Have You Already Given Up On Your New Year's Resolutions...Again?

 

Happy New Year!

If you're like most of us, you'll be using this special time of the year to reflect and renew. Many of us decide to break old, unhealthy habits. Others resolve to take better care of themselves, improve their diets, lose some weight, begin a regular exercise program or generally just get back on the path to Lifetime Wellness.

But, many people have already given up on their New Year's resolutions...again. Why do so many people fail at making the positive changes they promise themselves?

What I've found is that, more often than not, there is no crystal clear goal or objective and/or the necessary skills may be missing and/or there is insufficient motivation to do what needs to be done and/or the resources needed to get the job done are missing or simply, there is no plan.

It's common to make resolutions and it is equally common to forget them. Follow this simple 5-step formula to make this year different and change your resolutions into reality.

1. Be crystal clear about what you want to accomplish health-wise in 2011. Avoid overly broad and non-meaningful language, such as "eat healthier," "lose weight," "work out," or "get in shape." Instead use exact language like "only eat meat twice a week," "lose 15 pounds in 2011," or "reduce my resting heart rate to 60."
2. What will you need to learn how to do to accomplish your new goals? Will you need to learn how to combine foods or exercise properly?
3. What would motivate you to not only get you started but also keep you in the game? Normally, the "right" motivation is in taking a "long" view. Is your health important because you want to fit into a bathing suit or to be able to play with your great-grandchildren?
4. What resources will you need to turn your resolutions into realities? How will you measure your progress? Who will keep you motivated and become your accountability partner?
5. Do you have a specific plan that you will follow that you are certain will help you get where you want to go?

Another exercise that will help you keep your commitment to consciously growing your health in 2011 is to identify what you could stop doing that is negatively impacting your health. Then, what could you do that would positively contribute to your health development? Put on your thinking caps and decide how you can best help yourself.

As a child, you went out to play after school. Do your children actually go out and play anymore? How much exercise do your children get? How much time do they have for exercise after computers, texting, cell phones, video games and TV?

And, what about you? How much exercise does the average office worker get after spending 8 hours every day tied to their office computer? How are your eating habits? Are you getting 6-8 hours of sleep each night?

All of these factors and more contribute to the fattening of Canadians resulting in an increasing range of illnesses all leading to a greater and greater reliance (addiction) to prescription drugs.

How can we reverse this growing health problem? If you are affected, and aren't we all affected one way or another? How can we help ourselves and the people we love the most? What if we each took control and stopped taking it anymore? What if we actually and consciously exercised, ate properly, set good examples for our children, stopped eating fast food, received regular chiropractic care, drank plenty of water and had a home cooked meal every now and then?

Small, easy to accomplish and sustainable changes can often be your best bet when it comes to changing to a healthier lifestyle. Change one thing...make it part of your healthier lifestyle so that you no longer view it as a change (typically after 30 days) and then move on to another change. Become successful at making changes and you will benefit!

While this is, by no means, a complete list; it could represent a great place for you to start 2011 in as healthy a way as possible:

1. Exercise-create a regular exercise program that you can and will commit to doing...the operative word is regular.
2. Nutrition-become more knowledgeable about what you eat and more mindful as you eat it so you nourish your body rather than just fill your stomach.
3. Lose fat.
4. Drink plenty of pure water. Practice the art of self-relaxation.
5. Detoxify your system.
6. Make time for YOU.
7. Get regular chiropractic check-ups and adjustments to keep your nervous system working optimally.
8. Make any other lifestyle changes that you think will contribute to your health.

 

Dr. Michael Gibson is a Kanata chiropractor and the clinic director of The Wellness Group, a multidisciplinary health facility and the creator of Lifetime Wellness. He currently practices chiropractic in Kanata full time with a focus on educating and empowering his practice members to achieve abundant health and maximum quality of life. 

Does a Diet High in Animal Protein Cause Cancer?

 

Absolutely not!

But what about all of that research they did in China, didn't it show without a doubt that those who consumed animal protein had the highest incidence of heart disease, cancer, and strokes?  Didn't it show that vegetarians gave themselves the best opportunity for Lifetime Wellness?

Yes, the author of The China Study, Dr. Colin Campbell claimed that this was true, however, a more in depth analysis of his data tells a different story...

To learn more read this extremely well written critique by Denise Minger.

 

Dr. Michael Gibson is a Kanata chiropractor and the clinic director of The Wellness Group, a multidisciplinary health facility and the creator of Lifetime Wellness. He currently practices chiropractic in Kanata full time with a focus on educating and empowering his practice members to achieve abundant health and maximum quality of life. 

Foods that Wreak Havoc on Your Health

 

In my years as a health care practitioner there is one thing that I can say is for certain, Garbage in  = Garbage out.  The translation of course is relating to what we put into our mouths on a daily basis.  The foods that we eat can either be the simple building blocks of our health, or they can be the subtle disaster that ruins it.  Unfortunately, we are ingrained as a society to shop based upon supply and demand rather than informed decisions.  It is my intent in this short blog to educate the reader on the potential harm these foods can pose on one’s health.

Faulty nutritional advertisements seem to be at an all time high now more than ever.  Corn and soy, to name a few, are at the top of this list.  I encourage you to step beyond the glitz and glimmer of these marketed products and do a bit of research on the health benefits associated with them.  You may find this to be a difficult task in your attempt due to the lack of information that is provided.  One thing that you may notice is the mass quantities of these products that are produced and distributed daily, not to mention annually.  Due to the fact that they are genetically modified, the cost for mass production is relatively low.  This of course means that the return of investment on these products comes in huge margins.  Despite the lack of nutritional value, supply and demand for these products are steadily increasing.  That’s right, you are getting pumped full of garbage because someone is making money!  Challenge yourself to read each label of the products in your home and see for yourself the different variations of corn and soy that may be present in them.  I have the suspicion that most of you will be amazed.  We are constantly eating genetically modified foods because they serve as great fillers.  By the way, genetically modified can also be coined as “chemically engineered”, therefore, we are not only digesting garbage but we are also in taking large quantities of the chemicals used to produce them.  It is almost like taking a handful of fertilizers and eating them for your afternoon snack. 

All in all, there is absolutely no substitute for wholesome organic foods, free of pesticides and antibiotics.  Unfortunately, these foods may become more scarce as government promotes loose regulation of the above mentioned.   If you would like to explore this topic in more depth here is a great article by Dr. Mercola, who is a world leader in health and nutrition.  

 

Dr. Ryan Pope is a Kanata chiropractor at The Wellness Group, a multidisciplinary health facility in Ontario, Canada. He currently practices chiropractic in Kanata full time with a focus on educating and empowering his practice members to harness the innate intelligence of the body to heal itself through the chiropractic lifestyle.

The Side Benefits of Chiropractic Care

 

 

Everyone understands that drugs have side effects. What many people do not realize is that these side effects are often undesirable and sometimes lethal.  Drugs all have effects, some predictable and some not...some wanted and some not. Side effects are not really side effects but rather effects of the chemicals in the drugs that are considered to be what must be risked or tolerated for the desired effect of the drug.

What are the side effects of chiropractic? What we have heard from many patients is that there are unexpected benefits of chiropractic so we will call them side benefits instead of side effects. During the course of a person’s initial care in the office, many if not all receive relief from the concern or condition that caused them to seek our help in the first place. Once the initial healing phase of care is complete, almost all patients make the decision to take a few additional steps to strengthen and stabilize their system so that the health concern that they originally consulted us for is far less likely to repeat.

During this phase of stabilization is when we most often hear of the side benefits of chiropractic care. Here is a partial list of side benefits:

1. Sleep better
2. More energy
3. Relief from other aches and pains
4. Improved digestion and elimination
5. Greater clarity of thought
6. Improved outlook and attitude
7. Fewer colds and improved immune function
8. Greater stamina
9. Decreased need for some medications
10. Better overall health

Anyone interested?

Dr. Michael Gibson is a Kanata chiropractor and the clinic director of The Wellness Group, a multidisciplinary health facility and the creator of Lifetime Wellness. He currently practices chiropractic in Kanata full time with a focus on educating and empowering his practice members to achieve abundant health and maximum quality of life. 

 

 

Not Soy Good

 

What is the first thing people think about when they hear the word soy?  Health food, right?  I may not be an expert, but I would have to agree with them that this is a misleading concept behind what the word Soy actually entails.  In other words, the experts would disagree.  Dr. Kaayla Daniel, the author of the most complete book ever written about soy, “The Whole Soy Story: The Dark Side of America's Favorite Health Food”, clearly reveals soy links to malnutrition, digestive disturbances, immune-system breakdown, thyroid dysfunction, cognitive decline, reproductive problems and infertility, as well as cancer and heart disease.  Surprising isn't it?  Well not really if you consider this side of the equation - just as cow's milk promotion began when there was a surplus of cow's milk, soy products were strongly promoted when it was "decided" that soy protein, a non-usable by-product remaining after extracting oil from soy plants, could be marketed as a "health food".  The edible oil industry is a multi-billion dollar industry that seems to find much research to back heavy soy consumption so they may benefit considerably by the increase of its sales.  Besides the fact that most of their research is incomplete, and fictional for that matter, they also tend to be rather one sided and leave out all the major health risks associated with this so called “health food” product.

Soy has become ubiquitous in its form.  It can be found everywhere...at levels never before seen in history!  For example, soy flour, soy oil, Soy lecithin, texturized vegetable protein to name a few.  

Another alarming soy fact is that more than 80% of soy plants grown in the US are genetically modified organisms.  This means that not only are they chemically engineered but they are now massed produced so we become fortunate enough to have traces in almost every food we ingest.  Please read the previous sentence with a bit of sarcasm.  Not only are they genetically engineered and grown on farms that use a variety of toxic pesticides and herbicides, but  soy beans contain one of the highest levels of pesticides contamination of all foods. 

The list goes on and on with facts revealing the detrimental effects of soy.  In particular, studies reveal that soy depresses thyroid function dramatically, which may lead to weight gain, fatigue, hair loss, and loss of libido.  Studies also reveal that soy consumption in babies has been linked to developmental problems, including birth defects, child and adolescent reproductive disorders,  and premature puberty onset. In fact, it has been concluded that soy formula is the equivalent of giving your child 4-5 birth control pills per day.  If that is not enough to make a mother go irate I do not know what to tell you.

All this being said, are there any soy products that are actually beneficial to one's health?  At this juncture one important distinction must be made when discussing soy. Fermented soy products (natto, tempeh, soy bean sprouts) are healthful, and are your best option.  The NON-fermented highly processed soy protein isolates and isoflavones that make up western diets are considered a health detriment.  Most soy products like soy burgers, soy yogurts, soy cheese, soy formula, and tofu are far from healthy and pose all the health risks previously discussed, as well as, a collection of chemical stabilizers and additives that are worse than the junk food they are trying to replace.  

Dr. Ryan Pope is a Kanata chiropractor at The Wellness Group, a multidisciplinary health facility in Ontario, Canada. He currently practices chiropractic in Kanata full time with a focus on educating and empowering his practice members to harness the innate intelligence of the body to heal itself through the chiropractic lifestyle.