Tag: health

Value

Lauren's poster
I've been thinking a lot about value lately. Specifically, the conversations and presence with my kids. In the last seven years my core has been fully engaged with them. Not because I'm some rock star at parenting or a nominee for father of the year. Believe me, I've tripped and blown it more times than I care to remember. It has been a God-induced form of luck, struggles and on-purpose effort.

I didn't always find real value in my kids. I loved them and many times justified my career chasing as a benefit they'd reap from. I was afraid and self-absorbed. Always thinking I would get the time, find the time or that time would send me a relationship wrapped in red ribbons. It is about prioritizing and being deliberate about pouring yourself into the relationship. I was humbled by that truth. And, yes, it carries tremendous risk. Living always presents this and there is no living without it.

I'm now at a place where I understand true value and I am learning the art of living it out. Living it out means seeing, in the arena of my family, my relationship with them as equally valuable as a financial pursuit or a social engagement.

Here's the potential rub for you and me. If we're not careful we'll allow our career to dominate the other 7/8ths of life. Like a drug, we'll want (not need) that fix. You know, the feeling of importance, fake significance and most dangerously, identity. Don't fall for this, don't buy into your employer who tries to convince you that their most important should be your most important. Like Steven Pressfield's Resistance, in the book, The War of Art,   there is something fighting against your best intentions.

A few years ago a friend of mine told me he thought I was courageous to walk away from a career that had taken over much of my life. I wasn't, but I did see (sometimes not clearly) value in life and living. That truth remains.

Related articles
The Process of Remaking a Man
Memories of an Angel

How to Manage Your Health Simply

Learning how to keep things simple is a desire we all can relate to. Whether it's containing the to-do list or not allowing the good things of life crowd out the great, we know simplicity is the best way to live.

I came across this article from the Wall Street Journal over the holidays and got me thinking about our seemingly endless pursuit of improvement. In the healthcare arena you have to applaud. It might save your life or mine! This post is not about slamming improvements in healthcare or otherwise, but to make you aware of the best improvements you can make that may trump science.

  1. Research the power of habits and how you can build good ones just like you can build bad ones. If you get this, clarity will want to take up residence in your life.
  2. Seriously consider what you put into your body and make sure it's as pure and healthy as possible. Not calling you to pursue perfection, just a daily consideration (your choices, your perspective on food). Don't think of what you can't have, think of the gift of your life.
  3. Get moving. Exercise is not about losing weight, looking like a model or having the best 5K time. Those things are by-products/results of the work. Yes, work! Again, don't think of what you will lose (time is an often used excuse). Focus on the gift of your life. As Dr. Michael Martin once told me, "God made our bodies to move."
  4. Manage your stress. Stress is not a question of if, it is a question of now. I use Yoga, I pray, I use self-talk to protect from giving in. Our lack of discipline in managing our stress is driving us over the edge.
  5. Create and manage your health plan. And, yes, that means not blindly doing or accepting what a physician/practitioner tells you to do. Educate, reflect and act. It's your life and no one else has been given the responsibility to manage it.

The goal is to do as much as you can to minimize your use of the healthcare system, beyond what is preventative in nature.

Related articles
How I Manage My Health
tips on managing stress

Sustainability

Father's Day 2010 009
Sustainability is an oft-used word that can conjure many different thougths. My use of sustainability in today's post is around your life-the living of it part.

I conducted a workshop a few weeks ago and by accident I heard a participant say they never eat breakfast. As if I'd seen someone's purse stolen, I immediately said, "that's not sustainable." After the awkward pause, I reassured the individual that the body cannot do what it was designed to do when we skip meals in the name of carrying on business. It's a design issue.

That's the point.

We in America (many other areas too) are very arrogant in the way we treat our lives. We play a dangerous game of pretend. In the game we say we're not harmed by ignoring our physical and mental health because we're successful. Usually, the success is connected to our careers and/or money. Nothing wrong with career and money, but they only make up a quarter of our lives-combined.

Every game of pretend comes to an end.

I've come to understand in my own journey that sustainability is a simple, and yet hard, principle. One's life can only be Epic when the entirety is integrated and aligned with. So take your whole life and pay attention to it everyday and make sure it's aligned properly. Think of your car when the wheels are out of alignment and what the fix is for that.

This is where we tend to get tripped up. The messages we hear everyday speak in contrary voices and we fail to choose what is best. For example:

  • "You're too old now, accept it"
  • "Out-work the competition and you'll reap the reward"
  • "You need this"
  • "Retirement"
  • "It's not your fault"

I could go on, but you get where I'm going with this. It would seem we're fighting a covert war in our own heads. I believe we are and it's a war that carries very high stakes. Don't think you can pretend your way out of it.

To bring it home, I know you're tired (many of you) and I know deep down you believe a sustainable Epic life matters. Stick with me and let me help you.

Related articles
World Economic Freedom and the United States
Sustainability: What it really means for your social start-up
What God Takes Away

How I Manage My Health

File000192352681
With a title like How I Manage My Health, you might wonder how broad I'm going here. Not very. I will keep this post confined to the physical, nutritional and how to engage with the medical community.

I want to give you a sense of how I'm managing my physical health by the following:

Exercise:

  1. I exercise 6 days per week for about 30-45 minutes in each session
  2. I work with weights, I run, I do core strengthening work, and I do yoga. These routines are alternated on opposite days. For example, Monday is running and core work, Tuesday is Yoga, Wednesday is wieght training, etc.
  3. All of my training, with the exception of yoga, is based on high intensity intervals
  4. I rest on Sunday because the Lord rested on Sunday. What's good for him is good for me.
  5. I train alone (no people, no videos, no classes). My friend Rob Banhagel says I'm into the Zen of training. He's right!

Nutrition

  1. I eat organic. I do this for a couple of reasons; it's good for me and I don't trust large corporations like Monsanto who are responsible for much of what's killing our population.
  2. My diet is higher in protein and fat (the good variety). The carbs are not eliminated, but are lower and usually come from fruits and vegatables.
  3. I drink 1-2 glasses of red wine daily with food.
  4. I eat 1-2 ounces of dark chocolate (minimum of 72% Cacao and organic).
  5. I use high quality whey protein shakes as a meal replacement. Usually, the shakes are for post-workout meals.

Now for interacting with the doctor community. As someone with Type 1 diabetes, I have been on a drug (insulin) for 25 years. I've kind-of made a promise to not use any other types of drugs if at all possible. I guess I believe that an all natural approach along with diet and exercise can reduce the chances, significantly, of the need for the pharma candy. So far I have been blessed in this area.

Three years ago, my endocrinologist at the Ohio State University recommended I go on a statin to lower my LDL cholesterol. In the diabetic world physicians like that number to be 100 or lower. My LDL was at 126, my total cholesterol was 187. I'm fortunate to be working with a medical team that acts more like a consultant than a parent, so we went through the dance of them recommending and me telling them I wasn't ready to start taking a statin. I just didn't give up on finding an alternative. In the late Autumn of 2011 I started do high intensity interval training and it made the difference because in April of 2012 my LDL dropped to 101 from 126.

The main point of my story is to, please, be the manager of your health. No doctor, no goverment, no organization was designed to do it for you. This is a "you" opportunity or problem. Another thing to remember is to have a clear understanding of timing and urgency when interacting with the medical community. Not all conditions are equal.

I wrote this post to let you know how I'm living out what I write and to let you know that Epic Living isn't just a title or phrase.

Related articles
Confirmed Again: Statin Drugs Accelerate Cardiovascular Disease

How to Make the Most of Your Physical Health

I had a great breakthrough this week in the area of making the most of physical health. My endocrinologist for some time has wanted to put me on a statin to address my LDL cholesterol. My LDL was in a reasonable range for a normal (whatever that means) male my age. But I have Type 1 diabetes, so they treat all things heart-wise more aggressively. I don't need to write about the issues relating to heart disease and diabetes. Just the same, I did not want to do a statin for multiple reasons. The most important one was my desire to address the issue naturally. I have a great medical team that allows me to manage my health and they act as advisors. That helps a lot.

My LDL before last week's blood work was around 126, with a total number of 198. My current number is 102 and 186 respectively. Huge!

I will breakdown what I'm doing that has helped my cholesterol numbers and then some general stuff that is good to do overall.

Cholesterol

  1. Eating good fats from walnuts and almonds (serving size of a 1/4 cup each).
  2. 1-2 glasses of red wine (I pay attention to how the wine is crafted here. The longer the time for grape skins to be in contact with the juice, the better) per day. This book helped me a lot.
  3. I changed my workout routine about 5 months ago to high intensity interval training. I apply this in my running and strength training. This article explains the concept I use.

General

  1. Reduce the amount of refined sugar in my diet.
  2. Exercise every day.
  3. Find tools for stress relief
  4. Practice total life management. I've found this to be the key in finding balance and integration in life.
  5. Know God.

In the end, my body and mind is not your body and mind. I've only written about what has worked for me. Here's to your health.

Would You Be Willing?

Some key thoughts on well-being and the choices that connect:

Would you be willing to let work play a smaller role in your actions and thinking, if it meant you could devote more of you to your family?

Would you be willing to make less money, if it meant you would be better able to manage the stresses of life?

Would you be willing to spend less time on watching and following sports, if it meant you could use that time to volunteer in your community?

Would you be willing to change your diet, if it meant you could add 5 years to your life expectancy?

Would you be willing to take a class on communication, if it meant you would have a better relationship with your spouse or partner?

It comes down to your choices.  Your life will, and does, reflect that.

Thankful for Today

July 2011 021 
Today's post is dedicated and in honor of those who are just hanging on or battling demons to fierce for me to know.

Today, only because that's all I've been given, I am thankful for:

  1. Jesus Christ
  2. My wife, my kids and my dog
  3. My friends near and far
  4. My Health
  5. My mission
  6. Running in cool temps
  7. Music
  8. The ability to have empathy
  9. Prayer
  10. Humor
  11. Nature
  12. Wine

The End of Busy

Busy Street 

I made a decision over the weekend to eliminate the word, thought and feeling of busy from my life.  As with any habit, i will stumble.  But the point was driven home when I spent some time considering my father and what it means to be a father.  My examination of that led me to the conslusion of how time goes at the pace it chooses to go and I can either be reactive or proactive.  I choose proactive.

In most situations, busy means you're involved in things that won't be brilliant in eternity, or tomorrow for that matter.  Busy can also be a signal that you're living under the dogma of someone/something else.  You know what I mean; your managing a life that is not your own.  Is that really what you want?  Do you want to be handed a script every morning telling what your lines are for that day? 

Don't be tricked into believing that you can abdicate the responsibility for your life.

So what's so intoxicating about busy?  I think, at least in America, it gives a false sense of meaning and purpose.  The idea that the more I'm involved in, the more those things will equal to something good and right.  But it's even more insidious when we use busyness as a tool to medicate and cope.  Sort of like being able to forget (temporarily) about the real pressing issues that are asking for our attention.  It can also disarm those who truly want to help.  You make the "I'm really busy" statement and they back away.  Ironic how we often reject the cure for what plagues us.

My advice to you is to choose life and find the thing(s) that are exclusive to your DNA and pursue them with a good pace.  You'll never be busy again.

In Praise of the Health Plan

I know you've been pounded about your financial plan…Wall Street is very  good about doing that.  The equally important question is; do you have a Physical Health Plan?  You know what I mean, that plan of keeping your weight in-line, aerobic exercise, strength training, and sensible eating. 

Let ne guess, your financial planner hasn't said a word about it.  And of course, Wall Street hasn't been running ads about the importance of physical health planning.

One of my doctors (I have 3) told me his passion around this and I'm with him.  You can view his site here.

I hope I will do him proud with the following list of reasons to have a Physical Health Plan:

  1. Since you're planning out for retirement, shouldn't you plan to be as healthy as possible?  Poor health will cost you in money and time.
  2. Your body was designed to be healthy and functioning at a high level.
  3. You'll feel better when you exercise and eat right.
  4. There are people (trainers, authors, magazines) who can help you on your journey.  You are not alone.
  5. Food and drinks that are bad for you are that way for a reason.
  6. Any career that requires you to sacrifice your health is an assassin and an enemy.
  7. If you make excuses, you've just validated the importance of having good health plan.
  8. You don't need to be like an air-brushed model to be in great shape.
  9. Your body was designed to move, so get going.
  10. The first 4-6 weeks will feel like hell, but once you get through that period, things will go your way.