The Happy Body: Getting to the Root of YOUR Fitness, Health and Productivity

by Jonathan Wong

Overview

It is impossible to find a more complex and perfect piece of design than the human body. But somehow it has become normal for many of us to be stuck with a “bad copy”. How many people around you do you know who are living truly healthy lives? With great energy levels, restful sleep, great digestion, focused productivity, and a lean, strong, and flexible body to carry them through life? If we look all around us, it is not hard to agree that people like this are extremely rare.
"The Happy Body" aims to help you maximize your health and fitness by showing you how your body is an interconnected web of systems which require a “big picture” approach to solving long term health conditions. Each section is connected to all the others which can influence it.
For example, the strength of your digestion affects your sleep, your brain’s function and even your mood. And the foods you choose to eat are far more than the sum of their calories. They, in fact carry information telling your body what to do at the hormonal level.
The methods suggested and shown in "The Happy Body" have been used with great success by the top holistic health care practitioners around the world and by the author in his work "with thousands of clients over the last 10 years.
After reading through The Happy Body", you will have a greater understanding of the actions you can take to improve your current health and the health of those around you.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781614484271
Publisher:	Morgan James Publishing
Publication date:	05/01/2013
Pages:	235
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.40(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Jonathan Wong is the Master Trainer at Genesis Gym Singapore. He has 12 years of disciplined study and practice in the fields of exercise, nutrition and preventive health care. He developed an interest in exercise and healthcare as a formerly fat kid who wanted to find the best ways to stay in shape. He holds certifications in varied fields including Bio-Medical Acupuncture, Trigenincs, Strength & Conditioning and Personal Training. He is currently studying for two post graduate diplomas. One in Clinical Nutrition, and another in Functional Medicine.

Read an Excerpt

CHAPTER 1

SOME BASICS

No matter what topic you are starting with, some basic things hold true of how our bodies work. Be aware of these ideas as you read the other chapters.

1.0 Your body gives you clues

Your body is an incredible piece of machinery that can give you feedback to help you find out which areas you may need to look at to maximize your health. Here are some common problems you might be facing, and what problems they could indicate. You can then turn to the sections of this book that can help you best.

Problem: Poor energy levels

Possible causes:

• stress hormone imbalances,

• poor nutrient levels, or

• poor sleep quality/quantity.

For possible solutions, check chapters 3, 4, 6 and 9.

Problem: Poor recovery from exercise

Possible causes are:

• lowered muscle building hormones,

• poor sleep quality/quantity, or

• poor nutrient levels and digestion.

For possible solutions, check chapters 3, 4 and 9.

Problem: Poor mood and motivation

Possible causes are:

• a brain chemical imbalances,

• poor nutrition, or

• sleep and stress-related issues.

For possible solutions, check chapters 6 and 9.

Problem: Health-related issues for women (e.g., irregular menses, tender breasts, premenstrual syndrome).

Possible causes are:

• imbalances in female hormones, or

• excessive stress levels, (which also interfere with hormones).

For possible solutions, check chapters 9, 10 and 11.

Problem: Hunger and cravings

Possible causes are:

• poor blood sugar management

• non-optimal brain chemical function

• stress related eating

For possible solutions, check chapters 4, 6, and 9

Problem: Digestive issues

Possible causes are:

• hidden food intolerances

• excessive toxin load

• excess overall stress burden

For possible solutions, check chapters 3, 4, and 11.

1.1 Turn off the tap

Whenever you have something that you want to improve in your health, the first thing you need to do is to stay away from things that will prevent you from achieving progress.

I call this "turning off the tap."

Imagine you have a bathtub or sink that happens to be clogged. To prevent it from overflowing, should you first ...

A) start draining water as fast as possible?

OR ...

B) turn off the tap?

Most people whom I ask this question to choose correctly. Logically, "B" is the correct choice, and this applies to achieving health goals as well.

For example, if you have poor energy during the day and you choose to load up on stimulants to get an energy buzz for a few hours, that is an example of trying to "drain water" by fixing the symptoms of the problem.

Instead, if you decide to fix your digestion so you absorb nutrients that help you manage your energy levels and cell energy production, that is an example of trying to fix the "clogged bathtub," which is the true source of your problem.

Here are some examples of what to do and what not to do.

Example 1: I'm overweight. Do I ... do extra exercise after or before a meal full of highly processed starch and fats in the hope of "burning off" the excess calories?

OR ...

change my meals to unprocessed, healthy meats and veggies so my body stays in fat-burning mode automatically?

Turn off the tap — Change your meals. It is almost impossible (it would take you five to six hours of physical activity per day) to "outtrain" a bad diet.

Example 2: I have knee and back pain from jogging, but I love doing it. Do I ...

Buy every knee guard and back brace in the physiotherapist shop so I can keep pounding the road.

OR ...

Get a proper therapist to look at my injury and change my exercise routine to work around the pain and to strengthen the parts that keep being injured so they never get hurt again.

Turn off the tap — Get that injury sorted out. There are no prizes for being "gung-ho" when it comes to long-term injury, especially if you are not a professional athlete. You should get strong for the sport or activity in which you want to participate. Don't jump in too fast too soon and let that activity injure you.

Example 3: I can't seem to lose my "man boobs" and "beer belly." Do I ...

try other alcoholic drinks or perhaps a "light beer"

OR ...

get friends who like activities, which will help you to get closer to, not further from, your goals. Go hang out with people who like eating healthy food, climbing rock walls, lifting weights or rowing a dragon-boat for example.

Turn off the tap — Getting rid of "problem areas" can be done but not if you keep doing the same things that got you into the problem in the first place! Alcohol causes man-boobs because it requires an enzyme called alcohol dehydrogenase to detoxify in your liver.

This process depletes zinc, which is important for maintaining a good balance between male and female hormones, thus preventing a chest fat storage pattern (i.e. the less you get drunk, the less you will have to worry about a saggy chest, or buttocks for women).

I'm sure you can think of many other areas in which your life would be better if you "turned off the tap" of some habits or activities. Take a deep breath; decide to do it; find some supportive friends and get going.

1.2 Everything is a U-shaped or bell-shaped curve

In your body, almost everything is a curve. Toxins and highly processed, manmade food aside (clearly bad!), everything else is a continuum of good-to-bad-to-good, or bad-to-good-to-bad.

For example, body fat levels. An obese person almost certainly has higher risk of all kinds of diseases and health conditions. As he gets leaner, if done safely, he gets healthier. However, if he gets too lean (at something like less than 5% body fat long-term for most men, or under 10% for most women), he can develop problems.

You need fat for cell walls, energy storage, and to absorb and store fat-soluble vitamins like A, D, E, and K. You use fat for protective cushioning around organs. You also tend to have sleeping issues if body fat is too low, and there can be problems with sex hormone production, immune system weakness, and a loss of menses in women.

Another example is exercise. Certainly, a lack of exercise is a problem, but too much (quite a rare problem) can cause injury, excessive inflammation, increased stress hormone production, and sleeping irregularity.

The same thing occurs with nutrients. Vitamin C for example, too little, and you get scurvy, lowered antioxidant function and decreased immune system function. Too much, and you can get diarrhea, abdominal cramps, and increased risk of kidney stones.

I think you get the picture. In this book, the guidelines are all aimed at helping you get to that peak of the curve, while respecting your individuality. This means that the amount needed to get you to your peak will be different from the amount that others need to get them to their peak.

1.3 Long-term solutions, long-term results

Because of the "quick fix" society we live in, whether conscious or subconscious, there is a desire to get a result instantly. This is hardly ever the case, unless you are taking a pharmaceutical drug. In that case, you are getting a quick solution at the expense of passing the problem to another part of your body.

A person may want to drop 20kg (forty-four pounds) of fat right now but unless he does liposuction or is on a high dose of stimulants, appetite suppressants and fat absorption blockers, this is not going to happen. And if he does use those methods, once he stops, the weight will come back quickly as well because his body is so "shocked" by the sudden caloric restriction and weight loss that as a survival mechanism it will hold on to every ounce of food that he eats in the future as additional body fat.

However, if he uses whole foods, good sources of nutrients and lifestyle changes, his fat loss will not be as rapid but it will be sustainable and long-term. The same holds true for other physical qualities as well.

For example, when performing exercise, the hardest physical attribute to change is strength and power. It takes years of consistent, challenging and well-designed training to maximize your strength and power potential. That is why you see relatively "old" people competing in the "World's Strongest Man" competition where men aged thirty-five and up are quite a common sight.

However, people who gain strength by long-term, consistent training tend to keep it for a long time as well. Old time strongmen are often strong well into their senior years. This fact also is visible in our long-term, experienced clients. When they stop gym training for a while because of a business trip or a holiday, they come back to their previous strength levels very quickly. The longer they have been training before the break, the faster they regain their strength. Things that are slow to develop are usually also slow to lose.

Alternatively, one of the easiest physical qualities to improve is cardiovascular endurance. This can be vastly improved in a few weeks, as many runners will attest. However, it drops rapidly as well when it is not trained. Things that are fast to develop are also fast to lose.

1.4 No magical single solutions

Once again, if you want to do things for the long-term, in a healthy, natural way, it is almost impossible to get a magical, single solution to your problem. Your body is so interconnected that there is rarely a magic bullet solution to any issue.

Let's take the 20kg (forty-four pound) overweight man as an example again. Is there a single food for him to eat to get rid of all that weight? Is there a single supplement to eat? Is there a single food not to eat? Is there one magic exercise for him to do? Is there one magic late night television infomercial device that will work?

No, there is no single solution. In most cases, it is impossible to get 100% or even 50% better progress with one single form of intervention. Here is a more accurate reflection of how the body works. The percentages can vary from person to person but the principle doesn't change.

• He stops eating refined carbohydrates — perhaps fat burning speed increases by 25%, if he performs just this one single action.

• He increases protein intake to optimal levels — increase 10%.

• He does resistance training, and interval training to boost metabolism — increase 7%.

• He takes nutrients like omega-3s, which help his cells function better as fat burning machines — increase 5%.

• He sleeps better to have more fat burning hormones released at night — increase 5%.

• He improves his digestion by removing allergenic foods — increase 3%.

• He manages stress better by removing toxins — increase 3%.

• He manages stress better by removing toxic interpersonal relationships — increase 3%.

• He becomes more relaxed by choosing to be a more grateful and positive person — increase 3%.

• He changes his water source to one that is more alkaline and filtered — increase 2%.

and so on ...

In this way, he gets massive results. However, not by making one massive change — which does not exist — but rather by multiple smaller ones.

1.5 An important question to ask information providers

Often, there will be clients who come up to me and say "I read that XYZ is good for reducing the risk of cancer," or "My friend said that ABC is better for helping me lose weight," or any of a long list of possible good or bad things.

If we followed every one of these "bits" of advice, we would be jumping all over the place with little to no results to show for our efforts. Sometimes the most damaging information can be passed on by the most well-meaning people. However, when it comes to your health, your fitness and your results, it can be hard to tell the truth from the fakes especially if the intentions of the source are good.

However, here is a quick question that has helped me a lot in both business situations and in the murky waters of fitness and health information. I learned it first on an audio program by the late personal development author Napoleon Hill.

Whenever someone gives an opinion (and it is increasingly easy to hear hundreds of differing opinions on the Internet), simply ask them this one question ...

Here it is ...

"How do you know?"

There. It is simple; just four words. Whenever somebody with questionable intentions or knowledge is presented with this question, they will usually struggle to answer. Watch them squirm; it's entertaining ...

It is a lot easier to tell if they are trying to pull a quick one on you by listening to their answer to this question, than by listening to their (perhaps rehearsed) initial statement or opinion.

If you are not convinced, ask again. "How do you know that?" until you get a satisfactory answer. If all you get in reply is: "I read it in a magazine" or "I saw it on my friend's Facebook status update" then continue checking and doing your own research

If you get "I'm a health professional. It was published in a non-commercially sponsored, peer reviewed study, and it works for a large proportion of my large client base whose progress has been tracked for months" then it's a lot more likely to be correct information and advice for you.

Try it on shady salespeople, Internet forum "gurus" who are just giving you their (usually uninformed) opinion or even a friend who may be a great friend but may not be in the best position to help you get results.

Especially in the age of Internet where opinions abound but facts are hard to find, I like the point made by author Isaac Asimov.

"Democracy means that my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge."

Therefore, even though we live in a democracy (especially online!) make sure you are getting information from those who are informed.

1.6 Mindset

I am not a big fan of "self-improvement" books and seminars in general. While I do read them, and there are some excellent ones out there, most of them target a person's enthusiastic emotions and feelings while leaving their character and actions unchanged. The correct level of love for yourself and your loved ones that is required to make changes to your habits and lifestyle is not an easy topic to address but here are some tips, along with some of the resources that I have drawn principles from that have helped my clients with their journey of change.

1.6.1 Habit formation

"Watch your thoughts, for they become words.

Watch your words, for they become actions.

Watch your actions, for they become habits.

Watch your habits, for they become character.

Watch your character, for it becomes your destiny."

— Ghandi

As Ghandi said, it starts with your thought process. You will need to sort that out and decide beforehand that health is something you want to pursue. Once you have that set, here are some tips to habit formation that will help give you long-term results.

Get a supportive community

I believe that it is impossible to overestimate the importance of the right social environment for success. After all, it has been said that in anything, "You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with" and this is certainly true when it comes to health.

Imagine if all your friends spent their after work hours downing pizza and beer. What do you think your chances are that you would end up like them and most likely fat and unhealthy? Pretty high!

If the opposite were true, all of your friends loved some kind of healthy activity, then even on some days when you felt a craving for cookies, or wanted to watch television instead of exercise, this community would give you a positive nudge (or shove!) forward into positive actions.

There also is the "tall poppy" syndrome in some circles where people who are trying to do something positive for themselves are taken down by jealous people around them. If people around you say things like:

"Why are you eating that kind of boring food? Come have a beer with us!

"Do you think you are better than us by trying to be so healthy? Don't be a health nut!"

"Don't you feel like you don't have a life if you eat all that healthy food?"

You really do need to get away from them. While that may sound harsh, after performing several thousand nutritional and health consultations over ten years, it is the absolute truth.

I would go one step further and actually list some people who can help you in different areas of your life, because one person is unlikely to be able to help you with everything. Having this list will greatly reduce your stress and that leads to far greater results. Who (e.g., a doctor, coach, trainer or very experienced, well-educated friend/family member) helps you with your:

• physical health?

• emotional health?

• financial health?

• spiritual health?

• accountability for change?

and so on ...

Measure process goals, not results.

This idea is very well known among high achievers and top-level sportsmen and women. This is because process goals are 100% within your control, while results are not. However, the successful completion of process goals will help you achieve results.

For example, given your genetics, current health status and previous health issues, you may or may be able to reduce your body fat by 10% in three months. That is just a result. It is not entirely within your control.

(Continues…)

---

Excerpted from "The Happy Body"
by .
Copyright © 2013 JONATHAN WONG.
Excerpted by permission of Morgan James Publishing.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

---

Table of Contents

Foreword,
Acknowledgements,
Introduction,
Chapter 1 Some Basics,
Chapter 2 Weight Management,
Chapter 3 Sleep,
Chapter 4 Digestion,
Chapter 5 Lifestyle Diseases,
Chapter 6 Brain function,
Chapter 7 Aging,
Chapter 8 Chronic Pain,
Chapter 9 Nutrition,
Chapter 10 Laboratory testing,
Chapter 11 Detoxification,
Chapter 12 Exercise,
Chapter 13 Putting together a great week,
About The Author,
References,