Pampering Ourselves, Super Foods, Manage Food Cravings

On my 70th birthday back on December 16, 2008 I was treated to some special pampering as a gift from my very special massage therapist, Winnie. She said Greer come prepared to be pampered for 3 hours and turn that cell phone off before you come in. Since she gives me a weekly massage I knew what to expect from her, but the rest of the pampering was of a different variety. She lined up the pedicurist, and the facial person to make my feet feel good and then take away all of my many life lines, etc. As usual the massage was wonderful and took care of a lot of stiffness and muscles pains from a long training day the day before. Then I went into the facial treatment not knowing what to expect, but I am happy to report that it felt refreshing and healthy, so it must have been good for me. But, lo and behold the lines were still there and I am glad since I have worked hard to have them so don't take them away. The pedicure came as a grand finale and it certainly made my feet and calf muscles feel very good. So, I recommend that you take the time for this pampering thing as often as you can. Here are some other little activities that will help you maintain a healthy body: frequent chiropractic adjustment, ionic cleansing(in just 20 minutes you can rid your body of toxin's that you didn't know you had, and watch it do this right before your eyes). Your feet or hands are lowered in warm water with the device that removes the toxin's and you actually see them in the water. The color of the water determines where the toxin's come from, i.e. yellow-green is from the kidneys, bladder, urinary track, etc., while orange comes from he joints, and black is from the liver. I have been doing this with my massage each week. An annual physical exam is essential, with eyes, ears, and nose being looked at very closely. On a daily basis we should be consuming plenty of super foods and they are easy to get, i.e. oily fish--2-3 times per week eat either of the three fish--salmon, herring, mackerel, to prevent prostate cancer. Sunflower seeds with stave off gray hair since it is high in copper. Apples are great natural anti-inflammatory foods, while olive oil prevents premature skin aging. To thicken your hair eat tofu or take the supplement silicia(I take this and it works real well). The memory loss thing bothers just about everyone so grab up a handful of blueberries and they will enhance your memory capabilities. To rev up your metabolism eat those chili peppers and to maintain muscle mass eat lean protein, eggs, chicken, or lean cuts of beef. Eat carrots for the eyes and always drink at least 8 glasses of water per day. I drink 20 oz. in the morning and then 20 oz. in the afternoon, unless the work outs are in very hot weather, then the sky is the limit on the amount of water I will consume.

Here are some tidbits that will help you to control your food cravings and in turn help you stop the out of control eating. Keep control by doing the following--Identify and minimize the factors that trigger overeating, such as specific foods, social settings, routines or intense hunger. I have found that I can over come the urge to eat chicken fried steak by just thinking about eating it to the point of going into a fantasy trance and I can smell it, taste it, etc., but I don't actually eat it. Just the short time that I do this fantasy takes my mind off of the actual eating of the chicken friend steak. Another little trick I play with my taste buds and hunger alarm is to tell myself that I can have a foot long hot dog once a quarter, but no more, nor can I accumulate my quota. If I don't eat it say the first quarter then I can't carry it forward and eat two in the second quarter. Last year I didn't eat one foot long so I guess it worked fairly well. Social settings are very dangerous zones for over eating, especially if you are with people who live to eat. I find myself more in that setting now that I bowl and ride a motorcycle, since that is what they do more than any group I know. So, I have to be careful in this setting. In your home set up the same place to eat your meals, especially if you don't eat at the dining table. That way your hunger brain associates with that one area for eating. Serve yourself small portions and then when you finish a portion wait for 15 minutes. This way your brain gets the message that you have eaten. Do your best to eat at the same time each day, and wait until you feel the hunger pains in your stomach. Never eat a meal if you do not feel hunger pains. Also, make substitutions such as fruit for say a candy bar for your sweet tooth, or if you crave salty foods eat microwave popcorn or baked tortilla chips. Excellent healthy snacks are whole-grain-and-protein snacks, like peanut butter on whole-grain bread, because it will fill you up and rid your body of the hunger pains and you will eat much less.

Don't forget the exercise routines I have discussed in previous posts, to accompany the above tricks of the trade to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

Have a great week,

Mike Greer