The little miracles

The little miracles are the ones that build our faith.  The daily surprises, the "thank You, Lord" and the "I barely knew I needed it" kind of little miracles.  

I'm getting ready for a "Real Comfort" retreat beginning next Friday.  I've led this retreat a few times now, and yesterday I stumbled into thinking through a new closing session.  A patient and I are reading the gospel of John together.  So, when I read John 2, I realized the perfect ending for the retreat.

Sleepless? Part 1

My patient said, "Doc, I'm having trouble sleeping."

I almost always begin with saying, "First of all, it is true, insomnia may improve if we adopt sleep hygiene strategies."  i.e., practices that help the mind be ready for sleep such as:

• Do the same things every night before bed. Develop a routine. 
• Don't exercise too late in the day.
• Keep the computer off in the late evening.  
• Less stimulation aids relaxation. 
• Keep the room completely dark. Things like that.
• For more see this link: http://bit.ly/1gcjxI3

I've found that people with insomnia are quite often aware of these ideas.  Maybe they are up at night surfing the web, looking for help.  

 

So I'm not surprised when my patients seem unimpressed by sleep hygiene.  I get the feeling that folks want more than tips and techniques when they feel exasperated, and discouraged about the fact that everybody else in the world is probably sleeping fine while they are lying there awake.  It's a lonely feeling. 

And patients don't always want medications for sleep because they feel they will be taking them forever once they start.  The conversation often goes toward how to revoke the power of worrying.  What if people could tap into some sort of Peace, some sort of being Okay, maybe even because of their faith that God is near.  

 

Change is Like Playing Hopscotch

In the clinic, I do so much preventive care, meaning trying to help people make effective life style change to regain their health.  Understandably, I find myself saying the same sort of things over and over again.  And you know, different patients respond differently.  How about that?!

This week, I found several appropriate spots to say the following, "Lifestyle change is sort of like playing hop-scotch."  And to puzzled looks I'd clarify with, "You throw your chalk into the next square, and take a leap.  You get your balance again, pick up the chalk, and write on that square all you have learned.  Then when you are ready, you take another leap. Eventually you get to the end."

One gal said, "Yeah, and you don't ever get to go back to Start!"

Another said, "Balance is a nice word, but I don't ever really feel that.  No, not so much."

One fellow said, "So what's at the end?  The End?"

The Worrier and the Warrior

One morning in the clinic, I saw a 61 year old patient who'd gained 25 pounds this last year, and told of the stress in her life.  Very tough things like lately widowed, living alone, and working hard to make it.  But the mild insomnia which she'd always had was much, much worse, and now she gets up and goes to the refrigerator, or the pantry.  Just a little snack.  Every night for 365 days.  Twice she said, "I find myself thinking, 'It's 3 AM, and there is nobody having this problem but me.  Nobody is awake but me.' " 

That afternoon one of my 93 year old patients came in saying, "I knew my blood pressure'd be up because I did not sleep a wink last night.  Not one wink! This has never happened to me before!  What do I do, Doctor?"

Lord's Prayer Breathing

Lord's Prayer breathing ... for the body and the soul

First How:

This is easy, and below I explain why and when to use this invaluable expression of our knowing that we need more of God.

As you detect tension, stress, pressure or any other fear-laden symptom, pause.

Take only a quick inhale and on the exhale begin speaking the Lord's prayer:
Take three inhales for the entire prayer on the words,

"Our Father ..."
"Give us..."
and "Lead us..."

Prolonging the exhale as you speak the endings to each of the sections is the exact reason that this helps us physically.

Repeating four Lord's prayers this way takes one minute.  That gives us 12 breaths a minute.  Perhaps the optimal normal rate for adults.

Because I've practiced this for many years, I find I am getting just a bit closer to praying without ceasing.  And you can too.


And now Why do this  : (taken from an earlier post on this blog)

Finding Your Way

In 2007, God led me to offer Wellness retreats.  In 2009 He moved me to offer groups to follow up retreats, and add members from my clinic practice as well.  Next came "Real Comfort" retreats. In one group a gal said, "I cannot find my way out of this problem.  It's like I live with a monster inside me."  So we named the groups "Way Groups."  We walk together, and we all are finding our way.

There are usually two things that have to be addressed immediately, and a third that takes time.  

Church

My favorite devotional bible is the Oswald Chambers One Year Bible. I should call it my Four Year bible, though, as I read one page a day.  In it there's both an old testament and a new testament reading with a psalm and proverb in between. 

For me, as I look at Genesis abruptly juxtaposed beside Matthew, I grieve all that time before Christ, the countless lives lived before God's hopeful Answer comes to mankind's main problem.

And then there's the countless lives since the fact God's offer of grace in the Cross. 

And Remembering God

For the Soul:

I was thinking about the patient who worried about her grandchildren's diet, as I headed out into a beautiful winter evening for a walk-jog, or a "wog." I admit to being a fair-weather-wogger. I soaked up the last of the sunshine and felt the gentle breeze and did "intervals." Since doing intervals forms a sort of "kind exercise" to line up with "kind repentance," this evening's wog qualified for the words, "it doesn't get any better than this." 

Working, Worrying, Wogging - and Remembering God

Working, Worrying, Wogging ... Remembering God

   
 For the Body:

Lately another sixty-ish grandmother came in and  expressed a concern that I'd heard many times the last ten years.  "My daughter-in-law is so busy she feeds her kids at McDonald's or Sonic so much.  Or they have frozen pizza, macaroni and cheese, or just cereal. I worry about the grandkids. 

They all weigh more than I remember my kids weighing."To some extent I was a mother like that. Working, overwhelmed, and willing to close my eyes and reach for compromising solutions. I cannot count the times I drove through fast food places to either feed the kids fast or cheaply or both. 

Who is that person?

For the soul:  

I have a favorite restaurant.  Do you?  When I go in there, I just don't recognize myself. Somebody else has just jumped into my skin!  But that person is ordering foods that I do recognize. It's a lot easier to stick with a life-giving diet as long as I stay out of that restaurant.


Does this sound familiar?  As a lifelong overeater, this is where Romans 7:15 speaks to me.  Paul's disclosure that he is actively doing exactly what he doesn't want to be doing is the main problem we humans have.  Our last overeaters' group began with that verse.  Every retreat deals with that verse as well. We care, but we don't care.

Devotional: Valued ~ 1Thessalonians 5:9-11

     I asked my overeaters' group these questions:  When do you feel okay?  When do you feel peace inside?  When do you feel restored?  Everyone had their own answers.  And none of us mentioned comfort food.  What is yours?  If you have a struggle with binge eating, then you know that overeating is so tied up in self-hatred.  So, if you struggle to ever have peace inside, then think of this question:  Was there someone in your past whose face was a condemning one to you?  Someone who was happiest with you when you were productive, or unobtrusive, or maybe just inert? Someone who was often easily angered, and often at you?  Condemning is a strong word.  Is "disapproving" more palatable?  Do they have that power really? Why do we keep giving them that permission?    God does not see us as condemned. He could condemn us but, in Christ, He doesn't.   In the big scheme of things we have very tiny, yet very valuable lives to God. 

For me, I feel most restored, most peaceful, most okay after I've prayed for others.  Because to pray for others, I've already recovered the distance I've put between me and God.  Remembering God reminds us that we are not God.  Funny, did you ever notice that God restored Job's life after he prayed for his friends.  Hmmm.

A new recipe and a word about using soy

From the D.I.E.T? side:  I am so excited about a new version of the "high protein pancake" that we used at the retreat.  This one is even higher protein and seems closer to the usual wheat pancakes that many of us love.  The protein count for the following is right at 30 grams per serving.

High Protein Pancake 

Ingredients:  egg white, yogurt, soy protein powder (Bob's Red Mill brand is at our local grocery store), Quick Oats, baking powder, plus a pinch of salt.  I use the yogurt in the fridge that has an expiration date that has already passed.  That means the good bacteria counts have dropped some, and when you heat this batter up, I bet the survivors are few! So you don't want to use the freshest yogurts for this recipe.  The older yogurt retains good things like the protein and the predigestedness of the lactose, and it is smoother than cottage cheese.  But you could use cottage cheese instead, if that's what you like.

Mix dry ingredients together and store in a covered container at room temperature:   Quick oats and the soy powder in a ratio of  3:2 so that might be 1 and 1/2 cup of the oats and 1 cup of the soy protein powder plus 1 tsp of baking powder, and a pinch of salt.  (I actually double this for storage.)

Per cup, this mixture has 30 gm protein and 180 calories.

Mix together:

1/2 cup of the dry ingredients

1/3 cup of egg white

1/3 cup of yogurt or cottage cheese

Add a splash of any kind of milk you like to get the consistency of batter that you want.  Vanilla almond or vanilla rice milk are my favorite.

Add frozen or fresh blueberries if desired.

Preheat your pan and spray with a cooking spray (There is a new one that I like that is an expeller pressed olive oil spray, brand name "Spectrum")  And cook as usual.  

Makes 3 4 inch cakes.  

Protein 30 gm, calories 180

DO I EAT THIS?:  using soy might raise an eyebrow, particularly among breast cancer survivors like my nurse.  A six year long study on 68,000 women, ages 40-70, concluded in 2009 and was published in JAMA. It found that survivors of breast cancer who use soy in moderation have no worries.  And it may even be helpful. This Shanghai Women's Health Study found a 30% lower risk of recurrence in women who ate at least 11 gm of soy protein a day.  This same study also showed a 30% reduction in colon cancer.  These are two of the most common cancers in our country.  

FROM THE SOUL-SIDE:  Hope you are all doing well, taking care of your bodies as they are a gift from God.  I always sort of "discover" that I live within that temple of the Holy Spirit after I pray for others.  Is that how it is for you?  God bless you.

Cholesterol

     My patients have heard that eggs are no longer bad for them.  There has been Lots of confusion over this issue.  We do need cholesterol, children especially.  It coats all our nerve cells.  Our brain has to have lots of it to form properly. Cholesterol is also the building block for almost all other hormones that the body makes. It is so necessary, the liver makes it if need be.  What is wrong with eating animal products that all have 25 mg of cholesterol per ounce?  (Except for the yolk of an egg which has much more.)
     I heard an elegant little study that clarified things to  me.   There once were some bored graduate students, and a very good professor.  The graduate students asked if they could feed lab rats pure cholesterol, and their professor thought a moment and said, "Sure, I don't think that has been done before.  I have some in the closet back there.  Bring it to me."  When he looked at the cholesterol in this can that had been previously opened, he noticed that the cholesterol was a different color than when it was fresh.  The experiment took two weeks.  At the end of the time in which one group of rats ate only rat chow, and another group ate pure cholesterol, they were sacrificed and their coronary arteries were examined.  The rats that ate rat chow had clean coronaries.  The rats that ate only cholesterol had completely clogged coronaries.  The professor was very wise, and repeated the experiment with fresh cholesterol.  The result, both groups had completely clean coronaries.  The cholesterol in the first experiment was oxidized cholesterol.
    Adding air to animal products then is dangerous for us.  When is that encountered?  Anything with powdered egg or milk:  complete pancake mix for example.  Anything chopped and stirred a lot, perhaps ground meat is less healthy than sirloin steak.  Maybe the processed meats' known health risk has something to do with oxidized cholesterol, not only nitrosamines.  Another place would be powdered cheeses.  Uh-oh, hope you don't love parmesan.  Possibly whipped cream.
    I heard this study from Ned Nedley MD whose website is definitely worth checking out: www.drnedley.com  I wish there was more research to further clarify this.  Until then the use of at least 5 fruits plus vegetables a day (F+V) has been shown to reduce cardiovascular disease and stroke, so in part they are working as anti-oxidants.  As you know, I hope you will push that number up to 9 for the alkalinizing advantage.  I have even seen that some osteoporosis doctors are recommending 11.

dr.suz

Water

Water.  We need some but not as much as many people drink.  There is water in all those 9 fruits and vegetables that we are trying to take in during each day. The practice of sipping on water all day actually dilutes your kidney's ability to make concentrated urine.  If a person has a weight loss desire, though, it helps to drink 8-12 ounces before eating.  Sometime, measure how big your stomach seems to be by taking in a known quantity of food or drink, and sensing fullness.  Mine seems to be about 2 cups.  (A stomach can certainly be stretched much larger than two cups, but what we are trying to sense is just that feeling of "enough.") So if I don't want to be eating so much, I use pre-feeding with trail mix so I won't be starving when I go in to start cooking in the evening plus drink a cup of water or two.  It helps curb my appetite.  Let me know if you have any other question about water.

Thank you for your survey responses!

Hi everybody,
I so appreciated your kind words and great suggestions on the survey you did for us.  We so enjoyed being with you and offering the retreat.  Thinking back I wish I'd said this or that differently, and been more clear or complete, but oh well.  Next retreat.  I have been working on the D.I.E.T Resource Guide and will let you know when it is out.
 I thought of you today when I played around with the high protein pancake recipe again.  :-)

A couple of you asked to enlarge on that comment on "water" so I will add a bit on that next post. 

God bless you all,
Suzie