FINDING MOTIVATION AND BEING ACCOUNTABLE
Fitness is a journey and the journey is better when you have someone on that journey with you. Looking back on my fitness journey, I had the most success and regularity to my workouts when I had a workout partner. We would meet several times a week and jog around a park, at one point we both joined the same gym. Your workout partner could be a friend, a significant other, a co-worker, or even a roommate.
If there is no one who will commit it might be best to get a fitness trainer to help schedule and help you commit to a workout routine. Being a fitness trainer, I have specific times that I can use the private gym I collaborate with for my personal use. We schedule the clients first and then allow the trainers to train in the open time. I make sure to schedule and show up to the times that are open. This helps me be accountable. I notice that when I have completely open times to go to the gym, I sometimes don’t end up going. I will put it off one hour, then two hours…then eventually it gets too late. If I am working out outside I will even make excuses about it being too hot or too colds. Even fitness professionals procrastinate, it happens to all of us.
Having someone else making you accountable really makes all the difference. Please contact me for a complimentary fitness session. I want to help you reach your fitness goals.
- Published in Fitness, Public Blog
ONE THIRD ARE DEFICIENT IN VITAMIN D
According to the Centers for Disease Control, 32 percent of adults and children are deficient in vitamin D. Vitamin D is not only important for bones, as it helps calcium absorption along with K2 but it also needed by muscles, nerves, and the immune system. [1] Vitamin D actually acts like a hormone, it is a unique “vitamin”. It is a fat soluble vitamin which means you can take too much of it. There is also a lot of conflicting information on recommended amounts of Vitamin D. It is best to talk to a doctor to find out if you are low and to find out how much is recommended for you. From everything I have learned we need to be very weary of supplements because they are man made and we don’t know the quality or the bioavailability (how easy we absorb that specific supplement). Also, there are two forms of D- D2 and D3, it appears that D3 is much more bioavailable. Many vitamin D sources don’t specify what kind of vitamin D is present.
Humans can make vitamin D from the sun. There are a lot of factors that go into how much sun you should get. According to the Vitamin D council, you should expose yourself to sunlight but only half of the amount of time it would take your skin to get pink. Factors like time of year, distance from the equator, darkness of skin, and amount of skin exposed all play a factor in how much Vitamin D you will produce. However, it’s pretty clear that if your skin is getting pink or you start tanning that you are probably overexposed and you don’t need to spend that much time in the sun to get the vitamin D. You might even be setting yourself up for skin cancer.
When making smoothies, look for OJ that is fortified with vitamin D. They have been able to test that your body does absorb the vitamin D found in fortified OJ- specifically “1000 IU/240 mL orange juice for 12 wk”. [2]
I am an advocate of getting vitamins naturally through food, unfortunately there doesn’t seem to be a lot of great food sources of Vitamin D.
These are the ones commonly recommended:
Cold Water Fish: Salmon, Mackerel, Tuna, Sadines, Harring, Cod
Grass-fed is better: Beef, Beef Liver, Milk, and Butter
Egg yolks
Fortified cereal, OJ, Milk
Mushrooms also have smaller amounts of Vitamin D
Interesting enough vitamin D has a companion, K2 that should be taken with it to prevent calcification in places you might not want calcification, like your artery walls. See that blog here.
- Published in Public Blog, Smoothie Making
WHAT DOES HOLISTIC MEAN?
I think a lot of people have a connotation in their head what holistic means. Because of this I deliberated long and hard whether to use that term or not. I decided to go with it because I couldn’t find another term that meant all encompassing health approach. I suppose a lot of people use the term holistic in a lot of different ways, some things they may use if for may not be based in fact. I understand and recognize that.
I have a health science background and prescribe to the idea of using data, studies, past experience, and the most current developments when preparing data for this site.
For me, and for this website, I want to clarify what I consider a “holistic” approach to health. First and foremost, I think that eating for health is the first key to the journey. What I mean by that is eating more natural foods so that our body easily recognizes the ingredients. The process and preserving foods use a lot of man made chemicals. Our body is used to eating unadulterated foods, it is only recently we have been able to heat, process and store foods to such extremes. I think it is pretty easy to see how when we eat fresh, unprocessed foods we are eating less chemicals and less additives, while also receiving optimal nutrition from that food. That is because preserving food often decreases the nutritional density of a food.
Next, Pivot believes fitness is key. Cardiovascular, bone, joint, even mental health has been shown to improve with exercise. Visceral body fat has shown to be detrimental to health. Fitness is the second key to health.
The other pillar of health is mindfulness. This doesn’t have to mean we sit in silence and meditate everyday, although that is a great practice, mindfulness is more like awareness when this site refers to it. That could mean awareness in many different instances. Some examples would be to be aware of aches and pains in the body and noticing what causes them to get worse or better. To recognize when you are around people who bring your mood down or make you anxious. Often times, just becoming aware of a tenancy can help you create a solution for it. For instance, noticing you don’t sleep well if you eat acidic foods close to bedtime or every time you eat a specific food your skin breaks out.
Mindfulness also has to do with being present in the moment. Instead of being distracted by social media or our phone, we put our tablet or phone down and concentrate on the person we are with, the task that we are completing, or the experience we are having.
That’s it! Simplified but you can see there is nothing controversial here. It’s all pretty straight forward and has lots of research to back it up. Data can be found under the services tab of this website and then expand the facts and figures tab on the page once you select a topic.
So, what does Pivot do besides give people information?
Pivot teaches people how to implement these health practices into our lives. People say “it cost too much to eat healthy”, or “I don’t have time to stay fit”. That is not a valid excuse because I enjoy being thrifty and I also like to be efficient. I have been able to implement these practices in my life and it is 100 percent affordable and feasible to meal prep, get a nice workout in regularly, or set aside time to be present or mindful. I want to be able to show you the value of doing these things. I want to be the reason you say “It’s time to make changes”, “I want to do this to improve the quality of my life”, ” I want to make sure my body gets the nutrition it needs”, or “I want the best health I can provide for myself as I age”. We are all busy, but spending 20 to 30 minutes putting quality food into a crockpot can produce 5 wholesome meals for under $20 dollars. Think about the time you will save going not sitting at a drive-thru. Trader Joes is the spot for affordable organic fyi.
Maybe the crockpot is not your thing. My job is to give you innumerable resources and ideas to help you find what’s right for you, what best fits in your lifestyle. I want to give you the tools to “pivot” closer to you health goals. Every step is a step in the right direction. Every wholesome meal is providing nutrition to your body. We can start slow, maybe just add some fruits and veggies, maybe make a smoothie, maybe skip the drive through once a week, then twice, or maybe we pack healthy snacks. All of those are great places to start! I want to inspire you, motivate you, and give you so many ways to reach optimum health based on the latest information that is emerging.
There are a lot of exciting things on the horizon, discoveries we are only now beginning to understand. One of those breakthroughs is epigenetics. They know by studying identical twins that our environment, diet, and lifestyle choices can affect how our genes express. So, just because you are genetically predispositioned to develop a disease doesn’t mean you have to express it. If we know we have a family history of diabetes, we can work proactively to help prevent those genes from expressing. I love this topic and will go into more depth soon in another posting but for now if you want to learn a little more about epigenetics here are two great videos:
http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/epigenetics/twins/
- Published in Public Blog
THE FAMOUS ROTATOR CUFF
If you have a shoulder injury, there is a good chance it involves the rotator cuff. I can not tell you how many times I’ve seen an injury that likely could have been avoided with regular rotator cuff strengthening.
So what is a rotator cuff?
The short answer is 4 relatively small muscles that are integral to holding your upper arm bone in the right location during shoulder movement. Yes, there are other muscle that do that, bigger muscles too but the rotator cuff is probably the most important set. Picture the top part of the upper arm bone. The top part of the bone, the part that connects to the shoulder looks like a shaft and a ball at the top. The ball on top is called the head of the humerous. Above that is a “roof” of bone. If you feel the very top of you shoulder, when you follow your collar bone out, you can feel the top of the shoulder is really hard, that is called your acromion bone.
So in review I’ve mentioned three major players so far: the head of the humerous, the acromion, and the rotator cuff. They are all have to work together for movement in the shoulder. This is quite an important job that is complicated by a large grouping of nerves and arteries that happen to run in that space between the head of the humerous and the acromion. The rotator cuffs job is to hold that head of the humerous from coming into contact with the acromion and also preventing impingement (squeezing) the nerves and arteries that run in that space as well.
The rotator cuff looks like 4 little muscles wrapped around a ball, the same way a pitchers fingers wrap a round a baseball. It holds it tight into that shoulder joint, not allowing the ball portion of the bone to have a lot of excess movement with in the shoulder.
So, what happens if the rotator cuff is not strong?
The bones are going to be grinding around in the shoulder. You have tendons in there, joint capsules, muscles, arteries, and nerves. The constant grinding could possibly eventually cause arthritis or damage to any of the other structures I mentioned.
In short, a strong rotator cuff keeps the bones in the shoulder in a stable position so that the optimum joint space is kept and we don’t have bones grinding on bones or bones grinding on soft tissue shoulder structures.
When we have problems with our rotator cuff we experience: weakness, numbness and tingling, blood flow problems, and lose the ability to move our shoulder in certain motions.
Contact me at 407-205-7488 for a complimentary rotator cuff exam and also a preventative rotator cuff strengthening sample protocol.
- Published in Fitness, Public Blog
CHRONIC INFLAMMATION AND FOOD CHOICES
At a glace:
Foods that decrease inflammation: Foods rich in omega 3, omega 9, potassium, manganese, beta carotene, vitamin C, vitamin E, and foods that promote gut health- live culture foods, fiber. [1]
Foods that promote inflammation: Processed foods, sugary foods, fried foods, refined carbohydrates (white flour products), red meat, margarine, saturated and trans fats, MSG, gluten, casen, aspartame, alcohol, foods high in omega 6 (if intake is not proportional to omega 3 or 9) [2] [3]
Foods to eat for decreased inflammation:
- Tumeric-I use in smoothies, it can also be sprinkled on food
- Flax seed- I use ground flax seeds in smoothies, it can also be sprinkled on food
- Olive oil
- Salmon
- Sardines
- Cod
- Tuna
- Tomatoes
- Spinach
- Bok choy
- Kale
- Sea weed
- Bananas
- Apples
- Almonds
- Avocado
- Broccoli
- Blueberries
- Cherries
- Strawberries
- Pineapple
- Carrots
- Oranges
- Walnuts
- Almonds
- Beans
- Quinoa
- Garlic
- Onions
How it works: We have already discussed how omega 3 helps reduce inflammation here but it also turns out potassium and manganese also decrease inflammation in the body. [4] When we take in potassium helps stimulate the adrenal glands which secrete anti-inflammation hormones. Sugar (aka high-fructose corn syrup, glucose, sucrose, corn syrup, lactose, malt syrup, maltodextrin, maltose, caramel and agave nectar) increases cytokines, which amp up immune response by continually signalling for immune activity. [2]
Additional resources:
https://www.verywell.com/anti-inflammatory-foods-2505929
http://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/foods-that-fight-inflammation
http://goodfoodeating.com/6206/anti-inflammatory-food-index/
- Published in Eating for Health Resources, Public Blog
FIGHTING INFLAMMATION WITH FOOD
Chronic inflammation is turning out to be a key factor that exacerbates many of the most common medical conditions we currently face. Resent research has shown inflammation plays a role and often found to be a common denominator in diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, Alzheimers, stroke, cancer and arthritis. [1], [2] These are disorders that affect so many Americans it’s truly astounding that we are now figuring out chronic inflammation is a risk factor. Honestly, understanding the problem is the first step in fixing it so lets begin with a brief explanation of inflammation and it’s purposes in the body and what happens when the natural process becomes more harmful than beneficial.
Imagine you tear a ligament in your knee. Your knee will start to swell. This is called an immune response. The body calls for increased blood flow to the area (and increased permeability of blood vessels). The blood brings with is a little army of immune response cells. These cells do everything from carry away damaged cells that are beyond repair, they clean the area internally and also bring cells that destroy foreign material or bacteria. The increased blood flow also brings nutrients to help heal. The body is truly amazing!
Sometimes however, this immune response gets stuck in a loop and doesn’t cease as it should normally. The body often has this hyper-immune activity when we are stressed, not eating properly, and not sleeping properly. That sounds like every American! Obesity is also linked to an increased immune response because fat cells around the organs produce a substance called cytokines, which amp up immune response by continually signalling for immune activity. [3] Cytokines are also linked to insulin resistance, a key factor in type 2 diabetics. [4], [5], [6]
Well, this hyper-active, chronic immune response ends up being very damaging to body tissue. The body may attack it’s own tissues and destroy important structures. The blood vessels and intestines become more permeable, allowing for substances and compounds that wouldn’t normally get through the membrane into the blood stream. The body may see these strange compounds as foreign and attack them, this is called leaky gut. In the heart, inflammation attacks the deposits of cholesterol and might be the cause of a heart attack causing cholesterol deposit rupture and the clots that form after the rupture. [7] The same idea goes for stroke, if the cholesterol deposits attacked by immune cells are located in an artery and rupture that can cause a stroke. [7]
So, now we see how inflammation seemingly drives the pathways of many common diseases, how do we decrease systematic inflammation? No big surprise the food we eat can increase or decrease systematic inflammation.
The problem is Americans are eating 14 to 25 times more omega 6 than omega 3. [8] If omega 6 intake is higher than omega 3 intake inflammation is promoted. Omega 6 is found in palm oil, safflower oil, grapeseed oil, peanut oil, sunflower linoleic oil, corn oil, peanut oil, salad dressing, mayonnaise, soybean oil, sunflower and soybean margarine, shortening including the kind used for frying, among others. [9] These are common ingredients found in sugary, fried, processed, fast food, restaurant food, and simple carbohydrates. All good foods to avoid if you are trying to reduce inflammation. Olive oil is thought to be a good substitute for these dangerous vegetable oils.
Omega 3 is shown to help with decreasing arthritis pain, heart health, lowers triglycerides, slows Alzheimer’s progression, and reduces risk of developing diabetes. [10] Foods high in omega 3 are flax seed and flax seed oil, chia seed, salmon oil, sardine oil, cod oil and herring oil. [11]
As it turns out there are lots of other foods you can avoid and foods you can eat to help reduce inflammation.
Coming soon: check the eating for health resources page for a compilation of these inflammation reducing foods.
Reducing systematic inflammation can help us slow down disease processes! That is exciting news! Never feel like you can’t take control over your health. Food can change your life and I’m going to give you even more tools so you can take the helm and learn how to eat for health!
- Published in Eating for Health, Public Blog
EXCITING BLOGS IN THE WORKS!
While working with a client last night and putting together a plan for him, I was inspired to take on the task of addressing some of the most common health problems I come across. Having worked with food over these years, I have heard, read, and studied how certain plants have been known to help with different types of ailments. It really makes since, if you think about it. According to PBS: “Today, about 40 percent of our prescription medicines come from plant extracts or synthesized plant compounds.”
Something as simple as a natural, higher fiber diet helps with digestion, weight control, heart health [1], among other things. There are also certain plants that are believed to help with chronic inflammation. A very common ailment in the USA.
I find it very empowering to think that we can control what we eat and in turn can provide the right nutrients for our body to function properly and heal properly. Keep an eye out for some truly powerful blogs coming soon that represent the “meat and potatoes” of eating for health.
- Published in Public Blog
SAMPLE GROCERY LIST
SAMPLE GROCERY LIST
Organic Kale
Organic Spinach
Organic Tomatoes
Organic Potatoes
Organic Carrots
Onions
Spaghetti Squash
Parsley
Organic Coconut Oil
Avocados
Nuts
Organic Almond Milk
Prune Juice
100% Orange Juice not from concentrate
Nectarines
Grapes
Kiwi
Pineapple
Blueberries
Lemons and limes
Salsa
Sprouted Bread (If you do not like this kind, try to find organic wheat or whole wheat, no bleached white bread. Also, look at the preservatives, added flavors, and colors etc.)
Whole Grain, Veggie Pasta, Whole Oats, Whole Rice
Quinoa
Organic Tortilla Chips
Lentils and Beans (I like the way the red lentils cook fast)
Shredded Hormone-free Cheese
Cage free Hard Boiled Eggs Cage free, vegetarian fed, humanely raised Chicken Sustainable
Fish (https://www.seafoodwatch.org/)
Everyone says organic is expensive. I urge you to try Trader Joes. They are my “go to” for when I plan on purchasing a lot of organic produce and groceries. It’s very affordable.
http://www.healthylifedeals.com/2010/12/trader-joesprice-list.html
- Published in Eating for Health Resources, Public Blog
HOW MINDFULNESS CAN BENEFIT YOUR WORKOUTS
There is a lot of misconception about mindfulness. As mentioned previously, there is a type of mindfulness practice that is very formal. There are special postures, you want the environment to be relatively calm and quiet. This type of training is great and certainly has a place in our wellness routine. However, there is a type of mindfulness that can be done anytime, even while completing our daily activities. This is the type of mindfulness I am addressing in this article.
All mindfulness truly means is single pointed focus on the present moment, or an object, or a thought, even on your feelings and body sensations. It does not have to be spiritual, it is more like a brain exercise. Complete awareness. Allowing all your senses to soak in the present moment. When we work out we really need to be there mentally.
Have you ever heard someone say “Show up to this work out, give it your all”? Well, having worked with athletes for most of my life I will tell you, that you can 100% be able to be somewhere physically and not mentally.
When we don’t show up mentally for our workout our form is sloppy, our effort is inconstant, and this is when injuries happen…..
When our mind is a million miles away we may not notice all our bodies feedback ques. One que I get from my body is when I’m dehydrated, even to a small degree of dehydration, my muscles get a little ache in them. This is a precursor to a cramp.
Another way to use mindfulness in your workout is during the muscle contractions. When I am using weight to strengthen the muscles, there is usually a contraction phase. This is when we are demanding the most out our muscles. Let’s say a bicep curl is our example. We have a weight in our hands. When our hand are down my our thighs, the arm is in extension. When we curl our arms by bending our elbows and we get to the top of the curl, we give a little extra contraction at the end. Really experience that moment and listen to your body. Feel how it feels to get that intense contraction at the end of the motion. Feel the blood rushing in. Hold it for a couple seconds, then slowly move out of your contraction.
When doing squats you feel that contraction the whole way down. Go slowly through the motion. At the end points stop motion completely. This helps prevent momentum from fueling the next portion of the exercise. This also helps us pinpoint the muscles we are targeting. Accessory movement causes muscles we do not intend on training to assist us in the motion we are completing. One example of this accessory muscle kicking in to help with the motion is when we accidentally use our hip flexors while we are trying to train abs. That is very common.
The low back is very easy to strain. There is training that shows you how to tighten your core as you do motions that can easily harm your low back.
All these are examples of becoming aware and able to focus on your body, and listen to the feedback. When we train mindfulness regularly it is easier to get your mind to focus during workouts. Mindfulness is a mind exercise and just like other exercises you get better and better the more you practice.
- Published in Mindfulness Training, Public Blog
About this Blog
I hope everyone is enjoying this blog so far. I have opened all premium content to the public for the month of January. I want you to think of this blog as a tool box. When you put together a tool box you want to be sure you have the right tools for all kinds of jobs you might have to complete. There might be very specific tools you need only a few times a year and there are also tools you use everyday.
I want the blog to be your tool box that you use to help improve your overall health. Not everything might apply to you. Additionally, there might be something you already knew. There might even be something you read and it is not until years later that it becomes relevant to you. Hopefully, most of what you read inspires you to incorporate these practices in your daily health routine.
My goal is to provide content and resources for you to take control of your health. I try to address the biggest issues I see facing us as Americans. Issues such as heart disease and stroke are often rooted in poor diet and not enough exercise.
It can be overwhelming to try to understand all the data that is out there regarding health and wellness. There is so much conflicting information, it can be confusing to navigate. Luckily, nutrition and fitness are my life long passions and I enjoy sifting through lectures, books, articles, and studies to get the best and most complete information. More importantly, I can provide you with not only the latest information but provide you with the experience I have from incorporating what I have learned into my life.
Please enjoy the content for free for the rest of January and if this blog is something you find valuable to your health journey, monthly subscription to this blog’s premium content is $35 per month. There will also be a public portion that I will continue to update but the more in depth analysis, recipes, and sample workout protocols will be for members only. If you have a topic you would like covered please feel free to leave a note in the comments. I will help you in anyway I can. Here’s to your health!
Let us live long, happy, fulfilling and healthy lives!
- Published in Public Blog