May 2006 Archives

By Chris Lucerne

As we mature, the urgency to live an authentic life becomes paramount. We grow tired of keeping up the facade and being on the endless search for authentic love, happiness and fulfillment. We want what is real! The "realness" that we seek is living a life that is in congruence with who we are at our core, our "authentic self."

We each have a natural thermostat setting that either facilitates the experience of ease, flow and genius in our lives or stress, conflict and stagnation. That thermostat setting is dependent on whether we are living our lives from our "authentic self" or from our "personas." So, the journey home is the journey of shifting out of persona to living a life of complete authenticity. As you read this article, refer to the diagram. Instead of viewing it as two-dimensional, think of it as three-dimensional, or as a ball that is formed in layers. It begins with the authentic self at the center of the ball.

Layer #1:
Authentic self (also called essence, real self, essential self, genuine self, or spiritual self)

When you came into this world, you arrived as your authentic self. This is who you were created to be and who you are at your absolute core. Naturally loving, trusting, and open, you had an innate desire to connect with others, to love and be loved. Your authentic self remains with you all of your life (and beyond) although it becomes covered by many other layers, as you will see.

Your authentic self is the part of you that comes from the highest place and holds the best intentions for you and for others. Simply put, it is the part of you that comes from the energy of love and goodness in your thoughts, feelings and behaviors. The authentic self is a composite of your most deeply held values and your unique genius (gifts, talents and attributes), which are always seeking expression. Your authentic self yearns to step into your full potential and fully express your love and creativity in the world. Your authentic self flourishes unself-consciously in those times in your life when you feel happiest and most fulfilled.

Layer #2:
Mixed Messages/Dysfunctional Environment

Throughout the early developmental stages of life, all sorts of mixed messages are sent your way. Coming from a dysfunctional family (which the vast majority of us did) serves up all sorts of scenarios that are not supportive to the healthy development and nurturing of the authentic self. Addictions, arguments, verbal, physical and sexual abuse (to name a few) are some of the things that happen in families. In these scenarios you, as an innocent child, take what is happening in the environment and unconsciously interpret it (often in a distorted way) and give meaning to it -- including what it means about you.

Layer #3:
Unconscious Beliefs

The conclusions and/or decisions you make about yourself and the world in which you live form your belief system. Bottom line conclusions are typically something like, "It is not OK to be me," or, "There is something wrong with me." Other conclusions you might make are, "It is not safe to trust [men, women, myself]," "Nothing I ever do will be good enough," "It is not OK to express my thoughts or feelings," "I'm weak," "I'm inadequate," and so on.

While these beliefs are not real, they unfortunately serve as the foundation for the reality in which you base your life. You continue to act out of these beliefs for the remainder of your life, or until you intentionally challenge them, through therapy, coaching, workshops or other types of personal growth/spiritual transformation work.

Layer #4:
Personas (also called fictional self, mask, façade, protector, or ego)

Out of beliefs, personas form and are the masks that you wear to get love and approval so that you can feel as if you are acceptable and OK. For instance, if you took on a belief of "Nothing I ever do will be good enough," you may grow up to be a perfectionist who is always striving to be more, achieve more or be seen as having it all together: the perfect house, the perfect car, the perfect body, the perfect life. You think that being perfect will get you the love and approval you are looking for. Yet, no matter how hard you try, you find it impossible to live up to your own (or other people's) expectations. So the love and approval you look for by using your perfectionist persona doesn't manifest, or if it does, it is very fleeting.

Personas are born out of fear and, quite paradoxically, out of a positive intention to get you love and approval. They are created in early childhood out of the need to protect and defend yourself from the beliefs that are lurking in the background, or to protect you from other people and how they might judge you or treat you. They serve as coping mechanisms to life's difficult situations. You can know that you are in "persona" because the energy of it is stressful and often includes conflict with others or conflict within yourself. Persona energy is hard and effortful. If you feel stagnant or stuck and lacking in vitality, creativity and "aliveness," these are also signs that persona is in the driver's seat.

It is important to note that even though your authentic self is covered up with unconscious beliefs and personas, you will still experience times when your authentic self shines through. You can know that you are living from authenticity when life is flowing, easeful, creative and you have a sense of aliveness and a joy for living and connecting with others.

Layer #5:
Relationships

When you can't find the love and approval you want by living in your personas, you will begin looking outside of yourself for another source. Typically, the first place you will look is to other people and often to a primary relationship. You might tell yourself something like this: "If I could only find the right partner, then I would be happy, then I would feel loved." So you find someone and, sure enough, while in the "romance" stage of relationship when authenticity is present, you do feel an intense amount of love. That changes. At some point, you and your partner's personas show up and get into conflict with one another. It seems that your partner's persona knows exactly how to push your buttons, and vice versa. Amazingly, your personas actually emerge as opportunities to grow and connect at even deeper levels. Yet it is rarely viewed in that way. The love you are searching for lies at the center of your being in your authentic self, and yet you may continue to look outside to find it.

Layer #6:
Addictions and Diversions

When you unconsciously realize you cannot reliably depend on your partner to give you the love you need, you begin looking for something that will. Many people simply change partners, and the cycle begins again. Others turn to addictions and diversions for the answer: alcohol, drugs, shopping, sleeping, exercise, work, video games, Internet, TV, food and more. Suffice it to say that an addiction is anything that you do (especially to excess) that allows you to escape from reality in order to feel good; to give you the sense of "OKness" you long to feel. Feeling "OK" leads to wanting to feel it again, and that is how addictions form.

The Journey Home
In the meantime, while your personas are desperately searching for love and approval outside of yourself through achievement, relationships and addictions, what you seek lies easily within your reach at the center of who you are your authentic self. So, the journey home is very much about challenging your beliefs, discovering and de-energizing your personas, and stepping fully into and being encircled by your authentic self. The journey home is about love. It is about learning to love and accept yourself fully and completely, for all that you are and all that you are not. And when you do, you will attract an endless supply of love from outside yourself.

I invite you to take this journey. Is it easy? Not necessarily, although it doesn't have to be hard. How you decide to approach it and your level of willingness to transform your life will determine how you experience the journey. What I want for you is to live a life of authenticity where you feel deeply loved, alive and full of vitality, expressing your true genius and inspiring others to do the same. What do you want for yourself?

For more information on "Distinctions between Persona and Authentic Self" and a free assessment "Do I Love Me?" please visit the resource page of my Web site www.chrislucerne.com. Also visit the events page to learn about the upcoming TeleCourse: "The Journey to Authenticity: Learning to Love Yourself"

Chris Lucerne is a professional certified coach. Using a body-mind centered approach, she specializes in two areas: Supporting clients to Build Relationships that Matter, and to Go Beyond Loss and Embrace Life. Visit her Web site at ChrisLucerne.com or contact her by calling (210) 408-7699.

By Paul Baltutis

The first six articles in my South Texas Fitness and Health running column were intended to give you the tools to get started into long distance running. I advised you on the importance of finding the right running shoes, helped you locate a local running club or group and pointed you to several running trails or courses to venture in the greater San Antonio area. Now, here comes the hard part - explaining your running lifestyle to your friends, family members and co-workers. This is a nearly impossible feat that often becomes the runner's greatest challenge.

For example, when you try to explain to people your inclination to run, you usually get that "deer in the headlights look." Practical reasons such as: "It provides stress release," "It improves my mood," "It clears my mind," "It takes the edge off the day," don't seem to register to non-runners whose mantra is "no pain is no pain." It is like non-runners are from Venus and runners are from Mars. Knowing that no answer will satisfy them, just tell them what they want to hear; that is, "We runners are just a bunch of lunatics." This is basically the core of what "Ultramarathon Man" Dean Zarnezes tells people when he is asked about his penchant for ultra running.

I recently heard Karnezes speak at the Los Angeles Marathon Expo. Karnezes has made quite a name for himself in the running community by doing some remarkable things. He broke his own record of running consecutively by completing 350 consecutive miles, a feat that required him to run for over three consecutive days (and nights). He has won the Bad Water 130-mile race, which goes from Death Valley to Mt. Whitney in the middle of summer, and he has finished under the 24-hour time limit in the Western States 100-miler for 10 consecutive years. He has written a book called Ultramarathon Man, which made the New York Times bestseller list. He's also made several television appearances and gives talks about himself and the sport.

Karnezes comes across right away as an intelligent guy with a free spirit. He offers a different explanation about why he runs from the standard answer. Rather than getting defensive about his ultra running, he diffuses the situation by speaking plainly in unapologetic terms about his running. He says it's about lunacy.

1. Ultra runners lack common sense.
True enough. As many a non-runner runner will promptly tell you, "I don't run. We have cars nowadays to get us where we're going." Runners don't exactly run as a means of transport, so now runners and non-runners can both agree that driving a car 26 miles would probably get you tired.

2. Ultra marathoners thrive on insomnia.
Ultra marathoners are known to run through the night while the rest of us are curled up inside a nice warm bed. I'm not much into running 24 hours straight, but like most runners, I have set my alarm for the wee hours of the morning to go for a long run or go to a race. You do what you've got to do, and sometimes you do it by moonlight.

3. Ultra marathoners use poor judgment.
We run extremely long distances, we run in the rain, in the cold, in the dark, we run in the heat, we run through injuries, and we run when we're exhausted. All these things don't make much sense and would stop a non-runner in his tracks. Again we are not defending this position, we are just saying, "Unfortunately, we can't help ourselves."

So the next time you find yourself faced with someone there asking you those non-runner questions such as "Why do you run?" "How far is a marathon?" "Isn't running bad for your knees?" "Don't you get bored?" just tell them all about the three premises, excuse yourself and say, "Well, gotta run!" -- which brings us to the last premise to consider.

4. Always have an exit strategy.

Paul Baltutis is the manager of Soler's Sports at 5933 Broadway and a certified marathon coach for the South Texas Chapter of Team in Training. Contact him at sage_run03@yahoo.com.

By Annette M. Zaharoff, MD

The popularity of youth sports has steadily increased over the past three decades. More than 23 million children currently participate in scholastic sports, with an additional 20 million in community-based youth leagues.

A survey by The National Federation of State High School Associations found that participation in school sports jumped 77 percent from 1971 to 2005. Participation among girls increased 889 percent over that time, and today one in three girls participates in sports, according to the Women's Sports Foundation.

With higher participation comes more injuries. In 1997, emergency rooms alone logged in 2.6 million visits for sport-related injuries among 5-to 24-year-olds. Add in the additional injuries evaluated by athletic trainers, pediatricians, primary care physicians, team physicians, sports medicine physicians and those not seeking professional treatment, and the numbers are staggering.

For health care professionals evaluating and treating young athletes, it is important to recognize how their injury patterns differ from adults. These injury patterns reflect the physical and physiological differences between children and adults. For instance, children have open growth plates, their ligaments are stronger than bony attachments, and they experience rapid growth periods. To treat these athletes, the practitioner should be familiar with common injuries that are unique to children. This article will explore some of the sports injuries seen in young athletes.

Growth plate fractures
Growth plates are located near the ends of bones, where growth occurs. This area tends to be weaker than the ligaments that attach to or near the growth plate. This makes the likelihood of fracture to the growth plate more common than a sprain of the ligaments surrounding the joint.

There are five categories of growth plate fractures classified by a scale called the Salter-Harris (SH) scale. The SH- I through V classifications are assigned based on the location of the fracture within the growth plate and the amount of trauma to the bone. Less severe SH-I and II fractures are not always obvious on an X-ray, and diagnosis is made by clinical symptoms and evaluation. These fractures account for approximately 75 to 80 percent of growth plate fractures. Treatment generally involves a period of immobilization to allow the growth plate to heal properly, followed by rehabilitation aimed at restoring range of motion, strength, and flexibility. Recovery is generally within 4 to 8 weeks with few complications.
More severe SH-III through V categories often require surgery and immobilization. Early recognition and treatment for any growth plate fracture is important, as abnormal bony growth or arrest of bony growth is a potential complication for any growth plate fracture.

Avulsion fractures
Avulsion fractures occur at the attachment sites of tendons and muscles to the bone and are extremely common in kids. They occur due to the strong force of a muscle contraction overpowering the strength of the bone. Common sites for avulsion fractures are on the front of the pelvic bone where the thigh muscles attach and along the outside of the foot. Treatment may entail immobilization, and activity modification, along with appropriate rehabilitation.

Apophysitis
As children go through growth spurts, muscles and tendons can lose flexibility. An increase in activity level during this time places children at risk of overuse injuries such as tendonitis or "apophysitis" when the inflammation occurs at the insertion of the tendon onto the bone. Two common forms of apophysitis include:
• Sever's disease-inflammation of the attachment of the Achilles tendon (heel cord) to the back of the heel bone. This occurs in athletes between the ages of 8 and 12, and can affect one or both feet.
• Osgood Schlatter's disease-inflammation in the front of the knee where the patellar tendon attaches to the bone beneath the kneecap. It occurs more commonly in boys between 12 and 14.
These conditions typically respond to a period of rest or activity modification, along with ice, stretching and strengthening.

Kids Count
Any time a young athlete is injured, it is important to identify the extent and nature of the injury. Avoiding the tendency to think, "Kids are just little adults," is important in order to ensure appropriate treatment and a return to sports as safely and quickly as possible. Because of the physical and physiological differences in children, it is important to obtain professional advice from an experienced health care provider to evaluate for unique injuries that occur in kids. Talk to your pediatrician or sports medicine specialist if you have questions.

Dr. Annette Zaharoff is a sports medicine physician specializing in the non-surgical evaluation and treatment of injuries. She maintains a private practice in San Antonio and may reached by calling her office at (210) 616-0646 or visiting her Web site www.drZmd.com.

What type of athlete
do you want to be?

By Shelley R. Probber

What kind of an athlete are you? Do you consider yourself to be an athlete or just a casual "exerciser?" If you work out five days a week, does this make you an athlete? How about three days per week? There are many definitions of an athlete. The Greek word for "contest" was athlos, and those competing in the games were called athletes. Do you need to possess above-average physical strength or agility? Do you need to compete to be considered an athlete?

Your definition of yourself within the context of your fitness goals is an important aspect of whether you will succeed. If you are working toward a goal of maintaining fitness and keeping yourself in good enough shape, then it is unlikely that you will identify yourself as an athlete. But what if your goal is to run a few 5 K races or complete your first triathlon? Then you are in a different world -- a world in which you will work toward slow, steady improvement in skills, whether it be speed or endurance. And, a funny thing often happens when you start competing: You want to do more. It is fun seeing the finish line, watching the time clock as you hit the finisher's mat and feeling pride that you completed a race, regardless of the distance.

As you compete in more and more races, your goals may change from the goal of completing the race and feeling good to wanting to go faster. Becoming a faster runner, cyclist or swimmer requires work - hard work. How do you keep yourself going?

As I moved from one level of athlete to another, I was forced to confront this very question. Working on speed work for running, or on a particularly grueling drill in swimming, hurt in a way that previous workouts did not. I am not speaking of the kind of pain that results in injury; I am speaking, instead, of the kind of discomfort that results from pushing oneself past previously held expectations of what the body can do.

Why do this? Confronting this question ultimately resulted in another question. Just what is my goal? Why push myself if I want to just complete a race? I now had several races behind me, and I knew that I would be able to finish the races and triathlon distances I had thus far attempted. If my goal is just to finish, then I do not really need to push that hard. I really needed to just continue to maintain my training, staying steady with the same pace and momentum that I had brought to all the previous races. Giving myself the choice to do just that, ironically, pushed me past that very goal. I really want to run faster. I want to develop better technique in swimming. I want to become a better cyclist. How did I think I would do this without some hard work?

Mental toughness is an important attribute of athletes who are able to push though adversity and persist in the face of obstacles and setbacks. Athletes with mental toughness respond under pressure, able to perform consistently with their skill level despite the pressures of a race or competition situation. Mentally tough athletes look at difficult situations as challenges and opportunities rather than becoming intimidated by them, according to R. Smith in the article "Understanding Sport Behavior" in the Journal of Applied Sport Psychology. These athletes feel a sense of control over their feelings and thoughts, and they expect positive outcomes, and, perhaps most importantly, these athletes have a relatively low fear of failure.

Approaching the task of trying to run faster, I realized that I generally approached my speed training with the expectation that I would probably not attain my goal. This fear of failure often becomes a self-fulfilling prophesy. In fact, the fear itself often promotes harmful physiological responses that the body generates to protect itself. When frightened, your body becomes tight, your blood constricts, and the tension in your body can actually create injury. Attempting a 400-meter run with a speed goal in mind, I found myself turning the corner on the track and getting frightened. My breathing was hard, my stomach was in knots, and my legs were burning. Halfway around the turn, I would stop, just short of the full 400 meters.

But of what was I actually frightened? I realized that, in actuality, I was afraid of failing to meet my goal. I lacked confidence in my own ability to keep pushing despite whatever discomfort I experienced. The emotions that were aroused in me prior to these speed workouts were an important clue to what was happening with me. I discovered I was feeling scared of the physical discomfort these workouts generated, but I also was frustrated with myself for giving up midway. Almost as soon as I would stop, I would become angry with myself for not pushing, and I would tell myself that perhaps I really was not an athlete after all.

However, asking myself some important questions helped. I realized that although I am an athlete, I still needed to decide what level of athlete I wanted to be. If I gave myself permission to be patient and learn slowly, then I could push through and eventually meet my goal. Paradoxically, some runners advocate a philosophy of "go slower, arrive sooner" (Lynch and Scott, 1999). This philosophy allows the athlete to be patient with him/herself, and allow the process of mastery to unfold. Further, it gave me permission to enjoy the journey and not just look toward the end goal. If the journey is fun, then not meeting the end goal is not such a tragedy after all.

Living Food Diet has
Growing Following

by Kelly A. Goff

Imagine never turning on your stove or oven; your fridge bulging with vegetables and fruits; your pantry stocked with raw nuts and always taking an avocado with you for dinners out, just in case there's nothing on the menu you can eat. That's a peek into the world of a "raw foodist." Such a diet is gaining traction on the Coasts, but in Atkins-friendly Texas, it can seem like a completely foreign concept.
Once reserved for hippies and health fanatics, raw food diets are starting to appeal to more of the mainstream as threats of disease and obesity rise. Telegenic actors like Demi Moore and Woody Harrelson, who have been known to follow raw food diets, have increased interest in the practice. Even high-profile chefs, such as Charlie Trotter in Chicago, offer raw food options in their restaurants.

The Raw Way
Raw foodists aren't necessarily vegetarians, but the belief does dovetail with vegetarianism simply because living plants are much more accessible and easy to prepare than animal products. While an exact definition is hard to pinpoint, people who follow a raw and living food diet believe that raw foods have much higher nutrient values than cooked foods. Raw-food proponents contend that the process of cooking (at least anything above 118 degrees) destroys, or degrades, the digestive enzymes found in many foods. Generally food is considered raw if it has not been altered by any method that would change its basic chemical structure, such as cooking, freezing or the use of chemical preservatives.

Most foods in living food diets are simple in preparation and can be eaten immediately. These include fruit and salads. Other foods can require considerable advanced planning and preparation. Rice and some other grains, for example, require sprouting or overnight soaking to become edible.

Health Benefits
Most raw foodists believe that the greater the percentage of raw food in one's diet, the greater the health benefits. Advocates claim that a decrease of raw foods in our diet has caused an increase in health problems, including asthma, allergies, cancer, diabetes, heart disease, learning disabilities, depression, candida, chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia and many other conditions.

David Wolfe, the author of Eating for Beauty and The Sunfood Diet Success System, stopped eating anything cooked or processed 11 years ago. Wolfe's diet now consists largely of fruit smoothies, fresh vegetable juices and the occasional handful of pumpkin seeds. "Clear skin... clear thinking, improved digestion," he says, ticking off the changes he noticed after making the switch. "People, after lunch these days, are still out to lunch. Their heads are not clear, and they have no energy because their bodies are working so hard to digest their food. I never experience that anymore. I'm supercharged with energy."

One universally recognized effect of a high raw diet is weight loss. Many leading raw-diet proponents report being overweight on a conventional diet but achieving a desirable weight on a raw vegan diet. "This effect is no mystery, as raw plant foods are generally low calorie, high fiber foods that are very filling," said Stephen Walsh, Ph.D., and contributor to the publication The Vegan.

Scientific research on the subject is scarce. However, a study published in the Journal of Nutrition last year indicates that consumption of a strict raw food diet lowers cholesterol and triglyceride levels. Many studies support a diet rich in fruits and vegetables as a way to decrease cancer and heart disease risk. Another study found that people who adhere to strictly raw vegetarian diets have many of the signs of strong bones. This contradicts studies that warn diets without dairy lead to the bone-thinning disease osteoporosis. "We think it's possible these people don't have increased risk of fracture but that their low bone mass is related to the fact that they are lighter because they take in fewer calories," said Dr. Luigi Fontana, who led the study at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

Health Risks
Doctors and dietitians worry that limiting food choices can lead to nutritional deficiencies over the long run. In addition to increasing the risk of developing osteoporosis, due to decreased calcium and vitamin D intake, a vitamin B12 deficiency is possible. This vitamin helps maintain healthy nerve cells and red blood cells. It is also needed to help make DNA. It's bound to the protein in food and is found naturally in animal products, such as meat, fish, poultry, eggs and milk. Fortified cereals help vegetarians get this valuable vitamin, but because that's considered processing, strict raw foodists don't benefit and can suffer from anemia, fatigue, weakness, weight loss and neurological changes.

Doctors warn pregnant women, children and anyone with immune deficiencies in particular against following a raw-foods-only diet mainly because of the risks related to nutritional deficiencies.

Excessive weight loss is a common reason for abandoning raw food diets. Dr. Walsh notes that including sufficient tropical fruits such as bananas and avocados, or nuts and seeds and cold pressed oils, is important for maintaining a healthy weight once any desired weight loss has been achieved.

Hard Act to Follow
Even raw foodists admit that sticking to an exclusive raw-food diet can be difficult. Dr. Joel Fuhrman, a family physician in New Jersey and author of Eat to Live: The Revolutionary Formula for Fast and Sustained Weight Loss, who advocates a vegetable-based diet, thinks an all-raw diet is too restrictive. "I teach people the value of having lots of raw food, but not that you should be 100 percent raw," he says. "Cooked food is not poisonous. It's the diet most Americans eat now, with all those processed foods, that's poisonous."

While more nutrients are usually available in foods that aren't heated or highly-processed, there are some nutrients that are actually better absorbed in food that's been cooked. The best sources of the antioxidant lycopene, which has been shown to reduce the risk of prostate and lung cancer in studies, are cooked tomato products like spaghetti sauce and tomato paste. Similarly, the body's ability to absorb beta carotene, another antioxidant that can protect against cancer and is found in carrots (among other sources), increases when the vegetable is cooked.

"The whole issue about heat sensitivity and destroying vitamins when you cook foods is more of a myth than people realize," says Dr. Christine Gerbstadt, a doctor and registered dietitian in Pennsylvania and spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association.

She prefers the U.S. Department of Agriculture's 2005 dietary guidelines instead. Fill half your plate with raw fruits and vegetables, she says, but split the other half between grains and a protein source like lean chicken or fish. "I have to go with the science that went into establishing those guidelines," says Gerbstadt. "There are so many health benefits from [following] them, and so much research behind them."

Wolfe says the benefits of a raw food diet far outweigh any inconveniences. He prefers to call his eating plan "sensual nutrition," rather than restrictive. "There's such an erotic and beauty side to these foods," he says. "They're alive, and the colors are bright and vibrant."

Even the most hard-core raw foodists agree most people can experience the benefits of raw foods, aiming for 70 to 80 percent raw, while enjoying some cooked cuisine.