Take Care of Yourself: Ideas to Increase Peace, Health and Happiness

Life is busy with many challenges and blessings. Looking ahead to new chapters & new beginnings. Here are just a few ideas that I hope will be helpful in your happy journey ahead. 

  1.    GIVE YOURSELF CREDIT. Many times we get stuck in the trap of focusing on what is undone and not giving ourselves credit for what has been done.  This year make an effort to celebrate the successes. Keep a notebook handy and record what you accomplish each day, these triumphs can be both small and large. Things that you are proud of, or something you've learned.  It's most revealing to see all the good things that happen, joyful moments that you had  previously overlooked or taken for granted.

2.       MEDITATION Set aside time to quiet your mind. Even if you only have a few minutes, you can quickly deescalate stress by bringing yourself back to center. I have found what I call "meditation mini's 3x3" to be very effective. These are three minute calming moments, three times a day. often, my first mini, is before I even put my feet on the ground in the morning, I take time to focus my mind on peace, calm and my positive intent for the day.
        Here is a brief explanation of how these meditation moments can work for you.  find a comfortable position, if you can.. lie down, if only a sitting position is available, lay your head back, close your eyes, and focus on your breathing, take  normal breaths through your nose. Think only on the breath, how it feels as you draw it in. When you inhale..think  of a positive calming word such as; peace, calm, love, quiet, etc. As you exhale, let all the stress go out with it.  When other thoughts drift in to distract, imagine an open window in your mind and let them drift out the window so you can return to your present state of mind. There is an incredible calming that takes place when we take just three minutes to quiet our mind.

3.    MOVE.  I know, you’re thinking.,, oh yeah here it comes... the exercise bit..For a lot of people this is a mountain that seems too hard to climb. But I cannot emphasize enough the importance not only to your body, but for your mood and attitude and also the impact it has to strengthen our brain!

 Studies have shown that exercise causes your nerve cells to multiply and strengthen helping to shield them from wear and tear by promoting nerve-protecting compounds. There’s more!! Exercise increases blood flow to your brain and improves the development of neurons, which keeps our brain functioning at its optimum levels.

Exercise alters our mood as serotonin levels rise and endorphins kick in. It may be tough to begin the habit, but before long you will find it oh so sweet and you’ll wonder how you ever did without it! 

4.      GIVE YOURSELF PERMISSION TO LET YOURSELF OFF THE HOOK..  
 Take a hard look at the busyness of your life… If life were a plate of food would it look like thanksgiving dinner..Piled high, spilling over on the edges so you have to carefully walk a balancing act so you don't lose half the meal on the way to the table.. Give yourself permission to make some changes. Are there negotiable items on your plate? If there are, and they are causing unnecessary stress...REMOVE them. Be okay with saying NO, or delegating, or  re-scheduling some not quite so important things to another time or season.

5.       COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS. When we get stressed out, we tend to focus on what isn’t working, we dwell on what’s undone, or what’s all messed up.  Gratitude shifts our thinking, brings in a new perspective and improves our attitude. Keep a gratitude journal. It helps to take time to pause, ponder and record the good in our lives.
        Another effective way to cultivate gratitude, is to take time before your rise to name three things you are grateful for, then before you drift of to sleep, re account the day think of  three things that took place in your day that put a smile on your face.   Be thankful for blessings, your spirit will glow as you take just a few moments to jot a thought or two.

Until next time, take good care,

Nancy

How to stay the course while enjoying the holidays

Cooking, shopping, gathering, celebrating, programs and  parties -- all can be wonderful, but holidays can also be stressful and take us out of our regular routine and habits.  My desire with today’s blog is to help us all enjoy this joyous season and continue to benefit from healthy decisions.  It can be done! Here are a few ideas...

Stay the course.  In a cross country race, the runner encounters all kinds of terrain; straight-a-ways, hills, valleys, wide trails and narrow pathways.  In our life, we will encounter emotional hills and valleys,the course will be varied and diverse. Throughout our journey we will  need to set personal parameters to our own course. We will find peace, joy and actually freedom as we adhere to those parameters.
             
 First step to staying the course is to establish one! Make a plan. To remain accountable. You may want to discuss your plan with a  a spouse, friend, health coach, someone you trust.  Then apply what you have established for your personal course.  Once established, your course parameters should be considered    non-negotiable                                 

·         Once you have decided what those parameters are, you are freed from having to wrangle and struggle with every social gathering or each plate of goody that is dropped by. You have already made the decision.

·         Review triggers of emotional eating, circumstances, feelings, or people that pose a challenge. Think this through rather than winging it, thinking “oh, it will all work out”.  Give it some thought, even role play a situation. Plan ahead, and hold to it.

·        Create your “YES” list. Only two criteria for this list. One, It's healthy. Two, it really floats your boat! I mean you really enjoy eating it! I’d be happy to share ideas and recipes.  My daughter also has a website at:  www.thewholefoodsdiner.com where you will find several fun and delicious recipes. Creating your own personal " YES" list is fun and opens a new world of possibilities. Make your list and be ready and armed to use it.

·        When taking a plate for a gathering, bring a treat from your “YES” list. Be wise with your food choices-there is generally a ‘good- better- best’ in any given occasion. Try to choose from “the best” category. If there is truly nothing at the party you feel is a healthier choice then at least you know you have your plate to choose from!  

·        A lot of the foods we eat over the holidays have traditions attached. If you have determined that you are going to allow yourself certain treats or desserts decide before hand what those are. Then eat it! Enjoy it, and experience it without guilt.  But remember to be true to the boundaries you have established. Moderation in all things!

·        Little plates of goodies…large problems?… A favorite tradition of many is to take plates of Christmas treats to friends and neighbors.  Upon grateful acceptance we place the festive display of goodies on our kitchen counter.  Following a number of strolls past the kitchen, mindlessly snatching one little piece of fudge, popping in one chocolate covered cherry, or a harmless eency-beency snowball cookie. Before we know it… the plate is empty and our stomachs are full. Put them away, give them away, take them to the office. Just get rid of them! If you choose to indulge pick a few and set them aside to eat with mindful awareness…. remove the rest.

·         Exercise, move your body. One of the best stress relievers of all time! Raise serotonin levels, reduces stress and depression, and clear away the December fog. Keep up a regular exercise routine -- very important!

·        Quiet essentials:  These essentials will keep balance in your life.  Christmas time is wonderful, but it also has its many stressors. Provide yourself with pockets of peace. These may include meditation, prayer, journaling, reading, yoga. Find a spot to bask in the sun…feed your spirit.  Find ways each day to fill your bucket; if we don’t fill our bucket with these quiet essentials, there is always a dump truck of non-essentials just waiting in the wings to fill it for us.

Okay, we are at the holiday starting line, the course is ahead of us. We know there will be exhilarating straight-a-ways and gorgeous vistas. We also know there will be some tough hills to climb and tense moments, but we can do it! Because we are prepared for them.  Remember to enjoy the journey….. and I’ll see you at the finish line…

A call to Action

Let’s take a little field trip back in time....In the  1970’s there was a  low fat craze that flooded the nation and its grocery shelves promising a healthier & slimmer society.  

The government deemed fat a villain and culprit of most all ills, from obesity to heart disease.

This message propelled over 15,000 low fat products.  Everywhere you looked it touted a “low fat” label. We all bought into it, oh its low fat! … it must be good for you, right?.... Let take a look at some numbers.

In 1962 Obesity was at 13% - In 2013 we are now looking at an overwhelming 37%

Type II diabetes is up a whopping 45% since 1962.

The American Heart Association predicted in the next 20 years 40% of our nation’s population will have some type of cardiovascular disease.

It appears that the low fat craze of 30 plus years has had some serious flaws. Diets high in empty refined carbohydrates and processed low fat foods are essentially killing us!

So let’s back up the bun wagon.  Humans are not made of aspartame, hydrogenated oils, diet sodas, or fat free potato chips. We tend to think our bodies will simply process anything we put into them. 

The hard truth is that if it is not a food that can be used to build our bodies system, then our bodies perceive it as a dangerous substance and these foods will damage cells and organs. They create a roller coaster effect  with our energy levels and moods. And  accelerate our metabolic aging a process that leads to disease and premature death.

An Invitation to Better Health

I’d like to extend a challenge. Take a look at what you eat on a daily basis. Begin to eliminate processed food. If your meal comes from a smiling face in a drive through window, or you're tearing open a box that produces a "meal" in 3 minutes. Take a deep  breath, step back... and reconsider.

There is another option, a choice that offers increased energy, reversal of many diseases and ailments. Weight loss, better mental health, freedom from obesity,diabetes and food cravings...all this with the simple choice of eating REAL FOOD in balance and abundance.

Need any more convincing?!  I promise you, as you make this change in your life. The foods you thought you couldn’t live without, will no longer plague you, cravings dissipate, and you find foods that bring just as much or greater pleasure to eat. But you will no longer be a slave to food.  

I am here to help walk with you and work with you. What you will learn, will be yours, you will own it. One step at a time,you will see and feel changes.... body, heart and soul! 

   

Got Stress?!!

I know, I know, silly question....let me ask you this,when you are feeling stressed what do you reach for? Is your body screaming for a grilled chicken breast with a nice side of steamed veggies? Or are you on a rampage  to tear into the first bag of potato chips you can get your hands on, or perhaps you're diving head first into a quart of tin roof sundae? you know it, we both know it. The last thing we are after is something that would actually be GOOD for your body.

But why? is it your fault, are you just weak, do you you feel like a negative zero on the willpower scale? May I just share with you here and now before you go and start beating yourself up again. Food cravings come from two different sources Physiological and Psychological. This post we are going to address what happens to our bodies physiologically when we experience stress.

We have all heard of the fight or flight response to danger, we have all experienced it. Here's the scenario; your hiking out in the woods when, out of no where a bear appears on his haunches growling at you, with his huge paws exposing his ginormous claws! the next thing you know, you are five feet up a tree and you are not sure how you got there! congratulations, you have just experienced the fight or flight response!!

Our bodies are amazing machines. We have a conditioned protective response built in. When we are placed in a dangerous situation our Hypothalamus ( part of our limbic system) signals the sympathetic system and the adrenals ( two little half moon shaped glands that sit on top of your kidneys) that release adrenaline and cortisol. These hormones go to work very quickly flooding the nervous system and the blood stream.  Cortisol raises your blood pressure and increases the flow of glucose to provide quick energy and lightning response.


So here's the rub. When your body is stressed either physically or emotionally, it secretes cortisol as part of the fight or flight response. The problem is that our bodies cannot differentiate between immanent physical danger and mental duress. Whether your stress was emotional or physical, the stress response is identical, causing a spike in your appetite. This can cause a craving for comfort foods-foods high in fat and sugar.  So there you have it, our bodies are just doing what they are suppose to, they are responding to present danger and that is a very powerful hormonal response, a response  that leaves us with our hands caught in the cookie jar.

In our fast paced society, many of us experience a steady stream of stress, which means we are also undergoing a constant flow of cortisol racing through our bodies. Over time we are not only dealing with an uncontrolled appetite, but will be facing  more serious damage that comes with prolonged overloads such as: high blood pressure, obesity, high cholesterol, type II diabetes, sleep disorders and depression just to name a few. 

Before you throw in the towel, let me tell you. . there is hope and much that can be done to mend, heal and control stress in our lives. lets just look at a few.

*First we must look at our " plate" so to speak. Is everything there necessary?  When you look at the risk of impending health problems, please seriously evaluate what is necessary and what can be set a side for a time or delegated. REDUCTION is your first task.

*There are of course some situations that cannot be changed. There are some things that are out of our control, focusing our energy on things that we can do something about, and re framing situations to find positives. Try taking a long view on whats going to matter a week, month or year from now. And letting go of anger, learning to forgive and love our selves. 

*Make time for yourself; an empty bucket has nothing to give. Find what you love to do, perhaps its a early morning walk, painting, pottery, or poetry. Whatever fills you up. make time for it, this will bring you joy that settles your soul. 

*Find time to meditate & pray, to expand your thoughts away from the present and see things in a more eternal perspective. 

* These  last three we will devote more time to discussing them in future posts. They include; getting enough sleep, regular exercise and eating nutrient dense foods in balance.

  As we implement these stress reducing techniques we can climb down out of that tree, remove the bear ( or at least De-claw him). One step at a time, be gentle with yourself.