Well I am finally back from a great trip to Colorado to attend a cousin's wedding in the beautiful scenic Rocky Mountains. Also, I have the pleasure of having my granddaughter with me for a few weeks.
In my travels my mind kept returning to motivation. Motivation is a tough one. Or at least I have found it so in my life. You would think knowledge and desire would be enough to convince someone (i.e. myself) to change lifestyle habits etc. This has not been so in my life and I have not found it so in my observations of other peoples lives. Look at the number of healthcare professionals who drink alcohol to excess, smoke, eat a bunch of junk and get little to no exercise. Now you know these people have the knowledge. Or at least you would hope they do. Even dietitians can know how to eat and live healthy but not follow through with their own lives.
What is up with that? In my own life, I had to believe I could succeed, continually focus on the health benefits of succeeding, and keep encouraging myself each step of the way.
My most recent victory has been a loss of 48 pounds! I thought I would never loose that excess weight! When I was younger I tried everything, but just seemed to keep gaining back what I painfully lost, plus some. Whew. That was really discouraging! I finally resolved I would be heavy the rest of my life. As a nurse, that hurt, but I just couldn't do hunger or stay away from foods I loved. That contentment only lasted until I started gaining weight again without any change up in my diet. Boy was I scared. I was pushing 200 pounds! Even worse, I was getting older (59) and had border-line low thyroid function. I was convinced I would fail at anything I tried. I felt desperate.
Fortunately a coworker insisted I look at, "Let's Do Lunch". It is really not a diet. It is a way of eating. Wow! I was amazed. I have lost the weight and kept it off for almost 2 years now! If you are interested check out www.letsdolunch.com. I had to continually encourage myself in the beginning but as the weight kept coming off I knew It was only a matter of time before I reached .......... my high school weight!!!! I am still amazed that I lost so much weight. I am even more amazed that I still enjoy all the wonderful delicious foods that I lost my weight on. The message board on the website is full of a ton of people who have been successful with this way of eating and are there to encourage others who are going through what they went through. My story is under Hopefull. Because I was only hopefull that I would be able to loose weight, not sure. Woohoo! It worked!
What is so different about Let's Do Lunch"? The rules. Eat till full every time you are hungry is a must. Eat only foods you love! When you are hungry for sweets eat fruit. When you are hungry for carbs eat all the beans, peas, and corn you want. Lots of delicious healthy food. Initially I did not believe it would work for me. But hey, anytime I can be on plan by eating till full, I was game to give it an honest try! I am laughing here. Like I said, I did not believe this would work.
I have yet to find an exercise program that I am motivated to stay with. Usually I get going, overdo, then quit either out of too much pain or boredom. Motivation, still is a bit of a mystery, however, I believe whatever we are trying to change must really be important to us and seen as something we can do, no one likes failure.
Until next time,
Health Bug
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Health Insurance
One of my pet peeves is the idea that health insurance for everyone will lower/control the cost of healthcare! Let's take a look at what health insurance is. It is a pay system for healthcare. Opps, I am sorry, really it is a pay system for disease care. Think about it! Even if everyone could get free care at your Doctor/hospital/ER, would that help people be healthier? Whether it is healthcare or disease care, what we are talking about is paying for someone else to take care of you AFTER you get sick! How can that possibly lower the cost of providing that care?
I had a nurse make the following statement to me one day. "I don't know why I am still sick, I go to the Dr. all the time." This statement indicates that this person thinks the Dr is the one that makes her well. Yes, the medical professionals help foster that line of thinking. "Don't take x without consulting your Dr first! Don't do X without consulting your Dr first"
What about paying attention to yourself, your body and how you respond to food, exercise, vitamins, medication. If you have just starting taking or doing X and you start having adverse symptoms then maybe you need to stop taking/doing whatever it is. Pay attention! Know yourself.Of course some things take much more thought and figuring out than "I do this and that happens" Sometimes food you eat doesn't affect you until 24-36 hours later. This really complicates the issue,however, you are still more apt to figure it out if you apply yourself than someone else. Again, know yourself.
I've been tending a lot of garden plants lately. This has always been a tedious but very rewarding activity for me. The mundane activity seems to always lend itself to thinking on a deeper level. Yesterday I noticed a sunflower plant that had been half mowed over by the neighbor, the plant was still green and determined to live, even though it was bent over at the ground level and it's stem was lying parallel to the ground. It struck me how determined plants are to survive. Weeds are sprayed with chemicals, hacked on, pulled out yet they will struggle to survive irregardless of the onslaught.
We are the same. Stress, bad food, poisons, radiation all are negative influences on our health and well being. You get a cut, it is almost impossible to stop it from healing, stitches or not. I know there are times for the ER but expecting a Dr to heal you is asking for the impossible. They may facilitate, but they can not heal you,even in the ER. Your body is the healer! Thus, it is you who can make the biggest impact on your health with your lifestyle and food choices and knowing that you hold the keys to your health!
So wrapping this up, my healthcare is my responsibility. I choose who I go to for advice about my health and I choose what to do with that advice. In my opinion, Health Insurance will simply make Insurance Companies wealthier. Another, "think about it", if our present system of "healthcare" was working, we would not have the increase in every major chronic disease out there like we do. If what we have was working, we would be getting healthier as a nation. We are not. I believe the answer lies in helping people be informed, take responsibility for themselves, know themselves as only they can and trust their body and themselves to be in charge of that health and healing.
Until next time, Be healthy!
Healthbug
I had a nurse make the following statement to me one day. "I don't know why I am still sick, I go to the Dr. all the time." This statement indicates that this person thinks the Dr is the one that makes her well. Yes, the medical professionals help foster that line of thinking. "Don't take x without consulting your Dr first! Don't do X without consulting your Dr first"
What about paying attention to yourself, your body and how you respond to food, exercise, vitamins, medication. If you have just starting taking or doing X and you start having adverse symptoms then maybe you need to stop taking/doing whatever it is. Pay attention! Know yourself.Of course some things take much more thought and figuring out than "I do this and that happens" Sometimes food you eat doesn't affect you until 24-36 hours later. This really complicates the issue,however, you are still more apt to figure it out if you apply yourself than someone else. Again, know yourself.
I've been tending a lot of garden plants lately. This has always been a tedious but very rewarding activity for me. The mundane activity seems to always lend itself to thinking on a deeper level. Yesterday I noticed a sunflower plant that had been half mowed over by the neighbor, the plant was still green and determined to live, even though it was bent over at the ground level and it's stem was lying parallel to the ground. It struck me how determined plants are to survive. Weeds are sprayed with chemicals, hacked on, pulled out yet they will struggle to survive irregardless of the onslaught.
We are the same. Stress, bad food, poisons, radiation all are negative influences on our health and well being. You get a cut, it is almost impossible to stop it from healing, stitches or not. I know there are times for the ER but expecting a Dr to heal you is asking for the impossible. They may facilitate, but they can not heal you,even in the ER. Your body is the healer! Thus, it is you who can make the biggest impact on your health with your lifestyle and food choices and knowing that you hold the keys to your health!
So wrapping this up, my healthcare is my responsibility. I choose who I go to for advice about my health and I choose what to do with that advice. In my opinion, Health Insurance will simply make Insurance Companies wealthier. Another, "think about it", if our present system of "healthcare" was working, we would not have the increase in every major chronic disease out there like we do. If what we have was working, we would be getting healthier as a nation. We are not. I believe the answer lies in helping people be informed, take responsibility for themselves, know themselves as only they can and trust their body and themselves to be in charge of that health and healing.
Until next time, Be healthy!
Healthbug
Friday, June 24, 2011
Baby steps
One of my favorite sayings is small changes = BIG results. One of the first and easiest things a person can do is talk kindly to ourselves. "What!" you say, "That's not healthcare, that's self-esteam issues." Bear with me for a moment.
Health is our well-being, that means every aspect of us, physical, spiritual, and yes mental. In fact, it is a well know fact that there is a mental component to 75 to 85% of every illness! Does that mean that your mind makes you sick? Maybe! The important thing is that we know it is a component, a very integral part of our health. If we do not address how we think and most especially our attitudes, we are missing a very important component that we can have some control over.
Thinking positive and having an attitude of gratitude can improve ones outlook on life. Happy people live longer and enjoy life more. It can be an easy first baby step to taking responsibility for those things that you can take charge of.
Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) is a very helpful tool to use to get over some of our more deeply intrenched negative thinking habits. Check out this website. http://www.emofree.com/ There is lots of free information there to ponder.
Until Later,
Healthbug
Health is our well-being, that means every aspect of us, physical, spiritual, and yes mental. In fact, it is a well know fact that there is a mental component to 75 to 85% of every illness! Does that mean that your mind makes you sick? Maybe! The important thing is that we know it is a component, a very integral part of our health. If we do not address how we think and most especially our attitudes, we are missing a very important component that we can have some control over.
Thinking positive and having an attitude of gratitude can improve ones outlook on life. Happy people live longer and enjoy life more. It can be an easy first baby step to taking responsibility for those things that you can take charge of.
Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) is a very helpful tool to use to get over some of our more deeply intrenched negative thinking habits. Check out this website. http://www.emofree.com/ There is lots of free information there to ponder.
Until Later,
Healthbug
Monday, June 20, 2011
Questions?
Many people are afraid to ask their HCP questions. I think that is pretty natural as we view our HCP as someone who is "in charge" and "superior" in knowledge to us. I would suggest to you that the only way to be a part of your own healthcare is to ask questions. Some HCP will get irritated, but who is paying them? That's right, you are!
I know, I know, the appointment is short and it's hard to remember all the questions you had when you came to the see them, let alone the questions that are generated by the conversation you are presently having. Here is were it is very handy to have a family member/friend/advocate go with you to the appointment. Someone who is not afraid to ask questions till you get the answers you need and deserve! Sure they may have a morning full of appointments and feel they don't have time to answer all your questions. However, this is your health and you have a right to have all your questions answered. In reality, any Caregiver will welcome your questions. If they do not, you may need to get someone else to help you with your health!
In my opinion, there is no dumb question. When given a prescription for any medication, I would ask "Is there a dietary, exercise, more holistic way we can address this health issue?" "What are the side effects of this drug?" "How long will I have to take it?" "If I were your family member, what would you recommend?"
Many times Healthcare Providers do not recommend anything other than a pill because they think you won't do anything other than that. In fact, some HCPs are so relieved you ask that question, now they can tell you what they really wanted to tell you in the first place. I know, I'm a nurse and have been behind the scenes!
When surgery is suggested, again ask " Just how necessary is this?" "Is there another approach we can take?" If you don't ask, a lot of times, you will not be given all of your options. Generally a surgeon will recommend surgery. That is what they do. So keep that in mind too.
Did you know you are free to say "Well, I hear what you are suggesting, but I would like to have a little more time to think about this/research and see if there are other options/I need more time to ask more questions that I just can't think of right now." Remember, you are in charge!
Until next time!
Healthbug
I know, I know, the appointment is short and it's hard to remember all the questions you had when you came to the see them, let alone the questions that are generated by the conversation you are presently having. Here is were it is very handy to have a family member/friend/advocate go with you to the appointment. Someone who is not afraid to ask questions till you get the answers you need and deserve! Sure they may have a morning full of appointments and feel they don't have time to answer all your questions. However, this is your health and you have a right to have all your questions answered. In reality, any Caregiver will welcome your questions. If they do not, you may need to get someone else to help you with your health!
In my opinion, there is no dumb question. When given a prescription for any medication, I would ask "Is there a dietary, exercise, more holistic way we can address this health issue?" "What are the side effects of this drug?" "How long will I have to take it?" "If I were your family member, what would you recommend?"
Many times Healthcare Providers do not recommend anything other than a pill because they think you won't do anything other than that. In fact, some HCPs are so relieved you ask that question, now they can tell you what they really wanted to tell you in the first place. I know, I'm a nurse and have been behind the scenes!
When surgery is suggested, again ask " Just how necessary is this?" "Is there another approach we can take?" If you don't ask, a lot of times, you will not be given all of your options. Generally a surgeon will recommend surgery. That is what they do. So keep that in mind too.
Did you know you are free to say "Well, I hear what you are suggesting, but I would like to have a little more time to think about this/research and see if there are other options/I need more time to ask more questions that I just can't think of right now." Remember, you are in charge!
Until next time!
Healthbug
Saturday, June 18, 2011
We know more than we think!
One of the stoppers of consciously taking charge of our health, is feeling like we just don't have enough knowledge to fill that role. In truth we really do know more than we think we do.
For instance, I know I get a rash every time you eat watermelon. I know that I have heartburn if I eat too late at night. My left leg hurts if I walk more than a mile a day. Certain vitamins make me nauseated if I take them on an empty stomach. "Of course I know that stuff!" you exclaim with a grunt of disgust. I guess I should have said "What we know is more important than we think!". These seemingly "little" things are the stuff that the HCP uses to try to figure out what is going wrong with our health. Notice how the first thing they do is ask a lot of questions?
Thats right, you have it. They use the answers to these questions to come up with what they think might be the problem. What I am positing here is that, maybe we just need to ask ourselves more questions to come up with the answers ourselves. At the very least, if we ask ourself more questions, the more in-depth answers will be of great help to you HCP.
A big stumbling block when in search of "Just what is going on with my health?", is my own prejudices. Case in point: At one point I had been drink lots of diet pop. My treat to myself as I was on the Atkins Diet and was rewarding myself for "sticking to the diet". Gradually, my legs began to really ache and then hurt. The pain would fluctuate between a 3 and a 6 (you know, the ole pain scale that rates the worst pain you ever had at a 10?) As the days went on, I began thinking I had arthritis and that the fluctuation was the weather. I just couldn't figure it out. In fact I had begun to accept that I was going to be crippled and unable to walk without a walker by the time I was 60 or even younger as at the time I was in my mid 40's.
One of my co-workers did a lot of research (as I did) and suggested my problem just might be the aspartame in the diet pop I was drinking. My prejudice (I just loved that pop. In fact was addicted to it. How could I do without it?) So I kept on drinking the diet pop.
About the time I was beginning to think I already needed a walker to get around with, my co-worker given an information sheet about the side effects of aspartame. Begrudgingly,I decided,since aspartame is a neurotoxin, I should probably stop drinking the stuff anyway. But, hey, I am human and I wanted my fix. in order to prove that it wasn't the aspartame in the diet pop, I would have to stop drinking it for at least a week. After one week off diet pop, I was feeling much better so I thought as all rational people would think, "Oh, the weather has been better, it must have been the weather why I was feeling better!"
You guessed it, I had myself a big glass of diet pop. Oh how I had missed it. The convincer came that night. I was in agony. My legs hurt so bad, I shed tears. Since then, I have found that even gun with tiny amounts of hidden aspartame in it causes my legs to hurt. Yep, I am now convinced, I'd best not touch the stuff.
Until later,
Healthbug
For instance, I know I get a rash every time you eat watermelon. I know that I have heartburn if I eat too late at night. My left leg hurts if I walk more than a mile a day. Certain vitamins make me nauseated if I take them on an empty stomach. "Of course I know that stuff!" you exclaim with a grunt of disgust. I guess I should have said "What we know is more important than we think!". These seemingly "little" things are the stuff that the HCP uses to try to figure out what is going wrong with our health. Notice how the first thing they do is ask a lot of questions?
Thats right, you have it. They use the answers to these questions to come up with what they think might be the problem. What I am positing here is that, maybe we just need to ask ourselves more questions to come up with the answers ourselves. At the very least, if we ask ourself more questions, the more in-depth answers will be of great help to you HCP.
A big stumbling block when in search of "Just what is going on with my health?", is my own prejudices. Case in point: At one point I had been drink lots of diet pop. My treat to myself as I was on the Atkins Diet and was rewarding myself for "sticking to the diet". Gradually, my legs began to really ache and then hurt. The pain would fluctuate between a 3 and a 6 (you know, the ole pain scale that rates the worst pain you ever had at a 10?) As the days went on, I began thinking I had arthritis and that the fluctuation was the weather. I just couldn't figure it out. In fact I had begun to accept that I was going to be crippled and unable to walk without a walker by the time I was 60 or even younger as at the time I was in my mid 40's.
One of my co-workers did a lot of research (as I did) and suggested my problem just might be the aspartame in the diet pop I was drinking. My prejudice (I just loved that pop. In fact was addicted to it. How could I do without it?) So I kept on drinking the diet pop.
About the time I was beginning to think I already needed a walker to get around with, my co-worker given an information sheet about the side effects of aspartame. Begrudgingly,I decided,since aspartame is a neurotoxin, I should probably stop drinking the stuff anyway. But, hey, I am human and I wanted my fix. in order to prove that it wasn't the aspartame in the diet pop, I would have to stop drinking it for at least a week. After one week off diet pop, I was feeling much better so I thought as all rational people would think, "Oh, the weather has been better, it must have been the weather why I was feeling better!"
You guessed it, I had myself a big glass of diet pop. Oh how I had missed it. The convincer came that night. I was in agony. My legs hurt so bad, I shed tears. Since then, I have found that even gun with tiny amounts of hidden aspartame in it causes my legs to hurt. Yep, I am now convinced, I'd best not touch the stuff.
Until later,
Healthbug
Thursday, June 16, 2011
What's this all about?
Hi,
This is the first post to my first blog! I imagine you may have reached this blog through a search about health or by accident. However you arrived here, you may still have the question "OK, so just what do you mean by 'You in charge of your health'?".
I have been passionate about health for as long as I remember. I began reading almost everything I could get my hands on about how to be healthy and have healthy kids way back in 1971 (Oops! there I go dating myself ;-) ). I continued reading, thinking, analyzing what I read and heard about health. Skip many years later, 20 years in the healthcare profession as an RN and I have arrived at some very strongly held opinions.
Please note! I said opinions! If you read this blog you are agreeing that you, ultimately are responsible for what healthcare decisions you make. I do not diagnose nor prescribe! Sorry, had to get that out of the way for legal purposes.
As I see it, I am in charge of my own health and you are in charge of your own health. After all, who knows more about me than me? I have lived with me for 60 years. You have lived with yourself for however many years old you are. No Healthcare Professional has that many years of experience with you.
"Hold it!" you say, "But I don't have the professional education that my HCP has. How can I even think that I am in charge?" Good question. One we all have to answer for ourselves.
Let me illustrate with the plumber. Your drain gets stopped up (you know that the tree out in the yard has roots that have grown into your sewer) When the plumber arrives you tell him your drain is stopped up and you think it needs to be roto rootered as you are almost positive the roots from that ole tree out back has grown into the sewer line. Note here: you don't say you know because you are afraid of offending the all knowing plumber, after all he has so much more education and experience with these things, but you really are sure the roots of the tree are the problem.
Well the plumber really doesn't like it that you of all people, a lay person, is even suggesting to him what the problem MIGHT be so he sets out to "discover" the problem without taking you seriously. 6 hours later he comes to you confidently, with professional voice and breezily states "Well, I finally found your problem. The roots to that old tree out back have grown into your sewer line. I'm going to need to roto rooter the line. No time today so I will be back tomorrow and I think I can get the line cleared in 4 hours." Or an even worse case seneario is that he comes to you and says, "the problem is your kitchen sink, the drain trap needs replaced......etc, etc, etc". See the problems one can get into by 'just listening' to the "Professional".
What? You got it, If this professional had listened to you, he would have gotten your line cleared right away. OK, so maybe that is a cheesy example but it's all I could think of at the moment.
What I am trying to say is, whether or not you are consulting with a MD, ND, DO, DC, NP, PA, Massage therapist, Reiki Master, CST therapist, or any other kind of healthcare provider. We each, in fact, are the Head of our own Healthcare Team because it is us who has the greatest knowledge about ourselves.
Any way we go from here, we are the ones who decide what to do with the information we are given by the HCP. We can decide to kick back, and do just exactly what "they" tell us to do or we can say "thank you very much for your advice, I want to think about this, a second opinion, to research more, see what cousin Elmo says etc. ".
This "taking charge of your own health" concept is what this blog is all about. If you have questions, please post them and I will attempt to answer them. Otherwise, I imagine I will be blithering on about just how a person can best be their own Healthcare Team Leader. :-}
Until next time.
The Healthbug
This is the first post to my first blog! I imagine you may have reached this blog through a search about health or by accident. However you arrived here, you may still have the question "OK, so just what do you mean by 'You in charge of your health'?".
I have been passionate about health for as long as I remember. I began reading almost everything I could get my hands on about how to be healthy and have healthy kids way back in 1971 (Oops! there I go dating myself ;-) ). I continued reading, thinking, analyzing what I read and heard about health. Skip many years later, 20 years in the healthcare profession as an RN and I have arrived at some very strongly held opinions.
Please note! I said opinions! If you read this blog you are agreeing that you, ultimately are responsible for what healthcare decisions you make. I do not diagnose nor prescribe! Sorry, had to get that out of the way for legal purposes.
As I see it, I am in charge of my own health and you are in charge of your own health. After all, who knows more about me than me? I have lived with me for 60 years. You have lived with yourself for however many years old you are. No Healthcare Professional has that many years of experience with you.
"Hold it!" you say, "But I don't have the professional education that my HCP has. How can I even think that I am in charge?" Good question. One we all have to answer for ourselves.
Let me illustrate with the plumber. Your drain gets stopped up (you know that the tree out in the yard has roots that have grown into your sewer) When the plumber arrives you tell him your drain is stopped up and you think it needs to be roto rootered as you are almost positive the roots from that ole tree out back has grown into the sewer line. Note here: you don't say you know because you are afraid of offending the all knowing plumber, after all he has so much more education and experience with these things, but you really are sure the roots of the tree are the problem.
Well the plumber really doesn't like it that you of all people, a lay person, is even suggesting to him what the problem MIGHT be so he sets out to "discover" the problem without taking you seriously. 6 hours later he comes to you confidently, with professional voice and breezily states "Well, I finally found your problem. The roots to that old tree out back have grown into your sewer line. I'm going to need to roto rooter the line. No time today so I will be back tomorrow and I think I can get the line cleared in 4 hours." Or an even worse case seneario is that he comes to you and says, "the problem is your kitchen sink, the drain trap needs replaced......etc, etc, etc". See the problems one can get into by 'just listening' to the "Professional".
What? You got it, If this professional had listened to you, he would have gotten your line cleared right away. OK, so maybe that is a cheesy example but it's all I could think of at the moment.
What I am trying to say is, whether or not you are consulting with a MD, ND, DO, DC, NP, PA, Massage therapist, Reiki Master, CST therapist, or any other kind of healthcare provider. We each, in fact, are the Head of our own Healthcare Team because it is us who has the greatest knowledge about ourselves.
Any way we go from here, we are the ones who decide what to do with the information we are given by the HCP. We can decide to kick back, and do just exactly what "they" tell us to do or we can say "thank you very much for your advice, I want to think about this, a second opinion, to research more, see what cousin Elmo says etc. ".
This "taking charge of your own health" concept is what this blog is all about. If you have questions, please post them and I will attempt to answer them. Otherwise, I imagine I will be blithering on about just how a person can best be their own Healthcare Team Leader. :-}
Until next time.
The Healthbug
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