Happy Thanksgiving! Now that the holiday season is in full swing, let’s make sure that your health is still part of the equation. With all of the celebrations, gatherings and food that come into play, it can be a challenge. That doesn’t mean that health has to go out the window. The average person puts on weight over the holidays. Gaining 5 pounds between Thanksgiving and year’s end is not uncommon. It doesn’t have to be that way. You can celebrate guilt-free and still enjoy yourself if you have a plan.
Change the way you think about food
Most of us associate sweets and other holiday favorites with comfort and a carefree feeling before we eat them. After we eat them, we remember that they are not the going to help us get the health results we want.
Tip: Focus on the other aspects of the season like the family, friends and enjoyable conversation you can have. Food may be around, but you don’t have to eat it all. If you are talking more, you can eat less.
Eat well the rest of the day
If you keep yourself on track by eating healthy then avoiding the candy and desserts is easier because you will not be hungry.
Tip: Make sure that your meals and snacks are healthy on the day of parties. That way you know that there is room for some goodies as a reward for the good day you put together.
Only buy/bring the treats that you don’t like
What may be tough for someone to resist may not be too hard for you to resist.
Tip: You can control the menu if you host events and you can bring any items you want when there is a potluck or dish-passing event. Bring healthier versions or things you know you won’t eat
Decide what you want to eat ahead of time
Look at the options available to you. Do you have a favorite? If so, why eat all the other stuff just because it’s there?
Tip: pick a treat and enjoy a reasonable amount of it. Sit down and eat it deliberately. When you are done, you can look back and remember you enjoyed it rather than the mindless eating that can go on all day.
Thanksgiving is underway, but there are many more gatherings to follow. You can use them as opportunities to gain weight or to solidify your game-plan. It’s up to you.
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Monday, November 8, 2010
The Inner Battle: You know what you have to do
There is an inner battle that I have to win on a regular basis. Many people have a similar battle, but unfortunately, they don’t always win. I’m not saying that I’m great or better than anyone for being able to win the battle. I’m just bringing up the battle itself to show what we are all dealing with on a daily basis.
What is this battle that I’m talking about? The battle is the little voice in your head that says: “I don’t want to do that.” For many this voice is loud and wins most of the battles. For others, who have found a way to win, the voice is just a whisper. No matter how loud or soft the voice is, we all hear it. It is in our minds and we have to overcome it to reach any goal.
Normally I am talking about health, so that is the first area that comes to mind for me. This battle can happen in all areas of life. In fact, not only does it happen everywhere, but I believe that the inner mental battle is a big part of life in general.
The difference between success and failure often takes place before we even begin the action. Comparing it to a game, it is often won or lost before the opening whistle. How does this happen? Well, often, we decide what we can and can’t do before we ever try it.
When it comes to health, the easiest situation to understand is the battle to go workout…or not. We have all been there. Maybe it’s an early morning when the bed is just too comfortable to get out of. Maybe it’s an evening after a long day of work when all you want to do is go home to the couch. There are many places this battle takes place, but those are the ones that I see the most in my own routine and hear the most about with my clients’ routines.
The more you win this battle, the better off you are. When we try to do things that we want to do or need to do, it takes energy. It takes more than energy to win, but the energy to battle at all is often the first step we need to get going. The next step is preparation. We talk about this a lot and in the context of the battle, preparation is really just your argument. Why do you want to get up and go? What is the reason that you have to win this battle?
The best scenario is to skip the battle altogether. This concept sounds intriguing doesn’t it? Wouldn’t it be great if you could just go do what you wanted to do with no resistance? It is great and it can be done. It’s all about preparing for the battle and making sure you know what you want your outcome to be. Once you are sure of what you want and what you need to do to get it, the battle is winnable.
The more reasons we have, the easier the battle is. The more points we can make in our favor, the more likely we are to get through the battle. Getting through is often all we need because that means we are on our way. Once you are able to get past the initial argument, everything becomes easier.
Once you get to this point, you can stop worrying and start doing. We’ve dealt with this our whole lives. We’ve dealt with this in all areas of life too. When we were kids it was cleaning our rooms or eating our vegetables. In school it was studying or getting that homework assignment done. Now as adults, the list gets longer, but the same inner mental battle takes place. There are things we need to get done. We may not always want to do them, but they need to get done and we will do them eventually.
For that reason, not having the battle really is your best bet. Think about it in those terms. The consequences of not doing it are unthinkable. With the most extreme examples this is easy, so apply it to the rest of them and the battle will be won before you even get into it.
You know what you need to do. You know you are going to do it. Wouldn’t it be easier if you had a few reasons that it was easier to get it done sooner and with a better attitude? Wouldn’t that make the day go faster? What if instead of worrying and thinking about all the reasons you don’t want to be doing it, you just got it done?
If we did this, we would all be healthier, happier and more successful. It may not be easy, but it sure beats the alternative. Being healthy, happy and successful can mean many things to many people. Being unhealthy, grumpy and unsuccessful is enough for me to get things done. What do you need to motivate you?
What is this battle that I’m talking about? The battle is the little voice in your head that says: “I don’t want to do that.” For many this voice is loud and wins most of the battles. For others, who have found a way to win, the voice is just a whisper. No matter how loud or soft the voice is, we all hear it. It is in our minds and we have to overcome it to reach any goal.
Normally I am talking about health, so that is the first area that comes to mind for me. This battle can happen in all areas of life. In fact, not only does it happen everywhere, but I believe that the inner mental battle is a big part of life in general.
The difference between success and failure often takes place before we even begin the action. Comparing it to a game, it is often won or lost before the opening whistle. How does this happen? Well, often, we decide what we can and can’t do before we ever try it.
When it comes to health, the easiest situation to understand is the battle to go workout…or not. We have all been there. Maybe it’s an early morning when the bed is just too comfortable to get out of. Maybe it’s an evening after a long day of work when all you want to do is go home to the couch. There are many places this battle takes place, but those are the ones that I see the most in my own routine and hear the most about with my clients’ routines.
The more you win this battle, the better off you are. When we try to do things that we want to do or need to do, it takes energy. It takes more than energy to win, but the energy to battle at all is often the first step we need to get going. The next step is preparation. We talk about this a lot and in the context of the battle, preparation is really just your argument. Why do you want to get up and go? What is the reason that you have to win this battle?
The best scenario is to skip the battle altogether. This concept sounds intriguing doesn’t it? Wouldn’t it be great if you could just go do what you wanted to do with no resistance? It is great and it can be done. It’s all about preparing for the battle and making sure you know what you want your outcome to be. Once you are sure of what you want and what you need to do to get it, the battle is winnable.
The more reasons we have, the easier the battle is. The more points we can make in our favor, the more likely we are to get through the battle. Getting through is often all we need because that means we are on our way. Once you are able to get past the initial argument, everything becomes easier.
Once you get to this point, you can stop worrying and start doing. We’ve dealt with this our whole lives. We’ve dealt with this in all areas of life too. When we were kids it was cleaning our rooms or eating our vegetables. In school it was studying or getting that homework assignment done. Now as adults, the list gets longer, but the same inner mental battle takes place. There are things we need to get done. We may not always want to do them, but they need to get done and we will do them eventually.
For that reason, not having the battle really is your best bet. Think about it in those terms. The consequences of not doing it are unthinkable. With the most extreme examples this is easy, so apply it to the rest of them and the battle will be won before you even get into it.
You know what you need to do. You know you are going to do it. Wouldn’t it be easier if you had a few reasons that it was easier to get it done sooner and with a better attitude? Wouldn’t that make the day go faster? What if instead of worrying and thinking about all the reasons you don’t want to be doing it, you just got it done?
If we did this, we would all be healthier, happier and more successful. It may not be easy, but it sure beats the alternative. Being healthy, happy and successful can mean many things to many people. Being unhealthy, grumpy and unsuccessful is enough for me to get things done. What do you need to motivate you?
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Responsibility is the Best Medicine
There is a series in the Minneapolis Star Tribune called “Too Much Medicine?” that has caught my attention. The series focuses on the fact that in the U.S. we spend roughly twice as much on health care as our counterparts in Germany, Canada, Australia and Japan. We spend twice as much, but we don’t have better health. In fact, in many cases, our health is far worse.
I hope this series catches others’ attention too. I’m not sure many of your average Americans knows that we spend so much on health care. That is one of our biggest problems. I talk and write a lot about the habits that we need to change such as diet and exercise. Smoking and stress are killers too, but these habits are not the topic of this article.
This article is about part of the “Too Much Medicine” series that featured a particular category of drugs that has gained popularity in recent years. In my article titled “Medication: Worth the Risk”, I shared a statistic that the average 30-year-old is on three medications. This stat is alarming in itself, but this latest part of the series raised even more questions about medication.
One of the drug categories topping the list of those taken by 30-year-olds is heartburn medication. There are many brands and products to choose from, so I’m not going to attack any one in particular. I suppose I am going to attack them all.
The ‘’heartburn epidemic” has been taking its toll on many Americans. This has become one of the most common medical problems since more than 119 million prescriptions were written for heartburn medications last year. People are taking this to relieve heartburn and other symptoms such as acid reflux and indigestion.
That is a lot of prescriptions. No matter how many people you think need this drug, 119 million is a lot of people to be taking a medication. When you look at the side effects, you may be more alarmed. When you look at the costs (over $200 per month in some cases) you may be even more alarmed. What had me most alarmed are the causes of heartburn and indigestion, or the reasons that people are choosing to take these medications.
Most people that suffer from indigestion only suffer from it after eating a big meal. This big meal likely contained a high amount of fat, calories, sodium and other flavors that disagree with the person’s stomach. After they eat certain foods, or certain amounts of food, they continue to feel a burning in their stomach and esophagus as the acid in their stomachs reacts.
This doesn’t sound like a lot of fun. We’ve all been there. We’ve all eaten too much or eaten something that didn’t sit right. What alarms me is that people are eating things on a daily basis that make their stomachs hurt. They are eating so much that they have severe heartburn and indigestion on a daily basis.
When someone is watching television with a huge meal in front of them, they may see a commercial that is advertising a medication to prevent the very feeling they are so used to. The commercial shows them how easy it is to get rid of these feelings and all they have to do is call their doctor.
What the commercial doesn’t tell them is that they just caused the symptom by choosing to eat that food or the amount of food they just ate. It doesn’t tell them that they can prevent this feeling just by changing the way they eat. It doesn’t mention that the drug will cost them as much as their meals for the next 2 to 4 weeks either.
In other words, we are choosing to eat foods that give us problems and in quantities that harm our bodies on a daily basis. We are choosing to do this because it there is a pill we can take that makes these feelings go away. We can take a pill and eat whatever we want and feel the same.
Of course, we have yet to find a pill that prevents the other side effects of over eating. The weight gain and other disorders that come along with it are still increasing in numbers and don’t show signs of slowing down, which actually leads us to even more medications.
The fact is, we are putting many things into our bodies. Whatever you put in has an effect on the way your body works. Foods and drugs have to be processed. The body will react to all of them. I don’t have to go into detail about the side effects of some of the drugs as we know there are severe consequences to taking them. Yet, we still take them.
We keep taking drugs because they allow us to ignore the body and keep doing what is told us not to do. When you get a pain it is not because your body has a new disease that we need to treat with a medication. When you get a pain it is because your body doesn’t like something that is happening to it. It is trying to tell you what results the latest actions have caused.
If you ignore these messages, you will continue to do harm to your body. The medications we are taking are making it easier to ignore the messages that the body is sending us. The more we take the less we are aware of what is happening.
This sounds irresponsible doesn’t it? In any job or relationship, we have to take responsibility for our actions. Our health is no different. It may take years to realize the damage. It may cost millions of dollars to treat that damage. There may be medication to help you now and in the future, but that will always be the most painful and expensive option.
The rise in prescription drugs is due to the fact that it seems like the easiest way to get the results we want. It feels like we are able to eat our cake and have it too. Unfortunately, that is not the case. There is always a price to pay. Again, there may be a medicine that can help you down the road. But the best medicine is responsibility.
I hope this series catches others’ attention too. I’m not sure many of your average Americans knows that we spend so much on health care. That is one of our biggest problems. I talk and write a lot about the habits that we need to change such as diet and exercise. Smoking and stress are killers too, but these habits are not the topic of this article.
This article is about part of the “Too Much Medicine” series that featured a particular category of drugs that has gained popularity in recent years. In my article titled “Medication: Worth the Risk”, I shared a statistic that the average 30-year-old is on three medications. This stat is alarming in itself, but this latest part of the series raised even more questions about medication.
One of the drug categories topping the list of those taken by 30-year-olds is heartburn medication. There are many brands and products to choose from, so I’m not going to attack any one in particular. I suppose I am going to attack them all.
The ‘’heartburn epidemic” has been taking its toll on many Americans. This has become one of the most common medical problems since more than 119 million prescriptions were written for heartburn medications last year. People are taking this to relieve heartburn and other symptoms such as acid reflux and indigestion.
That is a lot of prescriptions. No matter how many people you think need this drug, 119 million is a lot of people to be taking a medication. When you look at the side effects, you may be more alarmed. When you look at the costs (over $200 per month in some cases) you may be even more alarmed. What had me most alarmed are the causes of heartburn and indigestion, or the reasons that people are choosing to take these medications.
Most people that suffer from indigestion only suffer from it after eating a big meal. This big meal likely contained a high amount of fat, calories, sodium and other flavors that disagree with the person’s stomach. After they eat certain foods, or certain amounts of food, they continue to feel a burning in their stomach and esophagus as the acid in their stomachs reacts.
This doesn’t sound like a lot of fun. We’ve all been there. We’ve all eaten too much or eaten something that didn’t sit right. What alarms me is that people are eating things on a daily basis that make their stomachs hurt. They are eating so much that they have severe heartburn and indigestion on a daily basis.
When someone is watching television with a huge meal in front of them, they may see a commercial that is advertising a medication to prevent the very feeling they are so used to. The commercial shows them how easy it is to get rid of these feelings and all they have to do is call their doctor.
What the commercial doesn’t tell them is that they just caused the symptom by choosing to eat that food or the amount of food they just ate. It doesn’t tell them that they can prevent this feeling just by changing the way they eat. It doesn’t mention that the drug will cost them as much as their meals for the next 2 to 4 weeks either.
In other words, we are choosing to eat foods that give us problems and in quantities that harm our bodies on a daily basis. We are choosing to do this because it there is a pill we can take that makes these feelings go away. We can take a pill and eat whatever we want and feel the same.
Of course, we have yet to find a pill that prevents the other side effects of over eating. The weight gain and other disorders that come along with it are still increasing in numbers and don’t show signs of slowing down, which actually leads us to even more medications.
The fact is, we are putting many things into our bodies. Whatever you put in has an effect on the way your body works. Foods and drugs have to be processed. The body will react to all of them. I don’t have to go into detail about the side effects of some of the drugs as we know there are severe consequences to taking them. Yet, we still take them.
We keep taking drugs because they allow us to ignore the body and keep doing what is told us not to do. When you get a pain it is not because your body has a new disease that we need to treat with a medication. When you get a pain it is because your body doesn’t like something that is happening to it. It is trying to tell you what results the latest actions have caused.
If you ignore these messages, you will continue to do harm to your body. The medications we are taking are making it easier to ignore the messages that the body is sending us. The more we take the less we are aware of what is happening.
This sounds irresponsible doesn’t it? In any job or relationship, we have to take responsibility for our actions. Our health is no different. It may take years to realize the damage. It may cost millions of dollars to treat that damage. There may be medication to help you now and in the future, but that will always be the most painful and expensive option.
The rise in prescription drugs is due to the fact that it seems like the easiest way to get the results we want. It feels like we are able to eat our cake and have it too. Unfortunately, that is not the case. There is always a price to pay. Again, there may be a medicine that can help you down the road. But the best medicine is responsibility.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
