Health. It's a Lifestyle.

Getting started on your health journey is not only difficult, but it is also confusing. Social media "influencers" often lead to conflicting advice, leaving consumers asking whom they should trust. Should you eat all red meat and only lift weights? Run a weekly marathon? The answer is no.

After overcoming a difficult health journey, I have learned to take all advice with a grain of salt and research (too much conflict of interest in too many instances) everything myself.  I also keep a public training log on Strava , Garmin Connect, and Zwift .

With that said, today, I am 100% confident that our minds and body are one and must be treated as such. A foundation built on minimally processed food, daily exercise, sun, and sleep will significantly reduce and eliminate countless chronic ailments. 

When I think about health, I think about overall fitness and well-being, not just muscle gains, which include mental/physical/bone density/cardiovascular/respiratory/flexibility/strength. 

Here are some stats to think about. 

21% of all bankruptcies filed in the US are medically related, and of those numbers, 76% had health insurance, and 20% were VETERANS! The average diabetic carries $10K worth of debt paying for insulin and other drugs. Once you file for bankruptcy, it is challenging to buy property. You are now a renter.

Sleep deprivations cost the US $411 Billion annually.

The global cancer burden is expected to be 28.4 million cases in 2040, a 47% rise from 2020. Yes, cancer patients are living longer today, but at what cost? Many are going bankrupt, paying for treatment. 

Between 2019 and 2020, there was a 24% increase in deaths as a result of Diabetes, despite more "specialists" than ever. 50% of Americans are prediabetic or diabetic! 28% of children now have Diabetes.

The prevalence of Diabetes (type 2 diabetes and type 1 diabetes) will increase by 54% to more than 54.9 million Americans between 2015 and 2030; annual deaths attributed to Diabetes will climb by 38% to 385,800, and total annual medical and societal costs related to Diabetes will increase 53% to more than $622 billion by 2030.

Only 1 in 5 Americans has optimal cardiovascular health.

Elite respiratory fitness is associated with a 5x decrease in all mortality.

50% of American women either have low bone density or Osteoporosis. 

75% of all hip fractures occur in women.

Depression is the leading disability across the globe!

Alcohol is the most abused drug with dire consequences not just for the addict but for those around them. 15.1 M adults struggle with alcoholism, and over 10% of children live with a parent with alcohol issues. And I will share I have helped someone very close to my heart battle alcoholism. I personally haven't touched the stuff since June 2020 despite extreme adversity. Not even wine. It's a cheap dopamine kick.

Americans now spend 91% of their lives indoors under artificial light; no question this is playing into the sleep issues millions of Americans battle with annually. I didn't realize how spending that much time indoors had impacted my mental health until I stopped treadmill running. Today, despite extreme adversity now for years, running outdoors, hiking with my dog, and cycling have kept depression from creeping in, and powerful tools to manage anxiety.

43% of Americans are now obese, and 70% are either obese or overweight. By 2030, 50% of Americans will be obese.

Running and swimming are proven to change the shape of the heart.

Running changes the gray matter in your brain. 

Running/Walking/Cycling also get you outdoors.

There is no other activity like running to build bone density. I have tested my own a few times and passed with flying colors, including getting hit by a car that knocked me to the ground, resulting in a broken elbow and road rash across my entire right hip. No broken bones except the elbow, which took a direct hit from the car. And I was strong enough to get myself off the road and finish my 9-mile run home. No concussion.

When I left the hospital with a 2lb straight splint on my dominant left arm, I could fend for myself, including dressing myself, thanks to the flexibility the miles of swimming gave me.

I don't do opioids. Despite elbow breaks, gum grafting, root canals, and serious surgery, I take one opioid pill, usually day one, before pitching the bottle and returning to my regimen of turmeric, ginger, bromelain (pineapple), and cherries.

I come from the belief that exercising, specifically running, raises pain tolerance. Running is hard. It is a sport with discomfort built in and takes as much mentally out of me as physically. Despite how much I run, I still yell at the hills, potty mouth. It never gets easier. Ever. You just get stronger.

After my splint came off for my broken elbow, I tried traditional PT to regain ROM in my elbow and quickly grew frustrated with the exercises. Instead, I focused on swimming. Today, my strength is about 80% back in my left elbow, with ROM at about 90%. 100% usability. No surgery. No plates. In my humble opinion, swimming is a life skill everyone should have access to.

My heart health speaks for itself, with a V02 max of 58. Just yesterday, I ran 9 miles at a pace of 8:43 with an average heart rate of 122.

My respiratory health is actually what got me into running. In 2015, when I learned I would have to have a 4-hour invasive surgery, my doctor warned me the most challenging part would be waking up to collapsed lungs as a result of a machine breathing for me for four hours. With two young boys at home, I didn't have the luxury of being idle for too long. 

After a long search on Dr. Google, I decided running was my best defense. I hired a running coach who taught me how to run properly, and I have been running since. While most women couldn't sit up in bed after the surgery I had, I was walking the hospital floors. When my drainage tubes came out two weeks later, I was taped up and back on the treadmill, running. 

And here is where weight training comes in: you have to weight train to run, swim and cycle injury free; you have to have a strong core, legs, glutes, hips, shoulders, and feet (yes, feet! You have 26 bones in your feet that are expected to support your entire body when you run. It is not an attractive area to strengthen, but it is a must to reduce injury). Strength training doesn't need to be complicated. My favorites are: Assisted Pull-ups, Push/Pull Sled, Leg Press, Chest Press, Back Row, Squats and overhead press. To keep my feet and calves running ready, I do a lot of squats on my toes, calf raises and walk on my tippy-toes throughout the week. I rely heavily on swimming for upper body strength and flexibility. Cycling on Zwift is a great way to build up leg muscles. I have tried Yoga, Pilates and other classes, but my heart is with endurance sports. I truly love running, cycling and swimming for hours. Race or race, I train regardless.

As far as diet goes, I take a balanced approach, focusing on food grown and born. I eat a ton of fresh fruit, oatmeal, rice, pasta, fish, poultry, red meat, pork, full-fat greek yogurt, and, my favorite, lots of eggs - I probably eat 3 to 6 a day. While buying only organic and non-GMO would be nice, that's not always possible. So I focus on one ingredient foods (i.e., rice, potatoes, oatmeal). 

In 2018, I struggled with my mental health, and I suspect the lack of fat in my diet played a huge role. I would work out daily before work but only consumed fat-free greek yogurt. My only source of healthy fat was the almond butter in my morning protein shake. Not only did I destroy my mental health with my diet - our brains are 60% fat, but I royally screwed up my metabolism.

Today, I am mindful of how much fat I get in my diet. Favorite sources include Unrefined organic coconut oil, full-fat butter, full-fat greek yogurt, nut butters, fatty fish, olives, eggs, and nuts. I train so much better with fat in my diet.

I do my best to avoid high fructose corn syrup and refined enriched flour products (i.e., doughnuts!) I don't do cheese (it upsets my stomach) and don't drink soda or alcohol (been 100% alcohol-free since June 2020). 

I limit eating out and cook 95% of all my meals at home with one ingredient foods. I do love dark chocolate.

The key to sustainable weight loss is to understand health is a lifestyle. And you can not under any circumstances out train a poor diet. And the more you train, the more on point your diet needs to be to limit inflammation and injury. The good news is the more you say no and the better you feel, the easier it gets!!

Finally, when it comes to weight loss - despite extreme adversity for years now, I have kept off nearly 40lbs at age 44 going on 5 years now through a diet that is primarily made up of food grown and born that I cook at home. These days, I rarely eat out. I am living proof sustainable weight loss is possible if you treat health as a lifestyle, not a 6-month diet. It took my metabolism almost 2 years to fully reset itself.

It is amazing what you can accomplish in a year with consistency.

Finally, remember this, each action you take is for or against the lifestyle you want. Despite extreme adversity for years now, I still train daily. #nodaysoff