Category Archives: Habit Building

Blogging for good health!, Exercise, Habit Building, This -n- That

It’s A Celebration – Flamingo Style!

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Flamingos!

Are there still businesses that offer placement of dozens of plastic flamingoes in people’s yards? Maybe as a public celebration of a new baby, birthday, or just to ‘flamingo’ someone?

I haven’t seen that done in recent years.

In my neighborhood of mostly retired people, flamingos are usually a singular, random yard ornament.

This is all a lame segway to introduce an interesting article.

I found last week that led me to a study. Because of this, I am frequently standing on one leg, looking like a flamingo. 

Why? Have I flipped out?

No, I seem to still have all my marbles; but I am trying to maintain my ability to balance.

Apparently, humans experience significant declines in physical aging both after 44 and 60 years of age:

And one of the best ways to test the effects of aging on our bodies is to stand on one leg!

To quote the study’s conclusions:

“This study underscores the significance of the unipedal balance test in monitoring elderly subjects in the community, regardless of sex. The duration an individual, whether male or female, can maintain balance on one leg emerges as the most reliable determinant of aging, surpassing strength, gait, and other balance parameters.”

So, forget your grip strength and the length of your step, if you can stand on one leg for 10 seconds or longer without wobbling all over the place, you are still doing great.

If you are fully mobile and have full feeling in your feet, you may want to test your balancing abilities at home.  Begin by positioning yourself in front of a counter or the back of a sofa, allowing you to reach out and steady yourself if you lose your balance.

First try standing with feet and shoulders a width apart with eyes open, looking straight ahead. Maybe someone can be looking at a watch to time you or you can count out loud, (one, one thousand; two, one thousand, etc.). Are you standing steadily?

If so, close your eyes to see if you are still steady on both feet. If you can do that, then you can move on to try standing on one foot.

If not, it would be best for you to have someone there with you before proceeding.

Stand first on your dominant foot, keeping your hands relaxed at your side. A Lotus position used in yoga is not necessary – just lift your foot off the floor.

How’s it going? Did you get to ten seconds without major wobbling?

Now, try the other foot. Doing good?

Was one foot steadier than the other or were they the same?

If you can’t keep your balance for more than just a few seconds, then you’re done. It might be dangerous to proceed to the next part, especially if you are by yourself.

Bravo, if you are doing good so far! If so, here comes the acid test!

Repeat standing on your dominant foot with your eyes open, looking forward. Then, close your eyes. Yikes!

Now, try the other foot, first with eyes open to steady yourself, then close your eyes.

Whew!

I can rock eyes open – over thirty seconds and counting!

But eyes closed … five seconds was my max, with probably an average of three seconds after several tries! Good grief!

Eyes closed calls for heightened proprioception – that is knowing where our body is in space. Those skills diminish with age.

Sheesh.

I’m going to see if I can gain back some balance skills with eyes closed. Knowing that maintaining balance is vitally important, I will try to expand my skills and, hopefully, improve the results.

How did you do? Let me know in the comments. We can do a balance check-in in a month to see if we have gained skills!

Tomorrow is our birthday!

Yes, foodtalk4you will have eleven candles on its cake on April 9th! Eleven years of exploring things we can do to tap into the health we are designed to have – one meal, one breath, one movement at a time! Thank you to each of our loyal readers and subscribers! Your support makes this an enjoyable endeavor for both Sheree and me!

In health and balance –

Deidre

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

No Foolin’

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In America, it’s April Fool’s Day.

Long associated with jokes, pranks, and Tomfoolery to make someone else look the fool, I want to assure you that this is no joke.

Chris Kresser’s weekly newsletter is inspiring today’s post about seafood consumption by children.

Seafood provides a host of nutrition including iodine, selenium, choline, and vitamin D, along with omega-3s, which are critical for brain development and function.

A well-studied important dietary component during pregnancy, seafood has not been the target of many comprehensive studies for children.

However, Kresser cited a study in the European Journal of Nutrition revealing that children consuming no seafood have a 35% higher chance of suboptimal social behavior compared to children consuming two portions every week. Children who regularly consume recommended amounts each week often demonstrate better emotional controls and focus.

Cost factors, availability, and awareness of mercury concentration in seafood may be influencing the inclusion of this food source into children’s diets, but we may be avoiding it at our peril. If you scroll way down this NIH resource, you will find this table showing how little seafood children in the U.S. are eating:

ABLE 3-12Weighted Seafood Meal Frequency, U.S. children, 2–19 Years

 n, Weighted0 Meals per Month, Percent (n)Less than 2 Meals per Week, Percent (n)2 or more Meals per Week, Percent (n)
Overall74,270,80843 (5,372)51 (6,631)6.4 (926)
Males (years)
2–57,908,05946 (698)49 (735)5.9 (103)
6–1112,925,78343 (945)50 (1,185)6.9 (164)
12–1917,022,52542 (1,131)51 (1,364)7.0 (199)
Females (years)
2–58,029,34839 (602)55 (828)5.9 (124)
6–1111,739,99843 (909)52 (1,183)5.7 (163)
12–1916,645,09644 (1,087)50 (1,336)6.2 (173)
Race/Ethnicity
Hispanic17,869,76644 (1,734)50 (1,936)5.4 (186)
Non-Hispanic Asian3,428,65431 (343)50 (574)19 (234)
Non-Hispanic White10,429,46336 (1,186)56 (1,896)8.1 (274)
Non-Hispanic Black38,447,67845 (1,708)50 (1,762)5.0 (159)
Other4,095,24743 (401)48 (463)9.1 (73)
Income (IPR)
Less than 1.325,389,48146 (2,488)49 (2,788)5.7 (325)
1.3–4.9937,715,36743 (2,448)51 (3,172)5.8 (455)
5+11,165,96036 (436)54 (671)9.8 (146)

NOTES: IPR = income-to-poverty ratio. Values in parentheses are unweighted sample sizes. Seafood frequency measured using a 30-day food frequency questionnaire based on the total number of meals per month for all seafood species. Respondents not reporting food frequency are not presented in this table; n = sample size. See NHANES Data Analysis Methodology in Appendix E.

SOURCE: NHANES cycle years 2011–2012 through 2017–March 2020.

The next table below shows serving size based upon age, the best and the good choices for seafood, and which kinds to avoid based upon concentration of pollutants (mercury).

Ask any teacher, kids are not learning as well, and their behavior is declining. Why?

Is consuming seafood the answer to this question?

Absolutely not.

But it may be one factor parents and grandparents can look at to improve the chances the children will have every opportunity for success in learning and socializing.

I often get on jags of preparing one kind of protein – usually the versatile and affordable cuts of chicken – and forget to mix things up a bit.

Omega-3s are great for all of us, so I am trying to be more mindful of including wild fresh caught Alaskan salmon on a more regular basis. It’s a matter of watching the sales; salmon this week, shrimp or white fish the next.

Maybe Taco Tuesday can become Fish Taco Tuesday!

In health –

Deidre

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

I Know A Place … A Very Special Place

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My spot.

It beckons to me like sirens calling from the deep seas.

I always gladly yield to its call.

Come. Come outdoors. Come to ponder, to read, and to write. Do some soul work.

Ahhh!

I had just created that perfect spot in my former home. It became a mystic place in the freedom of the outdoors, which allowed equal freedom of my mind and heart.

Do you have such a spot? A place where you long to go that allows your mind to wander where it will, or to focus on deep truths that uplift and inspire you?

For me, such a place requires a table where books and papers can be spread out. Where my drink and food can be close-by.

Moving to my new home necessitated leaving that outdoor table behind, and while we have created lovely outdoor seating and conversation areas, I just hadn’t recreated my own special spot.

Until recently.

Yet unadorned with no potted flowers or decorations nearby, this humble space is beginning to become my spot. For there in the screened porch warmed by the sun, I can once again read, take notes, ponder, and create.

At least until the pollen season gets in full swing, painting everything yellow. Achoo!

Then we all head indoors until we can spray and wash everything before resuming our outdoor life.

Where is your spot? Do you go there often?

In health –

Deidre

Blogging for good health!, Habit Building, This -n- That

Sit, Boo Boo, Sit!

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We’re not talking about giving your furry canine a command. Rather, we’re talking about what many of us do too much: sit.

Chris Kresser’s weekly Friday email opened my eyes to a couple of things. We sit for too many hours of the day, and we are probably sitting the wrong way. 

Neither was news to me, but the ramifications and the corrective methods were.

Chris cited a major study released last November which followed almost 90,000 participants over eight years who wore devices measuring their activity. Researchers found that sitting more than 10.6 hours a day resulted in increased mortality due to heart failure and cardiovascular (CV) death.

Interesting fact – those who were sedentary (at least 10.6 hours of sitting a day) and who exercised the recommended 150 minutes a week still had higher rates of death, but at lower levels than the purely sedentary group.

The sedentary group had a 40% higher risk for heart failure and a 54% higher risk for CV mortality – whereas the sedentary/active group had a 15% higher risk for heart failure and a 33% higher risk for CV mortality.

Bottom line: yes, exercise is important, but breaking up periods of sedentary time should be the focus of those who are stuck sitting all day. Consider using a standing desk to break up long periods in the chair. Walk around when taking calls. Break up each hour with some water/restroom/walking time.

Which leads to the second part of his message: how to sit properly. Check the video below which beautifully demonstrates the ergonomics of sitting at a desk. Under six minutes long, I highly recommend you look at this.

While I am keenly aware of my posture (“pull that string!”) there can be a struggle while sitting for long periods. A portable standing desk option, below, has been helpful, but the video recommendation of how to sit using a standard office chair looks like it will be my main improvement – along with elevating my laptop and adding a wireless keyboard.

Decades ago, I tried a kneeling chair that promised improved posture, but my knees complained. Then there was the sitting ball, which is quite effective, but has its own issues. The chair featured on the YouTube video is intriguing – I finally found one on Etsy.

But I’ll have to wait until I win the lottery to get it – it’s expensive!

This new information, that exercise for people who sit too much only partially helps heart health, is motivating me to make a few changes.

In addition to a new desk set up, I am taking movement breaks much more seriously. A phone call with a friend provided me with time to take a long walk in the warm, fresh pre-spring air while chatting. The hourly reminder to stand now includes a trip downstairs for a glass of water.

What are you going to do?

I’d love to hear from you in the comments.

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In health –

Deidre

Blogging for good health!, Habit Building, This -n- That

Brain or Body? Which One Controls You?

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Who’s in charge?

I have long been a firm believer in the controlling power of the supercomputer sitting inside of my cranium.

Our thought processes are key elements in living to our fullest potential; but is that the only source of guidance and power within our bodies?

For an average 150-pound person with a brain weighing about 3 pounds, is the 147-pound balance just there to carry around that computer?

While finishing the content editing for my next book, Toolkit for Caregiver Emotions, I am balancing my message about the methods we can use to manage our thoughts and emotions – with an equally important message of helping our bodies send uplifting and power-generating messages to our brains.

In last year’s post on September 10th, I shared about the daily habit of ‘pulling the string,’ followed by assuming a power pose for two minutes. These two simple actions set our bodies up to fill with personal power, strength, and optimism.

In reading the latest release by Janice Kaplan, What Your Body Knows About Happiness, I am being reminded of the wealth of information our bodies send our brains, and that our bodies are doing a lot more thinking than we once thought.

Case in point. Kaplan shares neuroscientist David Eagleman’s example of a baseball being thrown and hit. “When a pitcher throws a ball at 100 miles per hour, it takes about four-tenths of a second to get to the batter. Conscious awareness takes about half a second – which means that the ball crosses the plate before the batter quite literally – knows – it. If the body weren’t functioning without conscious input, nobody would ever hit a baseball.”

Eagleman says, “Your consciousness is like a tiny stowaway on a transatlantic steamship, taking credit for the journey without acknowledging the massive engineering underfoot.”

Kaplan builds her case for purposefully directing our bodies to avail ourselves of increased happiness and positive outcomes. She cites clinical studies which demonstrate how small cues from our bodies can direct our mental activities and perceptions.

One study by cognitive scientist, John Bargh, just blew me away. As study participants were individually entering the lab, they were greeted by the research assistant outside who was holding a drink and fumbling with her briefcase, trying to get to some papers. The participants were asked to hold her drink so she could free her hands.  Once inside the lab, they were given some forms with a description of someone, and they were asked how much they liked them.

What the volunteers did not know was that some of them were given a cup of hot coffee to hold briefly for the lab assistant, while others were given a cup of iced coffee to hold.

Here’s the amazing thing: those who held the warm cup gave positive ratings for the person being described on the form, saying they were warmer and kinder. Those who had held a cold drink found the person colder and less likeable.

This experiment has been repeated in different forms around the world, all confirming that the warm sensations from the cup of hot coffee primed volunteers to be more generous and more trusting.

I highly recommend her book, and you will be hearing more about what I am discovering in future posts.

In the meantime, if you a feeling cold and edgy toward others, wrap your hands around a warm drink to change your mental outlook.

In health –

Deidre  

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Blogging for good health!, Habit Building, Stress Reduction

Release – Fill – Give

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One of our most popular recent posts was Strings from September 10, 2024. I’m glad it struck a chord for so many readers.

After the discussion about pulling our invisible string to lift our chests, straighten our backs, and hold our heads erect, came the video about Amy Cuddy’s TED talk.

I summarized her thoughts by concluding that, “If you want to give energy, you must be an open vessel to receive it.”

In this season of giving, we recognize that many of us face the challenge of offering our time and energy to others throughout the year, not just during the holidays. Whether we’re teaching, working in healthcare, or caring for loved ones, we know that taking time to recharge is essential to sustaining our ability to continue giving.

Stepping away for some self-care is a non-negotiable for our survival – “can’t pour from an empty vessel” – and all of that.

But what if our vessel is full of stuff?

Meaning, emotions we are holding onto – clogging our head and heart space.

A recent Facebook post from Peace, Love, and Smiles so beautifully stated: “Feelings are just visitors. Let them come and go.”

A key principle in my next book, Toolkit for Caregiver Emotions, is that emotions are not us. We experience them, they pass, and then we experience something else.

But some people start to identify with their emotions, letting them rule the day – day after day.

So, someone who experiences resentment, for example, becomes a resentful person.

Releasing these emotions is the first step to freeing ourselves from their hold on us so we can fill up and recharge, allowing us to be our best—for ourselves and others.

The message, then, is to take a moment to assess what emotion is taking center stage and dominating your very essence.

I start my conferences and workshops with an exercise in doing a release, by recommending the audience hold something in their hand to represent the emotion they want to release.

Then, bringing that symbolic object to their chest, they close their eyes, and after a few deep slow breaths, they ask themselves a question when they inhale on the next breath, saying:

“Would you, could you, be able to release this emotion for just a while? Set it aside for just a spell?”

On the exhale, they honestly answer.

If they can say yes to setting that emotion aside for even a little while – or forever – then they open their eyes, watching as they pull their hand away from their chest, and observe themselves setting that object/emotion down.

Doing this release can create an instantaneous sensation of being lighter and freer.

Those who are not yet ready to release, even briefly, their overriding emotions will benefit by further self-exploration of why they are holding on, why they perceive holding on is a benefit, or why they think they deserve to feel that way. Such a discussion may need the practiced listening ear of a counselor.

After a release, we are open to filling our batteries so we are ready to give again.

In the season of giving, remember to ‘release’ before trying to ‘fill,’ so that you can ‘give.’

In health –

Deidre

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Blogging for good health!, Exercise, Habit Building, Recipes

Experiencing Self-Aversion? We Can Help!

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Do you have a sense of body dissatisfaction?

The causes are as numerous as the stars. Some of us may not be as trim as we might want, while others of us get in shape only to lose it.

First, your shape is YOUR shape – not someone else’s. No one should measure their own health or appearance in relation to society, Tik-Toc, or any other medium.

But being mindful about how I was feeling in my own skin, I knew I didn’t like the feel.

Plus, there was that whole thing about the nimrod who took over my body. I let poor thinking pull me into trying to ‘fit in’ to a norm that was NOT ME – that’s never a good idea.

After five days of being gluten and sugar free, the pain in my hip from the self-induced inflammation was finally gone. Whew! That’s something I do not want to feel again.  

So, my seminal moment of clarity, motivation, and desire for change came as a trifecta:

1. Not liking the feeling of waistline lumpiness

2. Knowing I had caused inflammation in my body.

3. Reading a book recommended by a friend, who was experimenting with his own body redesign.

About that book. The Amazon sales page showed that the author and I had similar points of view on diet, exercise, and approach to change and sustainability.

When I opened Timothy Ferriss’s The 4-hour Body, I was intrigued. This thick publication will take some time to read; but I was confident enough to implement his familiar concepts after just page 85.

Cleaning up one’s entire way of eating is, excuse the pun, biting off too much to chew, and virtually guarantee’s failure due to the overwhelm.

Tim and I agree that if you adjust just one meal – breakfast – great results can follow that will encourage more extended modifications.

Here’s an easy punch list using our combined ideas:

  1. Drink a glass of water first thing in the morning to get hydration started.
  2. Eat within one hour of getting up to kickstart metabolism, normalize blood sugar and insulin levels, help stress hormones naturally decline, assist with weight loss, and help maintain muscle. If you skip breakfast, failure is guaranteed for a body redesign.

3. Aim for high protein and no added carbs of the white variety: potatoes, breads, grains, or sugar. No fruit or fruit juice (a sugar bomb). Tim’s goal is 30 grams of protein at breakfast which is achieved by using 1 whole egg, egg whites, and legumes (esp. lentils or black beans).

4. Add vegetables: spinach – especially for its attributes for improving muscle performance and glucose metabolism; any cruciferous vegetable (broccoli family and cauliflower), or my favorite – okra. Onions and mushrooms add variety and flavor.

Lentils are a staple in my breakfast scramble and are a more user-friendly legume in terms of flatulence/gas repercussions.

Start by cooking or reheating the green veggies in your sauté pan. Lentils can be added to this mixture or sprinkled on top after serving. Add the eggs to the mix, cook, and serve. I like to add whatever’s on hand: a few sliced cherry tomatoes, avocado, arugula, and top with a dollop of salsa or a balsamic vinaigrette.

Like Mikey once said, “Try it, you’ll like it!”

Try it for six days, return to your normal meal for the seventh as a reset, then repeat. As always, check with your healthcare provider before changing your diet or exercise routines.

Coupled with a bit more exercise, I’m headed in the right direction – for me.

How about you?

In health –

Deidre

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Blogging for good health!, Habit Building, Recipes, This -n- That

Covid Comfort Food

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Can we utter, “comfort food” and “healthful,” in the same breath?

Well, not if comfort food means cans of sweetened condensed milk or oceans of gravy on mounds of biscuits.

However, as fall in the northern hemisphere brings on images of pots of soups and – for me – yet another iteration on gluten-free muffin mix – then yes, there are tons of healthful benefits to be had in comfort food.

When I had enough energy to throw some ingredients into a soup pot while recovering from Covid, there were anti-inflammatories and healing elements galore. I ramped up a recipe gleaned from Facebook that reminded me of ones I had used before.

TURMERIC CHICKEN SOUP RECIPEDownload

Thanks to my friend, Rox, I had all the ingredients after she picked up my online order from the local grocery store!

Not only did I use the bag of peas, but I threw in a bag of frozen, mixed vegetables as well.

Having some leftover cornbread on hand, I placed a square of it in the center of the bowl and ladled the steaming soup on top.

Even with our diminished sense of taste, this was very yummy.

On to my never-ending quest for the perfect no-hassle, gluten-free muffin mix enhancement.

This could be the ONE!

Using my favorite mix – King Arthur Brand Gluten-Free Muffin Mix – I filled the 1 1/2 cup add-in option to include:

            1 banana – mashed

            1/2 cup ground flax seed

            1 cup gluten-free oatmeal – maybe 1/2 cup more

            Cinnamon and nutmeg to taste

*And my six muffins also contained chopped prunes – yum!

My sweetheart refuses to entertain prunes in any disguise, so his six were without.

These extra ingredients resulted in 12 generous muffins, plus a small 3” x 3” muffin cake.

What a joy it is to simply heat up a moist, fiber-filled muffin for breakfast and some healing soup for lunch or dinner when you need to take it easy, feel comforted, and still know you are getting some healing nutrition on board.

In health –

Deidre

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Blogging for good health!, Exercise, Habit Building, Stress Reduction

Intentional Self Balance

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I got off that round tuit!

It was like a scene from several years ago when I decided to do something that would hold me accountable for balancing my food intake and my energy output with regular exercise and portion control.

Yes, it’s one thing to write about health and wellness, and another thing to not let life circumstances derail my solid intentions.

We so easily lose course, especially if we allow ourselves to become codependent on someone or something.

Are your friends not available for your buddy walks around the neighborhood? While that should not keep us from regular walking, often we let it.

Is it difficult to get to exercise classes? Is that a reason to stop working out?

So I, “did a thing.”

Like signing up for that Noom membership after seeing another ad for it – something that worked wonders for me – I saw a chair yoga ad on Facebook that made me want to see more. After learning the details, I took the plunge for a 12-week special offer for just $25.

Right then, I did my first session. A small, easy commitment that took all of 16 minutes to do.

Check.

Another session this morning – this time with light weights sprinkled in.

Check.

What’s that feeling of accomplishment?

I know all this stuff, but it’s the intentionality and accountability of it all that makes this work!

Small commitment. Every day. Works for any goal we have in mind.

Being able to put my palms flat on the floor means nothing if I don’t do it. Chair yoga used to be a joke in my mind, but when I am doing nothing organized, chair yoga is working.

Bigger things will come, but intentionally doing something each day beats doing nothing every time.

When ‘getting around to it’ never happens, turning to an intentional approach will get you there.

In health – intentionally –

Deidre

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

Namaste

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A wonderful thing happened while plowing through accumulated emails at the start of my writing workday.

Chris Kresser’s Friday newsletter held a gem for me that I can’t wait to share with you. Chris is deeply involved in functional medicine, and it’s always a delight to learn from him.

Today, he shared a link to Tara Brach’s guiding her YouTube viewers through a 19-minute meditation that eased me into a higher realm of calm than I had experienced for a long time.

This calmer state is helping me handle the slowdowns and uncertainties I spoke of last week, while still gracefully moving forward with what I can control.

It’s been a long time since I last attended a yoga class that would allow me to extend the deep sense of calm I gained today — all the way through to my very muscles – but following along with her video put an inner calm within reach, right in my home office.

If self-compassion is something you are seeking to bolster, Tara leads another shorter, guided meditation called, The RAIN of Self Compassion that may assist you. 

She concludes that video with a quote from Bapuji, an Indian master who said:

“My beloved child, break your heart no longer. Each time you judge yourself, you break your own heart. You stop feeding on the love which is the wellspring of your vitality. The time has come – your time to live, to celebrate, and see the goodness that you are. Let no one, no thing, no idea, or ideal obstruct you. If one comes, even in the name of truth, forgive it for its unknowing. Do not fight – let go and breathe into the goodness that you are.”

It’s short and sweet today in hopes that you will take a few minutes to lift and love yourself by following one or both guided meditations.

As always, if you found today’s post of value to you, share the goodness with others using the options under the MORE button below.

In health –

Deidre