Healthy Living DIY

In the previous article, we left off talking about the resistance that some of us have to preparing healthful meals. I think most people meet up with this stuff in our lives from time to time. I know I do.

Just last night, for example, I was out late at a meeting. It was around 8 pm as I headed home for dinner. That little voice in the back of my head started right in. "Why not just run in the drive through. It's been forever since you've done that. You can get away with it once in a while, you know. Go on. It'll be easier & quicker than finding something at home."

You've got a voice like that too, I assume. Its arguments may be different than mine are, but regardless, things occasionally come up. Fortunately, last night the other side chimed in next. It reminded me that I'd be much better off choosing something at home, which I did.

It's helpful if you know your own vulnerabilities ahead of time. That way you can develop strategies for dealing with them. Mine usually run toward the "quicker and easier" variety, as you've just heard. One of my strategies is to keep a serving of something cooked and easy to thaw in the freezer for "emergencies." Last night I raided my stash.

The other common piece of logic we identified last time was the one that goes "cooking is too much work; it's best left to others." Since I actually like cooking that one doesn't usually grab me. We've each got our favorites!

Today we'll explore two more common ways people talk themselves out of preparing the kind of delicious, fresh, healthful meals that could otherwise bring nutrition and enjoyment into our lives!

Continue reading "Preparing Healthful Meals, Part 2" »

"Eating healthy is a great idea. In theory. But who has time?"

This same comment has come up several times in the past couple of weeks -- so I thought we might like to toss it around. I'm thinking a couple of posts. Today we'll cover two of the most common kinds of faulty logic that might lead people to that conclusion. Next time two more. And the time after that, a quick & solid look at how to make things happen to feed yourself well.

Now first of all, let's set the record straight. All logic that might lead people to hedge in the kitchen is not faulty! With all the conflicting information available in the marketplace about what is or isn't a healthy food choice, it's easy to just become so confused that you throw up your hands and head for the drive-through.

So let's say that's not the problem. You actually have taken the time to come to an informed conclusion about what to eat and how to prepare it. You just don't ever seem to be able to pull it off! The question is why?

Continue reading "No time to eat healthy?" »

One thing I think we can all agree on is we've got a lot going on. And for most of us, dealing with time can be extremely stressful.

Can be.

Doesn't have to.

Let's consider your plan for a single day. We'll call it "today."

How will you arrive at the end of "today" with a feeling of satisfaction that you moved your life toward the fulfillment of your goals in the best way possible ... and enjoyed yourself doing it? That you enhanced rather than depleted your precious life-force energy? And that you made the world around you just a little bit brighter?

Enhance your relationship with time using these 3 tips:

Continue reading "Beat Time Stress. Today." »

We all know the medical consequences of stress by now, right? Heart disease, inefficient immunity leading to more colds & bugs (perhaps even cancer), obesity, etc. Let's face it, stress plays a role in nearly every known chronic or degenerative condition.

But to a stressed-out person, those facts mean very little. It's the truth! And there's a very simple reason. The potential consequences, if they should occur, will show up in the future. Where the stress is here NOW. To a stressed-out person, NOW is much more relevant than something that might happen in ten years. Or fifteen. Or maybe never (if I repent from my stress-laden lifestyle after this crisis has passed).

So let's think about this differently. How does stress affect your quality of life today? And how might your quality of life be measurably better tomorrow if you got a handle on that stress tonight?

Continue reading "Stress: Day to Day" »

Sometimes we all get a bit confused about the difference between where a symptom shows up and what caused it. I know I do myself. So in explaining this difference to a bodywork client the other day, I came up with a little story, which I'll title "Cat and Catastrophe."

Cat and Catastrophe

Imagine you're driving down the main street of your town. Unexpectedly, a cat runs out in front of your car. You, being an alert driver and also a cat-lover, react quickly to avoid catastrophe. You stop on a dime. Fluffy goes on to see another day and stake a claim on her remaining 8 lives.

Yet...

Somewhere behind you, you hear a loud "thwak."

You stopped quickly and Fluffy was spared. Yet someone behind you wasn't able to react as efficiently. Somewhere down the chain, there was a failure to compensate. Catastrophe occurred! Just not at the site of the initial problem.

Continue reading "Chain Reactions and Your Body" »

Those darned great reasons. We've discussed them before. Yet it bears repeating because, well, let's just say that I even find myself wrapped in them from time to time. It takes practice.

So you're happily cruising along in your life and *bam* it happens. Something unexpected. "No big deal," you figure. "I can handle that." And usually you could. But not this time. Why not? Well, you've got your reasons!

Here's the thing. We know how to recognize the big ones. I'm tired, Don't have the time, Don't have the money. Blah, blah, blah.

But what about the sneaky little variations that slip in using different language? Or into a part of your life where you aren't trained to watch for trouble? Or even when the first great reason that pops into your mind is more of a habitual answer than the real deal?

What then?

Well, check out these 3 "deeper" possibilities:

Continue reading "I Can't Improve My Life Today Because..." »

Why would a dentist from Cleveland, Ohio care much about nutrition? Dr. Weston A Price, back in the 1930's and 40's, was one of a number of dentists of his era who observed an increase in tooth decay and changes in facial structure that they thought might be related to changes in their patients' diets.

More and more processed foods were becoming available in the marketplace, and people were beginning to choose them. Dr. Price and some of his contemporaries theorized that this might be part of the reason for the changes they saw.

To research his theory, Dr. Price traveled to a number of remote areas of the world. At that time, the people in these remote regions were still eating the traditional foods of their ancestors. He had a unique window of opportunity to document his findings, in words and with photographs.

Dr. Price went to many different regions, where the foods consumed were quite diverse. For example, he traveled to Switzerland, to Africa, and to Alaska. The native foods available in these regions were obviously quite different. Yet his observations were consistent. People eating their traditional diets were healthy and vibrant, full-faced, and presented little tooth decay, despite not having access to modern-day dental care.

When he went down the road to observe people of the same genetic lineage eating a more "modern" diet of processed foods, his findings were consistent as well. Within the course of a single generation, health and vitality had decreased, facial structure had changed, and there was a marked increase in tooth decay.

What could explain these findings?

Continue reading "Healthy Traditional Diets" »

Yesterday I had the pleasure of speaking with a small group of massage therapy students about one of my favorite topics -- how day-to-day "vibes" can manifest in the body as a health challenge. We spend a lot of time here talking about how to manage those "vibes," but I thought you might enjoy eavesdropping on one of the clearest cases I've ever run into that illustrates how they can make their way into the body and cause seemingly far-reaching symptoms.

Before we begin, a word about compensation. Your body is very smart. When it is served up a little insult (which happens a lot), it figures, "no big deal - I can handle this." And it sets up a compensation system. The compensation often turns into a chain of little bitty changes that your body figures it can deal with pretty easily. However eventually, if the insult goes on long enough without getting resolved, a weak link in the compensation chain sometimes shows up. Something that, despite its best efforts, your body actually can't deal with well.

We call that something a symptom.

"Karen's" symptom was chronic headaches. At age 50 (more or less), she'd been dealing with them for a good 30 years.

Continue reading "Headaches and Posture Case History" »

"The trouble with people is they don't think!"

If I heard my mom say this once growing up, I heard it a thousand times. And I know for sure she was quoting someone else ... so probably at least a few more folks out there were raised to the same tune.

Thinking has a lot to be said for it, doesn't it? You can think through the solution to a problem, think about the potential consequences of your actions before you take them, or think about what you wish you would have said instead of sticking your foot in your mouth with your co-worker yesterday afternoon.

Thinking is a great thing! But it's not everything. Consider these 3 powerful add-ons to optimize your thinking experience and get better results. ;-)

Continue reading "Thinking and Creative Inspiration" »

Today's article is going to be quick, because I'm about to take my hopefully un-leaky tires on the road in a few minutes to head out for a holistic fair in Minneapolis this weekend. (At the Earl Brown Center -- stop by and say "hi" if you're in the areas!)

Anyway, I just wanted to share a little analogy you might find helpful in distinguishing the difference between Stress Management (a temporary quick fix which is, of course, sometimes necessary) and Resolving Stress (which hopefully gets to the bottom of things so you can move on.

Stress management is kind of like putting a shot of air into a leaky tire...

Continue reading "Stress Management and Leaky Tires" »