Mid-Week Motivation

          As a new professional in the area, I’ve been attending several networking groups to meet new and interesting people – and that I have. This last week I attended a luncheon with Michael Schneider of McPherson College. He was our speaker for the day and he was talking about things he learned on his way to being one of the youngest college presidents in the nation. He had some great points – some that pertain only to business and some that pertain also to life. I’m a real sucker for motivational stuff, so I thought I would share. Who doesn’t need a little pick me up here and there?!

Here’s what he had to say:

     1.     “It’s okay to make mistakes.” We’ve all heard that one before, but for some reason we tend to forget easily. He also said, “If you’re going to make mistakes, make them in the forward direction and learn from them.” Make mistakes while you’re working your way to greatness (whatever that may be – personal, professional, etc.) and take the knowledge you learn from the mistake and carry on your way. 

     2.     “The accomplishment is the QUEST.” Sometimes it’s not the end result that deserves the recognition, but the journey you took to get there.

     3.     “Always take a swing when you’re up to bat. Don’t just let the ball go by.” Don’t let an opportunity pass you by. You’ll definitely strike out if you don’t take a swing.

     4.     “Patience is a load of cr@p.” This one is more of a business principle than a life one. Patience in life will take you far, but in business you can’t just wait for things to happen. You have to make them happen.

     5.     “Don’t overlook the people you surround yourself with.” Look to those around you for help and guidance. They are your closest and best asset.

     6.     “Get in spaces where you are uncomfortable.” It’s easy to stay inside your comfort zone, but magic happens when you get outside of it. Challenge yourself.

     7.     “Some people call it crazy. Others call it a vision.” I’m totally out of my mind, so does that make me a visionary?! ;-)

     8.     “Don’t let your career define you. Define your career.” 

     9.     “Success isn’t measured by how you fit in, but by how you stand out.” These last two go together nicely. You can do alright if you just go-with-the-flow, but sometimes swimming upstream will take you farther. 

I hope these little pieces of wisdom can make you feel as great as they did me. Let’s go change the world!

-Dr. Emily

"F" is for Flu

            

       I hadn’t had the flu in years and years – until this year. My husband, Steven, works in local hospitals everyday fixing medical equipment and we’re pretty sure that’s where it came from. Steven was the first to go down. He was praying to the porcelain god for a good 24 hours before he started to feel human again. At first, I thought I might be spared, but 4 days later it was my turn. I didn’t get near as sick and after 12 hours was feeling almost 100% better! In all honesty, I had a rib subluxation that hurt a lot more than the flu did – and my chiropractor, Dr. Loder, was on vacation! Suffering through my subluxation was worse than suffering through the flu! All in all, the flu experience at our house was a very mild one and I credit all of that to chiropractic. Keeping our spine in line and our nervous systems working at 100%, our immune systems were able to quickly mount a response and defeat the virus. We also live the chiropractic lifestyle at our house which includes daily exercise, eating organic, non-processed foods as often as possible, and taking daily whole food supplements including vitamin D. Recent studies show that vitamin D is actually more effective at fighting the flu than the flu vaccine. Vitamin D is dubbed the “sunshine vitamin”, and since living in Kansas during the winter = minimal sunshine, vitamin D supplementation becomes even more important.

Then of course there’s Laramie, our 4 month old – because she is exclusively breastfeed, she didn’t get so much as the sniffles! Babies get powerful antibodies produced by their mother that helps protect them from any and all “bugs” they may come into contact with. That’s one of my favorite things about chiropractic, how we learn to work with nature instead of against it. Because I let myself get sick and didn’t try to cover up the symptoms with medication, my body was able to mount a stronger response and pass on those fighting cells to Laramie.

Just in case the flu decides to visit your house, here are some helpful tips on how to cope:

1.     I know it sucks, but don’t try to stop the vomiting or diarrhea. Your body is trying to get that stuff out for a reason – it needs to worry about fighting the virus and doesn’t have time to worry about digestion.

2.     Make sure to stay hydrated. This is one of the most common complications from the flu – dehydration. Water is easily absorbed and requires little to no actual digestion. If tolerated, sip on some warm water with honey and lemon for electrolytes. Avoid over sugary drinks such as Gatorade and Powerade.

3.     Someone once told me, “The flu is nature’s way of telling you to take a day off.” I’d say that’s rather sound advice. REST!!

4.     And of course – get adjusted! One of the most important times to get adjusted is when you’re ill. Don’t cancel your appointment. Let us know you’re feeling ill and we’ll try to accommodate your appointment during a non-busy time or at the end of the day to reduce exposure for other patients. And don’t worry – we’ll be sure to clean the table well to keep from spreading the virus!

Even though “F” is for flu, “C” is for chiropractic and making sure you’re getting adjusted regularly can keep you on your “A” game!

- Dr. Emily 

New Year, New Tradition

Here it is - 2012. Most people make resolutions this time of year and then promptly break them. So why not do something different this year? I have to admit, I got this great idea from a fantastic local photographer, Karilyn Sanders (who happened to do our maternity, birth, and newborn photos for Laramie!). Her idea was to dedicate the New Year to a word. Just one word. Click HERE to read her blog. 

I’ve decided that my word of the year will be PASSION. I am going to dedicate myself to sharing my passion for chiropractic and natural parenting with those around me. It just happens that this New Year brings with it the beginning of my professional career as a chiropractor which will greatly impact the ability to reach my goal. I will literally have the opportunity to “touch” the lives of others through chiropractic. My goal is to help our practice educate those in the community that chiropractic isn’t just about low back pain – it’s about living life to its fullest potential.  And those of you who I’ve talked to about pregnancy, birth, and child rearing know that I can go on for HOURS talking about all the ways to support the growth of our future generations naturally. I’ve decided to put all that passion into classes about Natural Parenting. In fact, my first class is January 15^th and will be covering Natural Remedies for Common Conditions, Natural First Aid, Baby Wearing, and Cloth Diapering. I’m really, really excited about sharing this information. I’ve been harboring all this passion for chiropractic and natural parenting during my years at school, and the time has finally come for me to let the cat out of the bag. 

What is your word for 2012 and how are you going to express that word in your life?

- Dr. Emily :-)

Beating the Winter Time Blahs

I’m not sure what happened, but this last weekend nothing got done at my house. I had a whole “To Do” list ready (I LOVE making lists!), but aside from going to the grocery store and making sure a little laundry got done, we were LAZY. Here’s a big secret… I didn’t even take a shower one day! Oh my! I won’t tell you which day it was in case you saw me in public that day. ;-) My husband and I decided it was the cold, gloomy, crummy weather that just sucked all the motivation out of us. We vowed not to let it happen two weekends in a row because neither of us felt good about our lack of productivity. Here are some ideas of ways to avoid having a weekend like we did (I plan to follow my own advice!):

·        Make a list (much like this one!) and put it somewhere you can’t help but see it – like on the refrigerator.

·        Cross things off said list. It’s very satisfying!

·        Make plans with friends or family so someone is counting on you. Invite people over for dinner or a game night. I don’t know about you, but inviting people over motivates me to clean the house like there’s no tomorrow!

·        Make it a point to get some exercise in – even if you do nothing else the rest of the day, you’ll feel great knowing you did something good for your health. 

·        Shower. Don’t be like me.

·        If you’re going to veg-out in front of the TV, at least make it a true “veg” session and have some veggies for your snack instead of junk food.

What other fun things do you do to beat the winter time blahs?

- Dr. Emily :-)

How I'm Staying Sane This Holiday Season

          This is such a hot topic this time of year. With all the Christmas cheer and cookies comes a heaping helping of Christmas stress. There are very few people who are immune to this crushing disease.  I certainly have no immunity built up. But I am trying to lessen the load this year (especially with a new baby), and here’s what I’m doing:

×          Getting adjusted. You might think this is a no brainer, but it’s harder than you think to remember. We get busy in the office and it’s easy to run out the door without an adjustment, but I try to make time with Dr. Loder every week. Even I have to make an appointment so I won’t forget! :-)

×          Cutting down on the gift giving. I have made a point to tell those coming to family gatherings this year that I will not be buying them a gift and I don’t expect them to buy me anything. I only get small gifts for the very small circle of people close to me (my husband, my parents, and Laramie of course!). The holidays are about spending time with your loved ones and not spending oodles of money.

×          Getting enough sleep and exercise. Getting enough sleep with a new baby means going to sleep when she does. And that happens to be 8:30 pm. I may feel like an old lady, but I’m not a Scrooge when I wake up! I also make it a point to get 3 – 5 days of exercise in each week. Since I’m going to bed at 8:30 pm, I might as well get up at 5:00 am to go work out!

We had some other great ideas on ways to cut down holiday stress during our Beat Holiday Burnout day in the office. 

What are some ways YOU’RE de-stressing this Christmas?

- Dr. Emily :-)

The World Wants to Know: What DOES Dr. Loder eat??

The story behind how this post came about is an interesting one.  I happened to be hanging around Dr. Loder near the end of lunch one day and I witnessed something peculiar – he took a large spoon, dipped it into a jar of coconut oil and ate it like it was no big deal. Now, I’m a fan of cooking with coconut oil or putting it in my smoothies, BUT for those of you who aren’t familiar with it, coconut oil is a solid at room temperature – much like Crisco. The texture is a little different, but not much! So in my book, eating straight coconut oil is right up there with eating straight Crisco, except for WAY healthier, of course. Still weird though. This brings us back to why I’m writing this. I know that Dr. Loder is an extremely healthy person and he only eats healthy food, but I don’t really know WHAT he eats. And after seeing him eat the coconut oil, I have a feeling it’s going to be an interesting read.

With no further ado, here is what a typical day looks like for Dr. Loder:

Breakfast
4 organic, free range eggs, over easy
2 handfuls assorted raw nuts
Standard Process protein bar
Organic strawberries and blueberries

Lunch
Raw broccoli, cauliflower, carrots (and not just a few – a very large container!)
Canned wild Alaskan salmon
1 handful assorted raw nuts

1 apple
Standard Process protein bar

All after exercising for 50 minutes!

Dinner

Beef roast (Dr. Loder grows his own antibiotic free, hormone free and grass fed

 beef)
Carrots, celery, onions
Assorted fresh fruit

1 oz. organic dark chocolate w/low sugar (Even Dr. Loder likes his chocolate – he’s just smart about how much and what kind he eats.)

Supplements

Innate Choice Vitamin D

Innate Choice Omega Sufficiency

Innate Choice Probiotic

Standard Process SP Green Food

Standard Process Catalyn

Standard Process OPC Synergy

Just like Dr. Loder teaches at his Eat Well classes, there is no grain, no dairy, and very little processed food in his diet. And this really is a typical day for him. He didn’t just eat this way so I could write about it. He hasn’t always eaten this way though. As some of you know, Dr. Loder is my step-brother and I remember his eating habits from when I was a child. He’s a little infamous for eating ALL my Easter candy one year! Ask him about the food he used to eat, it’ll surprise you! Even though Dr. Loder didn’t start eating this way until later in life, he’s still healthier than many people HALF his age! He made a commitment to his health, AND SO CAN YOU!

So there you have it, folks! Dr. Loder doesn’t just teach the Eat Well, Move Well, Think Well program – he lives it! 

-Dr. Emily :-)