Food we eat – can mean the difference between life and death!
Eat an anti-inflammatory diet by avoiding refined, processed foods. They contain pro-inflammatory additives, carbohydrates and fats. So, just what foods are anti-inflammatory?
Stop eating starch; that means refined carbohydrates and the white stuff we so love like potatoes, white rice and foods made with refined flour. Why is it bad? More calories per pound and no “I’m full” signal spells overeating and poor nutrients.
Use extra-virgin olive oil when preparing your food; eat oily fish or take a high-quality fish oil supplement.
Replace foods made with white flour and sugar with those made with whole grains. Add colorful fruits and vegetables to your diet.
Reduce your chicken and red meat consumption – they contain a pro-inflammatory amino acid. Replace some of these meats with beans that are high in vegetable protein.
And don’t forget the black or green tea, high in anti-oxidants and anti-inflammatory compounds.
Now, quantity does matter. Studies have shown that reduced caloric intake increases longevity. Something I’ve done that has proven helpful is to eat a good breakfast with plenty of protein, my main meal at lunch , and a very light supper early in the evening.
Any time you feel stuffed after eating, you’ve eaten too much. How do you stop before you’re stuffed? You eat SLOWER and with intention, noticing how your food tastes and the minute you feel satisfied, you STOP eating. It actually takes 20 minutes for you to notice the feeling of fullness, so if you stuff it down while distracted by TV, you will not notice when you are full.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Powerful Aging Tip #2
Cardiovascular Exercise - Why?
To improve our ability to circulate the blood around in our bodies.
To find out your target maximum heart rate, start with 220, deduct your age and multiply by 80%. For example:
220 – 66 (age) = 154 x .80 = 123 my target maximum heart rate.
To start, get it up there for 20 minutes, 3 times a week. Work your way up to doing 45 minutes of aerobic exercise four days a week. How you ask, well speed walking is one of the best ways to do this because it’s low impact – meaning your joints will last longer and feel better. Of course, biking, hitting the treadmill, and any other activity that elevates your heart rate and keeps it there.
Always consult your health care provider before starting any new exercise regimen.
To improve our ability to circulate the blood around in our bodies.
To find out your target maximum heart rate, start with 220, deduct your age and multiply by 80%. For example:
220 – 66 (age) = 154 x .80 = 123 my target maximum heart rate.
To start, get it up there for 20 minutes, 3 times a week. Work your way up to doing 45 minutes of aerobic exercise four days a week. How you ask, well speed walking is one of the best ways to do this because it’s low impact – meaning your joints will last longer and feel better. Of course, biking, hitting the treadmill, and any other activity that elevates your heart rate and keeps it there.
Always consult your health care provider before starting any new exercise regimen.
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Sunday, March 01, 2009
Powerful Aging Tip #1
Strength Training is critical to the rest of your life because it increases your coordination as well as your ability to perform the functions of daily living.
Three pounds of lean muscle burns up to 10,000 calories a month just sitting on the couch. However, I don’t recommend being a couch potato!
Do strength training 2 times a week for 20-minutes using a slow motion, high intensity, and low impact method. Do it to full muscular fatigue and you’ll gain 50% more muscular strength than with traditional methods. Because muscle weighs more than fat, you may actually see your weight on a scale increase.
Don’t look at your weight, look at your “waist” measurement. If you carry fat mainly around your waist, you are more likely to develop health problems than if you carry fat mainly in your hips and thighs. Women with a waist measurement of more than 35 inches or men with a waist measurement of more than 40 inches may have a higher disease risk than people with smaller waist measurements because of where their fat lies.
It also:
Try it, you’ll like it and, once you see and feel the results, you’ll love it.
Three pounds of lean muscle burns up to 10,000 calories a month just sitting on the couch. However, I don’t recommend being a couch potato!
Do strength training 2 times a week for 20-minutes using a slow motion, high intensity, and low impact method. Do it to full muscular fatigue and you’ll gain 50% more muscular strength than with traditional methods. Because muscle weighs more than fat, you may actually see your weight on a scale increase.
Don’t look at your weight, look at your “waist” measurement. If you carry fat mainly around your waist, you are more likely to develop health problems than if you carry fat mainly in your hips and thighs. Women with a waist measurement of more than 35 inches or men with a waist measurement of more than 40 inches may have a higher disease risk than people with smaller waist measurements because of where their fat lies.
It also:
- Increases your basal metabolic rate (BMR).
- Increases your body’s blood sugar tolerance and help prevent adult onset diabetes.
- Increases your bone density.
- Increases your body’s ability to regulate its’ internal temperature.
- Decreases your percentage of body fat.
- Lowers your cholesterol/HDL ratio.
Try it, you’ll like it and, once you see and feel the results, you’ll love it.
Friday, February 20, 2009
10 Things I've Learned from the Recession
I hope this inspires you to find your own blessings in these challenging economic times.
1- Spending time with family and friends is more important than anything I could ever buy.
2- I was wasteful with money and didn't even know it.
3- People are there to help you when times get tough; you just have to ask. And, if you ask and it isn't forthcoming, remember that they have their own problems to deal with and the timing just wasn't right -- no blame, no resentment.
4- Helping others stay positive during this economy is one of the most rewarding things I can do to help others get through it.
5- Eating home cooked meals we prepare together is not only fun, it's healthier, and I can lose weight!
6- I find gratitude in knowing I have a roof over my head, a warm bed, and wonderful food. It could be much, much worse.
7- Lying awake at night imagining the worst isn't helpful; getting 8 hours of sleep IS.
8- Simple pleasures like reading, playing games, sharing with friends, hanging out with my sweetie and our dog, and being available to help others brings more joy than any TV show.
9- Giggling with my husband every night before we go to sleep makes everything seem OK.
10- Perfection is -- what is.
1- Spending time with family and friends is more important than anything I could ever buy.
2- I was wasteful with money and didn't even know it.
3- People are there to help you when times get tough; you just have to ask. And, if you ask and it isn't forthcoming, remember that they have their own problems to deal with and the timing just wasn't right -- no blame, no resentment.
4- Helping others stay positive during this economy is one of the most rewarding things I can do to help others get through it.
5- Eating home cooked meals we prepare together is not only fun, it's healthier, and I can lose weight!
6- I find gratitude in knowing I have a roof over my head, a warm bed, and wonderful food. It could be much, much worse.
7- Lying awake at night imagining the worst isn't helpful; getting 8 hours of sleep IS.
8- Simple pleasures like reading, playing games, sharing with friends, hanging out with my sweetie and our dog, and being available to help others brings more joy than any TV show.
9- Giggling with my husband every night before we go to sleep makes everything seem OK.
10- Perfection is -- what is.
Saturday, April 12, 2008
Afraid of aging?
Don't read this is you are afraid of aging and only want to confront it when you take your last breath. This won’t be for you; it might make you wake up and create a life worth living.
I’ve started reading the book, “What Are Old People For?” by William H. Thomas, M.D., and he says many of the things I've come to believe (and experience) around the aging process. We both agree is is a NATURAL part of life; just like birth, childhood, adolescence, young adult, middle-aged adult, and MATURE adult (think old, but without the cultural crap associated with that word).
As we age we accumulate a lifetime of insights, challenges overcome, strategies for living -- just plain wisdom -- which we now have access to as we continue to live our lives. What a splendid gift; both for ourselves and for others younger who would, given an open mind and heart, reap the benefit of our experience.
As Dr. Thomas so wisely points out, “aging requires life...being alive is a continuous prerequisite for growing old...given a choice between aging and death, we choose to grow old.” Amen! I choose to grow old and to do it powerfully, and make it fun and fabulous.
One of the first things I recommend is de-stressing. There’s so much going on in our lives it’s become easier and easier to feel overwhelmed, burnt out and SERIOUS. Sometimes it’s stress related to health issues; sometimes to relationships; sometimes finances, you get the point.
Here are some tips to de-stress:
1- Immediately focus on the present by feeling the physical sensations in your body. Become aware of your breathing and slow it down. Six breaths in, a slight pause and 4 breaths out works well for me.
Notice the way your body feels; hear what you hear, see what you’re seeing. If it’s pain you’re dealing with, focus on the parts of your body that feel good rather than the painful area. Being present to what is stops the mind’s negative chatter.
2- Stop worrying. Say to your self “ I don’t need to worry now, I can worry all I want in 5 minutes”. When the 5 minutes is up, give yourself another 5. The worry cycle is usually broken after the first 5 minutes!
3- If your mind decides to focus on the problem situation anyway, see the situation resolved in the best possible way. To engage all your senses, first see what you’ll see when it is resolved, then hear what you’ll hear, and then feel how you will feel when the problem is solved.
For example, if it’s related to weight loss see yourself in a mirror looking like you want to look, hear what others will be telling you about how great you look, and feel the emotions you’ll have when you look and feel lighter!
All these steps will create a space between the “problem” and how you think about it. You’ll get new insights about how to handle it, and discover new, more effective strategies to create what you want in your life.
It’s worked for me, and I’ve started to sleep better too! More on sleep in the next post.
I’ve started reading the book, “What Are Old People For?” by William H. Thomas, M.D., and he says many of the things I've come to believe (and experience) around the aging process. We both agree is is a NATURAL part of life; just like birth, childhood, adolescence, young adult, middle-aged adult, and MATURE adult (think old, but without the cultural crap associated with that word).
As we age we accumulate a lifetime of insights, challenges overcome, strategies for living -- just plain wisdom -- which we now have access to as we continue to live our lives. What a splendid gift; both for ourselves and for others younger who would, given an open mind and heart, reap the benefit of our experience.
As Dr. Thomas so wisely points out, “aging requires life...being alive is a continuous prerequisite for growing old...given a choice between aging and death, we choose to grow old.” Amen! I choose to grow old and to do it powerfully, and make it fun and fabulous.
One of the first things I recommend is de-stressing. There’s so much going on in our lives it’s become easier and easier to feel overwhelmed, burnt out and SERIOUS. Sometimes it’s stress related to health issues; sometimes to relationships; sometimes finances, you get the point.
Here are some tips to de-stress:
1- Immediately focus on the present by feeling the physical sensations in your body. Become aware of your breathing and slow it down. Six breaths in, a slight pause and 4 breaths out works well for me.
Notice the way your body feels; hear what you hear, see what you’re seeing. If it’s pain you’re dealing with, focus on the parts of your body that feel good rather than the painful area. Being present to what is stops the mind’s negative chatter.
2- Stop worrying. Say to your self “ I don’t need to worry now, I can worry all I want in 5 minutes”. When the 5 minutes is up, give yourself another 5. The worry cycle is usually broken after the first 5 minutes!
3- If your mind decides to focus on the problem situation anyway, see the situation resolved in the best possible way. To engage all your senses, first see what you’ll see when it is resolved, then hear what you’ll hear, and then feel how you will feel when the problem is solved.
For example, if it’s related to weight loss see yourself in a mirror looking like you want to look, hear what others will be telling you about how great you look, and feel the emotions you’ll have when you look and feel lighter!
All these steps will create a space between the “problem” and how you think about it. You’ll get new insights about how to handle it, and discover new, more effective strategies to create what you want in your life.
It’s worked for me, and I’ve started to sleep better too! More on sleep in the next post.
Tuesday, April 01, 2008
How I stopped trying and started living
My mind was racing - again - as I thought of the thirty odd things I had to do; all of them seemingly critical to our success. As I talked on the phone to my friend Patty, I whined about how much work I’d had to do on getting her courses up and running on our online scheduling system; I whined to my other friend, Carol, the organizer extraordinaire, about a visit from an old friend that had created more unfinished work for me to do. In retrospect, It seems like I whined to every unfortunate soul I came in contact with today - ick!
As I listened to myself, I began to feel uncomfortable at how un-resourceful I sounded, how I sounded like a freaking victim -- which I definitely am not! I stopped in my tracks and looked at what work I was doing and realized how much I had accomplished and that much of it I actually enjoyed; I could even say it was fun and challenging.
I had allowed an old habit of not being present to what was actually happening sidetrack me from noticing what I was doing in that very moment, moving from one task to the next intuitively and gracefully and enjoying myself.
As I let my ideas and old habits drop away, I became still and saw the absolute perfection in what I had chosen to do in that moment. Past moments dropped away, future tripping stopped and I took my dog, Max, for a walk -- I simply let go and followed the flow of what was right in each moment, and it was perfect and effortless and fun.
The older I get, the better I get at seeing the unconscious moments and moving out from them. I really like aging!
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