Body Language: Learn How to Listen to What Your Body Is Saying
Today’s article was contributed by my dear friend and body image coach, Laura Fenamore.
Our bodies hold all of the information we need to function at our best, but too often we ignore their messages and plow ahead with what our minds tell us. Perhaps it’s because we’re taught from an early age to focus on external demands, we frequently ignore what our bodies are saying.
More often than not we treat the physical symptoms rather than looking for the internal cause of pain, depression, and weight gain. We take another extra-strength aspirin rather than investigating what’s causing our head to ache. We use more caffeine or sugar to give us a lift when we feel tired, rather than listening to our body’s message about needing rest. A look at our pets may be all we need to see about the value of naps.
Our bodies communicate a thousand little messages to us every day. For instance, is your mouth pinched and tight? Are your shoulders up around your ears? Do you feel a knot in your stomach as you promise to do something? Your body is telling you that you are tense, stressed, and over-extended.
As a society, we notoriously put deadlines ahead of the protests of aching bones or inadequately nourished bellies. Your body is the a highly sophisticated, intelligent machine, but too often, we fail to understand them because we don’t value them as highly as we should.
So what do you do to give your body an equal say in how you use it?
Start with the breath. Breathing consciously is a major part of body awareness. Allow your thoughts to come and go in the background while breathing in and out. As you inhale and exhale, think the words “In. Out. In. Out.” Lovingly make a note to yourself how and where you are failing to breathe; many of us breathe only in our chests when we should be allowing the breath to expand down into our abdomens. Perhaps you are denying life by taking in shallow breaths, and your body is asking you to stop and breathe more deeply. There’s no reason to make yourself wrong if this feels odd or uncomfortable. Just practice this daily to begin for 5 minutes and soon it will be easy for you.
Allow yourself quiet time. Sit for ten minutes each day, or even five if that is more manageable. This will give you a chance to listen to your body. Begin by sitting while breathing and become the conscious observer of your thoughts. This would be a great practice especially in the middle of a busy day. This time can also be taking a walk or a nap or soaking in a hot tub rather than taking a quick shower.
Get a massage. This is not an extravagant indulgence; it wakes up the whole nervous system and helps you tune in. Massage is proven to alleviate stress and help circulation and muscle recovery.
Use your journal to dialogue with your body. Ask your body how it’s feeling, what it wants, what’s going on. Give that sore wrist or stiff lower back a voice and let it tell you what its message is.
Eat when hungry, sleep when tired. Take a week and really pay attention to your body’s most basic needs. Do your real rhythms for eating and sleeping conform to the habits you’ve established? If they don’t, ask for help changing them.
Do a body inventory to relax. Start with your toes and work upwards. Scan your body from the inside. Tense each part slightly, then relaxing it to release residual tension. Start from your feet upwards. Tense your feet first, then your calves, and so forth, until you reach your face. Relax your entire body.
If your body suggests rolling down a grassy hillside, taking flight on a playground swing, or skipping down a winding path, why resist? Listen to your body. It knows what it needs and is a true guide. If you want to be truly happy and healthy, begin to start listening to your body. Body awareness is part of a healthy lifestyle, just as much as eating nutritious foods and exercising regularly. Its impulses hold the key to your well-being.
Weight Release & Body Image Coach Laura Fenamore is on a mission to guide women around the world to love what they see in the mirror, one pinky at a time, so they can unlock the secrets to a healthy weight and start loving their lives as soon as possible.
Her popular Body Image Mastery program is celebrated by hundreds of women who have lost weight, reclaimed self-esteem, and started bold, happy lives with Laura and her proven programs as their guide.
Having overcome her own battle with addiction, obesity, and eating disorders, Laura released over 100 pounds 24 years ago to begin a journey to guide other women to live more joyous, balanced lives. The author of the forthcoming book Weightless: 7 Tools to Love Your Body (and
Lose Weight For Good) and a frequent contributor to local and national media – including First for Women, Ladies Home Journal, the Dr. Pat Show and blog contributor on Betty Confidential, Daily Love and Positively Positive. Laura believes that self-love and self-care is where the transformation begins. Learn more about her programs, invite her to speak or contribute to your program or conference at OnePinky.com.
Join Laura Fenamore for a class titled, “Love Your Way to Your Perfect Weight” starting June 7th, 2012. Your body will change and your whole life with change. http://www.entheos.com/academy/courses/Love-Your-Way-to-Your-Perfect-Weight-Part-1
Tags: body image, body image mastery program, body language, Laura Fenamore, lose weight, love what you see, one pinky, over exerted, stressed, tense, weight release
Posted in Success Stories, Vibrant Health
Your Brain on Gluten: It’s Not a Pretty Picture – Part 1
I first got seriously interested in the devastating effects of gluten on brain and behaviour almost a decade ago after listening to a recording of a talk by Dr. Thomas O’Bryan at a meeting of the International and American Association of Certified Clinical Nutritionists (IAACN).
Before that, I was aware of the dangers of wheat and had taken myself and many patients off it with great results. Late, I developed a resource pack to help those wanting to free themselves:
http://www.drritamaie.com/glutenfree
Originally, many wheat-free enthusiasts still ate gluten in the form of kamut and spelt, including me. I would sprout kamut and make a delicious raw, dehydrated bread or pizza crust from it.
I didn’t notice negative effects unless I ate too much, but I did notice that once I started eating it, I craved more beyond satisfaction of my hunger.
After listening to Dr O’Bryan’s talk and doing extensive research of my own on the neurodevelopmental effects of gluten, I personally gave it up. I didn’t make a decision to give it up from my mind, though. It was a gut reaction and a loss of all desire for it. I had no cravings or remorse. I just stopped because once I understood the impact it had on me, I wanted no more of it.
There were several changes I did notice AFTER giving up gluten entirely.
My energy and stamina become extremely high. I could sleep less and feel more energized. I became more productive and clear about my business goals. I became more motivated to be successful and get known.
My brain seemed more clear and less unfocused.
http://www.drritamaie.com/glutenfree
Neurological Effects of Gluten
In 2006, my paper on gluten intolerance in regards to developmental disorders in children was published in the Journal of Nutritional Perspectives.
What follows is data I found while researching for that paper.
The Neurological problems associate with gluten intolerance became known as early as 1908 in a book titled Sprue and its Treatment by Carnegie Brown. In it, Brown described two patients who developed “peripheral neuritis”, which is inflammation of the nerves in the hands and feet. Later, in 1925, Elders reported the association between “sprue” and ataxia, which is a balance disorder.
Since then, gluten intolerance has been associated with a wide variety of neurological and psychiatric conditions, with or without intestinal problems.
The list of conditions associated with gluten includes:
cerebellar ataxia- peripheral neuropathy
- epilepsy
- dementia
- schizophrenia
- depression
- migraine
- seizures
- encephalopathy
- chorea
- brain stem dysfunction
- Parkinson’s
- Alzheimer’s
- myelopathy
- mononeuritis multiplex
- Guillain-Barre-like syndrome
- Huntington’s disease
Gluten is also associated with neurodevelopmental disorders including:
- autism
- ADHD
- Aspersers and
- PPD
Wow. That’s some lineup.
Changes to cells and blood supply in the central nervous system have also been associated with gluten intolerance.
Several mechanisms have been proposed to explain how gluten affects the neuromuscular systems. The mechanisms include autoimmune reaction and inflammation, malnutrition, and opioid excess.
Find Out More
On the interview with Dr. O’Bryan, we discussed many of these problems and how to determine if you are affected by gluten intolerance.
Part 1: Gluten-Free – Is it Just a Fad?
Part 2: The Gluten-Free Fad
I recommend that you listen to the recordings, come to the next show in the series to hear about the effects of gluten from a patient/health coach perspective and watch your inbox to learn more about the mechanisms by which gluten affects your brain.
Until then, try to go a week without gluten and post your experience to the blog. Use this free resource kit to help you go gluten-free:
http://www.drritamaie.com/glutenfree
Please share your thoughts and leave a comment below.
Tags: Dr. Ritamarie, Dr. Ritamarie Loscalzo, gluten, gluten and brain, gluten behavior, gluten behaviour, gluten free, Gluten Free Diet, gluten intolerance, gluten kit, gluten resources, gluten-free fad, neurodevelopmental effects of gluten
Posted in Gluten Free Diet, Vibrant Health
The Great Meal Timing Debate!
Your body is designed to be able to go long periods of time without external sources of food. Elaborate mechanisms are in place to keep your blood sugar steady, involving your brain, your hormones, your stomach and your liver.
If you find yourself cranky and irritable if you miss a meal and have been told to eat more frequent, smaller meals to avoid this, you may have been steered in the wrong direction.
Getting cranky and irritable between meals is a sign that something’s out of balance.
Simply eating more frequently takes care of the symptoms, but not the underlying imbalance.
You never retrain your body to do what it’s supposed to do when you simply avoid the behavior that highlights the imbalance.
Eating Frequent, Small Meals May be Damaging to Your Health
The idea that eating every couple of hours keeps your blood sugar levels steady without the dips (and severe hunger that accompanies those dips) has become popular. In theory, you’ll eat less if you never let yourself get hungry enough to overeat.
Recent hormone research tells us that this is actually the worst way to eat for blood sugar balance and weight loss and can actually be damaging to your health.
Join me and find out how eating small meals could actually be causing insulin resistance…and leading you to more belly fat.
Click here to listen in to the radio show recording.
The Myths That Keep You From Feeling Miraculous
Registration for my hot new very controversial teleseminar, and video series was unfortunately delayed due to technology gremlins, The videos have been recorded but woefully need to be re-edited so we’ve delayed the launch until February 9, 2012. This series will address the myths and surprising misconceptions around the metabolic and blood sugar issues that have people confused and chronically ill. Even if you participated in last year’s series, you’ll find something new!
I’ve been intently studying blood sugar imbalances and all the hormones and lifestyle factors involved in creating and preventing them so I can bring you the most cutting edge information.
Once the series begins on February 9, the first video will come to you immediately. Then every day or two, another video will be released until right before my myth-busting teleseminar.
http://www.ByeByeBloodSugarImbalance.com
Another Easy Instant Action Step To Bring You into Balance
How did you do with the action step I sent you last week?
Remember, the one from my “Timing is Everything” strategy?
It was about having your last meal no later than three hours before bedtime.
If you found it hard, join the club. It’s difficult for everyone, yet yields phenomenal results when combined with the other strategies.
My new teleseminar and one of the videos will explain why this is so effective.
So this week, try another super effective step for balancing blood sugar. Sprinkle cinnamon liberally on your food. You heard me right. This common, every day spice is incredibly effective at restoring sensitivity of your cells to insulin, so you no longer have rapidly fluctuating blood sugars and the between meal irritability says bye-bye.
The registration page will be here:
http://www.ByeByeBloodSugarImbalance.com
The first 500 to register on February 9 can take advantage of another helpful resource.
The Recipes That Will Bring Your Inner Miracle Worker Back to Life
I’m going to make available a Bonus Recipe Sampler from my B4 Be Gone System for the first 500 people who register for the Bye-Bye B4 Video Series.
If you’re among the first to sign up for the free series on February 9th you can enjoy a taste of my delicious low-glycemic recipes designed to help heal your insulin receptors and restore your blood sugar balance.
You can ensure you receive your notice as soon as possible by registering for the early notification list here:
http://www.ByeByeBloodSugarImbalance.com
Have an awesome week.
I look forward to connecting on the teleseminar.
Tags: B4 Be Gone, B4 Be Gone System, belly fat, blood sugar, blood sugar friendly, blood sugar imbalance, brain fog, Brain Fog and Burnout, burnout, Bye-Bye Belly Fat, Diabetes, diabetes raw food recipes, Dr. Ritamarie, Dr. Ritamarie Loscalzo, eating frequent meals, eating small meals, fatigue, insulin, insulin resistance, low sugar raw food recipes, low-glycemic raw food recipes, meal timing, prediabetes, raw food radio show, raw food recipe sampler, ritamarie loscalzo
Posted in Hormone Imbalance, Reduce Belly Fat, Vibrant Health
Happy New Year 2012: Tips and Resources for Vibrant Health
Happy New Year 2012
If you’re like many, today is the day to create New Year’s Resolutions.
The sad truth is the majority of people who make New Year’s Resolutions abandon them and fall back into old habits by the first of February.
Why do so many people fail to make lasting habit changes, even though they are so determined to succeed?
What I’ve noticed is that when you set a New Year’s Resolution, usually a habit that needs to be changed, you do so before taking the time to get connected to the mindset and feelings it takes to put the new habits into action.
You attempt to change a habit without first changing the underlying thoughts and emotions that created the habits that need to change. In my experience with thousands of patients and students over the years is that long lasting change happens when you make changes in the following order:
Head, Heart, Habits
12 Steps to a Healthy and Happy 2012
When you approach your health in an organized fashion and take steps in logical order, you are setting yourself up for success.. Below are the steps I have found to be most useful and are the ones I take my VIP private clients through. The order may be slightly different based on individual circumstances but the overall flow is similar.
Go ahead and get started. Your health will blossom and flourish when you do.
- Get in touch with your core values and visions: Start by getting in touch with what’s really important to you. Knowing what you value above all else helps you make choices that support your health and life goals. Make a list of your core values – those things that are most important to you. Imagine that it’s the end of 2012 and your life is exactly the way you envision. Nothing has gotten in your way, you’ve done everything you needed to create the body and life of your dreams. Write a description of your life in vivid detail.Take the time to stay focused on your vision and values. Every day, make choices that will bring you closer and closer to your vision. http://www.vibranthealthmindset.com
- Move your body every day, even if it’s only for 10 minutes to start.
- Rest and sleep need to be at the top of your priority list. It’s essential important for hormone balance, blood sugar balance and optimal fat burning. Check out my blog posts on sleep:
- Keep hydrated. Half your body weight (pounds) in fluid ounces is recommended.
- Eat and Drink Green Food – Lots of it – every day. http://www.drritamarie.com/BlendedGreens
- Balance your fat intake so that you have the correct ratio of omega 3 and 6 fats and avoid the dangerous heated, processed and oxidized fats.
- Put fun into your daily routine and learn to transform stressful moments to health enhancing opportunities. Join me on Thursday Jan 5 at 10AM Central time on My Radio Show as I explore play with a very special guest. http://www.drritamarie.com/radio/2011/12/play-living-life-to-the-fullest/
- Balance your blood sugar: http://www.B4BeGoneSystem.com
- Identify and remove hidden food allergies. Join me for a free teleseminar on January 3
http://www.drritamarie.com/go/TurningFoodAllergiesInsideOut - Optimize your digestion – read up on Leaky gut and digestion HERE
- Clean up your environment – replace cleaning and self care products with natural, non toxic equivalents.
- Balance Your Hormones http://www.VibrantHormones.com
Bonus Tip: Fine tune your body with structural and energetic balancing. Get regular chiropractic adjustments, acupuncture, and/or energy work keep yourself in balance.
Free Yourself in 2012 from the effects of Hidden Gluten Sensitivity and other Food Allergies
If you’ve been having any persistent health challenges at all, serious or mild, or are struggling with weight that just doesn’t want to come off, you might have hidden food allergies that are keeping you sick. Gluten, dairy and eggs are high on the list of most common allergens, and they are all ingredients in the conventional versions of holiday treats. Some researchers and authors estimate that 30 – 50% of the population may be sensitive to gluten, and most don’t know it.
That’s because gluten sensitivity symptoms are often vague and chronic, and so don’t seem to flare up when gluten is consumed.
Part of the inability to detect a change in symptom presentation when eating gluten is that the average American eats gluten all day long every day! If you add it up, you might be surprised to find that many people eat more than 50% of their calories as gluten containing foods.
If you’re ready to learn how food allergies may be hurting you and what you can do about it, sign up for my free teleclass on Tuesday, January 3rd: Turning Food Allergies Inside Out: Revealing the Culprits, Causes and Cures
http://www.drritamarie.com/go/TurnFoodAllergiesInsideOut
2012: A free kit to help you kick gluten in the gluteus!
My gluten-free survival kit has just been updated to include a fabulous new e-book called Eliminate the Gluten and Accelerate your Health. It’s filled with recipes, articles and lists of foods that contain hidden gluten. The kit contains an audio, recipes, an article on the link between autism and ADD and gluten, and a presentation about the thyroid gland.
You can access it here:
http://www.drritamarie.com/glutenfree
Please pass the link to anyone you know who might be suffering from gluten sensitivity.
I look forward to connecting on Jan. 3rd to demystify food allergies and guide you to assessing the likelihood of hidden food allergies compromising your health.
http://www.drritamarie.com/go/TurnFoodAllergiesInsideOut
Lov, Health and Joy to you in 2012,
Dr. Ritamarie
Tags: blood sugar balance core values, Dr. Ritamarie Losalzo, food allergies, Gluten Free Diet, happy new year, hormone balance, life goals, year 2012
Posted in Gluten Free Diet, Vibrant Health, Vitamins and Minerals
The Five Most Useful Lab Tests for Measuring Your Health
As a new year approaches, it’s good idea to assess your health status and make informed decisions about what you need to do next to get your body in the best health ever.
While I feel that oft times, practitioners over-rely on lab testing and use it instead of applying clinical detective tools, like a good interview and exam, still there are many lab tests that I believe are super important to guide you to making informed decisions about what to eat, how to move, and what supplements might be needed.
The basic lab tests performed as part of the “annual physical”contain a tremendous amount of information about your nutritional status and your health…far more than most conventionally trained practitioners know to look for.
The Basic Lab Test: Understanding what “Normal” Means
The ranges used by most doctors are those calculated by the lab. Sadly, for most tests the way they decide if a value is normal or abnormal is based on the average values of all the lab tests done by that lab. So when you’re told you are “normal” what It really means is that you’re average.
I, for one, fail to feel encouraged to be told I’m average in a land where close to 50% of the people get cancer, autoimmune disease is epidemic, hormone imbalance is rampant, and heart disease and diabetes kill millions each year.
As a functional medicine practitioner, I look at optimal ranges calculated from studying healthy populations.
The List of Five Lab Tests that are Helpful Guides to Optimal Health
The following list is not meant to be comprehensive. Check with your doctor to determine the best tests for you.If you don’t have a primary care doctor or do but don’t have insurance coverage for lab tests, I suggest you check out one of the direct access labs that allow you to order your own blood tests.
The one I use is called Direct Labs – http://www.directlabs.com.
These panels are unfortunately only available in the continental U.S. excluding New York, New Jersey and Rhode Island due to state laws in these localities. If you live outside the U.S. or in one of these states, speak to your local health practitioner or seek a functional medicine doctor in your area to get help with ordering tests.
1. Comprehensive Wellness Profile (CWP)
I like to start with a comprehensive blood chemistry panel and Complete Blood Count (CBC). Direct Labs calls this the Comprehensive Wellness Profile, aka CWP. It’s a panel of over 50 tests that assesses your thyroid, kidneys, liver, cholesterol and other blood lipids (fats), minerals, fluids and electrolytes, and blood sugar.
The CWP also includes the aforementioned Complete Blood Count test, which assesses your immune system and determines if you have anemia and what kind of anemia if so.
Direct Labs usually runs a sale on this test in December. Until the end of the month, you can order this complete panel for only $59.
Click HERE for details.
Even if you’re outside the region that can Direct Labs to run the test for you, you can see what’s covered and be better informed when you speak to your local practitioner about ordering the equivalent for you.
2. Vitamin D
Next, I add Vitamin D.This is a very important test to run, as Vitamin D deficiency is very widespread due to the fear of the sun propagated by the media.Vitamin D is made by your body upon exposure to UV sunlight.Deficiency of Vitamin D can lead to widespread problems, including altered immune system function, including autoimmune disease, leaky gut, depression, hormone imbalance and much more.
3. Thyroid
If you’re tired, overweight, have dry skin, depression or constipation, your thyroid might be off.While the CWP tests thyroid, it’s not always enough.The most common cause of low thyroid function is an autoimmune condition.For this, I suggest you add to the mix 2 tests for thyroid antibodies: Thyroid Peroxidase and Antithyroglobulin.
4. Blood Sugar
If you have a history of blood sugar imbalance, hard to get rid of belly fat, fatigue, or a family history of diabetes, I also recommend additional tests to assess your blood sugar status and determine if you have a tendency towards insulin resistance or diabetes. The CWP includes fasting blood glucose, but often this is not enough to give the true blood sugar balance picture.
I recommend also running fasting insulin and hemoglobin a1C. In addition, you can purchase an inexpensive blood sugar meter at your local pharmacy or online and really get the complete picture.
5. Heart
Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the U.S. Sadly, for about 50% of people with heart disease the first symptom is dropping dead of a heart attack. This happened to BOTH my parents. Wouldn’t you like to know if you are at risk BEFORE a fatal event so you can take the steps to reduce your risk?
If you have a family history of cardiovascular disease, or find that your cholesterol tends to be higher than ideal, there are a couple of really useful tests. C-Reeactive Protein (CRP-hs) is a marker of inflammation in your blood vessels and homocysteine is an amino acid that plays a role in destroying the lining of your artery walls, promoting the formation of blood clots, and also accelerates the buildup of scar tissue. High levels may increase the chance of heart disease and stroke, especially if you have other risk factors such as diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity, smoking, or family history.
I suggest you run CRP-hs and homocysteine tests if you feel you are at risk. There are also much more detailed and sophisticated cardiac risk tests, including one called VAP, that I order when appropriate.
Extra Tests
Extra tests I often run when indicted by symptoms and health history are the adrenal stress index and a fatty acid test to determine the balance between the oh-so-important omega 3 and 6 fats and risk for inflammatory disease.
How to Determine Which Tests You Need
When I’m working with someone one on one, I do a complete history and determine which tests would be helpful.
My Assess Your Own Body Chemistry class was designed to empower you to take charge of your own health. The program teaches you how to read your own lab work, as well as physical signs and symptoms.
We’ll be releasing the self-study version of the course in early 2012.It’s an excellent way to learn how to read your own body.
Finally, if you are overweight, crave sugar or carbs, and feel like you need to eat frequently to maintain your energy, you most likely have a blood sugar imbalance. In this case, I recommend you get yourself a glucose meter and start to track your response to foods.
The participants in my recent B4 Be Gone System learned how use a glucose meter to track their blood sugar in response to their foods and realized the tremendous value in knowing just how each food affected them. Knowing YOUR response to particular foods guides you in designing a diet that keeps your belly flat, your mind sharp and focused, and your energy high. The B4 Be Gone System will be available again for a live group setting in February 2012.
Before you get yourself tested, make a commitment to take good care of yourself. Get the white stuff out and the green stuff in.
If you’ve been feeling off or overweight in spite of a good diet, it’s time to do some testing and see what’s out of balance.
Measuring your health is the best way I know to really determine how your habits are serving you.
Watch here for more information and resources for lab testing over the next couple of months.
Tags: blood count, blood sugar, blood sugar imbalance, direct labs, heart disease, immune system, lab test, lab testing, thyroid, Vitamin D
Posted in Health Coach, Lab Testing, Vibrant Health
