"Engaging in a wellness routine with a focus on good nutrition, exercise, sleep and stress management can boost our health and well-being and strengthen our immunity"...... 

Article link below-- 
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​#wellness #health #healthyeating #nutritioneducation #wellnesscoaching #nutrition #healthylifestyle #immunity #healthy #nutritiontips #healthydiet #healthyliving

I have had a few people ask me what I mean by "This is not just about weight or weight loss " on my home page of this website. Well, I figured I would share my thoughts on this and why I think this statement is important to make on my website and why I think it's important to meet a person on their personal journey... 

See most people focus too much on weight gain or loss-- diet fads, weight loss pills (all things promising a quick return on weight loss). Some ask why I don't mention weight loss surgery in this list and the reason is-- it's not a quick or painless process--it's a tool that still needs to be foster and maintained with  similar actions as those that haven't gotten it done- ie exercise, maintain smaller intakes of food etc.

So here is the truth of the statement and how I see it-  health and wellness goes way beyond weight or weight loss-- however as a society we have deemed someone's weight as being more important than their health and wellness overall. We deem each other worthy based on our cover and not on all the actual important parts that make up each of us in our own unique ways.

Studies have shown that there are many obese people that are metabolically, systemically healthy, while many normal-weight people have the same metabolic problems that are associated with obesity but aren't obese or overweight. Don't get me wrong there are benefits if weight loss is your goal and sometimes when achieving a healthier you -- you end up losing weight but the basic message is- weight is not the be all that ends all when it comes to a person's overall health and wellness or their journey in life. 

I have found that if your whole focus is  just on body weight it is counterproductive and can set you up for failure. For example, if your goal is to gain muscle but you are watching the scale for your weight, you are going to be frustrated because muscle weighs more than fat so it's going to appear you are gaining but truly you aren't in the sense you may be thinking. 

So is it possible to improve health without losing weight--- and vice versa?? The simple answer to this is yes... I mean don't get me wrong there are benefits to weight loss and as a nutrition intern the science is there but there is so much more than just this piece. That's why intake forms are so long.

Okay, so now you know my thoughts on this topic and are now wondering what you should be concerned with if it's not your weight or the numbers on a scale?  Instead of being overly concerned about your weight in terms of numbers, you need to take into account the area where fat is building up on you -- this is a very important aspect.  ​The fat in your abdominal cavity (belly fat) is associated with metabolic problems and various other ailments, while the fat under your skin is mostly a personal goal or desire to be rid of. Therefore, reducing belly fat should be a priority for health improvement. The fat under your skin or the number on the scale doesn't matter as much as your overall health and wellness does. 

Well, this is my short answer to this question because six years of education in the sciences and integrative functional aspects of nutrition, health and wellness have taught me numerous tools to help people to achieve their overall goal along with various avenues to look at when joining them on their path to a healthier overall life.

Reference:

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. National Center for Health Statistics. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Anthropometry procedures manual. Revised January 2004. http:// www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nhanes/ nhanes_03_04/BM.pdf.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. National Center for Health Statistics. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Laboratory procedures manual. January 2004. Available from: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nhanes/ nhanes_03_04/lab_pm.pdf.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. National Center for Health Statistics. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Physician examination procedures manual. January 2003. Available from: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/ nhanes/nhanes_03_04/PE.pdf.

Executive summary of the third report on the National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP) expert panel on detection, evaluation, and treatment of high blood cholesterol in adults (adult treatment panel III). JAMA 285:2486–97. 2001. 

Grundy SM, Brewer HB, Cleeman JI, Smith SC, Lenfant C. Definition of metabolic syndrome. Report of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute/American Heart Association Conference on scientific issues related to definition. Circulation. 109:433–8. 2004. 

Hamdy O, Porramatikul S, Al-Ozairi E. Metabolic obesity: the paradox between visceral and subcutaneous fat. Curr Diabetes Rev. 2006;2(4):367‐373. doi:10.2174/1573399810602040367

Klein RJ, Schoenborn CA. Age adjustment using the 2000 projected U.S. population. Healthy People Statistical Notes, no 20. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. 2001.

National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. Expert panel on the identification, evaluation, and treatment of overweight and obesity in adults. Clinical guidelines on the identification, evaluation, and treatment of overweight and obesity in adults: the evidence report. Obes Res 6(suppl 2):51S–209S. 1998.

National Center for Health Statistics. Health, United States, 2007 With Chartbook on Trends in the Health of Americans. Hyattsville, MD. 2007.

Neter J, Wasserman W, Kutner MH. Applied linear statistical models. Regression, analysis of variance, and experimental designs. pp. 582–4. Homewood, IL: Richard D. Irwin, Inc. 1985.

Ruderman N, Chisholm D, Pi-Sunyer X, Schneider S. The metabolically obese, normal-weight individual revisited. Diabetes. 1998;47(5):699‐713. doi:10.2337/diabetes.47.5.699

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NHANES 1999– 2000 addendum to the NHANES III analytic guidelines. 2002. Available from: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/ nhanes/guidelines1.pdf. 

Wolter KM. Introduction to variance estimation. New York, NY: SpringerVerlag. 1985. 

Re-defining Social Media --  Looking to use Twitter as a "Free Clinic" where you can ask your questions about Nutrition, Health and Wellness in 160 words of less..
Please be patient as I will be answering them as quickly as possible. 
Please make sure you share because the more the merrier and the better the success this "Free Clinic" will be.. 
Thanks in advance.

Below are the first two tweets on our now active Twitter "Free Clinic" account---

People have asked---Where to find 5 Elements Coaching on the social media platforms beyond our website. Well, there are several options of where you can join in and get up to date information in various forms-

5 Elements Coaching Facebook Page ... Hosts a Mid-Weekly Virtual Cafe Check In on Wednesdays at 4 pm NOW!! Shares other posts from time to time here too. 
At some point, looking to add a LIVE session for our COPD Facebook page which is geared for those with COPD or lung ailments and hoping to incorporate a Podcast for 5ElementsCoachingandMore on Instagram... working on uploading more information on these sites too. 

Also we are on Linkedin to share nutrition, health and wellness articles along with Pinterest to share interesting pins and YouTube​ for videos... NOW also on Twitter, which is being geared towards a "Free Clinic"!!

Basically, you can join in with one or all, depending on your social media preference... but the main place for all this information that we share will be compiled mostly on our website blog!
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Hope this helps and answers the question of where you can find - 5 Elements Coaching on the net...  

Sharing the following compiled list of information that I found to be informative and helpful during this time of chaos... we can't hide or put our heads in the sand.. we need to look at the world and our selves to heal and make right the current situation.  In the spirit of that below is a list of recommendations to help, read and learn from. We need more helpers and healers-- will that be you?

• If you don’t have words but do feel compelled to donate money, here’s a list of organizations working to end police brutality.
• Here’s an excellent list of anti-racism resources for white people, if this applies to you.
• Williams, D. R., Lawrence, J. A., & Davis, B. A. (2019). Racism and Health: Evidence and Needed Research. Annual review of public health, 40, 105–125. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-publhealth-040218-043750
• Williams, D. R., & Cooper, L. A. (2019). Reducing Racial Inequities in Health: Using What We Already Know to Take Action. International journal of environmental research and public health, 16(4), 606. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16040606​

​Thank you Camille Freeman (https://www.camillefreeman.com/) for compiling the list above... will be adding to it.. 

With Gratitude 

​Linnette