All posts by Deidre

A child of Colorado, Delaware, Oregon, and California – where she obtained her first college degree and became a Nursing Home Administrator – Deidre Edwards now resides in North Carolina. While helping her husband start a video production business and raising their two children, Deidre returned to college to earn her nursing degree. A teacher at heart, she soon applied her nursing skills and knowledge to helping high school students expand their medical career interests through the Health Science Program she established. After retiring from teaching, Deidre wrote her first book – Toolkit for Wellness – as a response to the health issues she witnessed while working. She witnessed both students and staff had struggling with excess weight, diabetes, poor food choices, and stress issues – yet everyone shared the desire for a healthier life. Her easy-to-understand explanations of body functions and how foods break down, clearly show her passion for teaching others. Deidre’s dual passion in learning about habits and habit formation is expressed in her books and regular blog writings so others can learn how to make big improvements through daily small changes. Life took a dramatic turn when Deidre’s husband became confined to bed under Hospice care at home for over two years. With all of her nursing skills on board, and a deep love between them to sweeten the moments, she provided the loving, quality-of-life care he needed. Still the teacher at heart, Deidre realized there was a huge need to light the way for others as they walked the path of caregiving for a loved one. Hence, she wrote Toolkit for Caregivers and Love Lives Here, Toolkit for Caregiver Survival. Together, both books address the caregiving processes, skills, and issues for before, during, and afterward. Deidre continues to be involved with her community through choral singing groups, volunteering for the North Carolina Symphony, Chamber of Commerce, church functions, and activities with friends and family. She also enjoys the time she spends promoting her books and speaking with others about health and caregiving.
Blogging for good health!, Stress Reduction

Traditions In The Time of Covid

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So much has changed this year, and yet – I have more time than ever to slow down to do the small things that have slipped past my attention in recent years. Such as writing and sending Christmas cards and decorating holiday cookies.

Recent years have seen me sending out New Year’s cards. No time for Christmas cards. Too many rehearsals for three choirs, Advent preparations at church, community musical events, and parties to squeeze in.

Not this year.

The hustle and bustle are almost non-existent. Family traveling hundreds or thousands of miles for holiday activities will probably not happen – and rightly so, because we want to be alive to do it next year.

What to do, now?

Aside from watching the Hallmark channels 24/7 to replace the joy of gathering and preparing for family festivities, we can rekindle some traditional activities that have gone by the wayside.

Set up a card-sending station on a TV table in the living room.  Pen a brief note on a Christmas card during the commercials of the latest movie about saving the parade/store/wedding/tree lighting ceremony/family farm.

It’s been ten or more years since I’ve decorated cookies. Enough of living vicariously through the actors on TV! Today, I devoted several hours to baking a basic sugar cookie – converted to gluten free – and in painstakingly piped on eight different colors of icing! All made from scratch.

I had a blast dancing around the kitchen all day listening to non-stop holiday music and taking all the time I needed to create my sweet cookies – all 48 of them.

No rush at all. Take my time. Enjoy the moment.

It won’t be hard to find a home for my humble little creations, and I’ll save just a few to add a festive touch to my meals.

With depression on the rise from the effects of the COVID-19-related isolation on top of the holidays, we have a recipe for an unhealthy, sad time smack dab in the season of hope, peace, joy, and love.

What tradition can you reinstate?

Instead of casually stuffing a present into a gift bag, take the time to thoughtfully wrap it up. Make the bow yourself. Craft a gift card to attach with the recipient’s name.

If there are several people living in your home, how about bundling up to tour around the neighborhood to sing carols? How cool would it be to ring a neighbor’s doorbell and gift them with a song? You can serenade them through your masks while still being socially distant!

Spread the cheer – even if it’s to yourself. Flying solo has its problems, but we do not have to sink into a funk of despair if we can create and enjoy festive moments.

We can do this!

In health-

Deidre

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Blogging for good health!, Stress Reduction, This -n- That

Rotate Me Out!

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Until you have been involved in moving or downsizing for yourself or a loved one, the cycle of stuff may not be at the top of your radar.

This is about my ninth time since 2000.

Mom out of – my teenage and college – home. Mom out of assisted living.

In-laws out of house. In-laws out of senior living apartment.

House-wide carpeting fiasco times three.

Basement flood from Hurricane Florence involving my stuff, our former video business’s stuff, mom’s stuff, and my in-laws’ stuff.

Lots of stuff.

And now, joyfully, an evisceration of the guest room and office to provide a more welcoming atmosphere for both adult children and spouse/significant others to visit.

No one sleeps on the floor!

Repaint. New window treatments. Install two queen-sized Murphy beds so I can enjoy the space when there is no company. Blessing my daughter all the way in thanks for getting this started for me!

Build it and they will come!

All good. Can’t wait until we can have our little family reunion – once travel and getting together is once again safe.

In the meantime, there’s STUFF all over my house. Stuff waiting to be put back IF it survives the purging process. Stuff hoping for a new niche so it can easily be found and utilized – especially in my soon-to-be christened craft room/sometimes guest room.

This is not a post about the wonders of Marie Kondo, a Japanese organizing consultant, and letting go of stuff. We all need to do that, for sure.

But what is becoming so abundantly clear to me is that I’ve spent a significant portion of my life chasing or pushing STUFF around. Not being a great or better person. Not doing good deeds to bring joy, laughter, and hope to a troubled soul. Not inspiring others to greatness.

No. I’ve been pushing around a mountain of STUFF. Gives new meaning to the image of Sisyphus and the Rock.

My hourglass of life is not as full as it used to be. How many more grains of my limited and unknown quantity of precious sand do I want to devote to STUFF?

Clearly, not much.

So, this is going to be a purge that will, hopefully, become a blessing to my kids so they won’t have to push my stuff around too much after I’m gone. There’s that loving preparedness and consideration again.

If you are in the throes of getting or wanting more STUFF – better STUFF – because the old STUFF wasn’t good enough… Think twice. If you get new STUFF, make sure to throw out/give away/sell the old STUFF before the new STUFF even darkens the door.

In terms of clothing, I try to give away two for every new one I bring in. We have all over-bought in the past or have overkept while waiting for the size to come back. Move on. Someone could really use that item of clothing right now. Give it a happy home that fits.

Here’s a cycle of stuff that may sound familiar:

Young children want stuff. When they get older, they want stuff for older kids, but the little kid stuff is still there. Then they get cool stuff when they are teens. Moving out to college, they take only the best recent stuff, leaving the old stuff with Mom and Dad.

Twenty-somethings get jobs and can afford entry-level adult stuff. Thirty-somethings can afford to get better stuff which is layered on top of the old stuff their young children get to use.

As the forty-somethings age, their children get stuff. When the kids move out, the parents get better stuff that will last.

Fifty-somethings tweak the stuff their college kids get and help start them on their path of independence with the better stuff they once had. Parents need the ultimate stuff – now.

In the meantime, the parents are gathering stuff their own parents had that joins the childhood stuff their kids grew up with.

In their sixties and seventies, parents are trying to downsize their stuff, but none of the kids want the china, silver, or furniture. What to do with all those framed pictures of young children? How about the baseball trophies?

In our eighties and nineties, we may lose our stuff or not recognize our stuff at all. Too soon, our kids get our stuff.

And so, it goes. The rotation of stuff.

I’m going to try to sort through my stuff as quickly as possible, recognizing that needing something “someday” does not mean I should keep it.

Create a craft/guest room functional for my needs and quickly converts to a restful space for company. Create an office/second guest room that will inspire my writing and speaking engagements designed to uplift and support others, and will easily convert to a restful and uncluttered space for company.

Life is about the experience, the journey, the LOVE … not the stuff.

In health,

Deidre

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Blogging for good health!, Stress Reduction, This -n- That

It’s A Turkey And All the Fixin’s Kind Of Day – Ya’ll Come!

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This week brings about, not only one of the most traveled weeks of the year, but a holiday of which most of us look forward to every year – Thanksgiving. Of course, this year, 2020, has seen such changes in our daily living, working, and caring for others.

It’s been the year of seclusion, and masks – and social distancing, which seems to me to be this year’s new buzz word. I hadn’t been out to eat in I don’t know how long, at a restaurant that actually serves their patrons, until recently. Now, there is serious talk of possibly closing everything down again.

Is anyone listening?

But, there is one thing that no mask, no lockdown, or social distancing can take from us – each other.

Aside from all the brutal lockdowns, negative outcomes, or spreading virus, we have much to be thankful for. Our families, (even if we don’t agree with them), the turkey (although it may not think so), and then there’s the fact you’re still here to read this – and, if nothing else – our memories, which no one can ever take away.

I started wondering, just what did the Pilgrim’s think of their first Thanksgiving Day?

It all began in 1691 in Plymouth, Massachusetts, with Pilgrims sharing their appreciation for the land, and the indigenous people who taught them how to grow crops, how to work the land and survive the brutal winters. Their feast had a long list of foods including turkey, corn, and cranberries, which are still the mainstay of most of our Thanksgiving dinners today.

But, what about dessert?  Hmmm… Fast forward several hundred years later, in 1850, American poet and editor, John Greenleaf Whittier, penned a poem entitled, The Pumpkin, which is dedicated to the longstanding Thanksgiving topper, pumpkin pie.

The Pumpkin

Oh, greenly and fair in the lands of the sun,

The vines of the gourd and the rich melon run,

And the rock and the tree and the cottage enfold,

With broad leaves all greenness and blossoms all gold,

Like that which o’er Nineveh’s prophet once grew,

While he waited to know that his warning was true,

And longed for the storm-cloud, and listened in vain

For the rush of the whirlwind and red fire-rain.

On the banks of the Xenil the dark Spanish maiden

Comes up with the fruit of the tangled vine laden;

And the Creole of Cuba laughs out to behold

Through orange-leaves shining the broad spheres of gold;

Yet with dearer delight from his home in the North,

On the fields of his harvest the Yankee looks forth,

Where crook-necks are coiling and yellow fruit shines,

And the sun of September melts down on his vines.

Ah! on Thanksgiving day, when from East and from West,

From North and from South comes the pilgrim and guest;

When the gray-haired New Englander sees round his board

The old broken links of affection restored,

When the care-wearied man seeks his mother once more,

And the worn matron smiles where the girl smiled before,

What moistens the lip and what brightens the eye?

What calls back the past, like the rich Pumpkin pie?

Oh, fruit loved of boyhood! The old days recalling,

When wood-grapes were purpling and brown nuts were falling!

When wild, ugly faces we carved in its skin,

Glaring out through the dark with a candle within!

When we laughed round the corn-heap, with hearts all in tune,

Our chair a broad pumpkin, our lantern the moon,

Telling tales of the fairy who travelled like steam

In a pumpkin-shell coach, with two rats for her team!

Then thanks for thy present! none sweeter or better

E’er smoked from an oven or circled a platter!

Fairer hands never wrought at a pastry more fine,

Brighter eyes never watched o’er its baking, than thine!

And the prayer, which my mouth is too full to express,

Swells my heart that thy shadow may never be less,

That the days of thy lot may be lengthened below,

And the fame of thy worth like a pumpkin-vine grow,

And thy life be as sweet, and its last sunset sky

Golden-tinted and fair as thy own Pumpkin pie!

Deidre and I want to wish each and everyone of you a very Happy Thanksgiving. I hope your table is filled with good food and good people.

May your burdens be light, and your face masks be tight!

Here’s to the turkey – clink!

Sheree

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Blogging for good health!, Stress Reduction, This -n- That

Gratitude for the Now

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We keep hearing the only thing most people will be grateful for this year is that 2020 will soon be over.

They want to shake off the bad 2020 Karma. Too much insanity, fear, disease, death, overload. Weariness abounds. A period of Thanksgiving in 2020?

You’ve got to be kidding.

Thanksgiving used to be the pause before going full-throttle toward a joy-filled Christmas or Hanukkah and New Year’s.

This year, many folks have already put up their Christmas trees and it’s mid-November! Seems people are so eager for something hopeful, bright, and merry, they can’t wait. These are the same people who complain about stores stocking holiday decorations in September.

How quickly we change.

There’s hardly anything to be grateful for, we reason. Nothing is the same – or even close to it. Chances are, we are staying only with those in our four wall bubble for Thanksgiving.

spiteful little girl

Another disappointment?

Bring it on…we’re getting hardened to it.

Getting hardened to more bad news is a natural self-preservation response used to keep us from melting into a whimpering puddle.

But, as I point out in my Caregiver Emotions presentations, we are NOT our emotions. Emotions are meant to come and go. If we get so intrinsically wrapped up in our emotions, we run the risk of identifying with them.

Feel resentment too often; don’t process that resentment; don’t release that resentment – then you can become resentful and bitter.

Negative emotions need to be reigned in, examined, discussed, processed, and released.

Have there really been no blessings this year?

If you are reading this, there’s a big blessing right there – you are alive! Your eyes work! Your brain works! Your technology works!

No big vacation this year?

Remember about walking the local beach on a day trip with one friend?

No party for your birthday?

How about the blessing of those working in a local restaurant so you could get takeout?

Feeling disconnected from family? How about the incredible blessing of Facetime?

How about the miracle found in the technology of a Zoom call that keeps groups together and enables weddings to be totally safe by being virtual?

“GRATITUDE IS A HEART TENDERIZER”

That’s a quote from Sarah M. Wells in her 9 Examples of Thanksgiving in the Bible. There’s so much power in that statement.

How’s your gratitude jar looking? In my first post of this year – CLICK HERE. I shared with you how to start a gratitude jar. Did you stop putting in the little blessings you were grateful for after March 17th?

Or were you like me, finding the blessings that surround us each day?

If there ever was a time to tenderize our hearts, 2020 would be it. We need to liberally sprinkle around some gratitude in our lives. Not only will it improve our general outlook, but relationships and situations will improve.

May your favorite spice be gratitude.

Stir it into every situation and interaction. It will turn the hardened days into something more tender, savory, and palatable.

Happy Thanksgiving dear readers – YOU are a blessing to me!

Deidre

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Blogging for good health!, Stress Reduction

Happy Family Caregiver Month!

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Hear, ye! Hear, ye! Hear, ye!

November is declared to be Family Caregivers Month!

Glad they gave family caregivers more than just a single day. A month is nice. Family caregivers, though, merit an entire year of recognition – nonstop.

It was an extreme honor to be asked to speak at a beautiful retirement community in Eastern North Carolina recently. Treelined curving streets, lovely homes, and a beautiful community center located right on the marina greeted me. I think Cypress Landing checked all the boxes for a beautiful retirement lifestyle.

But tucked into countless of those homes are individuals lovingly ministering care to a beloved family member or who are in close contact with a friend nearby who may be alone.

I think we are ALL going to become caregivers at least once – it not many times – to various generations, relations, or friends. It’s just how life works.

My presentation was entitled, Caregiver Emotional Health and Survival, and covered three topics:

  • A key to caregiver survival called Loving Preparedness
  • Revealing Caregiver Emotions and tools to effectively deal with them
  • Caregiving at home – is it right for you?

With social distancing thoroughly observed, our limited audience of six community members all wore masks, as did the videographer and his helper. The event was taped using three cameras and promises to be a lasting resource for the community members through their website.

Yes, I’m waiting to hear from Oprah any day.

Wouldn’t she be able to give a wonderful platform for family caregiver’s voices and concerns?

I was impressed by several thoughts throughout the event:

  • Caregivers feel so much better when they understand they are not alone.
  • Being reaffirmed their efforts are exemplary is critical for their well-being.
  • Friends of caregivers are concerned about how to reach out in a meaningful way.
  • Advice from someone who has walked the path of caregiving is like a sip of cool water to parched lips.

Making a presentation about caregiver emotions as a permanent FREE offering on Teachable is my next project. Whether I use what was taped this week or recreate it on my own, it’s my passion project.

Why? Because it goes to the heart of the family caregiver. It was the unpredictable roller coaster of caregiver emotions that blindsided me and was the most challenging.

Challenging times aren’t the sole property of caregivers, however.

All the tips and tools I shared with the caregiver audience are applicable for all generations and situations right now.

One of those tools is the process of reflection. Reflective activities can be done two ways.

Direct reflection may include prayer, meditation, reading uplifting texts, or journaling. If you are in trying times, journaling can be transformative. Pouring out your thoughts on paper – yes, pen and ink on paper – not only allows for private venting but provides an opportunity to organize thoughts just through the process of writing. By the time you’ve completed dumping your thoughts out on paper, chances are good you’ll have a better perspective about them.

Indirect reflection can happen during creative activities. Some people bake, knit, work in the wood shop, or draw or paint. For me, adult coloring provided me a lifeline that was clean, easy-to-set-up, and was a therapeutic opportunity to work out my feelings.

While coloring, I wasn’t thinking about my emotions. I was thinking only about which color and how much to apply.

Where’s the therapy in that? Certainly, it gave my mind a rest in terms of worries and concerns. That’s a plus. But in so doing, subconsciously, I was sorting out my emotional response. It took me a year of coloring to get my head screwed on straighter.

I’ll make it easy for you. I already Googled free adult coloring pages and have found a resource you may like to find a picture you could color in the coming days – CLICK HERE.

Surely there are some colored pencils hanging around the house for the kids or grandkids.

Sit down.

Unplug from the noise.

Put color to the page.

Ahhhh.

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If you are a caregiver or think you or someone you know may become one, check out my book on Amazon HERE.

In health,

Deidre

Blogging for good health!

Turning Fantasy Into Reality

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Are your goals more of a fantasy – and – what’s the difference between a goal and a fantasy?

Aren’t we told to dream big?

Can dreams be too big?

What are you doing to turn your dreams into a reality?

Oh, there’s that thing called action. Maybe you lack action?

The ability to take even that first step toward a goal is often determined by how big we make that first step. And the next. And the next.

Okay. We’ve known this for a long time. I’ve posted about goal setting and breaking down goals into easy small steps. My book, Toolkit for Wellness, speaks of these concepts.

There’s that wise saying about, “How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time” which can inspire consistent effort. But a simple picture came up on my Facebook feed this past week that just spoke volumes to me.

I was so struck by this image that I printed it out as an 8 ½ x 11 inch glossy to keep in my office.

I invite you to ponder this dreamy impression.

Where are you in it?

Standing at the ladder on the right with that first rung out of reach, forever reaching up but never attaining any progress? Bemoaning how hard it is?

Or are you actively taking tiny steps up the ladder on the left, where you are fleshing out the concept of, “What is the least I can do today that will bring me one step closer to my goal and assure success”?

A short post with a giant message.

In health,

Deidre

Blogging for good health!, Stress Reduction

Game Day and SDOGS

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Am I simple-minded? Do I lack motivation? Is this a delaying technique?

Perhaps.

More than likely but I don’t think so, because I’ve already checked one thing off my list.

What’s happening here?

I’ve long fancied pulling a daily housekeeping task out of a hat would make cleaning out drawers, closets, and cupboards more fun perhaps. You know?

The lure of the excitement?

The anticipation of doing one small randomly chosen thing each day instead of tackling an entire goal?

With so many big plans on board, I thought I’d take some of my own advice of breaking a project down into bite-sized pieces, and then add a fun factor.

I have four to six weeks before massively changing two rooms of my house. The guest room that gets used … well, it hasn’t been used for almost three years … is going to be mostly a craft room that I will be using every day – with a soon-to-be-installed Murphy bed for guest use.

The office/business/computer and inspiration room will be relieved of craft project spill-over, look more intentional, and become a second guest room so our entire family can get together … someday – post COVID – through the transformative power of Murphy bed number two.

Suddenly, there’s the moving of furniture, elimination of stuff, emptying of drawers, closets.

Ack!

With every drawer in the house needing sprucing up, I thought, “Why not?”

While still carrying on with blog post deadlines, creating Amazon ads for my books, reaching out to markets that could benefit – especially – from my Toolkit for Caregivers book, and still arranging for the redecorating of both rooms, I have solved the overwhelming problem.

Are you ready?

Doesn’t look like much, but – for me, at least – it’s added a fun element and has taken away dread.

It took me about five minutes to write down the name of every drawer in the house on one piece of paper. With a few scissor cuts, I had about forty-five little pieces. After folding each paper into quarters, I made sure they were mixed up and I put them into a jar. I pulled out the first one and have already tidied up that drawer.

What pleasure it gave me to put the completed task into the empty jar!

Some drawers will be easy. Potholder drawer will be a cinch. The bathroom drawer with make-up will have its challenges. But, I won’t be facing ALL bathroom drawers on the same day.

Maybe your kids could use this approach to the sharing of household chores. We could sure use anything that might add a fun factor.

Jobs need to be done – that part doesn’t change – but, if I can introduce a giggle, some whimsy, a little anticipation … well, that’s a good thing, while mostly staying at home.

Have you started to enjoy Socially Distanced Outdoor Gatherings- SDOGs? I made that acronym up – you heard it here FIRST!

I had my second SDOG this past week around my new fire pit. My first fire pit was a pyramid of candles. We got a laugh out of that one.

The next day, I purchased a real fire pit. It may not be my forever one; but it is serving the purpose at present. You see, there’s an outdoor transformation going on as well. I’m trying to get a vision of my new space while using it. There will be a BBQ area, space for a dining table with an umbrella – who knows?

We had a hilarious time as I shared the art of biscuits-on-a-stick. That’s a story for another time.

It sure was grand being around friends. I hope the weather holds so we can do this lots more.

We are all fatigued with the whole COVID scene; but folks, this is no time to let our guard down. More than likely, we are facing a brutal winter. Please wear a mask when around other people.

Family gatherings are super-risky if they aren’t SDOGs. Knowing and loving someone DOES NOT mean they are safe to be around.

NONE of us knows if we are safe to be around. My latest trip to Lowe’s for paint samples could have exposed me. I could be asymptomatic. You don’t know. I DON’T KNOW!

I shared a thought that came through my Facebook feed the other day that said: “We isolate now, so when we gather again, no one is missing.”

In health,

Deidre

Blogging for good health!, Habit Building, Stress Reduction

The Eyes Have It!

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This is a Public Service Announcement for your eyes. Your peepers have been, undoubtedly, going through some extra stress and strain since March.

Why?

#1- Living with a truckload of extra stress,

#2- Staring at computer screens even more than ever, and

#3 – We’ve never been this old before.

I am still trying not to smack the people who precede their comments with, “Well, as you age, Mrs. Edwards …” to explain away every symptom I have. But, folks, it’s true.

Whether you are pushing 20 years of age, or 40, or 50, or beyond – if we are living, we are AGING.

Embrace it.

With aging comes the drying out that produces wrinkles, and decreases moisture in about everything, and the eyes are no exception. The oil and tear glands are still producing oil and tears but the viscosity – fluidness – is going down.

Think of free-flowing hot pancake syrup changing into cold molasses.

As a result, the slower moving oil glands can very easily get plugged up – especially if we are staring at a computer screen or even an innocent craft project (as in my case last week).

You may be experiencing a sty or a chalazion. The symptoms are described by the Mayo Clinic:

Signs and symptoms of a sty include:

  • A red lump on your eyelid that is similar to a boil or a pimple
  • Eyelid pain
  • Eyelid swelling
  • Tearing

Another condition that causes inflammation of the eyelid is a chalazion. A chalazion occurs when there’s a blockage in one of the small oil glands near the eyelashes. Unlike a sty, a chalazion usually isn’t painful and tends to be most prominent on the inner side of the eyelid. Treatment for both conditions is similar.

No eye inflammation? Great! But you may be experiencing dry eyes. Again, according to the Mayo Clinic, the symptoms eye strain from those dried out eyes include:

  • A stinging, burning or scratchy sensation in your eyes
  • Stringy mucus in or around your eyes
  • Sensitivity to light
  • Eye redness
  • A sensation of having something in your eyes
  • Difficulty wearing contact lenses
  • Difficulty with nighttime driving
  • Watery eyes, which is the body’s response to the irritation of dry eyes
  • Blurred vision or eye fatigue

Even heightened stress can cause a degree of vision changes.

Geez. Sounds like the trifecta for eye woes – and it is.

But happily, there are things we can do to remedy the situation. A few of them include:

  • Make sure you are current with your yearly eye exam
  • Stay hydrated with water
  • Look up from the computer screen more often. Not a quick glance, but look at something far away; blink extra, and take several deep, slow cleansing breaths before looking at the computer again
  • Get up and away from the computer at least once an hour for a ten-minute walk-about
  • Make sure your hands are freshly washed before touching your eyes or caring for your contacts
  • Completely remove all eye make up each night before retiring
  • Do hot, moist compresses for each eye lasting ten minutes to “get the juices flowing” properly

These hot, moist compresses have been the eye-saver for me – except when working on iris paper folding projects too long at night. Every night for almost 3 years, I have been doing hot compresses to both eyes – it’s a doctor’s order.

Skip the compresses and a blocked up gland will result. Sty city.

Horrible hordeolum – that’s my medical slang for a sty. Except these stys do not always come to a head – they are sort of a hybrid of sty/ chalazion – and they are hurtful.

To do a hot compress for my eyes, I simply get an unused/clean wash cloth, fold it, dip the end/ends in very hot tap water, gently squeeze excess water out, and press to my eyelids. When the compress cools off, I re-dip, and re-apply as quickly as possible. Playing some relaxing meditation music while doing this makes for an enjoyable wind-down before bed.

Maybe if I had done these compresses twice a week many years ago, I wouldn’t have to do this every night now.

*Sigh* Oh, the rules apply to me?

Yes, grasshopper, to you as well.

In eye health-

Deidre

Anti-Inflammatory Foods, Blogging for good health!, Habit Building, Recipes

Orange Obsessed OCTOBER!

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Taking a poll here. Do you eat orange-colored foods? As in pumpkin, winter squash, and sweet potatoes? Okay. Now, are you male or female? I could find no supporting studies to confirm my theory, but I know several men who prefer to never eat orange food at all.

Not. Ever. Again.

Carrots … but only if they’re raw.

Maybe they are afraid of what the fellow in this banner experienced. Alas, poor York, I knew him well.

I joined with the excitement sweeping across the country as temperatures began to drop and Dunkin’ Donuts brought back all things pumpkin.

A pumpkin latte is not a waist-slimming or healthy meal replacement beverage, but there have been two in my life since the start of September. I’m still waiting for that perfect day to eat my ONCE yearly glutenous, pumpkin donut. It will be a fine moment!

I do adore pumpkin treats. Rather than grabbing an expensive gluten-free crust for my pumpkin pie, I will often just omit the crust all together and bake my pumpkin filling in a greased baking dish.

Pumpkin pudding, anyone?

A recipe came to my inbox the other day from the blog paleomg.com for Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Oat Bars. She apologized for them not being paleo because of the oats, and she – like I have – returned to eating gluten-free oats with no ill effects.

But I just can’t leave a recipe alone. I’m always tweaking ingredients to make recipes more nutritious.

This recipe checks so many brain food boxes: all the benefits of colorful food, dark chocolate, whole grain, Omega3 fatty acids, fiber, more Omega3s, protein, eggs (remember last week’s Adam’s apple?), walnuts (did they pop out of my navel?), more protein – check, check, check.

So, here’s my first dive into pumpkin-inspired recipes, and I’m so pleased with the results. I hope you will try these.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Oat Bars 2.0

Ingredients

3/4 cup/175 ml canned pumpkin puree (The original recipe uses ½ cup/125 ml, but I added dry ingredients that would need the added moisture)

1 cup/250 ml runny nut butter (almond or cashew)

Note: I made my own nut butter using a food processor and soaked, unroasted cashews. Make sure you soak the cashews for one hour. The goal is to not have a dry nut butter as the bars will be too dry and crumble. I added some avocado oil and a small spoonful of coconut oil until the consistency was to my liking.

2 extra-large eggs

¼ cup/50 ml maple syrup

¼ cup/50 ml brown sugar – or less

Note: This is me adding sugar to a recipe! I’m usually eliminating it, but when I tested the batter, it was just off, so I added just a small shake of brown sugar from the bag. It wasn’t much, but it did the job. These are not overly sweet tasting at all. As I have mentioned in the past – sugar makes you want more sugar – so I don’t use a lot of the stuff.

1 teaspoon/5 ml vanilla extract

1 ½ cups/375 ml gluten-free old-fashioned oats

2 teaspoons/10 ml pumpkin pie spice

½ teaspoon/2.5 ml baking soda

Pinch of salt – I used a little more because my nut butter lacked salt

½ cup/125 ml mini-dark chocolate chips. The original recipe calls for 1 cup/250 ml of regular-sized chips, but mini-chips seem to go further and I did not want the chocolate to overpower the pumpkin.

My additions that make this good for you:

¼ cup/50 ml collagen hydrolysate

2 tablespoons/ 30 ml of hemp seed hearts

Cute squirrel eating a walnut

2 tablespoons/30 ml ground flax seeds

¼ cup/60 ml chopped walnuts

You may need a few spoonfuls of coconut flour at the end if the batter seems too wet. Add a bit at a time, stirring well after each addition.

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Grease an 8 x 8-inch baking dish.

In a medium sized bowl, stir together all the dry ingredients.

In a large bowl, whisk/mix the wet ingredients.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, incorporating well. If the batter/mix seems too wet, add a bit of coconut flour, a spoonful at a time, stirring well after each addition.

Pour/spoon batter into prepared pan. I sprinkled about 1 tablespoonful of turbinado sugar(*) on top just to dress things up.

Bake 45-50 minutes. Start checking for doneness at 45 minutes – mine was starting to get a little too brown on top but the toothpick test revealed a still wet interior, so I put some foil over the top and continued to bake it until it was obviously done on the inside.

When fully baked, remove from oven to cool. After 5 minutes, slice using a serrated knife. I easily cut mine into sixteen squares. Just enough to go with a cup of coffee for special fall morning breakfast outdoors.

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In health – Deidre

(*) Turbinado Sugar is darker and less fine. It is also known as raw sugar.

Anti-Inflammatory Foods, Blogging for good health!, This -n- That

Brain Food – Part 3

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Taste the rainbow!

We’re diving into the rainbow today to understand why colorful foods are beneficial to brain health.

There are forces of good and evil. The good guys are the flavonoids and related antioxidants and the bad guys are inflammation and oxidative stress.

What I am sharing today is, again, coming from a course I recently took titled: Brain Food: The Role of Nutrients in Memory and Cognitive Function by Annell St. Charles, PhD, RD, through the Institute for Natural Resources.

Let’s get to know these opposing sides.

Bad Guys – Team OS + I

Oxidative stress (OS) happens on a cellular level when free radicals are formed. These molecules lack some hardware (an electron) and are in search of somewhere to steal one. They create cell damage due to their thieving.

Inflammation – I talk about that all the time. All disease processes have a strong foothold in inflammation, which is preventable by how we eat, think, and live.

Good guys – Team Phytochemicals

The good guys are found in plant-based foods and are called phytochemicals. You may have heard of flavonoids, but there are three others (from thousands) that I’ll mention: phenolic acids, stilbenes, and lignans.

Don’t feel bad if you’ve never heard of these; there will not be a test about their names at the end, but you will know how to pick a team.

With every mouthful of food, we are picking our team!

Where to find the good guys:

Flavonoids:   Onions, kale, green beans, broccoli, endive, celery, citrus, thyme, soy, tomato, bell pepper, berry fruits, apple, purple and red grapes, red wine, apricots, pears, beans, cabbage, green tea, dark chocolate, parsley, hot peppers

Phenolic acids: Mangos, berries, apples, citrus, plums, cherries, kiwis, onion, tea, coffee, red wine, whole grain flour

Stilbenes:  Grape skins, red wine, peanuts, blueberries, cranberries

Lignans:  Flaxseeds, sesame seeds, cereal grains, cruciferous vegetables, apricots, strawberries, soybeans

Source: American Institute for Cancer Research

Numerous studies have shown phenolic acids inhibit the formation of the plaque associated with Alzheimer’s Disease. Resveratrol is a stilbene from red and purple grape skins that can have a positive role in preventing dementia. Lignans from flaxseeds have been shown to enhance cognitive performance of healthy postmenopausal women.

Phytochemicals are antioxidants because they work against the oxidative stress (OS) caused by free radicals. Not all OS is bad, but negative OS seems to increase with age and can manifest in cognitive and physical decline.

OS has been found to be a major player in dementia, including Alzheimer’s Disease. By combatting OS and inflammation through improved food choices, we can go a long way in reversing or delaying the onset of cognitive decline.

Hopefully, you have a better understanding about how to pick your team, how to go for the colors, and how to evaluate what is good for your brain.

As you look at your dinner plate tonight, are you seeing a sea of tans, browns, and whites? Breaded fried meat, gravy, biscuit, potatoes?

Such a color scheme spells disaster for your precious brain and the body it runs.

It’s a matter of choice. Go for the rainbow!

In health-

Deidre