The Thanksgiving holiday is a day of gratitude and appreciation for our "blessings," but also a selfish opportunity to stuff ourselves silly with unnecessary indulgences! Most people who plan to eat dinner around mid-afternoon usually have breakfast and skip lunch knowing the 2:00 hour will bring a plethora of palette-packing traditional fare and libations with stomach room enough throughout the 5:00 hour for 2nd's and 3rd's if they keep up a steady, but slow-paced rhythm of soup, turkey, stuffing, potatoes, and cranberries. My research indicates the average Thanksgiving meal contains between 3,000 and 5,000 calories! That's ONE MEAL!
Then, comes dessert. This is the part of the meal where the word "stuffing" really applies! Pumpkin pie, pecan pie, apple pie, cheescake - all are common, delectable offerings. The sugar count for each slice sits at 21g, 31g, 15g, and 17g respectively and the calories on average: 316, 503, 222, and 257. This doesn't include whipped cream, which is negligible in comparison!
So when the Crash comes after the tryptophan in the turkey kicks in and the blood sugar level drops 30 stories a half hour after dessert, don't be worried. All will stabilize in a day or two.
I recommend some cinnamon tea or oatmeal with cinnamon to help the glucose levels stabilize and also, a good, long walk the day after. Get some fresh air and enjoy some movement! Your body will thank you and it will help clear your head of any unnecessary mental gyrations that accompany a day of too much grateful indulgence!
Friday, November 23, 2012
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
This Morning 11/22/12 Friends
Open hearts need no words...
exposure is such a beautiful thing!
(sentiment written to a friend when words can't be found, and aren't necessary)
This Morning 11/21/12 Ones and Twos
Today's date is all one's and two's - the digital language. I begin another beginning today as I take on a new position at a holistic health school. I feel little nervous, but the good kind of nervous! It's kind of like I'm writing a new program for my life - or at least the next couple of years. Auspiciously, the one's and two's in today's date remind me that I write the "program."
Buck up!
Buck up!
Monday, November 19, 2012
This Morning 11/19/12 What Day is Today?
It's good to wake up and realize it's only the nineteenth day of the November. I count the calendar as a major tool of stress reduction.
When it gets into the the third week of any given month, the cortisol begins to discharge more often into my bloodstream. Cortisol is good for regulating glucose levels and blood pressure, and monitoring immune function. However, when emotions are high and our fight-or-flight mechanism is being activated too often, these conditions kick up cortisol production which impairs cognitive function, raises blood pressure and ultimately lowers immune response and the ability to fight off disease.
According to a 2007 APA (American Psychological Association) survey, 20% of the people surveyed are experiencing high stress fifteen days of the month. In other studies by the NIOSH (National Institue for Occupational Safety and Health), a full 40-50% of study participants reported high stress work conditions. Although I could find no secondary data to support it, I would bet that the first and last weeks of any given month are most common times for high stress symptoms. With rent, mortgages, and other bills commonly due during these weeks, the dreaded juggling of finances kicks in, and stress kicks up.
These are normal trends in the U.S. We in the workforce expect to be stressed at our jobs and in our lives. Conditions in other developed countries are not quite the same though. With our European counterparts getting up to six weeks off per year from work - paid! - and generous allowances for illness and maternity leave, the U.S. is operating at standards more on par with the Industrial Age than the Digital Age. While these trends are considered normal here, they are not acceptable.
Taking personal control of stress is, at this point, the best solution. Whatever that means for you is something that must be addressed. Whether getting more sleep, turning off the TV, journaling, exercise, meditation, or taking short walks between "duties" at work and home, the only way to manage stress is to face it straight on and put it in its place!
As for me, I am doing homework today and putting my calendar in order so that I can schedule some de-stressing activities!
When it gets into the the third week of any given month, the cortisol begins to discharge more often into my bloodstream. Cortisol is good for regulating glucose levels and blood pressure, and monitoring immune function. However, when emotions are high and our fight-or-flight mechanism is being activated too often, these conditions kick up cortisol production which impairs cognitive function, raises blood pressure and ultimately lowers immune response and the ability to fight off disease.
According to a 2007 APA (American Psychological Association) survey, 20% of the people surveyed are experiencing high stress fifteen days of the month. In other studies by the NIOSH (National Institue for Occupational Safety and Health), a full 40-50% of study participants reported high stress work conditions. Although I could find no secondary data to support it, I would bet that the first and last weeks of any given month are most common times for high stress symptoms. With rent, mortgages, and other bills commonly due during these weeks, the dreaded juggling of finances kicks in, and stress kicks up.
These are normal trends in the U.S. We in the workforce expect to be stressed at our jobs and in our lives. Conditions in other developed countries are not quite the same though. With our European counterparts getting up to six weeks off per year from work - paid! - and generous allowances for illness and maternity leave, the U.S. is operating at standards more on par with the Industrial Age than the Digital Age. While these trends are considered normal here, they are not acceptable.
Taking personal control of stress is, at this point, the best solution. Whatever that means for you is something that must be addressed. Whether getting more sleep, turning off the TV, journaling, exercise, meditation, or taking short walks between "duties" at work and home, the only way to manage stress is to face it straight on and put it in its place!
As for me, I am doing homework today and putting my calendar in order so that I can schedule some de-stressing activities!
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