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Have you noticed a topic quite “popular” in the media these days is bullying? It’s in the news, the papers, sporting circles, schools and on many levels in the home. It was even brought up by one of my teachers this past week. When we think of bullying, we think of someone hurting another by means of physical force and/or verbal abuse. Both can be debilitating emotionally and physically.

But how about our self talk? How often do we get disappointed in our performance, our thoughts and our reactions? When we get frustrated, do we kick ourselves? Do we tell ourselves we didn’t do well, we should have done better? Do we speak to ourselves sometimes with disgust? Are we our own worst bully?

You go for the 1st workout in weeks, feeling tired and tell yourself after 30 minutes into your regiment, you are lazy, too uncoordinated, feel out of place and have no business being there…you kick yourself out and leave. Forget the fact that you actually did 30 minutes and started your program, that you actually made it to the gym! Day 1 !

Then there’s the run you did with your coworkers to raise money and you couldn’t keep up with them. You tell yourself you are out of shape, over weight, had no business being there…that you are kidding yourself thinking it would be good to run in an event, let alone walk one! Forget the fact you raised funds for a worthy cause, that you got outside in nature and enjoyed doing something “bigger than yourself” that morning.

What about that diet you started? After several days of being focused, you received some bad news and you completely caved, eating your way through a pizza, chicken wings and 5 oversized cookies. You tell yourself you have no willpower or discipline, that you can never get healthy, you are never going to lose the extra weight and should just throw in the towel. You don’t remember that you did 4 days of really healthy eating and it was just one “blunder”. You forgot you are like thousands of others, made a detour and can get back on the right track; you have the means, you have the drive and you really do know what to do.

Do any of these sound familiar in one way or another? Do you beat yourself up in other areas of your life? Possibly business, the way you parent, or your relationships? Consider that bullying starts from within…and so does change. How we talk to ourselves can give us bruises and broken spirits, or it can empower us and transform our lives from the inside out.

Watch your self talk. Notice what you say. Consider yourself to be someone who can change everything about your performance and reactions either by knocking yourself down, or lifting yourself up. Change the bully into an advocate.

The facts about fats~

There are 4 kinds of fats
Monounsaturated (Healthy)
Polyunsaturated (Healthy)
Saturated (Unhealthy in excess, but important to the cells in very small amounts)
Trans-Fats (Unhealthy and extremely toxic)

The brain is made up of about 60 percent fat and in order for it to function properly, we need to consume the healthy fats. Everyone is a little different in their needs for fats pending on activity to name just one factor; however “good” fat IS important! These fats which keep you healthy, come from the earth and the ocean. They are minimally processed.

Fish and shell fish, along with the fats coming from the fish such as fish oils and cod liver oils are excellent sources of healthy fats, along with fats which come from the earth such as nuts and nut oils. To name a few are extra virgin olive oil, virgin coconut oil, almond oil, macadamia nut oil and grape seed oil.

Now for the bad news…

Saturated fat comes from land animals (and is even present in olive oil and coconut oils) . In moderation, it’s ok; in fact as mentioned, necessary, (5% of total fat can be from Saturated fats)

Transfats however are the real danger. You’ll find man-made saturated/hydrogenated fats and man-altered trans fats in foods like crisco, margarine and many bread and dessert products. Look in the ingredients list for the name fully or partially hydrogenated oils. Oils that are hydrogenated and chemically made lead to decreased cell membrane transport (which diminishes nutrients’ ability to be absorbed and used by the cells) and inflammation.

Something to know…
The half-life of transfats is 51 days. What that means is after 51 days of eating no transfats, you still need another 51 days to complete the clearing and even then, a 25% residual remains! For example, after you eat a bag of potato chips or a serving of french fries, the trans fats remain in your body for 102 days and can cause improper nerve function, increased inflammation and poor cell communication!
The half life of the omega-3 fatty acids found in cod liver oil, tuna oil, and salmon oils is 18 days. Additionally, adding 1 tbsp of sesame oil into your diet every day is great for improving skin and increasing energy. Consider replacing all transfats and most saturated fats with healthy from the ocean and earth oils.

Careful not to go too crazy here though, fat is dense and a little goes a long way calorically.

Remember way back when you had too much time on your hands? You could hardly wait to get new clients, or more friends, or a bigger travel schedule. You were excited for your kids to get into sports and you could hardly wait to get train for your first marathon.

Now, here you are, 10 years later or maybe only 1 month later and all of a sudden 24 hours isn’t enough time in the day. You can’t seem to find time to shop for healthy foods, run 15 miles, let alone a half a mile. You are over booked. You are running from client to client, airport to airport and wonder if you can make it to any of your kid’s games. You don’t even have time to pay your bills!

You are S-T-R-E-S-S-E-D! I see this all the time. In fact, I experience levels of stress sometimes myself. We get so caught up in how frazzled we are, we forget we asked for it! Not the stress, but the abundance. In fact, many many times what we asked for has helped us create a fuller life. Maybe it’s really ok, maybe we simply need to manage our time a little better. Maybe we are managing our time…it’s our thoughts we need to manage a little better. hmmmmm

Consider how your day would change if when you feel overwhelmed and overbooked, you paused, smiled and realized that you are B-L-E-S-S-E-D? You have athletic kids who love their sports and live in an area with lots of sport options. You have a career which allows you to travel to interesting new places. You have a wide net of interesting clients who enrich your life. You have a body which allows you to walk, hike or run…whether it is 1 mile…or 15.

When we get overwhelmed, it is so easy to get caught up into how the weight of the world is on our shoulders to lighten up. However, if in those crazy moments we can hug the opportunities given to us and high five the blessed life the stress give us, everything shifts. We take our stress with a smile and we are able to embrace the avenues of what we attracted.

Consider….are you stressed…or blessed?

How often have you had a minor injury or pain in your body and felt unable to workout? Even something as common as a cold, or you slept wrong and had a “kink” in your neck, or maybe you simply had a stressed day and was just “not in the mood” to move…are all days that we feel less than capable to be our best.

Maybe you are a mover and shaker, but you have a bigger injury like a broken wrist or even leg; or you have a strained muscle.

Each of these body issues are that..issues to deal with. Some of us stay quiet, accept the body and move on, but I venture to say many more let these obstacles stop us cold from movement in general. We complain, we make bigger excuses (which feel very real to us) of why we don’t feel good and we create huge stories about why life is now stopped as we know it.

I can tell you from personal experience, I have had all of the above issues. In each issue from the stressed day to the broken leg, I felt defeated at moments. I can tell you too, that once I got over my “issue/ obstacle as I saw it and excuses” and realized the rest of my body was able to move pretty darn well, I felt empowered that I could move…even in the tiniest ways.

You see, it’s all perspective. It’s acceptance and it’s embracing where we are in each place and time, as well as fighting to stay healthy.

I had this talk with a fitness friend earlier today and she said it simply…”just move…no matter how little or big…move”

I know someone who cannot move, and he would give anything to be able to.

That’s an unimaginable concept; and one I am eternally grateful that I hopefully will never feel. Knowing him though, does help me love what I can do, big or small. So when we have issues, do what you can, let the oxygen flow through your body, feel the strength of your muscles, rotate your body to see different perspectives, stretch to feel the fascia and gently assist your injured areas towards health. Doing this helps the body…as well as the soul and mind. Move what you can, do what you can…but somehow, keep moving.

The other day, I heard the list below, read to me by one of my teachers. I don’t know if I was in “that” space to where it hit me hard, or it’s just a beautiful piece. Regardless, I feel compelled to share! I don’t know who wrote it, how this was researched, or even when this was researched; however I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

“top 10 things people claim to have taken for granted when they were alive”

10) How important they were to SO many

9) How easy life was when they stopped struggling and fighting

8) That all their prayers and thoughts were heard

7) That there really were no coincidences

6) How far ripples of their kindness actually spread (* my personal favorite!)

5) What really was important…happiness, friends and love

4) That any and all of their dreams could have come true had they wanted it badly enough

3) How good looking and fun they always were if they would have just relaxes

2) How much guidance they received whenever they asked for help

That “life” is in everything, everywhere, especially themselves.
Enjoy! Who are you important to? What dreams do you have? Where has your kindness spread? Do you ask for help? Where do you see life?

Functional training…what does that mean? In my career, I see that if someone doesn’t “function” well with their body’s actions and reactions, ..they are going to have a difficult time functioning in general; especially as they (we) age. I know personally, if I can do full body movements which mimic real life (lifting my ipad from behind my car seat when in a hurry, carrying groceries up stairs, hopping over sidewalk cracks, catching myself from tripping over my dog’s tennis balls, etc) I will save myself from “out of the blue” aches and pains. This is “function”. However, I thought it might be nice to recruit a few of the experts I work with and get their opinion of why functional training is not only necessary, but something everyone should seriously consider as a part of their daily training.

Here we go…
“Functional training is something that, in my opinion as a Chiropractor of 15 years, everyone should be incorporating into their fitness routine. In essence, it is a very effective type of exercise that involves training the body to be capable of doing real-life activities in real-life positions. You train several muscle groups at once, which can improve balance, core stabilization, strength, and flexibility. Functional training is a key part of the pyramid for optimal health which includes not only training, but entire body and mind care.”

Dr. Steve Nandkeshwar D.C.,C.P.T
Chiropractor/Personal Trainer
www.losgatosbackdoctor.com
“Functional Training allows us to perform life’s tasks more efficiently. This includes: balance, stability, core training, and dynamic training. The result is performing daily activities more easily without injury. Functional training makes every other activity in life that much easier.”

Saul Cervantes, CPT
Body Firm Personal Training
“As a sports therapist, people tell me daily about their “training.” Whether it be cycling, running, crossfit or any other athletic of choice, our options are limitless in our training. But what are we training for? Barring the small percentage of people training for a milestone or in a competitive capacity, the rest of us are always just “training.” I will briefly pick on cycling- I love cycling. It is an amazing display of athleticism, great for the cardiovascular system, generally easy on the joints, but for what part of our daily lifestyle does the movement itself create benefit? Discrimination aside, the answer I have received the most for my question “what are you training for?” is “Life, I guess.” Enter Functional Training. “Life” as a movement pattern is a complex, multi-planar, ever-changing demand from our body’s joint health, muscular strength and endurance, fascial integration and cardiovascular capacity. If we aren’t spending time each week to train with these purposes in mind, then we’re not only not training for life, but we’re missing out on a HUGE resource of physical capability within our bodies. To quote Gray Cook, the master of functional movement, “first move well, then move often.”

Cody Fowler D.C. CPT
Symmetry Sports Therapy and Performance Care
Body Firm Wellness Center
Los Gatos, CA

I hope this takes some of the mystery out of the word “function” and might help you train a little differently…or shall I say mindfully!