Hangover Prevention

As the season of parties culminates to tonight's final bash, we tend to want to start the New Year on a good note. That being said, waking up with a hangover on the first day of a "fresh start" is probably not ideal.

Instead of having to deal with a hangover and yet another obstacle that would get in the way of your resolutions, you can prevent the dreaded feeling of wanting to die upon waking.

Of course, being smart about how much/what you drink is a gimme. Though everybody is different, mixing types of alcohol and drinking too much is typically a no-no if you want to wake up anywhere near bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. 

They have those hangover shots you can buy as well, but let's see what we can do to prevent hangovers without the added mystery ingredients.

Hangover prevention is all about helping your liver function as much as you can, after abusing it with all the alcohol you're about to drink. So plan accordingly. Hydrate. Eat foods during the day that will help liver function:

Beetroot

Tumeric

Tomatoes

Grapefruit

Broccoli

Cabbage

Lemon

Garlic

Spinach

Celery

Apple

Cherry

Carrots

Wheatgrass

Kale

Ever wonder why people drink Bloody Marys the morning after drinking? Look at the ingredients, and see how many of those you can find on that list of foods that help the liver. That's why Bloody Marys work.

Now, let's apply that to preventing a hangover, versus treating it. 

Have some of those ingredients before you go to bed. The more you drank, the more of those foods you should eat. Do you have to eat a little of each? No. You can stick to one type if you want. Go ahead, eat an entire tomato before going to bed. Or just make yourself a bedtime Bloody Mary. 

Perfect Solution for Midnight Munchies and hangover prevention!

If you want to cheat, take a B-complex vitamin. Make sure you drink a tall glass of water as well. No aspirin needed. Go to bed, wake up in 2017 feeling like a champ, and ready to take on the New Year.

Serendipity via Assistants

I spent the last 4 days in Singapore (my first time), the last 2 teaching a group of 28 movers Neurokinetic Therapy. I had the pleasure of having 4 wonderful assitants to help me facilitate the learning process for these students. Every group of assistants I have is appreciated and different, but this one was particularly special to me. Let me tell you why...

Carol was NKT's first student from Malaysia, she flew to Taiwan to take both Level 1 and Level 2 this year because it was not available where she lived. She was in Kuala Lumpor all by herself for the better part of a year, NKT-wise. This week, she flew to assist the first NKT seminar in Singapore, where there were a few students in attendance from KL as well. She will no longer be alone in NKT in KL. This mirrors my initial experience with NKT as well. When I first took Level 1 (I flew to Australia to take it), there was only one other person in the country who had also taken NKT, and neither of us knew what the hell we were doing. Later that year, I assisted the first NKT seminar in Taiwan, where I was living at the time, and was forced to up my game and understanding in an instant. All of the sudden, we weren't alone anymore, and I had to step up to be a leader. My learning and understanding of NKT skyrocketed because of that. Carol, you will do well with NKT if you keep continuing on the track you're on.

Jayda is one of my coaches at my gym in Taiwan (Live to Play). She also runs it while I'm gone (so basically, all the time). I hired her blindly, putting faith in her that she would enjoy working with me and my crazy gym family I had worked hard in building. I encouraged her to have a specialty, something to separate her from other trainers, and gave her some examples from my path. She took interest in the rehab world and decided to take NKT. Without me being there all the time, she still chose to continue with it, learning as much as she could, and being as involved as she was given the opportunity to. She is my rehab replacement at Live to Play. She has given up several weekends (her time to Play) to assist me in NKT seminars, and this time flew out to Singapore to do the same. Watching her grow in the fitness/rehab world is so amazing. She has come so far. I'm so proud of her, and am forever grateful for what she does for me.

Lewis and Junxian....man! I met these two when NKT came to Taiwan 3 years ago. We assisted together in an epic group of both assistants and students led by David Weinstock. There was so much synergy in that group, it was amazing! I went on to shadow pretty much everyone who assisted that class, traveling to Dubai, Denver, San Francisco, Japan, Washington, and Santa Barbara (from Taiwan), learning so much from each and every one of them. The only ones I didn't get to shadow were Lewis and JX (Junxian). No idea why. JX took Level 3 a year ago in Taiwan, which was the last class in Taiwan at which I was an assistant. A year later, and 3 years after our original introduction, these fine practitioners are assisting me in the first NKT course in their home country (and I was given the privilege of presenting JX with his Level 3 cert!). What a great honor for me! I also habitually ask those who assist me what they liked and what they thought I could improve about my teaching. Their words gave me the warm fuzzies and tugged at my heart strings. The individuals who I looked up to 3 years ago now were saying they looked up to me and saw me as a great teacher. They saw me grow from less than novice to what I am now. They were there at my beginning, and they just experienced me at my current ability. I can't describe exactly what this feels like, but it's something like an amazing, humbling, and grateful feeling. I'm in awe.

Having this group of individuals support me in Singapore teaching an awesome group of movers (usually we end up teaching a majority of feelers, and minimal movers) the last 2 days was simply serendipitous, amazing, and mentally jaw-dropping. You guys are so phenomenal. Thank you.