8 Weeks to Wellness: Week 1 Online Challenge

In our office quest to get healthy by November, I decided to follow up the 10 Day Metagenics Cleanse with 8 Weeks to Wellness. I've done 8 Weeks to Wellness one time a year for the past two years, so I thought I would do it again this year too.

This time it's a little bit different though. I'm doing the 8 Weeks to Wellness Online Challenge. This is a High-Tech, Low Touch program that provides patients with all of the same education (plus more) but less required time in our office. Right now we have two patients who live in Minnesota doing the program for the first time and two 8WW Alumni doing it locally (including me). 

Here's the basics:

• Online video tutorials about eating well, moving well, and thinking well each week
• Weekly quiz to proceed to the next week's info
• Guidelines on how to eat
• Weekly workouts you can do at home or the gym, scaled for different ability levels
• Guided Meditation
• ALL THE INFO you need to get started LIVING HEALTHY!

My Goals: Lose 9lbs and 2% body fat, exercise 5 times a week (3 Crossfit + 2 8 Weeks to Wellness workouts), fit into my jeans comfortably! 

Did you see the Channel 13 News Segment on 8 Weeks to Wellness? Check out Dr. Wes and the great things about 8 Weeks to Wellness! 

If you are interested in doing the full 8 Weeks to Wellness program or the 8 Weeks to Wellness Online Challenge, please talk to Dr. Wes or call the office for more information. (515) 978-6661. 

Day 7--Mental Clarity Day

As I was driving home from a new baby visit, I realized that my mental clarity was really good. I felt good driving and not "foggy" as I sometimes feel when I'm tired. It was glorious! I also have a lot more energy today and noticed that my cheek bones were coming back into sight. :)

I FINALLY made it to the gym this morning for the first time since I started this cleanse. The workout was right up my alley with rowing, box jumps, and burpees.  I attempted to do this workout "prescribed" (Crossfit's way of doing a workout without any modifications). My rowing was ridiculously slow and I biffed it once on the box jumps, but I completed the workout and tried to keep as steady of a pace as I could. It felt good to move again, even if it was much slower. 

Our meals for the day were pretty standard, except I invented another NEW recipe! So exciting! 

Here's what we ate:

Breakfast: cottage cheese, "real" oatmeal, egg whites, veggies

Lunch: Cottage cheese, salad, left over chili, green beans, tomatoes

Dinner: Shredded Chicken, squash, green beans, fruit

Snacks & Supplements: Fresh Fruit blended with UltraClear, AdvaClear, UltraFlora, Green Tea, Pomegranate Juice + Colon Cleanse

NEW Recipe! Buffalo Chicken Salad

1 cup cooked chicken, shredded

3T Plain Greek Yogurt

1tsp Frank's Red Hot Sauce or Buffalo Sauce

1 stalk celery, diced (optional)

Mix all ingredients together and enjoy! I cannot believe how good this tasted. I've never used plain yogurt in place of mayo before and I will certainly keep trying new creations with the yogurt. If you are eating grains, some Gluten Free Sweet Potato chips would be a great dipping tool with this salad. Or you could roll it up in a piece of Romaine lettuce with veggies for a healthy wrap. 

If you are interested in doing a Metagencis cleanse through our office, talk to Dr. Wes or Dr. Jason at your next appointment and they will get you going! Waukee Wellness: (515) 978-6661

Day 6 is AMAZING!

This morning I woke up feeling good. It's now 7:30pm and I FEEL AMAZING!! There could be a lot of things contributing to this:

• Great church service with my guys and my brother's family
• Seeing my parents for a little bit
• Eating really well and skipping the church brunch that we typically eat (it's so good but probably not-so-healthy)
• Taking A THREE HOUR NAP on a rainy Sunday (this is a big part I'm sure)
• Making a really healthy dinner with Wes--our recipe is below 
• The colon cleanse supplement finally started working

Wes & Katie's *Secret Chili

2# Ground Turkey

1# Chicken & Turkey Andoille Sausage (watch for ones that are low in fat)

2 Large Cans of Tomato Sauce

8oz Low Sodium Chicken Broth (we used Pacific Organic)

2 medium sweet potatoes

2T Chili Powder

Cook the meats separately. Once the turkey sausage is completely cooked, run through the food processor for a few seconds. While the meat is cooking, dice the sweet potatoes pretty small. Boil these for a few minutes until they are cooked through. In a large stock pot, add everything together. Bring to a boil and immediately turn the heat down to low. Enjoy!   (This served two adults, two boys, and we had four containers left for lunches this week.) 

*The secret is that we didn't tell the boys what was in the chili since they don't love andouille sausage or sweet potatoes. They LOVED this chili, even though they thought it had hot dogs in it. :) 

Bonus Picture: Me after a massage with Kendra! I LOVE her scalp therapy and it instantly made my headache much better! Looks like birds nested in my hair though. :) 

Cleanse Day 2

Day Two Plan

Breakfast: Cottage Cheese, tomatoes, and chicken for me; Grilled Turkey Burger & rice for Dr. Wes

Lunch: Tuna + Avocado + Dill pickles + Tomatoes= Tuna Salad (VERY good!), carrots, apples

Dinner: Lemon Chicken & Veggie Bake 

Snacks: UltraClear Shakes 

Supplements: UltraClear, UltraFlora, AdvaClear, Green Tea, Natural Calm at designated times of the day

Exercise: Dr. Wes made it to 5:30 Crossfit so I have NO excuses, but I still have a bit of a headache so I skipped today. I'll try to go for a walk in the evening. 

I had a can of Zevia Cherry Cola for my caffeine--so good! I also drank some Passion Fruit Iced Tea (herbal/no caffeine) in addition to my water. 

I also had an impromptu massage with Kendra today. It was so wonderful to take a nap (I even snored!) and have her work on my head because of the headache today. Darn caffeine cravings! 

Day 1 Review: The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly

Day one was tough. One of the hardest things I've ever done. I'll give you the good, the bad, and the ugly about my day and the other staff members' days too. Complete honesty. If you have questions for me or the staff, leave us a comment below! 

The Good

• I survived. (See The Ugly section)
• I really enjoyed everything I drank all day. Fruit juice, Very Berry UltraClear, Chocolate UltraMeal, Chicken Broth, herbal teas.
• I've already lost of a lot water weight--many trips to the bathroom. A good reminder to have sympathy for all of the pregnant women I work with!
• No excessive bathroom trips for the reasons I had in my head that a cleanse would entail--if you know what I mean. 
• Being without solid food makes me really aware of putting completely nutritious things back in. I haven't had any normal cravings today (except an afternoon tea) and I am so excited to be motivated to keep going! 

The Bad

• I didn't chew anything. That is really a weird thing to miss.
• I was pretty tired in the morning and was in bed early. 
• I drank so much liquid first thing in the morning that I felt nauseous. 

The Ugly

• I got a migraine. Not even a little "I-can-still-function" headache. This one took me down. It's nice being married to Dr. Wes because he was the first one to say, "Eat something. It's not worth it to feel this terrible." I attribute this to my caffeine problem. I typically have four or more servings of Iced Tea and Zevia soda throughout the day, so I was hurting. CONFESSION: I ate something at 9pm. I had gone over 24 hours without food, so I did my best to imitate an UltraMeal shake with real food. I ate a half-serving of cottage cheese and half of a banana. I almost instantly felt a little better, and it allowed me to be able to fall asleep. **IF YOU DO A CLEANSE THAT RESTRICTS CAFFEINE (as it should), START WEANING OFF CAFFEINE IN ADVANCE!** The directions told me this but I really thought I'd be ok. 

Staff Update: Dr. Wes was surprisingly chipper all day. He was hungry and a bit tired, but he did great. I think two of us had headaches (caffeine related), and two others had to end the day early by just going to bed. We all felt hungry throughout the day.  Otherwise, it's going really well with the office staff. 

If you are interested in doing a Metagencis cleanse through our office, talk to Dr. Wes or Dr. Jason at your next appointment and they will get you going! 

Liver Cleanse, Day 1

We're stocked and ready to go!

Did you know that we are one of the only cultures that doesn't routinely participate in some type of body cleanse or fast? Throughout history people have found various ways and reasons to help their body reset itself to a healthy state.

Our culture continues to pile in the processed junk day after day after day...without ever allowing the body to cleanse and reset itself.

We've decided to go through a liver cleanse over the next few weeks and wanted to share our experience with you. I don't think we'll get the symptoms and results like a short term cleanse would. We aren't the type of people that need that immediate change. We're perfectly fine with healthy long term changes for our bodies--how ever long that might take.

Day 1 Plan--Liquid Diet ONLY

Morning Routine: Pomegranate juice & Natural Calm; UltraClear, Supplements

Throughout the day: Juices, Chicken Broth, and UltraMeal by Metagenics

Evening Routine: Green Tea, Supplements, UltraClear

I've never done a day without solids, so I'm a bit concerned about what will happen. My biggest fear is getting a headache or being dizzy while I'm watching kids after school. I also drink a lot of caffeine during the day and have cut a lot out, but only having one serving makes me nervous! I'm also hosting a Norwex party that night and don't want to be a crazy-lady either. My biggest excitement is being able to drink some fruit juice. I consider juice to be a "junk food" and it will be fun to try some different flavors too.

If you are interested in doing a Metagencis cleanse through our office, talk to Dr. Wes or Dr. Jason at your next appointment and they will get you going! 

Healthy Staff, Healthy Patients (Fall 2013)

I'm back! After a much-needed break from blogging, I've decided that it's time to start sharing more healthy info with our patients again. However, this time it isn't about something I know--it's cleanse time at the office.  

 Our staff will be doing a Metagenics 10-day cleanse starting on Tuesday, October 1. For 10 days, we are eliminating and re-introducing certain foods into our diet. As the wellness coordinator for the office, I thought I would share my experience with the cleanse day-by-day. This cleanse is meant to clean out the liver and reset our bodies to a healthier state. I'm a bit nervous--I've never really done a serious cleanse with food elimination and supplementing. And I'm nervous about the product called Colonix. It's one of the supplements we will be taking. Colonix doesn't sound like a feel-good product. 

Disclaimer: This is no where near my weight.
You'll have to check the board at the office to
track my progress!

We invite you to follow our staff through our journey. Want to see first hand how healthy we are? Stop by the office and check out the board with our detailed goals, action steps, Waist Hip Ratio, Body Fat %, and our weights. YES you read that right, our weights. 

I am anxious to get started, but more anxious about seeing, feeling, and living the results. I need a good kick-in-the-rear and excited to see what my results will be! 

--Katie

If you are interested in doing a Metagencis cleanse through our office, talk to Dr. Wes or Dr. Jason at your next appointment and they will get you going! 

Patience Paid Off

So many people in our culture are looking for the "quick fix" to their problems. We hear commercials for "Make Money Fast!" or "Lose 10lbs in 3 days!" and we become intrigued. And I'd be lying if I said I wasn't completely thrilled when I lost 20lbs in 8 weeks through our 8 Weeks to Wellness program. 

However, the bigger health benefits come over time. We hear people in our office say that they tried a program for a month and "it just didn't work for them". When we've spent a lifetime repeatedly doing a bad habit (like not exercising or eating poorly), it's going to take much longer than a month to make a change in your overall health. 

I had a personal success today that was eye-opening. One year ago (4/30/12) I did a workout at Crossfit called "Diane". It's a benchmark workout of deadlifts and handstand push-ups (which I modified). I did the same weights and same push-ups from last year, and cut my time in almost half! I was so excited that this workout not only improved for me, but it was easy. I could have/should have done more weight and I'm excited to tackle this one again in the future.

My patience and dedication to exercising is making a healthy difference in my life. I'm stronger and healthier because of  steady diligence to exercising. 

PS...If you haven't heard it from our office before...women--go lift some weights!! If you need help getting started, sign up for a class or training session with us! 

Paleo Week 1 Update

It's officially been one week of pretty strict Paleo eating for Dr. Wes and myself. I think the first week was really successful and we have some good motivation to keep going. Here are a few highlights:

1) I lost 5lbs. (Pretty sure that was just water weight, but I'll take it!) Good-bye holiday weight!

2) Dr. Wes lost his bloated feeling and said he feels a lot more "lean". 

3) We tried a lot of new recipes with our favorites being Barbecue Chicken from Paleo Comfort Foods and sauteed zucchini with marinara. 

4) We found some breakfast ideas that don't include eggs or nuts for Dr. Wes. From that same cookbook, he's been enjoying Berry Cobbler made with coconut flour instead of "regular" white flour. (I didn't care for that too much.)

5) I think we've overcome the Sugar Crash that made us both tired and a little nauseous all weekend. I had the blessing of knowing the great feeling that was to come, but this was Dr. Wes' first Paleo experience. 

6) I made really good Ranch Dressing and Paleo Mayo for the first time. 

7) Tough Crossfit workouts at Crossfit 515 were great and we were so thankful to be fueled by clean eating.

Returning to the gym. Not good.

I took a few weeks off from going to the gym (Crossfit 515) for a few weeks over winter break while the boys were home. Between bad weather, new babies, and kids at home, I decided home workouts would be the way to go. I tried a few of the workouts on our Pinterest Page and decided that was good enough. Yesterday I returned to the gym for the infamous Crossfit workout called Fran.

The fastest Fran times are under 3 minutes for the entire workout. It's a seemingly simple workout of 21-15-9 Thrusters and pull-ups. And it's fast and short for a workout. I was a WRECK. I tore open my hand, had to use more help with pull-up bands than I've used in a LONG time, and am incredibly sore today. I'm a pretty optimistic person, but that workout was really tough for me and I hated it. My time--10:21. Ick! 

This seemed to fit my feelings of the workout.

However, here's why I vowed to go back to the gym and not workout at home:

• I work harder and push myself more at the gym. 
• I like the challenge of a different workout at the gym. 
• I can lift weights at the gym. Heavy weights. Over my head. I LOVE that! 
• Not making any excuses. At home--lots of reasons/excuses to not work hard. At the gym--none. 
• Motivation from my fellow Crossfitters. 
• RESULTS. Big time results & improvement in overall strength & endurance. 
• Talking to other people besides my kids.
• Being motivated to eat healthy by healthier people than me. 
• Seeing a really cute baby there. I was his doula. :) 

This is why I go back to the gym. I still gained muscle strength and had a great workout. 

I wish I was a person that could workout really hard at home religiously. I'm not that kind of person (I don't know many people who are). I like short, intense workouts and I've found a place that works for me. I need to go to a gym and have accountability from others. I need to have motivation from others to keep me going. Most important, I NEED results. 

Did you know that YOU can workout at Waukee Wellness--even if you're not a current patient? Check out our info on fitness classes, personal training, and 8 Weeks to Wellness! We'd love to help you with your fitness goals, provide a supportive exercise environment, and set you up for impressive RESULTS too! 

Walking/Running at home is not enough. Men AND Women need resistance and weight training. (Another blog post for another day.)  What are YOU doing to get your exercise in regularly? What is working for you? I'd love to hear your ideas too!

--Katie

"Full-Stage" Dr. Wes to Slim Jim

Think of all the people who give you health advice. Friends, Family, Coworkers, doctors, television, books, etc. Are the people giving you health advice healthy themselves? If not, they probably don't have the best advice or intentions towards making you healthy. 

We like to joke around with Dr. Wes when he refers to his "full stage" of life. Life at Palmer College as a poor student caught up with him and Katie who ate Ramen Noodles, Mac and Cheese, and all the cheap foods possible. Lots of late nights studying and no time for exercise made it difficult to be as healthy as possible. 

He always said, "How are patients supposed to take me seriously when I tell them that weight loss will help them be healthier when I am overweight myself?" 

Here's an article to prove that if you want to lose weight you should see a "fit" doctor first. 

http://www.acefitness.org/blog/2310/trying-to-lose-weight-find-a-fit-doctor/

Here's what Emily, our Personal Trainer, said: "I know I personally would never take a doctors advice about being overweight if they were themselves. It might make me stop and think about my current situation, however in the long run I would inevitably come back to the fact that it may not be that important to keep the body fat down if a doctor isn't doing it himself......aren't they the ones who are supposed to be experts on your body and living a health-filled life?!"

Come see us today whatever your health goal is. We've been in your shoes, searching for a healthier life. We understand and can help.