Living Life

Shhh, Here Come The Wellness Police

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Lately I’ve taken on this weird habit of eating high fat, high calorie foods in order to “fit in” and help people feel comfortable around me when attending professional events. This comes after many years of comments such as, “Ooo, you wellness freaks aren’t gonna make us eat rabbit food are you?” Or, “quick, hide […]

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Winning Directions = Winning Moves

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Keeping on our favorite theme of more bang for your buck and speaking of quick and easy winning wellness activities… Change directions. Here’s are four moves to do anywhere, anytime that energize and revitalize your whole body. These come to us through our resident yoga expert Anna Van Fleet who is a certified Bikram instructor […]

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Making Room for Progress — Part Two

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How does one give up comforts and readjust to ever shifting health strategies?  There isn’t a formula but we can say three ingredients offer crucial leverage: patience, optimism and social support. When my “coffee and cigarette” friend saw me stew over my morning beverage consternation he said, “Couldn’t you have both?”  Cue V-8 slap (oh […]

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Make Room For Progress – Part One

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Last Sunday I heard a pastor tell a reporter the following: “They say even the air conditioner had an impact on our community connections because people were no longer sitting on their porches and interacting with neighbors.  So I worry about the unintended consequences of all this technology in religion.” Let’s say he’s right, for […]

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Have You Jumped on the Tea Bandwagon?

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First, let me be clear. I am a coffee lover. The last thing I do before I head to bed at night is set up my coffee maker and that hot pot of coffee waiting for me in the kitchen is the primary reason I get out of bed at 5:45 a.m.  So this post […]

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Wake Up You Sleepy Head

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I just read the original story of Rip Van Winkle (Washington Irving, 1819) and discovered why he really slept for 20 years. He had needy neighbors, bratty kids, an unruly farm, and a really awful wife, of which he cautioned: “… a sharp tongue is the only edged tool that grows keener with constant use.” […]

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Happiness and Mildred’s Mistep

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“In here is the sitting room.  I do all my sitting here.  I’m becoming quite an expert here… at sitting.” A favorite line from the 1945 movie version of Mildred Pierce with Joan Crawford.  Her trust-fund boyfriend tells her this once he’s become the ultimate procrastinator and mooch, and is being forced to sell his grand mansion.  […]

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Cleaning Calories

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It’s Passover and almost Easter (“Peastover” in my family) Holiday hosts are scurrying around cleaning, cooking, cleaning, cooking, and did I mention cleaning? Lest you think your exercise routine is going to the matzah (or to chocolate eggs)… Remember that many household chores burn ample calories.  Here’s a list: Cleaning (general):  5-6 cals per minute […]

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“Smart Food”

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After reading Gillian’s Wednesday post about brain health, I decided to look into Omega-3 fatty acids, which I vaguely remembered from my days of reading Dr. Andrew Weil’s Eight Weeks to Optimum Health, were important to the health and intellectual performance of the brain. What I didn’t recall is that in addition to significant brain health […]

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Smartest Brain Around

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“The brain is wider than the sky.” By poet Emily Dickinson. Beautifully said.  Neuroscience tells us Emily is right and yet all I can think of is how little brain I must actually be using! Since that’s a terribly negative angle on things, I’ve decided to re-frame my point of view… Just in case I happen […]

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