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!