Balancing Health and Wellness

Resolution Revolution

2011-03-15T00:00:00.003-05:00

Every New Year’s Eve we traditionally make resolutions for the New Year, to try and better ourselves. Well, if you’re anything like me, the track record of resolutions goes something like this:

January - I’m all fired up;

February - I tend to slip up occasionally;

March - I slip up on a regular basis;

April - what’s a resolution???

A recent survey found that most people tend to stick to their resolutions for about 6 months. Well, at least I’m not a statistic!

So, the question is, how do we motivate ourselves to stick to our resolutions?

I believe, the trick is to turn our resolution into a goal. This means that you have to write it down on a piece of paper and note the projected date of completion. Next, break down your goal into smaller goals, note the steps you need to take every month, every week and every day to accomplish your goal. Be flexible and realistic with your dates to accommodate life’s many surprises.

So, what if you slip up?

Well, congratulations, you are human!!!

Just get back up, dust yourself off and get back in the saddle again.

If you’re a visual person, cut out pictures of your goals and paste them on a poster board or start a scrapbook. Jot down even the smallest success and then look at it on a daily basis.

Enlist friends and family to help you achieve your goals.

Lessons from Nature

2010-09-09T00:25:00.000-05:00

Summer is fading and a new season is about to begin. Fall is the perfect time to enjoy the outdoors, take your kids apple picking, tend to the garden, plant new flowers, divide and transplant perennials. My garden is entering a very lovely stage, with all the fall perennials putting on a show, attracting butterflies and even humming birds. While my fall perennials are in full bloom, my lawn is an entirely different story. Never having educated myself in lawn care, the results are a wee bit grim. My lawn - or rather what is left of it - is sending out S.O.S. signals on broadband!!! Thanks to the internet, education is easy to come by and I have some catching up to do on how to maintain a lawn - and no it doesn't take care of itself! As I am reading through some articles, I come across a statement that describes weeds not as "the enemy" but rather as "competitors for space".

I am certain you are wondering by now why I am rambling on about my garden, after all, this isn't a gardening magazine. However, as I read this statement it occurred to me that nature simply does not allow for a vacuum. Space left blank will be filled with something. The same holds true for our thoughts. We often give our kids, spouses, consumers or friends pep talks, but very seldom do we give ourselves a pep talk, if anything the opposite holds true, we berate ourselves sometimes for the smallest thing, are hard on ourselves when we get impatient with the kids/cat/dog/spouse/parent etc. These are all negative thoughts that we should strive to replace with positive thinking. If you now think, ok, I won't chide myself anymore, this is also a negative thought, it will not work. You have to train yourself to think in a positive way. For example, if you tell yourself, you will no longer give into your cravings for junk food while watching TV, you will not succeed. Instead, tell yourself that you will have a snack, but make it a healthy one. Prepare a veggie dip or fruits before you sit down to watch TV, because let's face it, none of us is able to resist the temptation to snack while watching TV! No need to berate yourself for it, it is nearly impossible not to give in.

This is mostly thanks to TV commercials. Every 10 minutes or so, when a commercial break starts, you will see at least one commercial for food. The record I ever counted was 5 out of 6 commercials had some sort of food in it. Now if you watch a couple of hours of TV there are a lot of food commercials that your subconscious is exposed to even if you don't really pay attention to the commercial. That is called subliminal advertising - and it works. I often wondered why I don't get the munchies when I am reading or using the computer, until it dawned on me, that it must have to do with TV commercials.

Healthy Snacks:

Apple

Veggies and dip

Grapes with or without a small slice of cheese

Small handful of nuts: cashews, almonds and walnuts are the better choice

Sunflower seeds

Pumpkin seeds

Small packages of snacks – limited to 100 calories – word of caution: just because these snacks are only 100 calories each, does not mean that they are good for you considering that most of the calories are derived from fats.

A lot of packages that list nutritional values, including cereals, base those values on a third of a cup. This is actually a very small serving. Measure your cereal and snacks in a measuring cup. You’ll be surprised how small an amount it actually is. The same can be said of salad dressings – they are measured by Tablespoons, so again be careful how much salad dressing you’re actually using.

Tip: put a small amount of dressing on a saucer and only dip your fork in it before picking up the salad. You still get the taste but you end up using only a tiny amount of dressing – saving calories as you go along.

Ok, so you absolutely need to have some chocolate, or chips or whatever your downfall is.

As a self declared chocaholic, I certainly need my “fix” every so often. The trick with eating chocolate is that you munch one square the way you normally would. The next square you let melt in your mouth. It is after all the taste we are after, and what better way to savour the flavour than letting the chocolate melt. The next square you munch again, the fourth square you let it melt – like they do in some TV commercials. Unless you are actually hungry, this should satisfy your craving for chocolate. The same method can be applied to eating chips, and most other snacks.

If you are serious about losing some pounds, enlist the help of your friends and family. They can be your biggest support as you embark on your journey.

The benefits of having friends? You'll live longer!

So says a landmark 1992-2005 study of seniors over age 70, by researchers in Adelaide, Australia's Flinders University, and published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.

Researchers tracked the seniors' annual survival rates and found those with social networks of friends and acquaintances generally lived longer than those who were the least social.

And here's the kicker: Having close contact with relatives had no impact on survival rates. Friends make the difference!

So don't blow off your girl-time - consider it part of your healthy living plan.

Enlist your friends to support you with your dietary goals. Starting a healthy eating plan with a friend is a great way to stay motivated and reach your goals.

Balancing Health and Wellness: Eating Healthy - Part 1

2010-06-13T02:29:00.000-05:00

Balancing Health and Wellness: Eating Healthy - Part 1

Eating Healthy - Part 1

2010-03-30T22:48:00.000-05:00

One of the most important tools I use in my kitchen is a new frying pan I bought at Zellers at a very reasonable price (under $20.00): It is a non-stick frying pan but a grey one - try not to use the black ones as the teflon can deteriorate over time and particles supposedly end up in your food.
The grey one is tougher than the black, you can even use metal cooking utensils, and it is sooo easy to clean. When I cook veggies or meat in this pan, I use 1/2 a teaspoon of olive oil and a bit of water and the food is delicious every time.
Now I believe we have all heard by now that the healthiest fat to cook with is Extra Virgin Olive Oil - cold pressed. All other oils are banned from my kitchen.
Another thing about eating healthy is to buy as many of your ingredients fresh, try to stay away from canned, boxed or processed products. Frozen veggies, fish or meat are an acceptable alternative.
In Europe people do not eat as much meat as North Americans do. Really you should have fish 3 times a week, red meats no more than 3 times a week and poultry the rest of the time. And the serving size of meat should be about the size of your palm (!!!!)
Stay away from deep-fried foods and baked goods as much as possible or limit their amount. They contain too many unhealthy fats and sugars, that just clogg up your arteries.
One thing that is interesting is that garlic is very popular in Europe and is known there for it's ability to prevent aterosclerosis - the clogging of arteries. Garlic does not seem to be able to establish itself across North America except as garlic bread - in a restaurant, who knows what the garlic butter is made of and the butter probably negates the benefits of the garlic.
Try to use fresh herbs in your foods if possible, but dried herbs will do in a pinch. If you are not a big fan of herbs, the most important one to use is parsley: it contains a myriad of minerals and vitamins. Also it has a very mild flavour and does not over-power the flavour of the meal, just enhances it.
I like to grow it in my veggie garden and there is something about freshly cut herbs - they fill the kitchen with such a lovely aroma!

So for a quick and easy dinner for 4 place fresh or frozen fillets of haddock, cod, or salmon in your frying pan with 1/2 teaspoon of olive oil, cook covered over medium heat. Next slice 1 red pepper, 1 green pepper and one small or half of a medium-sized onion into narrow strips, add to the fish, press one clove of garlic with a garlic press, add a small amount of parsley to taste, cover pan and cook for 20 mins - depending on the thickness of the fish fillets, turning fish half way through. Fish is ready when it is opaque in the centre or flakes easily with a fork. While fish is cooking, you can quickly throw together a salad, ( you can buy the bagged salads, just make sure you rinse them under water first ) or cook potatoes in the microwave. Dinner is literally done in half an hour.
P.S: a lot of children don't like fish, including my daughter, but lately she has had a change in her taste buds - she loves this recipe and polishes off her plate...
Oh by the way, I used to hate the daily ritual of "what do you want for dinner?" - "I don't know" !!! This used to drive me up the walls.
Well, recently I discovered that I am gluten intolerant! So completely at a loss for ideas - wheat is in almost everything!!! - I ran off to the bookstore and bought myself a cook book!!! "1000 gluten-free Recipes" by Carol Fenster. I started to look through it and decided on a new rule: Everyone looks through the cookbook and picks one recipe, and we take turns. More time consuming recipes are reserved for the weekend. Quite a few of the recipes are new to us, so we decide after the meal, whether a recipe is a keeper or a one-time only experience and so far, they have all been keepers!!! And the dreaded "what do you want to eat for dinner?" is a thing of the past!

The Survey

2010-03-29T22:52:00.001-05:00

The Health and Wellness Committee put out a survey to find out what interests and concerns our staff have in order to address these issues. Today the first few surveys started to trickle in. From what I can tell so far, issues of most interest are nutrition, diet/losing weight and life-work balance.
In our busy times, this is probably one of the biggest issues we all face. We're busy at work, rush home, look after the kids' homework, quickly throw together a supper, look after aging parents and by the time everything is taken care of, we collapse into bed without having a single moment to ourselves. And yet physical and emotional wellbeing are tied together more than we realize. If we burn out, everything else will start to suffer, be it at work, in too little time for the family or worse, not looking after ourselves. But what can honestly be done about this when a day only has 24 hours and there simply isn't a moment to spare at the end of the day? And let's face it, most of us don't get enough sleep as it is. This constant pressure and stress will eventually lead to burn out if we don't slam on the brakes and take stock of our obligations and priorities.
For those of us who love to travel or at one point have been on a plane before, will remember that the flight attendants run us through an emergency checklist, or on more modern planes a movie is shown instead. And something struck me the last time I was on a flight to Vienna: It was the statement, that if cabin pressure drops, we need to put our own oxygen mask on before helping anybody else.
The realization came that this holds true in life as well. First we need to look after ourselves before we can look after others. I believe this is an absolute must. This of course is easier said than done but crucial. We need to re-think our priorities and carve out a few minutes for ourselves each day. And there are ways, if we start to delegate some of our responsibilites to others, be it by asking our spouse to take over 1 or 2 tasks, asking the kids to help with a few chores - provided they are old enough of course. But it always amazes me how helpful kids can be when asked for help. Most kids feel valued and important when they can help out, even if it's only to set the table. Even very young children can manage that. And sometimes we need to learn to say "No" even when it goes against our instinct. You might feel guilty at first, but the benefits quickly outweigh the guilt trip, trust me!
Whatever minutes you manage to carve from your day, you then need to re-invest in yourself. You can even tell your family you need to recharge your batteries and spend 10 minutes by yourself and do something that you enjoy; this could be having a bath with candlelight and soft music instead of having a quick shower, a few minutes to read your book or browse through a magazine, a short meditation, and so on. The important thing is that you have some time to yourself. Go for a haircut, a manicure, take Yoga classes, go for a short walk around the block, whatever it might be that you find relaxes you and makes you feel good about yourself. After a very short time you will notice that you are more relaxed and better able to handle life's stressful situations. You need to find some balance between the demands made of you or expected of you and the need to look after yourself.
Stress is bad for your health in many ways. First there is the psychological stress, and second there are a myriad of physical consequences. More often than not, we treat ourselves with sweets or TV dinners or worse fast food because we can't face standing in front of a stove and preparing a healthy meal. This in turn causes most women to gain weight.
Fast food and TV dinners, or dinners from a can or a box have a scary amount of saturated fats and hidden calories. And the result for most women is that they gain weight. Over a long period of time the weight gain can sneak up on us when all the while we feel that we aren't even eating all that much! But it is not the amount of food we eat, it's the quality of food and which kinds of food we eat. Just because it says on the package "low fat" or "light" does in no way mean that it's good for you.
One tip: if the ingredients read like the instructions on how to build a chemical bomb - trust me, it's not good for you!!!
So what to do?
Tomorrow I will go into more details on how to prepare healthier meals.

New beginnings

2010-03-28T22:48:00.001-05:00

Well, the idea for this blog came about late last night. I am working for Ontario March of Dimes as Administrative Assistant. Recently I was invited to join the Health and Wellness Committee. I am so excited. One of my first ideas was to publish a newsletter for our employees to share ideas, comments, success stories, funny stories, recipes etc. Now the newsletter will most likely only appear quarterly. So I thought, what if some people were interested in more and want to be in touch on a regular basis. So the idea for this blog was born. First I wasn't sure whether to go ahead with it or not, but then I thought, why not? You have to start it to see where it will go. (If you build it they will come?)