Cholesterol Lowering Guide
Jul 6th, 2005
Do you have high cholesterol? Here’s a very good guide from Discoveryhealth.com for lowering your cholesterol: http://health.discovery.com/centers/heart/pmg/p05.html
Here’s what you’ll find in the guide:
A Quick Overview What is Happening to Me? When Should I See a Doctor? What Causes High Cholesterol? Am I at Risk for High Cholesterol? What Are the Common Symptoms of High Cholesterol? How Can I Be Sure I Have High Cholesterol? How Is High Cholesterol Treated? How Much Will Treatment Help Me? What Options Do I Have for Treatment, and How Do I Choose? What Kinds of Healthcare Professionals Do I Need? What Do I Need to Know About Medicines That Lower Cholesterol? How Long Will I Need Treatment? How Do I Take Charge of My Health? What’s the First Step? What Can I Do About Symptoms? How Do I Make Changes to My Diet? How Do I Increase My Exercise? How Do I Lose Weight? How Do I Quit Smoking? What Records Do I Need to Keep? How Can I Make It Easier to Stick With My Treatment? How Do I Know if I’m Better?
Get the guide: http://health.discovery.com/centers/heart/pmg/p05.html
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Clean up the Yard and Throw a Summer Party
Jun 30th, 2005
What Kind of Shape is Your Yard In? Without realizing it, you may be making nasty comments to yourself about yourself when you go into the front or back yard. You may be mumbling that you’re too lazy to pick up the trash, weed the garden beds, and put the tools away.
Every time you see these things on your way to and from the house (which is really quite often), you have an opportunity to wince a little and feel overwhelmed. If you live in an apartment, you may feel this way when you look at your entryway or balcony. Is it time to take down the winter decorations and clear away the empty clay pots? Why not take advantage of this 4th of July holiday weekend to pick up the yard and get it company ready?
I host a barbecue every year on the 4th because I live on the river close to the big fireworks display. This party gives me a built-in opportunity every year to get my yard spiffed up. If you don’t have a summer party planned, why not plan one? It can serve as a motivator to get the yard cleaned up.
Popular Junk in People’s Yards
- an old couch that needs to be hauled off
- rusted farm implements
- a broken refrigerator
- empty pots
- unraveled hoses
- broken toys
- rakes without handles
- hand tools
- buckets, old tubs, and other containers
How Can You Simplify Your Yard?
One reason our yards get trashed is that we have too much stuff and our lives are too complicated. Can you think of ways to simplify your yard?
Have you noticed that every spoonful of dirt you turn over is prime real estate for weeds? I set a goal years ago to have gardens all the way around my house. This is one goal I wish I hadn’t achieved. I also decided that it would be easier to mulch my entire yard instead of mow it. What was I thinking? There is nothing easier than mowing – except maybe pavement.
This spring it dawned on me that I didn’t have the time to care sufficiently for a complicated yard design. While drinking coffee and staring out at it one morning, I finally decided that destruction was the answer. I started getting excited. I longed for a simpler yard that wouldn’t embarrass me and remind me of my overblown garden goals.
To simplify all of the yard tasks I decided to tear out some of the flower beds lined with rocks (so I wouldn’t have to weed whack them) and let the yard mulch be taken over by things I can mow. Yes weeds. I can plant grass seed in the fall.
I put an ad in my local freecycle group (national group, freecycle.org) that I had free limestone garden rocks for the taking. Two groups of people came and took all the big rocks. A friend helped me take out the remaining smaller rocks so I can easily mow that big garden plot now instead of weed and weed whack. I love it! I can take care of my entire yard now in about 30 minutes because of those two simple changes – taking out some of the gardens and garden rocks so I can mow and turning my yard back to yard, not mulch. Just to clarify: using mulch in gardens is a fabulous idea – mulching the entire yard is not a fabulous idea unless you have a truck, an inexpensive endless supply of mulch, and free weekends to haul and spread it.
Is there something you can do in your yard to simplify yard tasks? Whatever you do, don’t turn over any more dirt…unless you really like to weed.
Here are a few more tips for cleaning up the yard:
- See your yard as if for the first time. Is there anything junky that needs to be put away, gotten rid of, or cleaned up? Why not take a few minutes to put anything away in your yard that doesn’t belong there.
- If something big needs to be hauled off, contact the city to see about trash pickup. They will usually come to pick up large items if you make an appointment.
- Determine that you will weed 30 minutes every morning or evening after work. On this regimen, most yards (even neglected ones) will look pretty great by the end of the week. Put some mulch on them (yes mulch) and you won’t have to weed so much next time.
It will feel great to take care of your yard. I know, I just did it. I feel a lot more on top of life. A junky yard can make you feel junky. A clean yard can make you feel clean and green.
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How to Create Single-Serving Breakfast Meal Kits
Jun 30th, 2005
Are you somebody who thinks you should eat breakfast but have a hard time sticking with a regular breakfast routine because you’re short of time or uninspired? If you like cereal, you’ll like this breakfast meal kit idea. Making meal kits ahead of time takes away the biggest obstacles to eating breakfast. If you have kids or a spouse, they’ll love them too. Kids will be more inclined to eat their cereal breakfast kits if they can make them themselves with the cereals and toppers they like. Teach them about the single serving concept and provide healthy options for the contents.
Packaging the Cereal
- As soon as you get home from the grocery store, open your cereal boxes or bags and measure single servings into light weight to-go containers. Look on the box for the serving size. It’s usually ¾ cup.
- If you like to mix your cereals, pour the different kinds into a large container to blend.
- Place as many plastic containers on the counter as you need in order to package up all of the opened cereal.
- After you add any optional toppers from the next step, put the lids on and stack them in your pantry for home use or take them to work for your “food drawer.” Note: I like to mix a couple of cereals for variety. This week I mixed these two: Go Lean (small amount for crunch and sweetness) Organic Flax Plus from Nature’s Path – This cereal has no chemicals, no synthetic additives or preservatives. Serving size ¾ cup 100 calories 140 calories with fortified skim milk
Adding Optional Toppers
- Rough chop walnuts, pecans, or almonds and place a small handful in each container.
- Chop dried fruit (papaya, banana, etc) and put a small amount in each container.
- Add dried cranberries, raisins or any other dried fruit.
- You can top with a small amount of higher calorie cereals like granola just to add a little sweetness and crunch. Sprinkling a little of this on top is better than mixing the two in bulk so that you can have better control over the amount you use.
Note: I sometimes include a fat date or fig to eat on the side or for a later break that day. Sticking one in the kit makes it more likely that I’ll eat it at some point during the day.
Packaging Milk Options
- Fill your single-serving containers with milk using recycled glass bottles, plastic juice containers, or small canning jars with screw tight lids. You can skip this step if you plan to eat your meal kits at home rather than transport them to work.
- If you’re lactose intolerant or want to try something different, stock your pantry with quart-size boxes of rice or soy milk to keep in the refrigerator at home or work. The quart-size box doesn’t take up much room in the fridge and chances are nobody at work will “steal” it. You can find these boxed drinks at your whole foods or conventional grocery stores. Another brand that is growing in popularity is Silk Soymilk in a half-gallon size.
Note: I like Rice Dream and was surprised that I also liked WestSoy Lite Vanilla. I tried it at a taste test at our local whole foods store and was surprised I liked it because I don’t usually like soy milk. WestSoy Lite Vanilla Soymilk at 110 calories per cup – 15 calories from fat supplies Because it’s fortified a cup supplies 30% of the daily calcium needs based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Where can you go wrong with meal kits?
- including things that you don’t like and probably won’t eat.
- using low quality ingredients – low on fiber and nutrition and high on preservatives and additives
- putting the groceries away thinking you’ll make them up later and later doesn’t come.
- not measuring a single serving size – it’s easy to overeat prepackaged foods, so be sure to package yours according to typical serving sizes
Ready, Set, Go Now it’s your turn to make some meal kits. If you feel that stopping long enough to open a box of cereal, get a bowl out of the cabinet, get the nuts out of the fridge, and open a box of raisins is sometimes four steps more than you think you have time to take, just reach for a breakfast meal kit and pour on the milk.
Comments Please: Do you make meal kits like these? If you do, I’d love from you. Write about it at the comments link below.
Try this Breakfast Experiment Are you eating the kind of breakfast that works best for you? My colleague Christi Lehner has a breakfast experiment for you to try to determine your best breakfast choices.
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Calling all Moms!
Jun 20th, 2005
I recently discovered a free ecourse for mothers that I think you’ll enjoy if you’re a busy mom. I signed up for it because I wanted to check the quality of content and the way it’s delivered. I give it an A+. In this free ecourse you’ll receive 52 weekly pep talks all about being a mom. To find out more, go here.
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Perfect Environments for Kids
May 18th, 2005
Would you feed your 16 month old baby a cup of coffee every morning?
- Would you place your 6 month old infant in front of the television news several hours a day?
- Would you allow your kid to act up so much and so often in Sunday school that the program director can’t keep the teacher position filled?
- Would you allow your teenage daughters to go before the principal 12 times a year without a family intervention?
- Would you let your teenage son drink and drive without any consequences?
These are all real life examples I’ve witnessed or heard about in the past two weeks. I know that kids today are different. I hear that frequently. I think they’re different because they’re being raised in a different environment. Raising kids is a huge challenge and parents need help and support. What are the environments that surround us all?
If you’ve been a member of this club for long, you know that the articles are about how our lifestyles and health habits are shaped by our environments (e.g., our families, messages from the media, fast food restaurants, television as a spectator sport, computers, politics, our culture, our thoughts, our homes, our cars – in short everything we come into contact with). Our habits are continually being shaped – good and bad. They’re shaped from the time of our birth when the world surrounds us like the fluid in the womb.
If We Don’t Design Our Environments, They Will Be Designed For Us
Here’s a short list of negative environments kids are exposed to on a regular basis:
- sedentary families glues to TV, computers, electronic games
- violent news and other television broadcasts
- fast food and junk food (it’s everywhere, it’s convenient, it’s what everybody eats)
- soda, junk food, and fast food in school cafeterias and vending machines
- consumerism – we’re all confronted with thousands of sales messages every week
- peer pressure in schools to wear expensive designer clothes and shoes
Here’s a short list of positive environments kids are exposed to on a regular basis:
- families who play physical games with their kids in the yard
- families who monitor the kinds of and amount of TV their kids view
- families who eat meals together and talk about the day’s events
- families who pack healthy, enjoyable lunches for their kids with occasional fast food lunches
- families who educate their kids about spending and saving and who limit their credit card debt to what they can afford
- families who teach their kids about peer pressure and encourage them to be independent thinkers as much as possible
Comments Please
I’d like to hear what you think about this topic. What negative environments do you think kids and families are being exposed to today? What kinds of positive environments can parents and grand parents create for their kids and grand kids? What as a society can we do to help support parents in raising their kids?
To comment, just go to the link for "comments" at the end of this post and let us know what you think.
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Get a Really Green Lawn
Apr 27th, 2005
I read an interesting article about the use of chemicals on our lawns. Here are a few highlights from – "Refuse to Use ChemLawn, Be Truly Green."
TruGreen ChemLawn is the number one lawn care provider in the United States, servicing more than 3.5 million households. An analysis of the products TruGreen ChemLawn offers on their customer receipt shows that:
- 17 of 32 (53%) of TruGreen ChemLawn’s pesticide products include ingredients that are likely carcinogens, as defined by the EPA and the International Agency for Research on Cancer.
- All 32 of TruGreen ChemLawn’s pesticide products include ingredients that pose threats to the environment, including: threats to water supplies, aquatic organisms, and non-targeted insects.
- 13 of 32 (41%) of TruGreen ChemLawn’s pesticide products include ingredients that are banned or restricted in other countries.
This site offers instructions for growing a great lawn using alternatives to pesticides and provides quite a bit of other useful information. Check them out here. Also visit Organic Consumers Association.
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Happy 35th Earth Day!
Apr 22nd, 2005
Let’s celebrate Earth Day today and every day. Here are a few resources to inspire and educate us:
- Earth Day – EPA resources – www.epa.gov/earthday/
- Healthy Lawn, Healthy Environment – PDF download
- Greenscaping Your Lawn and Garden – PDF download
- More Earth Day Resources: http://www.edselect.com/earth_day.htm
- Happy Earth Day Coloring and Activities Book – http://www.epa.gov/region5/publications/happy.pdf
A Few Earth Day Facts. . . .
- Every ton of paper that is recycled saves 17 trees.
- The energy we save when we recycle one glass bottle is enough to light a light bulb for four hours.
- Each person throws away approximately four pounds of garbage every day. One bus carries as many people as 40 cars!
- More than 1/3 of all energy is used by people at home. Most families throw away about 88 pounds of plastic every year. We each use about 12,000 gallons of water every year.
- 1/3 of all water is used to flush the toilet.
- The 500 million automobiles on earth burn an average of 2 gallons of fuel a day.
- Each gallon of fuel releases 20 pounds of carbon dioxide into the air.
- Approximately 5 million tons of oil produced in the world each ear ends up in the ocean.
- By 1995 over 200 of the world landfills will be full.
- The amount of wood and paper we throw away is enough to heat 50 million homes for 20 years.
- Earth is 2/3 water. But all the fresh water streams only represent one hundredth of one percent.
- 14 billion pounds of trash is dumped into the ocean every year.
- It takes 90% less energy to recycle aluminum cans than to make new ones.
- 5 billion aluminum cans are used each year.
- 84 percent of all household waste can be recycled.
- For every 2000 pounds of paper (1 ton) recycled, we save 7,000 gallons of water free from chemicals.
- Approximately only 10 percent of every landfill can be cleaned up.
- Ivory comes from dead elephants, its best not to buy it.
- Fur coats often come from endangered animals, it’s best not to buy them.
- One gallon of motor oil can contaminate up to 2 million gallons of water, so dispose of it properly!
- Here is an example of the water we use every day: 3-7 gallons for toilet 25-30 gallons for tub 50-70 gallons for a 10 minute shower 25-40 gallons for one washing machine load 9-12 gallons for one dishwasher load
- Here is an example of how long it takes some things take to break down: plastics take 500 years aluminum cans take 500 years organic materials take 6 months cotton, rags, paper take 6 months. source: http://www.planetpals.com/earthday.html
The take-home message is that each of us can make simple changes that will have a large impact on our environment. It’s kinda like cleaning up your own home so that you can live safely and comfortably.
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An Unexpected Weekend of Activity
Apr 17th, 2005
- I felt disciplined. I was doing a cleansing diet – how cool is that?
- I was getting a workout and handling an important maintenance task.
- I was paying attention to my body and letting it rest.
- I was stopping to soak up the spring sounds, smells, and colors.
- And I was doing everything a little more consciously than usual so that time seemed to expand in an enjoyable way. My weekend wasn’t flying by. I was savoring it.
- I felt on top of life. Successful.
I got up, washed an apple with my veggie wash and went back out onto the deck to eat it and look at the yard again. It was a beautiful spring day and I was looking for opportunities to go outside and look at the red bud trees, lilacs, iris, flowering quince, and baby birdies demanding to be fed. All of this occurred because I set aside a weekend to focus on just one thing – sorting through and filing paper. And because I knew that cooking would potentially sidetrack me, the simple fruit and veggie cleanse was a great unifying solution that made the whole weekend work. I focused more on how cool the cleanse was and how good I felt, than on how much I didn’t want to file paper.
Because of the way the weekend unfolded, I expanded into the task of filing. I took the time to break the big job down into small tasks, had the tools I needed at the ready, and took frequent breaks to enjoy the simple things in life – the flowers, the sun, the bowl of fruit, the sweet apple. Funny, but I feel like I’ve been to a spa this weekend and have been taken care of with good food, simple pleasures, planned gentle activities, rest breaks, and a clearly focused goal that allowed me to set aside the entire weekend to leisurely accomplish what I wanted to get on top of. Usually we try to cram too many things into a weekend and by Sunday night feel a little depressed that we didn’t get to half of it. Setting aside an entire weekend to accomplish one goal felt great. It felt luxurious. I’ll definitely do more of that in the future and highly recommend that you try it too.
Here are some additional tips
Move More - Consider your yard work this spring as your Earth Gym.
Healthy Fast Food Kitchen - I thought you’d enjoy the "recipes" of some of the fruit and veggie dishes I made this weekend. Enjoy the simple, subtle flavors without a lot of added flavoring. It may take a day to adjust to and enjoy the simple flavors.
- Fruit salad – strawberries, mango, kiwi
- Sauteed asparagus with onion and garlic – saute in olive oil or coconut oil. Add a little sea salt or Bragg’s liquid aminos. This dish is fantastic and takes just a few minutes to prepare.
- Raw veggie salad – diced red, green, and orange peppers; avocado; tomatoes; onion; cucumber and fresh cilantro. Sprinkle with a little lemon or lime juice and olive oil. Or dilute your usual salad dressing with apple cider vinegar, basalmic vinegar, or red wine vinegar.
- Snacks – apple, banana, veggie strips, total fruit smoothie
- Salad – greens, strawberries or pineapple, various diced or sliced veggies. Dressing of olive oil and lemon.
- Beverages – herbal teas, water, water, water
Packrats & Paper Hounds - don’t be afraid to schedule an entire weekend to leisurely handle a project that you’ve been putting off for a long time. Consider it your closet spa weekend, or the basement spa program, or the paper filing spa experience. Intersperse the decluttering and organizing with other things you enjoy like taking a spa bath, calling your mother, or watching a video or DVD. Break the task into chunks and take frequent breaks – and set a timer.
Simple, Clean, Green Living - Take a little time to simplify your life by choosing to do just one thing instead of multi tasking. Reduce the complexity of trying to accomplish a long list of items. Pick a few, enjoy them, wallow in them even. And if you’ve been using chemicals in your yard maintenance, consider getting a hoe and joining the Earth Gym instead. There will be plenty of opportunities for fitness when you stop using chemicals.
Perfect Environments for Healthy, Happy Living - A weekend is an environment. It is a block of time that acts as a "container" for things we typically do when we are not at work. It’s usually a busy time of getting things done that we don’t have time to do during the week like laundry, grocery shopping, socializing with friends or family, and working around the house or in the yard.
Just for fun, consider using the entire weekend once a season, or more often if you like, as a mini vacation, spa, retreat, or other themed event to experience something that’s meaningful to you. You may enjoy the luxury of lounging and reading a great big book for an entire weekend. Or you may want to have a writer’s weekend and develop the table of contents for your new book. Or you may want to do nothing but see the sites in your city. Mark your calendar for a special themed weekend sometime this spring. See how much you can enjoy using the weekend environment as a sabbatical, mini vacation, spa, movie marathon, or other fun themed event.
Smoke Now, Quit Later - when you decide that you’re ready to go tobacco free, earmark a weekend and select a really fun theme to help you enjoy the weekend and take your mind a little off the task of quitting smoking. Consider doing something active outside that you would really enjoy. There’s always hiking, bird watching, of golfing. Or just pitch a tent on the river.
The timer just went off. It’s time to file some papers and eat an apple on my deck.
While you’re here in my blog, I invite you to take a minute to click on the links in the right-hand column to see if there’s anything else of interest to you here.
Comments Please
Would love to hear from you. To post a comment, click on the "comments" link below.
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Letting Go of Complexity
Mar 30th, 2005
How much simpler would your life feel if you were able to let go of some of the complexity? I don’t know about you, but now and then throughout the year I feel totally overcome with demands on my time and talents. My energy sinks because I think “How can I get all of this done…and do it well?” If I’m smart enough to stop, breathe, and take a look at what’s going on in my life, I always come up with solutions. The answer usually lies in letting go of something – commitments, goals, projects, and physical things. So let’s get clear on what some of these complexities might be.
What Do I mean by Complexity?
The quick answer is that complex is not simple. When life is complex that usually means you’ll need to do some juggling, planning, scheduling, maintaining, and prioritizing. These things require physical, mental, and emotional energy. If a project or job is complex, that can actually be fun – a challenge. But when life is complex, there’ll likely be an energy drain and a stress reaction.
Things That Can Make Life Feel Too Complex
- Commitments every night of the week
- Juggling child care
- Packed weekends with little or no quiet, down time
- Late work hours (by choice)
- Kids enrolled in tons of activities – that you need to coordinate and drive them to
- Too many possessions – shopping sprees
- Multiple Credit cards
- Lots of pets – goldfish, hamsters, 5 dogs, 6 cats, 3 birds, giant turtle
- Gift buying – long list of people to buy for, long list of celebrated holidays to buy for
- Large selection of Plants – to trim, water, debug
- Collections – vases, dolls, tools, etc.
- Stuffed closets, drawers, and cabinets
- Ornate decorations – to dust, care for, insure, etc.
- Holiday celebrations – with the works!
- Color coded filing system that you can’t remember how to use
- Volunteer commitments
- Membership in committees and boards
- Short order cook – making a different meal for each family member
- Multiple jobs – so you can buy extras
Is this a good time to take a small action step now? See if the activities on the worksheet catch your attention and inspire you to act. Nothing changes without action. Is there some mental shift you could make now?
Comments Please
What’s complex in your life? What would you like to simplify? Share your comments and challenges by clicking on the "comments" link below.
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Smoking and Your Heart Rate
Mar 24th, 2005
You never know what will be the one thing that will motivate you to quit smoking. Maybe it will be this little exercise.
Take your pulse before and after smoking to see the effect of smoking on your heart rate.
Before Smoking, take your pulse: number of beats in 10 seconds _____ x 6 = _____ beats per minute (example: 14 beats in 10 seconds x 6 = 84 beats per minute)
After Smoking take your pulse: number of beats in 10 seconds _____ x 6 = _____ beats per minute What is the difference in beats per minute? _____
How to Take Your Pulse
- Take your pulse on the the inside of your wrist – thumb side. Or take it at the carotid artery in the neck just below your jaw bone on the side of the neck. Do not use your thumb because there is a pulse in your thumb, and do not press hard on your neck because this could affect the pulse. Feel around until you feel a strong pulse.
- Count the number of beats for 10 seconds.
- Multiply this number by 6 to get the number of beats per minute.
How many beats per minute could you save your heart if you quit smoking?
Take the difference between the number of beats per minute before and after smoking and multiply this number by 60 = _____ Beats Per Hour Saved Take the difference between the number of beats per minute before and after smoking and multiply this number by 24 = _____ Beats Per Day Saved
Take the difference between the number of beats per minute before and after smoking and multiply this number by 365 = ______ Beats Per Year Saved
What did you think of this exercise? Were you surprised? Did it take you even a tiny step closer to thinking about quitting? If yes, then you have been 100% successful. It’s the little things that add up to big things. Keep looking for other little things that will help tip the scales toward quitting.
Invitation and Comments
What is your biggest challenge related to quitting smoking or staying quit? Write your comment or question in the comments link below.
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Healthy, Happy Living is the wellness blog for the CherylMillerVille.com online community. Together we're designing, living and sharing a healthy, happy life – in this lifetime. And you can too. Whether you want to improve your diet, lose weight, get fit, quit smoking, reduce stress, eliminate clutter or simply have a perfect life . . . come hang out with us. 
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