New Student Questions!

Sorry for the delay on the student questions.  Here are 5 new ones and my answers.  Feel free to comment or question below the post by clicking on "comments." 

How do you prevent against disease?

The best way to prevent disease is to live a healthy lifestyle.  The key components to a healthy lifestyle are exercise/movement, nutrition (the food you eat), sleep, and stress management.  If you keep your body active, eat fresh whole foods, get 8-9 hours of restful sleep (you feel rejuvenated in the morning), and don’t let stress get you angry, depressed, or sad for long periods of time, you will be doing your best to prevent against disease.

If you eat veggies all the time is that bad?

Eating veggies all the time is definitely not bad.  Just remember, it takes more than veggies to make a healthy eating plan.  Protein and fat is just as important as veggies.  Sources of protein & fat like meat, eggs, cheese, and nuts provides the body with necessary vitamins and nutrients to grow & repair our bodies, and allow our brains to function properly.  

Does working out help you sleep better?

Working out does help you sleep better.  For one, your body will sense that you need to repair and rejuvenate (from the workout) and will want to sleep.  Also, vigorous exercise helps your nervous system calm down by expelling stress chemicals from the nerves that run through your legs.

How do I sleep better at night? 

I’ll give you a few tips:  1.  Make sure you are active throughout the day.  As I mentioned in the question above, the more active you are, the more your body will want to sleep to repair your muscles, bones, and joints.  2.  Eat fresh vegetables & fruits, especially leafy greens and cruciferous veggies.  These foods contain high amounts of magnesium, which relaxes the nervous system and will calm you before bed.  3.  Don’t eat anything after your last meal.  Eating too close to bedtime will cause changes in your blood sugar and hormones throughout the night.  This can make it hard to fall asleep or cause you to have restless sleep.  4.  Try not to do anything stimulating like playing video games or using your computer.  These devices can turn on the brain too much sometimes.  5.  Try to discover things that relax you in the evening.  Some suggestions could be reading a book, taking a walk, stretching, listening to calming music, or prayer/meditation.  Try different things and find what works for you!

Can you do too many healthy things?

That’s an interesting question.  If you can make “healthy things” or healthy habits a normal part of your life, and you enjoy those things, then you are on the right path.  If you spend every hour of every day worried about whether or not you are making a healthy choice, that could cause too much stress, which could ultimately be bad for your health.  Fortunately, many healthy things (exercising, staying active by playing, sleeping, relaxing, laughing, eating delicious food that isn’t junk) are very enjoyable.  Nobody does all the right things – not even me!  What matters is what you do most of the time.