Too many of us are being impacted by chronic illness medication costs. This is my story. A few weeks ago after a covid infection, my asthma went from a periodic after a respiratory infection to a daily occurrence that was wearing me out, and interfered with exercise and my energy levels.  I was on a rescue inhaler and a high dose steroid inhaler that just wasn’t allowing me to be symptom free.  My primary care doctor, referred me to a pulmonologist.  After a two month wait, I sat down with her. The good news was that she took one of the best histories and review of symptoms I ha ..read more

From Breakthrough to Breakdown: The Unprecedented Covid-Induced Threat for Seniors 65 and Up After getting two Pfizer shots and a booster, you can imagine my surprise when two weeks later I experienced breakthrough Covid in seniors for myself.  I had assumed that with a full load of the vaccine on board, that it was highly unlikely I would get Covid. That turned out to be a false and dangerous assumption.  I contracted Covid two weeks after getting my booster, and here’s the story of how I think it happened. I traveled to Colorado to put on an annual retreat for women.   I ..read more

Click To Enlarge Saving the best bites for last is overrated and ultimately, a path to overeating.  In mindful eating, best bites come first.  Why?  Eating the best part of the meal when the food is the freshest, at its ideal temperature and looks the most appetizing is the prized moment of any meal.  As important, eating best bites first makes it more likely that you will use fullness as a signal to stop eating and leave food on your plate. Here’s more information on Mindful Eating for Women’s Self Coaching Cards… The post Mindful Eating Strategies: Best Bites First appe ..read more

It’s easy to zone out when you’re eating, especially if you’re eating food for stimulation or comfort.  Just the anticipation of eating alone triggers a surge of dopamine to the prefrontal cortex, which amplifies the expected pleasure of the pending experience.  That’s not necessarily a bad thing.  We all want to enjoy our meals.  But the problem lies in the way autopilot eating deeply distracts you from other choices which are essential to improving and and protecting your health. Topping the list is autopilot eating’s ability to make you lose track of proportions, satiet ..read more

“There is Nothing More We Can Do” Nothing is more defeating in life than a doctor saying there is nothing more we can do for you, but that’s what they told my mom. So, for the last 20 years of he life, she was plagued with peripheral neuropathy of her feet. Eventually her symptoms gradually spread from her feet to her lower legs. She described her feet as having an unrelenting pins and needles sensation. No one found any treatment that gave her any relief. As she grew older, not feeling her lower legs and feet interfered with her balance and ability to walk. It was heartbreaking to watch ..read more

With breast cancer you are never done. I was reminded of this reality with the anniversary of my five-year remission from early stage invasive breast this year. While I was deeply thankful for the attaining this recovery milestone, I was also confronted with a new medical dilemma. Which of two treatment paths would I choose in my battle to sustain my remission? Like I said, with cancer you’re never done. The first path was all about survival numbers. To get the “best” numerical outcome, I would have to change my post-treatment medication from the tried and true Tamoxifen to an aromatase inhib ..read more

Is Mindful Eating In The Cards For You? We all know expensive diets that involve buying special foods, drinking shakes or counting points don’t work. So what’s the alternative? Mindful eating is proving to be a breakthrough approach for women who are ready to end the dieting cycle. Here’s why: Restrictive Diets Don’t Work Most weight reduction diets work by restricting what you eat and how much. It’s an all or nothing game where success is predicated exclusively on sustained self-discipline. Not surprising, the failure rate of this approach is painfully high. This is because restrictive diets ..read more

Few of us lose or maintain weight by desire because intentions without a viable game plan are no plan at all. We need an engagement process that offers a new awareness and approach to our love/hate relationship with food. We call this intention implementation system mindful eating. One of the most transformative aspects of mindful eating is called “Shifting Out of Autopilot.” It involves bringing a new awareness and accountability to eating habits through the documentation of choices. Echoing insights offered by data analysis in other fields, shifting out of autopilot removes the convenient f ..read more

These are stressful times and it makes sense to talk about steps you can take to calm mind and body. Like a change in cabin pressure, the best action is to take care of yourself first so you are available to support others. You do that by partnering with your breath. Controlled Breathing. The simplest and most potent tool we have to prevent our brains from being in a constant state of stress is controlled breathing. Controlled breathing is research tested and has long been a feature of Eastern health practices. This was first recognized in the 1970’s with the publication of Dr. Herbert Benson ..read more

As boomers drift into old age, their aging metabolism wanders into a precarious state called “pre diabetes.” The American Diabetic Association estimates 50% of boomers are afflicted by this benign sounding diagnosis that silently morphs behind the scenes into full blown- type 2 diabetes. How soon? The data indicates pre diabetics wind up as confirmed type 2 diabetics within 5 years. This is where I found myself a year ago when I became an official “pre.” Two years ago, my blood glucose numbers were normal.  A year later they were in the pre diabetic range.  This didn’t come as a tota ..read more