THOUGHTFUL THURSDAY

"COPOWER" YOUR WAY IN THE KITCHEN

My wife is a fantastic cook - a self professed "foodie".  She reads gourmet cookbooks from cover to cover, and has been known to have high butterfat, European style butter mailed to her directly from dairies in Wisconsin.  So when her weight started creeping up and her cholesterol topped 300, her doctor  told her it was time to get serious. 

But the thought of dieting made her go into grieving mode - she was making the NEGATIVE PREDICTION  that she would no longer be able to enjoy the foods she loved. 

So I went into my "sneaky but sincere" battle mode.  I made her some dishes that were healthier, but I didn't tell her about the changes I made in the recipes until after she tried them.  She's very particular - but she loved them!

Now she's learned to OPEN HER MIND to the possibility of good taste  without calorie and cholesterol carnage.  You can too!

Dr. Anderson's "Sneaky But Sincere" Pancakes

1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour

1/2 cup brown rice flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons honey

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 cup plain nonfat yogurt

1/4 nonfat milk - plus 1 Tablespoon extra if batter is too thick

1 large egg separated

2 Tablespoons olive oil (instead of butter - ha-ha!)

1 teaspoon vanilla

(Optional - 1-2 sliced bananas)

Mix the dry ingredients in a medium bowl. 

Mix the yogurt and milk in separate bowl.

Mix egg yolk and olive oil in another separate bowl, then stir into yogurt/milk mixture.

Dump wet ingredients into dry ingredients all at once, whisking until just mixed.

Beat egg whites with electric mixer until stiff peaks form when the beaters are removed.

Gently fold whipped egg whites into remaining batter mixture.

Heat griddle over medium-high heat. 

Brush griddle generously with canola or other cooking oil.

When water splashed on surface sizzles, pour about 1/4 cup of batter per pancake on griddle. (Smooth batter with spoon if batter is very thick.)

**(Optional: Immediately add 5-6 slices of banana to each pancake, then pour a few drops of batter over each banana slice - this keeps bananas from burning when you flip them over.)**

When bubbles appear on the surface of the pancakes - in about 2-3 minutes, flip the cakes and cook until remaining side is brown - estimate 1-2 minutes.

Makes about 8- three inch pancakes.

**Putting bananas in these pancakes makes them so sweet and confection-like, butter and syrup are like overkill.  My wife has eaten these 'on the go' from a napkin - without syrup or butter  - and she's HAPPY!  No more "food mourning!"

DALE J. ANDERSON, M.D.

 

 







WELLNESS WEDNESDAY-
COPOWER YOU WAY TO BETTER HEALTH


We've all seen health news reports that tell us about foods that increase our risk of cancer or heart disease and we get advice from experts who tell us to eliminate or severely limit our consumption of some of our favorite foods. You know, foods like  red meat, fried chicken, ice cream and many other beloved treats.
Lots of us hear this and we think " I don't want to cut back on ( fill in your favorite food )  because I'll be miserable without it." That thought becomes our excuse for eating large quantities of every unhealthy food we eat. That thought rattling around in our heads convinces us that we literally can't improve our nutrition. That thought becomes a locked door between us and better health. 
But there is a key to that locked door. The key is rccognizing that that thought is just another example of a destructive form of thinking known as a NEGATIVE PREDICTION ( Defined as assuming that the future will turn out badly). NEGATIVE PREDICTIONS are irrational by definition because they assume we have the ability to accurately know what the future will be. But when  we're really honest with ourselves we know we've been wrong before, about things we predicted in the future.
How does that help us? Well, all we need to do is write down or type the common sense fact that "It's foolish to predict misery and failure before I've made a strong effort to find a strategy to conquer a problem." "I can look for articles (in print and on the Web) or biographies of people that I respect, who've made healthy changes in what they eat so I can try them out and see if I can still be happy while eating healthier now."
Now tomorrow we'll discover how letting go of NEGATIVE PREDICTIONS can help us get great tasting recipes for health.

Dale J. Anderson, M.D.

MOTIVATIONAL MONDAYS-

CLOSED MINDS CLOSE DOORS and OPEN MINDS OPEN THEM

How's your motivation?  If you've lost your interest in your job or just don't feel motivated for any activity, remember that to feel motivated you need to avoid making NEGATIVE PREDICTIONS 
about the future. When we predict failure before we've made a full effort, we're closing our minds and that closes the door to solving our problems.
How can we open those doors to success whether the problem is in our careers or in our personal lives?
DROP THE NEGATIVE PREDICTIONS.
It's National Women's History Month and we can take inspiration from the stories of courage and determination women have shown in the face of overwhelming odds.Tomorrow I'll introduce you to one of many who did just that by avoiding predictions of failure and keeping her mind open.


Dale J. Anderson, M.D




  

TRANQUIL TUESDAYS-

CONTINUING TO OPEN MINDS AND OPEN DOORS
As I said yesterday,we have a wealth of courageous women who exemplify the open mind that opens the door to victory.Take the case of Sarah Emma Edmonds, born in 1841, who wanted to defend her country when the Civil War broke out, but the law would not allow women to serve in the military. She didn't let that stop her. She cut her hair to a close cropped length, disguised herself as a man, and volunteered. She was rejected.
She didn't let that stop her. She went back again, and again, and finally, on her fourth try, she was accepted. She trained and worked in the medical unit, but she wanted to make even more of a difference and when she found out that a military intelligence agent was needed to go behind enemy lines, she wanted to do that. She had no experience, but...she didn't let that stop her.
She did her homework by studying military weapons, tactics, geography, and any other areas that would prepare her for the work and when she was interviewed, the officer in charge was so impressed that she got the job.
She was given a dangerous mission, but she didn't let that stop her. She disguised herself so carefully that the military doctor with whom she worked didn't recognize her and she went on to complete eleven successful missions, supplying valuable military intelligence to the Union Army.

So if you feel unmotivated or discouraged, just remember the example of AN AMERICAN HERO , SARAH EMMA EDMONDS, WHO (EVEN IN GREAT DANGER, AGAINST THE ODDS) KEPT HER MIND OPEN, DID HER HOMEWORK, AND DIDN'T LET ANYTHING STOP HER.

Dale J. Anderson, M.D

WELLNESS WEDNESDAY

How To Achieve Wellness at No Cost

Some of you may recall that I pointed out that there's been research done that shows that just thinking thoughts of gratitude has been shown to have a beneficial effect on our health. But what if you don't feel you have anything for which to be grateful? Try looking at the previous blogs an EMOTIONAL REASONING and think about that carefully.

Well, nobody said it would be easy, but if it can make you healthier for free, it's worth the effort.

 Without spending a dime, you can write down a list of positive things that you have, and on which you can choose to focus your attention.

Like the eyesight that allows you to read these words, or see the beauty of nature, or see the smile of a friend or a stranger offering help,or the sense of hearing that allows you to communicate your needs and feelings with others, or hear your favorite music, or your sense of touch which allows you to have contact with other people, or your sense of smell which allows you to enjoy the aromas and the taste of good food and the perfume that flowers give to the air, or your ability to breathe. Now, think for a few seconds about what it would be like if suddenly,
without warning one or more of those positive things were taken away.

Now, really think for a few minutes about how good it is to have those positive things and any others that you have in your life (e.g. friends, abilities, home, job, pets, support groups/networks etc.).Write them down in a list and post your list in a prominent place in your home and (if possible) at work. Each day try to add a new item to that list so you give yourself a daily shower of the health benefits of gratitude.

Your mind and body will thank you. 

Dale J. Anderson, M.D.

Tranquil Tuesday -

 "LIFE'S TRYING TO TELL YOU SOMETHING - LISTEN!"

We were thinking yesterday about how to get back that joy and inspiration that we felt had died when big problems overwhelm us. I mentioned how most of us, if we've lived even through childhood, have actually had the experience of healing from injuries over and over again. This is really life teaching us that joy and inspiration are still alive.   But sometimes the pain and the stress of our problems hide those good feelings from us for so long that we become convinced (we feel) that we'll never know them again.


Life teaches us that we need to avoid the trap of Emotional Reasoning (making judgments based primarily on what we feel, and forgetting to consider facts).
Since we've all healed from something , life teaches us that when we begin to look more deeply, we can remember what positive activities we used to pass the time needed for healing...like reading a book, playing a game, writing some poetry, etc. so we can use those methods again. This opens the door for us to begin to help ourselves - AGAIN!


When we read (on the Web or in libraries) about what methods other people have used to solve the same problems we are facing, that plants a seed for healing.When we read about strategies that are positive or scientifically validated, we can give those methods a reasonable trial (with enough time and effort to produce benefits). When you plant a seed, you have to give it enough time and care to sprout and take root.


The best method may involve organizational help, spiritual help , medical care, technical, psychological, nutritional, etc., or some balanced combination of methods. If we keep searching with open minds, we often begin to get enough brief glimpses of joy and inspiration to realize they've only been temporarily hidden, and that by continuing our efforts we'll remove the veil that hid them from us so we can have those wonderful feelings again.


DALE J. ANDERSON, M.D.




DdAELDDDALED

MOTIVATIONAL MONDAY-...FEELINGS AREN'T FACTS... Sometimes events in life seem to lift us up on a wave of happiness and excitement and at other times life seems to be so full of problems, worries, and endless work that it feels like a deadening of that inner part of us where joy and inspiration once lived.
 So what can we do?


We can, first, be wary of making judgments based solely on what "it feels like". Making judgments that way is also known as EMOTIONAL REASONING, and when we use only emotions and we don't make an effort to examine the facts, we can make big mistakes. Like, for example, believing that joy and inspiration have been destroyed forever.That's a tragic mistake.


If we really think deeply about our whole lives, most us can remember having gotten a cut, a bruise,  a sprain, or a fracture and it felt like we would never have the joy of being whole again. And then with time, the right care (and sometimes we had to really search for the best method ), and perseverance, the injury healed and we could feel the joy of being whole again. 


But how does that help us if the problems are more complicated than a simple cut or a bruise? For an answer, ask yourself what do people do if the injury is more serious, like a fracture? When you have your answer...think about  how you  can use that basic principle to begin your journey back to your joy and inspiration and we'll continue the journey tomorrow on TRANQUIL TUESDAY.


             

TRANQUIL TUESDAYS - Feeling Frustrated? Just Let Go, But Not the Way You Think

Millions of us feel frustrated or angry to such a degree that it interferes with our ability to keep our minds on the important tasks for the day and we either don't get as much done as we needed to, or we don't get them done at all.

 We may even be inappropriately irritable with coworkers, friends, or family and snap at them, causing damage to relationships that's hard to repair.

In more cases than we often realize, our frustration comes from our own inner desire to have events in life turn out exactly the way we want, or to have other people behave exactly the way we want.

The problem with that is that no human being has absolute power over all of life's events and no one has instant absolute control over other people's behavior. 

So to have tranquility, JUST LET GO of the desire to control other people and events and, instead, let's  put our  minds on controlling our own thoughts and behaviors.

That's a full time job, but when you keep your mind focussed on that and let go of that other stuff it's amazing what a relief it you can feel.  

TO BE TRANQUIL, LET GO OF WHAT'S OUTSIDE OF YOURSELF AND FOCUS ON WHAT'S INSIDE.

Motivational Mondays- Drill, baby! Drill!

If you are your best friend then repetition is your next best friend. Through repetition (aka. drilling) you learned to read, to talk, to calculate, etc. Scientific data has been mounting from 1932 to now that repetition helps people not only to learn new facts and ideas, but to makes that information instantly available for personal empowerment while costing the mind less storage space like an upgrade for your PC. There's great power in thoughtful repetition of constructive healthy ideas.- Dale J. Anderson, M.D.