When I tell people what we eat, their first response is...

"That sounds pretty restricted!"

After which I ask them what they had for breakfast today?

"Cereal."

And the day prior?

"Cereal."

How about for the foreseeable future?

"Cereal."

You get the idea.

Most people are already eating a fairly restricted diet, only with poor food choices!

So, what the heck do we, at Life By Design, eat ourselves?

On today's episode of Life By Design we cover that question and answer a few more.

What We Cover

• How many different food types will you find in an A+ diet?
• Why Mike's (yes I said Mike, he made a return to the show) situation may be unique and what you can still learn from it.
• Most people know "what" to eat but still fail to follow guidelines...why?
• What Jamie eats.
• What Mike eats.

How is it possible for a simple, seemingly logical statement, to have the capacity to lead to such potentially detrimental outcomes?

That is the crux of the problem.

This statement, while appearing innocuous, is far from it.

What is this cliche we've all said at one time or another?

"Everything in moderation."

I know.

It just doesn't seem like an issue... right?

On this episode of Life By Design we delve deeper into this slogan and it's possible negative effects.

What we covered

• The way you challenge the basis of a concept is at the edges. At the extremes, the flaws or strength of a statement become more obvious. Cocaine in moderation?
• Let's assume this statement slips into your belief system without detection... what potential actions would follow? We discuss some examples.
• This would be a much better way to tackle the problems our "slogan" is trying to solve. A way that leads to taking more responsibility instead of passing it off and succumbing to the ill effects that'll follow.

One way to stack the deck in favour of the highest quality sleep experience is to craft the perfect restoration routine.

A routine is a series of actions done repeatedly.

Not all routines are helpful, or move you towards a predetermined goal, they're simply routines due to repetition.

You'll see routines, even rituals, a more intentional form of routine, among many high achievers across a variety of professions.

What makes routines so impactful is the ability to automate them and require little to no willpower.

This makes consistency easier and as such, the opportunity for a maximum return even more likely.

On today's episode of Life By Design I shared my Perfect Restoration Routine in hope it would spark you to do the same!

What I Covered:

• A 4 step process to creating a routine. This can be applied to anything, not just sleep!
• How to best prepare your body to maximize sleep quality and set the stage for productivity.
• What are the nutrient needs involved to enhance restorative sleep?
• The two additions I made to my sleep hygiene in the past 6 months that have been making a surprising and positive impact.

Salt is bad for you!

Right?

Or is it?

Now I'm confused.

That's OK...

Most of us have been convinced that salt consumption is something that must be restricted at all costs.

Too much salt increases the risk for heart disease and stroke, damages the kidneys and will lead to early death.

That's scary!

But what is the truth?

Have we been told a lie?

It depends...as always.

On today's episode of Life By Design we talk about salt.

What I Covered:

• Using research done on "sick people" is not entirely applicable to healthy people.
• Why do most heart and stroke associations restrict sodium intake to such extreme levels?
• What is the purpose of sodium in our body?
• How much salt is the right amount of salt?
• Who should restrict their salt intake?
• What's the best type of salt to consume?

Most people assume they'll know when they have a problem with their spine.

The criteria is simple... it hurts!

Until that point, the spine is just a bag of bones doing it's job to keep us upright.

Imagine if that's how we thought about our teeth?

All good until your tooth hurts.

How about the heart?

No problem here, until the first heart attack that is.

The list could go on...

When it comes to the body, there's so much more going on than meets the eye.

If we depend on pain to give us an alert that a problem exists, we'll end up waiting for too long and in some cases, it can even be too late.

On today's episode of Life By Design I talk about the most "obvious" causes of spinal problems and one significant but less considered possibility.

What I Covered:

• How the spine works and why it's more important than you've probably ever realized.
• When do symptoms first appear? What should you do?
• Problem #1: obvious but less of a problem than expected.
• Problem #2: a much bigger source of spinal problems but far underappreciated.
• Problem #3: the most difficult to understand and comprehend of all spinal problems.
• The Missing Link: the answer to nearly every spinal problem, or at least the starting point!

One of the most under appreciated facets of health is the gut.

In the past, the digestive system was seen as a simple system.

Food entered and left one long tube, only to be digested and nutrients absorbed along the way.

Now, an incredible amount of research is accumulating to establish the gut as a primary focus for disease reversal and health optimization.

The "gut" is referring to the micro organisms living inside the intestines.

This biome includes 100's of different species of bacteria working together to produce a healthy environment.

On today's episode of Life By Design, we discuss what to do and not to do when it comes to improving your gut health.

What We Covered:

• What is the gut and why is it important?
• Signs of an unhealthy gut.
• How to start enhancing gut repair and healing

Germs are a part of the world we live in and are necessary to a healthy productive human life. Bacteria plays a vital role in our normal physiology and not all types should be feared or avoided. It's one of those things that belong in the 'optimize' category. This means you want to avoid deadly or harmful bacteria while maximizing the 'good' or beneficial bacteria that you want. It's one of the reasons that probiotics are a Life By Design recommended supplement; many of us have been on countless antibiotic prescriptions and have not given our body the time to recover and regrow our normal, natural flora. This can play out in many ways. See the attached study where probiotics given to women with recurrent urinary tract infections, helped the rate, and intensity subside to the point where probiotics are being considered as a potential treatment option for recurrent urinary tract infections in women. But that's not the point of the podcast. The naysayers will say, and rightly so in this case, that we need more research and that more study is required to make a decision. But that's not the point, which is exactly the point of the podcast What We Cover:

• The study and why it's cool and important for you to understand.
• Why treatment protocols are not the purpose of supplements and why you shouldn't judge your health by symptoms.
• Strategies and requirements and why that's so important for you and your family.

Does vitamin D have any positive direct effect on the immune system? That's the question we seek to answer this week on Life By Design. We are using direct to mean, if you take Vitamin D, is there any data pointing out that you may have a decreased chance of contracting the flu? There is already data and professional hypotheses on how people with "pre-existing" autoimmune diseases have an increased risk of developing the full-blown autoimmune disease if they are Vitamin D deficient. This week we present a study, and randomized controlled trial, from Japan. The researchers followed school-aged children through flu season (December - March), giving half of the 340 student sample size Vitamin D while the other half received the placebo. What We Cover

• The study, it's results, a general discussion, and what those results could mean for you and your family's health.
• Why we think you should be taking Vitamin D...don't think the real reason is the avoidance of disease. Avoiding disease only gets you to zero; we're hoping you can be so much more than just that.
• We don't guess we test - how much Vitamin D should you be taking, despite the conflicting data and how you know you're taking enough?
• What are the best sources for Vitamin D and how to get it.
• The difference between a food and a supplement and why it's important to know the difference.

Despite a growing body of evidence, the peanut gallery still repeats the mantra... "There's no evidence to 'prove' Chiropractic works." Of course, when asked what is meant by 'evidence' and 'works', there is no clear response, yet the same tired rhetoric continues. In this episode, we will review these claims, discuss what does and doesn't exist in Chiropractic, and review a newly published study. A Randomized Control Trial (remember, they tell us these ones are the best) study, performed at the Naval Hospital in Pensacola, Florida found that soldiers who had Chiropractic care for 4 months had: Improved strength Improved balance Improved endurance And short term improvements to low back pain. The study involved 110 active military personal, 86% of those had low back pain for greater than three months, and 66% of which had back pain for longer than one year. The soldiers were divided into two groups the active group and the wait list group. The active group received chiropractic care for four months. It's always nice to see documented evidence of 'other' nerve system related phenomenon (strength and balance) improving. Yet, more evidence to support the idea that Corrective Chiropractic is more about keeping your spine and nerve system healthy and all the benefits that brings. What We Cover

• The study and its results.
• Possible mechanisms for the results.
• Where the study falls short.
• How you can apply this information to make you and your family's life better.
• What conditions chiropractic can treat.
• Why we believe there is so much hate for chiropractic... still!

There was, and maybe it's still being circulated on your social media feeds, a meme that goes something like this: "Losing weight is hard; being overweight is hard; choose your hard." "Being broke is hard; Becoming rich is hard; choose your hard." "Change is hard; staying the same is hard; choose your hard." You get the idea. There was just something unsettling enough about this meme that warranted us to have a conversation and discussion about it and this podcast is the result of that conversation. So what, who cares, right? We believe you'll care because your ideas and beliefs literally dictate your life, your happiness, what you believe is possible for yourself and all else. So to accept or dismiss an idea without properly thinking about it and breaking it down is extremely detrimental to your life. What we cover

• Why context is king and why before accepting any slogan, no matter how it makes you feel, it must be especially considered and analyzed.
• Why ideas matter and why your beliefs will literally dictate, over time, the quality of your life and your level of happiness.
• In what ways this quote is true and what value we can take from it.
• In what ways this quote is false and where, we believe, it could be dangerous to your life.