There's Nothing Wrong with My Meal Plan!

I have been trying to get the shoes back in the closet, the laundry back in the drawers, the cans in the pantry, the meat in the freezer and the homework signed and in the corresponding backpack.  We are in the season of 'get our shit-together' and it's been a very messy process.  Each kid has been served with papers of every color and request from new, fairly organized teachers.  Their physicals are in, their teeth are clean, their backpacks are full, and my tank is empty.  Scott is out running a tri-Athelon today and I have only gotten out of bed once to refill my coffee.  (I can hear the kids laughing downstairs as I write.)

Two weeks into school and we are finally getting caught up.  The first week of school my Mother-in-Law was here, which literally saved our lives.  She made French Toast for breakfast on the first day of school, American Chop Suey for dinner (a New England Classic, I'm told), and helped keep the kids out and about while I conducted client calls and constructed emails.  That week was a patch work quilt of old, new, and fly-by-the-seat-of-our-pants.

This last week was better. Scott made a fabulous steak and asparagus dinner on the weekend; a local butcher was involved.  I made something out of chicken pieces and a vegetable that I can't remember.  I finally shopped on Tuesday which yielded home made spaghetti sauce, stuffed peppers, roast chicken and quinoa, kielbasa and baked beans, and pork steaks with lots of green things.  Each night we enjoyed steamed veggies, butter, and oils, and each lunch was made from leftovers.  We even breakfasted on fruit, toast, eggs and yogurt with home-made granola.

All of this great food came in handy on Thursday as all 5 of us participated in the Run to Remember at 6 am... in the morning.  As I watched all of my children cross the finish line full minutes before I did on that 3 mile race, I, again, was reminded how much further I have to go in my 1/2 marathon training.  Some runs are really strong and consistent, others are defeating; all have been shorter than 13 miles.  After a great dinner tonight, I will put myself to bed in anticipation of running 10 miles tomorrow. I will sleep knowing the kids are so fantastic because I feed them so very well.

Even on weeks when we shop just before we eat, I know there is truly nothing wrong with my meal plan.   I know kielbasa isn't real food, but nearly everything else that lands on our plate is nourishing in one way or another.  The shoes will eventually land in the closet, the laundry will soon find its way out of the hamper, and the kids will always have things to return to their backpacks.  There will also always be Saturday mornings to lay in bed, and write, and sip coffee, and listen to the laughter from the kids.

And, as always, time to wash our hands.

Anna~

Throwback Thursday: Change Toward Balance!

Again, a season of change is upon us.  Children and teachers are soon to go back to school; the weather is soon to go back to cold; the holidays are soon to hit the market and department store shelves; the menu is soon to move from the grill to the oven.  Change can be a looming cloud avoided by ceilings and shutters or can be welcomed with love and gratitude.  I'll throw this back to September 26, 2013, for further illumination.

Throwback Thursday:  Change Toward Balance.

Homeostasis; the tendency toward a relatively stable equilibrium between interdependent elements, esp. as maintained by physiological processes (good ol' Webster's Dictionary). Balance. An equal relationship between give and take, exercise and ease, joy and judgement, work and play, food and elimination. What goes in must come out! What goes up must come down! One hand washes the other!    So why does the word 'balance' stress us out?

The first response to change, or to the suggestion that balance is needed, is naturally defensive.  "My house is in order, I just had a stressful week!  Normally, everything is fine!"  Self reflection might reveal no time for breakfast, two bowel movements a week, poor sleep and a hectic work or education schedule leaving very little time for play, but if that is 'normal' then everything might very well be perceived as fine.  We all defend our existence, our choices, our position in the world we live within.  In fact, it would be abnormal if we didn't.  It is important, though, to identify what we are defending.

The second response to change is naturally resistance.  If the life lived now is normal, no matter how dissatisfying, changing it means unsteadying the ship.  There is comfort in expectation; knowing what will happen if you do what is expected, or knowing what will happen if you don't.  Sometimes resistance occurs simply because of fear of what is unknown, which is where the statement, "That is the way I've always done it!" comes from.  Change toward balance means learning a new behavior or recipe or routine which might make you nervous.  It might be important to evaluate why feeling nervous, nervous meaning a feeling of unease or apprehension, is equated with 'bad'.

The third response to a suggestion of change is feeling overwhelmed.  "If I change this, then I have to change that, which means others will be effected and I might face adversity, which will cause me stress and unease so I will just keep things they way they are no matter how dissatisfying they are to me."  Chances are, if your surroundings and routine are dissatisfying to you, they are likely dissatisfying to the others directly effected by the current state of 'normal'.  Let me assure you, dear reader, change toward balance is not as overwhelming and stressful as you imagine.   Change toward balance is actually stress relieving, time freeing and love making!  

Here is how to begin: Add something and discontinue believing that change means taking something away.  Change toward balance is not a graduation from a bottle to a cup, a pacifier to a blanket, a blanket to a big-kid-bed, a hall-light to a night-light.  Change toward balance is the antithesis to the child instilled meaning of change, or graduation from the known to the new unknown.  Change toward balance is the act of mindfully and intentionally adding what you intelligently identify as absent, which in effect balances the boat.  While you digest the thought, eat real, naturally occurring foods, drink plenty of water, give your vitamins their vitamins and, as always, remember to wash your hands. That's a good balance!

Anna~

If you would like a coach to support you through this season of change, schedule a free consultation with me today and we'll identify how to get started!  Anna Burrill, Your Health Coach!

Assembling Your Elephant: "It Looks Like a Spear!"

Half of your elephant is already assembled.  Walls have been recognized and established;  excuses, obstacles and roadblocks exposed.  You have decided what your tree looks like; what you stand for with respect to your individual purpose.  You have also identified your snakes; devious ingredients, poisonous menus, self doubt and the like, and life itself.  The next piece of the elephant the blind man revealed is the spear.  It's time to lance the boil, dear reader; it's time.

Too often we hide behind the 'it's the way we've always done it' mentality.  I do it.  I am sure you do it as well.  "I have always always had that."  "I have always done that."  "I am not a morning person."  "I don't do windows."  "This is the way I've always done it."  The parameters we assign to ourselves are safety nets utilized when fear or nervousness is felt.  The unknown is certainly a scary place!  But returning to the same old parameters every time you are faced with a new situation, a dangerous invitation or an elephant in the room requires nothing of you.  No growth.  No insight.  No trust.  No faith.  No intuition.  No light.  Nothing.

If that is true, then the results will never be different either.  "I wish that work wasn't so stressful."  "I wish I had more time with my family."  "I wish money wasn't so tight."  "I would give anything for a vacation."  "I don't know why I can't get things done."  "Why is this happening to me?"  To be quite honest, dear reader, the answer to it all is usually, "Because this is the way you've always done it."  You can't expect change if you change nothing.

Growth, in its simplest definition means to get bigger.  I am not suggesting you need to expand your physical presence, but it might be delicious to expand your life's presence.  How?  Lance the boil!  Grab ahold of your spear and slice through your safely placed parameters.  Instead of relying on the same old actions, delivering the same old results, give yourself permission to move beyond your boundaries.  Redefine what it is you want to become and grow into it!

Now, just as the elephant is assembled from six different perspectives, so are you the sum of your parts; a holistic being.  Whatever it is you have decided to grow into, eat real food, give yourself plenty of water, nourish your parts with vitamins and, because lancing boils can be a bloody mess, remember to wash your hands.  If this isn't the way you've always done it you are on the right track!

Happy Lancing!

Anna~

Fine tuning your life takes consistent practice.  If you are out of practice and want to break free from years of bad habits and stagnant behavior, I can coach you thru it.  Visit Anna Burrill, Your Health Coach to schedule a free consultation with me today.  

"What Have You Done For Me Lately?"

Okay, now I would never directly discourage you away from the computer, for that would lead you away from my message, but time in front of the computer hardly qualifies as exercise.  I spend about 90 minutes a day in front of some sort of screen (computer, television, e-book) and the more I do, the less motivated I feel to do anything else.  But two days ago, as I sat on my couch with my computer in my lap, my husband called and, after reporting his 40 mile bike ride and 9 mile run, suggested a blog post title:  'What have you done for your body lately?'  I could only reply with this:  "Good Question?"

I am training for a half marathon in October.  Running, for me, is no swift task.  I use my calves more than my thighs, I can't quite get my hips to swing, I have a moderately strong core and lack a competitive instinct.  So, I tabata every morning, run three times a week and focus on my goal and will to accomplish it.  But, even though it's hard and laborious and uncomfortable, I know I am doing my body good by moving toward a goal that will take me 13.1 miles around the earth (the .1 is the most important piece).

Also, for my body, I aim to balance what I eat with what I crave.  My cravings change as swiftly as the days and as gracefully as the seasons, and I listen to them.  I eat sweet things, salty things, fatty things, fried things and savory things.  I drink coffee and water and wine.  I sleep when I'm tried and linger when I'm feeling lazy.  I also recognize when my hunger has nothing to do with food.  My body and my mind don't always ask for the same things, but when I listen I can usually pick out the wiser voice and the instructions I receive are delicious.

So, I ask you the same question, as you sit on your bottom with your computer on your lap, "What have you done for your body lately?"  The defensive answers will sound something like: "I had salad!" - "I took time to read Anna's blog." - "I didn't eat the last two pieces of cake." - "I walked the dog."  I am not interested in those answers, and neither should you be.  The most interesting and informative answers won't be answers at all; they will be goals, aspirations, and attainable dreams fueled by the will achieve them.

I don't always eat real food, I don't always drink enough water, and I don't always get all my vitamins in.  What I can say is I always listen to my body and make every effort to decipher the questions and requests correctly.  I have washed my hands of what the world says I 'should do' and have successfully become aware of what my body needs and desires.  When my body asks, "What have you done for me lately?" I contemplatively respond, "Good Question!"

Anna~

Procrastination; Development and Definition

The rain here has been intense and has now just ended after 36 hours of showers.  Dreary weather has caused a boredom to settle into our home; one the dogs are acting out against, we have become sleepy by, and the kids have embraced for love of the television.  The wind has picked up, as it typically does as the last of the storm sweeps through, and the clouds are becoming thin strings of white backed with blue.  It feels as though my race is moments away, the blocks are set, my sneakers are laced, and I am waiting for the line judge to call me to it.  There's the buzzer!

Never mind.  It was just the dryer.  Three kids, two of which are sick, the last of whom is athletic like his Dad, created mounds of laundry throughout the week.  My in-laws just visited which caused me to change the linens, an act much over due, so adding to the pile beside the washing machine.  The All is almost out, so I have been selectively sorting clothes and kitchen linens to dis-infect; efficiency is important but I'd rather clean underwear populate our drawers instead of laundered linens occupy the shelves.

I have this crazy housekeeping method that is effective, efficient, and employs the entire family body.  Vacuum and wash floors on Monday; dust and declutter on Tuesday; vacuum and bathrooms on Wednesday; laundry and linens on Thursday; vacuum, fridge and garbage on Friday; yard work and garage on the weekends.  Daily chores consist of picking up all the things that are down, poop removal, dishwasher, rooms, reading, and revealing the stairs.  Two or three easy things a day to accomplish with grace and discipline.

In a perfect week I actually follow my list, but often times I write instead of wash, read instead of arrange, and play instead of purge.  When procrastination occurs, every chore gets smashed into one or two days, or ignored altogether (like the linens), and then embarrassment sets in (especially when the in-laws come to visit).  Procrastination by definition is the delaying or postponing of an assignment or action; the stress procrastination creates is much larger than a simple definition.

I do not know how to eliminate procrastination from any one's diet, dear reader, for I subscribe to it from time to time as well.  There are tips we can all use and follow that can prevent procrastination from creeping in and taking control.  While you reflect on where you allow procrastination to control your life, and the consequences that come from it, grab a bowl of real food, a tall glass of water and some vitamins for your vitamins.  Let's get ready to begin washing our hands of procrastination... Tomorrow.

Anna~

Nothing Changes if Nothing Changes!

Preparing dinner nightly is something I truly love.  Our kitchen is separate from the rest of the house, allowing me some time for creation, quite, and a glass of red while I assemble a meal meant to nourish those at our table.  This last 12 days have tried my culinary abilities due to the fact that an elimination diet has outlined our dinner ingredients.  More than resetting the system and allowing for good elimination, an elimination diet calms inflammation throughout the body allowing the body to function, heal, and metabolize properly.

To explain, an elimination diet removes dairy, gluten, soy, eggs and corn, as well as stimulants, sugar, and meats, fruits and vegetables that can cause inflammation within the body.  We mostly followed the below chart for 7 days:

my-clean-diet-experiment

Scott has allergies to many of the foods on the 'can eat' side of the diet, but he willfully refrained from most of the restricted foods.  Because he has never had any problems digesting red meat (O-, Eating Right 4 Your Type), we did have steak tips over greens, onions, broccoli and red cabbage as a meal. 

Inflammation is the body's natural response to space invaders.  Viruses, damage, bad bacteria, poorly digested food, or a highly acidic environment can cause inflammation.  Low stomach acid, high sugar intake, caffeine, alcohol and/or a sedentary lifestyle can also cause inflammation to sneak around inside the body.  Inflammation is commonly mistaken for fat, for tiredness, for sleeplessness, for headaches, for allergies, for constipation, for diarrhea, for unpleasant periods, for arthritis...  the list goes on.

I did not follow this diet as strictly as Scott did (and still is after 12 days), but as I watched his allergies calm, his waistline decrease, his sleep improve, his complexion brighten, and his mood hover over a more even keel, I encouraged him to keep going based on results.  After 7 days of strict food selections, we moved to no eggs, no dairy, no soy, no gluten, no corn, no sugar, no stimulants, opening up many of the fruits and vegetables we had avoided per the chart's suggestions.

Now he is slowly reintroducing foods.  He has had raw cheese and eggs to find they do not  cause stomach upset, irritable bowels or cold symptoms.  He has not reintroduced gluten, corn, soy or sugar, for these are the foods he fears cause inflammation in his feet, in his face, in his body.  He has lost 12 pounds of belly fat in 12 days and has had increasingly successful workouts; higher output, less pain and soreness, shorter recovery times.  His allergies are not completely gone, but the results we've witnessed is worth avoiding inflammatory foods.  

My advice to you is the same as my advice to him:  Nothing changes if Nothing Changes~ If you are experiencing symptoms that you dislike, instead of taking an allergy pill or a sleep aide, try changing your food.  Listen to your body as it tells you what it can tolerate and what it can't.  There are so many resources to help you find what real foods you should or shouldn't eat~  I am one of them.  Make sure to drink plenty of water while you research, give your vitamins their vitamins, and, as always, remember to wash your hands -  you eat with those things!

Anna~

Contact me if you would like more information.

Oil Pulling, Yoga, and Practice!

So, I am trying it right now.  I measured two teaspoons of organic expeller pressed olive oil, warmed it over a candle to liquify the mass and I pulled it into my mouth.  During the duration of this post I will swish the contents to remove plaque, trap toxins and pull puss from my gums; then into the trash it will go.  Oil Pulling.

I see multiple home remedies for numerous things consistently throughout the day.  Herbs for pain, remedies for indigestion, salts for inflammation, spices for memory, cures for the common cold.  I am a believer in all of them to a great extent, but they are only effective if one actually tries the remedies.  Can cinnamon increase blood circulation?  Only when eaten or rubbed into the skin.  Can lemon and honey calm a cough and ease a sore throat?  Only if taken often and in addition to rest.  Can oil pulling really improve oral health?  Only if practiced routinely.

Many times I hear myself offering advice to others, advice even I don't religiously follow, and I hear in retort, "I tried that once and it didn't work."  That same reason is true for all things.  I tried playing the guitar once and I was terrible at it, so I practiced until I became comfortable with the guitar.  Trying anything once delivers a clumsy, unimpressive result.  Practicing a remedy, a talent, a trade, an instrument, or oil pulling until results over time can be measured is the only decisive way to see if any one thing actually works or falls short of its claim.

Last November and December I was practicing yoga 3 or 4 times a week.  I would get up early, enjoy a quite hour of stretching and coffee before the house awoke, and get my yoga on.  I felt great the rest of the day.  My posture was improving, my sleep was sound, joy was more present throughout the day.  Even my back and neck were nearly pain free.  Then January delivered a puppy and much skiing, February delivered puppy training, less sleep, and snow, and now its March; yoga has been absent for nearly two months.  It is time I return to a practice that revealed more space, better posture, and louder joy.  Hopefully, with practice, the oil pulling will reveal whiter teeth.

My time is up.  Before I go spit in the trash and rinse with warm water, I will leave you with this:  You, dear reader, are worth the practice.  If you are wondering if any one thing really works, practice it every day~  the results will amaze you!  Start with real food.  Add plenty of clean water.  Give your vitamins their vitamins.  And, because there are germs everywhere, remember to wash your hands.  In the words of Henry ford, if you think you can do a thing or you can't do a thing, you're right!

Anna~

There is Always a But!

Spring; to originate or arise from - or  - to move or jump suddenly or rapidly upward or forward.  The anticipation of Spring is all but overcoming me.  I find myself looking for green evidence, measuring the length of the day, and giving myself permission to calm down.  This may be my most transformative season yet and I welcome it with sneakers tied and a smile upon my face; my hope is for a clam, smooth transition into the forward movement of Spring.

The phrase 'forward movement' has been ringing in my ears for weeks now.  Our pantry remains scantily stocked as our refrigerator becomes increasingly full of fresh food and clean water.  We have signed our names on lists of willing runners committing to push three miles of pavement away from our feet.  We are setting loftier goals for the summer and fall, both individual desires and family commitments.  We have all decided, in our own separate ways, to move forward from the places we were and to achieve the places we admire.

Forward movement has also given a name to my health coaching practice; Nutritional Cadence.  Health is not a one dimensional, unilateral, universal state or application. Health is a balance of movement, communication, food, love, joy, work, water, nutrition, education, and spirit.  The human body cannot make what it cannot make; also true, it cannot become something more or less without a constant effort toward growth.  But (and there is always a but), just as the seasons move and change rhythmically, so too should self care, growth, nourishment and movement ~ Nutritional Cadence (Thanks to Sue Plunkett for the conversation.)

There are many disrupters of forward movement.  Fear.  Comparison.  Career.  Failure.  Habit.  Choice.  Knowledge.  Location.  Money.  Life.  This last two weeks I have been intent on encouraging those around me (and myself) to commit to small changes with goals in mind for the ownership of forward movement.  I believe it is better to be afraid and moving forward than afraid while standing still.  Because you are in control of everything you eat, everything you say and everything you know, you are in control of everything you want.

This week, I encourage you all to plan.  Shop mindfully.  Eat real food.  Commit.  Drink plenty of water.  Laugh.  Cook.  Think.   Wash your hands of 'this is the way I've always done it' and ask yourself, "Does this help me achieve my goal?  or Not?"  That, dear reader, is forward movement.

Spring!

Anna~

Throw Back: Thursday; Not quite in the Present!

Every day is a gift.  We all get to wake up and change something we dislike or adopt behaviors we admire.  We can do things exactly the same in order to perfect a craft or we can erase, start over, and reflect.  Each day starts anew~  except when it comes to what we ate!

The human body is functioning today on things we put into it yesterday.  Some things are utilized immediately, like water and juice, and some things, like meat, take six to 12 hours to digest.   Processed foods typically linger the longest in the intestinal tract due to the disguise of artificial ingredients, fillers, binders and additives.  That is precisely why some diets suggest an initial cleanse, three days of fasting, an enema or a liquid start.  Your body is kind of like Thursday; not quite mid-week, not quite the weekend, not quite in the present!

How do we make our bodies function in the moment?  Water, soups, juices, or smoothies made with fruits, veggies, and herbs and spices.  Think of it like this; if you can drink it, your body can absorb it!  Everything else has to be digested or broken down into a liquid and then absorbed.  The more solids we ingest, the more water we must drink in order to properly liquify the nutrients to promote absorption.  It may seem impractical to drink our diet, but it is possible to add more liquid to our food~

This morning, after perusing my weekly meal planning page, I blended up some oatmeal, protein mix, skim milk, strawberries, blueberries and some ice.  It was a thick breakfast, a texture I am not used to. My normal shake of choice is dark cocoa powder, protein mix, skim milk, ice, and natural peanut butter; a little thinner and more decadent than oatmeal and strawberries.  Both are delicious, both full of vitamins and minerals, both with fat and fuel, both ready for absorption; maybe I will just skip the oatmeal the next time I whip up a smoothie.  Adding one or two liquid breakfasts a week can help the body finish digesting yesterday's steak and become present - not a bad idea~

So, eat real food, drink lots of water, and give your vitamins their vitamins~  Try a few new liquid recipes!  Have some soup!  Make a smoothie!  Leave the things that come in a box...  instead enjoy things that come out of a garden~  And, as always, remember to wash your hands.

Anna~

Comments and Recipes, Favorites and Questions are Welcome~

From In Five Paragraphs or Less, by Anna Burrill, on 3-10-2013

How Healthy is Your Well?

Pancakes on the table for breakfast, a whole chicken in the crock pot for dinner, breakfast dishes done, three of the three off to school, a blank calendar this afternoon, and yoga in about 40 minutes.  Mornings like this, when things fall into place without chaos or confrontation, come few and far between in our home but the span is getting shorter as we move deeper into our evolution toward eudaimonia.

Eudaimonia?  A great word to research and investigate, for sure, but for short it means 'human flourishing'.  Physical wellness.  Financial wellness.  Spiritual wellness.  Holistic Wellness.  Well.  The human body is much like a well; everything that comes in contact with it contaminates or cleanses the entire being.  Eudaimonia is a state in which a being is able to appreciate, assimilate or convert all things it comes in contact with into nourishment, positive energy and practical wisdom.  A desirable state indeed.

Our evolution started with simple, conscious changes.  Drinking water in the morning to rehydrate the body and allow the cells to breathe.  Eliminating breakfast cereals was the next step; an exchange of unidentifiable ingredients for oats, eggs, whole wheat pancakes and whole grain breads.  Exercise was next.  Less time watching others participate in life on the television and more time actually participating in life.  Down-hilll skiing, mountain and road biking, 5 and 10k organized running, yoga, hiking, and conscious cooking.  We have also learned to encourage our children to run, to jump, to play, to laugh, to ski and to do it along with them more and more.  Today we are on change number 721, at least.

Change happens over time, not over night.  At times when I feel my evolution has taken a vacation I preform an evaluation of progress (yesterday was one of those days).  Evaluation is born of the beautiful word 'value', cousin to valuable.  I am valuable.  My husband, my children, our finances, our home, and our wellness is valuable, as is our progress toward eudaimonia.  I encourage you all to evaluate how healthy your well is.  You will most certainly find positive change among the mistakes and progress among the set backs;  appreciate yourself for all of your movement in the right direction.

Then celebrate.  Make a beautiful meal of real, naturally occurring food, wash in the goodness with water, give your vitamins their vitamins and, as always, remember to wash your hands.  Be glad in it, reader, for you choose your evolution!

Anna~

A Week in Review: Where Do You Invest?

This last month I took a course on medication;  how it's made, the process of approval, what it does inside the body, patient compliance, side effects, the role of the pharmacist, and how to spot a counterfeit pill.  What I learned is this: There is no safe medicine.  There is only a positive measurement if the benefits of any medicine out weight the side effects.

As a family we take very little medications; we are young, active, good diet, middle class, health insurance, extremely fortunate, and we spend money investing in our health.

From February 27, 2013:

Where Do You Invest?

My shopping habits have been continually evolving from filling the pantry to filling the fridge; from shopping twice a month to shopping once a week; from making semi-homemade meals to making homemade meals with food benefits in mind.  I have also examined cost as factor when it comes to food in several posts since the beginning of this investigation.  With my fridge full and my pantry empty, my wallet isn't taking the impact I thought it would, but my health and my family's health is!

How much money do you spend monthly on medication?  Pain medication?  Heart medication? Diabetes, edema, cholesterol or headache medication?  If you had that money instead to spend on vitamins and food instead, would you buy better food?  What if instead of waiting for more money or less medications you just made a decision to invest in your health instead of investing in your symptoms?  The way to do that is through food; there is a food designed to heal everything~

I do not disbelieve in medicine.  What I disbelieve in is eating fried, saturated, fatty, starchy, sugary foods and then using medication to treat the symptoms of conditions that occur due to diet and exercise choices.  If you purchase a shirt at Kohl's and wear it while hiking and it tears, then wash it against the directions on the label and the shirt shrinks, you should not return it to Kohl's claiming a defective shirt.  If you treat your body like a garbage can, you can not claim your body is defective to justify medication  use.  Medication only treats the smell, the discharge and the infections brought on by the garbage; medication does not undo the damages, it only disguises them.

Medication for certain short term conditions is necessary for sure.  Some would argue long term medication is necessary for chronic conditions and I will not argue those beliefs; they are just not my beliefs.  What I do believe in is food as Hippocrates defined it: "Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food."

So, again, I ask, 'What if you just made a decision to invest in your health instead of investing in your symptoms?' While you digest the question and form an answer, please eat real food, drink liters of water, give your vitamins your vitamins, and, as always, remember to wash your hands.  'What if?'

Anna~

A Week in Review: Water

Over the past year I have written weeks in themes, with measured breaks in between.  I have had my eyes on weight loss, vitamin intake, pantry un-stocking, vegetable finding, organizing, motivation and exercise, but some some of you have not had your eye on me long enough to have seen these thoughts. This week I am going to spend in review of some of my favorite (and maybe most important) thoughts. 

From January 15. 2013:

Let's start with Water~ by Anna Burrill

Water.  I don't drink enough of it.  Coffee?  Three cups a day.  Wine?  A few glasses a week, a few more on the weekends.  But water?  As a 135 pound female I am suppose to consume, without any other factors considered (like caffeine and alcohol) 70 ounces per day.   With those other factors involved I am suppose to drink 102 ounces a day just to break even!  Three liters of live giving H2O.

I started trying to accomplish this requirement on the 27th of December, 2012, with my brother while standing at his kitchen sink.  We both were slightly hung over so we were starting in the red, but we agreed;  before anything else entered our bodies we were to drink water.  I filled a two liter bottle, grabbed two glasses from the cabinet, poured equal glasses of water and down it went.  Three and a half glasses of water each, or about a liter, in only a few minutes.  Every day since then I have measured out my liter of pre-coffee water and I drink it!

So, Why Water?  Daily, we breath dirty air, we drink unfiltered water, and we eat food that has been sprayed with pesticides.  The human body not only ingests toxins from the world surrounding it, it creates toxins in the form of metabolic waste.  When we have a cold, more waste.  When we are under stress, more waste.  When we do not get enough sleep, our toxic waste production increases.  Can you guess how we get rid of that waste?

An interesting article gives us a few very simple instructions: take out the trash, pee, poop, and perspire. Without water, none of these things are possible.    The same water that cushions our joints, flushes our liver.  The same water that protects our organs allows our cells to breathe.  The same water that brings oxygen and nutrients throughout our bodies flushes our kidneys clean.  When I looked at water as a solution to health instead of only a solution to thirst, I felt the need to drink.

I learned something else just now about toxins.  Breath is also a detoxifier.  "Breathing deeply and fully, called pranayama, will oxygenate your brain, body, and spirit, transforming your health in the process."  Now, take a deep breath, go, eat real food, take your vitamins, drink oodles of water, and remember to wash your hands.

Change Toward Balance

Homeostasis; the tendency toward a relatively stable equilibrium between interdependent elements, esp. as maintained by physiological processes (good ol' Webster's Dictionary). Balance. An equal relationship between give and take, exercise and ease, joy and judgement, work and play, food and elimination. What goes in must come out! What goes up must come down! One hand washes the other!    So why does the word 'balance' stress us out?

The first response to change, or to the suggestion that balance is needed, is naturally defensive.  "My house is in order, I just had a stressful week!  Normally, everything is fine!"  Self reflection might reveal no time for breakfast, two bowel movements a week, poor sleep and a hectic work or education schedule leaving very little time for play, but if that is 'normal' then everything might very well be perceived as fine.  We all defend our existence, our choices, our position in the world we live within.  In fact, it would be abnormal if we didn't.  It is important, though, to identify what we are defending.

The second response to change is naturally resistance.  If the life lived now is normal, no matter how dissatisfying, changing it means unsteadying the ship.  There is comfort in expectation; knowing what will happen if you do what is expected, or knowing what will happen if you don't.  Sometimes resistance occurs simply because of fear of what is unknown, which is where the statement, "That is the way I've always done it!" comes from.  Change toward balance means learning a new behavior or recipe or routine which might make you nervous.  It might be important to evaluate why feeling nervous, nervous meaning a feeling of unease or apprehension, is equated with 'bad'.

The third response to a suggestion of change is feeling overwhelmed.  "If I change this, then I have to change that, which means others will be effected and I might face adversity, which will cause me stress and unease so I will just keep things they way they are no matter how dissatisfying they are to me."  Chances are, if your surroundings and routine are dissatisfying to you, they are likely dissatisfying to the others directly effected by the current state of 'normal'.  Let me assure you, dear reader, change toward balance is not as overwhelming and stressful as you imagine.   Change toward balance is actually stress relieving, time freeing and love making!  

Here is how to begin: Add something and discontinue believing that change means taking something away.  Change toward balance is not a graduation from a bottle to a cup, a pacifier to a blanket, a blanket to a big-kid-bed, a hall-light to a night-light.  Change toward balance is the antithesis to the child instilled meaning of change, or graduation from the known to the new unknown.  Change toward balance is the act of mindfully and intentionally adding what you intelligently identify as absent which in effect balances the boat.  While you digest the thought, eat real, naturally occurring foods, drink plenty of water, give your vitamins their vitamins and, as always, remember to wash your hands (that's a good balance).

Anna~

A Little Gardening~

Investigating health by the roots has pulled me into the soil where, as I've unearthed simplicity, I've become filthy with bits of information and contaminated by a need to fit it all together.  So, when I read a very simple quote this past Monday it was absorbed, and there it has grown into something I wish to share with you now.  Because I cannot find the quote now and at risk of plagiarizing another, what I have learned goes something like this:  This is not a short term fix, it is a lifelong change!

This.  What is 'This'?  Is 'This' a diet?  An exercise plan?  A career change?  A new habit to drink more water?  What is 'This'?  We all make New Year's Resolutions, pacts with our best friends, deals with the Devil and concessions for our loved ones, but most of those are temporary; we adopt extreme or uncomfortable behaviors for a short period of time until the commitment expires or until we decide the conditions are unrealistic, and we then revert to old habits.  'This' cannot be that.

What about diet then?  The West has a very cooperative relationship between diet and health; if you adopt one of countless restrictive diets (fat free, sugar free, high protein, low carb, etc.) you will be healthy, sort of like believing that if you have shoes and a tie on, you are dressed, even if the shirt, pants, undergarments and belt are absent.  Because health is mental, physical, emotional, spiritual, and cellular, 'this' cannot be that, either.

So it is exercise?  I find that exercise is seasonal.  When it's warm I run, when it's cold I ski, when it's rainy I read, when it's hot I swim.  I also find seasons where I don't exercise at all!  And my career, too, alters and evolves with the ever changing tide in our home.  The Navy schedule, the children growing, the needs of my family balanced with the needs of my self.  I even find it ironic that I am jumping into pursuit of a career where I help others figure out what 'this' is when I am still milling over the definition of 'this' myself.  Because the definition of 'this' is ambiguous and cantankerous at once, I suggest we find the definition another way: Dear reader, you are not something that requires a short term fix!  You, dear reader, deserve a long, healthy life.  What can you change in order to make that happen!

I believe that health has a foundation; food.  Everything made within your body is made from the food you eat.  But health is not something that occurs by eating three bean salad and barley.  'Health' is 'This'. Health happens not with short term fixes but does happen when life long changes occur!  Dig in to a real, delicious meal, wash it in with water, and always give your vitamins their vitamins.  After some seed planting, cultivation and turning of the soil, remember to wash your hands.

Anna~