Life By Design with Dr. Jamie Richards

Well, we're in October, and you know what that means? It means that we've been at it for a month now and I know you've started to feel the effects of being 'back to the grind.' Most people I've chatted with are on their 2nd cold, University students are starting mid-terms, the air is getting colder, the darkness is getting longer, we're seeing fewer people outside, there's talk of Christmas and the level of business and craziness is high. Time for a break right? I totally agree with you, in fact, this past week I've had to dial it back a bit myself. I was tired, fighting a low-grade sore throat, dragging when the alarm would go off in the morning and was feeling beat-up, not energized and exhausted after my workouts. Since getting full on sick, or worse, physically injured (which, no matter what you do is always a possibility) is not an option... I knew I had to do something. The purpose of this podcast is to discuss the importance of rest. Why you need to have it on a regular basis, but more importantly how it actually affects you and why it needs to be more structured than you might think. Rest is often equated with doing nothing, but at Life By Design we don't look at rest like a complete disconnect from all reality. Let me explain. What I Covered

• The importance of rest and why it could be the most critical part of growth and hitting that next level for you.
• Why I don't like the 'intuitive approach' to rest and relaxation.
• Why the two most important things for getting good quality rest are self-awareness and your schedule.

Is fat bad for you? And is there such a thing as good fat and bad fat? The answer is yes and yes although not for the reasons that you might suspect. Humans are not new to eating food. This is not meant to be an inflammatory statement, simply a reminder that we've been eating the same things for generations, like 40,000 years. We've hunted, we gathered and we survived and thrived. This also means that we've adapted to certain things (fats from real foods), while not knowing what to do with others (fats from artificially created foods). Fat is one of those things that we've adapted to very well over time. Some researchers and anthropologists argue that fat has been such a vital part of our nutrient base that it has made us who we are as humans. They how can it be bad? Just because fat is a requirement for your life and optimum health doesn't mean that you get to eat it carte blanche. It also doesn't mean that you can avoid the source of it without any consequences or that you can have other bad habits because you're eating fat and that's 'good for you.' The purpose of this podcast is to take a closer look at fat. What We Covered

• Macronutrient basics. What's a macronutrient and why do you need to know.
• The different macronutrients and food groups. You need one, the other is just arbitrarily created and isn't a real thing.
• The purpose of fat in your body.
• The different kinds of fat that exist for you to eat and why having almost ALL of them is important for you.
• Toxicity vs. Deficiency. What happens to your body when macronutrients are removed for long periods of time.

Every situation, especially stressful ones, bring with them a great, and if used correctly,' fantastic learning opportunity, especially if you can learn and grow from other people's stress, mistakes and opportunities.

If you don't know, Dr. Jamie and his wife Dana are in the middle of launching their new cafe, Charlie's, named after his Jamie's grandfather.

Launching a new business, if you've never done it, is one of the most stressful events in life. This is # 10 for Jamie!

We've heard it called by some of our friends as the 'most stressful thing they've ever done.'

Now imagine opening up a brand new business while trying to run and operate three other ones, take care of patients, raise a family, and make health your priority. Needless to say, there is a lot of stuff on Dr. Jamie's plate and that's the opportunity for you! :-) The purpose of this episode is to give you an idea of how he handles and works through the most stressful situations in his life. We want you to hear the underlying belief systems that Dr. Jamie has in place and how he has used those belief systems to create success for himself.

What We Covered

• Why mindset is the most critical thing you create. Jim Rohn said that it rains equally on the rich and the poor, the only difference is the rich react differently.
• The specifics of Dr. Jamie's mindset currently and a discussion about whether he always thought this way and if not, how did he change his mindset.
• Strategies we've used to help us create and develop a mindset to build success and how to continue moving forward when it seems like everything is against you.

In an interesting article written by Art Eggleton of The Huffington Post, he claims that to solve the health care crisis in Canada (and other countries) we need a stronger public health sector. There are a variety of opinions on whether we have a 'health care crisis' in Canada or not. If you were to ask anyone that is not Canadian they would tell you that health care in Canada is 'free' and glorious. However, some Canadians have a much different opinion of our current system. The article sights that in 2015, 37% of the entire tax budget was spent on health care costs and that that number would be increasing, despite provinces best efforts to keep costs down while providing a high standard of care. The solution? Decrease the burden of disease. How could we do that? According to the article, increase the funding to the public health sector towards areas with a sole focus on lifestyle and the prevention of disease. The article mentions that public health only receives 3-4% of all tax dollars, which is incredibly low compared to other sectors. Will this solution work, and is it the best option? Since this is not a political podcast and we are not politicians...we don't know. We do however know that waiting for the government to come and save you (or anyone for that matter) is not the best idea. You need to take your health into your own hands. The purpose of this podcast is to help give you some ideas of how and why you should be responsible for your own health. What I covered

• An overview of the article.
• Developing a strategy and a team of people that can help you be responsible for your own health.
• Some practical strategies for building that team.

"If each of us would only sweep our own doorstep, the whole world would be clean." Mother Teresa

I love this quote because it's true, it also applies to this week's podcast.

The concept of Rational Selfishness, yes selfish, is strongly endorsed by Life By Design. We believe that if everyone practiced it, and allowed others the freedom to practice it, or not, the world would, in fact, be a much better place.

If you're new to the Life By Design podcast, this should be an interesting episode for you, and if you've listened in the past please take the time to review.

What's wrong with putting yourself first? Why is other's happiness OK, but yours wrong? Does selfishness mean harming other people? Does one person have to lose for another to win? These are questions and morals that we've grown up with, but are they really true? Are they even helpful, or could they be harmful?

The purpose of this podcast is to explain the idea of rational selfishness and how, if accepted, rational selfishness can lead you to a life of happiness and joy, without hurting or harming others.

What I covered

• What being selfish means, why it's gotten such a bad rap and continues to get a worse one, and how you can apply this idea to your life and have nothing but success with it.
• Why sacrificing is never a good idea and why it's not something that you should ever do.
• Why being selfish, in some circumstance means looking out for the welfare of other people.
• How to start applying this concept of rational selfishness to your life.

For full show notes visit:

http://www.lifebydesign.com/podcast

We can hear the debates starting before we even begin talking about this topic. A glass of red wine a day is good for you, everything in moderation, my grandfather drank every day and lived to be 95 years old. We totally understand, and are not trying to deny your experience or beliefs, but will you just hear us out for a few minutes? First off, nobody is telling you not to enjoy your favourite beverage...especially when getting together with friends, out on a date, or after a hard days work. However, let's live in reality, please. Alcohol is not good for you. Are there other ingredients in some types of alcoholic beverages that may meet requirements for your body? Possibly, but you can easily get those nutrients from other less toxic food sources. Nobody is telling you not to drink, just to know that drinking is not good for you - that's all. The purpose of this podcast is to discuss the results regarding alcohol consumption from a recent peer reviewed study. What we covered

• The conclusions from the study. If you consume any alcohol at all you won't like what it has to say. Please don't shoot the messenger on this one, we'll give you our interpretation on the data.
• The limitations of the study. No study of this size is perfect. This study was a meta-analysis of many observational studies. That doesn't come without any flaws. Find out what they are and how they impact the potential results.
• The mechanism of why alcohol isn't good for you. How does alcohol mess with your physiology and metabolism?
• What we think you should do with this information. There is something to be said about happiness and joy, especially if you like drinking.

For full show notes visit:

http://www.lifebydesign.com/podcast

Like it or not summer is reaching its end. A new routine will start to emerge, new friends will come, some friends will leave, and the stress of a changing life will continue. Going back to school is one of the best times of the year and exciting times of life. Except when it's not. Except when the excess stress, pressure, social pressure and expectation adds far too much 'weight' on our kids and breaks down their bodies physically, emotionally and spiritually. There is nothing inherently wrong with kids experiencing pressure, stress, and responsibility, it's how they grow. The issue becomes a problem when there is too much stress and your child can no longer adapt. The purpose of this podcast is to help give you a guide to ensure that your child is the healthiest they can be before they enter the school year, so the stresses and pressure of have as few negative effects as possible.

What I covered

• Be a role model. If you want your child to adopt a behaviour please start doing it first. Not only will this keep you in integrity, but it's really the only way to 'make' someone do something.
• Don't wait for the first day of school, start implementing some routines now. There is a behavioural tendency to overdo bad things as you know a particular time is coming to an end (think starting a diet on Monday). Try to avoid that tendency and begin establishing some healthy rules now.
• Make sure the basics - Sleep, water, food, movement, and nerve system are covered and covered well. There is no question that your child will be exposed to a variety of physical, chemical and emotional stressors. Make home a reliable, consistent place, where they know what to expect.

For full show notes visit:

http://www.lifebydesign.com/podcast

Having witnessed both our wives deliver all 4 of the children vaginally and at home, we can say that we stand humbled in the awe of the birthing process. Having provided chiropractic care for hundreds of women who have had every type of complication from trauma, surgery, medical procedures, concerns, and issues with their delivery, we continue to be blown away by the power and strength of ALL moms, no matter what kind of pregnancy or birth they had. Lastly, we can completely agree with other experts that while a "normal" process, giving birth is one of the most challenging that a human body will ever have to undergo. Therefore, whenever something is physically challenging, we can assume that strength, fitness and health play an essential part in its successful outcome. The purpose of this podcast is to help a new mom know how to get back into an exercise and training regime. What we covered

• The importance of purpose and goals in training. Yes, we understand you want to lose the 'baby weight' (that's an amazing and great goal) but there are some things that you might want to consider doing prior to focusing on that outcome.
• Giving birth, whether vaginally or caesarean section, is demanding in all aspects (physical, emotional, spiritual, relationship, everything) of your life. Please give yourself some grace and time to return to the world of fitness. That's not to say you won't be ready right after giving birth, but it's OK if you're not.
• Patience, patience, patience, patience - we can't say it enough. Why allowing your body adequate recovery is vital to creating a sustainable method of training.

For full show notes visit:

http://www.lifebydesign.com/podcast

Weight loss is a very interesting and confusing topic. It's interesting because, despite the plethora of studies and real life (and social media) testimonials, some people still believe the things that they learned growing up, despite that information being thoroughly refuted. For example, many people still believe that eating many meals throughout the day is the only way to lose weight. "I'm just not hungry in the morning," they say. There is nothing wrong with eating all of your meals at the end of the day, the problem is not timing, the problem is that by the end of the day most people are so hungry that they eat whatever is placed in front of them and that happens to be high processed carbohydrate, high sugar food, which, if consumed in high quantity, will create a state in which your body puts on weight. On today's podcast, we talk about protein. The purpose of this podcast is to review the article written by Dr. Jamie and help you apply it to your life, creating the health success that you've always wanted. What we covered

• Why the biggest obstacle to sustainable weight loss is not eating enough food.
• It's not surgery. I wish it were true, but you don't get to say to your body 'a little off here, and a little off there'... spot reduction is a myth. Many people lose weight, don't like where they lost the weight and end of hating their body. Weight loss isn't just about weighing less; it's about building more muscle and become a different person.
• The 'missing' ingredient to your weight loss success is protein. Most people think they are eating enough of it, but thinking and doing are much different.
• How to get ample sources of high quality protein in your diet.

For full show notes visit:

http://www.lifebydesign.com/podcast

Do you want to live a life worth living or are OK with keeping things the way they are? The fact that you're even reading this and listening to the podcast means we already know your answer...you want an extraordinary life. That decision alone puts you in the top 5% of people living on the planet, which is sad when you really think about it. That sole fact that you want better your life, means that along the way you are going to pick up many nasty comments, deep exhales, raised eyebrows, pleas to stop and other, sometimes very hurtful and nasty, criticism. The one unfortunate quality of social media is that it has opened you up to every 'keyboard cowboy' in the known universe. It's funny how they all want to tell you how ugly, stupid and ridiculous you are for even thinking that you can (or should) somehow expect better for yourself, while they type their insults behind the closed and safe doors of their room without attempting to better themselves. The most challenging and sad part about facing criticism is not when it comes from partyman6969 on YouTube, it's when it comes from your mom or your sister who claim to have 'your best interest' at heart. It's important for you to understand that you will face criticism, that's a guarantee, it's how you overcome it, or not, that will propel you forward or keep you back. The purpose of this podcast is to help you deal with and overcome criticism.

What We Covered

• The most essential emotional state you need access to diffuse the situation completely.
• Why pretending like it 'doesn't matter is not a good strategy'.
• Why and how taking the 3rd person role can help you gain some clarity on the situation.

For full show notes visit:

http://www.lifebydesign.com/podcast