Better with IBD – Page 2 – feel | eat

Nutrition Habit #43: Take a “Nutrition News” Vacation

December 21, 2018December 27, 2018
by Joseph Morstad

Ever notice that those magazines at the grocery store checkout stands seem to find a new “superfood” almost every month?

Or that they somehow discovered another 17 new ways to “blast your butt and bicep muscles”?

Ever take a second to think twice and consider how – or where – they come up with this new information every single month?

In general, most magazines are rehashing basic nutrition and exercise information that experts have been aware of for years. The magazines are in the business of selling magazines – not necessarily providing you the most detailed and accurate information available.19

Magazines and news shows basically take one talking-point from a study about a headline worthy topic and run with it. One month something as arbitrary as “Vitamin C is the best thing in the world” turns into “Vitamin C is to be avoided like the plague”.

Controversial, yes. Confusing, yes. And that is what keeps people guessing, frustrated, and constantly searching for the next big secret to health and fitness.

Try this:

I recommend taking a break from all this hype! At least try it out for 1 day in the beginning. See if you can work up to 1 or 2 weeks and see how things go. If you can go cold-turkey and eliminate all the “news websites” and avoid reading the magazine ads that are designed to get you questioning and doubting yourself things might feel less confusing and frustrating.

Better with IBD

Nutrition Habit #32: Behavior > Outcome Goals

December 20, 2018December 27, 2018
by Joseph Morstad

It’s important to mention that ultimately I had very little control over how much weight I was to regain. I knew what weight I wanted to be at (175 lbs seemed like a great number for me). But when I weighed a 125 lbs there was very little I could do to control that outcome.

However, for the most part I was able to control my behaviors. Each day I had much more control over when, how, what I ate than whether or not I’d ultimately weigh 175 lbs or 172 lbs or 168.4 lbs.

The interesting thing was that when I started focusing more on improving the nutrition habits that I could control the outcome (weighing a certain weight on the scale) became less important.

Ultimately I’ve happily settled in around 165-170 pounds for a few years now. I do know that if I’d like my clothes to fit a little tighter, aka gain more weight, there are a few basic behaviors I need to do:

Eat more quality foods.
Get good rest.
Practice stress management.
Have fun workouts.

Those are behaviors that I have much more control over. The nice result is that the outcome usually takes care of itself and I find myself hardly preoccupied by some arbitrary number on a scale now.

Try this:

What behaviors are helping you get closer to your current goal? Can you do more of that behavior? What would that look like?

Better with IBD

Mindset Habit #6: Take a 5 minute Meditation Break

December 19, 2018December 27, 2018
by Joseph Morstad

The Tibetan word for meditate means “to know”. The more we know ourselves the better we are able to practice healthy habits that help improve our mindset, nutrition, and movement.

This helps keep us healthier, hopefully flare free, and better able to recover from any IBD health setback.

In “Wisdom: From Philosophy to Neuroscience” science journalist Stephan Hall writes that, “wisdom begins with awareness, of the self and the world outside the self; it deepens with the awareness of the inherent tension between the inner ‘I’ and the outer world.”

Awareness, or mindfulness, is simply paying attention to what is happening right now.

What are you doing right now?
What are you experiencing and feeling right now?

Take a moment to observe. That purposeful observation is awareness.

To work best, awareness should be nonjudgmental. You’re just looking. Feeling. Sensing. Experiencing. Noticing. That’s all.

Notice and naming things changes them. Fundamentally.

Set aside 5 minutes every day to simply sit and be mindful, aka meditate. If you must have something to focus on try lighting a candle and simply watch it for those 5 minutes. Headspace is a very helpful app for this.

That’s as complicated and as simple as it should be.

Try this:

Practice your 5 minute meditation today.

Better with IBD

Nutrition Habit #31: “Big Logs” or “Low Hanging Fruits”

December 18, 2018December 27, 2018
by Joseph Morstad

At this point in the book you should have some good information about yourself. How you feel and how you practice good nutrition. You might have started to notice a few trends and possible discoveries about yourself.

With that information I’m guessing that there may be a specific habit you’d like to improve upon or begin to work on. Go about that improvement by picking one of the options below.

Remove the “big log” first – what is the one habit change that you can do that would have the biggest impact on your health and nutrition?

Start with the “low hanging fruit” – what is the one habit change that would be the simplest and easiest to change right now?

Your personality, and the option above that resonates more with you, will guide your choice here. There is no “right answer”, simply pick the one that feels right to you today.

Some people like to remove the “big log” right off the bat. That’d be something like going from eating fast foods 5 times each week to only eating organic foods every day.

Others are more comfortable with starting off with the “low hanging fruit” or easiest habit to change, like replacing a decent habit with something just a little bit healthier. For example, instead of eating a generic, sugary bowl of cereal with milk you could easily replace that with an organic cereal and blueberries with almond milk. You’re already eating the cereal but this time it’s a little healthier.

You can’t make an incorrect choice here. Both options are great. Go with the one that feels right to you.

Try this: Decide between the “big log” or the “low hanging fruit”. Then adjust your actions accordingly. Reach out on Facebook if you’re feeling stuck.

Better with IBD

Mindset Habit #18: Be Nice(r) to Yourself

December 17, 2018December 27, 2018
by Joseph Morstad

Being nice to others (aka politeness) can be easy. Treating ourselves with that same quality can be sneaky tough sometimes. For some reason it can be too easy to be our own worst critic. So just play around with this habit today.

See what it feels like to be a little nicer to yourself. You can write down your positive qualities if that helps.

“I like to help people”
“I’m pretty good at Jeopardy”
“I’m a good friend”

Start small if you’re having a tough time coming up with anything. You can call yourself and leave a voice message saying nice things. You can write yourself a letter and actually mail it.

If this is a difficult habit to practice start off with saying one nice thing to yourself. You could even borrow this one from me if you need help getting started:

“I’m doing something to help improve my life with IBD right now by reading this book and that’s nice.”

Try this:

Come up with at least 10 nice things about yourself. It can be personality traits, actions, even nice thoughts. Write them down. Keep them where you can easily see them.

Better with IBD

Mindset Habit #4: Clarify Your Values and Priorities

December 16, 2018December 26, 2018
by Joseph Morstad

Answer the following phrases:

I’m the kind of person who…

(i.e. enjoys eating healthy foods)

And it’s important to me that….

(i.e. I find foods of high quality that are nutritious and easily digestible for me)

So I’d feel good about accomplishing…

(i.e. healthy habits daily that are within my control and help improve my health)

A completed example for this habit could look like this:

“I’m the kind of person who values my health and it’s important to me that I practice habits that help me feel better emotionally so I’d feel good about accomplishing goals that previously felt out of reach.”

Notice what kind of responses you wrote down.

What values do you see?
What is important and a priority for you?
Are you living these values and priorities right now?
Could you live them just a little more today and tomorrow?
What would your life with IBD look like if you did?

Bonus idea: write down your completed sentence and place it where you’ll see it daily!

Try this:

Share your answers with someone that supports you.

Better with IBD

Nutrition Habit #29: Know Your Level

December 15, 2018December 26, 2018
by Joseph Morstad

Are you a professional athlete that has a team of nutritionists, chefs, and staff to help you? I’m guessing not, so I’d suggest you not try to eat like one. It’s more likely that you are recovering from an IBD diagnosis/flare and simply trying to feel better?

Trying to eat or train like any professional athlete is a fast way to feel inadequate and overwhelmed. So assess where you are right now (hint, most people are more beginner than they may think).

Level 1 – Basic Nutritional Programming

This level is ideal for nutritional beginners. We can be advanced in movement and athletics and still be nutritional beginners. It’s more ideal for those with more modest goals, such as moderate body composition improvements, or feeling better every day. This level requires simple, basic instructions and steps.

Level 2 – Individualized Nutritional Programming

This level is appropriate for recreational exercisers and high-performance athletes who already have a high-quality basic diet and want to pursue very specific performance and/or body transformation goals. It’s also a good level for those clients who really want and need to know the details of their intake. At this level, you can handle activity and goal-based calorie calculations, body type-specific macronutrient breakdowns and nutrient sensitivity-based timing strategies.

Level 3 – Special Situation Nutritional Programming

Describes people who have a good grasp of Level 2 strategies but their high performance goals demand more specialized strategies and supplementation to precisely address food intolerances/allergies, body fat distribution, gene profiles, and other highly specific nutritional goals. [3]

Try this:

Assess where you are right now. Are your health and nutrition habits matching that situation? If so, great! If not so much, could you do just 1 thing today that would get you back in alignment? What would that look like?

Better with IBD

Movement Habit #52: IBD Endurance Flow

December 14, 2018December 26, 2018
by Joseph Morstad

Entry Level Endurance

Race and Chase RMT® Rope drills – overhand and underhand, work up to 45 seconds of continuous movement using RMT Rope or jump rope
Head Over Foot™ walks – go for time or distance; 30 seconds of smooth continuous movement practice OR go for distance of 50 ft
Mimed kettlebell swings – perform a kettlebell swing without a weight. Use interval sets. Set a timer and perform the weightless swings for 00:15 seconds at a comfortable pace. Rest for 00:30 seconds. 1 set = 00:45 seconds. Work up to 5 sets taking as much rest as needed between sets.

Visit www.weckmethod.com for more info and video demonstrations

Intermediate Level Endurance

Crawling for time* – use same interval set breakdown from #3 Mimed kettlebell swings.
Hill walks (small incline ~3%) – walk at your brisk pace for 50 ft. Shoot for 5 – 10 sets.
Distance walks – at your comfortable pace walk without stopping for a .50 to 1.0 mile.

Advanced Level Endurance

High rep body weight squats – perform bodyweight squats for 10 – 15 reps. Shoot for 3-5 reps.
Weighted Goblet Carry **
Skipping-to-sprints – up to 50 ft for 5-10 reps

*Crawling Progressions, easiest to more challenging:

in place, hands elevated – 30 seconds
in place, knees on ground – 30 seconds
in place, knees off ground – 30 seconds
moving forward/backward – 30 seconds

**Weighted Goblet Carry Goals:

Men, be able to carry a weight that is 20% of overall body weight for 50 ft.
Women, be able to carry a weight that is 15% of overall body weight for 50 ft.

Try this:

Start with the Entry Level Endurance Exercises. Smoothly transition between #1 thru #3. Once you can perform 3 rounds under 10 minutes progress onto Intermediate Exercises. Once you can perform 3 rounds of #4 thru #6 under 10 minutes, progress to the Advanced Exercises. Give yourself adequate time to obtain the progressions.

Better with IBD

Mindset Habit #21: Expand Your Life Web

December 13, 2018December 26, 2018
by Joseph Morstad

Marci Reiss, the founder of IBD Support Foundation, speaks and works to educate others about the “psycho-social aspect of IBD” or how living with a chronic disease can impact all areas of our lives.

Precision Nutrition has great resources that address the whole person and also understand that feeling better is not compartmentalized into one area of our health.

Try this:

Color in each wedge with how fulfilled and/or satisfied you are right now with each area. The more you color in, the more satisfied you feel with that domain.

Better with IBD

Nutrition Habit #42: Find Consistency

December 12, 2018December 26, 2018
by Joseph Morstad

14 days, 21 days, 40 days, etc, etc. Many popular fitness or nutrition challenges are tied to a preset number of days. But what happens on days 15, 22, or 41?

If you ate (insert popular health food trend) daily for (insert # of days) then you should be all set for a healthy life from then on. But with IBD we need to find solutions that work for both the short and the long-term.

We are not looking for a short-term burst of intensity with your nutrition habits. You want to be in this for years. You are looking for consistency and sustainability, not defined by a preset number of days.

I must address a bit of inconsistency on my part here first. I’m writing a book about 52 habits to improve your nutrition and strength with IBD. It’s basically 1 habit each week. Isn’t that a short-term approach?

It depends…and this is a frustration in the fitness industry.

“Do a healthy practice daily but make sure to keep doing it for years.”

So I advise you to absorb all of the previous habits on mindset, values, and identity. See who, what, and how you’d like to be with your IBD. Then find easy habits that you can practice for a sustainable amount of time with consistency. Keep reviewing this process and your health, well-being, and strength levels are better able to improve.

Try this:

Take a deep breath and simply absorb the main point here. Consistency is the key. Keep practicing your habits and slowly, but surely you’ll find the results you’re looking for.