A Winter's Day, Memories, Mood and Diet

Looking out my window this morning I see a snowfall that poems are written about. Slow fat snowflakes falling onto tree branches which are coated with a fluffy white so beautiful that you see them in  artists paintings.  This puts me in a good mood and I haven't even left the bed yet.  I take a picture of this beautiful scene to look at again in the future and remind me of this quiet, pleasant moment.  Why is taking this moment to observe the scene so important you might wonder?  Well, for me, I have a childhood memory of my mother and I taking a rest on her bed and looking out the window of our home when I was a child.  It was quiet time for both of us from our busy lives.  My mother worked every day, most years, and didn't get the luxury of being a "stay at home" mom.  So usually at the end of a day, before dinner, we would have "quiet time" and cuddle and talk about the past or the future.

 We lived on a busy street corner and watch the cars go by.  Some cars would go really fast and make wild turns.  One time a car lost control and ran up the lawn before stopping suddenly and moving on.  Mostly though, we would notice color or not notice anything at all, and comment on the weather, if it were raining or snowing.  I miss my family time as a child, I can't deny it.

 I am now in what I call the grandparent generation, as it becomes my turn to move into that role in the spring.  I have cleaned out closets and drawers lately, and found old archival oral history recordings of family members, now deceased, that I recorded years ago. I hear them with a new ear for the small details of their family life, that I paid no attention to when I first heard them.  I feel like it is the wisdom from ages past.  Our meals back then were mostly high fat, salt and sugar laden foods and some family members smoked cigarettes and drank wine and liquor with no limits.  Many relatives died young or way before their time.  I think about it all.

Winter is a complicated season for many people.  Holidays become an emotional roller coaster depending upon the family relationships.  When I was actively seeing patients for nutrition counseling about ten years ago, I had patients tell me that their eating changes were often sabotaged by jealous family members who did not want to see my client succeed.  I learned that many family's had members placed in roles.  The successful one, the thin one, the fat one, the jokester, the idiot, etc.  So when my client was successful in dropping weight or bringing healthy changes to the family dinner, they were made fun of, and to fit in, had to cheat on their diet to survive. It occurs with other unhealthy habits like drinking alcohol, smoking and drug use, too. Seeing a physician for help is a must for these situations.

 Today it seems the reverse.  I know my holiday meals look nothing like they did when I was a child or even five years ago and though we are not vegan yet, it is a much different table.  We definitely have many dietary choices such as low sodium, vegetarian and gluten free available at our holiday now. The changes are welcome and now I cannot eat some of the family favorites because my tastes have evolved.  Staying healthy is a full time job as we age.  As a nutritionist, I say this often and will as many times as necessary, along with dietary changes comes exercise at least 30-45 minutes a day, 5-7 days per week.  Meditation or yoga as often as you can and strength training 1-2 times per week.  Putting together a plan for a healthier you for the new year is important!  If you haven't had a physical exam and have your blood pressure taken in a while, now might be a good time to do that.

Well, out my window now the snow has stopped and the sun is starting to come out.  I see a blue sky and the snow is melting off of the tree branches.  I believe it is time to get outside and smell the fresh air.  It is time to exercise and plan for some family fun this weekend. To make new memories for my family to share. I hope you do the same! Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!

Distraction and Noise

I am a people watcher. I always was since I have been a young child.  I learn from watching how others behave and then decide if that behavior would work for me, or not.  It goes along with my love of history.  I believe strongly that you have to learn from the past, so you do not repeat the mistakes.  Being Jewish and hearing the stories of my grandparents and parents, we, along with other immigrant children learned of the treacherous paths our families tread to provide us with a safer life in a new land, America.  We enjoy a quiet peaceful life, for the most part.  I worry that very slow and subtle changes to the world we know, not only here in United States, but overseas, where we traveled as a family for two weeks, throughout Europe, are happening.  I can use my vote as an American to speak for me, but I cannot help but worry for the future, at least at this moment in time. That is how I feel about what is going on in our world today.

What does this have to do with nutrition you ask?  Stress is actually a large factor in your health.  There is a medical relationship between stress and the body's ability to keep blood values at normal levels.  Medical research has identified inflammation as a reaction to elevated stress levels and many conditions are related to this inflammation, such as heart disease, diabetes and high blood pressure, among others.  What does this have to do with distraction and noise?  The distraction is the daily worry every time one reads a paper, turns on the news, or even has a conversation with family or friends.  The noise is the internet constantly intruding in your life with hourly teases of something potentially important, but often, not important at all.  The answer, of course, is to turn off your phone or turn down the sound.  Easy to say but hard to do.

I can tell you I was not raised this way.  I do not have the skill set to take it all in and try to maintain my center.  I love vacations that have no internet access. Even that is changing, as on my last trip. I was the one who arranged international internet availability.  I felt it was necessary for emergency access, and, of course, my internet carrier made it quite convenient to do so.  I used it to keep in touch with the news from home.  I admit, it calmed me down as we enjoyed a nine hour flight to Zurich.  I downloaded podcasts and listened to them as I fell asleep for several hours.  I used to watch movies or, god forbid, read a book, but listening to stories of the news did the trick.  Maybe I have changed. 

 Medical science suggests that to help keep a healthy brain you need to learn new things as you get older.  I recently turned sixty and attend classes at the local college center for seniors.  I have been doing this for years, and I am usually the youngest in my classes.  That means everyone else is in their 70's, 80's and 90's, and all healthy.  These are some of the smartest people I have ever met.  In their working life they were physicians, attorneys, business owners and regular working class people who somehow lucked out on the health game.  I want to be them when I grow up.  Every time I take a class thinking it's going to be boring, I eventually learn something new and then find out that these people already knew it.  

I also hang out with the Millennial's, those in their 20's and 30's.  I can't help it, four of them belong to me, and they have friends.  They are also very brilliant and also physicians, attorneys, future business owners and regular working class people.  I admit it. Our trip to Europe wouldn't have happened or gone along so smoothly if it weren't for them.  I mean, to take a land tour as thoroughly as we did, with all the trains, planes, trams, buses and boats we took.  We flew five separate airlines and stayed in four different hotels.  I believe I finally got to experience the European trip I could never afford when I was in college.  I thank my kids for the experience and I hope we do it again sometime.

The Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah, is a month or so away and I want to make a deal with myself, to take the time, and cut out some of the noise and distraction in my life.  Give myself permission to sit down and take a break.  We had a busy year last year. I recommend to you to do the same, and while you are at it, go get regular check ups. It is necessary, and important, no matter how old you are.  Here is the spirituality part of the story. Distraction and noise equals stress. Elevated levels of stress translates into disease no matter how healthy of a diet you are following. Of course regular exercise is part of the lifestyle, and if you are dragging your feet, you should start today.  But, stuff happens, even to the health gurus, so try to include some quiet time off the grid.  I will keep following my senior friends to figure out their secrets and hopefully the Millennial's will follow me.  Here is to a very long and quiet life!