Unhealthy Habits

Seven Unhealthy Habits at Workstring(30) "Seven Unhealthy Habits at Work"

Being healthy is not only good for the individual, it’s good for business.  Healthy people don’t miss work and are more productive when they are at work.  So, let me share seven important unhealthy habits at work based on material from my book, Healing Begins in the Kitchen.

  1. Sitting still for hours can compromise your immune system. Your body needs movement in order to stay healthy. Getting up and walking, or even using a stand-up desk, keeps your lymphatic system flowing and your oxygen levels higher, so take stretch breaks or march in place at your desk every half hour. Studies have shown that people who do this consistently retain more of what they are learning and have better recall.

 

  1. Don’t drink coffee or black tea all day long. One cup of coffee or black tea in the morning isn’t a bad thing, but you need to drink water throughout the day in order to maintain optimal health. Herbal teas are okay to have frequently, but too much coffee or black tea will raise your body’s acid level and can lead to calcium depletion of your bones as your body tries to regulate the blood pH.

 

  1. Avoid taking work home with you on a regular basis. Maybe you want to impress the boss, but you’ll be more productive at work and will avoid burnout if you take quality time off every day. The concept of “be here now” is so important to your health. Taking work home with you robs you of your personal time and adds to your immune-suppressing burden of stress.

 

  1. Skipping lunch can be hazardous to your health. Sometimes it is tempting to press into a project and miss out on lunch, but you need to fuel your body and brain with nutritious food to be your best at work. Running on empty leads to low blood sugar which can restrict your ability to think quickly and clearly, and also slows you down. If you don’t have time for a lunch break, at least have some almonds or a healthy meal-replacement bar handy so you can refuel.

 

  1. Watch your bad attitude. It’s common to hear employees bellyaching and complaining about various things, but keep your attitude positive and have a solutions focus. You’ll find you have a stronger immune system. Positive attitudes lead to healing hormones like serotonin and oxytocin being released which support healthy immune function. Negative attitudes lead to damaging hormones being released (such as adrenaline and cortisol) which suppress healthy immune function. Attitudes are contagious, so surround yourself at work with happy, positive coworkers. Besides, it doesn’t do any good to complain to others. Half the people you tell don’t care, and the other half are glad you’re worse off than they are!

 

  1. Stop letting deadlines stress you out. OK, this one’s a little woo-woo. Stick with me though. Change your approach to those deadlines by scheduling frequent micro-breaks for focused breathing. Take five deep breaths every 30 minutes to an hour to help keep your immune system strong in order to protect your health. Studies have shown that when your brain is oxygenated, you perform better as well.  I know, it sounds crazy – but it’s the truth.

 

  1. Resist starting your day with donuts. Give your body something better than a high-carb, sugary breakfast to start your day strong. Try having a quick skillet scramble with pastured eggs cooked with high-antioxidant vegetables. Then you will be happily and healthily full and able to say no to those sugary treats at the office. If you’re not able to cook a hot breakfast, blend up a vegan protein drink.

Here’s a quote you might find interesting: Let food be your medicine and medicine be your food.

These are not words of some twenty-first-century alternative health-care guru, no.  They are the words of Hippocrates, the father of Western Medicine (b. circa 460 BC).

We should take that to heart.  Literally.  Being healthy is smart for you and smart for business.  I know.  I learned this the hard way.  If you’d like more information on how I learned this, check out my book, Healing Begins in the Kitchen.

Misner Plan

The Misner Plan – Healing Begins in the Kitchenstring(53) "The Misner Plan – Healing Begins in the Kitchen"

I get request after request to share my foods list and eating protocol—so many that Beth and I have created the Misner Plan in order to share this information with many more people than we are able to email on a daily basis. We all know and love far too many people who are obese and/or suffering from many health issues which are due primarily to how and what they are eating. Many people know they need to make changes, but they are not interested in doing so. Many people want to make changes, but they don’t know exactly what to do. There is a lot of conflicting advice out there and there may not be a lot of support for the changes they do want to make.

 

In this recording, I share my personal journey into health. At the end, you will learn how you can get the material, the coaching, and the support that will help you move into health with our 2018 Misner Plan Challange.

Are you as healthy as you want to be? Do you have any health challenges or are feeling stressed?

If so, it’s time to take care of yourself. No one else will do it for you. Hippocrates once said, “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.”

Our Book

Healing Begins in the Kitchen shares the remarkable story of how I went into remission from cancer just nine months after my diagnosis. The book offers both information and support for you as you seek to transform your life and improve your productivity, not to mention increase your outlook for a long and healthy life. In the process of doing changing how you eat, many ailments, conditions, and even diseases may simply disappear.

Our Website

On the Misner Plan website, you will find articles and blog posts with our personal experiences, struggles and successes, as well as contributions from other well-informed and renowned health-care professionals. You will find recipes using the specific food list we used during his recovery. As you read through the content, please share anything you feel would be of benefit to your own social media followers and join in the conversation on the blog page. We invite you to pour a cup of green tea, get comfy and spend some time browsing our site and becoming familiar with the contents of our website.

Our 2018 Misner Plan Challange

Finally, it’s here – a Misner Plan coaching program. Listen to this recording for a free lesson on the Misner Plan and a chance to hear about our 2018 coaching program. Your success means so much to us, and we are very thrilled you have found the Misner Plan!

Productivity

Five In Office Changes to Boost Employee Health and Productivitystring(64) "Five In Office Changes to Boost Employee Health and Productivity"

Ivan Misner shares how diet and eating habits can boost your employees’ productivity.

1) Install a water filtration system
2) Encourage a body detox system
3) Serve healthy alternatives at luncheons and office celebrations.
4) Start a walking club
5) Keep morale high

Make your employees day better by encouraging a healthy lifestyle. For more information, please visit http://misnerplan.com/

13 Is My Lucky Numberstring(21) "13 Is My Lucky Number"

Two years ago last Friday began one of the most depressing weekends of my life. My wife and I attended the Prostate Cancer Research Institute Conference in Los Angeles. Don’t get me wrong, they are good people trying to do good work. However, having been diagnosed with Prostate Cancer just a few months earlier and sitting through several days of sessions, I walked away incredibly depressed and totally devastated as to my options if they included surgery, radiation, cryotherapy or any other invasive procedure. The possible side effects of these alternatives just left me disheartened and miserable.

Photo courtesy of hin255 at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Photo courtesy of hin255 at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

I had been spending the months up to this conference trying to build my immune system and get my health in a strong place for when it came time for me to choose a more invasive protocol. After that weekend – I was left more confused than ever. I didn’t want to pick any of the choices they were discussing and the conference offered virtually no sessions on nutrition as an alternative approach. Okay, to be completely accurate – they did have “one” session on nutrition (that’s right – only one in a three day conference). Beth and I both attended that session. However, after about 20 minutes, it became painfully obvious that my wife knew more about nutrition and cancer than the medical doctor running the session! She actually answered several questions that people asked when the doctor was stumped a couple times. I remember at one point someone asked if certain types of nuts were ok to eat and the doctor didn’t know. Beth stood up and said that “nuts that were high in Omega 3 oils and low in Omega Six oils like Almonds and Macadamia nuts would actually support an anti-cancer diet. The doctor looked to the audience and said, “Yes, that’s right, I believe she’s absolutely correct.”

I left that conference more confused and more miserable than ever. All the discussions by doctors were about cutting, freezing, or poisoning the problem (and the body). All of which – had really bad potential side effects for a man.

I was numb for a couple weeks after this conference. I went through my days keeping my head down and trying to focus on being healthy and doing my job. Then something interesting happened. On my way into an ultrasound exam I spoke to my medical doctor by phone and he told me that my PSA had actually declined a clinically significant amount (after it had been going up every year for the last 5 years)!  I went into undergo the ultrasound exam a few minutes later. After the ultrasound images were taken, the oncologist shook his head and said, “I don’t quite know how to explain this but, the tumor seems to be fading. I’ve never seen anything like this. What are you doing?” All of a sudden – I felt a lot better. Maybe, just maybe, this nutrition thing alone might work?

Three months later, my Urologist told me about a new exam. The PCA3 (which is much less invasive than a biopsy and much better at gauging Prostate Cancer than a PSA). Based on my biopsy (which was a Gleason 7), he estimated that I would have had a PCA3 result of between 40 – 50 (serious). However, after 9 months of my health protocol, I scored a 26 (which is just over the borderline of what is considered problematic). At the same time, my ultrasounds were becoming clearer and clearer.

About 9 months later, I had another PCA3. Interestingly, the doctor made me come back in again a week later because he felt the results were inconclusive (I think he didn’t believe them). After taking the test again – I scored a 17. Well within the acceptable range.

I tell you all of this because last Friday, exactly two years after the most miserable weekend of my life, I spoke to the Urologist’s office having taken the PCA3 test yet again. This time, my score was my new lucky number – 13, which is considered good.

Hippocrates is considered the father of modern western medicine. He is revered by the medical community. It is his oath they swear to relating to the study of medicine – and it is he who said, “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.” Why then, is nutrition so under appreciated in the medical community today? It is a mystery to me. A few months ago I hesitatingly volunteered to speak to the PCRI conference about how diet affected my cancer diagnosis. I didn’t want to relive that weekend but I thought it was important to offer men some hope that involved something other than a scalpel. They politely declined to have me speak.

I have no products to sell, no paid coaching to provide, no money to be made. I donate all my profits from the book I wrote about my journey into health over to Cancer and health research. I am an unlikely proponent of diet and nutrition because I was at one point, the “poster child” for sodas and processed food. But results talk and mine is saying “13.” That has a much better ring to me than “surgery.”

For more information on how I tackled my journey with health, go to www.MisnerPlan.com.

I’d love to hear your comments.

8 Things to Know if You OR Someone You Know Has Been Diagnosed with Prostate Cancerstring(83) "8 Things to Know if You OR Someone You Know Has Been Diagnosed with Prostate Cancer"

Editorial Comment:

Every week someone I know asks me about my cancer diagnosis.  Women ask me for help with a man in their life and men ask me because they’ve been diagnosed with it.   Because of this, I’ve written down a lot of what I’ve learned from my experience in this blog post.  It is longer than a blog post should be and I apologize for this.  However, I’d like to put all of this in one place so I can send people to this for help.

Thanks.

 ***

CancerDiagnosis

Image courtesy of arztsamui / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Since my own prostate cancer diagnosis, I have had the chance to speak to several men just after they have heard the words from their urologist that I heard in March 2012. I hope my experience and the many things I learned along the way can be helpful to you, whether you or someone you love may be starting out on this journey.

 Please understand that I’m writing this from a patient’s perspective. I am not a medical doctor. I am not giving you advice or addressing your particular situation. You MUST consult with your doctor before making any decisions about what is best for you!

Right after I received my diagnosis, I spoke to five men and came away from these conversations knowing five ways I did NOT want to approach my situation. The conversations I had with all of them was invaluable. It also put the fear of God in me because of the serious side effect from not only the various treatments, but also from the diagnostic tests (biopsies) themselves. It gave me the motivation I needed to put into effect the total and complete dietary and lifestyle changes I made.

Not long after my diagnosis was made, I attended the Prostate Cancer Research Institute’s annual conference in LA. I learned so much there from doctors who are at the cutting edge (no pun intended) of the emerging trends in prostate cancer diagnosis and treatment.

 Here are the Top Eight Things I Believe You Should Know:

  1.    Your PSA doubling time is important when assessing the possibility that you may have prostate cancer. Many times the PSA (a blood test which measures Prostate Specific Androgen) can begin to rise one or two points over a period of time due to age or other factors, which is of concern, but even more important is your PSA doubling time. If your PSA has doubled within the span of one year, you have reason for concern about prostate cancer. If it’s just creeping up a little year by year, there may be other reasons for that, such as a prostate infection or an enlarged prostate, called benign protastatic hypoplasia.

I found it helpful to keep a graph chart of my PSA tests, so that I could really keep an eye on the amount of time it was taking for the count to rise. In my case, my PSA had not even doubled in any one year when my doctor said he wanted to take a look at why my number was going up. He went through the order of diagnostic tests outlined in the next point. And when I made the dietary changes after my diagnosis, the slowly rising number stopped and actually began to drop a clinically significant amount.

  1.    There is an order to the types of diagnostic tests you can do from less invasive to more invasive. For example, going from an elevated PSA to a biopsy is probably going a bit too far, too fast, unless your PSA is REALLY high. There are many things which can cause a PSA test to come back elevated: bicycle riding, having used the hot tub prior to having your blood drawn, intimacy prior to the test, or, as already mentioned, a prostate infection. I am surprised that most of the men I have talked to have not been made aware of these factors which could be elevating their PSA results. Remember, this is your experience. You have the right to request the types of diagnostic tests you wish to have performed. If you feel your doctor is rushing from a slightly elevated PSA to a biopsy, get a second opinion!

One of the first things my general practitioner did after my annual PSA came back slightly higher than the prior year’s test was to run the test again. When that one was also elevated, he recommended a course of antibiotics to rule out a prostate infection or prostatitis. When my PSA remained elevated, he then began to move into the cancer-diagnostic procedures. He did a digital exam and then referred me to my urologist, for an ultrasound.

  1.    A high-definition, color Doppler ultrasound is the next diagnostic step to take if the digital exam reveals an abnormality in the prostate gland. The ultrasound my urologist did was not a high-definition, color Doppler ultrasound, which would have revealed the amount blood flow (angiogenesis) in and around the tumor. This ultrasound did, however, reveal the lesion. The high-def, color Doppler ultrasound is especially important when you are doing active surveillance (point six below).

The color Doppler imaging can tell you and your doctor when the tumor is preparing to grow. Angiogenesis, or blood flow, will increase to the lesion as the cells begin to move into a more active phase. The ultrasound performed by the urologist simply revealed the presence of a mass, which could then be measured and the prostate volume could also be determined, but it gave us no information about how active the cancer growth itself was. If I’d had a high-def, color Doppler ultrasound, we would have had more information from the scan.

Regarding your scans and other tests, request copies of everything. Most of your doctors will be glad to make copies of the reports and even the imaging scans*. I started a notebook in which I put my PSA graph chart, all my PSA blood test results, the ultrasound imaging reports and the biopsy results report. Having this notebook gave me valuable information to keep a handle on where I was in the process and it also was extremely helpful to the members of my medical team. Overall, it kept me in the position of captain of the game.

*One note about the imaging scans, the DVD you will get will probably have an embedded program you will need to install on your computer before you can open the images. Most doctors already have this program on their computers, whereas I did not. It took a few tries to view my images before I realized I needed to install the program! Ask the radiologist about this before taking your DVD.

  1. After something shows up on the ultrasound scan, the next step I would recommend is the PCA3 test. This is a test for malignant genetic material from the prostate gland. The doctor will perform a fairly aggressive digital exam called a prostate massage. It is unlike any other massage you will have ever had, I promise, but it is much less invasive and far less painful than a biopsy. Immediately after the massage, a urine sample is collected and the released malignant genetic material is measured. This tells you and the doctor how much cancer is in your prostate and what type of cancerous cells you have. Certain types are fast-growing and aggressive where other types (the type I had) are not. A score of 25 or lower for man my age is considered to be within the normal range. After I was told I was in remission, that verdict was confirmed by a PCA3 score of 26. My next score, about 9 months later, was 17. Very normal.
  2.    After a lesion has been detected on an ultrasound, many urologists will order a biopsy. I would recommend that you request a PCA3 test first. If your score is normal, you probably will be spared this step. There are side effects to even the biopsy that are not really explained well to us. And I’m pretty sure I have seen some of the instruments used for the biopsy I had in a Puerto Rican dungeon I once toured! I did not know then what I know now and was not equipped to ask the questions I would ask now or to make a different decision than I made at the time. I’m not sure I would have ever had a biopsy if the PCA3 test had been available and confirmed a cancer diagnosis.

Since there are bundles of nerve fibers encasing the prostate gland, the biopsy needle can nick them and cause temporary to permanent side effects such as incontinence and impotence. These nerves can regenerate if they are not completely severed, but it is a very delicate procedure. Please be sure you go to someone who has done hundreds and hundreds of these procedures. You don’t want to be part of a learning curve for the new guy!

If your biopsy returns positive for cancer, find out how many core samples were taken and how many of them were positive for cancer. This information will help you determine your risk level. The PCRI has a great website into which you can plug all these factors to learn your “color” on the risk spectrum. It is good information to have.

Another piece of information to come away from your diagnosis with is your Gleason’s Score. This score will be made up of two numbers. Adding the two numbers together gives you your score, but the order the numbers are added gives you information, too. If the lower number is given first, then the higher number (for example, 3+4), your risk is somewhat lower. If the higher number is first, then the lower (5+2), your risk is higher, even though both scores are a 7 on the Gleason Scale. Remember the part where I told you I am not a doctor? I don’t completely understand this scale, but I know what to look for relating to lower risk!

When I am talking about risk, I mean the chance that prostate cancer will be how your life will end. Most men, I learned, begin to develop malignant lesions as they age. It seems to be the nature of the prostate gland. Men in their 50’s have a 50% chance of having prostate cancer, men in  their 60’s – 60%, men in their 70’s – 70% and so on. A man in his 70’s, diagnosed with low to medium risk prostate cancer will probably meet his death from some other corner, not from prostate cancer. Knowing my risk factor helped me decide how I wanted to approach my treatment. My numbers all placed me in the low to medium risk category. Having all the diagnostic information I had helped me determine what I was going to do. It wasn’t a case of the doc diagnosing cancer and scheduling me for surgery a few months later!

As a side note regarding prostate biopsies, I am concerned about the risks of introducing bacteria into the prostate gland through the rectal wall and also the dangers of piercing the capsule of the prostate gland and of the tumor, and thereby possibly releasing malignant cells into the bloodstream. Traveling prostate cancer cells tend to metasticize to hip and pelvic bones. I have read a bit about the dangers of doing so, and feel that I would have like to have had that information before having done my own biopsy so that I could have made a more informed decision.

  1.    Urologists and oncologists used to refer to a time of “watchful waiting” related to prostate cancer. Watchful waiting is now being referred to by many doctors and patients as “active surveillance.” You are active in getting your tests, the PCA3 test, the color Doppler scans, and you are keeping an eye on the situation so you know when it is the right time to intervene medically with either surgery, chemotherapy, focal therapy or radiation. Active surveillance gave me the time and the space to make the kinds of changes I made to see if it would give my body what it needed to repair the damaged cells. I had monthly PSA tests, monthly high-def, color Doppler ultrasounds and saw my urologist every six to nine months to evaluate all my numbers. Even now that I am in remission, I will continue active surveillance with much more time in between the tests. I like the Center for Advanced Medicine’s position that we are watching the hour hand now, not the minute hand!
  2.    Along the way I learned some important facts about the standard prostate cancer treatment protocols. I had thought originally that brachiotherapy, or the implanting of tiny radioactive seeds within the tumor, might be an effective way to go. What I did not know is that once radiation is done, there are no other medical treatments that can be done. Radiation is the last resort. A doctor will not do surgery on a radioactive prostate. It is not safe to do so. I learned that high-frequency ultrasound waves (or HIFU) is working well for some patients, and so is cryotherapy, where tiny beads of ice crystals are implanted into the prostate, freezing the cancer cells. With all these treatments, there is still a fairly high risk to the nerve bundles which can result in serious and lasting side effects.

I learned that a radical prostatectomy was NOT my option if at all possible! The side effects are assured and generally permanent. If I had a fast-growing malignancy, I might have had a different response.

  1. I recommend a couple of books to read if you have received a prostate cancer diagnosis. The first is Invasion of the Prostate Snatchers, written by Dr. Mark Scholz. Dr. Scholz is the founder of the PCRI. He has co-authored this book with one of his patients. I found it extremely informative and comforting. Dr. Scholz is an oncologist, not a urologist, so surgery is not his first reaction to a prostate cancer diagnosis, as it is for most urologists. He is also very well-versed on the many various approaches to healing from prostate cancer.

The second is Love, Medicine and Miracles by Dr. Bernie Siegel. This book reveals the incredible power the mind has over the medical conditions of our bodies. Since hearing those words in March 2012 – You have cancer – I have come to understand more deeply just how integrated our mind and bodies are when it comes to healing from conditions like cancer.

Something which was recommended to me after the positive diagnosis was a full-body CT scan to detect whether or not any cancer had developed along any of my bones. At the point I was in the diagnostic process and given my low to medium risk factor, I feel that this may have been completely unnecessary and would have gotten a second opinion before ingesting the radioactive biomarker to see where it might have uptake into my bones! Looking back, it does not seem very wise to have gone that route to me, personally.

Remember that you are the Captain of your experience.   Knowledge gives you the opportunity to make choices.  Get as much information from sources you trust and then do what YOU feel is best for you.  It is your diagnosis.  It needs to be your choices – not someone else’s. 

 

 

How to Achieve Optimum Career Performance & Enjoy Retirementstring(65) "How to Achieve Optimum Career Performance & Enjoy Retirement"

At a recent TLC conference in Mexico, I had the opportunity to talk to my good friend Eric Edmeades, one of the world’s leading experts in entrepreneurship, about his take on the one thing entrepreneurs need to nurture in order to achieve phenomenal success and to be able to actually enjoy their retirement once they enter into it.

What is that one thing? . . . Watch the video to find out.  I will tell you that if you don’t have it, your brain will not be capable of functioning at full capacity and it will be very difficult to achieve lasting success.  Also, you won’t be fully able to enjoy the retirement you worked so hard for when that stage of your life finally arrives.

Once you’ve watched the video, I highly encourage you to help out the community of blog readers on BusinessNetworking.com by sharing one of the most effective things you do to nurture the area of your life that is so crucial to succeeding and thriving throughout your career and ultimately making the most of your retirement years.  Please share your thoughts and ideas in the comment forum below–thanks!

 

 

Vitality + Health = Greater Success in Businessstring(47) "Vitality + Health = Greater Success in Business"

As this is a blog about business and networking, you may be wondering why some of my recent blogs have seemed to have a fairly apparent focus on health.  I think the video I’m sharing with you today should answer that question for those of you who may wondering.  Over the past couple of years, I have indeed become quite an advocate of the importance of health in regard to achieving success and there is good reason behind that.

In this short video, I talk with my good friend Lise Janelle, renowned success coach for companies & entrepreneurs across the world, about the role that vitality and health play in achieving ultimate productivity and success in business.

Lise offers three keys to achieving vitality and explains why it is important not only for business owners, but also for all of their employees, to focus on staying healthy and engaged in order for any given business to truly thrive.

After watching the video, if you’d like to find out more about Lise Janelle and how she helps businesses and people alike to achieve their full potential, please visit www.HeartAtWorkInstitute.com.

To find out more about the book I mention in the video, The Misner Plan: How We Healed Cancer Naturally with Food, Nutrition, and Healthy Living , please click here.  If you’d like to learn more about the Misner Plan, please visit www.MisnerPlan.com.

Do you have certain habits and/or tactics you employ to stay healthy?  Do you  have specific ways of making sure you stay connected to your core values?  I’m really interested in hearing your thoughts on this and, also, if you have questions pertaining to this topic, I highly encourage you to ask them!  I am more than happy to do a future blog addressing your questions and to consult with Lise about them in order to get you the best answers possible.

 

The Misner Plan eBook Is Here!

Me, Write a Book on Health? You’re Crazy!string(48) "Me, Write a Book on Health? You’re Crazy!"

If you would have told me two years ago that I would have a best-selling book about health – I would have told you that you were crazy!  However, this week my wife Beth and I released the Kindle version of The Misner Plan: How We Healed Cancer Naturally With Food, Nutrition and Healthy Living at Amazon.com which hit #1 in “Hot New Releases.”

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I can also say that I never thought I would say that a cancer diagnosis would provide a gratifying opening for me to give back in a way that is extremely fulfilling, but it did. And because of the size of my network and the relationships I have formed over the past several decades, there are many people who want to know how I approached healing naturally from cancer. This book tells the story of my journey to remission from prostate cancer.

I want to be completely clear that I am not a medical doctor, I am not selling health-care products, I am not advising anyone else how to approach their own health conditions, nor am I giving you medical advice. Beth and I are sharing what we did and the things we learned along the way in hopes that it might help other people in some way.

Here is an excerpt from the opening of our book:

The visible changes in BNI’s Founder Ivan Misner’s health, his weight loss and improved fitness level have led to request after request to share his eating protocol and fitness regimen after his cancer diagnosis—so many requests that we felt we needed to create the Misner Plan in order to share this information with many more people than he is able to email on a daily basis.

We all know and love far too many people who are obese and/or suffering from many health issues which are due primarily to how and what they are eating. Many people know they need to make changes, but they are not interested in doing so. Many people want to make changes, but they don’t know exactly what to do. There is a lot of conflicting advice out there and there may not be a lot of support for the changes they do want to make. We need support and community in which to make lasting changes. And having the input of someone who has been there before and has regained health is very powerful.

The Misner Plan offers both information and support for you as you seek to transform your life and improve your productivity, while increasing your outlook for a long and healthy life. We have learned many things on this journey, and we want to share what we have learned with you. We are still learning new things, continually finding ourselves amazed at all the things there are to know and understand about medical nutrition.

In this book, you will find stories of our personal experiences, struggles and successes. We also share input we have received from other well-informed and renowned health-care professionals. As you read through the content, we encourage you to underline and highlight the sections which illuminate your own path.

Your success means so much to us and we are thrilled you have found the Misner Plan. Focusing on eating REAL, healthy, nutritious foods can save your life and can make a good life a fantastic life.

Eat real food.  Enjoy real health!

If you are interested in reading more about my experience, please take a look at The Misner Plan: How We Healed Cancer Naturally With Food, Nutrition and Healthy Living. If you read it, please leave a review and your comments to help others decide if they want to learn more by reading it, too.   We also have a Facebook Page: www.Facebook.com/MisnerPlan and a website: www.MisnerPlan.com. If you’d like to follow us.

If you, or someone you know, has had a great experience in their health based on a change of diet, please leave a comment here on this blog.

The_Misner_Plan_Book_Cover

3 Signs Your Office Needs a Health Make Overstring(44) "3 Signs Your Office Needs a Health Make Over"

Last month I posted a blog about changes companies can make to boost employee health & productivity and I got an e-mail message in response to it asking if I had any thoughts on how to tell whether or not an office maintained a mostly healthy environment or a mostly non-healthy environment.

There are always going to be some people in an office who are motivated to be healthy and others who are tied to an unhealthy lifestyle, but there are certainly ways to tell when your office could benefit from positive changes.

 

Here are three signs you office is in need of a Health Make Over:

  1. Negativity in the workplace. People who do not feel well overall tend to have a more negative outlook on life . . . both personally and professionally. When suffering all day with a headache or fatiue, it is hard to feel or act positive and cheerful. If you notice that the overall energy level of your office is low or negative, then perhaps it is time to brighten things up by focusing on recapturing high levels of health in your office.
  2. If one person gets a cold or flu, many others get it. When everyone’s immune system is strong, colds and flus do not get passed around quite so easily. Some offices bring in a healthcare worker to administer flu shots each year, although the efficacy of these shots has not been proven by medical studies. In my own office, the focus on building health takes an approach of building up the staff’s own immune systems to prevent the spread of colds and flus. If you find that your office goes through times where quite a few employees are out sick at the same time, you may want to evaluate whether a health make over is needed.
  3. Many of your staff members are overweight. When the metabolism slows down and people gain a significant amount of weight, other systems in the body are also compromised. The immune system and the liver (which plays a large role in the strength of the immune system) usually do not function as well in people with slower metabolisms. When I focused on boosting my immune system and engaging my liver in the healing process, I easily lost nearly 40 pounds, all while eating four to five times per day. The difference eating fresh fruits, vegetables, and antibiotic-free and hormone-free chicken and seafood was simply amazing. While my immune system became stronger, I naturally and easily dropped the extra weight I’d been carrying for years. Take an objective look at your staff. If you realize that more than 10% of your employees are overweight or obese (with a Body Mass Indicator ((BMI)) of 30-39.9), then your office may benefit greatly from a health make over.

Remember though, you can’t change things over night.  I found that the key to encouraging some members of my office staff into adopting a healthy paradigm at work is to make incremental changes, rather than coming in all at once and making sweeping changes. Not everyone in the office will be excited about embracing a healthy lifestyle, but many will. Most people need to make changes and know it, but they may not know how to make those changes, or they may lack the motivation or willpower to do it. Having a healthy, supportive focus at work among others with whom to share this positive shift can make all the difference.

Have you made changes in your office toward maintaining a healthy environment?  If so, I’m really interested in hearing what you’ve done.  Please share your thoughts in the comment forum below.  Thanks!

 

5 In-Office Changes to Boost Employee Health & Productivitystring(64) "5 In-Office Changes to Boost Employee Health & Productivity"

If someone had told me two years ago when I was diagnosed with prostate cancer that today I would be reveling in the news of a clean bill of health, I wouldn’t have believed them.  However, I recently received a report from my radiologist stating that there is “gross remission of the prostate cancer . . . with no gross evidence of malignancy remaining.”  In other words, a clean bill of health is exactly what I now have and I owe it largely to the radical changes I made in my diet and eating habits.

In working to transform my own health habits over the last couple of years, I became increasingly aware of how much more energy I have and how much more productive I have become as a result of improving my diet and committing to consistent exercise.  I now feel like I’m thriving on a daily basis instead of simply functioning; it’s a feeling that everyone deserves to have and it’s a healthy state of being which will naturally boost productivity levels in anyone who achieves it.  For these reasons, I reached out to my employees and offered them the opportunity to participate in the same detox/cleanse program and diet transformation plan (the Misner Plan) that has enabled me to maximize my own health.  Nine employees took me up on the offer, successfully completed the detox/cleanse, are continuing to focus on making healthy food choices, and have reported that they have noticed a significant improvement in their energy and productivity levels.

We are continuing to make small changes around the office to encourage healthy lifestyles and today I’d like to share some ideas surrounding how we’re transitioning to a healthier environment in hopes that other offices might be inspired to follow suit. Here are five changes business owners and office managers can make in order to boost the health of employees:

  •  Install a water filtration system with hot and cold water.  Having access to pure water, not plastic water bottles or tap water, will encourage your staff to hydrate well.  Hydrated brains are productive brains.  Drinking soda, coffee, and black teas dehydrate our bodies.  In our office, we provide coffee makers and staff members sometimes bring sodas and teas from home yet we provide herbal teas and fresh, purified water to encourage these healthier choices by making them free and readily available.
  • Engage the entire office in a doctor-approved, body detox program.  One of the first things I did after receiving my cancer diagnosis was to complete the 8-Day Detox developed by Dr. Bill Kellas at the Center for Advanced Medicine.  Doing a body detox is a great way to help the body eliminate the toxins that often contribute to weakened immune systems and frequent colds & flu viruses–illnesses which account for a lot of sick time being used by staff.  When nine of our office’s staff members participated in the 8-Day Detox, they were motivated and encouraged by the support and accountability they received from one another to complete the program and each of them have since remarked about being very glad they participated as they are now motivated to continue making more healthful food choices and continuing to experience more of the benefits of better health day by day.
  • Provide healthy alternatives at staff luncheons and celebrations.  Most offices provide lunch for their staff from time to time.  This gives a good chance to evaluate the food you’re making available to employees.  If your lunches are centered on burgers, fries, and milkshakes, consider adding some healthy alternatives such as turkey burgers, whole wheat buns, fresh juices, and salads.  Not everyone will opt for the healthier options, but there are many who will appreciate having the choice.  At birthday celebrations, include a fruit platter with the cake and ice cream.
  • Start a walking club at work.  You may be surprised at how many of your employees would come to the office early in order to walk together.  Walking isn’t a vigorous activity which will make people wish for a second shower before starting the day at the office and it can be an invigorating way for people to get a jump start on their day.  Our office offers employees a free, on-site, weekly Qi Gong/Tai Chi class during the lunch hour which is a mid-day opportunity for staff to relax, refocus, and refresh.
  • Keep morale high in the workplace.  Having a strong sense of positive morale has always been something we’ve aimed for in our office and after my cancer diagnosis, we began to put an even bigger focus on this.  Mental health has such a profound impact on health that we decided to start a “Daymaker Initiative” based on David Wagner’s book, Life as a Daymaker.  The focus on making someone else’s day better really captured the interest of our staff–there was a noticeable increase in office morale and in kind words and actions being exchanged among employees after they each read David’s book.  Simply creating a positive environment can make your office a healthier place to be.

Do you currently incorporate tactics/offer opportunities which encourage healthy lifestyles within your office?  If so, I’d love to hear your ideas and what feedback/results you’ve experienced in employee health & productivity as a result of making such efforts.  Please share your thoughts in the comment forum below.  Thanks!

My Journey Into Healthstring(22) "My Journey Into Health"

Since my announcement that I am in remission, I have been receiving many requests to share the details of what I did to get healthy—so many that my wife and I  have created the Misner Plan in order to share this information with many more people than I can individually.

We all know and love far too many people who are obese and/or suffering from many health issues which are due primarily to how and what they are eating.  Many people know they need to make changes, but they are not interested in doing so.  Others want to make changes, but they don’t know exactly what to do.  There is a lot of conflicting advice out there and there may not be a lot of support for the changes they do want to make.

We are not selling anythingAll the information on the site is free (donations to the Misner Charitable Foundation are welcome – but notMisner Plan Logo with Photos required).

The Misner Plan offers both information and support for you as you seek to transform your life and improve your productivity, not to mention increase your outlook for a long and healthy life.

At the Misner Plan website, you will find blog posts with our personal experiences, struggles and successes, as well as upcoming contributions from other well-informed and renowned health-care professionals.  You will find recipes using the specific food list I have been using during my recovery. As you read through the content, please share anything you feel would be of benefit with your own social media followers and join in the conversation on the blog page.

A big thank you to my wife, Beth Misner.  It was her vision and hard work that led to the Misner Plan.

Do you know anyone who’s health has changed because of their change in diet?  If so, share it here.