Remember my dad back in the beginning of this campaign?  He had a heart attack.  I drove through my neighborhood doing a buck fifty to get him to the hospital.  Well after dad had a quadruple bypass, he quit smoking.  Yep.  Right there.  Did it last?  No.  But he cut back tremendously and it has made a difference.  He’s now one of those ‘I-smoke-when-the-mood-and-time-seem-right-for-a-smoke’ kind of guys.  Interesting.

I have some friends who still smoke.  You know who you are.  I do not see them as often as I would like but if I did, they wouldn’t be happy because I would give them a hard time about smoking.  It’s just so not worth it.  It costs a million dollars to do it and then costs you another million dollars to survive it.  Where is the deal here?

If you want to do anything for yourself, quit smoking.  I know it’s hard and I do not sit in judgment of anyone.  But this decision is less about you and more about those who love you.  Most of my friends who smoke are mommies.  And this means they run the risk of leaving those precious bunions (yes, bunions. You have a problem with that name?;) without a mommy, and that is not cool.  Think about it as much as you can and search for a way to quit. 

In the mean time, clean up everything else about your life if you cannot seem to stop.  This will lessen the effects of smoking but it is not a long term solution.  If you find yourself in the position of having to quit, you have my full support.  It’s hard and I don’t envy you but I do know that you can do it and you want to do it.

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My family is odd.  I am not kidding you.  In fact, my hubby is most likely reading this right now saying to himself, “You got that right.”  Now the oddness is more on my dad’s side than my mom’s side, but it doesn’t matter much…we’re some strange folk.  We’re a bit on the science side so we seem to speak a whole different language than everybody else.  We think differently and we’re naturally corny.  It is what it is.  But I also inherited some amazing genes from both of my parents that I can send a big, fat thank you to them for:  all of my numbers are low (BP, Chol, Tri, etc.), I look younger than I am (not by much but I’ll take anything I can get), my skin is great and my spine is still intact.  All in all, I have no complaints.

But you could have been given a different hand in the card game of life.  For instance, my hubby has high BP even though he works out 4 days per week, is in great shape, keeps a clean diet and plays basketball 2 days per week.  I’d say he’s stress free, too, but he lives with me so say no more there. Ha!  He’s been dealt a crappy hand and there is not much more that he can do to naturally reduce his BP.  

Knowing your family history is important.  If he didn’t know that high BP ran in his family, he most likely would not have been as diligent about diet and exercise the way he is now.  Don’t wait until it is too late.  Find out all the risk factors in your family and start to change your lifestyle according to that.  Get routine physicals to stay on top of those things and start taking preventive measures now.  Don’t wait for something to happen to be proactive.  Get to snoopin’ in the family biz right now.

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Diabetes is real.  It’s alive and well in the Black community.  And it annoys me.

Nothing bothers me more than ignorance or what I call ‘sound bite’ health tips.  If I go to a function—not necessarily a family function, could be anywhere—where there a large number of older black folk, I can lose my mind.

My community is being destroyed by diabetes and I am not “wondering why”.  Sitting at a table with the older generation and you begin to hear some serious nonsense being dispensed:

My doctor told me not to have fruit b/c it has sugar but to eat a low carb bar instead.  (Dear God in Heaven, level that doctor).

My nutritionist told me it’s better to have sugar free stuff than carbohydrates…(fill in the blank).  When probed further it was revealed they can have sugar free cookies but not whole oatmeal…really??

I could go on and on but I’m getting myself worked up again.  It’s awful the amount of misinformation that is out there in my community—and yes, I do as much as I can and support those that are dedicated to the cause full time.

Nature did not get anything wrong.  I will say that until the day I die.  WE have gotten everything wrong.  Nature is as consistent as it was a billion years ago.  There is never a time where you are going to find something man made that is better than what nature has provided.  Stick to a clean diet and you will watch your blood sugars come in line naturally and easily so you may better control them if they are still higher than normal.  Ladies, keep an eye on your moms, aunts and so on.  Make sure the information they are receiving is sound.  It will make a difference in the long run.  Believe me.

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Known as the silent killer, high blood pressure strains your heart and damages your blood vessels over a long period of time.  Most of us have no idea we are a walking time bomb.  We think because we are thin or ‘not obese’ that we do not have high blood pressure.  This can’t be further from the truth.  High BP is also genetic and sneak in and do some major damage when you least expect it.

Consistent exercise, a healthy diet like you read about on Jodiojo and quitting smoking are the best ways to combat high blood pressure.  Much ado has been made about sodium but this is not much of a concern if you are eating a clean diet.  Unprocessed foods contain minimal amounts of sodium and in some cases, people need to actually supplement their diet with sodium because there is so little in the foods they are eating.

Before hopping on meds, try modifying your diet and exercise regimen first.  You’ll be surprised at how much you can change in a relatively short time.

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You are not overweight.  You eat right most of the time and you exercise.  But you just left your doctor’s office with her wagging her finger at you telling you that if you do not get it together, she is putting you on a cholesterol lowering medication and you are not happy.  So what do you do?  Get stressed out about it and turn to food?  Heck ya!

Top 3 Cholesterol Lowering foods:

Oatmeal:  Don’t care how you serve it, I love it (actually, that’s not true.  I hate protein powder in oatmeal. Ewww.)  More importantly, it has been shown to lower your cholesterol.  Skip the Cheerios and hop on this stuff.  No time you say?  Crock pot it and eat it all week.

Walnuts, Almonds: and some other yummy nuts will help lower your cholesterol.  However, some of you need therapy when it comes to nuts so don’t eat a whole container talkin’ ‘bout, “I’m jus’ workin’ on my cholesterol.”  Ummm…yeah.

Salmon and O3: How many different ways can I say that good fats are the way to go?  I am starting to sound like a broken record.  Get on that flax oil now!

If you lost your mind from stress one day and had a salmon salad sprinkled with granola, walnuts and cranberries—I’d forgive you.

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This week is a week I like a lot!  I think we all tend to fool ourselves as to how much we do and how hard we do it.

The AHA is asking everyone to not only get moving this week, but to raise the intensity of that movement so it is challenging for you.  I know when I was younger, there was no such thing as intense workout and I couldn’t get enough.  Now that I am older, that’s changed a bit.  I love an intense workout—but I can get enough.  And I am smarter now and know when enough is enough.  But what I see in health clubs or neighborhoods are folks who move, but move at the same intensity day in and day out and then wonder why they are not changing. 

I cannot express this enough:  you do not lose weight because you move, you lose weight because you did something *different* than what your body was accustomed to and it had to work harder as a result of that. 

As long as you keep that in mind, you will be more likely to up the intensity on your own and watch your results soon follow!

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No matter how many times we hear that there is always someone who has to give in to the temptation to do more, eat more, have more, etc.  Gas pumps are rigged so that you cannot “top off” the tank yet people find a way to do it anyways, spilling some down the side of the car onto the pavement below.  We always want more, more, more…until it comes to your BMI.  Then you want to start thinking less, less, less!

I am not going to go into BMI (Body Mass Index) in depth, instead I am just going to tell you that it is a measure for some health professionals of your weight vs your height and that in order to bring it down to healthy levels, I want you to do the following:

Move

Optimize your diet

Resistance train

Enjoy life

Now ladies, you must pass this on to your mom, aunt, mentor, co-worker, whom ever you deem appropriate.  If they are not living their life the way you are, you must help them out.  Don’t beat them over the head with it, love them with it.  They will be more likely to hear what you have to say.

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Keeping your food fresh ‘n new and inspiring your taste buds to keep you dieting is hard. It’s hard to vary green vegetables to the point where they begin to look like hot fudge sundaes. That takes talent.

And who wants to troll around the produce section of a store, looking lost, while searching for new and exciting things like: vegetables? Umm…not I said the pig. Plus, what if it tastes bad or even worse, isn’t that good for me.

Alright, alright…pipe down, already. The following are some veggies that you may have forgotten all about or never really paid attention to that are not obscure or unheard of that will surely give your diet a kick in the arse:

Cabbage: Sure, I know what you’re thinking. Thanks Jo, I just emptied a small convenience store in one swoosh. Not only are you not helping my cause, but you are creating mass destruction in the mean time. Ok, sorry. But cabbage, specifically red cabbage, is yummy and is stuffed full of antioxidants for beautiful skin and shiny hair. There are a bunch of different varieties of cabbage to choose from so you don’t have to stick with the red version, but it is my fave.

Cooking it: Saute it. YUM!

1 small red cabbage
1/3 cup chicken broth
2 T Olive, flax or udo’s oil
2 T lemon juice, divided
Clove of garlic, chopped or pressed

Cut up cabbage and let it sit for a minute. Sprinkle with 1T of lemon juice to preserve color. Steam cabbage in a pan with the broth for about 5 min. and then transfer to a separate bowl. While it is still hot, toss with the rest of the ingredients and enjoy.

Shiitake Mushrooms: I know, your freebies are mushrooms of every kind alongside trough size amounts of onions and peppers. Bear with me, will ya? You most likely buy the button mushrooms which are great for you, but they’re not shiitake. These babies are high in nutrients (iron, cholesterol lowering compounds, immune building phytonutrients) and come in a few different varieties as well. Not sure which ones are good ones? Grab the ones that are firm, plump and dry.

Cooking it: Saute it! Another YUM!

Same as above minus the lemon. However, make it into a soup after and it’s to die for.

4 cups boiling water and a ¼ c of miso paste and some sautéed onions and you are good to go. Let that simmer for about ten minutes and enjoy.

Lastly,

Swiss Chard: If you’re anything like me you are thinking: What in heaven’s name is swiss chard. Well I’m glad you asked…it’s a leafy green. Mmm, Jo. Just what I need (rolling your eyes), another leafy green. Oh stop it. This one tastes different. Like earwax with a sweet flavor. But don’t take that from me, try it yourself. Good stuff!

Ok, all kidding aside. It is different in taste that it is a bit on the bitter side, but its texture is what gets you. It’s nice and crunchy and also juicy. Good stuff all around. Plus, it’s not spinach.

Cooking it: Saute it! How’d you guess?

Only this time, no chicken broth. Use olive oil only and sauté it up with everything else. THEN, add 1 diced tomato, 6 black olives, ½ c crumbled feta cheese and 1 tsp fresh or ½ tsp dried oregano. This is different b/c it is warm and cold mixed together and the tanginess of the recipe adds just enough kick. Have fun!

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…do it at your own pace and do it for real.

Are you fatalistic? All or none? In it to win it or you just couldn’t care less?

If you or a family member is like this, you are not going to go very far in the heart healthy arena.

Yes, you can psycho diet and hit your goal quickly. You’ll be down 20 pounds in 8 weeks and aren’t you fabulous? Where will you be 6 months from then, though? You could still be down in weight, but odds are you won’t be any healthier.

The AHA doesn’t want you thin, they want you healthy. Having you lose the weight and the bad habits is not about making you look good in your room. It’s about keeping you alive in your room. Nothing is worse than getting excited about your new body and possibly having a heart attack because of it. Let me clarify that statement, too, because I think it will be lost on many. When you lose weight without investing in the process, you run the risk of having a weak heart but a lighter, faster body. This is dangerous stuff and you see this with people who want to just “lose the weight first” and then bring in the good habits second. The thing is, you strengthening everything—including your heart—when you do it the right way and leave yourself weakened and vulnerable when doing it the wrong way. Commit to at least one good habit every 2 to 3 weeks and you will be more likely to keep them.

Here are 3 of the easiest changes that you can get your mom, aunt, cousin, friend or whomever to buy into without them feeling backed into a corner:

1) Movement attached to something enjoyable. Typically shopping. Go with them to a mall and make them move at least once a week. While you’re doing that, ask them their schedule and have them tell you when they have periods of downtime. Give them examples of how they can fit 10 min. of exercise into those spaces. Things that do not count as exercise: running late, giving you the run around, jumping to another topic, etc.

2) One colorful food per day: Tell them they must eat one colorful fruit or veggie per day and they cannot have the same one two days in a row or more than 2 times in a week. That’ll make them a bit mad but they’ll get over it and begin to change or they’ll eat red peppers every day and tell you to MYOB. Beware of the latter.

3) A glass of water at 3 meals/day: You’re not saying every meal. You’re not saying they can’t have their precious diet Coke. You’re saying I just need you to have 3 glasses of water every day. If you can do that for me, I will {fill in the blank here: mow the lawn, pay your taxes, stop growing hemp in the basement, whatever} and they will be more likely to adopt this habit as well.

They say it takes 21 days to make a habit (and 3 min. to locate the nearest Coldstone Creamery—keep the away from Google!) so stay close to them for a while and encourage.

You know someone who is worth it to you. Help them along wouldja?

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…if so, you could be in trouble…

I am a true offensive driver (read that as off-fensive, not oh-fensive,lol). I know where I want to go, I take the shortest route to get there, I drive over anybody in my way I do not lally gag while driving, I know the rules of the road and I exercise common sense. Now it bears mentioning that this has been since I am older because when I was younger, the world was my NASCAR testing ground and it wasn’t pretty. But I can say that my dieting reflects my driving experience: I was a jackass dieter when I first started out and wisdom and total failure common sense have tempered my spirit. My question to you is, how closely does your driving reflect your dieting?

Turning left to go right. What is this? Unless you are driving a Duck Tour bus you need to get over yourself and stop thinking you have a 36” diameter steering wheel with passengers in the back. Take the turn for Heaven’s sake!

Dieting: Starting on Monday, Tuesday, next day…whatever. We have all done this one at least once in our lives. Some of us just did it this past weekend. “I’ll start again on Monday. In the mean time, I’ll behave like a Survivor at a buffet from Thursday to Sunday and hope no one notices the 5 pound gain.” Going up 5 to lose 7 is exhausting. Reign this one in.

Not knowing how to properly yield. I don’t understand this one. It’s a yield sign, not a stop sign. If there is no one there, you slow down and keep going–you do not stop. If there is someone there, you do not bomb through and drive over them and act like they were in the wrong by slamming on your brakes after you cut them off or tailing them for a half mile with your high beams on. It’s called YIELD.

Dieting: It’s a cheat meal not a cheat day, cheat week, birthday week, splurge, endless vacation or what have you. It should be a meal. Eating a full meal *while* making your plate is a sure fire sign that things are going downhill fast. With that being said, are you too conservative? Are your cheats things like smelling the food at the bakery across the street or licking the spoon after someone has ice cream in the house? Come on now, you have to have something that makes you feel good and you may have it more than once a week. Call it whatever you want, just use some common sense and YIELD to the desire but not overindulge or undercut your meal.

“Deer caught in a headlight” with cones/cops/cars on side of road: You get the point here. You’re driving down the highway at a good clip and the car in front of you slams on his brakes and drops 20 mph in less than 2 seconds. You’re thinking there must be a corpse in the road b/c why else would someone defy the laws of inertia in such a careless manner. Nope. Cop on the side of the road, has someone pulled over. Umm…ok. He’s busy. What do you think you’re a better ticket so he’s going to drop what he’s doing, hop in the car and go flying after you? Use some common sense folks. That’s actually a great time to practice slalom training or test out the acceleration in your 300 hp vehicle—not anger the 8 cars behind you that are now fishing their hearts out of their throats because they just saw their lives flash in front of them. If you see lights on the side of the road, exercise caution but no knee jerk reactions lest you kill someone behind you.

Dieting: You’re on fire and making progress. Your clothes fit better, people are complimenting you left and right, Maybelline just asked you to be their spokes person for their mascara, it’s on right now. Then you step on the scale and you have only lost 2 pounds in 4 weeks. Suddenly, everything stops. All your progress seems for naught. Now you feel fat, you remember you have been bloated, you may be in a plateau, oh the drama. No, you are letting a box dictate your life/results. There is more to dieting than the scale and you most likely lost bodyfat during that time and it does not show up on the scale the way you would like it to. Stop stressing everyone out, you are progressing, keep your eyes on the prize, get off the brakes.

Mismanaging four way stops and rotaries: Oh boy. This is a tough one and can be incredibly painful to watch. If you do not understand the basics of a four way stop (one direction goes, then the other) or the complexities of a rotary (the people inside have the right of way), stay home because there is always somebody out there like me who is ready to pounce on you. It’s an ugly scene all around and when you have folks coming at you from every direction, it’s really easy to become a piece of blubbering jello in the middle of the intersection.

Dieting: Leaving the house unprepared with food thinking that you can make it up as you go along. Oh boy. At the first sign of trouble you are going down fast. If you think you can survive a drive through making healthy choices or hold out until you find something healthy, think again. Once you’re in the middle of it, you are going to panic and make a wrong choice. Know where you are going and what you’ll need before you go and you will have a much better experience while dieting.

So here’s your homework. Do you do any of these things? Either dieting or driving for that matter, fix it now. These are setbacks on the road to your goals. And at the very least, they add at least 10 min. on average to your commute each day. Regardless, get it together and get more on the ball, will ya? We have some goals to meet this year.

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