HEALTH MATTERS

A predominant part of leading & sustaining a healthy lifestyle is changing your mindset & being mindful.

As a public we have been brainwashed for years by television shows & untruthful food marketing and advertising about what we believe healthful eating & living should be; we have relied on these poor sources as our main source of nutrition & health education for our bodies, and today we are paying for it as a nation.

Look around you the next time you do a quick run to do errands, and simply be mindful about the % of people you see around you, adults and children, struggling with weight...the #'s are alarming. Compare this to what you saw 20, 10, even 5 years ago - there is undoubtedly a difference.

Being healthy & leading a healthy lifestyle first and foremost requires mindfulness and intention in every area of your life - it involves being in touch with how your body feels, do you feel stressed out about something? Is that why are you're eating that bagel, or are you TRULY hungry, does your body TRULY need those calories?

THINK PEOPLE THINK -- think and SET YOUR INTENTION constantly when it comes to nutrition. Don't eat mindlessly because you're at a conference or meeting and just because food sits on the table and it looks good, then you have to eat it? No you don't - ask your body first, am I hungry? Think about the time you last eat, is it truly time to eat again or will you be mindlessly consuming needless calories if you indulge?

As Americans we let our feelings & gratifications dictate our lives way too often - I want, I want, I want...and sadly we carry this poor attitude right over into food.

This comes into play just as much in our physical health and food today than ever before. The bigger, better, faster attitude of Americans has finally taken it's toll on our public health as a nation and it's got to stop. Eating should not be 110% of the time about pleasure and indulgence, we need to change our mindset as a country to understand that food is a way we honor the earth and land as we produce it, and honor our bodies and health and minds as we consume it in order to be prepared to live life to the fullest.

That said, here is a thought I think everyone in this country needs to hear: there is no such thing as an obesity epidemic; there is an over-feeding epidemic; a lack of quality nutrient food sources epidemic; & a lack of physical activity epidemic in this country - obesity is merely a symptom of these larger problems.

Branding the public health problem as an obesity epidemic merely pervades the incorrect mindset that health is not each individual's personal responsibility and it is out of their control, when in fact it is very much in their control, there are just those sadly that have not done yet what it takes to control it.

Kudos to those who have; it now becomes our job to pass on the invaluable lesson and MINDSET of a healthful life to those who haven't yet made this same discovery.

One key thing our public needs to learn is don't believe anything you read that comes from a food marketer or someone trying to make money off you - including the 'next fad in nutrition' - whether it's low fat, digestive health, or no-cal sweeteners. They're always just jumping on the bandwagon of the next big thing to cash in before the ever-fickle American public tires of it and moves onto the next nutrition fad, and it's working for them at least, but the American public health picture is losing big right now as they continually fall prey to these company gimmicks revolving around nutrition, food & diets.

Always get the facts first before you try a product, as 110% of the time marketers tweak food labels and basically flat out lie as our FDA sets the bar so low that if they have only a small % of certain negative ingredients they can still say it has 'zero this' and 'zero that' on the label and get away with it legally. Or they can say something is pesticide free if it was not sprayed directly, but still was produced on a farm that uses pesticides and could have air transfered....there are numerous ways these jerks fool with the truth to get you to buy, buy, buy....

There is still nothing on any shelf in any market that will supercede the nutritient benefits of the foods God put on this earth for us humans, and there never will be. Science cannot recreate or improve nature, no matter how hard it tries to claim it can and does.

In fact, there is nothing on any shelf in any market that your body requires or needs & most of it actually counteracts your good health & breaks down your bodies internal natural healthy processes, and not for the good.

Here is a perfect example of how well food marketing can brainwash people into thinking they're putting something healthy in their bodies as they choose to rely on the packaging & trust the companies trying to make money on their lack of nutrition knowledge, vs. researching and finding the facts about what they're putting into their bodies first - and it's not good news folks: The Potential Dangers of Splenda (Sucralose)

Splenda marketing - Happy thoughts on the package make happy, gullible consumers!

Like most unnatural, synthetic, chemical junk that we are not naturally meant to eat, there are no longterm studies yet that show effects of use of ingesting Splenda for years on end, yet the FDA allows them to be pushed through to market and sold to the public not knowing what will happen down the road to people longterm as this unnatural product takes root in the body & builds up over time.

Even better if you dig, you'll find the company producing it foolingly named McNeil Nutritionals is really J&J / Johnson & Johnson - isn't it interesting how marketing works? We rename ourselves something that sounds health related and people all of the sudden believe we are a legitimate nutrition source, when we're actually just white-coated scientists fooling with nature in a lab and creating something unnatural & telling people it's good for them.

And while we're at it, we'll add a few chlorine compounds to Splenda in the lab so the body won't be able to digest it, so we'll avoid the NATURAL process of digestion altogether so it creates a situation where no calories are absorbed, and even though there are calories truly in the product and they get metabolized somewhere in the body, but we don't know where they're going, or what harm they're causing when they get there, maybe like creating cancerous cells over time, what the heck - we've got a product we can claim has no calories and the American public will just eat that up, so sell the thing, chlorine in it or not - what's the big deal if people eat a little chlorine as long we become millionaires off the product? A little lie never hurt anyone, right?

Would you feed Splenda to your child now?

WAKEUP AMERICA -- And we wonder why our country has some of the highest rates of cancer in the world? Do you think European or other countries are taking in as much of this chemical junk as Americans are? Trust me they're not, because in their countries the people take a more active role in voting on food production issues, and the government also permits them to be active participants in determining the quality of food they're ingesting.

Not the US government folks, because it's all about what food manufacturer or big pharmaceutical is paying the FDA off to get their product pushed through to market with minimal testing - and who cares if a couple thousand lives are lost, right?? ..as long as their stock portfolios look good from the kickbacks they're receiving.

I'll say it again, science will never top nature, folks -

God didn't make sucralose, man did - and if it was good for us, it would have been handmade by God many years ago.

Stick to what He made for us to eat, and you will never go wrong - I don't know about you, but a healthful, long life free from illness sounds a LOT more appetizing than something that sounds as horrifying as lab-created, chlorine-filled "sucralose".

For safe sweetener alternatives that are from NATURE and won't add empty calories to your food plan, try stevia (be sure it's the all natural product). It is available at Trader Joes or your local health food store. Stevia is starting to become more readily available at grocery market chains.

Another lo-cal healthy sweetener option is xylitol, which is comprised from natural occuring sweeteners in fruits.

If you're not so concerned with caloric content blue agave syrup is a final natural sweetener option, although with the hefty amount of caloric content this product packs, I would recommend use of this in minimal amounts on infrequent occasions, i.e. make stevia your daily sweetener, but for an occasional treat to switch your taste up use blue agave.

In health & wellness,
Heather Dube - Health & Wellness Coach
Wellcoaches LWC Trainee, NASM CPT, BA Psychology
hdube@youandimprovedcoaching.com / 408.667.7551

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"Perhaps the only limits to the human mind are those we believe in." - W. Harman
web:  http://www.youandimprovedcoaching.com
blog: http://healthmatters.vox.com/

The mind is a powerful thing....and how we each harness and utilize that power is up to each individual for themselves.

I've always found in training my clients the mindset they show up with sets the stage for what we will achieve in that session, and fitness trainers alike know this well when they head to the gym daily for their own workout - they are sure to set the stage mentally before they hit the weights or cardio, knowing well how much the mind effects the results they will walk away with when they put their workout to bed for the day.

The scale of our mindset possibilities is amazingly wide, from a severely obese person who attempts to walk for 5 minutes on a treadmill and tells themselves they would rather sit down on the couch & suck in some tv, to a man who lost both his legs & felt running competition was so much his calling in life & put up #'s to show it, so believably so that he petitioned the Olympic Committee when they told him a double amputee was not allowed to apply to compete in the event by the rules, and WON my friends....

Double Amputee Will Compete in the 2008 Olympics

Oscar-pistorius

So the next time you DECIDE IN YOUR MIND ("your decision" being the key point) to whine about a breaking a sweat, chose tv over caring for your physical health, and give up when you feel a slight bit of pain when you're on your last rep at the gym, ask yourself this question: How much drive & motivation do YOU show up with on this scale of possibilies? Enough to lose both legs, but come forth with MORE HEART than those legs ever gave you to win??? The decision on how you show up is yours, and yours alone....

ALL Americans, obese and otherwise, should all take a lesson from this man. And you can bet if there is one tv show I'll sit down to watch it will be to watch him compete, in awe of his passion for life & truly living it to the fullest, as he runs in the 2008 Olympics.

 

In health & wellness,
Heather Dube - Wellness Coach
Wellcoaches LWC Trainee, NASM CPT, BA Psychology
hdube@youandimprovedcoaching.com / 408.667.7551

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"Perhaps the only limits to the human mind are those we believe in." - W. Harman
web:  http://www.youandimprovedcoaching.com
blog: http://healthmatters.vox.com/

OK, not what you wanted to hear, right? But if there is one plain truth or mantra about how to achieve good health in your lifetime it is this: PLAN AHEAD; PLAN OFTEN; and FOLLOW THE PLAN. While having a goal as all in fitness will tell you often adds the vision, the light at the end of the tunnel, the mountain top that lights the fire to your motivation that you truly need to succeed in health, you'll never reach the summit until you plan your steps.

In the myriad of people you will meet along this journey of learning about what leads to great fitness, nutrition, and health,  although there are some approach variants in those that are successful at this game in how they get from point A to point B, there is always one commonality in their steps -- and that is their approach incorporates detailed planning. Winning in life in terms of achieving goals, whatever your goals may be, requires calculated intention.

Breaking this down further, there are many levels on which you need to plan in order to achieve your health goals. There are long-term goals, short-term goals, and even daily planning & preparation, all of which play an equal part in your ability to attain success. For the purpose of this blog let's start with long-term goals.

A long-term health goal can be anything from smoking cessation to being able to do a 5k run/walk, but especially when you're just starting to integrate a good fitness and nutrition regimen into your lifestyle, having a "higher purpose" is what helps you keep your head up on the rough days and keep your eyes on the the horizon at what lies ahead if you push through...no pain, no gain my friend... and as we all know there will be rough days as in everything in life.

Your long-term goal can be anything that works for your life, large or small. In fact, the mistake most people make in health and why they tend to consistently cycle through repetitive failure, is they get amped to start and feed off this energy setting their goals too high. If I can give you any solid advice it would be START SMALL - i.e. I want to be able to walk a mile without being winded in 1 month. Let that resonate with you, put your weekly goal steps in place to achieve this goal, and if you blow the doors off your original goal, terrific! But don't get caught in the negative mental trap of setting an unachievable health goal for yourself, failing, and then giving up altogether that is all too common. 

Don't step on the scale everyday, don't watch the mirror endlessly, don't berate yourself daily - it's a journey, not an immediate destination - patience and persistence over time will be what gets you there. And when you fall off the horse, simply get back on and keep going. We are all human - those that are in fitness professionally, and those that aern't. We all bear the same struggles in this game no matter the athletic level, trust me. Just keep focused on the keys to mastering approach - #1 being "start small"....

Next blog we'll discuss short-terms goals: the action steps that occur weekly to reach the summit. I can see it! Can you? We are more than conquerers, if you let yourself believe in the possibilities great health can bring in your life.

Goals

Coaching is a field that is well-known in terms of professional development in big corporate, as well as a service for professional and Olympic athletes, but has just recently entered the fields of health and wellness over the last 8 years since 2000. Based on the same coaching models, wellness coaching has proven consistently to help clients with a wide range of wellness goals to meet a minimum of 70% of their goal each time they work with a coach to create behavior change in their life over the course of a three month period. Better still, they are able to continue on their own and retain the behavior change in their lifestyle.

So how is wellness coaching so successful, you say? Personal trainers and dieticians, while also instrumental in the health and wellness process, simply tell clients what to do & only address client solutions in a limited environment and timeframe, whereas a wellness coach acts as a catalyst to the behavior change process that addresses ALL areas of the clients life, environment, and lifestyle. The coach leads the client through the decision process as needed, but does not tell them what to do - allowing them to work with a leader in the field drawing from health and wellness expertise as needed, but experientially learning their own health and wellness life change through a partnering process with their coach. The client and coach partner together via phone and web, and can work together regardless of geographic location; one of my current colleagues located in CA (USA) is coaching a client in France at the moment. The client enjoys the safety of working through the coaching process in the privacy and comfort of their own home.

At the end of the process the client is able to implement the newly learned health and wellness lifestyle skills consistently on their own, with or without the coach. It is an empowering, successful process that, when combined with solid health/fitness/nutrition expertise from the coach's background, proves a powerful solution to our obesity epidemic at hand, and unmatched by other approach to good health that have been instituted to date. Wellness coaching is one of the largest growing personal services fields currently worldwide. http://www.wellcoaches.com/images/What_is_WellnessCoaching.pdf

WARNING!! As with many health and wellness subjects there are a lot of people out there claiming to be wellness coaches that simply took a 1 day course and have no credentials or experience in training, nutrition, or a health-related field. You must work with a coach is who formally trained with a reputable industry organization. For example, my background is with WellCoaches - an organization that kicked off the wellness coaching industry in 2000, is led by a CEO whose background stems from Havard Medical School of Public Health, and attracts students from around the world to their wellness coach training program. Their coach training program requires months of participation & only accepts students that are either career Dr's, Nurses/RN's, Registered Dietician's with the ADA, of Personal Trainers that come from the highest standarded certifying bodies in the industry - NASM & ACSM.  As with anytime you seek out professional services, make sure you have a full understanding of what you're getting in return for the services you're paying for - the coach should not only be trained by a strong wellness coaching organization, but they should have solid industry education and experience such as the above. I am very proud to be a part of this cutting edge movement as an ACSM WellCoaches Licensed Wellness Coach -- one that is proven to help people finally achieve their health & wellness goals.

Here is a demo of a client wellness coaching experience with an ACSM WellCoaches Wellness Coach:
http://www.wellcoaches.com/demo_tour/

Should you have not reached your own health and wellness goals in the past and be looking into wellness coaching as a possible solution, I'd be happy to answer any further questions you may have.

In good health & wellness,

"Health Matters"- NASM CPT, ACSM CPT, Licensed Wellness Coach

After a 13+ year marketing career finishing up in nutrition marketing for fruit and vegetable companies such as Dole, Del Monte, & Fresh Express, I decided to step out and pursue what has always been my 'side career' if you will in fitness and nutrition over the course of the last 17 + years. Fitness and nutrition has always been my passion, and the experiences I have had in this industry have afforded me solid knowledge to help others in this area. I am a group fitness instructor, certified personal trainer, amateur fitness figure competitor, and licensed wellness coach.

The public is genuinely bombarded with a myriad of flat out lies: diet fads; so called experts preying on the publics' desire for help; ab rollers that will supposedly make you look like the bodybuilder in the infomercial; untruthful food package design; grocery store labeling processes meant to confuse; poor food marketing and advertising; uneducated media spouting incorrect information regarding health and nutrition; no centralized source of accurate nutrition education in our school systems; research studies which twist health and nutrition info to benefit those who paid for the study in the first place; which all sadly contribute significantly to our rising obesity epidemic.

Worse still, the government continues to relaunch the ADA nutrition standards and CDC health standards at the lowest possible denominator of what Americans should be doing in order to live healthy, long lives...and the pharmaceutical companies happily step in to supposedly help by patching things with their "wonder drugs".

Not to mention a US food production system in ruins: production accelerated with animal pharmaceuticals that we consumer in our food unknowingly; government systems missing tainted food crops on import; poor internal quality assurance programs to protect American consumers; genetically modified food crops as a growing source of production while the small hard working American farmers that made this country great & the American people and their diet's suffer the cost.

I'm here to tell you these scenarios will only accelerate for the worse as the public demand and outcry for solid, helpful, easy-to-apply health information grows. It comes down to one thing & one thing only - personal responsibility for educating ourselves on healthful nutrition and exercise by seeking out truthful resources. Trust me, there are a lot of sources out there that do not benefit from your good health and they are fighting to be certain the state of the American public health doesn't change for the better, but for the worse. It's up to you & me.

The good news is there are industry professionals in the fields of fitness and nutrition like myself that sincerely want to help towards ending the madness and resulting obesity crisis.  To this end, I pledge to use this blog page to provide solid, truthful, researched information regarding fitness & nutrition that doesn't bring $ to anyone's pocket, but brings the possibility of long, healthful lives to this country. I hope you visit often and enjoy my industry posts.

Feel free to email me questions or topics you'd like to hear about.

In good health & wellness,

"Health Matters"- NASM CPT, ACSM CPT, Licensed Wellness Coach