Ok! It is time for a wakeup call. Your life will become more balanced when you start taking care of yourself. I know; I know! I have been there. The overwhelm is the only thing you think about, the thing that wakes you up at night (except for the crying child).
So I am here to tell you Your Body Wants A Tune-Up (tender loving care or for those in the know – Therapeutic Lifestyle Change)
But you are not your only what you do – your job, business, mother. You are a daughter, sister, friend, mentor, partner, mother, creative spirit and much, much more. The whole you is body, mind and spirit with that awesome logical, creative brain sitting on top running 90 miles a minute. I know! Don’t try to hide it! Your brain is in overdrive all the time with deadlines, finances, marketing, meetings, networking, business building, planning and goal setting or even just trying to get ahead. However, that brain is attached to an all important body that needs a little TLC once and a while.
Just like a car with neglected maintenance. Your body may give up when you need it most if you do not put a little tender loving care into it on a regular basis. You’ve got barely any time for yourself now between the business, kids, significant other, family, potentially aging parents, associations, charity and the friends who need you most. So what’s a busy girl to do?
Your Body Wants A Tune-Up
Bootstrap your self-care, ladies! It doesn’t take hours daily or the assistance of others or a big bank account; it takes small incremental self-sustaining activities to give your body what it needs to stay on top of its game. Self-care is more than just eating right. Even though I am a nutritionist, I know that it’s not always about the food. Quite frankly, most of my work with clients is not about the food especially once we get past all of the technical biochemistry. Food is just one nourishing thing we can do for our body. But there are lots of ways to recharge and rejuvenate. Over the months to come I will give small steps, recipes if you will, for self-care success to get your engine running in tip top shape.
I am a rebel by nature. I bet many of you are too. So following hard fast rules don’t usually sit well with me even when I am cooking. So I tend to use recipes as a general concept, a framework for creative expression. I think that makes me a great cook… or maybe just an inventive one. Just like me I encourage you to dive into my lifestyle recipes. See if they feed you (I mean really feed you) and then jazz them up as you wish! You can mix and match and exchange ingredients that you love for those that don’t move you for your own specialized self-care gourmet “meal” to eat again and again. Please your body is calling! Your Body Wants A Tune-Up!
The idea is to prep this gourmet lifestyle self-care menu paying attention to the seasons, the ups and downs of life and the desire you have brewing deep inside that you stifle due to busy-ness. Some months you may want to “do it up gourmet style”, other months you may want some “down-home style comfort”. Either way you become the master-chef-extraordinaire to your own self-care with little incremental actions to bring big rewards to your body, mind and spirit!
So here is my recipe for self-care in this very busy month of August. Your appetizer, main course and dessert this month are what I consider to be the foundation of a healthy mind, body and spirit.
Appetizer – 5-Minute Breathing Break
I have worked with several people over the years while they were quitting smoking and the one thing I noticed is when people smoke half of the addiction is the action of smoking in the environment, the break and also it is the only time that they take DEEP breaths! At first inhale or drag, the smoker starts to feel the stress just melt away.
What can smoking possibly do for self-care – nothing. But it does teach us about how soothing slow, deep inhales and exhales can soothe a frantic mind and body. It is not the smoking but the breathing doing the relief. Deep breathing through the nose actually takes us out of sympathetic nervous system drive and moves us into parasympathetic rejuvenation.
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- Take a break each day. Walk away from the computer or get out of the car and find a comfortable place to relax.
- Start by taking a slow inhale with the intention to breathe in slowly without effort to make that inhale last as many seconds as you can.
- Then exhale slowly to match the length of the inhale.
- Repeat at least 10 times.
- You can work toward increasing the length of time the inhale and exhale take each time to increase the value to your body and mind.
- Adding music, visualization or a peaceful setting can enhance this process.
Main Course – The 5-Minute Breakfast!
Whether it is a 5 minute shake blended in a blender or a 5-minute egg omelet, breakfast is your metabolic gas and sets the metabolism and blood sugar balance for the day. A balance breakfast has been shown to keep blood sugar in check and reduce the stress hormone cortisol which is inflammatory to the body and even leads to weight gain!
The 5 Minute Shake: throw ingredients in a blender and Blend. Put in Coffee To-Go Cup and get out the door!
Berry Dream Smoothie
2 scoops Vanilla Whey, Rice or Pea Protein
¼ cup frozen berries
½ cup unsweetened coconut or almond milk
½ cup water
For added fiber and omega-3s, add 1 tablespoon ground flax seed
German Chocolate Banana Smoothie
2 scoops Chocolate Whey, Rice or Pea Protein
¼ cup coconut or almond milk
½ cup water
½ of a frozen banana (remove skin and freeze in ziplock bags)
Peanut-Butter Chocolate Smoothie
2 scoops Chocolate Whey, Rice or Pea Protein
¼ cup coconut or almond milk
1 tbsp peanut or almond butter
½ cup water
4 ice cubes
*** Kick it up a notch and throw a handful of spinach, kale or any greens into the smoothie and get an extra serving of vegetables. Yes, it will look weird but you won’t taste it.
Quick 5-Minute Eggs – Protein balances blood sugar and gives you long-lasting energy
2 Eggs
1 Cup of Fresh Organic Spinach
1 tbsp Olive Oil
Optional A sprinkle of cheese
Salt and Pepper to taste
· Heat the oil in a non-stick skillet. Add about a cup of spinach and sauté it. More is better. It really reduces down when you cook it. Break it up while you are cooking it.
· While the Spinach is cooking whisk 2 eggs together. Add your spinach sauté to the eggs and whisks them both together.
· Add the mixture back to pan. Crumble a touch of parmesean or other cheese into the center.
· When the eggs set fold the eggs in half.
· Sprinkle Salt and Pepper to taste.
Dessert – Sleeping is the Nectar of Life
Value sleep like it is a gold mine! Actually getting to bed at a decent hour and getting up at a decent hour actually changes your hormones. Growth hormone, which is our anti-aging hormone, is pulsed more heavily at night. But when you go to bed affects how much you produce. We are finding that the pulses are highest between 10pm and 2am if we are asleep. If we are awake all bets are off. So getting your zzz’s is your best form of anti-aging therapy! So if sleep is elusive for you. Here is your recipe for quality sleep.
· Stop watching TV and working/playing on the computer one hour before bedtime.
· Create rituals at bedtime for your mind and body such as stretches or light yoga.
· Use lavender essential oils on your temples.
· Taking a bath or shower often can relax you before bed.
· Set a bed time and wake time.
· Make your room DARK. Shut shades and lights down to make the room dark enough that you cannot see your hand stretched out in front of you.
· Read something boring before bed to ease the mind into relaxation.
· Get horizontal in bed by 10 pm. Our diurnal rhythm picks up a second wind around 10:30. If you are awake after this time you will catch that second wind and be up after 12:00.
· Speak to a nutritionist about supplements that can help you get your zzz’s.
Honoring your body with small investments daily has life-long impact. By just having a balanced breakfast every day you can increase your metabolic rate to fuel your business building efforts. Likewise, I don’t know about you, but some of my best thinking comes to me in the shower when I am relaxed. Our most creative and innovated thoughts come to us in a moment of relaxation and breathing. By actively putting breathing breaks in the day you are giving the body the message to open up the creative forces and give your system a chill-pill. Also, guarding your sleep is like filling a retirement account without even seeing the money come out of your checking account. You might feel the pinch a little here and there but the end results more than pay for the budgeting!
Betty Murray, C.N., H.H.C. is a Certified Nutritionist, Health Counselor, author, public speaker and found of Living Well Health & Wellness Center, an integrative medical center in Dallas (livingwelldstg.wpenginepowered.com). Mrs. Murray specializes in working with digestive disorders, autoimmunity, hormonal issues and weight loss. For more information about food sensitivities and diet, read her new book Cleanse: Detox Your Body, Mind and Spirit. To contact Betty Murray email info@livingwelldallas.com or call 972-930-0260.
