As an Idea Implementation Coach, New Years is one of my favorite holidays. It’s one time when many of us take stock, think about what’s really important or what’s really bothering us, and ask the question: “When would NOW be a good time to start doing something about this Idea?”
But many of us are afraid of New Years Resolutions, because we’ve been there and done that, and still have these unwanted habits and unfinished projects. So let’s start off on the right foot this year, and set you up to succeed with your Big New Years Idea. And let’s center that idea around health and wellness!
What are the biggest obstacles people say are in the way of their Big Idea? Click here ( http://www.losethebackpain.com/newyearsresolution.html ) to find out what they are and to listen to a very insightful audio interview on goal setting!
“Politics makes me sick,” President William Howard Taft said. Election stress also gives regular citizens their share of backaches and heart troubles. If you take it too seriously, politics can be dangerous to your health.
All healers agree stress is a killer. No candidate’s office is worth voters developing backaches or headaches, insomnia, chest pain and rapid heartbeat, or any of at least six other major physical symptoms and the 20 other emotional and cognitive symptoms of stress.
Because Americans rank among the world’s best-informed citizens, we are among the most likely to let politics seriously upset us. Keeping in mind that harming your health does no cause any good, here are three Washington rules for a pain-free and naturally-well Presidential Year…
The historic 2008 run for the White House is already causing stress-related health problems. For example, this week, one online political blogger posted, “I have to put myself on another news blackout. Does anybody else get so stressed that they stay awake at night? And have chest pains?”
Rule One: Real political professionals never let their emotions get the better of them, so don’t you, either.
Today the online activist can get just as immediately involved with campaigning as a Capital Hill insider. That’s a mixed blessing. “The problem for amateurs,” points out one D.C. native, “is how easily, for a few supporters, somebody else’s run for office turns into a battle of good versus evil.”
Going into battle, the body’s natural “fight or flight” stress response triggers “a cascade of biological changes that prepare us for emergency action.” The problem is this occurs in tense situations whether they involve an immediate danger, like a car accident, or are only an upcoming public speaking engagement. The longer the stress keeps the body in emergency mode, the more drastic the worsening harm to health.
Rule Two: If you are starting to burn out, drop out of the campaign.
A little stress can act as a tonic; it elevates your game. However, as with any stimulant, as time goes on, larger and larger doses are required for the user to experience that same level of intensity. Similarly, because heavy political stress also induces loss of objectivity, emotional mission-creep sets in. What began pleasantly as part-time hours for a local congressman now turns into a caffeine-fueled fight for eternity at the edge of the world.
People always feel they are in control. Stress can be a serious health problem without the sufferer even being aware of it, so staying alert to symptoms is vital. For instance, you may think you’re okay because you aren’t jittery, but you might experience weight loss or gain, diarrhea or constipation, hives or eczema, loss of sex drive or frequent colds.
Even if you don’t actively work for a candidate, if you are a passionate partisan, common sense suggests that feeling tense, lonely and on edge — all symptoms of stress — are not signs of a healthy involvement in what you’re doing. It’s personal wellness at stake, not the fate of the world. A former D.C. street organizer advises, “Others can pass out the literature, carry the sign, staff the chat rooms.”
Rule Three: Somebody gets elected, all campaigns come to an end, but your life still goes on.
A Washington political novelist once wrote, “When the campaign is giving more meaning to your life than your life already has, the campaign is getting much too important.” Family, friends, work, community commitments and our pleasures all demand complete attention, in their order, because they, not politics, are our real life. And sound personal health is grounded in balanced arrangements of daily living.
In summary:
1) don’t let your emotions get the better of you,
2) when you start to feel the burn, take a break from the stress, and
3) maintain perspective on your priorities — a healthy life depends on it.
I wanted to share with you the list of the top 5 treatments for back pain, neck pain, sciatica and other related conditions.
But before I do, I just had to share these two emails I just received…
———- Forwarded message ———-
From: martina travaille
Date: Mar 10, 2008 6:21 PM
Subject: backjoy
To: jesse
I am loving it. I am talking about the backjoy. Sitting has been a drag. The backjoy has been such a relief. Since 10 years I cannot sit without discomfort and this is for the first time that I say I feel a relief!! Thank you for inventing this piece of art. I hope I will get much more relief, the beginning is here.
Martina
———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Joyce Banttari
Date: Mar 11, 2008 8:17 AM
Subject: Re: Simple Change To How You Sit Can Greatly Reduce Pain
To: Jesse Cannone
Jesse,
The Back Joy is nothing short of amazing! I carry it around with me everywhere I go because I can sit so much more comfortably. Without Back Joy I could only sit for 20 minutes without sciatic pain due to a herniated disc.
Using the Back Joy triples that time before I have to get up and do some stretching. I’m still working on improving muscle balance issues and expect the length of comfortable sitting will improve over time. Thanks for some fine products and continued motivation.
It works incredibly well, is super affordable and you can use it at home, in the car and at work. Just like Martina and Joyce above, you too will be thanking me
Ok, now real quick before I share with you the top 5 treatments, I want to answer a question that I received recently that maybe you too have been thinking…
Here’s the email question I received:
———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Jeff Jackson
Date: Mar 11, 2008 8:58 AM
Subject: RE: Simple Change To How You Sit Can Greatly Reduce Pain
To: Jesse Cannone
Jesse,
I don’t understand why you want me to spend $49 after I have already spent $100 on your Lose the Back Pain system. I don’t understand why you tout 2 products that are supposed to do the same thing—- eliminate back pain.
I am using your Lose the Back pain system and am having a little success but I am surprised you are recommending I buy another product, how many products do you want me to buy?
Jeff
——- end Jeff’s email ——–
Hi Jeff and thanks for your email and great question…
The fact is, the two products do two completely different things. Can you get relief with just one, probably. But what we have found in working with tens of thousands of people who suffer from various types of back pain, neck pain, sciatica, etc is that most people get the best results when they combine multiple treatments. And in just a minute I’ll share with you our list of the top 5 treatments…
In this particular case, the Lose The Back Pain system will help you to get relief by identifying and addressing your muscle imbalances and the Back Joy can’t do that… and there are some things the LTBP system can’t do…. for example, it can’t help you sit more comfortably and with better posture, and that’s what the Back Joy does.
Again, I am not saying you need to buy both or everything that we sell… but what I’m trying to do is show you all of the things that we have found to be helpful so you can decide what you want to try. And if you ever have questions please feel free to give us a call… where here to help.
Top 5 Treatments for Back Pain, Neck Pain and Sciatica
Ok, here’s the formula that we have found to deliver the best results:
1. Reduce the pain and inflammation
You can do this with a natural anti-inflammatory like Lifezyme Plus or something similar. Remember, this will NOT eliminate the underlying, physical cause of the problem… it will deal with the inflammation but it is not going to correct muscle imbalances, decompress your spine, force you to sit up straight, etc… the goal is to reduce pain so you can work on addressing the underlying cause(s).
2. Identify and address the underlying, “hidden” cause: muscle imbalances.
You can do this by working with a qualified health care professional who is experienced in muscle imbalances, if you can find one or do it yourself in about 30 minutes or less using our Lose The Back Pain System.
The challenge here is that there are so few health care professionals out there who are experienced in what we call “muscle balance therapy” and that’s why our system has been so successful.
Would it be better to work with someone, of course, but what if you can’t find someone near you or what if you can’t afford all of the visits? Plus, there’s no way on earth that you can get the system and not benefit tremendously. But don’t take it from me, read, listen to and watch the hundreds of success stories on our website.
3. Use Trigger Point Therapy to reduce pain and relieve chronically tight muscles.
You can do this yourself and there are several books on the subject or you can find a qualified health care professional who specializes in treating trigger points. There are therapists who specialize in trigger point therapy and you can also often find chiropractors and massage therapists who have been trained and can help you. I also suggest you check out our trigger point self treatment system.
4. Reduce spinal compression with inversion therapy or traction.
Traction is typically performed by a chiropractor or physical therapist but you can also get great results just by using an inversion table. Inversion therapy has been used for over 2000 years and has been shown to work really well when dealing with a herniated disc. Click here to learn more about how spinal decompression works.
5. Use mind-body exercises and techniques to reduce and “block” pain.
Not only can they reduce pain, but they can also change you mindset and beliefs. One of the biggest reasons so many people suffer year after year with various types of pain is their mindset. They have a negative attitude, they are the people who say “I’ve tried everything and nothing worked.. I’m going to spend the rest of my life miserable and in pain” and they are so close-minded that they’ll walk right past the solution to their problem.
Are there other treatments that work, of course, but in working with tens of thousands of people suffering from back pain, neck pain and sciatica, these are the 5 things that we have found deliver the best results for people.
People spend millions, if not billions of dollars, each year in the quest for a flat stomach.  Right now there are dozens of ab exercise devices out there. There’s the ab do-it, the ab rock-it, the ab roller, the ab dolly, fast abs, 8 minute abs, the ab-lounge and so many more.
You would think that with all of these amazing new products that most people would be walking around with that nice, lean mid-section they’ve always wanted. Unfortunately, that’s not the case.
Most, if not all of these products, will do little or nothing to flatten your stomach. And that’s because these exercise contraptions cannot eliminate the layer of fat that lies on top of your abs.
In order to be successful at thinning your waistline you must have a basic understanding of how the ab muscles function and how your body burns fat. The first thing that needs to be understood is the difference between fat and muscle.
Fat is excess calories and is primarily stored in layers on top of muscle tissue. Muscle is made up of fibers that contract or shorten to produce movement.
Fat cannot turn into muscle and muscle cannot turn into fat! However, you can lose muscle and you can gain fat. That’s what happens to most people.
So if your goal is to thin your waist line and have a nice flat stomach, the first thing you need to do is decrease / eliminate the layers of fat that are on top of your abs. We all have a flat stomach; it’s just some of our’s are covered by excess fat.
The most effective way of flattening your stomach is a combination of strength training (with a extra focus on mid-section), cardiovascular exercise (short, hard workouts), and stable blood sugar (keeps you from adding additional fat and makes it easier for the body to use body fat for fuel).
I should also mention that a flat stomach not only looks good but it also prevents muscle imbalances between the hips and abs which cause more than 80% of all lower back pain! So remember, a strong flat stomach means a strong, healthy lower back!
1. You must do some form of progressive strength training
The primary function of the abdominal muscle is to flex your torso forward. However, there are also muscles that flex your torso to the side and muscles that rotate your torso. Often times you see people on their ab roller every day doing hundreds of crunches or sit-ups.
If you want to effectively strengthen your stomach you need to incorporate the following types of exercises:
1-2 forward flexion exercises (reverse crunch, knee raises, crunch, sit-up, etc.)
1-2 side flexion exercises (side bends, side crunches, etc.)
1-2 rotational exercises (trunk rotations, standing twists, etc.)
Choose at least 1-2 exercises that target the lower abs , 1-2 for the obliques (love handles), and 1-2 for the upper abs. There are thousands of ab exercises to choose from – way too many for me to list here, however, I will give you a list of some of the better ones.
Great Ab Exercises
Reverse crunch
Ab Pike
Hanging knee raise
Torso rotation (twist)
Leg lowering
Side bends
Exercise ball crunches
Again, there are tons of choices when it comes to ab exercises and while there are some that are better than others, the key is to just make sure you work hard and progressively!
The abs, are muscles just like any other and should be worked on average 3 times per week. While you can work out daily, base your frequency on how hard you worked them last time. For example, if you worked your core really hard yesterday and are sore, it’s not a good idea to work them hard again today. If you do anything at all, it should be light and just to get them moving.
2. Use short, hard cardio workouts to increase metabolism
Cardio workouts are important because they CAN, if done correctly, increase your metabolism for 4-24 hours or more! This means you are less likely to store any excess calories as body fat because they are more likely to be used by your elevated metabolism. Plus, you are more likely to burn off some excess body fat.
Below is a sample interval workout that can be done with just about any activity (walking, bicycling, swimming, stair climbing, etc.).
Warm up at easy pace 2-5 minutes… Perform 30 seconds of hard work (almost as hard as possible)… perform 1 minute of moderate work (recovery time-catch breath)… Repeat this process 6-10 times… Cool down at an easy pace for 2-5 minutes.
3. Stable blood sugar is the key
And most importantly, you must stabilize your blood sugar! This is by far the most important factor when it comes to burning away that excess body fat and keeping it off! To effectively stabilize your blood sugar you must feed your body frequently; like every 2-3 hours. The key is to give your body only what it needs at that time.
Your body burns calories 24 hours a day, so, why would you only feed it once or twice a day? Give your body the fuel it needs: vegetables, fruits, nuts, berries, whole grains, and lean proteins (chicken, fish, lean beef, eggs, etc.).
Many people are too hung up on how much fat is in food, or how healthy of a choice it is. Calories are calories and it doesn’t matter where they come from. If there’s extra… where’s it going? Yup, you guessed it… body fat!
This is not to say that what you eat is not important because it is, it just doesn’t have that much of an affect when it comes to fat loss. Try to make healthy choices whenever possible, but don’t feel like if you eat a cheeseburger it is guaranteed to be stored as fat. You can learn more metabolism boosting tricks here
4. Get the help of a professional
Unfortunately, most people don’t know enough about the human body, nutrition, or effective exercise to meet their health and fitness goals. Ask yourself this one question, “Am I happy with my current progress or condition?”  If you’re not, you should consider getting the help of a qualified personal fitness professional.
Don’t depend on the information you get from magazines or from your local gym/ health club. A qualified fitness professional can help you achieve your health and fitness goals, and in less time than you would imagine.
If you are serious about your health and fitness goals, and you are ready for that flat stomach, I recommend you start implementing the 4 strategies listed in this article. These 4 strategies can help you take control of your metabolism and burn off that excess body fat and having you looking and feeling great!
Well, I hope you found this article helpful.
Feel free to forward it to anyone you know who can benefit from it and keep your eyes peeled for some more great articles.
The Healthy Back Institute - 333 Main St. Suite #201 Gaithersburg, MD 20878
Phone: 800-216-4908 Fax: 866-843-4319
The Healthy Back Institute is a Get Healthy and Fit Company
As an Idea Implementation Coach, New Years is one of my favorite holidays. It’s one time when many of us take stock, think about what’s really important or what’s really bothering us, and ask the question: “When would NOW be a good time to start doing something about this Idea?”
