Empower Your Inner Architect: Building a Life of Epic Wellness

February 2021 is right around the corner! It’s American Heart Month.  Awww, how cute! Candy hearts, chocolate hearts, fruit that is shaped like hearts. I would be so bold as to say that a heart just might be the international symbol of love! Much to my chagrin, American Heart Month and Valentine’s Day have no connection. In fact, it was President Lyndon B. Johnson’s heart attack in February of 1955 that eventually federally designated every February as American Heart Month. Back then, heart disease was the single largest health threat to Americans. Today, with our many inventions, technological advancements, and new discoveries, heart disease…HAS NOT CHANGED. It is STILL the single largest health threat, killing more people than all kinds of cancer combined, and it affects more people each year than the population of Dallas, Texas! Wow. That’s a lotta people! Save yourself the step. I already googled it.   1.3 million Americans have heart disease. Oh. And it kills 2,300 pe...

Let’s talk “roids.” THY-roids. (What on earth were YOU thinking?) January is Thyroid Awareness Month. Most of you have probably heard of the thyroid gland, but chances are, if yours is at peak operating performance, you might not know just how important that little dude is. Consider yourself fortunate; daily life can be turned upside down for those who have thyroid problems. Let’s explore why. The thyroid is a gland that curves around in front of your windpipe. Take a moment and feel your throat from your jaw to your chest. You don’t have to go down very far before you can feel a wing-like structure on both sides of the windpipe.   It feels a little funky, but you can actually move it back and forth. Like all body processes, the function of the thyroid is complicated. My intention is to help simplify the mechanisms of action so every one of you can apply it to your health journey. The thyroid produces hormones that control how the cells in your body use energy from food, a ...

Hey! Milk lovers everywhere! I missed something terribly important this past Monday, January 11 th … I missed National Milk Day.   Let’s see what a couple of well-known people have to say about milk: “The two basic items necessary to sustain life are sunshine and milk.” –Dustin Hoffman “Me want a soft baked cookie, and a glass of cookie juice on the side…” –Cookie Monster Like most things, milk has gone in and out of favor with the nutrition world. But one milk fact has remained constant; Milk has remained on the list of good sources of calcium. When we think calcium, most of us think of bone strength and structure. Calcium is the major mineral component of bone. But calcium does so much more! Let’s explore: Cell membrane function: Each of the millions of cells in your body have a membrane, or an outer covering, that controls what substances can and cannot enter the cells. Calcium contributes to proper function of that mechanism. Nerve impulses: Calcium is critical fo...

  If you are one of those people that hopes the door DOES hit 2020 in the BLEEP on the way out, please raise your hand. YOU…are all my kindred spirits. I hope you all grabbed those blessings and learning experiences out of his back pocket before he left, and that all of you safely welcomed 2021 to the party, surgical mask and all. I like odd numbers better anyways. Not to offend those of you that have vowed serious changes this year, but I have an aversion to New Year’s resolutions. To me, it means waiting in line for a treadmill at the gym but reminding myself to be patient, as things will go back to normal by the end of the month when the “short-timers” are 6 Oreos deep, sitting on the couch, watching reruns of The Office. Keep in mind—I have played both roles of gym rat and Oreo scrapper throughout my life. Regardless, momentum comes to a screeching halt before Valentine’s Day. I have good news.   I have very recently learned that there is a formula to making changes th...