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How Can I Lose Weight?

November 28, 2006 by Dave

Great question!

scaleI believe weight loss is a very simple thing to achieve. It does require discipline, that is true. However, it is not hard to do.

Here are some of my suggestions for weight loss:

1. Don’t mix starches (carbs) and proteins. – This will be a hard one for a lot of people. Getting used to the idea that foods like meat and potatoes shouldn’t be consumed at the same meal breaks with all kinds of tradition. But, this is very, very powerful and important.

Take advantage of this and you will cut your weight loss curve drastically. Ignore this and you may see the consequences in your mirror.

weight-liftingIf you are a total work out freak that burns calories like crazy, then you CAN ignore this one. In fact, such a person won’t be reading this because she wouldn’t have a weight problem.

 

For the person that doesn’t have the time to work out all day long, you food and weight lossshould consider paying attention to what you eat, how much you eat and the combinations that you eat foods in. Here is an article about fats and crabohydrates that further explains this principle.

That doesn’t mean you can lose weight without exercise. Exercise is a necessary component to healthy weight loss. (you can always starve yourself but that is not healthy nor desirable – long term, healthy weight loss should be your goal)

olderlift

 

This means that hamburgers/buns – hot dogs on buns and any food that includes sugar and butter (fat) together are combinations to avoid. Oh, and candy is almost always a mixture of fats and carbohydrates – eating them is akin to asking for fat production in your body.

 

hamburgerCarbohydrates and fats need to be avoided in combination. Eat carbs in one meal and fats in a separate meal. Actually, you want to limit the amount of fats to essential fats as much as possible. The other fats are not needed by your body, but essential fats are needed. So you must consume them.

2. Burn through the short term energy supply to start burning fat – As stated previously, healthy weight loss requires exercise. You must exercise for a number of reasons.

A.) You must exercise to preserve lean muscle mass. What does this mean? When losing weight, you will lose various kinds of bodily tissue and one of them is muscle tissue. You don’t want this. female

1. Resting lean muscle burns more calories than any other kind of body tissue. Therefore, during the process of weight loss you want to conserve your muscle mass while losing other tissue, namely fat tissue. The only way to do this is by using weight bearing exercise to help keep up your lean muscle mass.

2. Losing weight is pointless if there is no tone muscle to show off. Losing weight is great, but being skinny with no muscle tone doesn’t look good.

B.) In order to start burning fat off your body, you must first use up the body’s short term energy supply which is stored in the liver. The liver releases its glucose storage into the blood stream to supply your body with energy. When that short term supply is used up, your body will turn to long term storage (fat).

liverThere are varying ideas on the approximate time this occurs. And since you aren’t going to be using sophisticated equipment to monitor the precise moment that your body switches to its long term supply, you can only guess when this will occur.

Some factors that can affect this are:

1. how long since your last meal? Your short term energy supply is like a sandbox. Fill it up until it overflows and you will make fat (long term energy storage). Use it up until the sandbox is empty and your body will go for its fat reserves. If you haven’t eaten because you have been asleep overnight, then you might be close to depletion. If you just ate an hour ago, you probably aren’t anywhere near depletion.

2. What kind of exercise are you engaged in? Obviously climbing a mountain is going to use a lot more energy than walking from the sofa to the refrigerator.

If your preferred exercise is walking, it may take up to 45 minutes to burn through the short term supply and start burning fat. If you are engaged in some other type of more vigorous exercise you may reach the point of short term energy depletion sooner.

3.) Drink plenty of water – Water is important for virtually every body function to work at its peak performance. A biochemistry teacher told our class that people should drink beyond the recommended two liters a day. His feeling was that everyone should drink at least a gallon of water per day.

glass of waterIt is a known fact that we often think we are hungry, when in fact we are merely thirsty. The body is crying for water, but we interpret it as hunger.

Digesting the food, uses up more water, causing the body to cry louder. (and you may think you are just hungry for more food )

Start drinking more water. Do it today. When you are fully hydrated you will feel more energy, more motivation and more zest for life. ( and less hungry)

Drinking water is far better than drinking coffee which only serves to dehydrate you more. If you drink coffee, try drinking twice that amount of water to offset the dehydration effect.

Basically, start drinking a lot more water and see if your body doesn’t do everything a little better.

About motivation:

I wrote an article called Weight Loss Discipline.

It is hard to cut out certain foods ALL of the time. So you might pick one day a week when you allow yourself to splurge a little. Otherwise, try not to do so.

If you want to learn something more specific about weight loss: use the ask Dave a question button over to your right or comment below. (both free)

slim and trim

If you need more complete information on weight loss, and don’t want to ‘ask Dave for free or join the free weight loss email list, then the best source I know of that has compiled probably just about everything you need to know about weight (fat) loss is at https://tobeinformed.com/burnfat.html [AFF] (cost involved)

Join my weight loss email list: https://tobeinformed.com/weight-loss (free)

Check with your doctor before attempting to lose weight or taking up any form of exercise.

One word of caution: be sure to check with your doctor before changing your exercise level, starting a diet or altering your water intake.

Filed Under: blogger, Fitness

The Doctor Says I have IBS, What can I do?

November 22, 2006 by Dave

 

patientI’m sorry to hear of your chronic constipation.

Some people with IBS suffer from constipation, others from diarrhea and some alternate between diarrhea and constipation. (I can only imagine how awful that would be)

 

It is estimated that about 1 out of 5 adults suffer from IBS, also known as Irritable Bowel Syndrome.  That is about 20% of the adult population. Woman tend to experience IBS at a rate about 3 times that of men. That data may be skewed as men may not seek treatment for IBS as often as women.

Here are two documents that can help you to understand IBS better:

1. IBS report (28 pages)

2. IBS report (8 pages)

If you have IBS you should visit your doctor as she has tools available to evaluate and treat your symptoms. Doctors are not able to cure IBS per say but they can utilize certain medications to alleviate your symptoms. They may also be able to suggest dietary changes after examining your diet.Â

A doctor will also be able to rule out the possibility that there is a disease responsible for you condition rather than IBS (which is a non-disease condition).

Intestines

The doctor will perform tests, such as blood test and a colonoscopy (where they look at the inside of your large intestine) or barium x-ray test.

Much IBS may be sub clinical, meaning that a person may experience bowel pain but might not think it is patient 3 important enough to seek treatment for.

IBS is classified as a syndrome, meaning that it generally is not considered a disease, though Doctors often have varying opinions about IBS. A syndrome is a collection of symptoms.

Resist the temptation to take IBS lightly. One woman’s account was that it felt like giving birth over and over again. Another person said that she has it so bad and so often that she had to buy a van with facilities that she could retreat to when she had an attack. Otherwise, she wouldn’t be able to venture out into the world. (that’s a pretty drastic measure to have to take)Â IBS is not to be taken lightly.

The good news is that IBS has not been shown to cause any permanent damage to your large intestine, nor has it been found to lead to any diseases.

So what does it mean that IBS is classified as a syndrome? Basically, a syndrome is a collection of symptoms that don’t actually amount to a disease condition. (that doesn’t mean it can’t be extremely painful or uncomfortable though)

stressThe symptoms of Irritable Bowel Syndrome are diarrhea, constipation, abdominal pain and discomfort, cramping, bloating and gas among others. One person suffering from IBS said that after a bout of IBS, his insides feel like they were beaten with a baseball bat for the next several days.

What causes IBS?

We can’t say that these items cause IBS, but we can say they may trigger an episode of IBS. If you suffer from IBS it is a good idea to keep a log of what you eat so that you can determine what food (if any) triggered an attack.

Stress – the brain is connected to our gut, and since we are talking about the large intestine or the bowel, we need to realize that there is a connection there. Our autonomic system regulates many things in our body without our conscious knowledge.

overwelming

If stress is contributing to IBS attacks for you, hypnosis, therapy or relaxation techniques could be helpful in preventing a bout of IBS.

coffeeCaffeine – has been seen to trigger IBS episodes. Staying away from coffee and other caffeinated beverages may help you avoid an IBS episode.

Alcohol can trigger an IBS attack, but you knew you shouldn’t drink anyway, didn’t you?

Dairy products like cheese or ice cream may cause an episode. Try a replacement such as tofu or yogurt.

Carbonated soft drinks have been known to trigger an IBS attack.

Chocolate also has been isolated as a trouble food.

Overeating, even if it doesn’t contain one of your trigger foods, can also irritate the bowel and bring on IBS.

eating-to-much

What can you do? First, make sure you visit your doctor, to rule out any kind of disease as the source of your symptoms. The doctor may use a checklist and compare your answers to see if you fall into the category of IBS sufferer.

One of the common criteria is to have experienced 12 weeks or more of IBS symptoms over the past 12 months.

Eating more fiber has proven helpful to many suffering from IBS, however some have reported additional abdominal bloating and gas from taking in more fiber. These additional problems seem to subside after a couple of weeks.

It is suggested that you increase your daily fiber intake by 2 to 3 grams per day, instead of adding a lot of fiber at once, in order to avoid the additional abdominal bloating and gas.

foodsKeep a log of what you eat and when your attacks happen. Try to figure out what food may have triggered the attack and take steps to eliminate that food from your diet. Determing the trigger may be hard to do as it appears that some foods can trigger IBS up to two days later.

Seek the help of your doctor, both to rule out disease and to help you identify culprit foods and work on adding more fiber to your diet. If your symptoms are really bad, your doctor may prescribe drugs for constipation or diarrhea ,depending on which you have. He may also prescribe antidepressant medication to keep stress from triggering an attack.

IBS is a complex problem, seldom is there any one cause. You’ll need to investigate what foods are triggering your attacks and also determine if stress is contributing to your IBS. then take steps accordingly. Your doctor can help you by tailoring your treatment to suite your particular problem.

Just like with anything else associated with the human body, no two people are alike. A combination of treatments may work for one person, while a different combination may work better for someone else. The same foods don’t always trigger IBS in different people.

I also found this alternative information on IBS [AFF]. I have not investigated it myself, but I thought it might be useful to your or someone else with IBS.

Here is an herbal supplement that you can investigate after discussing with your doctor: [Aff] Get More Info on Natural Moves for Natural Constipation Relief [AFF]

 

IBS-2

 

 

Tags: IBS, irritable bowel syndrome

Filed Under: blogger, Health

How Do I Stop Bad Breath and What Causes it?

November 20, 2006 by Dave

You can stop bad breath in a more permanent and healthy way Aside from some really obscure and dangerous conditions and diseases that have the side effect of bad breath, there isn’t a whole lot of worthwhile information out there. I was hard pressed to find much information about ‘regular’ bad breath from ‘official sources’.

These government sources said things like brush your teeth and tongue,use a fluoride toothpaste, floss and don’t smoke. Also there was some mention of using fresh parsley or a strong mint to temporarily freshen the breath.


One thing they did mention was that mouthwashes do not treat the underlying problem. (That’s for sure)

All of this is generally good (and obvious) advice, but if any of that worked for everyone on more than a temporary basis, there would be very little bad breath to suffer in the world.

And we know that isn’t the case, don’t we? In fact, a lot of people suffer with bad breath.

Many mouthwash companies target bad breath directly and they wouldn’t be doing that if there wasn’t a market for it.


Don’t think that it has to do with how well you take care of your mouth. For most people, that is not the case.

You can brush and floss all day long, but if you do nothing to get at the root of the problem, those things won’t help much. It is not a question of impeccable oral hygiene. (although that can definitely help a lot.)

Unfortunately, many of the products for sale may not be all that good for fighting or stopping bad breath. Some could possibly make it worse.

Since official documentation was quite lacking, the best information I could find on bad breath was from Dr. Harold Katz of the California Breath Clinics.

He offers a free 47 page ebook on bad breath

Doctor Katz says that bad breath is due to anaerobic (can’t live well with oxygen around) bacteria that live in the folds of the tongue, back of the throat and in between the papillae of the tongue. (Areas that don’t have a lot of oxygen)


He also says or implies that these little critters naturally exist in your mouth and you won’t be able to completely get rid of them. However, when they multiply out of control, they produce volatile sulfur compounds (VSCs) that are responsible for foul smelling breath.

Things like smoking, coffee, alcohol, dry mouth, snoring and mouth breathing are all factors that can make breath worse.‚ Oh and regular toothpaste that contains Sodium Lauryl Sulfates (soap) can dry out the mouth tissue, contributing to more bad breath.

Click Here to Read more about Doctor Katz’s products.

I also have a resource page for bad breath products and resources that may be more useful than the typical fare.

Saliva naturally contains oxygen which works to keep the little critters or anaerobic bacteria down to a minimum.

However, if the mouth dries, there is less oxygen around. With less oxygen, the bacteria thrive more. With more bacteria, there will be more volatile sulfur compounds hanging out.

When the VSC levels reach a certain point, you will have noticeable bad breath.

Drinks like coffee and fruit juices increase the acidity of the mouth which also causes the anaerobes to reproduce more quickly.‚ (they like a more acidic environment.) Of course, sugar helps them as well.

So what is the solution according to Dr. Katz? Naturally, he has a product line for bad breath. The unique feature of his product line is that they contain OxyD8 – a patented oxygen containing compound that is safe for the mouth but packs enough wallop to knock the little guys silly.

I’ve used his products for a different purpose, fighting gingivitis, and I have to say they have been very helpful.

Almost everyone experiences bad breath at some point, but about 30% (according to Dr. Katz) have chronic bad breath. (it doesn’t go away very often)‚ His commercial site, Therabreath is full of testimonials about people who have benefited from his products.

There is another 30% – the lucky ones, who very, very rarely experience their own bad breath. (except perhaps in the morning)

If you have bought any of about 85% of the bad breath solutions on the commercial market including mints, breath spray and mouthwashes, you have ended up disappointed or with very temporary results. Breath mints don’t work for very long, nor do they get to the root cause of the problem.

Some products can actually cause you to suffer even greater bad breath after they wear off. For example, products that contain alcohol (one product in particular contains a very large percentage of it) can dry the mucosa (tissues in the mouth). This drying leads to a decrease in saliva and can actually aid the growth of anaerobic, bad breath causing bacteria.

If I were trying to get rid of bad breath, I would use Dr. Katz’s stuff. I don’t think there is much else out there that will do the job without a lot of undesirable side effects or short term results.

Click Here to Read more about Doctor Katz’s products.

Remember not to take this as advice. If you have a health condition, including bad breath, be sure to consult your doctor for proper diagnosis and treatment.

Filed Under: blogger, Health

What Causes Acne?

November 17, 2006 by Dave

First, What is Acne? – The skin’s hair follicles and oil glands get clogged with body cells, oil and bacteria. When this happens there is a reaction wherein the body sends white blood cells to fight the infection. This leads to dreaded pimples and other manifestations of acne such as small bumps that are tender to the touch, larger solidified nodules that are deep in the skin and scar forming cysts.

non-acne-skin[1]

Let me point you to this free acne information booklet that answers questions like:

What Causes Acne? – There is no definitive item that is believed to cause acne. Generally it is believed that factors like hormones, some types of cosmetics, use of drugs such as lithium, family history, pressure from outside influence on the skin (like sports equipment) and a number of other factors contribute to acne forming. Can’t put the blame on any one thing in particular though.

whitehead[1]

Here is a nifty, online multimedia tutorial about acne. (just choose the tutorial on acne) It can help you get a very basic but necessary understanding about acne, it contains 75 pages of free information.

In case you were wondering, dirty skin, chocolate and deep fried foods have not been proven to cause acne. But, just because something isn’t proven, doesn’t make it not true. You could say that it hasn’t been proven to be untrue either.

Here is a more in depth page with acne articles and treatment resources that you might find helpful. You’ll find quite a few articles and almost a dozen resources that may be of use to answer your questions on acne or to help you get rid of acne.

micromeda[1]

Some people have had good luck with using medications like Accutane to get rid of acne, but the side effects are often unpleasant. I read a story about one lady who experienced extreme dryness with her nasal passages and eyes. In addition, this particular medication causes birth defects, so don’t take this medication when pregnant and don’t get pregnant while taking it.

BlackHead

A dermatologist is the kind of medical specialist that you would visit to help you get rid of acne.

Filed Under: blogger, Health

Why Do People Become Addicted to Drugs?

November 15, 2006 by Dave

Question: There is a big drug addiction problem in our culture. What are your thoughts on that? Why do people become addicted to drugs?

 Answer: I agree that drug addiction is a big problem in our culture and around the world. Drugs are everywhere and they are very, very available. Whether it is crack cocaine, heroin, marijuana, LSD, alcohol or whatever, drugs are easy to obtain. Drugs harm society as a whole and they also harm individuals in so many ways.

Don’t get Stuck in the Box of Addiction

I’m sure you remember your high school days. Drugs have been and will probably continue to be a part of our culture. There seems to be little we can do as a society to prevent the drugs themselves from circulating and finding their way into the lives of people, including those whom we love.

This is sad. The destructive nature of substance abuse is truly horrendous. If you’ve ever witnessed someone with a drug addiction, you know far too well how they are often driven to obtain the substance and can’t seem to ‘function’ without it. Lower levels of addiction or compensating behavior may not seem as severe, but still destructive in a variety of ways

Here is a free list of drug rehab treatment centers

Here is a free list of alcohol treatment centers

Here is a free ebook on The Principles of Drug Addiction

Sometimes a person will lie, cheat, steal and do things he wouldn’t normally do or even hurt others physically to get the drug. The movie, Less than Zero comes to mind.

 

The cycle of drug addiction can be stopped once patient seeks the drug addiction help he so desperately needs.

How Does an Addiction Occur?

Physically, the brain uses dopamine to create a ‘good’ feeling. This is normal and natural. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter, a chemical that the brain uses during its normal functioning. Neurotransmitters are chemicals that allow cells to communicate with other cells.

(note: dopamine is being used as an example – other brain chemicals can also be involved in addiction)

Dopamine –> Dope – You can see the connection.

Drugs of addiction cause the brain’s cells to excrete and flood the brain with the chemical dopamine or conversely, block the chemical from being reabsorbed into the cells.

Unfortunately, there is a process called down regulation that feeds right into the state of addiction. The brain sees too much dopamine present and realizes that it must create less, because there is an overabundance. When the drug wears off, the person feels lifeless, without joy and ‘dull’, perhaps even depressed. This is because the dopamine levels have become abnormally low.

The addict finds a solution by taking the drug again. (the wrong solution) He needs the drug to feel good. Unfortunately, the problem gets worse.

 

As the brain down regulates further, tolerance grows. Tolerance is resistance to the drug. More of the drug is needed to create the same feeling as before. This is due to the brain adjusting and naturally producing less and less dopamine. For this reason, addicts may seek larger and larger doses to get the same feeling they had previously.

So you have the elevated good feeling on the one hand. Then you have the abnormally low feelings when the drug wears off. You can see how this leads the person on a vicious cycle of highs and lows.

This cycle leads to physical addiction. A state where the person feels driven to obtain the drug, oftentimes at any cost. There is no set number of times that it takes to provoke an addiction.

Not all professionals agree on what an addiction is or at what point a person can be said to be addicted. For our purposes, we’ll just say that an addiction is when a person causes harm to himself or others due to substance abuse. This is not limited to physical harm alone but emotional hurt, unavailability, losing one’s employment, and any other negative affect that comes from using or abusing a substance.

You’ve probably seen addicts in your local city pan handling for money to buy drugs or alcohol with. Sometimes you ask them if they want some food and they readily turn that down, they only want money. Money is needed to buy more drugs.

Beating a drug addiction is possible, yet it can be difficult. Treatment typically involves a combination approach involving multiple factors being addressed simultaneously. Here is a list of drug rehab facilities that might help with overcoming a drug addictiont. Here is another rehab center page specifically created for alcohol addiction.

Repeating treatment is often times necessary as one round of treatment may not be enough. In other words there tends to be a risk factor that the treated addict will seek the drug again. Sometimes, there is a long gap of time before the addiction occurs again.

Physical dependence can be offset by doctor prescribed medications. However, there may be psychological factors that need to be treated as well. Perhaps there are social, legal or other tough situations that make taking the drug again an attractive proposition to the user.

This is part of why addiction treatment can become so complex. A major contributor to success is the patient’s willingness to eliminate the addiction, especially then the struggle becomes tough.

It seems to me that developing the will to eliminate an addiction is one of the most crucial components to long term relief. The love and support of others can certainly be helpful, but the individual must ultimately choose for himself what he wants.

 

I am sympathetic. I think drug addiction is one of the worst states of being for a person. I hope that people can either get help or help themselves out of the box of addiction. Facing both physical and psychological barriers makes the struggle harder. However, it can be done and there are plenty of examples of people who have beaten their addiction and live normal, productive and hopefully loving lives.

If you would like to comment on this topic, you are encouraged to do so below, under ‘leave a reply’.

Stay out of the Box of Addiction

Filed Under: Addiction, blogger, Health, Wellness

Just What is Going on Here, Dave?

November 13, 2006 by Dave

Sure, I can answer that one.

Why the Change in Format?

Recently, I came to realize that things needed to improve around here. It is a tedious task to create new static .html web pages every time I have something that I think would be of use or interest to the readers of this site.

Someone recently turned me on to the idea of turning this whole site into a blog. The new format will be easier to maintain and I can make site wide changes whenever I want.

Don’t worry, you can still access the old look and feel of the site via the new sitemap.

Now updating the site on new health, fitness or wellness related matters will be much easier and a snap. I can just login and make a post.

Keeping people informed about health, fitness and wellness is the purpose of this site and now anyone will be able to see the latest from me right on the front page of the site.

As you may know, the site isn’t necessarily about the latest updates though, you will still find me providing useful resources, as well as newer information just like before. You can use the sitemap to find the static resource pages. You will also find many of them at the bottom of this page.

If you need to search the old information, you can find the search box on the sitemap page mentioned above. I suppose I ought to put a search box on the bottom of each of these blog pages too. I think I’ll do that. (sooner or later) 🙂

You can also subscribe to our RSS FEED

In addition if you have a comment you want to make on something I’ve written you need only go to the bottom of the page and click on comments to leave me a message. Isn’t that cool?

Ask Dave a Question!

Another neat and new feature is the ‘Ask Dave a Question’ button on the upper right hand side. (See it ?) . Now if you have a question about anything related to health, fitness or wellness or even other topics for that matter you can reach me via the ‘Ask Dave a Question’ button. I highly encourage you to use ‘Ask Dave a Question’ to reach me.

Ask Dave A Question!

All of these changes will make the site more user friendly and interactive. Which is the format I think will best serve us all.

Enjoy This Site

I’m going to really enjoy the site even more than before with all of these new features and it is going to make life a whole lot easier on both of us! (you and me)

So there you have it. What’s going on around here? That’s what!

Stay healthy and well.

Filed Under: blogger, Health, Site News

What’s so Great About the Holistic Health Fair in Kansas City, Missouri ?

November 13, 2006 by Dave

Today I participated in the Kansas City Holistic Health Fair at UMKC (University of Missouri in Kansas City).

I facilitated or convened a session for people who were interested in learning the beautiful, peaceful, energizing and health sustaining exercises of Falun Dafa.

I’ve been practicing these exercises for over seven years now. They form the very cornerstone of my personal health regimen and I would not want to be without them.

I don’t have any pictures from the fair today, but you can see me doing one of the exercises (this is the sitting meditation, the other exercises are all standing) in a picture that is now a few years old.

sitting -david

 

I’ll see if I can get any pictures from today on the blog. My friend had his camera, but I don’t know if he took any pictures. If he did and he is kind enough to send them to me, I’ll add them here in the future.

So what are these exercises good for? In my case, they relieved my body of chronic back pain that nothing else I tried could get rid of.

Two months (or less) after I learned them, I stopped going to the chiropractor because my back no longer hurt. Over seven years, you can imagine how much money, hassle, time, frustration and grief that has saved me.

I’ve met quite a few people who were in far worse shape than me that claim they became healthier from practicing these gentle, energizing and peaceful exercises along with reading the texts of Falun Dafa, namely Zhuan Falun.

You can read their stories in this book which was coauthored by two medical doctors. (tell me that times are not changing!) :

health cover

 

You can also read the short but sweet story of my friend Cat, who lives in a city about 30 miles from here. Her story has a happy ending.

I can also say that I have met people that have claimed they got rid of cancer or other serious illness from practicing Falun Gong.

Is it true? I believe them, as they are credible, sincere people.

Of course, if you have something as terrible as cancer, you’d better go seek the help of your doctor.

Teaching the class on Falun Gong exercises at the Holistic Health Fair in Kansas City

This was the highlight of the day for me. I really enjoy helping other people find out about the Falun Gong exercises.

I started out by explaining that even though we were going to spend our time learning the exercises of Falun Gong, the real power of the practice is in reading the book Zhuan Falun.

books zfl

 

Zhuan Falun is full of profound insight that I believe can make anyone’s life happier and more well adjusted.

I remember the first time that I read it. The book resonated so deeply with me that I believe it changed my focus and outlook on life into a far better direction than I would have even understood to be possible previous to encountering it.

I would go so far as to say that this book has become a best friend. It has brought me a peace and comfort that few will get to experience in the course of their lives. (sadly enough)

After explaining that the book was the most important factor of the practice, I went on to help them all learn the five easy to do and gentle exercises.

45 minutes goes by very quickly when teaching the exercises.

What else was at the Holistic Health Fair in Kansas City?

There were many, many interesting people and exhibits at the KC fair.
I noticed there were booths on everything from neti pots to exotic health care products to chiropractic and biomechanics.

I think what struck me was how interesting the people were. Everyone there had a bend towards natural health of course. However, I found that the thinking of the people there was similar to my own and whenever I get in an environment like that, I feel like I’m in my element.

I couldn’t really sit still, I had to go and see what everyone was up to.
Yet, time is always a factor and it wasn’t possible for me to get to everyone’s booth or even have a conversation with each and every person. There were probably 3 dozen or more exhibits there.

One exhibit I found particularly interesting was a center for a group of holistic health care practitioners. The chiropractor among them, who was not at the fair, did not practice ‘regular’ chiropractic. She had an interesting practice that involved realignment of the spine that lead to a more permanent solution.

In other words, patients would NOT need to keep coming back for treatment the rest of their lives. Her assistant was there, and told me that it was more like a retraining of the body. She used ‘head forward posture’ as an example.

Many people in the modern world have ‘head forward posture’ to varying degrees. I’ve known this for a long time, eversince I was a student in chiro school.

Anyway, using ‘head forward posture’ as an example, she explained how they would go about correcting such a situation and ‘retraining’ the patients body to correct the ‘head forward posture’.

Over time, ‘head forward posture’ can lead to a hunched back as the body ‘grows’ to meet the demands of having the head lean too far forward from optimum posture.

This may not seem to be a problem for a lot of people in the early stages, but as I mentioned over the course of decades it can lead to rounded shoulders and an eventual hunchback.

I don’t think anyone would want a hunchback so sit up straight and keep an eye on the alignment of your neck and head to the rest of your body.

This is especially true for people who do a lot of desk / computer work, like me. ( I am seeing this problem of head forward posture in myself as well).

Anyway through special instruments, exercises and a home care kit, they would help the patient to realign and stay realigned. I would be interested to see what the home self-maintenance kit had in it but she didn’t have one there to show me.

[On a side note: Here is a quick reference of chiropractic jargon that I recently found doing a google search. It is by no means comprehensive, but it is interesting all the same. ]

Purchase of products

While attending the Holistic Health Fair in Kansas City, I purchased some shaving cream, after shave balm and deodorant that promised to be made from all natural ingredients.

Truth be told, these products seemed a bit overpriced. I don’t know much about them but if they are of any noteworthiness I’ll let you know on this blog.

If I’m going to be honest, I bought them primarily because of my interest in the woman who was selling them. Such is the power of attraction. I’m not quite free of the influence that such sentimentality can wield over me or any other human being for that matter.

Vegan Dinner

To round out the day, after the Holistic Health Fair was over, I went to a vegan dinner sponsored by a local group.

I’m not a vegan, nor am I likely to become one. However the food was very good. Again, no pictures to share on this.

I think I’m just adding this to give you a sense of the fullness of the day.

Be healthy and well!

Filed Under: blogger, Health

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