Healthy Living DIY

Peer pressure. If you've ever been, had, or talked with a kid, you know all about it.

• Your kid surely wouldn't have taken the gum on his own -- but a friend dared him.
• He wouldn't have skipped class, but all his friends were doing it.
• She wouldn't have gone a party where alcohol was served, but the coolest guys were going to be there.

Peer pressure can get us in trouble, no doubt.

But can it ever be a good thing?

You know what it means to eat healthy. You know the health consequences of poor food choices -- from obesity to heart disease to an inefficient immune system. And the beneficial consequences of healthier choices -- more energy, better general health, and a slimmer trimmer you.

If you're the parent of a young child (17 or under), you may think that your nutritional awareness influences what your child eats. And indeed it may. But this month, the Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine published a study that reveals a surprising new twist on that theory.

It may just be that the presence of a child in your home influences you to eat less well than you otherwise would. In other words, your kids may be making you fat.

For our new readers: "Run With The Pack" refers to a group of participants joining up to do Healthy Living projects this winter. And it starts January 15th.

Check it out here: Run With The Pack. If you're interested in creating positive change in your life over the next few months, we'd love to have you join us.

That is, unless you've got one of the following 4 (ok, the 101 part was an exaggeration) great reasons!

Stress and procrastination. What's the connection? If we could figure it out, then we'd have one more way to improve your health. Let's go for it!

When you procrastinate, you end up with a life filled with half-done and un-done tasks. Looking around, you see mountains of paper waiting to be sorted, home improvement projects to be finished, laundry to be folded, grass to be mowed, bills to be paid, and so on. Speaking of bills, you likely pay them late, leading to extra fees. You don't get around to exercising. You put off doctor appointments. And on it goes.

Furthermore, you probably feel guilty about the whole mess!

It's a recipe for stress, wouldn't you say?

Well, how about we look at one (just one) key factor that -- if you could impact it -- would offer a great opportunity for getting a handle on your procrastination? Are you in?

Sometime around the middle of January, winter can start to become a big drag. The holidays are over and it just seems like forever until spring's going to roll around.

Spring. You know, when you get back outdoors again for your favorite fair-weather activities -- gardening, sports, sipping lemonade under a big umbrella, or whatever may tickle your fancy.

But it seems so far away. What to do?

Stress. It's become such a buzz-word in our society that we use it all day without really even thinking about the myriad of meanings we might attach to it.

Not too long ago, a reader wrote in and asked about this. Clearly, he didn't take the term "stress" for granted. Rather, he was curious about where I was coming from and wanted to learn more. Which I greatly appreciate!

In the next few articles, we'll take a quick look at the stress in your life. Today, let's start by identifying what stress means to you. Take this little quiz!

Headaches and Upset Tummies. What might they have in common? Well, for one thing, stress. Just lately I've received reader questions on both these topics. And as luck would have it, I thought of a relevant case history that ties them both together.

Stress. Society uses the word as a catch-all these days. And so, I acknowledge, do I. How you handle stress is all tied up in energy -- and that energy creates your state of health.

My hope is that today's case history will help some of you consider avenues for exploring your own health questions that you may not have considered before.

Remember Clara? We spoke about her yesterday.

• About how she'd had chronic tension-type headaches for years and years.
• About how we'd (the therapy team) done all the usual things to change her posture.
• About how none of those things had gotten the results we wanted.
• And about how she ultimately enjoyed a huge improvement in her condition.

What set her up for a breakthrough? And how can you bring that same kind of breakthrough into your next healthy living project?

Stress and personal conflicts. A few days ago, we began a conversation about What Stress Means to You. The initial question came from a reader who wondered how, in my view, stress and energy medicine come together.

Today, I'd like to explain. We'll start with one of the 6 Wellness Opportunities I introduce to all my Healthy Living Update subscribers in the Transform Stress Into Power guide and expand on in Challenging The Shaman (part of the Ultimate Stress-Buster Kit). Resolve personal conflicts and power struggles.

Specifically, we're going to look at personal conflicts of one specific type. Conflicts within yourself. My opinion and observation is that this type of personal conflict results in more icky results in life than all the other types of stress combined.

Why?