Resting To Live

Aren't you glad to know that rest/sleep is highly recommended for health? I know I am! But why? Why is it important that we get enough rest? What good does it do for us to sleep, besides feel good? How much rest do we need? What things should we do to ensure proper rest? What if I have sleep problems? I hope to address most of these issues in this edition of our wellness blog.

The Purpose Of Rest
First, why do we even feel sleepy? What purpose does that serve? Well if you are in tune with your body, you'll note that your body often gives you signs that it is needing something. Sleepiness is your body telling you that it is time to "power down" so that needed repairs can be made to damage done by daily living. It is your body's innate intelligence speaking to you saying it's time to rest and recuperate. And, as we age, that desire may sometimes take the form of more of a need for naps since our bodyies won't recuperate quite as well as they did when we were 18 years old. So you have my permission for a health related nap!

Restful Habits
To achieve optimal rest, there are habits that one should form. Please note that optimal rest doesn't mean only quantity, it also means quality. To achieve quality rest one should have a good sleep hygiene, meaning good habits prior to sleep. Here are some sleep hygiene tips:

1. Avoid caffeine. I know many say "I can still go to sleep without trouble after caffeine", and this may be true that you can fall asleep fairly easily. But studies show that with excess caffeine in the body, you won't achieve Rapid Eye Movement sleep (REM sleep) which is where healing and repair occur. So while your quantity of sleep may be ok, your quality will suffer. Leave the caffeine to the morning only if possible.
2. Avoid excess alcohol in the evening. Yes I know once again that you can fall asleep easily with alcohol, but again the quality of sleep is deterred.
3. Avoid exercise too late in the evening. Many professionals recommend no heavy exercise within 1.5 hours of bedtime.
4. Leave the bedroom for sleep only. Working from the bed on paperwork, computer work etc, will create a neuro-association in your mind of work with regards to the bedroom. The only activity other than sleep that should occur in the bedroom is of course sex! Leave your work outside of the bedroom door.
5. Avoid the TV in the bedroom. Again it has been proven to disturb sleep patterns
6. Make the bedroom slightly cool when it's time to sleep. Hot rooms disturb your sleep.
7. Take a shower or bath about an hour or so before bedtime.
8. Create a regular pattern that you do every night prior to bed. This will help prepare your mind for sleep.
9. If you find you are having trouble going to sleep, don't toss and turn all night long in the bed. This will create negative neuro-associations such as "I can't sleep" to the bedroom. Get up, and go read something until you feel sleepy. Just get out of the bed when insomnia strikes.
10. Dim your houselights as the bedtime hour approaches. This also will prepare your mind for sleep.
11. Try a cup of decaf tea or tea that contains relaxants such as valerian, chamomile, or passion flower to help you unwind and relax. Supplements containing those ingredients exist as well. Check your local health food store for these. ("A Gift Of Health" health food store is a good place in Atascocita to check out).
12. Take slow, deep abdominal breaths, and count them up to 10, then start over. This will definitely relax your mind and body and prep it for rest.

Sleep Postures
You want to avoid certain positions for sleeping, as they are unhealthy for your neck and back. Avoid sleeping on your stomach (no one likes to hear that one). It is bad for your neck and your lower back. Sleeping on your side with your knees bent up (possibly a pillow between your knees) is usually good. Sleeping on your back with your knees bent (again using a pillow, possibly underneath your knees) is helpful for taking stress off of your lower back.

Quantity Of Rest
Finally we get to talk about how much sleep you need! Then answer is.......I don't know! Well, not exactly. Most people need somewhere between 7 and 9 hours of rest. I do best with about 7 hours personally. Try it out (and don't just try one night, give yourself a few nights of testing since some nights your sleep quality may be different) and see what works best for you personally. Most growing children need a bit more sleep as their bodies are going through major changes and using energy for growth.

Wrap Up
Just remember that quantity AND quality of sleep are important. Create good sleep hygiene by creating good habits and a good atmosphere for rest. Give yourself some time to adjust to new habits. Proper rest will help you age better, feel better and have more energy and less chances for illness.

Exercising To Live

Exercise should be a 4 letter word, right? Along with diet, it conjures up plenty of not so great neuroassociations. There are times when even I feel like it's a bad word. But when I think of the benefits of exercising, as well as the consequences of NOT exercising, and I recall how good I feel after exercising, it gives me a new perspective. I hope to be able to help you gain a new perspective on exercise as well.

Benefits of Exercise

Right about now you might be saying...."blah blah blah". I realize that. We all know the benefits of exercise right? Maybe so. But, do we focus on them? Or do we focus on the "pain" of exercise? I'd suggest that if you are not exercising regularly, you are focusing on the pain. Tony Robbins says we do things for only 2 reasons; 1. To avoid pain, or 2. To gain pleasure. And he says that most of us will do more to avoid pain than gain pleasure. Unfortunately, I have found this to be true for many people, your humble blogger included. So, this truth is neither good nor bad necessarily. It is what it is (to use a much overused phrase). The key is, harnessing this truth to work for us, and specifically in the area of exercise. The more we know the benefits of exercise, and the pain of not exercising, the more likely we are TO exercise. Many people don't start watching their cholesterol or blood pressure until it becomes something that is severe enough to get one thinking about their mortality. In other words, the pain of not taking care of themselves gets bigger than the pleasure of not taking care of themselves. What we have to do, if we are to create a lifestyle that includes regular exercise, is to focus on the pain of NOT exercising, and the pleasure of the results of exercising. That's our best bet for making it part of our lifestyle.

Here are some of the benefits (to get back to our topic at hand, guess my ADHD is acting up)

1. Burn Fat (duh).

We ALL know this benefit. Consistent cardio work (walking, biking, or any activity that elevates your heart rate for 30 minutes or more) will help you burn fat.

2. Build lean muscle mass:

So what? Why would you want lean muscle mass? Besides helping you look better physically, having more lean muscle mass will boost your metabolism, making it easier for you to lose weight or maintain your current weight. It will boost your energy levels, and of course make you stronger. Resistance training will help you build lean muscle. This could include weight lifting on machines or free weights, or just doing exercises like push ups, situps, dips, lunges etc. This type of exercising will also build stronger bones, reducing the chances of osteoporosis as you age.

3. Lower Blood Pressure/Heart Rate:

The Mayo Clinic website states that cardio exercise can lower your blood pressure by 10 mm/Hg. That's as much as one could expect with one blood pressure medication! It takes consistency in cardio exercise to get the stabilizing effects though. You need to keep up the exercise for abut 3 months or so to get the benefits. You want to aim for 30 minutes most days of the week. If you think that's too much for you, just start with a little more than you currently do. Get used to that, then increase by a little more. I had the same issue with time constraints, but I slowly increased my time on the treadmill and now shoot for three 1-hour walks/week, along with 3-4 half hour walks/week. It can be done (particularly if the pain/pleasure principle detailed above is used!)

4. Improve Your Mood:

Need to blow off some steam after a stressful day? A workout at the gym or a brisk 30-minute walk can help you calm down.

Exercise stimulates various brain chemicals, which may leave you feeling happier and more relaxed than you were before you worked out. You'll also look better and feel better when you exercise regularly, which can boost your confidence and improve your self-esteem. Exercise even reduces feelings of depression and anxiety. You will always feel better about yourself mentally since you know you are doing good things for yourself. Don't think so? Do the opposite. See how you feel about yourself when you eat poorly and don't exercise. My bet is you'll soon see the difference, and fall in love with feeling good about yourself by taking better care of your physical health.

There are many more benefits to exercise, this is only a short sample list.

IMPORTANT: DO NOT START AN EXERCISE PROGRAM WITHOUT CONSULTING YOUR OWN PERSONAL CHIROPRACTOR OR OTHER HEALTH CARE PROVIDER, PARTICULARLY IF YOU ARE OVER 40 AND HAVEN'T EXERCISED, OR HAVE HAD HEALTH ISSUES THAT COULD BE AGGRAVATED BY EXERCISE. IF IN DOUBT, CONSULT YOUR HEALTH CARE PROVIDER.

Eating To Live

Ok, this is a biggie!! Is it low fat? Low carb? High fat? High carb? Portion control? Point systems? Some magical supplement?

Well truthfully, if THAT'S the questions you're asking, I think you're barking up the wrong tree. It's about NUTRITION. It's not even about your waist size (though that can be a diagnostic indicator). It's about what we are doing to our bodies on a daily basis, 3 or more times a day. Everything we eat has a consequence on our health. Every time we eat, we have the chance to make ourself again, in a good or bad way depending on our choices. It's about giving your body what it needs to function at peak levels, or it's about slowly killing your body, robbing your life of years, and robbing your years of life.

Every time we eat, we have an opportunity to plant seeds. Seeds of health or seeds of sickness. And rest assured, the seeds we plant DO affect us, particularly if we plant the same seeds over extended periods of time. Every day, cells in our body die off. Red blood cells (RBC's) have a life span of about 100 days or so. Then they are killed off and must be replenished. Where does the body get the raw materials for re-making these cells? Right-from the nutrients we put in our body. So, literally, you are re-making your body each time you put food in your mouth! That's a good thing, because many of us really need to be re-made in a major way.

I don't have time here to go thru a list of what to eat and what not to eat in great detail. Instead I'll give a few basics. One rule of thumb is, if it doesn't grow, and it doesn't hunt, or you can't hunt it, it probably shouldn't be considered a food source!! Processed foods are never good for you (but hey, we all enjoy a good dessert sometimes I know, just not a HUGE serving, every night!). The other rule of thumb is, if it wasn't a food source a century or more ago, it's probably not a food source (meaning processed again).

Three things to avoid would include what I call the 3 whites: white rice, white flour, salt. I'll tell you another thing you should avoid at all costs: Soft Drinks. Even the diet ones have chemicals in them that do nasty things to your body like leaching calcium from your bones etc. And the artificial sweeteners in my opinion are as dangerous long term as sugar is.

Things to put more of in your body are simple: Vegetables, fruits, water, lean meats. Remember, eat real, whole food. Eat it raw when you can (well, not your meats). Eat often, with smaller portions and several healthy snacks during the day. Don't add the snacks without decreasing your intake at breakfast lunch and dinner though (too many calories will expand your waist!). And what Mom said is true: Breakfast is the MOST important meal of the day! It sets the tone for your day. Drink water all day long, drink more the bigger you are. Divide your weight in 1/2 and that's how many ounces of water would be a good goal for you to get to. Yes you'll urinate more, but you'll be flushing toxins out of your body regularly.

Remember, what you eat becomes you!

Where Does Health Come From?

If you ask enough people what exactly health is, if you ask how does one obtain optimum health, or what is the secret to good health, you'll get many different answers. Some will be correct, some will be off the mark a little, and some will be so far fetched that you'll have a hard time thinking they really believe what they just said. Beyond that, if you look at the health status of the average person in America, you'll be surprised at how poor it is. We have an epidemic of obesity (over 1/3 of Americans are overweight, and 25% are obese), epidemic of cardiovascular disease, epidemic of diabetes, and more. It's sad when you consider how wealthy our country is, and how educated we are, and how available health care is to us.

So where does health come from? Does it come from being properly medicated (better living through chemistry)? Does it come from a pill (natural or otherwise)? Does it come from our parents (genetics)? Some of each of these come into play with regards to ones health, but it certainly isn't the be all/end all to health. I find people swearing up and down that one certain thing (pill, potion, medication) is the answer to health. I think our society is always looking for the easy way to attain health, to shortcut the pathway. Unfortunately, there are no shortcuts. But the good news is, the answer(s) to finding health are rather simple, tried and true, and will work for almost everyone. I'll hit on a few of them here.

In our office we speak of the facets of health. I liken the facets to spokes in a wheel. If all the facets (spokes) are working well, the wheel turns smoothly and effortlessly. If some of the spokes are missing, or weak, it affects the quality of spin in the wheel. Similarly, if we are hitting on all cylinders in the facets of health, our "wellness wheel" turns easily and efficiently. If some of the spokes aren't there, or weak, then we are more susceptible to ill health. In my opinion there are about 6 significant facets of health:

1. Proper diet
2. Proper exercise
3. Proper spinal health
4. Proper attitude
5. Proper Rest
6. Proper stress management

I'll hit on these in the coming days. I look forward to your comments and suggestions!

Welcome!

Welcome to the brand new Humble and Atascocita Wellness Blog. I am Dr. Bruce Guillory and am a practicing Chiropractor in the Humble/Atascocita area. I've been in practice since 1992 as a solo practitioner and currently own Chiropractic, Massage & Rehab Center, located on W. Lake Houston Pkwy in the Colonnade Center. Our vision statement says we are about the business of "Helping Families Gain and Maintain Optimum Health Naturally". Our website is located at www.guillorychiropractic.com. Feel free to visit there and be sure to sign up for our free newsletter called "To Your Health".

I want this blog to contain information about true health and wellness. I hope to provide good information that you can use to influence the quality of you and your family's health on a regular basis. I'll give you studies, personal experiences, tips and more. I plan on at least getting out a wellness tip of the week for you all. Your comments will be welcomed, but will of course be evaluated for content before they are allowed to be on, so be patient with me.

I am looking forward to this high tech way of "Helping Families Gain and Maintain Optimum Health, Naturally"