So study after study has shown that getting outside, taking a walk, taking vitamin D,
either getting it naturally from the sun or taking a supplement does reduce depression.
So today I want to talk about having a maximum impact through getting outside and the importance
of being outside.
We have this challenge that we're doing at the road and with our wholehearted men on
Tuesday mornings called Whole Heart 45 and one of the challenges of these challenges
that we have in Whole Heart 45 is getting outside, the importance of being outside.
One thing that is great about living in Colorado is we have a lot of sunny days.
You may live in a part of the world where it's not as sunny but I'm going to tell you
it has been proven scientifically that because of vitamin D we need to be outside and by
being outside it actually is a healing agent in your life and so that's my fifth point
in having a maximum impact is the importance of being out in the sun, the importance of
getting outside and the National Institute of Health recommends 30 minutes a day with
no sunscreen and with no eye protection.
Now you might say well that seems to go against the grid of skin cancer and it does if you
go past that so you we're talking about 30 minutes a day not three hours a day.
So getting out for 30 minutes a day with no sunscreen because vitamin D comes in through
your skin and then no sunglasses because 90% of your vitamin D comes through your eyes
and so to protect your eyes actually blocks the vitamin D.
So this is healthy stuff you guys get outside be outside I think the best thing to do when
you go outside is take a walk so Liz and I take a walk almost every day now we just came
out of a huge snowstorm where we got about two feet of snow and we live out in the country
and so what we do is we get on the ATV and we drive up half a mile up our road through
all the mud and all the snowy areas and then we hike into this park that's nearby for everybody
else you got sidewalks you live in the city but to get out for 30 minutes a day is huge
and the more you do it the healthier you're gonna feel the more you do it the better you're
gonna sleep the more you do it the more you're gonna lose weight there's just so many benefits
so let me give you a few of the benefits that we find with vitamin D first of all what does
vitamin D do for you now there's a lot I've got a list a mile long but let me give you
what I think are the top three benefits of vitamin D the first is that vitamin D promotes
calcium absorption in the gut and maintains adequate serum calcium and phosphate concentrations
to enable bone mineralization bone strengthening and bone growth if you know people who've
had osteoporosis and other bone disorders 100% they're low on vitamin D and by the way
88% of Americans are low on vitamin D they're not getting enough vitamin D and you might
say well I can't get out in the Sun that often I can't I'm not in a sunny state or a sunny
nation where I live then be taking supplements you should be taking daily supplements but
getting outside is better than supplements not just because it's so natural to get your
vitamin D that way but also because there's something about being outside there's something
about the oxygen flow being in the air getting away from your cell phone getting away from
meetings and just being alone or with someone is hugely therapeutic in your overall well-being
recent studies indicate that vitamin D does three major things number one vitamin D fights
disease in addition to its primary benefits research suggests that vitamin D may also
play a role in reducing your risk of multiple sclerosis heart disease and even the flu so
vitamin D is this this vitamin and it's often called the happiness vitamin because it's
associated with sunshine that has so many different if you could see my appendix it's
a mile long of all the benefits but just in a nutshell vitamin D does fight disease very
effective in that number two vitamin D reduces depression research has shown
that vitamin D might play and probably does play an important role in regulating mood
and warding off depression.
In one study, trusted source, scientists found that people with depression who received vitamin
D supplements noticed an improvement in their symptoms.
So study after study has shown that getting outside, taking a walk, taking vitamin D,
either getting it naturally from the sun or taking a supplement does reduce depression.
Now here's what we don't know.
We don't know if the fact that people who tend to be finding greater equilibrium emotionally
and not being depressed are then also taking vitamin D or if the vitamin D with people
who are depressed is actually causing them to be less depressed.
So some of these studies we don't know exactly for sure.
But to me, it makes sense, it just makes sense for with all the other aspects that
come from being outside in the sunshine that it would fight depression.
Number three, vitamin D boost weight loss.
Vitamin D boost weight loss.
In one study, people taking a daily calcium and vitamin D supplement were able to lose
more weight than subjects taking a placebo supplement.
The scientists said the extra calcium and vitamin D had an appetite suppressing effect.
So men and women, I want to just challenge you to get outside.
It's just so important that you get outside, that you be in an environment where you're
outdoors away from the phone, away from meetings, away from your job and just being outside.
And so for me, at least I sometimes don't want to take a walk or it's raining or it's
snowing or it's too cold, whatever, I still get outside.
So I'm fortunate to have a house with a south westerly facing porch that's covered.
And oftentimes I go out on this kind of a little swing as my grandfather swing.
It's over 100 years old.
But I sit on that with the sun bearing down, coming in near the latter part of the day.
And if I'm not going to get out and walk, I'll take a book, I'll take my laptop and
I'll just let the sun hit me.
And it's, it's just really, really therapeutic.
And I always, I mean, literally always feel better when I do that.
And so I can't say enough about the importance of you being outside.
Another aspect to vitamin D being outside is having hobbies that take you outside.
So I love to fly fish and there's something about being on a stream, being on a lake,
fly fishing for trout or bass, whatever I'm fishing for.
That's also very therapeutic.
I like to hunt, so I'm out hunting small game or big game.
I love taking hikes with Liz and with the kids.
So being in the mountains, hiking, we like skiing a lot, being outside in the sun.
To me, the perfect day, the perfect day is if I could make all this happen, which I can't,
but it'd be go fly fishing in the morning, drive to a ski resort and ski in the afternoon
with the sun and with some powder and then come back and take a hike.
All of that would be outside.
So I just love that kind of lifestyle.
So let me challenge you, whatever it takes in your life to get outside, I want to say
this is really, really good for you.
Really important that you do that.
And the impact that it'll have in your well-being is amazing.
I should mention that they've talked also a lot in the arena of healthcare that taking
walks and getting outside is also really key in getting a good night's sleep.
You look at any of the healthcare practitioners, those that are life coaches and fitness coaches,
they talk a lot about the fact that when you're outside and you're taking walks and you're
getting sun on your face and on your skin, that people sleep better.
So I challenge you also in that, because that's probably one of the biggest areas that we
neglect is the area of getting the kind of rest that we need to get.
So I hope this is helpful to you, challenge you, get outside, get out there and absorb
that vitamin D. It's good for you.
And it's also a happiness vitamin, a happiness supplement, because everybody should enjoy
being outside.
And if you don't...
I want to challenge you to start thinking about how you can get outside more and make
yourself enjoy it.
It'll be good for you all the way around and I think it'll enable you to have a maximum
impact with your life.