Day 3: How Can You Use Physical Activity To Improve Eye Health?
Posted on July 15, 2021 Leave a Comment
In a nutshell, physical activity increases blood circulation, maintains the highways, and increases waste removal. Therefore, the cleaner our highways are, the better we can see.
Several studies have found that consistent physical activity (exercise) may decrease the risk of developing certain eye conditions, such as diabetic retinopathy, macular degeneration, and glaucoma,
Here are five considerations to increase physical activity for eye health.
- As you guess, assessment is always the first step. Why increase your activity? What will increased activity feel like to you, even the initial resistance to overcoming the resistance to better yourself?
- Check with your healthcare provider about health-related limitations, i.e., diabetic retinopathy and lifting weights.
- Be honest with yourself. Avoid measuring your progress with others. Your progress will not be theirs, and there’s no competition to reach sustainable physical fitness.
- Leave hurtful comments or unhealthy comments with the owner.
- Use words, including mantras, to promote physical activity. For example, “I can do all things through him who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13) I need to do to keep my body working effectively? Or what about Luke 1:37, Matthew 19:26, or even 1 Corinthians 6:19?
- Spend less time comparing your body to others and more time getting to know what works for your body.
- Consistently evaluate your activity level. Use apps to monitor your weight, emotions, and feelings during meditation.
- Start with what works with you. Before my mother got her first car, we walked everywhere. After experiencing childhood sexual abuse, walking was a way for me to put my abuse in a healthy perspective. While walking in the living room of our first house, I received the thought that life experiences build character. Life presents spiritual tests. In addition, I’ve lost and maintained weight via walking. Walking outside is an opportunity to bond with nature and clear my consciousness through movement. There is a healing power associated with putting one foot in front of the other.
You have what you need to be successful. Often, we have what we need to make successful and sustainable changes in our life. We don’t always have to purchase the latest gadget, powder, or any other substance to achieve what our body knows how to do.
Until next time,
Make this lifetime great!
Timika
You deserve it.
Please share this post if you believe it would help someone, and become a part of the movement determined to fulfill our divine purpose and receive quarterly empowering newsletters.
Catch my new podcast on caring for the eyes on Anchor or your favorite podcast medium.
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Day 2: What Can You Do To Achieve Healthy Weight For Your Eye Health?
Posted on July 14, 2021 Leave a Comment
As you know, achieving a healthy weight is more than physical. Your emotional, mental, social, and spiritual state plays a role in how you take care of yourself. The more baggage (anger, disappointments, inner hatred, resentment, and the like), the more stress you add to your body. An increase in stress affects how you think about food, how you process food (i.e., cortisol and decreasing ability to burn fat), and how you treat your body (active life versus non-active life). Whatever you do for your body, your eyes experience as well. For example, the higher your cholesterol level is, the more chance you have of your highways becoming blocked. Remember, your eyes have small highways running through, to, and away from them
Whatever prevents you from letting go of the extra cargo (myths, grudges, expectations, and disappointments), it’s time to let go and live. No matter what someone says or does to you, your health should not have to suffer. Others’ unhealthy actions are from them and their response to pain or unhealed wounds. My sexual abuse experience was not a reason for me to disregard my body. I am the one who is with my body 24/7 and experiences consequences related to unhealthy weight. Not them.
Healthcare providers use body mass index (BMI) to determine your individualized treatment plan for health and fitness. You can check your BMI before and between your provider visits. I encourage people to become students of their health; please do not wait for your healthcare provider to tell you something you already know. If you need help, please voice your concerns and questions to your healthcare provider or someone you trust.
Here are a five considerations to support you in achieving a healthy weight.
- Ask yourself what’s the purpose of your body? Get clarity that your body is more than a deposit. You have something valuable to share with someone or more than one person. In other words, your body is the vehicle for your message.
- What is an approximate healthy weight for you? Would you please use the link above to check your BMI? Healthy weight is achieved with the proper use of knowledge. No guilt. No blame. Just know where you stand.
- Ask yourself what it would mean to you to achieve and sustain a healthy weight. For example, are you struggling with energy, focus, motivation, etc., because of your current health status? If so, know you do not need to continue a cycle of pain or start a cycle of pain.
- Know your family history and medical conditions. Is there something internal ( i.e., thyroid or eye problem) preventing you from achieving your healthy weight goals? A blood test may reveal there is something else going on with your body, brain, etc.
- Seek like-minded support in developing a health plan. Check your health insurance to see what benefits you have (i.e., holistic doctor, Registered Dietician, nutritionist, health coach benefits). And, never feel guilty about seeking a second opinion. No one experiences your frustrations, pain, and other symptoms, but you.
You are here for reasons. Your eye health depends on how you treat your body. There are so many ways to achieve a healthy weight, but until the mind is in the right state, sustainable optimal health will continue to be an issue.
Make this lifetime great! You deserve it.
Please share this post if you believe it would help someone, and become a part of the movement determined to fulfill our divine purpose and receive quarterly empowering newsletters.
Catch my new podcast on caring for the eyes on Anchor or your favorite podcast medium.
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Day One: How Can You See Clearly?
Posted on July 12, 2021 Leave a Comment
As discussed in this week’s podcast, your eyes are the headlights to your body. And your body is the vehicle for your divine message. As you know, many people have shared their empowering and inspirational messages without functional eyes/eyesight, but you still want to take care of what you have. Self-care is an expression of gratitude.
In this week’s podcast, Create A Generational Love Cycle, I share several self-care actions you can do to keep your headlights working properly, which are eating balanced meals, achieving and sustaining a healthy weight, incorporating consistent activity, protecting eyewear, avoiding smoking, and knowing your family history and risk factors. If you haven’t listened to this week’s podcast yet, please listen to it. Today’s blog is about balancing meals.
As mentioned in this week’s podcast, one in ten Americans does not get enough fruits and veggies. Some health care professionals still use the food pyramid, and many more people turn to an individualized approach, My Plate Plan, for healthy meal planning. When you use the My Plate Method or Plan, you:
- fill half your plate with fruits and vegetables (specifically nonstarchy vegetables such as kale, spinach, swiss chard, broccoli, and others).
- Fill your plate with whole grains. Whole grain contains fiber and other essential nutrients such as Vitamin B (protects the heart and nerves, fiber, iron (improves oxygen exchange in the body), magnesium (protects heart and nerve health), and antioxidants (keep your cells healthy, including the cells in your eyes). In addition, whole grains (and not the refined grains) contain fiber. Fiber plays a critical role in maintaining blood pressure, cholesterol, digestive health, and other bodily functions. Yet, approximately 5% of Americans are getting the recommended fiber intake. For example, women should be getting 25mg of fiber a day, and men should consume 38mg of fiber daily.
- Eat a variety of proteins. You do not have to have meat at every meal. Instead, you can alternate with beans, lentils, peas, and soy products. A serving of protein is approximately a deck of cards or the palm of your hand.
- Transition to low-fat dairy products or nondairy products such as coconut (home-made ice cream), almond, and soy milk.
The more balanced your meals are, the more balance your blood sugars, cholesterol, and other nutrients (i.e., potassium, calcium, and others) will be. You don’t have all of this sugar and cholesterol clogging up the tiny blood vessels (highways), leading to your eyes.
Here are three suggestions to help balance your meals.
a. Ask yourself some open-ended questions followed by more specific questions. What is stopping me from having balanced meals? Am I worth the energy, money, and time to enjoy a balanced meal plan and the positive consequences such as energy, focus, and healthy weight? Do I deserve healthy eyes? What is the role of food in your existence? Are you using food as an emotional crutch? If so, after consuming large amounts of the food, is your problem solved, or did you add or create another problem? Your actions come from your beliefs and thoughts about yourself. After you find the root of your unbalanced meals, then you can move forward with action.
b. Incorporate a food group-inspired meal plan. I’ve mentioned this technique before, and if you love being organized, a themed- meal plan is the way to achieving balanced meals. For example, Mondays & Fridays are Omega- 3 days. Omega 3 helps decrease the risks of cataracts and macular degeneration. So, on Mondays and Fridays, my family and I have fish. (i.e., sauteed salmon and brown rice on Mondays and fish tacos on Fridays). I substitute sour cream with organic plain yogurt (dairy) for the fish tacos, and I add greens to the tacos (kale, spinach, or swiss chard). Tuesdays are Mexican-inspired in which I serve beans (pinto, navy, and other refried beans). Wednesdays and Thursdays are grains and often are my one meal for two days. On Saturdays and Sundays, we eat more traditional foods with a healthy kick, especially Sundays. When you base your meals on the different food groups, you are less likely to miss key nutrients.
c. Include greens at each meal. No one said you had to stick with traditional breakfasts. This morning, I ate some of the stir fry I fixed this weekend and added sautéed spinach. My son eats a healthy variety of vegetables, but I have to be more creative with my daughter. They like my broccoli, cheese, brown rice combination, and spinach dip (plain yogurt, parmesan cheese, spinach, and mozzarella cheese).
d. Include fruit at every meal, or at least at snack time. If you’ve been diagnosed with diabetes and wonder if you can eat fruits, including grapes, check out my blogs on Diathrive. Always eat fruit with some protein (i.e., peanut butter and apple, peaches and cottage cheese, fruit, and a slice of low-fat provolone cheese) to help balance out the sugar you consume.
Remember to keep your individualized meal plan flexible. If I am in the mood for something else, I will fix it with no guilt. But, at least I have a general theme in my head and a monthly and weekly schedule of ideas.
Eating balanced meals doesn’t need to be hard. As with anything, the more you do something, the more you do it without thinking. Likewise, the more you believe you deserve something, the more you will do it.
So, what do you want to leave on autopilot? And will this autopilot protect your eyes or put them in more harm? The healthier your headlights are, the more you see where you are going.
As always, before changing and starting any health plan, please talk to your healthcare provider. The information I share in this blog does not take the place of medical advice.
Make this lifetime great! You deserve it.
Please share this post if you believe it would help someone, and become a part of the movement determined to fulfill our divine purpose and receive quarterly empowering newsletters.
Catch my new podcast on caring for the eyes on Anchor or your favorite podcast medium.
Timika
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