Bonus Hours

I've been following the blog theminimalists for over three years and yesterday’s post really struck a chord for me.  Ryan Nicodemus wrote about a recent car accident he and a friend had in Seattle (http://www.theminimalists.com/crash/).  They were sideswiped on a slushy and slippery highway and both cars rolled.  Thanks to their seatbelts - and other forces beyond our understanding - they sustained only minor injuries but the experience made him even more grateful for the time he is now enjoying post-crash.  He describes this time - days, weeks, hopefully many years - as bonus hours, and I think that is so perfect.

The phrase bonus hours gave me a beautiful label for the feelings I've had twice over the past few months, after being in situations that were much more dangerous than I realized, and coming through unharmed.  First was an ocean swimming experience at Cerritos Beach in Baja Mexico last November.  I was attending a yoga fitness retreat and having a marvelous time with our hosts, instructors, and fellow guests.  The Pacific on Baja's west coast is notoriously dangerous, but this was a famous swimming and surfing beach and our group wanted to check it out.  I am an experienced and confident swimmer and went into the water twice.  The first time I enjoyed diving under and playing in the waves along with my friends who were swimming, bodysurfing, and boogie boarding.  Later several other women began surfing right in front of where we were hanging out on the beach, so when I decided to go for another swim I first walked down the beach to the left, and then went in.  I like to get out just beyond where the waves break and then float on my back, rocking up and down on the swells.  That was going well, but as soon as I decided to make my way back I saw that I'd drifted much further out than I realized - it was different than the earlier swim, and I felt fear.  I didn't know if the others in my group knew I was out there, or if they could help me if they did.  I also didn't know that the water was guiding me toward underwater rocks.  What I did know I'd learned from my dad, who'd had his own and even more life-threatening undertow experience in Florida years ago.  I focused on swimming forward with each wave as it moved toward shore, using its momentum even if I got a little crashed up in the process, and not fighting against the water between waves.  Gradually I made it to where I could touch, and I emerged even further down the beach and significantly shaken.

The second experience was driving from Chicago back to Cincinnati in early January, as the polar vortex was descending on the Midwest.  I'd brought my son Alex back to Northwestern and thank goodness we drove the 4WD Jeep Liberty and I didn't insist on driving my Mini.  I drove home on Sunday the 5th, leaving Evanston as heavy snow fell, and soon was in whiteout conditions on the unplowed highway with cars off the road and accidents everywhere.  It was truly white-knuckle driving where I dredged up any and all skills I had from growing up and learning to drive in Fargo ND.  Thanks to a Top of the Chart radio station ("All the number one songs from the 70's and 80's!") and my book on tape, I stayed alert and extremely focused for nearly seven hours without a stop - well, we all had to stop for about a half hour on 65 north of Indy while a multi-vehicle accident was cleared, but no potty or Starbucks breaks like usual.  The truth is that the exits looked so rutted and slippery that I didn't dare get off the highway. My strategy was to fall into line behind a semi or tough-looking pickup truck or big SUV going what I felt was an appropriate speed and follow in their tracks as smoothly and calmly as possible.  This didn't prevent my wheels from drifting scarily a dozen times throughout the drive, though, and each time I just took a deep breath, held on tight, stared straight ahead, eased the gas and willed the car back on track.  Past Indianapolis with maybe 100 miles to go, the roads were clearer and I finally braved a gas station stop.  As I approached Cincinnati I moved into a heavy rainstorm but that was a warm and welcome cakewalk compared to what I'd been through.

I know these situations don't compare to the hardships that so many people face every day, and I also know that I inserted myself into them - I have no one to blame but myself.  My point is that they serve as valuable reminders that each day is a gift, offering 24 more bonus hours, and so I am grateful. 

The Movement Habit

No, this isn’t a blog about constipation though I do have recommendations for that too in case you’re interested!  This is a blog about the importance of integrating physical activity into our daily lives – small, casual movements as well as the regular intense exercise I’ve written about in prior posts.  I was dramatically reminded of this last week when I had the type of workday that has become atypical for me now, though it was my norm for many of my years in client- and supplier-side marketing research. 

One of my current health coaching clients is the management team of a manufacturing company in Kentucky.  They are a group of talented and interesting people, and I’m thankful for the opportunity to work with them on their health and wellness goals.  After doing an initial presentation for the group about a month ago, I began a series of four trips to the company to have individual hour-long sessions with each member of the team.  Last Tuesday I had a round of sessions scheduled, so I got on the road by 6am to get there by 8am, had six hour-long sessions with one half-hour break in the middle (which got truncated because we tended to run a bit over each hour), and then got in my car to drive nearly 2 hours back to Cincinnati.  As I started driving home that afternoon I realized I could barely keep my eyes open, and I caught myself drifting off the road more than once.  Remember, this was about 4:00 in the afternoon, not midnight, but I was nevertheless a danger to myself and others!  I stopped at Starbucks for a soy latte (my second of the day), cranked the radio, deepened my breathing to get more oxygen to my brain and extremities, and managed to make it home in one piece.  As I pulled into the garage, I recalled getting home from work or a business trip in the past (busy & stressful but not ACTIVE), and feeling the same type of exhaustion.  If I’d had a plan to work out or go to a yoga class that evening, there’s no way I would’ve done it -- I wanted to sit down with a glass of wine and do nothing! 

What was wrong with me?  I realized that the sum total of my physical movement during that whole day had been standing up and down a few times to greet each new client, and walking to and from the bathroom.  And that wasn’t enough.  Yet it had been the norm for me for years, and it is the norm for millions of people who work mainly at a computer or on a phone all day.  It was so startling to me because it’s no longer my norm, and I’m happy to report that individuals and companies are also getting the message about the importance of movement and the true danger of being sedentary.  I now know lots of people who stand at their desk at work or home, either all the time or intermittently; another client of mine has rigged up her treadmill below her standing-level desk.  If I’m out in downtown Cincinnati between 11am and 1pm I see numerous groups of coworkers taking lunchtime walks, not to mention those who are able to change clothes and take a yoga or pilates class or fit in a run during their workday! 

As for me, I consciously set up my home office to be “inconvenient” in small ways that end up encouraging frequent movement even during my work time; for example, whenever I print something I hike to the other end of the condo to the printer, and I keep various office supplies in several different desks to necessitate a short stroll to get an envelope & stamp, or my stapler & holepunch.  I also sit on an exercise ball at my desk and have realized that my file cabinet is a perfect height for standing computer work, as long as I set my laptop on a couple of September-issue fashion magazines, which are each over an inch thick as any fashionista knows! 

I encourage you to think about your daily routine and find ways to incorporate small movements as often as possible.  If you need more convincing, check out “Is Sitting a Lethal Activity?” published in the NYT last year (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/17/magazine/mag-17sitting-t.html).  The article summarizes a variety of research on inactivity and introduces the concept of NEAT – Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis – that links small movements to major health benefits. 

A final note:  When I got home from the long coaching day described above, I did indeed sit down and my husband did pour me a glass of wine.  When I told him about how tired I’d become, he gave me a great idea which I will implement on my next company visit:  As each client comes in for their session I will turn them right around and we’ll go outside for at least a 15-minute walk to review their progress over the last couple weeks, then come back in for the rest of the session.  Here’s hoping for pleasant weather!!!

Life Is A Long Time - You Are Responsible for Making It A Healthy Time!

Joshua Rosenthal, founder of the Institute for Integrative Nutrition where I received my Health Coach training, likes to say, "Life is a Long Time." He says it to encourage us to be patient with ourselves and to internalize the idea that there's time to do everything, but maybe not all at the same time!
 

I recently devoured a book called Younger Next Year - For Women, by Chris Crowley & Henry S. Lodge, M.D., and it provides another take on life expectancy and quality.  (Their original book was directed at men; I chose to read the subsequent female-oriented edition, and it is smart and insightful despite being written by two guys!)  Have you ever taken a quiz to predict your life expectancy based on your current age, gender, weight, and basic diet & health behaviors?  There’s a thorough one in the Younger Next Year books and a variety of other quizzes online, and I invite you to complete one of them.  You will (hopefully) find that you are likely to live to be 90+ years old.  Mr. Crowley and Dr. Lodge’s book is all about how to make that outcome more likely, and more importantly, to have a healthy and active life for as long as possible. 

Imagine a curve with time on the x-axis and health level on the y-axis.  Some of us are resigned to the idea that once we hit “middle age” (whatever that means these days… isn’t 60 the new 40?) we start to gradually decline – a downward curve until we die.  The authors of Younger Next Year argue that this does NOT have to be the case.  Our actions (and I do mean actions) influence the quality of our lives more than we realize, and we have the power to maintain our health and vibrancy well into our later years, so that our personal age X health chart can register health at a steady high level until we are well advanced in age, with a quick decline at the very end.  Isn’t that better for us and our loved ones, not to mention the healthcare system?

The key to healthy aging is to promote growth in the body & mind, not decay.  The authors argue that there really is no middle ground.  This is programmed into our genes from prehistoric times and is based on the earth’s seasonal cycles – we are either in spring/summer “growth” mode when we are energetic and active and our body is building muscle, or we are in fall/winter “decay” mode when we slow down and store fat preparing for food scarcity and a hard winter.  I’m sure you know where this is headed… today we have no food scarcity and we spend most of our time being sedentary, so our bodies move into constant storage/hibernation mode – in a word, decay. 

What to do?  The authors advocate EXERCISE, virtually every day, and including both moderate and high intensity workouts each week.  Exercise boosts your metabolism, it reduces stress, it improves your mood, and it is believed to offer protection against development of Alzheimer’s disease.  As you know, we recently got a puppy whose pictures are regularly featured in my newsletter and on Facebook.  My husband, Randy, spends hours each day training and briskly walking Foxy either on the beach in Hilton Head or here in Cincinnati.  He enjoys every outing with his dog – rain or shine, hot or cold – and he has lost weight and feels fit and energized.  And, as a bonus, we have a very well-trained dog!

It is critical to your health and well-being that you establish some sort of fitness routine, whether it involves a dog, a running or workout buddy, a spinning class schedule, a favorite yoga instructor or DVD, or any other vigorous activity.  The important thing is to do something physically intense nearly every day, for the rest of your life.  Your body, mind, and loved ones will thank you.

http://www.youngernextyear.com/

You and... You!

As any serious Sex And The City fan knows, the very last line in the TV series’ final episode includes Carrie’s voiceover saying… “The most exciting, challenging, and significant relationship of all is the one you have with yourself.”  Of course we’ve all heard this sentiment expressed with various words and in different contexts.  I looked on www.quotationspage.com and a wonderful version is attributed to Lucille Ball:  “Love yourself first and everything else falls into line.  You really have to love yourself to get anything done in this world.”  What a great combination of the spiritual and the practical!   

It’s interesting for me to write about self-love after my most recent blog was about how we are shaped by the people with whom we spend the most time.  I think that recognizing and understanding the interplay between these two critical dynamics – one directed inward and the other outward – is our life’s work. 

The more clients I work with in my health coaching practice, the more I believe that the real power of the process is that it empowers people to understand and accept themselves and because of that, to decide to take the best care of themselves that they can.  This self-love spreads to wanting to take care of family and friends and even to make larger-scale changes in the world, and this is the “Ripple Effect” described by Integrative Nutrition’s founder, Joshua Rosenthal (www.integrativenutrition.com/about). 

Before we get too carried away, though, here are some thoughts on ways to deepend your understanding and appreciation of yourself.  And by the way, I fully appreciate that sometimes life feels so busy and overwhelming that spending time on your relationship with yourself seems impossible and possibly irrelevant and silly.  That’s ok – just read on and file these ideas away, and pull them out when you do have a moment to breathe – it’ll happen!

Breathe (what a coincidence) – When we’re stressed it’s common for us to shorten our breath, tighten our muscles, and steel ourselves for whatever threat we’re facing – physical or emotional, real or perceived.  The truth is that we are much better able to cope and will start to connect with ourselves, by becoming aware of our breath.  Slow it down.  Close your eyes and breathe slowly through your nose.  Ideally, pause for a beat or two after you inhale, before exhaling slowly and smoothly.  Here’s a link to a recent Andrew Weil column describing several breathing techniques:  www.drweil.com/drw/u/ART00521/three-breathing-exercises. 

Meditate – and I use that term loosely.  Conscious breathing is meditative.  Yoga can be meditative, as can walking or running outdoors, listening to or playing music, petting your dog or cat, hugging your partner or child, chopping vegetables, or doing anything else that slows you down and helps you to empty your mind of the chatter.  Here is a link to one of my other favorite sites, on meditation:  www.zenhabits.net/meditate. 

Listen and Watch – I’m talking about listening and watching your own mind.  Sit still and close your eyes.  What thoughts float by?  What songs pop into your head?  What images do you see?  What do you think it means?  This could be described as analysis of your waking dreams and can be fascinating. 

Dream (you knew this was coming) – Of course, tuning into your dreams is also a great way to get in touch with yourself and your unconscious.  Julia Cameron, author of books such as The Artist’s Way (www.juliacameronlive.com), advocates writing “Morning Pages” upon waking, to capture your dreams, thoughts and feelings while still in a semi-conscious state.

Remember – Allow yourself to think back to your past – to happy and sad and just regular times.  Give yourself permission to feel the feelings that come up, and begin to perceive patterns between your past and present.  My mom has been living on her own in Florida for 10 years now, and while she keeps herself busy with music, tutoring, and ushering, she also has a lot of unscheduled time.  She has told me that with more space and time in her life, it is amazing what she remembers about the past – and doubtless connects to her present.  My mom is not a big fan of the concept of “happiness,” true to her German and Norwegian roots, but she is a model of contentment.

Imagine – Take time to envision and plan for your future.  Intriguing research at Stanford and NYU has shown that those with greater ability to imagine their future selves (as measured by the location of brain activity) make better choices today – from flossing their teeth to saving for retirement.  They actually have greater financial assets and are more likely to own their own home than those less able to project themselves into the future.  There is evidence that this skill can be learned – another study showed that simply exposing research subjects to age-advanced pictures of themselves (the magic of Photoshop!) was related to their making longer-term decisions about how they’d spend an unexpected $1000, vs. those gazing at their current images (see link to New York Times article below). 

I’m sure you’re all thinking about how making good food & exercise choices today affects you positively now, and sets you up for a healthier and happier future too! 

“Bad Habits?  My Future Self Will Deal With That” www.nytimes.com/2012/02/25/business/another-theory-on-why-bad-habits-are-hard-to-break-shortcuts.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=bad%20habits%20february%2025&st=cse   

Who are your five??

“You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.”  Jim Rohn, the personal development guru who passed away in 2009, was quoted by Scott Dinsmore in a recent post on his inspiring site, www.liveyourlegend.net.   

I think this idea is thought-provoking from multiple angles and I encourage you to spend some time with it and ideally use it to proactively improve your life.  Here are some of my noodlings on this idea, which I believe to be extremely useful, even if I may quibble with it around the edges… 

So what’s the exact equation? 

Is it really 5 people, or could it be 4, 6 or 7?  Do they all have to be in your life right now or can past influencers count?  More broadly (and mathematically), what are the weights on each person (variable) in the equation and how do you account for time?  This relates to quality vs. quantity time – is it possible that someone you’re rarely with can impact you disproportionally?  I think that’s possible, but I believe Jim Roh’s points was that you do need to look at what you do and who you do it with EVERY DAY.  And can a country or company or other organization count as one of your influencers?  I believe the answer is YES.

Think about the following… Over time, people begin to resemble their spouses.  Sometimes there even seem to evolve similarities between people and their dogs!  This seems sort of funny, yet it’s true.  And why is there such positive power in the family dinner?  If “you are what you eat”, then this makes perfect sense.  People who eat the same food together become more similar.  Groups (races, nations, age cohorts, regions, etc.) with similar eating habits develop a culture, which consists of shared beliefs and behaviors.  I love that the founder of my nutrition school (Institute for Integrative Nutrition*), Joshua Rosenthal, says that when he goes to dinner with a friend he makes a point to let them order first, and then orders what they did so that their bodies & minds can be on the same wavelength from the food, and they can connect over – and as a result of – their shared meal.  More insidiously, you have probably read about the studies that demonstrate “clustering” of obesity – that your chances of becoming obese increase significantly if you have a friend who becomes obese during a given time interval.  Same goes for spouses or siblings.¹

Let’s take this sharing a step further.  Deepak Chopra, the famed M.D., neuroendocrinologist, and mind-body medicine expert who never fails to deliver mind-blowing research findings & ideas, has described human beings as verbs or processes, not nouns or structures.  We are constantly changing and evolving.  With every inhale, Dr. Chopra describes, we take on 10²² new atoms; the same goes for every exhale – that’s a lot of new atoms in, and a lot out!  Each time we breathe, we incorporate atoms from our surroundings into our bodies, and we exhale massive amounts as well.   Did you know that our breath is the most important detoxifying mechanism that our bodies have?  Not sweat, not elimination – breath!  Our bodies are incessantly regenerating.  This is an opportunity!  As Dr. Chopra asks:  “Who do you want your 2012 model to be?”

I hope you will take some time to think about your “5 people” (plus or minus!), evaluate your current situation, and make plans/set goals for modifying it if your situation doesn’t serve you.  And please remember that it’s reciprocal.  You are doubtless one of the 5 people for others in your life, and that’s a great privilege, a great opportunity, and also a great responsibility. 

*See www.IntegrativeNutrition.com  for more information

¹Christakis, Nicholas A., M.D., Ph.D., M.P.H., and Fowler, James H, Ph. D. ”The Spread of Obesity in a Large Social Network over 32 Years.” New England Journal of Medicine. July 26, 2007. <http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMsa066082Special Article.>

K.I.S.S. - Keep It Simple, Sweetie!

Did you know that our country’s agricultural system produces twice the calories that our population requires?  That sounds like a good thing, but the fact is that too many of those calories are provided by our ingenious food industry in unhealthy forms – refined and processed foods that are loaded with sugar and bad carbs.  With appealing advertising and abundant availability it’s easy to eat too many calories and yet be malnourished.  This can set up a vicious cycle – our bodies continue to need nutrients so we keep eating, yet the only thing we gain is weight.   

The bottom line is that it’s easy to eat healthfully if your diet is dominated by high quality whole foods – vegetables, fruits, lean protein, whole grains, and good fats.  When you do buy packaged foods, it’s important to read the ingredient list (not just the nutrition panel) and try to stick to products with just a few ingredients that you actually recognize.   I decided to call this post K.I.S.S. for Keep It Simple Sweetie – no need for insulting adjectives like “stupid” when we’re talking about taking care of yourself and those you love!  

A recent article in The Washington Post (see link below) does a great job of spotlighting food items that are marketed as healthy but are actually far from it.  Here is their list: 

Reduced-fat peanut butter:  This product typically has as many calories as regular peanut butter but also more sugar and other non-peanut ingredients to create a peanut butter-like texture.  The oil in peanuts provides nutrients, so stripping some of it out decreases the product’s nutritional value.  Your best option is to purchase natural peanut butter, which ideally includes only peanuts, or perhaps adds a little salt.   

Enhanced water:  Vitaminwater and similar beverages “are essentially sugary drinks with a vitamin pill.”  Zero-calorie water drinks are better, but the best choice is to drink plain water and to eat your vitamins in food form, not as reduced and isolated additives to other products. 

Energy bars:  Depending on the brand you buy, energy or meal replacement bars may contain some whole foods and provide protein and fiber, but they are usually high in sugar too.  My teenage sons love Clif bars and I like that they contain organic whole grains and have a pretty impressive fiber/protein profile, but I was dismayed to see that the #1 ingredient is organic cane sugar!  Organic, cane… it’s still sugar!  Again, read ingredient lists carefully and consider nuts & dried or fresh fruit for an energy boost. 

Multigrain foods:  Grain-based food products can be very confusing with all the healthy-sounding descriptors out there, but keep in mind that multigrain does not mean whole grain.  Multigrain just means multiple grains, but all may be refined and stripped of nutritional value.  Look for a whole grain as the first and preferably only grain in the ingredient list, noting that multiple whole grains are even better.   

Non-fried chips and crackers:  This is a tricky one, because Baked sounds healthier than Fried, doesn’t it?  In the case of chips and crackers that may not be the case.  As Walter Willett of Harvard’s School of Public Health notes, “Now that trans fats have been removed from most cooking oils, the healthiest part of potato chips is the fat.”  That’s because most chips and crackers are made from refined grains or starch, so their natural healthfulness is greatly reduced.  Look for whole grain crackers and chips made from whole grains (or vegetables, such as Terra Chips) and fried in healthy olive or canola oil.  Note that Sunchips are recognized as a decent option “so long as you keep to the one-ounce serving size.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/wellness/5-so-called-health-foods-you-should-avoid/2012/01/31/gIQA6E7vfR_story.html

The Importance of Being Persistent

One of my prior posts was about habits and it strikes me that they represent mindless persistence.  On the flipside, mindful persistence is a good thing in all areas of life, from raising children to maintaining relationships to succeeding at work to improving your health.

A weight-loss message that I’ve been seeing and hearing a lot lately is actually one that has been around for a long time and is very simple:  You have to expend more calories than you consume in order to lose weight.  Diet fads come and go and the bottom line is that most people will lose weight on most of them because they are cutting calories, and likely reducing processed foods and saturated fats to boot.  The key to losing weight on any diet is persistence, willpower, stick-to-it-ive-ness, or whatever you want to call it!  And after the weight is off, it’s important to establish a healthy maintenance diet heavy on vegetables, fruits, lean proteins, and good fats.     

A recent article in the Philadelphia Inquirer summarizes all of this nicely and emphasizes the importance of accountability and support, too (see link to article below).  Accountability can be to yourself, by keeping track of everything you eat and weighing yourself frequently, so that you can act quickly if your weight loss stalls or you backslide.  “One of the major differences between the average-weight person and the overweight person is the ability to recover from overeating,” the article states.  Being accountable to someone else is also a powerful incentive and ideally includes getting support from that person, whether it’s a friend, family member, or health coach.  I try to provide holistic nutrition education, warm support and gentle accountability to help my health coaching clients reach their weight loss and other important wellness goals.   

We’ve all heard the phrase, “Eat less, Move more,” and while both suggestions are worthwhile, recent research has shown that they address different goals.  Persistently eating less is the most effective way to take pounds off, while establishing a regular exercise routine is particularly important for keeping those pounds off.  “Exercise is the single best predictor of who keeps weight off and who doesn’t,” the Inquirer article states.  Exercise revs up metabolism and improves overall health, and it helps people maintain muscle mass, which tends to decrease as we age.  And of course, a toned body looks and feels better too.   

So if you’re interested in losing some weight, find a diet that works for your body and lifestyle, stick with it, and develop an exercise routine that you love, and stick with that too.  You’ll be glad you did!   

www.philly.com/philly/health/20120221_New_science_can_help_guide_diets_and_exercise.html