Did you hear the one about the ladder? Habit of the Week,

I have just come across this statistic -  40,000 men over 65, per year are hospitalized due to falling off a ladder.  I told our 64-year-old friend, a retired builder, and he said he still had one year left to go up a ladder. 

This aroused my curiosity.  I went digging. Here is some data from the Queensland Government website “Stay on your Feet” 

In Australia, a fall is the leading cause of injury deaths accounting for 37% of all deaths ) and in 2014-15, falls were the main cause of hospitalised injuries (41%).

The Risk of a Fall   - What can we do?

The occurrence of falls is increasing as the population ages.  In addition, we have taken our eye off the ball, a little, with the other health issues at the moment.

WE can reduce our risk of a fall. We can work on our balance, and strengthen our legs. Let's not fall.

Habit of the week

Let's work on our leg strength. There are lots of quick little actions that add to our leg strength.  

    Heel Raises

    Squats

    Lunges

And balance, too.

    Ten Seconds on one leg.  etc

We do all these and other exercises in class together  

Sandgate Class, 10.00am, 2nd February, Sandgate Town Hall

Motivation

 

 I have been mentally and physically preparing to come back to the big smoke for the Tuesday class at Sandgate Town Hall on 2nd February

Motivation? I could use some.

When we all know how great we feel after exercise, but how come we don’t look forward to it, as much as looking forward to a chocolate?

The answer comes from David Leiberman’s book “Exercised”.  There are physiological reasons.  The answer lies in our caveman ancestry.  We evolved not wanting to waste energy.  Our energy was a precious resource so we try to conserve it – we need it to find food and to ‘reproduce’.  The rest of the time our ancestors saved their energy and rested.

Whereas modern humans have energy to spare.  We have access to a lot of spare calories in our readily-available food and let's face it, life is physically quite easy.  (When was the last time you got up to change the channel?)

Instead, we need to be smart about it.  Our knowledge of the workings of the human body is helpful here.  We know that dopamine is the reward hormone and that even the thought of that chocolate or the holiday can get our dopamine levels to move upward.  The anticipation of the chocolate is, itself, fun.  However, the dopamine pathway is different for an exercise.  There is no reward in the anticipation phase, but instead, we get the reward after we have finished. There are so many benefits from just one session of exercise – improved circulation; less pain; clearer head; less stress; more flexibility.  I could go on and on. 

There is not necessarily any joy in a ten km walk, we might even dread the thought.  However, because we know the benefits, we need to motivate ourselves to do our exercise. 

Let me know what you think.  How do you motivate yourself?

Meanwhile I am inviting you to be my guest  Monday morning’s live class at 8.00am. It will be recorded so the class is available for a week after that.  Good luck

 Email me if you would like to have a go at  annlear1@gmail.com

A great comment from Katie B.

 My friend, Katie B. wrote such a great response to my call to Meditation that I have decided it deserves a post of its own.  So here, with permission is her comment:-

Katie Bestevaar	4 Jan 2021, 16:14 (8 days ago)
to me

Dear Ann,

The Dan Harris mentioned in your blog post is the same one who, in 2005, stopped in the middle of a news

report (on Good Morning America I think) with a panic attack. He’d been a journalist in Afghanistan, Iraq, etc.,

seen far too much, and on his return to America eventually found it hard to get up in the morning, was self-medicating with cocaine etc., and had undiagnosed PTSD. He froze for some minutes - seen by 5 million Americans, and much more later on,

He saw heaps of doctors etc., and meditation was recommended - he thought it was all brown rice, socks and sandals, and listening to Enya, so resisted it, but it is now his life. He’s married to a doctor (something specific but I forget what) has a son and some cats, and I believe they’ve taken on a relative’s child as well. 

He’s written Ten Percent Happier: How I Tamed the Voice in My Head, Reduced Stress Without Losing My Edge, and Found Self-Help that Actually Works - a True Story - about which Elizabeth Gilbert wrote : An enormously smart, clear-eyes, brave-hearted, and quite personal look at the benefits of meditation” - also available as an audiobook (gonna tell Kim about that) and co-wrote Meditation for Fidgety Skeptics.

Dan eventually founded Ten Percent Happier, a great little app. Plenty of stuff to access free, from 1 minute to 5 minute to as-long-as-you-fancy meditations, some singles, some courses. I did lots of them, then paid for a year’s subscription, and today started the New Year’s Challenge, which is to do 15 meditations over the next 21 days, starting today.

Thought you might like it. They had a half-price offer, so I bought one for Anna and Marty to share, if they want to.

There are so many good people associated with Ten Percent Happier - Judson Brewer, a neuroscientist and addiction specialist, Joseph Goldstein - the creator of the term mindfulness, I believe, Sebene Selassie, a 3-time cancer survivor, courses on compassion, ethics, healthy eating, handling stress, coping with chaotic times, and heaps more.

This is fun - sharing the joy

 

My mate, Katie B, sent me this little gem.  She is a good cook. And  her comments are such fun. 

This is the link to the recipe. Put it in your Recipe Keeper.

https://recipekeeperonline.com/recipe/d2i_ttB59UCK1c1GwcS56w

Hi Ann,
Try this - not a suggestion - I insist!
So simple, but not something I’d have thought of.
It tastes great, nicely filling, and is a great balance of healthy fats, carbs, protein. The lime juice (I use zest too) lightens the flavour, red onions or shallots give crunch, plus tomato and lettuce. Just wish I had an avocado tree!
Let me know what you think!

Coincidentally, my mate, Rosie, just ordered me to plant an Avocado tree.  A direct order.

Life in Balance - Balance in Life - HOW

 Habit of the Week

Let's practice our balance.  Very little is required to keep hold of the balance we've got.  There is evidence that as little as three times a week for ten minutes is sufficient.

Of courses, I have to tweak it..........  I like to do a little every day, just a few seconds every day really works wonders.  You will notice the difference by the end of a week.

Why bother? Our balance ebbs away insidiously. 

Working on your balance:-

• Prevents falls - if this were the only benefit, it would be worth it.
• Strengthen our legs
• It keeps us young and able to enjoy life
• Gives us confidence
• It is a new skill to practice

Let's make our balance practice a part of our daily routine..

If I am not hungry, why am I eating?

What a great step toward self-care we would be taking if we could distinguish between hungry eating and non-hungry eating!

Dr. Rick Kausman, in his book, "If not dieting, then what?"  suggests the following reasons for non-hungry eating.  Maybe you could suggest others.

• We might not be giving ourselves enough time to listen to what our body signals might be telling us.
• We might be confusing hunger and thirst
•  We let ourselves get too hungry
• We are not sure when to stop eating
• We are filling up, but not feeling satisfied
• "just in case I get hungry later"
• The clock says it is breakfast/lunch/dinner: meal time eating
• We are not meeting certain needs
• The food tastes great
• We feel tired, bored or lonely
• We are worried we might offend someone if we don't eat
• We eat as a reward
• Our parents told us to eat everything on the plate
• We are bombarded with prompts to eat - advertising, it is everywhere.
• We eat out of habit
• We eat because it is there
• Food brings back nice memories
• We eat too quickly
• We eat to solve a problem, to fill in a gap or put something off.
• Sometimes a combination of these.

Do you have any suggestions..  I, myself, like to cook.     

Meditation - Who Knew? Habit of the Week.

 I recommend a YouTubed. from "Big Think"  This has been an eye opener for me.  This video clip has so much interesting content that I could only watch it in chunks, so I  could digest it all.

Firstly it discusses the misconceptions in meditation namely what it is not.  Then it goes on to talk about the evidence and the science that backs it up. then how to get started.

• This might very well be the next revolution in health.  Consider other recent ideas new understanding of the importance of gut bacteria, 
• the new concepts of neuroplasticity, 
• the importance of weight bearing exercise and high intensity interval training.