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Family Health: A New Normal

2020 has been quite the surprise! We’ve spent what seems like half the year inside due to the COVID-19 pandemic. What has not been a surprise is the need to update the Healthy People Initiative. Every ten years the US government develops objectives to move the country towards better health which is collectively called the Health People Initiative. Some of the objectives are related to nutrition and physical activity. The Healthy People Initiative 2030 also includes new objectives for Health-Related Quality of Life & Well-Being which includes physical, mental, emotional, and social functioning which highlights a focus on optimal health or what I like to call whole-person health.

According to the latest results and supporting data, although adults are moving more and reporting a better quality of life, none of the objectives were met towards healthful diets and healthy weight. In addition, the objectives for adolescents participating in physical activity were not met. As the country seeks out a new normal, there is no better time to focus on family health. Below are some habits you can incorporate into your family routine as a new normal.

Get creative and have at home gym class where everyone gets involved. Inquire about access to physical activity in childcare settings and ensure access to physical activity for children at home.
Reduce television viewing and computer usage to improve cognitive skills and the ability to concentrate and pay attention.
Craft most of your meals at home. Foods eaten away from home often have more calories and lower nutritional quality than foods prepared at home.

Family and Health: It’s Not Complicated

Spending time with family and friends is an even greater victory when you can combine it with a healthy habit.

Get Active: A nature walk is a fun activity that can get you outside and spending time with family and friends. Select an area that has lots of trees and birds. Kids can explore the differences between trees and talk about the different animals and maybe insects they see throughout the walk.

Get Cooking: Another fun group activity is making a meal (breakfast, lunch, snacks or dinner). You can engage children by asking them to complete several tasks. If the children are very young, you can ask them what they would like to cook and find a recipe together. If they are a bit older, you can ask them to find a recipe on their own that you can make together Kids can also help with shopping for and prepping the ingredients. You can go with something as simple as a salad or pizza or as complicated as homemade pasta sauce or cookies. The point is for everyone to play a role in making the meal.

These are just two activities that can keep you committed to your health goals and enjoy time with your loved ones.

Family Time is the Best Time

Just as you need movement or exercise and good nutrition for physical health, you also need social connection for your mental health. Endless studies highlight the benefits of social connection. These studies suggest that social connection strengthens your immune system, lowers anxiety and depression, increases self-confidence, empathy, and trust. Spending time with family and friends increases social connection but also provides significant benefits to children. Some of the benefits of family time for children include:

building confidence
creating life-long memories
creating a stronger emotional bond between parents and children
allowing for better communication between family members and others
increasing performance in school
increasing opportunities to model behaviors such as conflict resolution, confidence, and happiness

As you continue practicing social distancing, you can think through opportunities for volunteering, cooking (especially new cuisines and dishes), and physical activities as a few options for family time that can fit into your wellness journey and hopefully start theirs.

Mindful Eating During Stay at Home Orders

Although some stay at home orders due to COVID-19 are being lifted, most people will still find themselves spending a significant amount of time at home. Since we are at home, the temptation to eat out or on the run is minimized. Because we are unable to maintain our regular lifestyles, this is a good time to practice healthy habits such as mindful eating.

What is mindful eating? It is a technique that promotes weight loss and reduced binge eating. As a practice, it is thinking about your food before, during, and after consumption. Practicing mindful eating can help you gain control of your eating habits and feel better overall. Here are some easy ideas on how to start.

– Listen to your body: eat when your body tells you to eat and stop eating when you are full

– Consider where your food comes from

– Eat foods that are nutritionally healthy

– When eating, only focus on eating

– Reflect on how you feel after you eat

For more information about mindful eating, check out Mindful Eating: The Art of Presence While You Eat. If this something you would like to incorporate but need help, let JLH Wellness help you through a health coaching experience.

Meditation: Your New and Improved Mental Health Practice

There are various forms of meditation with different objectives: a time for quiet or a time for prayer. No matter the objective, all forms of meditation share at least one outcome. Meditation elicits relaxation and calmness which can improve your health by reducing stress. Here are a few ways to conduct your own meditation session.

Breathe deeply – Focus on your breathing and concentrate on feeling and listening as you inhale and exhale. Breathe deeply and slowly.

Scan your body – Focus your attention on different parts of your body. Become aware of any pain, tension, or relaxation throughout your body. You can add in breathing exercises and imagine breathing relaxation into different parts of your body.

Repeat a mantra – Find or create your own mantra. It can be religious or secular.

Walk and meditate – Slow down your walking pace and focus on each movement of your legs or feet. Do not focus on a destination.

Engage in prayer – Prayer is the best known and most widely practiced example of meditation. You can pray using your own words or read prayers written by others.

Read and reflect – Read poems or sacred texts and take a few moments to quietly reflect on their meaning. You can also listen to music or spoken words. You can write your reflections in a journal or discuss them with a friend or spiritual leader.

Focus your love and gratitude – Close your eyes and focus your attention on feelings of love, compassion, and gratitude.

If you are a beginner who may struggle sitting still, a meditation session can be held in a minimum of one minute. As you continue to practice this time can increase and you should see improvements in your stress levels and self-awareness. If you have already started a meditation practice, hopefully the list above provides you a way to enhance your session. Happy Meditation!

Breathing and Body Scan Exercise for Stress Reduction

Breathing and body scanning are exercises that can be considered meditation, relaxation exercises, or stress reduction exercises. The exercise does not take more than 10 minutes. It can be done anywhere you are able to sit and can be modified if you stand. Essentially it can be done anywhere! Let’s begin.

For each exercise focus on the stretch and your breaths (at least one to two for each stretch) in and out.

Raise your eyebrows
Squint your eyes
Clench your teeth and pull the corners of your mouth to your ears
Bring your chin to your chest
Bring your ears to your shoulder (right, then left, left, then right)
Pull your arms back and bring your elbows to your side
Make a fist and pull up your wrist
Pull your shoulder blades together
Pull your belly button toward your spine
Squeeze your knees together
Point your toes toward your face
Turn your feet inward and outward

Whatever it was that had you stressed, let it go. If you still feel the stress you can repeat the exercise or increase the number of breaths, you give to each stretch.

The Diet Challenge: East vs West

Are you a true westerner looking for a way to change your diet? Leave the western diet behind and head over to the Mediterranean.

Some of our favorite western diet food items have doubled and sometimes tripled in calories over the past 20 years. Cheeseburgers, once 330 calories, are now 590 calories. In the 90s, you could get French fries that were 210 calories; today those French fries cost a whopping 610 calories. Aside from the calorie count, the western diet mostly consists of red meat, dairy products, processed and artificially sweetened foods, and salt. The Mediterranean diet is quite the opposite. The diet consists of a high amount of vegetables, fruits, whole grains, beans, nut and seeds, and olive oil. They even throw wine! Thinking about changing yet ? This diet is considered one of the healthy eating plans supported by the Dietary Guidelines for Americans and the World Health Organization. People who subscribe to the Mediterranean Diet are one step closer to reducing risk factors for cardiovascular disease. The Mediterranean diet provides some food for thought if you are considering a new way to address nutrition.

Women and Weights

Are you one of the women afraid to lift weights? There are several reasons women have for not lifting weights. Some women don’t want to get bulky, while others don’t have time or prefer cardio. During Women’s History Month and beyond, I want to make sure you are a woman that can live a full life and make history.

Weight training has many benefits that can help a woman live a long life. Some of those benefits include enhanced muscle tone, boosted metabolism, and a reduced chance of injury. The muscles gained through strength training also help to burn more calories, which helps with weight loss. A study, using data from the Nurses’ Health Study and the Nurses’ Health Study II, has even shown that strength training through resistance exercise, yoga, etc. can lower the risk of diabetes.

In case you didn’t know, once most women hit menopause, they begin to lose bone mass rapidly. Great habits, such as weightlifting, while you are younger can help prevent this. Starting while younger will help slow the rate of loss and possibly reverse it.

So, what are you waiting on? Get started now! You can become a Wonder Woman and join the Strong Women Accountability Group (S.W.A.G.) challenge for help getting started or encouragement to get back to it.

Something New Sautéed Kale and Chickpeas

It’s March and we are slowly working our way off the winter soups. If you’re looking for a nutrient rich dish, sautéed kale and chickpeas could be your something new. Kale is super rich in vitamin A, K, and C. 26% of the daily value (DV) of manganese. This is very helpful for women as manganese is essential for bone health in addition to the well-known vitamin D and magnesium. Chickpeas are rich in protein, folate, fiber, and iron just to name a few. They are good for those with diabetes (help prevent blood surges), heart disease (interfere with the body’s absorption of cholesterol) and obesity (make you feel full). Try it this month and let me know what you think!

Ingredients

2 tablespoons of garlic

1/3 cup of olive oil

1-2 tablespoons of lemon juice

1 cups of kale (more if you desire)

1 can of chickpeas (garbanzo beans)

Salt, black pepper, and red pepper to taste

Heat the olive oil in saucepan or skillet. Add the garlic and cook until it starts turning brown.
Stir in the lemon juice.
Slowly add some kale, about 1 cup. Mix it up and let it wilt down a little and add the remaining kale. Cook the kale for about 10-15 or until it softens.
Add the chickpeas and seasonings. Cook for approximately 5 more minutes.
Serve!

The S.W.A.G. Challenge

I’m calling all women that are looking to get stronger to join the Strong Women Accountability Group Challenge (S.W.A.G.). You can have the desire to be physically stronger or stronger in adhering to the goals you set for yourself at the beginning of the year. This is a virtual challenge but you will be provided with the tools to succeed. These tools include

-an initial assessment
-weekly encouragement
-weekly workouts
-nutritional guidance
-private webinar
-private virtual team connection
-a prize for the challenge winners

Check it out!