Wednesday, October 17, 2007

A passion for living

Dr. JOHN Tickell is an Australian, a doctor for sure, but first an entertainer.

His presentation, A Passion for Living is a very persuasive, no-nonsense, and highly entertaining health promotion and communication tool. Dr. Tickell has not only delivered 600 babies, but he's also a "pioneer of health management clinics"--so he's the one we can blame!

What makes his method so revolutionary is that it is so SIMPLE. He makes a myriad of points in less than an hour, covering seemingly the whole gambit of health (including eating, exercise, sleep, relaxation and stress--even AIDS).

So, what does he say?
Eating: plant foods are great; eat them. Stick to the "2/3, 1/3 rule". 2/3 of your plate must be plant food, cereals, grains, fruit. Next, there are only two (2) food groups... BASIC and BONUS. Eat the BASIC foods nearly all the time, then you can have the BONUS foods only rarely. We know what BONUS foods are, right? Want to snack? Get an apple, a carrot, or a plain slice of bread.

The book that comes with the VHS presentation presents all sorts of tips... like trying to think of two things at once to get to sleep for us insomniacs (as I type it is 2324hrs!!). Say the word "one" repeatedly, whilst doing a task like simultaneously subtracting seven from 200 and so on... 193, one, 186, one, 179, one, 172, one... it blocks out the world that keeps us awake and we're asleep in no time.

Exercise: we need to spend 1% of our time exercising... 168 hours in one week means 1.68 hours; 100 minutes per week we need to be active. We can do 2 x 50 minute or 50 x 2 minute workouts--it doesn't matter... we also sleep better when we've exercised.

Dr. Tickell says a fair bit about stress and how to manage it. Worry: CAN'T DO'S versus CAN DO'S. Why focus on CAN'T DO'S??? If you like to worry, set aside 20 minutes per day to do just that, then get on with affecting things you CAN DO, by doing them. There's a lot to be said for ACTION. We can do our mental and emotional health a lot of good by actually doing things rather than worrying about things we can't do, or can't influence.

MODERATION is the secret. Everything in moderation; well, everything that is except for laughter, sex, vegetables and fish--and not all together, as it gets very messy! (One of John's very own jokes there!) We can have as much laughter, sex, vegetables and fish as we want; they are apparently very good for us.

There is really too much to comment on, and that is why it is worth revisiting this as it is one of those presentations that you don't get everything from first time.

MODERATION; it is easier said than done, but it is possible. What is possible is achievable.

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