Christmas And The Perfect Storm

In truth, I love, I mean REALLY love the Christmas season.  I love the meaning of Christmas, I love the chance to see friends and family I've not seen in a while, I love the sounds, the sights, I love the food and fellowship.  There's not much I don't like about the season.  (maybe the extra pounds I have the potential to pack on).

However, the season is ripe with opportunity to get sick.  It's the perfect storm for ill health.  And there's sound, scientific reason for it.  Read on.

One, it's the "cold and flu" season.  There are many theories as to why this particular "season" exists.  Solid evidence points to a lack of Vitamin D in our bodies.  Most of us are deficient in this important vitamin, and even more so in the winter with less sun exposure occurring.  Vitamin D has a major effect on the immune system's function.  Also, we tend to have much drier air all around us, which initially dries out our mucous membranes in our nose and throat, which is a line of defense against bugs and bacteria of all sorts.  So stay hydrated and take your Vitamin D!

Secondly, this time of year, we tend to live a life that is diametrically opposed to the wellness lifestyle.  Remember what I always teach:  Eat well, move well, think well and rest well.  Think just for a second on that.  Isn't this time of year the antithesis to that lifestyle??  I'd vote yes.  Let's see why.

Undoubtedly we tend to be exposed to a LOT more sugar in our body.  And man is it good.  We had a patient bring us a pecan pie on the day before the official start to the holidays.  Very tasty, very sugary, very bad for our immune system.  One sugary meal or drink has been shown to slow down our immune response.  Goodness knows we get plenty of those treats brought out to us, or made by us, during the Christmas season.

This season gets us so busy we can't always exercise as regularly as we'd like.  Sometimes the weather plays a factor.  Sometimes we just get out of our normal routines with holidays coming around.  Or we might even stay up later at a party, causing us to not want to rise and exercise.   Appropriate exercise boosts immunity, sedentary lifestyles depress it.

STRESS!!!!  Nah, there's no stress during the holidays is there?  Didn't think so. Depression is also more common this time of year.  Some people are lonely, some are lacking Vitamin D for the same reasons we spoke of a few paragraphs ago.  Stress certainly depresses our immune system.

Finally, it's PARTY TIME!  Lots of great gatherings are to be found, plenty of opportunity to get out of rhythm with our life cycles, plenty of chances for later nights, plenty of time for hustling and bustling for presents and food......all leading to decreased rest which of course...depresses the immune system.

There we have it, the perfect storm.  Knowledge is power they say, but I disagree.  Applied knowledge is power, so take this information and plot and plan a way to combat it so you can enjoy your season illness free.

Until next time...Be Well!
Dr. Bruce

Thoughts on Gratitude.....(not a belated Thanksgiving post)

Some things come easy.  Unfortunately, some of the things that come easy, aren't that great for us.  Many times the things that come easy are those that just go along with the cultural flow.  It's always easiest to drift downstream, it takes no effort.  And the faster and stronger the current is, the easier it is to go with the flow, and conversely, the more effort it takes to move upstream, to fight against the cultural trends.  These days it's easy to pick a political side and say everything the "other" side does is wrong and evil.  These days it's easy to pull our cars into our garage, close the door behind us and stay secluded in our homes, with hundreds of channels on the TV to watch and dull our senses, laptops, iPads and smartphones to entertain us, and not get out of our comfort zone to develop healthy social relationships.  It's also easy to talk about gratitude all month long in November of every year, it's even trendy to list one thing we're grateful for daily during that month.  But what about the other 335 days a year we have?

Culturally it's easier to complain.  Complain about the weather.  Complain about the boss.  Complain about the kids.  Complain about the spouse.  Complain about our sports team.  Complain about politics.  Everyone does it.  It takes no effort.  It's socially acceptable.  I was in a department store the other day walking around trying to find my wife, and struggling with being successful at it since she isn't much taller than all the racks of clothing in those stores.  In this process I walked by 2 ladies several times that were talking.  Each time I went by I could tell one lady was complaining about something, and speaking of some sort of drama that had been occurring in her life.  Literally she was standing there for 20 minutes going on and on about this situation (or maybe several situations).  It struck me how common this is and how easy we slip into that trend.  Gossip often goes hand in hand with those drama telling moments too.

You know what? Culturally it's also easy to list something, or things, we are grateful for.  But by creating a list, are we really feeling gratitude?  Are we experiencing gratitude on a deep level?  I'd venture to say no.  In our office, when we are dealing with people that suffer from stress, anxiety or depression, one of the "treatments" if you will, is to help them learn how to create and use a gratitude journal.  And yes, in the journal we do list things we are grateful for.  But it's way more than that.

It has been shown physiologically that when we re-live a past experience that evoked a strong emotional response (positive or negative), the same changes that occurred in us when we went through the event, re-occur.  So, re-live the experience, re-experience the positive or negative physiological changes in our body.  So, when we get people doing a gratitude journal, we tell them to list the thing they're grateful for, and also, and most importantly, to list the "why" for the gratitude.  In other words, think about why you were grateful for that event or person.  By doing so, you begin to re-live it and recreate the positive physiological experiences in your body!  That's not only just plain good stuff, it's truly healthy for you too!

Here's the deal, just take time every day, in the morning over coffee, or in the evening as you prepare for rest, and work on your gratitude journal (or better yet, both times of the day).  List three things from the day, or the previous day that you are grateful for and why you are.  Spend time re-living it, and re-experiencing it.  Note how you feel before and compare it to afterward.  Give it your all, and make it part of your lifestyle, your ever developing and evolving wellness lifestyle!

Remember, it's easier to complain, and that's not healthy!

Until next time...Be Well!!
Dr. Bruce

What Are You Thinking?

Most people will admit to letting too much bad stuff get into their lives with their diet. Whether it's oreos, crackers, cake etc., we all know those things that we need to cut out to move forward on the wellness spectrum with regards to what we eat..  Those things are easy to spot.  One of the ways we can get those things out of our life is to fill our life (plate) with an abundance of good healthy things and eat those first.  Dr. James Chestnut always says "Fresh Fiber First", and it's a great way to not leave any room for the bad stuff.  This concept works well in our diet, and can work well in other areas too.  Follow me.

One aspect of health many of us neglect I think is in the area of our mental well being.  Often we focus on eating and exercising, and those are very important legs in our "Wellness Formula" of Eat, Move, Think, and Rest Well.  Let's spend some time on the "Think Well" this morning.  To begin, I like to ask "What are you allowing into your head space?"  What TV shows are you watching?  What music do you listen to?  What gossip do you allow?  What negative thoughts pervade your life?  What negative PEOPLE do you allow?  What stressful situations seem to overwhelm you?  Thing about those for a second.  I'm sure if you're like me, you just came up with some surprising answers...maybe some painful realizations.

Fear not though, let's not focus on those things, instead, let's focus on putting "Fresh Fiber First" for our mental health.  Start asking yourself better questions than those I just asked.  What books could you read that would move you in a positive direction?  What new exciting things can you get involved with that allow you to perform at your highest and best?  What new friendships can you develop that build you up?  What things are you grateful for?  What can you fill your mind with that is uplifting and encouraging?  Maybe even ask who you can be an encourager to (because when you lift up someone else, you can't help but rise with the tide!).

Scripture tells us "Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things." (Philippians 4:8)Why not take the time this weekend to focus on adding in true, noble, right, pure, lovely and admirable things to your life?  Even if it's just one new good habit for you, it will help crowd out one of the bad ones.  Eventually, if you pour enough good stuff into your head and life, the world will look different, your attitude will improve, you'll find more peace and satisfaction, and you'll wonder how you ever even had time for the mental junk food you previously allowed in your world!

Until next time...Be Well!!

Dr. Bruce

Why Not Take A Wellness Day?

I'd venture to guess that most people experience too many "Sickness Days". They deal with too much stress, bad food, not enough rest or exercise every day of their lives. And since one's life is created one day at a time, the sum of all of our "Sickness Days" is a sick life. So, Wellness Wednesday is what we call the first Wednesday of every month in our office. On those days we focus on adding in a new wellness habit and we often have our patients experience the new habit, such as tasting a new smoothie, trying out a new supplement etc. Our goal is to get people thinking monthly about what they can try that is new and different and that can move them toward a wellness lifestyle. It's a great idea I think, and our patients look forward to it each and every month to try something new. If everyone started a new wellness habit every month, our health as a nation would significantly improve over the long haul.

Recently in doing some wellness lifestyle coaching with one of my patients, I came up with a new idea. We were talking about making changes in her lifestyle to get her moving toward wellness, and I take the approach of making just a little change at a time. My purpose in doing this is to not overwhelm the patient with too much too quickly. This is important as we don't want to set a patient up for failure, and trying to do too much too quickly is sometimes too painful to be successful at, and they become discouraged and tend to quit.

Instead, we focus on baby steps. For instance, instead of trying to go out and jog for 30 minutes when they've been pretty much a couch potato, we encourage them to try walking "x" amount of time, depending on their fitness level, "x" times/week. After they get accustomed to that new habit, they are then encouraged to do a bit more, maybe increase the frequency, or the duration of their walks. That way it feels like they are only adding in a little bit more to their already established routine.

But, in doing this, I've found it takes a long time for enough new habits to build up to create significant changes. So to accelerate the process, I decided to give a new idea a shot. It's called a "Wellness Day". It consists of planning a certain day as a total wellness day. On that day, they must plan in advance what they are going to do. I encourage them to focus on all 4 of our Pillars of Wellness (eat well, move well, think well, rest well) and make sure they have plans for each area.

So in advance they plan out their meals and snacks for the day. They have to focus on whole foods (real food) with no additives. Remember my definition of real food: It either grows or had eyes at one point, otherwise it is an "edible food like substance". They need to focus on consuming plenty of water for the day, maybe some tea with lemon, or an herbal tea of their choice.

They have to plan to move more than they might normally. This may not be much more than a 30 minute walk if they are sedentary usually. If they're already active, then any sort of normal exercise program they do is acceptable, but maybe they push their duration by 10 minutes or so more. If they don't usually do any stretching, this would be a good day to start that habit too. There are many stretching sites on the net to learn from. Just always remember to be careful if you've not been active, and if you're over 40 or have a history of cardiovascular issues, get cleared by your doctor before you begin any vigorous plan of exercise.

I encourage them to spend some time de-stressing and relaxing on their Wellness Day. It's a great time to schedule a massage for relaxation purposes, or some time at a quiet spot for dinner with their spouse (eating healthy of course). Making sure they spend some time being grateful is extremely important, and connecting with their Maker on a spiritual level is vital for this special day. This can also be accomplished by whatever activities they really enjoy doing, grilling a good dinner, playing with the kids, the dog or both.

Finally, I encourage them to work on their sleep hygiene plan. I want them to get good rest that night, so nothing with caffeine after 4 in the afternoon. As bedtime draws near the need to start winding down is vital and they need a plan for doing just that; turning down the lights, quiet music, a good book, good conversation with their spouse etc.

By creating a Wellness Day, one can see what it would feel like to live that lifestyle. The first Wellness Day may be a bit tough, but it's only a day, so plan it ahead of time. If you wait til the last minute, there will be stress when you don't have all the foods that you need for a certain recipe, or when you suddenly realize that you forgot to plan out some aspect. Remember, I want you to be set up for success, not failure. And if you do fail in some aspect for that day, at least the day you had was more wellness oriented than it would have been otherwise. You can also choose to do this in community with others and discuss/plan your day together for accountability.

Once you have a Wellness Day going once/week, or even once per month if weekly is too tough, then add in "a little more", like an extra day/week or month. Soon those days will become comfortable for you and you will be able to continue adding in a day or two more. Soon the majority of your days will be Wellness Days, and you'll have much less "sickness" days.

Until next time...Be Well!

Dr. Bruce

Reversing The Happiness Formula, A 21 Day Challenge

I watched a video from YouTube this weekend, it spoke to the idea of happiness and it's role in our productivity.  One of the things it reminded me of is the fact (yes fact) that most of the world lives in a "Have-Do-Be" mode instead of "Be-Do Have" mode.  What do I mean?  Follow along.

How many times do we hear people say "I would be so much happier if I had 'x' "?  "If only I had "x' I could do "y" and then I'd be happy".  It happens all the time.  We let our outside circumstances determine our happiness in life.  Now don't get me wrong, life is NOT all about finding our own happiness, there's much more to life than being that self centered.  But no one should go through life being totally unhappy all the time either.

It's time to use the correct formula of "Be Do Have".  Decide today to BE happy, BE grateful, BE at peace. Then you will DO things that happy and successful people do, and eventually we'll HAVE some of those things that we may want.  But the focus has to be on BEING and DOING.  I'd suggest that most truly happy and successful people focus on BEing the kind of person that DOES for OTHERS and doesn't focus on one's own happiness.  To that end, the YouTube video I watched suggested a 21 day challenge. Here it is.

1.  3 Gratitudes (I preach this all the time).   Take time every day to think of 3 things you are grateful for, and don't just list them, but think of why you're grateful for them:  I am grateful for my wife because I know there is no better woman on the face of this planet to raise kids with.  There's an example. If you do this for 21 days you will retrain your brain to scan the world for the positive in life instead of the junk!

2.  Journaling:  Every day write down one positive experience you had that day.  This allows your brain to re-live the event.

3.  Exercise:   It's an essential nutrient for the body AND brain.  Do 30 minutes of exercise daily for 21 days, even if it's a casual walk.

4.  Prayer/Meditation.  A GREAT way to end or begin your day.  Spend time in prayer and meditation, it will relax your mind, help you combat stress and open your mind to possibilities.  Prayer is talking to God, meditating is listening to God.

5.  Random or conscious acts of kindness daily.This can be as simple as sending an email thanking someone for who they are and what they do.  

By rewiring our brains, this can affect not only our lives, but can create a rippling effect to change our famlies,  communities, cities, states, nations and world.  

Here's a link to the video I watched:  Reversing The Happiness Formula .

So...........Who's In with me today??? 

Do You Want To Survive or Thrive? The Innate Diet Of Grass Example

Living in the Houston area for almost 48 years, I've seen the summer weather pattern a more than a few times and am quite familiar with it. Typically, June is the wettest of the summer months here, and if it's dry in June, we're likely in for a hot dry summer.

What does that have to do with wellness? Good question of course! Have you ever noticed that when it's dry outside, when we water our grass, it does liven up a bit, and won't die off. However, when a good rain comes through, it seems the grass does even better than an equal amount of watering from our sprinklers. Why would that be? Let's look at that.

First, the innate diet of grass if you will, is rainwater. Rain, from the sky. Not water from a faucet or sprinkler. Plain old water from the clouds. The water in the pipes that feeds our grass is a bit "processed" so to speak. It contains things like chlorine among other possible contaminants (look up water contents and see what you find). So while it does feed our grass and keep it alive, it doesn't do as good of a job as the innate diet of grass. It keeps it alive, but it doesn't thrive.

So what does that have to do with us? We can choose to eat our innate diet or not. If we choose to not eat innately, then we may be choosing to stay alive, and not thrive. If we DO eat innately, then we have a better chance of thriving, and being as healthy as possible ie, living well.

The same goes for all of our lifestyle choices. How well we eat, move, think and rest affects whether or not we'll thrive or just stay alive. Which do you want?

Until next time, BE WELL!

Dr. Bruce

Every Minute.... Every Second....Counts...

....in life.

I sit here typing these thoughts down, with my heart hurting, not for me, but for people I know that are hurting from loss.  It's a reminder that, as I spoke with my pastor yesterday about, we don't know what's right around the corner in our lives.  One minute I was speaking with a young lady about her coming to work at our office today, and within an hour she's dealing with a significant loss in her life.  

It made me look seriously at my family life.  In many ways, I feel like I am pretty good as Dad, husband, friend, chiropractor, and Christian.  In many ways, I fail miserably in those roles (regularly), usually because of selfish reasons, usually when life is all about me.  I guess I feel like I can "make it up" whenever I screw up and don't perform at the levels I  know I should.  "I'll do better next time" and "I've got to get better at that" are two common thoughts I have when I've performed below standards.  Those are not inherently bad thoughts, but they assume a lot, maybe too much.

I said my normal goodbye to my wife this morning.  I said my usual goodbye to my son as I dropped him off at high school.  In a little while I'll say my routine goodbye to my daughter when I drop her off at middle school.  Not to think darkly, but my world could be a lot different by the end of this day.  I'm not guaranteed my next breath.  None are.  

Right now I want to apologize for the heaviness of this post.  But I think it's vital to think this way on occasion, to gain some perspective, and to appreciate, really appreciate what we have.  I believe that living a wellness lifestyle involves healthy relationships with those we love the most, with our co-workers, our friends, and those we serve through our respective careers.  And it shouldn't be something we put off til tomorrow.  It should start today. It should start now.  Immediately.  

I start every day with an affirmation with our team at the office that says "today I have another opportunity to fulfill our promise to our patients".  What a profound way to live, if we lived with that attitude in all that we do.  What if I said that affirmation daily, and lived it, in regards to how I treat my wife? My kids? My friends?  What if we as a nation, we as a global community began looking at life that way?  What kind of difference would it make?  What if we took on that attitude in all our roles?  I'm writing this on a Monday morning, and so many people complain about Mondays.  But what would Mondays feel like if we lived out that one simple statement?

I'm not going to presume to preach to or at anyone about this.  My thoughts are my thoughts as they apply to me right here, right now, on Monday morning.  I hope I can take these thoughts and apply them today, tomorrow, and remember them even when I'm not feeling my best, when I'm tired, when I don't even really feel like it.  

Because every minute...every second...counts.

Until next time...Be Well.

Dr. Bruce