Medic Facility blog on health

Remember the angry moms who demanded that Ben & Jerry’s pull their “Schweddy Balls” ice cream from store shelves because it was considered sooo offensive to their little darlings? Well, they’re at it again. This time though, they want our beloved Ellen DeGeneres fired from being the spokesperson for JC Penney because she’s “openly gay”. If you ask me, these moms and their open negativity and hatred are just bad for our mental health.

The group known as OneMillionMoms.com, a division  of the American Family Association, is pushing their supporters to speak out against Ellen being named the new spokesmodel for the chain store. In addition, they are demanding that she be replaced by someone who is not a lesbian.  On their site, they wrote:

Funny that JC Penney thinks hiring an open homosexual spokesperson will help their business when most of their customers are traditional families.

The uptight homophobic group went on to say:

Degeneres is not a true representation of the type of families that shop at their store. The majority of JC Penney shoppers will be offended and choose to no longer shop there.

Offended, really? Ellen is anything but offensive. She inspires millions of people every single day with her positive, larger-than-life attitude, generosity and enthusiasm. She is someone who just makes people smile, laugh and feel good. And with so many unhappy people in this world (ahem, moms), people could probably use a little more of Ellen in their lives. She’s just good for our mental health.

Luckily, not everyone agrees with these pissed-off moms. Herndon Graddick, Senior Director of Programs and Communications at the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation told Radaronline:

While designated hate groups try to start ‘culture wars,’ it’s clear that a vast majority of Americans today support Ellen as well as their LGBT friends and family members. Selecting an out performer who has inspired and entertained millions, is not only a smart business practice, but a reflection of how LGBT Americans today are an integral and valued part of the fabric of our culture.

And JC Penney’s CEO, Ron Johnson, said he thinks DeGeneres is a great role model:

I think Ellen is someone we all trust. She’s lovable, likable, honest and funny, but at her soul, we trust her.

Yep, maybe these one million moms could use a little more of those qualities in their lives.Are they really that unhappy? And what exactly are they teaching their children by being so angry, hateful and judgmental? They are certainly not being good role models and instilling open-hearts and open-minds in their kids.

Moms, life is not yours to control. Wake up and realize that there are gay people in this world–just like there are schweddy balls in this world.

Photo: blog.northjersey.com

Related posts:

• Ellen Degeneres and Portia de Rossi To Open Vegan Restaurant
• Russell Brand Plans To Go Vegan Like Ellen Thanks To “Forks Over Knives” Doc
• Ellen DeGeneres On Meditation And Finding Happiness
• Ellen’s Yoga Guru Says You Can Have Health And Career Success…If You’re Willing To Quit
• Pissed-Off Moms Win: Schweddy Balls Pulled From Grocery Stores

Post from: Blisstree

Remember the angry moms who demanded that Ben & Jerry’s pull their “Schweddy Balls” ice cream from store shelves because it was considered sooo offensive to their little darlings? Well, they’re at it again. This time though, they want our beloved Ellen DeGeneres fired from being the spokesperson for JC Penney because she’s “openly gay”. If you ask me, these moms and their open negativity and hatred are just bad for our mental health.

The group known as OneMillionMoms.com, a division  of the American Family Association, is pushing their supporters to speak out against Ellen being named the new spokesmodel for the chain store. In addition, they are demanding that she be replaced by someone who is not a lesbian.  On their site, they wrote:

Funny that JC Penney thinks hiring an open homosexual spokesperson will help their business when most of their customers are traditional families.

The uptight homophobic group went on to say:

Degeneres is not a true representation of the type of families that shop at their store. The majority of JC Penney shoppers will be offended and choose to no longer shop there.

Offended, really? Ellen is anything but offensive. She inspires millions of people every single day with her positive, larger-than-life attitude, generosity and enthusiasm. She is someone who just makes people smile, laugh and feel good. And with so many unhappy people in this world (ahem, moms), people could probably use a little more of Ellen in their lives. She’s just good for our mental health.

Luckily, not everyone agrees with these pissed-off moms. Herndon Graddick, Senior Director of Programs and Communications at the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation told Radaronline:

While designated hate groups try to start ‘culture wars,’ it’s clear that a vast majority of Americans today support Ellen as well as their LGBT friends and family members. Selecting an out performer who has inspired and entertained millions, is not only a smart business practice, but a reflection of how LGBT Americans today are an integral and valued part of the fabric of our culture.

And JC Penney’s CEO, Ron Johnson, said he thinks DeGeneres is a great role model:

I think Ellen is someone we all trust. She’s lovable, likable, honest and funny, but at her soul, we trust her.

Yep, maybe these one million moms could use a little more of those qualities in their lives.Are they really that unhappy? And what exactly are they teaching their children by being so angry, hateful and judgmental? They are certainly not being good role models and instilling open-hearts and open-minds in their kids.

Moms, life is not yours to control. Wake up and realize that there are gay people in this world–just like there are schweddy balls in this world.

Photo: blog.northjersey.com

Related posts:

• Ellen Degeneres and Portia de Rossi To Open Vegan Restaurant
• Russell Brand Plans To Go Vegan Like Ellen Thanks To “Forks Over Knives” Doc
• Ellen DeGeneres On Meditation And Finding Happiness
• Ellen’s Yoga Guru Says You Can Have Health And Career Success…If You’re Willing To Quit
• Pissed-Off Moms Win: Schweddy Balls Pulled From Grocery Stores

Post from: Blisstree

This is another recent review from Am Fam Physician:

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) affects 27 million adults in the U.S. It increases risk of cardiovascular disease and stroke.

Patients should be assessed annually to determine whether they are at increased risk of developing chronic kidney disease (CKD).

Risk factors for CKD include:

- diabetes mellitus
- hypertension
- older age
- cardiovascular disease
- family history of chronic kidney disease
- ethnic and racial minority status

Tests for CKD:

- Serum creatinine levels can be used to estimate the glomerular filtration rate (GFR)
- Spot urine testing can detect proteinuria

Staging of CKD is based on estimated glomerular filtration rate (GFR). Evaluation should focus on the specific type of CKD and identifying complications related to the disease stage.

When to refer to a nephrologist?

The patients with the following characteristics should be referred to a nephrologist:

- estimated glomerular filtration rates less than 30 mL per minute per 1.73 m2
- significant proteinuria
- rapid loss of kidney function

References:

Chronic Kidney Disease: Detection and Evaluation. Baumgarten M, Gehr T. Am Fam Physician. 2011 Nov 15;84(10):1138-1148.
Nephrology Cases

The war on depression is getting mighty weird these days. Last week, scientists said psilocybin, the active ingredient in ‘magic’ mushrooms, could be useful in treating depression. This week? Beat the blues with ketamine! The drug—also known as ‘Special K’—can lift even suicidal depression in just a few hours, researchers say.

Ketamine is approved by the FDA as an anesthetic. It’s mainly used as a horse tranquilizer, though it can be used to sedate both people and other animals. It’s also used by people recreationally, and is capable of producing hallucinations. I had friends who got really into its use in college (between this study and the mushrooms business, my college friends should have been the least depressed people ever …). Mostly, the high seemed to invoke a lot of sitting around in a silent, dazed stupor and occasionally falling into ‘K-holes.’ It didn’t look like much fun.

But ketamine could be really beneficial for treating major depression, according to some doctors. It works much quicker than typical antidepressants, which take weeks or months to really make a difference. And it could work for people whom typical antidepressants haven’t helped. Why? Carlos Zarate, a brain researcher at the National Institute of Mental Health who is studying ketamine, told NPR that depression is like a leaky faucet in the brain.

There are different ways to stop the leak, he says. “You can go straight to the faucet and you can fix it,” he says. “Or you can go to the water plant and shut down the water plant. The end result will be the same.”

The current antidepressants act in a way that is like shutting down the water plant, Zarate says. It takes a long time for the water to stop flowing through the miles of pipes that eventually lead to the leaky faucet.

He thinks the reason is that these drugs act primarily on the brain chemicals serotonin, norepinephrine and dopamine. Ketamine acts on a chemical called glutamate, which is much closer to the problem, Zarate says.

That’s nice, but ketamine can come with side effects that make antidepressants look like aspirin. These include urinary tract problems, hypertension, nausea, nightmares, memory problems and hallucinations. Zarate said because of troubling side effects, ketamine is unlikely to become a common depression treatment in and of itself. But understanding how ketamine works at treating depression could allow scientists to develop safer drugs that work in the same way.

A few of these drugs—scopolamine, which is used to prevent seasickness; a pill called riluzole—are already being tested on depression patients. Both of these drugs also affect the glutamate system, though researchers aren’t quite sure how. But one patient who took part in an NIH trial of scopolamine said:

“There’s no doubt in my mind [that] however it works or whatever receptors in the brain it works on, absolutely it has nailed exactly where my imbalance is.”

While it’s unlikely you’ll be filling a Special K or ‘shroom prescription any time soon (darn!), it’s pretty cool that researchers are using studies of these drugs to find new, safer and more effective ways to treat depression.

Photo: Taking Drugs Tumblr

Related posts:

• Depression Isn’t A Prozac Deficiency: 6 Natural Reasons You Might Be Depressed
• Psychedelic Mushrooms Reduce Brain Activity (And That’s A Good Thing)
• Just One Trip On “Magic Mushrooms” Can Make You More Open
• “Spice,” The Drug That Demi Moore Smoked, Is Dumb, Dangerous…And Legal
• Demi Moore Reportedly Hospitalized Over ‘Whip-Its’; Couldn’t She Have Just Had Some Wine?

Post from: Blisstree

Heath Frisby lands the first snowmobile front flip in competition:

This is what happens when the things don’t go as as planned: Colten Moore flies 120 feet into the air and then hits the snow hard in Snowmobile Freestyle Finals… (video below). He not only survived but went on to win Winter X Games Gold later.

Not all extreme winter sport champions are so lucky though, and some of them have barely escaped death, with life-altering injuries: Kevin Pearce reflects on Sarah Burke’s death (USA Today).

And the greatest battle I face is not that of diabetes. It is not the battle against unstable sugars, swinging emotions or quarterly blood draws, it is not the dreaded meeting with an endo or the onset of new complications but rather it is the battle to live.

There is something about the war wearied soldier that stirs the soul. The warrior bloodied and covered in wounds trudging off the battle field. Of the many images of war and to a lesser degree from the sporting field these are, for me at least, the most powerful. I want to be alive….

With that said and having been through the diabetic wringer time and time again, my greatest battle is being open to feel. To let go of the guilt, the bitterness and the anger and feel the wonder of what it is to live. To be alive. To breathe, to love and to learn.

Battles and bad news have taken too much of a toll for too long. They have scarred and scared me to a shadow of who I might have been. They have smoothed me over and taken away all of what it is to be real. Like a robot on a production line I have taught myself to conform. I speak the right words, I play my cards right and I avoid risk like the plague.

And through all of this I am left to wonder. I wonder if in blocking out the pain, I am also blocking out progress. That in closing off feeling I am closing of freedom.

So now the battle lines are drawn. I have declared war where once I stove for a truce. I open myself up to all that is to come. I’ll ride the highs and battle the lows, I’ll endure the pain and risk rejection. I’ll accept failure and endure misery, I’ll do all this that for one moment, for one sacred second the wraps may be removed and my eyes open. That I may know what it is to love and be loved. That I might give without gain. That I might find afresh the sparkle in my eye, breathe in the fresh morning air and soak in the afternoon sun…..

How to Get Alkaline (as quickly and easily as possible…)

When people first ready my Acid / Alkaline Food Chart they get an understanding of which foods are alkaline, but are then left wondering “…HOW am I going to get alkaline?”.

In this follow-up post to my “7 Most Alkaline Foods” I wanted to show you my five quickstart actions for getting green into your diet and giving you an alkaline kickstart-headstart as easily and quickly as possible.

Getting Alkaline As Quickly As Possible

My approach to coaching the alkaline diet is based around a few key principles:

1. Trying to be perfect from the start leads to failure in 90% of cases
2. For the first month, focus on the 20% of actions that make 80% of the difference
3. Take it slowly, baby-steps, day-by-day and celebrate each success
4. Give yourself a cheat day, or relax every now and then – treat yourself!
5. If you have a bad day, don’t give up – take time to think what happened and start again right this minute!

Step One: Getting Alkaline Means Going Green

Going green is so important because it gets a huge amount of chlorophyll into your body. I recommend reading my Health Benefits of Liquid Chlorophyll article in full, but to give you a short version:

Chlorophyll has the power to regenerate our bodies at the molecular and cellular level and is known to help cleanse the body, fight infection, help heal wounds, and promote the health of the circulatory, digestive, immune, and detoxification systems. Chlorophyll consumption increases the number of red blood cells and, therefore, increase oxygen utilization by the body. Chlorophyll also reduces the binding of carcinogens to DNA in the liver and other organs. It also breaks down calcium oxalate stones for elimination, which are created by the body for the purpose of neutralizing and disposing of excess acid.

So getting a big injection of chlorophyll into your diet is hugely important!

As per point 2 above – you have to focus on the small, simple stuff that has the most impact and in my opinion, getting green foods in is the single most powerful thing you can do to dramatically change your health, energy and vitality. You have to get greens in and while this may seem daunting – here are a few suggestions to make it a LOT easier and less intimidating:

• Have a salad with every meal: carry on eating what you’d normally have eaten, but just add a side salad (no unhealthy dressings though!). This TOTALLY takes the pressure off but the cumulative effect of having several salads a day will have a big impact.
• Disguise green foods: you can shave broccoli heads with a knife over foods or into pasta sauce giving you heaps of broccoli, but you can’t see, taste or smell it. OR wilt spinach down with a little butter, salt and pepper – this gives you a HUGE amount of spinach in just a couple of mouthfuls. OR make pasta sauce by blending tomatoes with steamed pumpkin, broccoli, spinach, watercress etc. When it’s all blended down it still tastes very rich and tomato-ey, but you’ve got a heap of green foods in there too!
• Get into Sprouts: sounds weird but it’s SO worth it – sprouts are sprouted seeds of plants such as broccoli which, when harvested at the sprout stage, contain all (or more) of the nutritional content of the fully grown plant – this means you can easily eat one handful and get a HUGE hit of nutrients. I’ve blogged heaps about sprouts (and have a guide coming) so click here to read all about sprouts.

Making sure you up your green food consumption from 0-1 times per day to 3-5 times per day is easy and it will blow your mind the difference it makes. Your body will thank you, I can absolutely assure you.

Step Two: Getting Oiled Up

This is another really easy fix and is something 90% of people are not currently doing:

You HAVE to get at LEAST 2 tablespoons of Omega 3 EVERY day

Eating more oily fish is great for the health benefits this can bring, but you’d have to eat a really silly amount to get enough omega 3 – and this goes twofold for eating nuts and seeds to get enough omega 3.

Omega 3 deficiency was named in a Harvard Medical School research paper as being the 6th Biggest Killer in the USA – yes it’s that important. It’s critical for our health, energy, metabolism, cardiovascular system, eyes, hair, skin, digestive system…everything – yet around 90% of people in the Western world are chronically deficient.

If you change nothing else but add 2 tablespoons (30ml) of omega 3 to your diet you will really see a massive difference in your body.

I really recommend a supplement to ensure you get enough and Udo’s Choice is my personal favourite.

If you want to learn more about Fats & Oils I really recommend Udo’s website here and also check this article I wrote on oils back in April 2011: Why Essential Fatty Acids are So Essential

This is another 80/20 suggestion – it is SO easy to just have 30ml of omega 3 every day (even if you just buy straight flax oil and use this in salads) but it will make a HUGE difference.

Note: Omega 6 and 9 are also important but we tend to get enough of those through consumption of olive oils, vegetable oils etc.

Step Three: Instant Hits When You Need It

This is a quick step, but a brilliant one – because being able to give yourself a concentrated hit of green goodness is SUCH a powerful tool. I HIGHLY recommend you look into buying a liquid chlorophyll supplement.

Now at Energise we always say that if you can get it from whole foods then this is best, but being able to get ALL of your nutrient needs EVERY day from foods alone is a huge challenge. It is almost impossible in this day and age.

PLUS if you want (or need) to get alkaline quickly having a concentrated shot of liquid chlorophyll each day will give your body a massive boost. It really is awesome. Now if you can juice your own fresh wheatgrass into a shot each day that’s even better – but if not then I really heartily recommend a chlorophyll shot every day.

If you use supplements like chlorophyll smartly and choose the right ones (for you) then they are an absolutely potent weapoon in the fight against acids, fatigue and illness. I firmly believe this.

We’ve had dozens of chlorophyll supplements through Energise over the years but our absolute favourite is Nature’s Sunshine – no fillers, no crap, totally natural and no added sweeteners (you have to be wary of those).

It tastes great and makes you feel vibrant and ALIVE! Click here to find out more…

Step Four: Hydration is the EASIEST Way to Alkalise

So far in this lazyman’s guide to quickly getting alkaline(!) I’ve given you three big steps (and lots of mini-steps) that are all easy, take up almost no time, require hardly any changes to your lifestyle – but get you big-kahuna-changes to your alkalinity, energy, health and vitality.

But I saved the best for now.

The vast majority of people are chronically dehydrated, somehow barely getting through the day on less than 800ml of water. This dramatically effects mental clarity, digestion, the immune system, weight, energy, skin…just a 5% drop in body fluids will cause a 25-30% loss of energy in most people. It is a HUGE problem and SO easy to fix.

Please just start drinking at least 2-3 litres of water every day. This will have as much impact on you than all of the other points in this article combined – it’s that important.

Ideally you’d be drinking 3-4 litres, but if you can even get to 2.5 per day for a week you’ll never look back.

In fact, right now, make the promise to yourself that you are going to drink at LEAST 2.5 litres per day. Write it down. Set a reminder in your phone!

The problems/questions most people have when it comes to hydration

In my experience as a hydration junkie, I find that most people have the same few questions when they first start to get hydrated:

– what type of water to drink (tap, bottled, reverse osmosis, ionized, lemon squeezed in etc)
– how much to drink
– …but I keep needing to pee!
– won’t it wash all of my minerals out of my body?
– I can’t remember to drink enough – I always forget!

Thankfully, I have created a very in-depth guide to hydration here for you to download totally for free.

It will answer every question you might have about getting alkaline with water – it’s very very good.

So please do download the guide, follow the steps to choosing the best water for you and read my Guide on How to Remember to Drink Enough!

So getting greens in several times per day + getting enough omega oils + getting shots of chlorophyll + getting hydrated = incredible vibrant health very easily and quickly…so what could step five be?

Step Five: 5 Minutes Per Day to 24-Hours of Alkalinity

IF you read my last guide (The 7 Most Alkaline Foods) you’ll already know the answer to this, but it’s SO super easy, quick and powerful that I just HAVE to say it again:

***DRINK A GREEN VEGETABLE JUICE EVERY DAY***

You’ve just gotta. It’s 5 minutes and it will change your life forever. Honestly, it’s so quick and easy to knock together a juice – it really does take under five minutes from getting the food out of the fridge, to washing, to juicing, to cleaning the juicer to drinking.

But this five minutes a day give your body a waterfall of easily absorbed nutrients that will instantly boost your energy, flood you with antioxidants, rapidly strengthen your immune system and dramatically alkalise you all day long.

Remember – the best thing about this is, it means you’ve already exceeded your five-a-day serves of vegetables before 9am!

And if you want to know what to juice here are some recipes for ya:

Blood Building Vegetable Juice

Delicious Refresher Juice

Anti-Stress Juice

…and of course – The Big Bad Green Drink
…and The Energise Guide to Juicing

So let’s all go get green and alkaline!

I really hope you’ve enjoyed this quick, five-step guide to instant alkalinity. In case you haven’t seen it yet I also have a 3-Part Video Series on Getting Started with the Alkaline Diet that you can access from my homepage at http://www.energiseforlife.com

Leave me your comments below, click like, retweet and +1 – I’d LOVE to hear from you!

Until then
Energise Ross

About Ross Bridgeford

Ross is known as THE Alkaline Diet Expert…especially when it comes to implementation and making the alkaline diet REAL in your life. He has been living, learning, teaching, coaching and loving the alkaline lifestyle since 2004 and has written over 600 articles, alkaline recipes, videos and guides on how to live alkaline and stay alkaline for life.

Ross loves life in Brisbane, Australia (although is a proud Englishman) and is healthily-obsessed with nutrition, fitness and Tottenham Hotspur F.C.

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From Energise Alkaline Diet & Natural Health Blog - health news, alkaline diet resources & tips to make you happy! do something nice today…

http://vimeo.com/27224119

The Longest Swim is an upcoming movie about what someone will go through to save their friend from a diabetic coma. Here’s a nice synopsis:

Based on a true story, The Longest Swim is a drama that shows what one friend must go through in order to save his best friend who is experiencing a diabetic seizure.

While vacationing at a Vermont Lake House, Matt is awoken by subtle blurts and shouts coming from Ben’s bedroom. He rushes to the bedroom and flicks on the lights…

There before Matt is his best friend Ben: convulsing, shaking, gagging… His legs straight and stiff like a statue, his arms flail and scratch, foam drips from his lips. Ben is experiencing a very dangerous diabetic induced seizure and it is up to Matt to save his best friend’s life. No phone, no hospital within 30 miles, and the closest house is the one directly across the lake. Matt’s only option to save his best friend is to swim The Longest Swim…

If you like the story, you can help fund development at Kickstarter. They’re seeking $3500 to complete the project.

What do you think of the trailer?

Update: Sorry - I posted the wrong trailer! You can watch the right one here.

The Longest Swim is an upcoming movie about what someone will go through to save their friend from a diabetic coma. Here’s a nice synopsis:

Based on a true story, The Longest Swim is a drama that shows what one friend must go through in order to save his best friend who is experiencing a diabetic seizure.

While vacationing at a Vermont Lake House, Matt is awoken by subtle blurts and shouts coming from Ben’s bedroom. He rushes to the bedroom and flicks on the lights…

There before Matt is his best friend Ben: convulsing, shaking, gagging… His legs straight and stiff like a statue, his arms flail and scratch, foam drips from his lips. Ben is experiencing a very dangerous diabetic induced seizure and it is up to Matt to save his best friend’s life. No phone, no hospital within 30 miles, and the closest house is the one directly across the lake. Matt’s only option to save his best friend is to swim The Longest Swim…

If you like the story, you can help fund development at Kickstarter. They’re seeking $3500 to complete the project.

What do you think of the trailer?

Chronic diarrhea is defined as a decrease in stool consistency (loose BM) for more than 4 weeks (Am Fam Physician, 2011).

It can be divided into 3 categories:

- watery
- fatty (malabsorption)
- inflammatory

Watery diarrhea

Watery diarrhea may be subdivided into:

- osmotic
- secretory
- functional, e.g. IBS

Watery diarrhea includes irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), which is the most common cause of functional diarrhea. Another example of watery diarrhea is microscopic colitis, which is a secretory diarrhea affecting older persons.

Laxative-induced diarrhea is often osmotic.

Malabsorptive diarrhea

Malabsorptive diarrhea is characterized by excess gas, steatorrhea, or weight loss. Giardiasis is a classic infectious example of malabsorptive diarrhea.

Celiac disease (gluten-sensitive enteropathy) is also malabsorptive, and typically results in weight loss and iron deficiency anemia.

Inflammatory diarrhea

Inflammatory diarrhea, such as ulcerative colitis (UC) or Crohn disease, is characterized by blood and pus in the stool and an elevated fecal calprotectin level.

Invasive bacteria and parasites also produce inflammation. Infections caused by Clostridium difficile (C. diff.) subsequent to antibiotic use have become increasingly common and virulent.

Image source: Escherichia coli, Wikipedia, public domain.

Not all chronic diarrhea is strictly watery, malabsorptive, or inflammatory, because some categories overlap.

References:

Evaluation of Chronic Diarrhea. Juckett G, Trivedi R. Am Fam Physician. 2011 Nov 15;84(10):1119-1126.
Skin patch vaccine to prevent travelers’ diarrhea
Image source: Colon (anatomy), Wikipedia, public domain.

When I last posted to this space, I wrote of having gotten off track with my diabetes management. I did so using an analogy of a bus trip I’d taken to an unfamiliar (and somewhat scary) part of my city. I pictured my self as stranded there, knowing where home was but not being entirely sure how I was going to get there.

Things are better now. I’m not home quite yet, but I’m getting there, and all the landmarks are familiar.  I met with my doctor and spoke of having gotten out of my good habits. We set some goals, and I’m going to be seeing her monthly for a while. I’m concerned that my A1c crept up by two tenths, but it’s still in a range she’s happy with. Since meeting with her, I’ve been doing a great job of taking my meds regularly. (I have two weekly reminders set: I check for needed refills on Tuesday and fill my sorters on Thursday.)

Still, though, there’s plenty yet to do. I need to re-make some changes in my diet. I’m still not testing every day. And, I’m not doing the regular blood pressure checks my doctor asked me for. Also, while I hadn’t let my exercise drop off much, it’s clear to me that I need to incorporate a little more. But, I’m feeling a lot better emotionally and a little better physically.

No, I’m not home. But where I am is less cold and scary.

On the Today show this morning, they reported that a whopping 70% of moms in the U.S. say mothering is “incredibly stressful.” On top of that, 96% feel we are far more stressed than our own mothers were. While I can certainly relate (I am a working mom with two kids), I always find reports like that interesting, because I think they can paint a picture of us as martyrs, when in fact, we’re the ones who typically bring this stress upon ourselves. And if we would just cut ourselves some slack, we could probably alleviate a lot of this angst.

Yes, things like the economy, financial insecurities, job losses, family illnesses and caring for aging parents are stressful. There’s no doubt about that. And sometimes those situations leave us little choice in how harried our lives are–at least temporarily. But then there are other stressors that we do choose, like a more intense parenting style, packing too much into our daily agendas, higher expectations for the type of lifestyle we lead and striving for a life of bigger and better that Americans are famous for.

All of this can not only lead to us walking around like over-stressed zombies, but it can be responsible for a decline in our overall health, wellness and happiness–not just for ourselves, but for our spouse and children as well. Chronically stressed moms tend to be more insensitive to their kids (we’re probably all guilty of not looking up from our iPhone on occasion when our kids are trying to tell us something important). Studies also show that a parent’s ability to manage stress is a strong predictor of the quality of her relationship with her children and how happy they are.

To combat this, Today show contributor and psychologist, Michele Borba, prescribed various “mom de-stressors” like giving ourselves a 5-minute “time out”, learning deep breathing techniques, dancing with our kids in the living room, taking time to be spontaneous like baking the dog a birthday cake, and finding a “mommy coach” in a mom chat room. All of which sounds a little, well, ridiculous if you ask me. Not because I don’t think those things could help relieve a little stress (except for baking the dog a cake–isn’t that just adding more to-do’s to our already crazy list?), but because those tactics don’t really get to the heart of the issue. They just give us so-called coping techniques, when what we really need are solve-the-problem techniques.

Which brings me to my point: Outside experts, coaches and even friends are not going to make our stress go away. The only person who can do that is us. It boils down to personal responsibility, in my mind. Meaning, no one is making us live a life of chronic stress. No one is making us work so much just so we can afford a bigger house than we really need. No one says we have to be the class mom, the soccer mom, the PTA chair or the lead volunteer on every community project. No one says we have to spend 24/7 with our kids. In short, no one, except us, is forcing us to be the supermom. The same supermom who is chronically stressed-out, irritable and tired, according to this report.

Ladies, isn’t it time we cut ourselves a bit of slack?

It’s high time we say, screw-it to feeling like we have to do it all and be it all. We don’t have to work so much just so we can buy more things we don’t need. We don’t have to be the go-to volunteer for every school and community project. We don’t have to get all of the chores done every day. And we don’t have to drive our kids here and there and everywhere. We don’t have to be perfect. You get my drift.

Like I said, yes, sometimes there are unfortunate circumstances in our lives that leave us no choice but to pick up a second job or dealing with a family illness, and those are certainly not fun. But what I’m talking about is the rest of our lives, beyond those situations. We are the only ones who can cut down on our stress–not by using some silly coping techniques, but more so by lowering the bars we set for ourselves.

Because, really, we are the only ones who set it so high to begin with.

Photo: thinkstock.com

Related posts:

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Post from: Blisstree

It’s hard to know where it began but somewhere along the road my normal ceased being normal.

Upon reflection, the process of erosion is always slow and gradual. Grain by grain, second by second, minute by minute the process goes on.Wearing away, treading down, undermining and ultimately if left unchecked, destroying.

There are no days off, no happy hours and no respite. From that war there is no discharge. It’s soldiers are regularly conscripted and carried away without consent…

So it was with my decline into diabetic complications, depression and defeat.

There are no guideposts on that road. There is no GPS to lead the way out…slowly but surely the will to live is taken away. Abnormal becomes normal, defeat the daily routine.

Looking around the blogosphere and this incredible community I find my story echoed by a multitude of others. Diabetes and depression, denial and defeat. One day at a time the road to recovery becomes longer and dreams of a future fade into a hopelessness and the faint hope it would all end.

Having just come through the most soul destroying period of my life I am beginning to see a new day dawn. There was no silver bullet and in truth I don’t know if there ever is…..there is just the company and camaraderie of a close group of friends. I hear their voices, I read their blogs and as I drink in their presence I remind myself that I  am not alone.

The results may not be immediate, the process slow and painful but somehow what collapsed can also be rebuilt…grain by grain, day by day and month by month.

After days of rumors, reports now indicate that “whip-its” could have been the drug of choice for Demi Moore and the reason she was rushed to the hospital earlier this week. And here I thought sucking the air out of whipped cream bottles was just for teenagers to do as a cheap and stupid way of getting high when working at Ground Round or Ben & Jerry’s.

Media outlets are now claiming the actress reportedly had a seizure after inhaling nitrous oxide at her home. Known commonly as doing “whip-its,” the activity generally involves inhaling the gas from a whipped cream dispenser for a cheap, quick high, which can produce effect similar to alcohol.

But not all the side-effects from “whip-its” are as simple as that. Adverse reactions can include nausea, dizziness, fainting–and in the case of Moore, a seizure due to a lack of oxygen to the brain. Other reactions can happen over time, such as vitamin B12 deficiencies and negative impacts on DNA and cell growth.

“Whip-its” are usually reserved as a stupid thing that teens do–not someone of Demi’s age and social status. If she was really that stressed-out over her failed marriage with Ashton Kutcher, couldn’t she have just had a few glasses of wine? Surely that would have been a more respectable way to handle things.

Meanwhile, her soon-to-be ex is reportedly partying in Brazil and Demi remains in the hospital.

Photo: nydailynews.com

Related posts:

• Demi Moore Called Paramedics To Treat Her Exhaustion; Why Didn’t Anyone See This Coming?
• Demi Moore Has ‘Found Acceptance’ Of Body…But Admits She’s Too Thin
• Ashton Kutcher/Demi Moore Split: Does Infidelity Mean A Marriage Is Doomed To Fail?
• ‘Today Show’ Panelists Blame Demi Moore’s Aging Body For Her Marital Problems With Ashton Kutcher. WTF?

Post from: Blisstree

Dr. Goldman asks if you know your surgeon’s “batting average” of operations with good outcomes. He mentions the three words you never want to hear: “Do you remember?” It’s a good TED talk:

Every doctor makes mistakes (just like everyone does). But, says Dr. Goldman, medicine’s culture of denial (and shame) keeps doctors from ever talking about those mistakes, or using them to learn and improve. Telling stories from his own long practice, he calls on doctors to start talking about being wrong.

Here are some simple steps to avoid medical errors from a patient’s perspective (source: CNN):

1. Say: “My name is Mary Smith, my date of birth is October 21, 1965, and I’m here for an appendectomy.”
2. Say: “Please check my ID bracelet.”
3. Say: “Please look in my chart and tell me what procedure I’m having.”
4. Say: “I want to mark up my surgical site with the surgeon present.”
5. Be impolite (this particular piece of advice is obviously controversial).

References:

CNN video: Steps to avoid medical errors