UpBeat Living: Cooling Foods and Drinks for Hot Days (Not Always What You Think)

Tags

Effective living, energy, energy foods, exhausted, fatigue, Feeling energized, heat stress, stress, Stress Management, Summer stress

© 2014  Kebba Buckley Button, M.S., O.M.  World Rights Reserved.

 

Old Mission San Juan Capistrano
© 2014 Kebba Buckley Button, M.S., O.M. World Rights Reserved.

Is it blazing hot and really dry where you live?  Yet life can be beautiful in these conditions.  I want you to thrive all the time.  In the Summer heat, that can be challenging.  But you’ll be up for it if you’ve read all 3 of my summer thriving articles.  This is the third.

 

In the last 2 articles on dealing with the hottest Summer days, I covered :

• – Protecting your body and skin
• – Getting enough rest, and
• – How to strategize to have the most energy you can

 

In this article, I offer ideas on how to eat– and drink– cool to keep cool!  This is not always the cold foods you would think.  And it’s not always the sweet, icy, and alcoholic drinks you might think of, to cool you off.  Follow these three tips to switch what you swallow, to feel your best:

 

1.  Stay hydrated!  Drink filtered water, that is, water with the chlorine removed.  Do not pay for an expensive water-conversion system to alter the water molecules (which we’ll discuss in another article), without first removing the chlorine.  Chlorine is a poison to microorganisms (germs) which is the exact reason they put it in the public water supply.  Your body doesn’t need it, and it’s bad for you.

A simple table-top carbon-filter pitcher will filter out the chlorine, fluoride, and other bad-tasting elements of tap water.  You may find this water more refreshing if you keep it in the refrigerator.  You may also want to ask your local health food store about mineral drops to add to filtered water.  If your body is low on minerals, the drops added to your beverages will bring your stamina up the same day, or sooner.

Water is the most hydrating liquid you can drink.  If you hate plain water, try adding a little cherry juice concentrate, which will also give you a few carbs, potassium, and anti-inflammatory compounds.  If you’re hiking or working outside, you may enjoy half water and half organic apple juice, which again will provide a few carbs and a lot of potassium.

If you will be working or exercising outdoors a lot, do eat salty snacks!  They’ll make you thirsty and keep you from losing too much of your body’s moisture through sweat.  Check with your doctor about your ideal personal salt balance.

 

“Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration.”

– Thomas A. Edison

 

 

2. Avoid sugary foods and drinks, and alcohol!  These will make you more thirsty and tired after the initial refreshing sensation.  Avoid all artificial sweeteners (which we’ll discuss in a future article), going for fruit juices and concentrates as flavors.  Anything with sugar, alcohol, or caffeine will give you a little boost, then put the squeeze on your kidneys.  Alcohol is, for some purposes, a super sugar.  So limit that, plus all refined sugars and caffeine, when you’re hot.  The decaf coffee drinks still are loaded with antioxidants, so you still will get a boost, but a healthy one.

 

3. Set your goal to get the most energy out of whatever you swallow.  Think of it this way: part of the art of eating well and healthfully in the hottest times of summer is having quick food to grab.  Because you and your family will often come home tired on blasting hot days, you’ll be grateful to yourself for keeping healthy cool foods ready to eat.  Some of these could be:  celery sticks, jicama sticks, cucumber slices, cherry tomatoes, cherries, berries, grapes, bananas, pineapple chunks, dates, peaches, nectarines, yogurts, roasted chicken (available at your grocery store), pan-broiled salmon (you made it last night and chilled it), hard-boiled eggs, boiled organic potato chunks, cans of organic beans or chick peas, and raw almonds or cashews.

You might call this collection, “the fastest slow food you can get”.  Your grocery store now has trays of veggies, trays of fruits, prepared chicken, and even heat-and-eat ribs.  There are salads ready-to-go and salad kits in bags. Green salad is your friend, and as light greens go, Romaine lettuce is the most energizing.  It’s the lettuce in every “Caesar Salad”, prepared or in a kit.  As dark greens go, kale is the star of the nutritional show. Have a large dark green salad for dinner almost every night, with pieces of potato, avocado, and chicken.  Topped with your favorite dressing, it’s a quick and restorative meal.  You’ll feel alert and clear-minded all evening, and then you’ll sleep well.

Can you have great days and wonderful relationships in the desert summer season?  Absolutely, you can.  Eat well for the weather, follow the other tips in this series, and you will sail triumphantly through the hot season!

________________________________________________________________

● Kebba Buckley Button is a stress management expert and the author of the award-winning book, Discover The Secret Energized You (http://tinyurl.com/b44v3br), plus the 2013 book, Peace Within:  Your Peaceful Inner Core, Second Edition (http://tinyurl.com/mqg3uvc).  She also has a natural healing practice and is an ordained minister.

● Liked this article?  You can buy Kebba’s books:  just click the links!

• Discover The Secret Energized You (http://tinyurl.com/b44v3br). 
• Peace Within:  Your Peaceful Inner Core (Second Edition) (http://tinyurl.com/mqg3uvc)             

● Enjoyed this post?  Please click “like” in the FB widget in the right hand column!  You’ll have our undying gratitude plus a huge rise in your Good Karma.

● Please comment!

● Get these articles by email– just click the Subscribe Free option in the right column.

● Reach the writer at kebba@kebba.com .

 

 

UpBeat Living: How You Can Still Feel Great When the Summer Heat is Blazing

Tags

energy, exhausted, fatigue, Feeling energized, heat, heat stress, heat stress tips, UpBeat Living, vitality

© 2014  Kebba Buckley Button, M.S., O.M.  World Rights Reserved.

Desert Botanical Garden
Chihuly Glass Yucca Sculptures
(c) 2014 Kebba Buckley Button

 

Last time, I covered the defensive basics of protecting yourself from the hottest days of Summer:

• – Your body needs to get out of the heat
• – Your skin needs extra protection
• – You need to get enough sleep and general rest.

In Phoenix, our highs will be 105 degrees and up, for most of the next 8 weeks.  In Delaware, Denver, and Desert Hot Springs, it may only rise into the 90’s, but the humidity can be 30%.  It’s sticky.  You’re slimy. You can’t think or get motivated.  So how on Earth can you keep your energy and attitude up?

Here are easy strategies for staying upbeat and energized, thriving rather than just surviving, when the weather is searing.   You can do this!   Mall shopping is obvious, but what if you don’t want to shop?

1.  Use the cool hours to stoke your energy for the day. It’s coolest around 4 am, depending on how urban your area is.  The sun rises a bit after 5 in midsummer, so take advantage!  Run errands before 10 am and after dark.  Use 24-hour grocery stores. Play tennis at 5 am or 10 pm.  In Phoenix, visit the Desert Botanical Garden, open at 7 am, but for members, now open at 6 am Wednesday and Sunday.  The DBG is also now open until 8 at night, and the property is much cooler than the surrounding city. Phoenix City parks are open until 11 pm.  Try moonlight hikes, such as the Sierra Club’s monthly full moon hikes.

Schedule runs, workouts, picnics and hikes as close to daybreak as you can.  Even your dog would rather go out early. The air will be 30 degrees cooler than later in the day, and you can be active and even enjoy it.  Also, do your yard work or gardening at sunrise, while it’s cool.  Then plan other outdoor chores according to when your yard, or the activity area, will be in shadow; this may be after 4 pm.  Sun-sensitive walkers can use the hallways at malls as early as 7 am, and then stay for coffee.  And yes, you can use MeetUp to find a walking group, or form your own.  Stack your day like this, and you’ll be surprised at how much better you feel all summer.

2.  Missed the early morning coolness?  Go to the air-conditioned comfort of entertainment.  Shopping malls, movie theaters, and indoor ice skating rinks are waiting for you.  Many malls now have indoor playgrounds for your kids, and you can sit with your iPad while your kids play safely. 

If you like water fun, remember the City parks systems have swimming pools.  Also, many resorts have “day use” for their pools complexes, with water slides and cabanas—a new generation of high-end water park, with towels provided.  There is even poolside food and beverage service.  Just remember your sunscreen and re-apply often!

 

If you saw a heat wave, would you wave back?

~Steven Wright

3.  Try a change of location. Feeling the need for a re-set?  Go to a town or campsite at a higher elevation, to a lake or to a coast, and take a cool climate break for a day or three or longer.  This will give your metabolism, your brain, and your emotions a time-out.  You’ll get a fresh start on your return.

4.  Keep your attitude and activities fresh. The most damaging aspect of the desert heat, for some, is the tendency for the brain cells to bake until they don’t work well.  With heat stress, you can lose your concentration quickly, then your attitude, and then your enthusiasm for anything at all.  Filled with heat-blahs, you can make mistakes with people and actually damage relationships.  So resolve that you’ll stay as positive and perky as you possibly can.  Please, do not get sucked into conversations about how hot it is!  This will increase your sensation of being hot.  Ignore the comments or say something cheery like, “Yes, it’s almost like Phoenix in the summertime!”  Then talk about fun things you have been doing.

Novelty will help you stay alert and enthusiastic about life.  Do things differently.  Have you been to all your local art museums and galleries?   Round up friends to go try a new restaurant, or the dining room of a cooking school.  Go to summer concerts and plays in locales like Sedona and Laguna Beach.  Go to any ski town, ride the ski lift, and take photos. Visit Santa Fe on Labor Day weekend for the Arts Festival; you’ll need your down vest after sunset.  Got other ideas?  I would love to hear them.

Keep it cool and keep it fresh, and you’ll have your best summer ever, so far!

Next time:  how to eat to stay cool.

________________________________________________________________

● Kebba Buckley Button is a stress management expert and the author of the award-winning book, Discover The Secret Energized You (http://tinyurl.com/b44v3br), plus the 2013 book, Peace Within:  Your Peaceful Inner Core, Second Edition (http://tinyurl.com/mqg3uvc).  She also has a natural healing practice and is an ordained minister.

● Liked this article?  You can buy Kebba’s books:  just click the links!

• Discover The Secret Energized You (http://tinyurl.com/b44v3br). 
• Peace Within:  Your Peaceful Inner Core (Second Edition) (http://tinyurl.com/mqg3uvc)             

● Enjoyed this post?  Please click “like” in the FB widget in the right hand column!  You’ll have our undying gratitude plus a huge rise in your Good Karma.

● Please comment!

● Get these articles by email– just click the Subscribe Free option in the right column.

● Reach the writer at kebba@kebba.com .

 

UpBeat Living: Tips for Hot Summer Thriving

Tags

Eating, Effective living, energy, energy foods, exhausted, fatigue, Feeling energized, heat, heat stress, heat stress tips, hot days, Kebba, stress, summer stress tips, The life you want

© 2014  Kebba Buckley Button, M.S., O.M.  World Rights Reserved.

Yikes!  It hit 110 degrees today in Phoenix!  Summer is our weather-stress season, like winter is in cooler areas.  In the Summer heat where you live, have you felt great today?  Or were you hot, tired, and fog-brained?  Maybe even a little sick?  So could you use some expert heat-stress tips?

Feeling good, being well, and being productive, can be challenging in weather like this.  But you can feel great and thrive during even our desert summers, if you take these tips to heart:

1.  Get out of the heat. Do get 15 minutes of sun on your hands and face each day, for your body to produce enough Vitamin D. But you can get that while driving to an errand. The rest of the time, get out of the sun or wear sunscreen and sleeves.  And don’t stop to think in the full sun!  Adjust that grocery list before you go out the front door!

If you love to be outside, you can now buy special sun-blocking clothes from travel companies. You can get shirts designed to provide SPF 50 or higher, plus broad-brimmed hats with mesh-side crowns for through-flow of air. More difficult to find is the safari hat with its own built-in fan, but they are great for hiking. Cooling neck scarves are now widely available. Soak them to activate the gel inside, and store them in the frij between wearings.  Water bottles, with a battery-operated personal fan attached, are amusing and do actually help you keep cooler.

If you get too much heat, you’ll generally know it. But if people tell you your face is bright red, this is not good.  If your skin is totally dry, or if you feel nauseated or are vomiting, or if you feel totally drained and confused, these are clues you have heat exhaustion or heat stroke. Get to a cool, dim place, put a cool, damp cloth on your forehead, and try to drink water (with the chlorine filtered out).  Remember:

Only mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the noonday sun.

~ Rudyard Kipling

2.  Protect your skin. If you don’t want to cover it, at least wear some sunscreen. There are new generations of sunscreen in clear or opaque forms, or colored to function as makeup foundation. Many moisturizers and makeup products contain SPF 15 or higher for day use. Powdered mineral-based foundation makeups provide non-chemical SPF 15. If you’re wild to have tan skin, and you weren’t born with it, check out spray tanning or tanning moisturizers. Be aware that these do not provide sun protection, however, and skin cancer is a concern.  And remember to drink water to hydrate your skin. Support your skin by also eating foods that can help it stay moist and young-looking: fresh fruits, avocados, and dark greens like kale and baby romaine.  Get the organic versions if you can, and you’ll have more energy.

3.  Use common sense. Rest if you need to. Plan extra time to get enough sleep every day.  Nap if you need to.  And focus on thriving, throughout the month.

Next time: Keeping your energy up when it’s over 100!

________________________________________________________________

● Kebba Buckley Button is a stress management expert and the author of the award-winning book, Discover The Secret Energized You (http://tinyurl.com/b44v3br), plus the 2013 book, Peace Within:  Your Peaceful Inner Core, Second Edition (http://tinyurl.com/mqg3uvc).  She also has a natural healing practice and is an ordained minister.

● Liked this article?  You can buy Kebba’s books:  just click the links!

• Discover The Secret Energized You (http://tinyurl.com/b44v3br). 
• Peace Within:  Your Peaceful Inner Core (Second Edition) (http://tinyurl.com/mqg3uvc)             

● Enjoyed this post?  Please click “like” in the FB widget in the right hand column!  You’ll have our undying gratitude plus a huge rise in your Good Karma.

● Please comment!

● Get these articles by email– just click the Subscribe Free option in the right column.

● Reach the writer at kebba@kebba.com .

UpBeat Living: Food & Drink for Desert Summer Thriving, Part 3

Tags

Brain health, choices, DHA, Eating, energy, energy foods, exhausted, Feeling energized, food, Health, heat, Kebba, stress

© 2012 Kebba Buckley Button.  World Rights Reserved.

The second-biggest danger of the summer heat is going out of your mind.  No, seriously, in the heat, you need to keep your brain especially well hydrated and well-nourished.  Salmon is a star in the galaxy of DHA-rich foods, which keep your brain bouncy and clear-functioning.  Here is a simple recipe with some options for fun snacking later.

Pan-Broiled Salmon  for two and for later

Note:  You will need 2 10-inch sauté pans

2-2 ½ lb salmon fillet, boneless and skinless (easy package to

find in a warehouse club, usually super fresh)

Olive oil

Sea salt

Mixed peppercorns in grinder

Use sharp kitchen shears to cut the piece in half, so one half will fit in each of your 2 10-inch sauté pans.   Lightly oil the 2 sauté pans and sprinkle salt and pepper across the oiled surface.  Heat to medium-high, until you see the oil shimmer.  Place 1 salmon filet half in each pan.  Cook on that side until well-browned.  Salt and pepper the uncooked side, and turn with wide spatula.  Cook the second side until well-browned.  Turn the heat to medium-low (4 of 10) and cover.  Set a timer for 6 minutes.  Check the thickest piece for doneness: it must have no dark pink showing in the center.  Cook for several more minutes, if necessary.  Let cool on a platter until you are ready to take the portions for your salads.  If you are weighing cooked portions, weigh the amount you want, and then break up the salmon into attractive bite-size flakes.  It will look like much more than an unbroken piece.

Use the salmon hot and serve with a side salad, or chill it to use in portions on meal-size salads.

Lowfat Creamy Herb Salad Dressing (for 2)

½ c plain nonfat Greek yogurt (tastes creamy, is high protein, yet is nonfat)

1 T white vinegar

1 ½  T dry ranch dressing mix

Blend in a rocket/bullet blender for 30 seconds.  Add water 1 t at a time, and blend 10 more seconds, if a thinner consistency is desired.

Salmon Salad for Sandwiches

For each sandwich: flake 3 oz of the pan-broiled salmon

Blend with 1 T of the dressing

Use the freshest bread, include organic baby greens, and slice in some very fresh, ripe tomatoes.  Trim the plate with a few Kalamata olives.

Quickest snacks

Part of the art of eating well and healthfully in the hottest times of summer is having quick food to grab.  Because you and your family will often come home tired on blasting hot days, you’ll be grateful to yourself for keeping healthy cool foods ready to eat.  Some of these could be:  celery sticks, jicama sticks, cherry tomatoes, cherries, berries, grapes, bananas, pineapple chunks, dates, peaches, nectarines, Pan-Broiled Chicken, Pan-Broiled Salmon, hard-boiled eggs, boiled organic potato chunks, cans of organic beans or chick peas, and raw almonds or cashews.  You might call this collection, “the fastest slow food you can get”.

Can you have great days and wonderful relationships in the desert summer season?  Absolutely, you can.  Eat well for the weather, follow the other tips in this series, and you will sail triumphantly through the hot season!

______________________________________________________________

● Your comments are welcome!

● Reach the writer at kebba@kebba.com .

UpBeat Living: Food & Drink for Desert Summer Thriving, Part 2

Tags

at choice, choices, Eating, Effective living, energy, energy foods, exhausted, fatigue, Feeling energized, food, happy, Health, Kebba, Summer, vitality

© 2012 Kebba Buckley Button.  World Rights Reserved.

Here are more recipes for cool, light, filling, energizing foods for sizzling summer days.  The curried shrimp/rice salad makes a complete meal.  The pan-broiled chicken recipe gives you delicious chicken to use cold in salads or as protein snacks, or cut into pieces to add to stir-fry dishes.  You can stay cool and stay energized!

Curried Shrimp Secret-Energy Salad for two

Prepare the rice:

In a saucepan, sauté ½ large yellow onion (mild), chopped, in 1-2 T olive oil.  When the edges are brown, add

1 c basmati rice

2 ½ c water

1 t sea salt

20 twists black or citrus pepper

1 T dried parsley flakes

Bring rice to a boil.  Reduce heat to a simmer and cook on medium-low for about 20 minutes.  Batches will vary, so sample it and see if it needs more water.  When tender, fluff it.  Set aside 2 c of this to cool to room temperature.

Now prepare the shrimp:

Take 16 medium-large (31-40 per pound frozen cooked shrimp and drop them in a wok with 1 T olive oil and 1 t curry powder (or ½ t cumin + ½ t turmeric + dash of clove, + dash of cinnamon, + dash of red pepper powder).  Yes, this will seem like you are wokking rocks at first.  Keep stirring with a bamboo spatula so that the spices evenly coat the shrimp.  The shrimp are done when they are curled and firm.  Set aside to cool on a dish.  Remove the tails if they have them.

Now prepare the bed of the salad:

5-6 oz. organic baby romaine lettuce, baby Italian mix, or similar dark greens.  Favorite brands are Earthbound Farms and Private Selection organic.  You will get the most energy from baby greens and from organic greens, with organic baby greens having the most energy.

Use sharp kitchen shears to cut up the greens to bit-size.  Divide into 2 salad bowls.  Toss with Golden Yogurt Secret-Energy Dressing.

Golden Yogurt Secret-Energy Dressing  For 2

1 sweet golden tomato, chopped (can substitute 1 c

golden cherry tomatoes)

2 T olive oil

¼ c plain yogurt

10 mint leaves

1 t fresh lime juice

Pinch sea salt

20 twists white or pink pepper

In a mini-processor or small blender, blend until smooth.

Now layer on each salad artistically:

1 c chopped cucumber

1 c rice (sprinkle across)

8 shrimp

5 kalamata olives to trim, 1 in center

Parsley flakes—sprinkle across center

Mix the drinks and serve!                                                                                      –    –   –   –

________________________________________________________

Now consider this simple recipe for chicken.  Chicken prepared like this can be used hot when just done, cold as a plain protein snack, or cut in chunks and added, a minute before completion, to a stir-fry dish.  Enjoy!

Pan-Broiled Chicken  for two and for later

5-6 chicken breasts (“family pack”)

Olive oil

Sea salt

Mixed peppercorns in grinder

Use sharp kitchen shears to cut away fat globs from the chicken pieces.  Lightly olive-oil 2 10” sauté pans and sprinkle salt and pepper across the oiled surface.  Heat to medium-high, until you see the oil shimmer.  Place 3 chicken pieces in each pan.  Cook on that side until well-browned.  For a char-grilled flavor, cook until just black.  Salt and pepper the uncooked side, and turn with tongs.  Cook the second side until well-browned.  Turn the heat to medium-low (4 of 10) and cover.  Set a timer for 8 minutes.  Check the thickest piece for doneness: it must have no pink showing in the center.  Cook for several more minutes, if necessary.  Let cool on a platter until ready to slice enough for your salads.  Note:  If frozen chicken breasts were not entirely thawed when you needed to brown them, don’t worry.  Just follow the directions and be sure they get cooked all the way through.

Note:  Do not microwave these chicken pieces instead, since the flavor will be nothing compared to pan-broiling.  Flavor satisfies and brightens life!  The more satisfied you are, the fewer calories you will eat before you feel full.  Eat well and feel full, yet light, with these refreshing summer foods.

_______________________________________________________

● Your comments are welcome!

● Reach the writer at kebba@kebba.com .

UpBeat Living: Food and Drink for Desert Summer Thriving, Part 1

Tags

antioxidants, at choice, choices, Eating, Effective living, energy, energy foods, exhausted, Feeling energized, food, Health, Kebba, Recipes, Summer, tired

© 2012 Kebba Buckley Button.  World Rights Reserved.

Can you enjoy life and feel energized during the desert summer, even when it’s 110 degrees outside?  Absolutely!  And the right foods and beverages can keep you feeling fabulous.

When it’s hot out, you may often come home feeling drained.  You may crave sweet drinks, alcoholic drinks, and high-carb quick-fix meals.  However, if you each fresh produce and drink naturally energizing beverages, you’ll be surprised how much more you can do in your evening and the next day.  You will also be surprised at how clear your mind is, and how easy it is to be enthusiastic, since you feel better.  Try it!

Green Moteajo (“Mo-TEA-ho”)  Makes 2.

This is a nonalcoholic and energizing takeoff on the mojito.  Do eat the mint sprigs.

3 green tea bags

Filtered water (chlorine removed)

In microwave, heat 1 ¼ c water for 3 ½ minutes on high.  It should be bubbling slightly.  Steep all 3 tea bags for 8 minutes.  It’s better if you cut the teabags open and put the cut tea in a metal tea ball, then steep.

With 2 tall glasses, place in each:

8 ice cubes

½ c steeped green tea

6 oz/ ¾ c organic ginger ale

1 oz coconut syrup (optional) or coconut juice

1-2 8” springs of fresh mint

Stir slightly and serve.

 

Apple Limeonut (LIME-oh-nut) LuLu  Makes 2.

Organic apple juice

Coconut juice

1 large lime

Ice cubes

With 2 tall glasses, place in each:

8 ice cubes

6 oz/ ¾ c apple juice

4 oz/ ½ c coconut juice

½ lime, cut in wedges and each half-squeezed

Stir slightly and serve.

 

 

Secret-Energy Salad  For 2

5-6 oz organic baby romaine lettuce, baby Italian mix, or similar dark greens.  Organic spring mix is OK, but the flavor is different.  Favorite brands are Earthbound Farms and Private Selection organic.

Use sharp kitchen shears to cut up the greens to bit-size.  Divide into 2 salad bowls.  Toss with Secret-Energy Dressing.

Secret-Energy Dressing  For 2

2/3 cucumber, chopped

2 T olive oil

1 t each:  fresh, minced oregano, parsley, and mint

2 t apple cider vinegar

1 t fresh lime juice

Pinch sea salt

20 twists citrus pepper

In a mini-processor or small blender, blend until smooth.

Now layer on each salad artistically:

1 c chopped jicama

1 c chilled, boiled organic potato cubes (try a circle around the

bowl rim)

4 oz sliced pan-broiled chicken (recipe follows), or pan-broiled salmon, or chick peas (drained).  Arrange these across

the center.

8 organic cherry tomatoes (around rim, reserving 1 for center)

Sprinkle each salad with 2 T boiled egg sprinkles (pressed thru sieve) or 2 T shredded parmesan cheese.  Put that last tomato in the center.  Mix the drinks and serve!

 ________________________________________________________________

● Your comments are welcome!

 

● Reach the writer at kebba@kebba.com .

UpBeat Living: Strategies for Desert Summer Thriving, Part 2

Tags

choices, Effective living, energy, exhausted, Feeling energized, Health, heat, stress, Summer

© 2012 Kebba Buckley Button.  World Rights Reserved.

Today we continue our top tips for feeling great, even when it’s over 100 degrees.  Yes, you can enjoy life in the desert!

Photo by Kebba Buckley Button

5.  Use the cool hours to leverage your energy for the day.  Run errands before noon and after dark.  Play tennis at 10 pm.  Many city parks are open until 11 pm.  Try moonlight hikes, such as the Sierra Club’s monthly full moon hikes.  Schedule runs, picnics and day hikes at breakfast time, as close to daybreak as you can. The air will be 30 degrees cooler than later in the day, and you can be active and even enjoy it.  Also, do your yard work or gardening at sunrise, while it’s cool.  Plan other outdoor activities according to when your yard, or the activity area, will be in shadow.  Sun-sensitive walkers can use the hallways at malls as early as 7 am.  Arrange your activities like this, and you may be surprised at how much better you feel all day.

6.  Try a change of location.  Go to a town or campsite at a higher elevation, to a lake or to a coast, and take a cool climate break for a day or three or longer.  This will give your metabolism, your brain, and your emotions a time-out.  You’ll get a fresh start on your return.

 

7.  Keep your attitude and activities fresh.  The most damaging aspect of the desert heat, for some, is the tendency for the brain cells to bake until they don’t work well.  With heat stress, you can lose your concentration quickly, then your attitude, and then your enthusiasm for anything at all.  Filled with heat-blahs, you can make mistakes with people and actually damage relationships.  So resolve that you’ll stay as positive and perky as you possibly can.  Please, don’t get sucked into conversations about how hot it is!  This will increase your sensation of being hot.  Ignore the comments or say something cheery like, “Yes, it’s almost like Phoenix in the summertime!”  Then talk about fun things you have been doing.

Novelty will help you stay alert and enthusiastic about life.  Do things differently.  Have you been to all your local art museums and galleries?  Round up a group to go to the local ice skating rink.  Take a summer foods cooking class (see #4).  Try swimming lessons. Go to any desert resort for day use (usually under $20) of the pools, cabanas, drink and snack service.  Go to summer concerts and plays in locales like Sedona or Laguna Beach.  Go to any ski town, ride the ski lift, and take photos. Visit Santa Fe on Labor Day weekend for the Arts Festival; you’ll need your down vest after sunset.

8.  Eat cooling foods.  This is not necessarily the same as cold or icy foods.  In fact, many foods we think of as cold and therefore refreshing are actually dehydrating and/or weakening.  Sugar is dehydrating, so limit your sweetened teas, sugary “vitamin drinks”, milkshakes, coffee drinks with syrups, and frozen desserts.  Skip the diet drinks, also, because most artificial sweeteners cause ill effects.  Instead, drink lots of water and some fruit juices. Energizing yet cooling foods that are easily stocked in your fridge include:  broiled chicken or salmon, hard-boiled eggs, cooked corn on the cob, green peas (thaw, don’t cook), pre-washed greens, canned organic garbanzo beans (“chick peas”), avocados, celery sticks, jicama sticks, carrots, cherry tomatoes, and fresh fruits.  Learn to make smoothies out of fresh fruit, juice, and favorite dairy or nut milks; the newer blenders are easy to use and clean.  Make your own salad dressings in the blender, using a half cucumber or a tomato as the base for an herbed vinaigrette.  For dessert, would you like to experience something novel?  Try making something like Raw Coconut Soup (such as this recipe:  http://2raw.wordpress.com/raw-creamy-thai-coconut-soup/).  Raw foods give you far more energy than cooked or previously frozen foods.

So this summer, when others are melting and moaning, you can feel wonderful and have all the energy you want.  Use these techniques to rise to any occasion as the temperatures soar.  Feel cool yet vibrant, and this will be your best desert summer ever—so far!

__________________________________________________________

● Your comments are welcome!

 

● Reach the writer at kebba@kebba.com .

UpBeat Living: Strategies for Desert Summer Thriving, Part 1

Tags

at choice, choices, energy, Feeling energized, heat, Kebba, Summer

© 2012 Kebba Buckley Button.  World Rights Reserved.

 

Photo by Kebba Buckley Button

So before you came to the desert Southwest, did they tell you the summers can be a bit warm?  In cities like Phoenix, Tucson, El Paso, Needles, Laughlin, and Las Vegas, it can be over 105 degrees for weeks running.  In fact, it has been 120 degrees a few times, including in June 2010.  This is the region where people say things like, “It’s only 100 degrees today!”   Our vistas vary from concrete and stone cityscapes to green golf courses with lakes, to natural desert of subtle tones and often-sharp plants.  Your business or personal pursuits will likely take you through all these environments of the desert Southwest.  These tips will help you enjoy yourself and get the most out of life throughout our summer.

In our hot weeks, feeling good, being well, and being productive can be challenging. Back East, you wouldn’t dream of going out in a snowstorm unprepared.  You would of course dress properly and protect yourself from the elements.  Summer is our dangerous weather season, so you’ll want to dress properly and protect yourself.  But you can feel great and enjoy our summer, if you take these tips to heart:

1.  Accept that Summer is our physical stress season.  The heat magnifies normal stresses, physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual.  People may be crabby and tired.  In traffic, drivers may show less attention and courtesy than usual.  Even during the cooling effects of our intense summer storms, people can be short-tempered.  Plan to simply drop your shoulders, exhale quietly, and do your best in hot and tense moments.  

2.  Get out of the heat. Do get 15 minutes of sun on your hands and face each day, for your body to produce enough Vitamin D. But you can get that while driving to an errand. The rest of the time, get out of the sun or wear sunscreen, sunglasses, and sleeves.

Walk in building shadows and park your car in the shade or in a parking garage. If you love to be outside, you can now buy special sun-blocking clothes from travel companies. You can get shirts designed to SPF 50 or higher, plus broad-brimmed hats with mesh-side crowns for through-flow of air. More difficult to find is the safari hat with its own built-in fan. Cooling neck scarves are now widely available. Soak them to activate the gel inside, and store them in the fridge between wearings.  Water bottles, with a battery-operated personal fan attached, are amusing and do actually help you keep cooler.

If you get too much heat, you’ll generally know it. But if people tell you your face is bright red, this is not good.  If your skin is totally dry, or if you feel nauseated or are vomiting, or if you feel totally drained and confused, these are clues you have heat exhaustion or heat stroke. Get to a cool, dim place, put a cool, damp cloth on your forehead, and try to drink water (chlorine removed).

3.  Protect your skin and eyes. If you don’t want to cover your skin, at least wear some sunscreen. There are new generations of sunscreen in clear or opaque forms, or colored to function as makeup foundation. Many moisturizers and makeup products contain SPF 15 or higher for day use. Most powdered mineral-based foundation makeups provide non-chemical SPF 15. If you’re wild to have tan skin, and you weren’t born with it, check out spray tanning or tanning moisturizers. Be aware that these do not provide sun protection, however, and skin cancer is rampant here. And remember to drink water. Support your skin by also eating foods that can help skin stay moist and young-looking.  These include dark greens, avocado, and fruits.  Do wear sunglasses, especially if you are not wearing headgear with a brim.

4.  Use common sense.  Rest if you need to. Plan extra time to get sufficient sleep daily.  Plan fewer activities in your week.  And focus on thriving, throughout the month.  Ask yourself often, “what would work best for my energy?”

_____________________________________________________________

● Your comments are welcome!

 

● Reach the writer at kebba@kebba.com .

UpBeat Living: Staying Energized When It’s Over 100°

Tags

Eating, energy, energy foods, heat, Summer, tired, vitality

© Kebba Buckley Button 2010.  World rights reserved.

Last time, I covered the basics of thriving in the desert heat.  Your body needs to get out of the heat, your skin needs extra protection, and you need to get enough sleep and general rest.  This time, I share strategies for staying upbeat and energized, thriving rather than just surviving when the weather is searing.  Mall shopping is obvious, but what if you don’t want to shop?

1.  Use the cool hours to leverage your energy for the day. Run errands before noon and after dark.  Play tennis at 10 pm.  Phoenix City parks are open until 11 pm.  Try moonlight hikes, such as the Sierra Club’s monthly full moon hikes.  Schedule runs, picnics and day hikes at breakfast time, as close to daybreak as you can. The air will be 30 degrees cooler than later in the day, and you can be active and even enjoy it.  Also, do your yard work or gardening at sunrise, while it’s cool.  Plan other outdoor activities according to when your yard, or the activity area, will be in shadow.  Sun-sensitive walkers can use the hallways at malls as early as 7 am.  Arrange your activities like this, and you may be surprised at how much better you feel all day.

2.  Try a change of location. Go to a town or campsite at a higher elevation, to a lake or to a coast, and take a cool climate break for a day or three or longer.  This will give your metabolism, your brain, and your emotions a time-out.  You’ll get a fresh start on your return.

3.  Keep your attitude and activities fresh. The most damaging aspect of the desert heat, for some, is the tendency for the brain cells to bake until they don’t work well.  With heat stress, you can lose your concentration quickly, then your attitude, and then your enthusiasm for anything at all.  Filled with heat-blahs, you can make mistakes with people and actually damage relationships.  So resolve that you’ll stay as positive and perky as you possibly can.  Please, don’t get sucked into conversations about how hot it is!  This will increase your sensation of being hot.  Ignore the comments or say something cheery like, “Yes, it’s almost like Phoenix in the summertime!”  Then talk about fun things you have been doing.

Novelty will help you stay alert and enthusiastic about life.  Do things differently.  Have you been to all your local art museums and galleries?  Round up a group to go to the local ice skating rink.  Take a summer foods cooking class (see #4).  Try swimming lessons. Go to any desert resort for day use (usually under $20) of the pools, cabanas, drink and snack service.  Go to summer concerts and plays in locales like Sedona and Laguna Beach.  Go to any ski town, ride the ski lift, and take photos. Visit Santa Fe on Labor Day weekend for the Arts Festival; you’ll need your down vest after sunset.

4.  Eat cooling foods. This is not necessarily the same as cold or icy foods.  In fact, many foods we think of as cold and therefore refreshing are actually dehydrating and/or weakening.  Sugar is dehydrating, so limit your sweetened teas, sugary “vitamin drinks”, milkshakes, coffee drinks with syrups, and frozen desserts.  Skip the diet drinks, also, because most artificial sweeteners cause ill effects.  Instead, drink lots of water and some fruit juices. Energizing yet cooling foods that are easily stocked in your frig include:  broiled chicken or salmon, hard-boiled eggs, corn on the cob, green peas (thaw, don’t cook), pre-washed greens, canned organic garbanzo beans (“chick peas”), avocados, celery sticks, jicama sticks, carrots, and fresh fruits.  Learn to make smoothies out of fresh fruit, juice, and favorite dairy or nut milks; the newer blenders are easy to use and clean.  Make your own salad dressings in the blender, using a half cucumber or a tomato as the base for an herbed vinaigrette.  For dessert, would you like to experience something novel?  Try making something like Raw Coconut Soup (such as this recipe:  http://2raw.wordpress.com/raw-creamy-thai-coconut-soup/).  Raw foods give you far more energy than cooked or previously frozen foods.

So this summer, when others are melting and moaning, you can feel wonderful and have all the energy you want.  Use these techniques to rise to any occasion as the temperatures soar.  Feel cool yet vibrant, and this will be your best desert summer ever—so far!

Reach the writer at: Kebba@DiscoverTheSecretEnergizedYou.com .