If you have followed me for any time at all, you know my passion is helping people to live healthier lives and thereby reducing their risk for chronic disease. But what exactly is chronic disease? A chronic disease is a long-lasting condition that persists over time. Unlike acute conditions, chronic diseases usually develop slowly over time and can last for years or the duration of a lifetime. Our understanding of them is growing and developing as we gain more insight from research and while we know they can be caused by genetics and environmental causes; more and more research seems to be pointing to lifestyle factors as the biggest influence on chronic disease. Examples of chronic diseases include...

Time, research, and simple observation have all shown that repeated exposure to something lessens its impact on our minds and our senses. Take for example a person who is shown horror movies repeatedly. At first, they may be scared but after a while, they will be “numbed” to it to a degree. The same is true for many of us in healthcare. Not all of us were unbothered by our first time being covered in somebody else’s bodily fluids or by seeing a difficult and invasive surgery or by some of the smells that come along with working in healthcare. However, with repeated exposure, you would be hard pressed to find a seasoned physician or nurse who is still as acutely bothered by these things. The same is true for how we think about certain things that have a major impact on our health. Taking six different medications doesn’t seem so odd when you know a bunch of other people doing the same thing. Type 2 Diabetes doesn’t seem quite as horrible when you know a bunch of people with it. Drinking a highly processed blue sports drink doesn’t seem odd to us when it is around every corner, but had you shown that to someone 100 years ago, they wouldn’t have touched it. This type of normalized thinking is the status quo, and it is a big hurdle to getting healthy for many people. How can we overcome this status quo thinking to achieve our health goals?

To say it is a challenge to not feel stressed in today’s world is a bit of an understatement. From world politics taking the stage like a real-life game of RISK to national and community issues. From a world health pandemic to a continuously growing epidemic of chronic disease. With over scheduled lives, inflation and rising costs, and societal and social media pressures, it is not uncommon to find yourself feeling a little overwhelmed at times. However, while it is normal to experience occasional stress, chronic or excessive stress can take a toll on your health, not just mentally but physically as well.

The word toxin is enough to evoke sheer alarm in some and annoyed indifference in others. Regardless of your feelings about toxins, the fact remains that they are a large part of our environment and can even be hidden in plain sight. When pursuing a healthier lifestyle and striving to reduce your risk for chronic diseases such as cancer and heart disease, toxins are a valid obstacle to consider.

If you have been following any health or wellness experts out there in the last few years you are probably well aware of the high intensity interval training circuits that are beneficial for weight loss and conditioning and that when mixed with strength training, whether with body weight resistance or dumbbells, the key to boosting muscle and building your metabolic fat burning machine can be found. But what about the cardio? Cardiovascular exercise is still important for your cardiovascular health, and it is abundantly clear that some is better than none but how much? Many of us are under the impression that all out cardio like running or biking at high speed is what is best for us. However, newer research is showing that this might not give us the best “bang for our buck.” For those who are interested in improving their cardiovascular outcomes with efficiency and efficacy, there is something that can help you reap the exercise perks without wiping yourself out and it’s called Zone 2 exercise.