Holiday Recipes For Living Well

The holiday season is filled with recipes from family, religious and social traditions and many of us have favorites we make year after year.  In fact, the foods we eat are often what make the holidays special.  Here are a few ideas to consider if you want to try something new or simply make your old favorites more nutritious. 

Cauliflower “Mashed” Potatoes   

Sugar Free Cranberry Sauce

Sugar Free Apple Pie

Simple Ways to Make Holiday Meals More Nutritious
   ~Use whole wheat or whole grain breads and flour in cooking & baking.
   ~Drizzle vegetables (broccoli, brussel sprouts, asparagus, beans etc)
     with a small amount of olive oil, add slices of fresh garlic and bake in
     oven at 375 for 45-60 minutes.  Add a squeeze of fresh lemon or
     sprinkle lightly with parmesan cheese just before serving.
   ~Use non or low fat plain Greek yogurt instead of Sour Cream in
     recipes.
   ~Skip the appetizers and have your guests arrive in time for the meal.
   ~Mash potatoes with the skins on.
   ~Adding garlic, yogurt, horseradish or chives to mashed potatoes
     increases flavor and allows you to reduce butter or other fat.
   ~Have fresh fruit (not juice) available at every meal. 
   ~Substitute brown rice for white rice and whole grain pasta for semolina
     pasta in recipes.  Be sure to adjust spices and cooking time.

Holiday Health and Fitness

This time of year it is easy to feel overwhelmed by health and fitness goals.  In the next six weeks most of us will find ourselves inundated with activities centered around eating and temptations to consume traditional foods and beverages laden with salt, fat and refined sugars.  We may also feel pressured by well-intentioned family and friends to eat and drink more than we need or want to.  And, we will facing it all on less sleep and increasingly fewer energy reserves as the season unfolds.  Added to this is the confusion about what exercise program or holiday weight loss regimen is the best, or will deliver the results you want. Everywhere you look; TV, newspapers, magazines, websites, blogs, newsletters etc, so-called “experts” are regaling us with promises and assurances that their product or program is the one to use.  For many people, all this is enough to make them not even try.  Unfortunately, the “I’ll enjoy the holidays and start taking care of myself after New Year’s” approach sounds good, but I don’t know of very many people who have found this successful, much less been healthier and happier for it.

~Just move!  It doesn’t really matter what you do, just find 20 - 40 minutes every day and do something.  Walk, run, bike, use a treadmill or other aerobic exercise machine if you have access to them.  You can dance (at home, at a class, at a concert or ballroom), swim, ice skate, ski, snowshoe, take a yoga or fitness class (if accessible) or do an exercise tape/CD/DVD at home.  You don’t even have to buy one, most public libraries have an excellent selection.  If you are a cable subscriber, check out their programming.  Most cable systems have programs and many have whole channels dedicated to exercise and fitness programs. What you do isn’t as important as doing it.  One caveat;  make sure you listen to your body and don’t over exert or try to do something beyond your ability.  Over-exercising is not the solution to over-eating and it can lead to injuries.
 
~Drink plenty of  plain water.  Not carbonated, not “vitamin enhanced”, not flavored.  Holiday food is loaded with salt, refined sugar, and fat, all of which dehydrate the body and can play havoc with the elimination process.  (as does travel and flying by the way)  An easy way to do this is to have at least one glass of water at every meal, even if you are having another beverage.  If you are hosting a meal, make sure every place is set with a full glass of water. Add a slice or wedge of lemon for a more eloquent presentation.  Having it available increase the likelihood of drinking it. 

~If you have a diagnosed medical condition or your health and happiness depend on certain dietary alterations, follow them.  Your health and life are worth far more important than the momentary and fleeting satisfaction of consuming something because it “tastes good”, “everyone else is eating it”, someone pressured you to eat it, or you think you can get away with it “just this one time”.
  

On November 17th Kevin Griffin, author of “One Step at a Time; Buddhism and the 12 Steps” gave a public talk to about 65 people.  This was Kevin’s first appearance in the Chicago area and he was delighted to be received by so many who share a love for the 12 Step path and an interest in the contributions Buddhism can make to its followers. 

Following a brief recounting of how he came to embrace Buddhism and the 12 Steps, Kevin guided the group through a twenty minute mindfulness meditation exercise followed by a question and answer period.  In addition to responding to questions about the mindfulness meditation process, he addressed questions concerning the use of prayer, how to develop a morning ritual, and how to reconcile Buddhist beliefs and practices with the traditional  Judeo-Christian concept of a God as an all-powerful deity. 

In “Dharma God and the Path of Recovery”, to be published in January of 2010, Kevin explores the last question more fully, suggesting that the teachings of Dharma can be seen as a power greater than ourselves to which we can turn  for  inspiration and guidance for our lives and behavior  in much the same way we might turn to God.

During his talk, Kevin referred attendees to his website, www.kevingriffin.com for  more information and links to guided meditations he has recorded as well as to the Buddhist Recovery Network website www.buddhistrecovery.org .

At the gathering I also announced that I am currently looking for space in the Evanston/Wilmette area to teach a class on “Mindfulness Meditation and the 12 Steps”.   Anyone interested in attending or receiving more information about the class can contact me at info@happyhealthywhole.com.

On October4th, the Chicago Area Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) teachers Sangha met to continue discussing the ways they are applying MBSR and other forms of mindfulness and meditation in their work, share recent training experiences and resources, exchange information about upcoming classes they are offering to the public and discuss plans for future endeavors.   There are now approximately 35 people in the Chicago area who have completed training in MBSR or one if it’s variations; Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy, Mindfulness-based Relapse Prevention, and Mindfulness-based Eating. 

The teachers represent a broad array of professions; physicians, psychologists, social workers and psychotherapists, addiction counselors, nurses, personal coaches,  corporate training and leadership consultants, yoga instructors, fitness trainers, and even an engineer.  The range of  professions represented by the teachers is indicative of the broad appeal and successful application of mindfulness-based practices to a variety of human challenges.  Originally designed by Jon Kabat-Zinn PhD.  at the Stress Reduction Clinic of the  University of Massachusetts Medical Center (www.umassmed.edu  ) to provide relief to individuals with chronic medical conditions, mindfulness-based practices have brought the wisdom of ancient belief systems such as Buddhism into the modern age.  Their wide-spread use is indicative of the healing effect and soothing presence mindfulness provides to the stress and strain of contemporary life and the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual dis-eases that result.

I completed my initial professional training in MBSR with Jon Kabat-Zinn and Saki Santorelli, Ed.D,  Director of the Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care, and Society three years ago in Mt. Madonna, California and recently returned from Omega Institue where I received additional training in Mindfulness-based eating (MB-Eat) with Jean Kristeller of Indiana State University and Char Wilkins.  A separate blog post provides information about that training. 

Several teachers announced upcoming classes they will be teaching in the Chicago area this fall including Sheila Dixon who will be teaching MBSR in Evanston beginning this month.  For information on her class, contact her at sqdixon@aol.com    The teachers group (Sangha) will continue meeting once a month through June of 2010 prior to taking a summer break.  Details about the meetings, resources, classes and events shared by the teachers will be posted here.  For additional information on MBSR and other mindfulness classes in the Chicago area, or if you are trained and wish to join the group,  leave a comment below or contact me at info@happyhealthywhole.com.

There seem to be a lot of muscle strains and sprains going around these days, not unusual for the end of summer when many of us have been more active than usual.  In response to concerns about tight calf muscles, here are a couple of great stretches.  The first is for the larger muscle in the calf, the area that bulges a few inches beneath the knee called the Gastrocnemius.

Notice that the back knee is straight and the heel is reaching toward or pressing into the floor.  Hold this position for 20-30 seconds.  Take some long slow complete breaths and imagine the muscle filling up and expanding on the inhale and releasing and lengthening on the exhale.

The second stretch is for the lower calf  muscle, the Soleus.  The Soleus is a much overlooked muscle that often causes problems with the Gastrocnemius above it or the Achilles Tendon below it.  The following picture shows an excellent Soleus stretch.

In this stretch, the back knee is bent forward and the ankle is slightly flexed.  Be careful not to bend the knee too far.  It doesn’t take much of a bend to feel the Soleus lengthening.  Again, hold this position for 20-30 seconds, taking long slow relaxing breaths.  Imagining muscles filling and expanding on the inhalation and softening and relaxing on the exhalation  is a great way not only to lengthen muscles (the whole point of stretching), but to slow ourselves down.  It’s really a meditation for the body and the mind all at the same time!

 Doing these stretches regularly is great for preventing night cramping.   If you ever wake up in the middle of the night with a cramp in one or both of your calves,  place the heel of both hands on either side of the calf and press in.  This ”compression” relieves cramps as it forces blood into the muscle. If your calves remain tight, try soaking the lower legs in warm water before stretching or have your legs massaged by a professional massage therapist.    If night cramps persists, consider seeing your doctor, as they may also be caused by circulatory problems.

Making Peace with Your Body:
Finding Peace with Yourself

Do you have a hard time feeling good about your body? Unfavorably compare yourself with others? Has stress, aging, or other factors led you to struggle with your weight or maintaining healthy eating habits? Is it difficult to appreciate who you are beyond your physical appearance? This course is an invitation to finally take the time you deserve to make peace with your body and find peace with yourself.

Join Corinne Petersen and Carol Friedman for six very special sessions and heal the old patterns of body, mind, heart, and spirit that have kept you from fully embracing your body and your life.

Topics to be addressed include:

• How we learned to negatively relate to our bodies and what we can do about it.
• Healing through mindful self-talk.
• Kindness; the healing power of opening our hearts to ourselves.
• Easy and practical ways to transform the way you eat and relate to food.
• Mindful movement and rest.
• Giving Thanks for all we are, have, and do.

Each session will include gentle movement, yoga, relaxation, and meditation exercises specially designed to release old patterns and integrate the day’s new learning. You will leave awakened, refreshed, renewed, and ready to live a healthier and happier life.

Location: Heartwood Center for Body, Mind, Spirit, 1599 Maple Avenue, Evanston, Illinois

Sundays 2:00 - 4:00 pm: Oct. 18, 25, Nov. 1, 8, 15 and 22.

Space is limited, early registration is recommended.

For registration or information contact:

Corinne: corinne.peterson@gmail.com or 773. 562.5933.

Carol: info@happyhealthywhole.com or 847.866.9692.

About the instructors:

Carol Friedman has been a teacher and workshop leader for over 20 years. She holds a master’s degree from The Institute of Transpersonal Psychology, is certified in Psycho-Spiritual Integration, is a certified personal trainer and teaches Mindfulness Meditation and Mindful eating.

Corinne Peterson has been teaching yoga since 1994. She is a certified as a yoga instructor by the Temple of Kriya Yoga and as a yoga therapist through the American Viniyoga Institute. Corinne has a gentle teaching style influenced by 23 years of study in Viniyoga, Kriya, and Iyengar yoga. She holds a master in public health and has been a nationally certified massage therapist since 1997.