Have You Had Your Laugh Today?

May 22nd, 2010

My dad was a salesman for close to 60 years.   Most of his clients were men and humor was an important part of their language.  He told a wide variety of jokes – some of them shared in private, just for men.  I used to roll my eyes.  I was such a snob.

Dad has dementia now and can remember only one joke.  So I no longer groan when he asks “Have you had your laugh today?”  I act like I’ve never heard his joke and he gets a big kick out of it.  And so do I.  Here’s the joke:  Do you know how to make holy water?  No, how?  You boil the hell out of it.  See why I used to roll my eyes.

So if you haven’t had your laugh today (and you love dogs), watch this short video.

Do you have any funny jokes to share?  See the comment link below….share your humor there.

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Your Greatest Desire for Health & Happiness

May 19th, 2010

Recently, I asked my lunch buddies what their one goal or desire in life is.  Just one in five knew.  Matt said that he wanted to live in the present moment and experience it fully.  I asked if he thought he was succeeding.  After a chuckle about not doing it perfectly, he said that, yes, it was an important part of his daily spiritual practice.

Napoleon Hill in his classic book, Think and Grow Rich, boldly declares that 90 percent of the people you might ask have no idea what their greatest desire is.  I think many of us have several fuzzy desires but don’t clarify what is most important to us and keep it upper most in our minds throughout the day.   Because of this fuzziness, we don’t reap the benefits from the focused energy and guidance that a clearly stated desire generates.  Without a clear focus our daily choices become more haphazard and life can feel less rich and satisfying.

For me living a healthy, happy life . . . in this lifetime is my great desire.  A parallel desire is to help others to do the same.  So I’m asking you, as it relates to your health and happiness, what is your greatest desire?   Write this desire in your planner, post it as a note on your refrigerator, or write it on a slip of paper on the dashboard of your car.  Keep it uppermost in your mind (every day!) and you’ll begin to reap the benefits of that desire.  Your heart’s desire will come to you.

Start now.  What is your single greatest desire for health and happiness?  Share it at the comment link below and then post it where you’ll see it several times a day.

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Day 43 Spring Clean Your Body and Your Home

May 10th, 2010

While you’re spring cleaning your body, you might also spring clean your home.   I think there’s a connection between how we take care of our bodies and how we take care of our homes.   Our homes are much like our bodies – they are the protective skin around us. 

What have you done lately to take care of your home (apartment, mobile home, house boat, RV, tent, TP, etc.)? 

I’ve been doing a major spring cleaning the last month so this topic is on my mind.  Let’s see if we can draw some parallels between spring cleaning our bodies and our homes.

What did I miss?  What other comparisons can you see?  Add them at the comment link below.

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Day 36 All About My New Look

May 3rd, 2010

I walked Toby on the levee this evening in my garden clogs and that was not a good idea.  About a mile in to the walk, the shoes rubbed a blister on the top of my foot.  Ouch.   I didn’t have any socks or a Band-Aid so I decided to head back rather than tough it out.  Ouch ouch ouch.  It really started getting raw and sore.  In a stroke of genius, I decided to try putting my shoes on the opposite feet like 3 year olds do.  And it worked.  The shoes did not rub me in the same spot so I was able to walk more comfortably.  But, Crocs on the wrong feet is not a good look.  Although there was no one on the levee at the time, it occurred to me that someone could come along and think I was a little strange – just judging my weird shoe behavior. 

I scanned my ego to see how I’d feel about being seen with my shoes on the wrong feet.  I should say with orange shoes on the wrong feet.  I decided to just keep walking and see how it went.  If I saw somebody like Brad Pitt or Robert Downey, Jr. I’d swap them back in a heart beat.  But those guys never walk on the Kansas levee so I figured I wouldn’t be too embarrassed no matter who approached. 

Then the test.  I saw two people walking in the distance with a small dog.  As they approached we talked about the dogs and they never looked at me or my weird shoes.

In my mind I was giving myself points for walking, subtracting points for wearing shoes that hurt my feet, adding points for coming up with the switching feet solution, subtracting points for worrying about what others thought, and adding points for keeping them on the wrong feet when the other walkers approached me.  It was a fun little game.  I love dog people – they focus their entire attention on dogs.  You can get away with murder – even wearing orange Crocs on the wrong feet.

Have you got any odd or interesting stories to tell about your life that made you be creative, relax, or accept yourself?

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Day 32 Get Focused, Know What You Want, and You Shall Have it

Apr 29th, 2010

Spring Clean Your Body

“We are here for a higher purpose – and when our passion and focus are unshakably on the target, we can achieve against all odds.”

2008 NFL Hall of Fame-Nominated place kicker
Nick Lowery

When you’ve had a tough day and you want a candy bar or a beer, remember your goal.  What choice will bring you closer to your goal?  When our goals are clear, this kind of choice is easier.  When our goals are fuzzy, our default is to go for comfort and immediate gratification.  Being clear about our goals makes success possible.

Get out a piece of paper and write your goal on it.  Be as specific and clear as you can be.  What do you want, why do you want it, how will you achieve it, and how will you feel when you achieve it (or when you don’t).  And then write what your most likely obstacles will be and what you will do when each of them surfaces…because they WILL surface.

Because I’m a wellness practitioner, one of my goals is to walk the talk.  I want to be the picture of health and wellness, and I want to be able to say “follow me, I’m practicing good health and wellness behaviors.”  If l say one thing and do another, what help am I to you?  Since my passion is to help people live healthy, happy lives…in this lifetime, I need to be on that path myself.  Having a clear goal, taking action, and staying focused on the benefits is my 3-step plan for success.  I’m not always 100% successful, but this goal keeps me moving forward.

What is your plan for success?  What keeps you on the path?  Share your thoughts at the comment link below.

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Day 31 Reminder of Where We Started…and Where We’re Going

Apr 27th, 2010

Spring Clean Your Body

Thirty-one days ago I invited blog readers to join me in a 6-week blog series called Spring Clean Your Body.  Now, I want to welcome new readers and give you a quick review of where we started and where we’re going.  You can also begin the series by scrolling down to read Day 1, 2, 3, etc.

After being cooped up over the winter months, eating richer winter foods and laying on an extra layer of fat, I thought it would feel really good to do a 6-week body cleanse.  I’ve been writing about my experiences in this series.

Here’s a quick summary of foods and beverages I have decided to avoid for at least 6 weeks:

• Processed, packaged foods
• Coffee
• Sweets
• Gluten
• Dairy
• Alcohol

If this sounds challenging, you’re right.  It has been.  I need more practice—that’s why I’m extending the series beyond the six weeks until the end of spring.

I was inspired to do this cleansing program by Dr. Mark Hyman’s books, The UltraMind Solution and UltraMetabolism.  He practices functional medicine which means he looks at the entire body, not just body parts or a single system, to determine how the entire body is functioning.  Dr. Hyman recognizes that everything is connected to everything.  If one part of the body isn’t working, other parts of the body are affected.  In fact, all parts of the body are affected.  I highly recommend these books if you’re interested in taking this body cleanse thing seriously.

Diet, exercise, quality sleep, stress management, and self-care are all critical components of living a healthy, happy life.  So all of these topics will be addressed in this series.   I’ll share my personal experiences as well as tips and tricks that may help you with your own body spring cleaning project.

I invite you to freely share your comments and experiences at the comment link below.  And if you have specific topics you would like me to cover, please let me know those as well.

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Day 26 Noticing Healthy Changes

Apr 23rd, 2010

Spring Clean Your Body

I took the day off so I indulged in reading for several hours while sipping hot green tea.  I never thought I’d be a green tea drinker.  As I’m getting used to it, it tastes better and better.  Knowing that it’s also really good for me adds an additional incentive to stick with it.

It’s really reinforcing to me to notice improvements in my body, mind, and spirit while doing this body spring cleaning project. 

Here are a few things I’m noticing:

• I used to sweat quite a bit.  But in recent years, I rarely sweat – it sounds good, but it’s actually not a sign of good health.  In the sauna today, I sweated a good deal which shows my health is improving.  I was very happy!
• Also, when I stick to my whole foods diet, I do not crave sweets, junk food, or fast food.  When I stray from whole foods, a whole host of cravings kicks in.  Every day that goes by that I don’t crave low quality foods, I am happy and try to acknowledge it as a sign of success.
• With a clean, whole foods diet, my processes of elimination work perfectly, as intended.
• After a day of taking good care of myself, I feel good about myself.  Quietly pleased.
• When I’m really on the wellness path, I get new ideas for ways to take better care of myself.  When I’m on a worseness path, i get more ideas for ways to take worse care of myself.  I like the wellness path better.
• My mood is definitely elevated when I eat whole foods and stick to my healthy living plan:  healthy diet, exercise, stress management, and good self-care.  It takes a little time to do these things but the payoff is exponential.

How is your Spring Cleanse going?  Any news to report?  Any new signs of health and healing? Click the “comment” link below and share your experiences.

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Day 23 Avocado and Egg Salad

Apr 20th, 2010

Spring Clean Your Body

This weekend I was introduced to an interesting egg salad filling with avocado.  You may think that you shouldn’t eat avocados because they’re high in fat and therefore high in calories.  The calories are good calories, though, because avocados are nutrient dense and are a high quality fat.

I made a good guess about what to put in the batch I made tonight.  It’s very tasty, and I thought you’d like to make it too.  You can make substitutions according to foods  you have on hand and your personal preferences – I’ve made several recommendations for substitutions.

Avocado and Egg Salad

3 or 4 hard boiled eggs (sliced or chunked)

1 avocado (peeled and diced in large chunks)

1-2 scallions rough chopped

Dressing

2-3 Tablespoons Mayonnaise or Nayonaise (made with soy)

Stir in a little milk, soy milk, or almond breeze (almond milk) to make it a little thinner.  I used Almond Breeze.

A tablespoon of spicy brown mustard (or any kind of mustard, or no mustard)

Salt and Pepper to taste

I’m planning to eat mine on gluten free crackers (Martha’s Gone Crackers), on celery sticks, and as a side dish with my salad.

If you make this, let me know how it turned out and if you made a different version (comment at the link below).  I think you could go crazy substituting and making several different versions.  If you don’t go too crazy, even kids would like it.

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Day 17 More Healthy, Fast Food Meals

Apr 14th, 2010

I keep wanting to tell you about what I’m eating because even I’m surprised by how easy and fast my meals have been to prepare.  When you live a busy life, cooking can seem like a big chore.  It doesn’t have to be.  Here’s what I ate for dinner today:

Spicy Bean Tostadas

I purchased GMO free natural corn tortillas that were not crisp so I crisped them up on a skillet—either dry or a little oil.

I heated a few tablespoons of organic refried beans in a small pan and added several spoonfuls of salsa

After smearing the hot beans on the tortilla I topped it with chopped avocado, green onion, chopped cilantro and a bit more pico de gallo.

Two of them filled me up and provided the perfect amount of fat, protein, and carbohydrate.  They were so good I’m going to have them again tomorrow night.

The entire prep & cook process took about 10 minutes.  I couldn’t drive to Taco Bell that fast!

Please Comment:

What healthy things have you been eating for breakfast, lunch of dinner?  Do tell….at the comment link below.

FREE RESOURCE

I received a sweet email from someone who uses resources from CherylMillerVille and wanted to share it with you:

“I know you’re often sharing cool resources with your list and I wanted to send you a mini e-book I’ve written that would fit perfectly with your post on “Eating on the Road.”  My e-book isn’t for sale, it’s a gift I give to my list and I thought maybe your group might benefit from the content too.”

http://www.reasonablediet.com/pdf/vacation.pdf 9 Great Tips for a Diet Friendly Vacation

I read it just now and I think you’ll find it helpful.

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Day 15 Handling Special (Food) Events

Apr 11th, 2010

Spring Clean Your Body

Recently, I celebrated my birthday.  Birthdays and holidays present special eating challenges.  There are family celebrations featuring a host of temptations—abundant food displays, high fat options, desserts, expectations, etc.  Thankfully, for my birthday there was no birthday cake.  In fact, the friends I usually celebrate with were out of town so I did not have a lot of temptations.  But I noticed that eating out several times this week, even selecting the healthiest options on the menu, activated food cravings.  I’ve been doing so well I thought I had escaped the cravings.  Not so much!

Besides eating out a couple of times, I’ve also gotten less sleep than I need.  My mother called for my birthday and we talked until past 11am.  The alarm woke me at 6am … I was tired and ready to roll over.Sprin

As you have probably heard from the recovery field, it’s not a good idea to get Hungry, Angry, Lonely, or Tired (HALT) and I was 3 of the 4.  To recover and regain my balance, I went to bed the next night at 8:30 to read and fall asleep early.  You’ve heard that life looks much better after a good  night’s sleep.

What do you do when you have cravings?  Do you cave in?  Distract yourself?  Go to sleep?  Tell us at the comment link below.

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