My friend Rochelle has had a dream for years…and that is to be of service to women who want to Thrive after coming through breast cancer. She’s been there. She knows exactly what women are going through every day. And she is convinced that women an come through the surviving to thriving!

To get the word out, she is hosting a free telesummit for 5 nights in April.  Every night for 5 evenings, she will be talking with other Thriving women who have taken charge and transformed their lives.  To get all the details visit http://yourlifeafterbreastcancer.com/blog/surviving-to-thriving-telesummit. Gather your girlfriends together and share this information with them. Do what you can to participate. There has never been anything like this before.  I know that you’ll be glad that you did.

]]> http://healthyagingforwomen.com/2010/03/27/292/feed/ 0 http://healthyagingforwomen.com/2010/01/23/healthy-nutrition-sound-principals/ http://healthyagingforwomen.com/2010/01/23/healthy-nutrition-sound-principals/#comments Sun, 24 Jan 2010 04:22:18 +0000 Barbara Phillips, NP http://healthyagingforwomen.com/?p=276

You’ve heard this all your life…”you are what you eat”. But often, we get confused about what we should be eating. While there is a lot of information available to us about healthy nutrition, it’s good to start with a few sound principals.

As a rule, people of all ages, who wish to be healthy may want to look at the portions of food we eat. You’ve heard of supersizing no doubt? You don’t have to supersize in order to be eating too much…you can do that just by having portions that are a bit larger than they should be.

Most people have “portion distortion”. Get a good reference book on the subject of portions (any diet or nutritional book) and start measuring your portions.

Yes, get out the measuring cup, the tablespoons and the scale. Do this until you relearn the proper amounts of food to eat. Check yourself periodically to make sure you are staying on target. You’ll be amazed with the results.

Eat organically as much as possible. Food today is loaded with hormones, pesticides, anti-bruise chemicals and the like. Simply washing your fruit may not get rid of the pesticides, and you certainly cannot get the hormones and antibiotics out of your meat. If you cannot grow it yourself (and know it’s clean) then consider purchasing foods that are certified as organic.

We, as whole human being, like to stay in balance as much as possible. I believe that much of our stress, much of our illness, and indeed a large part of aging is due to being out of balance. This principal holds true for our eating habits as well.

We need all components of nutrition. We need the fats (healthy fats), carbohydrates (complex carbohydrates) and the protein. Stay away from dietary recommendations that tell you to avoid “all fats” or “all carbohydrates”. You need all three. Balance.

Excerpt from Aging with Success, page 21-2.; (C) Barbara C. Phillips, NP

You know how if you look up in a grocery store, they will have signs that direct you to where the coffee, flour and cereal are? Well, in a store about an hour from me, I found the most amazing signs….”Nutritional Food”, “Natural Cereal” and “Nutritional Drink”.  This is a chain supermarket (and I’ll leave them un-named).

While, I don’t have to tell you that not all food is healthy, the fact that the grocer is now advertising this is telling. Truly…it’s time for the consumer to beware. If you are looking for foods that are nutritional, make sure you are in the correct aisles.

Seriously thought, learn to read the labels and check them for any products you buy. As much as possible, purchase plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables (no labels unless they say “organic”).  Of course, avoid prepared foods, excessive carbs/starches,  soda and sweets, or if you have to get them…make it the smallest amount you can. As always…fresh is likely better. I never heard of anyone going wrong with vegetables.

While food shopping can seem confusing, it seems stores such as the one I visited want to make it as easy as possible for consumers. I hope your local store has nutritional food as well.

When a new patient comes to my clinic, I ask them to list all their medications, including any over-the-counter medications, herbal and vitamin supplements they may be taking. Often times, they don’t know.

While I understand that it’s sometimes difficult to remember everything, I cannot tell you how important it is to your health and safety for you to know what you are taking and communicate that list to your own provider, the hospital or emergency personnel.

Let’s say you suddenly show up in the ER and are unconscious. Medical personal are not going to know what kind of medication you take or what your health problems are. This could be dangerous as they will be treating you somewhat blinded. As we all know, various medications should not be combined. But how will anyone know?

In our clinic, I have cards I give out to all my patients and encourage them to write down everything, each and every medication, and carry it with them at all times.

Here is a medication list I designed for you.  It has your information, your providers information, allergies and a place for you to list all your medications, why you are taking them, and how often. Feel free to download it, fill it out and carry it in your wallet or purse at all times. Keep it updated with new medications, or remove medications you are no longer taking.

Let me know how it works for you.

Sometimes you just gotta laugh at yourself and enjoy.

Binge drinking has become nearly synonymous with college students, but a study out today shows a significant, worrisome level of binge drinking among those age 50 to 64 as well.

Working with the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, Duke University researchers report that 22% of men and 9% of women ages 50 to 64 engaged in binge drinking — five or more drinks at a time — within the past month of the survey. The research, based on a survey of 11,000 men and women that took place in 2005 and 2006, is reported today in the American Journal of Psychiatry.

The survey also found that 19% of the men and 13% of the women had two or more drinks a day, considered heavy or “at-risk” drinking under American Geriatric Society guidelines for older people.

Dan Blazer, the study’s lead author and a professor of psychiatry and behavioral science at Duke, says that level of drinking places the older group at more of a health risk than younger counterparts.

“They don’t metabolize alcohol as quickly, they may be on medications, or they may have some health problems that alcohol may contribute to,” Blazer says. “On average, if a young person drinks five beers and an older person drinks five beers, the older person is almost certainly going to have more difficulty.”

Read the rest of the story here.

These women, ages 48-71 have learned that Hip Hop dancing will keep them healthy.

Can you do some of these moves?

If you are like me, you’ve grown up with all sorts of sayings about your health.  These are saying and “truths” passed down to use by our Mothers and Grandmothers, and meant to keep us healthy, as well as giving us a reason to do as we were told. I specifically recall:

• Don’t go outside with wet hair or you’ll catch a cold
• Cracking my knuckles would give me big knuckles
• Swallow my gum would make my insides stick together

Now, two physicians have come out with a new book, “Don’t Swallow Your Gum! Myths, Half-Truths and Outright Lies About Your Body and Health” to dispel many of the myths we grew up with. The book focuses on various types of myths about our bodies, about illness and disease, sex and pregnancy and about what we eat and drink.

If you’ve every wondered how often you should poop, if that green mucus was a sign of an infection or if it’s okay to double dip your chips…you’ll find the truths here.

What myths have you grown up with and which ones have you passed on to your children?

I see lots of people every day in my practice. Most of them have health issues, and just want to maintain their current status. Only a few really want to become healthy.  But the ones that do, inspire me to do my best work…not only with them, but with myself.

Case in point. Over the last year, I watched a woman lose over 100 lbs – her starting weight was 399 pounds. This is a woman with many physical and mental health problems, and frankly, I didn’t think she would be able to stick with a plan. However, she asked for assistance and I gave it.

My immediate pleasure at watching her lose a few pounds soon gave way to pure astonishment as month after month the pounds she lost added up. I became her most vocal cheer leader. I cried with her when her loses added up to 100 lbs. Over time we have reduced the amount of medication she is on her blood pressure and her diabetes. As she continues along her path, I fully expect that we will be able to discontinue many of her medications. Obviously…she is doing super!

Watching her change prompted me to reevaluate my own health status. How many extra pounds have I added to my frame in the past 10 years? How come I was not following my own advice about diet and exercise? The truth is, I was blaming it on not having enough time in my life to properly prepare meals, eating on the run instead of sitting down to a meal, and working all hours instead of finding 30 minutes to exercise.

This past June, as I marked another year, I decided it was time for this health care provider to take her own advice and take care of herself.  Since June, I’ve released 36 lbs (and counting!). My diet is far healthier and I’m exercising on a regular basis (though not as much as I should). It’s a process I will continue to perfect. My goal is maintain and improve my health as I get older. I want to avoid all medications, all illnesses. 

Since I quietly started on my own journey this past June, I have been amazed at the new people who have joined my practice seeking health. People who want to age in a way they will have health and the energy to live an active life. As one woman put it, she wants to have enough sass to be a sassy older woman.

It’s all so exciting. I am currently putting a coaching program together to work with even more women who want to get healthy and who want to grow into their own sassiness. 

Let me here what your greatest needs are in terms of your health. I’m listening.