Benefits of eating well

WHOLE BODY-AND-MIND BENEFITS OF EATING WELL✨

🔬Dr. Erin Barrett, a scientist at Shaklee, put together this list of just SOME of the ways food has a direct impact on you:

Mental health: Specific nutrients, such as antioxidants in fruits and veggies and omega-3 fatty acids in fish, support your mental well-being.
Energy levels: Your body breaks down foods for fuel. Balanced meals and healthy snacks help you have steady energy.
Brain function: Certain foods, especially those rich in antioxidants, omega-3 fatty acids, and other nutrients, support cognitive function.
Digestion: Fiber-rich foods (e.g., fruits, veggies, whole grains) aid digestion and help prevent GI issues like constipation. Probiotics found in yogurt and fermented foods promote a healthy gut.
Weight: A balanced diet helps support a healthy weight (which also supports your overall health).
Immune function: A well-balanced diet helps provide multiple nutrients that are essential to your body’s ability to fight off invaders.
Heart health: A diet rich in fruits, veggies, whole grains, lean proteins, and omega-3 fatty acids supports heart health. A high intake of saturated fats, cholesterol, and sodium can contribute to heart disease.
Bone strength: Calcium, vitamin D, and magnesium are essential. A diet lacking these nutrients can increase the risk of osteoporosis and bone fractures.
Skin: Nutrients like vitamins A, C, E, biotin, and zinc contribute to glowing skin. Antioxidants from fruits and veggies also support your skin health.

Whew! Few things affect your whole being as much as food does.

Ask for our recipe book for healthy recipes! We are here to help.

Coaching people to a better life.

July 26, 2023July 27, 2023

Being consistent is key in all aspects of life.

What you do every now and then doesn’t count. What matters is what you do every day. It’s about being consistent.

What aspect of this do you think this is true of for you?

One guy is consistent at walking every morning, sometimes at 5 a.m. He’s being consistent.

Another guy shows up at our networking meeting every week with printed rosters for everyone. He’s being consistent.

Someone else is at church every Sunday. That’s being consistent.

The compound effect

There is a book called The Compound Effect, by Darren Hardy. (find it on Amazon) It discusses the importance of how being consistent with a habit can have huge impact on our lives. And these can be good or bad. It seems that repeated actions will seem to have little if any effect for a period of time. Then suddenly there is a big, exponential growth noticed.

As I said, this habit can be good or bad. How does one become obese? There’s no sudden need to eat a whole pie after dinner each night. It starts slowly and then suddenly they are buying double XL T shirts. Their overeating became a habit and the weight mushroomed into an unhealthy state.

I do pride myself in being consistent.

If you sit near me here at the Tuesday morning networking meetings, you will see that I am consistent at taking my daily strip of vitamins.
You will find me at the gym on Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 5:15 a.m.
I drink a glass of water first thing every morning.
I floss my teeth every day. I am being consistent.

Why is this important?

Health habits are very important to maintaining our lifestyle. As time progresses, we are no longer able to stand without a groan, sprint across the street or keep up with a friend on a walk. Vacations become more sedentary as one cannot walk or climb as much as when they were younger.

I encourage my massage clients and my customers to look at what their health habits have become and those they may want to incorporate into their routines.

Exercise.

While we are very consistent with our breathing, we are not always in control of how we breathe. It is usually pretty shallow. How do we develop a habit of breathing deeper, longer breaths?

We can take that power and control back. Here is an exercise to help improve your breathing that can add stamina to your day, help you relax more and improve your sleep.

Sit comfortably with your hands in your lap. Take note of your breathing. Are you breathing into your throat? Your chest? Your lower abdomen?

To help you be more conscious of the depth of your breathing, get an ordinary balloon.

Blow into the balloon and quietly let the air out of the balloon. Where did your effort to blow up the balloon come from?

Blow into the balloon again and make an effort to use your lower abdomen to push the air into the balloon. Empty as much air as you can into the balloon. Release the air from the balloon.

Repeat this procedure a few more times. Slow down if you get light headed. This may be something you need to work up to.

Using your powers of consistency, do this on a daily basis. You will notice an easier process of breathing. Be aware if you have increased stamina. What is happening with your sleep after being consistent with this for a period of time?

Moving forward

Think about your health habits. Commit to one new habit that you will take on for the next 30 days. I feel certain that the compound effect will happen for you.

February 25, 2023

Deteriorating Health

Sometimes we find ourselves in a state of deteriorating health. How does that happen? How did I get there? What can I do about deteriorating health?

Many people in their 20 are ready to take the world by storm. Nothing can hold them back.

In their 30’s they are focusing on their careers. They are establishing themselves in their chosen industry.

At forty, life begins to slow down a bit and they become more settled in their lives. The income has been set and they are comfortable with their lifestyle as a whole.

But have you ever seen those memes that says all is rocking along just fine but at 50 that “check engine” light comes on?

That little alert may be a realization that the hair is thinning or falling out. It may be stiff joints or an inability to climb stairs. What about too much weight in the middle? Or worse yet, bad report numbers after the annual physical?

These are the people I specialize in helping. Those who are facing a downfall in health status, deteriorating health, and are not quite ready to give in easily to the aging process. Many tend to depend solely on what the doctor or physician’s assistant tells them to do. I find it important to do some research and explore alternative pathways to solve a health problem.

Please understand that I have and use doctors and other medical professionals. They are trained in their particular field of study and practice. However, their recommendations and procedures may not be the best or most appropriate option for you.

If you know someone who is at or approaching the half-century mark with some warning lights flashing on their dashboard of health I can be of help and guidance. Send them to me and I will coach them on a path to wellness and self-care.

August 17, 2020

Ankle strength for hiking

Why strong ankles are important

On a recent vacation to campout and hike in Palo Duro Canyon In the Panhandle of Texas I became aware of the importance of having strong functional ankles. We don’t think much about having strong ankles and how they actually support us and help keep us from falling. I found that my ankles are very integral in my being able to stay vertical while hiking up and down the Canyon. We don’t think much about our ankles in our daily lives walking around on Pavement and concrete and the hard floors of our home. I wondered what can we do to help exercise our muscles in our ankles and lower legs. As a massage therapist, all muscles are important and as we get older muscle tone and functionality is especially important in keeping us active and healthy.

Where do we usually walk

I walk most days for about 3 miles. Living in Dallas, that is usually on sidewalks or streets. While I get some cardio benefit and some weight bearing exercise while walking, my ankles are not putting out a lot of effort to do the walk. Unlike hiking up and down the mountain in rocky terrain, my ankles have a smooth go of it in general.

How can I strengthen my ankles

All this got me to thinking about how to take care of my ankles better. As you can see in this picture, I show three different types of terrain . There is grass, there’s pavement and there are stones in the landscaping. When I walk on the pavement I’m not getting much effort out of my ankles. When I walk on the grass I get a little more engagement in the muscles of the ankle and calf. And when I walk on the stones I really get a workout for my ankles and lower legs. The stones are a good way to mimic the rough terrain of Palo Duro Canyon and engage my ankles and calves in the effort .

My encouragement to my massage clients and anyone else who is walking and working to develop strength and stability is to walk on grass as much as possible and, when the opportunity presents itself, walk on some rough terrain such as these landscaping stones. Go slowly and carefully and engaging those muscles will pay off greatly in the future .

Other recommendations

I will also point out that in this heat we are currently experiencing it is very important to stay hydrated . Oftentimes water is not enough to keep us hydrated. Perspiration and breath expiration cause us to lose a lot of fluids as well as electrolytes from our bodies. Whether I’m hiking in Palo Duro Canyon, working in the backyard or taking my daily walk I always use a hydration drink .

My drink of choice is Shaklee Performance . There is a low calorie option as well as the regular.

So keep up your walking and exercise regime, do it smartly and stay hydrated.

Also, here are some more tips for having a healthy hike, especially if you experience muscle spasms or cramps.

February 4, 2020

Remedy for Muscle Spasms and Cramps

I have a massage client in his mid-sixties. He loves to swim at the gym. He often complains of cramps or muscle spasms. What most people do not realize is that you can sweat in the winter. You do sweat even when you are swimming. Sweating can cause your electrolyte balance to be effected.

I gave him a packet of Shaklee’s Performance Low Calorie Electrolyte Drink. I instructed him to pour it into a bottle of water before going to the gym to swim. Voila! No cramping! No cramping means better workouts and probably more workouts.

Working out, especially weight-bearing exercise is increasingly important as we age. Muscle is lost each year after age 40. So being able to continue to be active and working out is crucial for long-term health and mobility. When muscle spasms or cramps occur, the motivation to work out becomes less and less.

That is why it is important to maintain good nutrition to fuel the workouts and to recover and rebuild muscle after the workouts. As they say, “you don’t move it, you lose it.” And they say that “motion is lotion.” Keep moving.