It’s not Friday, but still…
Author Archive
Category: Friday Funny, Videos
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Feb
21
I haven’t been blogging much here or anywhere else for that matter, but it’s only because I’ve been living a lot. With more appointments than ever (and more coming) to keep up with, I have been adjusting. I’m thinking that I’m finally settled in for the time being.
My husband and I are just back from a lovely trip into South Australia, and I feel like I have a new breath of air in my lungs. After what 2011 put me and The Bloke through, it was wonderful to be able to get away and enjoy.
The Bloke has been able to enjoy a lot of things lately, including a well deserved “I told you so.”
As I mentioned in Back to Square One, I bought a notebook to start tracking things again. Mainly, my food. The Bloke has suggested a food diary a few times now, only to be met with snarls from my end.
I hate keeping food diaries.
But I have been. And the results have been… enlightening.
As much as I hate the process, the food diary has helped me address a lot of key issues. The act of having a food diary has helped me with mindful eating. Just having to take the moment before I eat something has helped me to become aware of not only what I’m putting in my mouth but why I’m putting it in my mouth.
I also used to have a tendency to eat every meal like it was my last. Keeping the diary has taught me to look ahead a bit and get my mind used to regarding each meal as one of many to come. This, in turn, has helped me to eat smaller deals.
After I’d kept the diary for a week or so, I began to get curious about calories. It turns out that I’m doing a decent job, but there were some things that were hitting me for more calories than I realised. My favourite chai latte? Over 200 calories – and that’s just for a regular. That ‘every once in a while’ splurge for a fast food wrap? Over 500 calories and it’s not even that filling.
I must confess that I had gotten into a headspace of feeling like I didn’t need to learn anymore. That it was something wrong with my body. While I was right in regards to my body – and am feeling a bit more energy since I started taking iron – I was wrong in thinking that I could sit back and stop learning.
Even if it involves doing something that annoys me.
Though I must confess, it’s not nearly as annoying as it used to be…
But don’t tell The Bloke. He’ll just say, “I told you so.”
(Just kidding. He’s not like that.)
Category: General
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Feb
08
About the Book
The key to a better body—in shape, energized, and youthful—is a healthy brain. Based on the latest medical research, as well as on Dr. Amen’s two decades of clinical practice at the re¬nowned Amen Clinics, where Dr. Amen and his as¬sociates pioneered the use of the most advanced brain imaging technology, Change Your Brain, Change Your Body shows you how to take the very best care of your brain.
With fifteen practical, easy-to-implement solutions involving nutritious foods, natural supplements and vitamins, positive-thinking habits, and, when neces¬sary, highly targeted medications, Dr. Amen shows you how to:
* Reach and maintain your ideal weight
* Soothe and smooth your skin at any age
* Reduce the stress that can impair your immune system
* Sharpen your memory
* Increase willpower and eliminate the crav¬ings that keep you from achieving your exercise and diet goals
* Enhance sexual desire and performance
* Lower your blood pressure without medication
* Avoid depression and elevate the enjoyment you take in life’s pleasures.
Whether you’re just coming to realize that it’s time to get your body into shape, or are already fit and want to take it to the next level, Change Your Brain, Change Your Body is all you need to start putting the power of the brain-body connection to work for you today.
The Long Story
I must admit, when I first held this book in my hands, I didn’t think it would tell me much more than I already knew. I’ve been reading about and researching all things weight-related for years. But, it wasn’t yet another diet book, so I was willing to give it a go.
And here’s the part you’re probably expecting: I’m glad I did.
Yes, this book covered territory I have already been through, but it does so in a new way. A brain-oriented way. Dr. Amen’s foundation of changing your life all starts in the brain, and I find that fascinating.
Amen had me from the moment he posited that early life brain trauma (well, any brain trauma, regardless of when it happens) can help create the bad habits that we have today. Poor concentration, poor follow-through, anger issues… All of it can have to do with how you are or have treated your brain.
That sports injury you got when you were a kid because you weren’t wearing a helmet? That could be the reason you exhibit ADD symptoms. Or why you might have trouble sleeping. The implications of what he covers in this book are far reaching, and I quite like that.
Like I said, this is not another diet book, and that’s a relief. Yes, there is advice to cut sugar and the ‘white’ things, but that’s about it. Everything else engages you to think about your brain and the life of your brain on multiple levels. It’s not just about weight but about overall health.
The Short Story
This book is a great way to start thinking about your overall health in a new light.
***
Change Your Brain Change your Body
Dr. Daniel G. Amen
http://www.amenclinics.com/
Paperback: 384 pages
ISBN-10: 0307463583
ISBN-13: 978-0307463586
Category: Books
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Feb
07
When I say that the program I am in is diverse, I certainly mean it. They are looking after my mind and my body. While the body side hasn’t really started yet (I’m waiting for the next open slot), the mind side is well underway.
Yesterday I took part in my first stress management class. While the content wasn’t much of anything that I didn’t already know (causes of stress, responses to stress, etc), it was a lesson in being in an unfamiliar environment with unfamiliar people. It was very upsetting at first, but I settled in quickly. I have always loved taking classes and learning.
One quick tip I did learn that seems to be going well for taking down anxiety and stress is to step back from the situation just long enough to give it a rating out of ten. Just pausing to think about the situation objectively like that can make it easier to calm down. Or, at least, to start calming down.
I was kind of amused (and a little bit disturbed) that on our break, most of the people went and got a coffee. I was thinking, “Hello, we’re in a stress management course and you’re drinking coffee?” As it turns out, some people geniunely didn’t know that caffeine can make stress symptoms worse.
All in all, I’m very happy. I feel like I’m in the right place where I’m going to set the groundwork I need.
Category: Mental Health, Stress
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Feb
02
While it hasn’t been as long as I thought since I last posted, it has certainly been a while.
Problems started around mid-month when I started getting exhausted with the half an hour of exercise every morning. Given it was gentle exercise, I became quite depressed and got a first class ticket on the ‘what’s wrong with me’ train.
After a few frustrating appointments, a few frustrating doctors and some blood tests, I’m back on the right track.
As it turns out, I’m skirting but still not stepping into diabetes territory – thank goodness. My vitamin D is low (which doesn’t surprise me, seeing as I skipped supplements for a while before the test to make sure I got a real reading). And, for the first time in my life, my iron is low, which is likely the cause of my exhaustion.
I’ve finally gotten started with the local program that will get me on my feet in all ways. There are classes about pain management (yay aching knees and ankles thanks to weight), stress management groups, a dietician and even some gym time for me. Not to mention a new psychologist who covered a heap of things in the first session. I also managed to find a good GP that doesn’t buy into BMI, understands that PCOS is a real condition and who puts an emphasis on balanced eating.
For so long I have struggled, tripped, gotten up again just to trip later down the line. Always I have wondered what was wrong with me that I couldn’t just keep going. As it turns out, my GP slapped me across the face with it:
“You can’t keep doing this alone.”
While I have never been truly alone, it occurs to me now (in a ‘duh’ kind of moment) that I haven’t set up a proper ‘team’ for myself in the past. Not only friends who know what I’m going through but the kind of professional sort I need. Partly, I must admit, because I’m not all that keen on taking care of myself and have always seen getting all that support as playing into the victim mentality. But now I see that it’s not wrong to need a lot of hands to hold.
Today I’m back to square one, but I don’t mind being here. I started with exercise, I’m starting up the supplements, I got a new hair cut to make me feel good and even a new notebook for tracking things (the GP said that the dietician will want a food diary, so I may as well start one).
Another start. It may not be the last. But then again, it just might be.
Category: General
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