Tag Archives: Rose Nyad Orrell

3 Rules to Live By

SOUL FOOD

Feeling good has a lot to do with what we eat. But it begins with forging the right mindset.

By Rose Nyad Orrell

 

Eating right all the time and working out five days a week is supposed to position you for a long, healthy life. Yet, there you are: stressed and stuck in a rut.

From my perspective as a certified holistic health practitioner, the concept of wellness has been rewritten to suit our goal-oriented nature. Eat this many calories, exert this much energy and none of the rest really matters. But it does. And so does our approach. Balance is key. There’s no one-size-fits-all regimen when it comes to achieving a sound mind and body. But there is a blueprint.

 

Back to basics

Over recent years, our diets have grown increasingly acidic. The most common culprits: fried and processed foods, sugar, dairy, white flour, coffee and alcohol. What they do is trigger inflammation. When that happens often enough, it’s no longer your body’s healing response but its natural state. And when you’re inflamed all the time, you open yourself up to a host of ailments. Tip the balance back in favor of alkaline foodstuffs—veg; most fruit, including blueberries, dates and apples; and certain whole grains, like quinoa and amaranth—in the neighborhood of 80 percent and your body will regain its sensitivity.

 

In defense of bacteria

Probiotics are getting a lot of play these days, but they’re being sold as a cure-all because it accommodates our pared-down version of wellness. In a healthy body, think of the intestines (a.k.a. the gut) as the engine and the probiotics, the fuel. They facilitate the growth of good bacteria, which primes the intestines to more easily breakdown and absorb food. And the more efficient the operation, the stronger the body’s immune system becomes. However, indulge too often in pizza, fried chicken and gelato and the intestines become gunked up with bad bacteria (yes, there are two kinds), which hampers digestion and weakens our immunity. Simply countering that with the occasional Greek yogurt is like trying to cool off by standing in a puddle. Start by eating more alkaline foods, then begin incorporating live-cultured things, like sauerkraut, kimchi, kefir and fermented coconut water. With the foundation already in place, the good bacteria will be free to flourish.

 

Peek under the hood

Our bodies have the incredible ability to adapt—as long as we get out of our own way. The point of the first two steps is lost if they feel like a chore. After all, true wellness, as it’s described by the World Health Organization, is “a state of complete physical, mental and social wellbeing, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” Read: This is always going to feel like a work in progress, but a sound mind will keep it feeling like this is the way it should be, rather than this is the way it has to be.

We tend to suppress our emotions so we can deal with them at a later time, when we’re better equipped. Which, of course, never happens. When it goes on long enough, this inner turmoil starts to manifest in physical symptoms. If you’ve been bothered by a persistent ache, or worse, consider what you’re harboring and start to work it out.

And sometimes the sources of our stress are obvious—a dead-end career, a neglected marriage—but no easier to deal with. Change can feel incredibly daunting, but for the same reason we dread it—it’ll change the landscape of our lives—it’s also the single-most empowering act we’re capable of. And in order for this to have any permanence, bold moves are required.

 

Rose Nyad Orrell is a New Hope-based certified holistic health practitioner.

 

Cookies, Cocktails and Turkey Legs, Oh, My

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SOUL FOOD

No one’s unfazed by the holidays. But you can minimize the damage to your waistline with a few new habits.

By Rose Nyad Orrell

Between the dinner tables loaded with candied yams, butter-lacquered turkeys and Waldorf JELL-O salads and the constant procession of cocktails and cookies that flows so matter-of-factly (of course you’ll have another), the deck is seriously stacked against all of us during the holidays.

We can (and should) guard against overindulging, but even then, our options are very limited. I challenge you to come up with one holiday eating- or drinking-related tradition that doesn’t result in a blood-sugar spike. Short of scarfing down a salad before you leave the house, the best tact is finding a balance. Here are a few tips on how to go about doing just that.

Eat clean for a week

We’re already in the throes of the party season, but it’s not too late to step back for a week, or even just a few days, and dedicate yourself to eating (and drinking) as little sugar as possible. No candy. No fruit. No flour. And—this one may sting—no alcohol. Aim to make each meal a quarter unprocessed protein and three-quarters veggies. Gradually, your body will reset itself, and you’ll feel just how much your moods chased the sugar rush. Which will help you be a little more conscious around the next cookie platter you confront.

Plan for the worst

Know, going in, that you’re probably not going to encounter much in the way of vegetables, or even really anything that isn’t smothered in cheese or powdered sugar. So eat a sensible meal before you get there and treat yourself once you do. After all, I’m not suggesting you steer clear of all desserts and the wine. Just pick one.

Likewise, don’t save yourself for one big meal. A turkey drumstick + a heaping pile of stuffing + a small mountain of mashed potatoes + a wedge of pumpkin pie does not = a day’s worth of mindful eating.

Be a better baker

No one will ever notice if you don’t use all of the sugar specified in the recipe. For that matter, there’s no reason you can’t substitute the flour, too, and upgrade just about everything else. The online reserve of alternative recipes that cater to special dietary needs is growing deeper by the hour.

Move more

Whether you go for a brisk walk around the neighborhood or hit the gym for an hour, do it a few times a week. And be consistent about it, even on Christmas and New Year’s Eve day. When you know what it takes to burn off 300 calories, it becomes a lot easier to pass on pie and that third bourbon.

Just. Slow. Down.

Look at what you’re eating, and then chew it down slowly. If you want that cream puff so badly, at least take the time to savor it. And just because you’re met at the door with an eggnog-filled tumbler, it doesn’t mean you need to down it then and there in front of the host.

Keep this in mind, too: It takes about 15 minutes for your body to register what you just ate. So, if you’re still somehow feeling hungry, wait. If your dinner table’s anything like mine, no one will be jumping up to clear it anyway.

Rose Nyad Orrell is a New Hope-based certified holistic health practitioner (rosenyad.com).