Managing our lives means knowing what to cut out.

Imagining your life as a tree, one of your jobs as the grower is to prune away disease. One diseased branch left untended can lead to death for the whole tree. When stressed we are more likely to make poor choices. Those choices lead to more stress and a vicious cycle fly wheels out of control.

For our physical health, knowing what to cut out means knowing what not to bring in our mouths. What we eat and what we drink make a big difference to our daily wellness.

Today I’ll be sharing the two things to stop consuming that lead to the biggest benefits.

Alcohol

Alcohol is the most socially acceptable toxin.

Alcohol is seen as a way to relax. In reality alcohol causes stress. There are both long term and immediate consequences to drinking alcohol that are detrimental to physical and mental well being.

Regular consumption of alcohol leads to the formation of cancer cells and other chronic damage. The constant need to repair damage caused by alcohol creates a low level of stress. This constantly taxes the body.

I’d have a glass or two of wine with dinner. While I enjoyed the flavor and the light buzz, cutting out alcohol has had a tremendous benefit.

When you fall asleep after a night of drinking you aren’t really getting sleep at all. Alcohol leads to insomnia, stomach issues, restlessness and prevents our bodies from entering much needed REM sleep. Getting high quality sleep is a game changer. If you want it, cut out the alcohol.

Substitute your nightly drink with something else. I found kombucha to be a novel enough flavor to keep my pallet entertained.

However, alcohol addiction is a serious problem. If you find yourself in this situation, simple substitution is not going to cut it. Get the help and support you need.

Crappy Food

If food can be our medicine, as Hippocrates said, it can just as easily be our poison.

The personal and societal woes of our food system are well documented and numerous. Obesity, insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, the list could go on and on. Healthy living in the modern world means avoiding poor food choices daily.

Junk convenience food is everywhere. However, you don’t have to be helpless.

• Learn to cook. When you make a meal at home you know what is going into it and can avoid the mystery of the ingredients list.

• Meal plan. If you don’t have a plan you are planning to fail. It’s true for that project at work. It’s just as true for your diet. If you want to eat healthy, plan ahead.

• Eliminate. If you know you are a sucker for chips, soda, candy or other unhealthy treats, don’t keep them in your house. Willpower is a finite resource. Add friction between yourself and your bad habits.

• Substitute. Instead of candy have fresh and dried fruits easily on hand. Instead of eating a bag of chips have homemade popcorn. Healthy snacks can be just as enjoyable as junk.

What’s next? 

This weekend is also my first duathlon race. I’ll be sharing the race results on Twitter and Strava. I plan to do an analysis of this training block in a future issue of this Newsletter

In the newsletter I’ll be continuing on with the theme of pruning from life.

Something worth sharing:

Why does my teenager hate me? Many parents, myself included, ask this question. While my oldest child is not officially a teenager yet, the psychological changes have begun. I’d be lying if I said it is easy to have the little girl who used to beg me to play Snow White, now not want much to do with me.

Rich Roll’s interview with Lisa Damour was a comfort and an inspiration.

Key takeaways:

• Approach your child with empathy and curiosity.

• Your child is not responsible for making you feel loved.

• Being a teen is stressful. is Change causes stress. There are few stages of life more full of change than adolescence.

Listen for yourself.