Finding the right recipe

As the year winds down, the inevitable question pops up, "What's your new year's resolution?'. Some answer this question jokingly because of past resolutions that never came to fruition. The key value or belief in this person's mind is "the past will dictate my future.". This is often the case with yo-yo dieters or sporadic exercisers. I am writing today to release this belief from your mindset and let you know that this could not be farther from the truth.

If I wanted to make the aforementioned statement true, I would say if you do the same thing over and over, you will always get the same result. This is why people use recipes when cooking. They want to get the same result; a tasty dish. What makes the resolution question so humorous to many is that they are used to following the same recipe for failure.

This year, do something different. Follow a different recipe for success. Below is just one recipe for success.

1 Gallon of "I believe I can"

1 Quart of I am determined to do this

4 Cups of Goal setting

1 Tsp. of consult someone with expertise.

1 Cup of taking action

1 Cup of write it down

1 Cup of tell everyone you know about your end result.

1 Cup of planning for obstacles

1 Cup of short term goals that lead to your big one.

1. Cup of positive mental attitude.

12 oz. can of support system, friends, family members, coworkers

Combine all ingredients together until the right consistency is reached. Bake for one year.

Let it snow!

Good Morning blog readers! It's a beautiful Saturday morning at Rhinebeck Chiropractic. Made it into the office this morning carefully and began to shovel the path leading to the front door. As I was doing this task, I realized I do better giving pointers on shoveling than actually doing the winter work itself. As a chiropractor, a heavy snow fall means the phone will begin to ring in the days following with patients and current practice members who "over did it" while clearing the fluffy white stuff. Since prevention is the best medicine (chiropractic), I thought I would give you a few pointers on shoveling to make your holiday more enjoyable.

1. Always warm up first! Muscles and soft tissues are more elastic when they are warm. In addition to wearing warm clothing, feel free to do some light physical activity before lifting the shovel. Try walking the perimeter of the property or do some jumping jacks.

2. Push the snow when possible instead of lifting it. Your spine will thank you later!

3. Use your head. Feel the snow; is it wet or dry and fluffy? If it is wet, it will most likely be much heavier. Knowing how heavy the snow is allows your body to prepare to the sudden demand of shoveling.

4. Use your legs. Your legs are much stronger than the spinal erector muscles in our lower back. This means when you lift the shovel, you squat and stand up straight, rather than bending over at the hip.

5. Shovel while it is snowing. This is a sure fire way to keep the loads lighter and you get to pre-burn extra calories you are inevitably going to consume during the holidays. (Disclaimer: Rhinebeck Chiropractic does not approve or condone of over eating at anytime during the year; even the end.)

6. Get adjusted. Regular chiropractic adjustments keep your spine healthy. After being adjusted our bio mechanics are improved and the muscles used in shoveling work more efficiently.

It should also be noted that shoveling can count as exercise. Nothing like killing two birds with one stone. Enjoy the weather!!!

Standard Process Purification

In recent years, Dr. Jess and I have made a yearly ritual of doing a purification program. We do this for several reasons. This blog entry could go on forever about the dififferent benefits of doing a cleanse so here is 5.5 reasons we choose to purify our bodies.

1. It detoxifies our body of the foreign elements and toxins we have been exposed to.

2. Since our purification requires us to eat extrememely healthy we do just that. It gets good habits started again and serves as a great jumpstart to making major lifestyle changes. Each time we cleanse we learn to appreciate the nutrition and subtle tastes of whole organic foods.

3.We lose weight. Losing weight is a common goal among many americans and feels good to get a compliment from someone else or just having clothes fit you better. Sometimes you even get to go shopping if your pants no longer fit.

4.Your spine and joints appreciate it too. Increasing intake of fruits and vegetables causes you to "deflame'" thus making your perception of aches and pains reduced, and stunts the growth of chronic degenerative diseases occuring (Heart Disease, Diabetes, Osteoporosis, Osteoarthritis).

5. It gives you a glimpse of how your body should be running. The way you feel after a purification becomes the gold standard of how good you should feel.

5.5 Since we must refrain from processed foods, and certain sugars, it teaches us self discipline. We all become masters by first becoming a master of our self.

For more information about the Standard Process Purification click here or call 845.876.6450.

The oil light in your car.

What do you do when the oil light comes on in your car? Even those with the most basic car smarts will….. well you guessed it, check the oil level, and then add some oil if needed. Cost: $2.49 for the quart of 10W-30 motor oil. There are some out there, who for some reason or other just ignore the light. They continue to drive their car until it will not drive anymore. Worse yet they find some black electrical tape and cover the light. Out of site, out of mind. When the inevitable break down occurs, the cost is thousands. The damage irreversible. Our bodies are no different. Symptoms are like the oil light; an indicator that something needs to be checked out. It’s your first warning telling you that if you do not do something, crisis will ensue. Do something now about your health. Scan your body’s dashboard. What are your symptoms telling you?

More reader friendly blogs coming your way.

After a nearly four months of blogging, Dr. Jessica and I have made some important distinctions in in the blogging arena. First we started reading others blogs and commenting on what we liked and didn't like and got the wheels turning on how we can improve our blog and make it more "reader friendly". Our goal is to educate and empower you as a reader about health issues that relate to you and to inspire you to make great health decisions that cumulatively will change your life.

In the future look for a shorter blog entry that comes more often. The style of the blog will be more personal than academic. Also slightly more opinionated to create discussion. Feel free to voice your opinion, or ask questions by responding in our blog or simply email us at DRJ@RhinebeckChiropractic.com.

Lastly, keep up to date with our blogs by subscribing n the RSS feeder so you know when new posts are available for your viewing pleasure.

Get ready.......

Strengthening Your Immunity

Understanding immunity is vital in grasping our body's innate ability to heal itself. We are born with an innate or genetic immunity. While we were in our mother's womb, we received immunity through her exposure to different pathogens. As we came into the world, if we were breastfed, our mother continued to pass immunity to us, through her superfood breastmilk. Throughout our lives we continue to build our immunity through exposure to different pathogens. Each time we are exposed to a virus or bacteria, our body identifies the foreign invader & produces an antibody to protect us. Our body remembers every immune response we have had, & protects us from having symptoms or getting "sick" a second time. For example, most of us know that once we have had chickenpox, we cannot have it again.

We are exposed to different pathogens either naturally or artificially. Natural exposure is when we have the flu for example. We feel ill & spend a few days resting & allowing our body to heal. No matter how many more time we are exposed to that flu virus, we will not get it again. Artificial exposure is obtained through vaccination. You are injected with a solution that contains the pathogen (along with many other substances or additives). Your body reacts by producing antibodies in the same way as described before.

The more we are exposed to, the stronger our immune system becomes. This may be different that what you originally believed. Most people subscribe to the germ theory & use it to explain why we get sick. Germ theory was developed by Pasteur in the 1800's. He believed that the human body was pure & sterile. He theorized that if airborne pathogens, or germs, contaminated the body, sickness would result. However, we know today that the human body contains 20 times more bacteria in our body than cells. We have a normal "good" bacteria that help us digest & assimilate our nutrition daily. Bacteria is not only plentiful in our immune system, but necessary.

Our body has some fantastic systems in place for fighting pathogens. In fact, the body is constantly renewing itself & making changes to facilitate rebuilding. 98% of the atoms in the human body are renewed each year, with about half of the water molecules, or 70% of the body, being replaced every 8 days. Blood plasma renews itself every 10 days, white blood cells every 2-3 weeks, red blood cells every 120 days, & our entire blood supply every 3-4 months. Our skin renews itself every 28 days, the stomach lining replaces itself every week, & the liver regenerates every 6 weeks. It is clear to see that the human body is an amazing self healing, self regulating organism.

For some reason we agree with this fact when we think about getting a cut, or breaking a bone, (body heals itself), but we seem to forget about it when we think about getting a cold, flu, or other common illness. The fact is that we cannot escape germs. They are abundant everywhere. We must replace this ideal of "fighting germs" with strengthening our immunity. If we support our body properly, we can look forward to having better health through better immunity. Below is a list of simple tasks to use towards improving your immunity:

1. Eat organic, whole foods, many vegetables & fruits

2. Avoid processed foods, sugars, hydrogenated oils, bleached flours, & high fructose corn syrup

3. Check with your health care provider to see if Essential Fatty Acids & Probiotics would be of benefit to you.

4. Remove toxins from your life: chemicals, alcohol, smoke, plastics, dyes, additives, etc.

5. Limit pharmaceutical drugs that cover up symptoms & in some cases are unnecessary

6. Maintain a positive mental attitude

7. Exercise five times a week

8. Get at least 6 hours of restful sleep each night

9. Practice quiet time each day (prayer, meditation, yoga, etc.)

10. Get adjusted! Research shows people who receive regular chiropractic adjustments have immune system competency that is 200% greater than those who don't!

For more information on strengthening your immunity, attend one of our advanced wellness workshops with Dr. Jessica. Upcoming dates: 12/9 @ 10 am & 12/18 @ 5pm.

Hit the target!

As the year winds down, we begin to look back at the year and question whether or not the year was "a good one". What have you accomplished? Are you on pace to reach and or surpass your goals? Did you set goals?

With the world in turmoil right now, many tend to look at the downside of the news we hear on a local, national and world perspective. Fear is 0n the face of many I see as I walk down the street. The news we watch and read gives us little to no promise of anything good to come out of this.

It's time to take a new perspective on the changes we are experiencing everyday. Do not look at news as either good or bad. Look at it for what it is; news. In fact, news is really history when you think about it and it is obvious that we can not change the past, only the future. News is not a predictor of the future. We choose what tomorrow's "news" will be. With that said we are left empowered because we now have the choice of what we choose to see and think about the news. Billions of dollars vanishing in days can now seem like the beginning of a change or even a revolution of sorts. It can represent an opportunity to anyone looking for the opportunity. It can represent a chance to start over and re-examine your life's purpose. Now that we are empowered we can take the first step in reaching our goals.

Is it possible to hit a target that you can not see? Maybe, but not likely. That is why it is so important to set goals. Typically, it takes some time betwen the time we set a goal and the time we set things in motion to accomplish a goal. That is why October is such a great month to start thinking about what you want to accomplish in 2009. We often set goals in January, but by february they are all but forgotton. October is the month to get serious about setting your goals and setting your sights on the opportunity that the new year brings.

The anatomy of a goal. There are many types of goals, some are specific, some are nonspecific. the best kind are the ones that are specific because they are easier to measure. If you have nonspecific goals, outline the steps needed to reach that goal and use the steps as individual specific goals to use as benchmarks on the way to your original nonspecific goal. A measurable goal increases the likelyhood of it being reached.

Set goals in all areas of your life. Most people think about a particular area of their life when setting goals. Personal goals, health goals, financial goals, play goals, family goals are all common areas that we set goals for. Remember your imagination is the limit when setting goals. Although some may say your goal is unrealistic, only you can set your goals. If you let someone convince you that your goal is in fact unrealistic, you have just given away your power to set your own goals. Beware of those that like to steal your power to set goals. They are doing it because their power to set goals is not as strong as yours.

Set goals pertainining to performance, rather than outcome. If you are a runner and want to finish a marathon, I would say it is important to train frequelntly to build your endurance and eat a diet to support your training needs. The goal of finishing a marathon is a good goal, but to set a goal of training 3-4 times everyweek unitl that marathon is an even better goal. This is because finishing the marathon is an outcome while training 3 to 4 times a week will enhance performance or ability to achieve the goal. By setting perfrmance goals, we increase our chances of getting the desired out come.

Have you ever noticed that we like to wait until the last minute to get things done? Most times waiting for the last minute creates somewhat of a crisis in life and most times nonetheless we get them done. Set a deadline to achieve your goals, but don't wait for the last minute to get them done. This eliminates the crisis situation and you still get to reach your goal. Think about the farmer who tries to plant a seed and harvest it in the same day.

Prioritize your goals and take action on those with the highest priority. Examine how your time is spent. How much time do you spend doing high priority tasks versus low priority tasks? Reduce or eliminate time spent doing low priority tasks in exchange for working toward your goals. If you get the big things done first, we become more flexible when those last minute crisis occur.

Keep track of your goals. Write them and read them daily. Fill your mind with emotion when reading them. Turn them into affirming statements in present tense and in first person. For example; If you aspire to become the president of the united states. Say, " I am the president of the United States." At first it will feel silly, then once you get over that say it again seriously and feel the emotions that surface when you say it. The more you evoke the emotions of a president, the closer and more attainable the goal will seem.

Lastly, set some "easy" goals to achieve immediately. Achieving these goals gets you well on your way for the new year. Don't forget to celebrate each and every victory so you can carry that energy for the next goal you tackle.