Are You Winning The Game of Life – Part 2

May 4, 2012 by

In the last article we discovered that by focusing on symptoms instead of health we can actually end up sick, miserable, frustrated and even dead before our time. We also identified the 6 keys to winning the game of life. This week we will continue to explore those keys to a great life.

Key #2 – Being able to do what you enjoy! Having time for leisure and having the ability to choose how we spend our time are crucial to our mental and physical well-being. Active leisure can be divided into 3 categories: social leisure with friends and family, cognitive leisure focusing on mental stimulation, and physical leisure including sports and exercise.

While most people recognize how important these are, the reality is that our leisure time is disappearing. A study demonstrated that Canadians are spending an average of 1.5 hours less on leisure in 2005 compared to 1998.

What was the outcome of this? In 2005…35% of Canadians were overweight, while 24% were obese. 47% of Canadians were considered inactive compared to 23% active! Can you see where this trend will lead? You cannot win the game of life if you are fat and inactive.

Key #3 – Feeling Energized and Passionate! Here is some good news – a whopping 92% of Canadians say they are satisfied or very satisfied with their lives! Yet, according the same source, 1 in 5 Canadians were taking antidepressants in 2004 and suicide rates are at an all-time high.

What makes you energized and passionate? What are you yearning to do but can’t find the time for? Sports, hobbies, family time? What is stopping you?

The problem is in what takes up our time. Over 50% of workers say they often spend 12 hour days on work related duties.  The biggest concern among young workers is not having enough time for both their family AND work responsibilities and 40% of employees work overtime or bring work home EVERY week. The fact is that we are spending more time at work and less time enjoying our lives.

Key #4 – Nurturing and Fulfilling Relationships. Where would you rather spend your time – work or home? Since 1969, family time for a working couple has shrunk by an average of 22 hours per week. 88% of employees say they have a hard time juggling work and life and 64% of family caregivers are employed – most full time.

Do you have balance between work and life? Most don’t – 58% of Canadians report “overload” associated with their many roles. What is the result? Employees who consider most of their days to be stressful were over 3 times more likely to suffer a major depressive episode!

That isn’t all. About half of all workers feel that stress is affecting their interpersonal and sexual relationships. Couples who are stressed have a less active sex life and it is known that low sex marriages have a high probability of separation within 12 months.

It is clear that this lack of balance is a growing concern. Both workers and students rate work-life balance as their top concern and consider it more important than money, career advancement, or location.

In addition, this stress is affecting our physical health which can place even more strain on a relationship. Work stress is more strongly associated with health complaints than any other life stressor. Employees with the highest amounts of workplace stress suffer from over 3 times the rate of cardiovascular problems, over 5 times the rate of colorectal cancer, and up to 3 times the rate of back pain. 81% of people on earth say their jobs are affecting their health and health expenditures are 50% higher for workers with a high level of stress.

This problem has gotten so bad we are getting violent. 14% of people felt like striking a co-worker in the past year, 25% felt like screaming due to job stress, 9% are aware of an assault of violent act in their workplace, 18% had experienced a threat or intimidation in the past year, and 10% said they work in an environment where physical violence has occurred because of job stress. Are these the relationships we want where we spend such a large part of our lives?

This really becomes an issue when we bring it home with us. How is your patience with your children? How about your spouse? How are you dealing with all of the people you interact with such as in stores, at the bank, and on the road? Have you noticed that you have less patience lately?

Why is this important? These stresses are not just a concept. It is real and is damaging to our mental health, relationships and is costing us in the quality and quantity of our years.

If that doesn’t motivate you to get this handled, it is also costing you money. Stress means a loss of work and money. Disability claims have risen significantly and the area of largest increase is in mental/nervous conditions. The cost for our country was an estimated $7.9 billion in 1998 alone and about $6.3 billion was spent by individuals on uninsured services and taking time off work due to depression and distress.

Absenteeism due to stress has increased by over 300% since 1995 and over 50% of work days are stress related.

Perhaps this will motivate us to spend more time on what is truly important in our lives.

Next article we will continue with the final 2 keys to winning the game of life, and introduce the traps that most people fall into that lead to them to failure.

 

Why We Invite EVERYONE Into Regular, Long-Term Care

April 7, 2012 by

One of the most contentious issues in chiropractic is that of recommending people undergo regular, long-term care. Many health-care professionals who specialize in the diagnosis and treatment of disease – including chiropractors – are horrified by the idea and would literally like the practice banned by regulating bodies. They feel that chiropractors who do this are an embarrassment, unethical and bully people for money.

As a chiropractor who DOES invite people to participate in regular, wellness care and offer service agreements to make these plans more affordable and efficient I totally understand their criticism. The difference in opinion has nothing to do with ethics however – it is a difference in the objectives of the doctors in question and the services they are offering. For a doctor whose only objective is to treat symptoms it absolutely IS unethical to recommend long-term wellness care. For a doctor like me whose objective is to help people to develop new strategies to live a greater life – regardless of symptoms – it would be unethical to NOT recommend it!

 

Some of you may know that I am perhaps the least handy man on the planet. I am essentially useless – if not dangerous – around the house! Fortunately, we have a great handyman who routinely looks after some of the many issues we have with our century home.

Our handyman is not only very honest, he is obsessed with us not thinking that he is trying to oversell us. While this is better than the other option, it also has its’ problems. As a result there have been several jobs that he has recommended less than we actually would have wanted – but we trusted him so followed his recommendations. Had he recommended more (involved, quality, and expense) we would have gladly agreed and it would have positively impacted our family’s quality of life. It would have also improved his quality of life as he would have had more work and income. This would have been a win-win situation!

 

My handyman situation taught me a lesson. I don’t always know exactly what all of my patients and practice members want. For that reason I invite them to participate in my care at absolutely the highest level. Only by being invited can they make a choice. Does everyone want to participate in this way? Of course not. Should everyone have the opportunity to choose? You bet!

Some people truly just want their pain or symptom to go away. In my experience, this percentage is very small – most people are only concerned with symptoms because of what they may mean to their present and future function, relationships, ability to contribute and quality of life. In these cases it is easy to see that the pain or symptom is actually a signal or calling for them to develop new awareness, actions and or structures.

Most people are not aware that they can use their health challenges as a springboard to a greater quality of life – much like a scholastic, career or athletic challenge can help us find the best in ourselves. We simply have not been taught this is possible.

Long-term chiropractic care has shown to reduce hospital admissions, pharmaceutical expenditures and surgeries – Click HERE for abstract. The ability to repair DNA has also been shown to improve with regular chiropractic care – with obvious massive implications for overall health – Click HERE to see.

Research into long-term Network care shows that in addition to positive physical outcomes such as symptom changes, posture improvement and increased immunity. It also demonstrates people develop a greater ability to handle stress, have more satisfying relationships, make healthier choices, and enjoy ever increasing quality of life.

Perhaps most profound, people receiving Network care TRIPLED the wellness benefits of the exercise, diet, and health promoting activities! Click HERE to read.

 

With any choice, it is essential that you know what is possible before making a decision. This is why we invite everyone to look at what their highest vision for their health and life is – and then support them in achieving it regardless of what that vision is.

 

 

Different Doctors, Different Focus

March 11, 2012 by

and Focus determines Results

 

One of the most important determinants of success in any endeavour is focus. We tend to attract what we focus on and the more we focus, the more it grows. Our success requires focus. This is why it is important that the doctors, coaches, advisors and fiduciaries we work will possess a focus that is consistent with the results we are looking to achieve. When what WE want is very different from our doctor’s (or any other advisor) the outcome often leads to frustration, disappointment, and failure.

 

A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to give a lecture to trainer Tom Irvine of Quest Personal Training Studio’s fitness class at St. Lawrence College. I have been speaking and demonstrating NSA for his classes for years. This time, I chose to speak less about what I do and more about the different approaches in chiropractic and what the differences were. After all, I did not want to turn a potential future chiropractor off of the profession if they were not personally interested in MY focus in practice.

With so many techniques and systems within chiropractic, the best way to break down our differences was where we place most of our focus. I defined 4 distinct groups:

1. Pain and symptom treatment focus. These chiropractors aim to ‘fix’ your pain and symptoms and do so as quickly as possible. Success is defined as the pain going away and treatment is focused on achieving that goal.

2. Pain and symptom prevention focus. These doctors feel that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure so focus more on stopping problems before they happen. This may be in the form of regular ‘maintenance’ care and prescribed exercises. Success is a lower frequency of problems in the future. A doctor in this group may sacrifice the quick ‘fix’ of a symptom to ensure an injury more fully heals to prevent a future flare up.

3. Optimizing function focus. While pain and symptoms may be addressed, the focus is on getting your body functioning at its’ optimum. This may include optimal movement, immune system function, and in the chiropractor’s case definitely optimal nerve function. This doctor recognizes that pain and symptoms can be a part of a well functioning body so will not treat them at the expense of the whole. Often, these chiropractors are “subluxation-based” and recommend regular check-ups to ensure being in tip-top shape.

4. Evolving strategy focused. These doctors recognize that a living human is not a static entity and that there is an opportunity for everyone to develop new strategies for health and life. They know that once function is optimized, there is still another level to go. There is no ceiling to our potential for awareness, adaptability, resourcefulness, vitality, and happiness. The goal of these chiropractors is to help their practice members develop never-ending refinement. They also recognize that new physical strategies can impact our emotional, mental and spiritual lives. These doctors see pain and symptoms as a calling for more awareness and new strategies, not something to do battle with.

 

Of course, most chiropractors do not fit into only one of these categories. They do, however have one in which they place the most focus. One is not better than the other but they will definitely get different results. In my experience, when you start to take care of optimal function and evolving strategies, the symptoms often take care of themselves.

The great thing is that you get to choose which one fits best for you. A great way to find out what your doctor’s focus is to ask them what their highest vision for you in care. This also applies to any other coach or advisor you employ (a financial advisor focused on getting you out of bankruptcy will get very different results than one focussing on building your legacy for generations to come)!

Make sure your doctor’s focus is consistent with yours. What I look for in any coach is someone who is a little bit beyond me. Someone who will stretch me just beyond my comfort zone and makes sure I am learning something new. If you can identify your health focus above I would encourage you to choose a doctor 1 level past it.

 

 

“The more presence and congruence you possess, the less force is required in any endeavour”

–       Dr. Donny Epstein

 

 

Eat Fat to Get Lean!

February 14, 2012 by

…and my updated Morning Smoothy Recipe.

As most of you already know, I more or less follow a “primal” style of healthy eating. This means I eat almost entirely meat, seafood, vegetables, fruit, nuts and some seeds. Straying from this I also eat dairy as I tolerate it well AND I leave room for frequent treats. Those who know be a bit better know that I love to live and celebrate!

Sugar Addicts

One of the challenges I have encountered and a challenge many others have shared with me following a primal or paleo lifestyle are the sugar and refined carbohydrate cravings that go along with the transition. Said another way, we are a bunch of sugar addicts! The typical pattern is that we get strict for awhile, get sugar cravings, give in after awhile and then end up back on the insulin rollercoaster. This sabotages not only our health, but any fat-loss goals we may have.

Recently, an old friend – John Markell (he’s not old, we have just known each other a long time) – directed me to the blog of one of his Queen’s classmates that has had a huge impact on my approach to eating and sugar cravings and I hope it will be helpful to you as well.

War on Insulin

The man’s name is Dr. Peter Attia and his blog is www.waroninsulin.com. Without going into the details, he is documenting his own experiment and research on eating an extremely high fat diet as a way to be healthy and lose weight! Most people think this is absolutely crazy. I encourage you to put your culturally programmed ideas about fat consumption aside and read what this man intelligently has to say.

Leaner, Stronger, and less like a Sugar Zombie!

My own experience in applying his principles is that I have lost a significant amount of body fat and the increase in dietary fat has truly been the secret to ending the daily sugar cravings. In addition I have gotten stronger (I am a beginner competitor in Olympic weightlifting). Dr. Attia is a long distance swimmer and discusses how his diet has impacted his athletic endeavours as well.

If you are concerned about cholesterol levels and cardiovascular disease, the blog goes into detail explaining and dispelling myths in a much more eloquent way than I ever could.

Please, check out what his website has to offer.

 

We have recently had some requests for my famous Gault Family morning smoothy recipe and I thought there is no better time to update it as there have been some changes since discovering www.waroninsulin.com. Here it is:

 

Gault Family Morning Smoothy

Use portions according to number of people and preferred consistency.

 

-Whey powder concentrate (high quality with no filler or aspartame)

– banana

– coconut milk

– almond milk

– organic whipping cream (if dairy tolerated)

– Greens powder supplement

– Fish Oil (high quality extremely important)

– frozen berries

– 3 raw organic eggs (not for kids)

– cinnamon

 

This is a great, fast breakfast that feeds the entire family. The high fat keeps me satisfied until lunch when I eat some high fat meat and veggies.

 

ACT How You Want Your Life To BE!

November 26, 2011 by

It’s All About Mickey Mouse

I just returned from a week-long family holiday at Disney World in Florida. Surprisingly, I returned refreshed, relaxed, and recharged heading into the Christmas craziness. Being away from work and in a different setting always helps me to think and see things a bit differently. So, this article is essentially my “What I learned on my Disney vacation assignment.”

Health Obsessed

The first thing I noticed reading the newspapers, watching the news, and eavesdropping on conversations is that Americans are even more obsessed about their health than Canadians are. This is interesting because we also know that overall Americans are a bit LESS healthy than we are. It was obvious to me that people’s waist lines were significantly larger (kids included) and the quality and quantity of food consumed poorer than what I am used to observing here.

What does it mean that we have 2 extremely health obsessed countries, yet poor levels of health? My only answer is that while we do all of this obsessing and debating and arguing over health care, most people aren’t actually doing anything about it!

BE – DO – HAVE

It is really quite simple – if someone wants to BE healthy, they have to DO healthy things. This is true of any aspect of life. If you want to be wealthy you must conduct yourself as wealthy people do. If you want to be a good student you have to do the things good students do. Same goes with relationships, hobbies and athletics. How have we missed this universal truth when it comes to health?

Treatment does NOT equal Health

One of the reasons is that we have fallen under the illusion that having treatments available to us will make us healthy. This is particularly true in Canada where there is an unsaid feeling that universal access to medical care will save us. No disease treatment can ever make you healthy. No drug, no surgery, no MRI, no herb, and no chiropractic “treatment” will ever make you healthy and it is not their job to make you healthy. Of course, any of those things may save your life or get you out of a crisis – which is great – but it is not their intent to create health.  In fact, most pain and disease treatments actually decrease your overall health, sacrificing it to save you from the crisis. So, if your health care plan is high quality disease care you are unlikely to experience great health in the long term.

What are you REALLY willing to Do?

Another reason health obsessed North Americans aren’t very healthy is that I really question how important health is to most people. What are you willing to do to be healthy? Are you willing to change your lifestyle, or would you rather just wait until you get sick and get someone to fix you? There is no wrong answer but I think it is important for everyone to acknowledge this for themselves.

I see some people in my office who truly don’t care about their overall health and only come in for episodic care when they have pain or a health challenge. These people tend to experience a slow decline in their health over time, but they understand and accept this fact and our relationship is great. Sometimes they change their minds and turn their health around.

Other people are really committed to a healthy life and their reasons for receiving NSA care are much different. While they may sometimes have a health challenge they get regular care to enhance their health, vitality and quality of life. These individuals also tend to make healthier choices in other aspects of their lives and I have observed that in contrast to the first group their quality of life tends to continue to increase over time – even into their golden years.

Know What You Want, Then Act!

How do you want your life to be? What do you want it to look like? These are important questions everyone should answer for themselves. Once you know don’t waste your time debating and arguing over it – take ACTION! It is the only way to get there.

Just in case you need some motivation to get started, Click HERE to watch a great 1 minute video.

What is Your Health Care Plan?

October 4, 2011 by

If you Fail to Plan…

We are all familiar with the old saying, “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” We are all familiar with it because it is absolutely true. Whether it be our finances, relationships, career or hobbies, success requires a conscious decision about exactly what we want and then a specific action plan to get us there.

Health Important? Show me Your Plan!

Because it is election time here in Ontario I keep hearing that health is one of people’s main priorities, yet I know very few individuals or families who have a specific health care plan. Why would we leave something so important to chance?

Follow the $$$

One of the reasons few people have a health care plan is that in our society we are strongly discouraged from doing so. Just from a financial standpoint, we are covered (via OHIP) for disease treatment and crisis care while true health building care must come out of our pockets. Even private “health care” insurance typically only covers enough visits to handle a crisis, thus discouraging a plan of care focused on long –term health and wellness.

The MAN Can’t Save You

The most powerful deterrent to true health care is the societal illusion that our government will look after our health. It seems a small thing, but continuing to call government funded disease treatment “health care” has the massive impact of deluding people into thinking that all they need to be healthy is a well funded public system. A trip to any public place proves this to be absolutely false!

Decide, then ACT

How do we create our own health care plan? First, decide on what outcome you would like. Remember this is about creating health, not fighting or even preventing a disease. Would you like to feel great, have abundant energy and enjoy an active lifestyle into your 90s? There is a plan for that! Would you like to be able to play tennis with your great grandchildren? There is a plan for that too! How about getting healthier and more vital with each passing year? Yes, there is a plan for that also.

Once you know what you want it is quite simple to put together a plan of action. How would this person (the healthy you of the future) eat? What kind and how much exercise would they do? What type of spiritual practices would they employ? Who would they hang out with? What kind of health coaches would they have and what kind of health services would they seek? What kind of choices would their family make?

Network Spinal Analysis

Network Spinal Analysis is a huge part of my family’s health care plan. Not only does NSA directly produce physical, mental, emotional and stress related benefits, it has also been shown to almost triple the effects of people’s other healthy lifestyle choices! If this interests you we hold regular workshops to show you how this is possible. If you are in another community, feel free to contact me to help you find a local practitioner or click HERE for a list of certified doctors worldwide.

The beautiful thing is that there are many ways to create the results you want and you plan can change and refine as you learn more and your needs shift. The important thing is to make a plan and start today. Only you can do it.

 

Clear Day Update

 

There are still a few spots available for our Oct. 15th Clear Day in Martintown. I can think of no better way to set the stage for a healthy, happy and transformed future than giving yourself the gift of this amazing event. See Adele, Cindy or myself for details.

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