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13 More Reasons You Can Stop Hating Your Self and Rightsize Your Body

Stop Hating Your SelfHave you ever sighed with tears in your eyes and said to yourself, “I hate my self! I am so fat I’ll never be able to be a normal weight again!”

Yeah, me too. But let me tell you what I found out. If I just learned to listen to my body, only eat only as much I needed to thrive, and move my fat ass more during my entire day, then I would be able to be a normal weight again. And not only have I done it, but Susan has done it as well. And so have another 13 men and women featured in this week’s People magazine. And if Susan and I can do it and these 13 “real” folks (and the hundreds like them People has featured over the past several years) can do it, then you can to.

And Susan and I will help you, every step of the way. Continue reading “13 More Reasons You Can Stop Hating Your Self and Rightsize Your Body”

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The Next Thing You Need To Be Happy

Embraceyour inner child,with confidence!Are you just not a happy person all the time? Or worse, are you just not happy even a little of the time? Did you not read my last post when I told you, “Just work on being happy, the rest will follow”? Now l’m going to get more specific.

If you want to be happy, then you need to follow Dr. Mom’s first rule of happiness: Get and stay in touch with your Inner Child! — even if it’s even a bit embarrassing.

Let’s be frank here, life has a way of sending these posts to me. I hadn’t thought to write this one until Ken just chided me for doing something inner-childish — wasting time in Hawaii watching an English (I.e. imported from England) cartoon (Thunderbirds Are Go, if you just have to know), but it takes me back to a time when watching cartoons was fun and relaxing, so there you go.

I hear some of you taking his side now- “Cartoons! Really! We paid big bucks to vacation in Hawaii!”

“Fie upon you all,” I retort, in my old British nanny tone.

Why not watch Thunderbirds? We all deserve some down time to do what we want? And it doesn’t really matter if other people think it’s childish, silly, or whatever. I bet inside each of them, just like inside you right now, they are a little envious at my ability (or maybe even bravery) to get out there and do something fun, just for the heck of it!

And, if I can do it, despite Ken’s tongue clucking, then so can each and every one of you.

So, go! Enjoy yourself however you darned well please! Go see Star Wars for the twentieth time( in full costume if you want), go try out surfing, read a comic book, watch Thunderbirds Are Go with me, or do whatever else it is that calls you. Have fun, relax, and let go.

Don’t just get in touch with your inner child. But rather, grab her, hold her, and hug the stuffing out of her. All the King’s horses and all the King’s men can always put her back together again. Embrace your inner child! You’ll be the better, happier!, person for it.

In the meantime, you may as well do as the meaniehead (my loving husband) says, “You GOTTABGATT! so go out there today and be Great! All the time!

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The One Thing You Need for a Healthy New Year!

While reading Ken’s year-end posts, I am sure you have noticed he has been talking about our annual end-of-the-year planning trip we take the last week of each year. In essence, this trip gives us a chance to take stock of where we were last year, where we are this year, and plan for where we want to be in the next year.

Being the “Dr. Mom” in our family, my part of this deal is your health. But, I’m not going to waste your resources now on specific “New Year’s Resolutions,” all those healthy decisions you need to make in order to become a better you. While resolutions, as affirmative goals, are important and definitely need to be discussed but that’s not how I want you to start this new year. Continue reading “The One Thing You Need for a Healthy New Year!”

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The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly About Medical Marijuana

Twenty-three states and the District of Columbia have legalized using marijuana. The federal government still maintains medical marijuana is illegal, but the Attorney General has decided not to prosecute registered doctors, patients, growers, and dispensers who are complying with their states laws. Still, many doctors, including me, do not like prescribing medical marijuana. Here’s some of the good, the bad, and the ugly about medical marijuana.

Like almost everything else in life and medicine, medical marijuana has its good parts and bad parts. Marijuana contains 60 different cannabinoids, some of which have psychoactive effects by interacting with cannabinoid receptors in your brain, spinal cord, and lymph tissue. Marijuana contains a lot of other substances that can hurt you.

A medical marijuana patient can ingest marijuana’s cannabinoids by inhaling aerosolized THC-containing liquids, smoking weed, eating THC-containing food, or orally taking cannabinoid extract.

There are two FDA-approved cannbinoid’s currently available in the United States for nausea and vomiting that results from chemotherapy and a third one that is used for muscle wasting accompanying AIDS and spasticity due to spinal cord injury. Chronic pain accompanying cancer and rheumatoid arthritis respond to marijuana use. Newer THC-containing drugs are being clinically tested to help with multiple sclerosis and neuropathic and cancer-related pain.

While they have been found to help some types of medical issues, as far as chronic pain is concerned, THC has not been found to be any more effective than diphenhydramine (Benadryl), codeine, or amitriptyline (Elavil). THC has not been proven effective for acute pain, glaucoma, Parkinson’s disease, tremor and many other diseases whom which patients suffer.

Marijuana will, no doubt, be found to help more medical illnesses as time marches on. Nonetheless, cannabinoids are not a magical silver bullet.

 

Both doctors and patients alike know the bad side-effects of marijuana. 9% of experimental users become addicted, especially in adolesence. Adolescents using marijuana may have larger dips in their IQs and may drop out of high school and college more than older users. Using marijuana during pregnancy has some negative effects on children later in life.

Even though marijuana smoke does not include nicotine, it does contain harmful toxins and may injure larger airways and result in chronic bronchitis. So, just like you should never smoke tobacco cigarettes, you should never smoke marijuana cigarettes either. In other words, “If you have to take that weed, take it orally.”

Doctors cannot prescribe marijuana for patients, but they can certify :

  • the patient has a medical condition that can, to a medical probability, be helped with marijuana;
  • the patient has not responded to other therapies;
  • the patient has had a comprehensive assessment and a long talk about the risks and benefits of medical marijuana;
  • the patient knows medical marijuana is not endorsed by many major medical organization;
  • the patient does not suffer from substance abuse, psychosis, unstable mood disorder; and
  • the patient lives in a state that allows the use of medical marijuana.

Many primary care physicians are declining to certify medical marijuana for patients who may in fact respond to it. The reasons include an aversion to beginning along the slippery slope of becoming pain management physicians. I, for one, choose to let the pain management consultants to whom I refer my patients handle all aspects of those patients’ pain management issue, including both marijuana or any other useful medication their pain-management specialists deem appropriate.

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8 Steps to RightSizing Your Body

Susan and I have struggled to rightsize our bodies for years. Susan grew up as a “fatty” and I grew up as a beanpole. When I met her in 1977, Susan had just hit her weight loss goal of 125 pounds (or so, I don’t remember exactly) by using WeightWatchers for a good long time. I weighed about 150 pounds.

Over the next three decades, as we had six kids in nine years and built our careers as a doctor and a lawyer, we each grew to between 200 and 250 pounds. Up and down and down and up. Over and over again. And then something just clicked. Continue reading “8 Steps to RightSizing Your Body”

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Can’t Get Satisfied With Just 130 Calories of Yogurt for Breakfast?

I know. It’s hard being satisfied with just 130 calories worth of yogurt for breakfast when you are trying to lose weight by limiting what you eat. You can scarf that darned little plastic container in six regular bites and less than one minute. And then you feel like you have not eating anything at all.

I know how you feel. I used to feel the same way. But let me tell you what I found out. If you shift your paradigm just a little bit and change how you eat what you eat when and where you eat it, you can get sated and stay sated for just 20 calories more.

How?

Continue reading “Can’t Get Satisfied With Just 130 Calories of Yogurt for Breakfast?”

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7 Steps to Be a Healthier You

Welcome back! In a previous blog I chatted about my philosophy of moderation in all things (except smoking). Now, I want to chat about how to change unhealthy habits for healthy ones and achieve that moderation thing.

So, you have thought and thought and finally come to a decision- it’s time to change whatever habit has been bugging you.  The scientifically minded among us would cause that phase “Proaction”-deciding what you want to change.

But wait! How do you change? You know you have a habit you don’t like, but now what?  OK, that’s the next phase-“Perception.”  You have to get some data to figure out the details of what changes you need to make. First: perceive what your life is like now, then perceive what your life would be like without the habit you don’t like.  Then, perceive how much of each of your life’s precious resources of self, time, effort, energy, emotion, intellect, property, and people you have available and will have to allocate to change from your unhealthy habit to a healthier one instead.

Next comes “Planning.”  Take some time with this step and be absolutely certain you have a good design for almost all the steps you will need to take to use all your resources and change what you want to change. Note, I said a good design and not a practically perfect design and I said almost all the steps. Why, because I want you to keep moving and not get stuck in the paralysis of analysis that bogs a lot of people so far down in the planning phase that they never move on to the Preparation phase.

Once you have a reasonable plan in place, start getting things ready and prepare your resources as much as you need to move on to the “Practice!” phase. Here is where we separate the women from the girls. Now is the moment you put all that proaction, perception, planning, and preparation into practicing your new healthier habit moment to moment and day to day with full intensity.

This moment to moment and day to day stuff is the persistence phase.

Finally, to get yourself to the practically perfect performance of your new you , you have to promote to yourself and everyone around you the fact that you are changing for the better and you fully intend to make yourself Great! All the time!

So that’s it. 7 Steps to Be a Healthier You.

In my next blog, we are going to get specific about helping those of you who need it change that smoking habit of yours.

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Eat All the Tilapia You Want

I’ve seen too many warnings lately claiming “TILAPIA IS WORSE FOR YOU THAN BACON!!!!” that I just have to step in with Dr. Mom’s voice of reason.

To these worry warts who have nothing better to do than try to attract readers by scaring the heck out of them, I say, “Hogwash  and pig whistle.” (all pun intended). I haven’t eaten bacon since 1984, since I started limiting my diet to kosher food. Nonetheless, there are plenty of “experts” (however you define that word) who say bacon has as much a place in a balanced diet as raw fruits and vegetables. And, according to my two mantras, “Eat less CRAPF (the P is silent) and move your self more” and “Moderation in almost all vices (but never smoke),” I would probably agree with them. But all this “Tilapia is worse than bacon” stuff is really an overreaction by pundits misreading real scientists research.

Let’s take a look at the real facts on the whole “Tilapia vs. Bacon Scare” and then talk about real people eating real food for a change.

Back in 2008 (seven years ago, friends) Floyd H. “Ski” Chilton, Ph.D. and his team of researchers at the Wake Forest University School of Medicine released a study comparing fatty acid levels among popular fish. They found that tilapia contained far less omega-3 fatty acid than other American favorites, such as salmon and mackerel. According to the paper, salmon also has a “more favorable” omega-3 to omega-6 ratio.

I agree with with both of these statements and I recommend eating salmon more often than tilapia to get more omega-3s. While both fatty acids are important, omega-3 has anti-inflammatory properties that play a critical role in brain development and cognitive function and may prevent diseases like diabetes and Alzheimer’s.

But how did all these pundits who probably don’t know their gills from their pigtails end up comparing fish to bacon. Well, Dr. Chilton’s report also said  something about the inflammatory potential of hamburger (80 percent lean) and pork bacon is lower than the average serving of farmed tilapia (100 g). What Dr. Chilton’s report really stated was farmed tilapia contains high levels of arachidonic acid, an omega-6 fatty acid that, while necessary to help repair damaged body tissues, has been linked to brain disorders like Alzheimer’s disease and may exacerbate inflammation.

That set off alarm bells among nutritionists. And being the media-savvy fire-in-a movie-theater-screaming group of opportunists they are, they started running around warning the world, “TILAPIA IS WORSE FOR YOU THAN BACON!!!!”

The truth, however, can be found coming from the horse’s mouth itself. Dr. Chilton, the professor of physiology and pharmacology who directed the Wake Forest study, says the comparison of tilapia to pork bacon was taken out of context.

“We never intended to paint tilapia as the cause of anything bad. Our goal was to provide consumers with more information about their fish,” Chilton said. “If your doctor or cardiologist is telling you to eat more fish, then you should look for varieties that have higher levels of omega-3 and avoid those with high inflammatory potential.”

Doctor Chilton’s own blog states, “The truth is, tilapia has as much omega-3 as other popular seafood, including lobster, mahi-mahi and yellowfin tuna. Tilapia is also very low in fat. A 4-ounce serving of tilapia has about 1 gram of saturated fat, 29 grams of protein and around 200 mg of omega-3.  By comparison, a 1-ounce serving of bacon (about 4 strips) contains 4 grams of saturated fat, 10 grams of protein and 52 mg of omega-3.”

So people may not want to eat tilapia every day, but that doesn’t mean it has to be avoided altogether. It certainly fits well into my nutritional plan as not being CRAPF (the P is silent) and certainly has a place on my table in moderation, just as much as most other food does.

So, enjoy one reasonable portion of whatever fish you want at your next meal and then go live your life moving your self more to use us all you eat instead of letting it store itself as fat on your body.

Bye now. We’ll talk more later.

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3 Major Things You Can Do To Stop Killing Yourself Ever So Slowly

Our friends at FamilyDoctor.org tell us, the Top 10 Causes of Death (in order) include:

  1. Heart Disease
  2. Cancer
  3. Chronic lower respiratory disease, primarily Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, or COPD
  4. Stroke
  5. Accidents (many are alcohol-related)
  6. Alzheimer’s disease
  7. Diabetes
  8. Kidney disease
  9. Flu and pneumonia
  10. Intentional self-harm (suicide)

The top four of these diseases kill over 2 million Americans each year. We are all dying, some of us faster than others; and chances are one of these top ten diseases is eventually going to get us sooner or later. Our goal here at Great! All the Time! is to help you use your Greatness! to make death wait as long as possible. There are plenty of things you can do to stop yourself from dying from any of these Top 10 causes of death any sooner than you should. Continue reading “3 Major Things You Can Do To Stop Killing Yourself Ever So Slowly”

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Your Habits Really Affect Your Health

Yes, your habits very much affect your health. All of the major causes of death (such as cancer, heart disease, stroke, lung disease and injury) can be prevented in part by making healthy lifestyle choices.

If you smoke or use tobacco, then quit. Now!

Two of the most dangerous habits too many people have are smoking and using tobacco. Smoking causes over 400,000 deaths in the United States every year. More preventable illnesses (such as emphysema, mouth, throat and lung cancer, and heart disease) are caused by tobacco use than by anything else. The sooner you quit, the better.

If you drink much alcohol, then cut back.

Doctors currently recommend no more than 2 drinks a day for men and 1 drink a day for women. One drink is equal to 1 can of beer (12 ounces), a 4-ounce glass of wine or a jigger (1 ounce) of liquor.

Too much alcohol can damage the liver and contribute to some cancers, such as throat and liver cancer, and more immediate death and disease car wrecks, murders and suicides.

If you have bad eating habits, then at least eat less CRAPF (the P is silent) and then eat Great! food as much as possible.

CRAPF (the P is silent, much like the diseases eating too much CRAPF can cause) is commercially refined and processed food.Heart disease, certain cancers, stroke, diabetes and damage to your arteries rise and fall according to what you eat. Eating Great! eating less CRAPF has many health benefits. By making healthier food choices, you can also lower your cholesterol and lose weight.

If you’re overweight, then lose weight.

Most Americans are overweight. Carrying too much weight increases your risk for high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, heart disease, stroke, certain cancers, gallbladder disease and arthritis in the weight-bearing joints (such as the spine, hips or knees). A high-fiber, low-fat diet and regular exercise can help you lose weight and keep it off.

If you don’t move your “you know what” regularly for an hour a day, then you need move your “you know what” more.

Being as active as you can will help prevent heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, osteoporosis and depression; not to mention it can also help prevent colon cancer, stroke and back injury. You’ll feel better and better if you exercise regularly. Try to exercise for 30 to 60 minutes, 4 to 6 times a week, but remember that any amount of exercise is better than none.

Avoid the sun and never, ever use tanning booths.

I had plenty of sun exposure until I was 54, then I developed squamous cell skin cancer right in the middle of my foreheard, which is one of the most common types of skin cancer in the United States. So, limit sun exposure and wear protective clothing and hats when you are outside. Sunscreen is also very important. It protects your skin and will help prevent skin cancer. Make sure you use sunscreen year round on exposed skin (such as your face and hands). Choose a broad-spectrum sunscreen with at least an SPF 15 and one that blocks both UVA and UVB light.

Practice safe sex.

The safest sex is between two consenting adults who are only having sex with each other and who don’t have a sexually transmitted infection (STI) or share needles to inject drugs. If you are not being this exclusive, then at least use latex condoms and a spermicide (a product that kills sperm) gel or cream. Talk with your doctor about being tested yearly for STIs.

If you must get shot, let your shots be vacinnes.

Get a flu shot each year. Ask your doctor if you need other shots or vaccines. Adults need a tetanus-diphtheria booster every 10 years. Your doctor may substitute one Td booster with Tdap, which also protects you against pertussis (whooping cough). If you’re pregnant and have not had a Tdap shot before, you should be vaccinated during the third trimester of your pregnancy or late in the second trimester. Adults and teens who are in close contact with babies younger than 12 months and who have not received a Tdap shot before should get vaccinated as well.

Save the ta-tas.

Breast cancer is one of the most common causes of death for women. Between the ages of 50 and 74, women should have a mammogram every 1 to 2 years (depending on your doctor’s advice) to screen for breast cancer. Women who have risk factors for breast cancer, such as a family history of breast cancer, may need to have mammograms more often or start having them sooner.

Get regular Pap smears.

Unless your doctor suggests that you need one more often, you should have Pap smears:

  • At least every 3 years (some still say annually) beginning as soon as you begin being sexually active or reach 21 years of age and continuing until 65 years of age
  • If you are between 30 and 65 years of age and you want to have Pap smears less often, talk to your doctor about combining a Pap smear with human papillomavirus (HPV) testing every 5 years

Several factors put you at higher or lower risk for cervical cancer. Your doctor will consider these when recommending how often you should have a Pap smear.

Women older than 65 years of age, should talk with your doctor about how often you need a Pap smear. If you’ve been having Pap smears regularly and they’ve been normal, you may not need to keep having them.

If you’ve had a hysterectomy with removal of your cervix, talk with your doctor about how often you need a Pap smear.

Ask your doctor about other cancer screenings.

Adults should ask their doctor about being checked for colorectal cancer starting at age 50. Depending on your risk factors and family medical history, your doctor may want to check for other types of cancer.

Get a yearly physical.

Health screenings and afterthoughts during urgent-care visits are replacing the yearly physical. Rather and having the same tests others are getting, talk to your doctor at least once a year to figure out just which tests are right for you.

Make your insurance and other health benefits and preventive care services work for you.

Essential health benefits are a set of health care service categories that must be covered by certain plans.

If you buy a plan through a Health Insurance Marketplace, your insurance will cover the preventive services and at least 10 essential health benefits (EHBs) required by the Affordable Care Act (ACA). All private health insurance plans offered in federally facilitated marketplaces will offer the following 10 essential health benefits:

  • Ambulatory patient services (outpatient care you get without being admitted to a hospital)
  • Emergency services
  • Hospitalization (such as surgery)
  • Maternity and newborn care (care before and after your baby is born)
  • Mental health and substance use disorder services, including behavioral health treatment (this includes counseling and psychotherapy)
  • Prescription drugs
  • Rehabilitative and habilitative services and devices (services and devices to help people with injuries, disabilities, or chronic conditions gain or recover mental and physical skills)
  • Laboratory services
  • Preventive and wellness services and chronic disease management
  • Pediatric services

Regardless of what you are doing for your health now, do these things and then some.

If you want to work with me to be Great! All the time!, then register to receive my blog posts via email and get a free copy of my lifechanging book, Great! All the Time! and then let’s Get To It, Now!

Question: What’s the best thing you are doing for your health today?

Post your answer to this question in a comment, or on Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn.

In the meantime, you GOTTABGATT! so go out there today and be Great! All the time!

If you like this stuff, share it with your friends and family. Like me on Facebook, Tweet your Twitter followers to clue them in, Pin it. Whichever way you share, share it. I would be very grateful.

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