5 WAYS TO IMPROVE YOUR HEALTH AND MINE IN 2015 (ISSUE 161) JANUARY 13, 2015

By Diane Gold

5 Ways To Improve Your Health And Mine will pick areas that are commonly important to us all. How can we go wrong with these options? Feeling healthy makes us feel happier, be more self-sufficient, be stronger on a daily basis, build our body’s foundation and position ourselves for a longer life. So, let’s consider whatever of these ways makes sense and add one to our lives for the new year.

1) BREATHING

 Obviously, we are involved in breathing all day. The body regulates this action automatically, if we don’t. But we can pay deliberate attention to it for extra health. When we slow down and pay attention to the air that goes in and the air that comes out, we build up life energy, almost as if we are storing valuables in a vault. Not much time is needed here, either. Just consistency.

ACTION STEP – EXERCISE (1)

For, at least, one moment during each day, for a minimum of a week, but, hopefully, for each day to follow yesterday ; agree to take a moment out of each day. This can be a 5 second interval up to 60 seconds, sitting or standing. It’s best to be alone, in silence, with minimal smells around, with no artificial light.

Close the eyes and watch the air as you breathe in through the nose.
Keeping the eyes closed, watch the air as you breathe out through the nose.

That’s it. The valuables you will be storing will make you strong of will, strong of body, strong of mind. The longer number of days you continue to do this action, the better it is for a balanced and increasing quality of life.

2) WATER

Water is crucial. The more fruits and veggies we eat, the more water we have to drink as water. As long as we keep our body’s water balanced, 65% of our body mass, we will be in good shape. The body has water inside our cells, called intracellular fluid. It also has water outside the cells, extracellular fluid, such as water in blood, spine, stomach, both of which have to be kept balanced. Food and salt intake concentrate the “out of cell” fluid while less dilute it.

Drinking more isn’t the answer. Drinking well is.

ACTION STEP – EXERCISE (2)

Drink one extra glass of water a day. But, for this glass, let’s focus our attention on the water as it travels down from the mouth to the stomach, rather than mindlessly gulping it. At least, one time a day, we will drink slowly and thoughtfully, for health.

3) STRETCHING

The great news about stretching is that we can do it almost anywhere. We have joints that move while we are stationary, so we can think of a body part and begin to move it. Moving it brings heat, blood with life-sustaining oxygen, and flexibility. We do not need any special exercise.

ACTION STEP – EXERCISE (3)

All we have to do is to move a joint, the head, the hands, feet, limbs, butt, belly button as far as possible in any one direction and then the opposite of that. An example of this would be pointing the toe downward and then flexing it or bringing the elbows as high as possible in front of the body and then as high as possible behind the body. Every movement requires care and focused attention on the body part of choice.

4) SUPERFOODS

In the past several decades, in the United States, there has been talk about superfoods. The word, superfoods, has been so overused by the nutritional supplement industry that it’s hard to know what’s marketing and what’s science.

My definition of superfoods is those plant-based foods that single-handedly have a huge supply of one or more nutrients and/or phytonutrients.

All of these substances have been used by indigenous people for nutrition and healing, such as maca (for the immune system and vital energy), cacao (for mood stabilizing and bones), spirulina (for vast nutrition), goji berries (for protein and high in anti-oxidants), and, recently, the mainstream media has caught on.

ACTION STEP – EXERCISE (4)

Add one serving of one superfood on a daily basis for one month or to follow from yesterday. I became fascinated with these foods as my energy soared. Maybe you will, too.

5) PRE-SLEEP THOUGHTS

Whether we sleep alone or together, taking a short moment to put a smile into ourselves before we fall asleep will cause relaxed mind and muscles and make for good dreams and restful sleep.

ACTION STEP – EXERCISE (5)

Before getting into bed, or, if you were there already, before deciding to go to sleep, decide to take a moment of time to think about happy sleep, putting worries aside, any heated arguments aside. This moment can take as little as 15 seconds. This is enough.

CONCLUSION

Improving your health takes a moment. Improving my health takes that same moment. I am ready. Are you? I look at it this way: every effort on behalf of our health gives us an extra day or week or month to create, learn or just sit. We have that extra moment that it would take to do any of these 5 exercises. They can only help.

Let’s be proactive to improve your health and mine in 2015, starting now.

If you wish to share your story, please hit reply in your email program to be contacted.

If you need habit help, go to warriorsofweight consulting.

FEEDBACK

We value your feedback very much.

Please leave a comment below.

Please LIKE us on the website and at

WarriorsOfWeight on Facebook.

You can also follow us on
Twitter @warriorsoweight.

Thanks.

DIANE GOLD, PUBLISHER AND AUTHOR

Diane Gold, Founder of Warriors of Weight, Turning Habits Into Health, is a mentor in tai chi, kung fu and meditation, a music, fitness and stress expert, dedicated mom, studying plant-based nutrition in certificate course, peaceful conflict resolution and habit replacement.

She is grateful to be able to write and spread the word about so many great topics. She says,

“We have great opportunity to care for ourselves. Small efforts on our part make a huge difference in our lives if done consistently. Let us consider one small move on behalf of what our parents would want for us, and take one step to improve our health.

“This step takes good care of us, and we are so worth it!”

THE AIRPLANE WORKOUT IS HERE: STOP IN-FLIGHT CLOTS (ISSUE 158) DECEMBER 16, 2014

By Diane Gold

The Airplane Workout, just in time for the holidays, can stop in-flight clots. With almost no effort on an airplane flight, we can do the simplest and most effective thing to protect ourselves from getting a blood clot while we’re on a plane.

Did you know that you could get blood clots from flying – and they are often invisible and come without warning?

As a matter of fact, according to the World Health Organization’s Research 1 in 6,000 healthy travelers will have a life threatening blood clot on a flight over 4 hours long as clotting enzymes increase. Frequent travelers are at much greater risk.

There are 815 million U.S. travelers per year (rita.dot.gov), meaning 135,000 are subject to clotting in flight . According to hopkinsmedicine.org, 3% end up with a pulmonary embolism that ends up in death. That’s 4,000 people per year in the U.S. alone who could die from a clot that originated on an airplane.

With similar statistics worldwide, this number would triple to about 12,000 people a year!

Furthermore, hopkinsmedicine.org says that people who suffer from obesity, use contraceptives, are extreme in height and have thrombotic blood (which points to those with clotting problems to begin with) multiply the calculation of risk. These added risks have been repeatedly corroborated in other research.

OUR EASY AND FUN LIFESAVING WORKOUT

But here’s the good news . . .

We can prevent this silent and deadly killer in its tracks just by doing certain exercise activities on the plane. We can significantly reduce chances a blood clot might happen to us.

Would deterring a possible life-threatening embolism be a good reason to do a workout when we fly?

ABSOLUTELY!

Now, if I’m thinking – I can just get up and walk to the back of the plane. Well the truth is, sometimes we can’t, with the food and drink service, and, other times, turbulence may have taken over and the pilot specifically asks us to remain seated.

ACTION STEP – DO A SAMPLE EXERCISE FROM THE AIRPLANE WORKOUT

That’s why, today, I want to share a fun and easy exercise you can start doing immediately. You will see that it moves a large portion of your body while you are seated.

1) Sit with your back straight and shoulders forward of the hips with space between the chair back and where you place your personal seat.

2) Place relaxed elbows against rib cage with palms on the thighs.

3) Place feet flat on ground, shoulder width apart.

4) Relax the shoulders and lower the chin.

5) Simultaneously, place left and right feet together, and lift the toes.

6) Then come through the flat foot and lift the heels.

7) Then come through the flat foot, and repeat the sequence 29 times, ending with the feet flat.

8) Keep the shoulders forward of the hips with elbows on the rib cage.

9) Relax, and say,

“Ah.”

This exercise will get you started, whether at home or in-flight.

This is just one of the simple exercises you can do on a plane. As a matter of fact, I created The Airplane Workout as an entire “workout” plan.

GET IT HERE, NOW!

OTHER BENEFITS

The other amazingly valid reason to do a workout on an airplane is to give us the energy and creativity we need to rock any business presentation, social event, family adventure at our destination.

PERCEPTION

Let’s talk about how we perceive the flight itself. Most of us figure we can get some rest, listen to music, engage in friendly talk with our neighbor, or do some business with no interruption. We could also dedicate our time to eating genetically modified peanuts, full of the worst kind of salt, as we progress along on our journey.

We don’t give much time to the idea that we, an integrated set of body/mind systems, have the ability to become more relaxed, more productive, more creative, more energetic, and more spiritually stable if we took the time to cultivate ourselves. And movement is the healthiest method to get us there.

WHY THE AIRPLANE WORKOUT IS PERFECT

When we think about it, airplane time is the perfect arena for tuning up on fitness. There isn’t the distraction of other gym goers with whom to compare or socially pursue. There isn’t a lot of space to divert our attention. We can’t leave. And we don’t need any equipment.

I use The Airplane Workout for inflight work. I know I need a set of exercises using multiple body parts and body alignment that will cater to an airplane. I want to be able to feel the body working from the very first exercise so that I know I’m making an effort to keep the blood coursing through my veins as best I can.

My workout offers a simple, concise, organized and fun way for us to systematically reduce the chances of our being victims of deep vein thrombosis (DVT).

Now that we know why it’s important to move, move, move inflight; all we have to do is do it.

Not only will we feel great from moving, but doing it with proper body alignment will reinforce correct posture for every other gym or fitness exercise we ever do. And being in a very small location, the airplane seat gives us the advantage of concentrating on this alignment. It will save our back from much of the pain we hear about from workout accidents. It will maximize any exercise we do in all our other workouts and sports activities as well as when standing, walking and sitting.

The inflight airplane workout idea offers a safe way to secure health and vibrant energy. The airplane is a natural place to work out to avoid those killer clots.

It also maximizes our time to the fullest and helps our creativity flow!

So have fun with the idea and get that advantageous edge!

ACTION STEP:
DON’T JUST SIT THERE: GET THE AIRPLANE WORKOUT.

The only workout specially developed for airline travel, this training gives you the finest workout for your airplane seat (or any seated space):

GET THE AIRPLANE WORKOUT!

This ebook, which you can get in minutes, includes easy directions and photos, designed specifically for the confined space of an airplane. Click the image of the book, or go to the access link below.

Moving the body increases blood flow, enhances respiration, works the abdominal muscles, and deters clots. So get moving today. Go get The Airplane Workout with one click:

ACCESS THE BOOK NOW!

P.S. You can use this workout even if you are not flying! You can do these exercises in the office, at your desk or in your favorite pajamas at home.

DON’T JUST SIT THERE! Get access to The Airplane Workout today.

If you wish to share your story, please hit reply in your email program to be contacted.

If you need habit help, go to http://warriorsofweight.com/warriorsofweight-consulting.

FEEDBACK

We value your feedback very much.

Please leave a comment below.

Please LIKE us on the website and at

WarriorsOfWeight on Facebook.

You can also follow us on Twitter: @warriorsoweight.

Thanks.

DIANE GOLD, PUBLISHER AND AUTHOR

Diane Gold, Founder of Warriors of Weight, Turning Habits Into Health, is a mentor in tai chi, kung fu and meditation, a music, fitness and stress expert, dedicated mom, studying plant-based nutrition, peaceful conflict resolution and habit replacement.

She is an expert at efficient and and no-stress body movement. She says,

“The airplane ride is a tremendous opportunity to move our organs around. Get The Airplane Workout to see how. Take every chance to make every minute count. If a tiny bit of movement can prevent a blood clot, can you spare the time?

You can. And, go ahead. Make my day. Get the book as part of taking good care of ourselves because, as we know, we are so worth it!”

9 WAYS CACAO CAN IMPROVE OUR HEALTH (ISSUE 145) SEPTEMBER 9, 2014

By Diane Gold

Cacao can improve your health in, oh, so many ways. Because of its positive effects, it has been used as a drink since between 1100 and 1400 B.C.E., according to a pottery residue discovery at Puerto Escondido in Honduras, written up in Fall, 2001, by Cornell U. Anthropologist John S. Henderson and UC-Berkeley Professor, Rosemary A. Joyce,
both of whom were at the ground breaking (pun intended) excavation of the pottery.

It’s also been cited by U. Penn Museum’s Patrick McGovern as an alcohol infused drink in Latin America whose residue his lab was able to detect repeatedly from ancient vats.

1)   AS A MOOD STABILIZER

Cacao stimulates the release of several neurotransmitters. It stimulates the release of serotonin which gives us a sense of well-being. It stimulates release of endorphins which make us feel high and happy. It also releases phenylethylamine and anandamide which are known to promote happy mood.

2)   HIGH IN MAGNESIUM

Magnesium balances brain chemistry, builds strong bones and helps normalize heartbeat and blood pressure. According to the nutritional facts of Sunfood’s cacao powder product, which I use every day, 1 tablespoon of certified organic cacao powder has 17.5% of our daily  magnesium recommended intake (17.5% would be 56 mg for an adult older woman, which only fluctuates a little for younger adult women and is about 25% higher for men).
The single tablespoon is half the recommended amount. So, even with that, cacao has highest magnesium.

3)   HIGH IN SULFUR

Nails and hair grow strong with sulfur. Cacao is rich in this substance. Sulfur is also good for liver detox and happy pancreas.

4)   HIGH IN COPPER

The cacao powder that goes into my smoothie is about 25% of my daily copper intake.

GET ORGANIC CACAO NOW!

Now that you know some of the benefits of this amazing super food, make sure that you go get some for you. Then we can really share the cacao powder experience together.

GO NOW!

5)   HIGH IN MANGANESE

The cacao powder that goes into my smoothie daily is about 25% of my daily copper intake.

6)   HIGH IN POTASSIUM, ZINC, IRON, SELENIUM

Little old cacao is chock full of potassium, zinc, iron and selenium, too. It even has some calcium.

7)   AS AN ANTIOXIDANT

Cacao is a powerful antioxidant, a substance that slows oxidation and prevents oxygen from ravaging our cells.

There is a 2010 ORAC (oxygen radical absorbance capacity) from the US Department of Agriculture, 2010. Unfortunately, the USDA has pulled their list because of abuse by marketers attempting to sell products by falsifying ORAC scores and for, what they say, is lack of concrete in vivo (in our body as opposed to in vitro (test tubes) evidence of effectiveness.

In the USDA 2010 list is cacao powder, listed as cocoa, unsweetened at 80,933. In the same list is blueberry juice at 2906. (I also saw an outside statistic of cacao’s ORAC score, in powder form, as 95,500 per 100g compared to that of blueberries, 2,400, as tested by Brunswick Labs in Southborough, Massachusetts.)

We have helped cancer patients and the many with some type of inflammatory disease by using the list and the ORAC score, so I will keep using it as a reference.

8)   HEART HEALTHY FROM GOOD FAT

We know that not all fats are bad. The oleic acid that is a mono-saturated fat in cacao is good for us, similar to the fat in olive oil. It may raise good cholesterol.

9)   AS INSTANT AROMATHERAPY

The smell of organic cacao powder is wonderful, only topped by organic maca powder. I think it’s pretty incredible that the most amazing smelling plants I have encountered so far has history together. The people on the bottom of the Andes Mountains (in the Tierra Caliente, mountain zone 1) used to trade with the people at the near top of the Andes (in the Tierra Fria Zone): cacao for maca and maca for cacao. (This is called vertical trading which provides for all 4 Andean mountain zones.)

CONCLUSION

Who knew about cacao? It’s taken me almost 65 years to make cacao part of my daily routine. Until now, I have not really known how spectacular it is for me. It can have caffeine content (which is, at least, 1/20th as much as a cup of coffee) that does not affect me (or others) the way it does in coffee or tea.

This luscious super food comes from Latin America (possibly originating in Ecuador), Malaysia, Indonesia and West Africa, for the most part. It needs shade and warm temperatures and shielding from wind. Cacao grows around the equator, plus or minus 20 degrees, needs an even amount of rainfall and temperature.

Cacao contains numerous nutrients and has many benefits for our heart, liver and mood. It has also been used to help regulate appetite. It is considered a super food because it has so many advantages to health in one single serving, which is 1 or 2 tablespoons.

Best eaten in its purest state, cacao in both powder and tiny pieces (called nibs) carry all the nutrition mentioned in the above message. As with most foods, cooking can destroy the vitamins and minerals and the addition of other ingredients may take away from the super health associated with cacao.

ACTION STEPS

1)   COLD CACAO DRINK

Mix a tablespoon of organic cacao powder with 8 ounces of flax milk (or almond or soy milk) and stir. See how you like it cold.

2)   GET ORGANIC CACAO POWDER HERE!

3)   WARM TRADITIONAL DOMINICAN CACAO DRINK

Use this recipe for warm cacao drink by Josefina from the Dominican Republic.

I had the privilege of being invited to watch Josefina, a best friend’s mama, visiting from her home country, make this traditional preparation.

INGREDIENTS

a)   Pinch of cloves
b)   Pinch of nutmeg
c)   1 TBS. organic cacao powder
d)   8 ounces of flax milk

INSTRUCTIONS

1)   Add the dry ingredients to the flax milk in a saucepan
2)   Bring the mixture to almost a boil on medium high
3)   Immediately lower the heat to low-medium, and stir constantly for 2-3 minutes.
4)   Take off the heat, and let it sit for 2 minutes.
5)   Pour into a cup and let it cool as needed.
6)   Enjoy!

If you wish to share your story, please hit reply in your email program to be contacted.

FEEDBACK

We value your feedback very much.

Please leave a comment below.

Please LIKE us on the website and at

WarriorsOfWeight on Facebook.

You can also follow us on Twitter: @warriorsoweight.

Thanks.

DIANE GOLD, PUBLISHER AND AUTHOR

Diane Gold, Founder of Warriors of Weight, Turning Habits Into Health, is a mentor in tai chi, kung fu and meditation, a music, fitness and stress expert, dedicated mom, studying plant-based nutrition, peaceful conflict resolution and habit replacement.

She believes in keeping her eyes, ears and mind open. We might think we know about a subject, but, chances are, we can learn more. She says,

“Whatever we resist, we should examine. If we are set in a certain way, it might be time to change the setting. Whether it’s about nutrition or politics, any time may present a tipping point.

“So true with nutrition. One day, we don’t know the benefits of cacao, so it is not part of our diet. The next day, we have new (to us) information. We can use the new knowledge as we see fit.

Many people for many years have used cacao: for medicine, for monetary exchange since it was so highly valued, for feeling good and energetic. And, that smell is so good.

“Be diligent when getting it. There are so many ways that companies will include one fraction of a processed ingredient just to use the name “cacao.” It’s best to buy it pure, from a company that has an ethical philosophy.

“Hope you all enjoy it as I do.

“If you’re tempted, get some cacao!

“Finally, let us all take good care of ourselves because we are worth it, even if we don’t feel it!”

THE HABIT OF MEDITATION: THE TRUE MISSION (ISSUE 142)

By Diane Gold

The habit of meditation has been growing worldwide. It went from being quite common in the East to being quite common in the East and the West.

MEDITATION, DEFINED
A definition for this discipline that mirrors mine is this, given by Deepak Chopra, M.D., speaker and author,

“Meditation is a” [body of work] “that takes us beyond the noisy chatter of the mind into a place of stillness and silence.”

This removes any questions about whether a certain religious base is connected. Meditation is a set of action steps that teaches us to focus our attention. When we do achieve a quiet(er) mind, we may choose to fill it with universally good things which may include some religion. This would be a personal decision and is not part of the meditation process, itself.

RATIONALE

     All throughout the day, each of us has so many stimuli: noises, smells, people, electronics, world events, our own creative projects and work, our family and friends. As we walk to our car, bike, train, we see all the different parts of each person that may draw our attention.

We smell smells, remember experiences related to locations, and we may have our own preoccupations that flood our mind. Then we stand on line to get coffee/tea/wheatgrass juice. We experience all the stimuli of the store providing it. Then we arrive at our destination and have all the stimuli associated with that.

Some of us have the ability to choose which of the stimuli come into our sphere. Others of us, and that’s most people, allow ourselves to be hit like a sponge with everything in our view at the expense of own time.

What meditation gives us is the ability to do is to have time for ourselves, whether it’s sitting in a quiet spot at the meditation center or walking through a crowd.

DON’T MISS At Peace With Diane Gold
TUESDAYS, 2 pm ET on Internet Radio

http://bit.do/atpeace or call in at 1-425-440-5100, 836846#

Past Shows: http://bit.do/at-peace-archives

WHICH METHOD IS BEST?

As with many body/mind disciplines, there are many methods. What is common to them all is this: we focus the mind in one place on a non-stimulating area that is meant to prevent the sucking away of our attention by a myriad of unrelated thoughts and is meant to assist us in being attentive.

When I was 21, I was a member of a philosophy called Radha Soami (sound current yoga). We listened to the words of the head guru, followed a lacto-ovo-vegetarian diet (although not strictly since we knew that cheese contained animal enzymes, and we ate pizza anyway), professed to lead a moral life and sat in the corner to meditate for 2 1/2 hours daily.

We repeated a mantra to hold our attention for the 2 1/2 hour  period. I did this for 5 years and then moved on to other adventures.

When I began tai chi 25 years later and had full concentration instantly from the first movement, I had a realization that has led to what I teach today.

When we concentrate on something other than ourselves, such as a mantra or a cloud or pretty thoughts, we are splitting our attention: we are concentrating on our bodies because we are in them, and we are concentrating on a mantra or thought repetition.

In order to give ourselves a fighting chance of learning one-pointed focus, meaning to do one thing at a time; body movement makes it easier for most people. Watching my tai chi movement did the trick for me as it does for so many. The wave-like movement I made with my hand was what it took for me to be in instant sync. Bam!

When we stand to meditate as in chi kung or we sit to meditate in lots of other types of meditation, our minds usually fly around, unless we have worked on meditation through moving the body first. We may also wonder why we are the only ones for whom meditation doesn’t work. Ha.

When we do tai chi, free dance, body shaking; we’re so absorbed in the body movement that it’s hard to lose our focus since we would we would lose our physical balance if our attention strayed. That’s why it is massively easier to rule out external stimuli when we’re physically moving.

REJUVENATION

The big reason to meditate is so that we rejuvenate. When we expend our mind’s energy from thinking, reacting, working, creating, loving, playing; we need sleep to replenish ourselves. When we are out of fuel and liquid, we need food and water. In the same way, when the mind goes running around grabbing on to lots of different thoughts, we need time for it to settle. It needs time to wipe itself clean, that is, empty itself so that we can fill it again with the next set of (hopefully) meaningful things. This clearing is what meditation is about. When we meditate, we renew our energy. One-pointed work clears all but our one focus. Once we can do this with some ease, the mind will graduate and clear even this one focus.

MEDICAL CONDITIONS

Medical research studies have confirmed that meditation reduces blood pressure, anxiety, PTSD, cholesterol, depression, stress. In April, 2014, a team at Brown University finally structured the coding of verbal responses that can be correlated to quantitative neurophysiological measurements.
This means we are able to measure meditation benefits through scientific method, rather than subjectively only. It should be mentioned that Dr. Shin-Lin of University of California, Irvine, began studying the biomedical effects of tai chi and chi kung using scientific method over a decade ago.

CONCLUSION

Many of us have the habit of meditation. Some call it the fountain of youth because it increases our vital energy flow (our chi). This can keep our body’s organs moving well and our minds sharp and happy. Whatever kind of meditation we do, it makes sense to experience meditation on some level.

ACTION STEPS

Here is a set of action steps to see which kind of meditation you may prefer.

1)   Dance freely to your favorite kind of instrumental music for 1 minute with your eyes closed. Just let it go. Notice how you feel with your eyes still closed.

2)   Stand with chin slightly bent down with knees bent, butt tucked, for 1 minute with your eyes closed. Concentrate 10 feet in front of you, even though your eyes are closed. Notice how you feel with your eyes still closed.

3)    Sit in the middle of a room on the floor or on the floor on a towel with legs relaxed, crossed, if possible, for 1 minute with your eyes closed. Concentrate four feet in front of you, even though your eyes are closed. Notice how you feel with your eyes still closed.

4)   Do steps 1), 2), 3) for 2 more days.

5)   For the next 4 days, do the 1 type of meditation you prefer for 1 minute each day.

6)   Once you have completed a week, decide if you want to devote that 1 minute a day to meditation.

7)   Make sure to write about your experience, go to  CONTACT US
and tell us you wish to share your experience. We will be honored to reply.

If you wish to share your story, please hit reply in your email program to be contacted.

FEEDBACK

Please leave a comment below.

Please LIKE us on the website

and at WarriorsOfWeight on Facebook.

You can also follow us and chat

on Twitter @warriorsoweight.

Thanks.

DIANE GOLD, PUBLISHER AND AUTHOR

Diane Gold, Founder of Warriors of Weight, Turning Habits Into Health, is a mentor in tai chi, kung fu and meditation, a music, fitness and stress expert, dedicated mom, studying plant-based nutrition, conflict resolution and habit change.

She believes it is so important to make quiet time for ourselves daily. She says,

“There are almost one-and-a-half thousand minutes in a day. We can each find a fraction of one minute to take a moment out from regular rat race activity to stop and focus in meditation. It’s good for the heart, the lungs, the mind; and we need it. Imagine if we never tuned up or oil changed our car. Wouldn’t it get run down?

“We are the same in that we require regular periods of meditation, but we are all more worthwhile than an inanimate car. So, as we wouldn’t let a car deteriorate, we cannot disregard ourselves. It might be the perfect time to meditate right now.

“Finally, let us all take good care of ourselves because we are so worth it!”

MOVE OVER BOTOX, HELLO EXERCISE TO REJUVENATE THE SKIN (ISSUE 126) APR. 22, 2014

By Diane Gold

So many people are concerned with how to rejuvenate skin that they inject various fillers into themselves, like Botox, mostly into their faces, in order to reduce the age they look. As is common with so many things, they look outside themselves, outside of what their bodies naturally can produce rather than inside at the marvels  of the body.

A new study conducted in Ontario at McMaster University by Mark Tarnopolsky (MD, PhD) and his team came up with something astounding: that exercise can rejuvenate the skin.

Many of us know that, usually in our twenties, collagen production reduces, we exfolate less and our fat cells shrink. The outer layer of skin gets thicker and drier. The next layer under gets less elastic and thinner by losing cells, making it look saggier.

So researchers in 2010 started wondering whether exercise could stop or reverse this aging process and looked at mice bred to age prematurely. The ones who stayed sedentary became frail, demented, ill, gray and bald. But the ones who exercised with a running wheel stayed healthy, alert, furry and didn’t turn gray.

So Tarnopolsky and team did testing on a group of 29 men and women, ages 20 to 84. About half were active, doing three hours of workout per week. The other half did less than one hour a week. So the team examined skin on the butt, since that area would have less sun damage.

The scientists biopsied the skin and did microscopic examination.  When compared strictly by age, older volunteers had thicker outer layers of skin and thinner inner layers.
But when researchers divided them by exercise habits, they found that those who exercised frequently had skin closer in composition to that of 20- and 30-year-olds, even if they were over 65.

To factor in whether lifestyles and diet made the difference, they took another sample of individuals for study. They put a group of previously sedentary people, 65 years and older, to exercise after first sampling their skin, which looked average for their age. They did a routine of jogging or cycling for 30 minutes two times a week for three months. At the end of this period, their skin measured that of 20- to 40-year-olds.

Tarnopolsky marvelled,

“I don’t want to over-hype the results, but, really, it was pretty remarkable to see.”
He said that under a microscope, the skin of these formerly sedentary volunteers
“looked like that of a much younger person, and all that they had done differently was exercise.”

The researchers are not totally clear as to how this works. They did do portion of the study to find that substances released into the blood stream called myokines increase from exercise. And the myokine IL-15 was found to be 50% more prevalent with exercise.

The researchers also said that taking a pill or applying an oral application of IL-15 would not have the same effect as exercise. They also did not conclude that sun damage could be restored with exercise.

Tarnopolsky did say,

“It is astonishing to consider all of the intricate ways in which exercise changes our bodies.”

Which leads me to talk about people’s habit of changing from the outside what they could more efficiently change from the inside.

I stepped out the other night because I promised a friend I’d meet her at a bar for people over 60 with music from the 1950s and 60s. Since I don’t drink because I don’t drink just two, I was able to observe the crowd. What I was not prepared for was the amount of people, both men and women, who had had injection procedures to make the face look less wrinkly.

Botox, an FDA approved substance that uses botulin toxin A, a neurotoxin from the bacterium clostridium botulinum was the first one of these injectables to get popular. The toxin inhibits the release of acetylcholine in the nerve endings which inhibits the contraction of muscles; so it comes down to no moving, no wrinkling. That’s why we have all seen frozen faces on some people. The muscles are prevented from moving naturally. Side affects like paralysis seem to take a back seat to the possibility of looking younger for a few months.

There’s not only one company with one patent for this kind of thing. There’s also Juvederm which uses synthetic hyaluronic acid made with bacteria (genetically modified prior to January 13, 2013).  But, wait. It is one company. Allergan (in the news for possible restructuring today) owns both Botox and Juvederm (and if its proposed buyers merge it with Bausch and Lomb, the resulting conglomerate will be the number one seller of lots more).

Wouldn’t it be simpler to jump rope, swim, bike, run, dance, or other work out?

CONCLUSION

We want to rejuvenate the skin because we like the look and how others look. Or some of us think about it, and that’s great. However, we look outside ourselves so often when the answer is within. It would be greatly advantageous if we saw our own inner tools and power. When we get injections, massage, chiropractic adjustments; someone is doing something to us. When we use our own body and mind to further our lives, we are doing for ourselves.

It’s always best to heal from within because it lasts. That’s why doing exercise to rejuvenate the skin is a win-win activity. Whatever we choose, we all have beauty for the world to see, and it’s good to take care of it as we choose.

ACTION STEPS

1)   This set of action steps is simple:

a)   Do an extra 5-15 minutes of workout this week, depending upon your usual routine. Write about that time. Then repeat for 3 more weeks in a row, writing down the specific experience each time.

b)   If that works, do an extra 5-15 minutes twice a week for 4 weeks. And write about it.

c)   Finally, if that works, add another 5-15 minutes making it 3 times a week for 4 weeks. And write about it.

This will get you moving and creating your own health through exercise. From your inner self out to the world.

2)   Drink many 12 ounce glasses of water a day.

The skin study at McMaster University was presented in April, 2014, at the American Medical Society For Sports Medicine’s annual meeting in New Orleans.

Tarnopolsky’s quotes were taken from Gretchen Reynolds’ New York Times article on April 16, 2014.

If you wish to share your story, please hit reply in your email program to be contacted.

FEEDBACK

We value your feedback very much.

Please leave  a comment.

Please LIKE us on the website and at

WarriorsOfWeight on Facebook.

You can also follow us on Twitter @warriorsoweight.

Thanks.

DIANE GOLD, PUBLISHER AND AUTHOR

Diane Gold, Founder of Warriors of Weight, Turning Habits Into Health, is a mentor in tai chi, kung fu and meditation, a music, fitness and stress expert, dedicated mom, studying plant-based nutrition and habit change.

She is a believer in doing the work from the inside out but has great respect for everyone who makes decisions with independent thinking. She says,

“Although I, personally, am not interested in injecting my face, I like it when I look vibrant and when my wrinkles soften. This happens when my body likes the food I give it and from exercise, rest, love, creativity, good mental state and sharing.

“For all those who add chemicals to themselves for cosmetic reasons, be careful. For those who think one product is safer than others, remember the marketing you hear was created by the manufacturer.

“Finally, let us all take good care of ourselves because we are so worth it!”

7 REASONS FOR WORKOUT BURNOUT: THEN DO TAI CHI (ISSUE 125) April 15, 2014

By Diane Gold

How often do we get workout burnout and why do tai chi to avoid it or to fix it?

We are all about getting ourselves in shape, greedy to feel great and look spectacular. This is a good kind of greed because it keeps us healthy and our country flourishing. But, in my over 15 years of teaching martial arts (of which tai chi is one) and all my life watching people and their workouts, I have heard story after story about people’s workout history. There are only a few stories, even though we all, as individuals have our own.

1.  My Workout Is  Boring.

2.   I Feel Empty And Disconnected From Myself When My Workout Is Over.

3.   My Mind Is Not Relaxed  After My Workout.

4.   My Motivation Is Gone.

5.   My Muscles Are So Tight From Working Out, I Move Like A Robot.

6.   I Feel Totally Selfish When I I’m Finished.

7.   I Want A Workout That Builds Me Spiritually.

These reasons may sound familiar. We can give ourselves reasons to quit or continue.

 (1) If our activity doesn’t keep our attention, we quit. We usually are not taught the merits of follow through and perseverance, so we quit.

(2) If we don’t feel as if we have done something important, we quit. We usually don’t take the time to examine importance.

(3) If we are jittery and unrelaxed, we are forced to stop the behavior that’s causing it. We usually don’t know how to make the small adjustments needed to relax the situation.

(4) If we’re not motivated, we quit. Even if it’s one time, so often one missed session is enough to end the habit of working out.

(5) If our muscles are unnaturally tight, we may see it as counterproductive and quit. Most everyone has not been taught how to keep loose or to get loose.

(6) If we feel selfish, we may not like the feeling and we quit.

(7) If we see our workout as devoid of anything spiritual, we may feel plastic, unsubstantial and quit.

ENTER TAI CHI.

The art of tai chi is a system of movement that uses wave-like, circular patterns of moving the body, arms and legs. Its purpose is to connect everything that we do with the body with our mind and our spirit. It’s not a magic potion of movement; what it is is a very slow moving discipline that, because of its slowness, allows the mover to connect the movement to the mind. Its purpose is to teach the mind to act fluidly like the body movements. The physical moves are tools to connect us to ourselves.

Here’s something to think about. When I am doing tai chi, the speed at which I am moving allows me to focus my attention on my movement. The movement allows me to focus on only 1 thing. This focus allows me to follow each body part, 1 at a time. I can, as well, connect my motion with the heat and the balance of my body, the expansion and compression of my lungs, the flow of my blood, and the space in which my body exists. I am in moving, martial meditation.

Picture the adventure of a dandelion seed, using the fibers of the dandelion flower to keep it airborn, and it is whisked away by a fluid stream of the wind. The ride is smooth with no sudden movement other than what the airstream provides for it. This fluidity likens it to the journey of tai chi, where we learn to follow the line of movement of one body part from its beginning to its end which leads it into a new beginning of the next body part. This rolling rhythm that is tai chi allows us to translate our wave-like action of our body to our mind, reducing or removing jerky decisions, panic or despair.

And yet, the standard joke in tai chi is this:

“If tai chi is for the mind, why are my legs shaking?”

The true answer is that tai chi uses the body to teach the mind. And the shaking will pass. It’s only mild discomfort on which we are not focusing.

When people do tai chi, they move throughout the session. So tai chi has the advantage of allowing the blood to continue flowing throughout the session, permitting easy self-monitoring of the body so that there are no strains and there are enhanced respiration and circulation without any impingements from closing the body off in any way.

Further, tai chi works to relax every muscle, tendon and joint by teaching focus on one movement or body part at a time. Eventually, the goal is to move while looking at nothing at all. But that takes time.

The very nature of tai chi, that we move everything simultaneously, that we focus on one body part at a time, that we feel our blood moving around in our body and learn to picture the air that surrounds us makes it ideal for someone who is looking for something more. The blood’s moving is our life energy or chi that we hear so much about. The slowing down of movement, the reduction of thought to only one thing (and then “no” thing) and our being able to feel our chi moving up and down our bodies and limbs allows us to have a spiritual, meaning part of ourselves, experience. We know we are not doing traditional working out because we feel especially tuned in to our bodies and our own essence at the same time.

For those special reasons, tai chi helps us to avoid workout burnout. Tai chi is always new because the moves we do reflect the way we are in our lives on that particular day, and we are always feeling a physical connection to our feet, our hands, our bodies, our fronts, our backs and heads when we do it. We remember more as we train ourselves to notice more. The fact that we are able to establish a strong foundation for ourselves allows us to see others in a compassionate, even protective, way. This foundational root takes away the feeling that we are doing our workout just for ourselves, alone, since we start to become kinder and wiser the more we do it. The objection to our doing a selfish workout dissolves, and we evolve.

For all the reasons that we don’t burn out when we do tai chi, this old and sophisticated art offers solutions to people with a huge list of physical and emotional issues: memory disorders like Alzheimer’s Disease, muscle disorders, like Parkinson’s Disease, Anxiety Disorder, Chronic Organic Pulmonary Disease (COPD), Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PSD), Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), cardiovascular disease, balance disorders, diabetes and more. And it’s a martial art that teaches self-protection, one-pointed focus, stress-free living and how to maximize health.

ACTION STEP

Consider doing tai chi. The training teaches you to move every part of you at a time. It’s always new because your movements change with understanding.

Go HERE to begin the inquiry process.

If you wish to share your story, please hit reply in your email program to be contacted.

FEEDBACK

We value your feedback very much.

Please leave  a comment below.

Please LIKE us on the website and at

WarriorsOfWeight on Facebook.

You can also follow us on Twitter @warriorsoweight.

Thanks.

DIANE GOLD, PUBLISHER AND AUTHOR

Diane Gold, Founder of Warriors of Weight, Turning Habits Into Health, is a mentor in tai chi, kung fu and meditation, a music, fitness and stress expert, dedicated mom, studying plant-based nutrition and habit change.

She is excited to share some insight about workout burnout. She says,

“I have watched and experienced over and over the cycle of getting into a routine or habit and then, because of missing one instance of it, dissolving the routine for a new one. When we skip an activity or class once, we are beginning a new habit, that of feeling what it feels like to skip the activity and doing something else with that time. This starts the beginning fibers of a new routine which replaces going to the activity or class. When we skip the activity or class two times, it is sooooooo much easier to skip and put less importance in the third time and the fourth time. Pretty soon, the class is out of sight, out of mind; and we are on to the next routine.

“This is OK, as long as we know it is our choice and that is the right choice for us. If it is laziness, stop skipping, and get back to the original routine. And may the force be with you.”

HOW SLOUCHING DESTROYS HEALTH (ISSUE 121)

By Diane Gold

Slouching destroys health. It may stop our breathing, but it can certainly compromise our power and our vitality. Not only do we compress the spine when we slouch, but we limit our respiration and cause our body to atrophy . We don’t usually think about these events, but they are obvious when we do.

Shoulders over the hips is the proper alignment for standing or sitting. This can also be done for people who spend their days in bed, with a small alignment trick below.

HEALTH AND SLOUCHING

One of the ways we stay healthy is to pump lots of fresh oxygen into our systems. The cleaner the air, the better off we are. The freer the airway is, the easier it is for it to flow.

Think about what happens when we have unwanted mucous in our body. We have difficulty breathing. This is because our airway is blocked.

Or think about when someone falls on top of us in gym class or martial arts training; we have a hard time breathing because our lungs get compressed and our oxygen level is restricted.

The same thing happens when we slouch: we restrict our own airway. It does take some effort to hold the torso up without slouching, but our bodies will thank us for the unbounded occasion to suck up oxygen with no obstructions.

MISSING THE OPPORTUNITY TO WORK THAT BODY

Every time we are standing or sitting, or even lying down; we have the opportunity to work the abdominal muscles to hold the torso straight. Every time we don’t use this chance, it goes away.

It feels really good to have strong abs. They can do amazing things. Strong abs allow for a great life and great digestion, too.

We also have the chance to learn how to relax our chins, necks and shoulders with good posture. This, too, goes away if we don’t grab the moment.

PERPETUATING THE HABIT

When we keep slouching, we get used to it and it becomes normal. Unless we take a good long look, there are probably 5 times a day we slouch without noticing it: tidying up, cooking, working, driving, sitting on the toilet are some examples. We know that we develop a habit from a cue. The cue is the urge to relax or the urge to rest. What could possibly be wrong with letting the shoulders go while we are cooking? Isn’t this activity supposed to be mellow and fun?

Carving out relaxation time is crucially important. It doesn’t mean we have to slouch. After the cue, (wanting to relax) we do a behavior (letting the abs, shoulders and butt go out of alignment) that brings us the reward of ending the work it takes to stand, sit or keep the bones aligned. If repeated, this becomes the norm. Thus, we habitually slouch. Until we replace this behavior.

ACTION STEPS

1) USING THE LEGS

When we look at daily activities that require us to carry weight, we have to use our legs to take the pressure off our backs and our knees. Take vacuuming, sweeping, carrying out the recycling bin. These tasks require us to exert effort. When we bend the knees to engage the legs, we can do the pushing, pulling, carrying without compromising our spine. When an object is fairly bulky or awkward, it’s important to use some type of leverage (bent knees, a wagon, a dolly or a partner to avoid slouching the back during this enterprise.

2) USING THE ABS

Funny as it may sound, using the abdominal plate to hold the back erect is the easiest way to insure a healthy posture. This would mean this set of muscles has to be strong enough to endure the weight of the undertaking.

The labor can be as gentle as standing at the mirror to brush our teeth.

I bring this one up because several times this year, I have looked at my posture while grooming my teeth; it was in need of correction. Either my shoulders were slumped, I was leaning over the sink with an out of alignment back or I relaxed my abdominal muscles enough to slouch.

The action step is to notice yourself at tooth brushing time, and get the shoulders over the hips while you brush, floss and tongue brush.

3) TUCKING THE BUTT

So often, when people hear,

“Tuck the butt,”

they tuck the hips forward (which is correct), and they compromise the spine (obviously not correct). The purpose of this butt adjustment is to take the pressure off the joints and the back and place it on the bones which were built to do the heavy lifting (pun intended).

Standing in line is the perfect place to tuck your butt. Since we have decided to stand in this line, rarer and rarer with online banking, taxes and government paperwork;  we can use this instance to work on our slouching habit by changing our behavior. It takes just as much effort to stand straight as to slouch, even though we think the opposite; so we might as well maximize our own energy by aligning the body.

Large-chested women will find this particularly helpful as they have the challenge of not leaning too far back or forward to compensate for the weight of the chest.

The action step are these:

a)   While standing, feel like a soldier by rotating the belly button forward at the same time as tucking the butt so that the body is in a straight line. If you have strong abs, it’s OK if the torso is slightly forward of the hips.

b)   While sitting in your chair or on the couch (or sitting up in bed), tuck the butt so that the lower back presses against the lower back of the chair or couch. If this leaves space between the upper back and the chair or couch back, place a pillow there so that the center of the shoulders stay over the center of the hips.

If you are seated on a seat with no back, tuck the butt in the same way and use the abs to hold the shoulders over the hips with straight back.

c)   Especially for people who spend most of their time in bed, tuck the butt while lying down. Press the lower back into the bed. If possible, and for best leverage until you have rock solid abs, bend the knees  upward with feet flat on the bed.

CONCLUSION

 Slouching is insidious. It pops into our lives when we least expect and becomes normal unless we manage and fix it. When we are younger, it doesn’t seem like a big deal, except that the earlier on we make our move, the earlier we will develop the habit of an aligned body.

We need our breathing for health, so let’s help it out. We need to train our bones, muscles and tendons to keep us straight.

We feel better when our bodies are in line. There’s no time like the present to make slouching a thing of the past in our lives.
___

If you wish to share your story, please hit reply in your email program to be contacted.
___

FEEDBACK

We value your feedback very much.

Please leave  a comment.

Please LIKE us on the website and at WarriorsOfWeight on Facebook.

Please follow us on Twitter @warriorsoweight.

Thanks.

DIANE GOLD, AUTHOR

Diane Gold, Founder of Warriors of Weight, Turning Habits Into Health, is a mentor in tai chi, kung fu and meditation, a music, fitness and stress expert, dedicated mom, studying plant-based nutrition and habit change.

If she knows one thing better than anything else, it might be how to align the body for maximize health. She says,

“We have lots of time to live and make changes. Our lives will power up once we pay attention to body alignment. It’s as if someone turns a switch on the world; but we have done it. That’s how important posture is.

“It’s climactic. Replacing slouching helps our health. It is poignant. It’s like lighting up our lives because we let in more oxygen when we sit and stand well.

“Do it once. Then do it again. Keep on going.It’s good for all of us and makes us strong.”

HEALTHY EATING: WHY DOES THE U.S. FALL BEHIND? (ISSUE 114)

By Diane Gold

We would think that healthy eating in the United States is easy and that we are at the top of the charts when compared to other countries.

So why do we have more dietary sickness (diabetes and obesity) than 120 out of 125 countries (see Oxfam’s Good Enough To Eat  chart, mentioned in the New York Times article by Mark Bittman on January 21, whose information is collected from organizations like the World Health Organization).

According to this report which looks at best and worst countries’ food statistics, the United States has the most affordable food, 4th best in quality, 41st best in available water (big surprise), along with the above statistic on health from food and is 21st in having enough food.

I remember having a discussion with one of my virtual assistants in India and his complete shock and disbelief when I said that there are people in the US who are hungry. Obviously, some people have triple what they need, and others do not.

Let’s focus back on the healthy eating topic. Do we eat more healthfully than poorer countries? The answer, tragically, is not as a country. Here’s why.

PESTICIDES AND GMOs

 Farmers use some method of offsetting bugs and weeds on their crop. Many use toxic pesticides which change the basic structure of the fruit or vegetable being grown or add some new chemical structure to the plant by pesticide exposure. This makes the food less healthy.
(See http://warriorsofweight.com/pesticides-which-fruits-veggies-have-least.)

Another series of events may contribute to low health statistics. Farmers are dependent upon seed  supply companies of which there are many. If they are convinced through extravagant marketing that genetic modification reduces the need for expensive pesticides, they may opt for seeds that have been genetically changed. (Noteworthy is that the 4 large companies, together, own a whopping 47% of the GMO (genetically modified organism) seed businesses.) There is no study that definitely points to worse health with GMOs, but we do know that some of the resulting modified seeds may be carcinogenic.

The marketing for GMOs is that the GE seeds were structured to enable certain weed killers to be used no harm to the seed and its resulting plant. The GMO seed is also supposed to be stronger so that it requires less pesticide. That’s the hype to get farmers to pay more for seeds because they are GMO.

Unfortunately, in July, 2012, Food and Water Watch came out with a study based on USDA and USEPA statistics that the use of genetically modified seeds does not reduce pesticide use. Also, there may be evidence that GMOs are toxic.

So, why buy GMO seeds, when farmers will not save money on pesticides and when these seed companies require farmers to contract to throw away the seeds after one planting? As humans, we always look to social proof and listen to marketing. If large companies say it’s so, it must be so, right? Never mind the science if we haven’t been exposed to it as often.

So, we consume pesticides galore which cause all sorts of health issues.

SNACKS AND PACKAGED FOODS

More packaged food than not is in our supermarkets. We use corn and soy, most of it genetically engineered (GE), and sugar, half of it GE, to create fast food with lovely colors. Instead of selling snacks that are fresh food, we buy boxes or bags with ingredients we can’t pronounce. Older generations did it, meaning our parents or grandparents; so why shouldn’t we?

We are more nutritionally educated than in the past, so that’s a good reason not to carry on the habit. The goal of the food industry is for us to buy. Many of us believe that if the food giants with lots of experience produce something, it must be healthy for us to eat.

In the past, we trusted the industry with our nutrition. After all, each company has a research and development team, scientists, doctors and inventors.

Now, we know that the researchers and developers in food are there to cause us to buy the food. Health is of no concern as long as the food passes some very inferior safety testing probably created by the regulators with the help of the industry itself.
Beware that packages that say vegan or organic are still processed food.

GREED

We are pleasure seekers and taste mongers with our taste buds being bombarded with new combos of flavor. We will do anything for the next delight, whether it be food, body sensation, exercise, drink, color, gadget. What this means with food is that, even though we know that healthy food is crucial, we choose to eat highly fatty, salty, oily foods that taste unbelievably good. And we have developed the habit of eating portions that are much too large, just because we have developed the habit by being served too much in a restaurant or at home.

These habits are waiting to be replaced with healthy eating.

OVERUSE OF ANTIBIOTICS

Our wealth and our propensity for pharmaceutical cures has led us to over-ingest antibiotics. We know there are a good many viruses that cause us to be sick, yet, since the development of penicillin, we have been antibioticking (verb creation going on, here) ourselves unnecessarily.

Antibiotics do not work against viruses. They also strip the body of the microbiomes needed on an hourly basis in the human digestive tract. A study at Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Mo., published in Pediatrics in 2012, swabbed the nasal passages of young children with unexplained fever and, for control, children without fever. Those with fever had 5 X the viral load of those without. The study’s objective was to to determine whether a quick nasal swab could improve the mistaken prescribing of antibiotics for viral sickness, which always harms microbial balance. The jury is still out, in my opinion, for 2 reasons: the antibiotic industry is massively profitable and there are some very nasty bacteria that can kill the patient if antibiotics are not given in time.

According to a Mayo Clinic article, antibiotics don’t work on bronchitis, colds, flu, most coughs, most ear infections, most sore throats, stomach flu. According the CDC’s Antibiotic Resistance Threats In The United States 2013,

“… up to 50% of all the antibiotics prescribed for people are not needed or are not optimally effective as prescribed.”

2 articles in the Journal Of The American Medical Association headed by Gonzalez, R. in 1997 and Nyquist, AC in 1998 came up with the statistic that colds that 23 million prescription annually were written for bronchitis, colds and upper-respiratory infection.

At that time, it was 1 in 5 antibiotic prescriptions being wrongly prescribed.

The use of antibiotics causes needed healthy bacteria to disappear, which enables antibiotic resistance and causes immune system vulnerability taking away some of our good health.

LACK OF NUTRITION EDUCATION

How long is the nutrition course in our schools? What? There isn’t one, or there was that one day when Chelsie’s mom, the chef, came in? We learn how to read, how to write, how to add and subtract numbers so that we can go to the bank and shop, but is there an ongoing course to teach us how to sustain our health through food or teach us what to buy based on budget?

Although much has changed since I went to school, nutrition is currently a sporadic course in most schools. A great schedule would be to offer it twice a week from pre-school through high school, along with and not instead of physical education. Why did it take America’s failing health to remind us to include this hugely important subject?

MONEY, MONEY, MONEY, MONEY

We make many choices about what we eat based upon how much we have to spend. Of course, this is a huge factor that requires further discussion. It is so important that it is best discussed in school as well as in the home.

WHAT CAN YOU DO AKA WHAT ACTION STEPS CAN YOU TAKE?

1)   You can suggest to the editor of your local newspaper to have a natural foods home from school snack contest, vegan and non-vegan, organic and non-organic, on which the entire community’s children can vote. It will stimulate creativity, allow others to share recipes, build awareness and promote health in snacking. Plus, it will educate our kids to the possibilities available with whole foods.

You can ask your local health food store and supermarket to donate ingredients.

2)   When you go to see your doctor or health professional, have a fully transparent discussion about the nature of any treatment prescribed for you. This includes asking which research the professional thinks will help you get the facts and understand the risks. Although the expression,

“You are under my care,”

is very common, we must take responsibility for staying aware and making choices with our health advisor.

Doctors like talking to informed patients and, if you are respectful of the provider’s expertise, many will have very informative discussions with you and will share more with you the more you know.

3)   Go to your local elementary school and ask what the sequence of nutrition education is for each grade in the school. Do the same at the middle and high schools. Yes, even if you do not have a child in school or in that grade.

If there’s no set curriculum, suggest starting one. Here are some references:

vrg.org/nutshell/nutshell.htm#teaching

cde.ca.gov/search/searchresults.asp?cx=001779225245372747843:gpfwm5rhxiw&output=xml_no_dtd&filter=1&num=20&start=0&q=nutrition%20educationfrom

fnic.nal.usda.gov/professional-and-career-resources/nutrition-education/curricula-and-lesson-plans

Keep in mind that if food industry manufacturer has helped to create a curriculum, the lesson plan will be biased in the direction of the food manufacturer’s philosophy (such as, the meat and dairy industry would not advocate a vegan diet). Also, many curricula leave out the vegan diet. Put it in as a remarkably healthy option.

CONCLUSION

Healthy eating is on us as individuals. It’s on us to lead the education system to teach nutrition and plant-based nutrition in the classroom.

In general, we need to choose curricula that are not connected with any particular industry or company, since most offer free curricula to promote their cause.

We have the strongest country in the world. Let’s understand our nutritional downfalls, and let’s get around to healthy eating.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

How can we manufacture food? Food grows.

FEEDBACK

We value your feedback very much.
Please leave  a comment.

Please LIKE us on the website and at WarriorsOfWeight on Facebook. Thanks.

DIANE GOLD, AUTHOR

Diane Gold, Founder of Warriors of Weight, Turning Habits Into Health, is a mentor in tai chi, kung fu and meditation, a music, fitness and stress expert, dedicated mom, studying plant-based nutrition and habit change.

She sees lots of bad education and believable marketing about food (and drugs) that have no place in realism. Because people are naive and don’t demand more, they get duped. She says,

“We are right to be trusting and loving. This is number one. However, we are also right to discern love and concern from profit motive and corporate advancement. Just as familes love each other more than anything, corporations love more sales than anything. It is crucial for us to know the sources of all the ingredients we ingest, which we don’t, which means we can’t make informed decisions about whether we want to eat the food. But we eat it anyway. (Same with pharmaceuticals.)

“It is fair to think that the regulations on food (and drugs) have been influenced by the food (and pharmaceutical) industries. It is the industry’s job to make as many sales as possible, even if it persuading us with nebulous or false  or omitted information. It is fair that we have to do our own research on healthy eating. It is also fair for us to speak out to change safety standards and require labels to include sourcing of each ingredient, waxing of every piece of produce and source of each fertilizer that goes into the ground that grows our produce.

“We are a long way off from transparency in any of these areas. So, let’s look at the research on regulations and regulators. And let’s be diligent when we believe what we hear. These kinds of actions will help us in the United States and abroad with raising the bar on healthy eating.”

HABITS IN MEDICAL CARE – PART 3: READY FOR CHANGE? (ISSUE 112)

By Diane Gold

This article looks at 7 habits well ingrained in our standard behavior in those of us who have put our faith in the medical care system without realizing the pitfalls and the dangers and before examining the outcome. Its purpose is to highlight our automatic acceptance of these behaviors and to offer alternative options to anyone ready for change.

1)   Depending upon a primary care physician and giving up our personal responsibility for our care.

In the previous article in this series (June 24, 2013), I mentioned I was still looking for a primary care provider. I have found her. It is I, an unlicensed, non-medical person who knows a lot about nutrition and mind, body, spirit fitness. So far, I care the more about my own care than anyone I have found; I don’t treat myself like just another chart; I know the details of my case without having to look at a chart which is brief, at best; I have done research on nutrition and fitness and body processes and interactions that no medical personnel I know has done.

I work on always being open, as I believe it is a great way to live. But I am responsible for myself and count on specialists for specific parts of my body. Shouldn’t we all be responsible?

2)   Having to pay for a 2nd doctor’s visit to get the results of the diagnostic tests whose prescription we paid to get at the 1st doctor’s visit.
When we have a question, we must make an appointment to ask the question: unless we have some type of concierge version of a relationship with the medical pro. In days to come, it is likely that we can use telehealth (virtual medicine) to get our question answered. Of course, we will pay for the medical pro’s time in school, cost of school, cost of overhead including office staff, whether face-to-face staff or virtual, and medical expertise.

 Although I am looking forward to the day when all medical professionals offer  electronic consults, the telehealth-telemedicine industry is already having us form a new habit, should we choose to accept what it is pushing. Their business model saves provider overhead, saves the government emergency visit costs for patients who get government subsidies, but the patient pays the same as before. As are many infrastructures, this one is abusive.

The televisit might be no more than 50% of an actual face-to-face visit if we were taking into account there are no office to clean, no employee needed to meet and greet, no sterilization of instruments and no need to prepare an office for the appointment. Further, more of us would be happy not to have an in-person visit if our virtual encounter cost less. It doesn’t. Why would it not, except that the industry has made a pact not to train us patients to pay a non-reduced cost?

3)   Taking doctor recommended drugs from doctors who are paid by the pharmaceutical companies to prescribe.

Does your doctor work for a pharmaceutical company? Did you know that some are commissioned to recruit patients for a new drug, getting paid per each head brought to the study? They are also trained to educate other doctors about the possible benefits of the drug so that other doctors will recruit patients to take the drug. Don’t know for sure, but I suspect that the educating doctor gets a cut of the stipend that every other doctor gets for bringing patients to the study. If this is the structure, it is multi-level marketing which I firmly believe in. But, in medicine, might there be agendas pushing prescribing techniques?

Just like the pharmaceutical rep I met the other day, the doctor paid by big pharma has been trained by the pharmaceutical company on the merits of the drug. Had s/he seen all the trials, even data of patients who didn’t finish or on patients who dropped out because of side effects? Makes us wonder.

4)   Accepting that doctors don’t get to see the full data on drugs they prescribe.

Doctors and health professionals only get to see a summary of abstracts or the full abstract if they pay for a medical journal subscription that houses the abstract. The abstract is some editor’s summation of facts which may not reflect study results. How weird that drug study results are not open to patients. We’re the ones who have to decide to take them or not. These data are also not open to doctors. Should we just say,

“Yes, ma’am. Thank you, ma’am,”

when told to take a drug when we don’t even know whether evidence collected shows its merit or not?

5)   Accepting that the drug administrator in our country permits pharmaceutical companies to hide drug trials from doctors and patients.

6)   Not being told, in advance, the cost of what we are purchasing at the doctor’s office.

7a) Not being given full explanation before a procedure is done at a doctor’s office so that we can decide whether we agree to have a procedure done.

7b)  Not standing up for ourselves and asking for full explanations at a doctor’s office before we have a procedure done.

CONCLUSION

We all have habits in medical care. Whether we are aware of them or not is another story.

The way to better ourselves is to notice how we treat ourselves and notice how people we pay in the health care system treat us. We deserve good treatment. This may mean changing our habit.

WHAT YOU CAN DO, THE ACTION STEPS

These action steps require that we be our own advocates. It’s not as hard as we may think. And, many providers will be willing to talk and change, should be we bring our concerns to their attention.

1)   Study how the body can be made to be healthy, and do this for the rest of your life.

2)   When you call the provider’s office to get the results of your test, have the provider fax or email you your results. Then you can decide whether a follow-up appointment is necessary.
Ask your medical provider if  you can confer by email and what it would cost.

3)   Ask your provider if s/he is in any way affiliated with the pharmaceutical company of any drug prescribed.

4)   Ask your provider how much data she has read on any drug she suggests. Ask that she get that data to you for your review. This does not mean the insert inside the drug box or the summary of any abstract that is available online.

5)   Call the drug administrator in your country, and talk about how you want drug trials to be public, not proprietary.

6)  Call you provider a day before an appointment. Request of the front desk that they tell you up front what your responsibility will be for the visit. This may mean they have to call your insurance company to find out what your responsibility for payment will be. I they say you have to wait, you can tell them you would need to know this information before you go to the appointment.

If you have no insurance, ask the provider’s office person for what you will be responsible if you have a routine visit, an x-ray, anything else commonly done in your type of provider’s office. Of course, the office person will say s/he won’t know until afterwards. At this point, mention that you are asking for the cost for an office visit and 3 x-rays. If you don’t have the x-rays, you can deduct that amount. Also, if you have no insurance, request of the office personnel that they request of the provider to be permitted to pay the allowed amount paid by people on an in-network insurance plan. Sometimes, they will have mercy. But, if you don’t ask, you’ll never know.

7)   Tell your provider that you are always interested in a full explanation of anything that s/he wants to do so that you will feel more comfortable with the process. Be clear the provider knows you have full confidence in what she is doing but wish to understand the process before it happens. That way, no ego gets bruised, and you can still decline the procedure once you understand what it is.
_

AWARENESS

Be aware of how many habits in medical care we have. We can change them today to support our lives.     Awareness

FEEDBACK

We value your feedback very much.
Please leave  a comment.

Please LIKE us on the website and at WarriorsOfWeight on Facebook. Thanks.

DIANE GOLD, AUTHOR

Diane Gold, Founder of Warriors of Weight, Turning Habits Into Health, is a mentor in tai chi, kung fu and meditation, a music, fitness and stress expert, dedicated mom, studying plant-based nutrition and habit change.

She believes we are responsible for our health and its treatment. She says,

“When we allow a medical provider to work with us, we are giving opportunity. True, we are also fortunate to have the benefit of such a person, especially if we find a caring and competent provider.

“But part of our responsibility, as I see it, is to ask questions about every step of our medical care and to inform all providers how we want to be treated. Otherwise medical professionals will not know that we want discussion and disclosure and may not realize we wish to approve or disapprove what is being suggested.

“The more we speak out, the more medical professionals will feel comfortable talking to us instead of at us. If we stay silent, care providers sometimes think we don’t want to participate in our own medical life. So, make it known that we want to be very much involved in all procedures.

“If we’ve never asked questions, habit change is in front of us. If we have been expressive about our involvement in our own medical care, it’s always great to reinforce a good habit.”

HOW PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT CAN CHANGE THE WORLD (ISSUE 111)

By Diane Gold

When one person betters herself, the world is better by one person. When many better themselves, this is multiplied. Therefore, personal development changes the world, one person at a time.

But, we may say, personal development is evolution of the individual, and changing the world requires understanding government, corporate and independent machines and acting upon given situations. So how can working inward affect working outward?

The main thing to remember is that we are not stagnant beings; we grow in one direction or the other, so when we cultivate ourselves on a regular basis and facilitate our own flourishing, we are, in essence, changing and improving the world.

PRELUDE TO BEGINNING OR NOT?

Before we can work on ourselves, do we have to stop any downward spiraling that exists from any part of our lives or from any self-limiting beliefs? ABSOLUTELY NOT, NOT NECESSARY, BARRIER THINKING, NO.

There is no need to work toward beginning. We just begin. Yes, in order to be able to pass a standardized test, we may have to take some courses to qualify. But, this is not a prelude; beginning constitutes beginning from wherever we are, so that we can go from there to achievement.

Let’s bold this rule to live by and make it an action step.

ACTION STEP

BEGIN FROM WHEREVER WE ARE. It makes no sense in comparing ourselves to someone else, because we are not someone else. We will always be ourselves, so let’s begin from where we stand. We can learn characteristics and skills of others, but we will always be ourselves and available to become higher humans.

TYPES OF PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT

Let’s look at some of the different ways people develop themselves.

Some of us read books. Many of us believe we are helping ourselves by the mere fact that we have purchased and read a book from the self-help section of the book store (the placebo effect). That’s a good thing, though. It promotes balanced people which creates a more stable world.

Others of us mingle with great humans and take on a little of each of them through every connection.

Others of us go to support groups or prayer groups, where there is a leader. The leader discusses, speaks; hopefully we get a chance to speak. Definitely we get the chance to learn to learn.

There is also the newer group model for creating a solution, where there is no leader for an agenda-driven gathering, but participant’s input creates the solution.

Another type of personal development fortifies us by our absorption of the very method we are studying. Tai chi, the other martial arts, free dance, meditation, yoga are disciplines in this mind-body arts category. Music, visual art, poetry are in the creative arts category. By studying any of these methods, we consume a system of learning. This system develops who we are. This development fortifies the world.

MY RECENT PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT EXPERIENCE AT  5-RHYTHMS’ DANCE SESSION

I had the pleasure of attending a 5-Rhythms’ dance session on Friday, January 3, led by Amber Ryan, in Miami. The purpose of the session was to spread goodness, to cleanse the body, mind and spirit and resonate with learning about ourselves. The ultimate goal was use the dance method (which is a method of doing your own steps with a little bit of guidance) to shake off all our own personal garbage so that we could let our own inherent love shine through.

What is important to me about this session is that we are not told what to do or what step to dance. This freedom allows me to learn and grow. The instructor guides us on what part of our body on which to focus. Most of the time, though, we are dancing freely, with no instruction, just moving to the music, between 100 and 126 BPM (beats per minute, which you may remember from some of my other articles or from your own knowledge base – for reference, the heart beats at about 60 or 70 BPM). It is the least egocentric dance discipline I have seen. That’s because people are busy getting to know themselves, rather than comparing their dance moves to others. There is a guide, but there are no leaders.

I was very involved in the dance. But the word love came up several times. One of the other partners in the event kept expressing how she felt “so much love;” whether this was inside herself or from the group, I will not speculate. Although I could speculate because I felt some kind of love-y feeling inside, radiating out to the group and back to me. Nothing ethereal, I was heated from dancing. I was happy from releasing the tension in my body through dancing. I was dancing with others, one of my favorite activities. And I was socializing with people who had nothing, at that moment, to prove.

EUREKA

I realized that developing this positive inner feeling was personal development at its finest. If everyone were developing this joyous feeling within, we would be employing the changing the world principle, making positive humans, one individual at a time. By multiplying one times the number of people working on themselves, the world became kinder, more confident, more respectful, more social in a gentle way, with better human beings.

TAI CHI ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I know this EUREKA PRINCIPLE to be true from tai chi, also. Because of the biological effects of doing it and the concentration required to execute it; we feel balanced, moral, cleansed, helpful to others from the inside out as well as the outside in. And, here, I can clarify that the dancing I mentioned earlier uses the same principles to move the arms, the body, the legs, the head and to personally develop the self.

CONCLUSION: HOW PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT CAN CHANGE THE WORLD

We know that personal development is individualistic, but individuals make up the world. We know that if we develop ourselves through certain disciplines, we will become spiritually rich humans and contribute good acts in the world.

When we as people become better rounded, we contribute good deeds. Lots of individual good deeds changes the world, as the more personal development we do, the more our generosity prevails and the more, we contribute 1 individual at a time.

When we as people become better rounded, we contribute good deeds. Lots of individual good deeds changes the world, as the more personal development we do, the more our generosity prevails and the more, we contribute 1 individual at a time.

ACTION STEPS

Here are several steps that might be of interest to further our personal development.

1)   Choose a discipline to do on a daily basis. (It works best if you are receiving non commercial gain from said discipline. Example: this is not about painting a picture in order to sell it.)

2)   Decide on an amount of time to which you commit that is comfortable to you: 10 seconds a day or 15 minutes a day. Once you pick a number, it cannot decrease. Also, take note: once you increase your time on any one day, your increase now becomes your new daily duration of time for the discipline.

3)   Do the discipline every day before the end of your day (works best in morning, if this works for your schedule).

4)   After 30 days, decide whether you are a better human being because of this discipline.

5)  No matter what the answer, do it another 15 days. Remember this can be 10 seconds a day or 15 minutes.

6)   At the end of the 45th day, decide whether it is making you peaceful, happy, relaxed, creative, motivated, balanced. If yes, keep going. If not, go to 1).

RESEARCH NOTE

According to neuroeconomist, P.J. Zak’s research, we do good acts to maintain our position in the community because we are social creatures and wish to stay in favor in our society. When we have our food and shelter, it’s easy and we produce an adequate amount of hormone oxytocin, which gives us our generosity. When we have no food, we are out of balance, will not produce enough oxytocin  and will do anything to survive, thus lose our generosity. This research also mentions the 5% of people who are in great socioeconomic situations but do anti-generous things like take billions of dollars in Ponzi schemes that hurt others. And another 5% of people who renounce their good socioeconomic status to be generous and Mother Theresa-like to others.

____________________________________________________________________
FEEDBACK

We value your feedback very much.
Please leave  a comment below.

Please LIKE us on the website and at WarriorsOfWeight on Facebook. Thanks.

DIANE GOLD, AUTHOR

Diane Gold, Founder of Warriors of Weight, Turning Habits Into Health, is a mentor in tai chi, kung fu and meditation, a music, fitness and stress expert, dedicated mom, studying plant-based nutrition and habit change.

She believes that, in order to change the world, we must first change from the inside, each of us, individually. She says,

“Each of us needs personal development, be it tai chi, music or weekly self-help meetings. In order for us to accommodate our own changes and grow ourselves, this is best done on a daily basis.

“If we all do it, we will all become better people. If we are better people, we are changing the world for the better.”