Our Bodies are Designed to Stay Active. However, Our Modern Lifestyle is Sedentary
It is no big secret, Americans are not getting the activity they need. This is a trend we see around the globe. Many of us wake up in the morning, hop in our car, go to work, sit eight hours at a desk and then hop in our car and drive back home. I watched a program once that spoke about how our cities were build for cars, not people. I also have a friend that travels by foot, bike or public bus and I constantly hear about his frustration of lack of sidewalks or even almost being hit by cars while trying to navigate through his day. All he is trying to do is get from point A to point B but constantly faces adversity because he is on foot and not in a car. I think this highlights a huge problem in the United States, our cities are not really designed for pedestrians. We need ways of encouraging people to commute in ways other than by automobile. This is not only for our health but also for the health of our planet.
So, the real question is since many of us don’t walk or bike during our daily routine activities, such as on our way to work or the store, then how can we incorporate activity into our recreational activities. On a personal note, I do jog in the mornings regularly, I will tell you exactly how I find my motivation. I have a dog, just one dog, so I am solely responsible for insuring that my dog get sufficient exercise. It’s funny, my motivation could be any one of a thousand reasons and in some ways, yes, staying fit and healthy is definitely part of motivation but at least for me- I found something external that motivates me. If I have children maybe my motivation would be them. I might include a sunset walk a few nights a week. Walking and talking is a great relationship builder. Walking with someone takes away distractions and lets you focus on the person. If I had children, maybe my motivation would be keeping them healthy or being able to live long enough to see their children live long lives. You are obviously feeling motivated already to make changes. I encourage you, over the next 24 hours to write a list of what motivates you to incorporate fitness in your life. Write it down, make a list, hang it on your wall or refrigerator. You can write it in the notes section of your phone and pull it up every time you need that extra push. The willpower and determination are both inside you, you just have to figure out how to harness it.
- Published in Fitness
Our Bodies Crave High Calorie Foods Because our Ancestors Faced Times of Famine
Imagine if you will, medieval times, you are a maiden or a lord…life seems great. Suddenly, you get the news that the entire crop of food your village has been growing was wiped out by a bunch of roaming boars and now your whole village has no food for the winter. This is a terrible situation but it is a situation our ancestors faced regularly. Food was scarce, we didn’t have refrigeration and transportation. What you grew, hunted, or foraged is what you ate. Even just a hundred years ago you can see the network providing us food was not in place. Today we eat fruit from other countries in different latitudes, with different growing seasons than us. They send food to us when our grocery stores need some more selection. It’s a great thing we have going and we should all be very thankful. Additionally, we live in a first world country and we have so much food- it is way more than we need, chances are we won’t ever run out…BUT our bodies don’t know that.
Our bodies still believe we are in a feast and famine situation. Our brains give us high reward reactions when we calorie gorge. Every piece of fried food, loaded with hundred of calories does something to our brain. Our brain says to our body, this is great, please get more! Our brain wants us to eat as much as we can….just in case we have to face a famine in the near future. Here in the USA, that famine never comes. However, day in and day out we repeat this series of events. Our brain says yes, drink that chocolate milk, eat that cheese….the calorie consumption is sky high and our activity level (calorie usage) is minimal.
I think it’s liberating to understand our bodies are made to be this way. Doesn’t it make you feel a little less down on yourself to realize, it’s your brain’s fault and it’s just doing that to help you survive?! I truly believe that understanding the problem is half of the solution….
So, what’s the next step? Switching to foods we won’t over eat. Our go to foods are processed, preserved, and ladened with additives (like sugar and butter). These foods are made in a way that makes it extremely easy to over eat. When we turn back to natural foods, many times the fiber and high nutrient content make it a lot less likely to over eat. I will help you discover these foods and help you incorporate them into your life.
- Published in Eating for Health, Public Blog
How our Mind Tricks us into Living in a Constant State of Stress
I think the fist step in understanding how mindfulness can help you, is understanding how and why our brains are wired to automatically assume the worst case scenario and how that affects our thoughts and our bodies. What I find fascinating is that not only can we change the tenancy to assume the worst case scenario but these changes can also be visualized on brain scans. Our ancestors roamed the planes and forests, honestly they did so with very little defenses. Humans don’t have tough hides and sharp teeth and claws…but we do have greater reasoning abilities than any other animal. Here is our advantage. We have foresight, we know if we see a gator in the water we are swimming in we better get out of the water as soon as possible to prevent any chance we might become that gator’s dinner. Well, this hyper-vigilant state served us well when we were in survival type situations on a daily basis, it helped keeps us alive, truly critical. Even if the “gator” ended up just being a log, we still reacted as if it was a gator but it was totally justified because one error and we could be eaten. In those times, we might face several real dangers like that every single day. Today however, we are rarely in these type of life and death situations. Our bodies still act like we are. Even in our thoughts, we worry about things that haven’t even happened yet or worry things that are in the past. This is called rumination and it’s a natural human condition that developed from our ancestors and the high stress, life and death conditions they faced in the past.
The unfortunate thing about how our brains evolved is that in high stress situations, our bodies create cortisol in high amounts. Cortisol in high amounts is linked to obesity, fatigue, decreased immune system, cravings, GI problems….the list goes on and on. Our bodies are living in a high stress state and our minds are also slated to assume the worse. When you practice mindfulness, you become aware of those body sensation and you become aware of your mind drifting to the negative outlooks. Simply by noticing it, becoming aware of it, in a NONJUDGMENTAL way we can begin to fix it. Every time you dedicate time or incorporate mindfulness in you daily activities is a step in the right direction. That’s right you can practice mindfulness while you do chores or even while on a nice evening stroll. It is called mindfulness PRACTICE because it is something we can do everyday to cultivate our skills. Becoming a master of your mind won’t happen over night but I can tell you the more you practice the better you will become. Even when you do become a master you will still use the same steps you used in your very first session. So now, get started!
- Published in Mindfulness Training
Time To Cook
PDF available for download here: Time To Cook PDF
- Published in Eating for Health Resources
RDA AI Vitamins Elements
- Published in Eating for Health Resources