132: Create a Super You from Your Super Genes

Kari hangs out with go-to, real-food dietitian, Serena Marie, RD, and physical therapist and yoga teacher, Joanne Ambrogi to gab about March's Book Club book Super Genes: Unlock the Astonishing Power of Your DNA for Optimum Health and Well-Being. Runner of the Week, Kelly Martin, shares her experience running with her dog, Mya.

Want in on a little secret? We've found the modern-day manual of how to live!

Are you stuck with your genetic destiny and you think there's nothing you can do about it?

Or do you think we "manipulate" our genes through particular lifestyles to change our destiny?

On the show today, we share what the March Book Club book means to us. Here are some helpful links:

• Super Genes: Unlock the Astonishing Power of Your DNA for Optimum Health and Well-Being by Deepak Chopra, MD, and Rudolph E. Tanzi PhD
• Go Wild: Free Your Body and Mind from the Afflictions of Civilization by Dr. John Ratey
• TRLS Episode 123: "Seven Ways To Take Control Of Your Health"
• TRLS Episode 53: "John Ratey"
• Super Mind: How to Boost Performance and Live a Richer and Happier Life through Transcendental Meditation by Norman E. Rosenthal, MD
• A Year to Live: How to Live This Year as If It Were Your Last by Stephen Levine
• Better Than Before: What I Learned About Making and Breaking Habits--to Sleep More, Quit Sugar, Procrastinate Less, and Generally Build a Happier Life by Gretchen Rubin
• TRLS Episode 64: "The Power of Habit and the Need To Believe"

Super Talk: March Book Club

Want in on a little secret? We've found the modern-day manual of how to live! Are you stuck with your genetic destiny and there's nothing you can do about it? Or can you "manipulate" your genes through particular lifestyles to change your fate? Kari, Serena, and Joanne talk about March's Book Club featured pick, Super Genes: Unlock the Astonishing Power of Your DNA for Optimum Health and Well-Being.

• Serena explains what the terms "radical well-being," "epigenetics," and "microbium" mean.
• The main concept of the book is how genes are not hard wired. In essence, the DNA that we get from our parents sets up the blueprint of how we'll look, what diseases we may get one day, and so on, Years ago, doctors thought that the cards you got dealt were the cards you had, so to speak. But Super Genes defies this notion.
• Kari notes that the book states that your DNA accounts for only 5 percent of what could happen to you.
• Joanne points out that some people will say, "Oh, I can't do anything about it, because my [fill in family member] had [fill in disease], so now I'm destined to have it." She feels that this book brings about an awareness where it's very empowering if you choose to take the book's message. The books gives you ways to take the message and put it into practical life.
• Kari loves that the book emphasizes choice. Go Wild: Free Your Body and Mind from the Afflictions of Civilization by Dr. John Ratey mentions inflammation, as does Super Genes. We know about diet, and Serena has talked about anti-inflammatory diets, since running causes inflammation in our bodies. (Listen to Episode 123: "Seven Ways To Take Control Of Your Health" and Episode 53: "John Ratey" as examples of this.)
• Kari thought that the cornerstones in Super Genes were diet, stress, meditation, sleep, and emotions were especially interesting, because they are very similar to Dr. John Ratey's six keys to living a healthier lifestyle.
• Serena' favorite part of the book that threw her of her feet was how the authors mention that psychosocial dwarfism is real.
• Joanne piggybacks off of Serena's comments about psychosocial dwarfism in how real it is to keep your stress levels down while pregnant.
• Joanne points out that you really are the one to determine what the advice will do for you. Having the wherewithal to understand what we don't understand means needing to slowing down.
• The book talks about one of the activities that you really need to do—meditation/yoga.
• Kari found the different meditation styles very interesting, because it relates to the June Book Club book, Super Mind: How to Boost Performance and Live a Richer and Happier Life through Transcendental Meditation by Norman E. Rosenthal, MD.
• Joanne talks about what helps her sleep and what yogendra is.
• Kari mentions that the book talks about things that are going on that we think help us, but really don't, like multitasking
• Kari's greatest takeaway is the word "success." Success is such a powerful word, but "well-being" isn't as much. How about defining success as living your life well?
• Kari talks about A Year to Live: How to Live This Year as If It Were Your Last by Stephen Levine. Joanne would want folks to know that it takes courage to look at your life and to truly sit back and act as if this was the last year of your life.
• How much of your time did you spend sitting down watching TV or on the computer, for example?
• Kari mentions a woman named Allison who practices ayurvedic medicine who works with Joanne. Joanne wasn't surprised at all that Super Genes talks about it.
• The book talks about how you think determines what types of exercise you choose, what types of foods you eat, and so on, and to balance that is something that most people don't really think about.
• Kari mentions the four types of people from Better Than Before: What I Learned About Making and Breaking Habits--to Sleep More, Quit Sugar, Procrastinate Less, and Generally Build a Happier Life by Gretchen Rubin.
• Be aware of your life, and what you think is so key.
• The book is reader-friendly, and it lays out what you can do if you want to live well. Take one thing at a time, and it's very realistic.
• Serena likes how the book shows how powerful the holistic mindset is. The placebo effect and mindset are powerful. She loved reading the science to why that is true.
• Joanne thinks that the book gives you practical applications to things, and it meets people at different levels depending on what you're trying to gain by reading the book.
• Listen to Episode 64: "The Power of Habit and the Need To Believe."

To give feedback or ask questions, connect with Kari on Twitter, Facebook, or via e-mail!

Runner of the Week: Kelly Martin

Canadian resident Kelly joins Kari, along with her dog, Mia, who is a sheepadoodle, to chat about how it is to run with Mia and why she chose the particular breed.

• Kari references Episode 127: "How To Run With And Away From Dogs With Veterinarian Ernie Ward."
• She tells Kari that working breeds make good running dogs.
• She started running with Mia when Mia was two years old. Dogs' bones can be fully grown before you can run with them.
• She runs with Mia six days a week at around a nine-minute mile pace.
• Pick the right dog. When talking to breeders or a rescue facility, make sure the dog is a high-energy dog.
• She's been running for about ten years, and her advice is to just keep going. The hardest part is the first kilometer (or mile).
• Kari mentions that TRLS Action for Healthy Kids teammates Foti and Todd both run with their dogs.

Gratitude Jar (Woot! Woot!)

Joanne is grateful to be able to look outside and see the sun and the breeze. She felt rich gratitude.

Serena is grateful for her family in New Jersey. She's grateful that so many of her family and friends live on the Jersey Shore and that she has a true feeling of being wrapped in the most wonderful nostalgia and being on the water. She's so grateful that she can relive beautiful memories of her childhood.

Kari is grateful for Super Genes and to be able to talk to Serena and Joanne about it—to be able to look at the information and to ask what they think.

Next week, Kari interviews Norman E. Rosenthal, MD, who wrote Super Mind: How to Boost Performance and Live a Richer and Happier Life through Transcendental Meditation.

Contact:

Joanne Ambrogi:

Facebook Page
Ambrogihealth@yahoo.com

Kelly Martin:

Website: PromotionalBridge.com
Email: kelly@promotionalbridge.com
Facebook: /promotionalbridge

Serena Marie, RD:

Website: www.SerenaMarieRD.com
Facebook: /SerenaMarieRD
Twitter: @SerenaMarieRD
Instagram: SerenaMarieRD

Kari Gormley:

Facebook: The Running Lifestyle Show
Twitter: @KariGormley
Instagram: @KariGormley