I know how to stay strong during a tough workout, how to work long hours to meet a deadline, and how to eat well when I’m surrounded by junk food — but when I’m sick or injured, my mental resolve crumbles.
Maybe it’s because I rarely get sick, but when illness or injury descends, I lose all my stoicism. This is especially true if I perceive that the illness is something out of the norm, difficult to explain, or lasts longer than a few days.…
Get ready — it’s coming.
The days are getting longer and the temperature is rising. This means you’ll soon see articles about how to get ready for summer. Usually with titles like 5 Ways to Get Summer-Body Ready or Get Bikini Ready Now.
The premise of these articles is that there’s something “wrong” with your body and you’d better change quickly if you’re going to walk around in something other than long pants and a jacket.…
I remember a day, once, sitting on the roof and watching a truly magnificent sunrise. While watching the sky change color, I noticed an array of birds crossing the sky. In my imagination, the seagulls heading east were going to work and the ones heading west were going home.
As I watched, I became fascinated with their flight — with the simple act of birds flying.…
We’re facing one of the worst flu seasons of recent memory. There’s nothing worse than that achy, tired, don’t-want-to-do-anything feeling that comes with the flu.
Actually, there is one thing worse — getting those achy, tired, don’t-want-to-do-anything feelings just as you have established some really amazing and healthy habits in your life.
So, here you are: you’ve taken on the Whole Life Challenge and life throws the flu at you.…
Not one week into 2018, I found myself standing in a donut shop with some foodie girlfriends admiring anything that had marshmallows on it.
Store lamps beaming off the glaze of the baked goods on display, I saw my dreams of an improved eating habit flashing before me, and wondered, “Would this be the gateway donut? The sugar bomb that crashed my whole 2018 health plan to the ground?”
For the new year, I’d committed to logging my food into a nutrition app again and had made every scheduled workout the previous week.…
If I asked how your personal energy levels are right now, what would you say? Most people tend to respond with words like tired, sluggish, or drained to explain their current physical state.
If I then asked how you’d increase those levels, what would you say? Most people tend to respond with physical fixes, such as drinking coffee, tea or other stimulants, or getting some extra sleep.…
When I was growing up, my family’s New Year’s Eve tradition was to sit around the fire and write New Year’s resolutions. Our resolutions changed from year to year, depending on what lay ahead of us. My sister resolved to get a lead in the school play, I said I’d study harder in math and stop biting my nails, my dad wrote about medical textbooks he hoped to finish writing, and my mom put down her volunteering goals.…
Before online shopping was a thing — and before we had kids — my husband and I took care of our Christmas shopping in one day. We’d pick a Saturday in December and drive to a local design district, a beautiful street lined with quirky stores selling everything from outdoor apparel to home decor.
Taking our time, we’d stroll in and out of the shops, holding up our finds:
“A fleece jacket for your dad?” I’d ask.…
The holidays are a time of celebration and fun. Parties and events fill our calendars. But if, like me, you are a raging introvert, the holidays can also be one of the most challenging times of the year.
The constant push to be social, to be busy, to buy, and to share can be overwhelming. It can push you to be even more of a hermit than normal.…
Once you’ve gone through the Whole Life Challenge, you know how important it is to pay attention to what you eat, how you exercise, and how you take care of yourself. This greater awareness is awesome because it means you have taken control of your future and are seeking solid ways to optimize your life.
But then you come across a health news story that blows your new world apart.…
Life is full of ups and downs. All of us at one stage or another go through challenging times. This is life. But it is important not to get too overwhelmed or fueled with chronic anxiety over situations that can eat away at our mental and physical health.
Chronic stress and anxiety elevate the body’s cortisol level. Living in this state basically encourages our bodies to use our hard-earned muscle for energy and to store fat more efficiently.…
In high school, I had a friend whose mom lived a glamorous life of parties, concerts, and late-night socializing. She’d sweep into the room on her way out for the third night in a row, and tell us in her husky voice, “Girls, you can sleep when you’re dead.”
My friend would repeat this phrase to me any time I said I was too tired to go out, and it usually convinced me to reconsider and head out the door.…
