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TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Introduction……………………………………………………..2 2. Chapter 1: The simplicity of it all……...……………………….5 3. Chapter 2: The neurology of change…………………………...7 4. Chapter 3: Carbohydrate Metabolism…………………………13 5. Chapter 4: The law of attraction……………………………….22 6. Chapter 5: The controlling force………………………………25 7. Chapter 6: Values and Beliefs…………………………………29 8. Chapter 7: Inflammation………………………………………31 9. Chapter 8: Self Esteem………………………………………...38 10. Chapter 9: Detoxification……………………………………..46 11. Chapter 10: Exercise…………………………………………..52 12. Appendix………………………………………………………60

a. Brain Symptom Questionnaire b. Brain Exercise Instruction c. Brain Exercises d. Guideline for Carbohydrate Consumption e. Carbohydrate Counts f. Empty Calories g. Glycemic Index h. Class 1 Worksheet: Neurology of Change i. HeartMath j. Exercise Examples k. Sample Recipes

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TRUE HEALTH FOR LIFE COURSE MANUAL

INTRODUCTION This manual is intended to simplify, optimize, and maximize your life. Just the fact that you have this book in your hands indicates that I, you, or someone increased your expectation of life. You realize that there is a formula, method, or protocol that will enable you to live 100+ healthy, fulfilling years. If I am wrong, I hope that I can, or this book will have that effect. I predict that you do have that expectation, so I won’t belabor the point, but I truly feel that my most important purpose in my career is to raise people’s expectations of their potential for health and happiness. My second most important purpose is to help them achieve that goal. Imagine what 100 might look like. I do it all the time. I have age 100 more clearly in focus that age 40 or 50 or any other time in my life. That’s not a boast; that really means I need to focus on my near future goals more intently. But at least I have one clear vision, and it looks good. I know from my years intently studying biochemistry, neurology, and overall human function (physiology) that there are several rules of existence I must follow in order to achieve that goal. Let’s face it, you can have the best intent, greatest focus, know exactly what you want and dream about it daily, but if you take no action towards the end, it really won’t matter. So, if you share that dream of 100+ healthy, happy, fulfilling years of life, this book is somewhat of a business plan, or I guess a life plan. What are the action steps I need to take in order to achieve this dream? If you prefer to be average, particularly average American; that is even easier. Grab a Big Mac and fries, supersize the soft drink, and watch some TV. Just know what average means: 76 or so years of life, 13 of them disabled, and 10 to 20 more with suboptimal health…poor energy, weight problems, pain, allergies, sickness…your genetics will decide how you suffer if you choose to do so. That gives you 40 or 50 years of optimal function and health. Work and play quickly! That’s not why you have this book, however. You want to LIVE. You want TRUE HEALTH! Since this book is based on my wellness seminar, it will be organized as such. Each class combines a mental/emotional strategy along with a biochemical or physical strategy. Class one begins with understanding the neurology of change…how the brain processes, actualizes, and accepts positive change. (Or accepts negative habits!) What do you want and why? How are you going to get it? How will you know on a daily or weekly basis if you are on course? Who is your accountability partner, who is your mentor, teacher or coach? If you have negative habits, you are missing something in this “circuit” of change. It is just like turning on a light…power, circuit breaker, wiring, switch, and bulb. If the light doesn’t come on when you flip the switch, somewhere along that circuit there is a problem. When we flip the switch to make positive change, and it doesn’t happen, there is a problem somewhere along this circuit. Find your problem area and rewire it for growth. Class one continues with carbohydrate or sugar metabolism. People with optimal metabolism of sugar tend to live long healthy lives. It has to be a “God rule!” The worst sugar metabolizers are diabetics…and they are likely to go blind, lose a limb, and succumb to heart disease, cancer or stroke

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at a young age. It appears to me to be a pretty solid rule. We will discuss the 5 components of optimal sugar metabolism and test your sugar tolerance to see where you stand…good, bad, or ugly?!? Class two begins with supercharging your neurology of change by looking at existing tools to make change easy. The power of focus and intention, the pain and pleasure principle, and your personal values and beliefs. I will provide simple exercises and techniques, along with the neurology behind these techniques (the why to do them), that will make achieving whatever you want easier and easier. Class two continues with the anti-inflammatory lifestyle. Inflammation is much like poor blood sugar control in that it weakens and disrupts nearly every organ and gland function in your body. Inflammation is directly linked to all the chronic diseases you can think of…cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, digestive problems, etc. etc. It also, appears to be a significant “God rule.” Your lifestyle dictates the level of inflammation that resides in your blood, and if you follow the anti-inflammation rules, you increase your probability of a long and healthy life. Class three begins with a look at the 6 components of self esteem: Integrity, Responsibility, Acceptance, Assertiveness, Purpose, and Consciousness. If you feel inadequate, self conscious, or just plain bad about yourself, this self assessment may be the solution to living peacefully and connected. As we discuss each component, you may relate strongly to one area, and will be able to use the techniques and exercises offered to reconnect to yourself and others. Class three continues with metabolic biotransformation, or simply, detoxification. We live in a toxic world, and are in a continuous cycle of exposure to these toxins and cleaning up these toxins. You may be shocked at the sheer volume of toxins released into this world, and the ubiquity of their presence. We are eating, breathing, absorbing and making them continuously. We are the first generation to describe “brain fog” and fibromyalgia, and chronic fatigue syndrome. The function of your nerves, hormones, and brain are intimately connected with your ability to avoid and remove these toxins. We will overview the chemistry (much simplified) and lifestyle that will optimize your ability to clean up. Class four contains a blend of anti-aging realities. It begins with the need for physical movement and stimulation; know neurologically as “afferentation.” That means body movement that stimulates the brain. We will discuss “baby patterns” of movement, and how you can stay physically and mentally “in shape” in as little as 7 minutes per day. Your body and brain requires this stimulation to accomplish a full 100+ years of health. We will also discuss oxidation, or the rusting process that occurs from the inside out. A few simple food choices will “rust proof” your brain and organs. We will cover a concept called “hormesis,” which is really scientific proof of the theory of GAP, or general adaptation potential. This theory states that we all have a potential to adapt to our environment and experiences, and that potential is set through your nervous system. Some have an incredible ability to adapt, whether that is during cold and flu season, recovering from injury, or dealing with money or love stress. Hormesis looks at the body’s ability to adapt to chemical and radiation stress, and how that affects longevity. We will look at genetic susceptibility to disease and how that can be handled biochemically. Let’s face it, almost all of us have genetic predisposition to disease…just look at your parents and grandparents to see what they might be. Sure, some have been genetically blessed and can seem to do anything and

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still live a long healthy life. But for the rest of us, we should pay attention to our genetic weaknesses and make up for them. According to Bruce Ames of UCal Berkeley, it isn’t much harder than an extra vitamin, precisely applied according to your specific blueprint. We will continue to work on connection through learning to communicate “non-violently.” Becoming aware of the way we feel and the words we use can mean the difference between connection and disconnection in your relationships. We will also touch on the concept of “faith.” Regardless of your beliefs spiritually, health requires faith. Healing requires faith. In fact, the people who recover from terminal illness have only one thing in common, and that was a change in faith. A change in their mind regarding who they were and how the world works. An uncompromising belief in the power that made us, lives in us, and heals us. Faith is on a continuum with despair, so the alternative is not a great option. The alternative leaves people in depression, illness, and participates in chronic disease. So, once again, I believe we may have a “God rule!” All this material is summarized in this manual, which is not intended as a stand alone book, but rather a manual to the course that is: “TRUE HEALTH for Life!”

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Chapter 1: THE SIMPLICITY OF IT ALL Life is really, really simple. There may be millions who disagree with that statement, but think about it. Life is simple. Learning may be a struggle at times; but, if you think about it, when it all comes together, wasn’t that so simple? For instance, walking at one time seemed like a struggle, but when it came together, it was as simple as one foot in front of the other. It was and is quite natural. I would guess that everything you have mastered, or made natural to you, was at one time a struggle, but when you “got it,” was and is really quite simple and natural. My intention is to make health and happiness, and hopefully fulfillment, just as simple and natural as walking, and sitting, and eating. I really believe it can be. I really believe that it is. Life is as simple as activating your brain and body, fueling it with nutrition, and in this age or time, avoiding toxins. L = A + F – T. Activating your brain, or mind, or consciousness is as simple as moving your body, perhaps remembering to move your body as naturally as you once did. It is as simple as believing in yourself and your dreams, being grateful and appreciative, loving and accepting yourself as you are, just like you once did so naturally. Fueling your body and brain is as simple as eating whole foods, and perhaps supplementing nutrition to make up for dietary indiscretions and depletion of soil nutrients. We do have to adapt to the way things are through facing the reality of how things are. Avoiding toxins is as simple as choosing natural whole foods rather than processed, preserved non-foods and chemicals. Sure you can play the game of life by not honoring natural laws, drugging your body to force cholesterol down, or blood pressure down, but you need to be aware that this is opposing natural law, and there is a consequence. Eventually, you will find enough pain in that opposition that you will want to change. You will be sick and tired of the way things are, and will long for a simpler life. You will undoubtedly feel at times that it is a struggle; that you can’t eat anything you really want, or that there is nothing to be grateful for; or that it is too hard to exercise… but I promise that eventually it will seem so simple, so natural. Look for yourself at the proof, and you will see it is so. ADAPTABILITY We will either become more adaptable to our environment and experience, or we will become less adaptable. Less adaptable looks like a contraction of your world… “I could once do that, but now I can’t,” “I’m better off avoiding this or that.” More adaptable looks like a growth or expansion of your world… “I couldn’t do that and now I can,” “I’m better off if I face this or that and master it.” Adaptability is the clinical outcome I strive for with each individual. Each individual may suggest that the clinical outcome is to feel better, have less pain, or more energy. But the reality is that in order to feel better, you have to be more adaptable. If you experience pain when you bend over, or exhaustion under stress, the solution is to build adaptability to the situation. If you want to bend over without pain, build adaptability within your nervous system and muscles. Improve your relationship with gravity so moving is not stressful. If you want to feel full of energy all the time, you have to improve

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your relationship with food and nutrition. You may have to improve your relationship with yourself to adapt to stress and not become exhausted. Increasing adaptability and improving these relationships is really quite simple, although as I said before, can be a challenging process. One of the keys is awareness. If you weaken to sugar, fat, chemicals, stress, or thoughts you are now aware of the effects that is having on you. You are aware of something that you might have been kidding yourself about, or ignoring altogether. You also become aware of what you need to do…change your diet, take supplements to strengthen your constitution, change your thoughts, or move your body in certain ways or just more. Simple enough, right. When you are feeling defeated, frustrated or ready to give up, think about this concept. I know that when I am struggling with an idea, concept, or problem, the struggle indicates that I am ready for a breakthrough: “I got it, and it was so easy!” Adopt this concept into your being. Learn to enjoy the struggle, knowing what comes next. “I got it, and it is so simple.”

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Chapter 2: The Neurology of Change… How to GET IT RIGHT EVERYTIME The neurology of change uses a model of how your brain processes life and your experience of life to accomplish your goals, desires and dreams. (Do you still have dreams?) I know we are much more than a computer, processing bits of information to produce an equation, answer, or conclusion. In fact, I will discuss the human nature of change as well. Let’s take a brief look at the “computer like” processing in action, the circuit that allows or prevents change. The “Neurology of Change:”

1. Frontal Cortex: What do you really want? Your goals, desires, and dreams. 2. Amygdala: Why do you want that? What is the feeling that you get when you daydream about

it? That is your “why,” also known as your motivation. 3. Basal Ganglia: What is the plan to get that? What are the steps and actions you must take in

order to achieve what you want? 4. Cingulate Gyrus: How will you know if what you are doing is working? What is the “proof”

that your plan is working? How will you tell if it is not working? 5. Temporal Lobes: Who are you accountable to, including yourself? Who is your mentor, coach,

teacher, or partner? The names you might not recognize are parts of your brain that process that particular step and move it to the next step. You are motivated by knowing what you want; you take action as a result of being motivated; you pay attention to your results when you are taking action; you get help when you notice your results. Conversely, you have no motivation if you don’t know what you want; you take no action if you have no motivation; you won’t realize how you are doing if you don’t have a plan, and you will feel alone and disconnected if you have no measure of success. If you have achieved a goal, you have completed this circuit, whether you were aware of it or not. If you are struggling to achieve something you really want, you have not completed this circuit. If you look closely, with this awareness, you will quite clearly see where you are not connecting, not closing the circuit. As a tool of awareness, Dr. Daniel Amen, a psychiatrist, has developed a questionnaire that helps you identify your weakness. His books, “Change Your Brain, Change Your Life,” and “Healing ADD,” are a culmination of his work in “visualizing” individuals’ brains through high tech “PET” scan imaging of the blood flow through your brain. Years of observation of behavior, struggle, and success, coupled with a map of the brain that accompanies each behavior pattern, has allowed him to identify which brain structure, as described above, is correlated with each pattern of failure or success. He has also created regimens of activity that “exercise” the appropriate part of the brain, allowing the person to “close” the circuit and become more successful, peaceful, and fulfilled on their terms. As with all new computer systems, there are bugs. It may not be as simple as rubbing your belly and suddenly you are filthy rich. But it is a more complete picture of change than has ever been offered before. How many “motivational” speakers have you gone to see, only to fall flat in the action stage of change (without necessarily knowing it was a stage)? How many have seen the movie “The Secret,” and spent hours writing, thinking and dreaming about what you want, only to get stuck because you didn’t pay attention to the “paying attention to your results” stage? That isn’t to say that these aren’t helpful strategies. The circuit must have focus on what you want, and it must have motivation in order to succeed. Imagine the success using these techniques if you knew all the steps, all the stages

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required to close your circuit. And not only that, you knew exactly where your “weak link” was, and how to “exercise” that weakness toward success. While there may be no guarantees in life, only probabilities, I might put a larger bet on your probability of success under these circumstances. Human nature is also a “bug” in this program. Fears, negative belief patterns, antiquated strategies to “keep you safe,” and emotions in general can be “bugs” in the system that prevent a system from operating, perhaps causing a crash, or ending up with a result that was not appropriate to the data you thought your were entering. The best way to learn a new program is to start it up, know your components, and start using it to find the bugs. Component 1: Frontal Cortex FUNCTION: The frontal cortex focuses your attention and/or intention. What is it that you want? BUGS: The frontal cortex communicates with wordless, subconscious components, such as the Amygdala and Basal Ganglia. Since these structures are wordless, they do not perceive or receive signals indicating “NOT,” “DON’T,” or “NO.” So if your attention is focused on that which you don’t want, the signal, or perhaps picture sent forward is that which you don’t want. The program then signals forward to get more of that, and you don’t want it! The frontal cortex also is the home to self perception, so if you, even subconsciously, feel unworthy or undeserving, the signal passed on is intercepted by the Basal Ganglia, the home for Belief and Personal Agreements, and reflected back to make you actually feel worse for wanting it. TECH SUPPORT: Focus on that which you do want! It is an easy game to play, and a good exercise for the frontal cortex. Write down everything you don’t want, and convert it to what you DO want. Many people are much better at knowing what they don’t want, so it is a great place to start, just convert and re-focus. I don’t want to look dumb (you will attract it with this data) becomes I want to look intelligent, competent, and successful. It is really pretty easy to convert (as are most issues once you have tech support on the line). A simple way to check self perception is examining how you feel when you affirm your desire. “I weigh 120 pounds, am slim and sexy” said out loud may make you feel lousy. How does it feel when you say it, no matter what it is? A kinesiology technique that helps is to muscle test to your affirmation…does it weaken (paralyze) you? If you feel bad, you better start smaller. I feel great about making 30K per year, or losing 10 pounds. Don’t worry if your goal is much higher or lower; get some momentum by feeling good at this level and then reaching for more. **Please note: The questionnaire and exercises for each component are located on in the back of the book. Component 2: Amygdala FUNCTION: The Amygdala sets the intensity of your motivation. Why do you want that? BUGS: Through past experience, you may have a negative motivation towards things you really want to do. You may associate a loss of pleasure, or even more powerful, PAIN! with the exact event, activity, or situation that you are trying to create, or at least to a critical step in achieving what you want. For instance, you may have positive motivation to lose weight, but you have negative motivation to eat good food and exercise. Guess how successful this program will be! The Amygdala is also a bit of an emotional filter. That means if your filter is set to blue, your entire experience gets colored a bit blue, and if it is set to rosy, your entire experience gets colored a bit rosy. Since it is sandwiched between your self perception (FC) and you’re Beliefs (BG), there might be

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some negativity from your past passing through. Did you attend middle school? Did you have parents or siblings? If so, you may have downloaded some beliefs, ideas, or concepts that don’t really serve you. Some “there is something wrong with me” type of thinking. It shows up in your thoughts, colors your experience, and ultimately can leave you with a lack of motivation, hopeless feeling, even if it is directed toward only one area of life. “I’m great, I love me (but dad never came to my games, what is wrong with me?)!” Your “blue” coloring surfaces as Automatic Negative Thoughts (ANTs)… “I’m fat, ugly, stupid!” Your “rosy” coloring surfaces as Positive Everytime Thoughts (PETs)… “I’m sexy, beautiful, and funny!” One of my friends, a physician in Minnesota, shared with me a story of a client who was clearly colored blue. He asked her to write out her most common ANTs to share with him on her next visit. He received a call from her husband that evening at 8 PM. The husband said his wife wanted to know when to stop, that she was still writing. TECH SUPPORT: You need to become aware of your negative associations and work on them. Use the survey in the appendix to become aware of these associations. It is a list of words that describe actions, things, and people. Simply notice your immediate association, positive or negative. As mentioned above, the word exercise has a meaning wrapped in emotion for everyone. Is the meaning negative or positive? If you immediately think about a time hassle, effort hassle, pain of going to the gym or park, “I hate sweating,” or any other negative feeling, your probability of being successful exercising is low. You can retrain your brain to view it as a positive by focusing on the positive, as well as focusing on the negative of NOT exercising. This is the PAIN/PLEASURE principle. You control your thoughts. You have a tendency toward thinking the same thoughts. That is how the brain works. If you focus on something, the ability to focus on it gets easier and more natural. There is actually a growth in the number and quality of connections in your brain to think and feel that way. If you divert your focus, the connections will be “pruned” away like a dead branch. You will grow new connections to think and feel what you are diverting your attention to. Soon, it will be natural to think and feel that way. So if you think and feel negatively about exercise, focus your attention consciously, purposefully on the positive experience of exercise. You can count on eventually feeling and thinking positively about exercise, and it will be your natural way of thinking and feeling. To set this into motion, write out 10 reasons why exercise is enjoyable, to your benefit, and fulfilling. I encourage you to make some of them reasons that not exercising will be painful, since we are naturally more driven to avoid pain than to obtain pleasure. You must also take note of your automatic negative thoughts and replace them with positive affirmations. If you tend to think about how heavy or out of shape you are, calling yourself fat or unlovable, then that has to be countered by a positive. “I’m in the process of weighing 150 pounds, and will look wonderful (be very proud).” I know traditional affirmations suggest to state in the present, as if it were already true, and if that feels right to you, by all means do it. But there is a risk, as I mentioned above, of stating as if triggering deeper emotional hurts. Another great idea is putting your affirmations in the form of a question. The idea is that it will trigger the subconscious to look for the reasons or proof of what you ask. For instance, “Why am I so healthy and fit?” might trigger a subconscious “answer” that reinforces your want. Start to notice and take inventory of your ANTs. Write them down so you are truly aware of the lousy way you talk to yourself, and then rewrite them, over and over again, saying them, asking them, and thinking them, until your natural self talk is what you want to hear. Component 3: Basal Ganglia FUNCTION: The Basal Ganglia initiates the plan into action. What do I need to do in order to get what I want? BUGS: You can get frozen in “in-action” just as readily as you can be mobilized into action. The BG is the home to “core beliefs.” Not necessarily the stuff you say you believe, but the stuff that comes

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out when you are stressed out. The wordless emotionally charged beliefs that make you who you are, and are deeply charged with feeling. Unfortunately, most of us have downloaded harmful, non-supportive, negative beliefs, often before the age of 10, that are still “in there,” affecting your ability to move and function in life. These tend to surface as predictive ANTs… “This phone call, meeting, date, outcome is going to be bad, maybe really bad.” TECH SUPPORT: Use the values and beliefs worksheet in the appendix to evaluate and become aware of your values intensity scale. We have moving towards values such as happiness, security, peace, love, connection, etc. Things we all want. We also have moving away values such as pain, heartbreak, anger, frustration. Things we all want to avoid. The difference is that one person might place security as number 1 on the moving towards list, but another person who values adventure and excitement highly, will place security near the bottom of the list. And one person may cringe at the thought of humiliation, but another person who can’t take failure, might put humiliation near the bottom of the moving away list. These differences definitely “color” our outlook of life, and we would expect vastly different behaviors from these two people. They might not see life the same way (do you think?!). Knowing your highest values is a great exercise in awareness. Take that a step farther and ask yourself what it takes in order for you to feel that way. What does it take for you to feel loved? If you have to be spoken kindly to, always, you might be disappointed, and you might not accomplish what you want most, to feel love. What does it take for you to feel embarrassed? If someone notices you and that triggers embarrassment, chances are you will feel what you most want to avoid quite a lot. Make rules for “feeling” that are reasonable. Beliefs require awareness, lots and lots of awareness. How is it that you become aware of something that is below awareness? Well, perhaps some time in my life I will have a 3 step process, but at this time, I sought help, so I would suggest that you do the same if this is a problem area for you. I will talk more about help…a coaching team that can help you meet your goals…in the section on the Temporal Lobes. But, there are plenty of things you can be doing to increase your awareness; most significantly meditation. Meditation is a time to quiet your mind and see who you are when that little voice in your head finally “shuts it.” I am by no means an expert on meditation; I am just a struggling enthusiast. For me right now, I may as well be sitting still in a classroom of kindergartners. The noise, or voices, is often so loud and distracting it is like a heated argument, yet I still have moments of quiet and peace. I look forward to the progression toward complete peace and relaxation in just a moment’s time, and being able to fully recharge in the middle of the day. Like anything, practice is the key. You will probably never master quieting the mind without consistency of practice any more than you will master the free throw or piano if you only practice once a month. Sit still, argue if you have to, and get help if you need, but make this a part of your life. Component 4: Cingulate Gyrus FUNCTION: The Cingulate Gyrus is the observer. What is reality, is it what I want it to be, and how should I change to make it better? LOW FUNCTION: You are the person who starts project after project but never finishes. Not the person with ideas and no action. That’s another area. You get into action, but can’t stick with it, get frustrated, maybe can’t adapt to how things are turning out. You have a tendency to avoid facing facts, or facing the reality of the situation. I know reality is subjective, so here’s the test: Are you getting what you want? If you face reality and adjust to it, see options and try them until something works, you will get what you want. BUGS: If this is taken too far in either direction, change becomes muddled. For instance, a common tendency for a CG person is to get stuck in one way of thinking. You can’t see any other options, wait, no, there are no other options…it has to work this way. Conversely, you could try everything, believe

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everything, think about all things, and never know what is helping you and what might be doing you harm. TECH SUPPORT: View life as a scientific experiment. The scientific method is basically trying something and seeing what happens. Think about it. Medicine is nothing more than, “Take two and call me in the morning.” Well, the reality is that you can’t reach the doctor to let her know how you are doing, but the idea is to observe the results and change if necessary. “Good” science is based on “sound” theory, not just a dart board pick, but the critical point here is to become a good observer. What is your feedback? What are the results, and are they what I want? Component 5: Temporal Lobes FUNCTION: The Temporal Lobes gather support and information from outside sources, and sets your “accountability index.” Who am I watching (mentor), and who is watching me (coach/partner)? BUGS: Past failure can lower your accountability index. You can get in the habit of disappointing yourself. You are your number one accountability partner, and if you don’t feel accountable to yourself, and it becomes easy to lie to or disappoint yourself you have wounded your personal integrity. This damages your self esteem and creates a rut of missed goals and failures. It gets easier and easier to go back on your own word; your accountability index is zero. Past memories can lower you connection to others. We all have had our world shatter or crumble to some degree. It might have been a disappointment, shock, or a total betrayal of trust. It may have been intentional or not, but we tend to let it mean something about us. It affects our ability to be vulnerable, trust, feel protected, secure, safe, and ultimately connect with other people. You do need help. If you can’t trust and respect others, your ability to change is massively damaged. TECH SUPPORT: You must draw a line in the sand. “No more…when I say it will happen, it will happen.” You may have to start by asking for less. If you keep lying to yourself about exercise, make an agreement to do 10 pushups, or walk around the track once. But when you say it, you do it. Set it so it is a guarantee, so you can build accountability momentum, and eventually feel safe asking yourself for more. “I guarantee you I will get out of bed by noon.” Wow, you did it, you are a winner and you have personal integrity! Note: If you can’t do that, you may be in love with your suffering…you will have to do the next option…pay ‘til it hurts more than your current suffering. You have to get “on the hook” with someone. One great way to increase your accountability is to pay the price. Pay a fee that hurts so much you couldn’t possibly think of not doing exactly what you have to do. That may sound crazy, but if you are unable to commit to yourself and the people you love, I can almost guarantee you can commit to some amount of money. I can think of several people that I personally know that won by paying. And if you win, would it be worth it? Other ways to get “on the hook” are finding someone you couldn’t possibly lie to…a priest, mentor you really look up to, a physician you hold in high esteem. One way or another, if you want to succeed, you have to get firmly “on the hook.” If your trust is shot, play the “inverse paranoia” game. You probably have some paranoia anyway, so direct it to be useful for you. In inverse paranoia, everyone is in on a plot to enhance your life. Instead of “what does that person want,” you convert to, “how is that person trying to help me?” It takes conscious practice at first, but eventually you will see, attract, and experience people who want to help you. Don’t forget to focus on helping others as well, but generally if this is your issue, you don’t have to worry about getting too selfish, you are just getting back to center. I suggest having a team of coaches, doctors, and therapists that work with you on your health and life just like an accountant, bookkeeper, lawyer, financial advisor, etc. might help you with your finances. People who are financially successful always have a financial team. If you want to increase your probability of growth and life success, then you need a life coaching team. That might include a talk

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therapist to help you with awareness and introspection, a chiropractor and massage therapist to help you physically, a natural physician to help you optimize body chemistry, someone to coach your physical fitness like a trainer, perhaps a life coach, acupuncturist, energy practitioner, or other specialists that fit your philosophy and beliefs (not the twisted ones). I personally use a life coach, career coach, chiropractor, massage therapist, kinesiologist, my wife, Sonya, for Neural Emotional Therapy, and my own skills in chemistry. I would like to add a personal trainer, meditation and yoga instructor, and someone from an eastern philosophy, Chinese medicine or Ayurveda. I go to seminars and read continuously, and may be overboard in self help. The point is, however, that I get myself on the hook, I get help and guidance, and I actively pursue the dream of a great brain, great body, and great life…and I have lots of fun in the process.

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Chapter 3: CARBOHYDRATE METABOLISM A course in living 100+ years in health and happiness must begin with an awareness of blood sugar and sugar metabolism. A review of the literature on centenarians points out that having ideal blood sugar metabolism (the ability to regulate blood sugar) is really the only across the board measurable control that could be identified. So, if you don’t have ideal blood sugar metabolism, you don’t make it to 100. Not a single person has to date. By understanding the chemical effects of ideal and poor sugar metabolism, it becomes clear why this is so important. Poor sugar metabolism leads to storing fat, hormonal imbalances, and depression. Long term it leads to chronic disease, such as heart attack, cancer, and stroke, plus disabling conditions such as blindness, nerve problems, and amputation. That sounds neither healthy or happy, and certainly not fulfilling. For the most part, however, sugar metabolism is readily optimized, and completely under your control. That’s empowering if you choose to take the responsibility. The five steps that are critical to optimizing sugar metabolism are what I call the first “God rule.” THE BASICS: What is SUGAR Sugar is a bit more than the white stuff we find in the kitchen or every restaurant table we sit at. That, of course, is refined sucrose, or table sugar. As you will often pick up on, the refining process generally takes all “good” from a substance and leaves only the “bad.” We need to minimize our intake of all refined or processed foods…not never, but rarely. I personally can’t imagine giving up cookies and chocolate altogether; maybe I am weak, and maybe I will improve with age and intelligence. But for right now, I am attempting to make these substances “rare” occasions. Sugar actually refers to all sweet and starchy foods. The whole group is called carbohydrates, and refers to complex and simple sugars. As you can see, in discussing sugars, we must consider all carbohydrate sources, because they will all be sugar within the hour or so of eating them.

CARBOHYDRATE SOURCES Sugar Bread Donuts Cookies Cereal Rice Fruit Cereal Honey Flour Beans Corn Candy Potatoes Pasta Grains Veggies Chips

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SUGAR FUNCTION Sugar is converted into energy. We need energy. Our brain needs energy. Our body needs energy. If you eat the right amounts of sugar for your activity level, you can have abundant energy! We have all learned and forgotten the process of making energy. Our first exposure often occurred in grade 10 or so, learning biochemistry…Glycolysis, Citric Acid Cycle (CAC), and Oxidative Phosphorylation. I have included a graphic for those biochemistry enthusiasts, but thank God, literally, we don’t have to remember those steps to be healthy. What we do need to know, is that there are a myriad of nutrients that are involved in the process…B vitamins, Antioxidants, and Minerals that are essential to the creation of energy. Thus the term “empty calories.” Empty referring to the lack of the essential nutrients to make sugar into energy. Calories referring to the amount of energy potential that is consumed in the food source. We must have calories that are loaded with nutrition in order to create abundant energy. Things like fruit, whole grains, and vegetables that have sugar, plus the B vitamins, Antioxidants, and Minerals. And we must eat them in accordance with our activity level. Highly active people can eat more of these foods, but inactive people can become fat eating whole grains and fruit. A formula is created in this knowledge. Calories are potential energy. Realized energy is ATP, which requires B vitamins, Antioxidants and Minerals. We use energy based on our muscle mass and activity levels. Unused potential energy is stored as fat. Want to get fat? Eat too many carbohydrates, not enough Vitamins, Antioxidants, and Minerals, and decrease activity. That is your formula for gaining fat. Want to lose fat? Eat fewer carbohydrates than you use, with adequate nutrition to convert stored energy (fat) into realized energy. That is your formula for losing fat. Since this is our simple formula, it will be useful to get a feel for how many carbohydrate calories are in specific foods, so that you can utilize the formula. If you want to lose fat, restrict your carbohydrate intake to15 grams per meal or less, and 0-7 grams of carbohydrates per snack. As well, increase your physical activity to anywhere above where it is right now. There is, of course, more than that to losing weight, but this is an absolute formula that is a main component of losing weight and fat.

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The Sugar Cast of Characters It’s meal time! Your brain has some desires…consciously you want to feed the belly…unconsciously you want nutrition to energize, heal and repair your body. So, you sit down at the table to face your choice of food. You may have a protein source, like a steak or chicken. You may have a carbohydrate source, like bread, potato or rice. And hopefully, you have a vegetable. Is it a starchy vegetable like corn or peas? So you eat. The carbohydrate in the meal is digested and broken down ultimately into glucose (the raw material for energy) and absorbed into the blood (the delivery vehicle) so that it can get to the brain, muscles and organs, the location for energy production. As the blood sugar rises, your pancreas (the manager of blood sugar) releases a hormone called insulin. Insulin is the key that opens up your muscle cells, liver cells, and every other cell to receive the sugar, take it out of the blood and put it in the cells for energy production. Then, as mentioned earlier, the B vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants move the sugar through a series of steps, just like an assembly line at a factory. The nutrients are like the workers at the factory, each one adding a screw here, and a bolt there, to finally make the product energy in the form of ATP. Sounds like a useful process, doesn’t it? For fun, we will compare this process to an automobile production plant… The cast: Brain = the CEO (Mr. Brain) Pancreas = the plant manager (Mr. Regulator) Insulin = the key Cortisol = big corporation (N. Ron Cortisol) Receptor = the lock (fat) Cell = the factory Mitochondria = the plant floor/assembly line Vitamins/Minerals = assembly line workers Sugar = the raw material ATP = the automobile Life energy = the car works/transportation Your brain and body = the consumers As a business, we are concerned mainly with customer satisfaction. In this case, that means we provide our consumers with a quality vehicle (lots of energy) so they experience enjoyable transportation. This will result in a successful business (life and longevity). As a manufacturing plant, we also must be concerned with satisfied workers, and minimize expense from injuries and illness. We have to keep them happy and at work.

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Starting from the top, a management issue at this plant is the two personalities of the CEO (the brain). He really has a deep desire to run a quality production plant, but he also has an emotional side that can be a bit up and down. Some days he is really focused. Other days he is depressed, feeling inadequate, or angry. And on those days he makes bad decisions. He may forget to order the raw materials (sugar), or even worse, orders too much and then goes on vacation. When things are going really bad, he has been known to downsize by changing the locks (the receptors…when you eat too much sugar, you produce too much insulin, and one compensation is a neurologically driven down regulation of insulin receptors, meaning there will be less receptors for insulin as a consequence for a perceived overabundance of insulin AND if you eat bad fats/trans fats, the receptors are made of fats, so they become distorted, stiff, and misshapen, so the insulin just doesn’t fit well), essentially a corporate lock out. Just like any manufacturing plant, the whole company swings with the guy in charge. If he doesn’t maintain control, the whole plant could go under (diabetes, heart disease, cancer). So the rest of the plant has to react and respond to those decisions. The plant manager (the pancreas) is a great person, but he is a bit “type A,” and often gets stressed out by the decisions of the CEO (Brain). He is susceptible to overreactions (blood sugar highs and lows) and nervous breakdown (Syndrome X: weight gain, high cholesterol, high blood pressure). In extreme situations, he has been known to completely shut down and just not be available (diabetes). As long as the plant manager is not stressed out, he provides the factory (the cells) with enough keys (insulin) to get the factory open and producing. But when the CEO is in one of his “moods,” it just doesn’t seem to matter how hard the manager works, the locks won’t open and nobody can get to work. The workers (vitamins/minerals) are perfect in every way… when they show up. Sometimes, the CEO gives them time off (processed foods/empty calories) when we desperately need them. They try to make it work, often borrowing workers (nutrients) from other plants (bones/muscles), but then they get behind as well (muscle cramping, tightness, pain and bone loss). Behind the scenes, the CEO has an ongoing negotiation with N. Ron Cortisol (stress), a corporate giant that has as its goal a complete takeover and restructure. It is well known that companies have been destroyed by the shift in focus that this corporation has. They are really tough on the workers, and like most corporations, they focus on profitability (survival) at the expense of the whole company. They are driven by fear, greed and everyone suffers, even the consumer (low energy, suppressed immune system, digestive problems), when he takes over. Work can be wonderful, often the automobiles are great (lots of energy) and the consumers are happy (healthy, active bodies). But other times, everyone just feels like clocking out!

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The plant is very excited to announce they hired a top gun consultant, Dr. Dendrites, who is an expert in communication and plant operation. (dendrites are the receiving end of the nerve, taking information from other nerves and processing that forward to create function and experience). DR. DENDRITES EMPOWERMENT PROGRAM Dr. Dendrites first meets with the CEO (brain), then the Plant Manager (Pancreas), and the workers themselves. He gathers information from everyone, finally creating his report. He says there is always a way to succeed (even a diabetic can normalize sugar metabolism with time), no matter how bleak it might look. He is very optimistic, stating that as long as the plant is still open (alive), it can thrive (live energetically). Dr. Dendrites directives: “Our first goal is to evaluate supply and demand. If this company attempts to make more automobiles (energy in the form of ATP) than the consumers (body and brain) are willing to use, it will result in a surplus of vehicles (stored energy or fat). This situation is handled in two specific ways:”

1. Create an interest in transportation, create a demand for automobiles (Get the body to move more/exercise)

2. Regulate production in relation to consumer demand; acquire raw materials to meet the demand and no more. (Eat carbohydrate in relation to your activity level)

“This process begins and ends with the CEO. We must create a marketing plan that emphasizes the benefits of transportation (using energy/exercise). We should also have press releases of studies demonstrating the harmful effects of staying at home. What are you missing by not driving? (Lack of exercise)? The CEO has to appropriately communicate the pleasure and pain principle to the consumers, first by completely understanding it himself. Mr. Brain, I want you to head a research and marketing project to meet all these needs. I want you to feel the pleasure of the driving experience (being active), and the pain of not driving (inactivity). By the way, consumers are naturally driven to a greater degree by pain, so place a priority on the research behind not driving (inactivity is painful because it increases stiffness, reduces energy, etc).” “Next, I want you to crunch the numbers and figure out exactly the demand (be aware of carbohydrate counts) for vehicles right now. We are at surplus (fat) so we can lower supply while raising the demand until we get back in control of the supply and demand issue. Do not worry, although production may decrease (eat less) initially, we will create such a demand that in just a few months, you will be producing more (eating more) than you are now, just to keep up with demand. Everyone will be happy.” Once supply and demand are in balance, we will address quality of the vehicles produced. We will produce quality vehicles (energy) by using quality raw materials (whole foods). The consumer will pay a slightly higher price (diet rules), but the end result will be a

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satisfied consumer that buys again and again. (increased energy, improved attitude, causing more activity and more energy output) We also must do something about N. Ron Cortisol. I believe the best approach is to stop negotiations completely (remove external stressors that are readily avoided: caffeine, stimulants, artificial colors, flavors, preservatives, bad fats), and focus on the company (HeartMath, meditation). The company and workers will perform best if they know their job is safe (Repair physiology vs. survival physiology). As for the workers (nutrients), we must address absenteeism. Right now, you are at 35% days absent (heavily processed foods). That means, at any given moment, you are missing over a third of your crew (nutrients). You are stealing from Peter to pay Paul. This leads to poor teamwork (physiology) and lowered morale (more stress). We will hire 20% additional workers (multivitamin), plus reduce absenteeism to 20% (reduce intake of nutrient depleted processed foods/eat more whole foods). The plant manager, Mr. Regulator, is prone to stress. Much of that stress is related to managing a problem with supply and demand, and worker absenteeism. However, with plant production intended to increase, we will provide two assistant managers (chromium and vanadium which both improve insulin function) through our growth phase, and each growth phase thereafter. I think he will handle the changes well, and have a long career here (eliminate chronic disease), as long as we stick to the directives. The last directive is eliminating lock outs. (Bad fats and receptor downregulation) Supply and demand will handle approximately half of these situations. We will also install new locks (healthy fats) in every door that are technologically advanced (molecularly distilled fish oils) and easier to open. With these directives, it is virtually impossible to struggle (poor sugar metabolism) or fail (Diabetes) as a business. That’s my auto analogy…whether it helps or not it was fun to write! Glycemic Index One aspect I don’t have an analogy for is the speed at which this meal converts to blood sugar, and the ability to use the sugar. Let’s take it step by step… One variable is the amount of carbohydrate that you eat. Was it a huge plate of pasta or a huge plate of broccoli? The amount is the first variable. If you plan on a five mile hike tomorrow, you may be ok with the huge plate of pasta (and of course you chose whole grain pasta). If you are planning on sitting at a desk job, you better choose the broccoli. Often, with my lifestyle, which includes some regular exercise, I choose to eat no starchy or carbohydrate food. This is the first rule: You have to eat carbohydrates appropriate to your lifestyle and activity level. I have included a chart of fairly accurate carbohydrate

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counts of various foods. Problem solved. If you want to eat pasta today, just increase your activity level tomorrow. We also have additional control by monitoring the glycemic index of various foods. The glycemic index refers to the rate at which a particular food coverts to blood sugar given a specific amount. For example, if you want some fruit, a pear will result in a slow release of sugar, whereas the same amount of raisins will result in a rapid release of sugar. If you consult the glycemic index chart, you can see the number associated with the pear is rather low, and the raisins fall within the intermediate range. In addition, the glycemic index can be changed by food combining. Specifically, it will be lowered by including protein, fat, and acid containing foods. As you can see, a snickers bar has a low glycemic index as a result of the fat and protein in the peanuts (I know what you’re thinking…still not a healthy food!). Oranges and grapefruit are low because of the acid. So we can apply this knowledge to our meals. If we have pasta, use an alfredo sauce (fat) or tomato sauce (Acid). If we eat bread, make sure to use butter, or even better, eat it like the Italians, with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. That steak will balance out the potato. And nuts will balance out the raisins. We still have to be appropriate in the amounts we eat, but this can help you manage blood sugar most effectively. For the most part, whole unrefined foods have a low glycemic index, and refined processed foods have a higher glycemic index. So we’re getting pretty smart…we know how to control the speed at which our blood sugar rises by controlling the amount of carbohydrate we eat, and properly combining foods. Now the sugar must effectively and efficiently get into the cell. Getting the sugar into the cell Insulin is the key that opens up the door to each cell, letting the sugar in. Insulin is released by the pancreas in response to a rise in blood sugar from the food we eat…a simple cause and effect process. There are two principles to making this work properly. One is the number of locks available…you can’t open a door if there is no place to put the key. The other is the shape of the lock…you can’t open a door if the key doesn’t fit. The number of locks The number of locks is set by the nervous system, and is regulated up or down depending on the foods you choose to eat. For example, if you eat more carbohydrate food than your activity level, the muscle cells will fill up with sugar waiting to be used as energy. The brain recognizes that the “plant is too busy,” so regulates the number of locks down, so that there are less locks that the insulin key fits into. You may produce a lot of insulin from the food you ate, but there are not enough locks for it to be useful. The brain is not happy that you ate another carbohydrate rich meal, because now it has to call in other workers to get the blood sugar down; workers that convert that sugar into fat rather than energy. They are inefficient and messy workers and cost the factory overtime. It is a stressful time on the job. If this continues, the pancreas may tire from increasing its output to try to get the blood sugar down, and become less and less efficient. You’ve

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done this to yourself, so you face reality and go on low carbohydrate diet, in order to take the stress off the pancreas, and you walk every day or some form of energy expenditure. Slowly, the cells are able to use the sugar that they had waiting in line for energy production, the blood sugar comes down, and the brain recognizes that the “plant is empty,” so regulates the number of locks up, actually making more locks that the insulin key fits into. Soon, as a result of your new habits, the system is working effectively, and Mr. Brain is happy and stress free. The shape of the locks Just as things are starting to work smoothly, we notice that the keys (insulin) are getting jammed in the locks (receptors) and the raw materials (sugar) are beginning to accumulate (high blood sugar). We had it right, so what happened? A careful investigation of the locks reveals that they have been outsourced to another manufacturer, who, at a lower price, made poor quality locks. The locks are made of fat, and the new manufacturer found margarine and shortening to be available at just pennies on the dollar. Very tempting indeed. Some well intentioned (hopefully) consultants (doctors and dieticians) had reinforced that this would reduce congestion (cholesterol) on the roads to the cells. They were wrong on all accounts. The locks made from these manufactured fats were stiff and misshapen. The insulin couldn’t open the locks efficiently, and what’s more, congestion doubled or tripled on the roads (arteries). According to Dr. Dendrites, the length of the fat determines its elasticity or fluidity. If we make cells from short, or worse, hardened fats such as margarine or shortening, the receptors will not “catch” the insulin. Just like an old baseball glove, versus a new stiff glove, you will make more spectacular catches with the loose, fluid glove (or receptor). Luckily, we all have the knowledge we need to apply this rule…from the kitchen rather than the chemistry lab. We know that margarine is a “hardened” oil that is solid at room temperature. Short and stiff. We have observed in the kitchen that many vegetable oils are liquid at room temperature, but solid in refrigeration. Flax oil is liquid in refrigeration, and solid in the freezer, and fish oils are liquid in the freezer. It’s that simple. The longer, more fluid fats are more liquid. We need those fats to make efficient receptors, so the system will work again. The price is higher, but the cost is lower. You may spend a bit more on flax oil and quality fish oils, but the return on investment is significant. Health, vitality, and function for 100 years! Remember, that manufactured or even damaged fats, which are fats heated too high or left out too long, are trouble makers. They are not a part of the solution, and absolutely the part of the problem. They qualify, by definition, as a poison. They disrupt chemical

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enzymes and function in ways shockingly similar to Tylenol poisoning or swallowing that cleaner under your sink. You wouldn’t think of eating that would you? As one of my teachers puts it, “Friends don’t let friends eat hydrogenated oils and fats!” SUMMARY OF PROTOCOL Eat carbohydrates appropriate to your activity level. If you do not exercise (you soon will) you can afford very few carbs per meal. If you want to lose weight, carbs must stay low, and walking must occur. Eat and take abundant nutrients. Start with minimizing (most of us will never completely eliminate) nutrient poor processed foods. Add a quality multivitamin/mineral supplement to fill the gaps of your indulgences. Begin a walking program to increase aerobic muscle cells and accelerate the “calorie burning” and “fat converting” process. DE-Stress by avoiding stimulants and chemicals, and by practicing HeartMath meditation (focusing on appreciation). Also apply the neurology of change principles. Eat and add healthy, fluid fats such as fish oils and flax oils. Never eat foods prepared with margarine or shortening, or anything made with hydrogenated oils. That includes most packaged and processed foods. (You can still have your snacks from EarthFare, Whole Foods, or GreenLife). It is really that easy…Whole foods, good supplements, walking and focusing on the positive. If you focus and refocus on what you want, even those addictive foods will start to look less appealing. Really, they will!

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Chapter 4: THE LAW OF ATTRACTION IN ACTION There are several ways to increase the intensity of stimulation to one area of the brain that can wake up more dormant areas of the brain. One such way is the Law of Attraction, AKA THE SECRET. It is a simple, natural Law of Physics that you experience every day of your life, much like gravity. One difference with gravity, however, is that you can’t switch it to up (as far as I know). The Law of Attraction can be switched to up or down, good or bad, or more accurately, to what you want or what you don’t want. We all have experienced or witnessed these changes. You can probably think of someone you met or know that seems to fall backward into success and happiness. Every time you talk to them they have several stories about how things went just the way they wanted, everything worked out great for them. You also can probably think of someone who can’t get a break, knows they can’t get a break, and everything they do seems to work out poorly. (Hopefully not you!) The Law of Attraction states that “I attract to my life whatever I give my attention, energy and focus to…whether negative or positive.” Whatever you give your attention, energy, and focus to, determines your mood or feeling. Think about it…recall a time when you felt terrible…what were you thinking about? Now recall a time when you felt absolutely incredible…what were you thinking about? It’s true, we do it to ourselves, and that feeling, good or bad, attracts more of that feeling. More of the stuff that creates those feelings…more reasons why. That experience, neurologically, is the frontal cortex (what you focus on) stimulating the circuit to color your experience (rosy or blue), which stimulates behavior or action (positive or negative), thereby changing your reality and your relationships. It affects the entire course of the neurology of change. So, when are you attracting (and coloring, changing behavior, reality, relationships)? Well, when do you have a feeling? Of course it is always. Just like gravity, it never shuts off. Right now you are attracting more stuff into your life. Will it be good stuff or bad stuff? Well, how are you feeling? “At every moment, including right now, I am sending out a positive or negative feeling, and at every moment, law of attraction is responding to that feeling by giving me more of the same, whether negative or positive.” Deliberate Attraction Attracting deliberately is as simple as knowing what you want and putting energy, attention and focus toward that. You will still need to apply the full Neurology of Change process, but this is step one, and it supercharges the entire circuit.

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Unfortunately, we often are conditioned to focus on what we don’t want! Don’t spill your milk! (How can I do anything but, now that you made me focus on it?) Don’t hurt your sister! (I wasn’t going to, but what a great idea?) I don’t want to… look stupid, get rejected, lose money, get scammed, break a nail, forget my lines, ask a dumb question, pay too much, etc, etc. Every time you decide what you don’t want, you are putting your attention, energy, and focus on that which you DON’T want! Be glad you are aware of this process, and that we are so good at it. We can use our natural ability to know so certainly what we don’t want, and use that information to identify what we do want! I know everything I don’t want about my job So….What do I want…. I don’t want a bossy supervisor an understanding supervisor I don’t want to work overtime a clearly followed schedule I don’t want stupid coworkers want great colleagues I don’t want for my life… So…What do I want… I don’t want to be hurt a loving, supporting spouse/family I don’t want to lose money to find the best value I don’t want to look stupid to be confident and sure of myself I don’t want to fall on my face to be graceful and coordinated

“WHAT DO I WANT” EXERCISE I DON’T WANT FOR MY (life, job, family) So… What DO I WANT ___________________________________ ______________________________ ___________________________________ ______________________________ ___________________________________ ______________________________ ___________________________________ ______________________________ ___________________________________ ______________________________ ___________________________________ ______________________________ ___________________________________ ______________________________ ___________________________________ ______________________________ ___________________________________ ______________________________ ___________________________________ ______________________________

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How would you think and feel, what are the words you would say and hear in your mind, if you KNEW 100% FOR SURE, that you could not fail? Focusing, in faith, without doubt, can drive each and every step toward what you really want. That’s powerful. And knowing that there is a Law of Physics, that it is as real as gravity, that we see it everywhere we look, that it is consistent if tested, that it is always there and working, should give you the faith to try it out. When you focus your attention on what you want, in faith, there are feelings that are associated with that focus, just as there are feelings associated with focusing on how unfair the world is, how you never get a break, how it is soooo hard for you to do this or that. Each direction of focus has a feeling… I feel powerful, confident, unstoppable, happy, creative, intelligent, joyful, resilient, peaceful, connected, and I feel good… There is also an internal dialogue that accompanies those feelings: I say… people need me, want me, love me, look up to me, are interested in me, I make opportunities, I expect results, I am important, significant, and I am OK… You have listed the things you want, now see them, feel them, pretend you are in them, on them, at them, experiencing them. Notice your doubt if you have some. That is ok too…just remind yourself of the consistency of this law, how you always fall down, every time, never fails. Law of Attraction never fails; it is always consistent, every time. Practice this every day, and soon your frontal cortex will be burning red hot, lighting the fuse to change, and to the life you want!

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Chapter 5: THE CONTROLLING FORCE Most decisions that you make are made consciously or unconsciously by the degree of pain and /or pleasure associated with that decision. You may do things that are painful or not pleasurable because you are driven by a higher purpose, but you can create more pleasure in your life, and less pain, by understanding your neuro-association to a particular action or activity. PAIN: This tends to be the most significant controlling force. We will tend to do much more to avoid pain than to achieve pleasure. The pain is usually not physical pain, but rather emotional pain such as (perceived) embarrassment, failure, fear, etc. or discomfort associated with a path that is not the easiest or most fun. PLEASURE: The second controlling force that decides whether or not you do something is “will this give me pleasure.” Happiness, joy, comfort, satisfaction. You can imagine that if something that will produce pleasure, may also produce one of the painful perceptions, you may not do it anyway. For example, some people say they don’t eat broccoli. It is known to have health benefits, yet the pain of eating it causes these people to avoid it. “It doesn’t taste as good as a candy bar or a donut; in fact it tastes so bad, not only does it not give me pleasure, it gives me pain.” This is a neuro-association (NA). The association to broccoli is negative. This NA has an effect on your goals, especially if your goal is health and your NA is negative to all veggies. WHAT POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE NA’s ARE AFFECTING YOUR GOALS?? When you think of exercise, do you get a + (positive) or a – (negative)?? What about donuts…do you think “Mmm, sounds good, I love donuts!” or do you think that donuts are loaded with sugar and bad fats and destroy your health? Consider your + or – thoughts with everything: Diet = ? Veggies = ? Fruit = ? Bread = ? Water = ? Milk = ? Sugar = ? Pasta = ? Candy = ? Cookies = ? Meat = ? Soda = ? We will examine what foods are healthy in detail, but for right now, just consider how you feel about everything. How about: Exercise = ? Jogging = ? Walking = ? Yoga = ? Losing weight = ? Meditating = ? Relaxing = ? Doctors = ?

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Or consider: Family = ? Job = ? Church = ? Your kid(s) = ? Learning = ? Reading = ? Watching TV = ? Health = ? Money = ? Meeting people = ? Promotion = ? Work = ? There are endless situations, things, activities, etc. that you can consider in your life. You should already begin to see how you think about any of these can shape your outcomes, your life, your destiny. The great news is that any of these that you now have a disempowering association to or with, CAN BE CHANGED, and therefore so can your life, outcomes, and destiny!!

NEURO-ASSOCIATIVE CONDITIONING (NAC)

Neuro-Associative conditioning is simply conditioning your mind to more empowering associations. It consists of 3 simple steps that can literally change your destiny.

1. Getting leverage: You must want to change. a. If you don’t really want to change something, no matter of your skills,

coaches, etc…it will never work. b. You can get leverage on yourself through a reward. “If I accomplish this,

I will give myself this.” c. You can get leverage by getting bothered. This is holding me back, it’s

not ok, and in fact it really ticks me off! 2. Pattern interrupt: Something to do instead of falling into old habits.

a. You can pattern interrupt with a consequence: “If I don’t stick to my diet (exercise program), I will eat this can of dog food.”

b. You can pattern interrupt with an activity or action: “Every time I even think about smoking, I will do 10 pushups.”

c. The idea is that when you begin thinking or acting in a way that you no longer want to…you have something to change the thought or behavior.”

3. Condition a new, empowering NA: Changing the way you think of something. a. WRITE OUT THE DISEMPOWERING NA ON A PIECE OF PAPER b. Create 5 reasons why NOT changing it will cause pain. c. Create 5 reasons why changing it will create pleasure. d. Read these every day until this is what you automatically think whenever

you think about this thing.

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LET’S TRY A COUPLE: “I must exercise!” What do you think of when you think of exercise now? (It’s hard, time consuming, etc) Well, that won’t set you up for a win will it?

1. Get Leverage: Why do I want to do this? A: I’m sick of looking/feeling this way, I can’t stand it any more.” OR: If I stick to this plan for 30 days I will buy myself a new suit.

2. Pattern Interrupt: What will I do if I think about all the reasons not to go to the gym? (We have all been there…I’m too tired today, I will do it tomorrow, and I have a hangnail today…) A: “I can’t stand sushi, so I will buy some sushi, and if I start thinking about not doing it, I will pull out that sushi and take a quick look…if I don’t do it I eat the sushi.”

3. Condition a new NA: 5 (or more) PAIN and 5 (or more) PLEASURE a. PAIN: I will get more fat, out of shape, embarrassed to take my shirt off,

don’t look good in that dress, can’t fit into those clothes, don’t feel sexy, etc.

b. PLEASURE: More energy, look better, feel better, more confident, look good on the beach, healthy, better sex life, etc.

c. ALSO: Focus on a time when you felt really good about exercising and felt great as a result

“I must eat more salad / veggies!” What do you think about eating salad and veggies now? (I don’t like it, it doesn’t taste good, it’s too hard to prepare, I don’t have time, etc.)

1. Get Leverage: Why do I want to do this? (Here’s where understanding what these nutritious foods do for you.) A: I know I will feel better if I eat salads, I just have to do it.

2. Pattern Interrupt: What will I do if I start to head for convenience foods that are not nutritious? A: If I follow my new menu without fail, I will take that vacation I’ve been putting off, I will put a photo of the resort on my mirror in the bathroom and one in my car, and at work, etc. and I will look at that any time I think of grabbing a donut and coke.

3. Condition a new NA: a. PAIN: Micronutrient deficiency causes cancer, fatigue, weight gain,

physical pain, degenerative diseases; I can’t let myself down again, etc. b. PLEASURE: Antioxidant nutrients protect my brain, avoid cancer, etc;

more energy, feel better, look younger, think faster, more clear, remember things better, protection from all disease, better teeth and gums, skin, etc.

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Wow, I want a salad! I can tell you from personal experience, that when you think about things differently, you see them differently, they taste better, are more enjoyable, and you DO them. We will discuss emotional factors associated with habits later on (underlying issues), but this is a great start to change!

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Chapter 6: VALUES and BELIEFS Values and beliefs are the stuff of supercharging your motivation. It is based on the same concept of focus and the law of attraction. Get the fire hot enough, and it will drive all areas of the brain toward change. Values in particular fuel motivation, which is the function of the amygdala. Perhaps your motivation lags because you really haven’t decided or know what really motivates you. By basing your wants on what truly motivates you, you can supercharge your circuit of change. We all have a hierarchy of importance placed upon our values. We could probably agree on what values we would move towards versus which we would move away from. Not many people enjoy anger, and avoid happiness. From that point, we become very different people. For instance, a person who values adventure near the top would offer a very different weekend or evening out than someone who placed security near the top. These values determine our personality, behavior, and habits to such an extent, that we should all become familiar at least with our top 3 from each category. It can assist you in creating motivation. For example, if you value peace the most, and avoid rejection the most, you can focus on how exercising gives you peace and avoids rejection. The motivation will be more powerful, and deliberate, and life is too important to leave it to chance. MOVING TOWARDS VALUES = what gives you greatest pleasure, what’s most important to me in my life (relationships, career)

□ Success □ Adventure □ Power □ Happiness □ Freedom

□ Outrageousness □ Love □ Peace □ Comfort □ Security

□ Health □ Respect □ Faith □ Joy □ Intelligence

WHAT HAS TO HAPPEN IN ORDER FOR YOU TO BE/FEEL _________________? MOVING AWAY FROM VALUES = What will you do the most to avoid

□ Anger □ Fear □ Embarrassment □ Frustration

□ Humiliation □ Overwhelm □ Failure □ Low self esteem

□ Disappointment □ Sadness □ Pain (physical) □ Rejection

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WHAT HAS TO HAPPEN IN ORDER FOR YOU TO BE/FEEL _________________? The last question in each category is significant, because we need to consider how those feelings are invoked. For example, if you value happiness most of all, and in order to have happiness, you must be complimented 20 times a day, have your hair stroked, and make a million dollars by tomorrow, what is the chance you will be happy? You need a new criteria for happiness, preferably a criteria you have control over. What if you felt happiness when you did your best…now you have a good chance. What if you wanted to avoid fear most of all, but in order to feel afraid, you had to be asked a question, or noticed, or left alone. What are your chances of not being afraid? Perhaps that could be changed to: “I feel fear when my family is in danger.” Now, you can rationalize when someone asked your name and you felt fear, “well, is my family in danger.” You can begin to change your reality by noticing (a big part of self esteem is introspection, or looking within yourself) what your motivating values are, and using them to deliberately motivate yourself toward your goal. And by noticing what your “rules” for feeling the desired and undesired ways. Perhaps you are making it way too difficult to feel good, and way too easy to feel bad. Also consider… WHAT ARE MY CORE BELIEFS: I am... People are… Life is… These may have been downloaded or programmed as a child. But you are no longer a child, so begin to notice the positive and negative “ways of thinking” and begin to change them to your desire. Remember that the brain is “plastic” or “transformable,” so whatever thoughts you have now, that you don’t like, or don’t work for you, can be changed to something that helps you meet your goals, rather than distracts from them. I believe this is the magic behind affirmations…they force (or allow) you to deliberately exercise parts of your brain that you want stronger. Wouldn’t it be nice to notice more love, peace, freedom, whatever it is that draws your desire? That’s how the brain works…you think about it more, you notice it more, it happens more…repeat…and eventually it becomes automatic to feel the way you want to feel…your default setting. Don’t forget to bring your stuck beliefs or behaviors in for a session of NET!

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Chapter 7: Inflammation What is inflammation? Inflammation is becoming as common and popular as cholesterol as a marker for health and disease. But what is it? Sure we are aware of the inflammation associated with a sprained ankle or wrist. We know inflammation is a risk factor for heart disease and stroke, as well as Alzheimer’s and dementia. It also has a role in cancer, osteoporosis, arthritis, diabetes, any abnormal tissue growth such as polycystic ovaries and endometriosis, obesity, hormone problems, and liver disease. It seems to be an underlying factor in everything you don’t want to happen as you age. It accelerates the aging process. It makes you express the worst of your genetic code. But what is it? Do you really know? Is it swelling, redness and pain? Well in some cases of acute inflammation those are signs of it. Inflammation is actually a whole host of different chemicals created by liver cells, immune cells, nerve cells, and often every cell of your body. The names are not as familiar… prostaglandins, leukotrienes, cytokines, homocysteine, interleukins, histamine, TNF, and others. Researchers are familiar with the names though, because they make drugs to block them…aspirin, advil, aleve, the many antihistamines, singulair… Nutrition companies as well, with fish oils, black currant seed oil, boswellia, turmeric, bioflavonoids, ginger, and other vitamins. We even have a general measure of inflammation now called C-Reactive Protein or CRP, that is a blood measure of all these inflammatory chemicals. You make them. Are you having an argument with your body? Why is it doing this to you? Well, at times it seems there is a dispute between conscious brain and body. Conscious brain says I want French fries and donuts. The cells of conscious brain really don’t want that, but the neural network of thought patterns has been conditioned to say that. The cells of your body don’t want those things. They may be saying back, “I am upset because I can’t thrive with these raw materials…I need better.” And the result is the early degeneration and demise of the body, and along with it, the conscious brain… still asking for cigarettes and candy in the nursing home. We are looking at a circumstance of unresolved emotions and/or ignorance driving behavior. With unresolved emotions the basal ganglia talks directly to the frontal cortex to create this undesirable behavior. With ignorance, the cognitive portions of the frontal cortex are just avoided. Ignorance is bliss…maybe if you have the luxury of being “taken care of” by someone who is not ignorant. Children are driven by “self,” ignorant of actual needs until we teach them. Try to reason with a child. You usually have to show them how it will be self gratifying, because they have not developed a mature, prefrontal cortex. They will eat a pound of sugar if it is available, even if they get sick later, because it is immediately self gratifying. And they will do it again, shortly after they puke. We are supposed to develop a

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prefrontal cortex and make healthy choices as we grow up, however. Are you happy to be that ignorant self gratifying child?…obviously not if you are reading this manual. “It,” once again, comes down to living with a purpose, dealing with self esteem issues, getting educated, and working continuously toward your goals. So let’s get educated…

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PROSTAGLANDINS AND LEUKOTRIENES The most common inflammation Don’t be frightened by the terms. You know these terms, indirectly. If you ever take aspirin or ibuprofen, you are treating prostaglandins (PGs). If you have ever taken Singulair, the allergy drug, you have treated leukotrienes (LTs). One of my greatest clues to achieving true health is that if you take a medication and feel better as a result, you have chemistry problems. So the question is, why do I have too many inflammatory PGs or LTs in my head, sinuses, knees, or wherever the symptoms of imbalance strike you? If we use our ultimate health formula, L = A + F – T; we get most of the answer. Improper fuel…often combined with gut, liver and immune system toxicity. We have established that the food industry is trying to kill us with all those vegetable oils, hydrogenated oils and processed foods like sugar and refined flour, (so they can get us on their other products: drugs). As a result of their influence, we have shifted away from healthy oils and fats, and the fact is, the fats you eat largely determine the types of inflammatory chemicals and hormones you make, with the greatest influence on PGs and LTs. So, if you have used ibuprofen or Singulair, with benefit, you can rightly determine that your fat intake is imbalanced, causing imbalanced inflammatory chemicals, leading to undesirable expression of your genetic code…the knees, head, or sinuses. Your genetic code determines where it hurts or degenerates, but it is the food on your plate that determines if you express health or disease. And don’t forget, bad knees now means Alzheimer’s later; bad headaches now means stroke later; and bad sinuses now means heart attack later. No, there is not a direct correlation to location like that; I am just making the point that inflammatory problems unresolved, leads to one of the chronic diseases mentioned earlier. The wonderful other side of the story, is that balancing inflammation (and other issues), is the secret to healthy longevity. Imagine, once again, age 80, 90, 100…being the best you’ve ever been, closer to accomplishing the life and affect of Jesus than ever before. I look forward to this time of my life, because it will be enjoyable, not painful. Take a moment to think about your diet…how often do you eat vegetables, especially green vegetables versus vegetable oils (which isn’t the oil of the vegetables I’m talking about) and grain products. Cereal and milk. Sandwich and chips. Pasta or rice and chicken. Crackers, cookies, pita. Is it primarily a grain diet, or are you eating fruit, salads, and steamed or stir fried vegetables primarily. I mean primarily…60-70% of the food you eat should be fruit and vegetables, as an ultimate goal. Now you are getting the raw materials, in the form of fats and oils, in a balanced ratio.

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To Be Inflamed, or Not To Be Inflamed

This is a diagram that illustrates the choice you have to either be inflamed or not to be inflamed. Stick with me on this, it is really simple, or rather, I will make it simple for you, and it is another of those God rules, or Natural Laws, that we cannot be ignorant to. Prostaglandins (PGs) and Leukotrienes (LTs) are hormones produced in every cell of the body. PGs are medically treated with aspirin or advil (ibuprofen), and more recently the cox-2 inhibitors, vioxx and celebrex. LTs are more recently discovered, and of course pharmaceutical researchers began the search to block the production of these as well, and the result, so far, is the drug Singulair. As you may know, the results and consequences of these drugs was and is suffering and death. Aspirin and advil are responsible for approximately the same number of deaths annually as AIDS. Celebrex and Vioxx, and other cox-2 inhibitors were responsible for numerous heart attacks, and their makers paid dearly in lawsuits for these results. If this happened in my business, or yours, we probably wouldn’t have a business anymore, but when you can afford to pay out hundreds of millions of dollars for the suffering you cause, I guess it is more forgivable in the eyes of our government and consumers. Singulair hasn’t killed to this point, that I am aware of, but I think we should easily grasp the reality and lesson that blocking

Insulin

Anti-inflammatory

Inflammatory Anti-Inflammatory

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enzymes in our body through chemicals is not in accordance to natural laws, and should be avoided to the 99th percent. My opinion is that if I were aching in such awful pain I could hardly endure, I might take one of these, but I would immediately begin the search for why it hurts, is it my relationship with food throwing my chemistry off so harshly, or my relationship with gravity that is destroying my body and health, or even my relationship with myself or others. I would search the triad of health, mental, physical, and chemical, to find imbalances, stressors, and the cause for this terrible reaction. Soon, I would no longer need to rely on forcing anything on my body, life would be simple and natural once again. That’s the neurology of change in action once again, facing reality, noticing my results, and making changes as necessary until I get my desired results. So, we have a general idea what PGs and LTs are, and what they do…pain and death. Let’s continue with how it happens. As you can see from the top of the chart, there are two major classifications of the macronutrient “fat” that matters to you in what you make and create in terms of PG and LT hormones. It must be noted that not all PGs and LTs are inflammatory. In fact the columns on the far left and right are actually anti-inflammatory, healing and protecting to your cells and body. The middle column is the devastating group of PG and LT hormones. Fat is a macronutrient, meaning it is one of the major categories of “bricks and mortar:” the stuff that makes your physical body and brain. The two sub-groups within this category that you need to be aware of are omega-6 and omega-3 fats, abbreviated n-6 and n-3. The column on the left represents fats and oils that are always n-6. They include all grain and vegetable oils. The column on the right represents fats and oils that are always n-3. They include flaxseed and fish oils, along with the small amounts of fat found in green vegetables. The middle column, representing animal fats, are variable. It depends on what those animals eat. So if you eat grass fed beef, there will be a good proportion of n-3 oils, and if they are fed grains, they will be n-6 dominant. Same with eggs, milk, chicken, etc. The reason this is so important is what they become in terms of hormones (PGs and LTs). From the left, these n-6 oils have a chance to become anti-inflammatory hormones, but if they are eaten with carbohydrates, which are how grains are made, they shift over to the middle column and become inflammatory. There is an appropriate application of Borage oil (BO), Evening primrose oil (EPO) and Black currant seed oil (BCSO) to stimulate that outside left pathway to produce anti-inflammatory hormones, and create a clinical result. Our family uses BCSO in place of aspirin for pain issues that need a quick remedy, such as headaches, teething pain, or muscle pain. It can be used short term, taken alone, creating a result similar to taking ibuprofen or aspirin, without the side effects of stomach irritation and bleeding. (You bleed some with every aspirin, whether you know it or not). For the most part, consumption of grains and vegetable oils will produce inflammatory effects.

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The biggest consideration, however, is the ratio of the n-6 to the n-3 intake in your diet. As a result of the trend towards grain consumption and emphasis on vegetable oils, the average American has a ratio of 20 to 1, n-6 to n-3. That ratio is the tip of the bell shaped curve, with, of course some individuals showing ratios of lower and some higher. Some samples of human milk have been measured at 60 to 1 ratios. That, incidentally, is the ratio of a corn or potato chip. Researchers have observed that any ratio over 4 to 1 is predictive of chronic disease. So if 4 to 1 is the critical ratio for disease progression, and the average American tests at 20 to 1, and some babies are eating a ratio of 60 to 1, we can get a sense of the “why” behind the condition of the US population. It explains the trend of children developing high blood pressure, obesity, and diabetes (type 2 adult onset) before they reach teenage years. It also explains why nearly everyone over 40 suffers with pain, high cholesterol, joint problems, heart disease, and a progression toward stroke and dementia. These chemicals, when made so ridiculously out of balance, virtually guarantee pain and suffering. They interact with and damage any tissue that is fed by blood, which is every tissue in your body and brain. Another major confounder is the processing of oils, know as trans or hydrogenated fats and oils. This is a chemical reaction of boiling hydrogen gas through the oil until it changes shape and hardens. As you can recall, fats make up every cell membrane, so if you make your cells with this hardened, stiff oil, none of your hormones and/or brain neurotransmitters work as well…they just don’t fit in their receptor, which is located on the fatty cell membrane. The effect on inflammation is just as harsh. As you can see, there is a little box under the right and left columns, next to the first arrow (each arrow = a chemical reaction or change), and you see that trans- and hydrogenated oils inhibit or slow that reaction. Most significantly, it inhibits the right column, which always creates anti-inflammatory hormones. These foreign fats are also difficult to get rid of as well…that chip or Crisco cookie you eat today, is still messing up your chemistry four or more months later. The US government has released statements pronouncing that there is NO safe limit of trans fats. New York City has banned the use of these fats in restaurants. And as one of my teachers states, “friends don’t let friends eat hydrogenated or trans fats and oils!” So, avoid these at all costs, and really, the cost is not great. It just means a trip to GreenLife or EarthFare to pick up your chips, cookies or crackers. They do a good job of policing their products for these harmful fats. But remember the concept of 100% responsibility…you must turn over the bag or box and look for any indication of hydrogenated oils. The good news is that you can still readily see them listed, which is not true of some chemicals like MSG. The last column on the right is our safe place. All n-3 oils convert into healthy (happy) hormones. As another teacher puts it, “consider yourself n-3 deficient until proven otherwise.” There is plenty of research that suggests that all humans should supplement molecularly distilled fish oils, and if you are vegan, to supplement flax oil, algae oil, and eat lots of green stuff.

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Practically Speaking What does this awareness look like in your life, and on your plate? First of all, (which corresponds ideally with balancing carbohydrate metabolism…remember the automobile plant), is a reduction in consumption of grains. They are the highest concentration of carbohydrates and n-6 oils, other than corn and potato chips. Second, take a serious dose of fish oils to get yourself back in balance and stay there. Third, use the foods nature provides to modulate and balance inflammation, such as berries, ginger, and turmeric. Forth, if you eat meat or animal products, make sure it is pasture raised and fed naturally. That is not only good for you, but also good for the environment. Lastly, when you look at your plate, make sure there is something green on it, and then work in one other color vegetable at least. If you follow this rule, you will find less room on your plate for bread, grains, pasta and meat. Fill the plate according to your activity level, more protein if you are less active, and more carbohydrate if you are more active. Potatoes, although high in carbohydrates, have a favorable n-6 to n-3 ratio, so may be your carbohydrate of choice while “de-flaming.” Again, pretty simple and natural, and now you are following natural laws, and will have a good probability of achieving what you want.

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Chapter 8: SELF ESTEEM “If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands!” Isn’t it that simple when you’re a kid? What ever happened to the belief that “I can do anything, I am great, people love me, and I love me” that comes so easy as a child? We look around as adults and observe more “I can’t do that, I am inadequate, they don’t like me, and I hate myself” than the former. Self esteem is simply described as feeling good about yourself, but it is so much more than that. It is necessary for healthy survival. It is a way of life and a way of being. It is the experience of being competent to cope with the basic challenges of life and of being worthy of happiness. It is confidence in the efficacy of the mind, in our ability to think. By extension, it is the confidence in our ability to learn, make appropriate choices and decisions, and manage change. It is the experience that success, achievement, fulfillment, and happiness are appropriate to us. The survival value of such confidence is obvious, as is the danger when it is missing. Nathanial Brandon has made a career out of self esteem. Now in his 70s, he still lectures and writes about a subject he feels is his life’s purpose. He is one of the preeminent researchers and writers on the subject. Much of this text is a summary of his landmark book, “The 6 Pillars of Self Esteem.” If self esteem is a way of life or a way of being, and we can change our way of being through our thoughts and actions, then we can change our self esteem. It is part of the neurology of change, residing in our basal ganglia (our core beliefs) and our frontal cortex (self perception), and affecting all other areas of our brain in the process. We have discussed in detail how to deliberately tap into these parts of us, and coax them, stimulate them to make us who we want to be. We can still be the person that kid we were wants us to be. The 6 Habits of Self Esteem

1. Living Consciously: Being in the NOW; seeking to understand (not judge) yourself and others, and the world, the Universe and its energy (God); having an openness to new ideas, new concepts, new paradigms (ways of thinking, seeing things); facing reality.

2. Self Acceptance: To own, experience and take responsibility for our thoughts, feelings, and actions, without evasion, denial, disowning or judging.

3. Self Responsibility: Taking 100% responsibility for your life and well being and the experiences you have in life; understanding and accepting that you are “at choice” 100% of the time; life experiences are neutral, what you do and feel about them is your choice; you attach the meaning to what happens to you every day.

4. Self Assertiveness: Being authentic in our dealings with others; treating your values and people with respect; standing up for your values and for people.

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5. Living Purposefully: Having a purpose in life, being connected to your (clearly identified) goals, based on your beliefs; having a plan to achieve your goals; listening to feedback, observing the results you are getting, and making changes as necessary.

6. Personal Integrity: Being congruent in what you believe, do, and say; being honest with yourself and others, honoring commitments; dealing with others fairly; thinking WIN-WIN in all that you do.

These are the habits of self esteem. You should be able to score yourself and see clearly where you fall short. I’m not saying that everyone feels terrible about themselves, but if we are honest with ourselves, we all have work to do. We all could be more of each category, and the world would be a better place. Most of us could really use some work on one or two; and since we are being honest, we don’t feel that great about ourselves. We worry what others have or do, we are scared about some aspect of the future, we are resentful or regretful of some aspect of the past, we get stuck in some part of us we don’t like, we like to blame or shift responsibility, we get walked on occasionally, we let life steer us toward a path we don’t really want, and maybe we aren’t completely honest with ourselves about that. If we are being honest, let’s take two, and really work on them, and never forget the others. If you feel you are very responsible, think about how you could be more responsible. If you think you are clear in your life purpose and goals, set a time, periodically, to reevaluate those goals…perhaps you have learned something that makes something else more important to you. I plan to work on these for the rest of my life, and for those who wish to join me, let’s get to work. Living Consciously The person that many honor with the recognition of highest “consciousness” is Jesus Christ. I see all aspects of self esteem in the writings about Him, for that matter. But Jesus is known to many as the example of “consciousness.” Others say religious leaders had and have enlightened states of consciousness. The Bible says we can all achieve what Jesus did and greater. If we can define consciousness as being attentive to the present, the NOW, seeking to understand, being open minded, and facing reality, it sounds vary attainable. What can we do NOW? The power of NOW: There is a book by that name that describes this concept quite well. To summarize: If you are feeling angry, upset, or resentful, your dominant thought is on something from the past. You have no control over the past, so get back to the present. Does it make a difference right now? If you are afraid, fearful, or anxious, your dominant thought is on something that might happen in the future. Key word, might! It hasn’t happened, so get over it, and get back to the present. How can we center ourselves in the present? Focus your attention to your breathing, close your eyes and think of nothing but your breathing. Focus your attention on what is going on right now. Notice the face of the person you are talking to, notice the feel of your butt on that chair, notice the breeze or the trees or the sky. Just be aware of where you are, and ask yourself, “Am I in the past, the future, or am I here and now?”

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Seeking to Understand: this is one of the Habits of Highly Effective People, by Stephen Covey. I think the best exercise for seeking to understand is to consider the person or group you understand the least, and seek to understand and love them. The Bible says to “judge not,” and Jesus is often found breaking bread with the people we like to avoid. For the most part, we always do and say what makes sense to us…so don’t we think that everyone is like that. Everyone is doing what seems the best for them and others, however loving and supportive, or destructive it may seem to us, it makes sense to them. How could it make sense? What would be a way of thinking or viewing life that would make what that person said or did, make sense? From that perspective, it makes total sense. You don’t have to adopt their beliefs, but we need to understand and love that person or group. Being open minded: I have changed my mind so many times about how the world works, I will never rule out a new idea or perspective again. Do you see the world as you always have? Is it working for you, or would a new paradigm serve you? Do you have what you want? Maybe it is time to look at other ways of seeing the world. Stephen Covey tells a story in his book about riding on the subway with a young man and his two wild children. The kids became so wild that he found himself upset, and debating whether to say something to this “inconsiderate” man. He was viewing the man based upon the reality he was creating. It went on and finally he asked the man to control his rowdy kids. The man answered, kindly and sad, “yes, I suppose I should…we just left their mothers funeral, and my mind is not focused.” Talk about a 180 degree shift in the way he say things. His anger and upset became sympathy and grief. His “world view” was turned upside down in less than 30 seconds. Ask yourself, often, “What else could this mean?” And remember the subway story, and how your thoughts, feelings and way you see things could change, just by understanding on a deeper level. Self Acceptance Are you hard on yourself? Chances are, you are much harder on yourself than anyone else, even if you aren’t very hard on yourself. Accepting yourself means owning and taking responsibility for your thoughts, feelings, and actions, without denial or judgment. Do you have a thought, feeling or habit that is not working for you? Remember that it is you… you are denying and judging yourself. That doesn’t seem productive or healthful! What if you loved that part of you just as much as the parts you really love and enjoy. Chances are, that part of you wants something that is really an ideal desire or goal for you that you would really appreciate. In the book, Core Transformation, they describe a somewhat meditative way to search for that core desire in all those parts you are at odds with. If you are really in need of work in this area, I suggest you get the book, but I will describe the exercise here: Choose a part of you that you are at odds with… a behavior (eating unhealthy foods), belief (I’m ugly), response (upset), feeling (sadness). Close your eyes and think about the part, noticing when and where you experience it. Notice also the pictures, sounds,

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and voices your mind creates. Try to notice where you feel this part of you. Receive and welcome this part, being thankful for its desire for something deeply positive for you. Ask the part “What do you want by being this way.” Remember it is a part of you, and you are asking yourself to pull up a feeling or desire that that behavior, belief, feeling really wants, on a deeper level. Once you come up with an answer, continue deeper, ask the part, “If you have this (what you want), fully and completely, what do you want through having that, that’s even more important. Once you get an answer, ask the same question again, using the deeper desire (what it/you wants), and getting to something even more important. You will eventually get to a point that there is no more want, that this is what you really want. It will typically be a feeling of love, connection, self worth, peace, or something along those lines, which the book calls “Core States.” If done with an open mind, you will bring yourself into that state with the line of questioning. Stay there and feel that feeling that is the underlying desire or want. After enjoying that feeling for awhile, go back to the original part (behavior, belief, feeling), and now ask, “How does already having this (feeling or state) as a way of being, make things different. If you accomplished that feeling, what you (or that part) really want, and that was your way of being in this world, how might it transform or change that part of you? You might find that you love that part of you as much as the “best” parts, and once you do, you will work with it more effectively, to feel good about yourself and achieve the changes that you want. Self Responsibility Are you a blame gamer? Is your first thought or words include, “if he or she or they…”? Are you an excuse maker? There must be something innate about it, because I just heard my older daughter tell me that my younger daughter pulled her own hair! She is blaming, I suppose, because she is afraid of the consequences. For that I take 100% responsibility. I must have responded to her in some way that made her afraid of my next response. For that I am sorry. I have noticed my results, my feedback, and I will work to make her feel safe and supported in telling the truth. “What,” you may say, “you are taking responsibility for this child pulling another, smaller child’s hair, and then lying about it?” I will respond by saying, “It is the only way.” We have to take responsibility for our life and well being and the experiences we have in life. It would be easy to push the responsibility on her, the hair puller, but then I am out of control. I have lost control by giving control. I could try to change her, but I can’t control her. I can try to control her, but then she would resent me. The only way I can maintain control is to accept responsibility and decide how I can respond to create a better situation. That does not mean I can allow her to continue to pull hair, but my response will change so that if she feels angry, I can help her outlet that anger by giving her other options, while still letting her know that there are consequences for hurting someone. Lets face it, the scaring her didn’t work, I just made her lie to me about doing it.

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Self responsibility begins with a “knowing” that you can create such good feeling and joy in your life, all by yourself, that you stop asking others to change so that you can feel good. It continues with asking always, “what can I do about this?” Know that you are always at choice, and that the events you call your life are neutral, only you attach meaning and feeling to them. Learn to use that split second following an event or experience to choose your response to that event or experience. Notice when you did not choose to your liking, and consider how you could have chosen a better response. Exercise: Take an event, situation, or experience that you feel for certain that you had no responsibility for the outcome, and/or that you had no choice. “I was rearended by another driver” or “My home was destroyed by a fire”…things like that. Now ask, “What could I have done differently to change that outcome?” I know absolutely that you could have had a different response. There may also be things you could have done differently, leading up to that event that may have changed the outcome also. If you can take responsibility for those situations, you are on the way to feeling good about yourself, and feeling in control of you life…which feels good. Self Assertiveness Are you a door mat? When is the last time you said no? Can you stand up for yourself, your values, and others? Generally, if we have trouble with these things, we are predicting an outcome that we don’t want, perhaps the worst possible outcome. Then, when you do finally take a stand, you get clobbered, because you were sure you would, and you approached with the body language and tone that guaranteed a negative result. Maybe, when you worked up the fortitude, into a frenzy, you came across as belligerent and pushy. Maybe you came across as a patsy, a yellow belly, and you gave the person no other choice but to call you such, as if you were asking for it. In any event, you created the result (see Self Responsibility), so you need to notice the bad outcome, and change your approach. You change your approach by changing your prediction. People like this are classic basal ganglia overactive people. These people must practice noticing and changing their prediction. I should know, as I am one of them. I will answer the phone and immediately suspect or predict bad news. I will be sure that someone will say no, even before I ask. I will predict that I won’t like a gift and wish that it wasn’t given to me…before I open it. Yes, I am a recovering Basal Ganglioholic! In my case, it was programmed by receiving bad results. I’m not sure when I had enough “proof” in my life to become certain that more bad was coming, but I know it became my automatic thought. I am conscious of those predictions now, and I can notice and change my prediction. This takes practice, but if you want to assert yourself in a healthy, loving way…in a win-win format…you have to practice. The best practice I have learned to date, is the concept of inverse paranoia, described in Jack Canfield’s book, The Success Principles. To summarize: Consider and contemplate

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that everyone, even people you don’t know, is in on a plot to make your life better. Consider how everyone might be plotting FOR you. What is his or her little piece of the plot? How is this person attempting to improve my life? This is not selfish for this type of person, rather it is totally selfless, since improving this predictive quality, will improve the lives of all those around you. You will begin to feel like you can be yourself, be authentic. You will treat yourself and others with more respect. And you will feel good about yourself! Living Purposefully Do you feel like life has no purpose? Do you have any goals or wants? Do you just let the car drive itself, ending up wherever the road takes you, or do you have a clear destination in mind? Do you have a plan and stay in action toward those goals? The most famous study on goal setting and results is the Harvard study of their graduates several decades ago. They interviewed all graduating seniors in a particular year, and asked them if they had clearly defined, written goals for their life and career. Something like 3 or 5% of those graduates did have them clearly written and defined. Fast forward 30 years, they caught up with those graduates, and found that the net worth of those 3-5% that had written goals, exceeded the net worth of the other 95-97% of the graduates! Yes, for every 5 graduates that were clear in their goals, they created more wealth that 100 students combined who didn’t have clear set goals…graduating from the same school, at the same time. The reason they created more wealth, wasn’t because they worked harder; rather it was because they did what they loved to do. They didn’t have a job, they had a passion, they had a purpose, attached to a clearly defined set of goals that supported their purpose and was based on their beliefs and values. Money is certainly not the only measure of success, but it is often a consequence of doing what you love to do, your passion and purpose. Purpose is rather simple actually. What gives you goose bumps, a rush, exhilaration? What do you want people saying about you at your funeral? Have you touched many lives in a positive way? How would they describe you? These are attributes of your passion and purpose. Goals should be written and updated regularly. Work backward from what you really want in life, to a yearly goal, down to a 90 day goal, then what will I do this week to move toward that, and what will I do today? Personal Integrity Do you say one thing and do another? Do you make promises that you never keep…to yourself and others? Do you believe in something, yet are afraid to be open about it? Do others get the “short end of the stick” in negotiations and interactions with you? When

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we think of a lack of integrity, we may see a ruthless, cutthroat businessman, trashing the environment, running our government ☺, and keeping the little guy down. That is a fair representation, fitting all the criteria in such a dastardly way. But we can be just as empty inside as Mr. Corporate Government, in a much more subtle fashion. If you are not true to yourself, by being congruent in what you think, say and do, you are out of integrity, and your personal value will diminish. The value you give yourself, your most important and critical auditor. Tell yourself enough lies and break enough commitments to yourself, and you feel that empty feeling. Dishonesty and self esteem are directly conflicting and cannot exist together, regardless who you are lying to. The wonderful contrast to that rather sad fact, is that keeping a few commitments to yourself will make you feel great about yourself. This also, we can make a habit by starting small and growing your self respect and self esteem to where you would never make a commitment to yourself that you would ever break. It would be unthinkable. It would be like cursing at church, talking back to a five star general, urinating on Main Street, exposing yourself at the market, or anything else you might find totally unthinkable. If you have struggled with keeping commitments, and it feels fairly normal to state you will “do this and that,” only to start and stop, commit and drop, over and over again…you need some momentum. Exercise: Consider your congruence quotient. How aligned are your beliefs and values with your words and actions. Do you do things that are conflicting with your values? Do you say things that conflict with your beliefs? If so, you are out of integrity in your soul. You will never be at peace, until you handle those conflicts. Talk to a pastor, a counselor, a coach, a friend…you have to start at peace with yourself. Next, pick out your unthinkable, and begin to attach or associate that thing with breaking commitments to yourself. Mine would be hurting my child, as in physical abuse. The thought gives me an uneasy feeling deep in my gut…it could never happen. Start linking the two acts…hurting Sacred = breaking my commitments. And how true is that!? Children observe and record our actions. They see us breaking commitments, lacking integrity, and feeling lousy all the time because we did. Offering that observation to our children is no less a beating than a beating. They are recording those messages as their programmed “way of life!” Those poor little babies! Unthinkable!! Now that we have attached real pain to our lack of personal integrity, let’s create some momentum by winning a few. What do sports teams do to gain momentum? In college basketball, all the Division 1 teams pick a few smaller schools to beat up on at the beginning of the year. Maybe not the best analogy, but we have to get a few wins. Start with an easy one, or chunk down your toughie to something that is really a gimme, a sure thing. “I will get out of bed and do 2 deep knee bends.” “I will cut out one piece of candy.” “I will eat one stalk of broccoli.” “I will make one phone call…or I will make a list of people I need to call.” Even easier. You know where you are lying or breaking commitments, so pick one easy chunk that you know you can do…get a win.” Now do it

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again! And again! And again! Guaranteed you will feel some resistance at some point, but you will have momentum when you hit that point. “I’ve done this and this and this, I can’t quit now!” With self esteem, which includes personal integrity, you will persevere through challenges, with a determination that there IS a way, and I will find it. You will achieve more, feel better, and live with passion, touching more lives than you might have thought possible.

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Chapter 9: Metabolic Biotransformation: Clearing out the gunk The TrueHealth for Life formula is: Life = Activation + Fuel – Toxicity If your goal is vibrant healthy life, your whole life, you must minimize toxic exposure and support detoxification processes in the body. This section is about subtracting toxic effect on your body and brain, in order to support vibrant healthy life for 100+ years. Detoxification We have been pretty ignorant (stupid?) in the use of chemicals in our lives. Many of us have been subject to mercury exposure in vaccines and dental work, lead paint and perhaps asbestos in our homes, chemical cleaners, solvents, and a variety of chemicals too numerous to list. We, the people, and corporations, have released billions of tons of chemicals into the ground, air, and water. We must face facts; never before has our liver and other chemical elimination organs had so much work to do. We live in a toxic environment! What is the answer? We can’t avoid it completely. Do we all have to be chemical scientists in order to live a healthy 100 years? Not really, but we do have to be aware of, and face the reality of what is. And the reality is life is toxic! Removing the toxic effect of life is really as simple as avoiding what we can, and supporting the natural elimination processes that are already in place. We can increase our adaptability to a toxic environment so that in some ways, we will actually be better and stronger, despite, or as a result of the harm we have done through chemical engineering. AVOIDING To avoid toxic chemicals, we rely on my first rule of living: depend on nature. Eat what nature provides in the most unaltered form possible. That includes what is sprayed on the plants we eat, and fed to the animals we eat. Although organic is not perfect, it is a measure of control we have. If we choose organic, locally grown foods, we support healthy environmental practices and hopefully, decrease the amount of chemical residues that we come in contact with. One practice is to evaluate the amount of garbage you produce. The more whole foods you use, the less garbage you produce. If it is in a package, can, or bag, chances are it is removed once or twice from its whole, nature prepared form. So you lose some of the nutrition value, as well as run the risk of chemical additives to make it pretty, taste better, or preserve it for a longer period.

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Once you are eating “clean” foods, consider if you are storing “cleanly.” Avoid or minimize the use of plastics; are you cooking in aluminum cookware, or using “non-stick” chemical conditioners such as Teflon? Consider what you are putting on your body. There are still aluminum based anti-perspirants on the market. Careful now, you will smell worse when your brain begins to rot later in life. What is in the lotions, soaps, and shampoos you use? A more recent link to breast cancer and “parabens” has been discovered. Parabens, listed as methyl-paraben, propyl-paraben, and other chemical “parabens” are in most lotions, soaps, and shampoos. Is the potential harm worth turning your shampoo and lotion bottles over to read the ingredients? That’s a personal decision, but we need to be aware of the use of these chemicals, so at least it is an informed decision. Consider what you are putting on your counters, bath, and toilet. There are natural disinfectants such as Thyme oil and tea tree oil that some companies use in their cleaning products. Consider what you are putting on your “pests.” I guess that would include ants, bugs, weeds and the like. We solved an ant problem with (natural) dryer sheets. There are a multitude of natural products you can try to eliminate pests. It may be a bit inconvenient to find the companies that are environmentally friendly and non-toxic, but it is the little things in life that turn the tide. And in this case, the tide is health and function for a life time. Where is that on your priority list?? ELIMINATING We are constantly in a “detoxification” process. Detoxification is not something that you do once a year, or every 5 years. While some of those detox programs are beneficial, and can help turn the corner on some diseases or conditions, I would rather think of life as a detox. There have been studies of large groups of people, where they took tissue fat samples, and found that all participants had chemical pesticides, plastics, and Styrofoam chemicals in them. We all are exposed, we all absorb them, and we all are always trying to get rid of them in the least harmful possible way. For some who aren’t aware of exposure risks, they end up in overload, and the body has to find a place to store them. That occurs in fat cells, which includes the brain and nervous system. Try to lose weight and it is impossible. Try to think straight and it is impossible. For those who are aware, we work with the built in processes that clean us up. The liver is the main organ for metabolic biotransformation, which means the body converts chemicals you eat, breath, contact, and make, into a product that is safe to pass out of your body through elimination processes, mainly sweating and going to the bathroom.

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Phase 1 The liver can be compared to a coin sorter, and phase 1 is the large funnel that you dump all the coins into. Another way of looking at it, is this is the bagging up of the trash, and phase two is taking it out. But back to the coin sorter…everything we have to eliminate is dumped into this process, and then the different types of chemicals “fall” into the appropriate sorter for further transformation into something that can safely exit the body. If phase 1 is insufficient, the place is a dump…coins on the counter, in the drawer, and everywhere you could put them “until you get to organizing.” Unfortunately in the case of the liver, these “items” are chemicals, and some are quite harmful, not just messy. So how do you clean up a phase 1 liver problem? Like most chemistry processes, it is a bit like an assembly line production plant. Or in this case a de-assembly line. There are workers that do one piece of the process and pass it on to the next step. This step relies heavily upon antioxidants. Vitamins A, C, E, Selenium, plant based antioxidants such as quercitin, silymarin and bioflavonoids. There is also a need for niacin, a B vitamin. So the key here, beyond supplementation, is eating lots of brightly colored fruits and veggies. So, if you are a standard American, eating sandwiches and fries, you miss out on the color for the most part. More importantly, you miss out on the nutrients needed for phase 1 reactions in the liver. KEY INGREDIENTS: Melons, colored peppers, carrots, spinach, berries, nuts and seeds, and a bit of turkey or chicken. Note: This list is not all inclusive of foods that are rich in the needed nutrients, but a representation of good examples. If you don’t like melons, eat more berries, and perhaps an occasional sweet potato. You do not have to like everything, in fact, once junk food is taken out of the picture, your biochemical individuality will guide you to the whole foods that work the best with you. But if a candy bar or cookie is always in the list of options, you will probably choose based on something other than healthy intuition. Phase 2 We will break phase 2 reactions into 5 coin sorters. This will simplify and sum up the effects with the least confusion possible. Glutathione: If you haven’t heard of this substance, suffice it to say it is a natural substance that binds to chemicals. It isn’t about the word, it’s about the knowledge of the effects, and this will be true for all 5 sorters. Don’t worry about the words…I have to call them something! Glutathione is know as the master antioxidant. It helps to clean up those drinking binges, and the Tylenol you may use for the headache. It is critical for cleaning up heavy metals such as mercury, lead, arsenic (yes arsenic…until 2002 it was used as a wood treatment…enjoy that picnic table!) and others. It cleans up penicillin, clears the oxidized (bad) fat from the arteries, as well as the inflammation from the bad fats in those

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French fries. In natural clinics, glutathione is injected directly into the blood for neurological conditions such as Parkinson’s disease. If this pathway is insufficient, it is associated with damage to the nervous system because of the affinity of heavy metals to nerve tissue. It is why dentists have been found in some studies to have “a shaky hand” compared with the general population. So, if you have sensory problems (tingling, numbness), or motor problems (shakiness, twitching, or involuntary movements) this process should be evaluated. One of the key building blocks to naturally making glutathione is whey protein. Key workers are B6 and zinc. KEY INGREDIENTS: Asparagus, watermelon, avocado, watercress, and Whey protein. Sulfur: Sulfur cleans up your steroid hormones (estrogen, testosterone, etc). So if your husband is going through a midlife crisis, and just bought some giant impractical vehicle, feed him more garlic, he may be testosterone toxic! Sulfur also cleans up the chemicals of stress, as well as giving a hand with Tylenol and alcohol. Practically, this pathway is key to joint problems, since sulfur is also used in making joint cartilage. So if you are on “the pill” and your boyfriend stresses you out, you better feed this pathway, or you will end up with more than a pain in the butt! KEY INGREDIENTS: Sulfur rich foods (onions and garlic), and the cruciferous veggies (broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, Bok Choy, Mustard greens, cabbage, and swiss chard). Glucuronic acid: This pathway gives a huge helping hand with estrogen, as well as insulin. It cleans up aspirin, most heart meds, and the tranquilizers. This pathway is critical to women problems: fibrocystic breasts, endometriosis, and polycystic ovaries. Any condition where there is unchecked growth on estrogen sensitive tissue. This is a direct consequence of the “soup” of too much estrogen and insulin combined. One of the keys is to balance blood sugar to take the stress off the pathway. This can be a challenge, since many of these people are carbohydrate addicted. Other than reducing carb intake, KEY INGREDIENTS include zinc, magnesium, chromium, vanadium as well as glucuronic acid. Glucuronic acid can be supplemented to make up for a bad diet, as the carb addiction is being handled. A good natural source is artichoke. The most important aspect is to refer back to the insulin and carb notes. Amino Acids: Several amino acids (components of protein) are used to bind and get rid of toxins. This is the primary knock on fasting detoxifications…there is no protein, so

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what happens when the body starts to mobilize toxins from fat? The primary toxins associated with these pathways are digestive acids, and fatty acids. As such, this is the big liver/cholesterol connection. Cholesterol is elevated due to metabolism issues (thyroid), insulin problems (blood sugar) or liver problems, and this is the main location for a liver induced rise in cholesterol, and the resultant connection to cardiovascular disease. These pathways also clean up chemical preservatives as well, so will be stressed by processed foods. Although, the list would be shorter if we counted what part of our bodies is not stressed by highly processed foods! KEY INGREDIENTS: Protein and water. Acetylation and methylation: These pathways help clean up a few heavy metals, antibiotics, caffeine, and histamine from allergies. So you could feel allergic, when you are really toxic! They also remove most brain chemicals such as serotonin, dopamine, GABA, etc. This pathway also determines how you react to coffee. If you are wired from a small cup, you might need some help along this pathway. One of the most noticeable effects of insufficient processing through these pathways is sensitivity to smells such as perfumes, but also new cars, carpets, etc. Often, a supplemental molybdenum will help you survive the mall or night club, with all the colognes and perfumes, (or the new home). KEY INGREDIENTS: Molybdenum, Niacinamide, and pantothenic acid (good sources are almonds and Brazil nuts). MOVING ON OUT We’re not clear yet. The chemicals are bound safely, but we have to get them out of us. Kidney function is critical, particularly with the amino acid group. Often I use a kidney detox along with these principles. At this time, I do not know of a whole food that specifically supports kidney elimination, other than water. I add a supplement for one to three months that has the nutrients and enzymes that support kidneys. Skin elimination is not to be underestimated either. You can have considerable effect on toxic load by sweating and exfoliating. Many natural detoxification protocols include using a sauna, or you could sweat the old fashioned way: work. Actually, the sauna dates back a ways…so I guess we could call that the old fashioned was as well. The work comes with moving the bowels. People often become constipated from stress or poor diet, or their gut wall gets damaged, and this actually becomes the priority in a detoxification program. You have to efficiently move your bowels and have a healthy gut wall or you will get nowhere fast. And anytime stress is a factor, it becomes more than a add this food or take this pill. Truly, stress can affect any organ, but the most directly susceptible are the adrenals and then the gut, in my opinion. We even have “gut feelings.” So, if this is an issue, work on your self perception, self esteem, outlook, etc., but we can do a lot on a chemical basis as well.

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The “4 R” program was designed by Jefferey Bland PhD., who trained and worked with Linus Pauling, and is one of the leaders of the “functional medicine” movement in the US and world. R1 = Repair: which requires protein, particularly the amino acid glutamine. Glutamine is a building block of the intestinal wall, the bricks and mortar used to make new tissue in the gut. There is a considerable amount of glutamine in whey protein, or you can supplement it individually. Ultra-InflamX is designed with a large dose of glutamine to heal and deflame the gut lining. R2 = Replace: digestive enzymes and acids. During the healing phase of the gut, it is often necessary to replace supplementally the digestive enzymes and acids so that you actually break down and absorb the foods you are eating. R3 = Remove: Infective organisms. If your gut is unhealthy, you can bet there are “illegal immigrants” in the form of unfriendly bacteria, yeasts, and other micro-organisms that now inhabit your intestinal tract. There are plenty of natural oils and herbs that cleanse, detach, and help get rid of unhealthy inhabitants. If this doesn’t occur naturally or easily, then a stool analysis is necessary to isolate what you have and specifically treat that organism, such as a parasite or fungal infection. R4 = ReInnoculate: with friendly bacteria. Taking higher doses of friendly bacteria, which are the organisms that ferment our yogurts and sauerkraut, will restore a normal environment and population of these little guys that are so important for immune function as well as digestion and elimination. As mentioned, stress is the “X-Factor,” the confounder of all health issues. You can take a great deal of control of your stress chemicals through meditation, prayer, quieting the mind, guided imagery, and eliminating chemical stressors from your diet, such as caffeine, artificial colors, flavors and preservatives.

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Chapter 10: Stimulating the brain by way of the body…AKA exercise The TrueHealth for Life formula is: Life = Activation + Fuel – Toxicity If your goal is vibrant healthy life, your whole life, you must stimulate or activate your body and brain. This section is about the physical stimulation your body requires to maintain vibrant healthy life for 100+ years. Moving your body stimulates the body and brain. Movement by way of exercise stimulates multiple adaptive reflexes, from the cells of your bones, muscles, and connective tissues, to the spinal cord, cerebellum and brain, to the brainstem which controls vital functions such as breathing, circulation, digestion, glandular function (hormones), and the healing process. Moving your body changes your body and brain chemistry, and builds adaptability to your environment. Lack or loss of movement results in a lack or loss of this stimulation that ultimately controls your body and brain chemistry. Anyone who has experienced a broken bone that was immobilized for 6-8 weeks, has observed the “use it or lose it” phenomenon locally. The muscle shrunk from its normal size. Without stimulation, the body cannot repair, maintain or grow. In fact, without stimulation, it undergoes degeneration and death. But what we do not observe, is the effects upon the brain of such a situation. If the muscle is dormant, large sensory nerves, call mechanoreceptors (motion detectors) fail to fire or send their reports to the parts of the brain that experience motion from that muscle and joint. The brain uses this information, along with all other sensory information (smell, sight, hearing, taste and touch), to adapt to its environment. The outcome is a diminished ability to adapt to your surroundings, a loss of function. Adaptability to your environment is what we have called GAP: Your general adaptability potential. How much stress you can take physically, emotionally, and chemically? Basic neurology states that our adaptability is unlimited, so your potential is unlimited, if, and only if, the rules of neurology are followed. (L = A + F – T) GAP can grow if you apply pressure (stress) that the nervous system has to and can adapt to. Exercise is the simplest way to expand your GAP, because of the control you have over the variables. You get to determine weight, time, reps, intensity, speed, etc., which allows you to carefully monitor how to push or apply pressure to your boundaries, so that your boundaries expand…function expands. Picture a bubble being blown by your breath…depending on the surface tension of the bubble (your stress adaptability), you might be able to blow a large bubble, or a smaller bubble. Low surface tension means the soap and water can expand, adapt to stress, just like your body and brain. Your surface tension is your current adaptability, and the breath is your pressure/stress of life. Blow too hard or too long and you pop! The difference is the adaptability of the soap bubble. The bubble will not “learn” from the pressure of the previous attempt and adapt to it. Your nervous system will, so the “bubble” of life can keep expanding and enriching!

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“BRAIN KNOWS PATTERNS” The patterns of movement that the brain receives the most exercise from are the same patterns you might see a healthy baby or child naturally move through. They are the movements of natural life that might occur when you are climbing a tree, pushing a bike, wrestling a pet, or digging a hole. They are the patterns our brain grows up on, and requires for a whole life of true health. These are our “baby patterns:”

1. Pushing 2. Pulling 3. Twisting 4. Bending 5. Lunging 6. Squatting 7. Gait pattern

(walking)

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By choosing exercises that create one or more of these patterns, you will achieve the greatest amount of stimulation of the body and brain, in the least amount of time, and you will naturally increase flexibility by moving in these patterns. For instance, if you bend forward, pick up some weights, and naturally straighten up and lift the weight overhead, you have moved in the patterns of bending, pulling, and pushing in one fluid movement. You have stretched your hamstrings and shoulders; spine and low back, and stimulated nearly every muscle in your body, including the motion detectors/nerves that send messages directly to the brain. Lighting up the brain and body We could compare the stimulation of the nerves that are activated during exercise to the lighting of a Christmas tree. That is an accurate comparison in that the energy that is used during a movement, pattern or not, is really an electrical burst toward the brain. The muscles are all the lights wrapped around the tree, and the brain is the star or angel on the top. An isolation exercise, like a leg curl, tricep extension, or arm curl is part of a greater pattern of functional movement. As such, it will light up only a part of the tree, and the star will glow dimly. Not bad, but not the best. If time is an issue as it is in my life, and function is a concern as it is mine, then you want to plug in the whole tree and get that star glowing brightly. This is accomplished only through Baby Patterns of movement. Baby Pattern Rules

1. The exercise must consist of full, functional patterns that you would use in real life, building something, tearing something down, cultivating earth by hand, etc.

2. The exercise involves supporting your weight in gravity, not lying or sitting on a bench.

3. The exercise must require a component of balance, working to shift your weight or center of gravity so as to not fall over.

You will need to monitor your adaptability or GAP during and after your course of exercise. Since most of us have been not exercising or if we have, we were using the machines of a commercial gym, we probably have a diminished GAP in regards to our physical output. We have not conditioned the brain to “know” these patterns, and will have to proceed with caution. Unlike the soap bubbles, we can not just dip in again for more soap. Each time we exceed our brains ability to adapt, we take a step back or regress in our GAP. Don’t pop the bubble, but blow it to capacity and let it relax. At first, don’t try to find that level. Work well within your capacity, perhaps without weight, just performing the movements through gravity. In order to tell if you have exceeded your GAP, there are a few functional tests you can perform, and observations you can make.

1. Finger to nose test: Close your eyes and hold your arms out at shoulder height. Touch the tip of your nose with the tip of your finger and check for accuracy. If you miss prior to exercise, we have work to do in the office. Otherwise check for continued accuracy.

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2. Tandem walk: Close your eyes and walk heel to toe for a few steps. Note changes in stability and balance before and after an exercise.

3. One leg stand: Close your eyes and stand on one leg. Some people can’t perform this test until they have conditioned their brain and body for a few weeks by exercising with the Baby Patterns. If you lose balance or accuracy after an exercise, do less the next time.

4. You should feel elated, high, and energized after appropriate exercise…if you haven’t exceeded your GAP. If you feel tired, low or exhausted, you may have exceeded your GAP. Do less next time.

5. If you have exceeded your GAP, or may have, take some time to rest quietly with your eyes closed, and do less next time.

Don’t worry or get over concerned if you do exceed your GAP. I do it fairly often, although less and less as I get to know my body. Most often you will feel great after these exercises, and you will be encouraged to do more. You may be surprised how short your exercise sessions become when applying the Baby Pattern principles. Five to fifteen minutes will be plenty, which included 1-2 minutes of rest for each five minutes. You will learn to challenge yourself by increasing weight and doing more complex movements, using stability balls, and combination movements while still keeping your workouts under 15 minutes. (Feel free to exercise slower and longer if that is your style…just continue to use Baby Patterns as your basis of exercise.) The Workout using Baby Patterns Exercise, like life is full of options. You can apply the Baby Patterns to any exercise regimen that you like. I will describe the exercise routine that I enjoy right now, which favors time management, and may encourage use by more people since five or ten minutes is more doable for the vast majority versus an hour long commitment. Momentum is a key factor…if we can accomplish the five minutes, the results may encourage ten, then fifteen, and then a lifestyle of exercise. In my program, I use 2 or 3 exercises (movements) at a time, with a 60-90 second rest after each sequence. I may use only push style movements in one workout, or mix it up and use three different movement patterns. I may pick 9 movements and do them in 3 series of 3 exercises. But, I will always pick 2-3 movements to perform consecutively, rest, and then do another 2-3 movements consecutively. That may be it, or I may do it again, and perhaps again, if I feel up to it. For example: I may perform a set of pushups, followed immediately by a set of dips. Rest and do that again…rest and do that again. That’s it. I may do a set of pullups, followed immediately by a set of twists. Rest…then do a set of squats followed immediately by a set of lunges. Rest…then do a set of ball pushups followed immediately by a set of lifts from the floor. Ten minutes and I am done.

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Baby Pattern Exercises Push: Imagine yourself lying flat on your stomach. How will you get up? You might twist around and bend up, or you will push up. The push up is the functional core of push patterns. It can be performed with the ball and combined with other movements for greater intensity, or performed leaning against a bench or wall for lesser intensity. Pull: Could you save yourself if hanging from a cliff? Sadly, most could not. I know that because 2/3rds of the US population is overweight. Could you save someone who was hanging from a cliff? Hopefully we never have to find out either, but pulling yourself up or someone (something) towards you is a functional Baby Pattern that builds our GAP. If you can’t do a pull up, you will start with pulling something up that you can handle. Twist: Think of a baby getting up…they expend a considerable amount of energy rotating their torso and hips. I let our kids work it out…I let them struggle until they say “Help!” If I’ve learned anything as a father, it is that our kids want to struggle it out. They may get upset if we help too much…in fact that is a consequence of not doing what we ask…1…2…3…I will help you. That is often enough motivation to get things moving. We have to twist our torsos and hips to build GAP. You can twist with a pulley, with a ball (knees or shoulders on the ball), you can twist by lifting a laundry basket from the floor on your left to a shelf on your right. Lift and twist. Put some clothes in the basket for weight. Bend: The bend you put in your body by sitting on a chair doesn’t count! Bend forward and pick something up. Lie back on a ball and bend forward to a sitting position. Hang from a bar, rope or tree branch and bend your knees up into your abdomen or chest. Lunge: The lunge is a giant reaching step, useful when traversing rough terrain. What, never been on anything more rough than a sidewalk? Well, you better start slow so you don’t have a groin injury. There is only one way to lunge, although you can lunge in any direction, you can lunge while doing a press overhead, or doing an arm curl. You can mix lunging and squatting with stepping up on a high table, or stepping up 3 steps at one time. Either would be a variation of a one legged squat/step up lunge. Squat: Squatting is important for moving your bowels. Constipated?…start with weightless breathing squats, as deep as you can go, even leaning against a wall to start. Chances are, when you can do 10 unsupported breathing squats, your bowel habits will return to normal, as the movement and pressure begins to tone not only the hip and thigh muscles, but also the colon. Try to hang out in a squat like the babies and toddlers do. Once comfortable in that position, you can increase your GAP by adding weight to make you a powerful, functional 100 year old. Don’t believe you will injure yourself by doing squats…watch a baby to see how natural it is. You will hurt yourself by pushing yourself beyond your ability to adapt, beyond your GAP, regardless of the movement pattern. If you never squat beyond sitting on the toilet, which is partial movement, and supported,

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you bet squatting could injure you, you haven’t done it since you were 5. Start slow with supported squats, up to breathing squats and then to more challenging squats. Gait/Walk: The gait pattern is the cross crawl pattern of right leg/left arm and left leg/right arm symmetrical movements, most apparent with walking, but also the pattern of crawling. I often include cross pattern training in a neurological rehab program. It is a crucial pattern to health of the brain and body. Watch “demented” or “dull” seniors… they walk and move with little or no arm movement. Their brain is degenerated. This pattern (walking, jogging, even skipping) is your extended use pattern. This is where we will build aerobic metabolism, so that your energy goes up, and fat goes away, by spending some time working at it. Spend a minimum of 20 minutes, 3 times per week walking. Try to find an excuse to do more…listen to a music or learning CD, talk with a friend, walk a dog, park far away from the door, use it as time to reflect, think about appreciation, gratitude, passion, or your dreams. Time spent walking need never be wasted. As you walk (or jog), move your arms powerfully, maybe even a bit exaggerated. If you have difficulty walking with a natural arm swing gait, we have work to do in the office, using specific means to build up and coordinate your nervous system. Make your exercise routine fun, quick and easy. You will get a burst of energy from these exercises (as long as you don’t do too much) and will start to love exercise from the quick high you get. That high is brain stimulation, and it should feel great, just like when you solve a tough problem at work. Spend the majority of exercise time walking or jogging. Think of ways to make walking fun. Find time to play tennis, or golf, or some other recreational activity you really enjoy. You will learn to associate pleasure with exercise, and who knows, you might just get the itch to compete in some activity as your skill and performance enhance. You may decide to train for a marathon, triathlon, or tennis tournament at your health club. This program is designed for living functionally for 100+ years. If you wish to perform or compete, there are additional sport specific trainings that should be done. But this will accomplish our health goal: function, fitness, and ever increasing GAP.

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CHIROPRACTIC BIOPHYSICS (CBP) Chiropractic Biophysics (CBP) is the technique we use for STRUCTURAL balance and correction. It is currently the only technique that has documented and published its effectiveness in creating permanent spinal and postural changes. CBP founders and researchers have published research in some of the most prestigious health journals in the world, including Spine, Journal of Orthopedic Research, Clinical Biomechanics, European Spine Journal, Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, and Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics. Chiropractic adjustments have long been used to treat pain, stiffness and soreness. The act of adjusting the spine or extremities, whether using an instrument or a manual adjustment, is simply a mechanical stimulus of the joint and muscles causing a firing of joint mechanoreceptors and muscle spindle cells. This stimulus causes an electrical depolarization of the nerve cell, which transmits through the spinal nerve, cord and on up to the cerebellum and opposite cortex. In the spinal cord, there are separate pathways neurologically that cause a dampening of nociceptive fibers (pain). We have all experienced that phenomenon in life, hitting our thumb as we are hammering, or burning our hand. What do we do? Shake it or rub it! We unknowingly stimulate joint mechanoreceptors, muscle spindles or mechanical pressure receptors in the skin, that block or dampen the perception of pain. The reason why chiropractic is so beneficial for back pain, neck pain and headaches is because the spinal muscles are under unconscious control. You can’t move one vertebra consciously. Try it…move your 5th lumbar vertebra. You can’t. You can move your spine using the large consciously driven muscles like the trapezius, and quadratus lumborum, but you have no control over the “intrinsic” spinal muscles. Chiropractic adjustments manually move “stuck” or fixated areas of the spine so that the neurology of pain is normalized. That is not the only reason for pain, however, there are other factors such as histamine, prostaglandins, catecholamines, etc. But chiropractic is the “cure” for structural, neurologically based pain. Chiropractic research has come a long way from that simple reflex. We now know that these same pathways stimulate the cerebral cortex. The cortex has a dampening effect on the sympathetic (fight or flight) nervous system. That’s big news, because the balance between the sympathetic and parasympathetic (rest and digest) nervous system controls the function of our immune system, digestive system, cardiovascular, respiratory, reproductive, genitourinary, and endocrine systems! That means that inflammatory bowel disease, infertility, heartburn, high blood pressure, cold hands, frequent illness, gas, asthma, allergies, etc., etc., can and usually do have a STRUCTURAL component. Does that mean that chiropractic is a cure all?? NO, because we still have biochemical and mental emotional factors to potentially address. Does it mean that people go to chiropractors and are then able to conceive, or their heartburn goes away, etc.?? YES, it absolutely happens every day in chiropractic offices all over the world!!

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CBP takes chiropractic to an even higher level! CBP is a posture based system of adjusting, stretching and strengthening that not only dampens pain, not only stimulates the central nervous system, leading to greater health and wellness, but also reconstructs abnormal spinal alignment patterns so that you have a permanent correction. Most chiropractic “wellness” patients I meet go to their chiropractor once a month to get rid of their headache or backache, because they have not completely “centered their spine,” and the nervous system is still firing abnormally. That’s like eating soup with a fork…a magnificent tool but it’s being used completely ineffectively. With complete correction, to optimal spinal alignment, you are now ready for true wellness…strengthening your nervous system to a level that it runs your body like a Pentium 5 (the best analogy possible, although the nervous system CAN run flawlessly). CBP is based on physics and mathematics, so it is reproducible and constant. There is no room for error. 2 + 2 always equals 4. Gravity always pulls down. A spine out of alignment always causes rapid deterioration of the disc, muscles and nerves. A spine put back to center always improves your neurological function (and wellness) and always eliminates your risk of degenerative spinal disease. YOU CAN COUNT ON IT!! A recently published study (1997 JVSR) clarifies the role of chiropractic in health and wellness. Performed in the early and mid nineties at the University of California, Irvine, College of Medicine, this study followed chiropractic patients for a full 3 years. The patients periodically rated their health and wellness using a comprehensive questionnaire including physical, emotional, stress, enjoyment of life, and quality of life categories. What they found was that even after 3 years of chiropractic wellness care, people were reporting greater levels of physical and emotional health, they reported experiencing less stress in their life, and greater quality of life. Better and better scores, month after month, year after year! The group rated their physical appearance better, their financial stress was less, they felt healthier, and enjoyed life more. As the study was written and published, most of the patients continued with their chiropractic care, and no ceiling was evident on the impact that their care had on their feelings of wellness.

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APPENDIX

BSQ - BRAIN Symptoms Questionnaire True Health Family Wellness Center; 1095 Hendersonville Road Suite A Asheville, NC 28803 Phone 277-1414

Rate each of the following symptoms, habits, tendencies as to how frequent and severe you notice them…

Point Scale: 2 = Mildly noticeable, occasional, moderate to severe 0 = Never or almost never have the symptom 3 = Moderately noticeable, more frequent, more severe 1 = Slightly noticeable, occasional and mild 4 = Very noticeable, very often, and severe

R

IGH

T B

RA

IN H

EMIS

PHER

ICIT

Y S

YM

PTO

MS

____ Difficulty focusing attention ____ Distractible ____ Impulsive ____ Compulsive ____ Obsessive ____ Repetitive thoughts / actions ____ Tend to avoid eye contact ____ Tend to focus on small details ____ Difficulty remembering directions ____ Get lost easily ____ Tend to be anxious / anxiety ____ Hyperactive ____ Tend to be less expressive in voice/face ____ Tend to misread body language/facial exp. ____ Tend to misread emotions in others ____ Tend to be sarcastic ____ Tend to overanalyze ____ Tend to be more literal ____ Last person to get the joke/don’t get jokes ____ Reading comprehension low ____ Poor time estimation ____ Tend to be late ____ Notice great details about your environment ____ Unable to tune out distractions ____ Tend to rush to judgement ____ Difficulty interpreting symbolism ____ Tone deaf ____ Poor musical ability ____ Difficulty identifying voices ____ Difficulty or slow decision making ____ Tend not to see the whole picture ____ Can’t decide what my purpose is ____ The inappropriate extrovert ____ Trouble understanding context ____ Body image distortion ____ Difficulty interpreting a word or situation ____ Insomnia ____ Curious approach type behavior ____ Heart Tachycardia (fast) TOTAL ________

L

EFT

BR

AIN

HEM

ISPH

ERIS

ITY

SY

MPT

OM

S

____ Poor reading ability ____ Dyslexia ____ Speech developed slower ____ Poor memory for facts and figures ____ Difficulty with math calculations ____ Tend to see the big picture and miss the details ____ Difficulty “getting people to understand” ____ Use lots of nonverbal communication ____ Trouble finding the “right words” ____ Make errors while talking ____ Hesitancy while talking or describing ____ Difficult intellectual or analytical thought ____ Need to have the job/project detailed or described several times ____ Enjoy music ____ Enjoy drawing ____ Speak with an accent unlike your family ____ Less attention to grooming ____ Stuttering ____ Slow mover ____ Need prompting to start an activity ____ Poor handwriting ____ Difficulty with fine motor control Ie. Threading a needle Turning a small screw ____ Tend to be shy, withdrawn ____ Tendency toward anger ____ Tend to be more negative ____ Tend to be more sad ____ Tend to be extremely cautious or pessimistic ____ Tend towards depression, feeling low ____ Tend to lack motivation ____ The quiet introvert ____ Slower speaking an moving ____ Lower IQ ____ Problems with grammar, language ____ Clumsy ____ Uncoordinated ____ Heart Arrhythmia TOTAL _________

Bas

al G

angl

ia

____ Nervousness or anxiety ____ Panic attacks ____ Nausea or abdominal upset ____ Dizzy, faint, or unsteady ____ Tendency to predict the worst ____ Avoid public places ____ Persistent phobias ____ Low motivation ____ Shy or timid ____ Muscle tremors or twitching ____ Heart pounding or palpitations ____ Feeling smothered or trouble breathing ____ Sweating, hot or cold flashes, cold hands ____ Fear of dying ____ Avoid conflict ____ Fear of being judged or scrutinized ____ Worry about what others think ____ Embarrassed easily TOTAL __________ T

empo

ral

____ Short fuse, extremely irritable ____ Interpret comments as negative ____ Spaciness or confusion ____ Visual or hearing changes ____ Sensitivity or mild paranoia ____ History of head injury ____ Forgetfulness ____ Reading comprehension problems ____ Rage with little provocation ____ Irritability, builds to rage, explodes, then tired ____ Panic or fear for no reason ____ Frequent déjà vu ____ Headaches or abdominal pain ____ Preoccupation with moral or religious ideas ____ Dark thoughts, suicide, homicide

TOTAL __________

Fro

ntal

____ Cant stay attentive or focused ____ Make careless mistakes ____ Distractibility ____ Lack of clear goals ____ Difficulty expressing empathy ____ Excessive daydreaming ____ Boredom ____ Talking too much ____ Difficulty waiting your turn ____ Trouble listening ____ Poor follow through, finishing projects ____ Poor planning skills ____ Difficulty expressing feelings ____ Apathy or lach of motivation ____ Feeling of spaciness or “in a fog” ____ Restlessness or trouble sitting still ____ Conflict seeking ____ Blurting answers before question is complete ____ Interrupting others ____ Trouble learning from mistakes TOTAL _________ L

imbi

c

____ Feelings of sadness ____ Negativity ____ Irritability ____ Low or decreased interest in others ____ Feeling dissatisfied or bored ____ Excessive guilt ____ Suicidal feelings ____ Crying ____ Forgetfulness ____ Low self esteem ____ Moodiness ____ Low energy ____ Feelings of hopelessness about the future ____ Decreased or low interest in having “fun” ____ Changes in sleep habits (too much or too little) ____ Appetite changes (too much or too little) ____ Decreased interest in sex ____ Poor concentration ____ Sensitivity to smells or odors TOTAL __________

Cin

gula

te g

yrus

____ Excessive or senseless worrying ____ Upset with things out of place ____ Tend to have repetitive negative thoughts ____ Intense dislike of change ____ Trouble shifting attention ____ Difficulty seeing options ____ Upset unless things are done a certain way ____ You worry too much ____ Upset when things don’t “go your way” ____ Oppositional or argumentative ____ Hold grudges ____ Hold your own opinion, don’t listen to others ____ Get locked in a course of action ____ Say no without thinking it over TOTAL __________

Right Brain Total ______ Left Brain Total ______ Basal Ganglia Total ______ Frontal Cortex Total ______ Cingulate Gyrus Total ______ Temporal Lobe Total ______ Limbic/Amygdala Total ______

Instructions for Implementing Brain Exercises Using the guide at the top of the Brain Questionnaire fill in the number that best describes how the statement applies to you in your life. Consider the last 6 months and score each statement based on how it has applied to you in your life as an average on the whole for the 6 month period. If there was a significant length of time (at least 2 weeks) during which a particular statement applied to you in your life during that 6 month period then score that statement according to that extended period of time. For example, if you had “feelings of sadness” (from section 1) for a two week or longer period score it as a three or four. If your cumulative total in any section is 25 or higher or you had at least three statements scored as either a 3 or 4 in any one section then do the corresponding brain exercises following the questionnaire. For example, if you had a 25 score or three statements scored at three or higher in section 2 then do the section 2 brain exercises entitled Basal Ganglia. Since this is a subjective questionnaire there are no hard and fast rules about applying these exercises. And rest assured that any of these exercises are beneficial to any one who tries them for any and all areas of the brain. The intent of using the questionnaire to determine specific exercises is to narrow on specific areas of your life and brain function that may be preventing or inhibiting positive steps in regaining health and well being. By working on the most troublesome areas first and more directly you increase the likelihood of success! Answer the questionnaire honestly and score it appropriately. Start using the brain exercises from the highest scored sections first. Monitor your success based on how you feel on a day to day basis and how easy or difficult it is to stick with the other recommendations in the program. If you feel like you are making consistent progress then continue to use the brain exercises you have chosen. If you feel like you are struggling or making slower than desired progress then take the questionnaire again or simply try the exercises in another section. Most of all don’t get too attached to the numbers or section of the questionnaire. Do what feels right and gets you the best results in the shortest period of time. And most of all…have fun!

Section 1: The Deep Limbic System Includes the thalamic structures, hypothalamus, along with the immediate surrounding structures. Functions of the Deep Limbic System:

• Sets the emotional tone of the mind • Filters external events through internal states (creates emotional coloring) • Stores highly charged emotional memories • Promotes bonding • Modulates libido This part of the brain is involved in setting emotional part of the brain. When the deep limbic system is less active,

there is generally a positive, more hopeful stat of mind. When it is heated up, or overactive, negativity can take over. Females, on average, have a larger deeper limbic system then males. This gives females several advantages and

disadvantages. Women are more in touch with their feelings, and generally better able to express their feelings than men. They have increased ability to bond and be connected to others (one of the reasons they make the better primary caretakers of children). The larger deeper limbic system also leaves females more susceptible to depression (especially at tines of hormonal changes). Life Style Therapies 1. Eliminate automatic negative thoughts (ANTS).

First you need to notice that you’re having them. If you can catch them at the moment they occur and correct them, you take away the power they have over you. When a negative thought goes unchallenged, your mind believes it and your body reacts to it.

2. Surround yourself with people who provide positive bonding.

Spend time with people who enhance the quality of your limbic system rather than those who inflame it. 3. Build people skills to enhance limbic bonds.

Research show that enhancing emotional bonds between people will heal the limbic system. 4. Recognize the importance of physical contact.

Touch is essential to our humanity. Yet, in our standoffish, litigious society, touch is becoming less and less frequent. Touch your children, spouse, your loved ones regularly. Giving and receiving messages on a regular basis will enhance limbic health and limbic bonding.

5. Surround yourself with great smells.

Smells have an effect on moods. The right smells (such as lavender) likely cool the deep limbic system. Pleasing fragrances are like an anti-inflammatory. Surround yourself with flowers, sweet fragrances, and other pleasant smells.

6. Build a library of great memories.

By calling up pleasant memories we can tone our mental state to be healthier. The brain then takes on the same chemical patterns that were inputted at the time other healthy events occurred.

7. Try physical exercise.

It increases endorphins, blood flow to the brain, energy, metabolism, and the neurotransmitters of the brain.

Section2: The Basal Ganglia Functions of the Basal Ganglia System:

• Integrates feeling and movement • Shifts and smoothes fine motor behavior • Suppresses unwanted motor behaviors • Sets the body’s idle speed or anxiety level • Enhances motivation • Mediates pleasure/ecstasy

The basal ganglia are a set of large structures toward the center of the brain that surround the deep limbic system. When the basal ganglia are overactive (anxiety tendencies/disorders), people are more likely to be overwhelmed by stressful situations and have a tendency to become immobile in thoughts or actions. When their basal ganglia are under-active (as seen in ADD), a stressful situation often moves them to action. Lifestyle Therapies

1. Kill the fortune-telling ANTS (automatic negative thoughts). People who have basal ganglia problems are often experts at predicting the worst. You can learn to change the pattern and help the basal ganglia cool down by predicting the best things.

2. Use guided imagery (go to a mediation haven: a bench, mountains, a place of total relaxation- try to feel you are

actually there). Take 20-30 minutes a day to train relaxation into your body—it will decrease anxiety, blood pressure, pain/tension in muscles, and improve temperament.

3. Diaphragmatic breathing. Breathe slowly and deeply, mostly with your belly.

4. Think about the 18/40/60 rule.

When you’re 18, you worry about what everyone is thinking of you, when you’re 40, you don’t care about what people think of you; when you’re 60, you realize nobody was thinking about you at all. We need to base our behavior on what we think, no on what we think others think.

5. Learn how to deal with conflict.

Many people are so afraid of conflict, they avoid it at any cost. This “conflict phobia” actually sets up relationships for more turmoil than less. Being assertive means expressing your feelings in a firm, yet reasonable way. It doesn’t mean being aggressive or obnoxious. It also helps to cool down our basal ganglia.

Section3: The Prefrontal Cortex Functions of the Prefrontal Cortex:

• Attention span • Perseverance • Judgement • Impulse control • Organization • Self-monitoring and supervision • Problem solving • Critical thinking • Forward thinking • Learning from experience • Ability to feel and express emotions • Interaction with the limbic system • Empathy

The prefrontal cortex (PFC) is the most evolved part of the brain. Overall, the PFC is the part of the brain that watches, supervises, guides, directs, and focuses your behavior. Succintly put, the PFC provides the capacity to formulate goals, to make plans for their execution, to carry them out in an effective way, and to change course and improvise in the face of obstacles, or failure in the absence of external direction/structure. Lifestyle Therapies

1. Develop and maintain clear focus. Developing an ability to stay totally focused will help guide our thoughts and behavior and give us an “auxillary prefrontal cortex.” One great way to do this is have specific goals for each facet of our lives- relationships, work, money, and self. Being goal-directed helps keep our behavior on track.

2. Focus on what you like, not what you don’t like (especially people).

What we attend to focus on has a very significant impact on how we feel daily. Focusing on the negative aspects of others or of our own life makes us more vulnerable to depression and damages relationships.

3. Have meaning, purpose, stimulation, and excitement in your life.

People with PFC problems struggle with mundane tasks, even with appropriate therapy. Having purpose, stimulation, and excitement in their lives can be the difference between success and chronic failure (needed in all facets of life: family, work, relationships, and spirituality).

4. Get organized and get help when needed.

People with PFC difficulties have problems with organization. The most successful people with PFC/ADD problems are those who have help in organizing their lives.

5. Brain-wave biofeedback training.

This technique has been effective in decreasing impulsivity and aggressiveness. It helps the person to take more control over his/her own physiological process.

6. Don’t be another person’s stimulant.

Remember, people with ADD and other PFC problems are conflict-seeking to stimulate their own adrenaline rush and feeling of well-being. Don’t respond to them, “pushing your buttons” by yelling; but as their voice goes up, yours should go down. If you feel they situation is getting out of control, take a bathroom break. Tell them you understand and want to work on it, but can only do it when things are calm.

7. Try Mozart for focus.

(100 masterpieces, vol. 3, The Marriage of Figaro, Flute Concerto #2 in D. Don Giovanni, etc.) Especially effective in ADD. Listening displayed better focus and mood control, diminished impulsivity, and improved social skill.

Section4: The Cingulate System Functions of the Cingulate System:

• Ability to shift attention • Cognitive flexibility • Adaptability • Movement from idea to idea • Ability to see options • Ability to go with the flow • Ability to cooperate

This is the part of the brain that allows you to shift your attention from one thing to another, to move form idea to idea, to see options in life. Feelings of safety and security have also been attributed to this part of the brain. A good term to describe this would be “cognitive flexibility.” Being able to see options and new ideas protects against stagnation, depression, and hostile behavior. Lifestyle Therapies

1. Notice when you’re stuck, distract yourself, and come back to the problem later. Whenever you find your thoughts cycling (going over and over), distract yourself from them (sing a song, take a walk, do a chore, play with a pet, meditate, etc.)

2. Think through answers before automatically saying no

Often, it is helpful to take a deep breath, hold for 3 seconds, and then take 5 seconds to exhale just to get extra time before responding.

3. Write out options and solutions when you feel stuck.

After you write out a thought that has gotten stuck, generate a list of things you can do about it, and things you can’t do about it.

4. Seek the counseling of others when you feel “stuck”.

Find a mentor to help see another side of the problem, other options.

5. Memorize and recite the serenity prayer when bothered by repetitive thoughts. “God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.” This is a beautiful reminder that there are limits to what we can do in life.

6. Don’t try to convince someone else who is stuck. Take a break and come back later.

If you distract yourself from a lose-lose situation, you’re often able to come back later and work it out.

7. Try making paradoxical requests. Remember “reverse psychology?” It works with Cingulate folks too, but you need to be sly about it.

8. Exercise

Exercise can be very helpful in calming worries and increasing cognitive flexibity, as well as distracts from bad/negative thoughts.

Section5: The Temporal Lobes Functions of the temporal lobes:

Dominant side (usually the left): • Understanding and processing language • Intermediate-term memory • Auditory learning • Retrieval of words • Complex memories • Visual and auditory processing • Emotional stability Non-dominant side (usually the right): • Recognizing facial expressions • Decoding vocal intonation • Rhythm • Music • Visual learning

The most precious treasures we have in life are the images we store in the memory banks of our brains. The sum of these stored experiences is responsible for our sense of personal identity and our sense of connectedness to those around us. The temporal lobes, on either side of the brain behind the eyes and underneath the temples, store the memories and images and help us define our sense of self. Lifestyle Therapies

1. Create a library of wonderful experiences. Record the memorable experiences of your life with pictures, videos, diary entries, etc. Strive for a series of experiences that keep you motivated, healthy, and excited about your life.

2. Sing whenever/wherever you can.

Song is a true joy of life, no matter how you sing.

3. Use humming and toning (making sounds with elongated vowels: ah, ay, oh, om) to tune your brain. All forms of vocalization, including signing, chanting, yodeling, humming, reciting poetry, and simple talk, can be therapeutic.

4. Listen to classical music.

Listening to music can activate and stimulate the temporal lobes and bring peace and excitement to your mind.

5. Learn to play a musical instrument. This increases visual-spatial skill, increases scores by 51 points on the verbal portion of SAT tests and by 39 points on the math section. Helpful in development/activation of temporal lobe neurons.

6. Move in rhythms.

Chanting, dancing, and other forms of rhythmic movement can be healing.

7. Get enough sleep. Decreased sleep (less than 6 hours a night) is associated with mood instability, decreased cognitive ability, irritability, and periods of spaciness, all temporal lobe problems.

8. Eliminate caffeine and nicotine

These are powerful vasoconstrictors that decrease blood flow to the brain, especially the temporal lobes.

Guideline for CHO Consumption / Activity Levels

Normal Body Composition Sedentary (NO exercise)

30 grams / meal 0-7 ½ grams / snack Somewhat Active (moderate exercise: biking, walking 2-4 hours / week)

30-45 g / meal 0-7 ½ grams / snack Active (moderate + intense exercise: hiking, jogging, weight training 7-10 hours/week)

30-60 g / meal 0-30 g / snack Very Active (intense exercise 2-3 hours / day)

45-75 g / meal 0-30 g / snack Slight fat deposition around middle

Sedentary 15-30 g 0-7 ½

Somewhat Active 30 g 0-7 ½

Active 30-45 g 0-7 ½

Very Active 45-60 g 0-15

Significant fat deposition around middle Sedentary

15 g / meal 0-7 ½ g / snack Somewhat Active

15-30 0-7 ½ Active

30 0-15 Very Active

45-60 0-15 Obese with apple shape

Sedentary 15 0-7 ½

Somewhat Active 15 0-7 ½

Active 15-30 0-15

Very Active 30-45 0-15

CARBHOHYDRATE COUNTS OF VARIOUS FOODS

Nuts, Nut Butters and Seeds

Each serving contains 6 grams of carbohydrates.

• Almonds 1 ounce(23nuts) Walnuts 2 ounces Pumpkin and squash seeds .5 ounce ( 42 seeds) • Pecans 1 ounce ( 15 halves) Brazil Nuts 1.5 ounces Filberts or hazelnuts 1.5 ounces • Almond Butter 4 tablespoons

Soy Products

Each serving contains 15 grams of carbohydrates.

• Soy milk 1 cup Tofu 1 cup

Starchy Vegetables

Each serving contains 15 grams of carbohydrates.

• Corn ½ cup Sweet Potato ½ medium Carrots 1 cup Peas ½ cup

Legumes

Each serving contains 15 grams of carbohydrates.

• Black Beans 1/3 cup • Garbanzo Beans 1/3 cup • Kidney Beans 1/3 cup

Grains

Each serving contains 15 grams carbohydrates.

• Barley 1/3 cup • Oats 1/3 cup • Brown Rice 1/3 cup • Whole-wheat flour 3 tablespoons

Yogurt

Each serving contains 15 grams of carbohydrates. • Plain whole milk yogurt 1 cup

Fruit

Each serving contains 15 grams of carbohydrates.

• Apple 1 small Bananas ½ medium Blueberries ¾ cup Cherries 1 cup (w/pits) • Melon 1 Cup cubed Kiwi 1 Large Grapes 15 Pear ½ • Peach 1 medium Pineapple ¾ cup Raisins 2 Tbsp Strawberry 1 ½ cup • Watermelon 1 ¼ cup Tomato 1 med. Plum 2 Raspberries 1 cup

TRUE HEALTH For LIFE Class 1: Neurology of Change

Priming the Pump Are you ready for change? You are motivated enough to show up and read this…but are you motivated enough to live these principles day after day. No, not perfectly, but consistently. That’s all it really takes is consistency. In order to prime the pump, and get you ready for applying these principles, we need to get your brain ready for change. This section is an accumulation of the science and techniques behind the “Neurology of Change.” Goal Setting: What do you really want? My health goal is a healthy 100 years, maybe more. But don’t stop there…what are your financial goals, family goals, career goals, emotional and spiritual goals? What do I really want: In 90 days_____________________________________________________________________ In 1 year______________________________________________________________________ In 5 years______________________________________________________________________ In my life______________________________________________________________________ WHY? What is your compelling, exciting why? Is it acceptance, strength, happiness, joy, peace of mind, connection, love…WHY do you want what you want? ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ Self Assessment: How am I doing on my path to what I want? Are there habits that are not congruent with my goals? Am I in a rut? Are there changes that need to be made? What is working for me? And what is not working? Be in integrity with yourself…be honest. ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________

Making Change Work The brain processes life, behavior and change in a particular pattern. If we understand that pattern, we can make it work for us. Step 1: Knowing and focusing your attention on what you want. The best resource I have seen for this step is the movie called “The Secret.” This movie discusses a concept called the “Law of Attraction.” It is a law of physics, much like gravity; so we are experiencing it whether we are aware of it or not. It is simple to understand, just like gravity, and it says that what we focus on we achieve, manifest, create, or get more of. Have you ever met someone who was sure they were going to get the “short end” and seemed to be consistently right? Have you met someone who seemed to “stumble into opportunity” constantly, or that knew absolutely that they would get this or that, and they seem to, more often than not? Maybe it’s not such a coincidence!? Setting goals, and focusing on them…seeing them…visualizing them, stimulates the frontal cortex and sets into motion creating what you really want. Step 2: What is your motivation, your Why? How does that goal make you feel? If you don’t feel good, you will actually get more feeling bad. You will create more “proof” of your doubts and fears. Feeling good is habitual. It is the result of our wiring in our brain: our neural network. This network of nerves is “plastic,” ever changing through your thoughts and experiences. You can “learn” to feel good by practicing, and that can be facilitated by “removing” negative beliefs, thoughts and experiences through Neural Emotional Therapy (NET). Of course, we can’t remove an experience, but we can remove the “charge” or power of it, just as we can change body chemistry by what we eat and drink. Focusing on your motivation, that good feeling, exercises the amygdala in your brain, and begins to remove whatever is holding you back. Step 3: What is the plan…what actions will I take to achieve what I really want and feel good about? This class is the action plan (assuming you really want a full healthy life). We discuss the exercises for the mind and body, and the strategic use of food and drink that will make your goal possible. Here again, fears and doubts rear their ugly faces, to freeze you in inaction, or urge you to take actions that are not congruent with true health for life. When this happens, revert back to step 2, and focus on the good feeling and motivation. Practice those feelings. The brain doesn’t change in a day or week, but if you do the exercises, you will see a shift in your behaviors and habits. Creating a plan and strategy exercises the Basal Ganglia, and begins to create “good” and congruent habits to achieve what you really want. Step 4: Listen to the feedback you are getting. Observe your results. Measure your success. We should expect good and bad results. Those who succeed focus on the next peak or success. Those who fail focus on their failures and setbacks. Create a good relationship with setbacks. Know that each one, if dealt with properly, will be a springboard to new levels of achievement. In a way, look forward to the setbacks as a necessary step to what you really want. All the while,

focusing on your “wins” and the next level. Examples of feedback are weight, size, body composition, labs, and even how you feel. Listening to your feedback, learning and making changes as necessary exercises the cingulate gyrus in the brain, and builds self esteem through “facing reality” and being honest with yourself. Step 5: Who are you accountable to? Certainly yourself, but by the simple act of telling someone that you are going to do something, you are “on the hook.” Weight watchers and other groups know the power of being “on the hook.” Facing your peers and coaches in a weigh in is holding you accountable. Having a workout partner, a friend for lunch, a “life coach,” or a doctors visit, will hold you accountable for your goals and actions. Being accountable exercises the temporal lobes of the brain, and increases your “will power” to stay on board, and do the things you need to do in order to achieve what you really want. Stumbling Blocks Each one of us has “stumbling blocks” that hold us back. And each stumbling block will fall into one of the categories above. For instance, one person may focus on what they don’t want or their “bad feelings” too often; another will simply not have a plan, and just coast day to day, doing whatever gives them a moment of pleasure; another will ignore the reality of their existence, health and function; another will withdraw from family, friends or any help because of guilt and embarrassment about their life or health. These are extreme examples; most of us don’t sit around thinking about what we don’t want, but if you “face reality” you will see a bit (or a lot) of you in one of those descriptions. Thanks to Psychiatrist Dan Amen, and the work of NET, EFT, and other neurological and emotional strategies, we have exercises and treatment for those “stumbling blocks.” Brain Symptoms Questionnaire The brain symptoms questionnaire is a list of behaviors, habits, and feelings that you rate as far as their consistency and intensity. Based on your results, you can choose from the appropriate set of exercises and begin using them on a daily basis, often several times a day. These exercises have been clinically documented (by way of PET brain scans) to “exercise” the appropriate part of your brain that is the source of your stumbling block(s).

♥ HEART MATH ♥ Heart Math refers to the measuring of the “spaces and bumps” on an EKG. The mathematics of the contraction of your heart muscle. Significant research has been done regarding the heart rate variability and overall health. The findings conclude that directing positive emotions to the heart improve function of the autonomic nervous system and overall health. For more information, visit heartmath.com The HEART MATH procedure: (a visualization meditation)

1. Think of a person, place, thing, event for which you feel a great deal of appreciation.

2. Focus on that feeling of appreciation. 3. Visualize the feeling of appreciation being “poured” like a liquid into

your heart. (You can visualize your heart as a bowl) Try to center that feeling of appreciation at the location of your heart.

4. Visualize the appreciation filling up the “heart bowl” and spilling out into the rest of your chest, up into your shoulders and down into your arms, etc.

5. Slowly visualize this feeling filling up every inch of your body: Chest, Left shoulder, left arm, left forearm, left hand, left fingers…abdomen, left hip, thigh, leg, ankle, foot, toes…and then the right side. (or alternate right arm, left arm, etc. It doesn’t matter the order) Keep your focus on the feeling of appreciation filling up all these areas of your body.

6. If you have a sore knee or wrist, etc. allow the feeling of appreciation to swirl a bit in the area of concern as you do your visualization.

This procedure can be done in 1-2 minutes or as long as you wish. The effects on the central nervous system last 6+ hours, so you can repeat it several times a day for optimal effect. Taking time in the day to relax and think positively tend to be set aside with busy work schedules and family responsibilities. Do yourself a favor and take the time to do this on a daily basis…for the health of it!

CAULIFLOWER MASHERS 1 Head cauliflower ¼ - ½ cup cream or sour cream 1 handful spinach Spices such as ginger, rosemary, garlic, etc

1. Steam cauliflower until tender, approx. 15 minutes, add spinach near the end of cooking 2. Puree in food processor (or mash) with cream and nutmeg 3. Add salt and pepper 4. Add gravy or butter

BLUEBERRY “MILKSHAKE” 1 ½ Cups frozen blueberries 8-12 oz water or coconut milk 1 handful spinach 1 scoop vanilla whey protein (DreamProtein) 1 Tbsp Ground Flax 1 Scoop Greens First or Red Alert fruit and veggie mix Add to blender and blend. You can also use a scoop of the “Ultra Clear or Ultra InflamX” products to stimulate detoxification or anti-inflammation. Options: frozen strawberries, peaches, cherries, raspberries, etc.

OMEGA OATMEAL ½ serving slow cook oats ¼ cup ground flax ¼ cup chopped walnuts ¼ cup raisins or dried cranberries Cook oatmeal as directed; stir in other ingredients; add honey, soy or coconut milk The flax and walnuts contain healthy omega 3 oils, and the oats omega 6 oils for a healthy blend

CHICKEN SALAD OVER TOMATO Shredded chicken (or tuna) mayonnaise Chopped celery chopped onion Option: chopped walnuts Cut a tomato in quarters Place on a toaster oven safe plate Top with Chicken (or tuna) salad Cover with slice of swiss, provolone, or mozzarella cheese Put in toaster oven and bake until heated

ANYTIME OMLET Chopped Broccoli Chopped onions Minced fresh garlic shredded cheese 2-3 eggs Sauté’ veggies until soft, add eggs, scramble or fold and top with shredded cheese Try variations with spinach, bell peppers, cauliflower, tomatoes, bacon, chicken, ground beef, asparagus, etc.

SALAD VARIATIONS Start with: Romaine, leaf or spring lettuce Chopped onions Chopped celery Sliced tomato Chopped red or orange pepper Chopped avocado Whatever veggies you like: carrots, cabbage, pumpkin seeds, etc. Baked chicken salad: Top with baked chicken breast and bleu cheese dressing Mexican Salad: Top with ground beef, sour cream, Mexican cheese, and taco sauce Bacon and spinach: Replace lettuce with spinach, top with bacon and honey mustard dressing Side salad: Top with extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar Chef salad: top with sliced turkey, hardboiled eggs, shredded cheddar cheese, and ranch dressing Cranberry Nut Salad: Add cranberries, walnuts, and crumbled bleu cheese Chicken or Tuna salad: Mix shredded chicken or tuna as above and scoop onto mixed greens Look for dressings that do NOT contain: high fructose corn syrup, artificial colors, preservatives, and flavorings, NO hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils GINGER TEA ½ pound ginger, peeled and sliced 4-6 organic green tea bags Pomegranate juice Boil 1 gallon of water, take off heat. Steep sliced ginger and tea bags for 4-6 hours Cool and drain. Mix with 2-4 oz of juice (to sweeten). Serve chilled. Other ideas: Use spaghetti squash to replace noodles, use zucchini to replace lasagna noodles, buy sprouted grain bread from a health food store, top chili with cheese instead of crackers, Bake apples, cinnamon, raisins, walnuts and granola (top with a scoop of real ice cream) for a healthy dessert, try stir fry variation (no rice), try homemade soup variations in a crock pot (hold the potatoes, corn and pasta); get a healthy cookbook and experiment. We carry Standard Bars and ReBars