SELF-COMPASSION AND HEALTH

This will be my last post as I am leaving Westside Internal Medicine to go back to Providence St. Vincent Hospital. It has been an absolute pleasure working with each and every one of you and it is with great sadness that I say goodbye.

Janine is our new Nurse Care Manager. She comes to us with a stellar nursing background having worked with Washington County as an RN for 5 years, with OHSU Family Practice at Gabriel Park for 4 years, and has spent the last year as a home health nurse. In working with her I have been impressed with her compassion, energy, nursing knowledge and, most of all, her passion for patient advocacy. She is the perfect person for this job and I hope you all have the pleasure of working with her through the duration of this project.

Now, for the good stuff. The stuff that relates to our health and well-being. Something that has become apparent to me during my nursing career is that a majority of us lack compassion for ourselves. We are hard on ourselves to the point of being unforgiving, many of us have little positive self-regard, and many of us have experienced great difficulty in our lives from which we have a difficult time recovering. Lack of self compassion can often lead to lack of self-care or even self-abuse, both of which then lead to depression and poor health. I came across an article in the New York Times regarding self-compassion that I would like to share with you as my "swan song". Please read it and try to incorporate self-compassion into your lives. You will all be better off for it, both in health and well-being!

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F05E1DE143EF932A35750C0A9679D8B63&ref=taraparkerpope

Thank you all so much for the honor and privilege of allowing our relationship. I will miss you more than you will know ...

Nurse Susan  

SURVIVING THE HOLIDAYS

Yes, it's that time of year again. Enjoying family traditions. Lots of social events. Hustle and bustle. Here are some tips to help you survive the holidays without weight gain and with pleasure.

• Rework traditional recipes to make them more healthful
• Get 30 to 60 minutes of moderate exercise most days of the week
• Sleep at least 7 hours each night
• Use relaxation techniques such as deep breathing, progressive relaxation, meditation, or yoga to manage stress
• Know when to say "No"
• Allow others to help with holiday preparations
• Remember, the holidays are not about perfection. Rather, they are about spending joyful time with loved ones and appreciating the bounty we have in our lives.

Here are some wonderful links that provide some great suggestions that add to and expound on the above tips:

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/living/2016551800_planaheadholiday23.html

http://my.clevelandclinic.org/heart/prevention/nutrition/holidayeating12_01.aspx

http://blogs.webmd.com/pamela-peeke-md/2011/11/surviving-and-thriving-during-the-holidays.html

http://www.epicurious.com/articlesguides/healthy/news/holidayhealthyeatingtips

http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes_menus/collections/thanksgiving_collection_1

HAVE A WONDERFUL THANKSGIVING!!!

Do YOU have metabolic syndrome?

IF YOU HAVE 3 OR MORE OF THE THESE SIGNS, YOU ARE AT RISK FOR METABOLIC SYNDROME AND THUS ARE AT INCREASED RISK FOR HEART ATTACK, DIABETES, STROKE AND MORE.

To prevent metabolic syndrome, or manage it if you already have it, you should:

Eat a healthful diet such as the Mediterranean diet

Lower your BMI to less than 25

Exercise 30 minutes or more daily

Manage your blood pressure

Manage your blood sugar

Do not smoke

Make an appointment today with your Nurse Care Manager and/or your Doctor to establish a plan to address your risk factors. If you do not know your numbers, we will provide them. We are happy to work with you towards bettering your health!

For more information regarding metabolic syndrom please visit PubMed Health's website:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0004546/

Oh no! It's that time of year again ... cold and flu season.

Colds and influenza, ugh. We are headed into that time of year again and we all want to avoid the sneezes, sniffles, coughs, and other uncomfortable symptoms of viral infections. The most important things we all can do to protect ourselves from getting a virus, or to not pass a virus on if we end up getting sick in spite of our best efforts, are:

WASH YOUR HANDS, FREQUENTLY. Of course, touching your eyes, nose, or mouth with your hands is an easy way to allow ugly germs to get into your system. Combat the likelihood of this happening by washing your hands frequently and keeping your hands away from your face. And, most importantly, keep your hands clean. This is a good time of year to keep an alcohol based hand sanitizer with you at all times.

KEEP YOUR DISTANCE FROM PEOPLE WHO ARE SICK. Enough said!

GET YOUR FLU SHOT ...

DON'T DOUBLE DIP. We are invited to lots of parties during this time of year where dips play a central role on the menu. Of course, since we are all working toward a more healthful lifestyle, we will only be eating healthful dips. But even more importantly, make sure you do not double dip. And know that others may have already double dipped so you might not want to eat that dip at all.

BOOST YOUR IMMUNE SYSTEM. Dr. Miles Hassell of "Good Food, Great Medicine" has some great strategies for boosting your immune system. You can find them at this website:

http://www.goodfoodgreatmedicine.com/news/05_09.pdf

WebMD is another awesome resource. They have a "Cold and Flu Center" that has lots of great information. They also listed some great strategies for cold and flu prevention. Here are the websites 

http://www.webmd.com/cold-and-flu/cold-guide/11-tips-prevent-cold-flu?page=2 

http://www.webmd.com/cold-and-flu/flu-guide/cold_flu_stopping_germs_work

HERE'S TO A HAPPY AND HEALTHY WINTER!!!

Nurse Susan

WebMD Health Manager

Here is a fun and informative website that you should look at. This site has a simple health assessment tool that will give you a good picture of your current health status and information about how to improve your health based specifically on your results. Check it out:

http://www.webmd.com/health-manager

Go to the website and click on the "Get Your Personal Health Score" section. If you need your cholesterol or any other lab values, give me a call and I will get them to you.

Take care and have a happy and healthy weekend!

Michael Pollan's "Food Rules: An Eater's Manual"

I knew I loved this book when I read the title page for "Part I" of Michael Pollan's book Food Rules: "What should I eat? (Eat food.)". In other words, stay away from the processed stuff and eat food that is fresh and simply prepared. Here is the link to his website:  http://michaelpollan.com/books/food-rules/