Happiness, Well Being, and Truthfulness

Lisa with her wonderful and very patient husband, Pete....holding our Georgia Jewel race awards!

Well, to be honest, I am not a good blogger. I just now opened my blog to see that it haven't had a new entry since 2010. I had even forgotten my password and had to have it sent to me! The truth is, my blog makes me feel guilty. I know I need to keep it current and yet, why oh why, can't I seem to do it? Am I lazy? Am I too busy? Do I not have enough to write about? Well, the answer is yes, yes, and yes. I tend to laziness if left to my own devices; I have a schedule that keeps me hoppin' all day long; I have more than enough topics to write about, and plenty of excuses why I don't do it! It's my personal mystery, but I saw something written the other day that made me stop and take notice. It said, very simply, that "Happiness is fleeting. Well being is sustained physical, emotional, and social health." Without knowing exactly how that fit into my laziness/procrastination/avoidance of things that I should (but often don't do), I knew it somehow resonated with me. And, possibly, with you.

How often do we hear that we need to strive for happiness? Just this month my daily newspaper is running a series of articles highlighting "the happiest woman alive." At first it seemed silly to me, but as I read through the articles, I realized that they just as easily could have written about the woman with the most "well being!" The happiest woman according to the USA today has all of the ingredients of the words I quoted above about happiness versus well being. She has a good job that she loves, she is happily married, she has a network of good friends, and she exercises and keeps her weight in check.

Now how does this play into my bad blogging? I (like most real people) can't claim to be the happiest woman alive! I strive to do the right things, eat like I should, exercise, see my friends, work hard at my job, and keep the lovely peace with my husband and kids. Do I do it? Am I a balanced, "well" person? Well, yes and no. I DO eat well and exercise a lot (the easier part for me because I always have....an easy habit), but I DON'T see my friends enough, I DON'T always stay on top of my schedule, my marriage, my kids, my work, or my life! And it makes me feel disappointed in myself.

My clients strive for the same things that I do. They may not have the eating right/exercise thing down perfectly, but many of them are amazing professional people with so many things right in their lives! They have wonderful families and are active in church and have great friends, and yet they feel disappointed in themselves for not being thin enough, or healthy enough, or not eating right. They beat themselves up if they miss a scheduled day of exercise or they falter and eat a huge piece of cake (or the whole thing!)

My point is we ALL want the same thing: to be happy. But happiness can be fleeting; it comes and goes and comes back again and then, like the leaves I see falling outside, goes again. To have true well being.....that's what gets us through this life in tact! But to expect perfection in balance and wellness is a lost cause. It is for me, anyway. I may not blog again until 2012, but the best I can do is to start to examine why I procrastinate and maybe, just maybe, I'll find a way to be better at it. Maybe I won't. But the point is, I don't expect perfection from my clients; I just expect them to try and reach whatever goals they have, but to cut themselves a little slack when the route is curved and winding! Life is too short and wonderful to carry constant guilt and self disappointment.

My parting words, and I mean them from the bottom of my heart: Be kind to yourself, be gentle, be loving, and.....be well! :)

Something to think about.....

The following is a quote by Michael Pollan that I came across the other day, and something about it just made me stop and shake my head and wonder what are we doing to ourselves as individuals and as a society:

"3/4 of our $2 TRILLION-PLUS health care costs goes to treat chronic diseases, most of which can be prevented by a change in lifestyle, especially diet."

What are these chronic diseases that can be prevented? Heart disease (our #1 killer in America), high blood pressure, diabetes, elevated cholesterol, weak bones, and some forms of cancer. We are a nation on the edge of a full blown catastrophe, and yet we continue to eat and eat and eat as if there are no consequences. And what we choose to eat is leading some researchers to admonish that our children may be the first ever generation to not live as long as our present generation. Chronic disease is taking a toll, not just on us, but more importantly on our children. And that statement is very sad, depressing, and SHOULD BE our call to arms to change things.

It is happening, slowly, and in small ways, but it is not enough. We all need to step up and decide that no one will be able to help us, or our children, if we do not choose to help ourselves.

What to do?

1. Vow to lose weight. Learn all that you can, however you can, about better nutrition, wholesome eating, meal planning, food labels, food additives, the dangers of processed food and fast food. Make an absolute push to "clean up" how you and your family eat. Do it as if your life depends on it! (and it does)
2. MOVE. Get exercise most days of the week. A little....or a lot. The point is to get off the couch, turn off the TV, and move your body. Energy begets energy. You have to expend energy to get energy! And for heaven's sake, make if a family affair! Teach kids early on about the benefits of exercise. BE GOOD ROLE MODELS!
3. Get involved. Push for better and healthier food in schools. Push for better community planning of green spaces, sidewalks, and bike lanes. Go to your school board meetings, vote for candidates who share your vision, start a grass roots effort in your area.

I think this blog today may sound preachy. But I will post it because I believe in living a healthy life for reasons outside of simple weight loss. And I am passionate about good food, and a clean diet, and feeding my family right.

I will leave you with another quote by a friend of mine, Toni, who made me feel better about the huge bill I just rang up at Whole Foods. I was lamenting the cost of eating healthy, and she just simply said:

"Pay now.....or pay later."

(I think I would rather pay now!)

FORGET SITUPS AND ENDLESS CRUNCHES!

If you are looking for one of the most effective stomach and abdominal exercises, think about adding planking to your routine! A plank, in any of it's variations, is an amazing exercise because it works so many abdominal (and other) muscles at the same time.


The abdominals are more than just what you feel when you touch your stomach area. They are actually arranged in layers that lie or wrap around your entire core. The more superficial layers help with movement and rotation, while the deeper ones aid in support and stability. They work in tandem, and when any part of them are weak, the whole system is weakened.


That's why endless crunches don't do the job! Crunches, for the most part, target the superficial rectus abdominus, or "six pack" layer. That's great, but it's only one part of the bigger picture and doing 300 of them, or even 3000 of them, won't give you a flatter stomach.


A flat stomach comes from a loss of body fat and a strong foundation. And added bonus of a solid core is a decrease in low back pain which can easily be caused by weak abdominals.

So, here's how you do it:

1. Lie face down on a mat or soft surface, resting on your forearms.

2. Push off of the floor, resting on your toes and elbows.

3. Keep your back flat, staying in a straight like from your head to your heels.

4. Contract your abdominals (pull your navel to your spine) to prevent your rear end from sticking up.

5. Hold for 20 to 60 seconds, and repeat 3 to 5 times.

For a modified plank, simply rest on the knees but still contract the abdominals and keep the body in a straight line.

So there you have it! There are many, many variations of planking, so brouse the internet and find a few others once you have mastered this beginning move.

Am I ready

to

change?

Research has shown that self-change is a staged process. We move from not thinking about changing a behavior, to thinking about it, to planning to change, and then testing out ways to do it before we actually start.

When we think about changing a behavior, these are some of the questions we may ask:

• Why do I really want to change the behavior (the benefits or "pros")?


• Why shouldn't I try and change the behavior (the challenges or "cons)?


• Do my "pros" outweight my "cons"?


• What would it take for me to change the behavior and overcome my "cons" (what's my strategy)?

To move forward, our "pros" must outweight our "cons" AND we need realistic strategies to meet our challenges and overcome our "cons."

To help you understand your stage of readiness, take this short quiz and honestly answer the questions below:

1. The goal or behavior I want to work on first is:

2. My reaons for wanting to change this behavior are:

3. The challenges that I have to deal with in changing this behavior are:

4. My strategies for dealing with those challenges are:

5. My goal for next week with respect to this behavior is:

Setting small, appropriate and achievable goals is the key to forward motion. And small goals turn into larger goals which turn into new behaviors which turn into the foundational building blocks of a new healthier, happier life!

Weird and Wonderful Food!

What in the world do I do with a rutabaga?

This is the time of year when the root vegetables are at their most lovely! And there is no way to impress your friends or family more with your culinary skill than to tell them you are roasting a celery root and turnips for dinner (well maybe not your kids, but I'll address that in a minute)! No one even knows what a celery root IS! The biggest joke of all, though is how incredibly easy they are to fix!

First, what is a root vegetable? Root vegetables are exactly what they claim to be: roots of vegetables. These are the parts of the veggies below the ground; the part you don't see. However, they are also the parts of the plants that are chock full of nutrition and flavor, not to mention easy on the wallet. Some of the more well known roots are the potatoes (sweet and white/new) onions, and carrots. Some of the lesser known varieties, and the most fun to cook with, are turnips, rutabagas, celery root, parsips, and beets. You can't go wrong picking any of these. Pick roots that are medium sized and heavy for their size. Avoid anything mushy.

Once home, store in a cool place in the crisper in the fridge. Roots will last a long time if stored correctly. Preparing them couldn't be easier. For almost all the roots, you just peel and (to roast) just chop into slightly larger than bite size peices. To make preparation easy, I cut up all my veggies and toss together in a garbage bag that is the size used in a small wastepaper basket. I know it sounds funny, but it works so well! Put them all in the bag, and then just pour in a couple of tablespoons of olive oil and any spices that you want. Twist the top and shake away! Sometimes I just use salt and pepper with my olive oil and it's great. Sometimes I use rosemary or garlic. Experiment. Have your oven pre-heated to 450 degrees and just spray a cookie sheet and spread out your veggies in a single layer.

Roast for 30 minutes or so.....just until tender. If you want to do something extra special, in the last 5 minutes of roasting, drizzle a little honey, maple syrup, or agave nectar on your veggies and then toss in the bowl you plan to serve in.

As for the kid thing.....you would be surprised how well they go over if you don't go into too much detail about what it is you're cooking. Just say....oh, these are just different kinds of potatoes! They will never know the difference and drizzling a little maple syrup over them just makes them that much more sweet and carmelized.

Hope this little blog takes some of the mystery out of the roots. If you live anywhere near a Whole Foods, the grocer in the produce department will be your best friend in picking out "strange" new vegetables. Just the other day I was curious about celery root (had read about it in a magazine). The prouce guy helped me pick one out and told me just how to prepare it. It was about the ugliest vegetable I have ever, and I mean ever, seen, but what wonderful fragrance and flavor it produced the minute the skin came off.

Have fun! Cook well! Cook for your health, but mostly just cook for fun and flavor and for the experience of trying something new!!