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April 2009
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Release Date: 3/31/2009 |
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In this Issue
The 4 Peeke Performance Safe Stress Principles
If You Only Do One Thing This Month....
Bleeding Edge Science
Ask the Doc
Exciting Developments from Dr. Peeke
The 4 Peeke Performance Safe Stress Principles
Last month I wrote about how important it is to practice Safe Stress and gave some basic coping tips. This month I'm going to share my key Safe Stress Principles. Embracing these will help you cruise in the cool lane, no matter what is going on around you.
1. Life Will Throw You Curves. Just Don't Let Them Throw You
Nothing much is a big deal. Nothing. When you remember that, you minimize Health Destruction from stress. Here's an example. I once met a lovely 49-year-old woman. She'd come to me to learn to manage her perimenopausal body transition. I was blown away as she calmly shared her life story--the discovery of kidney disease during her one and only pregnancy, the death by drowning of her only child, the extreme stress of which resulted in her going into premature menopause at 45, the car crash that threw her kidney disease into a life threatening crisis, and her successful--thank you God--kidney transplant. I asked her how she managed to endure. She smiled and said, "Somewhere along the line I just accepted the ebb and flow of life. It's just not worth it to complain and fight these events. I just pick up with the help of my loved ones, and keep on truckin'." Amen, and so can you.
2. The Greatest Stresses Come from Unmet Expectations
Unmet expectations are our greatest enemies. We expect that our portfolios will always go up, that we'll always have a job, good health, a wonderful mate. Then we are absolutely devastated when things turn out differently. But the truth is that none of us know what is going to happen in life and we can't expect only sunshine.
The phone is going to ring. Did you win the lottery? Or are you going to find out that your son fell down and broke an elbow? No matter what happens, can you make it work? One thing that helps is to add a dash of wit and humor. Can you say to yourself, "This is going to make one hell of a story!" Then take a deep cleansing breath and live through the problem as best as possible.
3. Plan for Stress
When people come to me, countless thousands over the years, and say, "Dr. Peeke, I'm just absolutely going to make it work this time, because this is a time of low stress in my life and I don't expect any stresses," I'm scared. Because that's not possible.
So many people get stressed because they expect things to be stress free. Then they are shocked when things are hard and proceed to self destruct. Expect stress. Plan for it. How are you going to eat right and exercise if the deal doesn't come through, when the project has deadline pressure, when you hit traffic on the 405, when your mother breaks her hip?
A guy emailed me recently saying that he was having trouble stopping smoking. He'd do fine and then as soon as he had a fight with his wife, he'd run back to his cigarettes. PLAN for it, I said. Come up with a healthier choice you can make when you have the fight rather than letting it throw you for a curve every single time. Remember, prior preparation prevents poor performance.
4. Pound Out Perfection, Bring on Progress
When you expect yourself to be perfect, it costs tremendous amounts of Body Dollars in self-imposed stress. Perfectionism equals paralysis. Perfectionists never get anywhere because the minute they feel they have not been "perfect" they stop dead in their tracks and start Bottom Feeding. You know, when you get caught in festering, self-destructive ruminating that keeps you like a catfish at the bottom of a pond sucking up all the nasty gunk that's down there. Or they never begin because they are too afraid of not doing it "perfectly."
Perfectionism assumes that you're trying to control something. I don't want to break anyone's heart, but you really can't control anything. There you are perfectly dressed in a beautiful suit, someone trips and dumps coffee on you. Bam--you're not perfect anymore.
People who believe that they can achieve perfection tend not to be adaptable or adjustable. Perfectionists think, "I will eat perfectly." There's no such thing. Memorize this line: those who are Fit to Live eat as appropriately as possible under the circumstances of a constantly changing environment. You're at the airport. What do you think they have there, Golden Door spa food? Do the best you can. Do you have a little power bar? Great. But perfect is irrelevant. There is no perfect way to walk either. You go out, your legs move. Attack a hill. Do the best you can for the rest of your life. Stop stressing over perfection.
If You Do Only One Thing This Month...
Dear Dr. Peeke,
I've been hearing a lot about Vitamin D lately and am confused about how much to take.
--AL, Walnut Creek, CA
Dear AL,
A lot of new research shows that D not only helps with the absorption of calcium, but can help prevent ovarian and breast cancer in women, colon and pancreatic cancer in men and women, multiple sclerosis, type 1 diabetes, heart disease, seasonal affective disorder, autoimmune diseases, osteoporosis, and perhaps prostate cancer in men. We used to get this Vitamin from our skin's reaction to sunlight, but we spend too much time inside now and sunscreen blocks the reaction. Aging plays a part here-the skin of a 70 year old produces only 25% of the amount a 20 year old does. I suggest 1000 IUs daily if you are under 60 and 1500 IUs over 60.
Exciting Developments from Dr. P
Now you can listen to my podcasts, including a brand new one on eliminating mental friction. Click here http://www.drpeeke.com/web/page/588/sectionid/588/interior.asp
I've just been named the Spokesperson for the American College of Sports Medicine's Exercise is Medicine(tm) national campaign. The campaign was founded by Dr. Robert Sallis, ACSM's past-president, who has said "If there was one thing you could do to dramatically improve your health, there is no doubt that it would be exercise." I'll be working to educate consumers, health care providers, fitness professionals and public policy makers about the need to incorporate physical activity into daily living. To read my blog about the campaign, click here I've just been named the Spokesperson for the American College of Sports Medicine's Exercise is Medicine(tm) national campaign. The campaign was founded by Dr. Robert Sallis, ACSM's past-president, who has said "If there was one thing you could do to dramatically improve your health, there is no doubt that it would be exercise." I'll be working to educate consumers, health care providers, fitness professionals and public policy makers about the need to incorporate physical activity into daily living. To read my blog about the campaign, click here
Start your healthy, mindful living today. If not now, when?
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