Category: Wellness

Admittedly, I lean towards healthy eating and a fairly health lifestyle. I have been a vegetarian for most of my life. My mother often told the story of four-year-old Cynthia who was very thin and would not eat. Mom was a good cook, offering meat, potatoes, salad, and a vegetable at almost every evening meal.

Mom and daddy took me to the doctor to resolve this problem. Dr. Campbell, the family doctor, suggested they let me fill my own plate and they quit nagging me about eating.  They did both. Within days I began eating … mostly the vegetables. I ate a bite or two of meat but focused on salads, fruits, and vegetables. Growing up, my go-to after-school snack was a combination salad with thousand island dressing and Ritz crackers. Occasionally, I enjoy that combination today, although most of my salad dressings are oil and acid-based (vinegars, citrus) these days.

Research has shown the adage of “you are what you eat” holds true. As an adult, it is no wonder I turn to organic choices whenever possible. The idea of eating products covered with pesticides and laced with hormones makes my skin crawl. To help my shopping for clean foods, I found the Environmental Working Group’s (EWG) “Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides in Produce” a helpful resource. They publish an annual Dirty Dozen ^tm and Clean Fifteen ^tm which lists the produce grown with the most pesticides and least pesticides, respectively. (See the link below.) The EWG also lists foods in the middle of the spectrum.

Forty-six foods were tested with over 46,000 samples for 2024.  At the top of the pesticide-infested scale are strawberries, spinach, kale and related greens, grapes, peaches, pears, nectarines, apples, bell and hot peppers, cherries, blueberries, and green beans. If I cannot find these in organic options, I simply do not purchase them.

The website indicates the following “19 items were included in the fruit and vegetable testing data from the USDA and FDA but do not fall into either the Dirty Dozen or Clean Fifteen lists.” They are tomatoes, winter squash, cherry tomatoes, celery lettuce, tangerines cucumbers, summer squash, broccoli, potatoes, plums, eggplant, raspberries, grapefruit, snap peas, oranges, cantaloupe, bananas, and cauliflower.

Those items that have the least amount of pesticides include carrots, sweet potatoes, mangoes, mushrooms, watermelon, cabbage, kiwi, honeydew melon, asparagus, frozen sweet peas, papaya, onions, pineapple, sweet corn, and avocados.

Noted is that sweet corn, papaya, and summer squash sold in the US are produced from genetically modified seeds. IF GMOs are a concern for you, by organic varieties.

Buying organic can be more expensive, so many people opt for non-organic products. My philosophy dictates that I would rather pay more now for healthy food than for doctors and pharmaceuticals later. Obviously, each person must weigh his/her values, beliefs, and options.

For more information see:  https://www.ewg.org/foodnews/full-list.php

Have you ever had the experience where you were plagued by a problem or were facing a challenging time in life, and suddenly you find just the right book or the right article to help you find the answers to your dilemma?  It has happened to me so many times that I have lost count.  I think it is divine intervention.  It may be that I am open to finding direction and then the universe provides.    Regardless of how it happens, I am thankful.

Books have been known for a long time to have power to change a life.  Bibliotherapy is the term for this.  It sometimes is called Book Therapy.  It is a creative arts therapy that uses specific reading texts to help with various issues. You may not be in therapy, but books can really help make a difference in your life.

The books can be fiction or nonfiction.  The Little Paris Bookshop by French author, Nina George, is a charming tale about Monsieur Perdu who is the proprietor of a bookstore that is housed in a barge on the Seine.  He sees himself as a “literary apothecary” because he intuits the exact book a customer needs; he “prescribes” novels for the hardships of life. It seems that finding the right book is universal. For the remainder of the book, Perdu sets out to find his long-lost love as he navigates his bookstore barge down the French rivers dispensing books and wisdom along the way. This work of fiction is a delightful French adventure that denotes the power of books.  

My friend, L, and I started a nonfiction book club at the beginning of the Covid Pandemic. I shared this with you in the past.  It is still going strong because it has been so powerful in our lives.  The topics have educated us in health, wealth, and happiness. Not all the books have been great, yet there are always nuggets of wisdom in each book. However, there are some books, just the right books, that have been life changing for each of us or both of us.  In Martha Beck’s The Way of Integrity, Finding the Path to Your True Self, Ms. Beck claims that books are teachers, soul guides. She states on page 42, “Reading is the way I’ve met most of my life teachers, and clients often tell me that just when they felt most confused, the perfect book seems to ‘throw itself off the shelf’ and into their attention.”  Again, the power of just the right book signifies their importance in our lives.  

The Way of Integrity has been a meaningful book for us.  A Life in the Light, Meditations on Impermanence by Mary Pipher is another. Silver Sage Sisters, you will identify with her memoir because you too have walked the same path as she in years’ past.  My copy of The Comfort Book by Matt Haig is dog-eared throughout. The collection of essays offers comfort in every way, plain and simple.  Untamed by Glennon Doyle is a book about living fully and authentically.  Her truth was different from my life, yet I understand that for many of us, we created a life that others wanted for us rather than the one we would have chosen for ourselves if given the opportunity.  We are currently reading Brené Brown’s Rising Strong.  We love Brene Brown, and of course, she has written her books just for us. 

All the forementioned books are great reads for both education and for enjoyment.  Books are friends, helpful friends that lead us to see the world with different perspectives.   Special books can indeed change our lives.  

Reiki (pronounced ray-key) is a Japanese technique for stress reduction and relaxation that also promotes healing, according to William Lee Rand in his book Reiki: The Healing Touch. It is primarily a hands-on transfer of energy from an attuned individual to another person, animal, or object. Reiki has become more popular in the West over the past few decades.

All my life I have had an interest in what some would term the esoteric. As a young person I understood the colors of energy and the importance of putting positivity into a room. I was uncomfortable in crowds as the energy from many different people was overwhelming. Of course I was much older and had studied a lot before I really began to understand what I was feeling.

I met a lovely woman who shared with me she was an alcoholic. She said she frequently heard voices and drank to numb her mind and make the voices cease. Eventually, she learned to accept she had a gift and began to embrace the voices. She stopped drinking.  While my experiences were different, sharing this information helped me accept my own level of understanding.  I knew when the time was right, an answer would appear.

When I first learned about Reiki, I could not pinpoint. Yet I do know that two different opportunities arose for me to become familiar with the protocols.  I worked my way through the first and second degrees of Reiki and then was invited to be attuned at both the third degree and the “master” degree, which allowed me then to pass on the tradition.

An acquaintance, many years ago, rejected me because of my use of Reiki, saying it was sacrilegious.  She professed to be a Christian, yet I found her to be quite judgmental without attempting to understand my perspective or to recognizing the many references to people as healers in the Bible. Reiki is not a religion. It is, however, a way of life for those who practice seriously.

For the most part, I use Reiki as a guidepost to daily living.  Dr. Mikao Usui Reiki ideals are a guidepost for living positively. I begin each day citing aloud a translated and abbreviated version. This prayer gives me peace and wellness throughout the day.

Just for today, I will let go of worry.

Just for today, I will let go of anger.

Today, I will count my many blessings.

Today, I will work hard on my spirituality.

Today, I will be kind to all living things.

~Cynthia

Just before retiring I decided I needed to have some baseline medical stats. Prior to that time I didn’t bother to go for an annual physical. For the most part, I am a very healthy 70-year-old. I rarely become ill with even a cold although I do suffer with allergies in the Spring. So one may imagine my surprise when I learned I have osteoporosis.

When my doctor recommended Fosamax I read about the side effects. To my dismay I learned that one of the side effects was bone loss in one’s jaw. In order to have dental work, you are supposed to quit taking the medication for a time period. Additionally, calcium and vitamin D supplements are recommended with the medication as long-term studies showed a 2% decrease in calcium in the first month.  Several more minor side effects are listed. I understand there is a risk in taking any medication. Being one of those people who shies away from pharmaceuticals, I began looking for alternative solutions.

My medical massage therapist recommended OsteoStrong. I gave it a try and love it! Focusing on the skeletal system, OsteoStrong uses four machines, each targeting a different area of the skeletal system.  A trainer works with each client to reach a target “weight” or pressure based on one’s personal needs. This wellness system is designed to improve bone density, balance, and overall strength.

Each week I attempt to beat my own record.  A graph is displayed while using each machine. The graph shows previous work, target goal, and peak.  I find it quite motivating to watch the graph climb as I push to do better each time. Some weeks are not as good, but that’s okay. And the trainer is super supportive and encouraging.  Not being big on exercise, I find this easy-to-use system to be a great option for me.

OsteoStrong centers are licensed to individuals in service areas and can be found around the world. Fans of Tony Robbins will learn that he and his wife are said to use the system.  The cost is comparable to many exercise facilities, but I recently learned that the Renew Active program that comes with some medical insurance includes OsteoStrong. I am looking forward to my one-year marker when I will take another Dexa scan to see if my bone density has improved. For now, I will continue to challenge myself and attend my OsteoStrong session each week.

Mary Ann

When I was a little girl, I was not allowed to go to the community pool in the summer or participate in other activities where large groups gathered.  My mother was scared that I would contract Polio.  The fear was a nightmare at the time for our parents – death and withered limbs loomed large for them.  Then Salk and later Sabin developed vaccines that eventually eradicated polio from the United States and for the most part, the world. 

I can remember going to the local high school gym for a shot.  The lines were long and both adults and children got the shots. For most parents, they could at last exhale.  A few years later, we lined up again for a sugar cube that Sabin developed – so much better than a needle.  

Time passed and hardly anyone spoke of polio again.   We grew up and had children.  Our children and later grandchildren got a whole host of vaccinations.  They didn’t have to endure measles, mumps, or rubella and on and on.  I sat in a dark room when I had measles to protect my eyes – it may have been a wives’ tales, but my mother was not taking any chances.  There was a girl in my hometown who lost her hearing at the age of two from measles. There was danger. 

Then we became senior citizens and suddenly we have a whole new set of shots, our baby shots.  There is the annual Flu and Covid shots, RSV, Shingles, Pneumonia, Hep A Hep B, and you still need Tdap (Tetanus, Diphtheria, Pertussis) every ten years.  If you travel, you may need Yellow Fever, Typhoid, Cholera, and so on.  On a trip to Africa, I had to get another Polio shot – they had had a recent outbreak.   At times, you feel like a human pin cushion.   

However, regardless of how uncomfortable the vaccinations may be, the alternative of getting the disease and possibly dying from it, is far worse.  With each shot, I can see my mother smiling at me for protecting myself with the new baby shots, just as she once protected me from polio.   I am thankful for these life-saving shots. They can make all the difference in my old age.      

Mary Ann

When I was a young girl, it was the custom to have a Hope Chest. It usually was a cedar chest often from the Lane Company to store your future linens and household items to set up housekeeping after you married.  Did any of you get a miniature cedar chest from a local furniture store for your graduation?  I did, and it too was from the Lane Company.  I have had it my whole adult life, and it is where I save my quarters.  It is a happy, little box. It makes me smile when I see it as it represents my youth.

As my generation has gotten older, I have taken the concept of a Hope Chest to create a Comfy Box.  There will a time when we will be going to need assistance in caring for ourselves. The caregivers may know nothing about us, our likes and dislikes, our wants, and needs. So, as we prepped for marriage with Hope Chests, we can now prep for our old age with a Comfy Box. 

 At this time of life, we can still shop for ourselves, and we know what we want to wear so this is the time to buy pretty night gowns, bed jackets, robes, and slippers.  I would think you need a night gown for every day of the week plus one or two extra ones for the just in cases.  We are probably going to be messy in our old age; however, we want to be clean. I have mine stored in a plastic tub but there are wonderful soft-sides storage containers for clothes now.  I like soft socks, and my cold feet like the warmth they provide.  It helps me sleep better as well.  I have slippers for the day and have found boiled wool ones that support my feet and keep them warm.  

I have prepared a small notebook with information to help make me comfortable.  I have included where to buy certain products and have included pictures from the internet just to clarify the item.  I included my favorite kind of tea – Harney and Son’s Paris blend, a fancy Earl Gray. I put a teacup/tea pot combo in the Comfy Box so I can enjoy a pretty cup of tea!  I have a particular hand and foot lotion that I like from Sabon. Candles would be nice but probably too dangerous for an old lady.  An atomizer with an auto turnoff would be safer, and I can put my favorite essential oils in the water such as Shinrin-Yoku or Serenty by DoTerra Essential Oils. It would help with sleep and cover any odors.  I plan on adding to the little notebook as I find items.

One thing that I want to make sure that I have either on my phone or iPad is my Calm App.  I bought a lifetime subscription, but I am putting all the info about the account in my notebook. I listen to the meditations each day and fall asleep to the Sleep Stories each night.  I need to figure out audio books. I love stories so I want that in my life.  It does scare me a bit that most technology may beyond me regarding the TV and streaming services.  I find it hard at times now to figure out what I need for the various services. Maybe I will be able to just tell the TV what to do.  One can only hope!  

We do not have control over aging, but we do have some control now how we might want to live later. The quality of our life can be somewhat up to us. A Comfy Box is a way to make this happen.  I can see myself now sitting in bed in a pretty night gown wrapped in a soft bedjacket sipping a cup tea in my soft socks with toasty toes. How about you? 

Cynthia

Have you noticed you are not eating as much these days? I find one good meal accompanied by a couple of light “snacks” as I call them will keep my tummy full and my energy up.  My big meal of the day (dinner) is generally around 2:00 pm.  I might eat a muffin or a piece of toast with fruit in the morning and in the evening a salad, mini charcuterie, or a bowl of soup.  The challenge for me is grocery shopping.

I like to go to the grocery store when it opens at 7:00 am on a Sunday morning. Few cars are on the roads and even fewer shoppers rise and shine on Sunday mornings.  This, I will admit, is a challenge for night owls – as myself – because getting moving early enough to make this happen is outside of my arcadian rhythms.  But hey, Sunday is a day of rest, so I can take a nap later if necessary.

Back to grocery shopping.  Does your grocer provide mini loaves of bread? Or small batches of fruits and vegetables? While I can buy some individual fruits, it seems most items are packaged for families.  As a single woman I don’t really need the full Monty when it comes to food. So what does a lady do?

My freezer is my friend.  Say I’ve purchased a full loaf of bread. A gallon sized freezer bag neatly holds four slices. I press out the air before sealing the bag and lay it flat in my freezer. Three or four bags with a little left out for current use and I am good to go.  When I need bread, it is right there. I take out a bag and in a few minutes it is thawed and perfectly ready to go. Or if avocado toast is calling my name, I pop the bread into the air fryer, hit the bread button, and in 8 minutes I have a lovely piece of toast to adorn.

Recipes lend themselves well to families, too.  As a single, I simply make the recipe and freeze the leftovers, marking the contents and the “use by” date. Disposable aluminum casserole pans are perfect for those things that will be heated in the oven. (Just remember to put a cookie sheet under as the hot container is flexible.) The food comes out yummy.  And there are two bonuses: no cooking and no clean up. Perfect for those days when I prefer to work in the yard, visit friends, or just relax with a juicy novel.

No more worry about wasting food. So Mr. Grocer, give us a loaf for our daily bread.