Health & Wellness – Page 76

When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Make a Plan

I think each and every one of us has come to a point in their lives where the day to day minutiae just seems too overwhelming. We get stressed, we have a crisis, something unexpected throws our world into a tailspin and we just want to say “screw it” and give up on healthy living. It could be overeating, a relapse into drinking or substance abuse, or giving up other healthy habits like exercise or drinking water. Our minds and our hearts stop communicating with each other, and no matter how well we KNOW that continuing a healthy lifestyle will help us, we just feel like it’s hopeless. I’m going through a phase like that right now. For many years, I’ve suffered from anxiety and depression. This winter, it’s hit its absolute peak. It started building in November, and now it’s February and I’ve hit rock bottom.

For someone like me, who is not an emotional eater, keeping my food healthy and limited has not been a problem. My anxiety causes me to feel sick to my stomach, and my emotional distress gives me no appetite. Often what happens is I’ll feel sick and won’t want to eat, and then I’ll feel sicker, realize I haven’t eaten in hours, eat, then feel marginally better until a few hours later when the cycle continues. Blah. The real problem is working out. My mind is all over the place right now, thoughts racing all over and flitting about and thinking negative things. Usually I can quell this by focusing on something intently, but something like going for a walk or doing kettlebells just doesn’t focus my mind enough to distract me. Wednesday I managed to force myself through my bells routine by watching a DVRed episode of Justified. I made it through, and may have even worked harder than usual. I felt better afterward, and had a fairly decent day.

Friday I felt like I needed a change. I’ve been doing the same routine for the most part for about 5 months, with a short stint of a second routine during the holidays. While these routines are still challenging, I thought that maybe adding a third routine could spice up my workout, and learning some new kettlebell moves might keep my mind occupied. Since I work out three days a week, doing a different routine every day could help keep things fresh. Having a regular scheduled work out time helps: although I’ve been a bit slacky on my start times this past week. The thing is, it’s getting started that’s the hardest part. Once I actually start, I finish.

Image Courtesy of http://www.dickssportinggoods.com

So, Friday, I went to FitnessBlender.com (uhm, if you don’t know about Fitness Blender, you need to check it out – tons of FREE workout videos that are easy to follow) and found a new full body bells workout to try. This may have been a saving grace for me: having to pay attention and learn new moves without injuring myself really kept my mind focus on the work. And the work is satisfying, once you DO it. You’ve heard that quote “the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step”? Well the hardest part of working out when you just aren’t feeling it is starting each workout. If you make it to the gym, you work out, right? If you workout at home, it’s the act of putting on your workout clothes that triggers the activity. For me, it’s putting on my lifting gloves. Once those babies are on my hands, it’s game on.

In short, here’s my new plan for working out through the tough times (some of these steps I’ve had in place for a while):

Have a workout schedule and stick to it. I workout Monday, Wednesday and Friday. My start time on Monday is flexible, since that’s one of my days off, but in my really good workout days I started around 6:15-6:30. Lately I’ve been struggling to start, so it’s been closer to 7 am. (And, to be fair, this week’s Friday workout was on Saturday, but that was planned because I was meeting a friend for coffee.)
Lay out workout clothes the night before and set them near my “gym”. This will have them in plain view so all I have to do is take off my pajamas and put on my workout clothes. I’ve even simplified my workout clothes because I have found my balance with kettlebells is actually better when I’m barefoot. So I don’t even have to put on socks and shoes. (This will change the first time I drop a 30-lb bell on my bare foot.)
Vary workouts. I will do a different kettlebell routine each day of my week. I will follow each workout with an ab workout, which I’m also going to try to vary, I just haven’t worked out how yet. (Note to self: do planks, they WORK.)
Plan rewards. I used to reward myself with an extra tablespoon of peanut butter on my English muffin in the morning after a workout. That resulted in, guess what, weight gain! So I stopped doing that. I need to come up with a list of non-food rewards. Ideas: self-massage with a tennis ball, aromatherapy.
Treat it like a job. Working out is something I do that I usually enjoy, and I get “paid” in physical fitness.

http://wickedhealthywashingtonian.com/tag/ron-swanson-is-a-genius/ — 6. Ron Swanson is a genius.

Do any of you have strategies for getting through your workouts when you just aren’t feeling it? Leave your plans in the comments!

The Common Cold: A Royal Pain In My Butt

Okay, so, I’m not actually THAT sick. I started sneezing Saturday night, and I did something I almost always do when I feel a cold coming on: I popped 3 ibuprofen and 2 benadryl, drank a big mug of hot tea and went to BED. The benadryl helped me sleep, but I still woke up with a sore throat and a pretty stuffy nose. I skipped coffee for two reasons: one, tea always feels better on my throat, and two, I was out of coconut milk. Now, Sundays are grocery days for me, but we’d had a huge storm, and it was below freezing outside, so I wasn’t even sure I was going to go grocery shopping.

IMG_20150214_210656131 — Forgive me, New Englanders, most of this was gone by morning.

So I spent most of the morning on the couch, watching bad television and browsing the internet, drinking Black Dragon Pearl tea from Adagio.com. The Hubs decided he would share his magical Canadian elixir, Buckleys! My mother-in-law brought us a bottle when she came for Thanksgiving. Proof it’s magic: The Hubs was taking it when he found out he had pneumonia a few years back, and our doc took one look at the ingredients list and told him to continue taking it along with his antibiotics. Ha! So around 7 I took a dose of it. And within 30 minutes I almost felt normal!

IMG_20150215_211309765_HDR — Sorcery! Wonderful sorcery!

So I thought I would write a few words about fending off common illnesses. Over the years, I’ve received a plethora of advice for the common cold: take vitamin c, take zinc, take hot showers, etc. I’ve tried them all, and to be honest, I’m not sure any of them work, but I know that drinking hot liquids (sans dairy products) makes me feel better and helps ease congestion. Clear broths, hot tea, even warm water with honey and lemon can help. Studies have even proven that chicken soup helps even more than other hot liquids. Rest and keeping warm are a few others.

For nausea and motion sickness, what works the best is ginger tea. You can buy ginger tea in regular tea bags, or if you have fresh ginger at home, just throw a couple of slices into boiling water and let steep. Even the MythBusters concluded that a ginger pill was the only thing that prevented motion sickness without any side effects!

I’m sure most people know that aloe is a great way to soothe a burn. It’s an anti-inflammatory and the gel-like texture protects those sensitive nerve endings from exposure to the air, which can cause them to throb.

To soothe aches, pains, stiff joints or menstrual cramps, make a homemade heating pad. I use an old athletic sock filled with rice. There’s a great tutorial here, but the only stipulation is that I never heat the sock more than 1 minute or else the rice starts to smell burned. Maybe I have a powerful microwave. Here’s mine, modeled by Bingley!

So what about you, dear readers? Any wonderful home remedies that you’ve found tried and true? Let me know in the comments!

Convincing Your Significant Other to Eat Healthier

http://www.internetbillboards.net/2014/09/18/get-rid-of-breakfast-blues/ — I don’t WANNA eat salad!

http://www.fruitsandviggiesjuiceplus.com/ — How can anyone turn their nose up at this delicious stuff?!

I do most of the cooking at home. Okay, I do pretty much all of the cooking at home. That’s my choice: my husband CAN cook, but his repertoire is limited. I love sausage and potatoes, but not every day, and deep fried things are special occasion items only. Now, I admit, The Hubs makes an amazing chili LOADED with veggies. If he wants to make chili, I am totally cool with that. But most of the time, I’m in the kitchen cooking. And that’s fine: it gives me the control I need to eat healthy. On A Measured Life’s Facebook Page, I’ve gotten a few questions about how I convinced The Hubs to eat healthy. Well, for starters, I give him 3 options: eat what I cook, cook your own food, or starve for all I care. I’m not a short order cook, and I’m sure as hell not going to cook two separate meals just because you turn your nose up. (There *are* a few exceptions to this, but it’s rare.)

To be fair, I do ask him if a recipe sounds like something he’d eat before I decide to make it, and after being together so long, I have a pretty good idea of what he will and won’t eat (even if I sometimes slip in something here or there that’s “off-limits”). I also occasionally ask him to send me recipes he might like to try, and if it’s relatively healthy, that’s great! Less work for me. If it isn’t, I tweak it to make it healthier. (Side note: I don’t usually disclose the substitutions I make. Sometimes full disclosure works against you. If you don’t SAY the recipe is healthy and it tastes good, do they really need to know?)

I also sneak extra veggies into recipes when I can. Does your SO love mashed potatoes? There are a couple things you can

http://www.rimarama.com/with-a-side-of-sit-up-straight/ — Or cook it yourself.

tweak here. Blend in mashed cauliflower or celery root to lighten it without messing up the flavor too much. Switch out heavy cream or whole milk for skim, and reduce the butter slightly. Sneak a cup of cooked sweet potato, butternut or acorn squash into baked mac and cheese. Making meat sauce at home? Finely dice onions, carrots and celery and cook down with the meat (reduce meat by ¼) to bulk up the sauce and add great flavor without it tasting like veggies. Finely shredded zucchini can be well hidden here, too! Add pumpkin puree to plain pasta sauce or even chili to add fiber. Bulk up your burgers or meatloaf with chopped mushrooms. Substitute half the ground beef in sloppy joes with cooked lentils (okay, you CAN taste these, but I happen to like it like that).

When it comes to vegetables, if your significant other doesn’t like some veggies much, you can avoid them altogether, or you can experiment with preparing the veggies different ways. My dad grew up hating asparagus. Why? Because he only ever ate it from a can. Yuck! I only recently learned that beets don’t suck when eaten just rinsed straight out of a can or roasted whole in the oven. But Swiss chard or arugula? Pass. I’m also not personally a fan of avocado, but I’m sure prepared correctly I would love it. So feel free to experiment, and involve the one you love!

The Hubs and I both love comfort food, particularly on these cold and dark days. The great part is that things like this are easily adjusted (and portion controlled) to be lighter and healthier. Try a few of these examples here:

Foods That Don’t Taste Healthy But Can Be

Homemade Pizza (use fresh veggies, part-skim mozzarella and go light on the meat) – Eating Well’s Whole Wheat Pizza Dough
Stew (use leaner meats, more veg, and less fat)
Nachos (bake your own from corn tortillas, use leaner meats, skip the sour cream and guac)
Chicken & Dumplings (go a little lighter on the dumplings, use split chicken breast)
Meatloaf (use ground chicken breast or ground turkey) – Chicken Taco Meatloaf
Soup (again, load up on veggies, you can even pretend it’s a cream soup by blending the veggies smooth)
Stir Fries (go light on the oil and serve with steamed rice instead of fried)
Tacos (do them fresco style with pico de gallo – hold the cheese and sour cream)
Philly Cheesesteak Stuffed Peppers
Chili (hide veggies IN the chili)
Hash (go light on the oil and meat, bulk the potatoes and onions) – Chourico Hash

http://beautifulbrowngirls.com/2012/10/26/healthy-and-affordable-lentil-stew-vegan/ — Uh, The Hubs favorite healthy recipe if Ethiopian Lentil Stew. I think I lucked out.

Change won’t happen overnight. There may be some fussing. But if you involve your significant other in the process, and try to adapt recipes you know they love into lighter, healthier versions, the transition might be a little easier. And if not? It’s your responsibility to take care of your own body. If the person you want to eat healthy just isn’t interested, you can’t force them. He or she is an adult and is going to make his or her own choices. You can only lead by example, and hope you create a large enough wake to drag them along behind you.

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