by Kristi Jain | Dec 28, 2022 | Uncategorized
The 2022 holiday season is history. I hope it was happy and healthy. It can be hectic yet magical, for some it can also be a lonesome time. This was a happy yet hectic time for me. So hectic in fact that New Year’s Day crept up when I realized I don’t have a fresh 2023 blog. A recycle from last year will have to do. I hope it gives you some healthy reminders.
2023
Happy new year!!! How many of us made a new year resolution for 2023? I for one, will raise my hand. Interestingly enough, they sound like some I’ve made in the past. Seriously, who doesn’t want to drop a few pounds, save money, plan a trip, get a job you don’t hate, work out more, and get it better health? Do you have the courage it takes to make a change?
RESOLUTION VS INTENTION
After the meditation portion of a yoga class I attended, the Yogi gave her thoughts about the new year and the idea of resolutions. She said, she prefers not to say the word resolution. It implies, what you were doing was not good enough. She prefers the word intention.
NO ONE IS PERFECT
If you live a relatively healthy lifestyle, but occasionally fall off the wagon I’d say you have good intentions. Keep up the good work. If you are a junk food junkie, lazy, with an addiction or two, look on the bright side, there is always tomorrow. Remember, no one is perfect.
COURAGE
Since we are on the subject of “no one is perfect”, I’d venture to say many of us lack the courage to be imperfect. Chew on that one for a minute. I listened to Brene Brown on YouTube this week, she is a research professor at the University of Houston. She has spent many years studying courage, vulnerability, empathy and shame. A question she asks is,” Do you have the willingness to step into the arena of vulnerability?”
JUDGEMENT
I imagine each of us has been afraid of the judgment of others at one time or another. Heaven forbid, what if we aren’t good enough, smart enough, thin enough, successful enough, important enough or attractive enough? Are we busy judging others as well as ourselves?
NUMB
Brene Brown goes on to say that we are the most in debt, obese, over medicated and addicted society in US history. I get it. Life is hectic. Is it any wonder we need to numb ourselves a bit, then end up with an addiction to something that actually made us feel good for a time? The numbing effects of substance abuse can be devastating on your mind, body and soul.
MAKE GOOD CHOICES
Make choices that will help make you happy, healthy and well. Not necessarily resolutions, but intention and courage could be the key to a better and healthier you. Today is a great day to start!
If we at HDD can help, as always, call us at 505-350-3397.
by Kristi Jain | Dec 21, 2022 | Uncategorized
It is finally here! Please allow each and every one of us at High Desert Doppler to wish you a very Merry Christmas, happy Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Diwali or simply another joyous holiday season. Whatever this season holds for you, make it a peaceful, healthy, memorable celebration!
CHILL
In the midst of the holiday hustle and bustle, slow down, take some deep breaths, chill and enjoy. I hope by now we have come to understand that it isn’t all about material gifts. Consider the gifts of health, love, kindness, compassion, patience, and understanding.
DR SEUSS
“It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags. And he puzzled and puzzled ‘till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before. What if Christmas, he thought, doesn’t come from a store. What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more.”
-Dr. Seuss
DON’T LET YOUR HEALTH SUFFER
In pursuit of a happy healthy holiday season, the following suggestions from StayWell.com are not only good ideas to help you navigate the holidays, but every day.
- Don’t let a busy season or a stressful life compromise your health. It is suggested that you take a few minutes each and every day just for you.
- Make time to prepare family meals at home. During the holidays, it is easy to resort to restaurant fare, party platters, Uber Eats, Grub Hub or other unhealthy fattening fast food.
- Schedule exercise. It doesn’t matter how you move. Just move. Remember, motion is lotion for your joints.
- Avoid trying some new pre or post-holiday fad diet to shed those extra pounds. Be kind to yourself. Be sensible with your weight loss strategies and goals.
- Be sure to get 6-8 hours of sleep each day.
- Stay hydrated.
- Do less and enjoy more!
DON’T GET DISTRACTED
The holidays can keep us busy and can distract us from things that require attention. You are the best judge of your health and wellness. As the holiday season grinds to a halt, take time to relax. Be still and do frequent body scans from head to toe. Assess how you are feeling. Don’t ignore it. If something doesn’t look or feel right, concerns you or requires attention, make the call, schedule the appointment, get scanned and get tested. Get informed and get healthy.
HDD
At HDD, we celebrate Christmas. From the bottom of our hearts, John, myself and each one of our prized team members thank you for being an important part of our role in providing you with diagnostic ultrasound and x-ray. Allow us to wish you the safest, happiest, healthiest, and very merriest Christmas ever. See you next year!
by Kristi Jain | Dec 14, 2022 | Uncategorized
Today’s blog is a re-run that I believe is worth repeating as the holidays near. Ohhhh…that pesky weight gain. Packing on a couple of extra pounds due to Covid, boredom, depression, or approaching holidays tends to happen. Raise your hand if you fall into this category. Yep, me too. I imagine we should start thinking about how to lose those pesky extra pounds.
OPRAH
How does one realistically go about weight loss? Oprah Winfrey is notorious for yo-yo dieting. Do you recall back in 1988 when she lost an amazing 67 pounds? On her show she looked skinny, wore tiny jeans and behind her she pulled a little red wagon full of 67 pounds of fat to represent the amount of weight she lost.
WHERE DOES FAT GO?
Well, I’m sure Oprah’s stagehands took that 67 pounds of lard and heaved it in the dumpster. If only it were that easy. The question becomes, when one loses weight, where does it go? If you believe that when we lose fat we eliminate it via the colon or during urination, you are partially correct. The rest is a bit surprising.
ALL IS LOST
Theconversation.com reports, as the process of fat loss progresses, fat cells shrink drastically in size. The byproducts are converted to carbon dioxide and water. 84% of fat loss is exhaled! You exhale the carbon dioxide and the water mixes into your circulation until it is lost as urine or sweat (which is the remaining 16%.) In other words, nearly all the weight we lose is exhaled. Disposal of these byproducts is greatly elevated during exercise due to increased breathing and sweating. Who knew?
DON’T HYPERVENTALATE
I knew you’d ask. NO, breathing more will not make you lose weight. No need to huff and puff till you pass out. The only way you can consciously increase the amount of carbon dioxide your body is producing is by moving your muscles. Nice try!
THOSE PESKY CELLS
When you lose fat, these same cells can shrink although their number remains roughly the same. The primary reason for changes in body shape is a reduced size of fat cells and not the number of them. This means if you don’t maintain weight loss, they can easily grow in size again.
ULTRASOUND AND FAT
The above mentioned are fun and interesting facts about fat and weight loss. You may wonder how this relates to ultrasound. Another fact is that obesity interferes with ultrasound assessment because it is difficult for ultrasound wave signals to penetrate fat to picture the organs underneath. As a result, the image becomes unreadable.
DON’T PANIC
Don’t panic! If you need an ultrasound, a few extra COVID pounds are not going to make an image unreadable. If you are sporting significantly more than a few pounds, for the sake of your health, you may consider trying to get that extra weight off. It is a work in progress one day at a time.
If we can help with your ultrasound needs, call us at 505-350-3397.
by Kristi Jain | Dec 6, 2022 | Uncategorized
Here we go, entering what can be the most wonderful time of the year. It can also be the busiest time of the year. We put undue stress and expectation on ourselves and others. We overextend ourselves physically, mentally, emotionally and financially. This whirlwind of a season can take its toll, so remember to take good care of yourself as you embark!
WHAT IS HEALTHY?
Of course, we all want to take good care of ourselves. We put it on autopilot and resurrect those tried and true “healthy habits” to help ensure we survive the holidays. The question is, are the things that I have always thought of as healthy actually healthy? I did a little research and was reminded that perhaps what we have always abided by may need some revision.
A FEW EXAMPLES
The following are a few examples of some “healthy habits” that could be causing you more harm than good.
- Relying on supplements to get proper nutrients. Scientists are just beginning to identify the thousands of plant nutrients that can help prevent cancer, hear disease and diabetes, making it impossible to isolate and put in a pill. Nutrition should come primarily from a balanced diet.
- Healthy food labels. The words “low carb, natural, heart healthy and low fat” are marketing ploys that make you believe what the packaging says is the entire truth. Read your label. If you can’t pronounce or identify the long list of ingredients on some of these highly processed foods, you might want to skip them.
- Just one drink or only on weekends. If you imbibe, one glass of wine or cocktail can turn into a few. Alcohol interrupts sleep cycles. Deprivation can lead to binging. Yes, research indicated red wine offers protective qualities against heart disease but if one turns into many, we may want to evaluate benefit verses risk. Moderation is a great idea.
- Eat your veggies. Nope, not always. My husband says “always use olive oil to cook kale. It makes it easier to scrape out into the trash!” Don’t eat what you don’t like. There are plenty of veggies to choose from.
- Healthy yogurt? Those flavored yogurts we reach for in the morning are just glorified thawed ice cream. They are loaded with sugar which leads to insulin spikes=potential weight gain.
- Entirely eliminating carbs. They are not all evil. While avoiding processed carbs like white sugar, flour, rice and pasta, whole grains have fiber and also foster the growth of beneficial gut bacteria.
- Eating salad. Salad is a great option if you do it properly. It can also be a dietary nightmare if you load up on toppings and dressings which can make it more calorie dense than a sandwich!
HDD
I hope these few examples get you to think or rethink what we believe to be healthy. Afterall, when you have your health, you have it all. If we can be instrumental in evaluating or diagnosing your health via diagnostic ultrasound, call us at 505-350-3397.
by Kristi Jain | Nov 30, 2022 | Uncategorized
The blog du jour will discuss something each one of us has extensive experience with. Let me first start by quoting a dear friend of mine. “When you do not expect, you will not be disappointed.” You guessed it. Today’s topic deals with the sore subject of disappointment.
ROSE-COLORED GLASSES
Yes, I own a pair of rose-colored glasses and I wear them as often as humanly possible. I’d like to believe optimism (aka rose colored glasses) is the norm, pessimism is the exception, but realism is, well…realistic. When our rose colored glasses fall off and reality is less than what we desired or expected, we feel disappointed.
HAPPINESS
What is it that will make you truly happy? Is it the job promotion, the important title, possessions, love, wealth, health, beauty, or status? The common misconception is that when we acquire these things, everything else will fall into place. The reality is that the euphoria you experience from acquiring these things is short lived, followed by a feeling of disappointment. Where will the next “high” come from? Researchers describe disappointment as a form of sadness or a painful gap between our expectations and reality. Although painful, disappointment can actually teach us a valuable lesson about ourselves and others.
TRUE BLUE FRIEND
Have you experienced disappointment when your “friend” has been speaking disparagingly about you behind your back? It hurts. How about when a promise is neglected or forgotten? Has a scheduled engagement with someone drawn near, and they either pull a “no show” or have to cancel…again? That sure makes you feel like you matter, doesn’t it? The question becomes, how do we most effectively deal with the disappointment?
GET REAL
If you believe that the agony you feel every step of the way toward your goal will be replaced with a perpetual state of bliss once you achieve it, it may be time for a reality check. Slow down, open yourself up to new possibilities and in the meantime, enjoy the process, even if it means letting go of your expectations.
THE MEANS AND ENDS
Psychology Today reminds us to distinguish between the means and ends, remembering that what we need to do to get what we want may be different from the end result. Consider that there are ways of reaching goals that you may not be aware of. This takes tolerance, practice and patience. Try letting go of your expectations and see if you can lessen your feelings of disappointment.
HDD
We understand that a less than ideal diagnosis or prognosis can be disappointing and down right scary. Ask questions, listen and learn. Put on your rose-colored glasses and look for the possibility of remission, recovery and better health. A positive attitude, science and the power of prayer have been known to produce miracles! If we can help, call us at 505-350-3397.
Recent Comments