...

If you accept responsibility for your own health, then you are an adult. Children, on the other hand, take no responsibility for themselves and instead rely on outside factors to determine their experience. A child's happiness, sadness and other circumstances depend almost entirely on what's happening externally at that moment.

Adulthood is only achieved when a person grasps the level of maturity necessary to allow their inner expressions to override external influences. An adult is someone who can achieve their own health, learning, happiness or bliss without needing to turn to external (artificial) stimulations to mimic such conditions.

A child mind, for example, uses food as entertainment, television as distraction and condescension as an affirmation of self importance. This is the role of much of reality television, for example: To allow the viewing audience to feel important by offering them a visual forum through which they can express judgmental views at the inadequate people being paraded in front of them through artificial constructs of staged emotional drama.

In other words, you get to judge people and hurl verbal insults at them. "She's got fake boobs! My gosh!"

Consumption is a one-way street...

As you've probably already noticed, most of the mainstream population operates from the child mindset. They are consumers, begging to be distracted, injected, entertained, medicated and told how to live, think and feel (and vote). The idea of stepping outside this preprogrammed existence and exploring the world from an adult mindset is downright frightening to these people.

Approaching the world from a point of view that acknowledges self-responsibility means casting aside all the convenient comforts of living life as a child and instead bracing yourself for the harsh reality of taking responsibility for your own decisions. Being a child is so much easier, isn't it? If you're just a child, you can't be blamed for bad results. It's always someone else's fault. (How long do I have to wait for Komen to actually FIND the cure, anyway? Can I keep eating bacon in the mean time?)

Most people, no matter what their age, have still not achieved self-responsibility. Most people are engorged in their television, gossip, fast food, chemical addictions and illusions of health that they've acquired by purchasing "trans fat free" processed foods or "high fiber" breakfast cereal laced with sugar. They are the minds of children living in deteriorating adult bodies while begging for magical medical interventions that will never exist.

My greatest wish is that our population of humans on our planet will grow up and embrace adulthood. Only through educated, responsible decisions that consider the long-term consequences of our immediate actions can individuals -- or humanity -- hope to evolve into a sustainable species. The failure of mainstream humans to understand simple concepts like "health is no accident" are merely a reflection of the far wider and more dangerous failures to understand the dynamics of sustainable life on a self-contained planet in a vast and formidable universe.

If we cannot attain the level of adulthood to take care of our own bodies, how on earth can we expect to achieve the level of consciousness necessary to function as stewards for the only habitable planet we know of in our entire universe?

Humanity remains in its infancy. Those of us who accept responsibility for our own actions are living as rare observers in a world run by children, populated by children and now being destroyed by children -- all in adult bodies, of course. The childish concepts of selfish thinking and "that's MINE!" are the lifeblood of our world's largest corporations which seek to own everything they touch, much like little children licking all the cookies to claim them as personal property.

Corporations, for the most part, are immature expressions of economic selfishness that cater to immature consumers who have not yet decided to embrace adult-class self responsibility. The entire free market, in fact, is driven primarily by childish selfish greed rather than ideas of compassion for fellow human beings or business models based on determined sustainability rather than consumption gullibility.

Even most of the non-profits, which are supposed to be based on compassion, have turned into childish, greed-driven money expansion machines that only seek to rake in more profits at any cost to society. Nowhere is this more evident than in the cancer industry, where both the American Cancer Society and Komen for the Cure have become financial juggernauts by promising cures for cancer but delivering nothing but more disease to the people. (Mammograms cause cancer, for example.)

It is no accident, either, that in our time of the greatest disease ever witnessed on planet earth, we also live among the most powerful and exploitative "disease non-profits" that promise health salvation if we would only give them another few billion dollars.

As long as childish thinking dominates modern society, such fraudulent non-profits will continue to prey upon the externalization of health tendencies of the population. The greatest fear of every disease non-profit front group is that mainstream consumers might wake up, take charge of their own health, begin to make informed decisions about preventing disease and thereby make the disease non-profits largely irrelevant.

How convenient it is, then, that the very products now used to raise money for the cancer industry non-profits are the same ones that promote cancer, heart disease, obesity and dull minds.

(NaturalNews) http://www.naturalnews.com/028647_health_literacy.html

This is the opinion of Natural News, and does not necessarily represent the opinions of RHF.

What are your thoughts?

Staying Motivated with Fitness

Stick to your fitness plan by understanding the science of motivation. Make a few behavioral tweaks to keep you going. Here are 3 tips to get you moving (literally).

Research shows that 50 percent of people who start an exercise program drop out within six months. The fact is, working out to make others happy is the least successful way to compel you to break a sweat. The more you do stuff you like to do instead of what you think you should do, the more you'll keep doing it. This is the Self Determination Theory (SDT). The benefits of this intrinsic motivation have been proven in studies across the board.

Step 1: Taking Charge

Take charge of your fitness decisions. Psychologists call this autonomy, and it is one thing you must develop if you want to harness intrinsic motivation; people who feel as if they're making their own decisions report feeling higher levels of self worth.  High self worth leaves people feeling more motivated. You are empowered by your ability to take control. This creates synergy and the motivation effect can multiply.

Start by asking yourself why you want to exercise in the first place. You're more likely to be successful because the end result means something to you. Ask yourself: "What is the ultimate reason I am doing this?"

Next, find a variety of exercise you enjoy so much you'd do even if it seemed they were bad for you. If you're invested in what you're doing, your performance will improve-which will feed your desire to go back for more.

Tangible accomplishments, like completing an hour long workout twice a week, or doing five pull ups or 10 pushups (daily action) are what is needed to make meaningful goals. But at the same time refrain from stepping on a scale. Your goals should be based on feeling good-that's what will get you coming back to the gym.

Remember fitness is a feeling and a lifestyle rather than a number on the scale. Physical accomplishments give you positive feelings about yourself and increase your motivation because they're intrinsic.

Step 2: Give Yourself Props for Progress

Once we master a new skill we stick with it because we know we can do it, but this also impedes progress and breeds big time boredom. Break the monotony. This is where a trainer can help you.

The solution: Pushing yourself and mixing things up. Increase the number of reps and sets by 10 percent each week. Next, write everything down; an exercise log functions as a workout checklist and a concrete record of how for you've come and is a way to motivate yourself if you become frustrated. Tracking your results is a good tool to improving your fitness plan. This is referred to establishing competence and is the important in fueling motivation that lasts. You most focus on what you can do, rather than what you are unable to do. Never compare yourself to anyone else. Ignite a cycle of positive reinforcement that will keep you on your fitness journey.

Step 3: Make It Social

Feeling connected is a great motivator for fitness. Start by finding a "like minded" workout buddy (Burn Buddy). Get your burn buddy to go to RHF Burn30 Bootcamp with you. This creates accountability and "built in support." Make a sweat session more like happy hour and it will help you stroke your motivation. Congenial atmospheres help people stay motivated by providing a source of encouragement as well. With built in support, it's more fun than working out alone.

If you go to a gym, get to know a few trainers-even if your relationship is just limited to them giving you pointers on form. If you hate gyms, try and find a friend who is at the same fitness level or searching the message boards of local leagues or clubs the find people who have the same definition of fun as you do. If you're a lone ranger at heart, never sweat it (pardon the pun). Just focus more on taking charge of your fitness and feeling good about you progress.

Fitness Factors and How They Shape Your Body

There are many factors that make up your fitness and the shape of your body. Often times we tend to look in the mirror and beat ourselves up over how we view our bodies. When we are going through a transformation it is easier to be negative in the beginning about how we view our bodies.

Switching the forces about how we view our bodies is a motivation strategy and can be the deciding factor in how far we go into out fitness journey. Switch the forces from the things that cause you discomfort and pain and focus on the things that give you true pleasure and what you are grateful for. So, focus most of your energy on what you like about yourself. Spend time on the things that give you

joy. You will then reap long term benefits because you are happy and grateful and you are willing to spend energy and effort maintaining that level of happiness.

You are the result of what you do 80-90% of the time. The 90% compliance rule says be 100%, 90% of the time. This is a good rule to follow. When you exercise regularly and eat right you are the product of those choices. Simple daily actions can make a world of difference when it comes to keeping yourself well. On the other hand, simple, compounded errors in judgment can have a lasting negative effect on your health. This process is all about creating a better quality of life. Consistency is part of the formula to being well.

There are other factors that will play a role in your body development. All of these factors I will mention are controllable variables, even genetics to a certain extent. So pay attention to these fitness factors and how they shape your body.

Factor 1: Exercise

Structure determines function. Use it or lose it. The body is designed to move. Energy begets energy. Exercise is definitely uncomfortable at first, but remarkably simple. You have to show up. 90% of life is showing up. Exercise relieves stress and tension, burns calories, increases metabolism, and speeds up the elimination of waste. There are two main types of exercise: cardiovascular/respiratory and resistance training. Your body will function as a direct result to the structure of your exercise program.

This is the Principle of Specificity. If you are a runner then you will take the shape of a runner. If you are a power-lifter then you will take the shape of a power-lifter. The ideal functional athlete is the gymnast whose craft crosses all performance levels.

Factor 2: Food Choices and Portion Control

Our food choices are a reflection of cost, time, convenience, taste, and heritage. Some say “you are what you eat.” I say you are what you absorb. You must eat to improve metabolism and therefore performance. Your cells, tissues, organs, organ systems all rely on proper and balanced nutrition. You biology is your biography. Avoid portion distortion. Focus on 400-600 calorie meals with balance and variety. Eating too much, eating the wrong foods, and untimely eating can have a huge effect on whether you get to your ideal weight and stay there.

Factor 3: Supplementation

Supplementation is defined as adding nutrients to the diet to fill in the gaps where everyday food lacks. Our food supply is damaged from over-processing, green harvests, poor soil and through the release of toxic chemicals in the environment. Supplementation is helpful but in some instances vital to your health, your performance in the workouts, and to aid in recovery from workouts. The most important nutrients are the ones you are missing. There are different grades of supplements so you want to do your homework on this. Without all the necessary nutrients in the proper balance (26 vitamins, 72 trace minerals, 9 essential amino acids, 8 structural sugars, etc), you may hang onto excess weight, have a lowered immune system, have poor skin and nails, lack mental acuity, become irritable, and aid the host of many diseases.

Supplementation is ancient. Thousands of years ago people took tonics to boost fertility and fight virility. Today, many cultures boil teas and herbs to assist in better health. According to JAMA, (Journal of American Medical Association) 99% of people fail to meet their daily recommendations for vitamins and minerals. We are deficient in many nutrients and a large percentage of them are minerals. Although you still need to eat a well balanced diet with variety, supplementation seems prudent and is now recommended by many doctors.

Factor 4: Restful Sleep

Rest is crucial to your longevity and overall wellness. Lack of sleep truly ages us. We can become accident prone, short-fused, and our immune system can suffer due to lack of restful sleep. During sleep your body creates growth hormones which aid in the repair of the muscles and tissues that you breakdown during the day (during exercise especially).Growth hormones also aid in the release of body fat; much of this can occur at rest. Restful sleep can be a challenge in today’s world. Shoot for 7-8 hours each night. You will reap the benefits.

If you struggle with sleep here are some tips:

1. Keep a sleep log. Record your hours and how you feel.

2. Cut back on processed carbohydrates. When people are tired they crave carbohydrates to stay awake. Eating too many processed carbohydrates can wreck havoc on your body over time (a process called accelerated metabolic aging) and cause you to want to eat more to stay awake, only to come crashing down, forcing you to nap, which will disrupt your sleep patterns.

3. If you use caffeine, avoid it after lunch time. This includes soda, diet soda, coffee, and tea.

4. Drink an IsaLean shake one hour before bed. These shakes are high in tryptophan, a naturally occurring amino-acid, as well as a level 7 protein blend (high bioavailability), enzymes, and probiotics. Protein before bed can stimulate new muscle growth during sleep.

5. Drink IsaCal before bed. Mix it with your shake. Calcium helps for a more restful sleep.

6. Limit fluids 2 hours before bed. With the exception of your shake, limit fluids before bed.

Rather than dose dumping late at night, you should time your fluids throughout the day to meet this recommendation.

7. Wind down to sleep. Read something positive or listen to a meditation CD.

8. Keep a notebook and pen by your bed. If your mind is racing you will have hard time winding down. Write down what is on your mind and set it aside for the next day.

9. Start your bedtime routine at the same time each night. Try using breathing techniques to help you relax.

10. Avoid television (electronic income reducer), internet, and articles that contain violence. Sleep research has found that violent images disrupt sleep by being imbedded in your subconscious. The last hour and the first hour of your day are the most critical. Go to sleep reciting all that you are grateful for. Wake up reciting what you are thankful for and you will be ready for all the possibilities of the day.

Factor 5: Support Network

Accountability is absolutely necessary for your success. Your support network is vital to you being held accountable to your program goals. Building a support network is an integral part of just how quickly you will reach your goals. Your support network is your rock to lean on when times are tough. You should have 2 teams (internal and external). Your internal team is your trainer/wellness coach and

your external team is your family and friends. This support network is the glue that holds together a good, well thought out wellness action plan.

Factor 6: Medications/Drugs

Some medications (prescription, over-the-counter, recreational) will make it more challenging to release weight. Many medications can actually disrupt your metabolism and accelerate your aging (Accelerated Metabolic Aging).Always consult with a doctor before beginning an exercise/nutrition regimen (wellness action plan). A doctor’s responsibility is to manage your medication dosage. Let them decide when it is time to eliminate medications. Isagenix is a whole-food program and many doctors (the ones with nutrition training) react positively once they see the ingredients. If you are on medications/drugs work to get off all of them. If you are stuck on them (by doctors prescription or by choice) you will just have to work a little harder to get the results you desire.

Factor 7: Genetics

The jury is still out on the role of genetics vs. environment (learned behavior and exposure) when it comes to body structure and the body’s ability to perform. The truth is that both genetics and environment play a role in your biology. I believe that obesity is more of a learned behavior (simple errors in judgment) that is compounded by many environmental factors such as heritage, toxins,

availability of foods, marketing ploys, and ignorant consumers. Your body type on the other hand has a genetic base: ectomorp: naturally thin, mesomorph: athletic, and endomorph: naturally heavy. If you have inherited the body type endomorph (exp. big hips and thighs) then you will have to work hard on those areas that you wish to change.

Factor 8: Illness and Disease

Sometime we get sick. We can even get sick when we are in good health. Bacteria, viruses, and parasites literally catch you when you immune system is compromised. Your immune system can be compromised from stress, overtraining, or lack of sleep. For obvious reasons, illness and disease (being out of balance) can affect your ability to achieve your ideal body.

Factor 9: Stress

Stress wreaks havoc on the body. Stress affects many hormones in your brain. One hormone, cortisol can cause you to crave sugar. When we crave and eat sugar we have a hard time focusing. It is also hard to get restful sleep due to the metabolic noise created by sugar dumping. When we lack sleep, we tend to gain unnecessary weight.

Tips for Stress Release:

1. Drink plenty of water

2. Get adequate rest

3. Use adaptogens (Ionix Supreme) and B-vitamins to help your body deal with stress

4. Take calcium (IsaCal) before bed to help deal with stress

5. Take yoga, Tai Chi, or a meditation class

6. Avoid violent TV/news before bed (if at all)

7. Log your feelings

8. Seek proper counseling

9. Create additional income (residual) to help deal with financial stress

10. Get help with your finances (if money is a stressor)

11. Take time to do fun activities

12. Use visualization tools to help you gain clarity

13. Work smarter rather than harder (if you are able)

14. Remember that you are the warrior, never the worrier.

Factor 10: Lifestyle

Your lifestyle is defined by what you do on a regular, consistent basis. You are defined by what you eat, how you act, and how you spend your free time. Are you always in the office? Are you running from one task to the next? Do you sit down for meals? Do you remember special occasions? You should work on operating with ease. You should work on being calm, patient, peaceful, happy,

energized. If you do so, you will be lean. I promise you that. You need to find balance in your life. When you are balanced, you are most content.

Factor 11: Age

As we age it becomes harder to maintain a desirable weight and body composition. We can lose up to a ½ pound of muscle each year after age 25. The loss of muscle forces change on our metabolism. Without proper diet and resistance training we can age prematurely. By exercising more and boosting your protein consumption you can slow the aging process by maintaining or adding muscle tissue.

Remember, muscle means movement. Movement means living.

By Rocky Reeves, MS, Rock Hard Fitness/Anchorage Fit Club