Well My Doctor Says,....

The photo above is actor/wrestler Ric Drasin. He currently trains six days a week, and follows a strict diet. He takes responsibility. Read more here.

"Well my doctor says,..." by Tom Furman

"Well my doctor says, I have a / an (allergy, bad back, high blood pressure, arthritis, bad knee, fibromylgia, carpal tunnel syndrome, sensitive stomach, restless legs, walking pneumonia, shin splints, acid reflux, heart burn, uneven hips, herniated disks, L5 subluxation, yadda-yadda)". My reply, "Your doctor says THAT, what do you say to yourself?" What type of self talk is going on? At what point did you decide you wanted to adopt a limitation rather than viewing a challenge or a message as an opportunity to improve your game, your knowledge, or your condition? Rather than moving forward, around, through, or over obstacles, you choose to lie down, quit, or treat them as pets. You feel more comfortable talking about your bad knee than doing something about it. Your condition gives you ample stories and attention. You become closely identified with your injury or condition. You are "Suzy with the bad back", or "Bob with the tennis elbow". ( If you don't get enough attention verbally, you can always wear a brace or splint to inform others of your plight.) You will seek out medical sources that lend fuel to the fire as well. This removes the responsibility of taking charge of your own life rather than giving the power to a physician. This may be a good thing though, since we know Doctors NEVER make mistakes.

I had a conversation with a Doctor at a medical convention once. I asked him why he didn't insist his patients adopt a healthier diet, fitness routine, and stress management tools instead of prescribing blood pressure medication. He had a beautiful, one word answer. "Adherence." He told me that I was correct in my life style change approach, but he knew that most everyone would fail at the challenge of change. He would rather keep them alive and do no harm rather than, "Having them check out on my watch." It's kind of scary when you look at causes of death from 100 years ago and now, and "drug interaction" is so high on the list currently.

Wear and tear is part of the game. Not feeling 100% percent is too. The alternative is death. It's how you deal with the bumps, bruises, and detours that determine your character and determine the quality of your life. My first suggestion to dealing with life's "issues" is to read Dr. John Sarno's book, "The Divided Mind". His works are simply the best of the best. You have no right complaining about injury or many so called illnesses until you read, re-read, and study his method. The second part is actively taking responsibility. That means you have the reins. Not your doctor, not anyone else... YOU. That seems weighty, but if someone else has the power ( it's not my fault,.. I'm not to blame,.. Well my doctor says.) then THEY are in control. If you assume all the power, then YOU are in control. How incredible is that? Every result, every circumstance, every outcome can be traced back to YOU! It's actually the path to ultimate power and in the scope of our theme, REVERSING our way of thinking about aging.

Most injuries can be overcome or adapted to. Your next comment will probably be, "well my doctor says,..". Here is the case of strength coach Louie Simmons,

"I broke my fifth vertebra twice, ruptured my left patella tendon, and detached my right biceps from the bone. I rehabbed myself to the point of being able to set a record squat of over 900 lbs in my 50s!"

I'll bet strongly that good old Louie has had a rougher path than you have and he's still plugging along. He's taken responsibility for his course and done something with it. The other thing is that he believes in physics. He understands the idea of being strong, being mobile, and being fit. Those three things form the triad of anti aging's physical tool box. If you are 45 and have bad knees, I have a few questions to ask.

Me- "How much did you weigh in high school?"
You- "Oh, 155 lbs.
Me- "What did you squat?"
You- "275 lbs for 10 reps in football camp!"
Me- Great. "What do you weigh now?"
You- "Around 230 and a nickel."
Me- "So you need to lose 80 lbs. and start squatting again."
You- "Oh, I could never get down to 155 lbs!"
Me- "Why? Have your bones gotten heavy?"
You- "My doctor says that squatting is bad for your knees."
Me- "Really? Then how do you sit on a toilet seat?"
You- "What are you telling me my problem is?"
Me- "My knees would hurt too if I wore an 80 lb. weight vest.

My point is, being proactive is always better than the knife. If you don't believe me, maybe you'll believe the New England Journal of Medicine.

" A report in the New England Journal of Medicine shows that knee surgery to remove cartilage is worse than doing nothing. The headline from Baylor Medical School, where the landmark study was performed, is that "Study Finds Common Knee Surgery No Better Than Placebo." Patients with osteoarthritis of the knee who underwent placebo arthroscopic surgery were just as likely to report pain relief as those who received the real procedure. The researchers say their results challenge the usefulness of one of the most common surgical procedures performed for osteoarthritis of the knee. Lead investigator Dr. Elda P. Way states, "The fact that the effectiveness of arthroscopic lavage or debridement in patients with osteoarthritis of the knee is no greater than that of placebo surgery makes us question whether the one billion plus dollars spent on these procedures might not be put to better use."

There are similar levels of research surrounding many, many, many, maladies. That doesn't mean illness and disease does not exist, it just means if you want a problem, there is a whole industry of medical professionals, natural healers, and voodoo practitioners who are quite adept at surgically removing money from your wallet to help you stay "ill". It's because they have the power to do so. They got that power because YOU gave it to them. You do what they say, because, "the doctor says". The question is...WHAT DO YOU SAY?

Coffee May Reverse Alzheimer's Disease!

Time to gulp down that magic liquid and put off cognitive decline!

Coffee 'may reverse Alzheimer's'

Drinking five cups of coffee a day could reverse memory problems seen in Alzheimer's disease, US scientists say.

The Florida research, carried out on mice, also suggested caffeine hampered the production of the protein plaques which are the hallmark of the disease.

Previous research has also suggested a protective effect from caffeine.

But British experts said the Journal of Alzheimer's disease study did not mean that dementia patients should start using caffeine supplements.

“ The results are particularly exciting in that a reversal of pre-existing memory impairment is more difficult to achieve ”
Dr Gary Arendash University of South Florida

The 55 mice used in the University of South Florida study had been bred to develop symptoms of Alzheimer's disease.

First the researchers used behavioural tests to confirm the mice were exhibiting signs of memory impairment when they were aged 18 to 19 months, the equivalent to humans being about 70.

Then they gave half the mice caffeine in their drinking water. The rest were given plain water.

The mice were given the equivalent of five 8 oz (227 grams) cups of coffee a day - about 500 milligrams of caffeine.

The researchers say this is the same as is found in two cups of "specialty" coffees such as lattes or cappuccinos from coffee shops, 14 cups of tea, or 20 soft drinks.

When the mice were tested again after two months, those who were given the caffeine performed much better on tests measuring their memory and thinking skills and performed as well as mice of the same age without dementia.

Those drinking plain water continued to do poorly on the tests.

In addition, the brains of the mice given caffeine showed nearly a 50% reduction in levels of the beta amyloid protein, which forms destructive clumps in the brains of dementia patients.

Further tests suggested caffeine affects the production of both the enzymes needed to produce beta amyloid.

The researchers also suggest that caffeine suppresses inflammatory changes in the brain that lead to an overabundance of the protein.

Earlier research by the same team had shown younger mice, who had also been bred to develop Alzheimer's but who were given caffeine in their early adulthood, were protected against the onset of memory problems.

'Safe drug'

Dr Gary Arendash, who led the latest study, told the BBC: "The results are particularly exciting in that a reversal of pre-existing memory impairment is more difficult to achieve.

"They provide evidence that caffeine could be a viable 'treatment' for established Alzheimer's disease and not simply a protective strategy.

"That's important because caffeine is a safe drug for most people, it easily enters the brain, and it appears to directly affect the disease process."

The team now hope to begin human trials of caffeine to see if the mouse findings are replicated in people.

They do not know if a lower amount of caffeine would be as effective, but said most people could safely consume the 500 milligrams per day.

However they said people with high blood pressure, and pregnant women, should limit their daily caffeine intake.

Rebecca Wood, chief executive of the Alzheimer's Research Trust, said: "In this study on mice with symptoms of Alzheimer's, researchers found that caffeine boosted their memory. We need to do more research to find out whether this effect will be seen in people."

"It is too early to say whether drinking coffee or taking caffeine supplements will help people with Alzheimer's."

Neil Hunt, chief executive of the Alzheimer's Society, said previous research into caffeine had suggested it could delay Alzheimer's disease and even protect against vascular dementia.

"This research in mice suggests that coffee may actually reverse some element of memory impairment."

"However much more research is needed to determine whether drinking coffee has the same impact in people.

"It is too soon to say whether a cup of coffee is anything more than a pleasant pick me up."

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/health/8132122.stm

16-Step 6-Pack Diet

By Scott Sonnon


If you follow even just one of these steps, you will have instant results. Follow them all, and your life will change. Discipline yourself to make them a lifestyle and in several months you’ll be in awe of your energy level, the spring in your step, and yes, how sexy you feel in the clothes you’ve dreamed of wearing.

1. Write it down! Journal your meals; when you have them and what you eat and drink. Include everything even to a handful of almonds, or that sneaky glorified candybar that supplement companies call “energy.” What you don’t realize will hurt you. But what you write down guarantees that you understand why your energy fluctuates, and empowers you to make specific and lasting changes!

2. 3-4-5: Eat 3 meals 4-5 hours apart with protein and complex carbs (greens and browns, no whites) at every meal. Front load your protein by eating more good stuff. If you eat more good stuff, you’ll displace the need for snacks which because of their fast-burn make you crave more sugars. That’s right. I’m telling you to eat more at your meals!

3. Stop the Belly at 7! After 7PM don’t take in anything but water or herbal tea. Filling makes for unfit sleeping habits, gives insomnia, and makes it harder for you to eat the right amount of food you need for breakfast - the most important meal of your day. You should be ravenous by morning, and that’s a good sign that you’re on track!

4. You are what you eat, regardless of whether you eat fast junk or if you eat sustainable quality. So, choose greens over browns and browns over whites. Choose whole, live, raw, local and organic over inert, mass-produced, foreign packaged and processed. If you want to feel like a million bucks, then you need to invest in the most important virtue of your success, your food!

5. No refined sugar, no sugar substitutes. No whites of any kind. Sure, if you use sugar, realize it, experience it and appreciate it. But sugar and its substitutes are the most insidious socially acceptible drug abuses. Just because 100 years ago, cocaine was socially acceptible, doesn’t mean it was healthy. It takes time for your taste to recover from refined sugar, but if you displace it with naturally occuring nutrient dense foods like dates (YUM!) you will not believe the difference not only in your energy, but how great you look and feel!

6. Kick the habit. These are just pale substitutes for the infinitely abundant vitality which lies concealed beneath their frazzled effects. Sure, moderation is fine, if you can handle it. But most people “crash” diet off of them and then fall “off the wagon.” So, it’s best to clear them totally out of your system for two years before you try to have that healthy glass of wine with your small evening meal, or that doppio espresso with your big breakfast.

7. Eat seasonally. Change your nutrition at least once every three months with the local produce and catch of the day. This guarantees the freshest aliveness of the food you’re ingesting. The closer the food is to being alive, the greater the nutritive density. Remember the purpose of food is to transfer its alive-energy to your energy. Life for life. This is why we must honor its sacrifice to us, and bless each bite for the energy it has chosen to give us.

8. Structure your exercise around your meals, not the other way around. Do the bulk of your “training” in the kitchen, because healthy nutrition precedes exercise. Basically, how you feel today is because of what you ate 12-48 hours ago.

9. Hunger is truth. Do you always feel content and never hungry? I’m not talking about feeling like you’re not full. I’m talking about rumbling, gurgling hunger. When’s the last time that you really felt that? Most people have conditioned themselves to eat when they feel less food digesting, rather than when they actually are hungry. This is why the kitchen is your best fitness equipment. You should be preparing or have prepared your meal by the time you hit actual hunger.

10. 1G/D: drink one gallon of water per day. We’re composed 90% of water. Most insufficient recovery, most headaches, most joint pains, most lack of concentration, most everything is due to chronic dehydration. Drinking coffee, soda, beer, “energy” drinks, all contribute to dehydration. It takes time to shift over to craving actual water again, because of the sugar, caffeine and alcohol cravings overriding that base-line need. Herbal tea - hot - will help you transition.

11. Wait 15 minutes after your meal to have any drink. Most of the bloated feeling comes from all of the drinking. If you need to drink because of the seasoning, then consider that your food has been seasoned to make you consume more.

12. First Burp. If you’re adequately chewing your food, and not drinking at your meal, then when you feel that first burp, your stomach just informed you that you’re done. Set the fork down, Sir, and push away from the table. Satiety reflex takes time to reclaim, because we’ve associated the absence of hunger to be “meal success” - when it’s actually based on certain cues that our body gives us like “first burp.”

13. Drink your food by chewing. You should chew your food until it’s liquified. If you don’t, you must eat more to get the same level of nutrition, and you’re usually “full” before you get adequate nutritive benefit from your meal because of gobbling and choking it down. Most people store fat because the body feels starved for nutritients… because they eat too fast. Slow down. This isn’t a sprint. It’s a marathon. Savor each morsel.

14. Take a short walk immediately after your meal. This aids in digestion, and avoids the “fullness” feeling that plugs you and pushes you into “food coma.” It’s also the best time for a great talk with your loved ones. Or on your own, just experience the food as it becomes you.

15. Be in your process. Just because you’re learning discipline on your healthy nutrition doesn’t mean that you should fixate on doing everything perfectly. When you “fall off the wagon” jump back on without judging yourself. Appreciate your little tangent like you would any child-like distraction. You’re your own parent. Treat yourself like you would your darling little babe.

16. Honor elimination. What goes out and how is as important as what goes in. I know that most people don’t want to talk about elimination, because it’s viewed as “waste” because it’s not useful to you. But that’s just all perspective, and one of the fundamental beliefs leading to diseases like colon cancer. Be grateful for what has become you and what goes on to something else. The first 15 steps will help you cleanse out undigested food, so that you can more efficiently process the nutrition you ingest.

Overcoming childhood physical and learning disabilities, to become the USA National Team Coach and International Martial Arts Champion, Scott Sonnon earned the most coveted athletic distinction in the former USSR - Master of Sport - in the Russian martial art of SAMBO, to become the first Westerner to formally intern at the Russian Combat Skill Consultant Scientific & Practical Training Center in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Author of 6 books and over 50 videos, creator of his own line of patented fitness equipment featuring the Clubbell®, he has trained groups as diverse as the Italian secret service, US federal agents, and Russian special forces. Scott has keynoted for MENSA International, the Australian Fitness Conference, the National Strength and Conditioning Association, acted as emcee for the Arnold Schwarzenegger Active Aging Festival, and been inducted into the Martial Art Hall of Fame, Personal Trainer Hall of Fame and National Fitness Hall of Fame Museum. Get his FREE eBOOKs and VIDEOS at http://www.RMAXInternational.com