Bodyworks Integrative Health, LLC

I’d like to start a new feature here at my blog – highlighting an idea, service or product that I love each week.

This week, I’ll start by telling you about Happy Hal’s Jalapeño Relish.

I love spicy food and it’s even better when you know some details about the product. My friend Susie started The Happy Jalapeño Company because her friends and family encouraged her. They loved her homemade Jalapeño relish, and now all of us can too!

I use Happy Hal’s in egg dishes – even just scrambled eggs! It’s fantastic in soups, especially my summer gazpacho. Another way to use it is in dips, like this yummy Avocado Dip. Susie has a lot of recipes on the Web site, so you can get a bunch more ideas there.

Also … hot peppers contain capsaicin, which has many health benefits. They include antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties. It’s known to have thermogenic activity, which means it increases overall metabolic activity.

If you’d like to try some, it is available at Whole Foods in the mid-Atlantic region and at several Lancaster County locations. You can order it directly from Happy Hal’s too!

Recently I’ve been thinking a lot about how coaches can best encourage clients to change behaviors. One of my coaches has been emphasizing encouragement, and I have to agree. Often when we are learning something new, it’s most encouraging to have our coach show us how to change. And it’s even better when a coach can model that behavior for us. I don’t know about you, but just telling me I should change isn’t the same as showing me how easy change can be.

Given all of this, it’s kind of funny that I have a coach/client relationship in my own home. Who is my client? My darling husband (DH)! While he’s 100% supportive of my career, it’s been a slower path for him to make substantive changes in his own health-related choices. As with my other clients, I focus first on introducing foods that are less processed.

Here’s a recent example — microwave popcorn! We both enjoy popcorn as a relatively healthy snack. But my DH has been buying microwave popcorn for years. Gosh it’s just so darn convenient! But then you look at the list of ingredients, and even read things online that may scare you.

On the spur of the moment, I bought some organic popping corn a few weeks ago. I love popcorn popped on the stove, and I thought I might be the only one making the effort at home. No problem. I brought it home and popped my favorite recipe right away. Not surprisingly, the smell drew some interest and we shared the freshly popped goodness. Just a day or so later, DH asked me to remind him how to make fresh popcorn. (Yay!)

But the best part of the whole experience was hearing my darling husband say, “Y’know … we probably should give away all that microwave popcorn. It’s just nowhere near as tasty as the fresh stuff. And it’s all full of chemicals and other yucky stuff!”

So this health coach was reminded again … show me the new way … don’t just tell me!

Here’s my popcorn “recipe” … Really just guidelines.

1/4-1/3 cup unpopped popcorn
1-2 tablespoons coconut oil
Seasonings – I like fresh cracked pepper and sea salt

Pick a large saucepan with a tightly fitting lid. Warm your oil with one piece of unpopped corn over medium to high heat. Be sure the lid fits tightly to keep heat and oil in the pan.

When the oil is hot, the single kernel will pop. Before you add the remaining popcorn, add your seasonings to the oil. Then add the remaining popcorn and close the lid again. Shake the saucepan a bit to get the oil evenly distributed. The popcorn should begin to pop, and you’ll want to keep a close watch over its process. Do not leave the stove while the popcorn is popping! Shake the saucepan occasionally during the whole cooking process.

When you stop hearing popping, the popcorn is finished. You should have a saucepan full of popped popcorn within 4-5 minutes. Pour it into a bowl (or bowls if sharing) and enjoy!

In the midst of all the sadness surrounding the world this week, I happened upon this poem by a twentieth-century Japanese man, Nanao Sakaki. It seems like a wonderful way to remember that each of us is just one small part in a larger whole. And reminds us that we must find quiet time for ourselves, our world and our universe.

Within a circle of one meter
You sit, pray and sing.

Within a shelter ten meters large
You sleep well, rain sounds a lullaby.

Within a field a hundred meters large
Raise rice and goats.

Within a valley a thousand meters large
Gather firewood, water, wild vegetables, and Amanitas.

Within a forest ten kilometers large
Play with raccoons, hawks,
Poison snakes and butterflies.

Mountainous country Shinano
A hundred kilometers large
Where someone lives leisurely, they say.

Within a circle ten thousand kilometers large
Go to see the southern coral reef in summer
Or winter drifting ices in the sea of Okhotsk.

Within a circle ten thousand kilometers large
Walking somewhere on the earth.

Within a circle a hundred thousand kilometers large
Swimming in the sea of shooting stars.

Within a circle a million kilometers large
Upon the spaced-out yellow mustard blossoms
The moon in the east, the sun west.

Within a circle ten billion kilometers large
Pop far out of the solar system mandala.

Within a circle ten thousand light years large
The Galaxy full blooming in spring.

Within a circle one billion light years large
Andromeda is melting away into snowing cherry flowers.

Now within a circle ten billion light years large
All thoughts of time, space are burnt away
There again you sit, pray and sing.
You sit, pray and sing.

- Nanao Sakaki

Many years ago I discovered that exercise was a terrific way to cope with stress. I know – so did a lot of us! I also love the endorphin rush of a good workout – it helps me stave off my natural depressive tendencies. In fact, about 10 years ago I decided that I needed to “write myself a prescription” for exercise and really get serious. Now my planned exercise gets entered in my calendar and treated like a meeting. I OWE it to myself to show up!

Over the last year or so, it’s been hard for me to get those exercise sessions on the calendar regularly. The primary reason has been some chronic pain issues I’ve experienced. Plus, once I got out of the habit it was a challenge to “ramp it up” again.

This year, my spring resolution is to get my exercise back to its previous levels in my life. I OWE it to myself not to skip – I need the stress relief – I need the endorphin rush – I need the fun!

So, instead of just going back to my old standard exercise choices, I’m trying something new. It’s fun to learn something new, and to laugh a little at myself for being klutzy. It’s got to be good for my brain to learn new ways to make my body move. And I wanted to try something that wasn’t going to be as hard on my body.

So the decision is — I’m starting water exercise classes! I’ve been to two classes now, and it’s a great choice for me. Not the hardest workout I’ve ever had, but I leave feeling like the 60 minutes invested has made me feel energized and upbeat. I can’t say whether I’ll notice big physical changes or not, but I know my heart gets pumping during class.

Doing some research for myself, here are a few interesting links about water exercise:

Top 10 benefits of water aerobics

CDC on the health benefits of water exercise

Water exercise for people with fibromyalgia

I’m not a winter weather person. In fact, I loved the eight years of warm winters I spent in Florida. But since I’m back in the northern climates, I am back to chilly winters.

When January rolls around every year, I am not motivated to start a new wellness project. So a few years ago I decided to make “Spring Resolutions” instead. Spring is a time of growth and new life. It’s renewal and coming out of hibernation. So it’s a great time to plan a new project; try a new exercise; upgrade your food choices — whatever you feel motivated to change!

What are your Spring 2011 Resolutions going to be?

If you feel that little scratch in your throat, or have caught the cold that’s being passed around this winter season, here are some tips for keeping it away or kicking the symptoms quick!

-Push those liquids. Do whatever it takes to get yourself to really stay hydrated. If you’re more likely to drink tea, tap water, ice water, natural juice, whatever it may be, do it. Liquids will help flush out your system and keep all of your best immunity armor in tip top shape.

-Gargle salt water. Make yourself a simple glass of warm water and salt. It helps with inflammation in your throat while at the same time clears out irritants or mucous, flushing out possible bacteria and viruses.

-Let the whistle blow. Keep your nose clean to reduce the impact of a cold. When you feel stuffiness coming on, make sure you try to keep your nasal passages clear. Saline nasal spray can help and good old tissue paper works well too. You can also try a neti pot. Users swear by them.

-Pour on the honey. Often times there is little need for cough medicine. A few teaspoons of honey can have similar effects without all of the nasty side effects.

-Take a break, if you can. If you feel sickness coming on and you have the flexibility to take a day off, the rest early on will help you fight it better. Many people wait to give themselves a break until they are in the thick of it. Being well-rested can make recovery time much quicker.

-Move some. Light activity can actually boost your immune system, and taking a walk outside will give you some fresh (germ-free) air to help with circulation and overall wellness.

-Keep up the healthy diet. What you put in your body when its defenses are down or weakened is what is going to be used as energy to fight the invading germs and to repair your body to feel better. Make sure you are loading up on things that are beneficial to your cause! High-quality proteins (think lean meats, beans, fish) help build new white-blood cells and brightly colored fruits and vegetables give you the important nutrients for your immune system needs!

-Sleep it out! Not getting enough sleep suppresses immune function even when you aren’t sick. Make sure you log those zzz’s so you equip your immune system as best as possible.

-Echinacea, Vitamin C and Zinc. Keep up on your vitamin intake, focusing on these three key ones to support your body’s wellness functions.

What are some of your best home remedies that you swear by? Be well!

It probably doesn’t come as a big surprise that diets higher in unhealthy fats have once again been linked to depression. A Chicago Tribune article entitled, “Eating bad may make you sad,” discusses how researchers in Spain followed the diets, lifestyles and medical problems of over 12,000 people across the span of six years.

Findings: People that ate higher amounts of trans-fats (most often found in pastries, heavily processed items and fast food), showed a 48% increased risk for depression compared to those who did not eat trans fats!

Even though the study was done on a population that doesn’t traditionally eat diets known to be high in trans-fats, the connection between higher trans-fat intake and depression was noteworthy. It’s predicted that in countries where the average consumption of trans-fats is high—like the United States—the link to depression may be even greater.On the flip side of this, they found that people who consumed a lot of poly-unsaturated fats (“healthy fat” found in things like olive oil) had a lower risk of depression.

No matter which way you look at it, trans-fats get a bad mark in terms of both mental and physical health. Bad fat increases overall inflammation in the body, which the adds to the buildup of plaque that can eventually cause heart disease. It was also observed that often people with heart disease had accompanying depression as well.

Tip: Sneaky trans-fats are the same as the ingredient labeled “partially hydrogenated soybean oil.”

While these findings are no surprise, it also seems to make sense that people who eat nutritious, whole foods may feel more balanced and able to regulate emotions. What do you think?