Foods to keep you moving!

 Good foods for Arthritis 

What's ailing you: Arthritis

 

Ginger

Why it's good: This spicy root contains compounds that work similarly to some anti-inflammatory medications. However, ginger can also act as a blood thinner, so if you're taking a blood-thinning medication, ask your doctor if it's safe to eat ginger.

 

Eat up! Ideally you want to get a hit of ginger every single day. Steep a few slices of the root in hot water to make tea, grate it into stir-fries or add ground ginger to smoothies.

 

Pumpkin

Why it's good: Research has shown that certain antioxidants may help prevent arthritis, slow its progression and relieve pain by reducing inflammation associated with this condition. And pumpkin's bright-orange hue is a clue that it's rich in two of these antioxidants: beta-carotene and beta-cryptoxanthin. In fact, researchers from the UK found that people whose diets were high in beta-cryptoxanthin were half as likely to develop a form of inflammatory arthritis as those who ate very foods containing it.

 

Eat up! Try to eat one can of 100 percent pure pumpkin purée (not pumpkin pie filling!) every week. I make a "pudding" by stirring a dollop of pumpkin purée into vanilla yogurt along with a dash of cinnamon. You can also add a scoop of the puree to ground turkey meat sauce, taco filling or chili (the puree doesn't altar the taste).

 

Red bell pepper

Why it's good: Red bell peppers contain an impressive amount of inflammation-fighting carotenoids, but they also have more than 250 percent of the daily recommended amount of vitamin C. Research suggest that people who eat a diet low in vitamin C may be at greater risk for developing certain kinds of arthritis.

 

Eat up! Aim to have three red bell peppers a week. Mix pepper with cucumber, chickpeas and feta for a quick and easy lunch.

New Beginnings

As we grow and change in this world, we find things we have that we no longer need. As a child it could have been your favorite stuffed animal or a blankey. 

The thing we are not so good at, is getting rid of old things that although are comfortable, that can hold us so we can’t grow. Sometimes it is bad habits like smoking, sometimes it is places, like moving out of your parent’s house and sometimes it is people. 

Most times it is rather painful to let go of those things that brought you so much comfort and stepping out to a world of unknown possibilities. We normally look at the fearful things first, I think this is a type of protection aspect of our nature. Then we seek the positive possibilities. 

I was speaking with a friend this morning, and we were talking about how there truly are no limits. Every time it seems I am ready for something new, the teacher appears. All I have to do is accept the hand that will help me grow and gain knowledge. Not all things are needed, but it seems like that old saying, when the student is ready, the teacher will come. I have had some awesome teachers over the years. People that didn’t even know me that offered to show me things I needed in order to achieve a goal. Sometimes it didn’t make sense at the time, but later the need for the knowledge became quite clear.

In real estate they always talk of synergy, but to them it was just a word that meant constant energy output for eventual results. Even though you put energy into one thing and it didn’t pan out, that output would start a chain reaction that would help you seek your goal. Knowing how energy works, we see that everything we learn is for a purpose. It is not always apparent at the time, but it is still a tool in your tool box. 

It seems the more tools you have the more confidence you hold as you start new adventures. It is my feeling that the new adventures are what keep us excited about life. Sure we do slow down a bit, and I actually feel that is one of the benefits of aging. I wonder how many things I have missed flying through life going 9-0 and only seeking that next goal, never noticing the ground I had covered, the lives that I may have touched or those that wanted to share with me. 

We are in the first week of May, good old solid springtime. This is my favorite time of year! The world is waking back up from winter months, and so are we. Winter seems to be a time of reflection, and spring a time of action. I have wondered that because on the opposite side of the planet things are growing and thriving during our winter time, if the energy of the earth flows from one side to the other as the seasons change. She goes dormant during our winter and blossoms on the other side for their summer. Hmmm just an idea.

I was raised by a farmer and a rancher. Spring was the time of calving, planting, all things to do with growth. The energy of that lifestyle brings on a certain excitement. Life! New beginnings. Adorable new calves hopping around the pasture playing with each other, and on the farm side, seed taking hold and sprouting, a promise of a healthy crop. All new life, all with great promise, all with needs to be cared for and issues to be dealt with.

We see the same when we choose new beginnings. The ideas are full of promise, but there are needs that need to be filled and issues that need to be dealt with. But its that adventure, the unknown, and the confidence you hold that brings it to harvest. Sometimes we plan things and all our plans go awry. We studied, we managed, we worked hard, yet still the outcome wasn’t what we had hoped. Some will see that as failure. I don’t. I see it as a learning process, and I truly believe that if you look at things very clearly, take them apart, you will find that someone was helped along the way, a new lesson learned and knowledge stored for the next time. 

Sometimes it manifests just the way you wanted it to. You felt guided, things went smoothly, and you succeed in your goal. Sometimes it seems too easy, and it is in those times I feel that whatever you learned, and learned so quickly was because there was someone that needed your help sooner that what your goal was. Again I think if you look back you find this to be true too. We are all here for each other, we are all connected and we all play our part.

So here is to new beginnings. I pray you enjoy every one of them.