Achieving & Maintaing a Healthy Weight
If losing weight (or maintaining a healthy weight) is on your list of New Year’s resolutions, you’re not alone. 
Many people start out the new year wanting to make changes- and health is usually at the top of the list. After all, life is about feeling good, and if we don’t have our health, it makes it more difficult to enjoy life. So, millions of Americans have set loosing weight as one of their health care goals for 2012.
Everyone knows that healthy weight loss involves good nutrition and exercise. It also means that our attitude and emotions can drive us to succeed or fail. To be successful, we need to want it, to choose it, and to envision it. We need to feel that the consequences of NOT doing something – or following through – are worse than the pain that might be associated with starting a new exercise program or trading our favorite cookies for fresh fruits and veggies. Let that desire be the motivating force.
We often hear in our practice, “I eat well, I exercise and I still can’t lose weight.” Sometimes people have other things going on underneath that makes it difficult to lose and maintain a healthy weight. It could be metabolic problems, hormonal imbalances, thyroid conditions, or unwanted drug side effects. Trying to figure out what is going on can be really confusing for people.
If you’re interested in learning more about weight loss or sluggish metabolism, Torrey will be giving a talk on How to Achieve and Maintain Healthy Weight Loss in our Lotus Room at the office on Monday, January 9th at 6:30. Call us for more information.
Healthy Cake for the Holidays
It’s the holidays and we are either bombarded with sweets or feel compelled to bake them (or both). If you are a baker, here’s a healthy recipe for you. It’s made with either winter squash or sweet potato. Both are a great choice for eating seasonally, and both foods strengthen Spleen function. The Spleen is the organ in Chinese Medicine that is responsible for digestion and our daily energy needs (extracting and utilizing nutrients from our food). If you try it, let us know how you like it.
Squash or Sweet Potato Cake*
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 cup brown rice flour
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon each: coriander, cinnamon, grated ginger
1 cup apple juice
1/4 cup chopped nuts
3 cups cooked, pureed squash or sweet potatoes
1/3 cup maple syrup
Preheat oven to 350. Mix dry ingredients. Add remaining ingredients and beat well by hand. Pour into oiled cake pan. Bake one hour.
Serves 8.
Can be converted into carrot cake by using 2 cups grated carrots in place of squash and by adding 1/2 cup soaked raisins and increasing maple syrup to 2/3 cup.
*From Paul Pitchford’s Healing with Whole Foods.
Conditions Acupuncture Treats
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Torrey always says we treat everything except acute trauma (emergency medicine) and cancer. And we do. Because acupuncture is an energetic medicine, and different aspects of the body are not separated out as in Western medicine, we treat the body as a whole. ( In reality, every part of our bodies are designed to work together intricately and beautifully). By treating the body holistically, we look at the causes of the conditions and treat on that level. That’s how we can actually restore the body to wellness and not just mask the symptoms. |
So, what conditions does acupuncture treat? Acupuncture has been endorsed by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the National Institute of Health (NIH) to treat over 5o conditions. These include:
- Addiction
- Anxiety
- Arthritis
- Asthma
- Bronchitis
- Carpel tunnel syndrome
- Chronic fatigue
- Common cold
- Constipation
- Dental pain
- Depression
- Diarrhea
- Digestive trouble
- Dizziness
- Emotional problems
- Eye problems
- Fatigue
- Fertility
- Fibromyalgia
- Headache
- Incontinence
- Indigestion
- Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)
- Low Back Pain
- Menopause
- Menstrual irregularities
- Migraine
- Morning sickness
- Nausea
- Pain
- PMS
- Sciatica
- Sleep disturbances
- Sore throat
- Stress
- Trigeminal neuralgia
- Urinary Tract Infections
- Vomiting
Are you surprised by some of the things on the list? Many people associate acupuncture and pain, but as you can see, acupuncture and Chinese Medicine can treat a whole lot more….
Is Acupuncture painful?
One of the most common questions I get from people is,”Do the needles hurt?” When most people think of needles, they think of big, hypodermic needles, like the ones they use to draw blood. Or, they remember getting those shots as a kid, which wasn’t much fun. Acupuncture needles are completely different.
They are about the size of a human hair, and nothing is on the needle or inserted through the needle. But, back to the question…. NO, generally the needles do not hurt. My son has been getting acupuncture since he was six, and loves it. One patient was apprehensive about the needles. After his treatment, I asked him how the needles were. He told me that he was talking with Torrey and waiting for the needles to go in.
He finally asked Torrey when he was going to start needling him and Torrey told him that most of his needles were already in. “I couldn’t believe it!”, he said.
