DAY 17 March 16, 2018, A month of working on my wellness.
NO!
I really do love my work which I think is why I am somewhat of a workaholic (fine I am a workaholic, there I said it). I also, like many other people have trouble saying “No.” How about you? Do you have trouble saying No to things you don’t want to do? As a mental health professional, I know the importance of living on purpose and saying no the things that pull you off your course. This week I am really going to pay close attention to when I say “yes” and “sure.” Checking in with myself when I agree to do things, making sure I am centered. How about you, what can you do this week to keep yourself centered?
I had said yes months ago to doing this full day presentation out of town. Collectively I over “Yes’ed” this month, but nonetheless I was psyched to spend my day doing what I love. I didn’t try an overdo it by getting to the gym at 5am, I did prepare and pack smart food choices for the day, I did give myself permission to have some caffeine if I needed it when I was driving. I felt balanced, centered and vivacious. I think what I am doing has been working. Guess what- it showed, that’s very reinforcing!
Where are the M&M’s?!
Later in the evening I got some disappointing news. I was bummed and I could feel the obvious emotional eating pull like nobody’s business. It was sad. I felt desperate. I wanted to stick with healthy and smart eating but I also wanted mint chocolate ice cream, chocolate in any form, cookies. My craving for sugar was indiscriminate and my self talk was insane. Here’s what I did. I put some frozen bananas in the blender with cinnamon and vegan, sugar free chocolate chips. It kind of worked. I say kind of, because I also had a handful of regular, full of sugar, vegan chocolate chunks. I did stop there (after I already had air popped popcorn and hummus). I think it would be helpful to have a food plan for the next emotional eating episode.
What really struck me was even though I had the intellectual understanding of what was going on, I could not use intellectual arguments to talk myself out of the emotional eating trajectory. What I did have was a strong appreciation for my relationship with sugar and how helpless I felt in that moment. That’s not good for my wellness in any capacity. This is why I need to break up with sugar and not fall for the tricks my emotions play in bringing sugar back into my diet.
Supplements
I have talked tangentially and directly about supplements. I should be overt about the ones that I take and why I take them. I will also include links for each if so if you want more information you can find it.
I have to take B12 because I am mostly vegan so I won’t get it in my diet through food and your body does not make it (and you need it!). The other Bs are health all stars. Particularly they help with hair, skin, nails and your adrenals. Good news when you don’t get collagen (also from animals) and are stressed. I take it every day.
I take curcumin instead of pain medicine and have good results. I also take it when my knee hurts before or after a workout. It always works for me which makes sense because it has anti-inflammatory properties. Curcumin promotes liver detoxification, promotes healthy glutathione levels and normal cellular regeneration. If you take it everyday Curcumin can help detoxify impurities in your body that build up over time. This particular brand also includes 167 mg of broccoli seed extract, a powerful source of sulphoraphane glucosinolates which supports the normal production of Phase II liver detoxification enzymes, including glutathione synthase, heme-oxygenase and catalase, and the body’s natural defense systems. Glutathione is the master antioxidant in the human body, it preserves and protects the brain and other body tissues from the damage of free radicals. Furthermore, glutathione recycles ( who’s not for recycling?) vitamins C and E, which are also powerful antioxidants. I take curcumin as needed, and am considering taking it more fr
I love this stuff. I take it every single day. OPC-3 Beauty Blend promotes skin elasticity, supports healthy collagen production, replenishes essential vitamins and minerals for the skin, and provides the skin and body with improved antioxidant defenses. It has so much of what I nutritionally need is in here. There are antioxidants grape seed extract, red wine extract, bilberry extract, citrus bioflavanoids and Pycnogenol®. These antioxidants are powerful free-radical scavengers that not only work to keep the skin healthy and beautiful, but also provide free-radical-scavenging abilities which are beneficial in a world filled with smog, pollution and other various unseen toxins. YES! See why I love this (not to mention it tastes good).
I am all about getting my gut health in order and everything I have been reading is saying this is the way to go. I have been taking probiotic daily for past two months. I can’t say I notice a specific difference. I can say that I really don’t get sick. Partly, I refuse to get sick the other I believe is related to my eating and supplementing. It’s certainly not because of my good sleep hygiene. Back to probiotics, here’s what they do. Probiotics are good bacteria that work to help maintain an optimal bacterial balance in the digestive tract. Gut health is connected to overall health. Probiotics promote healthy digestion by providing beneficial bacteria to help balance the GI tract, this also promotes a healthy immune system. There are 10 different strains and 10 billion active probiotic organisms. Each strain has a unique purpose, and the strains work synergistically to promote numerous areas of health, from immunity to stomach comfort and bowel regularity. That all sounds good to me.
I take Vitamin D with K2 everyday in the fall and winter because I live in the least sunny place in the US (not exaggerating). I need the D and it is recommended that you find one with K2. This one contains vitamin D3, the metabolically active form of vitamin D, along with vitamin K2, a form of vitamin K which supports vascular health and calcium utilization. Vitamin D plays an important role in bone health, heart health and immune support while working with vitamin K to support normal absorption of calcium, and promote healthy arteries. You can get your D level tested. I did several years ago because I was feeling foggy, tired and cold. Turns out my D level was nearly 0. Not good. I had to take mega-doses to get back where I needed to be for my health. Now I use it regularly and that keeps my levels normal. A word of warning, some studies have concluded that vitamin K2 does not interfere with anticoagulant medications.
A little bit of this and that
I take magnesium when I have trouble sleeping or settling down. I probably need it more regularly then that. I have talked about that in past blogs so I won’t repeat myself. I sometimes take resveratrol, coq-10, Green Coffee Plus Garcinia Cambogia. I’ll talk more about those another time. There are some other supplements that I have tried or am considering and I will share that with you too.
With Love & Gratitude~
Jodi
Reminder to self…
- Posted in: wellness
- Tagged: mental health, nutrition, supplements, wellness
Dr. Jodi Ann Mullen 