Seasonal affective disorder and nutrition

There are many people I know who really struggle emotionally in the spring, and many more who struggle through the fall and winter months. Many are suffering from Seasonal Affective Disorder or SAD.

What is Seasonal affective disorder and what are its symptoms? Here is a definition taken from the Mayo clinic's website. Seasonal affective disorder (also called SAD) is a type of depression that occurs at the same time every year. If you're like most people with seasonal affective disorder, your symptoms start in the fall and may continue into the winter months, sapping your energy and making you feel moody. Less often, seasonal affective disorder causes depression in the spring or early summer.  Take a look at your life, think back upon the last year or two, do you notice a difference in your mood in the springtime as opposed to the fall? (Often those closest to you can help you identify if you suffer from moodiness during certain periods of the year).

                           

                               
From the Mayo clinic website here is a list of symptoms that one may experience with this disorder.

Fall and winter seasonal affective disorder (winter depression)

Winter-onset seasonal affective disorder symptoms include:

• Depression
• Hopelessness
• Anxiety
• Loss of energy
• Heavy, "leaden" feeling in the arms or legs
• Social withdrawal
• Oversleeping
• Loss of interest in activities you once enjoyed
• Appetite changes, especially a craving for foods high in carbohydrates
• Weight gain
• Difficulty concentrating

Spring and summer seasonal affective disorder (summer depression)

Summer-onset seasonal affective disorder symptoms include:

• Anxiety
• Trouble sleeping (insomnia)
• Irritability
• Agitation
• Weight loss
• Poor appetite
• Increased sex drive 

From the Mayo clinic's website ..... The specific cause of seasonal affective disorder remains unknown. It's likely, as with many mental health conditions, that genetics, age and, perhaps most importantly, your body's natural chemical makeup all play a role in developing the condition.  Women in particular seem to be more prone to experience this disorder as well as those who live further away from the equator, family history is also a large factor in determining if you will suffer from this disorder.

So if you are suffering what do you do? Medications are often prescribed to help deal with the symptoms. Psychotherapy can also be used effectively to help you deal with the changes in emotions. Light therapy also seems to help. Which is the best for you? There is no right answer as each person is different. Again from the Mayo clinic website  There is no known way to prevent the development of seasonal affective disorder. However, if you take steps early on to manage symptoms, you may be able to prevent them from getting worse over time. Some people find it helpful to begin treatment before symptoms would normally start in the fall or winter, and then continue treatment past the time symptoms would normally go away. If you can get control of your symptoms before they get worse, you may be able to head off serious changes in mood, appetite and energy levels.

For me, managing symptoms is a bad way to live. I do not agree with the traditional way of thinking in this country which is to manage symptoms. If you look at current treatments for most diseases and disorders the advice given is to manage the symptoms. Most of the symptom management  is done with drugs, many of which have terrible side effects. I know that many of my friends and family members suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder. Many of them have turned to dangerous drugs and I see too many side effects from taking them. I feel that there has to be a root cause for this disorder. There has to be healing beyond the drugs and expensive therapies.


I too have suffered from this disorder. After giving birth to three babies right in a row I thought I was experiencing post partum depression. Then I noticed that it came back year after year. It seemed that two years after the last baby was born I should not be experiencing post partum depression anymore.  I was also having a lot of other health problems, in the midst of it all I found relief and healing for myself through research, and digging for a root cause of my ailments. You can read about my thoughts on how healing is more than symptom relief. It was during this time of my life that I discovered what (I believe) could be one of the root causes of  Seasonal  Affective Disorder.  My belief is that SAD may be a result of vitamin and mineral depletion; specifically vitamin D, but also the B vitamins.




http://nutrihealth.in/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/vitamin-d.jpg

Think for a moment, Vitamin D  also known as the sunshine vitamin. It is made in the body when we are exposed to sun. During the winter months there is a lot less sunlight and people tend to barricade themselves in their houses and then they become depressed and so on and begin to experience the so called "symptoms" of Seasonal affective disorder, could there be a connection?  One of the treatments for this disorder is light therapy. Light therapy is done by exposing patients to bright lights therefore increasing the vitamin D levels in the body. Are you beginning to see it yet?  There are some great articles examining Vitamin D and depression.  There are several other articles examining Vitamin D and anxiety levels.  Could it really be that simple? Could it really be that SAD is really a lack of vitamin D? The truth is; there is plenty of evidence to show that you can treat Seasonal Affective Disorder and its symptoms by increasing Vitamin D.

People are finding relief and healing through raising their vitamin D levels, yet you won't hear this as part of the mainstream treatments. If it is mentioned, you will quickly see or hear something like "There needs to be further studies" Or, "There is not sufficient evidence to support these findings"  Why is this so?  Sunshine is free, and Vitamin D cannot be patented. Therefore, there is no profit in treating SAD with vitamin D.  There will be plenty of people telling you that vitamin therapy is bogus and the best thing to do is to treat the symptoms with their drugs, their light therapy products.  If you increase your vitamin D levels naturally and begin to feel better you no longer need their products, then what? They no longer have a customer, it defeats their main goal which is to keep you buying their products.

What about Vitamin D; how do you know if I have a deficiency? Doctor Richard Becker often states that if you live in the upper portion of America (north of San Francisco) you are most likely deficient. (remember as stated above, one of the factors for developing SAD is your distance from the equator).  Current Vitamin D guidelines by the Institute of Medicine set a blood level of 20 nanograms per milliliter (ng/mL) as a goal for good bone health and overall health. However, some doctors say people should go higher, to about 30 ng/mL to get the full health benefits of vitamin D.  Forward thinking doctors such as Dr. Becker have said that this is way too low. 20 ng/mL may keep you from getting rickets (which is what a severe deficiency will do to you), but for superior health it should be between 60-80 ng/mL. The FDA has recently increased the RDA (recommended daily allowance) for Vitamin D from 200 to 600 iu (international units) daily. It is still way too low in my opinion.

Now here is where it gets a bit tricky....There are vitamins D1, D2, and D3 which all are lumped under the vitamin D umbrella. All are closely related but have different effects in the body. Vitamin D2 is what we talk about in preventing rickets, and is the one that is usually added to milk to help in bone formation. Vitamin D3 also acts in the same capacity for the building of bones. The interesting thing about vitamin D3 is that it acts as a hormone in the body and really affects the brain. (remember as stated above from the mayo clinic, your body's natural chemical makeup is one of the major factors) Hormones are a major part of our chemical make-up. As a hormone, vitamin D3 is vital for health, it is key for healthy brain function and it definitely affects mood.



How does one get more vitamin D3? Vitamin D3 It is found in some foods like egg yolks, liver, mushrooms, and fatty fish like salmon, tuna, and sardines, but mostly we get it from sun exposure. Many of us are not getting the recommended 30 minutes of sun exposure 3 times a week (without sunscreen).  Sunscreen can effect the way our body absorbs sunshine and limits the amount of vitamin D we create. 10-15 minutes of midday sun without sunscreen can create well over 10,000 units of vitamin D3 in our body but with a spf 15 sunscreen applied, we would have to expose ourselves to 3-4 hours of sun to get that same effect, and people really worry about skin cancer and other things. For many people supplementation is the answer, especially if you are found to be very low in vitamin D3.

It is important to have your levels checked and find out the number. Many doctors will tell you that you are Ok when you are in the "normal" range of 20-30 ng/mL (Nano grams per Milliliter) , but research has shown that to be healthy, levels should be in the 60-80 range. So this leads to the question, how much should I supplement?  Dr. Becker and others recommend that you could supplement with 10,000 units or more of vitamin D3 on a daily basis for several months to get the blood levels up to a better place. At this point have your levels checked again. He then suggests 2,000-3,000 units a day for maintenance.

That seems like a lot, so you may ask; Can you overdose on vitamin D? Yes, there is always a risk, but the risk is very minimal. The Mayo clinic's web site says that you would have to take 50,000 units of vitamin D daily over the course of several months to reach a toxic level. At a toxic level you may experience nausea, weakness, and vomiting, and possibly kidney problems due to increased calcium in your blood. But this list is a lot shorter and not near as scary sounding as the list of side effects of taking a regular and properly prescribed dose of some of the  drugs for anxiety and depression, not to mention the drugs for insomnia.

There is another concern, the drugs commonly used to treat depression, anxiety, and insomnia often have a side effect of depleting the B vitamins. A body depleted of some of the B vitamins can look like depression, insomnia, anxiety and moodiness. In essence, the drugs used to help relieve the symptoms can lead to more problems and to a dependence upon them, (but they won't tell you that, they just increase the dose). It is a really bad cycle that people are stuck in. Start with depression, soon you have insomnia, anxiety and irritability which usually leads to more medications and or higher doses. If you have been on some of these drugs to control symptoms of SAD please have your vitamin B levels checked to see if they are low as well. Many people suffering from SAD have low levels of Vitamin D3 and the B vitamins.    

I have presented a lot of information here. Take it as you may. Do your own research and feel out what may be right for you.  For me, the benefits and risks of high level Vitamin D supplementation and a B vitamin complex are miniscule in comparison to the risk of being hooked by the large pharmaceutical companies. I want to be in control of my own health. I choose to be different, and think differently than most. I do not give into the demands of big business. I am the keeper of my own body and soul.


Helpful links
healing is more than symptom relief

Vitamin D and depression

Vitamin D and anxiety levels.

Mayo clinic web site

Dr Becker's Nutritional supplements

Vitamin D as a hormone

Don't worry we got a pill for that.

As seen on a T shirt advertisement for a clever chiropractor

I take aspirin for the headache caused by the Zyrtec I take for the hay fever I got from Relenza for the uneasy stomach from the Ritalin I take for the Short attention span caused by the scopederm T's I take for the motion sickness I got from the Lomotil I take for the diareah caused by the Zenikal for the uncontrolled weight gain from the Paxil I take for the anxiety from the Zocor I take for my high cholesterol because diet and exercise and regular chiropractic care are just too much trouble.

It is incredible we get so many commercials on television for these drugs where they spend the entire time listing the possible side effects that these drugs may cause. Magazines are full of three page ads explaining the side effects of their prescriptions. Sometimes I think I would rather live with the symptom than live with the side effects of these drugs. Oh, and then there are the new drugs that you didn't know you needed until you hear it on the TV.  The commercials go something like this, "Is your bellybutton misshapen, we can fix it. Is your big toe a little too large Dr John's shrinking cream will have that big toe back to the right size within two weeks time." You go to the doctor and it is like this, "You only take three prescription drugs? I will help you keep up with the Jones' who take seven prescription drugs a piece." Oh you have a family history...... you better take this pill "just in case".  And now there is, "You have Pre-whatever they think you might get"

Family history and genetics are only a very tiny part of the risk factors for so many of the preventable diseases that we worry so much about. (Did you catch that..... preventable diseases). Yes, Diabetes, heart disease, high cholesterol, obesity, autoimmune diseases, and many forms of cancer are preventable diseases.  These things can be prevented and even reversed by treating the body well. Your food  and lifestyle choices can help or harm you. I choose to eat food that is nourishing and helps my body to run well. I am starting to be actively engaged in my health. There are many things I can do to prevent getting these dreaded diseases that those who sell the test equipment and prescriptions have convinced us all that we are going to get. They have convinced us that it is all a matter of time until we all get these diseases and there is nothing you can do. I call bullcrap on them. It is hard because society is so overwhelmed with this stuff that makes it easy to live the bad lifestyle and seeming impossible to escape.  But it can be done. 

I agree with Hippocrates. Let medicine be thy food. Eat well and live well.  

Come back often here at life less hurried for tips and tricks on how to live a healthy lifestyle in an unhealthy world. 

Just my simple thoughts

I just gotta rant and rave for a bit. Tune into my brain if you like.  This is just me thinking out loud for a while.


What has happened to our farms? It makes me crazy. Farming has become like an Olympic sport. If you are not constantly improving  from year to year, you are being run over by others. Farmers are going into debt so far over their heads just to be able to increase yields each and every year. It is not longer about what you grow, but how much you can grow and how quickly you can grow it.  The trend spread over to India where Monsanto and a few other companies promised that through their system growers in India could increase the yields of their crops to incredible levels. The farmers bought into it. They wanted to join in the Olympic sport of farming, and they are paying the price.  In America we have big government and big business that will buy the crops  (we buy and feed it to the cattle). Not so in India. Also in America it is socially acceptable to carry a crushing amount of debt in business. Not so in India. In India farmers are committing suicide at an alarming rate. Close to a quarter million farmers have  committed suicide in just a few short years all because they can not keep up with the demands of Those companies who promised them a large crop yield, and all they got was crushing debt.


Debt, we have become so accustomed to our debt that we do not feel the weight anymore.  People do not know how to live without debt. For some it seems like it can't be done. We have come to think that you have to have a mortgage payment and a car payment forever. No one ever pays off the debt, thus interest only loans. Talking about student loans makes people crazy. There are many who say I can't work and go to school, I have to take out loans. It is too expensive. Our children are going to school and coming out with debt that will never go away and many will carry student loan debt nearly to retirement. There are many who will come out of school with debt and no way to earn enough to even begin to pay it back.  I earned two degrees without student loans, it is called hard work. I went to school and worked in the eves. It took a bit longer, but I did it. It is not impossible to stay out of major debt, but it requires effort.


Why do young people have an aversion to work? They think that work is for the illegals in this country. Our kids think that any kind of physical work is beneath them. One mother here close by, when her daughter and boyfriend came to her for money she told them, "There is a yard that needs cleaned up, I will pay you to do the job". They complained and thought that it sounded too hard to work for the money. They went on to get help from the government who gave to them without requiring anything in return.


Our government system. Oh my, I could go off for hours about that, But I wanted to talk about the welfare part of it. We have created a society that is becoming ever more increasingly dependant upon government to feed and take care of us. "Don't worry if you have crushing debt and can't afford to take care of yourself, we can help. We will feed you."  The number of people receiving food assistance  from the government is astounding, and it is growing in leaps and bounds, because the government is pushing for it to be that way. They are telling people, "It is your right as a tax payer".  The government is trying to get us so dependant upon them. Obama will go out in a blaze of glory being able to tell about how he fed and clothed and took care of the American people through a time of great trial.


 It is like the old saying "give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime"   We are increasingly losing the ability to take care of ourselves.  We have been feed, but not taught. I am working hard at teaching those around me to think and care for themselves. I am keeping up those old fashioned skills of food growing and preserving. I do not care to garden, I tend to grow more weeds than real food, but the satisfaction of growing my own food and not being dependant on handouts is worth it. I get real satisfaction from it. It is not like the satisfaction of passing the next level on a video game.


Our children have not learned the satisfaction that comes from real achievements in life. They only sit about and play video games all day long. Last year when I heard about a college age boy who died from sitting for nearly 24 hours playing a video game. It made my cry. He sat for so long his blood clotted and sent a blood clot through his body that killed him. I recently got a kindle fire and the children love to play games, there are so many games and activities out there for them to enjoy, but we are sure to limit the amount of time they can play on the thing. I do encourage them to read and enjoy books on it, but the other things we limit. I make them go out and enjoy the world around them. I try and keep them strong in mind, body and spirit.


By keeping our children healthy we can avoid doctors/(pill pushers) as much as possible. I could not believe it when on the TV this week I hear they are recommending that we start checking cholesterol levels of our children as young as eight and recommending cholesterol lowering drugs for children as young as ten.  It is bad enough when we are putting people on these drugs "just in case".  These drugs do not much more than put billions of dollars in the pockets of drug companies and those involved in the production and distribution of these drugs. Cholesterol lowering drugs do not work all that well. The majority of people can get much better results by eating real food. Besides that, there is really little real evidence that lowering cholesterol levels really decreases heart disease. If it really was working, we wouldn't have such rates of heart disease. It seems that it is a way to sell drugs to people and we have run out of groups to target so we are targeting children.


Our precious children who we would like to have a bright future, sometimes it seems so dim for them and me too. I just go about doing the best I can, and teaching them the best skills I know how. It is hard to send my children into an world where there are so many rules and regulations that they can hardly breathe, then there is danger around every corner and not just bullying, when drugs and pornography are such troubles in elementary school it makes me so upset, I mean really, eight and nine year olds delving into hard core porn it is astounding. I did not have to deal with this stuff until junior high, when I was old enough to at least grasp it a little bit.

It is a scary world, it is not the world that I would choose to live in. But I do live here. I can teach my children to hold on to the good things. I can teach them to not dwell on the evil and bad things in this world.

 There is still good in this world I know it and I see it. I can surround myself with the good things. I can choose positive things to fill my world. I choose those things.

Now that I have gotten all that out of my system, I am ready to go find those great and good things. You too, go find some good today!

an unexpected source of sugar being dumped into our kids

We are eating so much sugar in our society. It is absurd. It has been estimated that in the United States we are eating half a pound of sugar per person per day!!!!!!

Although it sounds so over the top,  is not totally surprising. Sugar in it's many forms is found in the majority of our foods. Processed foods are fueling our need and dependency on sugar. Processed foods have become so over sweetened. It is scary. Many blame the problems on soft drinks,Thus they tried to ban large sodas in New York. We all know that candy and sugared cearals are loaded with sugar, but there are plenty of other foods that supply our children with staggering amounts of sugar that we may not be thinking about.

Just a few examples,  pasta sauce, many pasta sauces are loaded with sugar, ketchup and peanut butter are two others that our children are eating that can be stuffed full of sugar. There is one food in particular that I want to address today. This food in some cases has more added sugar than soda, and our kids (and maybe we as adults) are slurping it down in huge amounts. This food is being marketed  to us and our children as something truly healthy. have you guessed it yet? Are you ready for this? It is ...... Yogurt.  Look and see for yourself, check out the labels next time you are at the grocery store.

I hate commercial yogurt from the store. We hardly buy it anymore. These yogurts are so full of sugar, dyes, emulsifiers, flavorings etc. There is not really any goodness left when you look at the the fact that some of them do not have any live or active cultures in them. Live active cultures is what makes yogurt so good for you.

Yogurt itself is a great food when made properly. Take good quality milk, inoculate it with good friendly bacteria (active cultures) let it grow in a warm place for a while and you have something wonderful. Top it with some fresh fruit YUM! There is something wonderful about a good fresh yogurt. It has been eaten for centuries. It has contributed to good gut health. It is something that can be truly healthy.

 How different is this "good" yogurt from the commercial yogurt you buy in the store?  Many store bought yogurts starts with milk that has been homogenized, pasteurized and processed until there is no goodness left in the milk, they pump it full of sugar, corn syrup dyes, preservatives, emulsifiers,  flavorings, starches, and artificial sugars. They may, or may not put any live yogurt cultures in it.They may put a bit of real fruit in it, but mostly it is fruit flavorings and such. It is a far different food with a far different effect on the body than real live cultured yogurt. This is not to say that there are no good brands of yogurt out there, and that every brand is bad.  There are some brands that we buy. We are just more careful about which ones we choose nowadays.


Choose a good wholesome yogurt product. Read labels. Do not buy it if you do not understand the ingredients in it.  Avoid the kinds that are targeted to children,(the ones with cartoon characters on the outside) they are some of the worst. There are some decent brands of yogurt out there. I do buy some of those better brands on occasion. But just for fun, or if you are unsure about the quality of the yogurt you are buying make your own. An added bonus of making your own is the money you can save. It is really cost effective to make your own yogurt as good quality yogurt can be a bit pricey.

 Early on I wrote a post about making yogurt at home.  It is really not all that hard, it does take a little planning.  Eating real food does take a bit more planning than just open up a package. It requires label reading and a bit of change but is so worth the efforts. For those of you stuck on the Greek yogurt bandwagon, make yogurt and then strain the excess liquid and whey out of the yogurt through a couple layers of cheesecloth set in a strainer over a bowl. This method will thicken it up nicely and give you the same results as a greek style yogurt. Strain it a bit longer and you have something that resembles and can be interchanged with cream cheese.


Try making yogurt and see what happens.

Here is the link to my post about making yogurt.

making yogurt





As an added note. 

Yogurt is one of the dairy foods that is on the agengda to have artificial sweeteners added without labeling. They are working on a proposal to change the labeling of dairy products. The producers are becoming smart to the fact that we as consumers are looking at labels. Consumers are craving the sweet stuff, but trying to cut back. It is amazing to me that they are pumping our food full of sweet stuff and hiding it under all kinds of names. For  dairy producers to be able to add sweetners and not have to label it; expecially when it is an artifical sweetner, that is not right. This is yet another reason to make your own yogurt and take control of what you and your family eats.

Here is a link to a petition against this

tell the FDA to reject the proposal of unlabeled apartamine in dairy

Do you enjoy eating?

When was the last time that you sat down and enjoyed a meal?


For some of us the answer is easy and as close as last night, but for way too many of us the answer is alot further away. Some are thinking back .....Christmas or maybe.... Thanksgiving? some are saying to themselves; "Have I ever really enjoyed a meal?"

                                                               
What makes a meal enjoyable? Sometimes it is the company; but many times it is the fact that we slowed down enough to enjoy it. We tend to live in a grab and run society. We wolf down our food and rarely take time to taste it. When you think back to those times you really enjoyed a meal; how did  it make you feel? How did it relate to your senses?  It seems like when we slow down and enjoy our food all our senses are used and engaged.
                                                                                                                           © Anetta | Dreamstime Stock Photos & Stock Free Images


ENJOY FOOD WITH ALL OF YOUR SENSES

As I attended chef school we often talked about you eat with your eyes first. It was a common saying in our class. This is true, as a chef we like to get the customers attention. But have you ever been disappointed by something that looked really good, but failed to deliver on flavor? My Grandma was a good cook, it did not always look "good enough to eat", yet it was tasty. What about smell? When the bakery wafts out the smell of fresh baked bread or cookies, how does your body feel, how do you react? What about the crunch of chips, or the smooth cold taste of ice cream?  Life is meant to be enjoyed. Food is meant to be enjoyed and used in the body, but too often we slurp it down with no real thought and no real enjoyment. Eating with all your senses (and doing it often) can lead to a good place in life.

EAT INTENTIONALLY

When we slow down and enjoy the food we eat there is something real that happens. First, we find the nutrition in the food. When we slow down and eat intentionally we tend to chew our food better. Food gets digested much better when it is chewed. We also tend to eat less. Have you ever sat down and ate the entire thing without even thinking, and you still felt hungry? When you sit down to eat a meal there is something that is triggered in the brain.When I started sitting down to meals, it was memorable; my brain would reset itself.  I used to snack about the day and yet my brain would tell me that I was hungry. It would send me signals that I hadn't eaten all day; and usually I had scarfed something else down before I realized that I had already been snacking all day.  I do not always take time to sit for meals, but I find that I do so much better when I do. It is becoming worth the effort for me and my family to sit down and enjoy meals together.


TAKE BACK YOUR LIFE!  ENJOY EATING AGAIN!

Put it to the test, Take time to enjoy your food. One person said she could enjoy desserts, she would just eat a small portion with her antique silver dessert spoon. It was small and dainty and it helped her to remember to take smaller bites. She would then savor each bite and enjoy dessert as an accompaniment to the meal and not the main dish. It worked for her. Focus on the food at mealtimes. Sit down to meals (even if it is only one meal a day). See if your body responds differently. It has worked for us. See what may happen in your own life. 

What is your dieting attitude/style

Dieting and getting healthy is something that is prevalent all around us here in the United States.  It seems that you can hardly turn on the TV or computer without someone trying trying to sell you something to help you get healthy or lose weight. How do you react to all this?



I have identified 5 different attitudes in dieting and getting healthy.

1. There are those out there who want to be healthy or lose weight yet it sounds too hard to do it the old fashioned way. "Give me a pill",  they say. These people are not willing to give up the pleasure of food and the addictions that they have. They live in the world of "I will take my cake and eat it too".They are wanting a quick fix, and are typically dissatisfied when they do not get the results as quickly as they desire. They may have tried many diets before with limited success because their diets only last for a few days or weeks and have no time to really show their effects.

2. There are those who are of the attitude of "If it ain't broke don't fix it What's wrong with what I am already doing?" These people tend to go along with whatever seems good at the time. They tend to float along in the crowd. They don't tend to care to much about what they eat, they just eat what tastes good. they may have a small desire to lose weight or get healthy, but in the end it is not enough to warrant making changes.

3. There are those out there that want to get healthy, yet they need someone to hold their hand. "Tell me how to do it! give me a detailed plan." They are really good at getting started. They follow the diet books to the letter. They are  extremely good at sticking with a diet.  They tend to live someone else's system.They do well, but when they get bored with the same recipes/foods; they tend to go off the diet. They have a hard time incorporating anything other than what is written in the program.

4. There is another variety of people out there. They are the people  that get it into their head that one certain food/juice/or supplement is "it". They have found the miracle cure for everything. They get going on that one thing. They often drive others crazy preaching about how great this thing that they have found is.

5. And lastly, there are the gung ho lifestyle changers. These people get real excited about healthy eating. They tend to throw out the "bad food" in the house. They fill up the house with good healthy food. The problem with these people is that they want to make sure that everyone around them eats healthy too. They turn into the food police. They can make life miserable for those around them who lack enthusiasm or are not ready to go "cold turkey" like they have.









Where do you find yourself? Which type do you identify with on the list? 

Tune in next week when I  I will share some strategies, helps and hints for losing weight and becoming healthy in body, mind and spirit.

WHAT IS REAL FOOD?

I have become very disappointed  with society and the the misconceptions of what is healthy for you. We hear so much in the media. Every company is screaming loudly making all kinds of health claims. It is so overwhelming. It seems like what was healthy last week is this weeks devil food. It is enough to make your head spin.  

I HATE THE MARKETING SHENANIGANS THAT ARE GOING ON ALL AROUND US. I FEEL LIKE A RAT IN A LAB EXPERIMENT.

© Alexanderpokusay | Stock Free Images & Dreamstime Stock Photos


I try not to let it get to me, but sometimes I can't help it. For example, last week I was looking about the grocery store and I saw a container which I thought read  "fat free half and half."  I stopped and looked again; and sure enough it said fat free half and half. I am thinking to myself "What in the world are they putting in there?" Half and half as I know it is half milk and half cream. I started reading the label, skim milk, corn syrup, guar gum, natural flavorings and the list goes on  about 15 ingredients in all. About every ingredient has a star by it. In the fine print, it says the starred items are not normally found in half and half.  I was shocked. People use this thinking that they are healthy, because it is fat free. Come on people! I can understand milk and cream, but this list of ingredients seems too much. Then I read this morning about a petition to the government to allow artificial sweetners into our dairy products without having to label it. Oh man, what's next.

Then there is the Corn syrup thing. I read "no high fructose corn syrup" on the package, and then three ingredients in I read  corn syrup.  Many things still have corn syrup, just not the super refined high fructose kind. The corn syrup I bought to make Christmas candy was labeled as "no high fructose corn syrup"  (if that is not confusing to the brain, corn syrup labled as no corn syrup).  People read the headlines on the package and then go right on thinking it must be healthy, because the banner across the front of the package says so. It says no corn syrup on the label, yet it is still full of the stuff, just slightly less refined (like that makes it ok).

As a society there is a desire to be healthy, and the marketing people know it. The newest buzz words in the fast food industry are "healthy, and wholesome"; if they use those words they can sell the products for up to three times the price. The trouble is that those types of food are rarely healthy or wholesome. We are just kidding ourselves in thinking that they are. It is a crazy game that we are playing and our health and well being are on the line.  The only way to get good wholesome food is to create it and grow it yourself.

I am trying to get back to basics and eating food as it comes from the earth.  It is a big change for us and finding recipes is a big part of it. I recently have had several friends go on vegan diets. I was so excited thinking that I had some new resources in my real food revolution. I thought I would pick their brains for some great recipes, boy, was I ever disapointed. I didn't come up with much of anything from them. As a further disapointment, I watched a documentary where they took three individuals and followed them as they began a journey into the vegan lifestyle. It was eye opening for me.

© Digitalpress | Stock Free Images & Dreamstime Stock Photos

During this documentary they took a trip to the store to get supplies; it looked like this: Vegan margarine, soy hot dogs, vegan burgers, Oreo cookies, boxed cake mix and frosting and the list went on like this. I did not see any real food going into the baskets. They were showing how you can transfer over from the standard diet to veganisism with very little change.  "Really this is what vegans are eating?"  My freinds also verified this fact. I suppose that I live in a land of my own imagining, thiking that a vegan diet was a whole foods diet. I knew veganism was more than just salads as some people think, but what I found was suprising to say the least.

Now that I have that all off my chest I can go back to finding recipes for real food and writing about it here at life less hurried.




article about the petition to put artifical sugers in dairy
I have included the links to several of my past posts that you may enjoy reading

posts about those great grains

I'm eating real butter and eggs

slow down and savor your food and life

confessions of an emotional eater

Winter grilling! good for the soul

© Eugenef | Stock Free Images & Dreamstime Stock Photo  

    The other night I got a hankering for a grilled steak. Lucky for me, our grill is out back and under the patio where there is a bit less snow.  I  brushed a couple inches of snow off the grill  and lit her up. Even in the cold weather BBQ/Grilling lifts my spirits. There is just something about it. I enjoyed myself looking out over the white winter wonderland that exists in my backyard. 

Beyond January: New Years resolutions part 2

If you missed it, below is the link to part 1
Beyond January, New years resolutions part 1

So we are past the middle of January nearing February. So many new years resolutions have come and gone. It began with a desire to change. How do you move beyond the desire to actually making the changes? Maybe you have started the change. How do you keep the momentum going?

For me I have to say that I hate goal setting. Sitting down and saying to myself "OK what do I want to accomplish, and what do I have to do daily to get there" is way over the top for me. I am a fly by the seat of my pants kind of gal. Planning and then following through are not my strong points. Those people that plan out everything in life make me crazy. I see it is important, I am trying, but really do I need to write it all down?  I have been to classes, I have listened to seminars, I have read the books. They all seem the same. Write it down, make a plan, break the big goal into daily chunks, put these on your daily to do list. Follow the list etc.  So I did it this year. I made goals and wrote it out into a daily list.

Now I have it all on my"official to do list".  Yuck!!  I feel trapped and bogged down by this infernal list. I know I need to do it, and now I have written it down. I feel pressure to do it. Such drudgery, I can't live like this. I've done it for  over a week, but it sucks!  So, back to the mental list of things I should do. There is not a  physical list weighing me down staring me in the face. I know what I need to do each day (it is all there on my mental list)  Somehow there is always something that sounds much better than those things on the list. There are many things that get pushed down the bottom of the pile, someday I will get to it but not today. (any of this sound familiar yet).

I have found that the physical list of things to do everyday does nothing for me only make me very angry and depressed. Some people love to have that  list and love to check things off, they thrive on it. Yeah for you if you have found this works for you. This is not me. I am a bit more like my son. I thrive on a challenge. This year I am done with the "to do list" way of goal setting and planning. I am trying a new approach. The challenge! I have a list of things that I am challenging myself to accomplish. Somehow if I challenge myself to get it done and take it off that stupid to do list and I get excited about actually accomplishing it.

For the next month
#1 The challenge is to do 30 minutes of Yoga every day.
#2  The challenge is also to do a 30 minute workout daily.
#3 As for my eating, choose a fruit or vegetable for my snack.
#4 It is a challenge to find 10 minutes for me to read everyday but I am doing it.
#5 develop better relationships by being a better friend. One project a month (for example I called a friend and invited her over for lunch last week) 


Give me a challenge. Tell me that I can't accomplish it. I will prove you wrong.
This attitude has prevailed in my life. When I have accomplished things, it has been because others have told me that I couldn't do it. I turned it around this year and challenged myself. It has empowered me. It has created new energy and a fire that I think will carry my goals forward into the future.  A change of attitude made all the difference this year.

Beyond January; New years resolutions part 1

How are your new years resolutions going? It has been a week, have you forgotten them already? I found one survey that said half of the people said that within a week they have forgotten that they even had a a new years resolution; another eleven percent say their resolutions last a week or less. another twelve percent say they last until the end of January. If you last past Valentines day you are among the elite. What is it about the new years resolution?

I thought it was a good idea to go along with several of my friends who's new years resolution is to have no new years resolution at all. I seems like such a stupid thing to make new years resolutions and then to forget them nearly as quickly as they are made. I have fallen into that trap many times. There us such a feeling in the air. I couldnt't escape, I could not get over those feelings; feelings like, "Why set yourself up to fail with all the others? This is stupid! Why bother; I make the same resolutions year after year.Why go along with the crowd, I don't want to give into pressure and make a resolution that I know I won't keep, but this is what we do. You are a failure if you do not even attempt to make a new years resolution. Come on, you have to have some kind of goal "  and  those thoughts go on. I have always fought back with thoughts of "I will make my resolutions later on in the year when I am more sure about it, and the hype has calmed down."


This year I knew it, I could not pass it off until later.  after all, putting it off til later It is just an excuse to not make new years resolutions. It has not worked in the past. There are some changes that need made. I have been gearing up mentally for months. I just needed a little nudge, I think that New years has given me the push to go forward. Now I am off and going on a resolution, how do I keep the momentum going. Check back next week as I share more thoughts about taking the new years resolution to the next level; going beyond January.




As an added note. I will be reading over Money saving mom's blog series "21 days to a more disciplined life". I began into the series as she was writing it. Things changed for me and I did not make it through the series. I remember that she has some great advice.

21 days to a more disciplined life blog series

A traditional Christmas!

          This year we are going to cut our own tree!

                                                               © Mckgamer | Stock Free Images & Dreamstime Stock Photos



We bought a artificial tree about 6 years ago. It is looking ragged and worn out. It is time for something new. We decided that a real tree is the answer this year. We are looking forward to the experience of taking the kids out and letting them help pick out the tree and cut it down. There is something magical about it.We are looking forward to making memories with the kids that will last a lifetime. I hope that they will remember going and picking out a tree for years to come. I have taken  time to begin teaching my daughter the art of the divinity candy. It is a tradition passed to me from my Grandmother. I hope that my children will continue the tradition and that many good memories will come from this tradition.

A few days ago,I had a discussion with some of the neighbor ladies. We were talking about regrets. We discussed a talk by Dieter F Uchtdorf  given in early October (The link is below). He talks of terminally ill people and how many of them regret not spending time with their loved ones. Oh how they wish they would have taken the time to slow down from work and other things to really enjoy loved ones. One of the other regrets he talks about is people not living happily in the moment. He states "We shouldn’t wait to be happy until we reach some future point, only to discover that happiness was already available—all the time! Life is not meant to be appreciated only in retrospect. “This is the day which the Lord hath made … ,” the Psalmist wrote. “Rejoice and be glad in it.” Brothers and sisters, no matter our circumstances, no matter our challenges or trials, there is something in each day to embrace and cherish. There is something in each day that can bring gratitude and joy if only we will see and appreciate it."

This time of year should be joyful. It should be a loved and cherished time of year. But alas, all to often it is over scheduled, overstressed, and overdone. I want my family to remember the good things about the Holiday season. I do not want them to remember that Mom was stressed out every Christmas. I want to be able to enjoy the holidays as much as the Children. It begins with slowing down and focusing on what is really important. This holiday season We are making memories to last a lifetime. What are you doing this holiday season?




of-regrets-and-resolutions Dieter F Uchtdorf

Thanksgiving ramblings

Thanksgiving, what thoughts does it evoke? Family, food, togetherness, thanksfulness, STRESS. For many people the stress of the holiday can overshadow what it is really about! 

I was reading in a magazine this past week. They had included  Holiday recipes and meal plans. One of the writers mentioned that she had come to the understanding that her holiday meals did not need to be elaborate. She made comment in this article that She did not need to create 6 side dishes; two well prepared dishes were more than enough.  I have taken that to heart this year as I am planning for Thanksgiving.  As I am planning, I am also paring down the menu. There is something about a simply prepared meal that is warming to the soul. 

 I am excited to have my husband's relatives over for the holidays. I am ready to enjoy the season and enjoy the good food. But more than that, I am looking forward to spending time getting to know them better. Developing a relationship with them is important to me. Nourishing my relationships is what I want to focus on this year.

IT IS NOT ABOUT FOOD, FOOD, AND MORE FOOD!  I remember a year where we ended up with more pies then people. How crazy is that, a pie for each of us and more to share! It was insane. Christmas was nearly as bad that year. It was overwhelming. That year my Mother decided it was enough. We spent the next few years getting it back under control.

BACK TO THE BASICS!
This year I am striving to get back to the basics of Thanksgiving. Enjoying the company and not worrying so much about the details. 

Now it is your turn. I would love to hear all your thoughts about the holidays! What are you doing to enjoy the holidays?  How are you managing (or eliminating) holiday stress?  Any tips or hints?  Leave a comment below
 

Avoid the Holiday insanity

                                                                         © Robert5061 | Stock Free Images & Dreamstime Stock Photos

Does it seem like the Holidays hit you like a tsunami? Do you barely have time to recover when the shock waves knock you over again?

It has become out of control for so many of us. I saw a sign that said "Are you ready for Merry Hallowthanksmas?"  A few year ago my Mother said "enough is enough!" and the holiday season has been so much better for all of us.

Some tips for slowing down and elimintating stress from the holiday season.


Can you get together another time of year?

Is there a group of people you get together with during the holiday season that would benifit from getting together at a later date? Maybe you could suggest  something like, "I enjoy getting together with you, but the holidays are so busy for all of us. Maybe we could get together in February or March and do a Weekend brunch (or whatever seems appropriate for the group). I really want to spend time with you and catch up on what is going on with your life, I think we could do this better when we are not all so busy."

We had a Christmas party on Valentine's  day one year. Our freinds had a foreign exchange student at the time. You can imagine his surprise and perplexed look. "I thought Christmas was in December?" He didn't quite get it, but he had a nice time. We were able to really enjoy one another and it was a lovely party.


Gifts and more gifts oh my!

Instead of a pile of gifts so high they could reach to the moon and back. Let's settle down and give a few gifts and really enjoy them. I was surprised by a movie I watched recently. It was set in the wild west. It was Christmas. The main character was a young lady in her first year of marriage away from her family. She worked hard and made gifts for her new family, (the farmhands on the ranch). One of the older gray haired gentleman said "Thank you, this is the first Christmas gift I have ever recieved." It struck me. If we were to be transported back to that time, all the gifts for one family would fill that old farmhouse cabin and be spilling out the door. The family would have to sleep out in the barn with the animals. Sometimes we get so overwhelmed by the river of gifts we cannot enjoy them, we get swept away.

Janice of celebrating family has written a great post detailing how they got away from the pile of presents. They made a move to real gift giving with a meaningful purpose.  The link to her post is included below
Celebrating family... gift giving with purpose

Do you really need to give gifts to your second cousin's dog?
How many neighbors do you really need to give to?
How about Teachers and others, could you recognize them and give them gifts later on?
A surpise gift in the middle of the year can go alot further than a token gift lost in the shuffle of a busy holiday season!

Non traditional gifts:

The promise of time spent later on.  
My parents speak the language of time spent together. Over the last few years they have given up the traditional gifts and spend the money on a summer getaway for us all. Christmas is a real joy, we get an envelope with a note that tells us what summer getaway Mom and Dad are planning.  It has really helped the stress level for my parents, and we get a chance to all get together again.

The gift of service.
Some of my favorite Christmas memories are the years that we gave service. We spent several years working on service projects instead of exchanging gifts one with another. Those things make memories.

Now is the time to re-evaluate. What are the things that are most important to you for the Holiday season?  How can you simplify the holiday season? Are there some traditions that can be simplified or eliminated? What are your biggest holiday stressors? What can you do to lessen or eliminate those stressors? What can you do to increase holiday joy?


Now it is your turn. Leave a comment below as to what you are going to do different this holiday season.

slow down and savor life

 

                                 Slow down and savor your food and life



My kids favorite buddies "hanging out"
This is what we should all be doing more often "hanging out" together with our family

 As I am on a journey of weight loss and good health.  One tip I have learned is to Slow down and enjoy life. We live in such a hurried world, running all about in a microwave "grab and go" society.  My father as a boy scout leader made an interesting observation.  The boys had gone out for a campout.  They had each brought a tin foil dinner to cook in the fire.  My father noticed that some of the boys were very impatient while waiting for the dinners to cook. He related to me that he sensed that these boys were the ones that lived in a home where the microwave was a main source of food.  He said it was about two minutes and they were ready to eat. This was about 10 -12 years ago.  I wonder what he would find nowdays. Do we ourselves exist where the microwave provides a majority of our food at home?  Is takeout food our best freind?  I am slowing down and cooking not only on weekends, but all the time. My body has been happier these last few weeks as I have made a move to pay attention to it. When we slow down our eating the body has time to respond to the food we are putting in. We are healthier today because I chose to slow down and pay attention. I want my family and I to be healthy in body and mind. I am creating my world according to those things. Family time together at meals is something that I am begining to value. It is becoming a great part of life.

I grew up in a family that was on the go alot, my husband was different.  Both of our families value time together, but how we do that is different. We were always going and doing and on the move.  There were always games to play and places to see. My husbands family spends alot of time just sitting and chatting. My husband values time together just sitting a while and watching the sunset etc. He is content to just sit a while. While I am sitting there I have a whole list of things going on in my brain. I think that as a woman I have to multitask. I get so distracted, Sometimes I forget to stop and take stock of what is really important. My husband is very important and he needs me to slow down and pay attention to him. My Children need me there with them. I am making them priority in my life. I am showing them by the things that I do. As Dr Phil says "You gotta get plugged into your family" My challenge to you SLOW DOWN, MAKE TIME FOR THE IMPORTANT THINGS.

GOOD TIMBER

This is a poem that I memorized years ago when in the 6th grade.  It has been an inspiration in my life. It is a reminder that the hard times are worth it in the end.


                                                    GOOD TIMBER

by Douglas Malloch

The tree that never had to fight

for sun and sky and air and light,

but stood out in the open plain

and always got its share of rain,

never became a forest king

but lived and died a scrubby thing.

The man who never had to toil

to gain and farm his patch of soil,

who never had to win his share

of sun and sky and light and air,

never became a manly man

but lived and died as he began.

Good timber does not grow with ease;

the stronger wind, the stronger trees;

the further sky, the greater length;

the more the storm, the more the strength.

by sun and cold, by rain and snow,

in trees and men good timbers grow.

Where thickest lies the forest growth,

we find the patriarchs of both.

and they hold counsel with the stars

whose broken branches show the scars

of many winds and much of strife.

this is the common law of life.

AN INVITE TO ALL PEOPLE

Come hear the word of the lord!  To all people everywhere: The general worldwide conference for The church of Jesus Christ of Latter day saints is this weekend!  I CANNOT WAIT TO HEAR THE MESSAGES OF HOPE AND INSPIRATION.   Twice a year; in the spring and in the fall, the millions of members of my church get together to praise and worship God. It is such a wonderful time to come together with millions of people in love and unity. There are four general sessions that are open to anyone and everyone to participate by radio, television, and internet.


When: Saturday, October 6th and Sunday, October 7th 2012

Time: 10 am and 2 pm    MST (Mountain standard time)   Saturday and Sunday
(this would be 12 noon and  4 pm on the East coast)

Where:  lds.org weblink for conference viewing

There will also be many radio stations hosting. Many of the stations that host the Mormon tabernacle choir broadcasts on Sunday mornings will also be hosting. BYU television is also another place to check for a chance to watch on the television. I know that in my Area KSL Television will host.

I hope that you will take the time to join in and participate in this wonderful event for all

He doesn't have to share at home!

The other day while my kids were playing with a bunch of neighborhood children, fighting broke out. They were fighting over a toy. I pulled my children aside. I told them that we needed to share, or we would go home. I heard one of the Grandmothers comment about her grandson, "He doesn't have to share at home, they each have their own rooms and own toys,they don't have to share."  That comment really struck me.

A few weeks later I caught the end of a documentary on the television. They were speaking with a School Prinicpal who had made great strides in her school to clean it up. The school was in such bad shape it was a real problem. The building itself was nearly condemed. Once they cleaned the building up, they needed to get the teachers on board. They were no longer going to have some of the lowest test scores in the nation. In the process of it all they were shocked to discover that the children lacked the basic skills to be able to learn

They began with the simple things that the children should have learned early on as a toddler; things like, please, thank you, taking turns, and sharing. It was making a huge difference. They were having less distractions in the classroom.  The children were more focused and ready to learn. They were able to turn things around for these children.

It takes a village to raise a child. My parents know this and lived it. They have spent countless hours working with the youth over the years. In scouts, as young men's and young women's group leaders in our church,as 4-H leaders and various other things. They were a part of the community. I remember them serving on the volenteer fire department. They contributed  to society and they taught us children to do the same. There have been many who have come back as an grown men and women and said to my parents "Thank you". They encouraged us to participate in such things as 4-H, and Youth city council. They wanted to give us a good start in life. I am grateful for that. Now that I am grown, I am making a difference in my family and community.

Teaching my children to be a good example to their peers is a good start. The other day I heard my three year-old saying to one of the other children "lets be caring and sharing" I was proud of her.  She learned that from my good example. We can all be a force for good in this world. We can make a difference, one child at a time.

Now it is your turn. Go and make a difference in the life of a child.