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ZING! Living Newsletter
March 2011
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Greetings!
March is National Nutrition Month. What could be more exciting?! Actually, it doesn't have to be that bad; eating more healthily does not mean complication or restriction. You can start with some simple things like including more color in your diet (no, red # 5 doesn't count) and eating more mindfully (yes, even your burger). Also in this month's newsletter, I'll step briefly onto my soap box, shake my finger, and preach to you about the importance of maintaining a relationship with a primary care doctor. Want to learn more about healthy living? Please visit Zing! Living's website where you'll find oodles of information on healthy living and cultivating the mental, emotional, and spiritual environment to support yourself in achieving your goals. While you're there, I invite you to sign up for my free online e-course, "Five Attitudes to Supercharge Your Wellness Journey," and enjoy some other free goodies too.
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Eat A Rainbow Every Day
When confronted with the recommendation to clean up our diets and eat more nutritious meals, many of us feel overwhelmed.
You might ask, "How many calories should I eat? How many carbohydrates do I need? What are healthy alternatives to the foods I love to eat now? Do I need a multivitamin? Where do I start?"
It's easy to get seduced by the promise of amazing results, all from chewing just one piece of candy or drinking three designer protein shakes a day. Or we may swing to the opposite extreme, electing complicated regimes of expensive vitamins and supplements. It seems everyone's got a magical cure for whatever ails you - a book, a program, a diet, prepackaged meals, and so on.
I have a magical cure for you too. And you don't even have to pay me $19.95 a month to get it. Just go to the produce section of your grocery store, or, better yet, visit your local farmer's market, and stock up on a rainbow of colors.
If you don't like to cook, pick stuff you can eat raw: apples, oranges, bananas, grapes, and blueberries. Or how about tomatoes, carrots, zucchini, celery, and purple onion? Fruits and veggies are low in calories, and contain healthy carbohydrates in the form of fiber and natural sugars. Carrots make a great substitute for chips with your sandwich. And what's easier or cheaper than peeling and eating a banana?
According to the American Dietetic Association, eating a variety of colorful fruits and vegetables daily provides you with a multitude of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. Eating your nutrients in whole form likely enhances absorption of them in your digestive tract and helps them function more efficiently within your body, as opposed to just consuming your vitamins in a pill. Plus, you'll benefit from healthful fiber and feel fuller as well.
As you go about your busy day, I suggest trying to eat at least one fruit or vegetable from each color of the rainbow. This is an easy way to cut calories and reduce your risk of cancer, heart disease, stroke, and diabetes. You'll swap disease promoting substances like trans fats and high fructose corn syrup for the benefits disease preventing vitamins and antioxidants.
Would you like some info on helping your kids develop healthier eating habits? Click here.
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Prescription for Life
 Here's a prescription from a doctor: get a doctor if you don't have one. And, if your new doctor recommends it, please get a yearly physical, keep current on your screening tests, and follow up for your results.
Talking to a physician about screening is important, because he or she may pick up on risk factors you weren't aware of. And, sure, getting tested for things like cancer, especially when it involves something unpleasant like a Pap smear, mammogram, or colonoscopy can be nerve wracking, not to mention embarrassing. But trust me, the treatment and expense for these cancers once they've spread is far worse than the screening tests and treatments available when they're caught early.
Every healthy, sexually active woman should establish a relationship with a gynecologist, family physician, or internist by the time she's 21 for cervical cancer screening. Every healthy man should establish a relationship with a family physician or internist by the time he's 50 for colon and prostate cancer screening. You may need to meet with a physician earlier than the ages listed above if you smoke, are overweight, or have diseases that run in your family like cancer, diabetes, depression, or heart disease.
Also be aware that not everyone who wants to be screened for a disease needs to be. Sometimes a screening test can be more harmful than beneficial. Your primary care physician can help you determine what, if any, screening tests are appropriate for you and at what age.
An ongoing relationship with a primary care physician can save you money, pain, and hardship. It may just save your life. Please look into it.
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Mindful eating practices have been the key to my success on my wellness journey. Initially I found that eating mindfully simply brought more enjoyment to the act of eating, but with time, my way of consuming food evolved profoundly. I grew up on Lucky Charms, Pop Tarts, and Kraft Macaroni and Cheese. In fact, I don't think I even let a vegetable grace my plate until I reached my mid 20s.
To everyone's surprise, I am now making the swift transition to a raw food, vegetarian diet. Not only do I not feel deprived, I actually feel very excited about it. Mindfulness revolutionized the way I consume; it has taken me from learning to eat what's best for my body to the expansiveness of choosing my meals based on what supports my family, my community, and my planet.
Here is a short video detailing seven mindful eating practices which can transform the way you eat too. Bon appetit!
 | | Lilian Cheung: "Savor: Mindful Eating, Mindful Life" |
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Thank you for reading my newsletter. If you've found the information relevant and interesting, please tweet it, share it, or pass it along to someone else.
Need help navigating your way to healthier eating habits or developing a mindful eating practice? Call me at 623-242-8809 or email me at Melanie@ZingLiving.com. I look forward to working with you!
Sincerely,
Melanie Lane, MD, CPCC
Dr Lane, ZING! Living Coach
www.ZingLiving.com |
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Quote of the Month
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"How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives."
Annie Dillard
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Talking Animals
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Free Online Course ZingLiving.com
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Finding and maintaining an attitude to support your wellness goals can be challenging. Here I offer five new ones for you to try on to get things jumpstarted.
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