Gainsborough Family Chiropractic

A awesome day despite the weather

Thank you to everyone who attended the Gainsborough family chiropractic picnic on Saturday. The weather was terrible but that didn't stop families from having a good time. The Terpstras did not let a "little rain" ruin a game of bocce. It was fun sitting down and spending more time with all of you, especially since your regular check ups take only a couple of minutes. A very special thank you goes to Cheri from Cheri's custom creative cakes who designed and made the amazing LIFE BY DESIGN cake. It looked beautiful and tasted amazing! Thank you all again Rachelle and myself love and appreciate all of you very much!

Blog posted here.

This weekend we decided to head to Toronto to spend some quality family time with Rachelle's brother and sister inlaw. It is always a pleasure to be with Shawn and Georgia because we share the same views and they both live BY DESIGN. Shawn and Jo have both been strong influencers and motivators for Rachelle and myself. We went touring around Toronto and stopped at one of Shawn's community projects. Shawn decided that he wanted to have access to BY DESIGN food and herbs. Living downtown Toronto you might think that would be difficult, or near impossible. But Shawn and Jo joined a group, petioned the government and constructed a green house at Trinity Bellwoods Park on Queen St. West. All it "cost" them was time and effort to get city approval. As an added bonus to the project, local schools have been bringing their children to show them how to grow and cultivate crops. The point is Shawn and Jo could have made excuses about not having the space in a big city to grow your own food but they didn't. They took action and made the world better. To quote Ghandi: you must BE the change you want to see in the world.

MOVE BY DESIGN

It's a perfect night for moving BY DESIGN. We just finished running up the sand dunes at Port Franks, and everyone feels pumped and energized! Anyone interested in interval training should come and join myself, Rachelle, and Alicia from BMS fit every Tuesday night at 6:30. Just follow highway 22 west until you reach Port Franks road then turn right. See you next week.

Blog posted here.

... and even LIFE BY DESIGN ketchup

 

What an exciting time for LIFE BY DESIGN. Lives in our community have started changing. Just this past week we have had a practice member receive a normal menstrual cycle after having an absent cycle for 9 months. She was already moving, eating and thinking BY DESIGN but once we cleared her neurological system via the chiropractic adjustment the health of the body was restored and her reproductive system began working properly.

I have also had people who I don’t even know stop and say how much their friend and/or relative loves coming to get their spines checked in our office and how much they love living BY DESIGN.

I have had Kathleen facebook me about the benefits of barefoot shoes, which turned into a discussion on barefoot training, thanks to Barb’s insightful questions. This is a great BY DESIGN concept that Kathleen and I have never discussed and the fact that she thought to do some research about this topic on her own time was a pleasant surprise.

Cheri, another practice member, is continually coming up with amazing and creative ways to substitute BY DESIGN foods into her family’s lives.  She came up with amazing BY DESIGN ketchup and brought us in a sample WOW!!! Delicious!

We have heard stories this week about stubborn husbands admitting that they do feel better since they started EATING BY DESIGN.

This excites us because it shows us that our practice members care. If you think about things on your own time you care about them. It excites us because our practice members care about their health, and it excites us because what we are talking about and trying to do is true and it is helping people.

The health of the community is changing and you are all a part of it. You are helping other people. Please understand that YOU are a part of LIFE BY DESIGN. Your experiences, struggles, and rare finds help the next person down the line live the life they deserve.

 

How do I get a body like that?

Changing your body is not rocket science, but it is hard work. The hardest part is not learning what to do, it’s sticking to the plan. In our experience one of the most important, and completely overlooked (especially by women) areas of MOVE BY DESIGN, is strength training.

 

When I say strength training I am taking about lifting heavy things (weights or objects). I am talking about 85-95% maximal effort to move a weight; and just to be absolutely clear, no matter what you are training for, you NEED to be lifting heavy at least two times a week.

 

Lifting heavy IS BY DESIGN!

 

The more lean muscle mass you have the longer and better you live. Individuals with higher levels of lean muscle tissue experience low levels of cancer, diabetes, depression, osteoporosis, and every other modern disease. Lets take a look at some specific effects of strength training that make it BY DESIGN.

 

Heavy lifting increases the body’s production of all anabolic hormones: testosterone, growth hormone, and insulin like growth factor 1(IGF-1). You might be reading this and thinking that these hormones are only important if you are a man or body builder, but nothing could be further from the truth.

 

These hormones:

 

1)   Increase sex drive

2)    Help your body burn fat

3)    Help the body make other hormones (i.e estrogen in women)

4)    Help the body build strong bones

5)    Build lean (attractive muscle mass)

6)    Decrease stress hormones such as cortisol (a hormone that can negatively affect the body by breaking down tissues and storing fat)

 

It is no wonder that our Paleolithic ancestors lifted heavy very often and experienced none of the problems or diseases that the vast majority of humans experience today.  

 

What exercises should I do?

 

The best exercises to build strength are the following:

 

1) Dead Lift

2) Squat

3) Bench Press (push up)

4) Push Press (standing shoulder press)

5) Pull-up (using body weight)

6) Dead Lift

7) Squat

 

Yes I know dead lifts and squats are on the list twice; you can’t build total body strength without them. In fact if the only two exercises you add to your training are squats and dead lifts you will not be disappointed by the results. It is possible to consider adding a few Olympic lifts (cleans, snatches) if you would like. The point is all these exercise require multiple muscle group activation and will totally work your whole body and get it stronger.

 

If you currently struggle with doing pull-ups or push-ups you will need to modify the exercise until your strength increases and you can perform a full repetition with proper form. YouTube is a great source for learning how to do modified versions of push-ups and pull-ups if you can’t do a full one.

 

Despite all the health benefits of lifting heavy that I just mentioned, I can hear the excuses coming at me now.   

 

MYTH #1 I want to lose weight (fat) so I should spend my time doing cardio (running, biking, glider) and not lifting weights.

 

If fat loss is your goal please commit this John Berardi, nutrition PhD., quote to memory “Abs are made in the kitchen.” In other words you need to start EATING BY DESIGN first and foremost. When it comes to exercising for fat loss the science is incontrovertible, people who lift heavy during their workouts lose much more body fat and gain more lean muscle mass then those who do not. I have attached a short article on this topic, if you would like to see it just click on the link.

 

http://www.exrx.net/FatLoss/WT%26End.html

 

MYTH #2 I don’t want to lift heavy because I don’t want to look “manly” or have big muscles.

 

This is the most common complaint from women. Do you remember where abs are made? Well big muscles are made in the same place, coupled with testosterone, growth hormone, and IGF-1.  It is very true that women make these hormones after lifting heavy but not in the same quantity as men. Becoming stronger, for women, will not mean manly arms or jaws. What it will mean physically is lower body fat percentage and a lean sculpted body. Chemically, the production of testosterone, growth hormone and IGF-1 will help women’s sexual drive, bone density, moods, etc. Check the 5^th paragraph of this blog post for further details.

 

I would like you to check out this YouTube clip.  It’s a clip of female Olympic lifters.  These women lift heavy all the time and notice what their body’s look like. 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOJdtaH1noU

 

MYTH #3 I don’t want to lift heavy because it takes too much time. I see how long it takes body builder “types” to work out.

 

Bodybuilding is one of the hardest sports on the planet.  Because the majority of us have no desire to ever step out on stage to compete, we do not have to worry about specific muscle development and muscle symmetry. It is this specific attention to detail that requires many hours of dedication in the gym, not completing the exercises discussed above.

 

Sample workout for beginners

 

Monday:             Squats 5 sets of 5 reps

                        Dead lifts 1 sets of 5 reps

                        Push Press (Over head press) 5 sets of 5 reps

 

Thursday:            Squats 5 sets of 5 reps

                        Dead lifts 1 sets of 5 reps

                        Bench Press (or push up) 5 sets of 5 reps

                        Pull up 5 sets until failure

If you can do more then 12 you need to add some more resistance

 

The above workout will not take more then 30-40 minutes to complete and you are only doing it twice a week. This is only one sample there are many other effective ways to start lifting heavy. Time should never be an excuse.

 

If you are not lifting heavy please start. You can’t be fully MOVING BY DESIGN unless you are lifting heavy. Your health, and your family’s health, depends on it. If you don’t know where to start, or not sure how to start just ask us. 

My Story Part 2

       

Two weeks ago I wrote about how chiropractic changed my life. I discussed the physiological changes that my body went through as a started having my spine checked and adjusted. If you need a refresher please read “My story part 1.”

 

Chiropractic has meant much more to me then just symptomatic changes. The greatest gift chiropractic has given me is its philosophy. Before we begin to discuss chiropractic we need to explore why accepting a philosophy is important in the first place.

 

Every human being on the planet whether they know it or not (most don’t) has accepted a philosophy on life. This philosophy guides our thoughts, actions, and emotions. For example Allopathic medicine’s fundamental universal truth is that the human body is weak, and without human intervention it will suffer and perish. Now whether they know it or not M.D’s have accepted this philosophy. That is why they attempt to artificially change the biochemical composition of the human body via prescription medication or want to remove so-called malfunctioning body parts via surgery.

 

I will save the discussion of the chiropractic philosophy for another day. It is very simple and beautiful but there is far too much information to digest in one simple blog post. All you need to know for now is that the underlying truth of chiropractic is that the human body and nature are intelligent.

 

The single most important change that I have underwent since accepting the chiropractic philosophy is moving from a fear mind set to a mind set of trust. I can’t begin to explain how paramount that was for me.  I no longer worried about when I was going to “get sick” during the winter. I didn’t worry anymore about my cancer “coming back.”

 

I started to trust my body, and I started to feel empowered!

 

I began to trust my body’s natural genetic ability to heal and to be healthy. My body would begin expressing symptoms and my first action would be to avoid medication. I began to think, “If my body is intelligent why is it causing this symptom to happen.” I let my intelligent body follow its course of action. This would mean resting when I had a fever, coughing when my body needed to cough, and vomiting when my body needed to vomit. I began healing quicker, and more completely. I started “getting sick” less often, until I was barely “getting sick” at all. It was awesome!

 

The idea of being in control of my health started to translate into other parts of my life. I began to think that if I could control my own health, maybe I could control my happiness as well. A simple idea (my body is intelligent) started to permeate all aspects of my life.

 

 I would love to see more people step out from under the shadow of fear and doubt and bask in the sunshine of trust. It is a process that takes a lot of patience and courage, but the journey is well worth it.

 

 
 
 

THE BURNING QUESTION, IS SUNSCREEN A SCAM?

    
 

Having spent a great Sunday afternoon in Springbank Park playing Bocce ball with a great group of friends I became very aware of just how powerful and penetrating the media can be in regards to sunscreen usage.  As I looked around every child was slathered from head to toe in sunscreen, wives were following their husbands around with the Coppertone bottle in their hands, and many of my friends I’m sure did not leave home without applying it first.  

So I ask the question,  “If sunscreen sales are into the billions each and every year, why are the rates of skin cancer rising at such an alarming rate?”   

•    54,000 cases of skin cancer annually in the United States 

•    1 in 5 North Americans will develop skin cancer

•    Skin cancer in women under the age of 40 has tripled in the last 30 years

The alarming rates of skin cancer has provoked many people to avoid the sun as much as possible and cover themselves and their children with sunscreen before spending any time outdoors.  But for millions of years, humans have spent many hours out in the sun each day without the protection of sunscreen.  As such, it seems completely backwards to think that spending time in the sun would be considered dangerous. Especially since our hunter-gatherer ancestors (who where much healthier then us) spent a considerable amount of time in the sun.

Could it be possible that sunscreen contributes to these large incidences of skin cancer seen throughout North America? 

Here is what I do know.

 Active ingredients found in most popular brands of sunscreen (Coppertone, Neutrogena, Banana Boat).

•    Para Amino benzoic acid     

•    Avobenzone

•    Cinoxate

•    Dioxybenzone

•    Homosalate

•    Octyl salicylate

•    Oxybenzone 

•    Padimate O

•    Menthyl anthranilate

•    Octocrylene

•    Octo methoxycinnamate

•    Phenulbenzimidazole

•    Sulisobenzone

•    Titanium dioxie

•    Trolamine salicylate

•    Zinc oxide

When we expose our skin to the sun the pores open up from the heat, this allows these toxic (and cancer causing) substances to enter directly into our body.  Definitely not something I’m willing to do to my children. 

It appears that for the past 30 years so-called sunscreens have been good at blocking UVB rays (the ones that burn) but not UVA (the ones primarily responsible for DNA damage and skin cancer).

In essence what sunscreen has done is give us a false sense of security.  The fact that it blocks UVB rays not allowing us to burn, led us to believe that we could stay out in the sun all day.  Little did we know that the burning of the skin might have been a great first warning sign to get out of the sun in the first place.  Imagine that, our body has a natural way of saying “enough”!!

So how did this whole business of never letting our children out in the sun without sunscreen (if you don’t your deemed a bad parent), or never laying in the sun without it yourself all start?

In case you did not already know, the largest pharmaceutical companies also own 3 of the largest manufacturers of sunscreen.  And frankly, last time I checked these companies did not really have my health in their best interest.  They are a business whose sole responsibility is to make money, not to make me healthy or protect me from cancer.  

“BUT THE OZONE LAYER IS GETTING WEAKER, THEREFORE THE SUN IS SO MUCH STRONGER THAN IT WAS”

I rank this statement in the same category as global warming.  Another fear tactic placed on us by environmentalists and the government.  Please don’t take me the wrong way; I am a huge advocate of taking care of the earth, recycling, and conserving energy and resources.  The ozone layer is here to stay; it has the ability the regenerate itself.  The hole in the ozone layer over Antarctica that was discovered in the 1980’s that prompted government regulation of CFC’s and Freon, actually exists every year from September to December.  So instead of it being a big concern, it is actually a naturally occurring event each and every year.  

“BUT I USE NATURAL SUNSCREEN”

Great alternative if you have to be out in the sun all day.  Remember though that even natural sunscreen only blocks UVB rays (the ones that burn), and allow UVA rays (the ones that cause DNA damage and skin cancer).  

Be smart, not scared of the sun.  Cover up using hats, sunglasses, t-shirts, umbrellas.  Limit your exposure.  Utilize the shade and the trees that surround you.  

peace and love

dr. rachelle vanderheyden 

Sources and Citations:

1)    http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2003/08/02/sunscreen-cancer.aspx

2)    http://www.marksdailyapple.com/spf-100-sunblock/

3)    http://ec.europa.eu/environment/ozone/index.htm

My Story Part 1

   

Of all the blog posts that I have written, this one has required the most thought and focus. Chiropractic has transformed my life for the better. To define my terminology, when I say chiropractic what I mean is the adjustment, plus the philosophy of all things natural. Chiropractic is far more then just moving vertebrae. It is both these aspects of Chiropractic (the adjustment and the philosophy) that have deeply improved my life and sparked a passion, a career, and a lifetime pursuit.

Chiropractic has changed how I will raise my family, how I think about the environment, how I perceive the human body, my values, my goals, almost everything I can think of. There is so much to write and comment about that a book would be more appropriate then a blog. That’s why I have decided to separate this post into two parts.

When I first started school I really had no idea what Chiropractic was about. I’m embarrassed to admit, but I thought it had a lot to do with bad backs. However, when my body started to change (from the adjustment) Chiropractic sparked my interest and my opinion began to change.

Symptomatically

Growing up I was “that” child that had constant ear infections. They eventually stopped but I was prescribed many antibiotics along the way.  I was also the child and young adult that would “get sick” 3 times a year, in September, then again in January, then again in April. This would happen every single year from the age of 5 until I entered Chiropractic College. It was almost like clockwork. The diagnosis was always “bronchitis”, which would lead to more antibiotics.

In the late spring to early summer my eyes would be so itchy and red that the pain would be almost unbearable. I would itch so bad that my eyes would swell shut.

Then in the winter of 1998 my “un-health” wrote its magnum opus: thyroid cancer. I will spare you all of the details for now, but as you can imagine it was not a fun time for my family.

I began chiropractic care (getting adjusted) in January 2002 when I entered Chiropractic College. Since then I no longer “get sick”. The last antibiotic I took was in the winter of 2004, and the last time I needed to lay in bed and rest was after my wedding in the fall of 2009(too much stress and partying). I have survived every “sick” season dreamed up by the media with no problem at all.  

My eyes have drastically improved as well. No more trying to claw them out of my skull. The itchiness has decreased 90%, and they only itch for approximately a week out of the entire year.

I wish I could tell you that all this happened with one magic adjustment but it didn’t. My body was toxic. As my nerve system began to be under less tension (with every adjustment) and my body started moving towards health instead of away from health. These changes started happening gradually.

Reflecting as I write, it is amazing how much my life changed through one very simple process. I would lie down on a table once a week, have my adjustment, and then continue with my daily routine. Three minutes once a week changed my life. And along with all these wonderful changes that my body was going through, Chiropractic has still impacted me on a much higher level. I will share that with you in part 2.

 
 
 

What I'm listening to..

The Grateful Dead Album: Aoxomoxoa What a great album. Special credit to track 2; Dupree's diamond blues for telling a great story and track 3: Rosemary for being so beautiful. Nor too mention some awesome album cover art. Music is very BY DESIGN!

Blog posted here.

Disney BY DESIGN

 No matter how old you get, nothing beats going to the Magic Kingdom. The rides are still great, getting your picture taken with Mickey & Minnie Mouse is still exciting, but the best part still has to be the hyper look on the children’s faces as they can’t wait to start experiencing the park. 

As an experiment Rachelle and myself wanted to make our Disney experience a BY DESIGN experience. I’m happy to say that we were successful. Lets review the 4 basic components of LIFE BY DESIGN.

1) CHIROPRACTIC – Rachelle and myself checked each others' spines in the morning before breakfast and at night before jumping in the hotel swimming pool.

2) EAT BY DESIGN – See pic. Despite all the sugar and processed food at Disney there were still some good choices available. We found a stand in “Frontier Land” which sold amazing smoked turkey thighs, and we ate those.   I must admit that I was tired of turkey by the end of the day.

3) MOVE BY DESIGN – We did walk around for a total of 9 hours. This does not fill all the MOVE BY DESIGN requirements in one day. But it does count as one serious session of steady state cardio.

4) THINK BY DESIGN – We were at the “happiest place on earth” it doesn’t get much more THINK BY DESIGN then that!

The point is LIFE BY DESIGN can be taken and done anywhere. You might have to get creative sometimes but that is part of the fun.