present-time consciousness – Page 5 – We Only Get One Chance

THANKS I ALWAYS DO

Running errands around town almost always lands me in Target and honestly there is no telling who I am going to run into in there considering this small town. The phrase “THANKS I ALWAYS DO!” really impacted my trip around that store today and I want to share a little bit about it.

My Aunt Kathleen lived about a mile from my family growing up. She was always a loud and boisterous energy during any family gathering. She used to invite my cousins and I for regular sleepovers and we always looked forward to that time at Aunt Kathleen’s house. She was a riot!

So today when I was walking into Target I ran into Aunt Kathleen immediately right at the front door. I have never seen her out and about in the community and she is only around town for half the year. Chiropractor Fenton Michigan - Thanks I Always Do

She greeted me in her usual way that always makes me feel cared for and loved. Of course she is not ever shy about sharing how she feels and a simple walking away from Aunt Kathy in the store today warranted “Love you sweetheart”.

You all know how Target shopping goes, well mostly turns into browsing, and Aunt Kathy’s path and mine crossed on a few occasions. While I was within earshot of her, someone would say to her “Have a nice day!” and without one
second hesitation, she would reply “THANKS I ALWAYS DO!” (I am using caps here because earshot of Aunt Kathy is quite a large radius, I am just saying’).

Then in another area of the store I hear “Have a good day!” and Aunt Kathy’s immediate “THANKS I ALWAYS DO!”. And our timing for getting out of the store coincided and we ended up at the registers just a few feet apart from each other. The cashier said “Thanks Ma’am, I hope you have a good day!”. “THANKS I ALWAYS DO!”

It is quite obvious that this is Aunt Kathleen’s genuine energy for each day because there is absolutely no hesitation in that response. It is immediate as it is obviously her tone she has taken over and over and over for years and years. And now as I share this, I am hearing that this has truly been her mantra forever.

And in saying all of that, Aunt Kathy has been dealt some difficult cards in life. In fact, about a year ago she arrived at a party and did not have this level of energy and we were all a bit concerned.

When I was getting in my car with my bag of my items I accumulated while browsing around the store (I am not sure how they do it but go in for one thing and walk out with 3 bags of stuff that you “may” need sometime soon), I realized the profound impact her energy had on that store today. In addition to that, it effected the people in her path and, I’m even more amazed to know she wakes up and walks around with that tone on a regular basis.

Not everyday of our lives are going to be “good” days or “nice” days however that is ultimately a choice we get to make. I have some patients at my office, Cafe of LIFE Chiropractic, that have been coming for years and years. I ask them “How is your day?” Their answer “Not bad.”

Realizing this “Not bad” answer is very different that “Good.” ,,,and very, very different than “Always good.” Even when “bad” things are happening in life, we still wake up on the top side of the grass and that is a GOOD DAY all by itself!!!

Let’s consider what would happen if you expected to have a good day and chose to have a good day. What kind of effect would that have on your family? How would that rub off on the people around you? Now what would happen if that was multiplied by even just five of the seven days this week and multiplied out over the next year? And what if only one friend or family member caught on, liked the idea and started to expect good days too? Multiply that by our community in this little town of Fenton, MI or out to our state, our country, or even out to the world. Think of how many good days we could get out of that and think about the ripple effects out into all of life! That is a big deal.

So the next time someone says “Have a nice day!” to you, maybe you will think back to that morning when you made the decision to have a good day before getting up and out of bed, and you can reply something like “THANKS I ALWAYS DO!” Thank you Aunt Kathleen.

BAREFOOT AND FREE

I had an incredible weekend! It was just about as much fun as one could possibly pack into the minutes of one single weekend and a good portion of it I spent at the Barefoot and Free Yoga Festival.

We live, work and play among some real superheros and it is hard to know who those superheros are until something like this weekend is pulled together through the vision of one woman. Of course, there will always be so many people behind the scenes that do not get enough recognition, however, it takes one person to have the vision to start with…and that person is the one who ultimately takes the initial step forward.

Proud Lake Recreation Area is a super amazing place just south of Milford, Michigan. I had never been there before and although I had signed up for the yoga festival just because of the idea of it…quite frankly I had no idea what I was getting into.

I pulled in, parked my car and took a walk to the festival site. It was an absolutely ideal location allowing for yoga classes to be held in a few different areas on the grounds. There were vendors, big tents that would hold yoga classes, a bunkhouse for those that wanted to stay, areas for tents, food vendors and so much amazing positive energy, it could not have been in a more perfect place!

Us yoga peeps, even though we are supposed to be super flexible (not only in class but in life in general), sometimes get stuck with wanting to only take our “favorite” instructor(s) and become actually quite rigid with our regular yoga routine. For me, my time is precious and I am always wanting to maximize my time spent in any yoga class and so I have my favorites and stick with them.

The great thing about the festival setting is that there are options and you are exposed to some other really

exceptional instructors…and because this festival was so close to home, those instructors are easily accessible to me, well if you consider “easy” to be within about 45 minutes.

When I am at my usual yoga class(es) during the week, I am usually running in there last minute and heading out immediately following closing postures. Life is busy, busy, busy! The flow of this festival and the timing of classes

gave us some real time to spend with these like-minded people. There were a few people I see regularly at class but I actually had some time to ask them about themselves and their lives outside of the studio. We shared time, space, laughter and snacks together. We had time for conversation between sweating our behinds off. We had a few moments to jump in the river together. I have stronger, tighter connections because of the weekend.

And then I should mention what it means to the body and mind to do that much yoga in a condensed timeframe. I took six, 75 minute vinyasa classes in 90-100 degree temperatures. I took an inversion workshop, a slow burn class and attended a lecture. This all happened in a matter of 48 hours starting at 7pm on Friday and finishing Sunday at the same time. That much yoga for me would usually be over a 2 week period and so putting myself into that many different postures, that much intensity, that much breath work, that much laughing and that much dancing, shifts a person at their core. Barefoot and Free has such

divine timing as I am in one of the most stressful weeks of my life in a long time. In the midst of playing a mean hand of “52 Pick-Up” with my life, I find peace. Peace is my center and I am craving more time on my mat like I have never felt before, such a strong draw for that level of intense movement and shifting.

I have shared about my experience over the past day and so many have asked “How do I get involved?” “How did you find out about that?” and “When is the next one?” I can say this for certain, DO NOT MISS next year! It is a simple 30 minutes from my home and if you are around the southeast Michigan area, probably within an hour from yours too…very central location to many.

I seriously had no idea what I was getting into. This is yet another time that I simply said YES and made it happen. Leading into the weekend I was asked, “Are you meeting a bunch of friends there at the festival? Do you know many people going?” No I did not know many people going, but I knew by the time I left, with the nature of yoga and the woods and the connection with Mother Earth, I would have new friends by Sunday. Plus I am not sure I love anything more than being BAREFOOT AND FREE!!!!!

Thank you to that teeny tiny superhero, Beth James, for creating a place for all of us to play…and be barefoot…and FREE!!!

I’M CONFUSED

A few weeks ago I was at a seminar in Toronto and there was a sign on the bathroom door of the convention center and I thought to myself “I’m confused.”

This is what the sign looked like.

Most of you know that I do not have a TV at home and mostly listen to music and read on my downtime. Because of that, I generally get most of my news from Facebook and all the hype about Target and their bathroom policy had many up in arms.

For a day and a half during the weekend, I walked by this bathroom in search of a “women’s” bathroom and all the while was wondering what it would be like to go into a bathroom that was marked as above.

Would there be urinals in there?

Would guys be required to go to the bathroom inside of a stall?

Will I be walking in on someone or something that I do not want to see?

So I passed by this bathroom option all weekend and pondered it over and over…what is going on behind that door? This is Canada after all and maybe they just do things differently here.

As I watched that particular bathroom door all weekend, I did notice that perfectly normal, and un-traumatized women were walking into and out from that door. Men too!

And then on Sunday afternoon I decided I would take a chance and head through that door.

Once I got to the other side of the door I started laughing. There was a set of stairs that went up with a sign for men’s bathroom and another set of stairs that we down for the women’s bathroom. The women’s bathrooms down that set of stairs had zero lines. The other set of women’s (marked as women only) bathrooms had long lines every single time, as many women’s bathrooms do in this life.

Once I crossed through that door and started laughing, I thought what a great metaphor for life: things are not always what they appear and are usually less scary than we think if we have the courage to cross the threshold.

As a culture, we really need to start paying a little closer attention to the sensationalism that is the news, and even the news on Facebook. We need to be conscious of all the things that slip by our filters and get lodged into our minds and beings. I am not exposed to news a whole lot, however even that whole Target thing, and I am sure that is not the only thing, got planted in my own mind without me even aware of what was happening.

Our subconscious runs most of our days for us without us even paying that close of attention. We need to guard ourselves from a lot of what the media is promoting and learn to originate our own ideas, decision, perceptions and actions.

“I’m confused” may be a theme when moving through the next door that is marked in an unfamiliar way. But I know and trust to drop my guard sooner and venture in just to see what is on the other side. Maybe you will want to try that too!!!

I SAID YES

Quite often I receive emails that sound like this “I see you are on an adventure out on a boat in the Lake Michigan. How did you get involved in that?” My simple answer, “I said yes.”

When I get invited somewhere, I figure out if it is at all possible to say yes and if it is, I do.

When I was 10 years old, I said yes and was given my first horse.

I said yes and ended up moving across the country for school when I was 19 years old.

I said yes and moved up to Anchorage, Alaska for an awesome 3 year adventure.

I said yes (to myself and my abilities) and opened my own chiropractic practice Cafe of LIFE that thrives still today.

I have said yes and ended up away from my family for the holidays but with great friends and that has led to some awesome trips over the years.

I said yes and purchased a condo, a building and a home.

I said yes and have a second business that has been running and successful for years.

I have said yes and got on planes to not one, but 5 different first dates over the years.

I said yes and ended up in some really incredible relationships (though none have gone the distance…just yet anyway).

I said yes and found myself jumping out of a plane.

I said yes and signed up for and ran the Chicago Marathon.

I said yes and ended up having some of the greatest times of my life.

And just last weekend I said yes and ended up on a boat along the shore of Chicago to watch the America’s Cup Qualifying Race.

I am sharing all of this because as I am sitting on a boat in the water and under the sunshine and with a beautiful view of the city of Chicago last weekend, I was so grateful. I have had many experiences and in that moment, I am proud of myself for having the courage to just say yes and get out there and live life.

In the past, I have also gotten email messages inquiring whether I had some sort of terminal diagnosis and why I was making so many different things happen all the time? “The tragedy in life is not death…but what we let die inside while we live.”

Brush fear aside, step up and have the courage to say YES to your life! I promise you will find great adventures along the way and open up to really living!!!!

Next time I see you, I want to hear from you that “I said yes and…” and then tell me all about your adventure.

PUMPING GAS

I pulled up to a pump the other day to put gas in my car and it was impossible not to notice the TV that was blaring the news station and telling me about all the stuff going on in the world. It dawned on me that more and more gas pumps are coming equipped with TVs so that you don’t have to just “stand there”, you can catch up on the world events while pumping gas.

It really struck me on that particular morning. Many of you know that I do not have TV at home. I have a TV and I have capability to stream movies through Amazon Prime but that’s it. It is only turned on about once every 2 months to watch a movie, if even that. TV is just not something that I participate with at all. Because of this, I am super sensitive to them when they are on.

So as I am standing there getting the doom and gloom of the world right at the gas pump, I begin to think how did this all come about? How did the demand for TV to be right at the gas pump happen? Someone thought of that idea, invented a TV that could be installed at the gas pump, marketed to the gas stations and the gas stations bought into it.

I am not saying that is a bad thing, its truly BRILLIANT!!!

For some reason as humans, we cannot just stand there and pump gas and think? That makes me nervous. I have quite a few little ones in my life through my family and my practice, Cafe of LIFE Chiropractic, and I am noticing that it is harder and harder for them to be still and not stimulated by technology, TV or something of that nature.

I remember growing up with “I’m bored” coming from my mouth from time to time. However “I’m bored” just was something to say when I didn’t feel like using my imagination and finding/creating something to do.

I am curious if kids are getting much of a chance to develop their imagination anymore. Life is so filled with someone else’s creation, someone else’s imagination, projected on a screen and I am certain this is taking away from developing their own. Imagination is like a muscle and needs to be worked.

We used to take family road trips out west, hours and hours and hours in the car with four kids. We didn’t have movie players and gaming systems, we had the radio and our imagination and maybe some crayons and coloring books. That was it. Now it seems some people drive to the grocery store and need to have movies on in the car. I am, by no means, saying this is wrong because there are many good reasons for this. However, what if we just look out the windows, look around, maybe play “I spy” or something and start to engage the imaginative and observation parts of the mind…especially for the little ones but adults too!

Let’s take a moment and glance back through this past week. I am curious to know if there has been any time set aside to be able to just think. Taking some deliberate time to just think is a way we can asses our direction in life. It is a way to reflect back and see what patterns are happening in life and, if expanded out over the next multiple years in life, where that may take us.

A few years back, when my grandmother was still alive, she would see her grandchildren on their phones constantly and directly ask “When do you kids take any time to just think?’

Many of the new patients coming into the office these days check the box “anxiety” as one of their symptoms. I believe some of this is from the high speed pace of life and filling every single moment of each day with technology. Though I do not have TV, I am equally as guilty as the rest with wanting to fill quiet spaces with technology. I have set deliberate time aside to be “screen-free” and am changing my morning routine to delay my first screen interaction.

I am, in no way, saying anything is good or bad. I am, in no way, nay-saying on kids and TV. What I am asking is maybe we take a closer look at the AMOUNT of time spend in front of a screen. And though it is difficult because the gas pump TVs are SO LOUD, maybe take those 3 minutes to pump your gas to think about your life, your family or your significant other. If you are on a undesirable trajectory in life, I am not sure those 3 minutes pumping gas will give you enough insight to realize it, but awareness is the beginning of anything.

It amazed me how much I learned from pumping gas that day. Just something to think about since we only get one chance!!!

THIS IS WHAT I SEE

So this is what I see…

Many people left the state for spring break. Many people went down south to the sun, sand and beaches and had a blast. All the stresses of ordinary life fall away while out of their normal environment.

I have seen many of these people back in my office, Cafe of LIFE Chiropractic, this week. They say things like: “My low back pain was fine while I was gone but just a couple days before returning home, it started to flare up again.” “I did a 28 hour drive to Florida and back and I was fine, but now that I am back that sciatic pain is back.” “We had a great time, we were swimming and walking on the beach and my shoulder really relaxed. Now that I am home and running around all over for normal life, that shoulder is driving me crazy.”

One of the reasons we LOVE vacation is because we get a break from the grind of the day to day, we get to let go and maybe smile a little bit more, connect with the people that are important and fill our days with conversation and laughter. We become light and live that light and actually enjoy the lightness of being.

I want to know who made the rule that regular life cannot be like that. I have a bone to pick with whomever said we cannot enjoy the lightness of our being while running kids around, taking care of our homes, going to work and whomever is spreading the idea that we shouldn’t smile through the good, bad and the ugly during the mundane-ness of life?

We can…and we should.

If life becomes that enjoyable while we are away from it all, maybe we could be doing a little better job at enjoying it while we are in the thick of it.

I have used this phrase quite a bit over the past week or so…”Life just really isn’t that serious.”

I really mean it when I say that but I don’t mean that it is all rainbows and butterflies either. It just means that your rate of making it through your days so far is 100% and, until you are at the end, I bet that rate stays right up there at 100%;) If you ask me, we are all doing a heck of a good job and that is pretty freaking amazing!!

So let’s think about it. We get up in the morning and of course that part is really important. But what happens if you burn breakfast, run out of eggs and spill your bowl of fruit right down the front of your favorite white shirt as soon as you leave the house. I bet you will find something else for breakfast and make a joke of your outfit to those who ask and go on with your day. I bet you will gracefully figure out all parts of your day and in the end make it out with flying colors!

There can be trauma and drama along the way and I am in no way trying to minimize that, some really bad stuff happens to good people. However when we take a look at the bigger picture, most of it isn’t that big of a deal and isn’t worth much additional energy.

And during the days that we do not get to spend on the sandy beaches in the sunshine, what about creating that feeling of being on sandy beaches and out in the sunshine? I do not mean by creating a literal beach in your life, I mean by finding things to regularly do that bring you to the feelings you feel when you are there, things that make you feel more connected to nature and the Universe, things that connect you more to your community and activities and people that bring you joy.

What about finding more laughter, even if it means taking on a joke-telling hobby? What if you woke up tomorrow and you set an intention of finding out what everyone’s favorite joke is? What if you started just telling the joke “why did the chicken cross the road?” Making other people laugh, will make you laugh. That is just one idea of how to lighten the day. One lighter day leads to 2 lighter days which leads to weeks and months and years of a lighter life.

When life is light, the contrast of vacation will not be quite as much and the settling in of daily life will take on an easier and more graceful feeling. A lighter life leads to a healthier mind, less stress, more joy and in the long run, greater health!!!

As a chiropractor, I see all kinds of ailments, aches and pains and usually they are stemmed from something happening somewhere along the lines in life; physical stresses, mental/emotional stresses and chemical stresses. When we realize that the low back tension, the sciatic pain and the shoulder pain and stiffness are, not always but largely, exacerbated from the heaviness of our thoughts and stress and the anticipation of our normal life, we can really start to let some of the stuff go. Monday will be Monday. Tuesday will be Tuesday. Wednesday will be Wednesday…and so on. They have no real meaning until we place a meaning on them. If we wish them all away in hopes the weekend will get here sooner or vacation will get her sooner, or summer break will get here sooner…WE ARE MISSING OUT ON LIFE!!!

Let’s lighten the days. It starts in our minds and in our hearts. Let go of the pattern of dreading the mundane, that has become a bad habit. Let go and laugh more with your children, cut some slack to the car that just cut you off in traffic and be grateful for every single sunrise and every single sunset you get to experience.

Life is really not all that serious…this is what I see.

SNOW DAY

I don’t think there is anything better than a snow day. It is a day that we can actually sit around and recuperate and not feel bad about not getting much done.

However, in saying that I also realize it can be a HUGE inconvenience.

At the Cafe of LIFE, we are concerned about your health, and we are concerned about your safety too. We need to make sure that when roads are as bad as they are today, that you don’t attempt to make your appointment. We were able to get back to the Cafe this afternoon at 3, however we were not confident that after serving for 3 hours that we would be able to get safely home.

We called as many people as we could, sent out an email and updated our Facebook page. That is the best we could do. Upon leaving the Cafe, the calls were forwarded to my cell phone and I have been able to field some of your calls from the safety of my home.

One call I missed and it went to voicemail. In a very interesting tone the message was “It is ONLY snow!” and that’s it and hung up.

Yes, you are right, it is ONLY snow. But it is also the safety of my staff, my patients and to be honest, I am not sure the parking lot and sidewalk crew could keep up with the demand of today’s storm. So we called it and went home. I am sorry for any inconvenience and we are hoping to be back up and running tomorrow for normal hours.

In the meantime, since I was held up at home anyway, I decided to do my gratitude walk this evening in my snowshoes. It was beyond beautiful and maybe you got to spend some time outside too! That is what us winter-lovers do, we bundle up and go outside and we PLAY!!!

Here are some things on my gratitude list this evening as I trucked through the snow:

I am grateful for my staff and their willingness and dedication to serve, my community, my patients, my practice, plow trucks, salt trucks, my vehicle, AWD, snow, snow storms and snow days, my warm home, my healthy body and strong legs, my snowshoes, my ski poles, snow, my hat and gloves, my warm clothes, my long johns, snow removal companies, telephones and cell phones, running water, electricity, boots, food in my fridge and cupboards, my family, my neighbors, snow, clean water to drink, text messages, computers, furnaces, snow shovels, music, muscles, voicemails, heat, quiet time, the chance to have a moment to think, and did I mention snow yet? And snow.

Although this mild winter has been awesome and so nice to be able to get some projects done, we really do need the snow, for the water melt if nothing else.

I think this is only the fourth snow day in 11 years in practice. If that is the going rate of our commitment to service, you know we take what we are doing seriously. You also know that we take the safety of everyone involved very seriously as well.

Enjoy your snow day, night and maybe a second snow day!! Stay tuned and we will update you as time and this storm progresses. Oh, and get out there and ENJOY IT!!!!

I AM HONORED

I am honored.

Getting “written up” as a child was not such a good thing. Getting “written up” as an adult is quite a compliment. I am honored to be part of a Today’s Chiropractic Leadership online in a section called “Innovators and Entrepreneurs”

To read the article, click >>>THIS LINK<<<

I am honored to be acknowledged in the same section and on the same page as some of my greatest mentors.

I am honored to be considered worthy enough to grace the pages with some of the greatest and most influential world changers.

I am honored to be on the same page with some of my good friends and colleagues.

I am honored to be respected and acknowledged by LIFE University, the world’s largest and most influential college in the chiropractic profession.

I am honored to be able to serve Fenton, the community I grew up in.

If you are reading this, I am honored to be part of your life in some way big or small.

I am honored that you have allowed me to serve your family and check and adjust your babies.

I am honored I have been the one called to your bedside as your are delivering your babies or are within minutes of bringing them into this world because you understand how important that first adjustment is.

I am honored to be part of such an incredible profession, one that assists with core healing from deep within.

I am honored with every single referral you send and have sent my way.

I am honored to be chosen as an instrument to facilitate healing and be able to use my head, hands and heart as my tools.

I am honored to own and run my beautiful office Cafe of LIFE Chiropractic.

I am honored to have such an incredible team working with me on a daily basis.

I am honored that my own family visits me to get their spines checked on a regular basis.

I am honored to be your chiropractor.

HUMILIATED

I am absolutely humiliated!

A patient walked into the Cafe of LIFE last Wednesday afternoon and asked me where I was earlier that day and why I wasn’t here when my office hours said I would be here.

“What do you mean? I am always here for our office hours Wednesday morning is 7:30a-10a.”

“That is not what your business card says.”

When we looked closer, our business cards have our office hours as “7:30am-1pm”. For months.

Sometimes when reviewing a proof for those kinds of things, the brain will look at something, skim right over an error and make up something completely different. That is exactly what happened.

So in essence it has looked like we just high-tail it out of here whenever we feel like it on Wednesday during that time slot. And if you know me like most of you do by now, I would NEVER do that.

She continued, “Yeah I was talking to my mom and she said ‘well she must just come and go as she pleases.’ You really don’t seem like that kind of a person to me.”

Um…I am NOT that kind of a person and I am not that kind of professional! I feel a lot of responsibility to all of you and there are a lot of people that rely on us. I was born with punctuality and responsibility woven into my fabric, that is just how I am.

So needless to say we looked over all our thousands of card that I ordered just a couple months ago and realized they were all wrong. In the meantime, every person that has come into this office, we always tell them, “Make sure to grab a card at the front desk, our hours are on the back.”

OH. MY. GOODNESS. I am seriously humiliated.

Yes I am only human and there are humans involved in the making and printing process of these things and mistakes can happen.

And by now I am sure you can imagine just how very GRATEFUL I am to this lady who brought this mistake to my attention!!!

The last thing I want to do is look like a slacker, and especially when I am not.

To all of you out there reading this that we may have confused and misled, I apologize and am so humiliated. Live and learn, right? You can bet I will have many different sets of eyes on all future materials like that.

WHAT SHOULD I EAT?

“Hey Doc!!! What should I eat???” I have gotten this question so many times over the past few weeks at the Cafe of LIFE that I wanted to answer it in a much bigger way and really put some information out there for you.

There are so many concepts of this food is good, and that food is bad, and that and that is bad, and this is good. Where does one even start???????? And you might be thinking and asking that same question and maybe you have been asking these questions for a long time now.

Should I eat meat or be a vegetarian?
What about being a vegan? What about red meat? And eggs or just egg whites?
How about that gluten stuff?
What about corn? And soy? And sugar? Should I have dairy?

I do not have all the answers. I am not a nutritionist. I do however have A LOT of years of trial and error of my own, worked with patients and have done a TON of research, seminars and have been learning and learning and learning as I go.
Here are a few tips on how to determine what to eat:

EAT FOODS WITH ONE INGREDIENT: This is what my diet consists of and most of it is vegetables. What do I mean when I say ONE ingredient? Well when you look at a cucumber for instance, it is just a cucumber. I doesn’t have any additives, it hasn’t been processed and is just the thing that grew from the ground. Chicken and fish are just that, chicken and fish, just one simple ingredient, and baked or broiled, delicious. Sweet potato is just one ingredient. Lettuce, tomato, rice, oats, apple, orange…you get the picture. Cracker, for instance, is usually some sort of flour mixed with something else and baked and they added salt and probably high fructose corn syrup and all other kinds of things. So when you sit down at the table to eat your meal, how many ingredients are in the stuff on your plate? Eat more WHOLE FOODS, more items that are just the food itself, just ONE ingredient.

EAT LOTS OF PLANTS: Each time we look down at our plate and are about to eat a meal, I suggest more than half of your plate should be plants or the product of plants and is considered a PLANT BASED DIET. I am not recommending a vegan or vegetarian diet, although I do have my own good and bad experiences, that is completely up to you. You can decide if meat is right for you and which meats you choose to eat. When choosing meats, clean, organic, grass fed animals is what you want to choose. How do they grow and what do they eat when given their natural environment. So many of the meats have been mass produced at overcrowded farms. Not good. And if you are eating the meats, skip the sauces and figure out some herbs that you can use for flavor. When I say I recommend is a PLANT BASED DIET, that just means load your plate up with the vegetables and then a clean protein. In other words, consume lots of live things that grew from the ground.

PROTEIN, FAT and FIBER: One of my mentors has done away with the idea of PROTEIN, FAT and CARBOHYDRATES and has replaced the last part of that with FIBER. This goes back to getting our actual carbs from FIBER, mainly vegetables and some fruits. When we have the word “carbohydrate” on the back of a package and we know we need a certain amount of carbohydrate per day, we will give ourselves an excuse to eat some food that is not beneficial to us. This doesn’t mean that we can get our carb allowance for the day from some sort of processed food and call it the same as eating a sweet potato, oats or brown rice, it doesn’t work like that. Fiber keeps our digestive system clear and moving, keeps our blood sugar regulated and it should be the key ingredient when you go to choose your carbohydrates for the day. Let’s think about replacing the word “carbohydrate” with “FIBER” and make our choices be a lot more vegetables and a whole lot healthier.

EAT HEALTHY FATS: In this culture we have gotten to a point that we are primarily driven by sugars. Our body is breaking down sugars as an energy source and we really need to revert back to breaking down fats. If the body is constantly able to just use sugars and carbohydrates as energy source, we don’t get to the powerful energy source which is fat. When the body switches back over and starts burning fats for energy, it will start to burn more body fat and melt that right off the body as well.
How do we go about switching our bodies from sugar burners over to fat burners? Start adding super healthy fats into your diet when you need a little energy boost and at the same time
limit your sugar and carb intake. Some ideas for healthy fats are avocado, coconut and coconut oil, extra virgin olive oil, whole eggs, fatty fish like salmon, fish oil or flax seed oil supplement or a little bit of dark chocolate.

DRINK MORE WATER: Water, water, water, water, water, water, water, water, water, water, water. Period.

In the end, our diet doesn’t need to be and probably should’t be exciting. Food is for nourishment and what I have noticed over the years, for myself and my patients, is that the cleaner and simpler it is, the more nourishing it is and the better the body feels.

The question, “What should I eat?”, I hear it a lot. There is no “one size fits all” recipe for life. In sharing this, I hope the simplicity helps a bit and helps you realize that the choices we make today effect us right away…but the long term cumulative effects of good choices really adds to our overall quality of life now and especially down the road. The name of this blog is “We Only Get One Chance” and we may as well treat our body in a way that our one time around is the healthiest it can possibly be.