I had a friend ask me to compose a list of the my top 5 healthy habits for a healthy life. Narrowing this topic to only finds is difficult, but here goes... Oh and by the way, it is 2:25AM -- I am on call and my phone has been ringing, so I gave up on sleep for a while. I tell you this, so you won't hold me accountable for my grammar (which potentially will suffer in this blog), and to let you know I do not always follow my own rules for a healthy lifestyle.
1) Drink Water!! - So, my top healthy habit has to be hydration and water. Water is good for you, calorie free, and free (unless you drink bottled water). How much do you need? Any easy rule of thumb is to take your weight in pounds, and divide it in half. So, if you weigh 120lbs (by the way, I don't) you need to drink 60 oz of water a day. Now I will tell you am not an absolute Water Natzi. Yes, water should be your main source of hydration. But fluid intake of juices and teas, are fluid none the less so count that in your daily requirements. I don't count soft drinks as fluid, sorry. Nothing good can come from soft drinks. Did you know, that it takes about 30 soft drinks to equal 1 pound? So, that can easily equal 1 pound a month, or 12 pounds a year. So, drink more water!!
2) Get off the Couch!! - I don't recommend people to start running, if they don't walk first. Start slow! For good health, we need about 30 mins of cardiovascular exercise 5-6 days a week. Do something that gets your heart pumping and blood moving. There are plenty of websites that will help track your progress. I will be honest, there is no way I can run 5-6 days a week. So, I run 3-4 days a week for about 1 hour. Are you interested in training for a 5K (3.1 miles), how about a half-marathon, or a whole marathon? Start with short term goals and work up. Again, there are plenty of websites, here is my favorite: http://www.coolrunning.com/engine/2/2_3/181.shtml. You don't have to join a gym, but definitely check with your insurance. Some insurances are actually paying for your gym membership, which I think is brilliant. After all, it is cheaper that paying for a hospital stay after a heart attack! Just saying..
3) Eat Good Food!! - If you have read my past two posts, you know my feelings about this. Increase your fresh fruits and vegetables. I challenge you to remove white, processed items from your diet (I guarantee you will lose weight). Eat more whole grain, make sure your breads say 100% whole grain. I recommend when first starting this life style change, to simply cut out all breads for about 3-4 weeks, then slowly add whole grains back in. Many people have gluten allergies, and it will take this time to see how you feel once you remove all gluten completely. By the way, you will be surprised at the decrease in your belly fat. This fat can actually be inflammation from your bodies reaction to these processed foods. Your body simply does not know how to efficiently process, process foods. These are foreign to your body. Your body can easily process fresh fruits, vegetables and lean meats, chicken and fish. These are the foods God made for us to eat, therefore our bodies know how to cleanly and easily break them down and use them for energy. I liken white (white breads, cereals, pasta, and rice) and all processed (from a box) to putting diesel in your cars gas tank that is supposed to take unleaded. I challenge you to change your diet in one month. You will feel so much better, that you won't want to go back to your old eating habits.
4) Get Some Sleep!! - I am always amused by people that tell me they only need about 4-5 hours of sleep a night. Well you know how much I like research, and studies show that people who sleep 7-9 hours a night actually live longer than those sleeping less. Also, sleeping on average 7-9 hours a night decreases your chance of obesity. I am not always a good example in this arena, but I definitely know I eat less, feel better and think better when I have had a good night's sleep. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/08/AR2005100801405.html
5) Take Care of Yourself!! - I am a huge advocate on appropriate health screenings and yearly examinations. I am amazed everyday by 50 and 60 year olds that boast that they are on no medications, but haven't been to a doctor "in years". I hate to say it, this doesn't mean their healthy, they usually just have their head in the sand. We are vigilant about taking our children to the doctor for their check ups, and we get excited to see how much of sweet infants weigh. I completely confess, it is not fun to get on a scale and I do not get the those warm fuzzies that I used to get when they weighed my children and measured their length; and sent me home with my updated measurements of sweet pea to put in her baby book. BUT, take the time to take care of yourself. So, what health screenings do you need and when:
Women - By the way, this list is cumulative
20's - Before you are married or before you being having intercourse (whichever comes first) - Screening pap smear and breast exam. Once you start them, you need to have them yearly! Yearly blood pressure and heart rate - know your numbers and know what is normal. Begin monthly breast exams. If you don't know how to do them, please let me know - I have an entire power point devoted to monthly breast exams.
30's - Add in your Yearly Total Cholesterol (you must be fasting, nothing to eat after midnight prior to this test - only black coffee and water the morning of), Comprehensive Metabolic Profile, Thyroid Stimulating Hormone
40's - Add in those things from your 20's and 30's, Now it is time for your first mammogram should be at 40 years old, or earlier if you have a first degree family member with early onset breast cancer (this means mother and sister before the age of 50, check with your doctor if you have aunts or grandmothers with breast cancer history). Most insurances will pay for this without a referral. These should be yearly (regardless of what you have heard)!
50's - At 50 years old you need to get your screening colonoscopy. This is really not that BIG of a deal. You only need 1 every 10 years. Honestly, the prep for the test is really the pain in the butt (no pun intended, bahahahaha), the test itself is a breeze. You are given sedation, YAY!! Colon cancer is usually a silent killer, once you begin having pain from it -- it has gone too far.
Men (You've got it easy, if you ask me!)
20's - Monthly Testicular Exams - that is all I will say about that unless you need further details! ;) Yearly blood pressure and heart rate - know your numbers and know what is normal.
30's - Add in your Yearly Total Cholesterol (you must be fasting, nothing to eat after midnight prior to this test - only black coffee and water the morning of) and a Comprehensive Metabolic Profile.
40's - Begin prostate exams at 40 and have a PSA drawn yearly - I mean really men, read our list - count your blessings, and go get your prostate's examined!
50's - At 50 years old you need to get your screening colonoscopy. This is really not that BIG of a deal. You only need 1 every 10 years. Honestly, the prep for the test is really the pain in the butt (no pun intended, bahahahaha), the test itself is a breeze. You are given sedation, YAY!! Colon cancer is usually a silent killer, once you begin having pain from it -- it has gone too far.
Please note this is not an absolute list. Talk to your doctor and allow them to provide the necessary tests and screenings based on your risk factors. These are simply meant as guidelines.
So, it is not to late to start taking care of yourself. Start today; while I wish you would adopt all of these good habits - how about starting with just one!! Don't get overwhelmed. Just take it one day at a time.
Please feel free to leave comments or email me with any topics or questions you would like to see discussed.
So, now I must put up the brown rice chips (their yummy and good for you) and try to go back to bed; and pray my phone doesn't ring again tonight!
Good Night, I mean Morning!;)
Brett
Friday, January 28, 2011
Sunday, January 16, 2011
A "Whole" New Year!
So, as a nurse practitioner I counsel people often on diet and exercise. I refuse to be a hypocrite. I will not ask a patient to do anything I am not willing to do myself. I have been on a whole foods journey for the past few years. I am interested in our family being the healthiest possible. So, as January 1st approached my husband and I began talking about our New Year's Resolutions. I am not a fan of New Year's Resolutions! If you want to make a change in your life or your health, then start today. You don't have to wait for a certain date. But, as we talked about it, the more I desired to make the BIG move to whole foods, and healthier cooking and eating. We made the BIG leap on January 1st. What did we do? We as a family cut out all white products, processed foods, and processed sugars from our home. The idea is to eat more like what Jesus ate; fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, chicken and fish, also some red meat. You can not possibly drive yourself crazy with every morsel that enters your mouth. Studies have shown that if 80%-85% of the food you consume is natural and without preservatives, you can change the way you look and more importantly how you feel. I vowed to bring only nutrient rich, dense food into the house. So, here we are at Day 16 and honestly I feel better than ever. Removing white products has been the best thing I have ever done for myself.
So, I have had many ask how we did it. This really did not start January 1st. I DO NOT recommend you throwing out everything in your pantry out and starting over. I assure you, your family will revolt. A few years ago, I really began thinking about the importance of good health and it's correlation to what we eat. At that time I began making small changes, these were the changes that my family most liked. I began cooking on average 5-6 days out of the week. My husband loved the food, but he also loved the money we saved from not eating out as much. We still eat out 1-2 times a week, but make good choices when we do. So, when I started cooking more (and by the way I love to cook, so this was easy for me), it meant cooking from scratch. When you cook from scratch, you use less processed items. This is an easy way to make healthier meals. Think about it, why are items processed? The answer: so the items can sit on the shelf longer. If you make your meals from scratch, you use simpler, less processed items.
The next step I took, that no one noticed, was I changed our flour from bleached white flour to unbleached white flour. This removes a step of actually adding bleach to flour. Here is a link about the differences of bleached and unbleached flour: http://www.differencebetween.net/object/difference-between-bleached-and-unbleached-flour/. Now, I thought about this: I don't drink bleach, so why would I want to eat bleach. Bleach was added to flour to make it look more appealing and..... to give it a longer shelf life. When I changed from bleached to unbleached, I could tell no difference in the taste or the consistency in baking. It made me feel a little better about what I fed my family. This is a very easy change to make.
These are two of the main changes I made early on. So, my family was used to us cooking and eating at home. This also promotes having dinner, and sitting down with your family. We all know the importance of this, but we have taken it one step further; we prepare dinner together most nights. Someone sets the table, someone helps cook, we all clear the table... you get the idea! Obviously cooking from scratch is easier for some than others. I will be sharing a few websites that I love and use over and over. For those of you who, say "I can't cook", many of these websites show step by step pictures of the dish preparation. You can do this!! Here are a few of my favorites, in order:
1) http://thepioneerwoman.com/ - Ree is very entertaining. I have learned a lot about cooking, and cattle ranching, and her entire life on her website! I highly recommend her website and her new cookbook.
2) http://thepioneerwoman.com/tasty-kitchen/ - this is a great site for recipes, Ree started this; I have made quite a few recipes from this site and have been very pleased with what she has included.
3) http://mennonitegirlscancook.blogspot.com/ - I know what you are thinking, but they are not quite the mennonite of years gone by. They have great no knead bread recipes, if you are interested into learning to bake bread. It can be a daunting task, but they definitely can help.
4) http://www.foodnetwork.com/ - Oh how I love Food Network!! I could watch it 24 hrs a day.
5) http://sproutedkitchen.com/ - another good one
6) http://urbanhomesteader.wordpress.com/ - another good website, especially on grinding wheat and using it to make breads; there is definitely a trick to it!
7) http://allrecipes.com/ - you can find a recipe for anything in here! Definitely read the reviews, you will get ideas of ways to tweak the recipes. The reviews are always helpful!!
Oh and I must mention, I have had a couple of very instrumental friends who answer my questions and provide me with great resources, (you know who you are;)). These are only a few in a million of websites. If you have a favorite, please let me know!! I am always looking for something new and different.
I hope this helps to get you started, or at least provides a little education in ways to become healthier. As we age, staying healthy becomes more important. I would much rather invest my money in good, healthy food; than in good health care any day!!!
P.S. Just FYI, this doesn't mean I will never eat another biscuit or piece of chocolate cake, just sayin..... ;)
Brett
So, I have had many ask how we did it. This really did not start January 1st. I DO NOT recommend you throwing out everything in your pantry out and starting over. I assure you, your family will revolt. A few years ago, I really began thinking about the importance of good health and it's correlation to what we eat. At that time I began making small changes, these were the changes that my family most liked. I began cooking on average 5-6 days out of the week. My husband loved the food, but he also loved the money we saved from not eating out as much. We still eat out 1-2 times a week, but make good choices when we do. So, when I started cooking more (and by the way I love to cook, so this was easy for me), it meant cooking from scratch. When you cook from scratch, you use less processed items. This is an easy way to make healthier meals. Think about it, why are items processed? The answer: so the items can sit on the shelf longer. If you make your meals from scratch, you use simpler, less processed items.
The next step I took, that no one noticed, was I changed our flour from bleached white flour to unbleached white flour. This removes a step of actually adding bleach to flour. Here is a link about the differences of bleached and unbleached flour: http://www.differencebetween.net/object/difference-between-bleached-and-unbleached-flour/. Now, I thought about this: I don't drink bleach, so why would I want to eat bleach. Bleach was added to flour to make it look more appealing and..... to give it a longer shelf life. When I changed from bleached to unbleached, I could tell no difference in the taste or the consistency in baking. It made me feel a little better about what I fed my family. This is a very easy change to make.
These are two of the main changes I made early on. So, my family was used to us cooking and eating at home. This also promotes having dinner, and sitting down with your family. We all know the importance of this, but we have taken it one step further; we prepare dinner together most nights. Someone sets the table, someone helps cook, we all clear the table... you get the idea! Obviously cooking from scratch is easier for some than others. I will be sharing a few websites that I love and use over and over. For those of you who, say "I can't cook", many of these websites show step by step pictures of the dish preparation. You can do this!! Here are a few of my favorites, in order:
1) http://thepioneerwoman.com/ - Ree is very entertaining. I have learned a lot about cooking, and cattle ranching, and her entire life on her website! I highly recommend her website and her new cookbook.
2) http://thepioneerwoman.com/tasty-kitchen/ - this is a great site for recipes, Ree started this; I have made quite a few recipes from this site and have been very pleased with what she has included.
3) http://mennonitegirlscancook.blogspot.com/ - I know what you are thinking, but they are not quite the mennonite of years gone by. They have great no knead bread recipes, if you are interested into learning to bake bread. It can be a daunting task, but they definitely can help.
4) http://www.foodnetwork.com/ - Oh how I love Food Network!! I could watch it 24 hrs a day.
5) http://sproutedkitchen.com/ - another good one
6) http://urbanhomesteader.wordpress.com/ - another good website, especially on grinding wheat and using it to make breads; there is definitely a trick to it!
7) http://allrecipes.com/ - you can find a recipe for anything in here! Definitely read the reviews, you will get ideas of ways to tweak the recipes. The reviews are always helpful!!
Oh and I must mention, I have had a couple of very instrumental friends who answer my questions and provide me with great resources, (you know who you are;)). These are only a few in a million of websites. If you have a favorite, please let me know!! I am always looking for something new and different.
I hope this helps to get you started, or at least provides a little education in ways to become healthier. As we age, staying healthy becomes more important. I would much rather invest my money in good, healthy food; than in good health care any day!!!
P.S. Just FYI, this doesn't mean I will never eat another biscuit or piece of chocolate cake, just sayin..... ;)
Brett
Monday, January 10, 2011
The Family Nurse Practitioner is In...
Welcome to my world.
Well, I have been thinking and praying about starting a blog. All the questions I have pondered: Will anyone care?, Will anyone read it?, Will I offend someone?... and the list goes on. I decided to take the plunge and jump right in to this. I am hoping there will be some who will enjoy reading my ponderings. I hope and pray I have something to say, that makes you stop and think, and maybe helps someone in some little way.
As a nurse practitioner, people visit me in my office for many different medical needs and concerns. They bring their children, come for themselves, bring their parents, refer their friends. You get the idea. I am still in awe that there are people who care what I think. But, they do! So I continue day to day to take care of my patients to the best of my abilities. I am blessed to have a great career, wonderful office staff that keeps me straight, and great physician to work alongside. I have an awesome husband that has allowed me to follow my dreams, while keeping my feet firmly planted on the ground; and two sweet girls that help me to laugh and learn something new everday!
As a mother and a nurse practitioner, I am stopped many times through out my day and often asked the same questions from mothers, and fathers alike. So, what a great place to ramble and ponder some of these subjects that I am asked. There are other subjects that I think need to be discussed, and now I have a forum to do just that. While I am confident in what I have to say, I am aware that some will not agree with what I have to say. To this I say, you have every right to read or not read this blog and by all means you have every right to agree or disagree with me. This blog does not take the place of your health care providers opinions or the visits to their office. So, please know this blog is to provide some useful information, entertainment and just a place for me to ponder my thoughts.
So, I would love to hear subjects that you would like to see discussed. If I don't know much about them, I will do a little research and provide you with my thoughts, as well as links to websites that I deem reputable.
I hope and pray you will read my ponderings. Please feel free to comment and please feel free to pass this link on to other moms, friends, relatives, or anyone else that might enjoy reading.
Now, since my office is closed. I must put on the snow clothes (I really don't have any, because MS doesn't get much snow) - so I will just layer a whole lot of clothes and look like the abominable and take my children and my best friend's children sledding. Be Afraid, cause I am. And NO, there will be no pictures of me posted! So you don't have to even ask.
So, just a preview: I plan to begin by blogging about my journey into health. While I have read many website, others blogs and talked to friends and providers that are also on the same journey. I will give you just one more perspective on the journey of whole food eating.
Well, I have been thinking and praying about starting a blog. All the questions I have pondered: Will anyone care?, Will anyone read it?, Will I offend someone?... and the list goes on. I decided to take the plunge and jump right in to this. I am hoping there will be some who will enjoy reading my ponderings. I hope and pray I have something to say, that makes you stop and think, and maybe helps someone in some little way.
As a nurse practitioner, people visit me in my office for many different medical needs and concerns. They bring their children, come for themselves, bring their parents, refer their friends. You get the idea. I am still in awe that there are people who care what I think. But, they do! So I continue day to day to take care of my patients to the best of my abilities. I am blessed to have a great career, wonderful office staff that keeps me straight, and great physician to work alongside. I have an awesome husband that has allowed me to follow my dreams, while keeping my feet firmly planted on the ground; and two sweet girls that help me to laugh and learn something new everday!
As a mother and a nurse practitioner, I am stopped many times through out my day and often asked the same questions from mothers, and fathers alike. So, what a great place to ramble and ponder some of these subjects that I am asked. There are other subjects that I think need to be discussed, and now I have a forum to do just that. While I am confident in what I have to say, I am aware that some will not agree with what I have to say. To this I say, you have every right to read or not read this blog and by all means you have every right to agree or disagree with me. This blog does not take the place of your health care providers opinions or the visits to their office. So, please know this blog is to provide some useful information, entertainment and just a place for me to ponder my thoughts.
So, I would love to hear subjects that you would like to see discussed. If I don't know much about them, I will do a little research and provide you with my thoughts, as well as links to websites that I deem reputable.
I hope and pray you will read my ponderings. Please feel free to comment and please feel free to pass this link on to other moms, friends, relatives, or anyone else that might enjoy reading.
Now, since my office is closed. I must put on the snow clothes (I really don't have any, because MS doesn't get much snow) - so I will just layer a whole lot of clothes and look like the abominable and take my children and my best friend's children sledding. Be Afraid, cause I am. And NO, there will be no pictures of me posted! So you don't have to even ask.
So, just a preview: I plan to begin by blogging about my journey into health. While I have read many website, others blogs and talked to friends and providers that are also on the same journey. I will give you just one more perspective on the journey of whole food eating.
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