June 2016 - Sharon M Weinstein

The Chief

So you are the Chief – Chief Executive Officer, Chief Operating Officer, Chief Financial Officer or Chief Information Officer! What is that “C” contributing to your stress levels, and what are you willing to do to relieve the stress. Do you really think that stress doesn’t have an impact on your body, your memory, your ability to function as a Chief, and your outlook on life?

The numbers tell it all about the body

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 60% to 70% of all disease and illness is stress-related.
An estimated 75% to 90% of visits to physicians are stress related.
According to a study in the Journal of the American Medical Women’s Association, 60% of women surveyed said work stress was their biggest problem.
Job pressures cause more health complaints than any other stressor, says the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.

Your outlook

I can guess what you’re thinking… here’s one more thing I have to worry about. As a senior executive, you need to worry! You can’t – nor do you ever want to – eliminate stress altogether. Some stress is beneficial. I’ll even go out on a limb and say that stress by itself is never actually harmful or bad. It’s your reaction to stress that creates problems. It’s your outlook that counts!

We’re simply trained to ignore the signs of stress in an attempt to keep the problems at bay. No wonder: changing life-long behaviors is in itself stressful. This is a classic mind-body disconnect.

The Three Phases of Stress

As you know, just being in business today creates stress, and at your level, stress is more prevalent. Here’s how most people react to a stressor (such as: earnings announcement, problem at home, manufacturing flaw, countless and mind-numbing meetings):

First, in what is called the “Alarm Phase,” they react to the stressor. This might result in a burst of anger, shock, or surprise.
Second, they move into the “Resistance Phase,” when they begin to adapt to the stressor. They learn to cope with the dysfunction, lack of sleep, or 16-hour work days. This phase can last for years, and after a while will feel very “normal.”
Third, the body finally loses steam. They go into the “Exhaustion Phase,” where their ability to resist is reduced. They’ll feel tired, unable to concentrate, and will often catch colds or become ill – the body’s way of slowing them down.

I know from experience that there are many ways to more effectively handle the everyday stressors, as well as those big once-in-awhile stressors. I’ve taught meditation, mindfulness training, breathing exercises, and disseminated countless bits of information on general nutrition and the benefits of regular exercise. Perhaps, as the C-suite executive, it is time for you to learn how to relax!

Squeeze a few minutes of relaxation into each day

Far too many of us lead lives that are frenzied and hurried from the moment we wake up in the morning to the moment we crawl into bed at night. The more packed every moment of your day is the more you need to make time to relax; for a few minutes of deep breathing to 20 minutes of deep relaxation or yoga. Making this a habit will keep you in better stress shape for the day that chronic stress knocks on your door, which it almost certainly will if it hasn’t already. After all, in your senior position, the problems land at your door.

The human system can tolerate a tremendous amount of stress. Over the years, however, too much stress breaks down your resistance to illness and disease and impacts your memory. Remember, the negative consequences of your stress are strongly influenced by your rest habits. Since stress is unlikely to diminish in our high-pressured American lifestyle, take the time throughout your day for the natural unwinding of your stress response.

There are only 24 hours in each day

You don’t have time to rest, you say? You have more time than you think you do. You could:

Do deep breathing while driving to work and during other stressful moments throughout your day.
Get up 15 minutes earlier and spend the time doing deep relaxation, yoga or journaling.
Take 2 minutes several times a day to tense tight muscle groups for 10 to 15 seconds, and then relax them completely. Repeat this two to three times each round.

So you are the Chief

How is the C-Suite treating you today? There is no better time to consider the actions that you will take to enhance your role and to preserve your ability to function as a Chief.

“A bird in the hand is the best way to eat chicken.” – Anonymous

Good nutrition goes a long way toward creating balance in one’s life! If your habits for nourishing yourself are not chosen with sufficient consciousness and awareness, you, more often than not, make choices that are not in your best interest. Good food choices support good health. For the past few weeks, I have been collaborating with the Power Women of NSA to achieve optimum health through food.

Think about it – as a society, we tend to choose poorly, relying on fast food, convenience foods and more! While the motto “moderation in all things,” is a simple and helpful guideline to create health, it needs to be interwoven with the motto, “energy flows where attention goes.” Balance alone will not give us optimal health, for there is a continuum of health practices and choices that you can and should make. Moving along the continuum of optimal health requires increasing consciousness and awareness about lifestyle choices.

How do we make healthy choices? How do we correlate the season with food choices that are easy on the wallet and on our health? Eating in season is not only possible…but healthy too. And let’s talk about our trip to the supermarket, convenience foods, cost, crops, taste, variety, and home grown – and getting through the summer without ruining our health!

The Supermarket Experience

Take a mental walk through your supermarket. Have you noticed how little fresh produce there is? Exclude the frozen and canned foods, and except for the dried beans and rice, you might be surprised to realize that none of the products in the main body of the store are fresh. They are all processed. Does it smell like food? How much of the products stocking the shelves are organic? We have heard of the problems with growth hormones. How much milk is there that is free of this? So much of what is considered “food,” is so deplete of nutrition and so full of chemicals that consuming it is hugely implicated in the rise in obesity/diabetes, cancers, Fibromyalgia and more.

Convenience Foods

Go through your pantries and refrigerator at home. How much of the food there is real and unprocessed? We hear all the time about how processed foods are not good for us nutritionally, but it takes more than just hearing that to realize the truth of it. And how often do you stop to examine your assumptions about the foods you are buying? I have been reading labels for years and years, and though reading labels definitely helped me buy healthier foods, it did not help me realize how dependent I had become on convenience foods.

Most all of us have been raised in the world of convenience foods. It has become our paradigm to rely on convenient, processed, prepared food. The generations in their 40s and beyond will not have had as much processed foods when children, nor as much sugar intake as those younger. Those younger generations have no real experience of what it was like to live in a world where people ate whole foods. Hectic work schedules lead to overuse of convenience and fast food. Do you eat and drive, talk on the phone, eat at the workstation? To this add that about 40% of all our meals are regularly eaten at restaurants or fast food chains, and very few of the countless options for us to choose from are organic, vegetarian, or serve beef and lamb that are grass fed. If the food is not organic then it is genetically modified. What we are doing to ourselves with all of this we hardly know.

Eating In

Can you remember when the family meal was a time when all family members were together engaging in a ritual that brought cohesion, relaxation, good conversation and laughter — great elements for proper digestion. Can you bring back the smells of the home cooked foods, memories of special tablecloths and dishes, the fun of candlelight dinner? Perhaps you had the bounty of coming from a family where everyone pitched to help with the preparation and clean up, so that when the meal was over, everyone could sit down and relax for the rest of the evening.

Eating Out

Let’s face it … we are all overextended, and Americans do tend to eat out fairly often. We might select foods that are easiest to get into our mouths quickly and on the go. The easiest foods are too often the worst for us: highly refined, processed, and packaged foods. Most restaurants will cater to special dietary requests. Never hesitate to ask for healthful choices. For example, most pasta dishes can be made with whole grain pasta in lieu of white flour; ask, and be pleasantly surprised.

Slow Food

The Slow Food movement is a call to reverse trends that have taken people away from these healthier practices. “Ultimately [living the slow life] is about pleasure and taste, knowledge and choice. Once we begin to take an interest in the enjoyment of food, and in finding out where our food comes from, we can begin to see the effects of these choices. When we shorten the distance — both literally and figuratively — that our food travels to get to us, we are participating in the Slow Food movement. Slow Food is about coming together as a food community — community producers and co-producers come together at the farm, in the market and at the table to create and enjoy food that is good, clean and fair. Slow Food is also simply about taking the time to slow down and to enjoy life with family and friends. Every day can be enriched by doing something slow.” (www.slowfoodusa.org.)

Quick Tips for Shopping Healthy

Shop the perimeter of the grocery store, where fresh foods like fruits, vegetables, dairy, meat, and fish are usually located.
Avoid the center aisles where junk foods lurk.
Choose “real” foods with as little processing and as few additives as possible. Remember, if you want more salt or sugar, you can always add it yourself.
Avoid foods that contain more than five ingredients, artificial ingredients, or ingredients you can’t pronounce.

Produce: Cost and Crops

Produce is in season – it makes perfect sense to buy fresh! Where do you go to find simply healthy foods? My favorite places to shop are fresh markets with great selections. You walk in and smell the aroma of fresh vegetables and fruit; your eyes are flooded with the beautiful array of colors of fresh vegetables and fruits that fill the space.

Produce is readily available and the cost of seasonable products creates real savings to one’s wallet. Even with the weather challenges we have faced, the crops look good, and taste even better.

Taste

Taste can be as important as cost. Think about it. Would you rather eat a dark red, vine-ripened tomato still warm from the summer sun or a winter hothouse tomato that is barely red and lacking in flavor? Fresh, locally harvested foods have their full, whole flavors intact – and you can taste the difference.

Variety

Explore what is harvested locally in your own area by visiting www.localharvest.org and identify farmers’ markets near you. You will also discover seasonal produce guides.

Homegrown

Although it is virtually impossible to eat locally and in season 100% of the time, we can make a good effort. If possible, grow it and pick it yourself. If gardening is not for you, visit a local farmer’s market weekly or join a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm to acquire fresh products at local distribution locations. Determine what is in season now, and get started on the road to fresh! Why worry – read on!

Shorter times between harvesting and consumption enhance the nutritional value of foods. Logically, this means you should buy produce from your local growers in season. Local generally means 150 miles from your home. Visit the local farmers’ markets — and get to know the farmers. The more you learn about how the farmer farms, the better a consumer you can be. Another factor to consider is food safety. While buying locally doesn’t guarantee food safety, it does limit the processing, the time, the number of steps, and the numbers of human-to-food interactions between harvest and consumption. “Shipping is a terrible thing to do to vegetables. They probably get jet-lagged, just like people.”

Organic – or not?

Organic is a way of growing crops in greater harmony with nature, without using synthetic pesticides, fertilizers, antibiotics or growth hormones. Certified Organic products must be grown and processed according to the USDA Organic Standards with inspections to verify organic authenticity.

Organic foods are:

Regulated by strict standards and yearly inspections.
As low as possible in synthetic chemicals (pesticides, fungicides & fertilizers)
Processed without synthetic colors, flavors, preservatives and other common additives.
In greater harmony with nature using methods to protect soil, water and air quality.
Safer for farmers to grow.

Organic foods are not necessarily:

More nutritious than other foods. Freshness and level of refining have greater impact on nutrients.
Pesticide-free. Some chemicals persist in the soil for years; others come from nearby farms or water supplies.

Reasons to buy organic:

To protect the environment.
To reduce chemicals in your food.
To avoid genetically engineered food.
To avoid food processed with irradiation.
To avoid use of antibiotics and synthetic growth hormones in animals.

Reasons not to buy organic:

Products often cost more.

Recommended Produce to Purchase Organically or Chemical-free

Highest in pesticide residue: peaches, strawberries, apples, cherries, sweet bell peppers, lettuce, celery, pears, nectarines, spinach, grapes (imported).

Lowest in pesticide residue: onions, asparagus, avocado, kiwi, sweet corn (frozen), bananas, pineapples, cabbage, mango, broccoli, sweet peas (frozen), eggplant. (Source: Environmental Working Group)

So, go ahead and eat to live … making wise choices and maintaining your health!

How’s the C-Suite treating you today?

Eat to live…

To start the process:

Archives for June 2016

To start the process: