Ten Weeks of Wellness - Week 4: Lose the Caffeine!

Is everyone feeling affirmed!  Keep on reciting those affirmations and let us know how a positive attitude is changing your life.  And remember to keep that positive outlook as we move into this weeks challenge...going caffeine free!

Week 1 (Jan. 7): Posture Pod Exercises

Week 2 (Jan. 14): Sleep

Week 3 (Jan. 21): Affirmation

Week 4 (Jan. 28): Caffeine Free

Week 5 (Feb. 4): Walking

Week 6 (Feb. 11): Random Acts of Kindness

Week 7 (Feb. 18): Gluten Free

Week 8 (Feb. 25): Sunshine and Meditation

Week 9 (Mar. 4): Dairy Free

Week 10 (Mar. 11): Gratitude

It's not an easy task, but we think you're up for the challenge.  The benefits to giving up caffeine are numerous. Caffeine is a stimulant, meaning it speeds up the way your body works.  This puts stress on your nervous system. And consider the fact that most of us lead incredibly stressful lives already so you're getting double the dose of stress hormones coursing through your blood, causing your heart to beat faster, your adrenals to work harder and your muscles to tense.  These are all 'fight or flight' responses of the sympathetic division of your nervous system.  To complicate matters further, when your sympathetic nervous system is in overdrive, it's counterpart - the parasympathetic nervous system - is shut down.  This can affect your ability to 'rest and digest'.  Stop and think about some of the ways you feel when you are really worked up about something - now realize that this is what you're doing when you drink a cup of coffee!

Make sure when you do come off your caffeine to do it slowly!  We often forget that caffeine is a drug so we need to treat it like one! Caffeine withdrawal can cause headaches as blood vessels to the brain spasm (another effect of messing with the sympathetic/parasympathetic balance), so if you drink 3 cups a day, try going down to two, then one, then zero.  Drink plenty of water to aid in the process - and to rehydrate!

You deserve a reward for all of this, so here's how you can earn your tickets this week:

• Cutting caffeine for the week - 1 ticket
  A great place to start would be to 1/2 your intake (4 cups to 2, 2 cups to 1, 1 to 1/2)
  
  

  ·         Try coffee substitutes-

  Aside from caffeine-free tea, there are lots of great coffee substitutes. Cafix, Teeccino, and Pero are all brands we have tried. 

  ·         Use non-dairy creamers like Silk brand for an even healthier treat!

  
  
  
• Commenting on the blog or our Facebook page - 1 ticket

Good luck and we can't wait to hear how much better you feel!

Ten Weeks of Wellness - Week 3: Positive Affirmations!

Welcome to Week 3 of the Ten Weeks of Wellness program! We hope you are well-rested after last week's sleep challenge.  Keep right on sleeping and posture-podding away as we introduce our next challenge, in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day: writing and reciting a positive affirmation!

Week 1 (Jan. 7): Posture Pod Exercises

Week 2 (Jan. 14): Sleep

Week 3 (Jan. 21): Affirmation

Week 4 (Jan. 28): Caffeine Free

Week 5 (Feb. 4): Walking

Week 6 (Feb. 11): Random Acts of Kindness

Week 7 (Feb. 18): Gluten Free

Week 8 (Feb. 25): Sunshine and Meditation

Week 9 (Mar. 4): Dairy Free

Week 10 (Mar. 11): Gratitude

Positive affirmations are incredibly beneficial if you write them and say them properly.  The goal is to remove any question or doubt from the language you use to write them and from your intonation when you say them aloud (yes, out loud).  The affirmation can be as long or as short as you would like - as long as it's for you!

• Be specific!:  Decide what you will be affirming and then use as many descriptors as you can to paint a clear picture of the person you want to be come. 
• Think positive:  Don't use any negative words in your affirmation.  Your brain does not respond to negativity, so a poorly worded affirmation can back fire (Like saying "Don't forget the bag" often still results in forgetting the bag!)  For example, instead of saying "I am not depressed" try "I am an energetic and happy individual".
• Fake it 'til you make it!:  The key to a good affirmation is to use language that assumes you already have achieved your goals.  Instead of saying "I want to be confident"  say "I am confident."  
• Once you are satisfied with your affirmation, post it where you will see it often:  Places like your bathroom mirror or wallet/purse work well.  Read it out loud when ever you see it.
• Yes, saying it is important!:  By saying the affirmation out loud, you are activating more senses and areas of your brain.  This increases the ability of the brain to manifest the changes you seek in your day-to-day life.  

Here are examples of Dr. Rubin's favorite affirmations:  "I can, I will, I must."  "I feel healthy, I feel happy. I feel terrific." (Both inspired by the late Dr Sid Williams).  His father used to say during stressful situations: "Everything's going to be fine." If you have a goal with a date in mind, here is how it should be written: "By March 31st I have completed the Couch to 5K challenge."  Remember affirmations are future paced statements of "I am" or "I have" and are not "I will" or "I'll try."

So give it a shot!  If you need any help, we are more than happy to review your affirmation here at the office, or you can check out this website if you need a little more guidance in the writing process.  And here's how you earn your tickets this week:

• Writing your affirmation and saying it at least once a day: 1 ticket
• Commenting on this blog or on a Facebook post: 1 ticket
• Posting your affirmation to our Facebook page: 2 tickets

Ten Weeks of Wellness - Week 2: Get More Sleep!

 

Hopefully you've made some posture progress in your first week in the 10 Weeks of Wellness program.  Feel free to keep up those exercises that have become part of your routine as you move forward in 2013!  In the meantime we move on to our next goal - getting more sleep!

Week 1 (Jan. 7): Posture Pod Exercises

Week 2 (Jan. 14): Sleep

Week 3 (Jan. 21): Affirmation

Week 4 (Jan. 28): Caffeine Free

Week 5 (Feb. 4): Walking

Week 6 (Feb. 11): Random Acts of Kindness

Week 7 (Feb. 18): Gluten Free

Week 8 (Feb. 25): Sunshine and Meditation

Week 9 (Mar. 4): Dairy Free

Week 10 (Mar. 11): Gratitude

 We all lead busy lives between work, family, and friends - but it is vitally important to make time for sleep in our hectic schedules.  A lack of sleep is linked to a variety of conditions such as depression, heart disease, stroke, and diabetes.  Additionally, it can make your brain foggier and lead to an increased incidence of accidents.  With all of these things linked to reduced sleep, why is it often the first thing that we sacrifice in order to make more time? We need to start looking at proper sleep as a priority as opposed to a luxury.

So what are some changes you can make to improve your quality and quantity of sleep?  Here are some of our favorites - you can find more here:

• Try to get 6-8 hours of sleep/night- research shows it takes that amount of sleep for release of growth hormone, your body's natural healing chemical.
• Don't drink caffeine after 4:00 PM - there are plenty of no-caffeine options available such as some herbal teas, or just good ol' water in the evenings.
• Avoid heavy meals after 6:00 PM - our culture tends to emphasize a hearty meal in the evenings, but in reality, it's best to fuel up at breakfast and lunch and eat a lighter dinner.
• Create a nighttime 'ritual' - try to go to bed at around the same time every night, and have a 'ritual' in which you do the same things in the same order so that your body knows its time to shut down.
• Do not watch TV or play video/ cell phone games for an hour before you plan on sleeping - this sort of brain activity is the exact opposite to the brain waves needed for rest.
• Eliminate all light sources from the room - consider your cell phone, computer, and even the glow of your digital alarm clock.  

And how will you be getting your tickets this week?

• For each night that you manage to get 6-8 hours of sleep - 1 ticket per night up to 5 tickets
• Commenting on this blog post or the Rubin Family Chiropractic Facebook page - 1 ticket per site

Good luck and sweet dreams!

Sources:
http://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/excessive-sleepiness-10/10-results-sleep-loss
http://greenfield.patch.com/blog_posts/30-more-sleep-ideas-to-help-you-get-some-zs

10 Weeks of Wellness - Week 1: Posture!

 

Welcome to the first week of Rubin Family Chiropractic’s 10 Weeks of Wellness Challenge!  As you may have read in this post, the goal of the project is to get you on your way to leading an all-around healthier lifestyle.  Every week we’ll be introducing a new goal.  By completing it, you will earn a ticket towards a drawing for prizes!  You can also earn tickets by completing additional tasks, which we’ll explain each week on this blog!  Here are the 10 weekly goals we have established for the program!

Week 1 (Jan. 7): Posture Pod Exercises
Week 2 (Jan. 14): Sleep
Week 3 (Jan. 21): Affirmation
Week 4 (Jan. 28): Caffeine Free
Week 5 (Feb. 4): Walking
Week 6 (Feb. 11): Random Acts of Kindness
Week 7 (Feb. 18): Gluten Free
Week 8 (Feb. 25): Sunshine and Meditation
Week 9 (Mar. 4): Dairy Free
Week 10 (Mar. 11): Gratitude

This week’s goal is to improve your posture! For those of you that have been in the office already this week, you received a sticker with posture pod exercises.  For everyone who wants to get a jump start before their adjustments, the exercises can be found here.  You can earn tickets for this week’s goal in these ways:

Completing your exercises every day – 1 ticket (for the whole week)

Commenting on this blog post about how your posture affects your wellness – 1 ticket

Commenting on our Facebook page (facebook.com/rubinfamilychiropractic) – 1 ticket

Posting a picture or video of you and your family doing the posture pod to Facebook – 2 tickets

Posture is a very important part of leading a healthy lifestyle.  Most obvious to chiropractors is the face that poor posture alters the relationship between the bones of the spine which can inhibit the function of the nerves that pass between those bones.  However, there are many other reasons (as if you still needed them!) to improve posture.  Standing up straight increases lung capacity, which improves blood oxygenation.  This will allow you to think more clearly and have more energy throughout the day.  Posture also  affects confidence!  Think of those people in your life you view as powerful and positive – you won’t see them slouching over giving speeches or otherwise changing the world.  Other people will treat you with more respect if you carry yourself in such a way that commands that respect.  So pay a little extra attention to your posture this week – let us know how it makes you feel!