The Wellness Bitch

I’m excited to welcome back to the blog today my friend Sue Ingebretson, who like me, thinks people are crazy for feeding their pets better than they feed the humans in their families. Though, unlike me, Sue happens to be a dog lover. Just look at her photo!

By Sue Ingebretson

I have a friend whose email signature line says, “In my next life, I want to come back as my dog!”

That desire is not all that far from reality.

Sue Ingrebretson with her pup

Take a look at TV reports and magazine spreads. Who wouldn’t want to be treated like the pampered pooch of a movie star? I’d love to wear bling and be carried around in a designer purse. Funny thing, it’s not only celebrities who pamper their pooches. Some people, with little cash to spare, spend a relative fortune on designer puppy food, yet eat junk food themselves.

Worse yet, what do they feed their kids? I’ve known moms to freak out about the ingredients list for their dog’s food, yet ignore what’s in the foods they feed their own children. Egads! What’s really in a chicken nugget anyway? (You don’t want to know). And, would you/should you feed it to your dog?

There’s something terribly illogical going on, here. If McDonald’s had a Happy Meal for dogs, (let’s say a McDoggy Bag complete with a McMuffin-flavored chew toy), would you hurry to your local drive thru?

Instead of dogs, Dr. Mark Hyman uses million dollar horses as an example. He says that thoroughbred horses are very well cared for. Their owners spend fortunes on just the right foods, the right environment, and the right medical care for their investments, er, I mean horses. But what do we invest (nutritionally-speaking) in ourselves, and even more so, in our children?

I guess the first question we must ask is, are we worth the investment? Dr. Oz says we’re mortgaging the health of our future generations with the poor nutritional habits we develop today. Ouch.

Put your money where your mouth is!

It starts here. Label reading isn’t optional anymore. It’s a must. To begin, remove from your family’s diet any foods that list these ingredients (no exceptions): transfats (anything hydrogenated), high fructose corn syrup, aspartame, and MSG.

I’d also prefer that we remove refined/enriched grains, artificial dyes, flavorings, and the whole gamut of sugars (corn solids, maltodextrin, dextrose, sucrose, fructose, glucose, xylose, syrups, etc.) from our diets. Sugar literally tears down the health and vitality of the body cell by cell. The most common and concentrated source of sugar is from our beverages. If you’re serving your children sodas and juice, think again. Replace sodas with water and replace juice with the whole fruit. It’s as simple as that. Kids eat and drink what moms provide.

When you begin reading labels, you’ll eventually morph into a mom who chooses foods with no labels at all (in case you’re wondering, that means produce). The great thing is that the problems we’ve caused through our unhealthy eating habits are completely reversible. It just takes time and persistence.

Have patience. Be kind to yourself. And, remember … small steps provide BIG results.

Fuel your family with the foods they deserve and everyone wins – including Pup.

Sue Ingebretson is a writer and speaker dedicated to encourage healing in others. Find out more about her book, FibroWHYalgia, and her blog at www.RebuildingWellness.com.

Is there someone in your life who brings you down?

Who gets in your way, particularly as it pertains to your health and well-being?

Yeah, me too.

Sometimes the folks in my way are people I don’t know very well. During interactions with these naysayers, it’s a lot easier for me to choose who I want to be — The Wellness Bitch or the happy-go-lucky neighbor who nods knowingly while my insides are slowly twisting with frustration or rage. In these moments, I can choose to be an educator or an enabler or a mind-my-own-business kinda girl. I like having that choice.

Other times, however, the people I allow to stop me in my tracks or question my actions are the people I care about the most — my husband, my parents, my kids, my girlfriends, my colleagues. I know why. And you probably do too.

Your behavior, your choices, your decisions, your words, your strength, your convinction, your power, your self-control, your energy level, your good mood…all those things that motivate you to exercise or meditate or pray or sleep or eat differently…they put your loved ones at risk.

Your friends and family are intimately familiar with the “before picture.”

And they’re likely afraid of the “after.” Of who you are becoming and what this new you means to them, to their relationship with you, and to their relationship to themselves and the world around them.

What I’m saying is nothing new. They teach this to you in Weight Watchers, in self-help books, and Glamour. But it’s important to remember.

Change is threatening.

Self-improvement moreso.

There will be people on your journey towards optimal wellness who will insult you, deride you, and secretly despise you. Even those who love you (or at least say so).

Carry on, I say. That’s all there is to do.

Is there someone in your life who continues to roll their eyes or silently condemn you for choosing to buy products that are more expensive, but better for you?

Yeah. Me, too.

On the one hand, it pisses me off pure and simple. Someone thinks I don’t make enough money to be able to “afford” the non-toxic products I buy (in my case, organic produce, gluten-free flours and pasta, non-toxic beauty care, and green cleaning products) or the out-of-network services I occasionally employ (chiropractic, yoga, osteopathy). The truth is: They’re right. I don’t make enough money.

But, rather than condem me for making bad choices, I’d much prefer your compassion. And, even moreso, would welcome your volunteer efforts at finding me a corporate sponsor to fuel my family’s needs.

If you know anyone in the biz, feel free to tip them off to my family. You know: Tinkyada, Udi’s, Stonyfield Farms, Ecover. I’d gladly place their banners on not only my blog, but also on my vehicle, house, and at least two of my children’s foreheads if they decide to sponsor our family.

In the meantime, instead of talking about me behind my back, perhaps you should consider the back pain/chronic cough/sinus infection/asthma/ADHD/ear infections, you and your offspring seem to suffer from quite often. Perhaps you should consider spending less time counting my money (or lack therof) and more time reading the books and articles that continue to show the links between lifestyle choices and illness.

Perhaps you have my best interest in mind (and at heart).

Perhaps you only want me to have the best and to succeed.

Perhaps you worry about me.

Perhaps.

But, perhaps you should consider that there are many elements that make up a happy and healthy life.

Perhaps, the organic produce makes me sick less often, so I don’t miss work.

Perhaps, the gluten-free diet gives me more energy, which allows me to pursue greater, and more lucrative opportunities.

Perhaps, the less toxic household cleaners keeps us away from the pediatrician and the steroids and the high pharmacy bills.

Perhaps…

When I read this article, I knew I had to repost it on The WB. Thanks Dr. Lesniak for your permission to reprint.

By Dennis Lesniak
Lesniak Chiropractic Whole Health Specialists

I previously had a client who was in her early 20s that stated “my doctor told me I caught diabetes.”  For some of you, this statement may seem totally normal.  Others of you may be completely outraged.

Labeling certain conditions as diseases is not only misleading, but it is wrong.  These conditions should be deemed lifestyle pathologies.  Lifestyle pathologies are serious medical conditions brought about by environmental, nutritional, and physical stressors.  This is unlike a traditional disease where there is exposure to the pathogen and exposure directly correlates to contraction of the disease.  Now, I understand the definition is not perfect; it is a work in progress and will evolve over time.

However, the point is to get you to shift your paradigm of thinking.

Diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, kidney stones, Chron’s disease, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, headaches, heart disease, some neurodegenerative diseases, and even many cancers can be avoided, prevented, and treated with simple, effective nutritional changes.  Nutrition is medicine from nature; it may not be as easy to swallow as a pill, but it does a better job and has very little side effects except feeling better. 

People do not seem to understand that the above lifestyle pathologies are caused by the choices that we make every day.  Decide to skip breakfast, or grab that bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich on a bagel; you contributed to over half of the above listed conditions. 

You do not simply “catch” these diseases and then be stricken with them for the rest of your life.  Most doctors tell their patients that they need to change their eating habits, exercise more, and then we will look at a medication.  However, most people are too lazy and stubborn to fix what is wrong.  Instead they opt for the pill thinking it cures the condition when, in fact, it just hides what is going on while this lifestyle pathology is left to wreak havoc on the body unnoticed for sometimes years.

Changing your eating habits is not going on a diet.  Going on a diet implies that it is going to end. This change does not end unless you want to go back to what got you to this spot in the first place.  Your habits are learned from family and are passed on to your children.  This not only creates the “genetic” component, but it increases the likelihood of your children suffering a similar fate.

Speaking of the genetic component, I am sure there are some doubters thinking “my condition is genetic and there is nothing I can do about it”.  Yes, there is some genetic predisposition to a lifestyle pathology, but you control the expression of your genes.  This can lead to a dramatic reduction in the likelihood of your development of the condition.  Your health is like a game of poker where you are the dealer who can see all the cards being dealt out.  You would always deal yourself the best hand, right?  Then why not do so in real life.

Are you interested in submitting a guest blog post to The Wellness Bitch? From time to time, we publish guest posts that are well-written, carefully edited, and related to the topics we blog about here on the WB (wellness, green living, holistic health, fitness, food politics, Big Pharma, etc.) Submissions should be no more than 500 words. Please consider our style when composing your post and please include any relevant hyperlinks when possible.

Email us your submissions to jen@mindfullivingnj.com

Um…I don’t know how to tell you this, but I have writer’s block.

Well, specifically bitchy writer’s block.

It’s not that I’m without wellness-related topics to bitch about; it’s just that I feel so darn happy these past few days that I don’t want to mess it up by making a fuss about how the government screws us over or ranting about the poor choices people make.

I’d prefer to stay here in my little cocoon and let you all figure it out for yourself.

Interestingly enough, though, this week marks the one year anniversary that I started wellness bitchin’. Which would make this a good time for an annual evaluation and performance review, don’t you think?

It’s been exciting watching this community build and grow. And I’ve had the privilege this year to partner with other revolutionaries who are fearlessly trying not only to change the system (which is hard enough), but also to transform the way their friends and family think about health, food, and living (which is much, much more of a challenge, if you ask me.)

Through the Wellness Bitch, I’ve been fortunate to host guest blogs from visionary thinkers and change makers; to interview passionate and bold practitioners; and to engage in dialogue with all of you. It’s been inspiring.

And I don’t want that to end.

So…

What I am thinking is I’d like to hear from you what moves you about The Wellness Bitch. What you’d like to see more of. Who you want contributions from. Why you think this type of forum is necessary (or not).

Help me move past my writer’s block.

I want you to.

Before I became a Wellness Bitch, I was a girl with dreams of being the next Murphy Brown. The tv show was one of my favorite in high school, but more convincing to me that this was the job of my dreams was watching Holly Hunter operate in her character as a news producer in the film Broadcast News. 

I loved this movie.

I loved the energy of the newsroom. I fully related to Hunter’s character, Jane – even as an adolescent. I glimpsed a part of me in her erratic, emotional behavior. I had a little crush on both William Hurt (Tom) and Albert Brooks (Aaron). And like Jane, I could not fully commit to either.

One of the most memorable moments in the film for me, though, is when Jane, seemingly out of nowhere, decides to shut herself up in her motel room, unplug her phone from the wall, sit on the side of the bed and cry.

There is nothing tragic or frustrating that happens immediately in advance of her fit. She chooses to cry. As if its part of her daily routine (which we see later, it is). She then turns off the water works as suddenly as she began. She cleans herself up and moves on.

Wow, I remember thinking the first time I saw this.

Brilliant.

I didn’t have the word therapeutic in my vocabulary then, but I do now. And that’s how I interpreted Jane’s cry.

It was good for her. She needed it.

Release.

As I predicted even then, I do share that erratic energy and emotion with Jane. And just like Jane, every once in a while (and sometimes more often than not), I really, desperately need a good, hard, planned, decisive cry.

It clears my head and allows me to finally see the path to the other side.

Try to remember this in times of great stress, intense feeling, or even pent up anger. Maybe you’re not a cryer, but a screamer.

Go scream.

Maybe you’re a puncher.

Go find a punching bag.

Do your best to carry on in private, since the folks around you might not understand or appreciate that all you’re really looking for is the release.

You don’t want their hugs or their words of solace.

You just need to fucking cry, thank you very much.

And when you do, you’ll feel better.