Topical BioMedics and Alexandra Jamieson, celebrity health and nutrition counselor, chef and author of The Great American Detox Diet, Living Vegan for Dummies and Vegan Cooking for Dummies teamed ... Read More »]]>

Every year I find myself always tagging on the be healthier, exercise more and eat better onto my new year’s resolution and never following through. Like most of us, we start the New Year with so much excitement for a better body and by mid year we are only going to the gym once a week. This year making time for myself is a resolution to keep for a healthier, happier me.

Topical BioMedics and Alexandra Jamieson, celebrity health and nutrition counselor, chef and author of The Great American Detox Diet, Living Vegan for Dummies and Vegan Cooking for Dummies teamed up to provide a list of tips for a delicious and vital year.

You don’t have to do this alone, share these tips with your girlfriends and encourage each other. Share vegetable recipes, go grocery shopping together, take a daily dance class together. The more the merrier. Let’s make 2012 the year to be a healthier and happier you. Create a plan and stick to these tips, I am sure you’ll feel fantastic and won’t have to add being healthier to your next New Year’s Resolution.

1. Get Clear

In order to transform your health, energy and body, you need to take stock of where you are now, what you’re eating and what you want to change.

Write down everything. How you feel when you wake up? What cravings you have? What your diet is like? What is your exercise routine (if any)? What do you like to feel and look like?

2. Get Support

Talk with someone who has been there before. Read the blogs of experts; watch inspiring movies online or listen to radio shows on the area of health that interests you the most. Find a “tribe” of people who are dedicated to making the same changes you want to accomplish.

There is power in joining forces – they’ll pull you along, and you’ll help them at the same time.

3. Make a Plan

Do you want to eat more vegetables? Eat less sugar? Kick your caffeine habit completely? Do you want to lose 20 pounds, or clear up your skin?

What is the first step towards your goal? If it’s eating less sugar, maybe it’s time to learn about natural foods that give you the sweet sensation you’re looking for without robbing your energy (more on that in a minute).

Or maybe you need to throw away the sweets or chocolates lingering from the holidays. Or maybe there’s something in your lifestyle that triggers your sugar cravings that you can address in a non-food-way.

Whatever the issue is, there are steps you can take to make it a non-issue: start brain-storming on what to do first, then what you can do tomorrow, and in no time you’ll be free and clear.

4. Be Seasonal

Use seasonal, local produce as much as possible.

When you eat veggies from a nearby farm, they offer you the energy and nutrients that support you where you are and when you are.

For example, eating iceberg lettuce and watermelon north of the 45th parallel in winter does not support your body in the cold, sunless months. Instead, choose winter squash, cabbage, other hearty wintergreens, and apples and pears that winter over well. These fruits and veggies give you great, fresh nutrition rather than arriving depleted from half way across the world.

5. Sleep More

The human body is built to follow natural rhythms. Our inner body clock, called circadian rhythm, triggers the natural impulses to wake up with the sun, sleep when it’s dark, as well as a host of other natural body processes.

When your natural circadian rhythm is thrown off, due to jet lag or just staying up too late night after night, your body and brain work at half-speed, and your body feels off balance. Years of staying up late and not getting enough sleep during the darker, winter months, makes caffeine necessary, and cravings for sugar more intense.

This winter, try an experiment: go to bed early and wake up early. Get into bed by 9pm and wake up at 4 or 5am. Even a few days a week of this pattern will help you feel more refreshed, healthier, and those intense food cravings will release their hold on you just a bit more.

6. Make Breakfast a Priority

Now that you’re sleeping better, you can wake up earlier and get a good breakfast in your body. Everyone is different and you might need something that your partner or child doesn’t like or desire. Experiment with different types of food for your morning meal, alternating savory, sweet, liquid or combination breakfasts.

You might notice that a protein rich meal keeps you filled longer. Or perhaps you find that a light meal of fruit and herbal tea is perfect.

Try it out and notice what happens during the day with your cravings. Your first meal can determine your energy for the rest of the day.

7. Skip the White Foods

Any white, refined food is going to steal nutrients and energy from your body. This includes white flour, white sugar, and white table salt.

All of these foods are stripped of nutrition, vitamins and minerals, and offer only the jolt of carbohydrate or sodium. Without any supportive nutrients, your body must draw on its own precious stores to metabolize the refined food, leading to depleted energy over time.

8. Sweeten the Deal

Use more naturally sweet foods instead of relying on white foods, candy, and soda for energy.

Include sweet root veggies, fruits and even whole grains to satisfy your sweet cravings.

Sweet potatoes offer carotenoid antioxidant and help your body respond to insulin better. Parsnips are high in silicon and fiber and are high in calcium. Beets are high in boron, a mineral critical for the production of human sex hormones.

Adding daily doses of sweet veggies, you’ll crave less sugary treats, and you’ll be giving your body necessary nutrients for long-term health.

9. Move Your Body Like Your Life Depends On It – Because it Does

Whatever form of exercise you choose: running, walking, swimming, biking, dancing, weight lifting or machines – just move. Daily. As if it were your last day on earth.

If you incorporate anything from the list above you will be on your way to preserving or regaining your health and vitality in the New Year.

What are your favorite activities to do for exercise?

Photo Credit © Suprijono Suharjoto | Dreamstime.com

It’s October and with it, Breast Cancer awareness month and it’s time we ALL start thinking about miracles! As a partner in Surviving Beautifully, a brand new project to help women with aesthetic issues during treatment, it’s my latest, heartfelt work. I promise more about that later. For now, the ... Read More »]]>

“I believe in manicures. I believe in overdressing. I believe in primping at leisure and wearing lipstick. I believe in pink. I believe happy girls are the prettiest girls. I believe that tomorrow is another day, and… I believe in miracles. ” – Audrey Hepburn

It’s October and with it, Breast Cancer awareness month and it’s time we ALL start thinking about miracles! As a partner in Surviving Beautifully, a brand new project to help women with aesthetic issues during treatment, it’s my latest, heartfelt work. I promise more about that later. For now, the jewelry and fashion lover in me wants to Think Pink with style. Move over, my beloved pink ribbon, here are some picks for cool pink jewels and accessories:

Michael Von Krenner 14K Gold & Pink Spinel Ring

Gorgeous and sophisticated beyond belief!

Here are some beautiful, delicate earrings by Cathy Waterman with a decidedly antique flair:

Cathy Waterman Earrings

I’m thinking about them with a tailored Byron Lars dress I just saw….

Now onto the less serious: remember these? Who doesn’t! I guess the classics [??] never get old.

Jelly Bracelets

Sorry, designers, these are so ubiquitous that I didn’t know who to credit them to!

But jewelry can’t have ALL the fun: pink leather goods need some love too. Chanel is known for the subtle color palette, and this tote is no exception. C’mon, dontcha want it even if you don’t love baby pink 1000%?

Pink Chanel Tote

Don’t forget your keys: the King of Color, Jonathan Adler, has just the thing to corral them in cuteness:

Jonathan Adler Pink Poodle Keychain

The edgy German fashion designers Dirk Bikkembergs is known for his darkly quirky style. His pink kicks are quite a departure from his post-industrial chic and are just the thing to walk in this October.

Dirk Bikkembergs Pink Soccer Shoes

Finally, not to be too matchy-matchy, a classic shade from OPI: good color, great cause!

D

OPI Pink of Hearts Nail Lacquer

Be sure to think pink this month and support breast cancer awareness and research. Komen for the Cure is always a great place to start learning how to get involved.

Last week you went to your doctor for your annual physical and you found out that you have cholesterol problems, specifically small density LDL, which your doctor told you is a death sentence if you don’t address it. It seems that these small density particles have an incredible propensity for sneaking into your arteries. Pretty soon your arteries start to look like the bottom of a grease trap in a French fry machine and eventually all that ‘goop’ turns into plaques. Plaque isn’t good for your teeth and it isn’t good for your arteries ... Read More »]]>

by Dr. Cochran with Dr. Waggoner M.D.

Last week you went to your doctor for your annual physical and you found out that you have cholesterol problems, specifically small density LDL, which your doctor told you is a death sentence if you don’t address it. It seems that these small density particles have an incredible propensity for sneaking into your arteries. Pretty soon your arteries start to look like the bottom of a grease trap in a French fry machine and eventually all that ‘goop’ turns into plaques. Plaque isn’t good for your teeth and it isn’t good for your arteries either. So, best case scenario you’re looking at heart attacks, stroke and an early death and worst case scenario you’re looking at surviving the stroke and heart attack and spending the rest of your albeit shortened life as a debilitated shell of your former self and a burden to your family. Neither of those options seem particularly appealing however, your physician said that there is a class of medications called statins specifically designed to address this problem, and she has recommended one called Crestor™.

So all was well until you went to the pharmacy. The pharmacist told you that you don’t need Crestor, that a generic statin would do just fine and it would save you money. So you decided to read up on the subject. And, what you found was truly appalling. First, the pharmacist makes money by recommending that you purchase generic medications and in many cases they’ll just make the switch without even telling you. Next, you discovered that generic drugs and brand name drugs are not exactly equivalent. In fact, the FDA in its infinite wisdom has allowed the pharmaceutical industry to have a 20-25% variance in their generic interpretation of medications. This means that they use ‘fillers’ to make up the difference. Now the problem with fillers is that a) you may be allergic to them and b) they lower the efficacy and strength of the medicine you are buying. So, 300mg of a generic medication does not necessarily equal 300mg of a brand medication. Now, your physician will have to prescribe more of the generic medication to get the same effect as the brand and your insurance company doesn’t like that, so they deny it. The ‘Catch-22’ is that your insurance company rewards the pharmacist for dispensing generics because they are making lots of money by doing so. However, when the medicines don’t work as well, they will either charge you an outrageous copay for the brand, deny it altogether or, if your physician goes with the generic medication and has to prescribe a greater milligram strength, the insurance company will say your doctor is overmedicating you and will refuse that too.

But we’re not done yet. You’re at the gym discussing this issue with your trainer and he says the answer lies in supplements. Now of course he’s 25 and hasn’t been to medical school but it sure is tempting to consider an option that you can control. Then you tell your best friend at work who goes to a naturopath that she just loves and ‘swears by’. Oh, and then there’s the guy on your board who has a fabulous chiropractor and the maintenance guy said he knows an amazing nutritionist. So what is the right answer?

Welcome to modern healthcare! The good news is that it is replete with options, and the bad news is that it is replete with options. At Saratoga Family Health Center we know that taking care of people requires that they be intellectually informed, and emotionally invested in what they are doing to best take care of their heath. Excellent treatment is not about trying to fit patients into preconceived, standardized regimens. What it is about, is a unique partnership between patient and caregiver in which an individual formula for that patient is created that may involve many different kinds of treatment modalities and disciplines.

For example, in the case we’ve been discussing we would review the patient’s diet and not only tell them what not to eat, but what to eat, and where they can go for menu planning for themselves and their family. We would encourage regular exercise, omega-3 fatty acids, an aspirin a day and a statin, although if the patient wanted to try another route we would fully support that. However, it is not in the best interests of anyone, for a treatment provider or a patient to simply ‘believe’ in their treatment plan, so it is imperative that regular laboratory measurements be taken to determine whether or not what you are doing is working. And, you’ve got to have a treatment team that is prepared to argue with your insurer even to the point of contacting the medical director of your plan to make sure you get what you need.

Please take good care of yourselves, you and your family are a precious commodity and we are all made better when you are well.

Wishing You The Best Of Health!

Join Dr. Cochran on November 5th, 2011 in Los Angeles  from 9:30-3:30pm for A JOURNEY THOUGH ROMANTIC LOVE: What it is, What it isn’t, How to get it and How to keep it! During this workshop Dr. Cochran will teach techniques for how to manage, and what to expect from one of the most challenging developmental tasks of adulthood: the many faces of romantic love. Dr. Cochran will help you find your perfect partner and/or assist you in increasing the intimacy level in your current relationship, through great insights and understanding. Call 818-848-3213 to register or visit www.drcochran.org

David J. Waggoner, MD, a board certified family physician and his partner transpersonal psychologist, Dr. Margaret Cochran, make up Saratoga Family Health Center where they take a whole person, whole brain approach to health. Dr. Cochran and Dr. Waggoner focus on treating individuals, not just their symptoms, diagnosis or healthcare coverage limitations; they practice medicine and psychotherapy, not insurance. Working together they have extraordinary success in helping patients become, and stay, well in both body and mind. www.sfhc.com

Photo credit: © Alexander Raths | Dreamstime.com

Who doesn’t love a pretty, sparkly gemstone? I sure do! But what if a gem can be so much more than a beautiful bauble? According to Andrea Rosenfeld, a New Jersey-based jewelry designer, Reiki practitioner and all-around cool multi-media artist, gemstones can do more than just dress up an outfit: they can heal.

Now, I’m as hippie-dippie lovey-dovey as I can be in our cynical postmodern age, but this one was new to me. So I had to talk personally with Andrea and find out how gemstones do double-duty as nurturing objects…and see some of them in action in ... Read More »]]>

Who doesn’t love a pretty, sparkly gemstone? I sure do! But what if a gem can be so much more than a beautiful bauble? According to Andrea Rosenfeld, a New Jersey-based jewelry designer, Reiki practitioner and all-around cool multi-media artist, gemstones can do more than just dress up an outfit: they can heal.

Now, I’m as hippie-dippie lovey-dovey as I can be in our cynical postmodern age, but this one was new to me. So I had to talk personally with Andrea and find out how gemstones do double-duty as nurturing objects…and see some of them in action in her pieces.

Extrusion Exotic Wood Pendant

VT: Give us a little background about yourself, your jewelry, and how your Reiki practice and knowledge of healing gemstones comes into that.

AR: I’m a professional artist and started in jewelry when my paintings and their mess got too large for my home filled with growing children. With jewelry, I can work with texture, color, composition and such but in a smaller area. Reiki is a Japanese technique for stress reduction and relaxation that also promotes healing. It is administered by “laying on hands” and is based on the idea that an unseen “life force energy” flows through us and is what causes us to be alive. Reiki came into my life when a friend’s sister found out she had leukemia. She asked for one of my necklaces but I felt that I had to help her in a greater way.  I researched healing stones and how to cleanse them. I became a Reiki practitioner after I decided that the standard method of cleansing stones was fine but, again, not enough for what I wanted to offer through my art.

VT: Tell us more about cleansing stones.

AR: There are quite a few ways to cleanse a crystal. The easiest way is to place it under moonlight or sun light for hours. Another way is run fresh water over it or let it soak, but some minerals don’t respond well to water and it can harm their structure. There are dried herbs that can be burned and their fragrant smoke can clear the stone, too.

Blue Beat Pendant

VT: Now for some popular gemstones. What are their healing properties?

AR: All minerals and crystals have healing properties specific to them and they encompass physical as well as emotional healing.  Stones are attached to numerology as well as astrology.  Some stones are very powerful – Quartz is the most powerful mineral but if a stone can heal a specific ailment then at that particular time, that crystal is the most helpful and therefore powerful to the one being healed.  There are no “bad” stones and some are specific for getting through chemotherapy, some are helpful in easing back pain or labor.  Some can help you to see more clearly, creatively while others can bring more money into your life.

Here are the basics for the most popular stones:

Amethyst – “Stone of meditation.” It controls temperament by imparting a soothing, calming and tranquilizing influence, while clearing away unproductive and unkind vibrations.

Peridot – Emits a warm and friendly energy.  It can also help heal a “bruised” ego by assisting one in the lessening of anger or jealousy, inspiring happiness within the self and delight in the nature of one’s life.

Citrine – It is one of the two stones on the planet that do not hold and accumulate negative energy, but dissipates and transmutes it, working out problems on both the physical and subtle levels.  It never needs cleaning or clearing. Helps to “laugh without restraint.” Influences education, business pursuits, and interpersonal relationships.

Garnet – A stone of health, extracting negative energy from the chakras and transmuting the energy to the beneficial state. “Stone of Commitment” – to purpose, to others and to oneself.

Turquoise – Protects against environmental pollutants, offers soothing energy and peace of mind.  Includes wisdom and understanding and enhances trust.

Onyx – It can be used to banish grief, to enhance self-control and to stimulate the power of wise decision-making and to encourage happiness and good fortune.

Harvest Kinetic Ring

VT: Given all these wonderful options, how do you decide what gemstones to use in a piece of jewelry that has multiple stones?

AR: I’m an artist first, healer second, so I work as all other creatives do, by receiving stimulation and passion towards a material.  So a stone will move me and I’ll create around it.  While I’m doing so, the surrounding and supporting stones are typically chosen by coloring or size.  It’s not until I’m healing the piece and writing up the healing card do I see how the stones work together.  As I said, there are no bad stones so I have never had an issue of one stone “fighting” another.   I also do not create for a specific ailment unless I’m working on a special order.  At that time, we discuss the medical issues and I find stones to help my client.  We choose which ones would work best and I use those minerals in a special design.

And the winner is... Pendant

VT: And how can your lucky clients harness these powers?

AR: Be open to the healing energy of the minerals and crystals, meditate on the type of goodness they bring.  Or you can do nothing. The stones will provide their healing powers even if you don’t focus on them but obviously if you do, the connection will be stronger.

For more information about Andrea and her unique approach to jewelry, visit www.andrea-rosenfeld.com.

Victoria Tillotson is a New York City based jewelry designer, author and on-air expert whose designs have been featured in Allure, Lucky, Complex and other fashion magazines. She published her first book, Chic Metal: Modern Metal Jewelry to Make at Home in 2009 and has appeared on HSN, Oxygen and other cable channels. Victoria teaches jewelry making at School of Visual Arts in New York, where every semester she gives dozens of aspiring jewelers the tools and confidence to bring their creative vision to life.  Website: www.victoriatillotson.com