Obesity, diseases induced by unhealthy diets and habits, uncontrolled addictions—all these are reasons to get healthy. In order to make an outward change, however, something inside needs to change, or we will go right back to our old habits.
I heard recently that someone who had stopped taking illegal drugs had replaced the addiction with excessive shopping. She conquered one obstacle only to gravitate to another.
Dealing with the symptoms of a problem is a temporary fix, if it works at all. It’s like inflating a flat tire without fixing the hole. The air won’t last. We have to fix the root of the problem. We cannot just turn over a new leaf and expect it to live without a deeper transformation.
When I was in my early twenties I was dealing with some difficulties with my goals. In addition to struggling for success, I was also failing at relationships and very unhappy. I well remember the night when I looked up into the sky and asked God for help. As a result of that prayer, I had a life-changing experience. It carried over into every part of my life. I started succeeding where I had been barely hanging on, my relationships grew stronger, and, amazingly, I even lost weight. I hadn’t even asked God to help me get physically healthier. Healthiness came to me as a byproduct of internal happiness and peace.
Will power can only go so far in making a person successful. From my past experience, when I admitted I needed help and yielded myself to that higher power, that is when real change happened. The journey must start from within the heart.
Friday, January 8, 2010
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Careful Who You Listen To
I read a story recently about a man and his wife who were returning home after visiting the coast. They decided to take a back road to enjoy the lush scenery of the Oregon mountains. The road they chose was quite remote, and they decided to consult with one of the local residents of a small town.
The local man startled the traveling couple when he insisted that he had heard reports that the road they were planning to take was extremely dangerous. He described it as a one-lane road, unkempt and precipitous, and they would be fools to take it.
Alarmed at the report, and slightly frustrated that they might have to return to their starting point, the couple decided to get a second opinion. This time, they checked with the sheriff’s office and found a deputy who drove the road on a regular basis. He assured them that the road was well-maintained and safe. The couple was able to travel home as planned, much to their relief.
There are plenty of people out there that make bold statements that aren’t necessarily accurate. You probably have heard the statement, “Just because you read it on the internet doesn’t mean it’s true.” The same applies to TV, magazines, and yes, even blogs. My advice is to get a second and third opinion, and read the opposition to the claim if there is any.
There are many diets around. Most of the time, a fad diet is just a way for someone to sell something to you. Be careful who you listen to. Diets that deprive your body of important nutrients or promise a magical food or drug are diets that should immediately flash a warning signal in your head. The best way to lose weight and avoid other health concerns is to eat right and exercise. Be sensible. It might not seem flashy, but it’s age-old advice that will work every time.
The local man startled the traveling couple when he insisted that he had heard reports that the road they were planning to take was extremely dangerous. He described it as a one-lane road, unkempt and precipitous, and they would be fools to take it.
Alarmed at the report, and slightly frustrated that they might have to return to their starting point, the couple decided to get a second opinion. This time, they checked with the sheriff’s office and found a deputy who drove the road on a regular basis. He assured them that the road was well-maintained and safe. The couple was able to travel home as planned, much to their relief.
There are plenty of people out there that make bold statements that aren’t necessarily accurate. You probably have heard the statement, “Just because you read it on the internet doesn’t mean it’s true.” The same applies to TV, magazines, and yes, even blogs. My advice is to get a second and third opinion, and read the opposition to the claim if there is any.
There are many diets around. Most of the time, a fad diet is just a way for someone to sell something to you. Be careful who you listen to. Diets that deprive your body of important nutrients or promise a magical food or drug are diets that should immediately flash a warning signal in your head. The best way to lose weight and avoid other health concerns is to eat right and exercise. Be sensible. It might not seem flashy, but it’s age-old advice that will work every time.
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Simply Organized
Every January a magazine I subscribe to sends out an issue about getting organized. I guess January is a month where people try to cut out the clutter in their lives, line things up, and give efficiency a shot.
The desire to simplify our lives probably starts when we take down the Christmas decorations. Many people I know enjoy the sparseness of their non-decorated January home. (A few others want to keep the decorations up until Valentine’s Day. You know who you are!) I have mixed feelings during the post-Christmas clean-up. I think it’s sad to say good-bye to Christmas, but there is something invigorating about having an organized house and an organized schedule again.
One of the ways I like to organize in January is to re-organize. The furniture, that is. I also like to throw out things I have not used in the previous year. That blue-and-brown vase has to go. I also like to set up new and improved routines, like exercise, food-journaling, and so forth.
One important ingredient for a healthy life is having an uncluttered life. We all know what happens when we get too busy—Stress comes with a capital S. Stress is one of the leading causes of health deterioration, including weight-gain, high blood-pressure, heart problems, headaches, and depression.
This January, while organizing our homes, let’s also think about how we can organize our lives. It could be time to throw out a stressor like I plan to throw out that brown-and-blue vase.
The desire to simplify our lives probably starts when we take down the Christmas decorations. Many people I know enjoy the sparseness of their non-decorated January home. (A few others want to keep the decorations up until Valentine’s Day. You know who you are!) I have mixed feelings during the post-Christmas clean-up. I think it’s sad to say good-bye to Christmas, but there is something invigorating about having an organized house and an organized schedule again.
One of the ways I like to organize in January is to re-organize. The furniture, that is. I also like to throw out things I have not used in the previous year. That blue-and-brown vase has to go. I also like to set up new and improved routines, like exercise, food-journaling, and so forth.
One important ingredient for a healthy life is having an uncluttered life. We all know what happens when we get too busy—Stress comes with a capital S. Stress is one of the leading causes of health deterioration, including weight-gain, high blood-pressure, heart problems, headaches, and depression.
This January, while organizing our homes, let’s also think about how we can organize our lives. It could be time to throw out a stressor like I plan to throw out that brown-and-blue vase.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
The Unexpected Happens
I have been looking forward to the beginning of a new year for quite some time. It’s a chance for a fresh start, a time for renewing my mental focus, and a time for getting serious about losing the pregnancy weight that I gained having my son Lance. (You’d think that he would have weighed fifty pounds at birth, the way the pounds came on during the pregnancy!)
I know there are people who are not into New Year’s resolutions for multiple reasons. They don’t want to change anything perhaps; maybe they don’t want to set themselves up for failure; who knows, maybe they really are perfectly on track with their goals every day and there’s no need for improvement. I’m not one of those people. I want to better myself constantly.
It’s not that I’m dissatisfied with myself. I guess it’s more that I like setting goals and challenging myself. Mix that with my desire to try new things and you have for yourself a woman who sets a goal for herself and keeps it.
Well, tries to keep it. Sometimes the unexpected gets in the way. For instance, my goals for this month were stacked pretty solidly with work-outs and food-journaling in order to develop habits that will help me get rid of the post-partum weight. The third day in, Lance got sick. Close behind him was my 2-year-old daughter Eden. While kids getting sick might mean they would sleep more, in my case it just meant a long, sleep-deprived night, and grumpy kids in the morning. A grumpy mommy too.
I’m not exactly jumping up and down with excitement to get to the gym today. In fact, there’s a part of me that wants to skip it altogether. I have a good excuse, right?
This is the part where I need that ounce—or giga-ounce—of determination. Days like these are why I made a goal in the first place. Commitments are made for times when it is not easy to stay on track. If I were always motivated to exercise, I wouldn’t have needed to make a commitment in the first place—I would just glide into being healthy.
So regardless of how tired I am, or how awful my day has been, I am going to get some exercise in!
I know there are people who are not into New Year’s resolutions for multiple reasons. They don’t want to change anything perhaps; maybe they don’t want to set themselves up for failure; who knows, maybe they really are perfectly on track with their goals every day and there’s no need for improvement. I’m not one of those people. I want to better myself constantly.
It’s not that I’m dissatisfied with myself. I guess it’s more that I like setting goals and challenging myself. Mix that with my desire to try new things and you have for yourself a woman who sets a goal for herself and keeps it.
Well, tries to keep it. Sometimes the unexpected gets in the way. For instance, my goals for this month were stacked pretty solidly with work-outs and food-journaling in order to develop habits that will help me get rid of the post-partum weight. The third day in, Lance got sick. Close behind him was my 2-year-old daughter Eden. While kids getting sick might mean they would sleep more, in my case it just meant a long, sleep-deprived night, and grumpy kids in the morning. A grumpy mommy too.
I’m not exactly jumping up and down with excitement to get to the gym today. In fact, there’s a part of me that wants to skip it altogether. I have a good excuse, right?
This is the part where I need that ounce—or giga-ounce—of determination. Days like these are why I made a goal in the first place. Commitments are made for times when it is not easy to stay on track. If I were always motivated to exercise, I wouldn’t have needed to make a commitment in the first place—I would just glide into being healthy.
So regardless of how tired I am, or how awful my day has been, I am going to get some exercise in!
Monday, January 4, 2010
A Fresh Start
It’s back to the old grind, and getting back into routine can be less than fun. When I was a classroom teacher the first day back from vacation was always quiet and somber. In fact, the entire first week was so quiet, I hardly had to deal with kids talking or acting out when they weren’t supposed to. It’s probably because getting back into a routine demands our full attention, and there is little left for us to have the energy to get into trouble.
Getting back into sensible eating also takes all our attention. Fortunately, January is usually a quiet month, and we can hold off on all the superfluous activities that can take away our focus on cooking nutritiously and exercise.
Grocery shopping is a chore, I think. It is also a very important part of our routine if we want to maintain a healthy life. If we want to eat the foods that are most nutritious, we really need to make a trip for groceries once a week or more. Fresh produce is one of the best ways to eat healthy. If we keep good, appetizing produce on hand, we will be much more likely to eat better.
The danger happens when we start running out of fresh produce and start migrating to the pantry. I have often heard it said that if you want to eat healthy, shop the perimeter of a store, not the aisles. Likewise, at home the non-nutritious food items tend to be in the pantry.
Not all pantry foods are bad, but it’s better to eat more of the fresh stuff and less of the prepared. It requires shopping more often perhaps, but our bodies will feel better and it will be easier to stay focused on eating healthy. January can actually be one of the months of the year when we feel better than we have in a long time.
Getting back into sensible eating also takes all our attention. Fortunately, January is usually a quiet month, and we can hold off on all the superfluous activities that can take away our focus on cooking nutritiously and exercise.
Grocery shopping is a chore, I think. It is also a very important part of our routine if we want to maintain a healthy life. If we want to eat the foods that are most nutritious, we really need to make a trip for groceries once a week or more. Fresh produce is one of the best ways to eat healthy. If we keep good, appetizing produce on hand, we will be much more likely to eat better.
The danger happens when we start running out of fresh produce and start migrating to the pantry. I have often heard it said that if you want to eat healthy, shop the perimeter of a store, not the aisles. Likewise, at home the non-nutritious food items tend to be in the pantry.
Not all pantry foods are bad, but it’s better to eat more of the fresh stuff and less of the prepared. It requires shopping more often perhaps, but our bodies will feel better and it will be easier to stay focused on eating healthy. January can actually be one of the months of the year when we feel better than we have in a long time.
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Saturday Superfoods: Celery
I was reading through some articles on nutrition when this statement caught my attention: Don't include too much celery in your diet if you're interested in weight gain. It makes me want to run to the store and buy it in bulk!
Celery is good on multiple levels. Its nutritional value makes it ideal for losing weight and maintaining optimal health. It contains high amounts of dietary fiber, vitamins A, C and K, calcium, magnesium and potassium, to name a few.
One of the more common notions attributed to celery is that it contains “negative” calories. Celery in fact does contain calories, an estimated 6 calories per eight-inch stalk. The body burns a higher amount of calories in the digestion of celery, thus tipping the scales to the negative number of calories in the body. The number of calories burned during the digestion is not overly significant, but if you’re ever stranded in the wilderness and starving, don’t eat celery.
Celery is a great snack that will mitigate your hunger and keep your mouth happy. Since it is high in salt, place it in a bowl of water before eating. This causes the celery to absorb the water, making it plumper and crisper. Celery is also a delicious and nutritious addition to soups and meat dishes. You can also add it to rice and other grains like couscous, which will help to volumize the carbs.
Whether it’s eaten as a snack or meal enhancer, raw or boiled, celery is going to improve your health. Well, I suppose if there are a few out there who are trying to gain weight, perhaps they should stay away. As for me, I’m heading to the produce department as fast as I can!
Celery is good on multiple levels. Its nutritional value makes it ideal for losing weight and maintaining optimal health. It contains high amounts of dietary fiber, vitamins A, C and K, calcium, magnesium and potassium, to name a few.
One of the more common notions attributed to celery is that it contains “negative” calories. Celery in fact does contain calories, an estimated 6 calories per eight-inch stalk. The body burns a higher amount of calories in the digestion of celery, thus tipping the scales to the negative number of calories in the body. The number of calories burned during the digestion is not overly significant, but if you’re ever stranded in the wilderness and starving, don’t eat celery.
Celery is a great snack that will mitigate your hunger and keep your mouth happy. Since it is high in salt, place it in a bowl of water before eating. This causes the celery to absorb the water, making it plumper and crisper. Celery is also a delicious and nutritious addition to soups and meat dishes. You can also add it to rice and other grains like couscous, which will help to volumize the carbs.
Whether it’s eaten as a snack or meal enhancer, raw or boiled, celery is going to improve your health. Well, I suppose if there are a few out there who are trying to gain weight, perhaps they should stay away. As for me, I’m heading to the produce department as fast as I can!
Friday, January 1, 2010
A Matter of Choice
Would you rather be A) healthy B) rich C) powerful D) perfect?
If life were a multiple-choice quiz, I would pick A. At least, I think so. What if life really is like a quiz? What if every day I am actually taking that very quiz and choosing a different answer than A?
For example, what about the choice of what I should eat for breakfast? If I were making health a priority I might pick whole wheat toast with natural peanut butter. If money were my focus, I might choose Lucky Charms because they were on sale the last week. If my goal was to feel in control I might drink coffee. If I was attempting perfection I might skip breakfast altogether because I’m just too busy getting everything else in order.
Behind the question of what I should eat for breakfast is the question—what is my priority? I do want to be healthy, but do I want something else more? Perhaps I have a goal that dominates my life and I’m not even aware of it. I might be trying to be such a perfect mom that I don’t have enough time for exercise or eating when I should. I might be spending my money trying to keep up with my rich friends, which means I probably won’t have enough left for eating healthy.
My goal this year is to be healthy and to make the decisions needed to become so. Five months ago I gave birth to a beautiful baby boy, and certainly he has become my first priority. My two-year-old daughter is right there with him. For their sakes and my own, I want to live healthy and teach them healthy living. I want to look at my daily decisions and ask myself, am I choosing health? If I want to be healthy and if I want my family to be healthy, I can make that my choice.
If life were a multiple-choice quiz, I would pick A. At least, I think so. What if life really is like a quiz? What if every day I am actually taking that very quiz and choosing a different answer than A?
For example, what about the choice of what I should eat for breakfast? If I were making health a priority I might pick whole wheat toast with natural peanut butter. If money were my focus, I might choose Lucky Charms because they were on sale the last week. If my goal was to feel in control I might drink coffee. If I was attempting perfection I might skip breakfast altogether because I’m just too busy getting everything else in order.
Behind the question of what I should eat for breakfast is the question—what is my priority? I do want to be healthy, but do I want something else more? Perhaps I have a goal that dominates my life and I’m not even aware of it. I might be trying to be such a perfect mom that I don’t have enough time for exercise or eating when I should. I might be spending my money trying to keep up with my rich friends, which means I probably won’t have enough left for eating healthy.
My goal this year is to be healthy and to make the decisions needed to become so. Five months ago I gave birth to a beautiful baby boy, and certainly he has become my first priority. My two-year-old daughter is right there with him. For their sakes and my own, I want to live healthy and teach them healthy living. I want to look at my daily decisions and ask myself, am I choosing health? If I want to be healthy and if I want my family to be healthy, I can make that my choice.
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