Eating for Health

As a holistic nutritionist there is a question I am asked over and over. I will never forget especially one young mother of three children who was genuinely confused when she asked me, " There's processed foods everywhere. How do I not feed my kids processed foods? "

It's not surprising I get this question over and over. It's a sad testament to the marketing skill of the food industry processed, nutrient-poor convenience frankenfoods are so engrained in our culture a young mother can't think what else to feed her children.

I told her first you must think of food as fuel for the functioning of your body. Then you guide yourself in food selection by considering if it supports health or fuels illness. Lean to eating whole foods and you can be confident of supporting health. Thus you should shop the perimeter (veggie) and frozen veggie section of the grocery store. There's very little reason to shop the inner aisles.

Next I suggest developing an index card file of healthy recipes. There is a cornucopia of whole food recipes on the internet from which you can build a recipe repertoire of healthy whole food selections.

Health is the greatest wealth. Eating for health is a lifestyle with dividends of energy, vibrancy and joy for life.


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Salad Surprise

I've been telling you to have a salad everyday. I can see it now. There you are pulling into a fast food place. You have every intention to order healthy... a healthy salad. What could be better.

But fast food salads are deceptive. They look great.... they look healthy! But most of them are very high in sodium.

What's a person to do?

Order a side salad. Side salads don't have the high sodium deli meats fast food dinner salads have.

Always check out the nutrition no matter how healthy something looks.

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Have you opted in to the accidental healthnerd list yet? What are you waiting for?

Always check with your doc before starting new diet or exercise regimen.

Why I Am the Accidental Healthnerd

The last few months have been a time of reflection about my current life. It's not what I thought it would be. I feel so grateful to have emerged on the other side of disability. No, I'm not a model of optimal health. I still have some challenges. But I have found a warm sunlight at the end of what seemed like a neverending tunnel of despair.

Nietzsche said, "That which doesn't kill us makes us stronger." For myself, I say adversity has made me stronger, wiser, hopeful and more compassionate. A pretty good package I think.

My emergence from disability is testament to in life you are either getting better or worse and the only constant is change. What I didn't get for so long (though I knew it on some level) and perhaps, you don't either, is we hold the keys to an optimal life and optimal health in our mindset. You will have what you think.

Thinking positive and being grateful lifts your experience of life. Life will love you if you love it. Likewise, if you take care of your body with good nutrition it will respond with more energy and an uplifted outlook on life. Mind and body work together.

Because I changed my mind and improved my nutrition I sit here today with a future I had stopped dreaming I could have. You can, too.

That is the reason for my blog and podcast. I want you to have the future you dream about and if you've stopped dreaming I want you to dream again.

On a mission

I'm on a mission to help you achieve optimal health. You can now find me not just here, but on my podcast, "Optimal Health with the Accidental Health Nerd Pam Murphy, M.S.H.N."

anchor.fm/pam-murphy

Starting the podcast was an exciting step to take. I hope you are taking steps to achieve optimal health. The more healthy habits you create the better you will feel both physically and mentally.

Here's 10 steps you could take:

1. Daily walk
2. Have a salad every day
3. Drink adequate water daily
4. Be grateful
5. Schedule fun
6. Keep a food journal
7. Strength-training exercise 3x a week (if ok'd by your physician)
8. Eat a healthy breakfast
9. Cut out soda
10.Cut out sugar

No, you can't do it all at once. Pick a couple steps. Make them a habit. It won't be long till you start feeling better! Then choose a couple more changes to make.

One thing for sure is if you change nothing, nothing will change. Are you overweight? Constantly tired physically  and mentally? Have high blood pressure? Dealing with a chronic illness?

Then you must make changes in your life. There's  not a medication on earth which can counter bad health habits.

You Can Reverse Diabetes

This is the best article I've ever read regarding reversing diabetes. I implore you to read it. You CAN change your life!

https://latterdaysaintmag.com/a-way-to-prevent-and-reverse-type-2-diabetes/

Work with you doctor and nutritionist or dietitian and move on to optimal health!

Think, Ask, Choose

If you are like me food has been a reward ever since you were a child. Be good and we will go get a chocolate malt. Be good and we will get milkman to leave some chocolate milk. (Ok... showing my age.) Ditto cheetos, chips, soda and ice cream.

A fun time for my family was to go get a bag of White Castles and fries and sit at the airport and eat while we watched planes take off or land.

Yes dad developed coronary artery disease and had a heart attack. But we didn't connect it to diet. We weren't any different than a lot of other Americans. If we were happy we ate. If we were sad we ate. If we were bored we ate.

My mom was a real estate salesperson. My dad and I loved tv dinners! Mom did too. Her family was fed and her work uninterrupted. Looking back today we realize tv dinners were crap.

We weren't any different than other people of the time. And over time we've seen the nation become overweight and suffering with lifestyle disorders.

Cardiac problems and diabetes run in families because bad lifestyle habits run in families. It's not bad genes which are the culprit. It's what is on your fork which is the culprit. Good nutrition can turn off or keep bad genes from turning on.

Nutrition is powerful!

So what's our problem with food?

We don't look at food as fuel for our body.

It's a reward. It's entertainment. It's a replacement for dealing with the stresses in our lives.

But we don't think of it as FUEL to help our body to run optimally well. We don't think about the building blocks of our immune system. But good nutrition is that.

And if you want to lose weight, live a healthier lifestyle or reverse health issues your first action is to think of food as fuel and nothing else.

When you are considering what to eat, ask yourself whether it will support your wellness or your future illness.

Think..... Ask.... Choose.

Being mindful of the healthful or unhealthful properties of what you eat is the first step to a healthier lifestyle. Each healthy choice will lead to more healthy choices. Choosing mindfully what to eat you will gradually find yourself with more energy, self-esteem, improved sleep and a happier outlook on life.

Just take the first step.....

Say What?

“You can have anything you want—if you want it badly enough. You can be anything you want to be, have anything you desire, accomplish anything you set out to accomplish—if you will hold to that desire with singleness of purpose.”
~ Robert Collier

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He's right you know. Surely everyone wants the most joy that can be squeezed from life. Everyone wants to live a fulfilling life of passion and purpose. But yet look how many people are robotically walking thru life seemingly not taking joy in the gift of being alive.

My mother, God bless her, always told me I could do anything I set out to do. She was right. And you can too. Just believe in yourself. Make a plan. Stick to it. Yes, life will take left turns but like a ship in heavy seas you can right yourself and regain your purpose.

Let's talk about those left turns. The biggest left turn in life isn't extrinsic of your self. It's inside your head in your self-talk. It's why people fail.

I can't lose weight.
I will never have the perfect job.
I will always be overweight.
Negative self-talk.
You must replace negative thoughts with positive empowering ones.

For instance, if you are trying to lose weight and are tempted to eat a delectable morsel which will stall your weightloss, don't tell yourself you can't have it. Instead tell yourself you don't eat this way anymore. What's the difference? "Can't" implies you are depriving yourself. "Don't" empowers you.

I can't have fast food. This implies you want it but are depriving yourself.

I don't eat fast food or chips or drink soda. This is an empowering statement of fact.

There's a subtle but powerful difference between can't and don't.

Empower yourself with positive self talk.
Mindset is important in weightloss and in every endeavor you take up.

Choose Your Life

So you're a diabetic. Here's a high five for all the diabetics who have chosen to reverse the path they were on and now follow a whole foods plant- based lifestyle. This post is not about you.

This is for the diabetic who eats mindlessly whatever they want and then pops a pill to assuage their sins and thinks everything is fine. There are plenty of you out there. Be honest. Is this you?

This is for the diabetic who eats mindlessly and holds up their "normal" a1c and says "see it's ok". They believe this because big pharma has taught them that.

That diabetic is playing a dangerous game. It is a game they will ultimately lose.

A "normal" a1c with the aid of medication is not a normal a1c. Big pharma wants you to think it is. That kind of thinking sells more drugs.

You have a choice. You can continue to eat whatever you want, be overweight and depend on a drug. Or you can take charge of your life and work with a dietitian or nutritionist and your doctor and reverse the path you are on.

It's possible, but big pharma will never tell you that. They would rather you treat symptoms than go after the cause.

Please. Please. Choose a better path. Read the articles below:

https://bit.ly/2wGPmFg

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3168743/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/30597609/

Be Like Buddy

I have often thought we should be more like a cat or dog. They ask unashamedly for what they want. A pat pat. A belly rub. Food. But at the same time they have a quiet, dignified independence about them.

My cat Buddy is the epitome of independence. He accepts affection when he feels like it. Yet expects you to give it upon demand. Never takes no for an answer.

How often in life, unlike Buddy, do we give up when faced with a no? Shouldn't we ask for what we want? Strive to be independently who we are? Live life on our terms? Perhaps we should be more like Buddy.

Words Matter

Well my phone died and with it all my notes for possible blog posts. There were some good thoughts in there. I will be taking some time to remember it all.

Meanwhile, let's talk words. They matter. I would suggest we kick the word "diet" out of the vocabulary. Replace diet with nutrition. Nutrition is a much more holistic word. There's a mind change which comes with thinking nutritionally. Mind matters as much as nutrition does in health and in weightloss. If before you eat you ask,"Is this nutritionally good for me?" There will be times you will decide for a better choice.

We eat for one of two reasons.
1. To support our health and wellness.
2. To mindlessly gratify our emotions.

Which is the better choice?


We live in a culture of convenience.  Convenience is killing us. We don't stop to think before we grab something to eat. Our ancestors ate to live. We live to eat.

So think nutrition when eating. It will be the start of many healthful changes in your life. Healthful change breeds more healthful change.  When you feel better you do better. But you have to make the decision to do better. You got this!

Yummy

One of the biggest obstacles to eating better is not having a repertoire of recipes. Oh my. What to cook? I'm going to help you with what to cook. 

So once a week I will give you something to build your repertoire of healthy recipes. 

Here's the first:

When you roast veggies this is a great sprinkle.

In a salt shaker put equal amounts of Turmeric, Ground black pepper (go easier on that), Garlic powder and (opt. ground ginger).

This is from Rachel Bellers book, Eat to Lose Eat to Win and it is yummy! By the way its a great book too. 

Roasted vegies are a great snack. I especially love brussels sprouts. Cut them in half, sprinkle with olive oil broil... Keep an eye on them. Doesn't take long. They will be crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside and a terrific healthy snack.

Another healthy sprinkle I enjoy is simply nutritional yeast. Find it in the herbs aisle. Great on vegies. Wonderful on popcorn. Its tastes kind of cheesy. You will thank me.  

Enjoy!

Hello World

I've been away from my blog for a long time. My life took a left turn into disability and it's taken me a while to put myself back on track.  I have thought about my blog a lot and have found myself more than once in a bookstore looking at all the health books asking myself "what can I add to all that?" For a long time I couldn't answer that. Maybe i can now.

The last time I stood looking at health books in a store i thought:

Maybe YOU aren't going to read all those books. I read lots of them.

Maybe YOU don't read health magazines. I read a bunch.

Maybe YOU still eat mindlessly. Our culture of convenience promotes mindless eating. Maybe you still think the doctor knows best and don't bother to look farther.

Maybe YOU have become your disease and you can't imagine a healthy future. It's an easy trap to fall in to.

Maybe I can be the voice in the wilderness of healthcare that can lead you to better self-care.

I was in healthcare for 34 yrs and observed the same thing over and over. It is what prompted me to go for a Masters in Holistic Nutrition.

Re-admissions for the same problem.

Over and over. Especially egregious are the readmissions for heart bypass. Not just once but 2 and 3 times.

Why so many readmissions?

People commonly do not change the things in their life which promote their health problems. Diet and exercise. 

Lack of nutrition and a sedentary life. 

Killers.

 Hospitals are full of patients with lifestyle diseases. Diabetes and heart disease do not have to be a life sentence. Don't believe me? Read Dr Joel Furhman and Dr Dean Ornish. Look up Dr Ornish's Ted talk "genes are not your fate" on Youtube.

You can not go to the doctor and expect to be fixed like when you take your car to a mechanic. YOU have to be proactive in your healthcare.

I have been where you are. I'm still getting better. It's a process. I dont know how much better I can get healthwise but I've made sweeping changes in my life. Changes you probably need to make too. If thru this blog I help even just one person then what I have been through will have been worth it and my time will have been spent well.

And this is why I am back with this blog. I hope you will follow along, join me on my journey and let me know how you are doing.