Category Archives: Habit Building

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

Snack Attack Hack!

Leave a comment

Is it too early to start eating the next meal? But you’re feeling a little hungry, and a bite of something would, “keep the big ones from eating the little ones,” as my mom used to say.

Just who the big and little ones were, I never figured out – but they were starting to wage a small battle in my tummy for sure.

How about a baby Snickers? Or just a bite of one? Ha! Bet you can’t do that!

Used to drive my students nuts taking one bite of Snickers a day until it was gone by Friday! LOL! That was back in the day when I ate Snickers.

I digress.

Point being: Wouldn’t an equal number of calories of any number of things, be equal to the body? Bite of Snickers vs. 15 red seedless grapes vs. 8 baby carrots?

If you are a long-time loyal reader of foodtalk4you, I’ve touched on this before. A calorie-for-calorie approach is not going to bring balanced health. Here’s why:

Just look at the labels. Snickers ingredients and nutrition:

Now look at the ingredient and nutrition labels on the grapes and carrots:

Oops! That’s right. There are no ingredient labels! If the snack choice isn’t obvious yet, let’s look at the nutritional breakdown of first grapes and then baby carrots:

With our COVID isolation hopefully winding down soon – I get vaccine #2 on March 10th! – I don’t want to literally roll out my front door carrying the weight of pandemic stress-eating around my waist.

Remember, any extra tonnage we might be lugging along with us was not put there overnight, and it won’t come off overnight either. Let’s do this one baby carrot, or grape, step at a time.

These two snack hacks will start your journey – and will tide you over between meals.

I’ve been doing this for a few weeks now, and can attest that I am feeling great, weigh less, and feel so much better about my food choices.

While that single bite of Snickers is gone in a flash and we are left wanting more, a snack of 10-15 grapes or 8 baby carrots takes much longer to eat, fills up that tummy, adds to our hydration, and provides positive nutrition.

Normally, a bowl of 10 grapes is all I care to eat at a time — they really are filling when nibbled on one at a time. Ten grapes have about 20 calories. There’s plenty of sugar to power up your activity, lots of water, and vital nutrients. These are great as an evening snack to munch on during a movie.

Carrots? Wow! My little bowl of 8 carrots can carry me a long time, and take a while to eat, as well. That’s the keen thing about these two choices, they are not going to be gone in a flash. Did you see the quantity of Vitamin A in 8 baby carrots? Good for the eyes!

Did you get your steps in today? While talking to two friends on my cell phone, I walked my yard like a Rumba! Got my step goal done and a little extra. Can’t beat being in the sunshine, while spreading friendship the only way we can right now!

Join me in using these snack hacks; what is learned while snacking can be applied to meals as well, but that’s another post.

In health-

Deidre

If you found this information of value, please share on social media, and make sure to subscribe so you won’t miss a single post. Thank you.

Blogging for good health!, Exercise, Habit Building

Just Breathe …

Leave a comment

One meal… One breath… One movement at a time…

Does that sound familiar? Yes! Good job! It’s the focus of foodtalk4you!

Today, I am going to share some breathing techniques that can instantly become a part of your toolkit for stress reduction. Hmmm. Sounds like another book title. More on new books later.

Right now, we’re going to focus on three specific techniques I shared this past weekend during a Zoom meeting. Listeners seemed to be taking notes, and one participant emailed me that the techniques had helped her through a stressful situation later that day.

But first … a short intro. We are born breathing using our diaphragm, and somewhere along the way, often become chest breathers. The difference being. we switched from using the large, strong diaphragm muscle to move the air in and out of our lungs, to using the smaller, secondary muscles of the upper chest.

As a test, notice if your shoulders are rising significantly as you take a nice big breath. Yes? You’re a chest breather. No? Is your belly moving out more than your shoulders move up? Well, you’re a belly breather – and probably a singer with some training on how to breathe.

Chest breathing is associated with our response to stressful situations – a part of that fight-or-flight response. Chronic chest breathing can increase tension in the head, neck, and shoulders. Belly, abdominal, or diaphragmatic breathing is more effective in moving air and leads to calming effects and responses.

When someone tries to help you calm down by saying, “breathe,” your best response is to mindfully take some slower breaths that allow your belly to move out with each new breath.

You can practice this technique by placing one hand on your chest and one hand on your belly. As you slowly breathe in and out through your nose, concentrate on shifting your breath to make your belly move more than your chest. The calming effect is almost immediate.

Armed with knowing how to breathe from your belly, let’s look at three easy techniques that can help you calm down in a jiff.

  1. Falling Out Breath – is excellent for physical tension, and we naturally do this when we groan. Try this: Inhale deeply into your belly, and at the top of the inhale, grab a bit more air. Then, exhale completely, making a sound. A sigh, groan – whatever. Do this a few times, and you’ll note a considerable sense of relaxation in your body.
  • Box Breath – is useful for clearing your mind. Not only will you be moving air more efficiently by breathing using your diaphragm, but your concentration on breathing will scatter whatever emotions or thoughts that are swirling in your head. Do this: Inhale to a count of 4. Hold for a count of 4. Exhale to a count of 4. Hold for a count of 4. Repeat several times. Magic, right? A minute or two of this each should help going to sleep.
  • Emptying breath – our last breath tool for today will deactivate that stress response and reactivate calming mechanisms. Try this for a minute or two: Inhale to a count of 3, and exhale to a count of 6, trying to get rid of as much air as possible.

Please don’t pass out from hyperventilation!

It may take some practice to do these techniques without getting woozy. Take things slow and easy, breathing using that diaphragm. Yes, your belly is going to need to move out – which may detract from your svelte profile – but you can suck it in after your nerves have calmed down.

To learn more about the benefits of deep breathing go here: Decrease stress by using your breath – Mayo Clinic

To learn more about the benefits of box breathing, check this out: Box Breathing: Techniques, Benefits, GIF, and More (healthline.com)

Many thanks to my daughter, Serena, who shared this book with me, Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art, by James Nestor.

What I have read of it online has convinced me to get a hard copy to study. You can expect some more posts in the future about this most important subject!

Breathe, dear readers.

In health-

Deidre

PS: Please feel free to pass along this informative post on all of your social media, such as: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, etc., or email. Sign up for our FoodTalk4You newsletter. Just fill out the quick form on the left sidebar of this page!

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

And I Repeat – Happy Groundhog Day!

2 Comments

I feel a bit like Punxsutawney Phil today. He’s being hauled out of his snug spot to test the sunshine factor for prognostications about the duration of winter.

That’s me. Being drug out of my totally relaxed state of snugness to start the day. My gratitude each time for its opportunities, is invariably followed by the overwhelming urge to hit the snooze alarm.

I’ve told Alexa to nudge me awake with meditation music, which beats the effects of an alarm clock. Starting the day with a startle, a jolt, and an elevated heart rate seems counterproductive to greeting the day with a smile.

With nowhere to safely go, or any deadlines to meet, getting up can be problematic for me. There are still cool things to be accomplished at home, so I rely on my biggest motivator: Sunshine.

Sun streaming in my windows is my happy place. Curtains back, shades up – here comes the sun! If I dally in bed too long, the angle of the sun misses my home office, and inspiration is harder to find.

This is all said as a Segway to the fact – we need sunshine.

Remember learning about the “Sunshine Vitamin”? That vitamin we get through the sunshine that’s good for our bones? Well, it is vital for a lot more than that. Take a look:

As you can see from the chart above, this is an important part of staying healthy. Rays of sunlight trigger our skin and body to produce Vitamin D through a cascade of processes.

If strong bones and sound mind aren’t foremost on your mind, then something that is on everyone’s radar right now is the COVID-19 pandemic. I have read that 80% of those with COVID are/were deficient in Vitamin D.

Check it out HERE: New Study Found 80% of COVID-19 Patients Were Vitamin D Deficient (healthline.com) AND HERE: Low Vitamin D Levels Tied to Odds for Severe COVID (webmd.com).

The Mayo Clinic talks about this same correlation, but suggests the need for further testing –  Can vitamin D protect against the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)? – Mayo Clinic.

The more I read about Vitamin D, the more I think we need to know our blood levels of this vital nutrient better than our astrological sign. Request that Vitamin D levels be checked at your next doctor’s appointment. Normal values are 30-74 ng/ml. An increasing portion of the population is very deficient. Why?

We are creating the perfect storm to become deficient: Young and old, people are not getting outdoors enough. Much exercise, if done at all, is accomplished in an indoor gym. We need some skin exposure to effective sun to start the chemical processes that create this vitamin in our bodies.

But how much sun? This depends on your latitude, your skin color (darker skin needs MORE exposure), time of day, and season.

Check here for details: How Much Time in the Sun Do You Need for Vitamin D? | US News.

Overall, 5-20 minutes twice a week, when your shadow is no longer than you are tall (between 10:00 am -3:00 pm). The early morning jog does not count toward making Vitamin D. Sorry. Roll up your sleeves and take a noon-day stroll.

Of course, skin cancer is on our minds as well. Experts agree that relying on facial exposure to the sun’s beams should be avoided. Wear a hat and/or use sunscreen on your face and ears.

Use of sunscreen is another part of the perfect storm. Give your arms and legs a few minutes in the sun before slathering up.

Finally, the trifecta involving obesity, Type II Diabetes Mellites, and Vitamin D deficiency creates the capstone to this storm.

A summary of research HERE: Vitamin D Deficiency, Obesity and Diabetes – PubMed (nih.gov) says:

Vitamin D deficiency reduces insulin secretion capacity of the islet beta cells in pancreas. Moreover, epidemiological studies have demonstrated that vitamin D deficiency is closely related to obesity and increased risk of T2DM. 

Just this one humble vitamin demonstrates the inner-connectedness of our wonderful bodies. Disrupting the delicate balance of proper body weight, alone, put so many other aspects dangerously out of kilter.

There are dietary risk factors I’ll touch on next week, along with where we can access Vitamin D through diet so, stay tuned.

Deidre Edwards

In the meantime, protecting face and ears, show a little skin to Mr. Sun for a few minutes each week as temperatures allow. My bundled up walk here in the Northern Hemisphere didn’t do much for my Vitamin D levels, but did wonders for my spirit and served as excellent exercise on a cold winter’s day.

In health,

Deidre

If you benefitted from this post, please share: email, Twitter, Facebook, and click on the subscribe button so you won’t miss any posts.

Blogging for good health!, Habit Building, Stress Reduction

The Eyes Have It!

Leave a comment

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!

2 Comments

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.

I bet you know someone who would enjoy foodtalk4you each week. Please share with a friend or family member and click the subscribe button so you won’t miss the latest.

In health – Deidre

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

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

Beating a Dead Horse?

Leave a comment

Giddy up! Come on Ol’ Paint! Let’s go! Giddy up! There’s a nice juicy carrot back at the barn …

Ol’ Paint does not seem to be moving.

Carrots aren’t effective motivators lately.

Even the sound of the whip snapping in the air does not keep Ol’ Paint motivated.

Can you relate? I can. I’m Ol’ Paint!

Early on during the stay-at-home orders, I was relishing digging into much over-looked projects. As a solo stay at homer, the honey-do list is written my me and handed to me.

Scrub this; organize that; sew masks; start “farming” – throw action-oriented posts up on Facebook.

Life’s a breeze filled with motivation and lots of carrots.

Now? Meh. Not so much.

I think I’m beating a dead horse.

Mind games of holding that first cup of coffee hostage until I did daily morning planks, used to be a thing that created success – especially when I texted the accomplishment to my plank buddy.

Now? I’ll do those planks when I am good and ready, thank you!

Rebellion! Total rebellion!

What’s going on in my mind – and possibly yours as well – is a deep-seated need to control; and with so much control having been taken away, there’s some rebellion going on trying to seize it back.

We see this publicly on the news each day. I will not open that can of worms by engaging in exhaustive social commentary. However, I gladly wear my mask and am only carefully tippy-toeing into Phase 1 – just sayin’.

But personally? The zest for accomplishments, productivity, and physical movement is difficult, if not impossible, to sustain.

While I’m not flat lining in life, the giddy up feelings are fleeting. I want to be more, do more, and self-start with more ease. What to do?

If Ol’ Paint doesn’t want to move down the same path and be rewarded in the same way, we need to find out why. What are other options? How can the reward change? Is a different schedule needed?

A good place to start might be getting the 80,000-foot view. Look at the bigger picture from way up high.

What do you see?

Loneliness?

Forced change of travel?

Boredom?

Fear?

Self-doubt?

Lack of motivation?

Lack of daily patterns?

Inability to see beauty?

You are probably thinking of twenty more to add to this list.

Clearly, for me at least, the old motivators are either not there or they look a lot different now. If you are not alone within your four walls, this could become a meaningful group/family activity. The 80,000-foot view could surprise.

So, if Ol’ Paint is having a hard time making it along the way, get off his/her back to lighten the load first. Then, reconsider how many hurdles your horse must jump each day to feel a sense of accomplishment.

We are all in uncharted territory. The stress still spins in the background whether we know it or not. Sleep habits are frequently thrown off – especially if we are not being expected to attend a Zoom meeting at 8:00-9:00-10:00 in the morning. Maybe even if we are obligated to be on screen. It’s a daily lesson in self-discovery with an over-arching message of needing to be easy on ourselves.

Take some weight off Ol’ Paint.

There is one universal truth that still applies during this trying time. To lessen our own angst, we can look away from our own needs to the needs of others. Shake that deer-in-the-headlight feeling that seems so prevalent and reach out to someone else each day. Something other than Facebook.

Preferably, call a friend or associate just to say hello and to check on them. Send a card in the mail. You remember the mail? It still comes and don’t we get excited when something other than a bill or an ad is in the box? Brighten someone’s day with a simple contact.

You’ll find that such caring for others will make you feel better as well.

Is a friend not able to go inside the doctor’s office or hospital while their loved one gets medical treatments? Offer to meet them in the parking lot while they wait! You can social distance 6 feet away through open car windows while wearing masks.

Spreading joy to others bounces right back to us!

Easy access to concentration skills had eluded me lately. Reading a fascinating, yet technical, article is somehow just not withing my grasp. But I have been given a different kind of concentration to do. A Mother’s Day gift of an exquisitely alluring two-sided picture of succulents has totally captured my imagination. I can’t help clapping in the air when I put pieces together and finish a section.

Part of my fear-like concerns during this time is how all this isolation will affect my mind. Being able to conquer this puzzle, figuring out how to use a new sewing machine to craft masks, and figuring out how to plant a garden have all given my brain a run for its money.

That’s another point. I am profoundly grateful to my children who are keeping close tabs on me. Calls, texts, Facetime, Marco Polo (a new one for me!), and gifts of cards, puzzle, and a sewing machine are not only keeping me thinking, functioning, and happy, but are helping to close the gap we all are feeling across the miles with no travel in sight.

Today’s food for thought is to:

  • Reflect on your situation from the 80,000-foot perspective
  • Shifting focus away from your concerns to become a bright light for someone else will ease everyone’s pain
  • Be easy on Ol’ Paint

’m wearing gym clothes this rainy day with the doable goal of exercising every time I move. High steps, squats, weights in hands to work arms and abs. The Beach Boys music really gets me stepping and moving in creative exercise ways! Stayin’ Alive by the Bee Gees is a favorite to power me through planks!

In health-

Deidre

Sharing these posts with friends is another way to reach out! Ol’ Paint is learning about Facebook Live, so stay tuned for regular short missives. Like Foodtalk4you on Facebook so you won’t miss out, AND like Toolkits for Health on Facebook where I’ll soon be doing short Live events to help Caregivers.

We appreciate your comments, feedback, and sharing of our posts. Make sure to click on the subscribe button so you won’t miss new posts on Foodtalk4you. Thank you!

Habit Building, Stress Reduction, This -n- That

She Ain’t Heavy … Oh, Weight …

2 Comments

We promise posts about better health one bite … one breath … one movement at a time.

Oh look! It’s the Golden Doodle Oodles!

Last week, the post “Ooodles of Doodles” shared a daily living philosophy of being in the moment, and how easily our pets remind us of that. File that one under “breath.”

Today is about movement – or lack thereof.

Wait!

This is not about cracking the whip to guilt us all into jogging.

It’s about that time of day that is the key restorative time for our bodies. The time of day, if we don’t do this one key thing, our health will come down like a house of cards.

Sleep.

Check out the Toolkit for Wellness’s chapter on sleep to learn of how sleep deprivation ramps up hunger for starchy carbs, as well as how it can impede response to insulin.

Do you find sleep comes more easily if you are buried under a mountain of blankets? It may be more than just the cold that’s causing you to dive deep into the down comforters or quilts. It’s the weight.

Weight?

Yes. Turns out that all those blankets weighing you down are – weighing you down. Their cumulative weight is stimulating deep touch pressure receptors in your muscles, giving you the benefits of an all-night hug.

Hugs cause a release of the hormone oxytocin which may have benefits for depression, anxiety, and other problems. In general, oxytocin leaves you feeling calm, tranquil, and loving. Ahhh. Some articles I’ve read have cited a positive effect on serotonin and melatonin release with using weighted blankets; both hormones positively effect quality of sleep.

Temple Grandin

Perhaps you are aware of Temple Grandin – author, speaker, professor at Colorado State University, and PhD in animal science – whose life story was made into a movie? She developed a “squeezing machine” that would surround her with a hug, causing deep touch pressure, and would alleviate her anxiety attacks.

Temple Grandin’s Squeeze Machine

Dr. Grandin is on the Autism Spectrum. Her story is fascinating, and you can learn more about this amazing woman HERE.

For years, many people with ASD have relied on weighted blankets to sooth them through feelings of crisis and anxiety. Now, weighted blankets have gone mainstream.

I’ve always enjoyed a little extra weight on me when sleeping. Doesn’t matter if it’s in the heat of summer; sleeping just under a sheet has never been an option. I sort of feel like I’m going to float away.

Maybe I’m on the spectrum? Doesn’t matter.

I recently had the chance to use a weighted blanket. Wow! There’s such a feeling of being grounded, safe, snug, and relaxed. My restless legs did not move. It’s something I might consider purchasing.

If you are having issues with not getting a restful slumber, I highly recommend you consider trying one, if your physician agrees.

There are several medical conditions and personal phobias that would preclude your using a weighted blanket. Diabetes, skin issues, circulatory problems, pregnancy, and others– ask your doctor first, just to be safe.

And more is not better. The added weight is achieved through small pockets of plastic pellets, glass beads, flax seeds, or other materials. The rule of thumb is to use a blanket that is 10% of your body weight plus two pounds. If you get too warm when sleeping, then forget selecting the two extra pounds. If menopausal hot flashes are a bother, forget buying the weighted blanket at all.

Note: There is a danger if using on infants or small children. Always consult your pediatrician first.

Weighted blankets come in all sizes. The one I tried was like a throw blanket and was enough to cover my core body but leave my feet free if I stretched out. They are widely available online and in stores.

The only negative I can imagine if someone used a weighted blanket regularly, is not being able to adapt to not having a one when traveling. Trust me; you don’t want to put one into your carry on. Heavy.

Yours in health –

Deidre

Don’t miss even one FoodTalk4You.com newsletter! Look for the sign up to the left of this page above.

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

And We’re Off … !

1 Comment

It happened again – unbidden and out of the blue.

POLISH

Not relating to the country, but the verb and the resulting noun.

Polish something to make it gleaming. Note the fine polish.

The 2020 Word of the Year just floated into my mind sometime during the scurry and flurry of activities in December.

I put several irons to the fire in 2019 to “REACH others by sharing ideas with them.”

My focus this year is to POLISH each activity with care to reveal its deserved luster and outreach.

There is focused and intense work in polishing something. Consistent effort, pressure, polishing cloth and compound – all judiciously applied to make an object gleam – or make a project fulfill its destiny.

This is easily guiding my actions from timely home renovations; using my talents in the best way to maximize benefits for others; business marketing and even tidying up.

Just getting something done or out there is not enough. Am I polishing my efforts to get the best results? There may be changes – oh, dear! That dreaded word.

It’s okay if the change makes things better … more polished … the best version of itself.

Has your new personal Word of the Year come floating into your consciousness?

Write it down.

A post-it note will do – or something more elaborate to put in a prominent location as a beautiful reminder of your year’s intent.

A Word of the Year approach has far surpassed the fruitless exercise of New Year’s resolutions for me.

Try it.

Let one thought pervade all your activities this year – you’ll note great results because it’s a mindful approach to tweaking some aspects of your life.

No deadline – just a gentle leaning in and a refocus each day.

That’s the first idea.

The second one is going to become a new tradition for me that I hope sparks your imagination, as well.

We’ve all heard of gratitude journals. Do you write down something each night that brought gratitude to your heart that day? It’s been cited as being a practice that promotes a more positive frame of mind.

It’s just that I have so many journals around, I did not want another – and my bedside table does not need one more book on it.

If you can relate, perhaps the approach a dear friend just shared with me may inspire you as well!

As a cancer survivor, my friend participates in a Live Strong support group of fellow survivors. One of them shared the idea of a “good things” or “blessings” jar with her. As with any good idea, I am passing it on to you, my readers.

A new year lays out before us. Good and bad will happen. How about noting the good things each week – or more often – collect them in a jar, and review the blessings each New Year’s Eve?

Now residing in my kitchen is a jar equipped with a pen and baggy of blank blocks of paper ready to have the good things noted and deposited inside. See how I’ve set up my new habit in a way that will ensure success? No searching for a pen or a piece of paper. All set.

There are already several entries! The first was reconnecting with my dear friend on the phone to start the new year!

Take a picture of your jar, or Word of the Year picture/post-it note, and send it to me at foodtalk4you@gmail.com. I’ll share it on FoodTalk4You!

Wishing each of my readers much peace, love, natural health, and renewed focus on the positive in all you do in 2020!

Don’t miss even one FoodTalk4You.com newsletter! Look for the sign up to the left of this page above.

In health,

Deidre

Blogging for good health!, Food Talk 4 You!, Habit Building

Tips, Tricks, and Hacks

Leave a comment

Time to go through the old photos. Ever do that? Pictures of fascinating objects, moments, or maybe a recipe or two. I snap pictures for this column all the time, and then – sometimes – forget to share. Today’s the day to go down memory lane to bring some useful ideas to light.

This tip comes for anyone repairing a hem that is unraveling. Manufactured clothing – especially for women, often comes with hems that have double rows of stitching for hems. The factory machines are actually doing some kind of chain stitch which – if you don’t totally pull out the raveling thread that makes the stitch on the front side – will result in loops on the back side.

Very often, you can run your repair thread through those remaining loops of the chain on the back side to create an invisible fix. I’ve done this twice in the last month and created totally flawless repairs when viewed on the front side.

This trick was revealed to me by a dear, vertically-challenged, friend. Not sure Betty is even five feet tall, but this tip has even helped me – at 5’ 7 1/2 “  – to have better control with an electric beater.

Imagine my surprise when she placed her bowl in the sink to use the mixer. It helped with the task at hand, in spite of her being short, but when I also did it,  I was rewarded with an improved general control, catching those normal random splashes, and basically, made the job easier.

Thank you, Betty!

This one I’d classify as a hack. When it comes to pushing a grocery cart through the aisles, there’s quite a difference between over-handed and under-handed when it comes to hand placement.

How do you push your shopping cart? Probably over-handed like this:

Try pushing the shopping cart under-handed like this:

You will notice a little tension, and maybe even some minor ‘niggling’ in the abdominal area. Abdominal exercises in the middle of Harris Teeter! Now, I don’t know how many miles of cart pushing equals one crunch, but everything helps. If I can feel something going on, no matter how subtle, that’s a plus in the right direction.

Here’s another idea, if you like to do arm circle exercises, make a similar switch. Normally, people do arm circles with their palms facing down. Switch to palms facing the ceiling for a definite change and a bit of a challenge.

It’s been pegging near 100 degrees these last two days in Eastern North Carolina, that’s about all I can squeeze out today!

Stay cool. As one who used to love being in the heat on the back porch swing, I have had to come inside. Never been this old before … The heat causes vasodilation – blood vessels get bigger – and my blood pressure plummets. Even a cold glass of water or iced tea won’t help.

Sigh.

From the indoors-

Deidre

Blogging for good health!, Exercise, Habit Building

Ready – Set – Go!

Leave a comment

Are you trapped in a cycle of plotting, planning, wishing, and dreaming but never doing? If you could just actually get started, things would be great. But you never take that first step. We look for a push, a shove, someone to take our hand…or better yet, lift us up and carry us through so we don’t actually have to do it.

Seems others are busy doing their own things; so, we continue to plot, plan, wish, and dream. Sometimes we may even be worried about the mound of unaccomplished tasks before us. How to start ticking off those boxes so we can really get going?

I want to share five points about getting started that have worked for me and others:

  1. Don’t think about it – just do it. This mantra got me through high school and college and relates to finishing reports, speeches, reading texts, and doing homework – not as an encouragement to do stupid stuff. Long before there was a Nike, I practiced and shared this phrase to get myself and others through mountains of tasks.

Don’t think about the five things you need to get done in the next little bit, just reach out and grab one and do it. Then grab the next one.

Over-thinking, over-planning, over-ruminating gets nothing done – it only delays the start.

Don’t think about it – just do it.

  • Start a change with small tweaks. If you think about it, just about everything we do is a habit. Habits require little to no thinking. Our brain has limited band width and loves to run on autopilot – it likes to save real thinking for important things.

When I want to change an old habit or start a new one, I’ll begin by breaking down that habit into such a small component – what I call a tweak – that not doing it would be silly. If I backslide from doing ab exercises, I’ll start by doing just thirty seconds of full planks (elbow to toes) followed by thirty seconds of half planks (elbow to knees).

Now, who doesn’t have one minute for exercise? Then, I note on my calendar this accomplishment. Not so hard. By the end of the week, I’m doing a minute of full planks followed by a full minute of half planks. My goal is to work back up to two-minute planks both ways.

Trying to eat better? Conquer one meal at a time. Make sure to note your change on a calendar. Those check marks, stars, or notations look mighty good as they add up. Then you can move on to add another meal.

Instead of going cold turkey on cutting out sweet tea or sodas, simply cut down by bits. Share all cans of sodas with a still addicted friend, or switch to smaller cans. Sweet tea can be cut by ever-increasing amounts of unsweet tea. Then you can experiment with drinking more water instead of tea or soda.

  • Five-hundred-pound man. A Facebook video popped up while I was scrolling through the other night that I had seen before, but something compelled me to watch it again with new eyes. Perhaps you have seen it, too. This young man, maybe in his thirties, weighed over 500 pounds. His human form was all but obliterated by the extra weight.

His doctor pretty much said lose the weight or die. Because he was engaged to a normal-sized woman who loved the man inside of him, he decided he needed to reveal that man to himself and the world.

Long story short, he started by doing something simple. He videoed himself throwing out all the junk food in his house. Then he went to the grocery store with a new kind of shopping list. Then he went to the gym. One step at a time. He did what he could that day.

Thinking about the long haul for a 500+ pound man would have crushed any hope of getting the job done. Don’t think about it; just do it. Today. Then tomorrow when it becomes today.

At the end of his story, he weighed 300 pounds less and was having skin reduction surgery. He was alive, fit, and loving his active life. Both he and his new wife could fit into one leg of his former pants.

What a wonderful story about starting, and then starting again the next day, and the day after that!

  • Help yourself. Those were the words that popped into my depressed and numb mind as I lay on the bed, unable to get up. Help yourself. Learning to live with grief was hard. I knew it was going to be hard. Maybe I’d just stay there the rest of the afternoon…

Help yourself.

Well, I realized that there was no one else who was going to help me. It boils down to me. Get my body up. Move. Go somewhere there are other people. Do it. Now. Don’t think about it – just do it. Help yourself.

Closely resembling an emotionless robot – I got up, slipped on some shoes, and drove to the riverside park.

Fresh breeze. Pretty clouds. Children playing. Folks walking their dogs. Life.

Life was around me and I had to participate. My loved one was in heaven, but I was here. I was called to actively live here and now – the choice was mine. Help myself by being a part of the life around me. So I did.

  • Dominoes. Getting started and maintaining forward motion can be almost self-perpetuating. Once you tip over that first domino, that accomplishment will help tip over the next. That’s why I like putting those notations on my calendar, so I can see that momentum.

Lather, rinse, repeat.

Enjoy that exhilarating feeling as you do more exercise, eliminate toxic foods, complete those tasks, write the next chapter of your book, start that business, or take that new class.

You are doing this! You have started and you are moving forward.

Congratulations!

So, what are you desiring to start? Find the smallest part of it, don’t think about it anymore, and just do it! Pat yourself on the back. Put a star on your calendar and do it again tomorrow.

In health and accomplishment-

Deidre