18May2012
Posted by Shirley Cohen under: Senior News.
Over the past two months I learned a thing about dieting and that is, it’s really not as hard as you think it’ll be when you haven’t yet committed to doing it. I started a few days before Spring and now, two months later, I’ve lost 20 lbs. I get a lot of comments from people I know who see the difference and wonder in amazement how I did it.
I first got the inspiration from my brother who one day got sick and tired of being overweight and decided to do something about it. He picked a diet system and verified that the program really worked for one of his neighbors. Then he plunged into it with great determination. He also committed himself to working out at least 4-5 times a week at a gym not far from his home. Within weeks he shed 5, then 10 lbs and within 3 months, he shed a whopping 55 lbs! He now looks like a GQ model! Besides that, his cholesterol level is down as is blood pressure. Not only does he look years younger, he says he feels great—so much more energetic and lighter on his feet.
The diet plan he selected comes with a coach—a supportive, informed, and experienced person who has gone through the process of serious weight loss. It really helps to have that mentor or a buddy, someone to compete with or someone who’s been there and helps you stay focused when you want to quit, complain or cheat.
Getting started is the hardest part. And the good news is that, for the most part, not eating all your favorite things for days, weeks, and even months on end does get easier. You discover that it’s all mental—all the longings for specialty foods, the excuses you generate to let yourself cheat (“but it’s my best friend’s birthday…”). We can and should be eating much, much less than we do. But what we do eat has to be very nutritious—it should contain lots of vitamins, minerals, fiber, etc.
When what you eat is healthy and nutritious, you can eat much smaller portions than you usually do and feel satisfied. So many of the food habits we’ve developed are in our minds. And because of the abundance of the foods that are not healthy for us, like fast foods available on almost every corner of every town, we tend to overeat the processed, non-nutritional foods and gain weight or develop various undesirable health conditions.
Our caregivers are all encouraged in our orientation sessions to prepare fresh, natural and nutritious foods for our senior clients. Why not pick a day sometime soon to get started on a diet which eliminates sugary and processed foods, pasta, potatoes, rice and bread, butter, cakes, cookies and dairy products. You certainly can add some of these back in moderation when you’ve reached your goal, but to accelerate your weight loss and pull back from the brink of Diabetes or other unhealthful conditions, it would be good to focus on eating fish, lean meats, vegetables, salads, and legumes like lentils. Add some exercise, lots of water and skip the alcohol. You’ll probably feel like a new man or woman within the first 30 days.
We’ll be taking a summer break from social media till the middle of July and hope you enjoy your lives in the best of health till then.
9May2012
Posted by Shirley Cohen under: Senior News.
There are lots of simple, positive things we can do to improve our health and the health of our loved ones. One of them is to make sure we get enough fiber in our diets. Studies indicate that the average American eats only 5-14 g of fiber each day when they should be getting between 20-35 g of fiber daily.
The lack of fiber in our diets can have deleterious effects on our health, starting with gas, bloating and constipation. The benefits are many such as maintaining and losing weight, lowering blood cholesterol levels, improving cardiovascular health, and preventing digestive disorders such as hemorrhoids, diverticulitis and irritable bowel syndrome. Additionally, it is also known to play an important role in lowering your risk of diabetes and heart disease. That’s a lot of things that just adding some whole grains, fruits, vegetables, beans and other legumes to your diet can do for you.
We’re including some links about the importance of dietary fiber from the Mayo Clinic and the Harvard School of Medicine for your review and edification. Additionally, you’ll find a video from Dr. Marc Hyman who discusses the benefits to our health in no uncertain terms. We believe that getting this information directly from such reputable sources will undoubtedly inspire you to make the decision to add more fiber to your diet and start you and your family members on the road to better health.
Shirley Cohen
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Shirley Cohen is the Executive Director of Home Sweet Home Care, a full-service home care aide agency serving the San Francisco Bay Area since 1990.
19April2012
Posted by Shirley Cohen under: Senior News.
While the latest medical literature may still be “inconclusive” about sugar, a lot of nutritionists, doctors, Ph.d’s and health-conscious people are not. They are all very concerned that sugar is bad for us, that it is “a toxin” or a “poison” and decry it as “evil” as does Robert Lustig, a man with impressive credentials, and whose 90 minute YouTube lecture/discussion, Sugar: The Bitter Truth, on the nuances of fructose biochemistry and human physiology drew over 2,300,000 visitors. Dr. Lustig is a specialist on pediatric hormone disorders and the leading expert in childhood obesity at the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine.
N.Y. Times writer Gary Taubes, says in his April 11, 2011 piece that if Lustig is right about sugar, it means that sugar is also the likely dietary cause of several other chronic ailments widely considered to be diseases of Western lifestyles—heart disease, hypertension and many common cancers among them. Apparently, Dr. Lustig has accumulated a mass of evidence about sugar’s culpability which is said to be very compelling and should give any reasonable person some pause to reflect before indulging in a food or beverage laced with sugar.
Sugar is so pervasive in our diets that it’s become harder and harder to avoid. See, Wallace Bishop’s Sugar, is it like Cocaine?, Sugar’s Many Names. Another medical activist against the consumption of sugar at our current levels is Dr. Mark Hyman. His books are all New York Times best sellers. His latest work, the Blood Sugar Solution recommends cutting out all sugar, including the “healthy” sweeteners like honey, agave and stevia. He also warns the public of the dangers of using sugar substitutes like those commonly found in diet sodas. (Diet Drinks: Helpful or Harmful to Kick the Sugar Habit).
It’s no secret that sugar is one of the biggest culprits we know, he says, when it comes to the development of Diabetes and Obesity and so many related disorders, including some cancers. Besides small inconveniences like Acid Reflux disease, we now hear that researchers have discovered that ingesting too much sugar effects the testosterone and estrogen levels in the body.
For those of you who simply want to lose weight and start to feel healthier, consider cutting way back on your sugar consumption and see how it makes you look and feel. For people who would like to read more on this subject, please check out the following links: How Sugar Affects the Body in Motion, Is Sugar Toxic?, Sugar as Addictive as Cocaine, Heroin, Studies Suggest.
Shirley Cohen
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Shirley Cohen is the Executive Director of Home Sweet Home Care, a full-service home care aide agency serving the San Francisco Bay Area since 1990.
4April2012
Posted by Shirley Cohen under: Senior News.
The New Year’s period has come and gone and most of us are back to our old ways. We tend to be happy with getting 30-45 minutes of exercise 3 times a week. More and more researchers are stepping up and saying that that’s not going to cut it. We need quite a bit more than that if we want to live longer, happier and healthier lives. But don’t get depressed about it, cause as we also now know depression can lead to more inactivity….
I got my first wake-up call about the dangers of my sedentary life from an article I happen to see last fall in an AARP newsletter which had a catchy title, Sitting is the New Smoking. The writer spoke about how involved her life was with her computers and devices and how easy it was to while away tons of time sitting at her computer and exploring her hundreds of software programs. You don’t have to be a techie to feel that anymore, you just have to own a Smartphone, an Ipad or a laptop, and for many of us, all three, and boy, will time fly by.
Now I read that even going to the gym on a more regular basis may not cut it because we’re still sitting around too much watching TV, reading our papers, books and magazines, or whatever else we do after dinner that’s not physically active. Washing dishes or putting them away is nice but probably doesn’t count toward the goal of being physically active. So what to do? The answer is not blowing in the wind in this case—it’s more obvious: We have to change our ways and get active!
Good thing it’s spring! The weather will be very good for taking brisk walks before or after dinner. Perhaps it would be good to organize some neighbors, friends or family members to join you. Or how about dusting off the bicycle and setting some goals to meet. And guys who work at their desks all day also need to find some neighborhood hoops or racquetball courts, and some willing accomplices, to work off their stress, their desserts or what have you.
Here are some of the other articles that got me thinking that it’s time to get more active or face the consequences: Meet the Active Couch Potato & Those with a Desk Job, Please Stand Up. Since I can’t quibble with the new, well-documented research on this subject, I’ve decided to embrace my new, no tech, personal health program more enthusiastically and make time to exercise much more often. Tennis anyone?
Shirley Cohen
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Shirley Cohen is the Executive Director of Home Sweet Home Care, a full-service home care aide agency serving the San Francisco Bay Area since 1990.
