Recommendations

What I am reading or watching? Obviously this list is not exhaustive, but it's a good starting point. I will be linking up new sites/books, as I see fit.

 

Blogs

Rebooted Body & The Nester

These are not blogs I read every day, but the former has changed my life. In fact, a lot of principles Kevin addresses have made their way into my practice as well. I am working through his program and continually refining myself, my outlook, and health.

The Nester has a beautiful saying, "It doesn't have to be perfect to be beautiful". Amen. I have applied this to so many areas of life. My home, my appearance, my wardrobe, myself. None of these are perfect, but they are beautiful. My BFF and I often remind each other to be kind to ourselves. We would never tell the other some of the mean things we tell ourselves (you're fat, you're old, you're lazy), so we need to be kind. The Nester helps navigate this, mostly through home décor, but it is applicable to life in general.

Books

Wheat Belly Great information regarding how our body processes wheat, the effects of it in our diets, how the wheat we know today is different from the days of yore, and what you can do to change it!

Choose More Lose More for Life Choose More, Lose More is on the list not for the "diet", but rather the workouts. I LOVE these!! They are hard, fast, intense, and effective! Chris Powell, from Extreme Makeover: Weight-Loss Edition, has developed 28 unique HIIT (high intensity interval training) 9 minute workouts that target upper body, core, lower body, and general cardio. Each day, Monday thru Friday is a different workout. You do not repeat the same sequence of activity for another 28 days! How great is that?! Also, each day the timing is different. You may do one exercise continuously for 3 minutes, or do one rep of exercise 1, then one rep of exercise 2, one rep of exercise 3, and then step ladder upon that. Now, 2 reps of each exercise, then 3, etc for a total of 9 minutes. Another timing workout is you work as hard as you can for 20 seconds, rest for 10, repeat 5 more times for a total of 3 minutes, then do the same with the next exercise. It may sound complicated, but he lays it out very easily. These are the only standard exercises I love to do. I feel strong, toned, and fatigued when I complete the circuit. Also, I love I am able to track how many reps or cycles I completed because when I get back to that same routine in a month, I can see how I've improved. And, for 9 minutes, you can do it! You can do almost anything for 9 minutes! 9 minutes and you're done!

The 5 Love Languages This book is great for learning how you express love and how you like to receive it. Quickly, the five are acts of service, quality time, gifts, physical touch, and words of affirmation. Once you identify how you receive love, you are able to communicate that to your spouse (if they don't already know), and you're able to see ways other loved ones are loving you. I am a quality time and acts of service kind of person. If my husband takes my car to get washed and fills it up....SWOON! I feel like he has taken time out of his day, assessed my needs, taken it upon himself to meet those needs for me. It shows me that he is looking out for me and I feel loved, taken care of, and protected. The rub comes when your loved one doesn't speak the same language. My husband is words of affirmation and physical touch. It has taken me several years to learn the correct words for him and that even if I can't cuddle him right then, I may be able to hold his hand and show him that I'm thinking of him. This book ties in well with the self-care we've been discussing!

Boundaries Another part of self-care is realizing your own limitations and being able to identify areas in your life that may need to be readdressed. Just as children need boundaries to keep them safe, physical and emotional, adults need them in relationships, too. What are you comfortable with in a relationship? You may hear someone say, "Well, this person hurt me and they were late and I'm so mad at them!". Boundaries helps you identify your role in this situation and what you can do to either get more involved or withdraw while helping you form healthy relationships. There may be a person in your life that continually hurts you. Unintentionally, but you continue to be optimistic that this person doesn't mean you harm, will stop hurting you, and will wisen up and learn from this. They may or may not, but YOU can change YOU. You can keep the person a little farther away, emotionally. You can limit your interactions with this person. You are able to determine how often you see them, hear from them, the types of communication you have with them, etc. It is dynamic and empowering. Instead of being hurt and being the victim, what can you do to empower yourself and take control? Excellent read!

Also, just finished Daring Greatly by Brené Brown on Audiobook. Fantastic book! I'm excited to read more her works.

Recipes

Skinny Taste, Low Carb Yum, Eat Real Food.

Movies

Fat sick nearly dead, Food inc, Super size me,

Podcasts

Happier with Gretchen Rubin, The Rebooted Body by Kevin Geary

Disclaimer: Some of the links above are to my Amazon Affiliate page. I am not being paid to recommend any of these products. I found them on my own and believe in them. If you can find help or comfort or education in any of them, then that's great!

Self care as preventative medicine

So, what self-care activities did you do this past week?

Baby boy and I went to the Farmers Market on Saturday and then the park. Having a kid really does help me slow down and actually think about what I'm doing.

Some other ideas of self-care activities include: practicing gratitude, getting 15 minutes of sunshine, walking barefoot in the grass, laying in the grass, relaxation breathing, volunteering, writing a note to a friend, getting a massage, using essential oils, taking a class, teaching a class, journaling, having a pet, stretch, pray or meditate, make a different decision, edit your social media accounts, cook a childhood favorite comfort-food meal, drink tea, ride a bike. Are you getting the idea?

The Wikipedia definition we looked at last week is actually great! The definition continues:

Self-care is considered a primary form of care for patients with chronic conditions who make many day-to-day decisions, or self-manage, their illness. Self-management is critical and self-management education complements traditional patient education in primary care to support patients to live the best possible quality of life with their chronic condition. Self-care is learned, purposeful and continuous. In philosophy, self-care refers to the care and cultivation of self in a comprehensive sense, focusing in particular on the soul and the knowledge of self.

 

Purposeful. Continuous. Knowledge of self. Complements traditional patient education. Self management. These are great buzz terms to encourage and motivate!

Think about it this way: if a patient feels bloated, tired, has heartburn, and suffers from abdominal pain they have a few options. They can come in and see us where they will probably be prescribed a medication to fix the problem. Or, they can try a few things at home. A la, self-care. Food testing by elimination or pairing is taking care of yourself! Treating yourself well by giving your body the right food to work and function well while not harming or causing pain to yourself.

There is a popular book by Gary Chapman called The 5 Love Languages which identifies ways we give and receive love. They are: acts of service, quality time, gifts, physical touch, and words of affirmation. I propose the way we give and receive love is also how we can show love and self-care to ourselves. For example, I am an acts of service and quality time girl. Therefore, when I visited with a friend recently I left feeling recharged and replenished. I could conquer the world! Well, the next week at the very least. If you find words of affirmation are a way to show love, perhaps journaling would be a good way to provide self-care.

Any activity (note: ACTION) you do that feeds your soul (or body) is an act of self-care. With patients in my care, I see a lot of inaction. A patient just this morning was describing ongoing back pain and was unsure why she was having such pain in such a specific location. She wanted to lose weight and exercise more, but she had a response to each suggestion I made to her. She may want to lose weight and exercise more, but her inaction will not get her to her goals. This patient, and most people, are still in the pre-contemplation phase of change. The self-care aspect is action. Being, doing, improving, repeating. Self-care needs to have momentum and intention. Just like above: purposeful, continuous, self-management.

Stay tuned for more on self-care!

Self Care

This week has been rough. Anyone else?

From shocking news to bad news to paying Uncle Sam....TGIF.

I had an appointment on Wednesday that left me unable to work for the day. The choices of what to do were endless!! I had grand ideas of going to Hobby Lobby and buying all the décor my little house needs. A mani/pedi was the perfect way to spend my afternoon! I could lounge and watch Housewives.....UNINTERUPPTED! So, what did I do?

I cleaned my house.

Seriously? Yes. Because there were no little feet plodding behind me wrecking havoc. I was able to focus and get it all done. And then, I crashed. But, I had accomplished a lot and had completed several tasks I had been delaying.

No more energy for a mani/pedi or walk. My attention span wasn't able to cope with an hour of NYCs finest Housewives. We ordered a pizza and called it a night.

But what would have happened if I had gone shopping and had the mani/pedi? My house wouldn't be clean, but my emotional and psychological self would have been restored.

What is self care? Wikipedia defines self care as, "any necessary human regulatory function which is under individual control, deliberate and self-initiated. Some place self-care on a continuum with health care providers at the opposite end to self-care. In modern medicine, preventive medicine aligns most closely with self-care."  Did you catch that last part?! "Preventive medicine aligns most closely with self-care"!! This is what we are doing! This is the essence of The Total Patient.

But, what does this look like? The above definition is a little clinical, IMO. It looks like whatever you need to do to take care of you. Go for a walk, read a book, take a nap, watch a movie, call a friend, organize the nagging junk drawer, go through the mail, clean out the box in the garage that has been calling to you, get a manicure, get a pedicure, read a magazine, watch a show, go to the movies, take a drive, walk on the beach, hike, play cards, listening to your favorite album, scrapbooking, crafting, going to the range, swimming, yoga, pilates, zumba, working out, cooking. Basically, anything that you want to do that you normally don't make time for.

In my experience, completing a task that has been on my to-list for awhile usually helps free up mental energy. For example, cleaning the house also included cleaning up the clutter and making a few trips to the garage for storage and to the dumpster. I changed our winter wreath to the spring wreath and WHAM! It feels like a new place! That, and the Easter egg display I created and baby boy promptly investigated!

When you take time for yourself you are recharging your emotional needs. This helps with improving your outlook. How? I believe it occurs because you are taking the focus off of your normal routine; wake, feed, work, clean, sleep, repeat, and allows creativity, joy, and happiness to flow! Two weeks ago I spent the day with a college friend. What a great day! And, we didn't do anything! We talked, walked, had lunch and dinner, talked, laughed, and just spent time together. I told my husband that my heart was full. I felt ready to take on the new challenges and was refreshed from my time.

Take a break this week to do something for you! Something you don't usually do.

Just like Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman, take care of you!