Cut Back on Pain Pills

One of the side effects of growing older, at least for me, has been more frequent joint pain. I have arthritis in my hands and knees and some days it just HURTS! No problem, you might think. Just pop an ibuprofen and go about your day.

Well before you pop one more ibuprofen or naproxen...or worse yet...a prescription pain-killer, you might want to read all the warnings. Do some research. You just might rethink that move.

Pain medications do serve a purpose. There are times when you simply must have help to manage your pain. But in a society where we are told daily by many members of the medical community and big pharma that there are pills to cure everything, many of us have come to rely on them much too readily.

Regular use of painkillers such as ibuprofen and naproxen, even the OTC brands, may raise your risk of heart attack and stroke. They can also cause bleeding in your stomach, headaches, restless sleep, fluid retention, and a whole list of other problems. Prescription drugs can do the same and more. Unless you've been living off-planet in recent years, you are well aware of the opioid problem.

Fortunately there are some alternative ways to deal with pain without medication. Here are some tips:

1. Reduce your stress. Stress can contribute to pain. Try relaxation and stress management techniques to help.

2. Meditation. Learn how to read your body's signals and become more in tune with your physical self. This can help ease tension and promote relaxation. Meditation can even help reduce your sensitivity to pain.

3. Exercise regularly. One of the first things my doctor told me to do to ease the pain in my knee was WALK! When you exercise, you produce endorphins which help minimize pain. "Runner's high" is a real thing...a "feel good" sensation caused by the production of endorphins.

4. Get a massage. I now get a regular manicure just so I can get the hand massage that goes with it!

5. SLEEP! Sleep is important to healing and managing stress. Try for 7-8 hours of restful sleep every night.

6. Eat healthy food. There are foods that can cause inflammation, which aggravates pain. And there are foods that can help reduce it. Plus your body works more effectively when it's running on healthy fuel.

7. Try a chiropractor. I admit I used to think chiropractors were all charlatans. But then I was sent to one to help with my hip pain. I'm a convert. Not sure how they do the voodoo they do, but it works!

8. Keep busy. Having things to focus on will help you occupy your mind and keep it from focusing on how much you hurt.

It's important not to ignore pain. It is often a warning signal that something isn't right. Don't be afraid to tell your doctor when you are experiencing pain. Just don't get complacent about taking a pill every time you feel a twinge. Try some of the above techniques. Save the pills for when you TRULY need them.

Easy Changes to Incorporate More Exercise Into Your Life

Having a family, a career, and a hectic schedule leaves little time for a fitness routine. However the benefits to being physically fit are numerous and should be a priority in any family.

Choosing to make fitness a permanent part of your life takes a good amount of willpower, determination, and hard work from everyone. There are many ways you can incorporate fitness to fit your busy schedule.  It may take some planning and you might have to be creative at times. Just remember to stay active.  Making small, positive changes to your daily routine can help rid your family of bad habits and have you on your way to a physically fit life.

Fitness for Busy Families: Top Tips for Sticking To Your Plan

The busy life of a typical family today leaves little room for a scheduled fitness routine.  It’s easy to make resolutions every year to hit the gym, workout every day, and live a healthier lifestyle.  However, keeping with it and actually succeeding is a different story for most people.  In order to retain any form of discipline in your daily life you have to incorporate small changes in your routine.

Don’t go overboard – No matter what fitness goals you have, it’s important to remember to start small.  If you aren’t used to exercising make sure you work up to that super intense, hour-long workout. Don’t just jump in. (By the way...that really isn't necessary. A 30 minute walk will do just fine.) 

Find something you are comfortable doing and begin there. Take that walk for 20-30 minutes, do a round of crunches, jumping jacks or push-ups, or even just run in place for a few minutes. You don’t have to start with a workout that pushes all your limits. Just start small and build up over time. This will make it easier to stick with it.

Partner up – Choose a family member or friend who will hold you accountable to stick to your fitness plan. Carve out a specific time to meet up and workout together and keep track of how far you’ve come. It’s much harder to give up when you have someone pushing you in the right direction.  Likewise, you will be helping move someone else in the right direction as well. 

Choose your likes – It will be impossible to stick with a fitness plan if you are consistently doing things you don’t like. You will lose interest in no time and go back to your old habits. Choose a workout according to the things you enjoy. Walking, running, strength training, and/or yoga are just a few areas that may spark your interest.  It will be much easier to push your limits and will keep you headed toward your fitness goals.

Take a break – It’s important to throw a lazy day or two into your fitness routine. You can’t expect to workout seven days a week without hitting burnout in a short amount of time. Take a day to just relax and regroup. Figure out your workout plan for the next week and schedule time each day to make sure you get it done. You will jump back into your workout re-energized and ready to start a new week. 

Any fitness plan needs a little bit of organization and planning in order to stick with it. As soon as you begin, the excuses will creep in, you will get busy, and your fitness goals will go right out the door.  Planning in advance, and making sure to follow some of these tips will help to avoid these excuses and set you on a path to hit and exceed the goals you’ve set. 

How Clean Are Your Cleaning Products?

We all know keeping our homes clean and sanitary is an important part of good health. I know as a wife., mother, and grandmother, I want my family to live in a clean and safe environment. Cleaning product companies know how important that is to us also. And they are happy to provide us with an arsenal of sprays and liquids and wipes to help us out. Kitchen cleaners, bathroom cleaners, floor cleaners, fabric deodorizers, air fresheners...and specialty cleaners for each of those areas. Toilet cleaner and shower for the bathroom. Oven cleaner for the kitchen. Cleaner for wood floors. A different cleaner for tiles. Window cleaner. SOOO MANY CLEANERS!!! And all of them guaranteed to get rid of dirt and germs...AND leave your home smelling fresh and clean.

And for the most part, they live up to that promise. Most homes are pretty clean. But what the makers of these products don't tell you is the impact they can be having on your health.

I first discovered the problem when my children were small. When cleaning the house would send them into an full-on asthma attack, you know something isn't right. And so I started researching the ingredients in the cleaners I was using. Imagine my surprise when I found that many of them contained toxic chemicals. Yes, some of these could cause or worsen my daughter's asthma. Others could cause everything from breast cancer to birth defects. And yet they were in the products I was encouraged to use...IN MY HOME! EVERY DAY!

Unfortunately, you can't just look at the label and avoid products with harmful chemicals. Many cleaning labels will list ingredients that make little sense to us. Companies may list anionic surfactant or they may say dish protectant. What the heck is that? I want to know exactly what's in the products I'm spraying all over my home. But it seems companies are better at listing what isn't in their product. No phosphorous, no CFCs, and no bleach are popular things to tout on a label. But if you want to know the specifics, you often have to go through customer service to get answers.

How do you clean your home and keep your family safe from harmful, toxic chemicals? Here are some tips.

1. Make your own safer cleaning products. With just a little baking soda, white vinegar, lemon oil, and water, you can get a lot of clean. There are recipes for green, safe cleaning products all over the internet. Just Google them and whip up a batch.

2. Read the labels. I know I said most companies don't fully disclose their ingredients. But if the label has words like "poison", "toxic", "caution", "warning" or "danger", it does not go in my shopping cart. And don't be fooled by vague terms. Just because it says "natural" or "eco-friendly" on the label doesn't mean it's true. Those terms, and many others, are totally unregulated. there are no standards a company has to meet to say it's cleaning products are "natural."

3. Buy fragrance-free products. Synthetic fragrances can trigger asthma and may contain hormone-disrupting chemicals.

4. Stop using "disinfectants". If your family is healthy, you don't need to regularly disinfect your house. Improper use of disinfectants can contribute to "resistant" bacteria (meaning the disinfectant won't work anymore). Plus there are studies suggesting our fascination with keeping our environments as sterile as possible may be leading to the rise in asthma, autism, and other conditions. We aren't being exposed to common everyday germs and so we do not develop an immune system that can handle them.

There are definitely times when you will want to disinfect while cleaning. But there is no need to do it every time you clean.

5. Wash your hands with plain soap and water. Antibacterial soap provides no additional benefit over plain soap.

6. Use green cleaning products. If you don't want to take the time to make your own, there are more and more companies producing safer cleaning products. Check out this article for a list of the best natural cleaning products.

Or try the one I use. Versatile enough for every room of your home, this all-purpose formula uses natural baking soda and plant-derived surfactants to remove grease, dirt and grime, from upholstery as well as hard surfaces. You can get it here.

8 Health Tips To Take Back To The Office

Here we go again! When things shut down last year, our lives got turned upside down. One day ran into the next and it seemed like the year just went on forever. We didn't have the familiar routines that are so much a part of our daily lives. Get up. Make the coffee. Feed the kids. Get them to school. Head to the office. Now our office was often in a corner of the kitchen, in a spare bedroom, or anyplace we could find some quiet...and a good internet connection...to get some work done.

But then the world started opening back up again. After a year of isolation and lockdowns, we were starting to feel normal. We started returning to our offices, leaving those home "offices" behind. Life was going to be good again.

Until the Delta variant arrived. Now all of a sudden we're hearing talk of surges and mask mandates all over again. But this time, something is absent. There is no talk of lockdowns or quarantines. People are still being encouraged to return to work.

This isn't a post on the right or wrong of how we are handling the pandemic. I'm not a political writer and so will not get into the political fisticuffs I'm seeing everywhere. I'm only interested in one thing...helping you stay as healthy as possible. 

It's hard enough to stay healthy when you sit behind a desk all day. Add a deadly pandemic to the mix and it can be scary. So now is the time to make sure you are diligent in following good health habits. The following tips will help you return to the office a smoothly and intelligently as possible.

1. Exercise. Physical activity boosts your immune system, relieves stress, and improves your mood. Check out some work-out videos on Amazon. Take a walk around your neighborhood. When you get to work, park as far away from the entrance as you can. Skip the elevator and use the stairs. Get a fitness tracker and start counting your steps. You'll be surprised how quickly they add up!

2. Eat whole, nutritious food. Instead of hitting the local drive-thru pack a healthy salad with some lean protein for lunch. And even though returning to work often means snacks in the breakroom, don't indulge in that chocolate frosted donut. Pack some nuts or veggies with hummus or a hard-boiled egg. One of my favorite snacks is slice of bell pepper with guacamole. 

3. Get enough sleep. The recommendation for most adults is 7-8 hours a night.

4. Drink plenty of water. It's important to stay hydrated. 

5. Manage any stress and anxiety. If returning to the office causes you stress or makes you anxious, try talking with management to see what can be done to make you more comfortable. If you are still stressed-out, try some relaxation techniques such as exercise or meditation, or talking about your feelings with a trusted friend or therapist.

6. Practice physical distance. But that doesn't mean you have to be socially distant. We all found ways to connect during quarantine. Keep those lines of communication open and speak to friends and family often.

7. Don't ease up on precautions. Wash your hands. Practice physical distancing. Wear a mask in crowded, indoor settings. Stay home if you feel sick.

8. Just take it one day at a time. This is a new experience for all of us. Most companies will have procedures and protocols in place to help employees return to work safely. There will likely be changes to the way things were before. Be flexible. If you are have issues or concerns, address them with your manager promptly.

This is a challenging time for all of us. But if we all do our part, try to maintain our own health, and practice simple precautions to help others stay healthy as well, we can keep our workplaces safe.

Be Competitive to Lose Weight and Get Fit

Competition is a motivational tool that’s been used for centuries. People compete in games, among their peers and with themselves. The need to compete isn’t something new.

The desire to join some type of competition stems from the natural desire to win or achieve something. It also comes from the need to push beyond previous limits to improve life or physical performance.

And the competitive spirit urges people to try harder. That’s why a weight loss tool that’s built around a competitive foundation is one that’s popular and in high demand. Take the "Run The Year" challenge I am currently in which I am currently participating. It's a challenging, fun, and competitive way to get rid of unwanted pounds...even though it's not an actual competition.

It can be turned into a specific game of weight loss that taps into that in-born desire to win. Even if you’re someone who’s struggled to lose weight in the past because your desire or motivation dwindled, this could help you.

It works by having you set a goal of running (or walking) 2021 miles this year. There is a medal and a T-shirt. Plus you get a "reward" for every 100 miles completed - a digital "bib" with your photo and mileage that you can post on social media to celebrate your achievement. It’s this competition to hit that next goal that can help drive your determination and keep you from giving up.

You can take part in more than one challenge at once. I am also currently participating in the Streaker Challenge to engage in some form of physical exercise every day in July. It’s easy to participate and convenient, too, since you work it around your schedule and log your miles in the online tracker. And there are FB Groups for participants to encourage, support, and giv advice when needed. You won’t be dealing with tany negative kind of talk. These groups are super-supportive and encouraging.

While the challenge does not focus specifically on losing weight, it does encourage you to be more active and get in shape in a friendly, "compete with yourself" kind of way.

It works because everyone in the groups motivate each other when we see someone needs a little extra encouragement. As you engage in the challenge, log your miles and strive for th next milestone. .

With the online tracker, you’ll be able to keep an eye on how well you're doing so that motivates you to step up your game when you see that you're behind in meeting your next milestone.

You’ll find yourself pushing beyond just to be able to post that next achievement on your social media page.

The power of competition works to help you lose weight, get in shape and best of all, it’s fun to take part in. Even if you're just competing with yourself

But the Run The Year Challenge isn’t the only tool that you can use to engage in competitive weight loss. There are fitness trackers that have the capability to challenge you against other users. There are other weight loss and fitness competitions. You simply do an online search and I guarantee you will find something that motivates you!

5 Concerns About CBD

CBD. It's the hot new trend in health and wellness. A thriving industry has grown up around the sale of all sorts of CBD infused products. CBD has been reported to help decrease pain and anxiety. It may help you sleep. It has been proven to help in the treatment of epilepsy. And it does all this without making you "high." CBD products cannot contain more than 0.3% of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the compound in marijuana responsible for making you “high.”


For now, it seems like CBD is a safe and legal addition to your health and wellness program. There are, however, still concerns associated with the chemical and products derived from it. CBD only became legal in the United States in 2018 when hemp became legal again, so we’ve not had much time to research its effects fully. For five concerns about CBD, read on.

Side Effects

CBD’s side effects tend to come only at high doses. Make sure to start with a low dose and work your way up. If you tend to experience one or more of these side effects at any dosage level, CBD may not be for you. CBD’s side effects include appetite changes, fatigue, weight loss, dizziness, and diarrhea. You may also experience a funny “uplifted” feeling, but don’t worry. You’re not high, you’ve just had too much CBD.

The Unknown

According to FDA.gov, there are some things about CBD we just don’t know. We have only been taking and researching CBD for a couple years and solid scientific research takes much longer than that.

Some unknown questions, according to FDA.gov, are “What happens if you take CBD daily for sustained periods of time? What level of intake triggers the known risks associated with CBD? How do different methods of consumption affect intake (e.g., oral consumption, topical, smoking or vaping)?

What is the effect of CBD on the developing brain (such as on children who take CBD)?” These are valid questions you should be aware have no solid answer. Experiment at your own risk, AND always use caution. It is also a great idea to consult a medical professional before using CBD to treat a mental or physical illness.

Another cause for concern is the unreliability of the purity and dosage of CBD in products. A recent study of 84 CBD products bought online showed that more than a quarter of the products contained less CBD than labeled. In addition, THC was found in 18 products.

Concerns for Pregnant Mothers Taking CBD

We do not know how CBD effects a developing child or fetus. Pregnant mothers should use caution before putting anything into their body because it will be shared with their developing child. It’s not that CBD is assured to hurt a growing fetus, it’s that we just don’t know. We don’t have enough research.

How Does CBD React With Other Prescription Drugs?

If you are on prescription drugs or even over-the-counter drugs, you need to stay in touch with your doctor before adding or taking away any chemicals. CBD’s reactions with other drugs is another unknown because we have not had enough time to study it. There are not reported cases reporting of detrimental effects from combining CBD with other drugs, but there is not solid science to say it doesn’t happen, either.

Other Potential Side-Effects

WebMD also reports that CBD has caused male reproductive toxicity in some animals (damage to fertility in males or male offspring of women who have been exposed), but we don’t know if it will do the same to humans. CBD can also cause liver injury, drowsiness and sedation when used in combination with alcohol or other downers, gastrointestinal distress (diarrhea and/or decreased appetite), and changes in mood (usually irritability and agitation).

As with all things, moderation and keeping your doctor informed are a great help. Don’t take high CBD doses unless you know it will be alright. Use caution because the hard science on a lot of questions involving CBD is out. That all being said, though, most people report CBD to be a mild relaxer, free of negative side effects. The ultimate judge is you.

Aqua Aerobics Can Help Dieters Lose Weight with Less Pain

One of the worst parts about getting into a workout routine is having to deal with the soreness you suffer from afterwards. If you were lifting weights one day, the next day you’ll feel a deep soreness all over the areas you were working out.


At some point, it hurts to even lift your arms or carry things. This goes double for leg workouts like squats and running, which can leave you with some pain in every step you take.

No wonder it's hard to get an exercise program going.

But don't despair! There may be a solution!

Some people have found a program that lets you get fit without nearly as much soreness: aqua aerobics.

The concepts surrounding aqua aerobics are pretty simple: when you’re working out submerged in water, you’re not acting against gravity nearly as much.

The water surrounding your body is much harder to move than the air around you normally would be, so it helps alleviate some of the pressure from your joints and muscles.

That same resistance is also what helps you still get a toned body. Water molecules are much more densely packed than air molecules are, so it takes more effort for you to move through them.

This is what causes your arms and legs to move slower through the water than they do in the air. When you’re doing cardiovascular exercises underwater, your muscles aren’t just fighting to move themselves, but also against the resistance of the water all around you.

Aquatic exercises can help you burn a lot more calories in a shorter period of time than regular workouts can. In a long run on land, you’ll likely only burn about 100-200 calories, which can be cancelled out completely by a soda or a snack.

Aquatic exercises, on the other hand, can burn upwards of 500 calories in a session, which accounts for a little more than an entire meal’s worth of calories. Calorie balance is extremely important in dieting, so burning off what you eat is important.


For people who already suffer from existing joint pains and problems, aqua aerobics can be a major game changer. While it can be difficult for people with bad shoulders or knees to get into the gym or go on a run, being underwater helps take the stress off of your joints and makes the energy come from your muscles instead.

This means that there’s a reliable option for those that would rather give up due to the intense pain they get from traditional workouts.

Why not give it a try? Many pools and fitness centers offer aqua aerobics programs. If exercise is causing you pain, this just might be the answer.