Becoming an Urban Gardener

Just because you live in a big city (or somewhere else without a backyard) doesn’t mean you can’t get the benefits of freshly-picked produce every day. I’m not talking about the farmer’s market produce (although that’s another way to get fresh veggies). I’m talking about planting your own garden.

It’s actually a lot easier to plant an urban garden than you might think – especially if you have a terrace or patio. Here are a few ideas to get your thought process flowing. Once you’re convinced, all you need is one trip to the home improvement store for some gardening supplies, and you’re good to go. Everyone is always asking "What can you do with a nutrition degree?" Now you can answer: "Make a wholesome and balanced meal from the food in your own garden." That and train people how to live longer and healthier lives.

1. Choose a location for your garden. If you have a terrace or patio, that’s it. If you have a window in an area that gets direct sunlight, consider adding a window garden box. It’ll be easy to maintain and it won’t take up any space in your home. If the first two suggestions won’t work, you can set up a table in front of your best window for your garden.

2. Start small. If you’ve never planted before, you shouldn’t go crazy with a bunch of things. It’s much better to plant one or two plants and watch them grow than to plant a gazillion and watch them slowly die each day (depressing, right?). Keep it small and you’ll be able to give each plant more TLC.

3. Consider planting herbs as your first plants. It’s really great to have fresh herbs around when you’re cooking, and they’re easy to maintain. Parsley, basil, cilantro, sage; plant whatever you use most. Not only will you prove that you have a green thumb, but you’ll also look like a superstar in the kitchen.

Getting Outside of Your Head

When people are trying to get to know you, they often say that they want to “get inside your head.” But, is that really the place to be? I mean, think about what we end up doing to ourselves in there. We’re always putting ourselves down and dwelling on things that we should be letting go of. Heck, we even create scenarios that don’t exist just to have something to stress about.

The fact of the matter is stress is unhealthy. Another fact: We stress out way too often (and usually over things that don’t matter). In order to live a healthier life, I suggest that we try to “get outside” of our own heads sometimes and simply look at the facts. And whatever you do, don’t get out of your head and try to get into someone else’s.

The other day, I was watching an old episode of “The Big Bang Theory” where Penny acted in a way that was completely absurd, but very similar to how we all act in certain situations. Sheldon had lent her money and she obviously couldn’t handle being in debt to him. So, she created a scenario in her own head that complicated the situation even further. Because she felt guilty about owing him money, she expected Sheldon to judge her when he saw that she had bought a hat online and ordered Chinese food instead of making herself a sensible, inexpensive dinner. In her head, he was constantly judging her. In reality (tv reality, anyway), that wasn’t the case at all. But her perception made things weird between them.

Can you think of a situation where you did this? I can certainly relate. In our effort to “get into other people’s heads” we often get lost in our own and cause ourselves undue stress. Most people do it at work. If you're an executive assistant, you might worry that the CEO (your boss) doesn't like you. Or, if you're a paralegal, you might worry about your relationship with the firm's lawyers.

I think part of the cure is to simply recognize the behavior. Are you stressed because someone has actually acted in a way that is unfair to you, or are you stressed because you think you know what the other person is thinking? Next time, do yourself a favor and get the facts before you bother stressing over things. You’ll feel a lot better, and you’ll probably have more productive relationships.

The Importance of Sleep

Today, as I sit here trying to keep my eyes open, I’m thinking about the easiest thing we can do to keep our bodies running smoothly: get some shut eye. Actually, I know it’s not easy for everyone; that’s why there’s a market for prescription drugs like Ambien. But, it’s usually pretty easy for me. The problem is that I just don’t coordinate it well enough. When I know I have to get up early in the morning, I should get to sleep at a reasonable time (say, before 10 p.m.), but I have trouble actually doing it. I end up rolling into bed around 11:30 and it’s probably 12 or 12:30 before I’m sleeping. Then, the alarm rings at 5:00 a.m., and I’m begging for a few more hours.

The fact of the matter is that five hours really isn’t enough sleep for most of us. Everyone’s sleep needs are different, but experts (including many prestigious doctors and my favorite nurse) agree that we should shoot for at least seven hours each night. While we’re sleeping, our bodies are recharging. The liver is detoxifying, and if we give it enough time, we’ll be refreshed and ready for the next day. So, how do we combat sleep troubles without relying on prescription drugs? Here are a few things you can try:

1. Set your bedtime: I know; you’re going to feel like you’re 10 years old again, but this is one of the most helpful things you can do. Tell yourself that you’re going to be in bed at 10 p.m. if you have to be up at five.

2. Make time to wind down: Turn off the television about an hour before your bedtime and just relax. You can read a relaxing book (no Stephen King thrillers), take a bath, meditate or just sit in silence. Being too plugged in right before bed will just make your mind race around like crazy and cause you to sit there winding down when you should be sleeping.

3. Find another place for your pets to sleep: Many people love inviting their cats or dogs into the bed, but if you’re having trouble sleeping, you should rethink this. Just like humans, cats and dogs can move around a lot in the night – which will interfere with your rest, whether you realize it or not.

A Prescription for Fresh Air and Exercise

Because it’s such a beautiful day outside (and I’m stuck inside), I thought I would write a little bit about getting some exercise and fresh air, simultaneously, of course. On days like today, there is absolutely no excuse for anyone to be indoors unless they have to be. Sadly, many of us have jobs and must be tied to a computer (almost literally). Or, maybe you attend classes at a local college and you’re stuck in a stuffy classroom right now. Someone’s got to do it, right? We can’t all go to Kaplan University. Or, can we? I don’t know. I just know I’m going stir crazy right now.

I actually shouldn’t complain too much because I take my laptop outside and work all the time. I’m pretty lucky in that way. I just setup a table outside and get to work. Except when I have to charge my battery (like now). It can be a little hard to see the screen when I sit in the sun, but that’s a small price to pay.

Anyway, I’ve been kind of shrugging off exercise lately, which I know is really terrible. I just haven’t been in the mood, I guess. Fortunately, I’m getting back into the swing of things. Yesterday, I actually wanted to go to the gym for the first time in ages.

But, the gym isn’t my first choice for exercise spots. I’ve got a really cool mountain nearby that I love to hike up on days like today. Believe me, it’s a steep hike, but the payoff is worthwhile: The view is nothing short of amazing (see above pic). Plus, it’s so peaceful up there.

But, you don’t need an awesome mountain with a hiking trail to get exercise outside. You can go for a walk, jog, run or bike ride. Oh, and that reminds me: there’s also a walking/biking trail around here that is top-notch. Can you tell I’m longing to go outside and get some exercise? It’s okay; my day will come very soon.

In the meantime, would you do me a favor and get out there and get some exercise for me? It’ll make me feel a little better, and I know it’ll make you feel a lot better. The fresh air will do you good.

The Power of Positive Thinking

Last week, I talked about how stress impacts our health. This week, I wanted to elaborate on that topic a little and talk more about the power of positivity. In my post, I mentioned that we’re in control of our own thoughts – which we can use to help reduce stress. After all, our bodies won’t know something is stressful unless we tell them. Let’s just learn how to stop doing that, shall we?

Here are a few things that bring us down along with suggestions on how to handle them with positivity:

1. Situations out of our control – Remember when you got stuck in that traffic jam on your way to that big meeting? And you got so angry that you cut off a police officer in an effort to try to get ahead of everyone? This situation is out of your control, so there is no need to worry. Make a phone call to tell your boss that you’re stuck, and sit back and relax. It doesn’t matter whether it’s your fault (because you were running late to begin with or took the wrong route) or if your boss is going to be fuming. That’s her problem right now. Worrying isn’t going to make anything better.

2. Other people’s thoughts – As a species, we’re kind of weird. I doubt wolves run around worrying what other wolves are thinking about them. But, we do it all the time. We worry that we’ve offended someone or that a new coworker doesn’t like us. What’s the sense? This is actually another situation that is out of our control. And, what’s more, it doesn’t matter what the other person thinks. Your life is still going to be your life.

3. Wanting to be angry at someone – I’m guilty of this one more often than I’d like to admit. There are times when things go wrong and I want so badly to be mad at someone, so I find someone to blame. The problem here is that you’re taking control away from yourself and giving it to that person. After you do that, it’s in their hands. You can’t make the situation better because you’ve given up control. So, you just sit there being angry. It’s always better to take responsibility (although it may sometimes be difficult) so you can handle the situation in a more positive manner.

Take a Breather from Stress

Stress wreaks havoc on the body. This is no secret. It’s also no secret that chronic stress is a major problem in our society today. We place too much importance on things that don’t matter in the grand scheme of things, and then when something goes wrong, we freak out. When we freak out, our bodies interpret that as physical danger, and we start the “fight or flight” response.

As part of this response, our senses get heightened. You can see better, hear better, and you’re ready to jump into motion at any second. You’re kind of left with a similar feeling as when you’ve had way too much coffee. Sadly, many of us have way too much coffee and then freak out over something that really doesn’t matter, making everything that much worse. But that’s another story.

It may seem like this all is great. Who wouldn’t want their senses heightened, right? Well, there are some problems that come along with this response. You see, the body only has so much energy to spend. So, when you go into fight or flight mode, your body isn’t really creating new energy; it’s stealing it from other processes that aren’t necessary to help you flee from danger. One such process is digestion, but there are many more.

If this stress reaction only lasted a moment, this wouldn’t be a major issue, but many of us deal with chronic stress, which means that it doesn’t really go away. And that’s pretty much how stress impacts your health. So, what can you do about it? Think positive!

In many cases, it’s your thought process that gets this stress reaction going. If you think something is a disaster, it will be. Your body takes its cues from your mind; there’s no independent thinking going on there, so if you want to relax, you have to start putting things into perspective. Ask yourself if the situation will matter in five years from now, or if it will affect the truly important things in your life. Can you learn to live with your daughter’s new tattoo? Will you still have your family and friends once this storm has passed? Usually, the answer to that question is yes, so calm down and deal with things as they come.

Has Your Food Become Less Nutritious?

A new study that has been published by Duke University indicates that the quality of our food is declining. The study evaluated packaged foods from various brands and found that since the nutritional labeling law went into effect, the nutritional value of food in general is diminishing.

That sounded very surprising to me because I expected the opposite to be true; however, if you think about it, there’s two ways this could have gone. When manufacturers were required to label the nutritional content, they had a choice: Compete on nutritional value or compete on taste. Most of them chose taste. This means that we can see things like fats and sodium increase while vitamins and minerals decrease.

As consumers, we seem to think that we’re protected somehow by this labeling system; so, we’ve become complacent. The truth is that we’re not really protected by it; it’s simply a form of transparency. If manufacturers were allowed to feed us rat poison, you’d find rat poison listed in the ingredients of some foods. The included rat poison would take the place of an actual food with nutritional value, so the overall nutritional value would be less. Just because the manufacturer has to disclose information doesn’t mean that said info is good for us.

Here are a few helpful tips for reading nutritional labels at the grocery store.

1. Always check the serving size. Is it what you intend to eat? Is it the same as the other brand you’re comparing labels with?

2. According to the American Heart Association, anything over 20 percent of your daily value is considered high. If you’re looking at vitamin C, high is good; if you’re looking at sodium or fat, high is bad.

3. Daily values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. If you eat more or less, your values should be adjusted. Just use the number as a guideline.