Just like the home you live in, I like to think of the heart as having plumbing, electricity, and carpentry. Most diseases of the heart can be traced to a problem in one of these systems. In other words, some heart diseases are due to plumbing problems, others to faulty wiring, and still others to the construction material itself. Continue reading
Category Archives: Moving
Making Synergy: Health & Wellness
A special synergy comes from investing in three different kinds of activities that combine to improve your health and wellness: eating patterns, activity patterns, and rest & relaxation patterns. Activities that combine more than one at the same time — like gardening, picnics, or yoga, to name just a few — bring an extra special benefit. Here are a few examples of ways I have found to mix and match eating, moving, and relaxing. Continue reading
The Seasons Change, and So Do You
A this time of year, many people start wondering why they were doing such a great job staying active a few months ago, but haven’t been doing much of anything recently. If this describes you, then this post is yours. Continue reading
Try This: Earn Your Grain
Nobody likes to think that they aren’t eating a nourishing diet. It kinda feels bad to think that you might be letting yourself down. If challenged, people tend to say that they’re eating pretty well, and that they think they’re making pretty good choices. Completely understandable. Continue reading
Inspiration & Motivation for Your Reading Pleasure
On a regular basis, I have to tell a new patient that their blood sugars are too high. But please don’t shoot the messenger: It’s nothing personal. Not when the latest statistics reveal that fully one-half of the population over age 65 is now diabetic or prediabetic. And certainly not when the stats show that the majority don’t even know. Unbelievable, right? But it’s true. It’s either you or your spouse. You or your next-door neighbor. You or your best friend. Fifty percent. It doesn’t have to be this way. Continue reading
Practice Makes Progress
A few years ago, the computer guy showed up at my office for the first time in a long while. Let’s call him Gene. Right away, I knew something had changed. I said, “Gene, how are you? You’re looking very well!” He responded with an uncharacteristic grin, and answered with a statement that all of us know, but few believe. He said, “Diets don’t work.” I sat up quick. Continue reading
Go For a Walk!
This week we’re going to talk about taking a walk. Here’s what I tell my patients: “I’ll pay any price to keep you mobile.” I consider mobility a goal of the highest priority. There is only one other goal about which I feel this way; I also want patients to know that I will pay any price to keep their blood sugars normal. When our kids were much younger, and they got stuck in a complaining mode (I’m cranky; I don’t feel well; I’m bored; I have too much homework), I would always say, “Go for a walk!” It got to be a joke in our house. They took it to the next level. Fever? Go for a walk! Migraine? Take a hike! Broken leg? Walk it off! Appendicitis? “Very funny,” I said. Continue reading
Be Kind to Yourself
It just came to me that I spend my days teaching people how to be kinder to themselves, and that this kindness is designed to manifest itself in three major spheres: 1) eating patterns, 2) activity patterns, and 3) rest & relaxation patterns. It’s all about being kind to yourself, about nourishing your heart and soul with better food, more movement, and quality rest. It will be so good for you. Continue reading
All Health is Personal
Thomas P. “Tip” O’Neill, the former Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, was famous for having said that “all politics is local.” By this he meant, I believe, that you grow to understand much more significantly any issue that touches you directly and personally. Continue reading
Wellness as a Pyramid
I like to think about health and wellbeing as a pyramid, a pyramid with three major pillars: eating patterns, activity patterns, rest & relaxation patterns. Notice I didn’t call anything diet and exercise — yeh, those don’t work. Continue reading