How Do Happy Times Strengthen Minds and Bodies, Plus Our Potential?

B'SD

15 Shvat, 5776

The answer to my blogpost's title is this: With focus on the wholesome goal you need. Read on.

Today is the Jewish holiday of Tu B'Shvat, the New Year for trees. I spoke of the ecologic, historic and spiritual reality about that to participants in the party I made at my synagogue last night.

Here are a few photos of the fun we enjoyed.

Israeli law forbids citizens to post online photos of minors without the documented permission of their parents/guardians. This is to protect them from evildoers. So, I can't post more party pix as kids tend to show up in several of them. But their families have the pix to treasure. 

This photo is of the craft project they worked on: Coloring a tree, folding the bottom into a square, decorating the whole thing with stickers, and setting the colorful item into a square holder. Then they planted sprouting garlics and inserted the live greenery into their pot holder. I took a shot that I call The Kidcraft Garden.

People with special food needs enjoyed my home made sushi, gluten-free crackers, those coconut mint carob rounds, plus quinoa mixed with sweet potato and sauteed onion. The regular diners enjoyed the couscous I'd made plus the home cooked food that other participants brought..

The healing efforts I make are blessed from Above to help me to see ever-better. It was a blessing to be part of the fun depicted in today's blogpost. Here's a picture of me wearing the 21st pair of prescription lenses since 2006.

I'm in the gray hat, standing next to one of the artists who displayed their works at the event I'd arranged. 

 Yes, my glasses are hard to spot: the lenses are so thin that I bought wire frames instead of recycling an older, thicker pair that are no longer suited to the job.


Want to listen to a song I'm following this week? 

The lyrics speak of a man whose heart cries with pain at the suffering of his beloved. He tries to grasp her hands as he speaks words that he prays will soothe her; "GOD sees and hears everything from above, forgets nothing, and will fulfill the heavenly promise to sweeten our lives.The blood of innocents, including soldiers who died defending other people's lives, the agony will never be forgotten nor forgiven. A new light will shine throughout the universe. A lovely dove will inscribe peace upon blue and white skies. We'll be safe in our ancestral home."

It is the metaphor for GOD's relationship to His People.

Meanwhile, let's do the best we can to perfect our personalities.

Happiness strengthen our minds and bodies, let alone our potential.

How do I, and how can YOU stay strong, despite painful setbacks in life? Find out in the E-book or print edition of EMPOWER Yourself to Cope with a Medical Challenge. 





Face Your Medical Problems with Dignity. Face Your Future with Optimism.

Fill your life with happy possibilities.

Here's How You Can Lose the Holiday Season Foodbinge Bulges FAST!

B'SD

10 7 Tevet, 5775

I Can Believe that You Ate THAT Much! 

Slimmer you seems to be hiding under lots of fat, hmmm?

Holiday season coupled with weather that makes us want to remain indoors is a potent mix of calories and lack of movement. Excess calories are not burned up, muscles tighten and colds make you hibernate under the bed covers.

Fat accumulates. Fast.

Three years ago I shared a Whittle Your Waistline

 update about how to easily lower your weight, cholesterol and cardiac risks. The major point of the message was to move more than you already do and to eat less than you have been.

There's no need to buy expensive exercise equipment.

Invest in a pair of sturdy shoes because walking is free. It's increasingly fun as you allow yourself to interact with people outdoors. You'll even see lovely sights such as sunrises, sunsets, greenery and whoknowswhat. Give yourself that chance!

You can warm up your muscles to prepare them for intense exercise with simple shrugs and stretches while you're siting, or preferably standing.

Grab a pair of canned food containers of equal weight and swing them methodically at your sides. Raise your arms and bring the cans together, apart, together apart, for ten repetitions or so. Increase the number of repetitions daily, and the weight of the canned food items over time. March while you move those arms, and burn more calories in the same amount of time.

Learn how to do aerobics, isometrics and other movements for increased muscle tone and calorie-burning time.

Bustle around, looking for things you can clean, move or rearrange. Housework at home or in the office burns calories!

Take breaks from routines. Wriggle your feet and move your legs up-down-up-down while you're at your desk or sitting around reading. Keep your shoes on as you do leg-lifts while lying on the floor (use a thick towel or mat to prevent cold contact).

Use the stairs instead of elevators or escalators. WALK your errands instead of driving all the time. Spend the money saved on gas and car maintenance bills on some wrist and ankle weights you can wrap around your joints with already attached velcro (sporting shops sell such items). Weight-bearing movement burns more calories as you achieve other goals.

Bed-bound? Amputations? Ask your medical professionals for muscle-strengthening and calorie-burning guidance. Find solutions.

Most of all, stop being still too long.

Suck in your tummy and hold the pose several seconds to tone the muscles there. Repeat that effort several times daily.

Making a phone call? Stand up while you speak. Bounce on, then rise up/down with your heels and toes.

And replace the hi-cal food with lo-cal stuff you'd like to eat: a few handfuls of non-buttered  popcorn, veggie platters without dressings, fruit, nuts, seeds, and so on. Prepare those things in advance, before you're bored or in the the mood to snack. 

Leave the stuffings, meats and toppings off your menu. Those are for treats, not daily fare.

Reward yourself for sticking to your New Year's resolutions for getting into better shape. Make it something other than food (music, theater, art, hobbies, time with people important to you, etc.).

Brace for impact: DO NOT overindulge at any more parties. Smile when anyone tries to force feed you too much food, and visualize the slimmer you.




Buy the E-book or print edition of EMPOWER Yourself to Cope with a Medical Challenge.


 

Face Your Medical Problems with Dignity. Face Your Future with Optimism.

Fight weight gain with movement.