Running from Anxiety

While I’ve always enjoyed working out, I haven’t always enjoyed running.  I  thought…I’m just not a runner.  For some reason, I really didn’t like the way running made me feel.  It seemed like running made me more out of breath than a Zumba class, a bootcamp, or 30 minutes on the elliptical.  I enjoyed a challenging workout and the good sore that would come the next day.  But running was just too hard!  This has pretty much always been true.  I would choose any type of exercise over running.  So it’s pretty surprising that I now love to run.  I actually rearrange my schedule to squeeze in a run at least twice a week if possible.  

It all started back in January when I can only imagine I temporarily lost my mind and suggested to a few friends that we run the Nashville 1/2 marathon.  They thought it was a great idea and when I came to my senses and didn’t want to actually follow through and train with them they persisted until I finally gave it a try.  And a funny thing happened.  I didn’t hate it.  It took me awhile to build up my strength, starting with just a few miles at a time, and I never actually ran the 1/2 marathon.  But I did max out at 9 miles, which I felt was a huge accomplishment for someone who “hated” running.  And 10 months later I’m still running. 

This was a great turning point for me, because I learned that running, for me, is one of the best ways to clear my head and relieve stress and anxiety.  I can do it alone or with friends.  It requires no equipment, no coordination, no thinking.  You just go.  I get to think with no interruptions, no screaming kids, no requests from the hubz, no to do list waiting, no cluttered floor distracting me and no dishes in the sink calling my name.  It’s just me and my thoughts or my music.  I run, I sweat, I work and when I finish I can actually breath better than when I started.  I’m so glad I gave running a second try.  

I’m not sure why I’m sharing this now.  Maybe it’s just to say we grow and we change.  And sometimes things we don’t like are exactly what we need.

Iodine Deficiency

The more I learn the more I realize I still have a lot to learn.  If that makes any sense.  I’ve told you all about my hormone troubles, which I’m happy to report seem to be improving.  But that process opened my eyes to a nutrient that gets very little attention despite it’s importance and contribution to healthy thyroid function.  Are you familiar with iodine?  I don’t know about you, but when I rack my brain for information on iodine the only thing I can turn up are images of orange stained skin and memories of my grandmother treating cuts and scrapes with it.   I had no idea how important it is for our bodies and our thyroid and I was completely unaware how many of us are actually iodine deficient – including me. 

So here’s what I’ve learned about iodine .

Iodine and the Thyroid:

• It’s required in trace amounts by all animals and some plants
• It’s an essential element that enables the thyroid to produce thyroid hormones
• Our bodies need the proper amount of iodine for healthy thyroid function
• Iodine deficiency can contribute to thyroid problems and the incidence of iodine deficiency is growing
• More than 25 million people have thyroid disease and as many as half of the people with thyroid problems don’t know it yet
• Iodine is added to table salt, but many of us are reducing our intake of salt for health reasons
• We can increase our iodine levels naturally through healthy diet choices
• Like everything else, you have to have a balance.  Too much is just as bad if not worse than not enough.
• Frequent additions of small amounts of powdered or crumbled seaweed to stews while cooking is a good way to provide adequate iodine
• There are iodine supplements, but talk with your doctor or nutritionist before choosing one.  You want to be careful not to take too much. 

Personally, I don’t eat table salt or many other foods that are said to offer an adequate intake of iodine.  I also have several signs of iodine deficiency including the results of my hormone tests and an under active thyroid.  So it’s pretty safe to say I have an iodine deficiency, which I’ve decided to address by adding small amounts of powdered seaweed to my soups. 

For me, this is just one more reminder of how important it is to have a healthy balance and variety in our diets.  Of course there are supplements for everything, but I’d rather enjoy tasting all of the great food along the way.

Just a reminder…I’m writing about my personal experience.  I’m not a doctor or nutritionist.  I’m not suggesting anyone out there self-diagnose based on diet or symptoms.  If you’re curious about your iodine levels talk to your doctor.  There are simple tests to check your levels.

Hormone Imbalance Confirmed

I can’t decide if this is good news or bad news, but the results of my saliva hormone tests are in and there is definitely a reason for all of my symptoms.  So I guess the good news is that there is a reason for my symptoms and they are treatable naturally.  The bad news is my hormones are all messed up and it seems to be consistent with evolving adrenal gland fatigue. 

So starting today I have a morning cream an evening cream and a food based vitamin I have to take twice a day to support my adrenal glands.  According to Dr. Jana, I should notice an improvement in my energy levels first and that could happen as early as a week from now.  The other symptoms will take a little more time as my hormones slowly rebuild.  Probably closer to a month. 

I’m planning to do some research on adrenal gland fatigue, which is a new term to me, so if anyone else has any information to share I’d love to hear it/see it.  I’m looking forward to having more energy and I’ll keep you posted on my progress. 

Funny side note…since I received my results I’ve run into two acquaintenances who I learned have similar symptoms and we had great conversations about the testing and the treatments.  I love it when you bump into someone you can encourage and who encourages you in return.

Put Clutter In It’s Place

Today’s guest post comes from Sheri Bertolini of Sheri’s Organized Life.  I hate clutter, yet it seems to be the norm at our house.  My kitchen table is cluttered, my office is cluttered, my schedule is even cluttered.  I always have good intentions, but I can’t seem to get the clutter under control.  Here are some tips from Sheri on decluttering your home and your life.  I love these tips because they look at the circumstance behind the clutter instead of the clutter itself.  Visit Sheri’s blog for more helpful organizing tips.

Strategies for Decluttering Your Home

I could tell you how to fold towels. Or give you 5 ways to streamline your kitchen. I could even give you tips on how to tame your paperwork, the #1 form of clutter everywhere. Instead, I offer what I believe are some of the most important principles for building a foundation in keeping your home clutter-free.

• Establish your culture. Or a culture will establish itself. If you don’t like the one you have, change it.
• Decide who you are and where you’re headed. Measure everything against that. Furniture, clothing, keepsakes, décor, the way you live your life. If they don’t support who you are and where you’re headed, they’re just taking up space. Question everything. Ask of every item, “What gives you the right to be in my house? Are you supporting me and helping me reach my goals?”
• Everything needs a home. This isn’t rocket science. Does it make sense for item “X” to live where it lives? Again, question everything.
• Nothing accidentally walked into your house. Own your responsibility for contributing to the mess, even if it means you stood by and let it happen.
• Do you actually use, like, and need, all that stuff? Could someone else use it instead? Share good stuff with people who need it and will use it now.
• Indecision creates clutter. Indecision produces mediocrity and ineffectiveness. Be intentional. Decide to decide.
• Life is too short to spend it serving stuff, allowing it to drain and distract you. Stuff is here to serve you, not the other way around.
• If you’re stuck, ask for help.

And remember that if you are truly ready for change, it means things will have to be different.

What keeps you from making important changes in your life?

Healing Chronic Pain Naturally

Hello from Disney World!  I’ve committed this week to my family so I’m not blogging, checking email or doing any other work.  But I have lined up a series of guest posts that I hope you’ll find interesting and informative.   The first one comes from Brenda Oakes, a Postural Alignment Therapist and owner of BVibrant.  I recently met Brenda and was so moved by her story that I asked her to write a guest post for Broccoli Cupcake.  I hadn’t heard of postural alignment therapy, but two things really struck me about her story.  1.  She became a PAT as a result of a personal struggle and her desire to help other people find the healing and relief she found.  (I can relate to that.) 2.  After drugs and other forms of therpay failed, she found a natural way to heal her body.  (This isn’t always possible, but I think she has a great story of hope for anyone living with chronic pain.)  Read on and check back soon for the next guest post. 

 

Motion Starvation

While vacationing in the beautiful and majestic Smoky Mountains this week, I’ve enjoyed the pleasure of getting some physical exercise as I have gone hiking. One of the trails I was on, led me to an old two room sturdy log cabin that was built in the 1800s. This cabin was built by Mr Noah “Bud” Ogle who was a descendent of the first settlers to the Gatlinburg area.  As a Postural Alignment Therapist (PAT) who helps people get out of chronic pain by doing therapeutic exercises based on the fundamental, anatomical, physiological and biomechanical principles, my mind took me back to Mr. Ogle’s day where active body motion was so vital, just to be able to live and survive. Everyday of these settler’s lives, was a day in motion.

 

When the Industrial Revolution came to be and machines began to do the laboring for us, we had a slow decline in full body motion. In Mr. Ogle’s time, there was no need for exercise classes, gyms, fancy health clubs, etc. because daily musculoskeletal movement to accomplish chores was a part of life.  Even though machines and technology have helped to eliminate such vigorous labor, the results haven’t been totally positive for our joints and muscles. We  have become spoiled to a degree when it comes to not having to engage our bodies in hard labor. Because of the high technology we have, many of our jobs require less movement. Yes, we have developed a motion weakness, called “motion starvation”.

 

Motion has become more of a negative word, than a positive one. It has gotten so out of control that we need a remote control to change the TV channels, because we don’t want to get up and walk a couple of feet. The remote does the motion for us!  Since we have an epidemic of living a sedentary life, we have seen numbers rise in chronic pain and obesity with all ages of people.. With the rising number of people in musculoskeletal pain, we now have a higher prescription drug problem as individuals are getting addicted to them for pain relief. Not only this, but our lack of “right” motion has caused us to develop dysfunctions in our load bearing joints, which causes muscle compensation. When this happens, we may find ourselves in such pain that we end up at the orthopedic doctor’s office, being told that the only way to find relief is to have surgery (you can read my testimony on my website).

 

My heart has achedas several of my clients have come to me as a last resort because they have taken the route of pain meds and surgery and are still in pain, not to mention loss of mobility where they had their surgery. Many times when we are faced with a dysfunction (other than from an accident or born with a deformity) and our pain gets worse, perhaps our body is crying out for the “right” bilateral motion. This is where PAT is greatly beneficial, because it works and treats the whole body as a unit to bring the posture back into balance. Well, even though we are no longer cutting down trees with a hand saw to build a log cabin, like Mr. Ogle’s  did, we can still live a healthy life of motion through proper exercises where we work all muscles thus giving our bodies a healthy musculoskeletal system. To that  end, I say NEVER NEVER NEVER STOP MOVING! Be Blessed, B Vibrant and live PAIN-FREE!  Click here to contact Brenda with questions about postural alignment therapy.

High Cholesterol and Go Red for Women

You know what’s really frustrating?  When you work really hard at something and don’t get the desired results.  Last week, I had my annual physical including blood work.  I have to admit, I went into it feeling a little overly confident.  Afterall, I had made some significant changes to my lifestyle and I was feeling healthier than ever.  So when I called to check on my results I fully expected to hear nothing but good news. 

Unfortunately, despite my best efforts I found that my LDL (bad cholesterol) was a little high at 123.  The doctor’s like to see it below 100.  You can imagine my frustration when the nurse said, ”start watching what you eat and exercising and we’ll check it again in six months.”  Whatch what I eat?  Hello?  I eat healthier than most people I know including my husband who’s LDL is below 100.  To say I was frustrated is an understatement.  But if forced me to take an honest look at my lifestyle habits and the choices I was making everyday to see where I could make improvements.  It also reminded me of two important things.

1. The number on the scale or the tag on your jeans doesn’t guarantee a good bill of health. 
2. While lifestyle choices are very important, they aren’t the only factor.  Genetics play a big role as much as we may not like it.  

In the end, I had to admit that over the last two month I had let time constraints dictate too many of my choices.  I needed to remind myself what it takes for ME to be healthy.  Which leads me to a serendepitious email I received last week and an amazing giveaway for all of you. 

Did you know that high cholesterol is a major risk factor for heart disease, which is the number one killer of women in America?  Go Red For Women is an organization that supports the energy, passion and power we have as women to band together and wipe out heart disease and stroke.  Their near-term goal is a 25% reduction in coronary heart disease and stroke in women by 2010.  To achieve that goal, they’ve launched BetterU to help women take action to protect their hearts. The program is a free, 12-week online makeover that can help women improve their overall health and heart health through small, simple changes (like choosing baked not fried, or choosing to get their cholesterol checked).   

To help support the program, Go Red for Women has created the BetterU, BetterMe Kit , which has everything you need to start the BetterU program, including:

• Super-cute tote bag for the gym
• BPA-free water bottle
• Go Red Grocery Guide to help you make heart-healthy choices at the store 
• Go Red yoga mat
• Their signature red dress pin
• Heart-healthy snack, Craisins

And we’re giving one away!  You know the drill.  Post a link to this story on your blog, Twitter or Facebook and leave me a note in the comments linking to it.  You’ll get one entry for every post.  The BetterU, BetterMe Kit is a great reward, but helping all of the women in your life improve their health and building awareness of the risk factors for heart disease is an even bigger reward.  Good luck!  The contest ends October 4 so start spreading the word.

National Eat Together Week – Sept. 20-26, 2009

I’m a day late posting this, but I wanted to point out that it’s National Eat Together Week.  According to the website, the week is sponsored by “the other white meat” - otherwise known as The Pork Board.  Personally, I’m not a huge fan of pork, but I can get behind the concept.  I think most families would agree that eating together can be tough.  Let’s face it, we’re all pretty busy these days.  But we do make family meals a priority at our house.

My husband’s schedule presents the biggest dinner conflict.  His commute can be as unpredictable as his hours.  Usually, we can count on him to be home by 6 or 6:30, but the boys start corralling at the pantry door around 4:30.  Below are a few tips I’ve found helpful in increasing the number of family meals we have each week despite our crazy and somewhat unpredictable schedules. I’ve also included links to websites that offer information on the health benefits of family dinners and additional ideas, recipes and conversation starters.  Conversation isn’t really a challenge for us right now.  With two boys under 5 our challenge is getting them to close their mouths long enough to chew, but the ideas are fun and might be more helpful for families with older children.

• Dont’ reserve family meals for dinner – The end of the day is the most unpredictable so we make a habit of eating breakfast together every morning.  It means we have to get up and get moving, but it’s worth the effort.  I really enjoy starting our day together and boys love that extra time with their daddy before he heads off to work for the day.
• Use a meal plan - At first, I thought making a meal plan was such a pain, but now that I’m used to it can’t imagine getting along without it.  Having a plan makes grocery shopping faster and easier, helps us save money and ensures that I’m not scrambling around at 5:00 trying to figure out what to make for dinner, which used to end with a call to Dominos.  It’s also a great tool for adding variety to our diets and keeping us on track with our healthy choices.
• Keep healthy snacks on hand – the boys are always so hungry right before any meal.  They start digging through the pantry looking for snacks.  I’ve learned to offer them fruits and vegetables while I’m preparing any meal.  They’re hungry enough to eat them and it’s just enough to hold them off without filling them up. 
• Let the kids help - my oldest loves to help with dinner and recently our youngest (20 months old) has started pulling up his stool and lending a hand.  When the boys help it distracts them from their snack requests, gets them excited about what they’re eating making them more likely to try it, and it’s a fun activity for us to do together. 

 Here are a few sites with more great ideas to help bring your family to the table together.  If you can accomplish this monumental feat, you’ll likely find that you and your family will eat more nutritious meals, your kids will do better in school and will be less likely to take drugs (that’s a positive, but unexpected benefit), your children will develop stronger language skills, and your family will hopefully experience more cohesion.

Keeping Youth Mentally Healthy and Drug Free

The Family Dinner Deconstructed – NPR story

The Benefits of Eating Together – Spark People

Family Dinner Games – from Tyson

Touch Screen Nutrition

As a work-from-home mom, there are some days when I just have to get out of the house.  First of all, I need a change of scenery or the walls start to close in on me.  Second, there isn’t a door thick enough to block out the determined toddlers who just want momma to play with them.  On the days I decide to work outside the house I look for two things – healthy food and free internet access.  Today, I found both at a nearby Panera Bread. 

After several hours of work, I decided to head up to the counter for a hot cup of green tea when a flat screen TV caught my eye.  Turns out it isn’t a T.V. at all, but a computer kiosk that provides detailed nutrition information about everything on the menu at Panera Bread.  I couldn’t help but take a few minutes to explore and I love what I discovered. 

What a cool tool!  The kiosk offers a variety of categories for every lifestyle diet.  You can search for menu choices that have 6 grams of fiber or more, low sodium, low fat, low carb, low cholesterol, allergens, and much more.  By clicking on these choices you get a complete list of menu items to choose from.  You can also review detailed nutrition information for everything from cookies to soups. 

The hardest part about dining out is knowing what’s really in the food your eating.  But Panera has made it easy.  Wouldn’t it be great to have access to detailed information like this at every restaurant?  Maybe someday.  Until that time, here is a list of iPhone applications that can serve as a less sophisticated version of the Panera nutrition kiosk.  I use these and find them helpful when looking for healthy options on the go. 

• Good Food
• i Vegetarian
• Restaurant Nutrition
• Eating Well Healthy in a Hurry – this one really isn’t for eating out, but it’s great for recipes and grocery shopping

Creative Recycling

One of our favorite afternoon activities is arts and crafts.  Our toy closet (read kitchen table, kitchen counter, kids table) is packed with pads of paper, markers, colored pencils, paint, stencils, stickers, brown paper bags, pipe cleaners, stamps and much more.  Whenever we start to get bored, or the boys start to get stir crazy, I set them up with an art project.  It’s mainly for selfish reasons because I love doing anything creative.  In my opinion, it’s more fun than playing in the dirt or racing cars.  (My poor boys!)  But the boys really do seem to enjoy it too.

Today, as I was attempting to clean up, I was shocked at the size of the art pile.  We have so many paintings, drawings and paper bag puppets that didn’t make the fridge, but I hate to throw them away.  It’s really wasteful plus the boys are always so proud of their work and throwing it away just doesn’t seem right.  But seriously, what am I going to do with all of these art projects?  I can’t keep storing them forever.   (Don’t tell, but there are at least 8 posters hiding behind the couch that Little Man painted when he was 2 and 3.) 

That’s when I came across a Valentine’s day card Little Man had made himself.  It was one of the ones that didn’t make the cut when we sent a week’s worth of crafts off to the grandparents, aunts and uncles.  (If I remember we were all home sick that week and needed something to do.)  That’s what gave me the idea.   I separated the projects into piles of pictures to save, cards to send and wrapping paper.  I put the ”cards” up and plan to help the boys write notes to family and friends for birthdays, holidays and other special occasions.  Colorful paintings and drawings were set aside to use as wrapping paper and the puppets I put aside to use as decorations on packages. 

Little Man was really excited about the idea and wanted to start wrapping presents right away.  We don’t have any birthdays coming up, but we did spend 30 minutes wrapping up dinosaurs and cars for practice.  I’m happy to report that I’m doing my part to recycle all the craft paper we’re using and looking at the decluttered tables and counter tops was such a rewarding feeling.  It’s amazing how a cluttered space can contribute to feelings of stress and anxiety.  We spend so much time in the kitchen and living room.  Taking the time to declutter the space was really worth it.   Who knew decluttering a small space could be so therapeutic?

Need Your Veggie Recipes

It’s starting to feel like fall.  Even though it was a muggy 85 here today we had our first pumpkin siting at the Farmer’s Market.  Little Man was so excited, we had to buy two mini-pumpkins.  One for him and one for his little girlfriend who was there too.  He’s already set the pumpkin on his nightstand so he can see it when he wakes up in the morning.  He loves fall as much as I do. 

The changing of the seasons means our share of veggies from Delvin Farms was filled with lots of colorful new items were seeing for the first time.  The boys and I have been working on identifying everything and Little Man has lots of questions about what’s in each veggie and which part of his body it helps.  I’m not a nutritionist so we have to look most of them up, but it’s been fun and I’m learning as much as they are. 

Now comes the challenging part.  What do with all of these veggies?  I was able to use everything from our last share by making veggie soup, salsa, a salad and a batch of mixed veggies I cooked in coconut oil.  This week it’s going to be a little more challenging.  When I look over the variety of items nothing specific comes to mind.  So I need your help!  I’m including a photo of our bountiful harvest and I would love to have your recipe ideas and suggestions.  What would you make with…

• a bag full of sweet potatoes
• 4 ears of corn
• 1 sm. japanese eggplant
• 1 lg. eggplant
• 2 sm. pumpkins
• 2 sm. yellow squash
• 1 zucchini
• 1 bag of green beans
• 3 green peppers
• 1 mild pepper
• 2 hot peppers
• 2 butternut squash
• 1 spaghetti squash

I’m thinking I might use some of it for a vegetable lasagna.  Other ideas?