Happy November! Thanksgiving is just around the corner!
I recently received a question asking what all this information about food and daily exercise has to do with my expertise in ways to end chronic pain. This is a good question!
Firstly, food is medicine. The more we all hear that, and understand that, the sooner we’ll be able to take our own healthcare seriously.
For instance, if you regularly eat foods like:
Bread, pasta, cakes, bagels, or foods that contain high fructose corn syrup and/or sugar, you are likely to have inflammation in your body. Alcohol is inflammatory. Inflammation makes everything worse, but especially for those with arthritis and other chronic pain diagnoses.
Secondly, these foods also tend to make you gain weight, which is going to make your knees and back pretty unhappy, not to mention your heart.
On the other hand, when you eat berries, oranges, cherries; fatty fish like salmon and sardines; nuts like almonds and walnuts; olive oil, tomatoes; green leafy veggies, broccoli, avocados, you can fight off the inflammation that’s making you ill.
So, indeed, the food you eat, and the type of exercise that you do regularly have EVERYTHING to do with your chronic pain.
Have you ever made a weekly, or daily, Food and Activity Plan? If not, let’s make one now! Here’s one example of a daily plan.
First, make a list of all the protein items that you love. Then the veggies and fruit you love.
Then, plan out one day:
Before breakfast – 20 minutes Yoga, 20 minutes meditation
Breakfast – 2 poached eggs on a lump of mashed sweet potatoes, tea
Lunch – Large green salad with left over grilled chicken from last night, tea
Dinner – Sesame Crusted Salmon with Baby Bok Choy over wild rice
After dinner, twenty-minute brisk walk.
Now, put the entire Plan in your calendar, just like your other appointments. Make ALL of your activity and food a “business appointment with your health” and make sure you keep that appointment!
The above meals and exercise work for me, but may not for you. This is just one example of how to plan your day. Use the foods that you like, and try to include as many anti-inflammatory meals as possible. Not only will you lose weight, but your chronic pain will also ease.
Here’s an exercise for painful wrists.
Best of Health,
Kathi
