My Health Journey

Have you ever thought of your life as a journey? I am pretty much an open book. What you see is what you get. So, I will just open up, and start sharing. This has certainly been an exciting journey for me. Life, that is. I was born and raised in Columbus, Ohio and have lived all over the United States during my married adult life.

 I remember how thin I was growing up and how I desperately wanted to put on just a few pounds. Skinny was the term I remember. Being tall, another favorite teasing nickname by others was the Jolly Green Giant. Funny, unless you were on the receiving end.

Baking was a favorite pastime and since I didn't gain weight with anything I ate, chocolate cake became my favorite. And I did eat chocolate cake. Chocolate was probably one of my favorite foods. (still is if the truth be told) The weight gain did not catch up with me until after the birth of my third child. I just never lost all the weight. As a matter of fact, my slow creep up to the top started then. He is 23 now. I still joked about it being my baby fat. I didn't eat all the time, and I didn't even eat much at a serving. It was what I ate.

The carbs! I loved the carbs. I didn't want to love the carbs, but I did. I even would eat healthy most of the time, but there was always room for dessert. Dessert was always the priority. I just didn't understand the very simple truth of insulin resistance. At different times in my adult life, I lost the weight, and put it back on again. Health was very important to me, but I just could not shake the dessert thing. Pasta was also a weakness. Chicken Alfredo with Pasta. The other pull. I wouldn't even gorge on it. I could never even finish an entire meal. It was what I was eating.

Several months ago I discovered a very commen sense approach to eating. The Low Glycemic Index program helped me break the addiction to high glycemic carbs that I had been so accustomed to. I decided to live it! The program was very healthy. No fad dieting. Just learning how to eat healthy, and follow a low glycemic plan. I no longer crave the pastas, and desserts. Ice cream every once in a while is a treat. However, now instead of eating a huge bowel, I am able to eat a serving. A great side effect of eating healthy has been a 30 pound weight loss. I exercise, and make sure I am using a well rounded plan of supplementation to fill in the gaps!

I use essential oils and supplements packed with essential oils now! Lovin my life! What about you? Have you made any changes lately?

The Essential Nurse LOVES Green Smoothies!



As I have been changing more and more of my food choices, one new food habit of mine has been Green Smoothies. I know. It sounds really gross. That's what I thought at first as well. Facebook is an excellent place to be exposed to new things. You know how it goes. You accept a friend on facebook. When your friends join new groups it shows up on your newsfeed. So, me being the curious one, saw a link for green smoothies. Weird. I tend to have weird ideas (at least my friends seem to think so). As I investigated this concept, I joined a few groups and found a few recipes.
My first and subsequent green smoothies have included such ingredients as spinach, bananas, strawberries, kale, collards, kiwi, blueberries, pineapple, raspberries, alkaline water, ice, almond butter, almond milk, coconut milk, apples, and pears. Just to name a few things. I didn't use all those ingredients in the same smoothie. Do you want to know the funny thing? No matter how much green stuff I put into it, the taste is always the fruit.

Neon green, or "shrek" green is what it looks like. I have been making one or two per day. What have been the effects? I feel so much better. One can't help but feel better when eating from God's bounty.
Do a Google search on the harmful effects of genetically modified foods. This alone should make you want to get away from processed, non organic, genetically modified foods. Our cells are living. Why do we as a nation continue to put dead processed foods into our living bodies, and expect healthy results? I saw a quote today "According to the U.S. Surgeon General of the 2.2 million deaths in America each year, 1.8 million are diet related". So, as a nurse, I feel an obligation to share health. I want to serve God in a healthy, vibrant body. When one finds truth, you either ignore it, or you share it. I am choosing to live it, and share it. You shall know The Truth; and The Truth Shall set you free.-John 8:32

Confessions from a Sugar Addict

I have a story to share today about being a sugar addict! Truth is always better than fiction when getting a point across in my opinion. It's because one can relate to the human struggles, and hopefully learn from the mistakes made. My story starts with CELEBRATION! Kelly (my 27 year old daughter), just finished nursing school. Yep! She finally decided to follow in mom's footsteps. After several years working on an accounting degree, she decided she would rather be a nurse than an accountant. So my daughter, (who at 7 years also almost passed out at the shopping mall during a health fair when she saw someone have their finger pricked for a blood sugar test, and many other similar adventures during her life) was accepted into nursing school, and graduated a few weeks ago. I couldn't be more proud. Since I still work as a nurse every weekend, the celebration was going to be tricky. We decided upon a party at the local Texas Steakhouse because they had a large banquet room. Sunday afternoon at 3:00 PM was just perfect.

I didn't have to prepare at my house, and I could still enjoy the function and be at work at 6:45 that evening. Well, I needed to order the cake. Not just any cake. I decided only the best for my daughter. I went to Anne's Donut Shop. Not Walmart, Food Lion, Harris Teeter, or Sam's Club. Only Anne's Donut's cake was suited for such a fine celebration. I entered Anne's Donut Shop, with only the highest resolve. In, Out. Nothing to it. I ordered her cake, with special nurse decorations to mark the theme of this wonderful celebration. Looking around I spotted the thing. The pumpkin spice roll slices. Oh boy. I hadn't eaten anything like that in a long time. Just a taste. One slice would be OK. Then, there was the double doozie chocolate chip cookie with the thick white cream in-between the cookies. Then, my very favorite. The long john with the chocolate on top, and the white cream in the middle. OK. So I justifed this. Just go ahead and purchase them, and nibble on them for a few days. Make them last. So I succumbed to the temptation.

On the drive home, I decided to open the bag, and take just a bite from the pumpkin roll slice. Once bite led to another, and another, and another. Whoops! All of a sudden I realized, the entire slice was gone. I was overdue for lunch, so going to Anne's Donuts while hungry was my first mistake. Another thing. Instead of stopping by Anne's, I should have just called. So, I fix a quick lunch at the house. And opened the bag. Just a bite of the double doozie cookie. And another bite, and another bite…until it was gone. Then the long john… until it was gone. What happened next I pray will never happen again. For those of you who may not know, I teach low glycemic healthy living classes. I am a health and wellness nurse. I promote eating healthy and balanced. Good carbs, healthy carbs, balanced with healthy proteins and healthy fats. I take pharmaceutical grade supplements. I make healthy shakes and smoothies. I have lost 35 pounds in the past year. I feel better now than I did in my 20's. My goal is to be a health and wellness nuse fulltime. AND I JUST ATE 3 OF THE WORST FOODS A PERSON COULD POSSIBLE EAT! The guilt overwhelmed me at first.

Then something very unexpected happened. (unexpected, because I am not a diabetic) My vision became blurry. I developed a very bad headache. I felt flushed. My husband came home from work, and he was ready to head to church for mid-week Bible Study. I told him I had developed a headache and wouldn't be going to church that night. I didn't tell him why. Shame prevented me from telling him what had just taken place. (I had hidden all evidence) As he pulled out of the driveway, a little fear struck me, as I didn't know if he and my son would come home later that night and find me in a sugar-high coma. My vision remained blurry for 6 hours. The headache lasted about as long. The next day, I felt bad. Tired, sluggish, and toxic. I didn't go into a sugar high coma. The event was so eye opening for me. My body wasn't used to all those bad carbs. What was frightening, however, was my body didn't quickly snap back from the sugar load. Normally, when you eat too many bad carbs, your body rushes with a load of insulin and even though the blood sugar spikes, it returns quickly to normal before plunging to a low sugar, and you start the cycle again.(the low glycemic lifestyle prevents the highs and low cycle) I didn't have a blood glucose machine at my home, but the symptoms were so severe, I knew my blood sugar rose quicky, but stayed there a long time. I was so thankful my body eventually felt normal again.

Moral of the story. Don't binge. Learn from me. Don't repeat what I did. Plan ahead. Like I have said before. If bad carbs have been a problem for you in your life, take it seriously. Like an alcoholic, the urge can be overwhelming once you start. Call the bakery and order that cake. Let someone else pick up the cake. Eat a healthy meal/snack before you go out. Do not keep tempting foods in your house. If you feel the urge to have a cookie, or dessert, plan it carefully. Have a healthy meal, and share the dessert with a friend or your spouse. Most important, love yourself. It isn't an all or nothing event. The next day, I was back on track. I didn't beat myself up. I didn't try and "hide" what I had done. This story was shared with my family, friends, and low glycemic class members. I share it with you, not because I am proud of what I did. I am sharing my human-ness. I am sharing my victories and struggles, so you will relate. So if it happens to you, you will pick yourself up, and hold your head high, and continue with a renewed resolve. If you have already experienced something similar, you can forgive yourself and move on. Life is too short to beat yourself up. We are all on this journey called life.

Hi… My name is Joyce. I was a sugar addict…

My Carb Addiction: Cinnabon and Godiva Chocolates

 

 

 

My journey with carbohydrate addiction has been eased with the cleanse I have been on. I no longer have the physical addiction to bad carbohydrates. The mental addiction can be present even if the physical draw to bad carbohydrates has been conquered. For example, I was in Columbus, Ohio over the weekend. I always make a trip to Easton Mall. Easton is an experience and a blog all in itself. When I travel, there are certain places I ALWAYS visit, just because these stores are not available where I live. I ALWAYS have to get a cinnamon roll from Cinnabon, and I ALWAYS have to get chocolate from the Godiva Chocolate store. It is just something I do. For no particular reason, other than it tastes good, and I can't purchase these items on a regular basis where I live. And, it is habit. A mental thing.

 

So, after lunch at Max & Irma's, I spot the Cinnabon place. For once, I was not drawn to go there. Not even a little bit. I was estatic and overjoyed. Cinnabon did not have a hold on me. Whew! Leaving the Easton Mall, we walked past Godiva Chocolates. For a brief moment, I wanted to go in. I wasn't craving, but it was out of habit. My son said, "mom, you really don't want that". He was right. I really didn't want it. So, my brief thought to enter, was out of habit, and I passed it by. Being able to forgo a trip to Cinnabon AND Godiva Chocolates was paramount for me.

This is HUGE! After my big mess up with Anne's donut's just a few weeks prior, I felt this was a monumental moment for me! I know it can be done! Victory! Each day for me is a choice. Each day and in each situation I choose my behavior. Carbohydrate addiction – today you had no power over me. Take away thought: Start each day with a clean slate. Carefully think about the choices you make all during the day. Is the choice you are making bringing your toward your goal of your Best Self?

I allow myself to enjoy Cinnabon on occasion! It's my favorite dessert. I now practice moderation and not gluttony! 

Utilize Whole Person Wellness for the New Year!

For many, a new year is synonymous with new beginnings. This New Year can mean a fresh start, or a do-over. Many people write resolutions for the new year, to only find several weeks down the road either changes have not been made, follow through didn’t happen, or you can’t even find the paper you made your list on.

May I suggest viewing these changes as a marathon and not a sprint? As caregivers, either of others or of ourselves, we tend to want everything microwave quick. We desire instant change. If we do not see instant change, often we forget about the project, or feel it is too overwhelming of a goal. I am going to give an overview of twelve areas of change. These areas are from the Wellness Inventory Assessment. Keep in mind these areas overlap and even subtle changes in one area can impact the others.

Another area to consider is to ask yourself if you are really ready for change. Some people only think about changing, while others are ready for action. This makes a big difference in your success of changing behaviors. If you are only thinking about change, what steps can you take to be ready for action? The other areas to consider is are you ready to learn, or are you holding on tightly to your views that you feel protective when ideas other than your own are suggested? You need to open up and be in a learning mode to wholeheartedly embrace change.
We are going to take a brief overview of twelve areas for balance. As you view these areas, you may want to highlight the areas where you feel you are most motivated for change. Leaks in any of these areas can bring energy drain.

1.Self responsibility and love: Do you take responsibility for your health and life? How do you feel about yourself? Do you love yourself? Do you love yourself just as you are? This area is the very foundation for the balance you want to achieve.

2.Breathing: Do you take time to be aware of your breathing? Do you take time to be present with where you are? This area is often the most overlooked. I know it was in my life. This area helps with the fight or flight response that is so overworked these days. Breathing can help relieve tension.

3.Sensing: Are you aware of your surroundings? How can you increase the awareness of what is around you? Try going for a walk and allowing your senses to take over. Be mindful of what you hear, what you see, and what you smell on that walk. This is an area that can really add richness to your life.

4.Eating: Surround yourself with wholesome, nourishing foods. If you have an active lifestyle, be sure to plan ahead and have healthy choices in place.

5.Moving: Moving doesn’t have to be boring or hard to do. If you don’t move now, can you turn on some good music and just dance? Try some fun exercise DVD’s, or get out for a walk.

6.Feeling: Anger, fear, sadness, joy, guilt…How do you exhibit these emotions and feelings?

7.Thinking: Do you employ negative thinking? Your thought patterns, do you allow your thoughts to be your reality? These areas, the feeling and thinking can literally bring you down and affect the other areas negatively. OR, the way you learn to think and feel can bring revolution to your life.

8.Playing & Working: Finding balance between work and play can be a challenge. If you are totally burned out in your work, maybe it’s time to be honest and look for a change of scenery. I know having more play time this year is a top priority for me.

9.Communicating: The way we think and the way we feel can form the communication that is transmitted to others. How is our self-talk? How are we perceived by others? How do we perceive others? Do you say yes, when you really mean no? Do you really listen to the other person?

10.Intimacy: Is this an area that needs to improve? Are you comfortable with this subject? Do you think how you feel about yourself can impact this area? How about how you feel about the other person? Does unresolved conflict hinder this area?

11.Finding Meaning: This is a deep one, but one often overlooked. Is there something you really want to be doing, and know you should be doing, but you ignore this?

12.Transcending: This is where deeper meaning and Spirituality take part. I personally am a Christian and this area for me entails my relationship with God. The Oneness I have with him. The prayer, meditation, and devotional time. This may mean something a little different to others. For me this area is the whole of the rest of the wheel and I can see the impact of this area in all others. This area may take on a different meaning for others. But for all, this is the area of knowing the whole of who we are.

Setting goals and implementing the plan is the next step. This step is another area where people can set themselves up for failure. Often the goals are right, but there are no steps put in place to get there. Steps can be made that are too big. Smaller steps toward the same goal are more easily obtained and followed through on than large steps.

You may find there are goals you want to set in every area. That is fine. Just don’t overwhelm yourself with trying to make all the changes in all categories at once. Some areas will overlap. For instance, you may start working toward steps in the eating and moving categories, but then spend the first month really concentrating on self responsibility and love, or breathing.

Finding someone to be accountable to can assist in ensuring success in the changes you want to make. Having a coach is a relatively new concept. To be honest, I had never heard of coaching until a few years ago. I employed a life coach, and it changed my life. I am now a wellness coach, and I have found when I listen to my clients, they really already know the answers for them. It is just a matter of helping them be able to articulate what they are looking for, and realize where it is they want to go and what is priority for them. Another thing I do as a coach is to assist my clients in prioritizing what is important to them.

When I first took a Wellness Inventory Assessment, I thought my priority was to finish releasing 30 pounds of fat I so wanting to rid myself of. When I took the assessment, what I realized was I needed to play more and breathe more. This ended up being priority for me, and until these areas were addressed, I really didn’t have myself in line to be able to concentrate on releasing that weight. Honestly, when I was able to get my priorities straight, I was able to love myself just as I was. As a result of that, my self-responsibility and love balanced out, and I am now able to move more, eat better, and start releasing that fat.

Entering a new year can be exciting and full of new beginnings. Take time to find out where your priorities really are, map out where you want to go, and take small measureable goals to get there.

Nurses as Holistic Nurturers

I love the word nurture. Possibly it stirs up the mothering, womanly, and caring instincts in me. Nurses are nurturers. As a nurse, I will apply the word to how we care for our selves, our family, and patients, and finances. How do you currently care for your patients? Are you task oriented? Are you a nurturer? Do you set your intentions to be a nurturer, but find yourselves tasking due to patient load, acuity, or just “so much to do”?

A few years ago I was enrolled in an online university and I was taking some nursing classes. My “ah ha” moment came with the very first class. I had been a nurse about 17 years at this point. A realization hit me. I had been practicing nursing as a medical model. Don’t get me wrong. We as nurses need to be skilled in the science of patient care. How else would we pick up on those subtle changes and responses to the medical treatment we administer? Something was missing. The missing element was the reason I went into nursing to begin with. I wanted to help people. Florence Nightingale was my hero. She was the caring, nurturing, and healing individual that aspired me when I was 14 years old. I remember sitting in one of the commons areas at my local high school prior to class as a freshman. My “calling” was a knowing. I knew I wanted to be a nurse. It was my destiny. Think back. When was that time in your life that you “knew”? I found a new model.

You know, what is old, becomes new again? It does not only apply to fashion. Jean Watson, PhD, RN, AHN- BC, FAAN. Have you heard of her? Do a little research if you have not. She is the founder of Watson Caring Science Institute. Her website is @www.watsoncaringscience.org. She currently has a worldwide project called the Million Nurse Caring Field Project. She has monthly meditation videos. The university I was attending had “adopted” Dr Watson’s caring model as the basis for their nursing education. I was in love with nursing again. Dr. Watson developed her model and has 10 Caritas (caring concepts). I would love for nurses everywhere to read, incorporate, and practice within their sphere of influence Dr. Watson’s caring concepts.

Are you a nurturer? Do you nurture yourself as well? Nurture your self as in taking time for the the mind/spirit connection. Nurture your health as in health of self and teaching others about health/wellness. I recently had an awesome experience as I attended a yoga retreat led by a nurse. We had green smoothie fasting all weekend, and I was really allowed and encouraged to nurture myself. It was an experience that changed my life and as a result I knew nurses needed to be exposed to learning how to make conscious decisions toward their self-care.

I use several things on a day to day basis including better choices in nutrition and I also implement essential oils for stress and grounding. What do you do to nurture yourself? I am learning yoga now and paying much more attention to my breathing. This process of the breathing is so important, and I learned this concept during 2 wellness coaching programs I invested in. To have an entire weekend where I could really practice my breathing and relaxation techniques was of more value than anything I had experienced in a long time.

The takeaway, is that I want nurses to realize how important self-nurturing is. What I am developing as a result of my nursing experiences over the past 25 years whether those experiences have been positive or negative. How many times have you gone an entire shift and not gone to the bathroom? How many shifts have you worked and not taken in any water? How many shifts have you not eaten anything? How many times have you gone home and have been so stressed out you couldn’t relax and sleep? It is now time to step away from the edge and invest in you!

Sleeping Better with Night Shift Blues!

Are you one of the 6,000,000 Americans that work on the night shift? I was! My routine was EVERY Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights from 6:45 PM to 7:15 AM. Recently, I added a contract nursing job on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday night from 10:00 PM to 6:30 AM. That contract nursing job was only temporary, and believe it or not, I actually felt better in the few weeks I worked it.

This brings me to this subject. How do you work night shift and maintain health? I have now researched many articles, and studies on the subject of working night shift. From these readings I have developed a list of 8 things I  faithfully did while I was on on this schedule to maintain and improve my health.

1) Set a goal to sleep 8 hours everyday. In the past, it has been easy for me to sleep only 4.5 or 5 hours, get up to the bathroom, and then be wide awake; only to find it is time to go back to work and I have not slept enough. One habit I am formed which transformed my life in this area. I had darkened my bedroom more than it was previously darkened. There were little cracks of light seeping through the windows, and I corrected that issue. It is now VERY dark in my room.

2) There were several articles that discussed wearing very dark sunglasses as you leave the place of employment and on the trip home. There has been research to show that once your subject your eyes to the bright morning light, this does something to you body that says “wake up”. So, this is on my to do list, and I will be purchasing this item TODAY!

3) Eat low glycemic. I already do this. HOWEVER, I was very excited to see this was suggested in several articles. One new piece of information was to have the heavy meal in the evening prior to going on the shift. Do not eat a heavy meal in the middle of the night. Do not eat a heavy breakfast. So, take small low glycemic snacks and eat every three hours. I always have a nutritional shake or bar with me during the night so that I can eat or snack quickly and ensure I am getting good nutrition. (I also lost 35 pounds eating this way). Research has shown that due to several endocrine factors, and increased insulin resistance for night workers, it is very important to learn these concepts. Look for future teleconference and classes on this subject.

4) Small balanced breakfast before going to bed. Do not go to bed hungry. AND make sure you eat a meal that is balanced. Don’t just eat fruit. Also, do not eat a heavy meal. This will lay heavy on your stomach, and really make you quite uncomfortable. My favorite is to make a healthy smoothie, making sure I get healthy protein, carbohydrate and fats. A good complex carb with a high fiber content will not overwhelm your stomach, but take a while to digest, and allow you to sleep without having that “knawing” sensation in your belly.
5) Take the phone off the hook, or place the phone out of your room. DO NOT feel like you have to be available to the phone just because someone calls. You may be concerned with missing emergency calls. Work out another system. With a TRUE emergency, someone will come and knock on your window, or bedroom door.

6) White noise. I have also read many papers on background noise. I sleep with a “spa” type machine that plays a “rain” type sound. A bedside air filter will do the same thing. This not only drowns out any noise that is going on in the house and neighborhood, but it relaxes my mind. This is a MUST HAVE for anyone working night shift.

7) Mild to moderate exercise, before you go to work. At the end of the shift, it can get you pumping, and ready to be awake instead of getting ready for sleep.

8) Another point on nutrition. Find a good pharmaceutical grade multivitamin and antioxidant. Even if you eat EVERYTHING raw, and natural, I totally believe the body needs something to fill in all nutritional gaps. There are too many external factors today that comes against our bodies causing free radicals. I have heard people say from time to time they don’t take vitamins because they don’t want expensive pee. Honestly, the body knows what it has need of on a day to day basis. What I may not need one day, I may need the next. How do you really know?

9) I used essential oils as well. Peppermint is an awesome pick me up, and lavender is a great oil to help relax. I also used plenty of anti-virus type oils to help guard me from those nasty germs. Rest and great self-care is your key to staying healthy, even when you work night shift!