The Holidays are filled with choice
There are many traditions around Thanksgiving and Christmas; however the common thread is giving thanks and sharing. In our various lives and holidays rituals, no matter where you are, most of us can be grateful for the power of choice.
We have the choice to eat healthy, or not so healthy. In many areas of the World, some don’t have that option; some are simply grateful to have something to eat when they are hungry; but most of us have the option to choose what we eat, how much and when.
We have the choice to step out in to a public park or play area and enjoy nature after a sedentary day. We have the choice to sit and watch games on TV, games at a stadium, movies on TV, movies at the Theater. Many of us even have the choice to even get in a game and play or just throw a ball!
We have the freedom of education. whether it be at a school, a library or a free downloadable course off the internet.
We have the choice to express love to our family and friends. We have the choice to stay at home or visit family and friends. I know many of you might feel you don’t have a choice during the Holidays…but you really do!
We have the choice to think positively when times might be tough. We have the choice to give canned food when we have a little extra.
There are countless ways to open our hearts and minds to gratitude…it all comes down to choice.
During the Holidays, consider you have the ability to choose what makes you fulfilled, happy, gracious and authentic. Then be grateful for the freedom that comes with it! That’s BIG!
Happy, healthy Holidays~
Thanksgiving…acidic or alkaline…which are you?
This weekend…will you be Acidic…or alkaline?
The human body uses acids to help digest proteins and alkalines, or bases, to digest starches. But optimum body health is maintained when it is consistently in an alkaline state. In fact, research shows that maintaining a proper pH balance keeps us healthier by reducing fatigue, easing muscle pains and preventing indigestion. PH measures, on a scale of zero to 14, the level of hydrogen ion concentration. A pH level over 7.0 is more alkaline; a pH level under 7.0 is more acidic. Pure water and typical human saliva are pH neutral. Healthy human blood is slightly alkaline.
Ideally, 80 percent of what we eat should be alkaline and just 20 percent acidic. For most Americans, though, their diets are almost the opposite, too heavily dependent on processed foods and too deficient in fresh fruits and vegetables. A diet made up of dairy products, wheat and animal protein is very acid heavy and contributes to weakening your overall physical and mental health. Many health care professionals (including myself) believe excess body acidity can lead to headaches, arthritis, dry skin, fatigue, recurring infections, obesity and general weight gain, and anxiety.
And…here we go, into a decadent weekend of mostly acidic food! How tough it that?!
Now, this Thanksgiving holiday, and the leftovers for the next several days include turkey (acid) gravy (acid) Cranberry relish (acid) alcohol (acid) potatoes (acid) butter (acid) rolls (acid) stuffing (acid) creamy salad dressings (acid) Egg nog (acid), pie (acid) and green beans (alikaline YAY!!!!) We have something alkaline.
Ok, kidding aside, yes, the weekend will probably be pretty acidic. You might get acid reflux, you might feel fatigue, you might feel a little bloated and you might have some headaches.
I’m not asking you to change your food rituals, I mean, I am having stuffing (smile!) However, here are a few alkaline tips you can do to at least help the pendulum swing a little closer to the alkaline side:
Have lemon or lime with your water (yes, lemons and limes are alkaline!)
Choose Extra Virgin olive oil or coconut oil and herbs instead of creamy dressings on your vegetables and/or salads.
Choose leafy greens with your turkey. Some of the most alkaline are parsley, cilantro, cucumber, artichoke, lettuces, and sprouts
Have some green vegetables (green beans, broccoli, broccolini, Brussels sprouts to name a few) *Note, radishes, cauliflower, garlic and onion aren’t green but are very alkaline.
Drink some herbal tea (dandelion root is especially good) during the day or later at night.
Add chlorophyll and even ginger to your water.
Have some fruit for dessert (some fruit is acidic, but much less acidic than desserts made with sugar and butter; plus fruit has a lot of fiber and nutrients).
Drink filtered water (not carbonated)
Enjoy your Holiday feast! But enjoy feeling good too!
If you make a few of these additions to your weekend, you just might feel like you have a little more energy, you might have a little less brain fog, and most likely will sleep better!
It takes a little planning
It’s here! The Holidays. Halloween was the intro, but Thanksgiving is a full court press of the “season”!
This is a wonderful time of year, however working with clients, this can be some of he most challenging weeks of the year…late November through January.
There’s travel, shopping, family, friends, parties and FOOD…wonderfully decadent food! We want to be able to kick up our heels, relax on the couch, avoid workouts, sipping eggnog, enjoying home made pastries, laughing with friends and family and pretending that if we have an abundance of cheese, double servings of stuffing, samplings of every dish made and drink wine instead of water that it is ok.
Well, it is ok, but you might just put on a few pounds. But maybe that’s ok with you! Maybe you worked hard in September and October to allow yourself to put on a few pounds. Maybe you’ve hired a personal trainer (I know some great ones) who will help you burn it off. Or maybe you are like so many who have this happy place called denial and in January you feel puffy, sick, heavy, toxic and have the same 10 pounds to lose that you work on every January.
Here’s a novel thought…you can laugh, enjoy friends and family, relax and still have a great time. You can make this season different…you can start January off with a healthy body, a lean tummy and kidneys which love you!
Here’s the trick. Decide now how you want to feel come January 1. Decide now if you are willing to make some adjustments (I didn’t say deprivations) which will help you wind up at your destination place in January; feeling pretty darn good!
Let’s say you are at a healthy body weight now and you’d like to be there in 6 weeks. You will need to make some choices now on how and what you will eat and “do”. How about you decide you will get in 200 minutes of activity a week, any way you can fit it in. Decide that now and calendar it. Invite your family, invite your out of town guests to be active because chances are they, too, are stressed about getting in enough activity! You will be giving them a gift quite possibly.
Then you decide you will eat some out of the box foods, but only those which you might not ever get to try again, or won’t for another year. Decide to fill up your plate with 70% vegetables and then if you want more, you wait 20 minutes and get only 1 item which is “calling” to you.
Decide now you will drink 80+ oz of water a day (I recommend at least 100).
Another consideration is if you are looking at the food options and there’s rolls, potatoes, and pastries, you take a pause and realize you could have those ANY time of the year. They aren’t just available during Thanksgiving, so consider saving those for another occasion.
Think about it this way…when you start buying Christmas gifts, most of us decide on a budget so we don’t end up paying off our credit cards for the next 8 months of 2015 from this time of year. We set our boundaries now and look for the deals. It’s the same way with our health. If we can pay “cash” (so to speak) for our health and not go in to debt in January, we’ll be ahead of the game with our health. What an amazing feeling that will be!
Thank you November
November is thought of as the beginning of the Holiday Seasons. It’s thought of as the marker for the changing of the weather and it’s recognized for brining gratitude to the table, so to speak.
Whether you use November as your month of gratitude, or you profess your gratitude daily all year long, it’s wonderful to recognize who and what in your life there is to be thankful for.
Think about all the circumstances and people in your life that are easy to love. They just float in and out with a lightness which helps make your day, your life easier. These people and situations are what makes it all worth it. There’s no real work involved in having them in your life. It feels good.
Now think about the people and circumstances which are a bit distant, a bit unfamiliar but still there isn’t any real “work” involved one way or the other to create a happier life. Like the person you see at the gym who gives you a smile, or the neighbor who has an immaculate lawn you can enjoy or the fact that you are just one of those lucky people who has a great smile…it’s easy, but not earth shattering.
Then there are those people and situations which just pull the rug out from under you. They can aggravate, irritate, provoke and instigate. These moments, these people can take that wonderful feeling of appreciation and turn your life into a chaotic tornado of frustration.
What if when you were provoked you were able to take a step back and consider if there’s something in that lesson which can help you appreciate something else…something bigger something which can help you be a better “you”?
Looking at these dark emotions takes a lot of patience and sometimes takes days even months to embrace. But occasionally if we are able to take just an itty bitty part of the pain, the anger, the emotion which causes negativity and find the hidden pearl inside, we can find a way to be grateful for the new perspective. That is gratitude.
Thank you November for helping us remember what we are grateful for.
Undecided
I don’t know. I haven’t decided. Let me think on it. I’ll get back to you. Maybe. I’m unsure. Later. Someday I will.
Do these sound familiar? I know I’ve heard them…and I’ve said them. We comment this way when we are not quite convinced one way or the other if we want to do something, so we “marinate”.
In life’s decisions, it’s often necessary (and wise) to take a moment to consider our options and wait to make a move one way or the other. However, at some point, the indecision becomes our decision. We are on hold, waiting and although it feels like we are trying to do the right thing by waiting, we’ve already decided to be undecided.
It’s in this time period of nothingness that is actually the painful part. Deciding to go forward or deciding with a clear mind to do absolutely nothing gets the load of something undecided off our shoulders. It might feel like that once we make the choice the hard work begins, but I see it all the time…the pain is in the wavering. The pain is when we can’t move, in any direction.
Like the person who wants to lose 20 pounds but can’t quite commit to doing the work. They consider the work is the hard part. The work is hard…but what’s harder is wanting to do get the results, but not quite committing to it and reliving the “desire” to be healthier, day after day, year after year, but never quite jumping fully “in”. Wishing at the end of every day that they could complete (or rather start) the journey.
How about the person who keeps saying “someday I’d like to take a trip to Europe” yet, someday never happens. Years go by and it’s always a thought, but actions are not taken to achieve the dream.
How about the person who wants to complete a triathlon. They clearly want to, but the training never starts, only the desire to think about it. They then get frustrated with themselves because year after year it’s on the goal list, but the goal never really gets off the ground.
I’m saying, stop the pain! Decide to go for it, or to move on and let it go. It’s torture when we can’t make up our minds, but it’s liberating when we can pull the plug and move on something…even if it’s not perfect at least you’ve begun!
Sunny or Stormy which season are you in?
If we lived in an environment where each and every day we had temperatures in the mid 70’s, blue skies dotted with a few clouds here and there, perfectly green hills, a slight breeze and warm nights, every day, every month, every year…would we appreciate it? I’d like to say yes, but is it that we would appreciate it because we have experienced storms, cold days and nights, torrential winds and down right gloomy days? Would we say yes because we have perspective?
Seasons are great metaphors to our life cycles. One day, maybe many many days, and even months or dare I say years, life is beautifully sunny, no real clouds in the forecast, not even a little drizzle. Then, out of nowhere a hurricane comes in, coupled with a tornado, a snow storm and followed with an earthquake! Our sunny days seem gone forever. All we can do is put on our cold weather gear, batten down the hatches and fight the storm. We can trudge through the snow, and find the safety nets we stored for tumultuous days.
Finally, the storm lifts, but in it’s wake there’s destruction. Here’s the real life lesson…did the destruction happen because we were careless and naive and didn’t have a safety net in place? Did the destruction happen because of the way we reacted to the storm? Did the chaos and dishevelment occur because we didn’t want to deal with the uncomfortable situation and instead we went into hiding?
Blizzards and unpredictable weather are going to come in and out of our lives constantly. The beauty is the nice calm weather that emerges after the pandemonium. How we appreciate the fresh air, the warmth of the sun, the calm winds and the newness of the day can be embraced because of the changes, because of the contrast of the seasons.
8th Annual NO desserts challenge through the holidays!
Body Firm’s 8th Annual “No Desserts” challenge
Here we are again! The beginning of the Holiday Season. This means baskets of candy everywhere, desserts at multiple functions and muffin tops above the belt line because of it!
So….how do we manage around it? We do our body Firm “no desserts” challenge.
Rules:
Start date October 24 through….
End date (choose one)…and you can “keep going” if you want
day after Thanksgiving
day after Christmas
day after New Years
For this time period, you will choose not to have any desserts. What are desserts? Anything which cannot act like a meal!
Popular foods you CAN have:
Fruit
alcohol
food bars
sugary cocktail mixers
Popular foods that are technically a dessert
frozen yogurt
candy
brownies, cakes, cookies (etc)
soda
Grey areas (you decide)
honey
fruit juice
dried fruit
If you cheat…
$50 goes in to the “kiddy” payable to the American Diabetes Association which I donate on everyone’s behalf in January.
If you would like to join in on the fun and not be the typical person who puts on 8-10 lbs between Halloween and New Years…email Tammy @ tammy@mybodyfirm.com
**THIS YEAR WE ARE DOING A 20 MINUTE A DAY ACTIVITY CHALLENGE TOO! JOIN IN AND CONTACT ME FOR MORE DETAILS.
What can you let go of?
Crazy weather out right now. It’s nippy at night, hot during the day, then snowing in some regions! Yes, it’s the turn of the season and it’s Fall…nature is letting us know change is coming.
The most obvious change that I notice is that of the leaves on the trees. To me, this symbolizes “letting go”. Many trees have vibrant fresh leaves from Spring through Autumn, then the leaves change colors and fall to the ground. It sounds a little sad writing this, but truly the ritual is so that the tree (or flower) can get ready for something new in a few months’ time; something the plant needs. New growth.
How about you? Is it time for you to let go of something which might have been really great for you a few months ago, but no longer serves you in the same way? Is it time for you to “shed” something no longer necessary so you can make room for something new?
What in your life is taking up space in your head, your body, your soul, that truly would be best left behind? What in your life do you need to make room for but there’s too much clutter to invite it in?
Do you need a new nutrition plan? Are you done with your cycling season and ready get back to the gym and do functional training? Or, on a deeper level, are you holding on to some anger, some “story” of what’s holding you back so you can’t “grow new leaves”?
We all have a little something in our life which need rebirth and sprucing up. Take a pause this week while you look at the message nature is handing us and relate it to your life. What can you let go of in order to may way for something new, exciting, vibrant and new?
Free Seminar every Thursday from 12:30-1:30
Bring your lunch and learn about nutrition, fitness and homeopathic remedies to create a healthier, more lively body!
Every Thursday from 12:30-1:30, Dr. Cody Fowler of Symmetry Sports and Tammy Parkinson, CNC of Body Firm will be presenting topics ranging from inflammation in the joints to sleep deprivation and it’s effects on the body. Please drop by! For more information, contact Tammy @ 408 896 2639 or tammy@mybodyfirm.com
Is a headache necessary?
I’m doing a seminar this week about foods which cause headaches and foods which help reduce headaches. It dawned on me that probably every person alive has had at some point a headache. There are of course, many factors and instigators of why a person has a headache…but if there are certain foods which provoke this painful issue, wouldn’t you want to avoid them? Here’s a simple list of what foods are commonly known to provoke this uncomfortable problem:
1st, it’s good to know many headaches are caused by tyramine
Unfortunately, for cheese lovers, aged cheeses have more tyramine in them the others. Here are some examples:
Blue cheeses,Brie,Cheddar, Stilton, Feta, Gorgonzola, Mozzarella, Muenster, Parmesan, Swiss and processed cheese.
Other foods high in tyramine include processed meats, pickles, onions, olives, certain types of beans, raisins, nuts, avocados, canned soups, and even red wine.
Certain food additives, including nitrites and some food colorings, are also common headache triggers. Like tyramine, these additives may increase blood flow to the brain causing headaches in some:
Other common foods which are known to cause headaches in my research are:
Aspartame (NutraSweet, Equal), splenda, and other artificial sweeteners; foods with meat tenderizers or yeast or yeast extracts
Caffeine in even in small amounts can trigger a migraine in some people
Chocolate and cocoa
Alcoholic beverages in addition to red wine, beer, and sherry
Aged, canned, cured, or processed meats such as chicken livers and other organ meats, and sardines. Also foods prepared with nitrates (like packaged meats) can cause problems.
Cultured dairy products such as sour cream or buttermilk
Dried fruits including figs, raisins, and dates
Breads and crackers containing cheese including pizza
Canned soups, or soups made from bouillon or based with MSG
and (drum roll…)
Sugar!
The good news is there are certain nutrients and foods which HELP when you have a headache.
One of the most used mineral is magnesium (about 400mg) in a supplement. Deficiency of magnesium interferes with transmission of nerve and muscle impulses, causing irritability and nervousness which might trigger headaches. A lot of headaches/migraines are caused by hormonal changes as well.
Look to add these in if experiencing a migraine or a headache.
More water is number 1. Dehydration can cause a plethora of ailments…headaches being the top of the list.
In addition add in fiber rich foods, such as
— vegetables, fruits and berries: papaya, avocado, mangos, bananas, apples, carrots, winter squash, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, collard greens, turnip greens, yam, brussel sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower, sweet potato, fresh figs.
– legumes: all beans (kidney beans, black beans, black-eyed peas, garbanzo beans, etc.) and lentils;
– seeds and nuts (walnuts, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds);
As mentioned magnesium rich foods, such as almonds, apples, apricots, avocados, brown rice, garlic, leafy vegetables, grapefruit, cantaloupe, sesame seeds, spinach, wild salmon.
Potassium rich foods: apricots, avocados, lima beans, bananas, garlic, raisins, nuts, winter squash, yams and yogurt.
Vitamin E rich foods: oatmeal, sweet potatoes, watercress, dandelion, flax seed, legumes, seeds and nuts, olive oil.
So, next time you experience some pain between the ears, consider if it’s food related and pull out this list!