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 Love

I love my sweetheart!  I really do have the best guy in the world as my husband… MY VERY OWN HUSBAND!  Since our dating days, I have referred to him as my Knight in Shining Armor.  God knows, better than I, what I need… and I am THANKFUL!  It makes Valentine’s Day a necessary celebration.

I dedicate this post to my Valentine… Jay.       

So, with Valentine’s Day less than a week away, it’s time to plan ahead for special treats to share with your Valentine.  If we don’t plan ahead, do you know what happens?  We end up buying that $14.99 heart-shaped box of chocolates or that $65 bouquet of long-stemmed red roses.  Those are wonderful splurges, but if your sinuses and wallet are anything like mine, you prefer to have an alternative choice or two that are healthier and cheaper.

What are some of the fun things you plan to do for your Valentine on Tuesday?

I’m thinking our house might be filled with a breakfast menu of Strawberry Smoothies and/or Strawberry Sauce on Fluffy Pancakes (depending on how much time I have in my Tuesday morning schedule)… a lunch menu of Chicken Salad with cranberries mixed in (see below) and Almond Power Bars (for the chocolate)… a dinner out for a splurge with my sweetheart, or a menu something like Chicken Cacciatorre and peas (family’s favorite veggie)… and finish it off with a dessert, such as Strawberry Cheesecake Bites and Chocolate Chip Cookies or Coconut Macaroons or Strawberry Gelato… and heart-shaped Almond Bark (not the peppermint version like this link is for).  (Do you see my pattern of hints of pink and red and chocolate?)  We’ll see how well I actually do with that!

Even with all the fun festivities, especially if you have young children still doing the school party thing (or teenagers newly discovering puppy love), let us not forget the truest, purest, biggest Valentine gift ever:  Christ laid down His life for YOU!  Here is a great song about that very thing.  Enjoy!

Someone Worth Dying For

by

MIKESCHAIR

You might be the wife waiting up at night.
You might be the man struggling to provide,
feeling like it's hopeless.
Maybe you're the son who chose a broken road.
Maybe you're the girl thinking you'll end up alone,
praying, “God, can you hear me?
Oh, God, are you listening?”

“Am I more than flesh and bone?
Am I really something beautiful?
Yeah, I wanna believe.  I wanna believe that
I'm not just some wandering soul
that you don't see and you don't know.
Yeah, I wanna believe.  Jesus, help me believe that I
am someone worth dying for.

I know you've heard the truth that God has set you free,
but you think you're the one that grace could never reach.
So you just keep asking what everybody's asking,

“Am I more than flesh and bone?
Am I really something beautiful?
Yeah, I wanna believe.  I wanna believe that
I'm not just some wandering soul
that you don't see and you don't know
Yeah, I wanna believe.  Jesus, help me believe that I
am someone worth dying for.

You're worth it!  You can't earn it.
Yeah, the Cross has proven  that you're sacred and blameless.
Your life has purpose.

You are more than flesh and bone.
Can't you see you're something beautiful?
Yeah, you gotta believe.  You gotta believe.
He wants you to see.  He wants you to see
that you're not just some wandering soul
that can't be seen and can't be known.
Yeah, you gotta believe.  You gotta believe that you are someone worth dying for.
You're someone worth dying for!
You're someone worth dying for!

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this:

While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Romans 5:8

 

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Chicken Salad

Mix desired amount of shredded or cubed cooked chicken with desired amount of cottage cheese.  Add extras, such as salt and pepper, sliced almonds, raisins, or dried cranberries (if the ingredients say they are sweetened with apple sauce, that's best, rather than the cranberries dried with sugar) and/or diced cucumbers, etc.

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Mick’s in the Sweets

2007: Before a Healthy Lifestyle

What kind of a romantic am I, forgetting Sweetest Day on the 15th?  I even bought a nice card for my hubby early… but did I remember to give it to him?  Nope!  I guess that clarifies that I am not much of a romantic.  It only makes sense, since Jay is the true all-out romantic of the two of us.  Sorry, Hon.  I will be giving you the card now!  Sweetest Day was a little delayed this year.

It is said, Sweetest Day was organized by candy manufacturers to promote the health benefits of eating candy and chocolate every day.  Ummmm…. Well….  Let’s see what we can find, but I’m a bit skeptical, since they include sugar, and I’ve already covered some of the reasons sugar is not a good thing.

I found some great information quickly at “What You Can Do With Nutrition To Prevent Breast Cancer” in which Kimberly Roberto states:  Cacao is a “raw form of chocolate… rich in Flavanols (powerful antioxidants) which are highly absorbable by the body.  Cacao has a phenomenal ORAC score of over 433,000.  CAUTION: Don’t get too excited and load up on chocolate bars.  This is not a free pass at the dessert counter either.  Most chocolate is loaded with other additions like milk products and sugar.  Stick with raw cacao powder – add it to smoothies, yogurt, or mix with avocado and stevia for a mousse-like dessert.”

You can learn about some “healthy” chocolate and then order it through Beyond Organic.

Here might be a good spot to quote a great doctor I know, “The overall quality of your health is determined by the quality of your habits.”

Tell me something.  What can you do to maximize your nutrition this week?  Do you have some bad habits to break, or maybe some good habits to start?  Give it some thought, and then have fun improving!

“You've captured my heart, dear friend.
You looked at me, and I fell in love.
One look my way and I was hopelessly in love!”

Song of Solomon 4:8 (The Message)

 

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