April 4, 2013, Vol. 11, Issue 7

Dear Friends,

You’ve heard of rebooting your computer?  So, what about rebooting your body?  Keynote motivational speaker, Dr. Jo® (Joanne Lichten, PhD, RD), has zeroed in on the energy gap — the gap, that is, between how you feel and how you want to feel. And, most importantly, how to reboot your body with knowledge — knowledge is power, I always say — and easy to implement lifestyle adjustments.

When she visited Oregon last month, all the way from Orlando, Florida, I got to do one of my favorite things: go see her in person.  I learned some important things for my own enlightenment and re-charging.  Read on . . .

Dr. Jo:

Reboot to Power Up

Your Energy, Focus and Productivity

“According to a 2008 overview article published in the American Family Physician, 20% of patients attending a family medicine practice say they have fatigue,” Dr. Jo told us. Quite frankly, as far as I’m concerned, if I’m the one feeling it, that statistic might as well be 100%. Do you agree?

“It’s not just about feeling tired,” Dr. Jo said, “Fatigue also includes impaired alertness, attentiveness, mental and physical performance. Fatigue is estimated to cost companies an extra $101 billion in lost productivity.”

This program, Reboot – Power Up Your Energy, Focus, and Productivity, which is also the title of her upcoming book, is Dr. Jo’s most popular keynote. She uses the formula of CTRL, ALT, DEL for re-booting your computer as a model for re-booting your energy:

CTRL – Control Sleep Cycle

ALT – Alternate Food Patterns

DEL – Delete Stressful Thinking

She starts by leading her audience into the unknown – to most of us – our sleep cycles. It was one of the things I found most interesting. She showed us how our sleep is cyclical — going from REM to deep sleep (non-REM sleep or NREM) — usually in 90 minute increments. It would be easy to ignore this; it’s just scientific information. But it hit me personally, and others appeared to be equally interested judging by their attentiveness and questions.

It hit me because lately I’ve noticed myself waking up periodically during the night – and once she shared this, I paid absolute attention – and I even noticed that I was right on the clock she described, waking up at 90 minutes intervals. So what to do? She advised that if you get up when you’re at the light end of the (REM) cycle, it’s a lot easier than rousing yourself from a deep sleep at the other end of the cycle. If you wake up easily in that light sleep phase, you’re less tired.  For example if you’re going to bed at midnight and have to be awake by 6:30 a.m., you would, if you’re like me, normally assume that setting your alarm for 6:30 and getting six and a half hours sleep would give you the most rest. It’s actually more restful, in fact, to get up at 6:00, when you’re at the light end of the 90 minute cycle. Hmmm.

There’s even an app for that, where you can check it out.  Look up the Sleep Cycle alarm clock (pictured) and you can record your own sleep cycles. The app is just 99 cents. I’m looking forward to trying it out.

Also, Dr. Jo cited a study about the effectiveness of naps (brief sleeps) for restoring alertness — and that also got everyone’s attention. I can relate to it too, as I quite often get the mid-afternoon sleepies. But I feel too guilty to succumb. With this information, I think I’ll give it a try. The study showed that naps can reduce sleepiness and improve cognitive functioning. The benefits of brief (5-15 min) naps are almost immediate after the nap and last a limited period (1-3h). Longer naps (> 30 min) can produce impairment from sleep inertia for a short period after waking but then produce improved cognitive performance for a longer period (up to many hours).

Dr. Jo is excellent at offering scientifically-based recommendations that people can easily adapt to their lifestyle, along with the resources to apply them. Her whole program continued to captivate us with similarly intriguing suggestions for making dietary adjustments and managing stress. She was as engaged with her audience as they were with her, as she easily fielded questions, and the hour and a half program flew by.

She offers another popular topic for women’s events with the fun program, What Every Woman Wants – Great Legs, More Energy, and Peace of Mind. For heart health events, she can turn the focus toward a more serious side, What Every Woman Wants — Great Legs, More Energy and A Healthy Heart.  Dr. Jo has two secrets that make her delivery effective. Instead of promoting a complete overhaul (who has the energy for that?), she offers her audiences just a few small lifestyle changes in the way they eat, move, and think that will hugely impact their health and happiness. And she delivers them with the empathy that helps women laugh at themselves and their own foibles.

To learn more about Dr. Jo’s programs and view her video, go to her profile on our website, or give me a call at 503-699-5031 or email barbara@speakwellbeing.com

 

Seriously Delicious

INSANELY GOOD (Gluten Free)

Chocolate Brownies

When I wrote about Rebecca Katz’s new book, The Longevity Kitchen, a couple of issues ago, I was intrigued by her recipe for Insanely Good Chocolate Brownies, particularly because they’re gluten-free. But I had not yet had the chance to make a batch for myself.  Well, now I have, and I’m here to tell you these are SERIOUSLY DELICIOUS “Insanely Good Chocolate Brownies.” Wow! They are heavenly all by themselves, as I now know. I made them as dessert for a little dinner party, so I spruced each serving up a bit with a couple of tablespoons of colorful mixed berries (frozen raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, defrosted/warmed in the microwave) and a dollop of whipped cream. Pretty and yummy. You should have heard the yummmm’s!

And you don’t even have to buy the cookbook to get the recipe (though I highly recommend it). Just click here and get it free as a gift from Rebecca.

Now go out there and enjoy your day, rebooting as necessary. Take care of yourself for your well being and those you love.

Yours truly,

Barbara

For Your Well Being is published bi-weekly. We bring you insider speaker reports, exclusive stories about special events around the country, meeting planner tips, and fun stuff from the worlds of health and well being. Be well and be in the know!

The Speak Well Being Group is a specialized speakers bureau, focusing on speakers for hospital-sponsored community events, healthcare organizations, conferences and women’s groups. Our speakers are hand-selected. They are not only experts in their fields, they know how to connect with women and give them life-changing information served on a silver platter of joy, camaraderie, with a side of sauce (spicy, of course).

Finding the perfect keynote speaker for your special event or conference is my personal passion, not just once, but year after year. It brings me endless joy to know that your audience was delighted and moved by the speaker we selected together. I’m committed to making the process easy, pleasant and fun.