When it comes to BPA’s – bisphenol A – I really can’t say a good word about them. They’re bad for the earth and terrible for our bodies – so the less we ingest (knowingly or not) the better. When you feel as strongly about sustaining wellness as I do, the best way to deal with BPA’s is to get them out of your life. And how do I loathe BPAs? Let me count the ways. First of all, biosphenol A is an industrial chemical, an endocrine disrupter, a suspected carcinogen and proven synthetic hormone that mimics the effects of estrogen! BPA’s have been linked to increased risks for heart disease, cancer and diabetes, as well as liver and brain problems. BPA’s are also credited with contributing to erectile dysfunction and the growth of breast cancer cells in adults, plus developmental problems in children. Need I go on?  Clearly, it’s time for all of us to kick it to the curb. Here’s how to start your BPA purge, preferably today:

Kick the can.
Virtually all canned food liners contain BPA’s, which leech into the food (yuck!). My advice? Don’t buy canned food. It’s as simple as that. Buy glass bottled items instead. Better yet, buy fresh, whole, organic foods and prep them yourself to minimize BPA exposure.  If you can’t kick the can completely, just be sure to use canned goods as little as possible.

Keep it glassy.
Store foods in glass containers to eliminate BPA leeching. Reheat items in glass as well to banish the BPA’s. If you have a lot of plastic microwavable containers in your pantry, slowly start decommissioning them and start transitioning over to an all-glass or ceramic-container kitchen. The older the plastic container, the sooner you should throw it out.

Be kinder to the earth.
Another reason to go with glass? It’s kinder to the earth and can be easily recycled. Better yet, you use less energy and water by using one-dish glass cookware that goes from the oven straight to the table. The same is true also for ceramic cookware.

Put down the spatula.
Particularly if it’s made of plastic. Some of the cheaper brands made in countries with fewer safety regulations may contain BPA’s, so be conscious of what your cooking utensils are made of. A better bet is to switch to sustainable, earth-friendly cooking utensils, such as bamboo, that won’t melt or leech chemicals into food with every stir of the soup.

Know your BPA-free numbers.
Pay attention to recycling codes on the bottom of the container. If they’re tagged with a # 1,2, 4 or 5, they’ll be BPA-free, so they’ OK for short-term, single-occasion use, but again, the less you buy, use and dump in a landfill, the better.

Know the bad guys.
Stay far away from the 3’s and the 7’s. The 3’s are made of PVC, also known as vinyl, a notorious toxic off-gasser. Items marked with the #7 recycling code are made with BPA’s so leave them at the store.

Hit the bottle.
Just not plastic ones. If you like to carry water along wherever you go, then portable bottles made of stainless steel are the BPA-free way to go. However, you should remember to check that the bottle doesn’t have a plastic liner, which may contain BPA’s. If you do buy bottled drinks in BPA-free plastic bottles (usually marked with the #1 recycling code), never re-use them, as they’re not designed to withstand hot water washings or repeated usage.

Have a happy and BPA-free day!

Last week I wrote about the Doctor-Patient Relationship of the broken, outdated, patriarchal health care system of The Old Medicine.  This week, I’m going out on a limb to suggest a new kind of Doctor-Patient Relationship, the kind I practice and I hope others in the new Pink Medicine do too. Here goes nothing.

It’s All About Collaboration

As doctor and patient, you and I are entering into a partnership. I will not give you orders because we will be collaborating, and your voice is as important as mine, if not more so. Because we will be partners, I feel it is important to clarify and agree upon what our relationship will entail, what you can expect of me, and what I expect of you.

I am here to support you, guide you, offer you tools, and support your process, but I will not “fix” you – for I don’t believe you are broken.

You Can Heal Yourself

I believe you already have within you the power to heal yourself. When we meet, I will hold up the mirror so you can see that you already have within you all that you need to have all that you want. This mirror will help you see what you need in order to optimize your wellness and happiness, so you can live the most joyous, vibrant, fulfilling, sexy, healthy life possible. Although I will support you in every way I can by educating you, giving you choices, answering your questions, and making recommendations, you are here to be the force behind your own healing. The body is made to self-diagnose and self-repair, and my job is to help you activate those self-healing superpowers. But you must do the heavy lifting yourself.

If you are not ready, willing, or able to heal yourself, I will be here to nurture and support you, but the process will be less powerful, with less dramatic results. 

I’m Not Blaming You

I’m not blaming you for being sick, depressed, or otherwise in need of healing. I am not suggesting that you brought this upon yourself (and if you did, I will treat you with compassion, not judgment.)

I’m also not suggesting that every illness or problem will be cured, either by your hands or by mine. Sometimes the Master Plan requires that illness – or even death – is inevitable. I believe that healing and curing are different, and that one can happen without the other. Although our goal will always be to achieve both, we will both understand that we must set goals, but release attachment to outcomes and surrender to Divine will.  In this very surrender, healing lies.

We Are Equals

Although I spent many years training to earn the right to be your doctor, I am not “better” than you, and as such, I will treat you as a cherished equal.  In order for our partnership to be successful, we must – absolutely must – respect each other. You will not put me on a pedestal, and I will not look down upon you.  I will speak to you when we are both dressed and only leave you naked in the brief moments when I need to examine you. I will respect your privacy, honor your modesty, and invite you to put your clothes back on as soon as I’ve done what I need to do.

I accept that my time is not more valuable than yours. As doctor and patient, we will respect each other’s time. I will not make you wait for your appointment, and you will not be late. We must be present, fully and completely, during our time together. This means we will both turn off cell phones, let go of distractions, and focus all of our energy on your health and healing.

I Trust Your Intuition

I will call upon my knowledge, experience, and resources to offer you recommendations for preventative care, diagnostic workups, and treatment plans, but I will also invite you to listen to the intuition of your healing inner wisdom, your body, and your soul. I will explain why I make the recommendations I do, but I will always respect your autonomy, without judgment. If you choose not to follow my advice, we will negotiate another plan that resonates with your intuition.  If I am unable to provide the care you need or desire, I will release you to follow your heart or find another provider without taking it personally.  You will understand if our current medical-legal climate makes me cover my ass sometimes, and you won’t take it personally. Ultimately, the choices for how we proceed will always be yours, whether I agree with the plan or not.

I will not take it personally if you question me.  I promise to respect you, guide you, and help you discover the healing power within you. In exchange, I ask that you follow through on any treatment plan we agree upon. If our treatment plan does not resonate with your body’s wisdom, or if you have financial constraints, please tell me so that we can modify our plan. Follow through is key. We must walk this path together in order to manifest the results I know we can achieve.

I Believe In You

I believe in your capacity to heal from any illness, trauma, or loss, even if other doctors have deemed you “incurable.” I believe the human body is more mysterious than we will ever truly understand.  As such, I will never view you as hopeless or broken, and I will hold sacred space for the whole, perfect, healed individual I know you to be, even in the midst of ill health. I will tell it to you straight so you understand science and statistics, but I will never tell you hope is gone, because miracles happen, and you have the power to enable them.

We Must Be Honest With Each Other

We have to be open and tell the truth, even if it is painful or uncomfortable. I will promise you confidentiality, and you must promise to tell me anything I need to know in order to provide the best medical care possible. We must trust that we are safe together, so we can explore things that may be tough to explore. We must open our hearts to the loving kindness and compassion that is a necessary part of any healing relationship.

I Am Only Human

As my patient, you will understand that I am a mere mortal, prone to mistakes, flaws, insecurities, ego, fatigue, tears, and distractions in my personal life.  You will not put me on a pedestal, and you will cut me some slack if I’m less than perfect, just as I will do with you. If I let you down, you will tell me gently, rather than bottling it up and storing it as resentment against me. In return, I will share with you how I feel about our relationship. If at any point, one of us cannot meet the other’s needs, we are free to dissolve this relationship at any time with loving kindness and compassion.

I’m Doing The Best I Can, And So Are You

As doctor and patient, we agree to accept that we’re both doing the best we can at any given time, and we won’t always get it right. We commit to open communication, mutual respect, a belief in the infinite capacity for whole health and healing, and a dedication to cherishing the process and viewing health issues as an opportunity to seek higher ground.

We acknowledge that, between you and me, anything is possible.

Are you on board? If so, sign here.

X marks the spot,

Your Doctor

One Doctor’s Response

I showed this agreement to a doctor I respect, who has a big, open heart and genuinely cares about his patients. I could see his chest rise and fall as he read it, and when he finished, he looked up at me with great big puppy eyes and said, “Lissa, I love it. But I don’t trust that I could do this. I’d want to. But could I? I’d hate to promise something I couldn’t follow through on.”

I asked if he wanted a copy so he could give it to his patients. He hesitated, furrowed his brow, looked down at the floor, tapped his pen on his knee, looked at me again before averting my eyes, and said, “No. Thank you, but no. I’m not ready yet, but maybe some day I will be.”

A Call To Action

What if you printed this out and handed it to your doctor? Would you have the guts? If you’re a health care provider, how does this strike you? If you’re a patient, how do you think your doctor would respond if you handed her a copy of this? How would you respond if your doctor gave this to you?

If we’re gonna change the system, we have to work together- so this is my call to action for you! Send this post to your doctor. Send it to your friends and ask them to send it to their doctors, dentists, acupuncturists, therapists, and anyone else who is part of their healing team. Let’s invite both patients and health care providers to step up to the plate and reclaim the heart of medicine.

Are you on board? Tell me what you think of this Doctor-Patient Agreement of Pink Medicine!

With faith in my profession,

Lissa Rankin, MD

Lissa Rankin, MD: Founder of OwningPink.com, motivational speaker, and author of What’s Up Down There? Questions You’d Only Ask Your Gynecologist If She Was Your Best Friend and Encaustic Art: The Complete Guide To Creating Fine Art With Wax.

The 30-Day Vegan Challenge: The Ultimate Guide to Eating Cleaner, Getting Leaner, and Living is a joyful literary chaperone through one month of veganism, covering every topic imaginable; literally no stone is left unturned!  In her characteristic up-beat tone Patrick-Goudreau holds readers’ hands throughout the 30-day period, answering every question and addressing every challenge anyone’s ever made while maintaining a nonjudgmental, encouraging tone and helping readers make the transition joyfully, healthfully, and confidently. The 30-Day Vegan Challenge includes chapters on everything from reading nutrition labels and mapping out a grocery store, eating out and packing lunches, celebrating the holidays, traveling, living with non-vegans to all of the individual nutrients people are concerned about: iron, calcium, protein, omega-3 fatty acids and more.  The recipes are simple and overwhelmingly delicious, with menu ideas for every day of the week.  What’s more, the book itself is visually stunning, with gorgeous photos and a colorful, reader-friendly layout.  It is truly the quintessential vegan lexicon for new vegans and vegan veterans alike; anyone who loves good food and healthy living is guaranteed hold this book near and dear.

Although I am not a Vegan myself, there are a myriad of reasons to adopt a vegan lifestyle – to improve overall health, shed a few pounds, demonstrate compassion for animals, or help the environment for example – and Colleen Patrick-Goudreau has outdone herself with a timely challenge for all earthlings to explore.

Watch the 2-minute trailer video:

Click here to view the embedded video.

When I was training to become a physician, the rules of the broken, outdated, patriarchal medical system were made clear to me. They went something like this.

The Old Medicine

As your doctor, I will sacrifice everything in my personal life in order to fix what is broken in you. I will stay awake when I’m exhausted, cross my legs when I have to pee, ignore my stomach when it growls, neglect my partner and children when they need me, allow my health to decline, and read all my medical journals so I can stay up to date on the latest in modern science. I will show up sick to work, endure unspeakable traumas in order to learn what I need to know to be an excellent physician, and I will prioritize medicine over everything else in my life. I will study what my forefathers have learned, attend lectures, consult with other physicians, practice my skills, follow the Hippocratic Oath, and vow to first do no harm, and then, hopefully, to do some good.

I will ask you questions, take notes when you talk, interpret your vital signs, and listen to the rhythms of your most crucial organs. I will order laboratory tests and X-rays to figure out what’s wrong, write prescriptions to treat you, refer you to a specialist (if I can’t figure out what’s going on), operate when needed, and cover up or cut out any symptom that threatens to disable or destroy you.

Trust Me

As your doctor, I will bring to our relationship the hallowed knowledge of the best of modern science, the wisdom I have earned from years spent in ivory towers, the gifts garnered from the most gifted clinicians I’ve trained with, and the hard-won experience of practicing my craft. I will filter your health problems through the lens of my collective knowledge and churn out a diagnosis, a treatment, and a genuine desire to help you get well.

As my patient, you will trust my expertise, refrain from questioning my judgment, have patience when I make you wait, forgive me when I’m curt, keep your questions to a minimum because I’m very busy, and pay your health insurance premiums so I can give you the best care possible.  As my patient, you will follow up with all recommended tests and comply with all treatment plans, even if you don’t understand or agree with what I’ve ordered, prescribed, or recommended.

As my patient, you will fill out all paperwork, jump through all hoops, get child care when you need it, take time off work, find transportation, and make any other arrangements necessary to prioritize your health, but if I have to cancel on you, you will understand, because some of my patients are sicker than you.

Tell Me Everything

You will willingly offer up to me every private detail of your life that is relevant to helping me deliver the best care possible, but you may not ask me to reveal such details of my own personal life, for that would be unprofessional. You will not complain about sitting naked and cold in a sterile exam room for 30 minutes, while I attend to other patients. And you will not mind when I finally show up, dressed and perspiring, in my white collar, tie, and starched white coat. 

Forgive Me

When you come in to see me, you will forgive me for forgetting your name, not remembering that your husband just died, looking in your ears instead of your vagina because the nurse plugged in the wrong code on my form, and keeping my back turned to you throughout our visit because these new computers keep me from looking you square in the eye.  You will understand my frigid hands, the ice cold speculum, and the gown that stops at your waist and flaps open to reveal your business not just to me, but to the people standing in the hallway who peek in when I bark orders at my medical assistant.

You will not get your feelings hurt when I never remove my hand from the doorknob throughout our 15 minute visit, even though you are trying to confess that you’ve had pain with sex for six years now. You will understand that I don’t cry when you do, even when I just told you your baby has died, because if I let you see how much I hurt with you, our relationship might get too personal, and you may not respect me any more.

Please Understand

You will understand that if I wasn’t this way, I might wind up even more exhausted, depleted, overworked, overwhelmed, stressed, financially strapped, traumatized, heartbroken, sick, and depressed than I already am. You have to realize that if I put you first without considering the other 40 patients I must see today in my office, I couldn’t pay the bills. And if I put my heart on my sleeve right there where you could see it, I might wind up sobbing on the floor of a locker room, dressed in scrubs, while my colleagues scream at me to buck up.  If I let my guard down, you might see through this gruff exterior and know how much I resent my job sometimes, how frustrated I am that managed care has taken away my autonomy, how disgusted I am that I don’t get more time with you, and how much I feel trapped because I owe more money than I’m earning these days.

If I let my guard down for even one second, I might have to admit to myself that I made a mistake, that I should have gone to law school or business school, or that – God forbid – I’d rather be an artist or a writer than this kind of doctor. But I’m an indentured servant who can’t even afford to quit my job, much less follow some lark and go chasing butterflies.

So forgive me if I don’t treat you like my best friend. And understand that I’m really, honestly doing the very best I can.

Capiche?

As doctor and patient, we must agree to respect the boundaries of our relationship, and as long as you do your part, I will do everything I can to fix your problem, even if it saps every last bit of energy I have, because I am called to practice medicine, and I know you need me. So you can count on me. I am here to serve you.

With that said, will you please get undressed now? We only have 4 minutes left.

With the best intentions,

Your Doctor

Okay, it’s me, Lissa, again, and I have to admit that I just sobbed my way through writing that.

I’m going to propose a new agreement, one that will forge the way and shine a light on Pink Medicine – a system I dream of and believe in my heart-of-hearts is possible.

Since I have decided to put my white coat back on, I am committed to rewriting the rules, shaking up the system, and tapping into my gifts as a physician while doing things my way.

What do you think? Have you experienced any wounds at the hands of doctors or other health care practitioners entrenched in The Old Medicine? Are you a doctor or other health care professional committed to changing how we treat patients? Are you a patient ready to demand what is rightfully yours? Who’s on board to blaze this trail with me? Can I see a show of hands?

Bueller…Bueller,

Lissa Rankin, MD: Founder of OwningPink.com, motivational speaker, and author of What’s Up Down There? Questions You’d Only Ask Your Gynecologist If She Was Your Best Friend and Encaustic Art: The Complete Guide To Creating Fine Art With Wax.

If all Doctors followed the latest cholesterol treatment guidelines, and all their patients took their prescribed statin medication, there would be 3.5 million more diabetics in America. But wait! There is another pill (injection actually) that has been shown to reduce the risk of diabetes. And it’s only about $50,000 per year per patient. Let’s see 3.5 million times $50,000. What does that bring us to?

Pharmageddon!

We are stuck in an absurd cultural habit of thinking that medication will save us from lifestyle and social diseases.

Two separate studies in a recent issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) underscore that we have come to the end of an era of being saved by medication. Antibiotics and vaccines were a huge advance in medicine in the 20^th century. But the single pill for the single ill just doesn’t work for 21^st century chronic diseases like heart disease and diabetes.

Statins cause Diabetes

The latest cholesterol guidelines (ATP III) increased the number of Americans who should take statin therapy from 13 to 40 million. Those additional 27 million are ones without heart disease, but who have high cholesterol. This type of treatment is called primary prevention. I have extensively reviewed the research on using statins to prevent heart attacks in people who never had them. The data is weak and shows no benefit, except the Jupiter trial, which ONLY showed benefit if patients also had inflammation (high C-reactive protein), not just high cholesterol or LDL. If you just had an elevated cholesterol, statins didn’t help.

I have previously written about research that showed that statins increase the risk of diabetes. This latest study examined five major clinical trials on statins including 32,752 non-diabetics over 4.9 years. During the study period 2,749 patients (or 8.4 percent) developed diabetes. Those on the highest doses of statins (which are increasingly prescribed by physicians) were at the highest risk of developing diabetes.

While there was a slight overall reduction in risk of heart attacks in the patients treated with statins, the authors found that you have to treat 155 people for one year to prevent just one heart attack or death. If a doctor had to prescribe antibiotics to 155 people to cure just one patient of pneumonia we would think that antibiotics weren’t very good medication. But that is exactly the “number needed to treat” to prevent just one cardiac event. On top of that for every 498 people treated, one more person would become diabetic. If these drugs were not the top selling drugs in history we might accept a small risk, but if we treated everyone who “needed” them, we would have over 3.5 million more diabetics in America.

Using statins may be an acceptable risk if there was no other treatment for heart disease. And we spend over $100 billon a year on angioplasties (which don’t benefit 95% of people receiving them), and cardiac bypasses (which reduce the risk of death in only 3% of people who receive them), while ignoring that heart disease is a lifestyle and social disease that requires lifestyle medicine and a social cure which would prevent over 90% of all heart disease.

Immune Suppressing Medication Prevents Diabetes

In another study of nearly 14,000 patients, published in today’s issue of JAMA, researchers from Harvard found that those treated with powerful immune suppressing medications (TNF alpha blockers like Remicade or Enbrel), reduced their risk of getting diabetes.

Sounds great. We have an explosion of diabetes. By 2020 one in two Americans will either have pre-diabetes or diabetes. The authors said “there is evidence suggesting a possible role for … immunosuppression in diabetes prevention”. But the side effects of these drugs are overwhelming infection, increased cancer risk and death. And they cost about $50,000 per year per patient. Were the authors serious about using these drugs for diabetes, another lifestyle and social disease?

Yes diabetes is an inflammatory disease. And yes, reducing inflammation can prevent and even reverse diabetes. But it won’t be by taking aspirin, Advil, or some high-powered immune suppressing, toxic, expensive medication. The major cause of inflammation is our processed, high sugar, low fiber, fast food, junk food, calorie-dense, nutrient poor industrial diet and our couch potato lifestyle. A plant based, whole foods, real food diet without sugar and flour in pharmacologic doses along with anti-inflammatory omega 3 fats and a good dose of exercise can dramatically reduce the risk of and even reverse heart disease and diabetes. And they cost a lot less.

Last week a study in JAMA found that the risk of diabetes, heart attacks and death increased significantly with more than 2 hours of television watching per day. The average American spends seven to nine hours in front a screen every day. We have a social problem, a host of chronic diseases driven by a food industry and screen dominated culture and the breakdown of communities. Cooking real food takes a bit more time, but people spend more time watching cooking shows on television that actually cooking.

The answer to our exploding health care costs and burgeoning chronic disease is not going to be found at the bottom of a pill bottle, but at the end of our forks and the soles of our shoes. Please save us from Pharmageddon.

Every year I post a similar blog, just tweak some resolutions and add a few more. This year, I am hoping that 2012 will be the year that the Wellness Revolution really kicks in.

When I qualified as a Doctor at 26 years old, I thought I knew everything there was to know about health and medicine. By the age of 30, I realized my medical training was limited and I didn’t really know much about health and wellness. So I went on a journey of discovery to expand my horizons and studied acupuncture, Chinese medicine, Functional medicine, nutrition, yoga and Buddhism. By 50, I realized my life training was limited too as my daughter (a teenager at the time) was pointing out “how stupid” I was. And now that I am 57, I realize I have amassed a lot of knowledge but have so much more to learn.

As I get older and hopefully wiser with every year, certain insights become clearer. Here are some of them gleaned from the wisdom I have gained from 32 years of marriage to my beautiful wife, Janice, having a wonderful 24 yr old daughter, Alison, 32 years of practicing medicine and being a perpetual student of life.

• More Real Food, Less Food-like Substances
• More Fruit and Vegetables, Less Sugar, Gluten and Dairy
• More Plant Foods, Less Animal products
• More Organic, Less Chemicals
• More Clean Products, Less Toxic Products
• More Chewing, Less Eating
• More Water, Less Alcohol
• More Walking, Less Driving
• More Exercising, Less Sitting at the Computer
• More Music, Less Noise
• More Recycling, Less Waste
• More Outdoors, Less Indoors
• More Meditation, Less Worry
• More Slow, Less Hurry
• More Smiles, Less Anger
• More Love, Less Hatred
• More Fun, Less Serious
• More Letting Go, Less Holding On
• More Being, Less Doing
• More Presence, Less Absence
• More Generosity, Less Greed
• More Forgiving, Less Blaming
• More Ubuntu, Less Me
• More Inclusion, Less Exclusion
• More Health Care, Less Disease Care

Our health should be a human right but is being undermined by powerful economic and political forces. From the processed food industry and agribusiness to pharmaceuticals, there are well-funded interests making money by keeping us unhealthy. We cannot be passive anymore. We need to take responsibility for our own health, the health of our families and the world at large.

Let 2012 be the year when the Wellness Revolution really kicks in.

John Mackey, who started Whole Foods, talking at TEDMED and telling the audience how Whole Foods is incentivizing employees to make healthy lifestyle decisions. Good for him!!

Click here to view the embedded video.

Reprinted with permission from Experience Life Magazine.

Before you set healthy goals for 2012, stop and appreciate what you’ve already accomplished. A quick look back may be the best tool for evaluating what comes next.

By Experience Life Staff

Like it or not, another 12 months have zoomed by. If you haven’t checked off every last thing on your resolutions list, don’t fret. Chances are you still accomplished a great deal, probably more than you’re giving yourself credit for. Really. We’re not just being nice.

Perhaps you’ve started eating a little healthier, and you’re feeling more energetic as a result. Maybe you’ve managed to put a few miles on the bike you bought three years ago. This is the stuff you need to acknowledge as forward progress, not as evidence of a larger job as yet undone.

Viewing this year’s successes in sharper relief can help prime you for even more success in 2012 — because it helps you see that you are, in fact, making health and fitness a priority in your life. Recognizing even a little forward progress lets you upgrade your pursuits from the dreaded “should” or “have to” status (or worse, “total failure” status) and helps you build positive momentum.

“Taking stock this way helps you clearly communicate to yourself that being active and living a healthy lifestyle are truly important to you,” says Jennifer Davis, MS, a health psychology counselor for the Duke Center for Living in Durham, N.C.

To help you get a better sense of what you’ve accomplished in 2011, we’ve compiled three checklists — for fitness, nutrition and quality of life. You can use them to take a quick inventory of your own healthy progress. (See Web Extra! for additional resources.)

Even if you check only a box or two, we hope that assessing your accomplishments over the past year will help you recognize and appreciate that incremental progress is real progress.  Here’s to celebrating it all, and to planning an even more successful 2012!

For insights on the progressive stages of change, read “The Stages of Change.”

Fitness

Planning and Contemplation
During the past year, did you . . .
• Recognize the need for more activity in your life? Take stock of your current fitness status?

• Get a health assessment or seek advice about an appropriate fitness program?

• Set any fitness goals? Take even a few baby steps toward them?

• Schedule (write in your calendar) specific times to work out or be active? Show up for planned workouts, even some of the time? Even once?

Education and Support
During the past year, did you . . .
• Share your goals or intentions with other people? Ask for their support, or ask them to help hold you accountable?

• Seek out any information, guidance or support related to getting in shape or taking your fitness program to a new level (from books, magazines, Web sites, mobile apps, coaches or trainers)?

• Experiment with different kinds of fitness routines or activities? Find that you liked some things better than others?

Execution and Momentum
During the past year, did you . . .
• Direct some of your daily choices and actions toward achieving better fitness? (For example, did you start taking the stairs, walking after dinner, watching less TV, making it to the gym more often?)

• Participate in any athletic events or competitions? Work out in a class or with a group? Use activity as a way to de-stress, relax or wind down?

• Do anything you might not have thought possible before?

Nutrition

Planning and Contemplation
During the past year, did you . . .
• Realize that your body needs and deserves better nutrition than you’ve been giving it?

• Inquire with your health professional, nutritional specialist or trainer about what type of eating plan or dietary changes would be advisable for you?

• Set any healthy-eating goals? Document any of them? Create a plan toward achieving them?

• Remove any unhealthy items from your home? Quit buying (or cut back on buying) any unhealthy, overprocessed or “problem” foods?

Education and Support
During the past year, did you . . .
• Seek out any guidance related to expanding your conscious awareness, moving beyond old limitations or living a more satisfying life (from books, magazines, classes, retreats, Web sites,
conversations)?

• Share your insights and intentions with other people, especially intimate friends or your partner? Ask for their support and input?

• End the year knowing more about your values and priorities, and where your current life stands in relationship to them, than you did at the year’s outset?

Execution and Momentum
During the past year, did you . . .
• Follow through with even part of your resolution plans? Recognize when you were wandering off course or forgetting about them? Make any course corrections or adjustments to your plan?

• Carve out a little more time for play, spiritual exploration, rest, meditation and other “nonproductive” tasks? Create time and space to become a better steward of your physical health?

• Overcome any fears, or do something that demanded bravery at the time? Resist the temptation to beat yourself up for not succeeding at something?

Quality of Life

Planning and Contemplation
During the past year, did you . . .
•  Become aware that you’d like to feel more connected to a sense of higher purpose and meaning? Identify some ways that stress, fear or anger might be detracting from your health, mood or the quality of your relationships?

•  Inquire with your health professional, coach or wise friend about some changes, explorations or personal-development tools that might be useful for you?

•  Set any personal development or life-balance goals? Rearrange any priorities? Create a plan toward achieving them?

Education and Priorities
During the past year, did you . . .
• Seek out any guidance related to expanding your conscious awareness, moving beyond old limitations or living a more satisfying life (from books, magazines, classes, retreats, Web sites,
conversations)?

• Share your insights and intentions with other people, especially intimate friends or your partner? Ask for their support and input?

• End the year knowing more about your values and priorities, and where your current life stands in relationship to them, than you did at the year’s outset?

Execution and Momentum
During the past year, did you . . .
• Follow through with even part of your resolution plans? Recognize when you were wandering off course or forgetting about them? Make any course corrections or adjustments to your plan?

• Carve out a little more time for play, spiritual exploration, rest, meditation and other “nonproductive” tasks? Create time and space to become a better steward of your physical health?

• Overcome any fears, or do something that demanded bravery at the time? Resist the temptation to beat yourself up for not succeeding at something?

Take Stock, Take Credit

If you’ve been able to say yes to any of these things, congratulations. And if reading through these examples has shaken loose any insights about other areas of progress, give yourself some more gold stars! You’ve made headway, and with luck, you’ve also made some sense of what it takes for you to make positive change in any area of your life. Take pride in the fact that this year, your good intentions took you somewhere you wanted to go — in the direction of your hopes, your values and your most promising future.

Reprinted with permission from Experience Life Magazine.

Experience Life magazine is an award-winning health and fitness publication that aims to empower people to live their best, most authentic lives, and challenges the conventions of hype, gimmicks and superficiality in favor of a discerning, whole-person perspective. Visit www.experiencelife.com to learn more, to sign up for Experience Life newsletters, or to subscribe to the print or digital version.

Originally Posted on January 12, 2010.

How can we adjust our psychic and body rhythm to suit the season? What happens within us is mirrored by the natural world around us. During the frost of winter, plants submerge their lifeblood into their roots, animals thicken their hides, and ponds harden into ice. This is a time of apparent quiescence and stasis, yet beneath the surface is the hidden activity of gestation and germination that will bring forth renewal in spring.

The Kidney is the organ system that shares the power of Winter. Just as the bear survives upon accumulated reserves, the Kidney harbors our Essence that feeds and renews our life force. It is the Kidney that supports the reproductive organs governing sexuality, as well as engendering the structural elements of the body that regulate growth and regeneration. This is dependent upon an adequate store of Essence, which gives rise to the marrow, which produces the brain, spinal cord, bones, teeth, blood, and hair. Whereas Kidney Yin controls the juicy Essence, Kidney Yang kindles metabolic process. All the other organs depend upon the Kidney for moistening and regeneration (Yin), and for animation and warmth (Yang).

The Kidney is vulnerable to damage by exposure to physical cold–cold weather or air conditioning and by the ingestion of iced or refrigerated foods and beverages. Kidney Yin is subject to damage by chemical agents, such as antibiotics, food additives, air pollutants, and recreational drugs. Inadequate intake of water and too much bitter, salty, or spicy foods may also be harmful. Likewise, too little sleep, excessive exercise, sexual activity, or work undermines the Kidney.

Black beans or aduki beans cooked with marrow-filled bones, along with roasted peanuts, garlic, ginger, walnuts, and butter are warming and nourishing foods for winter. This is the time to rest, accumulate reserves, and take stock, reflecting upon how our lives match what we envision for ourselves as we attempt to close the gap between what we imagine and what we see.

I notice that a lot of our patients struggle with snacking at night.  This is something I’ve struggled with too, so I’ve put together some of my favorite tips so you can get into a better rhythm.

1. Nourish yourself during the day.
If you’re running around and stressed all day, you may look to food (or alcohol) to calm you down at night. But if you’re taking good care of yourself during the day  – eating satisfying, balanced meals, practicing mindful breathing, laughing & loving, drinking water, getting some fresh air, breaking a sweat – you’ll feel more relaxed in the evening.

2. Eat a satisfying dinner.
Don’t eat a wimpy dinner and then wonder why you keep heading back to the fridge all night. Eat a satisfying dinner with protein, some healthy fats and veggies. Pay attention to how you feel after your meal — are you satisfied?  If you’re craving warm foods, have some soup with dinner. If you’re craving crunch, have a salad with crunchy veggies. If you’re craving sweets, have some roasted sweet potatoes, squash or carrots.

3. Take glutamine. 
Take 2 glutamine capsules every 4 hours throughout the day, and don’t forget to take them at night to help with cravings. These will be absorbed best on an empty stomach.

4. Drink tea. 
I like to make a cup of vanilla tea, and add a bit of almond milk and stevia. The tea ritual is comforting, relaxing, a nice way to wind down.  And especially if other people in the household are snacking, it’s nice to have something in your hands.  Sometimes I have magnesium CALM powder hot water at night … it’s sweetened with stevia and is very soothing.

6. “Close” the kitchen. 
Are you hanging out in or near the kitchen after dinner, sneaking cookies or M&Ms? After dinner, close down the kitchen for the night. Create a ritual around this – maybe that means turning the lights off, putting away the dinner dishes, or moving your laptop to a different room. Don’t come back to the kitchen until morning!

7. Get the sweets out of the house.
You can’t snack on it if it’s not there! Give your pantry a good makeover, getting rid of the junk food and your personal trigger foods. Keep only healthy snacks around – such as apples, cucumbers, carrot sticks and hummus.

8. Choose a relaxing activity that’s not food-related.
It always drives me crazy when people recommend taking a hot bath, calling a friend, or taking a walk instead of snacking, because those just aren’t realistic for me.  But … find something that IS realistic for you. I like to read a book or sometimes I get on the floor to stretch or use the foam roller to get a little back massage while watching TV.  If the tennis ball hasn’t rolled too far under the couch, I might roll around on that for a little neck and shoulder release.

9. Get support.
Tell someone about your intention to stop snacking at night, and ask for support.  Maybe you need encouragement or some tough love, or maybe just saying it out loud will help to keep you accountable.  It’s especially helpful to have someone in the house supporting you if possible. And let them know the reason – for me it wasn’t about weight loss, but about giving my digestive system a chance to rest at night. This makes me feel much better rested and less groggy in the morning.

10. Trust that this urge will pass. 
We are such creatures of habit! If you ate sweets last night, your body wants and expects snacks again tonight. It can be uncomfortable to break habits and create new ones.  Trust that as you create new habits, this discomfort will pass (probably much quicker than you expect).

Choose one or two of these tips that you can start implementing right away and let us how it goes!