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Most people agree that the majority of us want to succeed in life, both personally and professionally. Today we not only face the challenges of stiff competition in the workplace and challenges in our personal lives, many of us also experience difficulty in distinguishing between that which is mediocre (if effective at all) in preventing conditions & diseases and that which is most effective. We are ultimately being robbed of not only our money, (that's bad enough) but we are also being robbed of our precious time as we continue to be inundated with all the hype, pseudoscience, and nonsense spun by those taking a page or two out of "The Emperor's new Clothes." The purveyors with less than honorable intentions have sold us little, if anything, to help us achieve optimum health & fitness and more often than not, they can also do us harm both physically and psychologically.
For those of you who are not familiar with the children's story by Hans Christian Anderson "The Emperor's New Clothes," it is a tale of two unscrupulous weavers who promise a very vain emperor a new set of the finest clothes from an amazing fabric "invisible" to anyone who is unfit for his position. They subsequently pretend to create and fit the emperor with these special garments. Although the emperor's ministers cannot see the clothes themselves, they pretend they can for fear of appearing unfit for their own positions. Later, as the emperor is paraded down a procession before all his subjects, the townsfolk go along with this pretense for fear of also appearing unfit for their positions. Suddenly, a young child yells out that the emperor is wearing no clothes at all prompting the crowd to then follow the child's lead and cry out as well. Although the emperor becomes suspicious that the assertion may be true, he nevertheless continues with the procession. The phrase "the emperor's new clothes" has become an idiom about logical fallacies. The story itself is explained by pluralistic ignorance. This is a situation where no one actually believes something to be true, yet everyone believes that everyone else believes it so they also go along with it. Alternatively, everyone may indeed be ignorant as to whether something is true or not, but they believe that everyone else cannot be as ignorant as they are. So here we are, well into the 21st century and a popular Danish fairy tale written in 1837 describes what is pervasive today. So many people want to believe things that cannot possibly be true regardless of not only the empirical evidence to the contrary, but the evidence right before their very eyes, yet they still choose to believe what everyone else does. The lesson here is that we must always keep our eyes wide open and we must sharpen our critical thinking skills since the two charlatans who sold the emperor his new clothes are among us today. We find them in all walks of life and in all professions such as medicine, law, wealth management, journalism, education, politics, publishing, and real estate. Although we would like to believe that everyone is operating with honesty and integrity, when it comes to matters of health in particular, we unfortunately have to come to terms with the fact that much of the public will be tricked into believing what is thrust upon them so vehemently whether it is based on scientific fact or not. Take it from me, a New York State permanently certified teacher, when it comes to your health, do your homework, believe in empirical evidence, and do not assume anything. Be cautious especially of those unscrupulous individuals who try to sell you "a bill of goods." (For those of you whose first language is NOT English, "a bill of goods" refers to something that is intentionally misrepresented or something that is promoted or sold in a type of deception or fraud.) For optimum health & fitness, "CLIMB, LIFT & EAT WELL..." ®
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Since October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, the following post is dedicated to all those women and men who have been and will be diagnosed with breast cancer as well as to their friends and loved ones who are and will be supporting them during their ordeal.
As I walked along the Embarcadero waterfront this past week on my way to and from my appointment for a routine mammography, I thought about how I would word what has been on my mind for several years now. My heart goes out to all those individuals who have been diagnosed or will be diagnosed with breast cancer. There are facts, however, surrounding breast cancer and many other cancers which the majority of the public appears to have little, if any, knowledge about. Most people do not seem to grasp that so much is indeed within their control and that the majority of cancers, including breast cancer, could be PREVENTED in the first place. That being said, we must not stop trying to treat those cases which could not be prevented and we must not stop trying to find a cure. It does however make a lot more sense to PREVENT what we can and to BE COMBAT-READY for what we cannot. Although prevention is a word tossed about in the media, it would appear that all too often it is not taken very seriously. At a San Francisco Bay Area women's networking event last year, a facilitator made the following statement to me after I stressed the need for prevention education. She said, "People don't want prevention. They want a remedy." What a strange statement! I cannot think of anyone who would choose to go through enduring and possibly not surviving a disease such as breast cancer rather than taking steps to help avoid it in the first place. While there are those who are genetically "predisposed" to diseases such as breast cancer but are never diagnosed with it since they choose to live a healthy lifestyle, there are others who have no such "predisposition," who choose to live an unhealthy lifestyle and are later diagnosed. Too many people are making choices completely inconsistent with trying to prevent not only breast cancer but also the myriad of other conditions and diseases currently plaguing the public. The interesting part is that what one must do to help prevent one condition or disease can and often will help prevent another. If you want to prevent breast cancer, other cancers as well as cardiovascular disease, type II diabetes and more, stop smoking, limit or eliminate alcohol and understand that there is no substitute for effective cardiovascular and progressive anaerobic exercise combined with healthy whole food nutrition. "CLIMB, LIFT & EAT WELL..." ® Since today is World Obesity Day, I would like to share my thoughts on this very serious health crisis currently threatening the health and well-being of people of all ages, ethnic groups, and socioeconomic statuses worldwide. Make no mistake, it is within our power to avoid conditions such as obesity which often lead to diseases which could be prevented or at the very least mitigated.
The solution lies in stacking the odds in our favor by embracing and implementing that which is backed by long-established EMPIRICAL evidence and by disregarding so-called evidence dispensed by modern-day snake oil salespeople both with and without credentials. These individuals include those who have vested interests which often do not coincide with scientific facts. Images viewed on American television and print ads featuring obese Type II diabetics and others engaging in prolonged static stretching do little, if anything, to combat obesity as well as other conditions and diseases. These images serve only to confuse and mislead the public. After consulting with an ethical board-certified physician who has your best interests in mind, learn from a credentialed and ethical personal trainer and nutritionist how to: 1) CLIMB on your own two feet effectively and safely. 2) LIFT challenging yet safe external loads progressively. 3) EAT WELL by consuming healthy whole foods in the correct macro-nutrient proportions. This means incorporating healthy proteins, healthy carbohydrates and healthy fats into your daily food intake. We can indeed prevent obesity by respecting and implementing science based only on empirical evidence. As always, "CLIMB, LIFT & EAT WELL..." ® As adults we have choices regarding how we spend our discretionary time, particularly when we have a limited quantity of this precious commodity. When it comes to time management, it is imperative to distinguish between what is essential and what is optional as we attempt to allocate this precious resource efficiently. Once we do so, we will then be in a more strategic position to optimize health & fitness.
We can choose to follow a widely hyped activity that claims to reduce stress, promote relaxation, increase flexibility, improve balance, as well as the quality of sleep. On the other hand, we can choose to follow a program based on over a generation of empirical evidence which accomplishes all of the above in addition to improving cardiovascular endurance, increasing cardio-respiratory fitness, improving bone mineral density, optimizing organ function, regulating insulin & blood glucose, regulating blood pressure, improving good cholesterol, decreasing bad cholesterol, avoiding pelvic & musculoskeletal issues, improving & maintaining cognitive function and so much more... When we complete the full range of motion of any exercise, but particularly while lifting weights, we improve flexibility. When we stand while lifting weights for 90% of the exercises (whenever possible), we improve balance as we also activate and engage our entire core musculature. When we properly exhale as we exert during anaerobic exercise we also relieve and reduce stress. The most efficient way to decrease excess body fat is to increase muscle by getting on our feet and learning to correctly and progressively execute compound multi-joint exercises using challenging yet safe external loads in conjunction with healthy, whole food nutrition in the correct macro-nutrient proportions. If there is time to engage in what is optional as well as in what is essential, then by all means one can choose to do so. However, if there is only a limited amount of time to devote to exercise proven to prevent and mitigate the myriad of conditions & diseases then it is prudent to choose what is essential. As always, consult with an ethical board-certified physician for all your personal health needs and concerns. As always, "CLIMB, LIFT & EAT WELL..." ® |
Audrey"Let's PREVENT what we can and BE COMBAT-READY for what we cannot as we ENJOY and make the most of every single day!" Archives
November 2024
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