204: Holiday Sickness

Holiday Sickness And Prevention

Holiday sickness is something a lot of people experience this time of the year. With lots of parties and family gatherings over the holiday season, we tend to binge and make unhealthy eating choices. My guest Wade Lightheart is no stranger to this. However, having learned the ‘tricks of the trade,' he is more than willing to share tips on how to avoid holiday sickness and celebrate this festive season happy and healthy!

Early Exposure

Wade Lightheart was exposed to the importance of being healthy as early as 15 years old. His sister at that time was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Disease, and Wade Lightheart was heartbroken to see her suffer from treatments and medication for four years before she eventually passed away.

Wade Lightheart's sister was an athlete and had a lot of vitality.  So you can imagine how the family was taken aback when she was diagnosed with the disease. That family tragedy indeed had a powerful impact on Wade Lightheart.

“Around that age I was also given bodybuilding magazines, so I developed an interest in performance-based nutrition. But I made the mistake of thinking that being a bodybuilder was a healthy pursuit. No sporting pursuit is a healthy pursuit. There's a difference between fitness and health,” said Wade Lightheart.

Honoring His Sister

After his sister's passing, it was only natural that Wade Lightheart wanted to do something profound and meaningful to honor his sister's memory. Hence, he decided that the best way to honor her was to dig deep into understanding what health is. Wade Lightheart eventually went to university to study Physiology and Nutrition.

“To value health, in some cases, we have to lose it. I became aware of the value of health. So I realized health wasn't a guarantee,” said Wade Lightheart. “I had to take full responsibility for my health. That was the gift that my sister's death gave me. It's what you make of the experiences of life that counts.”

Being able to develop a system on how to achieve and maintain optimal health didn't happen overnight. Wade Lightheart's program was something he developed over years of travel and experience, as well as from coaching people with the same challenges.

“Health is a continuous evolution, and a dynamic state of being that is subject to local conditions and local environments. The things you do, the things you don't do and how you overcome the obstacles in your routine all contribute to your overall health,” said Wade Lightheart.

On A Rebound

Wade Lightheart shares that he was able to achieve a high level of fitness when he first competed for Mr. Universe. Right after the competition, he gradually gained 42 lbs. of fat and water in 11 weeks!

“I didn't know that sometimes your greatest challenge is the seed for your greatest victory,” said Wade Lightheart.

Around this time, Wade Lightheart met a medical doctor who also ran into some physical challenges, developed a Holistic practice and rebuilt his health. During the period Wade Lightheart met the doctor, he was blown away as to how a senior citizen can be so radiant, vibrant and full of energy as his age.

Fortunately, that medical doctor agreed to mentor Wade Lightheart. Under his tutelage, Wade Lightheart learned how to improve his health from inside out.

“We focused on digestion because I damaged it from years of being on a restrictive diet. I rebuilt myself. Four years later, I joined another world championship. I did better and never had to rebound on my diet,” shares Wade Lightheart.

Awesome Health System

From his rebound during his stint at the Mr. Universe competitions, Wade Lightheart eventually developed the Awesome Health System. The program is a compilation of success stories from people who produced excellent results.

“As humans, we need to be able to understand how to extract optimal health out of the environment that we find ourselves in, regardless of what food products we have,” said Wade Lightheart.

Wade Lightheart also shares that the book, ‘Healing and Recovery‘ by Dr. David Hawkins was an excellent reference as he was developing his health program. In his book, Dr. David Hawkins outlined the math of consciousness and provided self-healing methods that can help us achieve optimal health.

Causes Of Illnesses

There are many reasons why we get sick.  Whether it be holiday sickness, cancer or chronic disease, Wade Lightheart says that the causes of illness are threefold—mental, physical and spiritual. According to him, some people even say it's karmic.

“The physical reasons are often not necessarily the cause. I look at the physicality as the result of the inner being,” Wade Lightheart explained. “Humans are very deep beings, and there's a lot more to us.”

Holiday Eating

The cause of holiday sickness is not that complex.  We are often lost in the festivities of the holiday season until holiday sickness strikes from our failure to watch what we eat and drink.

However, Wade Lightheart says that food and liquids aren't the only causes of holiday sickness. Speaking from experience, constant traveling can cause holiday sickness, too.  Apparently, he says some foods, liquids, and traveling causes dehydration.  That is why people get sick.

“We must drink water more than we think we need. Before eating, drink 1 liter of water before lunch and dinner,” said Wade Lightheart. “Sip water while drinking alcohol. Often, we mistake dehydration for hunger.  So drinking water reduces the urge to binger and flushes out toxic foods.”

Getting A Good Support System

To be able to help achieve your health goals, Wade Lightheart recommends getting a good support system aside from committing yourself to be internally motivated. Otherwise, you would feel empty and dissatisfied.

“If you want to have a certain thing, find somebody who you resonate with and who would teach you that process and submit to that discipline until you've mastered it,” said Wade Lightheart.

Wade Lightheart also clarifies that it is not about restricting yourself from eating because ultimately, you can't limit your way to health. He also believes that no diet in particular works. Because if it did, then people would not be inventing new ones.

“In today's world, it's easy to get a mish-mash of strategies and end up with no program because often they appear to be conflicting,” said Wade Lightheart. “By submitting to someone who is producing the process that you want, it allows you to focus on getting the information and the practices. To take the day to day step, real expertise comes in.”

Wade Lightheart is 3-Time Canadian Natural Bodybuilding Champion and one of the world's premier authorities on Natural Nutrition and Training Methods. Having majored in Sports Science at the University of New Brunswick, he has authored numerous books on health, nutrition, and exercise which have sold in over 80 countries. 

Wade Lightheart is sought out by athletes and high-performance oriented individuals worldwide for his advice on how to optimize their health and fitness levels.

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