"The only real education comes from what goes counter to you."

Andre Gide

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March 2007

Contents

1. Your Lifestyle
2. Fitness Corner
3. Creating Wellness for Life
4. Health News
5. Office Happenings

Your Lifestyle

How you approach life can make all the difference in the world. The dictionary definition of lifestyle is a way of life or style of living that reflects the attitudes and values of a person or group. The attitudes you live with each day determines the kind of year or even life you end up with. Why not make it a healthy one?

The key to the lifestyle you choose is that it becomes the way you act or behave. It is not a diet or a fad. There isn’t a stopping point or finish line. Once you adopt it, you enter a process that is ongoing. By doing so, the decisions you make have a much longer view to them. You choose the salad over the burger and fries because you want to be healthier, for as long as you can. By having the salad you are building yourself up. You create the foundation for a healthy future.

If you read further into the Health News section of this newsletter, you will see where diabetes levels are skyrocketing in Ontario and most likely the rest of Canada. The type of diabetes that makes up a huge majority of the cases is the type directly related to lifestyle choices. The diabetes happens because individuals are overweight, don’t get enough exercise and eat a poor diet. As a result, their body produces insulin but it doesn’t get used properly because of the previously mentioned factors. The choices they make directly affects their health.

Which lifestyle you adopt is always your choice. Supportive lifestyles lead to a higher quality of life. With them, you can pursue your goals, your dreams and aspirations. Non-supportive lifestyle choices take you in the opposite direction with some potentially dire consequences. Chiropractic care and the Creating Wellness system are both lifestyle choices that can lead you in much healthier direction. The choice is yours.

Fitness Corner

Would you like a free monthly newsletter full of information to lead a healthier life? Subscribe to Scott McDermott’s bulletin by sending an email to mybestbody@shaw.ca. This month’s topics are:

10:1 is the best (great article about running and life!) 
Choose your glasses carefully (another great one about perspective) 
Walk or run, the controversy continues

Sign up today.

Creating Wellness for Life

By Carol Simpson
Your Wellness Coach

Be S.M.A.R.T. About Your Goals

A few years back I had a Weight Watcher leader who always said “If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got.” Trust me, she said it a lot and rightfully so. There is absolute truth in those words. If you are tired of always getting what you’ve always got NOW is a great time to change your life and set down some new goals. I can almost hear the collective sigh of ‘Geez, not another goal setting article’. Guess why it is repeated over and over again by so many people? Because there is power in putting pen to paper and setting your goals. 

I think a lot of times people don’t know how to set their goals. There may also be some part of them that doesn’t want to put their goals down in writing. Fear of not succeeding and the fear of appearing bad to others can both be big hurdles. Here are some tips you should take into consideration for each goal you set and remember, if you don’t put your goals down in writing then they are nothing more than a wish.

S=specific -- Make your goals clear and precise. Define a specific result that you seek.
M=measurable -- Define how you will know when you've attained it.
A=attainable – Make sure that the goal or objective is reachable. 
R=realistic -- Ensure that the goal is indeed possible. Completion must be neither too easy or too hard. Bigger goals may need to be broken down into smaller goals.
T=time sensitive – Every goal or objective must be linked to time. If there is no time bound to it, there are no deadlines. Deadlines push us to succeed but they must be deadlines measurable, attainable and realistic.

Re-evaluate your goals on a regular basis. Check in with yourself to see how you are doing and if any adjustments need to be made. Wants, aspirations and purpose can change over time. If designed properly you will start accomplishing your hopes and dreams, some big and some small. Each achievement will lead to motivation and determination to do more and to do better, thus building your Wellness Self-Esteem. Now go…set forth and conquer!

Health News

Ontario diabetes rate rises far faster than forecast

“The percentage of people with diabetes in Ontario — and likely the rest of Canada — has grown so rapidly it's already higher than what the World Health Organization expected to see globally by 2030, a study says. About 8.8 per cent of Ontarians over age 20 — about one in every 11 — had diabetes in 2005..” Read more http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2007/03/01/diabetes-soars.html

Although the study did not say whether it was Type 1 or Type 2, the researchers estimate that more than 90% of the cases were Type 2. Do you know what the causes of Type 2 diabetes are? Weight gain, poor nutrition and a lack of exercise. In other words, obesity. A lifestyle disease. Something that is very much in our control. 

Wake up to nap time

I always thought this was I good idea, especially when I was in Chiropractic College. Here is a growing body of evidence that a short afternoon nap may be the refreshing break that some folks are looking for. To read more: http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/spotlighthealth/2007-03-04-nap-time_N.htm

It appears our bodies go through a physiological dip in alertness in the afternoon. This is an invitation for us to shut our eyes for a few minutes and re-charge our batteries from it. One of the experts quoted in the article suggests that millions of people have been tapping into this for centuries.

Office Happenings

1. Creating Wellness Grand Opening. Thanks to all those who attended the grand opening for Creating Wellness held on February 27. We had a great response, gave away door prizes and provided people with a greater understanding of what Creating Wellness is all about. Look for another introductory night in the future.

2. Wellness Orientation Workshops. If you haven’t been to one yet or would like to refresh your memory, make March the month to attend one. The dates are Monday March 5 and Wednesday March 21. They start at 5:30 p.m. and are located here in the office. See you then!

3. Office Hours. There has been no change in our office hours but here they are: Monday, Wednesday and Friday 8:00 to 12:30 and 2:00 to 5:30, Tuesday 8:00 to 12:30 and Thursday 1:00 to 7:30 pm.