âPoop Health
Pooping, the frequency, the volume, the consistency, etc., has been a concern of folks for a long time. Did you know that enema use, according to the Lavage Wellness Center, "is 'one of the oldest medical procedures still in use today.' Tribal women in Africa, and elsewhere, routinely use it on their children. The earliest medical text in existence, the Egyptian Ebers Papyrus, (1,500 B.C.) mentions it."
No Shit:) Talking about poop makes most of us giggle. Great, laugh away. But, no body laughs when you haven't pooped in days. Or your poop is suddenly a pressing problem. Your poop is an important indicator of your health and there a boat load of things that impact it. I recently came across this great post by the brilliant duo of women doctors behind the Unbiased Science podcast. Have you experienced an epic coffee poop or period poop? Here's some info on why these things turn you into a smooth operator. â Coffee: while not fully understood, there are some working theories. First, coffee (caffeinated and decaf) contain chlorogenic acid. This leads to secretion of gastrin in the stomach, which stimulates smooth muscle contractions in the GI tract, called peristalsis, to move stool through the gut. However, caffeinated coffee has a greater impact than decaf, so there is likely a contribution from caffeine. Data suggest that caffeine relaxes smooth muscles in the GI tract, which promotes BMs.
I want you to pay attention to your poop. I give a $h!t about you, and I want you to give a $h!t every day and pay attention to it.
Your poop can give you a big insight into your health. It's shape, smell, consistency and frequency can clue you in to the affect of your lifestyle choices. Here is a great infographic about poop health from the Precision Nutrition folks.
Now that you know what you're paying (poo-ing?) attention to, I challenge you to keep track of your poo for the next week. Starting today, I want you to note the frequency, consistency and aroma of your poop. You can keep a handwritten poo-journal next to your toilet, or you can step into the future and download a poop-tracking app for your phone. YES! They exist. You can find one that fits your poop-lifestyle here: The Best Poo Tracking Apps. Good luck!
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Consistency Creates Momentum and Momentum Creates MotivationIt's natural at an auspicious transition time, such as the New Year, to commit to a resolution or try to establish a new habit. Most research shows that the second Friday in January is the fateful day when most of our annual commitments start to crumble. Holy Moly! That means most of our best intended "This Year I will..." statements we made on New Year's Day will fail by this Friday, Jan 112. Surely there must be a way for us to stick to our resolutions? Yes, there is. For one, you can make better goals. Check out this blog post on this very subject. You can also harness the positive power of MOMENTUM to help you stay motivated. Many folks erroneously believe that those who successfully lose weight, or quit drinking, or quit smoking, or stick to a fitness routine have some deep well-spring of intrinsic motivation. Nope, successful people create small, consistent wins that help them build a streak to keep them motivated. Consistency creates momentum and momentum creates motivation. Think about it, when you are starting something new, a small success feels so good that you want to continue. This is true for everything in life. All you need is one small win, then another, then another, string together a bunch of consistent small wins and you're on your way baby! That's the idea behind a very cool app called Habit Share. Habit Share helps you create daily wins and celebrates your success. It's available for Android and iPhone users. A bunch of us in the gym are using it for our 75 (Not so) Hard. You can see that I have created 4 daily and 1 weekly habits for which I want to create a winning streak. At the end of each day, or whenever I complete the habit, I check it off in Habit Shares and I get rewarded. The longer my streak continues the more I feel like I'm winning. I also like how Habit Share tells you the percentage of time you've completed your habit. Sometimes we just need to get a 70% streak for something to become established.
You can use Habit Share for daily, weekly or monthly habits. You can also set it up to help you break bad habits like smoking, gambling, etc. You can set reminders and totally customize it for your life. It's pretty darn cool. I have also shared my habits with the other folks in the gym who are also doing a 75 (Not so) Hard. We've shared our habits and get alerts when each checks in. By sharing our habits we are being accountable to each other. We can encourage each other and provide support. What are the habits you're working on for 2024? Share with us in the comments or via Habit Share. Have you wondered why we give stickers for milestones like 25 and 50 classes or this year's limited edition tumbler for making the 2023 Committed Club? It's because everyone REALLY does love getting a gold star and those milestones worthy of praise. So many people believe that those of us who stick with an exercise program or a specific nutrition program must somehow have some magic well of motivation from which we can draw. The truth is that those of us who stick with a healthy lifestyle practice have learned (conscious or otherwise) how to celebrate our wins. Motivation ONLY comes after a win. It rarely precedes it. A win can be as simple as an acknowledgement (like big X on a calendar) of a the first day of a new habit. It doesn't really matter what you're counting down or trying to change, think about how satisfying those big Xs look. With each X you get feel more motivated to stay the course. Our stickers and 100 class socks, 250 class shirts, 500 class mugs, 750 class water bottles, 1000 class sweat pants, and 2023 Committed Club tumblers do the same thing. They're an acknowledgment of your success. Our workout tracking app, Beyond the Whiteboard, does the same thing. Every time you open the app you get a quick snapshot of your week, month and lifetime of fitness. Here's my 2023 training calendar. I'm super motivated to meet or exceed this in next year. My 2023 success creates my motivation for next year. Share with us in the comments how this year has motivated you! What do you want to accomplish in 2024?
CrossFit and Arthritis, Part 2
A few weeks ago I blogged about doing CrossFit with arthritis. Since that post I've heard from several well-meaning people about their concern that I'm doing more damage to my knees by continuing to squat and deadlift. The most important thing I'm learning about continuing to exercise with arthritis is to know thyself. I wrote about this as well.
To manage the damage in my knees, I have to dial it back, but NOT STOP! To age well, I need to keep moving. Once I stop moving I will succumb to the arthritis and then I'm done. The benefits of continuing CrossFit, even at a level far lower than what I once could do, absolutely outweigh the cost of not moving. I will never squat 300 pounds again and that's totally ok! Squatting just half that weight is still enabling my knees to move through the full range of motion under load. It's still driving positive adaptations in my muscles. More importantly, squatting is good for my bones. Now that I'm fully in the menopause transition preserving bone density is my highest priority. Remember, motion is the lotion. As we age, at some point our performance will decline. When that happens we have to use the wisdom we've gained to learn how modify, adapt and scale movements. Please listen to this excellent episode of Varied not Random that is exactly about this topic. |
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