You know those nagging old injuries that keep ruining your workouts and are stopping you from getting the results you SHOULD be getting?

That tightness in your lower back…

…The nagging knee pain…

…Or maybe it’s that shoulder problem

It’s that pain you’ve been led to believe is just part of ‘getting older‘ or that it’s the result of you being ‘out of shape‘.

Actually, that’s not at all why the pain is there.

…It’s actually caused by 1 or more of 3 things:

1) inflammation either from poor nutrition or eating foods that aren’t right for your body (even so-called ‘healthy’ foods)

2) muscle imbalances from repetitive types of physical stress (exercise is stressful and the wrong type can do more harm than good)

3) mental and emotional stress that typically exist long before physical symptoms manifest themselves (physical pain is the energy of deeper issues that have been ignored trying to get your attention)

we are not meant to live in chronic pain just because we reach a certain age…

…I have yet to see a sign or hear a mysterious voice pop out of the sky telling me ‘Now that you’re 40 years old you shall have a bad back, nagging knee injuries and strained shoulders!‘

What these 3 issues all boil down to is simply STRESS.

We treat our bodies like waste dumps with all of the processed foods and sugar all the while justifying eating a C.R.A.P diet (by the way that stands for Completely Refined Artificial and Processed) because these foods may contain fewer calories, carbs or fat.

But, keep in mind that 95% of those who lose weight end up gaining it ALL back (and then some).

We trust the FDA to tell us what healthy eating is despite the fact that every 6 years they completely change their ‘food guide pyramid‘ because it’s not working.

We still live in a nation where chronic pain, obesity and sickness are running rampant all the while being put on dangerous medications that cause even more problems with our health just so pharmaceutical companies can make a profit.

When all we need to do to ‘fix‘ ourselves and put an end to the aches and pains, the weight problems and the health issues is to simply reduce those daily stressors that come in many different forms and bombard our lives.

Last time I checked you didn’t need to ‘take’ anything to reduce stress and eliminate those aches and pains but only to make some simple lifestyle changes.

Give it a try and see for yourself

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The great controversy…is fat loss simply a matter of calories in vs calories out?

All carbs and protein contain about 4 calories per gram…

…all fats contain about 9 calories per gram however while the calories are the same the effects on your metabolism are quite different depending not on the NUMBER of calories you consume but on the QUALITY.

This is a BIG mistake most people make and one of the reasons why losing fat seems like such an uphill battle. There are also 2 other fat loss mistakes that’ll keep you from losing fat no matter what you do.

Veggies and crackers contain the bulk of their calories in the form of carbohydrates however the appearance of your body will look quite a bit different if you ate one of these all the time vs the other.

Hormones like insulin, glucagon, leptin & ghrelin determine whether or not you lose or gain weight, your level of body fat and where you store it not calories…

…The popularity of low fat, low carb & reduced calorie foods has not reduced the nation’s expanding waistlines…why?

Because there’s more at play than simply the calories…

…You can burn 3,500 calories (the equivalent of 1-lb of fat) beyond your ‘calorie needs‘ all you want but will that always equate to a one pound weight loss?

Not so as we’ve all either experienced or have known someone whose experienced this phenomenon at time or another where weight loss suddenly creeps to a stop despite low or super-low calorie diets.

While calories do play a part in the fat loss puzzle it’s much less than we’ve been led to believe…

When it comes down to it, your hormones are the chief regulator and master switch that govern your metabolism and determine whether or not you lose fat.

It’s a shame to struggle to lose fat week after week…

…month after month…

…year after year

When you don’t have to.

You’ve just been given the wrong strategies.

But, once you put the correct pieces in place like these 2 fat loss ‘tricks’ you’ll find that losing fat is not only possible but it’s actually easier than you’ve been led to believe.

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Health miracle…

…disease prevention…

…helps cure cancer

These are some of the claims you may hear about alkalized water.

There waters are lining the shelves and displays of supermarkets and health food stores everywhere.

So, are alkalized waters really the key to optimum health or are they just hype based on clever marketing?

Here are some facts to consider:

• The higher the pH level the higher the alkalinity but there are no health based guidelines for pH according to the World Health Organization

• Ideal pH balance and therefore alkaline levels varies from person to person as we are all different. What’s considered acidic for one can be healthy for another

• The benefits of drinking alkalized waters are likely only short-term

• Long-term studies of drinking alkalized waters in humans in limited as most studies were performed on fish, plants and animals

• Too much alkalinity can interfere with digestion, cause heartburn and ulcers

• Excessive alkaline levels in the body can disrupt healthy bacteria and lead  to the growth of intestinal parasites

• According to a study at British Columia fish chronically exposed to alkaline water experienced increased stress which was sometimes fatal while fish exposed to hard water experienced no such effects

• Cancer cells treated with alkaline did not have the desired response but they did have the desired response when treated with acid

• According to the Journal of Biological Chemistry cell death results from extreme alkaline conditions

So, does this mean alkalized waters are bad news?

Not necessarily however they aren’t neccessarily the health miracle we’ve been  led to believe either.

Our bodies naturally cycle between acidic and alkaline states and both are needed for optimum health. We’ve been led to believe that acidity in the body is ‘bad’ and this is simply not true.

It’s chronically overly acidic conditions that cause problems.

The ideal pH balance of water should be between 6-8. This is considered neutral.

Although most bottled waters are devoid of their natural mineral content there are some like Crystal Geyser and Arrowhead that fall in the ideal pH range.

However, artesian waters are better as they have the ideal pH range as well as keeping  their natural mineral content intact.

The final word on alkalized water…

My intent is not to bash alkalized water. It’s simply to put out both sides of the story.

Nowadays, much of what you hear is one-sided usually from manufacturers of these products.

Alkalized water may help neutralize an overly acidic condition but there’s another important  key that’s often forgotten…

…It’s the over consumption of refined and processed foods, sugars and devitalized  foods that are greatly responsible for the overly acidic conditions many American’s experience.

However, this doesn’t mean that you HAVE to drink alkalized water to fix it.

Alkalized waters MAY hold some benefits however they are typically short-term.

These waters are do NOT filter out some of the most dangerous toxic chemicals such as chlorine, flouride and the thousands of other toxins that pollute our water supply.

Our prehistoric ancestors lived on natural foods (plants, animals, fish, etc) and this is what our bodies are designed to process.

If the diet caused the problem then the diet can also fix the problem.

The solution?

It starts with nutrition. The truth is that most people have no idea of what good nutrition is.

Sure, they think they do.

And, that’s because they keep getting advice from dieticians, doctors and fitness ‘guru’s’ who follow the guidelines made up by the FDA.

But, have you seen the food guide pyramid lately?

Over the past 12 years it’s been flipped and flopped and keeps changing so much because the FDA can’t get it right.

And, considering that 95% of those who lose weight gain it all back goes to show that the current nutritional recommendations just aren’t working.

The key is to understand how the foods you eat affect your body. And, the way our bodies react to food varies from person to person. There is no one-diet that  works for everyone.

When you eat the right foods for you you’ll be amazed at how different you’ll look and  feel.

I’m talking about adopting a plan of holistic nutrition and getting rid of the commonly known ‘junk‘ foods and also those so-called ‘healthy‘ foods that food manufacturers and the government are duping you into believing are good for you just so they can make a profit.

But, this profit is at the expense of you and your family’s health.

Everything from weight loss to body fat reduction to pain reduction to increased energy, strength and vitality can be yours once you stop listening to the one-size-fits-all diet advice and start eating and exercising according to YOUR needs.

And, regarding water…

…Enjoy your alkalized water from time to time if you choose but don’t be led into believing that these waters are the miracle cure for ill health or weight gain.

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It’s a well-known fact that 85% of Americans experience low back pain at some point in their lifetime.

In most cases, lower back pain is caused by muscle imbalances which can be corrected with the right type of exercise.

Now, most people know this already but the bigger problems occur from performing exercises that make low back pain worse rather than better.

Effectively reducing lower back pain starts with understanding why you have back pain and then selecting exercises that can correct the problem.

In the video below I share the 3 most common areas of muscular imbalances that cause lower back problems for most people and 1 highly effective exercise you can use to address each of these areas to eliminate or greatly reduce low back pain:

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Eating healthy is not the same as eating right.

What is ‘healthy‘ when it comes to nutrition?

If one man’s food is another man’s poison then how can we have a set standard for healthy eating?

There are people everywhere who eat ‘healthy’ foods yet suffer from poor health, diminishing energy levels, excess weight and body fat, chronic pain, blood sugar imbalances, high blood pressure, zero libido, hormonal imbalances, decreased productivity, mental lethargy (a.k.a ‘foggy brain’), emotional turmoil and many other issues.

So-called ‘healthy‘ foods are touted by nutrition ‘experts‘ telling you it’s ok to eat them or some silly statement like ‘moderation is key‘ even though they’re polluted with toxic chemicals, carcinogens, pesticides, fungicides, herbicides, hormones or antibiotics simply because they meet some fairytale guidelines like low-calories, fewer carbs or less fat.

Should our government make the guidelines when it comes to eating right?

All we need is to take a look at how many variations of the food guide pyramid have come out over the last 12 years and see that it’s been flipped and flopped much the same as Joan Rivers with all her cosmetic surgeries.

It doesn’t resemble anything close to the original.

And, yet we put the health and lives of ourselves and our families in the hands of an organization that wouldn’t know healthy nutrition if it smacked their left cheek, then smacked their right cheek and then hit them over the head for good measure.

Clearly the calories in vs calories out and many other ‘one-size-fits-all‘ strategies of healthy eating are broken models as evidenced by the 95% failure rate for those who lose weight only to gain it back or who diet their way to low energy and ill health.

We have a nation of people consuming LOTS of calories yet are malnourished.

There’s an old saying that goes ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’.

But, what do we do when what we’re doing to improve our health and well being IS broke?

Why are we not fixing the problem?

Especially when weight loss and optimum health isn’t about numbers or complicated nutritional mathematics that we’re led to believe.

It’s about the quality of what you put in your body rather than the quantity.

Get the first one right and the latter will work itself on its’ own.

The key to healthy eating starts with understanding what the right foods are for our bodies.

Our own unique nutritional needs must be addressed rather than lumping everyone into a ‘one-size-fits-all’ diet.

We need not eat according to somebody else’s standards of what’s healthy.

Simply provide the body with what it needs even though it may differ drastically from one person to the next and you’ll reap the rewards of looking, feeling and moving better than ever.

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