What better time to read (or listen) to a book than when you are isolating yourself from a pandemic?! Tune into this week's episode of Positive Quarantine Vibes for some of Lili and Alysa's favorite suggestions.

Link to more books!: https://makeyourselfunstoppable.com/inspirational-quotes-books.html

Authors/Titles mentioned in video:
Peter Crone
Mel Robbins
Brené Brown
Camille Ravikant ("Love Yourself Like Your Life Depends On It!"
Ekhart Tolle ("The Power of Now" and "A New Earth")
James Doty ("Into the Magic Shop")

It is true that there are many ailments and diseases out there that cannot be helped because of genetic or environmental reasons.

However, the United States Center of Disease Control (CDC) states that up to 80% of chronic diseases can be eliminated with three simple lifestyle changes:
      1) improved diet
      2) increase in activity
      3) quitting smoking
Chronic diseases, according to the CDC, are those that are ongoing and generally incurable, but are often preventable illnesses or conditions. Think heart disease, asthma, and diabetes.

Chronic diseases are the leading cause of death and disability in America afflicting 133 million Americans (45% of the population) and are responsible for seven out of every ten deaths in the US.

With this in mind, it should be no surprise that people with chronic illnesses are the most frequent users of health care in America. Chronically ill patients account for 81% of hospital admissions, 91% of prescriptions filled, and 76% of physician visits.

Out of the approximately $2 trillion spent on public and private health care in 2005, 75% went toward treatment of chronic conditions. So, if prevention is often the best treatment plan for these illnesses, why aren’t insurance companies investing in prevention plans?

Well, turns out they do. But only if you are medically referred by a doctor. Conditions that require treatment that insurance will cover personal training costs for include:

• back pain
• sports injuries
• diabetes
• arthritis
• joint replacements
• hypertension
• cardiac rehab
• morbid obesity

 
If you didn’t notice, half of those are chronic conditions and all of them are conditions that one already has to be afflicted with prior to insurance paying for personal training services. According to exercise.com, “[f]or a client’s health insurance company to pay for training sessions, the fitness plan must be medically necessary for their condition”.

​Interesting… it seems to me that there needs to be more emphasis on what we can do to prevent these things instead of reactively treating them once a person finds themselves in pain.
 
Just some food for thought.

Works Cited

1. https://www.fightchronicdisease.org/sites/default/files/docs/GrowingCrisisofChronicDiseaseintheUSfactsheet_81009.pdf
2. https://www.exercise.com/learn/can-personal-trainers-bill-insurance-companies/
3. https://www.exercise.com/learn/does-health-insurance-pay-for-personal-trainers/

Chocolate and beets? Get your finger off the back button, let me explain! Trust me, if you are looking for a sneaky way to squeeze some nutrition into your diet, this is where it's at.

​I know what you're thinking, beets taste like dirt, unless you're weird and can eat them plain like me, so how could they possibly make a cupcake taste good?

For one, they add density and moisture not found in any baking mix or unhealthy alternative, not to mention a very pretty color that your kids (or cats) are sure to be intrigued by. Best of all, the chocolate almost completely masks the flavor of the beet. 

​Why are beets something you want to incorporate, even if sneakily, into your diet? Let's check out some of the amazing benefits.

The same oxygen boosting effect that occurs in athletes can benefit the average person as well by dilating their blood vessels and thereby lowering blood pressure.³​

​High stress job? Maybe it's time to up that beet intake.​

Betaine is the amino acid found in beets that can help reduce risk of heart disease by lowering the levels of an amino acid that, at high levels, puts you at risk for artery damage and heart disease.

FYI betaine is also found in substantial amounts in quinoa and spinach.

​It also helps the liver out big time by increasing detoxifying enzymes in the body and preventing, as well as reducing, fat accumulation in the liver. This is good for your next weekend drinking binge.⁴​

Beets are chock full of B vitamins, iron, copper, manganese, magnesium, and potassium, to name a few. Stop wasting money on multi-vitamins.

Thanks to all the fiber in a whole beet, you won't have any problems on the potty.

I love this one because you can throw everything into a blender. Costco currently has cooked prepackaged beets, which completely expedite the process of cleaning, cooking, and peeling your own!

1. Bailey SJ, Winyard P, Vanhatalo A, Blackwell JR, Dimenna FJ, Wilkerson DP, Tarr J, Benjamin N, Jones AM. Dietary nitrate supplementation reduces the O2 cost of low-intensity exercise and enhances tolerance to high-intensity exercise in humans. J Appl Physiol. 2009 Oct;107(4):1144-55. Epub 2009 Aug 6.

​2, 3, 4. FACLM, M. G. (n.d.). Whole Beets vs. Juice for Improving Athletic Performance. Retrieved August 22, 2017, from https://nutritionfacts.org/video/whole-beets-vs-juice-for-improving-athletic-performance/

Adversity and struggle is not what we want or strive for, but we will inevitably encounter hardship in our lives. And, if you haven't noticed by now, it is often during these times that we grow and flourish the most. The quote "you can't have a rainbow without a little rain" wasn't wrong, so don't shy away from a challenge and grow in the discomfort!

Kids can be very impressionable, and the way they are raised plays an important role in what kind of adult they will be. In this episode, Lili shares some pointers on how to SHOW your kids how to act...even if you're a dog parent.