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AUGUST – HEALTH MONTH If you are just joining us for the month, scroll down to the first week. It’s never too late to get started!
WEEK FOUR: EMOTIONAL HEALTH
August 24TH – August 30th
Maybe we should call this the Age of Anxiety. We are running 24/7, multi-tasking, spending more time with machines than with people and watching 16 year old multi-millionaires check into rehab with their miniature dogs in tow.
At the turn of the century -- 1900 that is -- the average life span in the United States was 47 years. Only 1 in 7 homes had a telephone. The average weekly earnings was $9.70. There was no income tax. There were no credit cards. Three in five people lived in a town with a population less than 2,500. Cars were just beginning to make an appearance. The speed limit in San Francisco was 8 miles per hour.
Compare this to today. I am a single person. I have four separate phone numbers and an efax. I have at least 10 email accounts and probably a few more that I have forgotten. I only have one car because I sold the other one two months ago. I have accounts at five different banks. I travel over 500 miles a week on average and I work from home. I have an instant connection to breaking news on at least 7 television channels, various internet sites, the radio and my cell phone. I can take courses on the internet 24 hours a day. I receive more than 200 emails a day, in one account alone.
I bet my life is not much busier or may even be less busy than yours. I can’t imagine what it would be like if I had kids and had to gear into their needs and schedules, too.
It is no wonder that people are restless, anxious and running around thinking they should be accomplishing more. There is a very real sense of not doing enough, not being enough, especially when I speak with the women I coach.
Think for a moment about the stars and models that you see on the covers of magazines. I would love to look like that. And the truth is, THEY would love to look like that, too. After all of the makeup, hair styling, posing and lighting have been artfully arranged, the photographer takes literally hundreds of photos to come up with a few that make the person look great. Then they airbrush the crap out of it. No wonder they look perfect. It is the same thing with watching TV shows. I mean think about it. How many of those TV characters could afford the type of places they live in and the clothes they wear and the cool cars that they drive, if the character had to live on what their real life earnings would be. How many times have you seen a TV waitress wearing designer clothes and living in a New York apartment that the average real life New York lawyer couldn’t afford?
Even though we know we are watching a dumb TV show, seeing someone having those material things sets off not just desire in ourselves, but alarm bells. “That twenty-something college dropout struggling waitress on TV is driving a better car than I am. (I love how Hollywood’s idea of a crappy car is usually a classic Corvette, Mustang or some other sports car that costs more than most Americans make in a year.) I must be a loser to not be able to afford those things. What am I doing wrong?”
I don’t think anything drove up the anxiety level in America more than the dotcom run up. Every week there was yet another news story of two teenagers who started a website in their dorm room who were selling it for a multi-million dollar payday. Big money. Stupid money. And all of us who thought we were going to be millionaires by the time we were thirty felt the pressure building on us. “That kid isn’t even old enough to shave yet and he just closed a twenty-three million dollar deal.”
Stop comparing yourself to others for just one week. Stop comparing yourself to TV characters forever. Next week you can get back in the swing of things. You can jump back on the hamster wheel of life. But this week, take a break. The truth is that the world has speeded up beyond the human being’s capacity to process all the information. A hundred years ago, unless you took a train trip, you probably never went faster than 20 miles per hour. You got your news from a newspaper, at your own speed, not the speed of a television announcer. The human body takes generations, literally centuries to evolve. Technology has exploded over the past 100 years and in particular, over the past thirty years. The simple truth is that we are living a 21st century life with a 19th century body.
Your assignment this week, should you choose to accept it (and you really should) is to just breathe. Deeply. Finding a quiet spot to do this is preferred but not necessary. Breathe in as deeply as you can, hold the breath for a few seconds and let it out slowly.
Give yourself a break. As long as you are steadily working on your goals, you will get there. It may not be as fast as you want. It definitely won’t be as fast as those damn 19 year old internet geniuses. It’s okay. The important part is that you will get there in one piece with your head on straight. And they are probably already on their third rehab cycle.
Make it a great week! Barbara
WEEK THREE: INTELLECTUAL HEALTH
August 17TH – August 23RD
I grew up just outside of Boston which may have the highest number of universities per square mile than anyplace outside of Oxford, England. The running joke was that your waitress was a sure bet to be educated than you were. The pace in Boston, or in any major city, keeps you on your toes intellectually.
I live in Florida. It is a much more relaxed atmosphere and the competition is, shall we say, less than fierce. It is easy to get lulled into intellectual laziness. Until you come face to face with your contemporaries who are running circles around you.
Staying sharp and on top of your game is tougher after you leave the structure of formal education. Have you caught yourself thinking that it takes you longer to catch on to stuff now? Don’t feel bad – I can’t text. I am sure I can be trained, but it is one of those things that I just HATE because kids do it instinctively and I am going to have a learning curve with it.
Many studies have shown that doing crossword and other kinds of puzzles can help stave off Alzheimer’s disease. Keeping up with new technologies, music, fashions – new anything – helps to keep you young and to keep your mind sharp.
So your workout this week is to give your mind a challenge. Do a Sudoku or Kakuro puzzle, sign up for a course, try to figure out why Paris Hilton is considered newsworthy. Scratch that last one. I don’t think Einstein himself could figure that one out. I will try to learn how to text. Or maybe take up something easier like brain surgery. Make it a great week! Barbara
WEEK TWO: DIET AND EXERCISE August 10TH – August 16th
I know, I know! I hate it too. I don’t care how many commercials and internet ads promise that if you take this pill, try this potion or rub this lotion on your belly you will be skinny, sexy and rich. The sad fact is that it always boils down to diet and exercise. Even gastric bypass doesn’t last. Everyone I have known who had gastric bypass has regained the weight. That sucks!
It isn’t all about being skinny. The American version of thin these days would qualify most Hollywood actresses for the type of aid we normally send to third world countries. What we are aiming for is the ability to climb a flight or two of stairs without having heart palpitations. Heart palpitations should be reserved for the truly important things like George Clooney sightings.
Remember that exercise program that you started in January? And the diet you swore you would stick to? Yeah. Me, too. I used to think that these were temporary activities. Back when I was in my twenties and thirties, I could eat salad for lunch for three days, do twenty-five sit ups and lose that extra five pounds. Not any more. The older you get, the more stubborn the pounds. Your body will betray you. Mark my words.
So, get used to thinking of diet and exercise as a part of your life. You are going to have to find an exercise you enjoy – taking long walks on the beach, jazzercise, sex…
If you have a lot of weight to lose or you are over 35, don’t believe those women’s magazines that tell you that you can walk it off in 30 days. (Did you ever notice how they always have a diet, an exercise plan and a gorgeous full color picture of some incredible chocolate dessert on the cover?) You have to have a full-on plan of attack. I hate when they show women lifting those puny two pound weights as if that is going to actually do something. Or worse, telling you to use gallon or half-gallon milk jugs. Really. That is like using a shoe to hammer a nail. If you are going to get the job done, you need the right equipment and training. Sign up for a gym, go to your town’s rec center, find an exercise partner who knows what she is doing.
I don’t have a prayer when it comes to dieting. All the vegetables I like are the ones that nutritionists say are bad for you – corn, potatoes, peas, carrots. And I truly believe that chocolate is a bean. So my game plan is to eat better. I will never eat broccoli or cauliflower but I can eat lettuce and green beans and probably find a few other vegetables to like. More importantly, I can cut back on the stuff that is nothing but empty calories – cinnamon buns and Hostess cupcakes and my precious salt and vinegar potato chips. It doesn’t mean that I will stop eating them all together but I will cut back. Considerably.
Sometimes we have to incorporate change gradually. Sometimes we need a full out attack. It depends on what you need and what works for you. Most importantly, give yourself a chance to succeed. So often we set impossible goals and set up rigorous diet and exercise programs. Set goals you can achieve. Remember, it took you more than a month to put the weight on, it will take even longer to take it off. The absolute trick is that once you reach your goal weight and level of fitness, to not slack off. This truly is a life change, not a temporary program. I hate that, too. But what is, is. Let’s deal.
Make it a great week! Barbara
WEEK ONE: PHYSICAL HEALTH August 3rd – August 9th
Time to check your physical health – How are you feeling? How is your energy level? What is your stress level? Are you taking time for you? When was your last full check up?
Uh huh. I thought so.
Schedule a full check up including mammogram. You probably won’t be able to get the appointment for this week, but at least you can make the appointment. Avoid the October rush and feel smug at the same time. Have a full blood workup while you are at it. Make note of all the things that are bothering you, twinging, aching, whatever. So often you get into the office and you forget to ask about something or more likely, don’t get the time to ask. Our healthcare system is structured so that doctors feel the need to rush you in and out. You are paying for a full appointment, so you are entitled to the doctor’s time and attention. Bring your list and make sure your concerns are addressed completely.
Schedule your dental exam. Anyone who fears the dentist has never had nitrous. Trust me on that one. Dentistry has evolved into a fairly painless practice. And good dental health has an effect on your overall health. Have your teeth cleaned. It not only looks good, it feels good and gives you added confidence.
Also make time for an eye exam. If you wear glasses, now is a great time to update your look. Before you go, look through current magazines (probably not the ones at your doctor’s office) for some ideas. I am hopeless when it comes to figuring out what kind of glasses look good on me. I left it up to the optician. She knew what the current look was and she could tell much better than I could what worked with my face shape and hair. She fitted me with a great pair of glasses that are not only in style, but I actually look good in, and I didn’t have to sit there and agonize. Maybe I got lucky. But I figure that she is the professional. You pay for a professional’s opinion for a reason.
Taking care of yourself is Job One. You can’t operate full tilt boogie if you are not feeling well. Nothing feels right, you can’t enjoy yourself and if you are anything like me, you get a wee bit snappish. (Oh no, not you.) Get all your health ducks in a row. You are worth it.
Have a great week! Barbara
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