As the recession
continues, grocery store stocks tend to do well, especially organic chains like
Whole Foods Market, which has become a Wall Street darling. This is not only because of their savvy
business practices and the fact that people tend to buy food rather than eat at
restaurants in times of economic downturn, but also because of the emerging
“green market trend.” More people are
trying to save money on expensive medical costs through use of vitamin and
mineral supplements, eating organically, and with preventative holistic living.
According to
health expert Dr. Joseph Mercola, a person’s diet accounts for 80% of the
health benefits for longevity. Holistic
health practitioners all agree that eating whole, organic foods is best. Many natural health practitioners recommend a
comprehensive exercise program, high-quality animal-based Omega-3 fats from
organic, grass fed meat, and avoiding as many chemicals as possible. This includes avoiding pesticides and added hormones
in non-organic foods/meat, in cleaning products, and pharmaceutical medications
whenever possible.
Mercola and
other holistic health practitioners give health tips such as avoiding gluten to
eliminate “sweets cravings,” and limiting sugar, including natural sugars and chemical
artificial sweeteners. Fructose is now
understood to be a big contributor to heart disease. Refined sugar weakens the immune system, and
eating too many grains and sugars releases too much insulin and adrenalin, causing
the body to respond in a state of emergency stress. Eating 4-6 small meals a day will help the
body balance blood sugar, avoid hypoglycemia, and prevent stress on the body
thereby enhancing health and longevity.
With all the
debate about national health care, it is timely that Holistic Life Style
Coaches are cropping up all over Chicago.
Chicago’s first holistic gym, Whole Body Fitness houses only holistic
trainers that are CHEK certified, meaning these fitness professionals have
undergone extensive training through the distinguished Paul Chek Institute in
California that includes expertise in Holistic Life Style Coaching. Paul Chek is nationally acclaimed in the
fitness/holistic health industry, and his philosophy is similar to Mercola’s.
Chek’s
methods support optimum health through fitness, practical nutrition, and
holistic lifestyle coaching. CHEK trainer
and Holistic Lifestyle Coach, Daneille McLaughlin, who trains out of Whole Body
Fitness, talks about the emerging trend of holistic living and further explains
how holistic living can prevent disease and enhance health.
She says “Food
in our supermarkets is not being grown or prepared the way it used to be. We now use enhanced technology to sustain our
food for longer. And these food
preparation methods are harmful to our body.
Reverting back to whole foods and organic foods will bring our bodies
back to health.”
McLaughlin
continues, “In each decade things are changing, and I feel in this decade,
we’re starting to realize the mistakes we made in past decades of convenience
foods and processed foods.” With
Holistic Health Coaching, “You’re going to learn about the foods that you need
to take out of your diet and the foods that you need to add into your diet in
order to prevent disease.”
Danielle
goes into more detail saying “Gluten in general is not being made and processed
the same way it used to be 10,000 years ago.
Our body is not recognizing the gluten and it’s causing allergies and
sensitivities. Sugar is addictive, and
if we are already living in a state of illness, sugar will make the symptoms
worse. All the chemicals and pesticides
that are being used on our crops are not being recognized by the body and are
causing us to become more toxic, to retain more weight, and more prone to
diseases.”
“I have
numerous clients that have removed gluten from their diet and removed allergies
and symptoms of fatigue. Since we focus on the mental, emotional and physical
aspects as well as diet, you are getting the full package, you’re going to
improve your health overall, which saves on medication costs in the long run.”
Danielle
explains the reason she started personal training/health-coaching with the CHEK
method. “The information Paul Chek gives on diet and exercise is much different
than what I’ve ever heard from modern society…when I heard the information that
Paul Chek was teaching it automatically set off a light bulb in my head. And it just made sense.”
The CHEK
method works because “Our body is a system of systems, and there are many
different aspects of the body to look at, when we are looking for health. We need to look for what causes the problem,
the root of the problem, and correct the body from the inside out.”
Her Personal
Training and Holistic Health Coaching embrace the physical, mental and
emotional, meaning, “We look at your lifestyle, eating habits, sleeping
patterns, physical movement, stress-load.
Diet and exercise are made out to be so difficult and ‘tricky’ in
society, but Paul Chek really gets back to the basics. I like the basics because they’re simple,
they make sense and they work.”
Danielle
trains out of Whole Body Fitness in Chicago (I94 and Peterson, www.wbfchicago.com, 773.481.9830), and her website is www.theelemntsoffitness.com.
