Do You Intentionally get Hot?

Getting hot intentionally

 Do you intentionality get hot through sauna, hot baths, infra red, steam showers?

We hear a lot of talk today about intentionally getting cold, cold plunges, for good reason. There are endless benefits to cold exposure. What about heat, sauna therapy? Are there any health benefits and should you be adding it into your healthy routine?

Here is a run down of some of the health benefits of heat therapy:

Muscle- blood is pumped into your muscles as your core temperature heats up, bringing nutrients, oxygen and takes out damaged parts of the cells, similar to exercise. If you aren't a big fan of exercise, or can't for some reason, heat therapy provides similar benefits to muscles as exercise. Unless you are unable to exercise, heat therapy shouldn't be a replacement for exercise, but an option, a way to get in a "cardio" workout.

Bone- blood is sent to the bones which in turn increases nutrients and the release of stem cells from the bones. These stem cells are able to self-renew and become other cells from muscle to brain to blood to other organs. An increase in the release of stem cells can help the body heal, repair and regenerate itself. Deep levels of healing.

Immune support- important heat shock proteins are released improving the overall immune system. Antioxidants are also increased throughout the body furthering the immune benefits.

Honoring Yourself

 

What is the difference between those who make a decision to change, set a new goal in life, decide to lose weight, change a habit, implement a new virtue into their lives, who succeed and those who do not? 

I believe one of the biggest difference is, those who succeed have committed to themselves, they honor themselves and the commitments they have made to themselves. They have an unbreakable bond with themselves. They also have the courage to continue to struggle, pursue, try, even when it doesn't workout in their favor immediately, takes a long time, even years decades to accomplish what they set out to do. They have a relentlessness deep inside themselves. It is different than motivation. 
 
You can have all the motivation in the world. You can be as motivated as you want. Motivation is fleeting, it has an expiration period. You have this great idea, go to a conference and be all hyped up, be on fire,  you are going to do this no matter what. The speakers were so motivated, high energy, cheer leader you up! You can do this! Go after everything you want! You come away on a motivation high! Then you find yourself at home a several days weeks later and where is that motivation? That fire that was burning so bright it could be seen from outer space? Motivation is a piece to accomplishing our dreams, goals, life changes. We need this motivation to begin the journey, see the possibilities. Once the motivation is gone, we need the commitment of honoring ourselves to see our dreams become the life we live. 

Recipe: Orange, Bourbon, Honey Sauce

Pork brisket 

I picked up a brisket of pork the other day, I have never seen this cut of pork before had to give it a try. Definitely a fan. If you find brisket of pork, pick it up and give this recipe a try. This will work for any cut of pork, loin, chops, rump, it will also be good with chicken. 

Ingredients, these are rough estimates to what I used, always cook to taste 

pork, brisket or any cut you have

kosher salt, preferably, for dry brining 

Sauce

1/4 cup coconut amino

1/2 cup bourbon

1-2 TBPS, to taste honey

1/2 cup worcestershire sauce, I used homemade, it is heavenly

if using store worcestershire, several good shakes 

zest and juice of an orange 

salt to taste, remember your pork has been dry brined, there is already salt on the meat

Compound butter

butter, room temperature, enough butter to cover your roast, begin with 4-5 TBPS 

coriander, 1/2 TBPS per TBPS of butter

This made about two cups of sauce

Time for prep and cooking

Dry brine the meat overnight.

You want to place the butter coriander mixture on the meat for several hours to overnight. 

Cook in the oven at a temperature of 225 degrees for about 4 hours, depending on the size of the pork brisket and cut of meat. This is a low and slow cooked meat dish. If you have a smoker, this would be divine smoked. 

As a Health Coach, I need Nutrition Help

Back in December I began eating carnivore.  This was not for the long term, I am going to be carnivore for the rest of my life because it is the only way to eat. It was to work on some health issues I was experiencing, fatigue and gut issues mainly, to see if this style of eating would have a positive impact. My plan from the beginning, I would eat this way until my body told me otherwise.

Over all I have been feeling great! More energy, most of the fatigue was lifting, leaned out from losing the inflammation especially in my mid section which was good weight to lose and my gut issues are better, work to do still, on the path.

The negative side effects I was beginning to experience: I began not sleeping good, too low in carbs for my Irish, Polish, Russian carb loving genes. several things were going into this, but I know my sleep is impacted when I don't eat enough and I am too low in carbs. My heart rate was higher than it should be. Fatigue, forgetfulness were beginning to come back. 

The other big struggle I was having, back in my day, I struggled with anorexia. It was a response to stress and control of pain during some crazy times in life. I began experiencing the same pain I had in my stomach when I was deep in anorexia. It is not pleasant. It is a deep, empty stomach pain, beyond I am really hungry, it is true pain. Not because I was back in my anorexia struggles, I am not. It was something I was beginning to experience. I was also starving in the mornings. I would coach for several hours and then do my work out in this deep, fasted, stomach pain state, I was experiencing more soreness from workouts than normal and decreasing energy in the gym. No good.

I saw my functional medicine FNP-C, who is helping me with my thyroid and arm, and told him what was going on. That I was eating carnivore, feeling great, but here is some of what I was struggling with. The empty stomach pain, the fatigue coming back, soreness in the gym, not sleeping great. The conversation went something like this: 

5 Habits for Better Health

The beauty, serenity of the early morning

One of mine and Otto's favorite places, the beach

There is this prevailing thought today that health is very complicated. You have to do some crazy things, weigh food, count macros, eat mostly plants, less meat and animal fat, starve, that it has to be extremely difficult, you must suffer, otherwise you aren’t getting “healthy”. I don’t believe any of this. Rediscovering your health does not need to be difficult, a suffering fest that you are miserable and can’t ever enjoy anything. I am not saying that it will be a walk in the park and easy with no sacrifices, struggles, frustrations, because that is not true. Changing your lifestyle involves creating new habits, confronting your own demons, working through things, having the courage to take new steps and take that step over and over until it is a part of who you are.

These 5 steps are simple. Simple does not mean easy, they are not interchangeable. The answers to life’s toughest questions are usually the simplest. Because they are simple, we reject them because simple makes them approachable, doable, we can implement them into our lives. When things are difficult, we can blame our lack of achievement on the fact it is difficult. On the flip side, we view simplicity as too easy, the answer cannot be that simple. If it is that simple, it won’t work. Simplicity scares us.

 

5 Habits for Better Health:

Eat mainly animal protein and fat

Be in the sunlight throughout the day, especially mornings

Move your body frequently, walk, lift heavy, sprint

Sleep

Put down the technology, take it off, be with people you love and those who inspire you to pursue your dreams and become a better version of yourself

Begin implementing these 5 habits into your life and live them for the next several weeks. Notice how your health and life change with these simple habits.

If you are good to go, go forth and be a force of the awesome. If you need some more info on these 5 habits, continue reading.