True Life

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23: What labs, tests, diagnostics, and measurements are worthwhile? Apr 09, 2020

Show notes

To know what is really going on under the hood of our physical health we can utilize cutting edge labs and tools. However, just like with supplements, you can get overwhelmed under a sea of tests and costs. So what labs and tests are worthwhile? As with all things Functional Medicine, it’s very personalized, but we strive to do the topic justice and give you some understanding of what to look for.

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22: Coronavirus frontline, here is the best thing you can do (for any illness) Mar 12, 2020

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Today’s global headlines are awash with fears of the “coronavirus”. We’re going to take the opportunity to address your priority defense, not just for this current health scare, but all sicknesses and illnesses. We’re not minimizing any specific illness, if anything we are elevating them. Just as in traditional medicine, what gets all the attention are symptomatic treatments. Washing your hands and wearing a mask is good. But the status of defense inside your body is the main barrier. Let me state that again, the status of defense inside your body, is the main barrier. Imagine a stone fortress of old which surrounds a city and all the inhabitants inside. An angry mob is moving toward the one opening in the front. And that opening has...a giant surgical mask over it. Yeah. Wouldn’t you rather have a five foot thick wall of steel as the gate? It is not a guarantee of safety, but the odds are dramatically higher. So what makes up your steel wall, or thin veil of a surgical mask? That is what this show is about.

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21: Is your goal the Olympics or a nursing home? Mar 06, 2020

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This is a literal question Dr. James poses to his new patients, simply asking them, “So next year is your goal to be in the Olympics or a nursing home?” While the question sounds facetious it brings up the most important ingredient for our health; our end goal. What DO you want? Most people respond with wanting to get rid of an ache or pain, losing weight, increasing energy, or alleviating an acute chronic illness or disease. Understandable, but behind that desire is another question with a root answer - Why? Therein lies the bigger motivator. You want to get rid of the aches in my knees so you can hike again and enjoy the outdoors you love and be with family and friends. You want more energy because you can’t fully be there for your family. You need to alleviate brain fog because it’s threatening your work and income. Most everyone has an ultimate goal that goes beyond the ailment itself. In this episode we’ll discuss some of the root desires and why they are so important to clarify if they are to ever be achieved.

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20: What you track, you improve Feb 13, 2020

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You have heard about certain colors or designs of clothes cause you to lose and immediate 10 lbs, right? At least by perspective. Well, we don’t believe in “hacks”, but this is as close to a health hack as anything we would ever claim. The simple act of tracking certain aspects of your daily life will literally result in bettering your health and wellness. It’s simple psychology. If you write down or take a picture of everything you eat every day, for a week, you will almost inadvertently make better food choices. If you track your physical activity every day for a week, you will end the week having done more physical activity. Awareness changes our behavior and action. Here in our high mountain town of Colorado the weather can change quickly and harshly. A simple word of “icy roads out there” and boom, everyone slows down. In this episode Dr James and I discuss how the simple act of tracking key areas of our lives like Sleep, Heart Rate, Food, Activity and a few others will by proxy elevate your health and wellness. Of course you can go further than the mere awareness and take solid action to utilize the data you receive and improve it. Tracking is an incredibly powerful tool and as you will hear in this episode, makes it possible to ascertain and improve areas of our lives we would otherwise be ignorant and impotent to address. I can say it is also an absolute propensity of our world’s most successful, influential, and healthy people.

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19: Extreme living, social pressure, and courage Feb 03, 2020

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“Extreme living.” This is what people who live with different health habits than the norm often get labeled. If you don’t partake of the office pizza or the church donuts or the family potlock and you go for a run during your lunch break or play tennis on your date instead of seeing a movie, you’re a “health nut.” Like you’ve joined a new religion. In truth, this reality and social pressure is enough to deter many people from practicing the healthier habits they would otherwise adopt. A core longing of humanity is to belong and conforming to our surroundings is a natural desire and reaction. When you join a gang, the entire point is to conform to its ways. We all belong to numerous gangs and their subsequent social pressures. Most people have three primary gangs; their immediate family, their workplace, and friends and extended family. Bucking the norms is difficult. But for you to adopt a healthy lifestyle that does not include the norms of our very recent times, requires seemingly “extreme” choices. We live in a time when characteristics such as kindness, compassion, ethics, and justice seem extreme as well. It may simply come down to the courage to do what is right.

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18: Are supplements really necessary? Jan 26, 2020

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Nutritional supplements. Do we really need them? Have you taken some for months, spent a lot of money and never felt a difference? Us too. Traditional medicine doesn’t believe in them for the most part, and alternative practitioners routinely, way overdo them. Look, they are called supplements because they are intended to be just that...supplemental. If you had a perfect diet and perfect health, nobody would need them. It’s like exercise, if our days always included lots of movement and effort we’d never need to exercise. However most of us have work that only requires a butt to sit on. Supplements can be incredibly helpful to deal with deficits in our systems. Maybe we only need them temporarily, some we may need long term. But not all supplements are made the same, and nobody can utilize 50 pills a day. And of course, not everybody needs the same ones! Just because a magnesium supplement or B12 changed your buddy’s life, doesn’t mean you have the same need or deficit! It’s individual. In this episode I believe you’ll hear information that will take some of the doubt, frustration, and confusion away. For most of you, it should help save you money, hassle, and increase the efficacy of any supplements you choose to partake of. I will say, my co host Dr James is a believer in supplements, but quite a minimalist.

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17: The high cost to be healthy Jan 15, 2020

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Cost is one of the primary deterrents for healthy living and non-traditional medical care. Buying whole foods, nutritional supplements, exercising, and seeking alternative health care simply costs more money and can often lead us to minimizing or abandoning the effort altogether. Then there is time expense of working out every day and grocery shopping for fresh food and cooking and cleaning. It is not convenient and time is...money. It can all be overwhelming and demoralizing. So what do you do? In this episode we talk with empathy, but also with some helpful perspective and solutions to help you on your journey and desire.

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16: Is your health your fault? Jan 10, 2020

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Not all of it, but here is the deal, you will actually want to say “Yes!” after hearing this show. Please hear, this is not a blame session, it’s about hope. In a recent discussion with a renowned neurosurgeon he cited better patient outcomes when there is causality, or blame, to point to, as opposed to random factors outside of our control. In Dr. James medical practice he has experienced the same thing, the patients who take little to no responsibility for their ailments have the hardest time improving when compared with others who have the same issues but believe they can affect positive change. Often the “blame” is just our ignorance, what we don’t know. Which again, is so hopeful! We can gain new knowledge and get better! In our culture that is more and more averse to accepting any culpability, blame, or responsibility for our circumstances in life, we are increasing in sickness, depression and financial debt. Might there be a correlation? Or is there just a grand conspiracy of decline being enforced on us and we are all just victims? Where is the hope in that belief. I know this is a volatile issue, but if you’ll hear us out, I think you’ll find yourself more eager to accept some causality, than not to. And possibly any lack of acceptance is a primary reason you are not at the level of health, wellness, energy and vitality you really desire. I encourage you to brave up and listen to this episode and you may very well find a new level of hope.

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15: Feasting on fasting Dec 13, 2019

Show notes

With context you’ll realize “Feast on fasting” is not a nonsensical title. As I write this description I recently fasted from being a father and husband and went on a solo, four day getaway.I took the time to do some deep, creative work and the break from some of my daily roles brought me back as a better father and husband, and my family knows it. Not long before this I took a week long fast from my work, and spent it on the beach with my wife. Now aren’t those fasts to feast on?! My friend Shaunti Feldhahn calls us to a 30 Day Kindness Challenge to fast on criticism of a specific person in our lives. But what she teaches us is how life giving the fast is for US! We are the major benefactor. Fasting is not merely abstaining from the things we like. Though, there is merit for that. Let’s take food. Missing a meal, let alone not eating for day is near fightin’ words in the good ole US of A where eating is our primary hobby, if not life vocation. Yet for the greatest span of time, we feasted and fasted. We had a good crop or had a great hunt, and we feasted! Then there were days of travel or harsh weather or scarce food, and we missed a meal, or went a day or even days without eating. Regularly. And you know what, our body is made for that. Much of our dietary problems stem from constantly causing our body stress to be digesting food all the time! Even throughout the night! Almost everybody who merely skips a couple meals in a day, even more so an entire day, attests to...while their taste buds revolted, their body and mind felt much better. But I encourage you to listen to this show. You’ll find a different paradigm on fasting. I for one, do not enjoy abstaining from my various appetites. So you won’t be hearing any pithy excitement from me at abstaining from my main drugs of food, drink, sex and more. But I like the results. I much more enjoy talking about fasting from some of the tasks and roles of life to feast on fulfilling endeavors. You might even come away excited and eager about...fasting.

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14: A new lease on life at 72, with Dan Miller Nov 23, 2019

Show notes

This is a case study - Dan Miller is the bestselling author of “48 Days To The Work You Love” and a prolific writer, speaker and coach. However at the end of 2018 at age 71 he found himself barely able to work. He shares the incredible amount of resources he sought for help, including his Primary Care Physician simply stating, “Hey, you’re getting old, make peace with it.” Today he is back to more energy, vitality and overall wellness than he’s experienced in many years. He said, “I didn’t simply get back to where I was before my decline, I’ve far surpassed it.” As you’ll hear in the show, he’s now excitedly finalizing two new books for his publisher and planning out the next 20 years of his productive life. It’s no miracle. It’s just the basics. It’s the things you can do too. Now at age 72, I’d pit his cognitive abilities and much of his physical abilities as well, against the average 50 year old. I believe you’ll relate to much of what you’ll hear in this candid conversation between Dan, Dr Randy James, and myself. Of interest for you to know, Dan is my Dad! Many of you will know him from his top ranked “48 Days” podcast. You can find him at 48days.com.

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