Month: August 2015

Categories
Sweat

What Will the Last 10 Pounds Cost You?

I’m going to be honest with you. I’ve never met someone who successfully lost the last 10 pounds and then told me their life was different because of it.

That’s the big fairy tale. There’s this idea that losing weight changes you in some way other than the obvious physical change. People are tricked into thinking that emotional weight disappears when physical weight disappears. That stress evaporates. That fat cells are replaced by happiness cells.

That’s not how it works. Of all the factors that impact happiness, changing your physical body is one of the least influential. In fact, making that a goal is often detrimental to happiness. There’s an enormous cost to success in that paradigm. Time. Attention. Sacrifice. Obsession.

The reason weight loss slows down as you approach that “last 10 pounds” area is because your weight is normalizing and you’re very close to your body fat set point. This is a body fat percentage that your body is biologically programmed to defend. In other words, it’s not really supposed to go lower than that.

If you want to go lower you have to force it. That’s not something I help people do because it’s antithetical to having a body AND LIFE you love. If you insist on pushing, you can easily end up with a body you love and a life you hate.

Happiness can’t be achieved that way. It can’t be achieved through weight loss at all. It’s achieved through other relevant factors, some of which I talked about in 8 Critical Vitamins You Can’t Afford to Be Deficient In.

If you’re still not convinced, here’s some additional insights into what losing the last 10 pounds can cost you:

– It will require cutting calories when the body doesn’t need to cut calories. This is a huge stressor on the body and will eventually degrade your health.

– It will take away from what you’re able to invest in your spouse, kids, and family. You’re going to have to commit to a large amount of exercise, a no-frills diet, and an unhealthy level of obsession.

– Instead of doing things you love, you’ll have to do things according to a very specific plan. There will be very little spontaneity in your life.

– It depletes your margin—the extra room in your life that keeps you from falling off the edge of the stress cliff. Life without margin is an unhappy life.

– It will affect your social life. You will lose friends. You will lose opportunities to connect. You will have a hard time nurturing relationships.

– You won’t be able to relax. All the work required to lose the last 10 pounds is required to maintain that result. You’ll be stuck in an endless cycle and your worth will be tied up in your weight and the ability to maintain your new persona.

If you change your perspective and let go of this arbitrary goal, you can be happy now. That’s what I want for you and what I hope you want for yourself. Stop obsessing over weight and start focusing on nourishment, health, energy, vibrance, mood, and love.

By changing your perspective, you can stop worrying about the last 10 pounds of physical weight and focus on losing the last 10 pounds of emotional weight. You can dramatically change your relationship with food, body, and self. That’s a mission to be proud of. And that is how you arrive at a place of true happiness.

Categories
Nosh

10 Important Reasons To Drink More Water

Drink more water! Hydrate. Blah blah blah. We all know we should drink more water. It’s practically shoved down our throats daily. So much so that there’s even an app for counting how many glasses you’ve downed! But why do we need to drink more water? Because we’re thirsty? Because we’re told we need it, that’s why. After some research, I learned that hydrating is more important than you might realize…and for more reasons. Check out the 10 reasons why you should start your day with one big glass and continue drinking water for the rest of the day.

1. It can make you happy!

Think your hormones are making you cranky? You may not be drinking enough. Research has shown that even mild dehydration can negatively affect moods. The good news is that the cure is almost immediate. Chug two glasses of water and feel yourself switch from crappy to happy!

2. You’ll look younger

Water not only hydrates the inside of your body, it hydrates the outside too. Your skin is the largest organ in your body, and drinking lots of water can improve the color and texture of your skin by keeping it from drying out and helping it to build new cells properly.

3. You’ll have more energy

Water composes 75 percent of your muscles, and dehydration can lead to fatigue, weakness, and dizziness. Water fuels your cells and gives you the energy and strength to kick butt in your workout and power through your daily chore list.

4. You’ll be smarter

Dehydration can actually cause your brain tissue to shrink. When you don’t drink enough water, your brain has to work a lot harder to perform at the same level. Dehydration can also impair your attention span, memory, and motor skills.

5. Your joints will feel better

The cartilage in your joints is made of about 85 percent water, and water cushions it and keeps it soft and hydrated. Drinking lots of water will keep you moving faster, pain free, and longer.

6. You’ll get better quicker

Studies show that people who stay hydrated get sick less often, and when they do they recover faster. Water boosts your immune system, and drinking plenty of it helps fight against ailments like the flu, cancer, and even heart attacks.

7. You’ll be skinnier

Your body can confuse thirst with hunger, and if you’re like me, you dive for something to eat at the first sign of discomfort. The truth is oftentimes you need water instead of food. Drinking plenty of water can save you hundreds of calories a day. Staying hydrated can also serve as an appetite suppressant simply because it makes you feel full. Try drinking a glass of water before each meal and watch yourself get fuller, quicker.

8. You’ll have less belly pain

Water in your stomach and digestive tract helps things move along faster. It attaches to fiber in the colon and helps dissolve it and fats. If you don’t have enough fluid in your body, your colon will take some water out of the stools, leading to constipation and belly pain.

9. Your eyes will feel better

The membranes in your eyes and mouth are composed of and made healthy by water too! The water in your body hydrates your eyes and lubricates them. When you don’t drink enough, your eyes (and mouth) suffer.

10. It’ll cure your headache

Some studies show that up to 75 percent of people walk around dehydrated all day. One of the main signs of dehydration is headache, which could develop further into a migraine. When your brain loses water and shrinks, it triggers pain receptors that give you a headache. Most of us pop Advil and wait for it to go away when we really should be drinking water! Aim to drink a few small sips a minute until your headache goes away.

Categories
Lifestyle

How Long Is Too Long To Store Your Food In the Freezer?

The freezer is your best weapon to control unnecessary food waste, saving you money and time in the kitchen. Not to mention that food waste is a huge environmental issue. According to the Natural Resources Defense Council, 40 percent of food in the U.S. goes to waste. That means we end up throwing out more than a third of the food we buy. But by learning to effectively utilize your freezer, you can vastly reduce this unnecessary waste.

Here’s How To Properly Use Your Freezer

If you know you’ve made way too much food, use your freezer to keep it from going bad. That leftover broccoli rice casserole will be just as delicious next month if it’s frozen properly. Make sure leftovers cool down completely before being put in the freezer because if you freeze foods while they’re warm, they end up warming up the entire freezer and wasting energy in the process. Take your time to properly wrap and label leftover foods. The label should include exactly what the food is and the date. Additionally, divide foods into realistic portions. If you have a family of four, don’t freeze a beef stew that feeds eight. Instead, divide it into two portions so that it doesn’t go to waste later on. Once foods are thawed out they should not be refrozen. Finally, try and keep your freezer as full as possible so the air doesn’t have to circulate to cool things down. A fuller freezer uses less energy.

How To Freeze the Garden Bounty

While canning foods is a super hipster way to preserve your summer garden, the easiest preservation tool is always your freezer. Garden vegetables do really well in the freezer, with the exception of fruits and vegetables with a high water content like cucumbers, radishes, lettuce, and bean sprouts. These guys end up getting brown and mushy. But for every other veggie, prep them by boiling for 30 seconds and then dropping them into ice to stop the cooking. Line a tray with paper towels and spread vegetables out on the tray. Freeze for an hour or two and then remove from the tray and store in a properly labeled plastic bag.

Foods That Should Never Be Frozen

Some foods never do well in the freezer. Mayonnaise-based salads like potato salad, macaroni salad, chicken salad, and tuna salad should never be frozen. The same goes for yogurt, cream, and cottage cheese as well as raw eggs or boiled eggs.

Freezing By Food Group

Freezing times really depend on the food group. For example, hot dogs and luncheon meats are fine for 1-2 months while bacon and sausage freezes for a month and ground meat freezes for 3-4 months. Beef, veal, lamb, and pork freezes for 4-12 months and chicken or turkey freezes for 9 months to 1 year. Lean fish can be stored for up to 6 months and fatty fish for 2-3 months, while raw egg whites freeze for up to a year. Leftovers vary in freezing times depending on the food item. Soups and stews freeze for 2-3 months. Cooked meat or poultry freezes well for 2-6 months and pizza for 1-2 months. Pies and quiches freeze for 1-2 months.

Using the tips above, you can change the way you do business in the kitchen. While some foods don’t freeze well, most do. The key is to be organized with your labeling and arrange foods so you can see what you have on hand when you open the freezer door. Not only can you save money by avoiding food waste, you can buy your more expensive freezer-worthy items when they’re on sale. Or if you grow your own food or are a member of Community Supported Agriculture (CSA), you can properly freeze produce so it doesn’t go to waste.

Additionally, on those nights when the last thing you want to do is slave away in the kitchen, you can pull out that leftover enchilada casserole and heat it up straight from the freezer. Or maybe you’re throwing a last minute brunch and you don’t have time to make a quiche from scratch. No worries, you can defrost and bake that frozen quiche you made last month. It’s for these reasons that your freezer should be your best friend in the kitchen.

Categories
Nosh

I'm Anti-Diet, But Trying the Low-FODMAP Diet—Here's Why

The Paleo diet. The Med. The MIND. The Dash. Vegetarian, vegan, low-carb, low-sugar…low-FODMAP?
Yes. There’s a buzzy new diet on the grid, and you should take note of this one—not because it’s trending and even if you are completely, totally anti-diet.
Normally, I’m not one for restrictive regimens. I’ve researched all these so-called healthy approaches, tried one or two—and after a while, have come to the conclusion that flat-out, forever deprivation just leads to problematic issues with eating and food. I think moderation is the best policy.
But when struggles with Irritable Bowel Syndrome finally led me for a check-up with my doc, we looped back to the almighty l0w-FODMAP diet. I’d dabbled in this approach before, researched it to death, and finally decided to give it a go—despite my diets-no-more attitude. Here’s why.

What the heck is a FODMAP?

At the most basic level, you may be wondering: What on earth is a FODMAP? It’s not one “thing,” but many things. It’s an acronym:
Fermentable Oligo, Di-, Mono-saccharides And Polyols.
Although you’d never know it by looking at that super-confusing term, the contents above are all over your delicious Western diet. Basically, they are the carbohydrates you frequently eat that your body does not naturally handle well.
FODMAPs are osmotic, meaning they suck water into the GI tract. In addition, they’re quickly fermented in the gut by microscopic bacteria, leading to uncomfortable symptoms like gas and bloating—which anyone may have, but particularly people with IBS or digestive troubles.
A few FODMAPs are no big deal, but excess can prevent a problem. Think about the concept like a bucket in the small intestine. Everybody’s FODMAP bucket is a different size—but smaller the more sensitive you are to FODMAPs.
Every time you eat these types of carbohydrates, they go into the bucket. At a certain point, when you’ve had more FODMAPs than your body is personally equipped to handle, the contents of your bucket will spill over into your large intestine to cause symptoms. And no one likes to be bloated and gassy, with abdominal pain and constipation or diarrhea all the time. Right?

What foods are high in FODMAPs?

I knew you’d see the logic. Now, let’s talk more about high-FODMAP foods, which all sort of pare down into five key groups.
fructose (fruits like apples, watermelon and pears; high-fructose corn syrup; honey)
lactose (dairy products like cow’s milk, yogurt, soft cheese and ice cream)
fructans (wheat and rye, certain veggies, onion and garlic)
galactans (dried peas, beans, legumes)
polyols (certain fruits, certain veggies, sugar alcohols)
A low-FODMAP regimen is an elimination diet. During the first phase, your job is to get rid of all high-FODMAP items and clean up your gut of every little thing that ails it. If this sounds like a lot, it is.
You’ll nix lots of fruits like apples, blackberries, peaches, cherries, watermelon and mango. You’ll nix some veggies, like asparagus, cauliflower, mushrooms and peas. No dairy, meaning cow’s milk, soft cheeses like cottage cheese or ricotta, ice cream, yogurt. No wheat, no rye, no barley; you’re basically going to go gluten-free. Dietary “extras” need to be sorted; anything high in fructans or polyols especially will have to go, including garlic, onion, sugar alcohols and agave. Anything high in fructose, like honey or HFCS, is also a no-go.

That sounds horrible. (Why would I ever do that?)

I know. When I first saw all the stuff I couldn’t eat, I kind of started hyperventilating. I mean—no ice cream? No honey?? No BREAD??? Yeah, but first off, it’s only for a while. Although a low-FODMAP diet is definitely restrictive, the elimination phase lasts just a couple months, maximum.
Secondly, there’s still a lot you can eat. Basically, protein sources are all good-to-go, meaning chicken, beef, pork, fish, egg and deli meats. You can eat most nuts, except cashews and pistachios. You can eat grains like quinoa, rice, oatmeal, and corn-based items. Fruits and veggies aren’t all bad, so you can still nosh on bananas, blueberries, strawberries, cantaloupe, honeydew, lettuce, tomato, cucumber, eggplant and carrots. You can even eat some awesome cheeses like feta, mozzarella and swiss. (Ask your doc, though, before starting a regimen on your own. Scientists are measuring FODMAPs all the time, and changing these lists.)
Once symptoms that are diet-based resolve to the best they are able—your doc or a trained RD will help you determine this—you will begin to add the taboo foods back into your life. Category by category, one food at a time.
This will determine your tolerance for specific types of FODMAPs, and basically identify your personal perfect, gut-friendly diet—and the more you know your gut in general, the better you’ll be able to predict and avoid the foods that will cause you symptoms.

The Diet’s Biggest Takeaway

If you suffer from digestive symptoms regularly, I’d recommend a short-term dive into FODMAPs—even if you eventually decide that you’ll soldier on with symptoms if it means you can eat your favorite ice cream after dinner or keep gluten in your diet.
So, why do it? Because knowledge is always power. And there may come a day—a wedding, a big presentation at work, an all-day event—where you really don’t want to (or don’t have time to) deal with the nuisance of GI problems, and you’ll be glad to know what foods trigger those for you. You can stick to your “safe” foods, because you’ve predetermined them. If you don’t predetermine them, you’ll be taking shots in the dark every time you eat.
So if you’ve got IBS, think you have IBS, or just have a finicky gut, talk to your doctor about a low-FODMAP approach. After six weeks on the elimination portion, and about two more to go, I’ve survived to tell you about it—and I’ve reduced my symptom load by probably about 70 percent, which is definitely a win in my book. (Although, yes: I’m really looking forward to trying cheesy bread and ice cream again. Mmmm…)

Categories
Wellbeing

The World Through Unloved Eyes And The Healing That Follows

The way you see the world is called your perception, and your perception is driven by your internal experience of yourself, others and the world. What you take in from your environment gets digested and then regurgitated as your external experience. This is true both as a child and as an adult and it’s a constant ongoing process throughout life that is dependent on what’s happening in any given moment or day. However, the most imbedded experiences that stem from your earliest life are the most influential, and this is particularly true when it comes to love.
The most important experience you could have as a child is to internalize a feeling of being loved. If you hold an internal feeling of being loved and valued then you will see the world as a safe and welcoming place. In contrast, if you were unloved you will experience the world as unsafe and untrustworthy.
Walking through the world with a deep feeling of being unloved is painful and limiting. It becomes hard to develop intimate relationships, to see the good in others, and to maintain a sense of confidence in having your needs met. Most detrimental to the unloved child is the difficulty receiving real authentic love from another.
Feeling unloved is imbedded in the heart, soul and psyche. It feels like a sense of disconnection coupled with an experience of not belonging. As an unloved child you develop an internalized model of being unlovable and unwanted, and as an adult this manifests in an avoidance of intimacy and a pattern of unfulfilling relationships.
In an attempt to work through the painful experience of feeling unloved your inner neglected child will seek a repair of the early wounding by looking for love from partners that are most like the original source of trauma. Thirsty for any form of love, she will tolerate almost anything in a relationship with the undying hope that her unmet needs will be fulfilled.
The internal experience of feeling unloved is one of the biggest obstacles to finding the right partner because the level and type of love needed to heal those wounds is unique and can only happen with someone who is willing to honor and respect the need for this special kind of love.
The greatest opportunity for healing the inner unloved child comes in the form of a healing relationship. This can either be with a therapist or lover, but either will need to have a strong foundation of trust and a deep understanding of the type of love needed for reparation.
The first step in the process of healing these wounds comes in the form of self-awareness. Understanding the feelings and behaviors that may be shaping your experience of others and the world will open the door for the self-acceptance and recognition that something is missing.
Here are some observations you will want to make.
If you:

  • Feel unsatisfied in relationships
  • Feel insecure and question your partner’s love of you
  • Hear your partner say they can never do enough to please you
  • Feel left out or excluded easily and often
  • Prefer to be alone or feel safer in solitude
  • Find it hard to be vulnerable or share your feelings
  • Have a hard time showing or expressing your love
  • Feel like something is missing all of the time

The very idea of love, and what if means to feel loved, will escape the unloved child. Never having experienced or learned what it feels like internally to be loved, she will struggle with the deep knowing and recognition of healthy love.
Another positive step toward healing is to contemplate the idea of love, and what it means to you. Answer the following questions as a starting point.
What is your earliest memory of feeling loved? How did your caregivers show love even if it came in a negative form? How do you show love to others? What does love feel like in your present life? What is the highest level of love you want to receive?
It’s okay if you can’t answer all of these questions. Keep them close by and contemplate them regularly until something surfaces.
It’s important to remember that growing into an adult from an unloved place does not mean that you’re damaged or broken. We all come into adulthood with deficits and areas of development that need fulfillment. A lack of love is the most common form of neglect mainly because many parents and caregivers never received it and thus can’t show it in a healthy way.
Take it upon yourself to change so your transmission of love to others and your own family breaks the cycle. Setting an intention to heal the unloved part of yourself and doing the work it takes to fill that empty place will shift you, your life and your immediate world for the better. Most importantly you will be given the opportunity to get the love you deserve.

Categories
Lifestyle

A Closer Look at Urban Farming

Urban farming can at first seem a bit odd because for a long time there’s been a divide between agriculture and urban living. This is especially true in the more impoverished urban areas, where roads are lined with fast food joints and corner markets, but locals rarely have access to fresh foods. But the urban landscape, with its empty lots and vacant schoolyards actually serves as the ideal place for growing food. From abandoned lots to warehouse space, green roofs and window boxes, there’s plenty of room for urban farming. In fact, urban farms can pop up just about anywhere.

The Benefits of Urban Farming

Urban farming is the easiest way to connect the urban population to where their food comes from. Apples and tomatoes don’t come from the grocery store or the cafeteria and that hamburger and fries wasn’t produced out of thin air. Growing your own food, whether in a rural or urban landscape reminds us that all living things are in fact connected to one another through the circle of life.

Additionally, the legacy that fast food joints and processed junk food have left behind is one of obesity and chronic disease. And impoverished urban neighborhoods with their food deserts likely suffer the most from this epidemic. Urban farming brings fresh, local, organic foods to a population that doesn’t have access to healthy foods at a low cost.

Community gardens, especially those in urban areas, bring together communities around an outdoor, physical activity. It’s about connecting on a number levels: connecting people to the land, to their food, and to each other. After all, there’s no better way to come together than over a delicious local meal.

The Urban Farming Revolution

There’s an urban farming revolution going on in cities like Los Angeles. The documentary Urban Fruit follows three urban farming revolutionaries: Ron Finley, an urban farmer in South Central LA, Jason Kim of Forage Restaurant, and Rishi Kumar of The Growing Home.

These three urban farming revolutionaries are changing the face of the urban landscape in LA. Finley plants vegetable gardens in South Central’s abandoned lots, traffic medians and along curbs. He’s working against stereotypes and showing young people in his neighborhood that getting your hands dirty is actually a good thing. Kim is the owner and chef at Forage LA, a restaurant that trades garden loot from local urban gardeners with meals at the restaurant. The restaurant uses produce from a number of certified home growers to showcase the best in local urban eats. And then there’s Rishi Kumar, a former computer programmer who after spending time in India learning about organic farming, decided he would fulfill his passion at home with The Growing Home, an urban farm located in the suburbs of LA. The Growing Home serves as an educational center and model of sustainable living.

Obstacles to Urban Farming

While the word is getting out about urban farming, and as a result, more and more people are planting gardens in LA, New York and everywhere in between, urban growers do face some obstacles. For example city laws can prevent you from growing your own food in places like curb sides, parkways or abandoned lots. Soil contaminants, can be an issue especially when plots of land that were formerly used for something else like a gas station or industrial site. But according to American Society of Agronomy, while the soil may be contaminated, very little of the contamination makes its way into the fruits or vegetables themselves. However it is a good idea to have your soil tested when planting a new garden anywhere. This will help you determine the quality of your soil and the amendments needed to make it a healthy, nutrient rich soil for fruits and vegetables to thrive.

The potential for urban farming is indeed limitless, especially in cities that have an onslaught of abandoned lots. Green roofs and window boxes are another opportunity to plant food. These growing opportunities not only provide local food, they remind us where our food comes from while bringing the community together around something we all love: good, wholesome food.

Categories
Wellbeing

Leslie Michelson And "The Patient's Playbook"

Did you interview your primary care doctor? Do you know which hospitals in your area have a trauma unit? Do you have personal copies of all of your medical records? According to Leslie Michelson, author of The Patient’s Playbook: How to Save Your Life and the Lives of Those You Love, your answers to all of these should be a resounding yes; that is, if you wish to get the best healthcare treatment.
After reading The Patient’s Playbook I knew that I had to share it with others. The advice in it is priceless and as a patient it was advice I wish I’d received years ago. The early chapters alone on finding a good primary care doctor are worth the price of the book. I don’t know anyone who has taken the time to actually interview potential doctors before choosing the one that would handle their health care long term.
But, as Michelson points out we often spend more time and effort buying a new car or hiring a babysitter than we spend finding the doctor who will take care of us for (potentially) the rest of our lives.
Michelson also addresses how to get the best care in an emergency, how to find the best specialists for your needs, and what to do when serious illness strikes, as well as getting copies of your medical records and what to do with them once you get them.

Why did Leslie Michelson become a patient advocate?

Michelson’s background in health advocacy goes back to his high school years. His father was diagnosed with heart problems, and they were told he would require open heart surgery, an operation that was still in its infancy at the time. Michelson took the initiative and not only encouraged his father to get a second opinion from a larger hospital but made the appointment for him. It turned out that he didn’t need that surgery after all. That one call avoided a risky surgery and his father lived another 40 years without a problem. That experience set the stage for a life-long interest in helping others get the best healthcare.
As a young lawyer, Michelson had the opportunity to work at the Department of Health and Human Services. This gave him a chance to learn more about the healthcare system and see where he could make a difference. He says that he learned everything he could about the healthcare system and saw how much it needed to be changed. Seeing how anxious people were when they were sick drove him to focus his career on creating entrepreneurial companies that would improve the healthcare system.
“During that period everyone I knew that had a healthcare issues would call me. Over the years I helped thousands of people at night and on the weekends, gratis.” Michelson says that finally “about seven years ago friends suggested that I build a business to do [patient advocacy] because I’ve figured out what others don’t know. So we did that, it’s called Private Health Management. We get retained by people globally to help them get the best healthcare. The issue is that we have to charge a lot of money because it takes a lot of time and effort.”

So, why write a book?

That last bit is why Michelson decided to write a book. He said he wants to “really help everyone become a more effective healthcare consumer whether they could afford us or not. ” In talking to him I could tell just how important people are to him, and I could understand how he could have given away so many thousands of hours for free. While he’s listed as the CEO of Private Health Management, he’s still directly involved in client care and ensuring that the patients get the best healthcare possible. “Helping you become a more effective healthcare consumer” should really be his tagline.

How do you start?

Being an informed healthcare consumer is all well and good, but how do you get started? If you are asking this question, you aren’t alone. Mr. Michelson said this is the most common question he hears. “The healthcare system seems so intimidating that they don’t know how to begin to put in place the process and find the right physician. Once we get them started things are much better.” In The Patient’s Playbook, Michelson starts at the beginning and walks you through the steps, getting patients and caregivers the map they need to get on the road to the best healthcare possible.

What is the first step?

According to Michelson your first step should be getting copies of your medical records and putting together a complete picture of your health history. This step alone can seem very daunting as many patients have years of medical records to obtain from many different doctors. Michelson says that even if this is the case you can and should still make the effort. He says that you just have to take it little by little.
Michelson says to “just stay on it on a sustained basis. Identify the big most important pieces (the most recent or times when there was meaningful change) and understand that it’s going to take weeks if not months.” Don’t get discouraged and if you have someone else in your life that enjoys the details put them to work to help. This is especially important if you are already seriously ill, because you don’t have the time or energy to worry about the details.

How do doctors feel about informed patients?

He said that most doctors actually do prefer having an informed, prepared patient. A patient who walks in having done the research and says “Doctor I know you are busy and can’t research every little thing so I wanted to share what I’ve found with you,” will have good success with most doctors.
As far as what to do if a doctor isn’t listening? Michelson says “candor and honesty is always the best thing to do. If the doctor doesn’t have time for that it’s time for you to find a new doctor that will engage with you. There are doctors that will engage, you just have to have the courage to find them. Just always be respectful and always be very clear with the physician as to what your expectations and desires are in terms of your relationship.”

How do you form a partnership with your doctor?

He reminds us that the relationship between doctor and patient should be thought of as a partnership. “Ask your doctor for specific suggestions as to how to partner with them. Ask your partner (who happens to have an MD after their name) what’s the best way for me to make it efficient and easy for you to be at the top of your game? We need to take down the wall between doctor and patient, it needs to become a collaboration.”
For those who are scared to “bother” their doctor with what they worry are small things or silly questions, Michelson reminds us “They aren’t small things. Making sure the physician is fully informed as to what your symptoms are, what subtle changes you may have made to your diet, exercise, sleep, medication, and how they relate to changes in symptoms can be the clue to achieving a higher functioning status.”
However, he does remind us that we “need to be respectful to the constraints under which doctors function. They all want to spend more time with their patients but they have constraints. Make sure you are communicating as efficiently and as respectfully as possible.” If your doctor has an online system for communication use it, if not find out how to best communicate and keep the communication concise and to the point.

What to do when dealing with chronic illness?

When it comes to dealing with long-term chronic illness, Michelson points out how important it is to build a team not only with your doctors but also a support team within your friends and family. “Friends relatives, people you may know from your community want to help. One of my favorite sayings is “A sorrow shared is a sorrow halved.” If you’ve been through adversity and have been through it with another human being then you’ve halved that experience.” He encourages those who struggle to ask for help. He says that if you ask you will find it, but he points out that it takes courage to ask for help.
Courage is something that Leslie Michelson emphasized again and again as we talked. It takes courage to get through any healthcare situation, but especially the big ones. He reminds us that “courage isn’t easy but the reward for finding it is extraordinary.”
Courage is something you should have more of after reading The Patient’s Playbook: How to Save Your Life and the Lives of Those You Love, I know that I did. You will likely reassess your doctor patient relationships and question whether you should stay with that doctor that isn’t listening. You will begin the process of chasing down your medical records and putting together a succinct medical summary that tells your story. The next time you have a medical emergency you’ll know you are choosing the right hospital for your needs, and if and when tragedy strikes you’ll be prepared.

Categories
Nosh

To Graze or Not to Graze?

You want to lose weight, so you go on a diet. It encourages smaller, more frequent meals throughout the day, claiming you will rev up your metabolism and curb overeating. I don’t need to point fingers here. There are countless diets, studies, and even health professionals that recommend this rule of grazing.

What if I were to tell you, however, that this small meal/high frequency plan is actually what I put people on when they want to gain weight? (Yikes.)

Is it possible that this way of eating can benefit both groups of people? Or, is one being misguided?

THE PROS OF GRAZING: WHAT DIETS CLAIM

– You never feel so ravenous that you’re prone to overeating to the point of discomfort.

– Going too long without eating can slow metabolism.

– It provides a constant energy supply.

– It works for Jennifer Aniston, and don’t you want to look like Jennifer Aniston?!

THE CONS OF GRAZING: WHAT RESEARCH SAYS

– Our “mini” meals may not be quite as mini as we think, so instead of six small meals a day, we’re eating the caloric equivalent of six full meals a day. Oops.

– Going too long without eating can slow your metabolism, but “too long” is more like six hours or more. Skipping full meals can work against you, but waiting to eat a meal until around that five hour mark is beneficial. (Eating every five hours works out to be around three meals a day.)

– When we eat too frequently, we have a constant circulation of insulin. You know it as that stuff that controls blood sugar, but it is also a very powerful fat promoting hormone; it turns on the body’s processes for creating and storing fat. Not so great when we want to lose weight!

– We don’t solve the real issue of overeating: relying on external cues to start and stop eating, like emotions, convenience, habit, and the sight and smell of food. Sure, feeling too hungry can lead to eating too much and too quickly, but feeling adequately hungry is just a normal part of life. It’s our bodies saying, “Hey! It’s time to eat now!” When we eat every two or three hours, we tend not to feel hunger strongly or at all.

– You have to constantly think about food. Rather than eating, enjoying it, and moving on to other wonderful things in life until the next meal, you finish eating and almost immediately have to start thinking about what to eat at the next snack. It’s exhausting!

– It may harm our digestive tracts.

THE BOTTOM LINE: FLOP!

Can you lose weight by eating small meals frequently throughout the day? Probably, if you understand what “small” means for your body.

However, too often, this idea of grazing only perpetuates underlying problems: overeating, obsessing or worrying about food, ignoring hunger signals, and trying to be in control rather than in charge of your body.

It is far better for the human metabolism to space out meals, and preliminary research even suggests that a long overnight fast (12-14 hours) may be critical. We need to fuel our bodies regularly throughout the day, but “regularly” is only three meals and maybe one mini snack, depending on how your meals fall. If you eat breakfast at 6:30am and lunch at 1pm, yes, you probably need something mid-morning to tide you over; if breakfast is at 8am and lunch is at noon, probably not.

Here’s the rub, though: if you take this article to heart and start rigidly eating only every five hours because I said so, you would still be ignoring your body’s important messages over some external cue (me). Listen to your body. Are you physically hungry or emotionally hungry? Is your stomach growling, or is it just “time” to eat? If you’re unsure, wait twenty minutes. Either you will forget about eating, in which case you were not truly hungry to begin with, or you will get more hungry and therefore more confident that food is the appropriate solution.

Research overwhelmingly supports set meals over constant snacks, but you may feel hungry before that four or five hour mark. If that’s the case, eat something, but also take a look at what you had the meal before; perhaps it was too low in calories, a certain nutrient (carbs, protein, or fat), or fiber to hold you that long. Make a note of it and tweak it next time.

Life is really just one big experiment, anyway. Don’t be afraid to try something new and see where it takes you. You may be surprised.

Categories
Nosh

In Defense of Chocolate

Hi, my name is Jessica Serdikoff, and I am a chocoholic. (Ok, ok, I kind of really hate that word, but I am definitely a dedicated chocolate enthusiast.) I probably eat some form of chocolate most days of the week.

I am also a registered dietitian.

Fortunately, these two sentences do not have to be at odds.

Most of chocolate’s benefits are tied to the cocoa bean’s high flavonoid content, a type of antioxidant, or compound that has anti-inflammatory effects on the body, basically. (That’s a good thing.) None of the research proves that cocoa causes any positive health outcome, but here are just some of the associated benefits:

 – Promotion of a healthy population of gut bacteria (arguably the hottest topic in health research at the moment)

– Lower body mass index (a commonly used measure of a person’s leanness)

– Reduced risk of Type 2 diabetes through improved blood sugar regulation

– A neutral effect on cholesterol levels, despite containing saturated fats

– Lower blood pressure

– Reduced risk of cardiovascular disease

– Improved memory

The evidence supporting overall improved cardiovascular functioning is particularly strong. Even so, there is a mantra that we must remind ourselves of when it comes to wellness: if some is good, more is not always better. There are also plenty of caveats to all of the research.

First of all, you don’t need to eat pounds of chocolate to get the benefits. Really, only a small square on a regular basis is all that’s recommended.

Second of all, it’s the cocoa that seems to have the majority of the benefits, so diluting it with cream, sugar, and other less nutrient-dense ingredients can cancel out its positive effects. That means that the double chocolate chunk muffin at your local coffee shop and the chocolate coated candy bar at the checkout lane of your favorite retailer are still best saved for occasional treats, and don’t really count as “superfoods.” We want to go as dark and as pure with our chocolate as possible to reap all of its purported rewards. Most experts say anything above 72% is fine, but really, the darkest you can palate is ideal.

If you’re more of a milk chocolate person, even 72% might seem like a reach. I get it. I was once in those same shoes, and now I even enjoy 100% unsweetened chocolate (seriously). It takes time, patience, and a little activity involving mindful eating.

You see, chocolate is not just about the flavor. If it were, sweetness would be key to offset pure cocoa’s natural bitterness. However, the experience of eating chocolate is also about the creamy texture and its richness, and these factors do not need sugar to balance them out. When we focus on them, letting the flavor linger in the background of our minds, it’s much easier to appreciate a darker square than we otherwise would.

The next time you find yourself with some chocolate, preferably one classified as “dark,” try this (or this): sit in a quiet place, in a comfortable chair. Dim the lights if you’d like. Silence is ideal, but feel free to put on some light classical or jazz music if you prefer. Unwrap the chocolate. Take one bite, and close your eyes. Move it around in your mouth slowly without biting down. How does it feel? How does the texture change as it begins to melt? Chew it slowly. Do the flavors change as you chew, or as you pass it to different areas of your mouth? How do you feel? When you’re ready, swallow the chocolate, following it as it moves down your body. Is there a taste or sensation that lingers? How do you feel now? Take a deep breath, exhale, and open your eyes.

I find that many of my clients who participate in this exercise enjoy dark chocolate more than they thought they would or usually do, and that one square is enough to satisfy them.

You may need to start with a 50-60% chocolate bar, and that’s ok. Start there, and every so often, continue challenging yourself with increasingly dark varieties. Adding cocoa powder to smoothies, oatmeal, and even savory sauces and stews can be a nice first introduction. You may also find that adding something to the particularly dark squares helps your palate. When I started experimenting with unsweetened chocolate, I found that a thin layer of all-natural peanut or almond butter and a pinch of coarse sea salt completely transformed the bitterness of the chocolate into a complex earthiness that I loved.

There are dozens of ways to enjoy chocolate’s flavors, textures, and health benefits. Let all dedicated chocolate enthusiasts unite, because if we’re mindful, we can have our chocolate and eat it, too.

Categories
Wellbeing

Could Your Panic Attack Actually Be Separation Anxiety?

I had a fight with my girlfriend in college. It was a big one. I do not remember what it was about or who was to blame—if anyone. All I know is that after a year and a half of going out we were disappointed enough after the argument that we decided to split. This was my first breakup.
We were inexperienced when it came to fighting. Small disagreements usually ended quickly and we had no clue how to weather a significant battle. Once this disagreement blew up we had no idea how to restore ourselves. It felt final. In a matter of minutes the whole relationship was lost. After we exchanged our frustrations we turned and wandered away from each other.
After a moment my walking pace picked up and as I scurried away I became like a scare mouse looking around for shelter. My mind became unfocused and racing. Agitated, I could feel my heart pound and my breathing accelerate. I was walking fast—darting my way across campus to get something to eat. Then it happened. I got light headed and my heart rate soared. It was as though I had no control over my own body. I’d been marching along—then suddenly it seemed hard to lift my legs and couldn’t take a full breath. I was trembling.
A terrible feeling of dread—like I was about to die—came over me. It gripped me. Although I was an athlete and only 20 years old the first thought was that I was having a heart attack. My mind scrambled for a solution. I alternately tried to calm myself down—then freaked out because I couldn’t. But it was my heart that was causing all this. I was having a panic attack.
Going to the college infirmary the nurse practitioner calmed my fears. She told me it was unlikely I was having a heart attack. When I explained what just happened with my girlfriend she said it sounded more like an anxiety reaction. That was the first time she used the phrase panic attack. The term panic didn’t resonate with me. I was certainly having a reaction—but panic? Panic over what?
A panic attack isn’t the normal fear or stress reaction you might have to a situation. If you have a near accident in your car, or a barking dog with sharp teeth comes toward you—these are fear-based reactions—reality based—that have many of the same symptoms. The difference is that panic attacks seem to come out of nowhere. They have been found related to such things as family history, substance abuse, and major stressors. But, I had none of these indications. The only thing that seemed related had to do with the timing of the fight. Could that be enough to trigger a panic attack? The answer was a resounding ‘yes.’ But the reason why surprised me.
It wasn’t the novelty of the fight, or the fact that it raised my heart and breathing rates. It also had nothing to do with the intensity of the argument itself. The panic attack was about us separating–and to be more specific, separation anxiety. The fact that we were going to break up triggered the panic. Like a baby parted from its mother panic attacks are often related to issues around separation and loss. It was the fear of separating from my girlfriend that triggered the reaction.
After graduate school I went on to become a licensed psychologist. After many years in practice, I’ve learned a great deal about what these disorders are all about and how to treat them. Nearly 2.5 million Americans are affected by panic disorders, and experiences like mine are typical as it usually begins in late adolescence and early adulthood. More than twice as many women experience panic attack than men.
The treatment usually involves cognitive behavioral therapy, a particular form of psychotherapy designed to identify and change negative thought patterns beneath anxious and difficult feelings. This and other forms of therapy have the objective of uncovering what the triggers are causing the anxiety. Medications can also be helpful, such as antidepressants like Paxil and Zoloft, and anti-anxiety prescriptions like Xanax and Ativan. Learning to meditate or use relaxation and breathing techniques can also be useful.
But as a psychologist helping someone understand the trigger, particularly the potential loss of something or someone, is key. Helping people trace back their panic attack to the fear of separating from someone, or a recent loss (such as a death, or a divorce, or the ending of a relationship) is typically very insightful. Most people seeking treatment don’t realize how profound a loss—or a potential loss—can be in triggering their panic.
Of course fear of separation isn’t always the cause. Yet, there is ongoing research that suggests it may often be a significant part of the problem. There are other conditions, such as agoraphobia, where people avoid places or situations that could cause panic, which have other activators. In the case of agoraphobia people usually dodge places that make them feel trapped, helpless or embarrassed.
Panic attacks typically last only a few minutes. Learning the coping skills to get through it will help lessen the anxiety—and learning what the separation triggers are that may be at the root of it can help even more.