I am in the process of restarting my practice. I will be contacting patients when I have more specifics, but hopefully relatively soon. The Stanford Children’s EPIC help team is trying to open a new portal so that I can receive and respond to patient messages. All My Chart messages are currently being re-routed to the Redwood City PCHA office, so that I do not have direct access to them right now.
In the meantime, I am embarking on a weekly challenge to increase my health and well being. You are welcome to join along.
Week 6:
Sleep: Getting adequate sleep is one of the top 5 habits for improving health, longevity, memory, function, and mental wellness. Hardly any of us get enough on a regular basis. Then even if we do get to bed at our desired time, it may take a while to fall asleep, or we may wake up during the night and have difficulty falling back to sleep. Relying on sleep aids/medication may not give you the quality of sleep you need. Even the pink and white noise machines designed to help people sleep, are now coming into question as they are being shown to affect the different phases of our sleep adversely. Most of us know what we should do to try to improve our sleep: stop screen time 30-60 min before bedtime, set alarms to keep our bedtime and awake times stable, don’t eat for 3 hours prior to going to sleep, no exercising right before sleep, doing some sort of wind down routine, maybe some meditation, journalling, reading, or taking a warm shower or bath - whatever you find relaxing to reduce the stresses of the day and get your body in the right frame for sleep. There are so many things in life that compete for our sleep time. Our jobs, relationships, pets, computers, tvs, etc. We need to make the decision to make getting enough sleep a priority and stop making it dispensable. Remember the saying - if you want to get 8 hours of sleep (and many people need more than 8 hours to feel optimal), you need to be in bed for however long in advance it takes you to fall asleep
Week 5:
Grip strength: This is something that none of us think about until we can no longer open a particular jar, lift up that certain heavy pot, or open the prescription pill bottle. Like many things in life, you may not notice the decrease in function until you are challenged. Age, underuse, injury, arthritis, or disease can all diminish our grip strength. Maintaining good grip strength is now considered a marker of longevity. There are many devices available to purchase to help improve grip strength, or alternatively, you can improvise with whatever you have at home. More important than which specific device/method you use, is finding something that you can and will use regularly (at least 3 times a week).
Week 4:
Berries: Goal: eating 1/2 to 1 cup DAILY - fresh, dried, or frozen. Eating different kinds of berries (true berries, accessory fruits, aggregate fruits) ups their benefit as they help support our bodies in different ways. Most are low in calories less than 90 calories per cup (except Goji berries), all are a source of fiber (raspberries are the highest at 8 gm per cup), each type has super powers: brain health, memory, anti-inflammation, heart health (blueberries), immune system, skin, anti-inflammation, brain health (strawberries), heart health and anti-inflammation (blackberries), urinary tract prevention (cranberries), and digestive health and anti-inflammation (raspberries). Also nutritiously beneficial: Acai berries, gooseberries, elderberries, black currents, mulberries, loganberries, boysenberries, and Goji berries.
Week 3:
Stress. Some days we feels surrounded by it - with all aspects of our life affected. Most of us are aware of the connection between chronic stress and disease. Granted, a lot of stresses are not under our control, but I feel that just makes it even more important to try to diminish the impact of the ones that are. There are many recommendations for ways to de-stress: meditation, yoga, exercise, pet therapy, and socialization are just a few. One of the easiest ways, and one that you can do anywhere and any time needed, is simply do some deep breathing. Two common regimens are: 4/7/8 or 4/4/4; (breathing in/holding your breath/breathing out - each count being for one second). But it also doesn’t have to be so complicated, just taking a slow deep breath, holding it slightly, then slowly letting it out, when done repetitively can help reduce immediate anxiety, lower blood pressure, and slow your heart rate. When you feel yourself tensing up, heart racing or anxious, it is worth a try to see if this rhythmic breathing can calm your nervous system. Like many things in life, the more you utilize this technique, the more quickly and likely it will work. This is also a great technique to do when trying to fall asleep or to get back to sleep.
Week 2:
Balance. We all need to get better at it. Figure out your baseline. How long can you stand on one leg without wobbling, having to touch your foot down, or hold on to something? Whatever your baseline, try to hold steady for a little longer, or more often, or both! Be safe and be near a support to grab onto if needed.
Week 1:
Hydration. When you first get up in the morning, drink some water (any temperature - hot, cold, tepid. Increasing fluid intake is more important than adding qualifiers like only cold water to shock your system etc.) Staying hydrated is near the top of every health list. Most of us are not nearly hydrated enough. Hmmm, how many times have I said that? Recommendations are for 8 oz at the start of your day, to start rehydrating from your overnight fast (yes, sleep hours count as fasting hours).
Not being used to drinking a lot of plain water early in the morning, 8 oz was a little much when I tried, so I am going to start smaller, 5-6 oz of water before my coffee or tea seems doable (even if you don’t like to drink water). It’s all about making it an easy daily habit to remember and accomplish. I am going to put my water glass in the coffee maker slot so I will have to remove it before I get my hot water for coffee. We’ll see how that works.