Category Archives: Habit Building

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

Happy Hour!

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A listener to my webinar, Unique Tips for Family Caregivers That Will Amaze You, recently confided in me that my tip to, “bring the party home,” in a caregiving setting – imparted a special message to her even though she was not currently a caregiver.

She and her husband both work; and apparently, they have been morphing from working, to doing their evening time routine without any fanfare. No pause. No exchange of thoughts.

When she heard me describe how happy hour was such a lifeline to both me and my loved one, and how it gradually changed over time but was always maintained, she got to thinking about her own life.

That very night, she asked her husband to stop what he was doing so they could sit on the front porch together for just a few minutes. To pause. To reflect on their day.

Ten minutes.

No alcohol.

Soda and iced tea.

They got out of their respective work selves to just be them. Together. Having a moment.

She practically had tears in her eyes as she related to me how this simple idea – although golden for caregivers – transformed their evening and blessed their relationship as well – and is really a golden idea for everyone.

So, remember happy hour – every night.

Alone? Call a friend over.

Want to socialize a bit extra? Call some more friends over.

Fancy charcuterie trays are optional. A bowl of gluten-free pretzels will do nicely.

Also optional is alcohol. Hot or cold coffee, tea is great, or try sparkling water with a splash of fruit juice.

Want to be alone tonight? Find a special spot to relax, reflect, and to tie up the busy day before jumping into dinner prep.

No cell phones.

Just sayin’.

In health –

Deidre

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

Who’s Sleeping?

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“How do I go to sleep, Mommy?”

Apparently, my childhood inquiry is just as valid today.

“How do I go to sleep?”

My mom said, “just close eyes and be still.”

Well, a lot of help that gave me.

I can still hear her saying, “close eyes,” as she left my room at night. My little eyes popped open as soon as she closed the door.

But think about it: the steps are to get into bed, close my eyes, and be still.

Mom got me into bed; now, I am responsible for that.

How about you? Binge-watching just one more show? Reading just one more story on your phone?

Many of us have not absorbed the message that sleep is a priority or how to get to sleep, it seems, because an article this week shared graph after graph of evidence showing that Americans are getting even less sleep than ever.

And it’s mostly the women who are faring the worst in each comparison.

Stress is being cited as the culprit, and that’s easy to see, but the effects of a lack of sleep must be seen as major contributors to the stress levels being felt.

What’s the purpose of sleep, anyway?

Let’s summarize:

Tissue repair and healing – in ways we can see externally, and moreover, in ways we cannot see internally. Daily life creates a lot of wear and tear on our bodies and minds – it takes 7-9 hours of sleep to clean up, mend, renew, and heal.

Regulation of body processes – especially seen with hormones, the hours of sleep allow the body to have time to reset back to normal levels. When hormones are regulated, body systems function smoothly.

Brain function – we’ve all experienced sleep-deprived fuzzy-brain feel from time to time. Looks like most of the country is having a rough time of right thinking. Just watch the nightly news. Memory function and clear thinking are contingent upon consistently getting enough sleep.

Normalizing blood sugar levels – in addition to right eating, blood sugar levels are greatly affected by our getting regular adequate rest.

Weight management – another part of that hormone regulation mentioned above is the role of appetite suppressing and appetite stimulating hormones that can get unbalanced when there is not enough sleep time.

Stress reduction – did you have a stressful day? Not getting enough sleep causes even more stress hormones to be released. This creates a textbook example of a vicious cycle.

Reduce inflammation – here’s my favorite topic. Remember, all diseases have some major causative factor rooted in inflammation. Sleep helps to regulate some of the factors that would cause inflammation.

Is it a coincidence that along with inadequate sleep, we are seeing an uptick in obesity, diabetes, autoimmune diseases, and more?

There is no one answer or approach to solving the tsunami of sleep deprivation being experienced across the country – and probably the world.  But making a difference in our singular lives, doing one thing less every night that’s keeping us from going to bed in a timely fashion would help.

Now, close eyes.

In health –

Deidre

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

The Potion is Motion

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Are you a note taker?

I take notes when listening to speeches all the time – there’s always some new idea I want to remember or refer to again. Note pads and notebooks abound at home.

It’s like I can’t listen without taking notes – the same way some people can’t talk without using their hands. (Oops, I may do that, too!)

While rummaging through my desk drawer in search of …  a notepad – what else? I rediscovered some old scribbles I have referred to several times:

The more emotion you are in, the more motion you should be in.

Wish I could give credit to the lady speaking to our group back then, but her name was not in my notes. She shared with us how stress hormones directly affect our physical health, and how we could counteract natural reaction through movement.

Her introduction to the connection between stress and physical disease was, “the more signs and symptoms we have of stress, the more we need to do something different.”

What are your signs of a stress reaction?

For many, ground zero may be the stomach:

The stomach is one of the most common places people hold stress. Stress in the abdomen/stomach usually manifests itself in maldigestion, changes in appetite, and even stomach pain. If you’re someone who tends to resist change or feels like you don’t have power over their life, you might hold stress in your stomach.

Our speaker described the stress hormones we release as, “getting caught in the body, wrapping around internal organs … and killing us.”

Now, there’s a graphic image to remember.

Then she crystalized the knowledge that exercise increases the production of our feel-good transmitters, called endorphins, by saying that getting our bodies in, “a new motion would result in a new emotion.”

Today’s simple reminder is to:

Use our “magic potion”

of getting our bodies in motion

to create better emotions

that will slay that thing wrapped around our innards.

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In health and still doing planks and wall sits –

Deidre

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

Diamonds Are A Blog’s Best Friend!

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Do you see the shower of diamonds falling upon you?

As a reader of foodtalk4you, you should, because this marks our tenth anniversary edition!

Big periodicals would have had staff assigned to their special edition, delving into past articles, to select the essential messages from the past ten years. They would have taken most of a year making it a keepsake edition.

We are a team of two.

It’s taken several months of sifting through each blog post since the beginning, and now there are visions of a book, The Best of Foodtalk4you, on the planning board.

But first, I’ll need to finish the relaunch of Toolkit for Caregivers – which is looking fabulous as it nears the completion of formatting and cover design – and retool, edit, and format, Toolkit for Caregiver Emotions, before we can think about, The Best of Foodtalk4you.

In the meantime, Sheree and I want to thank you for your support and encouragement for these past ten years. Many of you have been with us since the beginning of our journey, dedicated to helping others see the natural health available to them – one meal … one breath … one movement at a time.

Our health is a quest that spans our lifetime, and requires a diligent application of the basic principles we outline every week – including:

“Am I doing my body good?” What it means to be on the same team with my body – consistently pulling in the same direction – in this post from 2019.

Building a positive emotional mindset – freeing ourselves from the past and changing self-talk to recreate the landscape of our day – found in a series of three posts in 2022 HERE, HERE, AND HERE. 

Are we destined to follow our genes? How our thinking and self-talk can guide our health status in these posts HERE and HERE.

Autoimmunity: the wolf at everyone’s door – a series of three posts HERE, HERE, and HERE about what autoimmunity is, the importance of avoiding things that contribute to it, and steps to take to live an anti-inflammatory life.  

Stress management – ever on everyone’s minds, has been frequently addressed on foodtalk4you. In 2016, it was discussed as the January top searches post and again in the 2019 post “SPLAT.”

Exercises – especially outside of the confines of a gym, are regularly explored as I have always believed that movements to keep and build range of motion and strength can also be done throughout the day wherever we are. Recent posts have covered this well.

Recipes – the quest for anti-inflammatory eating has spanned this decade, and recipe sharing is a favorite pastime here. From seasonal soups to Scones That Love You Back, we’ve covered it all.

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SCONES-THAT-LOVE-YOU-BACKDownload

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So, here are some of our favorite glittering diamonds for you, dear readers! Your readership and comments are our diamonds! Thank you!

In health –

<— Deidre, who writes, and Sheree—>, who makes this lovely to read!

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

April – The Month For Isometric Exercises!

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Are you up for an April challenge?

Grab a wall and sit down.

I’m committed to revisiting an old friend that’s been neglected – the plank trifecta – and to embrace an isometric exercise I’ve never done consistently before – the wall squat, or wall sit, if you prefer – because that’s what it looks like.

If you are a long-time reader, you know my passion for planks – they have done me well over the years and have proven to be transformative to tighten my core. And yet, I have allowed planks to fall by the wayside from my daily routine.

A great way to start a habit/routine is to incorporate it into another one that is already established – like I do every morning with arm exercises while using my pour-over method to brew coffee, (explained in a recent post, February 27th).

The coffee making process is firmly established. All I had to do was tweak it a bit to give my biceps and shoulders a great workout.  

It’s been just a few weeks, but I can feel the difference; and my non-dominate arm is now much stronger than when I started.

So, to successfully start a new habit, I have added a simple sticky note in view of my office desk, that reminds me to do my planks and wall sit before I get deeply involved in daily writing projects.

I can report that today’s initial return to planks was quite acceptable: thirty seconds each of straight arm, forearm, and knee planks. Beginners may start with as little as fifteen seconds of the easier knee plank, and gradually lengthen time before adding another position.

What a workout! After only a minute and a half, I experienced a more rapid heartbeat and shaky muscles. Awesome!

Please check with your health care provider before starting any kind of new exercise, and if pain is experienced at any time, stop exercising.

A review of plank techniques may be found HERE.

That smooth surface on the Murphy bed in my office is the perfect place to do my wall sits.

Somehow, the idea of using a painted wall to scooch down into the wall sit position didn’t seem proper to me – I mean, what if my back were to sweat or the color of my clothes were to mar the paint?

Now, the perfect set-up is staring at me every day. No excuses.

If you are not used to the wall sit – and I am not – it can be a bit of a challenge. I eked out 30 seconds today, and my thighs were definitely talking to me.

And that’s okay.

Eventually, I will do my first set of three, thirty-second wall sits.

In time.

A review of the wall sit exercise may be found HERE.

Planks and wall sits are called isometric exercises, and they can be an important part of our regular routine for strengthening core muscles and increasing joint stability.

Isometric exercises produce no movement – muscles are held in a certain position which creates muscle fatigue, but is less challenging to the joints than regular exercises.

Here are five benefits to incorporating isometric exercises:

They help us get in shape without a high intensity workout and are a good start for an exercise program.

Isometric exercises help maintain muscle and joint strength.

Wall squats, especially, have been shown to lower blood pressure.

Rehabilitation after injury or surgery is helped with isometric exercise.

Those with osteoarthritis can build strength and increase range of motion doing isometric exercise as a warm-up to traditional exercise.

The Cleveland Clinic has a great summary about isometric exercise and offers additional exercises to try out HERE.

For now, planks and wall sits are my April challenge. How about you?

In health –

Deidre

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Blogging for good health!, Habit Building, Stress Reduction

Turning Away From The Noise

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Imagine Little Orphan Annie singing, “It’s the hard knock life,” except with different words:

“It’s the cell phone life for us.

It’s the cell phone life for us.

‘Stead of newspapers,

We get tweets.

‘Stead of hugs,

We get emojis.

It’s the cell phone life for us.”

After putting up a valiant level of resistance, I must admit, turning to my cell phone for communication, reading, and research is becoming mainstream.

FOMO, (fear of missing out), leads to a quick check of all platforms I use – which leads to reacting to various messages. We feel compelled to throw our two cents in at every turn.

This is taking time. My time. My life.

I am seeing trends where reactions dominate, rather than thoughtful responses. Knee-jerk reactions seem to rule the day, overshadowing the rarity of creative and well-reasoned thinking.

Personal creativity is usually not born from a quick response or by simple emulation of others, and it can’t come by living in a swirl of see-this-now messages.

Creative moments come when we turn away from the noise. Letting our minds wander, free from distractions.

Dare we take the challenge of scheduling twenty minutes a day without technology?

If you are a parent of adult children, remember the days when you longed for just a few minutes of quiet to glue your thoughts together? Parents of today seem to be wishing for a few minutes to scroll through their phones, dropping reactions as they swipe.

Today, I am being a voice calling in the wilderness perhaps; but could we claim regular time away from the noise of the chatter to develop some creativity of our own?

In health –

Deidre

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

Aw, Shucks!

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You love them or hate them.

As a longtime resident of North Carolina, I’ve been around these mollusks a long time, but wasn’t a big fan because most of the time they were being served raw. Oh, and they were usually not chewed.

Yeach!

Fried? Occasionally, sure.

But after experiencing barbequed oysters hot-off the grill, with garlic butter bathing a tender, juicy, cooked, chewable morsel – I was hooked. Being at my daughter’s house on the lanai, gazing at the Hawaiian sunset didn’t hurt either.

A few Oysters Rockefeller in Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia, consumed after experiencing the Grand Illuminations sealed the deal.

If they are cooked, I’m game.

The Asian Cucumber Twists that inspired last week’s post, represented the salad/vegetable portion of our oyster feast – thanks to my sweetheart’s daughter, who is in the business of selling and delivering Gulf oysters to restaurants in Atlanta, Georgia.

The Gulf oysters she shared with us are huge! We enjoyed a couple oyster feasts during her recent visit, and we appreciated all her hard work in shucking them for us, too!

Her baked oysters were phenomenal using a small dab of butter, garlic salt, lemon juice, parmesan, and cheddar.

Oh, my!

Turns out, oysters have some excellent nutritional value – above and beyond the lore around enhancing sexual prowess.

One 3-ounce serving of oysters, approximately 6 medium, is incredibly low in calories and carbs, and is high in protein and vitamin/minerals. Check this out:

  • Calories: 69
  • Fat: 2g
  • Sodium: 90mg
  • Carbohydrates: 4.2g
  • Fiber: 0g
  • Protein: 8g

But the numbers that really caught my eye were from the USDA website below.

Vitamin C5%Calcium5%
Iron33%Vitamin D0%
Vitamin B65%Cobalamin230%
Magnesium12%

Cobalamin is vitamin B12 and essential for maintaining brain and nerve health – and for making DNA and red blood cells. B12 also helps lower levels of an amino acid linked (when in high levels) to dementia, heart disease, stroke, and osteoporosis.

To summarize, a 3-ounce serving of oysters has:

  • Very few carbohydrates
  • Less fat than carbohydrates
    • Is packed with protein and essential amino acids (Omega-3 fatty acids)
    • Very high in vitamins including B12
      • Very high in minerals including potassium, zinc, magnesium, iron and is low in calories

The caution about oysters is usually centered around eating them raw because they may contain a Vibrio bacterium which may cause diarrhea, vomiting, and in some cases, severe illness. Cooking them with proper techniques can kill harmful bacteria.

Also, because of advanced techniques in refrigeration and storage, the adage about not eating oysters in a month without an ‘R’ has gone by the wayside. Oysters are now safely consumed year-round.

There are six oysters left we are planning to put on the grill tonight. Hope I learned enough about how to shuck an oyster from watching others.

We’re on our own tonight!

In health –

Deidre

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

Cucumbers With A Twist

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Are you skilled in eating with chopsticks? For some, it’s a sure-fire way to eat less – nothing stays on with our precarious hold!

But it’s amazing how a pair of chopsticks can transform the process of slicing vegetables to create shapes and textures.

Remember Hasselback potatoes? They were all over the recipe blogs a few years ago. They intrigued me, but I never took the plunge in creating them. /

After using a similar technique for cucumbers this past weekend, I’m going to do it. Who can resist having fun in the kitchen while creating something unique, tasty, and incredibly visually appealing?

Oh, and with minimal effort.

During a recent visit, my sweetheart’s daughter suggested we try creating an Asian cucumber salad. It’s another recipe concept that I have never taken up, so the opportunity to do this together was just the ticket for the kitchen adventure we wanted.

After we watched a how-to video on the slicing technique and saw how a small cucumber can be transformed into a spiral, we were sold!

There are many recipes and how-to videos out there, and the technique I used to slice is different than the recipe we followed which was loosely like this one:

Using a package of six small Persian cucumbers, I washed and trimmed the ends from each. Next comes the magic!

Align the cucumber between the chopsticks and make consistently sized slices on the diagonal. The chopsticks keep the knife from going all the way through the cucumber.

Then, turn the cucumber over to the other uncut side. Make slices going vertically.

When you lift the cucumber, there is an amazing swirling twist! So cool!

Some recipes recommend cutting the cucumber in two bite-sized pieces, but we didn’t do that because we wanted to show off the beauty of the twist in the serving bowl.

Cucumbers contain a lot of water – which is why they are so refreshing, but when put into a dressing, the results get watered down. Therefore, the next step is to draw the excess water out of the cucumber before adding the dressing.

To “sweat” the cucumbers, we sprinkled two teaspoons of Kosher salt over them, mixing and massaging the salt into flesh. This recipe suggested leaving the salt on for five minutes – no more than 10 minutes – lest they lose their crispness. Other recipes contradict that method and want a longer sweating time. We were happy using less than ten minutes.

While the cucumber twists are sweating, it was a snap to mix up the dressing in a small bowl using ingredients we had on hand:

See the full downloadable recipe below.

Asian-Cucumber-Twists Download

By the time the dressing is mixed, it’s about time to rinse the salted cucumbers. Under running water, rinse the salt off very carefully, repeating several times. Place rinsed cucumber twists onto a towel to drain. Pat dry.

Place cucumber twists into a bowl and pour the dressing over, gently tossing to evenly distribute. That’s it. Time to serve. If there are leftovers, these can be refrigerated for a few days.

Asian Cucumber Twists are so easy to create and provide such a crowd-pleasing presentation and taste experience.

I can see using this recipe again and again.

Thanks for reading. I hope you like it!

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In health –

Deidre

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

Which Way To The Gym, You Ask?

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“Well, I didn’t make it to the gym today like I’d hoped.”

Ever said that?

“In fact, today is a bust, as well.”

Welcome to my world.

So, that means what? I keep plugging away, sitting at my computer, suffering from the effects of limited movement?

I could have taken that path, but several workouts today have left me feeling invigorated, stretched out, and standing much taller – and it took almost no time at all.

Cumulatively, I’ve logged a whopping ten minutes of stretching exercises taken in three small intervals while I was waiting.

Waiting for the coffee to brew.

Waiting for breakfast to cook in the pan.

Waiting for the water to boil and the tea to brew.

Sure, there will be sustained effort in the gym this week, but when I do these few movements, I am a new person right now, at home.

After a recent workout that focused on upper body, my shoulder girdle was still feeling tight, so I returned to this favorite twist on arm circles:

Arm Circle Variation:

Standing with feet a shoulder width apart, stretch out arms to the side, horizontally to the floor.

Turn palms UP facing the ceiling. This is the trick.

Stretch your arms out as far as you can comfortably, as if trying to touch the walls. Do not drop your arms between any of the repetitions.

Make 8 small arm circles going forward, followed by 8 going backward.

Make 8 medium circles going forward, followed by 8 going backward.

Make 8 large circles going forward, followed by 8 going backward.

Now you may lower your arms.

This sounds so simple, but by turning the palms to face the ceiling, the dynamics are totally changed! You will find a surprising challenge and a great movement to open up your body just by doing this variation.

Okay, that should take a minute and a half – plus or minus. Make sure to keep reaching for the walls as you do the arm circles, and make sure to create the large one as big as you can comfortably do.

Next, I do a series of head/neck and torso movements that instantly loosen up and increase range of motion for my upper body, releasing tension:

Head turns to the right and left

Head nods up and down

Torso twists to the right and left

All movements are done slowly with a pause at the neutral center position.

Each repetition is done very gently, stopping at the slightest resistance, and seems to yield a bit more range of motion each time until I feel limber. Usually, five reps will yield the desired results.

The final minutes to my morning warm up come during brewing our pour-over coffee. Lifting the full glass hot water kettle to slowly pour the steaming water over the grounds offers yet another opportunity for weightlifting – especially using my nondominant hand.

During the pouring pauses, raising the kettle up/out/or across is easy using my right arm, but harder to do with my left.

I hope you enjoy these easy, subtle opportunities to squeeze in a stretch outside of the gym. We have the time – right where we are.

If you like these ideas, please share using the options under the MORE button below.

In health –

Deidre

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

What’s An Acronym and Why Is It Important?

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We’re here to talk about the important ones!

Everything has initials. Back in the day, it was people’s names and organizations being shortened for the headlines: JFK, LBJ, GOP, Dems, ABC, NBC, and the like. Today, not only names but locations, words, whole phrases, diseases, and everything else are being reduced to a chain of letters.

And, apparently, even for things people drink – like SSB.

Do you drink SSB?

Do you have CVD?

Well, if you exercise thinking you can mitigate the physical effects of SSB in hopes of not having another MI – you may be sadly mistaken.

Okay – back to complete words.

A newsletter I received from Chris Kresser, which contained a link to a study that looked at the idea of using exercise to offset risk of coronary vascular disease (CVD) brought on by drinking sugar sweetened beverages (SSBs).

In other words, couldn’t the cardioprotective effects of exercise undo the harm of drinking SSBs?

Wouldn’t it be cool to throw back the SSB of your choice – sweet tea/coffee, soft drink, or any drink using sugar or high fructose corn syrup – and then head for the gym to “work it off?”

Longtime foodtalk4you readers probably can guess the answer: no.

To quote the study:

“The underlying biological mechanism by which SSB intake is associated with an increased risk of CVD includes not only their capacity to induce weight gain but also the high amounts of quickly absorbable carbohydrates (i.e., sugar or high-fructose corn syrup), contributing to an increase in blood glucose and insulin levels and thereby glycemic load [13]. This process exacerbates inflammatory biomarkers and overall inflammation, which are linked to atherosclerosis, ultimately leading to risk of CVD.”

When we talk about an anti-inflammatory lifestyle, that includes:

  • choosing food/drinks that nourish our whole bodies without causing stress and strain.
  • choosing to exercise regularly in ways that promote growth, healing, and circulation.
  • choosing to use coping strategies that promote mental balance.
  • choosing a personal community that promotes joy, respect, and common values.

Sugar is not our friend. It promotes inflammation on every level.

Yes, we all had our sugar hit over Valentine’s Day, but let sugar be the treat, not the main course or continual source of dietary pleasure.

So, sorry to burst the bubble of those thinking that exercise could rewrite the script of what we put into our bodies on a regular basis. Exercise can do a lot, but we still need to put quality fuel into our engines.

I don’t know about you, but I’m going for a walk.

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In health –

Deidre