Beautiful Fall and Exciting Changes!
I love you all & writing to empower you to your healthiest! God is awesome always, and each day He leads me to love Him more and grow stronger... Remember, at every age we can grow stronger and healthier! (And above are my 2 daughters and puppies with 2 of Annika's good friends today before trick or treating.)
2Corinthians 5:17 "If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!"
With inspiration from this verse, I formed a new website to write and publish my blog/motivational and educational resource and newsletter - "Excell for Life!" This will be my last blog like this on blogger.com, and by 2 weeks from now I will announce here my new website and tremendous exciting "new creation"!
This blog I am introducing a few of the coming additions. In every upcoming blog will be an article from my great RN, Nurse Anne, a healthy recipe (the next blogs will be focused on legumes - we all need to eat more!), and more fun and interesting writing (my deepest thanks to Rob for his review and teaching - his company "Techs - the Lone Writer" 845-6903).
Please read and implement Anne's "attitude of gratitude", do Eric's great body weight routine (I did, and am a little sore in the legs!), and read my hot flash tips for yourself or friends and Family & Faith section.
Joke: What do ghosts ride at amusement parks??? (think on it & the answer is after Anne's article!)
Introducing our terrific Nurse Anne!
An Attitude of Gratitude—What’s in it for Me?
Hello, everyone! My name is Anne, and I am an RN who has worked with Dr. Lisa Miller for over 13 years (yes, it’s true, and sometimes hard for me to believe!). I am a mom, step mom, daughter, sister, and last but certainly not least, the wife of a pastor. I am not by any means superhuman, but I do wear lots of hats!
Dr. Lisa and I have learned a great deal from each other, and I must say that I think we also have learned a great deal from our patients as well! Lisa has asked me to write articles for our new website. And SO, it is my privilege to write for you!
I will be most happy to know what YOU would like to hear about in our blogs. So, please don’t hesitate to let me and Dr. Lisa know what you think and where your interests lie!
Tonight as I sit at my computer, having just come from listening to a wonderful and thought-provoking sermon, I feel compelled to write about the practice of gratitude. In this world where we all have so much, we take much of it for granted, and it is so easy to forget about the good in our lives and focus on the bad.
I have a friend who is constantly negative. Nothing is ever right or good in her life. She has health problems. I know that is what is driving part of the negativity. But I see many patients every week who have serious health issues, and they remain positive. They are always looking at the blessings in their lives instead of focusing on the difficult aspects of their physical or mental health. This is not an easy discipline. And, I am sure they have times when their problems do get them down.
On the whole, the patients and all of us who practice being positive about our lives, have the best quality of life. We are actually able to take better care of ourselves, because we value the goodness in our lives, no matter now small. We are determined not to focus on illness or misfortune.
Many patients who are hurting still really want to know how I and my family are doing. That humbles me, because I know they are suffering much more than I am! What sets them apart from others who are not doing as well seems to be their faith.
On my hardest days, I try to be aware of everything that is good in my life. I am so blessed to have a husband who loves me, good friends, wonderful children, and a bed to sleep in at night, not to mention a job that I love! I try to give a smile to someone who has none, and most of the time I actually get a smile back!
The author Anne LaMott has said that she has at least two prayers every day: the first is when she wakes in the morning, and it is “Help me, help me, help me”, and the last is before she goes to sleep at night, “Thank you, thank you, thank you”.
A good mantra, don’t you think?
Try to think of at least one thing you are grateful for every day, and I promise you, it will change your life!!!
Till next time,
Nurse Anne, RN
Answer: Rollerghosters!
Hot Flash Help! - Best Non-hormonal Options for Menopause Symptoms
Menopause is a natural transition in life and celebrated in many cultures. Decreasing hormones begin in the early 30's, with actual menopause averaging at age 52 (menopause is defined as no period for 12 months). 75% of women suffer hot flashes & night sweats, and these start to occur and usually progressively worsen 2-4 years before menopause (or premenopause). Some other possible symptoms of menopause are vaginal dryness, decreased concentration, disturbed sleep, reduced libido, changes in urination, and emotional changes.
The Best Non-hormonal Treatments
- Aerobic Exercise - 3 hours per week has shown significant improvement in menopause symptoms in many randomized studies
- Natural Vitamin E (d-alphatocopheryl) - 400iu per each 40 lb of weight all at one time (for 120 lb woman, 3 per day)
- Soy foods (and ground flax seed, rye, and red clover legume extract) 1 - 3 servings/day (for example soy milk, tofu, edaname)
- Black Cohosh herb (our Selestro is a very effective combination of soy and black cohosh)
- Siberian Rhubarb Root herb
- Vitamin B complex (like our B complex 2/day or Cardio B 1/day)
- Vitamin C - 1-5000mg/day
- Yoga/meditation 1 hour/day
- DHEA (an adrenal basic hormone which can be used by our bodies to make sex hormones) - 10-50mg/day (our sublingual DHEA 5mg small tablets can be taken under the tongue or vaginally to help vaginal dryness)
- dress lightly in layers
- take slow deep breaths whenever a hot flash starts
- decrease caffeine and alcohol intake
- acupuncture (Dr. Amy Yang is excellent, 317-876-1054)
- consume adequate amounts of calcium (1000-1500mg/day of calcium citrate) and Vitamin D (1-5000iu/day)
- perform Kegel exercises daily (to help strengthen and tone the muscles you use to control urination and stools)
- stay sexually active
- use water-based lubricants during intercourse
If you or a family member you know continue to suffer significant menopause symptoms even after trying some of the things above, then see me or your Family Physician to discuss Natural (Bioidentical) Hormones in low natural doses. I myself am on these with significant relief of my menopause symptoms and for osteoporosis prevention. (I get mine from the excellent Custom Med Apothecary, http://www.custommed.net/.) I believe they are safe in low doses when needed in most women. They are VERY different from the synthetic Prempro (studied in trials showing mild increased risk of breast cancer and heart attacks and strokes with this drug). I have discussed "Natural Hormones in Men and Women" and "Hormonal Symptoms" in previous blogs. In my new website I will have an easy to use index!
Joke: "Why do children yell "Trick or Treat" on Halloween? (answer after Family & Faith - Gender Matters)
Eric the Fitness Guy - Great Body Weight Routine!
Family & Faith
"Why Gender Matters" by Leonard Sax, MD and psychologistRecent research shows that boys and girls see the world in most ways very differently, and we need to understand these for effective parenting and life! Dr. Sax shows how to understand and address these differences to help every girl and boy reach their fullest potential. Today I will discuss highlights of his chapter on female and male brains. In upcoming blogs I discuss more from this book. I encourage you to buy and read this book so you can get all the details and information!
Male & Female Brains
- brain tissue in males and females are different from conception
- newborn baby girls hear better and differently than baby boys and are helped more by music therapy (and hearing differences continue for life, with girls/women being bothered by loud noises more than boys/men, and girls being more distracted by noise and learn less well in a noisy classroom)
- the eyes and visual system are organized and processed by the brain differently in boys and girls eyes (males have more M cells and females more P cells) - baby girls are more interested in faces and boys more interested in moving objects, and most girls/women are better at interpreting facial expressions than boys/men
- if asked to draw anything, boys more often draw verbs (action based things) and girls more often draw nouns (and people-centered pictures), and even this difference can make a large impact in school where most teachers are females
- "Girls and boys play differently, learn differently, fight differently, see the world differently, and hear differently. Girls and boys behave differently because their brains are wired from conception/birth differently."
- Emotions - in adolescence girls brains develop to be able to understand and explain feelings, however in boys and men the part of the brain where emotions happen are not well connected to the part of the brain where verbal processing and speech happen
- the brain is organized differently in females and males, and the differences between what girls and boys can do are not large, but the difference in HOW they do it can be very large (so one way to teach math can be very appealing to girls, and another way very appealing to boys)
- a recent study on brain development showed that differences in the brain associated with the biological sex (male or female) are substantially more significant than the differences associated with age!
Answer: "It's too early to say Merry Christmas!"
Soul Training - from "The Good and Beautiful God" by James Bryan Smith
Always remember God is good!
Many people are raised in their churches to feel God is an angry God. However the God Jesus knows and reveals is good - there is nothing bad about God! God gives blessings to all without regard to their behavior. We all will go through heartache and suffering, and this will spur our development. We need to trust God in the midst of the trials. With His Spirit giving us all God's power in us, we can always have love, peace, joy, and all the fruit of His Spirit regardless of our circumstances!
Training Mr. Smith suggest
- silence - take 5 minutes each day to be quiet and still (to slow down and focus on God and His goodness
- take a walk outside and pay close attention to all of creation, and notice things you usually do not notice
I thank God for His goodness always, and look forward to my new and great website - my "new creation."
I pray that we all grow to know Him better and experience and pay attention to His goodness more each day!My hugs and love,
Dr. Lisa
Healthy Recipes - from Nurse Anne
Spinach-Lentil Soup
Serves 10-12
1 lb. lentils, washed
10 cups chicken broth
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 Tbsp. butter
1 large onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, crushed
2 stalks celery, finely chopped
2 lbs. fresh spinach, chopped (may substitute 2 (10 oz) pkgs. frozen chopped spinach, unthawed)
3/4 cup fresh lemon juice
Salt
Freshly ground pepper
Combine lentils and broth in large kettle. Simmer for 3-4 hrs.
Heat oil and butter in medium-size skillet. Add onion, garlic, and celery; saute over medium heat until tender.
Add to cooked lentils. Add spinach, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Cook gently for 30 min. or more to blend flavors.
Even better the next day!
AND
Quinoa Salad
1 cup Quinoa, rinsed and cooked according to box instructions. Cool.
1 cup frozen sweet corn, thawed
1 can black beans, drained
1 12-15 oz. jar of fresh chunky salsa
Add red wine vinegar and olive oil to taste.
Mix all and chill.
Quinoa (pronounced Keen-wa) is the only grain that provides complete protein. It contains no gluten. I have found it at Whole Foods and several health food shops. You have to rinse it before cooking to get the bitter outer coating off. The kind I buy (Ancient Harvest) is pre-rinsed.
