"Eat This, Not That" - Book Review

"Eat This, Not That" is on Amazon.com's Hot New Releases List. It's the latest book on dieting and weight loss. This is my review of that book - sort of . . .

A friend of mine asked me if I had bought the book (which I haven't nor will I) and showed me her copy. I flipped through it briefly and was amused by its content. The one thing I liked about the book is that the pages I looked at reminded me of a well designed, entertaining website. They were bright, colorful with appropriate subheads and brief text. Just the kind of attention deficit disorder reading that I like.

After a few moments, I handed the book back to her saying, "I usually don't eat any of those foods anyway."

Here's my free "Eat This, Not That" advice:

• Cook your meals at home.
• Eat fresh, whole foods.
• If it comes in a box, don't eat it.
• If it's handed to you through a window, don't eat it.

The bottom-line on dieting and weight loss is that on a physiological plane to lose weight you're going to have to cut down on your calorie input and increase your calorie output. On the spiritual or emotional plane, can you fill the hunger of your heart with something other than food?

Do You Carry the Weight of the World on Your Shoulders?

"When you take the problems of the world on your shoulders, your body doesn’t feel good. It’s just that simple. Leave the problems of the world to the individual problem-makers of the world, and you be the joy-seeker that you are."

Excerpted from the workshop in Philadelphia, PA on Monday, May 3rd, 2004

Our Love,
Jerry and Esther

Neck Pain from a Mind/Body Perspective

Nine times out of ten the neck, back & shoulder pain that I treat with massage therapy and stress relief techniques is caused by mental stress or an old habit of thought.

When we carry other people around with us mentally and emotionally in a negative cloud of worry, sooner or later physical pain is going to follow. It's usually around the neck, back and shoulders. Even if the pain is made worse by working at computer all day, the underlying cause is usually worry.

Neck Pain

Louise Hay says that neck problems are probably caused by "refusing to see other sides of a question. Stubbornness and inflexibility." Too often we are unwilling to believe that there can be any other way than our way. We become unwilling to believe that "letting go" mentally and emotionally opens the door to true caring and unconditional love.

From that mindset our neck stiffens as we refuse to see the other side of the story. We become like a horse with blinders on who can only look straight ahead.

Sometimes during treatment sessions, the pain in the client's neck disappears before I actually touch her neck. Because she relaxed into her body and became willing to release the painful thought, the pain in her neck resolved.

You would not believe how many times I've treated clients for a "crick" in their neck caused from either sleeping on the couch away from their spouse or simply from going to bed mad.

Next post on neck pain: Who Is the Pain in Your Neck and What to Do about Him/Her.

*Photo by This Year's Love, Creative Commons License

My Life - a Snapshot

After finishing a coaching call this morning, I walked down to the barn to touch base with my husband and our 25 year old son.

When I peeked through the workshop door, I found them with their backs to me, their heads together and bent over a chain saw they had taken apart for maintenance. They didn't hear me and continued working as I watched them.

My heart swelled with appreciation of the moment.

Rather than disturb them with even the sound of a female voice in the sanctity of their space, I turned and walked back up to the house.

Bioidentical Hormones - As Seen on Oprah

One of my clients asked me what I knew about identical hormone replacement therapy. She said she had seen something on Oprah's website and thought it was endorsed by a doctor.

When I went home that evening I asked my Dr. Husband about bioidentical hormones made from organic sources. He all literally roared and snorted! "WHAT DO YOU THINK HRT'S ARE MADE OF?!" He roared. "Bioidentical isn't even a word in the medical books. It's a marketing term created by pharmaceutical companies."

Smart woman that I am, I backed off saying I hadn't researched it and would get back to him after I did.

Actually, the endorsement wasn't by a physician. It was by an actress, Suzanne Sommers. Oprahs site also addes information from Dr. Christiane Northrup:

"Dr. Northrup, author of The Wisdom of Menopause, helped navigate the HRT maze, breaking down the basics of menopause, perimenopause and bioidentical versus synthetic hormones. "'Bioidentical' means it matches exactly the molecular structure of the hormone that your own body produces," she said. "[Synthetic hormones are] made from horse urine and are natural for a horse, but they're synthetic for a human body. … It has completely different effects, [but] many women do well on these."

When I reported back to Dr. Husband, he snorted and roared some more. "They used to be made of horse urine. That's ridiculous. Originally, insulin came from pig urine. If you were diabetic would you refuse to take it?!"

Stop and think about it. There are no hormones that come from outside of your unique self that would not be synthetic to your body. Molecular identical or not, hormones from any source outside of you will be synthetic.

I'm not saying anything about conventional HRT therapy or bioidentical hormones. All I'm sayin is be aware and educated about who is telling you what so you can make informed decisions. Whatever you choose to do, listen to your body - listen to your heart.