Adversity Boot Camp

Everyone will face challenges and adversity at some point in their life, and although it is important to get through it, taking something beneficial from the situation, learning from it, and moving forward is what we should all strive to do. While reading different articles on the Internet, I came across an article that wrote about some of the adversity a new recruit faces during basic training. The article was written specifically about the different situations in basic training, but these situations provided great life lessons that can be applied to anyone in everyday/civilian life with a little modification.

1. If You Can’t Carry It, Wear It, or Shoot It, Leave It Behind
During basic training, the men were given an objective that required packing only necessary supplies. Some of the men complained about not being able to take equipment that they thought was necessary for a successful mission, but towards the end those same men were glad that they did not have the extra gear to carry, and the mission was completed successfully. They were quickly taught to be successful with only the necessary tools. In everyday life, this lesson may not mean literally carrying around extra gear, but having a cluttered life that gets in the way of your priorities. Is getting the newest gadget necessary for living a happy life? Taking on too many tasks can also make our life cluttered. When overloaded with things to do, prioritize the most important, time sensitive tasks to be done first. By prioritizing what needs to be done, you will be able to get done what needs to be done and can get to the less important tasks at a later time.

2. Run, Shoot, Communicate
Everyday, the men practiced three skills that their commanding officer felt was essential for every soldier to possess in order to be effective. First, they went through physical training because if all else failed, they could run to their mission. After they exercised, they went to the shooting range because in a real firefight using their weapons had to be like a reflex. Finally, they worked on different communication skills because the men needed to be in sync and could not have success with any miscommunication. The type of person you want to be can be simplified to a few essential characteristics that, when done successfully, lead you to success. First decide what those essential characteristics need to be and what skill they will require you to have. These skills need to be worked on and practiced everyday. If you want to be a successful spouse, parent, friend, etc., decide what will lead you to success as a couple and work on it. One important characteristic to start working on for success is to always do what you say you are going to do. This skill will benefit you personally and professionally.

3. Practice Mindfulness
One of the men explained that he was much less accurate while shooting when he was preoccupied with everything else he had going on. He noticed that when he was totally focused on the range, he was much more accurate and faster. Have you ever noticed that when you are thinking about everything you need to do for the day, that it is much easier to make careless mistakes with whatever you doing at that time? It is so important to stay focused on the task at hand, be present in the moment. How can you do your best at something when you aren’t focused on what you’re doing? No matter how small the task may be, do it with 100 percent effort and move on. When you’re at work, be totally focused on your job, when you’re at home, be totally focused on your family, and when you are doing something for yourself, be totally focused on that. Make solid lines that distinguish what you want your focus to be on in order to get the most out of ever moment.

4. Outranking Someone Doesn’t Equal Control of Them
During basic training, the men talked about different drill sergeants. Some of the men talked about how much they respected one of their drill sergeants and would love to go into battle with him, but hated that they had to listen to another sergeant because of how he treated them. Being the boss might mean that you outrank somebody at work, and they might have to listen to you, but it doesn’t mean that person respects you. When I think about this principle, the America Indian Proverb, “When we show our respect for other living things, they respond with respect for us,” comes to mind. When having a leadership role over others it is important to lead them in a way that they will want to do their best because you are all in it together.

Life is filled with challenges, relationship challenges, family challenges, professional challenges, etc., but the best things in life never come easy. We should always be striving to better our situations and ourselves.

Too Much Food, Not Enough Nutrients

When you think of somebody that is malnourished, chances are a starving child in a desolate third world country comes to mind. It can easily be assumed that because somebody is obese, they are getting more than enough nutrients, vitamins, and minerals. However, that is often not the case. Easy access to processed, calorie-dense yet nutrient-deficient foods has resulted in children gaining weight while missing vital nutrients in their diet.

For the first time, the number of people that are obese has surpassed the number of hungry, according to the International Federation of the Red Cross’ Word Disaster Report. Obesity now affects one in five children in the United States. Not only does the excess weight cause health problems, the nutrient deficiencies that are associated with poor food choices are contributing to sickness and disease as well. Diseases that were once associated with the elderly are now being diagnosed in children, diseases such as Type II diabetes, high blood pressure, atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries), high cholesterol, and arthritis. Obesity is a rapidly growing issue in the United States. According to the CDC, one third of adults and approximately 17 percent of all children and adolescents 2-19 years old are obese. No state has met the nation's Healthy People 2010 goal to lower obesity prevalence to 15%. We are a country of excess, but this excess consumption of processed foods is leaving us starving for nutrients and lacking in health.

We need to remember that food is fuel for our body. In order to keep our bodies working the way they were designed to, we need to be putting in more of the things it needs and less of the things it doesn’t need; more of the foods made by God and less of the foods made by man.

So what are you going to do, contribute to the problem or become part of the solution? Teaching our children healthy eating habits has to be a priority. Children learn their eating habits from their parents, whose parents learned their eating habits from their parents. If bad eating habits are being passed down, the cycle needs to be broken! We need to be good role models and provide healthy meal and snack options for our children.

Try taking small steps to change the way your family is eating. Small changes each day will add up to a lifetime of health and happiness. Make it a priority to work on Essential #3 with your family.

References:

http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/

Low vitamin D levels may contribute to development of Type 2 diabetes. The Endocrine Society (2011, December 5). ScienceDaily.

Health consequences of obesity in youth: childhood predictors of adult disease. Dietz WH. Pediatrics. 1998 Mar;101(3 Pt 2):518-25.

Obese Children and Adolescents: A Risk Group for Low Vitamin B12 Concentration Orit Pinhas-Hamiel, MD; Noa Doron-Panush, RD; et al. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2006;160:933-936.

Vitamin status in morbidly obese patients. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol. 87, No. 2, 362-369, February 2008

Blood vitamin and lipid levels in overweight and obese women. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition [1992, 46(11):803-8]

B vitamins, vitamin C and hematological measurements in overweight and ovese Thais in Bangkok. Journal of the Medical Association of Thailand. [2002, 85(1):17-25]

Can eating veggies make you look more beautiful?

We all eat well to provide the proper nutrients our body needs to function properly and exercise in order to provide oxygen to our tissues and increase our lean muscle mass right?? Not exactly. Vanity is unfortunately more of a motivating factor to people than achieving health. Most people eat well and exercise in order to lose weight and look better, not feel better. But even if health isn't the main goal of eating well and exercising, you should realize that looking good is a great side effect of being healthy!! A new study published in the Journal of Evolution and Human Behavior found that eating fruits, leafy greens and other vegetables gave people a healthy glow, better than suntan, due to the carotenoids present in the food. Scientists asked study participants to look at 51 different Caucasian faces and adjust the skin tones to the hues ranging from those typical of a day in the sun to the glow from a carotenoid-rich diet. "We found that, given the choice between skin color caused by suntan and skin color caused by carotenoids, people preferred the carotenoid skin color," Dr. Ian Stephen, the study's lead researcher, now of the School of Psychology, University of Nottingham, Malaysia Campus. So even if you don't eat well to build a stronger-immune system, take in cancer-fighting antioxidants and heart-healthy fiber, and allow your body to function at 100%, then maybe looking healthier is a good motivating factor to get you started on the road to achieving health.


From left: suntanned, neutral, with carotenoid coloring
According to the new study, the students found yellower faces more attractive and healthy looking. Want the glow? Try upping your intake of carrots, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, bell peppers, cantaloupe, spinach and kale.

The latest weight loss fad isn't going to make you look healthy nor will it achieve lasting results. Diet pills and calorie restrictive diets are unhealthy and don't work long term. In order to look your best, eating well and exercising regularly need to be a lifestyle change. Remember 3 easy rules to follow in regards to food, increase the amount of good fats in your diet while decreasing the bad fats, make sure the protein in your diet comes from grass fed/organic sources, and cut out the sugar by incorporating whole grains and reducing the amount of processed, refined foods. Here's the link to a great book which can guide you through these 3 rules:

Nutrition Book

Start Eating for Three

Have you ever heard the expression “Eating for two?” Immediately that expression makes most people think of a pregnant woman eating for herself and for her unborn child. So naturally, the expression eating for three would mean that the woman is carrying twins right?! Think again..

About a year ago, I heard the expression "eating for three" and it has always been something I try to keep in mind when I am about to cook dinner or order something from a restaurant. Eating for three means that you are eating for yourself, for your family, and for God. Eating for three is a simple idea that really makes a lot a sense if you think about it.

Eating for yourself is probably the most natural concept because, well, you should want to eat to be healthy, have more energy, and look good! Eating for your family is important because when YOU eat healthier you set a good example for your family. It is also a safe bet that eating healthier will give you a better quality of life and create more time for you to spend with family. Many times parents get so caught up in sacrificing everything for their children that they stop taking care of themselves. When you neglect your own health in order to take care of your children, you are actually doing them a disservice. If you are unhealthy and develop disease in your body, what will happen to your children, to your spouse? Will they be forced to watch you suffer through life, visit you in the hospital, or worst of all go through life without out you? Although you may have never thought about it in this way, being healthy and active is the most important thing you could do for your family. Take time to take care of yourself and in turn you will be doing something amazing for your family! Eating for God may seem a bit out there to you, or it might make total sense, I guess it just depends on where you are spiritually. I’m going to say that for the purposes of this post, you do believe that God created us. With that being said, our body is not for us to destroy or do whatever we want with. In fact, 1 Corinthians 3:16-17 says, “Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for God’s temple is sacred, and you together are that temple.” We have to understand that our bodies are just “on loan” during our time on Earth and we need to take care of what God gave us.

You need to eat every meal for yourself, for your family, and for God. You need to respect your body by making sure that the majority of food you eat is food that is natural, created by God. The further a food product is from its natural state, the more processed it is and the more unrecognizable it is by your body. Food is meant to provide energy and nutrients which keep your body healthy and active. Everything that goes in your mouth is processed and is either beneficial or destructive to your body. Think about this when trying to decide between taking the time for a home cooked meal or grabbing McDonalds on the way home! Always remember to eat for 3.

Setting and Achieving Goals

We first wanted to apologize for the enormous span since our last blog. We have been extremely busy over the past few months and finally got some time to post a new entry.

With New Year’s day being only two weeks ago, I’m sure keeping the New Year’s resolution hasn’t been extremely difficult. In fact, a recent statistic says that 63% of people keep their resolution for up to two months. However, 25% of people give up right around two weeks according to a recent survey. For some people a resolution might include getting a new promotion or finishing a 5k race, and it would be understandable for them to maybe “resolve” this issue earlier in the year. What about the people that want to really change their lives or health by eating better or exercising more. Those resolutions are not something that will be accomplished in a matter of months. They are goals that would hopefully last a lifetime!

So how do you keep those resolutions for changing your lifestyle. A few different articles that I found have some great tips to help ensure successfully reaching your goals. If you haven’t thought about something you would like to resolve this year, maybe these tips will give you inspiration towards a few ideas. :

Be realistic: This is an extremely important factor when trying to set goals for yourself. It might not be realistic to lose 120 pounds with a one year span. The most surefire way to fall short of your goal is to make one that is unattainable. It might be better to break large goals into several small goals.

Plan ahead: Creating a plan of actions is a great way to ensure success. If I decided to run a marathon three weeks prior to the race, I might not have the best results. A New Year’s resolution, or any goal, is the same way. Try to determine what you really want to accomplish in your life and create a plan for success.

Outline your plan: The plan for success does not have to be all positive. In fact, it is highly advised to decide how you will deal with failures along the way. Knowing what you will do when you don’t feel like working out or need to have one more cigarette is an important way to stay focused on your goals. If working through these issues means having a friend or family member to hold you accountable, do it. If it means doing daily affirmations and envisioning your life after you goal has been reached, do it.

Talk about it: Goals are not like wishes. In fact, the more people you tell about your goal, the more people you will have to lean on for support. Even if you can’t get support from everybody you talk about your goal with, your odds for support can only go up with a greater number of people. Also, the more you talk about it the harder it is to forget about.

Reward yourself: If your goal is to begin working out consistently or eating a health diet, this doesn't mean that you can miss an entire week at the gym or eat an entire bag of Oreos. Instead, reward your progress by treating yourself to something that you enjoy that does not contradict your resolution. For example, if you have been sticking to your plan to workout consistently, maybe plan a fun outdoor activity with friends for a future workout instead of making a trip to the gym.

Track your progress: Keep track of each small success you make toward reaching your larger goal. Short-term goals are easier to keep, and small accomplishments will help keep you motivated. Instead of focusing on losing an enormous amount of weight, focus on losing that first five. Keeping a food diary may help you stay on track.

Don't beat yourself up: If you have a donut one morning, don’t let it ruin the entire day. Many people will ruin an entire day of healthy eating because the messed up early on in the day. If you miss a workout during the week, forget about it and try not to miss any more that week. The University of Maryland Medical Center used the analogy of sailing to discuss this point. “You almost never go directly from point A to point B. You set a course and periodically take readings of your position then make adjustments as you go along.” Obsessing over the occasional slip won't help you achieve your goal. Do the best you can each day, and take each day one at a time.

Stick to it: Experts say it takes about 21 days for a new activity, such as exercising, to become a habit, and 6 months for it to become part of your personality. So for those people that give up after 2 weeks, their goal never really had a chance. It does take persistence, but your new healthful habits will become second-nature over time.

Keep trying: If by mid-February, you have completely given up on your resolution, don’t beat yourself up over it. Start over again, but go at it at a different angle! There's no reason you can't make a "New Year's resolution" any time of year.

Hopefully this year brings a lot of great success to everybody, but wishing and hoping for something to change in your life may not be the most reliable plan. Having a goal in mind that motivates you, creating a plan of action, and staying focused and positive are a much more plausible path toward success.

Resources:
University of Maryland Medical Center: New Year's Resolutions Medical Guide (April 18, 2007)
University of Maryland Medical Center: Expert Advice on Maintaining Resolutions (April 18, 2007)
Lifehacker: Ten commandments of goal-setting (December 28, 2005)
Psychology Today: The Goals That Guide Us (July 22, 2003)

Barefoot Running

The saying goes “If you want to run, all you need are a pair of shoes.” But what if you don’t even need the shoes, how about we change the saying to “If you want to run, all you need are a pair of feet!” Humans have evolved to run barefoot over the past 2 million years. When the terrain in Africa shifted from forest and woodlands to desert plains with low brush, many new food sources became available. How all of this affected the evolution of running is really interesting. Humans run at a speed that makes most animals they chase gallop. When a quadruped gallops they are unable to pant, forcing them to become overheated and exhausted in about 10-15 minutes. Although humans cannot run fast enough to catch the animal, they are able to maintain a speed that ensures the heat exhausted animal will be their next meal. So how did humans go from barefoot running to wearing shoes named “The Beast” (a motion control shoe with EXTREME support and cushioning)? Although there is a need for foot protection since barefoot running can be painful with gravel and broken glass to worry about, but why do we need all of the cushion? Modern running shoes are a fairly new concept, being about only 40 years old, but they have changed the landscape of running and the people who run. With all of the cushioning and support in modern running shoes, the human foot gets weak. This causes problems not only in the foot, but all of the lower extremities. Barefoot running can increase foot strength and a Harvard study reported that increasing foot strength by just 2% can decrease injury by 50%. The study also reported that injuries from landing on the heel while running are less likely to occur with barefoot running since there is a shift from running heal-to-toe to running on the balls of your feet. This increases efficiency because landing on your heel while running causes the forward motion of the leg comes to a standstill and the momentum must then be recreated (causing you to use more energy and run less efficiently). Shoe companies know this and are beginning to design shoes with more flexibility, less cushion and support, and more freedom. Nike has the “Free” and Vibram makes a wide variety of “Five Fingers.” If you have never tried running barefoot, I would suggest you give it a try. There is no investment needed to start, all you need are your two feet. Start slow by running a few laps around the back yard, it will take a little adjusting but the benefits of preventing injury and improving performance will pay off.

1. Practice proper form- You should aim to land to the ball of your foot and gently bring your heel down. The landing should feel springy without tightness or pain (these can indicate improper form.)
2. Alternate between sneakers and bare feet- You need to work yourself into barefoot running slowly, start by running 500 feet barefoot after your normal run with shoes on. Work your way up to a few sets of running 500 feet and gradually up to half-mile barefoot runs and more.
3. Choose your surfaces carefully- The ideal surface is a flat grass area free of rocks, such as a soccer or football field. You will eventually build up thicker skin on the balls of your feet and will be able to run on harder surfaces.
4. Consider minimalist shoes- The Nike "Free" or Vibram "5 Fingers" are a great way to work into barefoot running.
5. Try a barefoot walk- You can strengthen the muscles of the foot and ankle more when walking barefoot than walking with sneakers. When walking you do not need to worry about staying on the balls of your feet, a normal heel strike is suitable.

Harvard Study- Videos of Forefoot strike vs Heel strike

The Barefoot Professor

Our Deepest Fear- By Marianne Williamson

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We were all meant to shine, as children do. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

Mind Over Matter

We just talked about how the mind has been shown to be more powerful than morphine when we wrote about the placebo effect. The human mind is so powerful, yet most of us discount the power of positive thinking when we are in a tough situation.

I’m sure most everybody has heard the expression, “Mind over matter,” but how much do you really believe that expression. Mind over matter is the belief that the mind is more powerful than the body. Tony Robbins has even talked about through positive thinking, people can walk across a bed of hot coals. What if positive thinking could do more than just help a person overcome physical pain? What if positive, or negative, thinking could effect every aspect of your life?

There are many motivational speakers that believe that your mind does effect what happens in your life. In fact, the first universal law of attraction says, “Like attracts like.” Have you ever REALLY focused on something you truly wanted and not gotten it? If you focus on what you want on a daily basis, you can find a way to get it. I can honestly say that anything I have really wanted and focused on getting, I have gotten. I’m not talking about some fleeting thought that crossed my mind over the course of a day or two, but something that I was persistent with over weeks or months.

A vision board is a great way to help focus your thoughts on what you really want to achieve in your life. It can be clippings from a newspaper or magazine or pictures you find online, anything that is a physical representation of the goals you really want to achieve in your life. Your call to action this week is to create a visual representation of what you want in your life. While you are selecting objects, don’t try to create a plan for how you are going to get it, just focus on what you want to achieve. The how will eventually work itself out. A person I really look up to once said that you can go from Florida to California without seeing the entire path if you go a few feet at a time. Focus on what you want and if you are given an opportunity to take a few steps towards it your goal, take it. Anything can be achieved no matter how far away it may seem as long as its taken a few feet at a time.

Your Mind is More Powerful than Morphine

When health is discussed, most people immediately focus on physical well-being, but health is also a state of mental and social well-being; true health is only 1/3 physical. Even if we take amazing care of our bodies, true health can never be achieved unless we have a healthy mind.

The best way to convey the vast power of the mind is by explaining the power of the placebo. Henry Knowles Beecher, M.D., made a huge contribution to our knowledge of the human body when he discovered the placebo effect. Beecher began investigating the relationship between subjective psychological states and objective drug responses during World War II. Beecher was an anesthetist involved in treating wounded soldiers and during the height of the war morphine supplies ran out. In desperation, Beecher injected saline solution

into the wounded soldiers instead of morphine. When the soldiers were injected with the saline, they were told it was morphine and the pain would go away. To Beecher's surprise, shortly after the injection the soldiers reported that the “morphine” eased their pain. Beecher wrote about his findings, stating, “Three-quarters of badly wounded men, although they had received no morphine for hours...have so little pain that they do not want pain relief medication, even though...such is available for asking.” This vital discovery by Beecher lead him to write one of the most influential papers in medicine, The Powerful Placebo, leading to the prospective, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trials used as the standard of testing new medicines today.

Medical researchers are constantly frustrated with the fact that the drug or surgery they are testing often achieves the same results as a placebo (a fake drug or surgery). More emphasis is now being put on researching why placebos are so effective, yet the answer is simple. Your mind controls your body. Your mind is what controls the healing power in your body. Why is that a cut on our arm heals without us having to think about it, but we are told we cannot heal from an illness or disease without help? Many in our society rely heavily on medicine to "heal" the problems in their bodies and give little credit to the body's own ability to heal itself. When somebody spontaneously heals from a life-threatening disease or an illness without the use of medicine, doctors quickly credit the results as miracle, giving no credit to the body's ability fight the disease and heal itself. The fact is, we are born with an amazing healing power in our bodies, and when the body is functioning properly, it can innately heal itself. It is becoming more and more essential that the accountability of our health is shifted from "bad genetics" and a "pill for every ill" back to the individual. We need to learn when it is necessary to seek emergency medical care and when our bodies can handle it on their own. Everything you do to your body either takes away from health or adds to it; taking away life or adding to it. If we can accept that we are responsible for how well our body functions, we allow ourselves to live a life of true health, living up to our full potential and taking away the constant fear of sickness and disease. When we accept responsibility, we take back control and allow ourselves to live a life that is truly fulfilling.

References:

American Society of Anesthesiologists- http://www.asahq.org/Newsletters/1999/09_99/beecher0999.html

Mary Robinson Reynolds, M.S. http://www.makeadifference.com/publish/articles.php?c=0d14_PEC

The RAW Truth about Food:

The process of pasteurization was invented by Louis Pasteur to ensure that food was safe for everyone to eat. The problem with this process is that it doesn't just kill the bad bacteria, it also kills the good bacteria and enzymes and takes away vitamins and minerals. Eating some foods raw is actually a great way to ensure that you will get all of the vitamins, undamaged proteins, and unoxidated fats.

Raw food is simply uncooked (never heated about 188 degrees Fahrenheit), unprocessed (as few ingredients as possible), and organic (no preservatives or pesticides). There are several reasons why it is best to eat some foods raw. When a food is cooked over 188 degrees, the enzymes needed to digest your food are killed off, along with most of the vitamins and minerals. It also changes the pH of the food, making it more acidic, and denatures the proteins and oxidizes the fats. A good way to think about eating raw foods is when you pick a living vegetable or fruit it continues to ripen, but once it is cooked it starts to decay.

Incorporating a raw food diet is easy to do and the rewards can be amazing. Some of the benefits that occur when a diet is 75 percent raw include: more energy, requiring less sleep to feel refreshed, weight loss, less susceptibility to colds and the flu, decreased allergies, better functioning immune system, decreases symptoms of PMS, and increased sexual function.

There are many types of raw food diets that limit what you eat or force you to completely revamp your diet. For some people, something like that may be necessary, but for others the most important thing is finding a way to incorporate raw foods into your current diet so that it can become a long term change.

For recipes or ideas regarding raw foods you can check out these websites:
http://www.rawinten.com/
http://www.sustainabletable.org/
http://www.thebestofrawfood.com/

The Value of Health: The Value of Life

What is the value of health? Of your health? Of your life? Can you put a price on it? Why is it that we are not willing to invest in our health by preventative means, yet when faced with a crisis situation we are willing to shell out tens of thousands of dollars! Why is it that we never make time for our health?

Your value system dictates how you spend your time. The things you value the most are the things you make the most time for; the things you value the least are usually the things you never quite get around to. Although the majority of people say they value their health, those same people usually are the ones who say they don't have time to exercise or to eat right. Without your health NOTHING else matters. You can spend your life working hard to raise an amazing family, get that big promotion and build your dream home, but without your health none of that matters. If you are not able to enjoy the time with your family because your body is filled with disease, nor be around to watch your grandchildren grow, what did you work so hard for? Many parents tend to neglect their own health in order to give their children everything, but your children need you to take care of yourself. If you are unhealthy, how are you able to be there for your children or take care of them? If something were to happen to you, think of the burden they are left with.

It can sometimes be difficult to find examples of science and religion agreeing, but one very important issue that the two agree on is how long humans are supposed to live. Genesis 6:3 states, “My spirit will not remain in humans forever because they are flesh. They will live only 120 years.” In 2005, Harvard put out a special health report stating that the human body is designed to live 120 years in perfect health.

So what is “perfect health?” Perfect health is not having to take medications. Perfect health is when the body is functioning the way it is designed to. When we eliminate toxins, stay active, eat the right nutrients, and have the right frame of mind we allow our body to function the way it is designed to. Living the life you were created to live cannot be achieved following the average American lifestyle. How many people that you know in their 60's are healthy? (Meaning they are not on medication and are still physically active). According to way our body was designed, when we are 60 we are only supposed to be half way through our life.

Perfect health cannot be achieved by changing only one aspect of your life. It takes effort and dedication, but the rewards of feeling true health are certainly worth it. The people that achieve lasting health make lifestyle changes and do not look at their health as something that can be managed with a quick fix.

The Human Body- The Whole is Greater than the Sum of its Parts

Inductive Reasoning works by moving from specific observations to generalizations and theories, known as the bottom up approach. Beginning with observations and measurements, patterns are looked at to form hypotheses, which are then developed into conclusions or theories.

Deductive Reasoning works just the opposite, from the more general to the more specific, the above down approach. Beginning with a theory, deductive reasoning works to confirm that theory. Aristotle summarized the principle of holism with the saying, “The Whole is more than the sum of its parts.” This is true for the human body. If a person who is considered dead has all of the parts that make up a human being, why are they not alive? If you take someone who dies of heart failure and put a new heart in them, will they come back to life? Of course not, because the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. The complex system that makes up the human body cannot be explained by reducing it to it's fundamental parts. We cannot keep thinking that we are smarter than our own bodies. By taking medications which alter the chemistry of our bodies we are messing with a complicated system that after hundreds of years of studying we still haven't even begun to understand.

Although sickness and disease are common, they are not normal. Our body is meant to be in a state of health. Sickness and disease do not occur randomly, no one gets sick by accident. When imbalance is allowed to occur in your body, order turns to chaos and disease results.

Epidemiology, the science that studies outbreaks of disease, explains that the existence of disease depends on three factors: 1. the host (the person who is the target of the disease), 2. the agent (the cause of the disease), 3. the environment (where the host and agent come in contact). This explains why two people can come in contact with the same bacteria/virus and only one of them gets sick. The one who did not get sick had a stronger healing system, a stronger host resistance. Just because we come in contact with an agent of disease does not mean we will fall victim to it, and although we cannot always avoid exposure to a disease causing agent, we can build up our bodies' defense system so attacks will be less successful. If we shift the focus from studying bacteria/viruses, pharmaceuticals, and genetics, and instead focus on understanding how our bodies know how to defend and heal themselves, we will be much further along in learning how to prevent illness and heal disease.

Interval Training pt. 2

Hopefully after reading the first blog regarding interval training, some of you were inspired to try and incorporate HIIT into your workouts in some way, shape, or form. I know that without much information it can be difficult to implement new techniques into a workout, so here is a detailed explanation of the most common forms of HIIT workouts. 


- 30 Second HIIT - “The 30 Second HIIT workout is the ideal place to start with Interval training. If you are aiming at training above your lactate threshold you need to go fast enough to feel that the last few seconds feel almost impossible to keep running. Everything in your body should be burning.” - Elite Fitness During the 30 Second HIIT, the work period is only thirty seconds. If you are having a hard time getting to the point where you feel like your muscles are burning, you need to pick up the intensity and try to make it through the remainder of your sets.

Beginners: 6-8 sets 30 second intervals with 90 seconds rest total workout 15 minutes
Intermediate: 8-10 sets 30 second intervals with 60 seconds rest total workout 15 minutes. (If you are going all out and still having a hard time feeling a burn with 90 seconds rest, it is probably best to move into the intermediate range.)
Advanced: 10-12 sets 30 second intervals with 30 seconds rest total workout 15 minutes. (When the intermediate intervals become easier, it is most likely best to move into the advanced range.)

- 60 Second HIIT - “The 60 second intervals completely exhaust your muscles of their stored energy, this energy will take 24hr to 48 hrs to replenish. This HIIT training is superb for immediate fat burning and weight loss.” - Elite Fitness The difference between the 30 second HIIT and the 60 second HIIT is the length of time you have to work at a high level. It is best to begin the 60 second HIIT after a few weeks of 30 second HIIT.

Beginners: 6-8 sets 60 second intervals with 120 seconds rest total workout 22 minutes
Intermediate: 8-10 sets 60 second intervals with 90 seconds rest total workout 22 minutes. (If you are going all out and still having a hard time feeling a burn with 120 seconds rest, it is probably best to move into the intermediate range.)
Advanced: 10-12 sets 60 second intervals with 60 seconds rest total workout 22 minutes. (When the intermediate intervals become easier, it is most likely best to move into the advanced range.)

- Tabata Training - “Tabata interval training is the single most effective type of high intensity interval training, its also the most intense by far, and surprisingly its the shortest in duration, it only last for four minutes, but those four minutes produce remarkable effects.” - Dr. Izumi Tabata

Dr. Tabata came up with this technique of HIIT at the National Institute of Fitness and Sports in Tokyo. What he discovered is that the interval training burns more fat than aerobic training and builds as much muscular endurance as 45 minutes of normal cardio. The most important thing to remember is that Tabata training is EXTREMELY intense despite only lasting 4 minutes. It is very important to warm up before training with this method. If you are going to use weights, it is best to go lighter and be able to finish than going too heavy and ending up on the floor.

Tabata intervals are 20 seconds hard and 10 seconds rest for 8 sets.

Tabata intervals can be difficult to track, so it is best to do them with a partner or use a timer that is specifically made for Tabata training. You also want to focus specifically on larger muscle groups, you will see little results if you are focusing on smaller muscle groups. Finally, this type of training is not to be done every day. “If you can do this every day, you’re doing it wrong.” 


- Body For Life HIIT - “The Body for life HIIT Training routine comes from a workout made famous by Bill Phillips. The Body for life HIIT training routine has four sets of increasing intervals. Each of these intervals is 1 minute long. Each set is four minutes long.” - Elite Fitness

I had never heard of this type of training referred to as Body For Life HIIT, but I have done it several times in the gym and gotten a great workout from it. It starts at a level 6 (fast jog), after one minute you increase to level 7, after a minute you increase to level 8, and finally after a minute you increase to level 9. After a minute at level 9 you return back to level 6. The final set starts the same as the first 3, but your last interval is at a level 10. If you are doing this on a treadmill you can you the speeds to set your levels. Just remember to adjust the speed according to your ability and wear the safety lanyard in case you cannot keep up with the belt.

Hopefully, with this information you will be able to make your workout shorter and much more effective. I know that I am noticing far greater results in the gym with both strength and endurance after implementing HIIT into my workouts. The biggest benefit is no longer being in the gym for over an hour. Remember, it is very important to warm up before any of these workouts. Also keep in mind the other suggestions from the previous interval training blog.

Fever, coughs, and sniffles are GOOD for you!

So, you're not feeling well. You wake up with a stuffy nose, cough and fever. Not a great start to the day, but you take some medicine to clear your sinuses, suppress your cough and reduce your fever. Now you're feeling great. End of story... Wait, does that mean that your body was finished fighting the infection? Of course not. The symptoms meant that your body was fighting off the infection the way it is supposed to. Mucous is produced as a way to get rid of the dead bacteria/virus.. Coughing is your body's way of moving the infection out of your lungs. Fever is your body's way of heating itself up to kill off the infection (the same way we heat up food or water to kill off bacteria). So if you stopped these things from occurring before the infection was completely gone, how is your body supposed to fight off the infection? You removed your body's defense mechanisms and left it with no way to fight back.

Our culture has been taught to believe there is a "magic pill for every ill." Unfortunately with this type of thinking, people learn to seek chemical solutions to every problem in their life. Mother Nature is the best doctor around because the best doctor is the one who resists the compulsion to interfere with the body's efforts and ability to heal itself. You need to allow time for Mother Nature to work before exposing yourself to the side effects of the medication you take.

“Coughs, sniffles, sneezes, and fever are good for you. Coughing and sneezing clear the airways of harmful irritants and allergy-causing substances while fevers actually fight virus and bacteria. Our body raises its temperature on purpose. Robert Mendelson, M.D. stated, 'Unless there are additional symptoms such as extreme listlessness, abnormal behavior, and other indicators of serious disease such as meningitis, your doctor should tell you there is nothing to worry about and send you and your child home.' Diseases are shortened by letting a safe fever run its course. Taking fever-reducing drugs or cough suppressants can lead to pneumonia or more serious respiratory infections.” -Dr. William B. Greenough, Professor of medicine, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.

Treating symptoms ends up making a cold, the flu or any other sickness or disease worse. Symptoms are your body's attempt to heal itself. High blood pressure and high cholesterol are not diseases themselves, they are symptoms, your body's attempt to heal itself from another problem. You need to get to the root cause of the disease, not just treat the symptom. If you keep pulling a dandelion out by it's stem, it will continue to grow back until you remove the roots.

So what do you do? Remember, you are in charge of keeping your body well. You should feel empowered by how strong your body is and embrace symptoms as a way of knowing your body is doing what it's supposed to. By providing the proper nutrition to your body, minimizing your exposure to toxins, keeping your body moving, managing stress appropriately and making sure the nervous system is functioning properly will allow your body to respond the way it needs to.

Additional Information

Mechanism of a Fever:

When you contract an infection, your body responds by manufacturing more white blood cells (WBC) to destroy the bacteria and viruses and remove damaged tissue and unwanted materials from the body. When the activity of the WBC's is increased, they move more rapidly to the site of infection by the release of pyogens in the body, which are responsible for the rise in body temperature (fever). A rise in body temperature means the process of healing is speeding up and is something to be happy about. While reducing a fever may be more comfortable, you interrupt the body's natural healing process.

When Fevers are Truly Emergencies

If you are experiencing difficulty breathing, repetitive vomiting, loss of consciousness, twitching movements or you have a reason to believe the fever is the result of a cause other than infection (such as heatstroke or poisoning) you should be taken to the ER.

Maintaining Relationships

It’s really easy to start relationships with different people in different situations. However, as the individuals change, the real challenge is maintaining the relationship. Communication is really the foundation of any relationship, whether it is between husband and wife, mother and daughter, or two friends. As soon as communication begins to stop, the relationship is strained.

During a community talk, Erin asked, “Is it more important to win the argument or keep the relationship?” I think that is a very good question to ask when we find ourselves in an argument with somebody we have a relationship with. I know that I personally lose sight of the purpose of an argument sometimes, and forget that it is about understanding the other person’s perspective and not about being “right.”

Communicating with our family and friends is something that is very easy to take for granted. How many times have you been with family and not really said anything? Even worse, how many times have you let your bad day ruin time that is supposed to be spent enjoying your family or friends? What would you give to have five more minutes with a person you lost? I know that when I look at the time I have with family and friends as something I have to make the most of, it really puts everything into perspective.

Born Toxic?

A growing number of studies are finding hundreds of toxic chemicals in mothers' that end up in their babies' bodies when they are born. Ken Cook, president of the Environmental Working Group (EWG), said, "We've measured hundreds and hundreds of toxic chemicals in the blood of babies that are still in the womb. Flame retardants, the chemicals in consumer products like personal care products, makeup, shampoos. It's a very long list." The EWG found an average of 232 chemicals in the cord blood of 10 babies born late last year. These are chemicals found in common household products such as shampoos, conditioners, cosmetics, plastics, shower curtains, mattresses and electronics. "For 80 percent of the common chemicals in everyday use in this country we know almost nothing about whether or not they can damage the brains of children, the immune system, the reproductive system, and the other developing organs," said Phil Landrigan, a pediatrician and director of the Children's Environmental Health Center at Mount Sinai School of Medicine. A study recently published in the journal Pediatrics demonstrates an association between the chemicals in babies' cord blood, and later problems on IQ tests and development. "Fifteen percent of children [in our study] have at least one developmental problem," said Perera, one of the authors on the study. The amount of chemicals measured in the cord blood of the babies seems to matter. The higher the concentration, the more the IQ among children seems to dip. The study is being conducted among pregnant women in Poland and China, and finding similar results.

Tests of cord blood show newborns have already been exposed to more than 200 potentially hazardous chemicals in the womb. Here is a list of those types of chemicals.

• Bisphenol A- An ingredient in plastic bottles and epoxy resins and can be found in thousands of products including water bottles, baby bottles, food can linings, dental sealants. Causes problems with reproductive development, behavioral problems, obesity, diabetes and cancer.
• Perfluorochemicals- Found in the non-stick coatings of cookware. Also used for grease and stain protection for carpets and furniture. Exposure is linked to low birth weight, and possibly cancer.
• PBDEs (Polybrominated diphenyl ethers)- Used as flame retardants in televisions and electronics, as well as in older furniture foams and mattresses. May affect cognitive abilities and behavior when it contaminates house dust.
• PCBs (Polychlorinated biphenyls)- Although they have been banned since 1976, the chemical can leach out of landfills and eventually get into the food supply. Exposure is liked to cancer, behavioral problems, damage to the nervous system, immune system and chemical signaling system.
• Dioxins (chlorinated dioxins and ethylmercury)- Originate from emission from power plants and other industries. Dioxins can cause cancer and mercury can damage the nervous system development and stunt intellect.
• Methymercury- Found in contaminated fish and seafood. It is linked to cancer and lower motor function, attention and verbal skills in children.

Although exposure to toxins is unavoidable, the best thing you can do is limit your exposure.

• Use natural cleaning products and skin care products to limit the amount of toxins in your home.
• Use water filters for your drinking water and shower.
• Use glass cookware and stainless steel instead of non-stick. Do not reheat your food in plastic containers.
• Make sure the seafood you buy is wild and not farm-raised.
• If you cannot buy all organic products, the most important is to buy your meats and dairy products organic.
• Avoid processed food as much possible. Remember, processed food is just that, PROCESSED. Chemicals are used to preserve the food and give it a longer shelf-life.

Here are some helpful links to get you started:

Natural Household Cleansers for Everyday Chores

Baking Soda for household use

Water Filters

Violet Essentials

Wild Seafood and Organics

Info from: http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/06/01/backpack.cord.blood/index.html

Interval Training pt.1

Working in different gyms as a personal trainer has exposed me to many different approaches to working out. In terms of increasing strength and burning fat, high Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) is vastly superior to other forms of exercise. It is extremely effective at burning calories because the heart rate is increased to a level optimal for fat utilization (burning fat!). Also, when you are in a resting period during the workout, the heart is given a chance to decrease its beats per minute (BPM). Increasing and decreasing your BPM makes the heart much more effective at pumping more oxygen per beat (VO2 max). One of the greatest benefits of interval training is that it makes your body burn calories for hours after your workout. HIIT is sometimes referred to as Surge or Burst Training and involves both cardio exercises as well as exercises with weights. Although HIIT is an approach to working out that has been around for a while, has not really caught on. Spending an hour walking on a treadmill is certainly better than doing nothing at all, but in terms of exercise, it definitely wastes a lot of valuable time. The most important distinction between HIIT and other forms of interval training is the amount of time needed for a workout. Excluding warmups and cool downs, HIIT lasts no longer than 20 minutes.

Some key points to make HIIT as effective as possible:

• Keep it under 20 minutes - 20 minutes may not seem like a long enough time to get an effective workout in, but keep in mind that “the goal of HIIT is to keep an anaerobic state (without oxygen) for a long cumulative time.” During a 20 minute workout an average person would spend maybe 10 to 12 minutes at a hard pace, beginners would start at about 6 to 9 minutes and work their way up.
• Know how hard you need to be working - During your sprint stages you should be working at a level 10 out of 10, beginners would want to start at about an 8 and work their way up to 10. During your rest stages you will want to drop down to around a 3. To get an idea of what each number would be think of it as 1 is pretty much standing still, 5 is a light jog and 10’s running as if a lion was chasing you for dinner.
• Use major muscle groups - When doing HIIT, it is best to use larger muscle groups because the workout aims "to tap the energy sources found inside the muscle. The larger the muscle group being exercised, the more the benefit.” Muscle groups from largest to smallest are legs, back, core, chest, and arms.
• Do HIIT every second day - It is important to allow your muscles to recover after a HIIT workout. Remember, your are working your muscles as hard as they can go for an extended amount of time. If your muscles are not given the opportunity to replenish all of the energy they lost, your next workout will be ineffective.
• Remember to eat right - For a long time, it was thought that the most effective way to burn fat was to do HIIT on an empty stomach, but research has shown that those assumptions are totally incorrect. It is best to eat something light and easily digestible 30 minutes before training. I like a protein shake or a piece of grilled chicken.
• Warm up - Warming up is extremely important when training. I cannot stress this enough. Imagine grabbing a rubber band that has been sitting in the freezer for a few hours. What would happen if you stretched the rubber band to its limits. SNAP! Now imagine what would happen if you stretched the rubber band lightly for a few minutes before going to its limits. Your muscles are the just like that rubber band. If you do not give them enough time to warm up they too can snap. Also, save stretching for when your workout is finished. Stretching when you’re cold will only lead to pulling a muscle.
• Cool down - When I was younger, I never really understood the importance of a good cool down. It wasn’t until after a track practice my junior year of high school that I realized how valuable it was. We were doing 800 meter interval sprints with 400 meter rests. After we finished I just sat down without stretching. When I got up, my legs were like bags of cement and because my heart rate dropped too fast, I got sick. A cool down only takes 5 minutes and it will really help decrease soreness.
• Alternate interval routines - Like all types of workouts, the routine needs to be changed after 6 to 8 weeks. There are several types of HIIT programs and changing them up will keep the muscles guessing and achieve greater results. The routines include 30 second intervals, 60 second intervals, tabata training, and Body for Life HIIT. These routines will be discussed in depth in future blogs.

References:

1. http://www.intervaltraining.net/Interval_training_for_beginners.html
2. http://www.intervaltraining.net/highintensityintervaltraining.html

The Most Unhealthy Foods in Your Supermarket

1. Margarine- The process to make margarine yellow and spreadable makes this food incredibly unhealthy. Margarine is the ultimate source of trans fat, which is known to elevate cholesterol and damage blood vessel walls. By using loopholes, companies are able to claim margarine is ‘virtually’ trans fat free. To read more about the process of making margarine and the truth about trans fats, click the following links: How is margarine made? and The truth about trans fats
2. Breakfast Cereals- Although your kids love the sugary goodness, “McDonalds actually makes a more nutritious breakfast than cornflakes,” according to Peter Dingle, a Western Australian Toxicologist. Peter is also the author of My Dog Eats Better than Your Kids and The DEAL for Happier, Healthier, and Smarter Kids. Choice Magazine looked at the top 10 selling children’s breakfast cereals and concluded that they were so high in sugar and lacking nutrients that you may as well have a candy bar for breakfast, and I’m sure your kids would love that! The process to make the highly processed grains in cereal is called extrusion. This process damages the nutrients and proteins in the grain leaving it devoid of nutrients, highly toxic and not much more than empty calories. To read more about the dangers of the extrusion process follow this link: Dirty Secrets of the Food Processing Industry
3. Refined Vegetable Oils- These oils are rich in omega-6 fatty acids. Diets high in omega-6 polyunsaturated vegetable oils have been linked to an increased risk of cancer, melanoma, learning disorders, allergies, immune suppression, heart disease, atherosclerosis (plaque in your arteries), and reproductive problems. Instead use oils high in omega 3 fatty acids, such as coconut oil, olive oil and good old fashioned butter.
4. Doughnuts- Yes they taste amazing, but is it worth the heart disease, obesity and diabetes they cause? According to Carla Wolper, Nutritionist at the New York Obesity Research Centre, “When it comes to health, the only thing good about them is the hole.”
5. Soda- The easiest way to stop yourself and your family from drinking it, stop buying it. The average can of soda contains about 10 teaspoons of sugar as well as artificial food coloring and sulphites, well known triggers of asthma and allergies. Diet sodas, which use artificial sweeteners such as aspartame, are excitotoxins to the brain and nervous system and are linked to an increased risk of obesity. Soda impairs calcification of growing bones. Soda shouldn't even be given to children as a treat, would you let your child eat 10 teaspoons of sugar as a treat?
6. Aspartame (NutraSweet or Equal)- Aspartame is broken down in the body into a well known toxin, methanol (wood alcohol). Methanol is then converted into formaldehyde, which is a neurotoxin that causes damage to the nervous system. Methanol has been shown to cause visual problems and problems with DNA replication (which can cause cancer and birth defects). Some of the toxic reactions caused by Aspartame and acknowledged by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) include: ADHD, anxiety attacks, asthma, birth defects, blood sugar problems, chronic cough, depression, headaches and migraines, heart palpitations, hearing loss, insomnia, numbness or tingling of arms and legs, seizures, vertigo, vision loss, weight gain. It can also mimic or worsen the following diseases: fibromyalgia, multiple sclerosis, lupus, diabetes, chronic fatigue syndrome, chemical sensitivity, and epilepsy. To read more on the toxic effects of aspartame click the following link: http://www.holisticmed.com/aspartame/
7. Soy Protein- If you want to include soy in your diet, use the whole bean or foods made from the whole bean. According to an article from Savvy Vegetarian, if you’re currently using textured vegetable proteins (TVP), found in most vegetarian products, you may want to find an alternative. The world’s biggest manufacturer of TVP is the world’s second largest chemical company, DuPont. Most of the soy in our country comes from genetically modified soy beans (genetically modified to make them resistant to the pesticides sprayed on them). Please read the research on Why You Should Avoid Soy
8. Potato Chips- The oil that chips are cooked in is heated to extremely high temperatures, forming all sorts of toxic compounds. To make matters worse, the oil is filtered and reused again and again. Some of the toxic compounds produced include carcinogens (cancer producing chemicals) such as acrylamide and toxic fat molecules far worse than trans fats. Some brands of potato chips tested had levels of cancer causing acrylamide 500x more than the safe limit set by the World Health Organization for acrylamide in drinking water. After the chips are cooked, they are loaded with flavor enhancers such as MSG, stabilizers, preservatives and colorings.
9. Fructose and sucrose- Every has heard of High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS). According to Dr. Robert Lustig, Professor of Pediatric Endocrinology at the University of California, research over the last 10 years has shown that fructose is NOT a healthy alternative to glucose. Dr. Lustig stated, “We’re being poisoned to death by fructose.” He describes fructose as behaving more like an alcohol and fat rather than sugar, “just like alcohol without the buzz.” A high fructose diet can cause liver damage, weight gain, elevated uric acid (gout), high blood pressure, and unhealthy cholesterol levels. Our consumption of fructose has increased from 250g/year in 1970 to 250kg/year in 2003. Wonder why obesity is on the rise? Choose a piece of fruit over a glass of fruit juice and check the labels of food you buy. You’ll be surprised how many items have HFCS in them.
10. Fat Free and Diet Foods- A diet too low in fat leaves you feeling depressed and battling food cravings, which both do not aid in weigh loss. Fat makes food taste good, so when they remove fat from foods, they have to load them up with sugar, salt, MSG and other artificial sweeteners to make them taste better. Avoid processed, boxed foods more than fat. You’ll be surprised how much easier weight loss is when cravings are reduced.

Remember, you don’t have to completely deprive yourself of everything on the list. Just cut them out as much as possible. You can enjoy a few “vacation meals” each week when the majority of your meals are healthy.

References:

1. http://goodhealthnaturally.nourished.com.au/the-most-unhealthy-foods-in-your-supermarket-part-1/
2. http://goodhealthnaturally.nourished.com.au/the-most-unhealthy-foods-in-your-supermarket-part-2/
3. Escrich E, et al. 2006. Are the olive oil and other dietary lipids related to cancer? Experimental evidence. Clinical and Translational Oncology.
4. Peskin BS, Carter MJ. 2008. Chronic cellular hypoxia as the prime cause of cancer: what is the de-oxygenating role of adulterated and improper ratios of polyunsaturated fatty acids when incorporated into cell membranes? Medical Hypothises.
5. Vinceti M et al. 2005. A population-based case-control study of diet and melanoma risk in northern Italy. Public Health and Nutrition.

'Dirty dozen' and 'Clean 15'

If you're eating non-organic lettuce, you may be ingesting 67 pesticides, according to a new report from theEnvironmental Work Group (EWG). The fruit and vegetables termed the "Dirty Dozen," contain 47 to 67 pesticides per serving. Amy Rosenthal from EWG said, "The list is based on pesticide tests conducted after the produce was washed with USDA high-power pressure water system. The numbers reflect the closest thing to what consumers are buying at the store." Although the President's Cancer Panel recently recommended that consumers eat produce without pesticides to reduce their risk of getting cancer and other diseases, the low levels of pesticides found on even the Dirty Dozen are government-approved amounts. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) condones the use of pesticides with 'reasonable certainty of no harm,' but studies show associations between pesticides and health problems such as caner, attention-deficit disorder (ADD), nervous system disorders and a weakened immune system. Children's growing brains are the most vulnerable to pesticides in food. "A kid's brain goes through extraordinary development, and if pesticides get into the brain, it can cause damage," said Dr. Philip Landrigan, department of preventive medicine at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York. "We've found that washing doesn't do much. Peeling can help, although you have to take into account that the pesticides are in the water, so they can be inside the fruit because of the soil," said Rosenthal. If you are on a budget and cannot afford to buy everything organic, just focus on buying the "dirty dozen" organic and the rest of your produce non-organic. "You can reduce your exposure to pesticides by up to 80 percent by buying the organic version of the Dirty Dozen," Rosenthal said.

The Dirty Dozen (High pesticide levels, should buy organic)
Celery
Peaches
Strawberries
Apples
Domestic blueberries
Nectarines
Sweet bell peppers
Spinach, kale and collard greens
Cherries
Potatoes
Imported grapes
Lettuce

The Clean 15 (Low pesticide levels, ok to buy non-organic)
Onions
Avocados
Sweet corn
Pineapples
Mango
Sweet peas
Asparagus
Kiwi fruit
Cabbage
Eggplant
Cantaloupe
Watermelon
Grapefruit
Sweet potatoes
Sweet onions

http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/06/01/dirty.dozen.produce.pesticide/index.html

The remaking of an unhealthy life

Being constantly sick, feeling completely vulnerable and helpless in your own body is no way to live life. It is awful to be one of those people who is always sick, to be in a room with one person who has a cold and knowing you will end up with that cold. Struggling with recurrent colds, strep infections, bronchitis, sinus infections, the flu, asthma, allergies, thinking you are just destined for a life of sickness. But what if you could take control of your health? What if you were responsible for the unhealthy state of your body? Would you do something about it? Could you open up your eyes to a completely new concept, that health comes from within? Your body has the amazing ability to heal itself, we are meant to be healthy, not sick and diseased. Unfortunately, most of the time we are doing everything against what our body is trying to accomplish. But if we learn how to eat right, exercise, manage stress, minimize exposure to toxins, and remove interference to the nervous system, we allow our bodies to function the way they are designed to. We shift to living a lifestyle of health, being proactive instead of reactive when sickness develops. Wouldn't it be nice to not have to take any medication, to know that your immune system is strong and you are in control of your health. It is empowering and makes life more enjoyable to not have to worry about state of your body. It allows you to be more focused, more energetic, and more alive than ever before. My passion is to help others begin their transformation to achieve a life of abundant health, because I was that person who was always sick. I was that person constantly on medication, helpless, feeling destined for a life of sickness and disease. That is until I took control of my health, I took responsibility for the unhealthy state of my body and now am on the road to health instead of the one leading to sickness and disease. I hope you will choose the road to health, and I hope to help you along your journey.