Today, I re-read the first two chapters of The O2 Diet and was reminded to keep "My Switch Flipped". What Keri Glassman means by this is that I need to keep my focus on what I am building (vibrant health inside and out) versus what I am get rid of (fat, wrinkles, pimples, etc). This concept is what drew me to The O2 Diet in the first place, and it totally resonates with what I KNOW to be true, but it is so easy to stay focused on what I don't like about myself and the parts of myself I want to get rid of. This kind of self criticism is de-motivating, counterproductive and NOT how I want to spend the moments of my life. And Soooo...
time to re-focus:
Today I choose to FEED myself in nurturing and positive ways as I continually create my health:
Drink more lemon water
Make sure I eat my healthy morning and afternoon snacks of fruits, vegies and raw nuts (skipping them results in getting too hungry leading me to eat too much at once or make unhealthy choices)
Add more herbs and spices to my meals (so easy to forget that marjoram, oregano, tumeric. Got the cinnamon handled: it goes in my teas, coffees, almond butter toast and yogurt every day!)
Nourish my skin excellent cleansing.
Take a few moments for myself (despite my husband's continual asking "have you fed the cats, gotten the mail, done the laundry, changed the catbox, called the tax accountant, blah blah blah) in a very busy day.
Do something nice for someone else
Now...for some more of that lemon water!
Namaste!
Lisa
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Monday, March 29, 2010
Spine-Safe Boot Camp SUCCESS!!!
We've had 3 extremely productive boot camps and are thrilled with our patients' responses. Everyone is sore (including me!), but we've worked with both healthy individuals and people with pain (including backs, necks, wrists, knees and ankles) to perform essential muscle strengthening in ways that won't injure them!
Dr. Lisa and I are looking forward to keeping up with our Boot Camp fun, but we need your help. Please let us know if you have any questions or concerns. We're always open to suggestions to improve our office.
As always, be happy ... be healthy ... and enjoy the sunshine!!!
~Dr. David
Dr. Lisa and I are looking forward to keeping up with our Boot Camp fun, but we need your help. Please let us know if you have any questions or concerns. We're always open to suggestions to improve our office.
As always, be happy ... be healthy ... and enjoy the sunshine!!!
~Dr. David
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Spine Safe Boot Camp Sunday, March 28 at 1 pm
Spine Safe Boot Camp Sunday, March 28 at 1 pm
Come on over to Monta Vista Family Chiropractic at 21730 Stevens Creek Blvd, Suite 102, Cupertino, CA for a great spinally safe exercise class. Dr. David Saber will be leading a lower extremity (butt and legs), core (aka ABS) and low back class today. Expect to learn perfect form to avoid injury while doing exercises tailored to your capabilities and designed to challenge you! No matter what your level of fitness, you will feel like you have had an effective workout but you won't be injured! YAY!
Dr. Saber and I are sick and tired of seeing patients injured in boot camps doing UNSAFE exercises led by undereducated instructors. Come learn from a chiropractor who is expert in the biomechanics of your spine and musculoskeletal system!
$20 is the low price of the class and allows you to bring a friend!
Bring a mat, a towel and water.
21730 Stevens Creek Blvd, Suite 102, Cupertino, CA
Come on over to Monta Vista Family Chiropractic at 21730 Stevens Creek Blvd, Suite 102, Cupertino, CA for a great spinally safe exercise class. Dr. David Saber will be leading a lower extremity (butt and legs), core (aka ABS) and low back class today. Expect to learn perfect form to avoid injury while doing exercises tailored to your capabilities and designed to challenge you! No matter what your level of fitness, you will feel like you have had an effective workout but you won't be injured! YAY!
Dr. Saber and I are sick and tired of seeing patients injured in boot camps doing UNSAFE exercises led by undereducated instructors. Come learn from a chiropractor who is expert in the biomechanics of your spine and musculoskeletal system!
$20 is the low price of the class and allows you to bring a friend!
Bring a mat, a towel and water.
21730 Stevens Creek Blvd, Suite 102, Cupertino, CA
Friday, March 26, 2010
Wow. WOw. WOW!!!
Today got off to an amazing start. Three women in the gym came up to me this morning and asked if I had lost weight and told me I look great. These are ladies I have seen working out at the same time in the morning for over 10 years. One lady got up close, studied my face and said "your skin looks so much younger! And rested! You look like you have changed your diet. Our food shows up on our skin, you know!" Now these are people I don't know well enough to have blabbed about the O2 with. They were just taking the time to express their observations! And that was just at the gym. Then I got to work. Several of my patients today (and earlier this week for that matter) said "you look GREAT"! I did not get this many complements after my plastic surgery in August which I made NO attempt to hide from anyone. And let me tell ya, my AMAZING plastic surgeon, Dr. Seung Kim in Palo Alto, did a fantastic and very natural job.
So after some pretty interesting moments today, I got on the scale, and lo and behold, I have lost yet another pound! yep: 129! Good Grief!! I feel like I am eating 3 good meals a day, fruit and nut snack in the morning, vegie and nuts as my afternoon snack, and more fruit or a glass of wine at night. Oh yeah, and I CERTAINLY have 1/2 oz dark chocolate every day. This eating lifestyle is sustainable, healthy, and effective!
I am so glad I read about The O2 Diet by Keri Glassman in Women's Health magazine, got the book and embarked on this lifestyle. It is AWESOME!
So after some pretty interesting moments today, I got on the scale, and lo and behold, I have lost yet another pound! yep: 129! Good Grief!! I feel like I am eating 3 good meals a day, fruit and nut snack in the morning, vegie and nuts as my afternoon snack, and more fruit or a glass of wine at night. Oh yeah, and I CERTAINLY have 1/2 oz dark chocolate every day. This eating lifestyle is sustainable, healthy, and effective!
I am so glad I read about The O2 Diet by Keri Glassman in Women's Health magazine, got the book and embarked on this lifestyle. It is AWESOME!
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Spring Spirit: Outdoors and Injuries
I am totally digging this spring weather here in California (sorry to those of you who are still slugging through cold, snow and rain), and I am inspired to get outside, hike, garden, exercise and cook with all the new spring vegetables and fruits showing up in the markets!
This Spring Spirit has prompted me at add two sidebars to the blog: My favorite hikes (once again, sorry if you aren't in the Bay Area of CA) and Recipe of the Day. Check them out!
The confounding thing about getting into the garden and onto the trail is the rate of injury to those muscles, joints and tendons that spent the winter in hibernation. Over the past two weeks, we have seen tons of painful low backs, overused wrists and elbows, strained knees.
So here are a few tips that apply to ALL sports including hiking and gardening. And YES! Gardening is a SPORT!
KEY TIP #1: "Warm" your muscles and joints BEFORE engaging in exercise and gardening. To "warm", do some fast walking either in place or around your yard or block for 5 minutes. Roll your shoulders, make circles with your wrists, ankles, knees.
KEY TIP #2: Stretch AFTER not BEFORE exercise! Always hold stretches for 10-20 seconds. Shorter than that does not allow muscles to release. Longer than that can cause microfibers within the muscles and tendons to burst.
KEY TIP #3: Stretch the parts you have used: If you have been gardening, stretch your shoulders, back, forearms. If you have been hiking, biking or running, stretch your back, shoulders, calves, thighs (back and front). If you have been weight lifting, stretch the muscles you just worked.
KEY TIP #4: HYDRATE! Take water on the trail, to the gym, to the garden.
KEY TIP #5: COME TO SPINE SAFE BOOT CAMP! 60 minutes of a workout that is tailored to YOUR body and YOUR abilities taught by Dr. Saber or Dr. Stein. Sundays 1-2 pm. RSVP by Friday at noon: 408-255-2592. $20 will admit you and a friend. CLASS SIZE IS VERY LIMITED!
This Spring Spirit has prompted me at add two sidebars to the blog: My favorite hikes (once again, sorry if you aren't in the Bay Area of CA) and Recipe of the Day. Check them out!
The confounding thing about getting into the garden and onto the trail is the rate of injury to those muscles, joints and tendons that spent the winter in hibernation. Over the past two weeks, we have seen tons of painful low backs, overused wrists and elbows, strained knees.
So here are a few tips that apply to ALL sports including hiking and gardening. And YES! Gardening is a SPORT!
KEY TIP #1: "Warm" your muscles and joints BEFORE engaging in exercise and gardening. To "warm", do some fast walking either in place or around your yard or block for 5 minutes. Roll your shoulders, make circles with your wrists, ankles, knees.
KEY TIP #2: Stretch AFTER not BEFORE exercise! Always hold stretches for 10-20 seconds. Shorter than that does not allow muscles to release. Longer than that can cause microfibers within the muscles and tendons to burst.
KEY TIP #3: Stretch the parts you have used: If you have been gardening, stretch your shoulders, back, forearms. If you have been hiking, biking or running, stretch your back, shoulders, calves, thighs (back and front). If you have been weight lifting, stretch the muscles you just worked.
KEY TIP #4: HYDRATE! Take water on the trail, to the gym, to the garden.
KEY TIP #5: COME TO SPINE SAFE BOOT CAMP! 60 minutes of a workout that is tailored to YOUR body and YOUR abilities taught by Dr. Saber or Dr. Stein. Sundays 1-2 pm. RSVP by Friday at noon: 408-255-2592. $20 will admit you and a friend. CLASS SIZE IS VERY LIMITED!
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Cut the carbs! (At least the bad ones.)
So, I apologize in advance to the loyal Dr. Lisa followers out there. This is Dr. David, and I wanted to write a short blog entry in the same vein as Dr. Lisa's journaling of her experience as she changes her eating style in accordance with Keri Glassman's The O2 Diet.
There are a few reasons I'm not following The O2 Diet. I don't want to say that I'm lazy, per se ... just that I'm 27. I'm a boy. At 6 feet in height, I weigh 165 lbs. I'm not looking to lose weight, and I haven't quite lost that immortality complex from my youth. Also, after coming in from San Francisco for a weekend of partying with my friends, the last thing I want to do is pre-plan my meals. Call that lazy if you want, but I'm being realistic. (Although, having said all that, I'm SUPREMELY grateful to have access to Dr. Lisa's knowledge of the O2 Diet and nutrition in general to help guide me as I start my new healthy eating plan.)
My plan came from a couple years ago, while in chiropractic school. I'm a biochemist by training (worked in a research lab for 3 years before moving here), so I had a decent handle on the effects of different foods on the body. What I didn't realize until my nutrition class was the effects of sugar and starchy foods on the body's hormones and immune system. I figured eating refined foods in moderation was ok, right? WRONG. Our bodies, quite simply, were never designed to eat such highly processed foods with such regularity. Table sugar and flour don't exist in nature. When you eat them, your blood sugar spikes, followed by your insulin levels. Insulin works to clear sugar from your blood. This causes 3 major problems: drastic drop in blood sugar levels (causing the afternoon crash), increase in whole-body inflammation levels (which increases your risk for heart disease and cancer), and when done consistently, desensitizes your body to the insulin hormone (e.g. type II diabetes). I don't want to sound melodramatic, and yes ... it is possible to eat a processed-food diet and not develop any of those conditions, but it's also possible to smoke every day of your life and not get lung cancer. Doesn't mean you're not increasing your risk.
Thoroughly scared? I know I was. So I endeavored to eliminate starch and sugar, and I can tell you first hand: it sucks. No pasta, no bread, no potatoes, no ketchup, etc. What the hell is a midwest boy supposed to eat?!? And FORGET about going out. Have you ever had 4 workers at Panera look at you like a total alien? If you haven't, just ask them which of their salad dressings don't have any sugar. (I'll make it easy for you and spare you the 5 minute searching with the manager through their binder of nutritional information: The Greek and the Cobb salad.)
The cravings are a nightmare ... for the first week. But after that, you don't really feel like eating those things anymore. And after a month, anything sugary like ice cream, brownies, or cheesecake sound entirely revolting. I'm going to pop in and share my 2 cents from time to time. I've been off the white stuff (my label for sugar, refined grains, white potatoes, and white rice) for a week and a half now, and I have to say, I feel SPECTACULAR. Wake up earlier with more energy that I have consistently throughout the day. My overall sensation of hunger has decreased. (No more waking up starving.)
Keep in mind, I am NOT on a low-carb diet. Or anything as prescriptive/restricted as the South Beach Diet. I'm just trying to eat very healthy most of the time while incorporating reasonable levels of exercise. And if a 27-year-old without a care in the world can do it, so can you.
~Dr. David
There are a few reasons I'm not following The O2 Diet. I don't want to say that I'm lazy, per se ... just that I'm 27. I'm a boy. At 6 feet in height, I weigh 165 lbs. I'm not looking to lose weight, and I haven't quite lost that immortality complex from my youth. Also, after coming in from San Francisco for a weekend of partying with my friends, the last thing I want to do is pre-plan my meals. Call that lazy if you want, but I'm being realistic. (Although, having said all that, I'm SUPREMELY grateful to have access to Dr. Lisa's knowledge of the O2 Diet and nutrition in general to help guide me as I start my new healthy eating plan.)
My plan came from a couple years ago, while in chiropractic school. I'm a biochemist by training (worked in a research lab for 3 years before moving here), so I had a decent handle on the effects of different foods on the body. What I didn't realize until my nutrition class was the effects of sugar and starchy foods on the body's hormones and immune system. I figured eating refined foods in moderation was ok, right? WRONG. Our bodies, quite simply, were never designed to eat such highly processed foods with such regularity. Table sugar and flour don't exist in nature. When you eat them, your blood sugar spikes, followed by your insulin levels. Insulin works to clear sugar from your blood. This causes 3 major problems: drastic drop in blood sugar levels (causing the afternoon crash), increase in whole-body inflammation levels (which increases your risk for heart disease and cancer), and when done consistently, desensitizes your body to the insulin hormone (e.g. type II diabetes). I don't want to sound melodramatic, and yes ... it is possible to eat a processed-food diet and not develop any of those conditions, but it's also possible to smoke every day of your life and not get lung cancer. Doesn't mean you're not increasing your risk.
Thoroughly scared? I know I was. So I endeavored to eliminate starch and sugar, and I can tell you first hand: it sucks. No pasta, no bread, no potatoes, no ketchup, etc. What the hell is a midwest boy supposed to eat?!? And FORGET about going out. Have you ever had 4 workers at Panera look at you like a total alien? If you haven't, just ask them which of their salad dressings don't have any sugar. (I'll make it easy for you and spare you the 5 minute searching with the manager through their binder of nutritional information: The Greek and the Cobb salad.)
The cravings are a nightmare ... for the first week. But after that, you don't really feel like eating those things anymore. And after a month, anything sugary like ice cream, brownies, or cheesecake sound entirely revolting. I'm going to pop in and share my 2 cents from time to time. I've been off the white stuff (my label for sugar, refined grains, white potatoes, and white rice) for a week and a half now, and I have to say, I feel SPECTACULAR. Wake up earlier with more energy that I have consistently throughout the day. My overall sensation of hunger has decreased. (No more waking up starving.)
Keep in mind, I am NOT on a low-carb diet. Or anything as prescriptive/restricted as the South Beach Diet. I'm just trying to eat very healthy most of the time while incorporating reasonable levels of exercise. And if a 27-year-old without a care in the world can do it, so can you.
~Dr. David
Monday, March 22, 2010
Sooo Good and So Very Very Bad
I think I got a little over confident after last Friday's weigh in. Although I had some fabulous hikes over the weekend, they certainly did NOT work off the UNCONSCIOUS INDULGENCE I got myself into last night at Kate's kick off BBQ! It all started with the blood orange juice margaritas. MMM. those were a little too good. I had TWO and they were NOT weak! That lowered my inhibitions to the point that having FIVE ribs, asparagus, mushrooms (ok, those were fine) and a bit of tabouli salad (ok, not so bad there, either) AND a LARGE slice of lemon tart with blackberries and whipped cream seemed perfectly reasonable. Sooooo good. and soooo bad!
Fortunately, as if reading my mind, this morning Keri Glassman posted on her FB page a detox remedy: no sugar or salt today, have a lemon water before each meal and eat some kale and blueberries today. Just another day to get back in the saddle. Giddy-up!
Fortunately, as if reading my mind, this morning Keri Glassman posted on her FB page a detox remedy: no sugar or salt today, have a lemon water before each meal and eat some kale and blueberries today. Just another day to get back in the saddle. Giddy-up!
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