Become a corporate athlete

Professional athletes work extremely hard to be good at what they do. Sometimes training for hours a day.

They also have scheduled rest, recovery and focus on food, hydration, and sleep. They take supplements and have massages to assist in their goal.

In the business world, wouldn’t you want your top executives looking after themselves at the most optimal level?

Operating everyday without quality food, hydration, time to self, movement and sleep certainly does not allow us to be in top form.

A lot of top corporate people I work with are extremely good at what they do but have few self-care routines in place and their day can look like this:

• Skip breakfast

• Long meetings

• Boozy lunches or takeaway meals

• Poor sleep

• Busy minds

• Too much coffee

• Lack of movement

• Sitting behind computers for hours at a time

This is defiantly a recipe for burnout, lack of focus, concentration, creativity, enthusiasm and motivation.

If I were paying a lot of money to have high-flyer staff I would require them not only to understand optimal health routines but also to practise them.

A question to ask is: “How much high quality energy do you put into looking after yourself?”

This requires many components. It also requires habits and routine just like brushing your teeth. Otherwise, as soon as a bit of stress is thrown into the mix, the looking after self goes out the window.

Corporations have the most to gain by building healthy environments. Wellness programmes in the workplace are a real investment and a win-win situation. With the correct knowledge, your team can make the right decisions to live well and have sustained energy.

It’s the hundreds of little things we do every day that transforms our health.

Workplace potluck lunches are a great way to share the cost and the burden as well as building strength and connection in your workforce. Team up with workmates to exercise before work, lunchtime or after work.

Improve the quality of food at meetings; instead of sugary biscuits and pastries provide fresh real food!

Develop incentives for employees to participate in these programmes.

Ideas for great self-care

The harder and longer we work the more essential it is to have the ability to shut off busy minds through meditation, diaphragmatic breathing and resting so we can repair and recover.

It is also important to take regular breaks through the day, especially from sitting at a computer.

To perform at your best, routines should consist of balanced high quality meals 4-5 times daily. Minimise sugars, alcohol, cigarettes and cigars. Consistent sleep times means early to bed and early to rise; bodies love routine.

Quality movement should consist of functional strength training at least 2-3 times a week – cardio and intervals can be included in this. With the right education and skill making, this doesn’t have to be separate and take a lot of time.

Having a stretch and mobility programme that is designed to address your muscular imbalances is essential for long-term structural health and being pain free. This can be achieved through having a postural and orthopedic assessment.

Michelle Owen is a corporate health and wellness speaker, a CHEK practitioner and Holistic lifestyle coach
www.michelleowen.co.nz

Michelle Owen Wellness: Cut the wheat and lose the weight

Michelle Owen Wellness: Cut the wheat and lose the weight: The world’s most popular grain is also the world’s most destructive dietary ingredient. When it comes to wheat it doesn...

Stay in shape with weight training

Movement is essential for human beings and we all need different levels of intensity and variety. 
If you are fit and healthy then harder workouts can be beneficial. If you are unwell and unfit, movement may involve just gentle stretching, mobility and a focus on breath that creates energy in the body.Examples of these are Tai Chi, Qui gong, joint mobilisations and zone exercises.  It all depends on your ability to recover and repair from exercise.

Weight training is one of the most rewarding if done correctly and skilfully. You can not only create great shape and tone but also sustain or add to your muscle base, which speeds your metabolism, strengthens joints, sustains the spine and organs, and is anti-aging.

A quality weight-training programme raises the heart rate, decreases body fat also corrects postural/structural imbalances.

Exercise should not be painful – pain is a warning sign that something is not right.

When considering an exercise consider its lifetime value – one that breaks you down and makes you a cripple in the days to come may not be beneficial for the big picture.

Think of exercise in two ways. Fun exercise, the things we love to do, includes golf, tennis, hiking, mountain biking, squash, swimming and dancing, etc..

Then there is the exercise to keep the body in great working order.

The fun exercise does not keep you structurally sound – it can actually lead to more muscular imbalances. In fact, the more active you are the more you need a skilled exercise programme to support muscle imbalances that lead to pain and dysfunction.

We are all only as strong as our weakest link.

Michelle Owen is a corporate health and wellness speaker, and a level III CHEK practitioner
www.michelleowen.co.nz

michelle@michelleowen.co.nz

                                                                                   

Check out the medical benefits of exercise   

Exercise opens the capillaries in the muscle tissue and by lowering the resistance to blood flow in the arterial system causes the blood pressure to drop to normal.

Exercise builds up muscle mass and prevents muscles being broken down as fuel.

Exercise stimulates the activity of fat burning enzymes for the manufacture of constantly needed energy for muscle activity.

Exercise makes the muscles hold more water in reserve and prevent increased concentration of blood that would otherwise damage the lining of the blood vessel walls.

Exercise compels the liver to manufacture sugar from the fat that it stores or the fat that is circulating within the blood.

Exercise causes mobility within the joints of the body. It causes the creation of an intermittent vacuum inside the joint cavity. The force of the vacuum causes suction of water into the cavity. Water in the joint cavity brings dissolved nutrients to the cells inside the cartage.

Increased water to the cartilage adds to its lubrication and smoother bone on bone gliding movements of the joint.

Exercise enhances the activity of the adrenalin-operated sympathetic nervous system. Adrenalin also reduces the over secretion of histamine and as a result prevents asthma attacks and allergic reactions providing the body is fully hydrated.

Exercise increases production of endorphins and enkephalins natural opiates of the body that produce natural highs.

Your Body’s Many Cries for Water – Dr F Batmanghelidj 

 Healthy habits

Just as it is wise to think long term about your financial or business health, it is just as wise to think long term about your physical health.

With this in mind I encourage a longer-term approach to getting into shape rather than a six or eight-week burst that you can’t sustain.

Optimal health is about having daily practices that rebuild all the systems in our body. How we live on a daily basis is what replenishes these systems.

Our nervous, musculoskeletal, digestive, endocrine, immune, lymphatic, circulatory and reproductive systems are constantly renewing themselves or breaking down through our lifestyle choices.

We all know that we should drink water, exercise and eat good food. But if you look a little deeper, and understand that this is actually how we rebuild our body, then maybe we will take our lifestyle a little more seriously.

It does not matter how big your house is or how many cars you have if you are to sick, tired or too constipated to enjoy them

The Dali Lama, when asked what surprised him most about humanity, answered “man.”  Because he sacrifices health to make money. Then he sacrifices his money to recuperate his health.

It takes years for poor health to accumulate in our bodies it does not happen over night. But the good news is our bodies are also constantly renewing and rebuilding.

Here are some fundamentals to work on below:

1.     Deal with emotions that cause fear, anger and sadness.  Many studies link emotions to poor health now.  The more you feel chaotic on the inside the more important it is to deal with these symptoms. Many amazing therapies can shift our emotional states for the better.

2.     Deep diaphragmatic breathing. The eastern world has practised this for thousands of years through meditation, yoga, Thai chi, qui gongs and other techniques. Shallow breath creates toxicity, sore tight neck muscles, acidity and poor physical function. Find a practice that you enjoy that involves breathing even if it as simple as 20 diaphragmatic breaths before you go to sleep.

3.     Take notice of how much good quality, clean filtered water you are consuming daily. Every system in the body depends on water.  We are all different. For every 30kg of body weight you need 1 litre plus a cup. (For 60kg you need 2.5L; for 90kg you need 4L daily. Herbal teas are a great way to increase your water intake.file

4.     Eat living food like clean proteins (anything with eyes), vegetables, legumes, fruits and good quality fats such as avocados  oils,  nuts. Stay away from food that lives in packets; if it can live on the shelf for a long time it has no life force for you.

5.     What would you enjoy doing to stay fit and healthy? Find an activity that you look forward to instead of begrudging. Include family and friends in your daily exercise.

6.     Getting to bed around 10pm will improve your health significantly. We get our physical repair between 10pm and 2am, and physiological and nervous system repair from 2am till 6am. 

Have a wind down routine of relaxation such as dim lights, hot baths and enlightened reading so your body knows it’s getting reading to sleep. Make sure your room is dark like a cave, as this promotes melatonin our recovery and repair hormone.

      

There is no magic pill to health, only basic life principles. The more you do them consciously the healthier you will become. Our bodies love routine. Focus on one thing at a time and when that is a habit you can add another.

Michelle Owen is a CHEK practitioner, holistic lifestyle coach, and corporate health and wellness speaker. For more detail, www.michelleowen.co.nz

michelle@michelleowen.co.nz

Cut the wheat and lose the weight

The world’s most popular grain is also the world’s most destructive dietary ingredient.

When it comes to wheat it doesn’t matter if it is disguised as a white French stick, pasta, muffin, pancake or a piece of organic whole grain bread – wheat is wheat no matter what form it comes in or what we have been taught in the past.

Wheat that we eat these days is very different than what our grandmas used to eat. It’s a plant that has been created by genetic research in the 1960s and 1970s that has a new protein called gliadin. 

Everybody is susceptible to the gliadin protein, which is an opiate and in most people stimulates appetite making them consume 400+ calories per day, 365 days a year – that’s a lot of weight.

There are many diseases that result from wheat consumption; celiac disease is the devastating intestinal disease, which develops from exposure to wheat.

Alongside celiac disease is an assortment of neurological disorders, Crones disease, diabetes, arthritis, heart disease, skin rashes, schizophrenia and irritable bowel.

More subtle symptoms are bloating, excess mucus, brain fog, diarrhoea, constipation, weight gain, muscle ache and joint pain, leg swelling, acid reflux and depression.

Case studies

If wheat can cause so many problems, will removing it from the diet cause amazing benefits?

William Davis, cardiologist and author of the book Wheat Belly, says he has seen protuberant flopped over the belt belly fat vanish when his patients have eliminated wheat.

One of the amazing things he writes about is a 38-year-old woman with ulcerative colitis who was facing colon removal but was cured by eliminating wheat – with her colon intact.

Another is 26-year-old man, who was barely able to walk because of joint pain. He experienced complete relief and not only walked but ran after taking wheat off the menu.

These events may sound extraordinary but there is ample scientific research to implicate wheat as the root cause of these conditions.

Diet benefits

So the advice over the years to eat more healthy whole grains has not done everyone any good at all.

There is not an organ in our body that isn’t affected by wheat, although the waistline is the most visible way we see it.

According to Dr Jeffery Bland in The Rejuvenation Diet, mildly to moderately ill patients – “the walking wounded” – can improve their health substantially in just 20 days by eliminating wheat gluten and dairy, and adding phyto-nutrient rich foods.

These are derived from plant material that has been shown to be necessary for sustaining human life.

If you have any signs or symptoms that are unexplained or you just want to improve your health, weight or function, I challenge you to cut wheat totally from your diet for 20 days and see how you feel.

I am sure you will notice many benefits.

There is no such thing as a wheat deficiency: The side affects of being wheat free are slim, energetic, more energy, toned, clearer thinking, etc.

Eating wheat-free

Back to basics vegetables are one of the best foods on the planet – they are rich in nutrients such as flavonoids and fibre.

Extend your vegetable variety beyond your normal habits: steamed asparagus, kumara chips (baked), Greek salads, healthy coleslaws, steamed spinach, avocados and olives.

Carrots or celery dipped in hummus and tapenades, eggplant sliced and baked with olive oil, Caprese salad with sliced tomato, mozzarella, fresh basil and olive oil.

Mix meaty mushrooms with good quality meat, fish, and eggs.

Roll food in large lettuce leafs instead of wraps.

Replacing wheat with gluten free can be okay for someone who is wheat intolerant to have a treat. But it is better to clean up and get rid of all of these processed foods. Gluten free does not necessarily mean healthy.

Stay away from food in packets.

Michelle Owen is a corporate health and wellness speaker, and a level III CHEK practitioner.
www.fitness-n-function.co.nz
michelle@michelleowen.co.nz

Why Cholesterol is your Friend

For years we have been told to stay away from cholesterol – to the extent that one would think it is a poison.

The truth is that cholesterol is extremely important for the proper functioning of the human body, not only for repairing and rebuilding but also for many vital functions.

In fact, cholesterol is so important that if we eat too little of it our body will produce more. And if we eat too much, production goes down. So why are we all trying to get it as low as possible?

In her book Diary of a Legal Drug Dealer, K L Carlson tells of her experience as a pharmaceutical sales rep for statin drugs.

“We where trained to emphasise to physicians the new lower LDL guidelines that where ostensibly created by health experts.” She states the majority of experts who created the lower guidelines have multiple financial ties to pharmaceutical companies. The lower the guidelines the bigger the lasso to rope people into needing these drugs.

Important functions

The human brain is rich in cholesterol – thinking, memory and brain function are totally reliant on it.  If you interfere with the body’s ability to produce cholesterol you will put the brain and nervous system under threat.

Dr Duane Graveline, a former Nasa scientist and astronaut, managed to save his memory by stopping his pills and eating lots of cholesterol-rich foods. He describes his experience in Lipitor: Thief of Memory – Statin drugs and the misguided war on cholesterol.

After the brain, the organs hungriest for cholesterol are the adrenals and sex glands.

All of the sex hormones (testosterone, progesterone and estrogen), plus adrenal hormones, Vitamin D and bile production all require cholesterol. These hormones have many functions from metabolism regulation, energy production, mineral assimilation, brain, muscle and bone formation, behavior, emotions and reproduction.

Cholesterol is also essential for immune health and fighting infections. A mother’s milk provides a huge amount of cholesterol for the development of newborns. It also acts as an anti-oxidant in the body dealing with free radicals.

Cholesterol is essential for the integrity of cell walls and without it cells would not be able to communicate with each other or to transport various molecules into and out of the cell.

Blood cholesterol goes up when we have infections and when something needs healing, such as after surgeries or dental treatments. It also goes up due to stress of any sort, poor quality food, toxicity, gut inflammation, emotional stress, too much alcohol and much more.

Should we not be looking at the reason cholesterol is high and addressing that? Low fat diets are making people fatter, sicker and more tired.

Good quality eggs, meat and fish, coconut oil and butter are essential building blocks for life – don’t be afraid of them.

Saturated fats heal and sustain us mentally, physically and emotionally.

Michelle Owen is a corporate health and wellness speaker, and postural and wellness specialist

www.michelleowen.co.nz