An Excerpt from Dr. Bierbrauer's Latest Newsletter

New Beginnings

The time is always right to begin returning to good health. Regardless of whether your issues involve weight, exercise, diet, blood pressure, diabetes, or chronic pain, now is the time to begin taking action on your own behalf.

You are not alone. Literally hundreds of millions of people worldwide have various chronic complaints and illnesses.1,2,3 Some problems are more serious than others, but everyone eventually wants to find a better way to manage their health problems. Eventually everyone wants to actually begin to be healthier and feel better.

Of course, a healthy diet and regular vigorous exercise are the key elements in any process of returning to good health. People know this, but for the most part this knowledge alone does not do any good. The deep truth is that feeling good and actually being healthy takes a lot of effort. It's much easier to pick up dinner from a fast food restaurant than to spend precious time planning and shopping and preparing meals. It's much easier to sit on your couch and watch people on TV trying to lose weight than to actually do the work of losing weight yourself. It's much easier to spend 30 minutes watching the news for the third time that day than to put on your workout clothes and go for a brisk 30-minute walk.

We are all slaves to our habitual ways of thinking and habitual ways of living. Just as in physics, people have inertia. Newton's First Law of Motion states that a body at rest stays at rest and a body in motion stays in motion, unless it is acted upon by an external unbalanced force. We will do the same things we have always done, achieving the same results we have always achieved, unless we make an active choice to engage in new thinking and new activities.

By the way, no one is going to make any lasting changes in their lifestyle - for example, by choosing a healthy diet and daily exercise - merely because someone told them they needed to do it. If you're chronically overweight, your doctor has told you every year that you need to make changes. Every year at your annual physical she tells you to begin regular, vigorous exercise and adopt healthy eating habits. Do any of these admonitions ever make a lasting difference? They don't, not becauses they are bad advice, but because they were not a match for your own world view. Real change, lasting change, has to come from within, from your own personal choice. 

When a person is actually ready to choose to revamp her lifestyle with respect to achieving good health, there are many possible steps to take. Chiropractic care can be an important and critical component of an overall health improvement strategy.

1Temple R, Murphy H: Type 2 diabetes in pregnancy - An increasing problem. Best Pract Res Clin Endocrinol Metab 24(4):591-603.
2Li S, et al: Genetic predisposition to obesity leads to increased risk of type 2 diabetes. Diabetologiz Jan 26, 2011 (Epub ahead of print)
3Urquhart DM, et al: Increased fat mass is associated with high levels of low back pain intensity and disability. Spine Jan 25, 2011 (Epub ahead of print)

Chiropractic Care and Long-Term Health
 
Achieving long-term health does not imply that you will never get sick. Achieving long-term health does not imply that you will never have a neck or back problem. Achieving long-term health does mean that you will get the most out of what you've got; you will be much healthier than otherwise; and you will feel better about yourself, have more energy, and get more out of life.

Chiropractic care is an essential component of achieving long-term health. Making sure you eat good food, drink plenty of water, and eat several portions of fresh fruits and vegetables each day is a very good place to start. Adding a daily program of 30 minutes of regular, vigorous exercise is the next key piece in achieving good health. Chiropractic care is the important link that brings everything together, enabling your body to make the best use of your nutrition and exercise. Chiropractic care helps ensure that the various parts of your body are working in harmony to achieve your long-term goals in health and wellness.
 

Dr. Bierbrauer is the owner of Bierbrauer Chiropractic, 221 10th Avenue South, on the ground floor of the Bridgewater Lofts.  He has been treating new born infants, children and adolescents, adults and elderly, entire families and both amateur and professional athletes since graduating magna cum laude from Palmer College of Chiropractic in 1995.

Update 16 - Getting Whipped into Shape - The Power of Muscle (?)

I've often heard that increased muscle mass = increased metabolism. 

The past few weeks have been a double whammy -  slacking on cardio while over-indulging in sugar.   Miracle of miracles, I haven't gained weight.   Could it be I've packed on enough muscle to actually make a difference?

Even if that were the case, it's just one piece of the puzzle.  My math could be skewed, but it seems like every missed 600+ calorie-burning cardio session, combined with a dessert or two, equates to an extra net 1,000 calories a day - or 2 pounds a week!  Things can start to get ugly fast.

I decided to make time for a session with Andrea this Friday.  Starting to sweat already...

An Excerpt from Dr. Bierbrauer's April 2011 Newsletter

Submitted by Dr. Chris Bierbrauer

Day of Reckoning

The human body is remarkably resilient. Your body can withstand a great deal of abuse. It bounces back to fight off many infections, repair strains and sprains, and heal broken bones. You may drive hundreds of miles in a day, fly across multiple time zones, and travel to other countries and other continents. Your body manages it all, keeping you healthy and on track. And then one day it doesn't.

What goes wrong? You might say, "Why did this [high blood pressure, diabetes, heart attack, herniated spinal disc] happen to me? I eat right. I exercise. I get enough sleep. Why me?"

The immediate response would be "Really? Do you really?" Are you actually engaging in healthy lifestyles that are right for you? Or are you "paying lip service" to these behaviors, going through the motions and not paying attention to what is really needed and necessary?

In the mid-1980s the author of a best-selling book on running suddenly died of a heart attack after a daily run. His death was national news and remains a cautionary tale of the need for a well-rounded exercise program. Running every day does not provide total fitness. Neither does lifting weights every day. Neither does daily yoga nor daily Pilates classes. Healthful exercise programs encompass a range of activities. Total health requires total fitness.1

Healthy eating calls for the same balanced approach. Too much of anything will usually lead to problems down the road. Excess carbohydrates cause problems with serum glucose and exhaust supplies of insulin, ultimately resulting in diabetes and overweight/obesity. Excess meat or excess dairy will likely result in high blood cholesterol levels, possibly leading to arteriosclerosis, high blood pressure, heart attack and stroke.

In addition to 30 minutes per day of vigorous exercise (which can be satisfied, in part, by 30 minutes of daily walking), the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recommends five daily servings of fresh fruit and vegetables.2,3 It is remarkable how few people actually do these things. The result is that the prevalence of overweight/obesity, diabetes, and high blood pressure continue to rise.

It's best not to have to play catch-up. The day of reckoning may never arrive if we begin, right here and right now, to take consistent, daily, healthy actions on our own behalf.

1 Andersen LL, et al: Effectiveness of small daily amounts of progressive resistance training for frequent neck/shoulder pain: Randomised controlled trial.Paini 2010 December 20 [Epub ahead of print]
2 Scarborough P, et al: Modelling the impact of a healthy diet on cardiovascular disease and cancer mortality. J Epidemiol Community Health 2010 December 15 [Epub ahead of print]
3 Toledo E, et al: Hypothesis-oriented food patterns and incidence of hypertension: 6-year follow-up of the SUN prospective cohort. Public Health Nutr 13(3):338-349, 2010

Dr. Bierbrauer is the owner of Bierbrauer Chiropractic, 221 10th Avenue South, on the ground floor of the Bridgewater Lofts.  He has been treating new born infants, children and adolescents, adults and elderly, entire families and both amateur and professional athletes since graduating magna cum laude from Palmer College of Chiropractic in 1995.

Workout Buddies Help Keep Each Other on Track

Dawn Doll of 501SP1N introduces three of her clients who are also friends.  Great example for anyone who may not have the drive or discipline to maintain a consistent workout routine on their own.

Spoonriver Chefs Show "The Human Do.ing" How to Cook Healthy

By now most people have heard about Blue Cross Blue Shield's campaign with Scott, “The Human Do.ing”, who has been trying to get in shape while being on display at the Mall of America. 

Recently, Brenda Langton and Sarah Jean of Spoonriver visited Scott and showed him how to incorporate a variety of healthy foods into his diet.

Update 15 - Getting Whipped into Shape - Miss My Trainer!

Two Fridays have passed without 1-hour sessions with Andrea.  While I definitely needed to be at the office to get time sensitive work completed, I do miss those sessions and there is no doubt that if I want to stay on track I will need to find time to see Andrea this month. 

I've also been falling behind on my workouts - 4 days a week isn't going to cut it if I don't rein in the empty calories (and the odds of that happening are slim).  Warm weather means Blue Moons on a neighborhood patio.  And a few Blue Moons inevitably lead to losing my inhibitions towards a deep fried snack...

"The Great Fitness Experiment" Sounds Like a Fun and Informative Read

There was an interesting story in Monday's Star Tribune Variety section titled "A Tell-all Fitness Tale".  Katy Read tells the story of a Lakeville woman, Charlotte Hilton Andersen, who methodically tested a different diet and exercise plan every month, which she recorded in her blog.  This went on long enough to result in a book, The Great Fitness Experiment, which shows rave reviews on Amazon.com.

Photo: Renee Jones Schneider, Star Tribune

Update 14 - Getting Whipped into Shape - Two Months on My Own

Everything becomes a chore when you're running non-stop, trying to squeeze 25 hours out of a 24 hour day.  Even enjoyable activities become a burden.  I reached that point a while ago, and this past week I decided to start simplifying life a little bit by cutting back on commitments. 

I'm putting my Friday afternoon workouts with Andrea on hold for April and May.  I'll continue the usual early morning cardio and weights, and use the tools she's given me to stay on track.  We'll still get together at the end of May for the next fat analysis and measurements.