The Next Step

A few years back I realized that there was more to the story than my scope of practice; that if I wanted to help people become healthier there was more that could be taken into consideration than just exercise and force application.  As I have mentioned before, force application is my tool of choice when it comes to helping others, but there have always been other aspects of my clients' lives to collect data on--what are you eating? how are you sleeping? how stressed have you been? etc.



The problem was not only did I not want to dedicate the time to really understanding the ins and outs of these areas like I did with force, but these areas did not grab a hold of my passion like force application did.  I understood they were important and needed to be taken into consideration.  I even understood that without getting those areas somewhat in check, my force application aspect may be completely futile in creating any type of positive change, or worse, it may be detrimental.  But I didn't know what to do about it.

Then came my brother, Tony.  And while he enjoyed the force application side of things, he came to the realization that it was not what ignited his passion.  BUT, the nutrition and wellness piece did.

So, without further ado, I would like to introduce you to the next step in this journey of Self Made®:  Self Made Nutrition.

Image courtesy of timsfit.com

Self Made Nutrition is headed by Tony Cates and provides the ability to test clients for hormone imbalances and possible digestive organ issues, assess clients' metabolic type, and creates a platform by which to distribute and discuss nutrition and lifestyle information.  True to Self Made® form, the advice and recommendations given are based off of your individual body at that moment in time.  What is your specific digestive issue?  How are your individual hormone levels?  What are your exact food sensitivities and intolerances?  How can each of these be addressed based on your current lifestyle?

As vital as these services are to ensuring that my services could be applied as appropriately as possible, I was previously unable to provide them.  But now, via the services offered through Self Made Nutrition, these services can be made available under the Self Made® name.

Be one of the first 10 people to sign up for your initial free consultation and purchase any service at 50% off!  Click HERE for details!

Like this post?  Drop a comment below and “Like” Self Made® on Facebook!

Want to use this article in your blog, newsletter, or other platform?  You may, but be sure to include all of the biographical info found in the yellow box below!

The Power Of 4

Image courtesy of thepowerof4-paula.blogspot.com

Self Made® Book Store

Paula Owen's book The Power of 4 is a comprehensive overview of steps that may be taken to improve your well-being.

The b0ok, while only six chapters long and a mere 256 pages, is jam-packed with information to try to get you on the right path to accomplishing many wellness related goals.  It's an easy read in as much as it isn't terribly difficult to comprehend.  It is nicely laid out and the subsections within each chapter make stopping after a few pages easy to do if you only have a few minutes at a time to read.

Now, when I say it is jam-packed with information, I mean there are pages upon pages that are written with each sentence being a new statement of wellness information.  To be honest, if you sat down and actually read the book word for word, it could very easily be overwhelming because there isn't much discussion that takes place for each point.  It is more like a handful of important topics and then as much information as possible about each topic packed into a reasonable area.

Pros and cons to this:

Pro:  If you are looking for a reference with many possible answers that isn't a bulky encyclopedia or text book, this would be a reasonable place to start.

Con:  If you are looking for the "why" or "how" of almost anything that is presented in this text, you aren't going to find it.

**Disclaimer** I read the first edition of this book.  Since it's publication, a second edition has been released.  It is very possible that any issues I see in the first edition could be eradicated in the second and I would be none the wiser while writing this review.

Here are my two main issues with this text:  While I feel a lot of the information presented is high-quality and I believe to be true, almost everything in the book is written as an absolute, meaning there isn't room for the interpretation that maybe the information presented just isn't quite right for your body and your situation.  When dealing with the human body, it is very very very difficult for me to speak or write in absolutes.  It is just too highly individual of a subject for statements written or spoken as absolutes to actually be accurate 100% of the time.

Second, while I do believe the information to be quality, I cannot say for certain whether that is true.  There is a long list of references at the end of the text, which is great, but it does not allow me to know which reference belongs to which statement.  And because the book the comprised of statement after statement of alleged facts with little to no discourse after each, it is difficult to dig deeper than what is immediately on the page at that moment in time.

Here is my suggestion for reading this book: skim it.  Find areas that seem pertinent to your inquiries and use the statements presented as a starting point for digging further into the information.  I think there really is a lot of good information presented, but the book is essentially a composition of sound bites, so it is very difficult to get much more from it than sound bites.

One final thought:  If you want to read the section on exercise, go ahead, but lead with caution.  There is some good stuff, but then there are some statements that make me question how much Ms. Owens has explored the subject herself as opposed to simply repeating what others have told her, in particular when it comes to the use of machines while strength training.

Once again, I read the first edition of this book.  The second one may be completely revised so as to eliminate all of the concerns I brought up in the post, making this edition more or less of a rough draft to the current one.  So do not judge off of someone's rough draft, but rather go in with the understanding that that is what this edition may very well be.

I recommend this book to someone who is looking for a solid start of possible topics to research further concerning their health and overall wellness.

Your body.  Your training.

Enjoy this review? Get a copy of The Power Of 4 in the Self Made® Book Store!

Want to use this arti­cle in your blog, newslet­ter, or other plat­form?  You can, but be sure to include all of the bio­graph­i­cal infor­ma­tion found in the yel­low box below!

How to Eat, Move, and Be Healthy!

Image courtesy of amazon.com

Self Made® Book Store



“Great speakers have always found violent opposition from mediocrities. The latter cannot understand it when a man does not thoughtlessly submit to hereditary prejudices but honestly and courageously uses his intelligence.” –Albert Einstein

In the game Jenga, sets of 3 wooden blocks are stacked one on top of the other until a rectangular structure, 18 levels high, has been constructed. These 18, three-block levels are strong and sturdy at the beginning of the game, however, as players take turns removing blocks and placing them on top, creating new levels, the entire tower begins to lose its integrity. The game is over once a person pulls a block and the structure topples over. Jenga. This game, though fun and challenging, can be a fairly accurate representation of people’s lives. The structure, made up of its various levels, can represent the human body, with all of its systems and functions. The body is designed to be strong, stable and healthy, but through lifestyle choices, can get broken down. If a bodily system gets broken down too much, the whole structure can collapse.

This month’s book review is on Paul Chek’s How to Eat, Move, and Be Healthy! Chek is a holistic health practitioner, neuromuscular therapist, and corrective exercise specialist, with over 30 years of experience in helping others achieve greater physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual health, fitness, and high-level athletic performance. His approach focuses on treating the body as a whole; including nutrition according to one’s metabolic type, stress, sleep / wake cycles, nutrient timing, digestion, exercise, and fungus and parasites.

The book begins with each reader taking a nutrition and lifestyle questionnaire. The twelve-page self-assessment provides each reader with his or her own scores in theaforementioned categories. These scores allow people to appropriately prioritize which section they need to focus on most, as well as read first. The goal is that every four weeks the test will be taken again with the scores progressively improving as individuals engage in more and more healthful behaviors.

 How to Eat, Move, and Be Healthy!is packed with mind-blowing information regarding nearly everything American society has accepted as being “true”, without really taking the time to think about it or look intoit. Examples of this include how humans are genetically different from one another, and therefore, should eat natural foods that best fit their biological make up. Doing this, nearly regardless of the number of calories, will often result in far greater impacts on health and wellness than any 100-calorie snack could ever bring. One other example is how the invention of the electric light bulb could have been one of the most health-damaging events in human history due to its complete destruction of the natural human sleep/wake cycle.

I recommend this book for anyone looking to take more of a holistic approach to living a healthy lifestyle. By improving the systems and functions of the body that need it most, the whole structure becomes stronger and more stable. It only takes one weak link before the whole tower crumbles. Jenga.

Enjoy this review? Get a copy of Rework in the Self Made® Book Store!

Want to use this arti­cle in your blog, newslet­ter, or other plat­form? You can, but be sure to include all of the bio­graph­i­cal infor­ma­tion found in the yel­low box below!

Five Self-Made Steps To Improving Your Digestion

Image courtesy of healthy-aging-for-women-babyboomers.com

In yesterday's post, Charles Poliquin gave his five tips to help improve your digestion.  While it is a solid list, I have created one of my own that is much more, well, self-made.  Without further ado, here they are:

Image courtesy of currentblips.com

1) Sleep

This may seem hypocritical coming from a guy who usually sleeps less than six hours a night, but in fact I am talking about quality, not quantity.  If I don't sleep soundly I am much more apt to alter how I should eat, which in turn throws off my digestion and, subsequently, how the rest of my body functions.  For some tips on improving the quality of your sleep, check out my blog post "Get Your Sleep Right".

Image courtesy of vevlynspen.com

2) Eat according to your metabolic type

In its most basic sense, metabolic typing looks at how you as an individual metabolize the three macronutrients--carbohydrate, protein, and fat.  Then, based on, among other things, a questionnaire in which you describe how you feel after eating certain foods, you are given an ideal macronutrient ratio that you should try to eat every day.  I am a Protein Type, which means I function very well when I eat a lot of fat and protein.  I can handle some carbs, but give me a few slices of pizza and my body is a wreck.  Look for my post next week in which I detail more about taking the metabolic typing quiz, but in the mean time, check out the book The Metabolic Typing Diet if you would like to know the ins and outs of this approach.

Image courtesy of balancingontwofeet.com

3) Find out what's going on on the inside

Do you have unknown food sensitivities?  Do you have a parasite?  Do you have a fungal infection?  Are your hormones in balance?  All of these are contributing factors to how well you can digest as well as how well you feel and function.  For this, I would look into a practitioner who runs the Functional Diagnostic Nutrition tests.  Sean Croxton of Underground Wellness is my main source for this type of information and is a FDN practitioner himself.  I would contact him for more info regarding FDN as well as where to find a practitioner.

Image courtesy of flickr.com

4) Limit stress and anxiety

Commonly, when people get stressed out about something, their digestive system goes completely whack.  Gas, diarrhea, and nausea are not uncommon side effects of nerves and anxiety over an upcoming event.  You could put cotton mouth in this same category.  Try your best to stay relaxed and calm throughout the process and your digestive track will thank you.

Image courtesy of bellicosebeauty.wordpress.com

5) Don't be afraid to poop

Kind of funny, kind of awkward, but it's true!  Poop is meant to be excreted and yet social pressures cause us to hold it all in.  That is ridiculous.  For a great video on pooping, check out Sean Croxton's work:

Your body.  Your training.

Charlie Cates, MATs, CSCS

Self Made_®, Owner and Founder

Charlie Cates is a Muscle Activation Techniques_® specialist and a strength and conditioning specialist.  He is the owner and founder of Self Made_® (http://selfmadefitness.com/) in Chicago, IL.  He has worked with competitive athletes and everyday people of all ages and ability levels, from 9-year-old kids to NFL MVP’s to 85-year-old retirees.  He can be reached via e-mail at charlie@selfmadefitness.com.

This article may be reproduced with biographical information intact.

**Comment, Like, Tweet, and Share the Knowledge below!!**

Are You An Addict?

I know I am. Check out what I have an addiction to in this article by Martin Rooney.

Are You An Addict? by Martin Rooney

Get big or die tryin'.

Get Your Sleep Right

Alright, let me start this post off by saying that there will be very little objective data included in this post, and what is included I probably won't have references for. That being said, I have noticed a significant difference in how I've been feeling since I moved out of my old apartment on July first, and I contribute that all to sleep.

Since I've moved, I haven't been groggy at all during the days, I am actually waking up refreshed at 4:00 AM, and my training sessions and lifts in particular have been SO much more intense and productive. Why? My nutrition has been exactly the same, but I've been doing a few things differently regarding my sleep. First, I've been leaving my cell phone in another room on silent. I used to sleep with it on my night stand; then I moved it to my dresser; now it's in a completely different room. If you aren't able to prioritize your sleep ahead of one of your friends drunk-dialing you in the middle of the night you have problems. Straight up, flat out, you're screwed up. I rarely call people out for their lifestyle choices, but this is going to change. You need to re-asses your entire life and figure out what is actually important to you. If chronic fatigue and illness, excess weight, and being overstressed are what you want out of life, then please, keep doing what you are doing. But if you actually want to live life, not just be alive and be a slave to Starbucks, then put your stupid cell phone in a different room when you sleep.

Secondly, I've moved my computer from out of my room to in my dining room. This happened more because of lack of space for my desk in my room, but nonetheless, the same theory applies here as with the cell phone.

Third, I got room-darkening shades. My other apartment was right downtown by the John Hancock. I had these HUGE windows in my room that provided a great view during the day, but at night all of light from other buildings would shine in, especially during the weekends. This made it very difficult to get high-quality sleep because my room was always illuminated. If you don't want to pay for the shades, put up an old quilt over your windows. Either way, try to ensure that your room is as close to pitch-black as you can make it when you try to sleep.

Fourth, I started wearing a cPRIME bracelet to bed. I'm not selling these, but if you want to know more about them, Google them and check it out. They help to block the radiation shot off by cell phones, TV's, computers, microwaves, etc. and allow your body to work as if the radiation wasn't there. I'm probably over-simplifying this description, but check them out for yourself.

Finally, I changed my schedule at work so I am now done for the night at 7:00 PM. I did this so I could get home, showered, and in bed by 8:00 PM, leaving me the opportunity for 8 hours of sleep every night. I feel best when I get 9 hours, which I normally do on weekends, but I feel really good when I get 8 during the week. Before, I would work until 8:00 PM and then not be in bed until 9:00 or 9:30. I came to the conclusion that this was bogus, that if I couldn't even give myself the opportunity to get the amount of sleep I need each night it didn't make sense for me to be doing what I do. How could preach to my clients one thing and then act out another? It wasn't sitting well with me, and I was feeling like crap because I wasn't sleeping well. So I said screw it, I'm altering my schedule and if those above me have a problem with it then I will no longer work for them. I cannot try to help other become healthy if I am not working in an environment that will allow me to be healthy, and I'm standing by that.

I know not everybody can choose when they work, but sitting back and accepting your current fate is not the way to go. I talk to my clients all the time about creating a culture of greatness around them. They always whine, "But I have to drink! It's part of my job!" or, "I'm out four nights a week with potential clients; how am I supposed to lose weight while eating that food?" You create a culture of greatness around you; that's how. You let everybody know that this is what you stand for, and you do not waiver from those values. If making a change in your life is important enough to you, you will be able to hold strong. It doesn't mean it will be easy, especially at first, but the longer the precedence is in place that this is how you do things, the easier it will become.

If your exercise and nutrition are on point but you still aren't getting the results you want, sleep is a good place to start looking. You can't out-exercise a bad diet, and you can't out-eat poor sleep. Make a commitment to yourself to sleep with the sun, and feel how amazing real health and living can be.

Get big or die tryin'.

Charlie Cates is a strength and conditioning specialist and the owner of Self Made® (http://selfmadefitness.com/) in Chicago, IL. He has worked with competitive and everyday athletes of all ages and ability levels, from 9-year-old kids to NFL MVP's. He can be reached via e-mail at charlie@selfmadefitness.com.

This article may be reproduced with biographical information intact.

Raw versus Pasteurized Milk

Like raw milk? Not sure what to think about it? Check out this blog post by Sean Croxton of Underground Wellness to get the low-down on raw milk.

Under the Microscope: Raw versus Pasteurized Milk by Sean Croxton

Get big or die tryin'.