Mick’s up With Germs

Have you noticed lots of people out sick at work and school, during this past couple of months?  I have.  In fact, at our office, we've all noticed.  I overheard one of my coworkers ask, “Why is everyone sick right now?”  So, I decided this would be a good topic for a Mick’s up Life.

Let’s think about it for a minute. 

With all the many different celebrations going on over a 2 month period, candy and desserts are everywhere!  Not many of us can say we didn't sneak a candy or two from the Halloween bowl.  At Thanksgiving time, so many wonderful homemade desserts surround us (not to mention the carbs ingested before we even reach dessert), and then during Christmastime, we are bombarded from both sides, with candy in the stockings and punch and pastries on the table.

My neighbor friend and I were just talking about this.  Sugar is the main ingredient of those beloved confections, and as we know, sugar is an inflammatory, dragging down our immune systems.

Next, let’s step outside to take a look at the temperature.  With the chill in the air, some of us get scared inside to snuggle up (with a sugar-laden hot chocolate and/or latte, perhaps?), cozily soaking in the glow of the lights of the season… when we’re not scrambling for time to run the kidderz to their new school-year events, shopping for all those aforementioned celebrations, and running to parties, plays, and just plain busy-ness of the holiday season.  With all that happening, how many of us are keeping up with our exercise routines?  Plus, we are trying to cram so many activities into a day, we might not even be getting the amount of sleep (or at least not good sleep!) that we need.  Again, our immune systems are jeopardized.

Oh, can you step outside with me one more time?  When you feel that chill, what do you notice yourself doing?  Do your shoulders tense up?  Are you rubbing your arms to keep warm?  I am!  (In fact, I was doing that at my desk at work for a while, until the temperature got regulated.)  You know what else?  The season, along with my job, keep me at the computer longer.  Do I have perfect posture at the computer?  No!  Do you?  Maybe for a short period of time, but if you’re there, or in any position, for an extended length of time, you just might find your upper back and neck getting tight, stiff, and uncomfortable.

When we are tense in our upper backs and necks, do you know what might be going on inside?  There is more opportunity for our vertebrae to shift out of place.  Do you know where the nerves serving your sinuses and face and throat are directed from?  That’s right!  Those vertebrae that are being affected by the tight muscles have a very close relationship to those nerves.  Hmmmm… yes, you probably guessed it.  If there is pressure on the nerves in that region, you could be finding yourself having sinus issues, headaches, throat problems, etc.  For that reason alone, a visit to your chiropractor would be a wonderful gift to yourself, not to mention a boost to your immune system.

Yes, those things did happened to me this season, too.  I fought off a nasty cold and fever, but it was a quick, easy fight.  I got myself back on track (and drank lots of extra water!), keeping the immune system enemies at bay, especially sugar.  It’s really amazing how much quicker the healing process is, when sugar is taken out of the equation.

So, let’s try to be sure this is a jolly season. 

• Let's reduce stress during these months, no matter how crazy things get, and that includes minimizing physical stress (you know, the posture thing we were just looking at)… and remember to sleep… sleep well.
• Say “Merry Christmas” to you our chiropractors more often at this time of year.  (In other words, schedule more visits.  This can help with the sleeping, too!) 
• Make better choices of what snacks we enjoy, foods we prepare, and drinks we consume, in order to eliminate (or at least minimize) sugar (look for alternatives, and be sure to read all ingredients!).
• Enjoy our coffees (again, look for alternatives for flavorings)  healthier hot chocolate (make your own mix), but in moderation, because as we know, nasty things thrive in an acidic environment, which these yummy concoctions do, unfortunately, promote. 
• Finally, let’s remember to take time to do some quick interval exercising (only 15 or fewer minutes of your day!), and be sure to fit in stretches.  (The stretches can help with that upper back/neck tension thing we previously touched on.)

As it is said, “Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!”

"When it snows, 

she has no fear for her household."

Proverbs 31:21 (NIV)

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Mick’s in Some Valentines

What did you end up doing on Valentine’s Day?  Go to my Facebook page to tell me about it.

I got a call from a very tall, dark, and handsome guy, asking me to go on a date!  We enjoyed a splurge dinner out.  It was such a great surprise to run into friends at the restaurant!  The best part, though, was some time alone with my honey.

What did we do during the other hours of that day?  I woke up early to make Grain-free Cinnamon Rolls, Fluffy Gluten-free Pancakes, and Strawberry Sauce.  I wrapped up pictures of my hubby and me, for him to take to his new office, and I presented the kidderz with gifts from their grandparents.  (The grandparents are awesome!  They know we are keeping sugar away from our house, so they made sure not to get sweets for gifts.  Instead, they bought little strawberry planting kits for the kidderz.  How cute!)  Also, I did actually make the Chicken Salad with Cranberries for everyone’s lunches, as well as the Strawberry Cheesecake Bites for the evening’s dessert.  Yummy!

My daughter had fun giving away all our xylitol candies with Valentines for her classmates, but when we ran out, she was creative in her choice of Valentines for our neighbor boys.  She made paper airplanes out of Valentine paper, and wrote their names on them.  The boys seemed to love them!

Oh!  I forgot to mention: My Valentine gave me 2 potted miniature rose plants.  They are beautiful!  Not only that, but we also watched a movie at home:  Jane Austen’s novel Sense and Sensibility
adapted for the 1995 film.  I love it, every time I watch it!  Even though it was a very mild night outside, we had a fire in the fireplace to enjoy while we snuggled up for the movie.

So, I write this only to encourage you in knowing there are alternatives.  You don’t have to celebrate Valentine’s Day (or any special day) the same old way.  Make life interesting.  Mix it up!  Better yet, Mick’s up Life, and be inspired into wellness!

Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children

and walk in the way of love,

just as Christ loved us

and gave himself up for us

as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

Ephesians 5:1-2

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Mick’s up Sodas

You’ve probably heard  by now the news about Pepsi commenting on their Mountain Dew law suit.  Kind of gross, isn’t it?  It would be bad enough to imagine a mouse was in the batch, but I think it’s even worse to hear the company admit a mouse carcass would not survive in the liquid.  If the soda can do that to something inside it, imagine what it’s doing inside us!  Besides that, did you read the article that tells us a fire retardant is in the ingredients list?

I’m not even going to get into the diet vs. regular argument.  There are some nasty stats I can share on that alone, but the point of this post is that soda in general should be avoided.

Don’t get me wrong.  I used to LOVE soda and drink it ALL the time.  In fact, if I’m around soda, it’s still a temptation for me.  My husband, being a computer programmer, used to run on Mountain Dew and Twizzlers as his fuel.  Thankfully, we both wised up.  Then information like this comes out that reminds us why we decided to seriously give up soda. 

Besides, we want our bodies to be less acidic, if we want long, healthy living, right?  If so, soda is certainly not the beverage we should be consuming.

I can understand the desire to drink a soda now and then, especially on your splurge nights, like maybe Friday pizza nights.  However, if you choose, like we do sometimes, to have a healthier pizza night, or just need that fizz of soda on an ordinary day, there are alternatives.  In my Mick’s up with the Sweeteners, I mention a soda sweetened with stevia, which I am finding in more and more grocery stores now.

Another idea is to make your own soda at home!  We’ve had fun doing that with our soda maker we have left over from our coffee shop ownership days.  There is also the Sodastream Penguin Starter Kit .  For our house, we choose to find healthy fruit juice or mix up juice from freshly squeezed lemons and limes.  This way, we get the fizz and yummy flavors without the sugar and other gross ingredients that would harm our bodies.  We still have lots more experimenting to do, so if you have any ideas, please leave them in a comment here, or write on the Mick’s up facebook wall.


Thanks for dropping by!

Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do…

Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.’

But God said to him, ‘You fool!’

Luke 12:18-20

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