Our next amazing team member is Kayla Palmer, she has been a massage therapist since 2009 and work in a variety of facilities offering massages. She thinks that one thing everyone should understand about massages is that each one is unique. No two massages are the same, you should understand that each massage is based upon a clients needs for that session. Massage therapists will use various modalities and techniques learned through experience and education.

While working full time, volunteering, and being a great wife we can often forget about ourselves. Kayla has some great ideas and tips when it comes to staying healthy. Kayla’s favorite form of exercise is going on walks, she even loves to horseback ride, fish, and hike. Her go to healthy meal is overnight oats because there are so many combinations that can be created. Plus breakfast is the most important meal of the day!

A fun fact about Kayla is that she loves Wednesdays, not because it means she is half way done with the week but because she gets the opportunity to coach girls on the run, she gets a fabulous workout in and she gets to the spend the evening with her husband. Her key to success is routine, she creates a positive routine that allows for healthy eating and room for exercise.

“By failing to prepare you are preparing to fail.”

Timing your meals around workouts is ideal to prevent feeling nauseous, getting side aches, and lacking energy. Most people can consume a decent meal 1.5-2 hours before a workout, this gap in time will allow for food to fully digest and provide substantial energy for the workout. Considering that most of us work full time and do not have the luxury to take breaks when we need to consume food before a workout. Learning to eat heavier and lighter meals in regards to how your body feels will become ideal for those looking to get the most out of their nutrition and workouts. The meal size, discussed previously, will aide in regards to performance.

Eating an entire pizza before a workout will be tough to get through a workout without feeling adverse affects. This is not necessarily due to the composition of the meal but due to the size of the meal. Eating 2 pounds of food before you go lift weights or run a 5k will be extremely difficult. Some professional athletes recommend a light meal such as a piece of fruit and some nut butter before a workout. Many athletes will agree that eating a large meal before a workout is never a good idea unless they have ample time to digest, which we discussed timing in the previous paragraph. When interviewed personal trainers suggested eating smaller meals that consist of light easy to digest carbohydrates and a protein. Now you are probably asking for specific examples, luckily we have compiled a group list of everyone’s pre-workout go to.

Now that we have discussed adequate timing and size of the meal, we are down to the final key piece to proper nutrition to benefit your performance and workouts. The composition of the meal can make or break your workouts and performance. Certain foods such as easily digestible carbohydrates(Greek yogurt, banana, oats) can allow for access to quick energy where as fats and proteins will digest at a much slower pace. Personally pairing plain Greek yogurt, half a banana, and 2 tbsp. of rolled oats is a favorite in the morning. Everyone will react differently according to the nutrients they ingest, finding your perfect personal pre-workout meal will help

With a healthy grasp on the needed knowledge in regards to nutrition in order to perform well it is important to pay attention to what you are consuming in order to get the most out of your training. Remember your body is a racecar, fuel it with unleaded gas and it is likely not to perform adequately.

Pre-Workout Recommended Combinations:

Oatmeal with fresh fruit and nuts

Egg white with vegetables omelet

Smoothie

Apple with almond butter

Chicken breast with light vegetables(broccoli, zucchini)

Protein shake

*Egg Shells

*Banana Peels

*Coffee grounds

Once you have prepared your garden for the chosen crops, labeling can be important so that you know the needs of those certain plants. There were some fabulous ideas to help organize your garden by using things around the house to label plants:

*Popsicle sticks

* Painted Rocks

*Labeled Bricks

With the worry of pesticides and what harmful chemicals they contain it is nice to know that there are some natural reminisce to help with keeping those pesky bugs away from your crops. A few natural remedies are:

*Diatomaceous earth will help deter bugs away by damaging their exoskeleton

*Cayenne & ivory soap mixed then shaken onto the top of the plants

*Citrus essential oil and ivory soap

*Baking soap added to 2 quarts of water then cover the plants with the mixture

As experienced gardeners know, there are certain plants that can be planted at certain times during the year. It is important to remember that planning to plant around the crops that you want to grow will make your life considerably easier.

http://www.atypicalenglishhome.com/2014/04/when-to-plant-vegetables-guide.html

All of these answers are very common when we discuss with one another what we have all had for dinner lately unfortunately. For this reason we are providing amazingly delicious and quick recipes that all of us staff members at Integrated Health have compiled.

Kayla Palmer loves simple healthy meals that are quick for her and her husband. So finding meals that take minimal ingredients with modest amounts of preparation work are her specialty. She loves the Pomegranate Pear Salad when it is the peak of summer, by adding grilled chicken she would get enough protein to keep her full for the evening!

Lemon Chicken with Asparagus: http://pinchofyum.com/5-ingredient-lemon-chicken-asparagus

Pomegranate Pear Avocado Salad: http://www.gimmesomeoven.com/pomegranate-pear-avocado-salad-recipe/

Brooke ONeill recommends being prepared for dinner. Before she leaves for her work day she will add the necessary ingredients to these crock pot recipes for protein, then sauté some vegetables to add some healthy carbohydrates. For her healthy fats she loves to include avocado with a pinch of garlic salt on EVERYTHING!

Slow Cooker Honey Sriracha Chicken: http://therecipecritic.com/2015/06/slow-cooker-honey-sriracha-chicken/

Baked Chicken Spinach Artichokes: http://diethood.com/baked-chicken-spinach-artichokes/

Dr. Logan Reading with a busy schedule often times it becomes tough to get a healthy dinner together. But by using simple ingredients he can have a healthy family meal quickly. This recipe topped with pepper jack cheese for the adult version seems to be a hit!

White Chicken Chili: http://addapinch.com/cooking/white-chicken-chili-recipe/

• Water can improve mood
• Help you perform better
• Aids in weight loss
• Decrease joint pain
• Prevents & alleviates headaches
• Makes your skin glow
• Aids in proper circulation of nutrients in the body

How do you know exactly how much water to drink throughout your day?

*Your weight/2=ounces per day.*

*You should adjust this number in accordance with the amount of exercise and climate temperature at which you live & work.

Our very own Kayla Palmer recommends finding a bottle or container that will be easy to track the amount of water you consume in. She stated that it was easiest solution for her, if she did not have to continue to refill a small 16 ounce bottle and remember how many times to fill it up she could simplify the process. So she goes with a large 50-60 ounce bottle and makes sure by the end of the workday she has drank the entire bottle.

Be good, drink your water and move better!

The best resource for recovering from stress and workouts is to sleep 7-9 hours depending on your exhaustion level and schedule. Unfortunately more than 35% of adults suffer from lack of sleep, which pushes them into a high risk of chronic health problems. Below are some useful tips to help you improve your sleep:

*Be Consistent: stick to a regular bed time and wake up time. Get on a good schedule for you and your work schedule.

*Dark & Quiet Room: Lights and noises can interrupt your sleep causing you to have a restless night of sleep.

*Be Active During the Day: Get up and move, exhaust yourself, you will sleep much sounder.

*Watch What You Drink: Drinking caffeine and alcohol late at night can also disrupt your sleep patterns.

 *Unplug: leave your phone in the kitchen and set an actual alarm clock, turn the TV off and allow yourself to unwind with a book.

For more information visit the Mayo Clinics website:

http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/expert-blog/tips-for-better-sleep/bgp-20094773

The number one tip is to create new habits that help remove you from stressors or stressful situations.
Positive habits can include and are not limited to:
*Humor: laughing is the most affective way to reduce stress because it produces helpful chemicals inside of our brains.

*Get outside and move: changing your environment can help change your current stressed out mood. Go for a short jog, do a few air squats, or pull ups on a near jungle gym.

*Hydration: Drink plenty of water, get up and get a glass of water when you are stressed out. Not coffee(my personal favorite), tea, cola, or Red Bull. Your body works off of water, your organs do not properly function when they are dehydrated, so be sure to consume your body weight divided by 2 in ounces of water. Ex. 140 pounds/2=70 fl. Ounces of water minimal.

We also found that when you can pin point what is causing the stress you are more likely to be able to find a way to help reduce that stressor or eliminate the problem. Figure out what the major stressor is, not enough time? Are you spread to thin? Begin analyzing what your days look like and figure out where you can cut back. If it is simply 80+ hours of work, do you love what you do? If so then you will need to find positive habits such as humor or walking breaks to help reduce the stress. It is important to understand that if stress is not reduced that it will have a major negative impact on your health and well being.

Stress affects not only our wellbeing but the people around us, we respond to stress in numerous ways some people stop eating while others binge eat. Either course of action is very negative, affecting our lives at home. You will typically decrease in productivity when you are overly stressed as well as a decline in the amount of energy you have. Stress can also lead to heart attacks and depression, both very hard on our bodies and families to handle. But if you can learn to manage your own stress then the risk can be reduce by upwards of 70%.

Learn to manage your stress, eat healthy, get out and exercise, and enjoy every day of life!

*clean cuts and minimize bruising and skin irritants

*aid nausea and motion sickness by simply applying directly behind ears

*application of the oil directly to the scalp can provide the ease of dandruff

*aid in the healing of cold sores

*assist in insomnia by applying oil to pillow and bottoms of feet

*flavor aid in baking, tea, and honey

These are just a few ways we enjoy our lavender essential oil. We would love to hear from you on your favorite ways to enjoy lavender!

Over 100 million Americans work a desk job which can entail sitting 6-9 hours a day hunched over a computer screen. The position we naturally slouch to is extremely hard on our vertebrae as well, sitting puts more pressure on the disks than standing does. No wonder so many people have back pain, often times we forget to engage our core while we do medial tasks throughout our long days. Our core allows us to bend, rotate, twist, and stand upright.  Our core is more than just our six pack, it consists of your gluteus, abdominals, spinal erectors, and many more of the deeper muscles. When our back begins to ache this can be the result of poor posture or lack of abdominals. The best thing we can do is to strengthen our core and learn to engage the muscles during daily activities such as picking up an object or when we put an item over head. If we tighten our core there is likely to be more stability and we can provide an increase in protection to our low back.

To strengthen our core is quiet easy, it can be done while doing overhead squatting, overhead lunges, overhead press, dead bug, flutter kick, hollow hold, superman, back extensions, and many more here a is quick efficient routine that can be done daily. Increase the time when the routine has become to easy.

30s on: 10s rest       2 full rounds of exercises

*Dead Bug

*Flutter Kick

*Star Crunch

*Scissor Kick

*Lemon Squeezers

*V-Ups

*Oblique Crunch

*Heel Taps

Eat, Sleep, Train….the proper balance of each one so that we can ensure we are in the most ideal shape possible? Maybe being in the best shape you could ever be in is not your goal, but what about just being in shape? For your kids, your significant other, or for yourself. If you do not take the time to care about your health who will? So I know we all have to work and families to think about, but what about even just one aspect of an athletes life?

Nutrition could be an easy one to slowly ease into the daily routine. Meal prepping to help with healthy snacking and lunches ready for the entire family for the week, doing this on Sunday is a great routine to fall into. Even if each week you can slowly implement healthier food options to help your diet improve you will be taking a step closer towards an athletes lifestyle.

Athletes also train regularly whether it be accessory work, cardio, or strength, you should as well. It is important to go to the gym routinely to help with lowering stress, increasing endorphins, and improving self-confidence. While increasing endorphins may not sound like the greatest reason to go to the gym, improving self-confidence should be reason enough. The more confidant you can become the more likely you are to take bigger risks and believe that you can do much more inside and outside of the gym.

Sleep, is one of the single things that allows our body to repair and reset every day. If we are getting less than 6 hours of sleep we are already putting our body at a huge disadvantage. The average human needs 7-9 hours to fully recover and to allow their body to reset. If we are getting less than that number we are losing the optimum time to recover from the daily stressors of life. 

Take the time for yourself, to be a better parent, to enjoy a healthier life, or even if its just to look good naked! Learn to move better and use the inner athlete everyone has buried inside of themselves.