Fulfilling Your Dreams: You Don't Fail Unless You Give Up

Do you have a dream that you know is realistic but don't think that you can ever make it  real?  Do you see other people living your dream while you live a life that you wish you could escape?  Do you wish that everything would come together so that you can get on to accomplishing what you really desire?  Are you looking for the right time to take that first, big step?

There is no other time than right now.  This is the only moment that exists.  So, if you are waiting for the right time to do something, IT WILL NEVER COME!

So, what about now?  You have a dream, but the road looks daunting.  You're not even sure that you can make it.  You've probably heard it said that nothing worth achieving is easy.  But, there are people who have already achieved something similar to what it is you want to accomplish.  They did it; so can you!

I recently visited with a man in far west Texas who inspired me.  He told me of how he knew early in life that he wanted to work for the state park system and went to college to get a degree that would qualify him for a position.  After graduating, he applied to the Parks and Wildlife Department but couldn't even get an interview even for a janitorial jobs.  He began to ride with park rangers on their rounds, volunteered at parks, and met a man that helped him refine his resume.  He did get a job after years of effort, and started as a Park Ranger I.  Now he is the manager of the largest state park in Texas!

I spent time with another man out there with another inspiring story.  He wanted to see the remote Mariscal Canyon, and he decided to hike to the canyon rim.  He had to drive 30 miles over a very rough unimproved dirt road and then hike six miles through the desert mountains to get there.  The last part of the trail to the rim climbed about 400 feet in less than a quarter of a mile.  As he struggled up the very steep, unshaded trail, he began to wonder if he really wanted to see this canyon after all. But when he finally got to the rim, he was rewarded with an awesome view!

A friend told me that the best views come at the end of the hardest climbs.  How true!

Keep climbing, don't give up, and you will fulfill your dream!

Fulfilling Your Dreams: Stay Active

Are you an active person who likes to be moving and doing?  Or are you a person who likes stationary activities, relaxing and listening to music, watching TV, or playing on the computer?  Do you know that the more physically active you are, the better your brain works, allowing you to reach your full potential intelligence?

We've said a lot about the physical benefits of staying active.  Our hearts and lungs are healthier, we tend to weigh less, our blood sugar stays in balance, we have less tendency toward arthritis, and we are more flexible.  With all of those benefits, there are even greater benefits for our brains.

The basic purpose of the nervous system is to move our bodies.  Only organisms that move have nervous systems.  Those that don't move don't have nerves.  Our brains have developed in order to move us, and all of the other functions of our brains have grown out of that.

Physical activity uses the basic functions of the brain.  The more that function is used, the better it works.  Since that is the basic function (think "operating system"), the better it functions, the better the rest of the brain functions.  Staying active keeps the brain functioning at its best.

Research has shown that behavioral disorders like ADD and ADHD occur less frequently in children who are physically active.  Children and adults with those conditions find it hard to sit still and concentrate.  Not surprisingly, when more activity is introduced, they find it easier to engage in sedentary activities.

What activities are effective in helping our brains function better?  Just about any physical activity.  Weight lifting, walking, running, hiking, biking, swimming, skiing, mowing the lawn, cleaning the house, and anything else that elevates your heart rate and makes you perspire.  (Yeah, that too!)  Just something for 30 minutes a day, every day.

1. Set realistic goals
2. Keep a record (Map My Fitness or similar apps will help with this)
3. Have an accountability partner that you report to regularly
4. Be consistent
5. Make up the time if you miss
6. Have fun
7. Live Healthy, Stay Active, and Fulfill Your Dreams!

Fulfilling Your Dreams

What do you think about throughout the day?  Do you think about your problems?  Do you think about the broken dishwasher, the leaky roof, the bald tire on the car, your kids bad grades, how far you are from retiring, your low bank account balance, and all of the myriad of other troubles you may have?  If you do, then you are thinking yourself into an early grave, according to research.

Research shows that negative thoughts and feelings, stress, worry, anger, depression, and FEAR (False Evidence Appearing Real) are only a few, have a negative impact on health.  The more time you have negative thoughts and the more intense the thoughts are, the worse your health gets.

On the other hand, the more positive your thoughts are, the better your health is!  One study showed that people who pray before they eat have better digestion.  It is the attitude of gratitude that does the trick.  People with positive outlooks on life suffer less illness and miss fewer days of work than those who have dour attitudes.

So, the first step in fulfilling our dreams is having a positive attitude in general and the belief that you CAN fulfill your dreams.  Life sucks?  Put a hose on it and clean your floors!

In order to do this, you have to make a conscious effort to change what you spend time thinking about.  

whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think on these things. - Paul

To do that, start your day like this: be still and reflective for 20 minutes.  Keep your mind as quiet as you can.  Then pray.  Do that every morning and notice what a different that makes!  This will help you

Live Healthy, Stay Active, and Fulfill Your Dreams 

Fulfilling Your Dreams: Live Healthy

If you are not sick, does that mean that you are healthy?  What about those healthy, active, fulfilled people that you see?  They are more than just not sick; they are really healthy.  Were they just blessed by genetics?  Perhaps, but there is much more to that level of health.  Genetics are just the starting point for our bodies.  The choices we make will effect how those genes express themselves.  What choices can we make to help our bodies become more fully healthy?

Great health is a decision.  What we do we can result in better health or poorer health.  Most people don't have bad health as a goal, they simply don't realize that they are choosing to be unhealthy.  You can take your health to new heights with a few minor adjustments to your lifestyle.

Health is about momentum.  You've probably heard that a body in motion tends to stay in motion, and a body at rest tends to stay at rest.  It's much like that with health.  If we are healthy and continue doing what we did to get healthy, then we'll tend to stay healthy.  If we are unhealthy and continue doing what we did to get unhealthy, then we'll tend to stay unhealthy.

So, what is health?  Health is defined as "the optimum state of physical, mental, and social well being, not merely the absence of disease."  That means that we can be "not sick" and still not be healthy!

How do we become healthy?  First, let's look at physical well being.  We may not have any symptoms, so how do we know if we're healthy or not?  Let's look now at the four healthy lifestyle choices: Not smoking, maintaining healthy body weight, eating right, and getting adequate exercise.  We've talked about these in the past, so let's move on.  Our bodies are completely controlled by our nervous systems.  When our spines become misaligned that causes interference in the nervous system and our bodies don't function at their best.  To be healthy, we have to keep our nervous system free from interference.  Regular chiropractic adjustments help us to stay healthy.

Now about mental and social well being.  We need to keep our minds actively learning throughout our lives.  In order to have optimum mental function, we need to choose to learn new skills and gain knowledge continuously.  Learning a new language is an excellent way to do this as it is both a skill and a knowledge.  Learning to play a musical instrument is also an awesome way to accomplish this.  Look into a drumming circle like Drumming Around and you will have fun keeping your mind fresh.

Social well being is about being around other people in a healthy way.  Having friends, being part of social groups, attending places of worship, and hanging out with like-minded people are all necessary for social well being.

If you make these choices, your health will soar to new heights and you can

Live Healthy, Stay Active, and Fulfill Your Dreams!

Good Fats and Bad Fats

We hear a lot about bad fats, but little about good fats.  We hear about low fat diets, cholesterol and heart disease, and trans fats.  But did you know that low fat diets are not healthy and can lead to health problems.  And did you know that trans fats can lead to degeneration of mental function?

"What are good fats?" you might ask.  Good fats are the ones that your body needs to produce essential hormones, lubricate joints, and keep the nerves healthy.  In fact, since the introduction of low-fat diets the incidence of diseases that degenerate the nerves' insulation and cause nervous system disorders has steadily increased.  Low cholesterol diets do little to decrease the level of cholesterol in the bloodstream.  Low fat diets also lead to hormone imbalances and vitamin deficiencies.

New evidence reveals that diets high in trans fats actually cause poor memory in men under 45.  The way this happens is not clear.  A study at UC San Francisco involved 1,000 healthy men.  They first filled out a diet questionnaire and then were given a memory test.  Those who scored low on the memory test also scored high on trans fat consumption.

We are learning from all of this evidence, trans fats are the only unhealthy fats.  What are trans fats?  These are man-made fats.  They occur in shortening and margarine, which are found in most refrigerators and pantries.  Trans fats then are found in many processed foods, like doughnuts, pie crusts, french fries, potato chips, pancake and waffle mixes, non-diary coffee creamer and many others.  If you have those products, THROW THEM AWAY!

What should you use instead?  Lard, bacon grease, butter, coconut oil, whole milk, half and half, and homemade pie crusts and baking mixes.

Your body uses cholesterol to make hormones.  If you artificially lower your cholesterol, you run the risk of depleting your body's reserves and causing hormone imbalances.  Furthermore, there is no evidence that links high cholesterol levels with heart disease.  Having cholesterol floating in your blood has no effect on the cholesterol plaque on blood vessel walls.

Natural fats from animal and plant sources are healthy and necessary.  Keep your consumption of them reasonable, about 30% of calories, and you can

Live Healthy, Stay Active, and Fulfill Your Dreams!

Keeping It Healthy

As I mentioned last week, fitness and healthy body mass are at the top of the list of common New Year's resolutions.  After laying around eating chocolate for the last six weeks of the year, people don't like what they're seeing in the mirror.  So, what to do about it?

You hear everywhere that to lose weight you need to eat less and exercise more.  Phooey!  First, you need to make certain that your hormones are in balance and that your liver isn't choked with fat deposits.  I am trained to help you determine your status in those areas.

Second, you need to see if your system is overloaded with toxins coming from the environment, cleaning chemicals, personal care chemicals, water, and even food.  If your toxic load is too high, your body is unable to handle the cellular waste that results from weight loss or exercise.  If fitness is your goal, you have to keep your body running clean, just as you do your car's engine, for maximum performance.  At our clinic, we can help you determine your toxic load to see if that needs to be cleared before you begin.

Third, whether you are trying to regain a healthy body mass or get fit, you need to eat RIGHT!  Look back through my blogs and reread the series on eating right.  In that, we learned about low glycemic foods and proper hydration.

Now, let's talk about exercise.  Exercise is essential for physical, mental, and emotional health.  The basic purpose of our brains is to move our bodies,  The more we move, the better our brains function.  Almost all kids with ADD and ADHD are inactive kids.  This condition doesn't seem to affect the kids who run, jump and play.  Exercise helps with depression and other mood disorders.  It is good for the mind, body, and soul.

We discussed last week the need to maintain the machine that we call our bodies.  If we don't, it won't work right and it's performance will be impaired.  Now, let's learn about good exercise and bad exercise (no, not all exercise is good).

As I mentioned last week, if you expect to form a new habit of exercise, it needs to be a form of exercise that you enjoy.  If it's not, then you won't persevere.  Personally, I hate running.  If you see me running, please call 911 because something behind me is chasing me, burning, or about to blow up!  On the other hand, I love weightlifting, hiking, and dancing.  And that is my weekly exercise routine.  Weightlifting 3 hours, dancing 1 or more hours, and hiking, 6 or more hours.  That's on top of an average 55 hour work week.  I only add that to say that exercise can be fit into a long work week.

Is that much exercise necessary?  No!  We need at least 3 1/2 hours of exercise per week.  Now, other things also count as exercise.  House cleaning such as sweeping and mopping is a good workout.   Mowing the lawn is good exercise.  The "act of intimacy" is exercise. Basically, any activity that raises your pulse and makes you breathe hard and sweat is exercise!  The amount of time that you spend at those activities can be deducted from that 3 1/2 hour exercise need.

So, move, sweat, and breathe hard for 3 1/2 a week every week.  That's another step to help you

Live Healthy, Stay Active, and Fulfill Your Dreams

Hammering a Bent Nail

Happy New Year!

At this time of year, many people set goals and make resolutions.  The most common is to lose weight and get fit.  I'm always happy to see that people are interested in their health and especially happy to see people ready to attack the #1 unhealthy lifestyle in America: Obesity.

Many people started at the beginning of the new year with diets and exercise.  Both of these can be tough.  Often, fad diets are unsustainable.  I mean, you just can't eat cabbage or grapefruit at every meal (or AS every meal!).  Meal replacement shakes get old quick.  And then there's that crazy lemon juice and cayenne pepper diet...don't even get me started!

Cleanses and purification are good things, but they must be done sensibly and sustainably.  If you quit too soon or get too sick or weak to continue, you won't get the full benefit.  So, we will be discussing these topics in the coming weeks.

The other half of the equation is exercise.  Many people jump to the idea of running to lose weight.  The intensity of that exercise will certainly cause weight loss.  But, do you enjoy running?  Does it feel good to run?  Do you look forward to it?  Do you feel better afterward?  If you answered no to any of those questions for running or any other exercise, then you will probably find it very difficult to sustain it. You can probably find something more enjoyable that is equally beneficial.  We will look deeper into this as we go through this series.

For now, you need to make certain that your body is able to exercise without damage.  With any exercise, of course you should be certain that your heart is healthy enough to bear the stress without failure.  And for any high-impact exercise, you need to make certain that the joints of your body can take the stress.

For instance, if your spine is not straight, then when you exercise the additional forces will cause your spine to buckle.  It's just like hitting a bent nail with a hammer.  So, before you start an exercise regimen, have your spine checked.

At our clinic, we are offering a spinal exam and 30 minute medical massage for $30.  Call for an appointment.  This is one way that we can help you

Live Healthy, Stay Active, and Fulfill Your Dreams!