Good Evening,

How is everyone doing that spent thursday in Conway? I have to say I was doing well until this morning, 3 days later. I went for my 5 mile run, and was it painful. I suffer from a headache, muscles cramping and overall distress about what to write on this darn blog page, not to mention I hacked up my left lung. While in misery I realized why I was in pain and what to write about.

The discomfort I was experiencing was do to dehydration, even 3 days later I had not rehydrated my body enough. We all suffered from overall exhaustion and dehydration, not to mention the toxins inhaled that day. This is exactly why we need to care for ourselves in the down time, so we better recover from the assault on our bodies.

If any of you suffered or are still suffering from headaches (even mild), nausea, vomiting, muscle fatigue or muscle soreness you are dehydrated. Get plenty of water going in the system and push the veggies.

Have a great night and see you at the next big one.

Offering from the community

Here are the great benefits being offered to those involved in the Biggest Loser Contest:

Pulver Family Chiropractic: all new patient visits, which include x-ray, consult and adjustment are $30 for the month of March and April. Please consider it and encourage a friend. It is also a benefit to the Emmet County Fire Fighters Association.

Half of every new patient visit will go to the Fire Fighters Association, if you are a firefighter, then 100% of that will be donated. So try an adjustment and encourage a friend.

Pulver Family Chiropractic

2503 Charlevoix Ave

Petoskey, Mi 49770

231-348-7540

www.pulverchiro.com

Next offering is from Humming Bird Health, Bridget the local naturopath and as opened up her office and students to us at no charge.

March 20th from 9-4 and April 10th from 9-4, will be two free clinic days that you can make appointments for general health assessments and nutritional education. I encourage everyone to try a natural approach.

Humming Bird Health

8468 M-119 (airport corner)

Harbor Springs, Mi 49740

231-348-1915

www.hummingbirdhealth.com

Black Bean Salad

Black Bean Salad:

2 cans organic black beans, drained

1 pint of cherry tomatoes

1 red pepper, diced

1/2 cup red onion, diced

1 tbsp. olive oil

1 tbsp. balsamic vinegar

1-2 tsp. ground cumin seeds

Mix ingredients together in a bowl and chill for several hours

Benefits of Exercise

The Many Benefits of Exercise:

* Increases your metabolic rate-that means you burn more calories.

* Increases your bodies lean muscle mass

* Improves your insulin sensitivity of blood sugar handling

* Lowers your cholesterol levels

* Lowers your risk of chronic diseases

* Increases your energy level

* Improves quality of sleep

* Reduces stress and tension

* Elevates your mood and increases your mental performances

Aspartame: Why Not

If it says "Sugar Free" on the label don't even think about it. Aspartame, also known as Nutrasweet, Equal, and Spoonful, is the cause of many issues to the human body.

For better understanding, when the temperature of this sweetener exceeds 86 degrees F, the wood alcohol is Aspartame converts to Formaldehyde and then to formic acid, which causes metabolic acidosis. (this acid is the poison found in the sting of the fire ants)

Possible effects of Aspartame include, multiple sclerosis, fibromyalgia symptoms, spasms, shooting pains, numbness in your legs, cramps, vertigo, dizziness, headaches, tinnitus, joint pain, depression, anxiety attacks, slurred speech, blurred vision, or memory loss.

Aspartame is especially dangerous for those with diabetes.

Healthy alternatives include, Stevia (a sweet herb), honey, cane sugar and agave.

"Heart" Rate

Good Evening Everyone,

After this past week I have taken time to reflect on our topic of heart rate. I have not done a good job of explaining way we need to know our max heart rate. We need to understand it and know what it is for ourselves so that we do not stay there. Let me explain:

I calculated my max heart rate, it is 177. While I was skate skiing this weekend I discovered that climbing hills put me up to my max and beyond. No problem for short periods and even better was the fact that once I topped the hills my heart rate dropped down to 114 within 45 seconds. On that flats I made it a point to work hard enough to keep my rate at about 135.

So my point, the reason we do cardio is improve our ability to work hard without the heart being over tasked (fighting a fire or stressful medical call) and then the hearts ability to recover.

I cant emphasis enough, it this seems foreign to you please ask questions, do not hesitate to call.

Finally, more from John "The Penguin" Bingham:

The side effect of focusing on what I was feeling was that words like "winning" and "losing" were replaced by words like "doing" and "becoming" in my vocabulary. All my old notions of failure were replaced by an evolving definition of success.

The Courage to Start

After reading a great book, "The Courage to Start, The Guide to Running for Your Life" by John "The Penguin" Bingham, I thought everyone should read it. The truth is I have already asked you to start changing your eating habits and add exercise to your already busy lives. So instead I will just throw out a few of his great comments every once in awhile.

This chapter is titled Finding the Time, and it is so appropriate. Here is a paragraph I can't image not including.

'Getting off on the right foot means understanding enough about yourself, your life, and your willingness to commit to this new activity to begin to think about your life as a runner. IT'S ABOUT GIVING YOURSELF PERMISSION TO FIND THE TIME TO BE A RUNNER.'

I realize this book is about running, but I have to tell you, he talks about any activity not just running. John was a middle age husband who decided to make change to running for exercise and improved health. If you have time to read this book, it is a short easy read that is so funny and motivating.

Have a great week.