Though soy is in nearly everything we consume now- there are alternatives.
Vegan Alternatives to soy milk include: Rice milk, almond milk and coconut milk. You can make a sugar free, raw almond milk at home. The main thing to watch out for with the nut milks is they sometimes have high levels of sugars in them- even if not refined cane sugar they are still sweetened with sugars (brown rice syrup for example) and affect the body are should be avoided. Most brands offer unsweetened versions of the pre-made nut milks.
Cows milk: it has its own problems as well but you can purchase organic cow's milk which is a healthier alternative to regular cow's milk for those who still wish to drink cow's milk. In some areas you can get "raw" milk. I don't know much about raw milk as I have never been much of a fan of cow's milk but here is an interesting link: http://www.raw-milk-facts.com/raw_milk_health_benefits.html
I do know that pasteurizing kills bad pathogens and most likely a lot of the beneficial bacteria as well. Here's another interesting link on raw milk and it seems the government is trying to shut it down.
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1598525,00.html
It seems that government wants to keep us away from things that may actually be good for us and just keep force feeding us lies that soy is our miracle food when soy seems nothing more than a poison to our health and our environment.
As far as non-soy meat alternatives that could replace things like veggie burgers and tofurkey products (that I happen to love! :( ) I will keep you posted. I don't know of any yet. If any of you know of any please let me know! I am going to miss my vegan sausages, veggie burgers, tofurkey's. Etc. For Thanksgiving I have the Tofurkey Vegetarian Roast, it is made with organic Tofu. Organic or whole and in moderation is the only way to eat soy foods.
Fermented soy foods though still contain small amounts of toxins/hormones- they are molecuarly different so foods like tempeh and miso are okay to eat. Again in moderation since we are getting exposed to soy in everything else even if we don't even know it!
Soy Replacements for mayonaise include my personal favorite which is vegetarian but not vegan: http://www.farawayfoods.com/lemonaise.html
I still want to eat a mostly vegetarian diet but I do enjoy eating meat from time time. I purchase products from animals fed grains (not soy) and raised on small farms from time to time. The price of meat like that is far more expensive than the commercialized corporate farmed meats but the health benefits outweigh them not to mention the taste! It's far superior. Not to mention you can purchase meats that have not only NOT been given soy, hormones, or antibitics, but the meats do not contain harmful nitrates either!
There are healthier ways, but its up to us to find them. Until the FDA and other government agencies put consumer's health above making money- we cannot rely on them to tell us the truth. Its your health, what could be more important?
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
A quick post on Soy
I researched the benefits and risks of soy for four straight days. As a mostly vegetarian eater and big fan of soy, I had hoped to find more benefits than risks but what I found was the opposite. I just wanted to post really quick a summary of what I've learned from multiple sources. I will share my paper and sources soon as well.
Other countries have already started removing soy from infant formulas and adding warning labels to other products containing soy. (Israel, France, New Zealand).
Soy was never proven safe, but was added to infant formulas anyway.
Research that prompted the FDA to approve soy to lower cholesterol was based only on one meta-analysis funded by a big soy producer.
The American Heart Association says that soy does not lower cholesterol but the FDA has still not taken back their approval or admitted their mistake in approving soy for that very use.
Low sperm count, birth defects on the male penis, early puberty for females and delayed puberty in males, are some of the serious effects the estrogen mimicking substances in soy have been linked to.
The effects of soy are most severe on infants especially those eating soy based formula- and on infants in the womb during the critical development periods.
In adults of any age problems of the thyroid, and various cancers, pancreas, esophagus are all linked to soy usage as well as increase risk to those with heart disease (the very thing soy is supposed to help it seems it harms).
Soy- it was supposed to be a wonderfood, but it was given an approval from the very agency that is supposed to protect us without sufficient evidence of its safety and unfortunately the evidence is stacking up against soy in very serious ways- not only is it not a health food it is the opposite, it is a poisen.
The processing most soy proteins used in vegetarian foods leaves the soy with high levels of aluminum. Aluminum has been linked to alzheimers. Not to mention the more processed a food is the less healthy it is for you. To process soy it has to be soaked in acid baths and lots of chemicals processing (not too natural or healthy for us or the environment)
Soy is also very harmful to the environment in other ways, especially genetically modified soy and right now there is not a labelling requirement, so you don't necessarily know if the soy you are using is GMO or not. They don't have to tell you. GMO crops are sprayed with much higher levels of pesticides than others which then leach into the food contaminating the food we eat as well as the earth and species that exposed to those chemicals.
It was awful to read that a food I still have in my fridge right now, is so harmful in so many ways. Especially after trusting that it was safe and healthy. I'm thankful I stopped giving my son soy years ago "just in case" and now I will make the switch as well. It's just better safe than sorry with this much scientific evidence, its not a risk I'm willing to take.
I have been having more health problems since eating "healthier" than I have before, and I now strongly feel there may be a connection with soy. I will see how I feel after eliminating as much soy as I can from my diet.
Soy is in everything and goes by many names so if you want to stop consuming it you will need to learn all of its sneaky disguises and read labels carefully. I just discovered its even in my seasonings! My Vegie seasoning by Spike has soy in it. Soy is in commercial foods like Pizza Hut pizza's, its in paints, shampoos, packaging materials. For someone with an allergy to soy its nearly impossible to avoid.
Our government needs to apologize for endorsing such a toxic product, take necessary steps to remove it from our lives and planet especially the GMO's and stop using the toxic sprays "Round Up" whose side effects on animals and humans are very alarming. Most importantly they need to stop endorsing soy as this miracle food that it is NOT. That is the most frightening thing to me is that this dangerous food with anti-nutrient properties and hormones in it is being endorsed as a health food. What next?
I strongly encourage all of you to look into soy for yourselves, especially those of you who eat vegan/vegetarian diets with soy based meat replacements like veggie burgers, tofurky, soy milks etc. Decide for yourself if the benefit outweighs the risks especially for your children. You cannot trust the FDA to tell you its safe, or the USDA (they have approved soy in school lunches with no limit to how much) so its up to you to research for yourself and decide.
Other countries have already started removing soy from infant formulas and adding warning labels to other products containing soy. (Israel, France, New Zealand).
Soy was never proven safe, but was added to infant formulas anyway.
Research that prompted the FDA to approve soy to lower cholesterol was based only on one meta-analysis funded by a big soy producer.
The American Heart Association says that soy does not lower cholesterol but the FDA has still not taken back their approval or admitted their mistake in approving soy for that very use.
Low sperm count, birth defects on the male penis, early puberty for females and delayed puberty in males, are some of the serious effects the estrogen mimicking substances in soy have been linked to.
The effects of soy are most severe on infants especially those eating soy based formula- and on infants in the womb during the critical development periods.
In adults of any age problems of the thyroid, and various cancers, pancreas, esophagus are all linked to soy usage as well as increase risk to those with heart disease (the very thing soy is supposed to help it seems it harms).
Soy- it was supposed to be a wonderfood, but it was given an approval from the very agency that is supposed to protect us without sufficient evidence of its safety and unfortunately the evidence is stacking up against soy in very serious ways- not only is it not a health food it is the opposite, it is a poisen.
The processing most soy proteins used in vegetarian foods leaves the soy with high levels of aluminum. Aluminum has been linked to alzheimers. Not to mention the more processed a food is the less healthy it is for you. To process soy it has to be soaked in acid baths and lots of chemicals processing (not too natural or healthy for us or the environment)
Soy is also very harmful to the environment in other ways, especially genetically modified soy and right now there is not a labelling requirement, so you don't necessarily know if the soy you are using is GMO or not. They don't have to tell you. GMO crops are sprayed with much higher levels of pesticides than others which then leach into the food contaminating the food we eat as well as the earth and species that exposed to those chemicals.
It was awful to read that a food I still have in my fridge right now, is so harmful in so many ways. Especially after trusting that it was safe and healthy. I'm thankful I stopped giving my son soy years ago "just in case" and now I will make the switch as well. It's just better safe than sorry with this much scientific evidence, its not a risk I'm willing to take.
I have been having more health problems since eating "healthier" than I have before, and I now strongly feel there may be a connection with soy. I will see how I feel after eliminating as much soy as I can from my diet.
Soy is in everything and goes by many names so if you want to stop consuming it you will need to learn all of its sneaky disguises and read labels carefully. I just discovered its even in my seasonings! My Vegie seasoning by Spike has soy in it. Soy is in commercial foods like Pizza Hut pizza's, its in paints, shampoos, packaging materials. For someone with an allergy to soy its nearly impossible to avoid.
Our government needs to apologize for endorsing such a toxic product, take necessary steps to remove it from our lives and planet especially the GMO's and stop using the toxic sprays "Round Up" whose side effects on animals and humans are very alarming. Most importantly they need to stop endorsing soy as this miracle food that it is NOT. That is the most frightening thing to me is that this dangerous food with anti-nutrient properties and hormones in it is being endorsed as a health food. What next?
I strongly encourage all of you to look into soy for yourselves, especially those of you who eat vegan/vegetarian diets with soy based meat replacements like veggie burgers, tofurky, soy milks etc. Decide for yourself if the benefit outweighs the risks especially for your children. You cannot trust the FDA to tell you its safe, or the USDA (they have approved soy in school lunches with no limit to how much) so its up to you to research for yourself and decide.
Monday, November 23, 2009
Could it be any more of a Monday from hell ALREADY???!!
Last night I am up till almost one. I decide to sleep in my own room so that hopefully Hiram's alarm clock won't wake me up. Tired and so ready to crawl into my nicely made bed, my arms find that my bed has circular, cold wet spot about 2 feet in diamter on it. Thankfully it is not urine. I'm baffled because I don't know how or when this much water could have ended up on my bed. I can only divise that I must have set my water bottle down on it at some point (which does in fact sound vaguely familiar) and that the lid must not have been screwed on top- thus making the entire 28 oz. soak through my entire bed.
Well at this point not wanting to disturb Hiram I grab Naiyah and an extra blanket and try to sleep diagonally on my bed. That worked fairly well. I wasn't as comfortable as I would have liked but I did sleep. That is, until a pre-programmed alarm on my new Phillips GoLite that I have taken out of the box but have not actually used yet (since we have been blessed with a bright, sunny, blue skied week since it arrived) went off. For the second day in a row, I went to bed around 1 am just to be awakened four short hours later by an alarm I didn't set, and didn't want to go off. An alarm that I thought I disabled yestesrday but here I was this morning fumbling around in the dark trying to figure out why on earth that dumb thing went off again and how to disable it. It appears to be very user-friendly but right now that is up for debate as not being able to simple NOT have an alarm set does not seem user friendly. I better figure this out quickly because so far I'm not nearly as impressed as I thought I would be with this purchase, and like I said, I haven't even used it yet.
Well Naiyah (my puppy) being awakened as well decided it was time to go outside to go to the bathroom- which I strongly detest at this hour in the cold (and the snow) because that just guarantees that I will be comletely awake and unable to get back to sleep once we return inside the house. But nature calls and she is being such a good girl to let me know she needs to go out, standing by the door of my room whimpering and looking towards me desperately. I take her out. She goes pee almost instantly but then refuses to go number two. She wanders around much longer than she usually ever does, especially in just her sweater (fumbling around in the dark I couldn't find her coat). Well she needs to go, and its obvious and she is walking around and circling and circling but then doesn't go and just comes over to me to go inside. Did I mention I am wearing short shorts so at this point I am very cold and now I have to pee? Well we rush inside, I give her a treat and then forgetting (in my semi-conscious stupor) that I hadn't put the baby gate up that we use to keep her from sneaking downstairs I go and use our restroom and leave her unattended. Big mistake- the moment I opened the bathroom door I knew immediately she had run downstairs to go number 2 because that is her thing when its cold outside, and thus why we have to have a baby gate to keep her from going down there. Sure enough just as I came out I heard her running up the stairs. She got a quick "bad girl" as I rushed downstairs to clean up the poo I knew would be waiting for me.
Sure enough she left her calling card on the downstairs bathroom rug. I grabbed some toilet paper and quickly whisked it into the toilet and flushed it, and the toilet was clogged. Not sure how long it had been that way either. Lovely. It's now 5:30 in the morning, I've already been up a half hour and want nothing more than to be back in my bed sleeping and I now have to deal with a clogged toilet. I run back upstairs and grab a pen and paper and write a note advising our roomies to use the upstairs toilet too tired to want to try to unclog the thiing at this hour, and knowing I couldn't risk a flood if I didn't put up a note or clear the clog. I get back downstairs realizing I better get the plunger and take care of this. I just can't trust that even with a note someone won't use it and flood the house and its not worth the risk. (I have learned the hard way with things like this way too many times). So I plunge the toilet and get that taken care of and come back upstairs and try to disarm that damn Golite that started this whole process to no avail.
I cannot figure out how to change the time on the clock, so its still set for 7:00 am EASTERN TIME, which is 5:00 am our time. There doesn't seem to be an option NOT to have an alarm, its either sound, light or both but no option to have niether. WTF? If this is the case this peice of crap can go back to Costco. After being woke up needlessly for the second day in a row on only four hours of sleep- during my final weeks of class when a major paper is due today- I'm not thrilled about this product whatsoever. Don't even care to try its light properties or anything else for that matter, but I will try it and quickly before my time to return it is up because so far I'm not satisfied and this damn thing was $150!!! Not just spare change for me.
I fiddle around with that damn Golite that as of right now (an hour later) I still want to throw under a bus and finally get the alarm to at least be set for noon eastern time, so ten o'clock am our time. I never sleep that late anwyay so having it go off then, for now, shouldn't be a problem.
Oh and don't even get me started on my dumb cat that wouldn't leave me alone for probably a good hour before the Golite woke me up and the subsequent cat-fight that ocurred while I was downstairs plunging our toilet. I am ready to kill or at least rehome two of our three cats right now as well. My door to my room just mysteriously stopped latching saturday evening so the cats manage to sneak in here quite easily. Right now I am barricaded inside my room with a suitcase against the door while one of them tries to break in (quite nosily I might add) and if they try hard enough they will easily be able to push that suitcase over.
I really wish there was somewhere I could just sleep- undisturbed somehow by cats, alarms, even my dog that I adore. I need a small sleep closet somewhere or something. I wonder if even then I could sleep? Seems no matter what I do something gets in the way of that, I feel like I'm cursed to spend my life without the energy I need to do the things I want because I never get enough rest no matter how hard I try.
So that's my day so far- all before 6:30 am on 4 hours of sleep. So much for my master plan to sleep in my room so that I could get good sleep, for the second day in a row. So I give up. I decided to blog/vent about it so I could let it go and use this time to focus on my research paper I haven't written that is due this evening. Perhaps all of this happened to keep my basement from flooding today and to give me a head start on this paper. I don't know but what I do know is that I'm going to be really tired later..and I have class until 9:00 p.m. tonight and usually can't nap so I have to figure out some way of surviving until then.
Well at this point not wanting to disturb Hiram I grab Naiyah and an extra blanket and try to sleep diagonally on my bed. That worked fairly well. I wasn't as comfortable as I would have liked but I did sleep. That is, until a pre-programmed alarm on my new Phillips GoLite that I have taken out of the box but have not actually used yet (since we have been blessed with a bright, sunny, blue skied week since it arrived) went off. For the second day in a row, I went to bed around 1 am just to be awakened four short hours later by an alarm I didn't set, and didn't want to go off. An alarm that I thought I disabled yestesrday but here I was this morning fumbling around in the dark trying to figure out why on earth that dumb thing went off again and how to disable it. It appears to be very user-friendly but right now that is up for debate as not being able to simple NOT have an alarm set does not seem user friendly. I better figure this out quickly because so far I'm not nearly as impressed as I thought I would be with this purchase, and like I said, I haven't even used it yet.
Well Naiyah (my puppy) being awakened as well decided it was time to go outside to go to the bathroom- which I strongly detest at this hour in the cold (and the snow) because that just guarantees that I will be comletely awake and unable to get back to sleep once we return inside the house. But nature calls and she is being such a good girl to let me know she needs to go out, standing by the door of my room whimpering and looking towards me desperately. I take her out. She goes pee almost instantly but then refuses to go number two. She wanders around much longer than she usually ever does, especially in just her sweater (fumbling around in the dark I couldn't find her coat). Well she needs to go, and its obvious and she is walking around and circling and circling but then doesn't go and just comes over to me to go inside. Did I mention I am wearing short shorts so at this point I am very cold and now I have to pee? Well we rush inside, I give her a treat and then forgetting (in my semi-conscious stupor) that I hadn't put the baby gate up that we use to keep her from sneaking downstairs I go and use our restroom and leave her unattended. Big mistake- the moment I opened the bathroom door I knew immediately she had run downstairs to go number 2 because that is her thing when its cold outside, and thus why we have to have a baby gate to keep her from going down there. Sure enough just as I came out I heard her running up the stairs. She got a quick "bad girl" as I rushed downstairs to clean up the poo I knew would be waiting for me.
Sure enough she left her calling card on the downstairs bathroom rug. I grabbed some toilet paper and quickly whisked it into the toilet and flushed it, and the toilet was clogged. Not sure how long it had been that way either. Lovely. It's now 5:30 in the morning, I've already been up a half hour and want nothing more than to be back in my bed sleeping and I now have to deal with a clogged toilet. I run back upstairs and grab a pen and paper and write a note advising our roomies to use the upstairs toilet too tired to want to try to unclog the thiing at this hour, and knowing I couldn't risk a flood if I didn't put up a note or clear the clog. I get back downstairs realizing I better get the plunger and take care of this. I just can't trust that even with a note someone won't use it and flood the house and its not worth the risk. (I have learned the hard way with things like this way too many times). So I plunge the toilet and get that taken care of and come back upstairs and try to disarm that damn Golite that started this whole process to no avail.
I cannot figure out how to change the time on the clock, so its still set for 7:00 am EASTERN TIME, which is 5:00 am our time. There doesn't seem to be an option NOT to have an alarm, its either sound, light or both but no option to have niether. WTF? If this is the case this peice of crap can go back to Costco. After being woke up needlessly for the second day in a row on only four hours of sleep- during my final weeks of class when a major paper is due today- I'm not thrilled about this product whatsoever. Don't even care to try its light properties or anything else for that matter, but I will try it and quickly before my time to return it is up because so far I'm not satisfied and this damn thing was $150!!! Not just spare change for me.
I fiddle around with that damn Golite that as of right now (an hour later) I still want to throw under a bus and finally get the alarm to at least be set for noon eastern time, so ten o'clock am our time. I never sleep that late anwyay so having it go off then, for now, shouldn't be a problem.
Oh and don't even get me started on my dumb cat that wouldn't leave me alone for probably a good hour before the Golite woke me up and the subsequent cat-fight that ocurred while I was downstairs plunging our toilet. I am ready to kill or at least rehome two of our three cats right now as well. My door to my room just mysteriously stopped latching saturday evening so the cats manage to sneak in here quite easily. Right now I am barricaded inside my room with a suitcase against the door while one of them tries to break in (quite nosily I might add) and if they try hard enough they will easily be able to push that suitcase over.
I really wish there was somewhere I could just sleep- undisturbed somehow by cats, alarms, even my dog that I adore. I need a small sleep closet somewhere or something. I wonder if even then I could sleep? Seems no matter what I do something gets in the way of that, I feel like I'm cursed to spend my life without the energy I need to do the things I want because I never get enough rest no matter how hard I try.
So that's my day so far- all before 6:30 am on 4 hours of sleep. So much for my master plan to sleep in my room so that I could get good sleep, for the second day in a row. So I give up. I decided to blog/vent about it so I could let it go and use this time to focus on my research paper I haven't written that is due this evening. Perhaps all of this happened to keep my basement from flooding today and to give me a head start on this paper. I don't know but what I do know is that I'm going to be really tired later..and I have class until 9:00 p.m. tonight and usually can't nap so I have to figure out some way of surviving until then.
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Tools for fighting off the winter blues!
The usual:
1. Exercise as often as you can, movement is healthy and good for you.
2. Eat a healthy diet, drink lots of water.
3. Get enough sleep, but not too much.
4. Stretch often and be kind and loving to yourself.
5. Avoid sugar and caffeine, and processed foods as much as possible and any other "triggers that may aggravate your delicate mental state during this treacherous time.
Starting with a good, solid, healthy foundation is uber important to fight off the seasonal depression many of us living in cold, dark climates face.
Now the additional tools:
1. Do something that you love, that brings you joy every day, if only for just five minutes.
2. Be grateful- anytime you feel yourself sliding down into the darkness, just think of things you are grateful for. This is a really powerful way to control you state of mind and your mood. When we are grateful there isn't room for any kind of negative thought. For example, when you are grateful you cannot be angry. When you are grateful you cannot be sad. Gratitude is a powerful emotion that overrides those negative ones.
3. Make time for yourself, to nurture, love and appreciate you. Take a short walk, an extra five minutes in the shower, wrap up in a warm blanket and drink a soothing beverage, spend a few minutes reading a book. Watch a funny show. Anything that gives you peace or uplifts your spirits.
4. Avoid negative influences whatever they be, whether it be friends, co-workers, family members. Don't let them kill your buzz, because you are working really hard to control and manage your state of mind right now. If those around you are bringing you down, avoid them. Avoid violent, disturbing, sad images, music and movies, which lead us to number 5.
5. Listen to music that brightens your mood and uplifts you. Music is a very powerful tool in controlling your state of mind. If you start feeling down, losing your motivation and getting depressed, put on your favorite song.
6. Dance- whether you are good at it or not, dancing is good for the body and the soul and it is great way to release negative energy and replace it with positive energy. Any kind of dance will work, even just wiggling around wildy to your favorite song on your ipod. Doesn't matter. The movement is good for you- and your mood.
7. Get tools that can help you- surround yourself with bright colors, such as the new comforter I purchased that is bright orange, pink, green, blue and pink. Just looking at it brightens my day and makes me happy. Get some indoor plants, being around green living things can be very soothing during those long winter months. If you have pets spend lots of time loving them and enjoying them. If you don't have a pet consider getting one. Studies show pets lower blood pressure and have a soothing effect on people who love them. Spend time with people who uplift and inspire you. Read good books, watch funny, entertaining uplifting movies that leave you feeling good after watching them. Get a light box (or make one) to help substitute that sunlight we are missing during the winter season.
8. Focus on the positive around you all the time, and in all things. "Happy Thoughts" and positive affirmations WORK!
9. Do nice things for other people. When you're feeling down is a great time to reach outside yourself and do something nice for someone else. Bake cookies for a friend or neighbor. Participate in a service project. Volunteer at the local homeless shelter. When we are feeling down, others may be as well. By reaching out and giving to others not only can we help brighten their day and show them love- but it brightens our day too. A win/win, and who doesn't like a win/win???
10. Be patient, kind and forgiving with yourself if you slip on the path and find yourself in the dark from time to time.
AND most importantly- never be afraid to ask for or get help if you find you just can't get out of the dark. Call a Dr. and get on medication to get you through if you need it. Call a friend, family, or clergy member. Don't be ashamed to ask for help when/if you need it.
No matter how you may feel, ALWAYS remember you are never alone and like a good friend of mine once said to me "After the darkest nights, always come brighter days".
In a few months the snow will melt, and the flowers will start to pop out of the semi-frozen ground, the birds will start to sing, and it will be spring again!You will be able to pat yourself on the back because you made it through another winter! You can do this! I can do this!
1. Exercise as often as you can, movement is healthy and good for you.
2. Eat a healthy diet, drink lots of water.
3. Get enough sleep, but not too much.
4. Stretch often and be kind and loving to yourself.
5. Avoid sugar and caffeine, and processed foods as much as possible and any other "triggers that may aggravate your delicate mental state during this treacherous time.
Starting with a good, solid, healthy foundation is uber important to fight off the seasonal depression many of us living in cold, dark climates face.
Now the additional tools:
1. Do something that you love, that brings you joy every day, if only for just five minutes.
2. Be grateful- anytime you feel yourself sliding down into the darkness, just think of things you are grateful for. This is a really powerful way to control you state of mind and your mood. When we are grateful there isn't room for any kind of negative thought. For example, when you are grateful you cannot be angry. When you are grateful you cannot be sad. Gratitude is a powerful emotion that overrides those negative ones.
3. Make time for yourself, to nurture, love and appreciate you. Take a short walk, an extra five minutes in the shower, wrap up in a warm blanket and drink a soothing beverage, spend a few minutes reading a book. Watch a funny show. Anything that gives you peace or uplifts your spirits.
4. Avoid negative influences whatever they be, whether it be friends, co-workers, family members. Don't let them kill your buzz, because you are working really hard to control and manage your state of mind right now. If those around you are bringing you down, avoid them. Avoid violent, disturbing, sad images, music and movies, which lead us to number 5.
5. Listen to music that brightens your mood and uplifts you. Music is a very powerful tool in controlling your state of mind. If you start feeling down, losing your motivation and getting depressed, put on your favorite song.
6. Dance- whether you are good at it or not, dancing is good for the body and the soul and it is great way to release negative energy and replace it with positive energy. Any kind of dance will work, even just wiggling around wildy to your favorite song on your ipod. Doesn't matter. The movement is good for you- and your mood.
7. Get tools that can help you- surround yourself with bright colors, such as the new comforter I purchased that is bright orange, pink, green, blue and pink. Just looking at it brightens my day and makes me happy. Get some indoor plants, being around green living things can be very soothing during those long winter months. If you have pets spend lots of time loving them and enjoying them. If you don't have a pet consider getting one. Studies show pets lower blood pressure and have a soothing effect on people who love them. Spend time with people who uplift and inspire you. Read good books, watch funny, entertaining uplifting movies that leave you feeling good after watching them. Get a light box (or make one) to help substitute that sunlight we are missing during the winter season.
8. Focus on the positive around you all the time, and in all things. "Happy Thoughts" and positive affirmations WORK!
9. Do nice things for other people. When you're feeling down is a great time to reach outside yourself and do something nice for someone else. Bake cookies for a friend or neighbor. Participate in a service project. Volunteer at the local homeless shelter. When we are feeling down, others may be as well. By reaching out and giving to others not only can we help brighten their day and show them love- but it brightens our day too. A win/win, and who doesn't like a win/win???
10. Be patient, kind and forgiving with yourself if you slip on the path and find yourself in the dark from time to time.
AND most importantly- never be afraid to ask for or get help if you find you just can't get out of the dark. Call a Dr. and get on medication to get you through if you need it. Call a friend, family, or clergy member. Don't be ashamed to ask for help when/if you need it.
No matter how you may feel, ALWAYS remember you are never alone and like a good friend of mine once said to me "After the darkest nights, always come brighter days".
In a few months the snow will melt, and the flowers will start to pop out of the semi-frozen ground, the birds will start to sing, and it will be spring again!You will be able to pat yourself on the back because you made it through another winter! You can do this! I can do this!
Monday, November 9, 2009
No Bad Days Campaign!
Inspired by Hiram- the man I love, and get to wake up to every single beautiful day. Hiram has no bad days. He wakes up happy everyday. He refuses to focus his energy or intention on negativity. Basically he doesn't let anything get him down. He is a being full of love, joy and positivity, all day everyday. What a beautiful inspiration I've been blessed with.
Yesterday I realized what a gift it is, not having to walk on egg shells around him. After two and a half years together- Hiram still wakes up happy everyday and never has unpredictable or explosive mood swings. I finally realize, it is just not how he operates. It's not because he is better than anyone else, or luckier that he can do this, it is because he made the choice a long time that this is how he was going to live his life.
I realize I too have this power, to choose to have no more bad days. I get to choose to make everyday a good day. I'm not a victim of my circumstances, and just because bad things happen to good people everyday, we all still have a choice how we are going to deal with those bad things that happen to us. Are we going to gripe and complain and be angry, bitter and hold a grudge. Or are we going to feel upset in the moment, let it go and move on. Freeing ourselves to feel happy and free again.
When you say "Good morning" to people say "What's good about it?" If so then answer "Everything!" because even the bad things that happen to us, ultimately are for our higher good. Like the old cliche we've heard a million times says, "what doesn't kill us makes us stronger", and any one of us that has survived terrible things in our lives are living testaments to just how true that saying really is.
It's essential not to let all the downers in life bring our good energy and vibrations down. It's difficult not to, especially after they do it year after year. I used to be happy and hyper, laugh and smile all the time, but eventually, people and life broke me down. Now I have to fight to feel that way, and it is a challenge, especially at this time of year. People used to ask me "why are you so happy" with a bitter angry tone. I would always say "because I choose to be". But after years and years of people trying to bring me down, they succeeded. I fell into a deep dark depression that required medication to get me out of.
I knew I was in trouble when I could honestly no longer even remember what it felt like to be genuinely happy. That was a terrifying moment for me because I honestly didn't know if I would ever figure out how to be happy again. I just couldn't find that feeling inside of me.
Fast forward from the past to this present moment. After all the heartaches I've been through over the years, I was granted the most beautiful gift. I found and fell in love with the most beautiful and HAPPY man. A man who is honest, kind, sincere, genuine, LOVING, gentle and beautiful (among many other things on my endless list of good things to say about him!) A man who wakes up happy and even in spite of me, stays that way everyday! What a gift, and inspiration to me.
I get to make the same choice. He deserves to have that in someone too. He shouldn't have to walk on egg shells around me like I have done around other people for so many years. He deserves that same easy breezy carefree attitude and happy energy. He should get to wake up knowing, I will be right there smiling beside him everyday. He shouldn't have to worry what kind of mood I will be in that day. That is a terrible way to live, I did it for most of my life until two and a half years ago.
Happiness is a choice- in every situation and every moment. We cannot control what happens to us but we can control how we respond to it. That doesn't mean we won't feel sadness when a dear friend or family member passes on, or that we won't get angry when someone wrongs us. It just simply means that we don't dwell on those feelings. We feel what we feel, then we let it go. We don't talk about it and vent and keep our energy and intentions on any negative space. Taking it a step furter we eliminate any unnecessary or controllable negative influences from our lives and we make the conscious effort to do the things that bring us happiness and joy.
We make the choice how we respond in any given situation. Do we talk about the bad thing that happened to us over and over and keep our focus on the negative. Or do we let that part go and talk about positive things, how we handled it and how we are moving on? I vote for the latter. Eliminate the negative. Make the conscious choice to be happy and to spread happiness everyday.
A smile, laughter and happiness is contagious. We all share way too much negativity, its time to replace it and start sharing happiness and positivity. Time to remember what it feels like to be happy and feel good. Let's start today. Make today a good day, and then tomorrow and the next day and the next day after that. Let's start consciously being aware of the negativity in our lives and replacing it with positivity.
Who's with me??? 365 good days, every year! Find the positive in every situation! Life life to the fullest! Spread the cheer! :)
My next blog post will list tools I am currently using to help make "no more bad days" and to fight of the impending winter blues!
Yesterday I realized what a gift it is, not having to walk on egg shells around him. After two and a half years together- Hiram still wakes up happy everyday and never has unpredictable or explosive mood swings. I finally realize, it is just not how he operates. It's not because he is better than anyone else, or luckier that he can do this, it is because he made the choice a long time that this is how he was going to live his life.
I realize I too have this power, to choose to have no more bad days. I get to choose to make everyday a good day. I'm not a victim of my circumstances, and just because bad things happen to good people everyday, we all still have a choice how we are going to deal with those bad things that happen to us. Are we going to gripe and complain and be angry, bitter and hold a grudge. Or are we going to feel upset in the moment, let it go and move on. Freeing ourselves to feel happy and free again.
When you say "Good morning" to people say "What's good about it?" If so then answer "Everything!" because even the bad things that happen to us, ultimately are for our higher good. Like the old cliche we've heard a million times says, "what doesn't kill us makes us stronger", and any one of us that has survived terrible things in our lives are living testaments to just how true that saying really is.
It's essential not to let all the downers in life bring our good energy and vibrations down. It's difficult not to, especially after they do it year after year. I used to be happy and hyper, laugh and smile all the time, but eventually, people and life broke me down. Now I have to fight to feel that way, and it is a challenge, especially at this time of year. People used to ask me "why are you so happy" with a bitter angry tone. I would always say "because I choose to be". But after years and years of people trying to bring me down, they succeeded. I fell into a deep dark depression that required medication to get me out of.
I knew I was in trouble when I could honestly no longer even remember what it felt like to be genuinely happy. That was a terrifying moment for me because I honestly didn't know if I would ever figure out how to be happy again. I just couldn't find that feeling inside of me.
Fast forward from the past to this present moment. After all the heartaches I've been through over the years, I was granted the most beautiful gift. I found and fell in love with the most beautiful and HAPPY man. A man who is honest, kind, sincere, genuine, LOVING, gentle and beautiful (among many other things on my endless list of good things to say about him!) A man who wakes up happy and even in spite of me, stays that way everyday! What a gift, and inspiration to me.
I get to make the same choice. He deserves to have that in someone too. He shouldn't have to walk on egg shells around me like I have done around other people for so many years. He deserves that same easy breezy carefree attitude and happy energy. He should get to wake up knowing, I will be right there smiling beside him everyday. He shouldn't have to worry what kind of mood I will be in that day. That is a terrible way to live, I did it for most of my life until two and a half years ago.
Happiness is a choice- in every situation and every moment. We cannot control what happens to us but we can control how we respond to it. That doesn't mean we won't feel sadness when a dear friend or family member passes on, or that we won't get angry when someone wrongs us. It just simply means that we don't dwell on those feelings. We feel what we feel, then we let it go. We don't talk about it and vent and keep our energy and intentions on any negative space. Taking it a step furter we eliminate any unnecessary or controllable negative influences from our lives and we make the conscious effort to do the things that bring us happiness and joy.
We make the choice how we respond in any given situation. Do we talk about the bad thing that happened to us over and over and keep our focus on the negative. Or do we let that part go and talk about positive things, how we handled it and how we are moving on? I vote for the latter. Eliminate the negative. Make the conscious choice to be happy and to spread happiness everyday.
A smile, laughter and happiness is contagious. We all share way too much negativity, its time to replace it and start sharing happiness and positivity. Time to remember what it feels like to be happy and feel good. Let's start today. Make today a good day, and then tomorrow and the next day and the next day after that. Let's start consciously being aware of the negativity in our lives and replacing it with positivity.
Who's with me??? 365 good days, every year! Find the positive in every situation! Life life to the fullest! Spread the cheer! :)
My next blog post will list tools I am currently using to help make "no more bad days" and to fight of the impending winter blues!
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