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Anti-Inflammatory Foods, Blogging for good health!, Recipes, Stress Reduction

Happy Valentine’s Day!!

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Happy Valentine’ Day, sweet readers!

Did you craft a Valentine for someone from last week’s post?

If you are careful in cutting out the heart shape in the front piece, you have a handy heart to place on a rectangle of paper that can be taped onto blank card stock. Two cards for one!

Listening to a favorite meditation message from Amit Sood recently, I was reminded about how we share in spreading happiness. I call it, “making the day.”

He said, no matter our job or station in life, each of us has a job description that includes being a “Happiness Officer.”

Bottom line, it’s up to each of us to spread happiness wherever we go. Every day.

I am pleased to report that many people do this – or at least, many people join me as I endeavor to make light of potentially frustrating situations.

Today’s return of goods to a local big box hardware store seemed to drag on forever.

As one who frequently is frustrated with computer glitches, I turned a sympathetic ear to the cashier who was trying to get information from a new system. When that failed, she tried the old system. Even her boss was not getting the information needed to complete the return.

Noting a line had formed behind me, I apologized for the delay to them. The next in line said it was okay, and I commented in a lighthearted fashion something about, “you gotta love computers.”

The store’s music system was playing a lively tune which I may have bounced to. These days, especially, I want everyone around me to pick up on a body language and tone of voice from me that says I am patient and understanding. We never know who we might be influencing.

When a resolution to the situation was developed, I expressed appreciation for their diligence, creativity, and customer care.

With news about people on their last thread of sanity doing regrettable things, it seems to be more important than ever to take our job description of “Happiness Officer” to heart.

Speaking of happiness … I really like oatmeal, but …

How do you dress up a serving of leftover oatmeal?

We jokingly call my mixture of gluten-free: Oatmeal, steel cut oats, buckwheat, and ground flax seed, “gruel,” and I frequently prepare extra just to have leftovers.

I store and refrigerate the leftover hot cereal in a loaf-shaped dish so I can cut off 1/2 inch slices to brown in a pan with a dab of butter on medium heat the next day.

These browned slices can be eaten plain or dressed up with fresh or cooked fruit. Today, I cooked some Mackintosh apples until they were almost like applesauce and put a dollop on each slice. Yum.

Can you find a situation you can adorn with your brand of happiness?

May we all be Happiness Officers to everyone –

Deidre

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

Kaizen in Action – Part 2

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Sometimes the inspiration and application of an idea can come from a familiar message that’s been put into new words.

That old idea will grab us in a new way, when it’s presented from a different angle.

I’ve written about taking small steps for years, both here and in my books. But this book about Kaizen I referred to last week, has been just what I needed.

And look – even its size reflects its message!

As I stood in the chaos of moving boxes, not sure of which way to go because some of the options required other efforts to complete, I put Kaizen to work.

Clearly, the whole project, or even part of the project, was not going to be finished that day. What was one tiny thing within my reach that I could put away? One thing.

Easy enough. Done.

Next?

By the end of the morning, I had finished moving my things into the bathroom: Shelving assembled under the sink, objects sorted, discarded, and put away.

This job had been put off for several weeks. I had enough personal hair, make up, and tooth brushing supplies – it was not an urgent task, but to complete moving in, required me to get these things out of the ugly box in my new bedroom.

You can imagine the sense of accomplishment – albeit small – that propelled me to tackle one more object in another box. Ultimately, four or five boxes were processed that day. Wow!

Reading Maurer’s book opened my eyes to another reason why small is good.

Approaching any topic from the point of view of making the smallest changes is simply more user friendly, because we are comfortable with small steps.

When faced with change involving big ideas and big leaps, our fight-or-flight response is triggered. Our body prepares for physical action (fight or flight) and the circuits for less critical operations are shut down.

In a fight-or-flight response, we do not need to digest lunch, or think about our relations with Aunt Sarah. We need to stand and fight, or get out of Dodge as fast as possible.

The problem we face in everyday situations that bring on this response is that it also brings on some degree of fear. We fear departing from anything that takes us away from the norm – and we often end up like deer in the headlights. Stuck. Frozen.

Looking at major projects can leave us wringing our hands and walking in circles.

But, learning to take the smallest step possible keeps that fight-or-flight response asleep. We can tiptoe right around it.

I’m not opening and putting away fifty boxes today. I’m going to find a home for this bottle of Listerine.

Twice weekly, extreme gym workouts aren’t happening; but I did 5 minutes of arm exercises with 3 pound weights during the commercials last night – several times. Whenever I relocate my 5 pound weights, I’ll use them to ramp up the experience.

Little things.

How can you dissolve the potential fear of facing a large or difficult project by finding the smallest possible step to take?

What’s one thing you can do for your health today?

How can you incorporate one more glass of water into your day?

Are you looking at a mess? What is one small object you can put away?

Thank you for reading foodtalk4you. If you haven’t subscribed yet, just scroll down your screen or look to the upper left along this article to subscribe today. We won’t bug you, promise. Just one email a week to alert you to the new post.

Quietly stepping around that fight-or-flight tiger.

In health –

Deidre

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

New Year – New Word!

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Bet you thought I had forgotten. Life was such a whirlwind last year, I did forget – at least to write about it.

This year, the ripples of past words and ideas returned to me – this time through an author friend, Otakara Klettke – who posted a query to her friends about what they had chosen as their 2023 Word of the Year.

Brilliant!

I grow so much from 1) setting a mindful intention for my new year and 2) spreading out the contents of last year’s blessings jar – and doing it now, the day after epiphany (as I write this), seems appropriate.

Besides, blessings are pouring in for 2023, and I need an empty jar to hold my notes!

My unspoken word of the year for 2022 had to have been GROW. What a ride of new experiences! Looking back, I am grateful for how life unfolded: I learned new things and improved on them; how I will do some things better; and how I had such amazing support every step of the way.

With most of these life changes complete, Otakara’s query about my 2023 Word of the Year gave me pause to think. Only one word popped into my mind and spirit: LOVE.

Not that love was lacking at any time in 2022, but my soul wants to turn its striving and focus to love.

Certainly, all intentions need to start at home. I’ll be mindful how I explore and show love to myself; but I long to show love more completely to others through my presence, helpful acts, and remembrances.

So, what is your Word of the Year for 2023?

I think it’s better than a resolution – any day – because it’s an intention set deep in our hearts that colors how we think and proceed. Resolutions fade away even before January ends, but an intention can stick with us.

Write it on a sticky.

Make a pretty drawing around your word.

Paint it on a canvas.

Sharing these easy ideas. Just use the options on the MORE button below to share this post with others.

In health and love –

Deidre

Blogging for good health!, Exercise, Stress Reduction, Titles Worth Reading

Change is Good!!

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It’s not a word on the tip of everyone’s tongue. Kaizen. It comes from two Japanese words “kai,” meaning ‘change,’ and “zen,” meaning ‘good’.

Many of us bristle at the very thought of change. Status quo is the word of the day for many.

But change is as natural as the different seasons in nature – morphing almost imperceptibly into something different. In our own lives, each day is unique, and each phase of our journey is new. We’ve never been here before. Change is our normal state.

Kaizen has also come to mean the process of continuous improvement. Since the early days of Toyota, the Japanese manufacturer was one of the first organizations to embrace the idea that perfection is not a fixed destination – as life evolves – our needs, visions, and approaches change – and so must our methods and products.

Therefore, change can be good.

There’s a lesson to be learned by the way nature changes that we can take into our own efforts for self-improvement.

What is that lesson? Sustainable change – or a process of changing that can be sustainable – must happen gradually.

We don’t jump from frozen ground to full-bloom spring, do we?

Taking the smallest, measurable step each day is enough to get us there. When we show up every day to take our efforts and results just a little farther down the road, that’s exactly what we want.

Sustainability is the key.

If we make our steps giant, challenging leaps, there’s a good chance we will not return the next day. Skipping one day makes starting the next time harder, and makes creating excuses to skip again very alluring and justifiable.

In that vein, the five-minute arm workout I shared with you last week is a perfect example of sustainability. There’s not a big commitment, this routine can be done any time of day or night, and I seem to naturally improve and expand what I do with no special effort.

There’s that Kaizen Principle at work in a simple arm routine.

Yesterday, I morphed a few moves to create a half-dozen more. So fun to do, and variation keeps things fresh!

Try taking a hammer curl to a full overhead arm extension and back again. Then extend that combination to a triceps extension: three moves in one loop.

Add another triceps move by standing upright, arms at the side holding weights, then bend elbows slightly while moving arms back. Hold that position and extend arms back straight. Pause. Flex at the elbow and keep pumping back, pausing at full extension 10-15 times.

If you would like to learn more about the Kaizen principle, I’d like to recommend this book: One Small Step Can Change Your Life The Kaizen Way by Robert Maurer.

I like what I read in the sample, so I have ordered a copy for myself.

My weights are moving around the house like Elf-On-The-Shelf! They are right where I can see and use them the most.

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In health –

Deidre

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

Easily Make Your New Year’s Goals Come True!

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Maintaining exercise by carrying moving boxes was easily checked off last year as I made near-daily loops around my neighborhood to keep track of building progress on the new home.

Then lifting, shuffling, and sorting through 42 years of stuff at the old homestead was further enhanced by boxing, toting, and moving that which survived the great throw out.

Arms, legs, and back were all getting their workouts in 2022.

This year, with the moving-in process winding down, my arms need regular workouts. Time to keep my five-pound weights within easy reach for daily impromptu maintenance and strengthening moves.

How do you trigger doing regular exercise at home?

Just keeping my cute pink weights in plain sight and ready-to-use, usually does the trick. I’ve been known to keep them on the hearth in the living room so I can pick them up during commercial time when watching TV.

Some folks like using a habit-tracker like the one I offer as a download for my first book, Toolkit for Wellness. The entire download for that book can be accessed below and you can find the habit tracker on page 6.

Click on the GREEN DOWNLOAD button below to access!

Bonus-Materials-for-Toolkit-for-Wellness-PDFDownload

I’m going to use the habit-tracker this month because I want the visual reward of little check marks adding up.

Whatever your method, let’s get back to some easy arm basics.

Remember to start out using light weights: 1, 2, 3, or 5 pound dumbbells – or use 8 ounce cans of soup or nothing at all. Sore muscles and complaining joints are motivators to abandon exercise, and that would be counterproductive, to say the least.

A little jazzy music helps if you aren’t doing this during a commercial break, and standing is a plus for me – but many of these moves can be done seated.

Whatever position you assume, remember to “pull the string” of symbolically pulling a string at the top of your head to straighten your spine and to get your ears-over-shoulders and shoulders-over-hips.

Pulling the string gets us in good body alignment for optimal movement with decreased chance for injury.

NOTE: I am not a strength or conditioning trainer – this is what I do – proceed using your own wisdom and the recommendations of your medical professional. If you experience pain or discomfort, stop.

Basic Curls

Standing straight, feet should-width apart, holding your light weights, start with straight arms hanging close to your body, and palms facing forward. Bend both elbows slowly lifting the weight toward your shoulders – but do not touch your shoulders. Pause, then return to starting position. Repeat 10-15 times.

I like to add a set of curls with my palms facing each other. Changing hands to facing inward also changes the name to hammer curl, but don’t sweat the labels. Just note how this may feel as different muscles are called into use.

Arm raises

Standing straight, feet shoulder-width apart, with arms hanging straight down at your sides, slowly raise weights out to your sides and up parallel to the floor and just slightly in front of you. You should be able to just see your hands in the periphery of your vision. Pause, and then slowly lower your arms to starting position. Repeat 10-15 times. Do not swing your arms up and down – the point is to move slowly with control.

A variation of basic arm raises is to do them while standing slightly bent at the waist. Try bending forward about 45 degrees, keeping back flat, hands with weights at the sides of your knees, and raising arms out to the side until parallel to the floor. Pause, and slowly lower to starting position.

Overhead triceps extensions

This exercise may be done either by holding a single weight with both hands, or by using a weight in each hand.

Standing straight, feet shoulder-width apart, press the weight/s up over your head until your arms are fully extended. Without moving your upper arms, lower the weight/s behind your head as far as comfortable. Pause, then bring the weight/s back up to straight up over your head. Repeat 10-15 times.

Punch the air

Standing straight with feet a little wider apart than shoulder width, hold weights chest height. Using alternate hands, punch out and slightly up like at a punching bag. Crouching slightly by bending the knees adds another exercise element as knees are bent and then straightened at the top of the punch. Repeat 10-15 times.

It’s basic exercise fare but can amazingly help strength and range of motion. Most importantly, it’s doable and repeatable.

Can you spell S-U-C-C-E-S-S?

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In health for 2023 –

Deidre

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

Let’s Celebrate With A Clean Slate for 2023!

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During my final move out of storage and into my long-awaited new home in a new town, I was moved to take a picture of the empty storage unit before I left.

It’s empty – save for some broken glass.

Isn’t that what we all are looking at as we regard the past year? We’re moving on with whatever we are taking, and we are leaving behind the broken glass.

Well, we should be leaving behind the broken glass – maybe sweep it up so no one gets cut – but don’t start the new year with a pocket full of broken glass.

Admit our mistakes. Explore what we have learned from both mistakes and successes, and move forward with a clean slate to look for opportunities to flex our increased self-awareness and knowledge.

So, in these brief moments on the first Tuesday of January 2023, what pieces of broken glass are you willing to leave behind from 2022?

And what elements are you eager to take, nurture, and harvest for this new year?

This time last year, we were bundled up for the cold daily walks to gaze upon the bare hard ground where our new house would eventually stand. Each day’s steps brought us outdoors for exercise and anticipation – and were sprinkled with a healthy dose of patience as we longed for the breaking of ground.

When the weather warmed and progress on the new build was realized, we added sunscreen, water bottles, and shade hats to our warm weather attire – but the walking exercise continued.

Now moved in, realizing our dream, and using our new space, I am committed to taking the winter walks into the new year – making them a part of the fabric of our lives.

While every day represents fresh starts, certainly the new year marks a time to think about what we need to leave behind and what we want to take with us.

Happy 2023 to all our foodtalk4you readers! Remember to “do your body good” with each bite, each breath, and each movement.[

In health –

Deidre and Sheree

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

Joy to the World!

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Peace, Hope, Love, and now JOY.

Have you found your peace? Have you discovered and explored it this month? Have you helped to create peace in your life, and have you shared it with others?

I hope so.

Oh, there’s that hope. There is a way. You can do this. We can do this. There is strength enough inside of you, and there is help and hope available from those around you.

Are you feeling love in more than one realm? The here and now kind and the other-worldly kind from those who have gone before?

As I think of those who are newly grieved, a sense of peace, hope, and love may seem a bit of a stretch right now. Experiencing that first holiday season without someone and all that it brings to grief can overwhelm.

The peace may look different this year – but it’s still peace.

The hope may seem to have evaporated – but look around. Your situation may be unwanted and different, but there is a new path that fits the new you. It’s there. Look for it and move toward it.

Love has no boundaries, and there is always room for new love. May we all take the love we have and the love we have experienced to grow MORE love – the opportunities and needs for love and expressions for love surround us.

As we take our peace, hope, and love out into the world, we will discover JOY.

Joy, I think, is contingent upon action – our action of reaching out to others with peace, hope, and love. It does not plop into our laps – joy requires our efforts.

Joy wants to be shared, too! Who sits around just being joyful? Sure, we have joy in our hearts, but doesn’t it just about leap out of our chests, begging to be spread around?

This is a great time for us all – especially if you find yourself feeling a little lack-luster as we close out the year – to pause and to ponder about small moments when you have found some peace, and hope, and love.

Jot each moment down on a small slip of paper; fold it and drop it into a jar. Every so often, add a short note about something positive – a blessing – to drop into your blessings jar.

On New Year’s Eve, one year from now, dump all your blessings out onto the table and read each one – and you will feel JOY!

Life is a series of tiny moments, and we often get stuck on all the negatives that have happened to us. But by being aware of the many small blessings that come our way, we realize that things are not that bad.

May there be abundant peace, hope, love, and joy for each of us, and may we reflect those feelings and mindsets in all that we do now and in the coming New Year.

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In health –

Deidre

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

Love is Everything

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It’s the bottom line.

Everything else can and will fall away. We are left with this one thing. All our striving, our busy activities, our concerns, our vain imaginings – they disappear, and we are left with this one eternal element that is the sum of the Universe.

LOVE.

We need love on a cellular level. Take love away and we become twisted and tortured.

Some of us have mistakenly believed we do not deserve love – we are somehow less than, or we have caused so much harm, that we do not merit love.

But we were designed by love – if only by the power of Universal, love found in the miracle of Creation itself – and were designed to need and give love.

I’ve discovered that love has a handmaiden.

Grief.

When we love someone, we are committing to the grief that will surely follow when that love is taken from our physical presence.

If you have lost someone, the grief you feel is a testament to your love! That’s a big deal.

It makes loving someone an even more precious thing. What a gift!

“I love you fiercely even knowing that when we are physically separated, I will grieve and hurt – BUT it’s totally worth it and I freely do it!”

Moreover, that love never dies.

We may not realize it until we lose someone, but love is so much bigger than the here and now. Love exists on so many planes and in so many realms that we can barely understand it.

I think our souls must be a bundle of love light that when we are no longer here to hold or be held, we whisk away to be love on another dimension – and that the love we were burns brightly in the hearts and minds of our loved ones.

Love is light. Light gives peace and hope – they are all wrapped up together.

In this season of love, may we freely give and receive the love, peace and hope that is the ultimate force of change to ourselves, to others, and to the world.

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In health and love –

Deidre

Merry Christmas everyone!

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

Light of Hope

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The flash of a newborn’s first smile.

The light of a candle in a darkened room.

That outreached hand being offered to pull you up.

There’s HOPE!

All is not lost.

Maybe you thought all was lost but a door or window just opened and there is a new way forward.

As the adage says, “Where there’s life, there’s hope.”

Hang in there, dear readers, there is hope for you – and for us all.

Let’s tear ourselves away from the headlines of chaos and insanity. Let’s light our one little personal candle and together we can create a bigger light – a light so big and bright that our surrounding neighborhoods will be illuminated with peace, hope, love, and joy.

Be the hope to your body as you offer it a fresh, home-cooked meal made with whole ingredients that don’t come from a can or package.

Create a series of hopeful actions by drinking one less cup of coffee or alcoholic beverage and add one more glass of water.

Take a 15 minute break and go for a walk – your body will be so happy that it may ask for more.

People are watching us. Whether we know it or not, each of us is the model and inspiration for someone else.

Who me? Yes. You. And you. And you.

By displaying hope to our own body/mind/spirit and in being that smile, light, and helping hand to others.

Let’s keep that light of hope burning.

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In health and hope –

Deidre

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

Let There Be Peace on Earth

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As we approach this holiday season, there are several threads of sentiments woven throughout our common experiences that reflect and unite our diverse beliefs.

Today’s word is PEACE.

Sometimes said as a part of giving a blessing, “Peace I give to you …”

Sometimes given at the conclusion of a service of worship, “Peace be with you … and also to you.”

Something often wished for, “If I could only get a little peace around here!”

Sometimes it’s spoken as a plea, “Give peace a chance.”

So, amid holiday bustle, where do you find peace?

Are you open to receiving peace?

How do you create peace?

How do you give peace?

How does peace feel to you?

Often spoken about in conjunction with the word QUIET, we can imagine peace happening separate from noise and clamor.

I often think of peace, quiet, and wonder when first stepping out to view new fallen snow – especially at night.

Or that physical sensation that floats over me when I learn everything is going to be alright. It’s beyond plain relief, it’s a deep feeling of peace that defies description.

Then there’s the inexplicable peace that can come to us even when the news is bad – we just know that we have the strength to stay the course and we know that we will be okay.

Generally, I find peace in the common things. Nothing special needs to be happening. Maybe that’s peace and contentment?

Explore the role of peace in your life. Perhaps peace may come as you make and give peace away to others.

Share this nugget of peace with others by using the options under the MORE button below.

In health and peace –

Deidre