6.19
This past week a business friend of mine lost his battle to cancer. I'm bummed out. He was a great guy, and at 58 years old, you couldn't see it coming. He was diagnosed about 9 months ago, and the cancer aggressively overtook his body. Who knows why, and why now.
What I do know is that Scott is secure for his eternity. As a Christ follower, he long ago committed to following Christ, and with that was assured of forgiveness and salvation. So today, Scott is enjoying the benefits of a simple decision; he's in heaven, and his eternity is secure.
For the rest of us, there can be feelings of being left behind. There's loneliness and questioning, and then even anger and anxiety. What if we have a latent disease that suddenly presents itself and overtakes life as we know it? Could we be an illness and nine months from our end?
Maybe...maybe not. We walk the journey a day at a time, and hopefully make great choices that help us maximize our current reality, and thrive in the midst of all we have. For me, I feel very blessed to be a Christ follower as well, and my eternity is secure in Him. So the rest of this life should simply be purpose and investing in now, right?
I'm so thankful for the wellness journey I'm on. I look forward to bringing others along, and together we will hopefully grow our capacity for movement, healthful eating, community and intentionally encouraging relationships. Who knows what tomorrow or 6 months from now, or 2 years from now will bring. But for now we can move forward confidently, and enjoy the wellness and great relationships that come with that intention.
So go get 'em. You know what you need to do. Put aside the junk food and refined grains (and maybe all grains.) Fill your pantry and fridge with whole, simple foods that your body will thrive with. See your family doctor for a check up, create a healthful routine of regular physical movement, and work additional vitamin D into your diet. It's simple. We just need to do it.
By the Way
A wellness lifestyle doesn't guarantee us longevity. Maybe it just makes a great day today; we can live in the moment and appreciate the blessing of it. And maybe we'll be blessed with another day, and another. And putting them all together, we may gain the blessing of years of health. Or maybe not. But it won't keep me from living out a healthy day today.
6.18
This weekend is the 2019 Crossfit Games in Madison, Wisconsin. For the fitness world, it's a really big deal. I've been following Crossfit on YouTube for about 3 or 4 years, and have grown to appreciate the truly functional fitness promoted by the Crossfit program and lifestyle.
It is an encouraging community of 'adult PE'. Remember at various levels of primary education, how we always had to do some form of PE (physical education)? Whether it was time on the playground, or compulsory shooting of baskets in the gym, physical exercise was important to growing up.
Crossfit recognizes that need for regular exertion and working up a good sweat, as well as the simple, unprocessed food to fuel our activity. There are over 13,000 Crossfit affiliate 'boxes' (gyms) around the world, making Crossfit the biggest gym franchise worldwide.
The Crossfit Games started a little over 10 years ago in California as a gathering for encouragement, sharing of best approaches and workouts, and the chance to throw down against some of the fittest athletes from around the world. Now it has become the yearly stage to feature the very best in elite fitness.
And for those of us who follow Crossfit, or better yet, participate, adult PE is a great thing. I have gained so much guidance into functional fitness, and I'm sure it will serve me well the rest of my days. I have insights on how to keep my knees and hips limber and strong. I learn about endurance and growing in strength. And through the posts and vloggers on YouTube, I see what is possible when we commit to hard work and consistency.
How's your PE? Maybe tune into the Crossfit Games content this week and see what is truly possible in human performance. These athletes are the world's elite; some are Olympic champions, all are committed to a life of affirming the best in others and their fitness.
For the best feed on the Crossfit Games go to the Rogue YouTube channel: Rogue on YouTube.
By the Way
My very favorite, encouraging and family friendly vlogger in the Crossfit world is Craig Richey. He has a great following, a gift of encouragement, and love of regular people growing their capacity for a great life. Check out Team Richey here: TeamRICHEY on YouTube.
6.17
We have incredible volumes of information available to us, and can benefit far beyond what was possible just a few years ago. For years, I have gleaned professional and worthwhile guidance from YouTube, Google searches, and the Internet in general. This part of my wellness journey has afforded me numerous vicarious tribes that I feel really connected to, even though they are virtual.
I've mentioned these in Power Pantry before, but here is a list of some of these tribes, and the guidance I seek from them:
Pantry choices and fitness:
Dr. Josh Axe - Dr. Axe-Food is Medicine
Mark Sission - Mark's Daily Apple & Primal Blueprint
Spartan Race - US Spartan website
Darebee
Fitness and sustainable health:
Crossfit
You can also find great guidance at the YMCA, a local Rec center and various fitness clubs (like running clubs, biking clubs and hiking clubs.) The point is to tune in, and realize that the information each of these sources presents is always improving. So visit your vicarious tribes often - find their blogs, podcasts and articles, and glean the best of what's new.
Every journey is best lived out with others, and the hope is that our vicarious tribes turn into real-life tribes we can journey with. Take someone along today, and grow and learn together for accountability and improved results.
By the Way
I visited with one of my tribes yesterday, at the Spartan Super in Palmerton, PA. It was a great day to tackle the 8.1 mile course, up and down the ski slopes of the resort. We logged 29 obstacles, and I pretty much crushed it, only doing penalty burpees on 2 obstacles. Lots of grip strength and core obstacles to challenge racer's endurance and resilience throughout the course. It was an awesome day.
6.16
Nine years into my wellness habit, I'm fitter and stronger than any other season of my life. I was often sickly as a kid (tonsils removed, appendix removed, life-threatening accidents and surgeries... it was rough.) In college, while my general health stabilized, I started with underlying gut issues that persisted until just a few years ago. That's a long time to weather a daily grind of ill-health.
Now things are different. After all the years of research and challenging my food and physical activity choices, I'm fitter, stronger, pain-free and loving life. My mental focus is consistently on-point. My joints and back are healthy and perform great, even under consistent physical exertion.
What's the secret? There is no secret... It's just a relentless pursuit of a simplified pantry, eating real food that my body appreciates, and regular physical activity that challenges me weekly, monthly and yearly.
What we eat matters... be aware that we are, literally, what we eat. My diet is mostly Paleo-style right now. Meat and veggies, nuts and seeds, some fruit, little starch and sugar. I have found that my body does well if I avoid grass grains (wheat, oats, rice, corn, etc.) and nightshade veggies (tomatoes, potatoes, peppers and such).
Combine this with a commitment to Spartan training and physical rigors of a good sweat 6-7 times a week, and I've found something to sustain me for years to come. My muscles are toned, and my gut is healthy. I have endurance to take on all kinds of challenges (including the mental and emotional ones that come with work and family life - ie, improved wellness improves numerous facets of our lives.)
Your journey is different, yet we all benefit from investing in a clean pantry, vigorous physical exercise and goals big enough to lead us on. So make great goals today. Find a wellness buddy, and better yet, a whole wellness tribe. Challenge yourself to something you thought you could never do, then go do it. Make wellness a habit, and you'll be on track to exceptional physical and mental health.
By the Way
I have my next Spartan race coming up this weekend. I'll be at the Palmerton Super to log my 2nd of 3 races this season (for a 2019 Spartan Trifecta). While this wasn't my original plan for this year, I'm in race-day shape physically, and excited to hit the mountain hard (this race is at the Blue Mountain ski resort, so the course trails are literally up and down the ski slopes).
6.15
We're almost half way through 2019, can you believe it? I have realized in the last several weeks, since I ran the Spartan Ultra in April, that I need a new goal. I had my race calendar lined up for 2019, I thought, and then things changed.
Originally, I was going to do a couple of Spartan team events (they call them Hurricane Heats), but circumstances for our summer schedule have ebbed and flowed, and now those events may or may not work. Even with all that up in the air, I'm still training hard. I decided to roll with it.
I've realized after years of having a fitness habit, that it's best to keep in shape and keep things going. If I pull back and don't have a daily and weekly investment in my fitness, it is harder and harder to get back into the groove. In the next couple of weeks I'm going to look at the summer and fall schedules and see what will fit, and I'm confident that the final plan will likely be way better than the initial plan.
How about your fitness and wellness this year? There is plenty of time to make 2019 your best year yet, with a few PRs and some traveling adventures, and maybe some new wellness habits in your pantry. Recommit today to your health, to creating and living out great habits, and to taking someone along on your journey.
By the Way
Even when you don't have a well-designed workout or race plan, regular and consistent fitness will keep you ready for when the right opportunity arises. Keep your head in the game!
6.14
I've mentioned bone broth in previous posts, and have benefited from including stewed and slow-roasted meat dishes in my diet. A valuable sideline to the bone broth conversation is collagen. Collagen is an abundant, complex protein in our bodies, responsible for numerous restorative traits of our skin, joints and muscles, and as we age, we produce less and less collagen, and suffer the effects of that deficit.
We get collagen from roasted or stewed meat, mainly making the animal proteins in our food available for our metabolism. We can also boost our bodies collagen production by eating fresh vegetables and fruits, nuts, garlic and onions. Gelatin is also a form of refined collagen, and yields many of the same benefits we gain from collagen in our diets.
Obviously, we can supplement with a collagen protein powder to make this valuable dietary asset available beyond mealtime. There are all kinds of collagen powders on the market, and innumerable collagen-enhanced foods (like snack foods and protein bars.) The point is to get an ample supply of naturally-occurring collagen in our daily diet.
Check out this article from Dr. Josh Axe to learn great details on collagen: What is Collagen
And here's a great article from Mark Sisson (author of Primal Blueprint) on 10 Reasons to Eat More Collagen
So work some collagen into your pantry and your diet. Our bodies are meant to benefit from this amino-acid-rich source of protein, especially as we age. Our bones, skin and joints will be glad we did.
By the Way
It's okay to eat the chicken skin from your chicken wings and legs - these are tremendous sources of collagen. Egg whites are as well. Consider stewing any and all kinds of bony meat cuts - things like ox tail, and shanks, and cuts of beef and chicken with the bones in. After a lengthy cooking time (think crock pot, not microwave) you'll have a great bone broth base for a few flavorful meals.
6.13
"Some of the most promising innovations in healthcare seem to be things we've recently discarded. Maybe we need food that wasn't developed in a lab. Maybe we need to talk face to face. Maybe we need some time outside."
That's a quote from the May issue of Outside magazine in a feature article on 'Nature Rx' stating, "a grassroots movement of physicians are prescribing time outdoors as the best possible cure for a growing list of ailments."
I've been a subscriber to Outside magazine on and off for almost 30 years, and it continues as a tremendous resource for living bravely, and making nature and simple nutrition part of our wellness journey. The benefits are real, and now, thankfully, there are numerous bodies of research developing around the reality of wellness through natural living and whole foods.
Growing up in the 70's, it was normal for my brother and me to spend a lot of time outside. Riding bikes, climbing trees, searching for crayfish in the local creek, adventuring in the nearby cornfields - it was all fair game. There are memories that still come flooding back at the simple suggestion of a smell or sound or a humid afternoon...
One aspect of nature's healing power is the reality of awe, and how it inspires our spirit and lends to our wellness. The Nature Rx article offered this on awe: "...the kind of amazement we experience during outdoor activities has a singular ability to predict lower stress and higher levels of well-being and life satisfaction." That's a great prescription for health, if you ask me.
The sense of awe and wonder is a main draw for me in my running habit, my training workouts, and Spartan racing. I don't wear earbuds or sunglasses (or even a hat) because I want the full experience of the glare of the sun in my eyes... I want to hear the woodpeckers and blue jays in the woods... every time I'm out, I want to be humbled by what God has placed in this world for us to enjoy.
There is a simple prescription from the Outside article that we can all benefit from: scrap your gym membership. Whatever we might possibly do at the gym, simply do outside. Yes, we may hike in the rain and run in the snow, or bake in the heat and humidity of a hot summer day. But if we prepare for those conditions and go play outside, our wellness will move ahead much more successfully.
By the Way
In order to be awesome, I think we must experience awe. One encouragement we've always given to our kids is, "Go Be Awesome". Being awesome looks different for each and every person, and certainly depends on our circumstances and giftedness, but I believe we all have the chance to be awesome every day. So go find a sunrise or a mountain peak or a soaring eagle or rushing river to inspire some awe in you today... then go be awesome.
