Gainsborough Family Chiropractic

Yaz Related

Terrible news this week – If you can’t tell from my headline and you want to read the article click here

I’m sure you’re wondering: “what angle is he going to take?”

 

1. Blame the drug companies
2. Blame the medical doctors for prescribing the medication
3. Blame someone, anyone

 

I’m don’t want to point fingers and blame anyone. There are many factors at play. I only want to focus on one, and I would rather talk about solutions than problems. There is a powerful principle at play that if you practice, your life will change forever and for the better.

That principle is responsibility.

You own your life and are ultimately responsible for what happens in it; good and bad.

What does that mean?

I will try to give you some examples of how people try to ‘pass the buck’ to someone else:

 

• “I can’t believe my guidance counselor recommended I get this job, I hate this job. It’s all her fault.”
• “I can’t believe my retirement planner lost half of my money. It’s all his fault.”
• “The fact that I can’t lose weight is my personal trainer’s fault.”

It might sound like I’m being harsh and I know sometimes in life things happen that are totally outside of our control. My point is simple: Try your hardest to limit what happens outside of your control and maximize what is in your control.

How?

-Do your research.

-Ask: “Does this make sense to me?”

-Ask  the question that every child knows and every adult forgets: “Why?"

-Use facts over feelings and do not evade or ignore what is happening in front of you.

The more responsible you are and the more you own every decision that is possible for you to own, the better your life will be, every single time.

Action steps

1) Ask yourself, “Where am I struggling the most in my life?”

I know that this can be hard because it is easier to avoid things that we struggle with.

2) Begin to ask yourself why you struggle with it. I know that you have given up responsibility of that aspect of your life to some respect.

3) Stop accepting things on faith and start accepting things on facts or logic. Your judgment is meat to serve you. So use it!

My thoughts and prayers go out to the families in the birth control story. What a tragedy to lose so many women, mostly young women who had nothing but a future full of potential ahead of them. 

Dr.K

Good for Nothing

Think By Design is fast approaching. This week I wanted to share with you a topic that will help improve your life.

A value is something that you wish to gain or keep.

A virtue is the action you need to perform to keep that value.

The largest mistake that I’ve made in the past and the one that I want you to help you avoid is not describing your values clearly enough.

Most people want a “good relationship” or “success in business.” Knowing exactly what you want will help you understand what virtues you need in order achieve your values.

When asked what “good” or “success” means, the usual answer is “Oh, you know….” Trust me, I understand how hard and scary it can be to finalize a vision for what you want in your mind. I know the self doubt--“I could never have that,” or “I don’t deserve it,” or “What a pipe dream,” etc.

Clarity is important because with it, you will know what do to.

For example, let’s suppose that you want a “good relationship.”

Does a good relationship have:

- Children?

- Independence?

- Sharing?

- Time away from one another? 

The correct answers to these questions are a matter of personal taste. It is up to the individual to decide. Most people don’t answer the difficult questions. They blindly proceed forward and wonder why things don’t work out in the end.

Once you have decided on what you want, you can make decisions based on your values – what we call “values based decision making.”

Freedom is a huge value for me. If I were to meet someone who wanted to be together all the time, the relationship would not last very long. Neither one of us would be right or wrong in this situation—we would be different.

It is shocking how many people continue to make decisions based on things other than their values. The three that get in the way most often are fear, guilt and obligation 

Action Steps:

1) If you haven’t already, please write down what you want in the most specific fashion possible. Pictures work great. What a great thing to use your journal for as well.

2) Ask yourself what you need to do in order to achieve that goal. Let’s suppose that I want to be the busiest doctor in my city. What would I need to do in order to achieve that?

I would have to:

1) Find out who the busiest is currently

2) Find out if I currently have the infrastructure necessary to become the best

3) Find out if I have the proper people to help me

4) Ask myself I can communicate well enough to build that client volume… etc

If I miss any of these steps, choose to ignore them, or worse, purposely ignore them, then my chance of creating my value (busiest office) drops dramatically.

3) Be OK with failing. Changing your mind and your focus is going to be difficult

Dr.K

Ready to Kick Those Habits? Watch this First...

The 30 Day Challenge is almost finished. Ready to make it 30 year challenge? Watch this first...

 

 

Parenting By Design: More Food for Thought

 

Cheri here! It's time for another installment of my blog about raising my kids By Design.  

In my last blog, I gave you some tips and tricks to begin feeding your family By Design. This time the rubber meets the road with recipes, photos and an average daily menu.

Oftentimes, parents will share with me that the most challenging meals for them are breakfast and packed lunches. I can help!

Here’s an awesome recipe for pancakes that you can customize to your family’s tastes with mix-ins like apples or bananas and toppings like fresh fruit, almond butter or even some whipped heavy cream.

Ingredients:
3 eggs, beaten
3 tbsp coconut flour
1/3 c. coconut milk
½ tsp baking soda

(We like to add vanilla and cinnamon for a little French toast flair!)

Instructions:
Heat a cast iron skillet and add 1 tbsp coconut oil for frying. These little babies can be tricky to flip, so be patient and let them go a while to make it easier on yourself. Make some ahead and toss them in the toaster (if you still own one) for a quick breakfast on the go.

Lunches can be tricky with most schools being “nut free” zones and offerings of pizza and hotdog lunches. Why not try your child’s favorite dinner packed in a thermos mug? Bacon stuffed meatballs are a favorite with our team! Sometimes we keep it simple with some cold meat, some hard cheese, veggies and berries and water to drink.  We save the snacks containing nuts for after school treats--apples with almond butter is always a hit!

One special treat I often make that is worth sharing are homemade “LARA” bars.  This is an easy recipe from Cookie and Kate and the combinations are endless!  Add ingredients to your family’s taste and get creative.

Ingredients
1 1/2 cup almonds (or other nuts, rawor roasted but definitely unsalted)
1 generous cup Medjool dates, pitted
1 cup dried apricots (or other dried fruit like cherries, cranberries or dehydrated apples)
pinch sea salt
(optional add-ins: small amounts of lemon zest, lime zest,nut butter or cocoa powder)

Instructions

1. Line an 8- or 9-inch square bakingdish with parchment paper or wax paper. In a food processor, pulse the almonds until they are chopped (stop before they start turning into nut butter). Pour
   them into a bowl.
2. Process the pitted dates, dried apricots and sea salt until the dried fruits are mashed into a paste. They may try to ball up in the processor, in which case you’ll want to stop and break up
   the mixture with a spoon before continuing.
3. Break up the fruit mixture and add the nuts to the food processor. Process until the chopped nuts are incorporated evenly into the fruit mixture. Transfer the mixture to the baking dish, and use your hands to press it into an even layer.
4. Chill the baking dish in the freezer for at least 30 minutes, then use a sharp knife to cut the fruit-and-nut blend into squares or bars (I cut mine into 16 squares). Wrap each bar tightly for
   individual servings - These bars should last for a couple weeks at room temperature, but store them in the refrigerator or freezer for prolonged shelf life.

Recipe from http://cookieandkate.com/2013/homemade-larabars-apricot-almond-bars/

The key is to change the way your typical meals used to look and get really creative.  Involve the kiddos and have fun with it.

Enjoy!

 

The Rob Ford Fiasco

I have very little contact with the media. When I do allow myself media contact it is very limited and for a purpose.

I’m telling you this because when I hear about something, it means that it is so popular that even “guys like me” hear about it.

I was really disappointed to hear about Toronto’s mayor and his whole crack smoking fiasco.

I’m not upset at Rob Ford and I really don’t care if he ever gets his act together. I am upset at the fact that so many people care about this incident. Are so many people really interested in someone that is such a mess?

There are so many people working hard to change things for the better, working to pursue their goals, fighting seemingly impossible odds and succeeding, yet we never hear about most of them. I wonder why?

Why do so many people love disasters and skip over the successes? 

Dr.K

Angelina Jolie and Your Health Destiny

 

For those of you that don’t know what I’m referring to with my title, you can read this article to get up to speed.

Angelina Jolie undergoes double mastectomy

Let’s make one thing clear before I begin: I respect a person’s right to their own life. If Angelina Jolie thinks that this was the correct choice for her, then good for her. This blog post is not about questioning her choice.

However, there are two very important aspects of this decision that need to be addressed because they are inaccurate and harmful.

I promise to keep this brief but thought provoking.

1) There is good science supporting her decision.

Unfortunately not true. Let me give you the good news. Your genes are not your destiny. Please look at the time magazine cover I have provided as a picture. Your environment (your choices) turn on (or off) different genes in your body. This is a growing field of science called epigenetics. Your genes can predispose you to some things, but they are not your destiny—your choices are!

2) Your life is outside of your control.

There is quite clearly a philosophy of determinism at play here. A Determinist is someone who believes that things will happen the way they “are going” to happen and that there is nothing anyone can do about it. It is very true that Angelina Jolie will never be able to get breast cancer because she does not have breasts. That would be no different from someone saying:

If I never get into a relationship I can never get hurt.

If I never have money I can never go broke.

If I never try to do anything I can never fail.

If I don’t push my comfort zone I will always feel safe.

I understand that I’m walking a fine line here but this is important. This is the philosophy that most people are operating under and it does not produce a happy,  satisfying life, it produces the opposite–a  grey, mundane one.  I can comment from my own personal experience that living with a belief system that says that things are going to happen to me that I have no control over produced a lot of fear, anxiety and stress in my life. I wonder if the same is true here?

“Achieving life is not the equivalent to avoiding death.”

 -Ayn Rand

Please live to the maximum!

You are worth it.

 

Dr.K 

How to add time and remove stress from your day

 

Parenting By Design: Food for Thought

Cheri here! It's time for another installment of my blog about raising my kids By Design.  

With the 30 Day Challenge in full swing I thought it would be appropriate to write about feeding children By Design.  It can be a challenge to make the switch but the reward far outweighs the risk.

Here are a few tips to make the transition easier for you and your children.

The first thing I want you to understand and repeat over and over in your head is this:  Your child is better off with NO meal than a toxic one. I am by no means suggesting that you starve your children until they submit and agree to Eat By Design.  However, understanding this principle and communicating it to your little ones will help you to stand your ground and reframe the choices you present to your children.

Second, clean the pantry. You did it for yourself, do it for the kids.  Clean out the last vestiges of grains. Lunch snacks, goldfish, wraps, cereal--they all have to go.  If you stop buying them, your kids will stop eating them.  Put approved foods in their hands and let THEM make the choice. 
Letting them choose can be a powerful tool when older children especially, are digging in their heels.  When things get tense, take a breath and go back to tip number 1.

Third, change your mind about what meals look like.  This may be a tricky one at first but eventually your kids won't think anything of leftovers for breakfast and sweet otatoes in their lunch box.  Think of the flexibility this will give you once you transition--no more fussy eaters or sugar crashes!

Fourth, have the talk with them.  Help them to understand the principles of Eat By Design in age appropriate language. It will be easier for them to communicate to their friends at school the
choices they are making.

Fifth, have the talk with friends and family--especially grandparents.  Explain to them that this is
NOT a diet.  Ask them to respect your choices and if necessary, explain that you will bring along or send food.  You could even take the opportunity to educate -- after all, everyone is designed to be EXTRAORDINARY!

And lastly, have fun with it!  Ditch the sugary Heinz ketchup and make your own.  LARA type bars are super easy to make and pack well in lunches.  Involve the kids in meal planning, shopping and cooking.  The cookbook Eat Like a Dinosaur has been priceless for our family.  Websites like nomnompaleo.com and health-bent.com are excellent recipe resources. 

There's one caveat: some of these recipes will still have a lot of sugar in them in various forms. Maple syrup, honey and coconut sugar are STILL sugar.  Tread lightly.

It may take a while for your kids to be entirely on board with Eat By Design but it will be so worth it.  Our girls are rarely sick; Hannah's allergy and asthma symptoms (which I now attribute to the inflammatory properties of grains and sugars) have disappeared; we don't experience the ups and downs of sugar highs and crashes.  The best part is now the kids make By Design choices for themselves without being prompted.  They understand the basic principles, that off track foods are not optimal and they are aware how those foods make their body feel.  

Remember the cookies from my first post about feeding my family? We've replaced those! We either bring our own By Design treats, or crush a bag of jerky--that's almost bacon right?

Hangry? LBD Flu? Find out what to expect during the 30 Day LBD Challenge.

 

Dr. Rachelle discusses what to expect during the Life By Design 30 Day Challenge.

Hating the Good...

“Can I ask you something…?”

“Sure you can Mark.”

Before we get into things, you need to understand a little bit about Mark. Mark is the guy who tells you that he is not ready for chiropractic, but that he will be in two months and then you see him again in two months excited to start care.

Mark is the guy who when any of his three children come home to visit he takes a week vacation to “just hang out with them.”

Mark is the guy who when his wife wants to do something he says yes and goes to work to provide it.

Mark is the guy whose appointments you could set a clock to, says nothing the whole time he is on the table, then as he is getting off the table he smiles directly at you and gives you and firm handshake while looking you directly in the soul.

The only response I can give a guy like Mark is, “Ask me anything you want.” Implied was an obvious I will do whatever it takes to help give you an answer.

He started tearing up.

“Dr. K, how do you deal with people that are giving you a hard time?”

I had to ask him to clarify. As it turns out, Mark and his wife Joan, who have been married for over 25 years, are extremely happy.

Where is the problem, you ask?

To make a long story short, Mark has been experiencing problems from people in his community who think that his marriage can’t possibly be that good and that he is somehow lying and is really unhappy underneath it all. The tears came from the fact that his marriage is a huge value to him and having people attack that hurts.

This is called “hating the good for being the good” and it is the most evil thing that is happening in the world.

Mark should be giving seminars and sharing his success with others, but instead he feels guilty.

What does he feel guilty for? Being a good husband, father, and being happy in a relationship.

Our world is truly backwards sometimes.

Please do me a favour. If you see this kind of behaviour, please intervene! Goodness should be rewarded and praised. If you see goodness (real goodness, not what most of the world considers good) please run towards it, and protect it with everything you've got.

So how did I answer him?

I told him I was working hard to create a community where happiness is normal and success is smiled upon.

As he was leaving the office he was smiling.

Dr.K