Three Steps to Achieving Your Health GoalsWritten by Marjorie Geiser, RD
We all have aspects of health we want to improve. It could be as simple as increasing your stretching, or as great as starting an exercise program. Regardless of its scope, there is a reason you’re not doing it. Although focus of this article is on health goals, these steps can also be applied to any aspect of your life, personal or professional. I will walk you through 3 steps that are guaranteed to help you achieve a health goalTo begin, write down a list of all your health goals. Then, pick one. Now write down all your perceived obstacles to achieving that goal. Include them all! Now, everyone can site lack of time, unable to fit it in, it’s something they just don’t like, it’s uncomfortable, etc, etc, but if it’s something you really want to do, I believe anyone can make it happen! What is it that makes one person get up and jog every morning before work, but another person says they ‘can’t’? It has a lot to do with desire and determination. It’s something that’s important enough to them that, regardless of obstacles, they fit it in. Think about what real blocks are to achieving this health goal. Is it something you really want to do, or is it something you should do? If it’s something you should do for your health, then perhaps looking at all various options to at least help you get started would be helpful. Let’s say you’ve tried to go out jogging. You hate it; your feet hurt, our joints hurt, it’s hard, you can’t breathe, weather’s too hot or too cold. There’s nothing about it you like and can’t imagine anything worse than having to actually do it daily!. What else could you do, then? Make a list of all things that you think you would ever like to do, even if they don’t seem even slightly realistic. This has led us to next step, which is finding solutions to your block. So, as with jogger, make that list of all solutions you can think of to your obstacles. If you’re stuck, ask for some outside ideas. This is where a life coach who specializes in health could be an invaluable resource. A coach can give you outside ideas you never considered before. They may also help you see that jogging may be a goal for future, if it’s what you’d really like to do, but instead of starting now, and hating every minute of it, they could help you devise a plan to build up slowly, starting perhaps with walking, making small, manageable goals along way.. If it’s something you really want to do, you’ll take all steps necessary to finally make it happen! A coach will just help you get there, faster and with more success! You’ve now listed various solutions to your obstacle.Now, pick one solution. It has to be a different solution than you have tried in past. There’s a reason you have not accomplished this goal, previously. If you continue to try same solutions, you’ll never overcome block you’ve set up. This is why it’s important to get outside input, such as a coach, for different ideas and different strategies. In fact, studies show that people are much more successful in health goals, such as weight loss, when they worked with a coach who empowered them to do more and achieve more. A coach is an advocate for all your health goals and dreams, but is also there to support you when you fall. Consider this: Even Tiger Woods has a life coach!
| | Have you Fed your 'Good Bugs' Today?Written by Marjorie Geiser, RD
Most consumers have heard of probiotics and know that they are foods containing live, beneficial bacteria. Foods such as yogurt, buttermilk, miso or kefir are most recognized foods providing ‘good’ bacteria for gut.But are you aware of health benefits of prebiotics? In a nutshell, prebiotics are food to help probiotics grow and multiply. They are food for your ‘good bugs’. A quick review of probiotics will help in understanding prebiotics. The advantage of beneficial living organisms in food, particularly lactic acid bacteria, has been known for centuries. In fact, Roman historian, Plinius, in 76 BC, recommended fermented milk for treating gastroenteritis. In early 1900’s, a Russian zoologist, Elie Metchnikoff, wrote about health benefits of “friendly bacteria” and hypothesized that consumption of fermented milk products were responsible for long, healthy lives that Bulgarian peasants enjoyed. Probiotics means “pro-life”. The digestive tract is home to over 400 species of microorganisms. Some are ‘good bugs’ and are ‘bad bugs’ or unhealthy bacteria. Probiotics are ‘good bugs’. Two of most common strains are lactobacilli and bifidobacteria. It is believed that if a positive balance of good bacteria is maintained, bad bacteria are less able to cause disease and irritation. Here are some health benefits to taking probiotics: - inhibits growth of ‘bad bugs’, or bacteria that cause disease - synthesizes vitamins, primarily B vitamins - increase availability of nutrients - decrease lactose intolerance - decrease symptoms of GERD (gastro-esophageal reflux disease) - decrease prevalence of allergies - boosts immune response As mentioned earlier, prebiotics are food for probiotics. Consequently, more you can feed and care for your ‘good bugs’, healthier you can be! The Japanese have known benefits of prebiotics for years. In fact, a commercially prepared prebiotic (“Neosugar”) is currently used in over 500 Japanese food products, from infant formulas to health products. The two most common prebiotics are inulin and oligofructose. As a supplement, it will be listed as either inulin or FOS (fructooligosaccharides). Inulin or oligofructose are present in over 36,000 plant foods as plant storage carbohydrates. Excellent food sources are chicory and Jerusalem artichokes. In fact, most commercially prepared inulin comes from chicory, or else synthesized from sucrose. Other food sources include wheat, barley, rye, onions, garlic and leeks.
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