making change

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A client asked me recently to write an article about how to make health changes that will stick. The two main areas this involves usually include diet and exercise.

Most of the clients I see wind up discussing their exercise regimens and lifestyles with me. People have a wide range of physical aptitude and activity level so it’s good to get to know them some so you have an idea where they’re at and where they want to go. My job in addition to bodywork or yoga is to assist them getting there.

As I get older I notice more friends becoming sedentary, lethargic and having increasing health issues related to nurture more than nature. This includes my love handles of course but bodies do change as we age and it’s important to keep impermanence in mind whether we’re Buddhist or not. My body at 20 isn’t the body I will have at 40. As we age it’s then even more important that we engage in regular maintence, good dietary decisions and choices that help us reach whatever goals we have.

I learned long ago when working as a massage therapist if I wanted people’s blood pressure to go up, if I wanted to make them stressed, just discuss diet and exercise with them while they’re on the table. It took me some time to figure out why this was such a loaded topic then it dawned on me that most clients feel that discussing diet means eating things they don’t want to eat and exercise means doing things they don’t want to do. My feelings on the issues couldn’t be further from this.

I consider creme brulee part of a healthy diet. It’s not recommended every day but I don’t consider it unhealthy either. Sitting around and being social with friends while having a glass of wine is also good for you, as it probably lowers blood pressure and the laughter you’ll have during the episode will just help you live longer. We are social creatures after all.

So I run contrary to some popular opinions. I once got into an argument with a woman about cookies being part of a healthy diet and I still hold a grudge about it. Telling women they can’t have dessert is tantamount to treason. When it comes to food here is a fundamental idea I’d like to get across. Caloric restriction doesn’t work. Diets don’t work. That’s why there’s a new one every two weeks making the circuit. If you’re sitting around trying to figure out how to eat less, I’ve a suggestion. Stop. Go take a walk, then come home and eat a little of whatever it is you wanted, mindfully.

At issue is the fact that we’ve bodies that evolved to make good use of calories which were all too rare. As hunter gatherers we ate less frequently and what calories we did get were more likely to be feast then famine. How does one then adapt to 24 hour stores with aisles of food? Fast food around the clock and food commercials? Usually we just get fat. Especially as we get older and stop growing, though issues of childhood obesity and diabetes are increasing each year.

So again, I think caloric restriction doesn’t work. I recommend instead of avoiding food people actually dive in, not so much with their bellies and gluttony but by learning more about where food comes from and most importantly learning to cook. I feel the blood pressure rising as you read this but relax, hear me out. I learned to cook years ago first because I wanted to be a vegetarian, which I no longer am by the way, and then because I was sick and needed to heal myself.

One of the things that I noticed was that I would sometimes spend hours making an extravagant meal and then sit down to eat a small portion, usually smaller than those around me. Over time I realized it was because I got to nibble, smell and taste all of the food as I was making it. I’d been eating for hours at that point and was already nearly full. This to me, is one of the secrets.

The other is that because I’m not denying myself I’m not as easily going to go on a binge and eat excessively. Caloric restriction and diets have no place in a healthy lifestyle. There, I said it. I know it’s difficult to hear and deal with but I think it’s true personally. When I hear someone is on a diet I cringe. I love food and eating too much. I eat what I want, when I want. It includes things like donuts, ice cream, cake, fried chicken, foie grois, spaghetti and meatballs, meatloaf and even the occasional stir fry. I just don’t think of food as the enemy.

Part of that reason is that I exercise. I’m active. I garden and move about a lot in addition to doing bikram yoga regularly. Doing yoga in a 105F degree room means I’m more than aware of what’s going on internally. I don’t eat heavily those days and make sure to hydrate well. I’ve had a class after a morning of coffee, bacon and eggs and it didn’t go too well. You burn calories as you exercise and when you build muscle you burn more calories with ease. The additional cardiovascular exercise helps burn calories and keep my heart healthy. Cardio is surely my weakest link, I just never got into running.

Exercise is using a shovel, moving leaves and compost around, turning the compost pile with a picthfork and moving enough wood mulch around yards to cover what seems like a city block. Everyone’s diet and exercise will vary. Diet is what you eat, exercise is what you do. Nothing more, nothing less. I can’t ask clients to take on my lifestyle as it’s just that, mine. I’ve found and continue to find what works for me. I eat what I want in moderation and exercise regularly while reminding myself to stay active.

Here’s a small list of things I think are beneficial when it comes to food:
learn to cook
watch Good Eats with Alton Brown
join a CSA to get fresh produce Johnson’s Backyard Garden
visit local farmers and talk to them
buy meats fresh locally and invest in a deep freezer
avoid fast food whenever possible (learning to cook and well, will aid this)
start a garden at home

When it comes to exercise here’s a list:
Be active
Do what you like
If you hate jogging, don’t.
Find what you like to do that gets you moving. Could be gardening, swimming, biking, diving, rock climbing, dancing or walking. It should be enjoyable and preferably you don’t even think of it as exercise.
Have more sex. It burns calories, helps you bond with your loved ones and we live in a puritanical culture that barely approves of sex between married people. Good sex can last hours. Doesn’t have to but if you’re healthy and in shape enough why not spend time having pleasure?
Try new things. If you’ve never kayaked, try it out. You might find a few things you like that help keep weight off and keep you active.

So how do these things stick? When it comes to cooking you can’t unlearn something. The more you learn about food, where it comes from and how it’s prepared you’ll eat better and for less money. When you’ve had homeade, homegrown, fresh and local produce you’ll not want to eat KFC as often. Trust me on this one. Making diet and exercise part of your regular life means making it more pleasureable than fast food and sitting on a couch. It’s that simple. People steer towards feeling good and pleasure, we should honor those as part of health and well being.

I can’t say it’s always an easy choice. After all, when I’m hungry and I don’t have anything in the fridge the temptation is to run off to buy fast food. If I cook regularly though, and keep a well stocked pantry I save not only money on food but have things around to eat at a whim that are usually far more nutritious. I don’t think people eat Whataburger because it’s the best hamburger they’ve ever had. I think they eat it because it’s convenient. Convenience is what runs fast food. If we had grass fed burgers on every corner with olive oil fried french fries and organic buns and lettuce we’d buy that just as much.It’s just not as available. Quick and easy is the American way. According to heart disease and diabetes rates we’ve made quick and easy our lifestyle.

Instead of focusing on what we shouldn’t eat, focus more on what you should. Nothing has made quite the impact on my food choices like going to Johnsons’s Backyard Garden and working on the farm for the day. I spend 5 hours or so picking, cleaning and boxing vegetables. I get sun, friendly conversation with other volunteers, a chance to learn about our local food system and at the end of the day…a free box of produce. I got exercise and good food at the same time.

I dislike absolute dogmatism. What works for you, works. No one including me can tell you exactly what you should do because your body, your being, is different than mine. Embrace what you like. If you like some junk food, start making it yourself. Ask my wife’s kids about corndogs and see how they respond. Ever had a homeade from scratch corndog? Aha! Those little things make life worth living.

Keeping up a healthy pattern means you make it as easy as possible to follow. Surround yourself with people who wish to be healthy as well. Make good choices easy to make. Healthy food tastes good and includes fat, calories and carbohydrates. Healthy exercise is fun, it’s something you enjoy. It makes you feel better, not just sore. Take the dog for a walk. Join a community garden. If you run, go swimming. If you swim, go running. Mix it up and don’t become sedentary. Try new things. If you’re a single older woman chase younger men.

Modern American life is what we’re often fighting. We spend most of our time staring at glowing rectangles, hint, you’re staring at one now. We don’t have to run, stoop, crawl and hunt for food or get behind the oxen to plow. We simply drive to the store and charge it on a credit card. I say simplify, not only because it’s the good life but because it’s the only life worth living. He who has the most toys just has the most stuff he’s got to dust.

Spend time thinking about what it really is that you want and create the life that gives you that. Keeping up with the Jones’ isn’t the way to live. Live your life in such a way that others wish to be as free, unencumbered and joyous as you are. If you don’t know any of those people get some new friends. If you want health, create, maintain and nourish healthy habits. Do things not because they have a long term health goal but because they make you feel good in the moment.

This is how you create a lifestyle that sticks. Again, just my opinion. Your mileage may vary. I welcome comments.

Bun Thit Nuong

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Spring is upon us and our food tends to lighten. I put away the hearty stews and meat of the winter menu and start eating more vegetables and lighter fare. This dish is one of my favorites at a Vietnamese restaurant. Years ago in Baton Rouge, La I discovered a small place that served it and was astonished at its complexity. The dish seems complicated at first but once you get the basics down it’s easy to improvise on. If you can’t find the ingredients at your local supermarket, seek out an asian market.

The dish is called Bun Thit Nuong on most restaurant menus. Occasionally it’s also served with a fried pork spring roll called Cha Gio.

Recipe:

Nuc Mam

This is the sauce to pour over your vermicelli bowl. This should be made in advance to sit and marinate in addition to making prep easier. Make extra, you’ll be eating this overall meal for several days if you’re anything like our family. I always make extra..in case company is over.

1/2 c fish sauce
2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
2 tsp sugar
1 c water
1/4 c grated carrots
1/4 c grated daikon radish
1 clove garlic minced finely
juice of 1/2 lime
½ to 1 tsp Sambal chili paste or one fresh finely minced red chili

Bun Thit Nuong (rice vermicelli with charcoal broiled pork)

3 shallots minced
2 cloves garlic minced
1 tbsp granulated sugar
1/2 c fish sauce
1/8 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 lb pork sliced thin and placed in marinade

You can use anything from chops to butt for the recipe. If it has some fat that’s a plus for flavor! Keep in mind that you’ll be grilling this or broiling it in the oven so make the pieces sized for that purpose. You don’t want them falling through the metal grate onto the coals.

Prepare noodles according to package directions. Some are as simple as just soaking in water. Once they’re ready and the water is drained they can be set aside and covered with plastic wrap to sit until time to assemble the bowl. I prefer them room temperature. This allows the contrast of cooked meat, cool noodles and fresh vegetables.

Toppings for the bowl include:

fresh pan roasted peanuts, coarsely chopped
fresh cilantro
scallions thinly sliced
lettuce sliced thin
mung bean sprouts
deseeded sliced cucumber
mint leaves

other options:

These aren’t as traditional but you can use cabbage, bok choy, any kind of lettuce, sliced radish of any kind, swiss chard, sugar snap peas…preferably whatever came out of your front yard garden.

If using a grill prep it in advance and cook meat till browned well on the outside.

If using an oven preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Line a baking pan with aluminum foil. Arrange the pork on the foil and broil for 10 minutes on one side; then turn the pieces over and broil for an additional 10 minutes. Remove from the oven when caramelized lightly and cooked through.

Place noodles in a bowl and serve a platter with all of the toppings and nuc mam. You can let everyone put whatever toppings and vegetables they like on their own bowl. Chop the meat into bite sized pieces.

This is a wonderful warm spring day meal and is sure to impress. Fish sauce is a versatile ingredient and adds a large amount of savory umami in addition to brining the pork so it remains juicy. If you have fresh garden produce experiment. My listing swiss chard and any kind of lettuce is due to the fact that if we have extra from the garden this is one of those meals it goes into.

Special thanks to the people of Vietnam for giving me one of my favorite meals.

Try using chopsticks to eat this and…Enjoy!

Local or Organic?

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I thought I’d spend some time talking about the issues surrounding the ideas of local and organic when it comes to farm products, specifically produce.

So let’s work with some definitions. What does local mean? Good luck. I think local is when I pick a lettuce out of my front yard and I don’t think many would argue with me that that is in fact the case. Is it organic? Well, organic used to mean it was grown by some hippies who ran around naked in the moonlight at the full moon and didn’t use any pesticides or herbicides. Organic, these days, is fairly clear. You’re organic if you’re certified organic.

Organic is now regulated and heavily marketed. Not just anyone can call themselves organic due to the fact that you have to deal with inspections, regulations and increasing red tape to call what you produce organic. If you’re a farmer who sells at a farmer’s market and a customer asks you if you’re organic, by law you must present paperwork establishing that you are in fact, according to government regulation…organic. See, it’s not just hippies anymore. Large scale farms can more easily deal with the bureaucracy and red tape to be able to call their produce organic. Farmer Bob down the road struggling to make ends meet might be producing produce that’s beyond organic, he might be doing things in a more sustainable way but if he isn’t certified organic, he cannot legally market his produce this way.

Is local good? Well, I think it is. There are reasons for this. The height of my sense of disdain for products produced elsewhere is that it’s increasingly difficult to know how something was produced and in what conditions. Were the workers well treated and compensated? Is tilling done in a way that’s deleterious to the soil? Are chickens raised in cooped quarters and pumped full of antibiotics so they stay alive until it’s time for market?

Most people just don’t know where their food comes from. When encouraged to find out I’ve had foodies look at me as if to say, “please don’t burst my bubble.” They want yummy tasting food but there’s no sense of curiosity about where it came from. People get very testy when you start looking at their food choices with a critical eye.

Around Austin we have generally poor soil. This is not a major agricultural area when it comes to produce because of this. Settlers raised cattle on scrub land that could actually make use of what was already here. There’s a reason the longhorn is the symbol of UT. Longhorns are heat tolerant and can survive on poor vegetation and whatever is available. Vegetable gardening in our area takes work. The soil is poor, the climate sometimes rough and you cannot just throw seeds on the ground in spring and expect tomatos several months later. In some parts of the midwest that’s a workable scenario. They have 12″+ of topsoil. You’re lucky if you get 2″ in parts of Austin.

Local and organic are not mutually exclusive. Johnson’s Backyard Garden in south east Austin near the airport is both. The farm is certified organic and when it comes to local it fits one of my personal considerations, transparency. As a CSA (community supported agriculture) I know that my dollars and labor are going directly to a local farm, a local family, to help support them. It cuts out the middle man and allows me to have fresher produce and for a farmer to raise his family well.

I’ve gone and worked on the farm on many occasions and picked produce. Not only do I see how workers are treated, they help me with my Spanish. Interns, laborers and other volunteers support this CSA not only because it’s local and organic but because we believe in what’s being done on the farm. We get to learn about crops, crop rotation, planting schedules and all that goes on season to season. Because of this transparency I have far more trust in Brenton and his operation.

I don’t feel the same way about produce shipped in from CA on a truck. I don’t have the connection to the land, the workers and the produce isn’t as fresh even if like JBG it’s certified organic.

Locally picked produce doesn’t sit on the shelf as long and is generally more nutritious. After growing some of my own produce I see how long it lasts once it’s picked. The food on the shelf at a local store, even a good one like HEB or Central Market, might have taken a week or two to get from the field to the store. In that time the produce is already starting to break down and it’s nutritional value is degrading. I’m told that as soon as produce is picked it starts to break down from that point and the longer it sits, the less nutritious it is.

There are many layers to this story but realize that local, isn’t a label that’s regulated. That I know of there is no regulation on the words local when it comes to food or even the words natural for that matter. You can ask if something is local and it’s produced in Bolivia for all we know.

Long ago I went into a large well known big box store and noticed that there amongst the pallete of watermelons was a large sign with a farming family from TX. The text on the advert had the small farm family talking about how they’d grown these local watermelons in such and such county. It struck me since said big box store is no longer known for US goods. I looked in the bin of watermelons and on every melon there was a sticker, grown in Mexico. Now, I’m certain the store was breaking no laws. There wasn’t a sign saying, “these watermelons were grown here in TX.” The advert would lead you to believe that it was grown here. See the innuendo at work? Most who grabbed a melon out of the bin felt good about grabbing something that was locally grown without a second thought. Who doesn’t want to support their farming neighbor?

When it comes to organic we’ve established that to call something organic for marketing you have to be certified so. With that comes regulations, red tape, inspections, bureaucracy and for most people a sense of security. Now that government regulation has said it, it’s gospel. Now I ask, is margarine better than butter? Are eggs bad for you? How much milk is safe to drink? Are pharmaceuticals safe? How about marijuana? As you can see, just because government regulation says something is so leaves me with some doubt.

I’m not against organic at all. I grow things organically. I don’t use any non organic fertilizers or pesticides made from fossil fuels. Let’s look at this another way. I compost lots. I get vegetable scraps from the prep table at a local restaurant. To these I mix neighbor’s leaves that they handily placed at the curbside for me in a compostable bag. I also keep paper that’s shredded or old paper towels and mix it with vegetable scraps to build my compost piles. When this all breaks down it makes great compost for the garden.

I’ve grown wonderful cauliflower, cabbage, lettuce and onions in this. Is the produce I grew organic? I grew it organically in my opinion. The leaves that came from my neighbors yard, are they organic? My neighbors could be using ant killer, roundup and lawn fertilizer on their yard for all I know. Are the vegetable scraps organic? I doubt it, they’re probably grown all over central America and even if I tried it’d be difficult to track and find out what they were sprayed with. I get lots of avocado peels which I’m told are a low pesticide dosed crop but I also get lots of limes which I’m told are heavily sprayed. So with all this material going to feed my garden is the produce that I grow any good? Oh it’s heavenly!

I consider it organic but I’d never be able to pass organic certification. Do I feel bad about giving this away to neighbors? Do I feel I’m poisoning someone? No, not at all. So you see local and organic have different meanings. Just keep it in mind when you go shopping. If you want both, find local farmers who are certified organic and local to you. Go work on the farm for a day, they should be happy to show you around. Transparency is at the heart of wellness.

If you visit Johnson’s Backyard Garden tell them Robert sent you.

http://www.jbgorganic.com/

Lest we forget

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What are we working towards in Yoga? Just thought about this video the other day and wanted to post it. Tony Sanchez is influenced by Bishnu Gosh, Bikram’s teacher.

Over the years as my practice has grown I realize it’s less and less physical and more internal. Your yoga practice over time becomes something you practice off of the mat. I always return though, to the body. It’s the one thing I can get a handle on and use as a fulcrum to access deeper levels. Tony’s work gives us something to aspire to.

Tony Sanchez

Yoga and Aging

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Twice a week I teach a yoga class at a retirement home in north Austin. I picked up the job from a yoga teacher friend and originally subbed for the class when she was out of town. When she moved I took over twice a week and had to figure out how to teach these students who could do none of what I had been teaching previously.

They walk in with walkers. They can’t get on a floor or mat and get back up again. They have old injuries like broken hips, and their balance is poor. I sat them in a chair, told them to breathe and then we began stretching. I worked to really push them to their edge, whatever that is for them. When they extend a leg in front of them and hold for 10 seconds it’s exercise. We work on focus, awareness and some basic anatomy and physiology. I explain to them that they can control their heart rate, they can lower their blood pressure and they must work hard to continue their ongoing vitality.

Every so often I got a beady little eye. Someone in the back would look at me like, “kid, you’re making my leg tingle and hurt doing this.” I’d often laugh, get the students attention and ask them what they were feeling. Usually the response is that it hurts. Then I have to continue teaching. There is a difference between intense and pain or hurt. Intense is what happens when our focus is drawn to a certain area. Pain is what happens when something is so intense it causes us to contract and protect muscles. The first is good, that’s what hatha yoga is helping do. We maintain intense, dynamic tension to help train our mind to pay attention to a single point. This is the moving meditation that yoga is all about. Purposeful pain has no place in yoga. Pain says it’s too much, back off and breathe. Find intense but hold that pose and maintain focus.

A student from time to time would say, “Oh, you’re young. Just wait until you’re old. Whoever said these were the golden years was full of it.” I honor these students. I honor their perspectives and the time they’ve spent on this planet accruing knowledge and experience. Respectfully I would tell them that they were right. I’m 33, I do not know what it is to be 85 years old. I do however know what it is to be human and to be in pain. Explaining to them that just due to their age, they are limited but I do not consider it noble nor respectful to expect anything less than what they are capable of. I respect them for their wisdom but do not consider it appropriate to allow them to think that they are now old and can forget about health. Life isn’t over until it is.

If they cannot hold a pose, I tell them to back off and do what they can. There is no shame in yoga. Everyone is where they are at, day to day. Some days I’m strong, young, ferocious and attuned. I can take on the world. Other days I’m 33 with what feels like the beginning of arthritis in many joints and the barometric pressure is shifting. I work, I do what I can each day, each practice and when it gets bad, you take some naproxen sodium. There is honor in effort, hard work and honesty with self.

BKS Iyengar is a gentleman who helped bring yoga to the US. His focus on alignment has influenced most styles of yoga due to his extremely nuanced focus on the physical postures and how they should be done. Iyengar was very sick as a young child and his yoga teacher gave up on him. Iyengar was determined to heal himself using yoga and promptly did so. It took him 8 years or more to regain his physical health and now at 92 years of age he still has a regular practice. In an interview I saw with him he said that, “I was gifted with ill health.” At first I did not notice but upon a second viewing I realized he held no emotional attachment to his sickness. He no longer blamed the world, blamed god. He had what he had and he made the absolute most of it. His illness, allowed him to explore nuances of yoga that someone who’s always been extremely healthy would not have noticed. You see, he took some broken eggs and made an omelette.

My students in the retirement home have come to like me. They see the youthful inexperience I have and accept it. I see their ornery stubbornness and honor it. We have become family. Over time they’ve grown stronger, their balance has improved and when asked how class makes them feel almost all of them say, “I just feel so relaxed after class. I feel really calm.” I relish when class is over seeing their bright smiles. There is a more youthful gleam in their eyes and I believe the fact that I’ve never considered them incapable, old and forgotten has made an impression on them. They’ve never been told they’re too old, too feeble to do what we do in class, sitting in a chair, doing yoga. Respect goes both ways.

Years ago at my first yoga class at a retirement home in Louisiana a woman walked into class who I’d never met. She got a mat, put it out on the floor and I came over to introduce myself. She announced her name and that she was 95 years old and that she’s never done yoga. She decided she wanted to try it out. I was taken aback at her advanced age and her willingness to come try something new. I’ve wondered ever since if her willingness to try new things is exactly what’s kept her alive for 95 years. She never stopped wanting new experiences.

Other than Sivasana, the corpse pose, the most important pose in yoga is headstand. Being upside down means that your heart is above your head. Your arterial pulse moves blood into your brain and also into your neck where your thyroid and parathyroid glands are. By doing headstand regularly blood is pooling in your brain and around these glands. Long term this is supposed to support their health and the bodies overall longevity. It’s said that if you can only do one pose a day to do headstand.

I’m not a morning person, I’m notoriously grumpy in the mornings. When I go teach at the nursing home sometimes the students come in to my being upside down in headstand. They always jokingly ask if I’m going to teach them headstand that day. I tell them soon. Headstand helps you wake up. It’s the closest to a cup of coffee in the morning that I’ve found. It flushes my blood one direction then when I come back to my feet it flushes the opposite direction. Finding a National Geographic one day I smiled as the cover story was about the health regimens of centenarians. On the cover was a grey haired gentleman on the beach, in headstand.

I tell my students, and remind myself that everyone ages but not everyone grows old. “It’s never too late, it’s never too bad, and you’re never too old or too sick to start from scratch once again.” – Bikram Choudhury

Yoga students at the nursing home