Health Crisis Part 3: Lifestyle

Stressed for timeSarah’s Rap: This is the third part in my series on what I feel are contributing causes behind the high numbers of disease and illness which so many Americans, and others around the world, are suffering from. If you missed them, check out my first two posts on the Standard American Diet and the “disabling” U.S. healthcare system.  It likely will not come as a surprise that unhealthy lifestyle choices are also key factors to the prevalence of disease, but sometimes what constitutes “unhealthy” may be less obvious.

I’m no saint myself when it comes to some of my own habits. In fact, I know that several are contributing factors to my own health issues in recent years. But if I don’t acknowledge the destructive behaviors and their negative impacts, I won’t continue to make (and keep) the changes necessary to get to a healthier me. I’m hoping this post can help you to do the same and take the right step towards better health. Continue reading

The Working Parent’s Exercise Conundrum

Sarah’s Rap: As a working mom, I find it difficult to fit in two things on weekdays:  exercise and fun time with my two boys. I leave for the office around 7 am and I return just in time to prepare the evening meal or if I’m lucky, sit down to eat what my husband has cooked. Sometimes I have doctor’s appointments or other errands after work which pushes everything even later.  Our post-dinner routine typically includes clean-up, showers, reading and the kids entertaining themselves while I make lunchboxes or prep food for the next day. By the time they are in bed, I feel like all I’ve done is work. My body is antsy and craving exercise, but I talk myself out of it: it’s too dark now; I’m too tired; I don’t want to exercise so close to bedtime; I gotta work on my book/blog to do; yada yada… Inevitably, this means that my weekdays are a blur of work at the office, work at home, work on my computer, a little reading and a bedtime crash. Then I  wake up and do it all again. Any exercise and fun kid time I get is on the weekend.  Sound familiar? If so, let’s make a pact together to change this pattern!  Continue reading