Category: Health

Misophonia & Me {Phobias}

Hello, my name is Tiffany and I have Misophonia, otherwise known as the phobia of sound. Me and my frenemy “Miso” go way back, all the way back to my childhood, to be exact. I know that a lot of people don’t know what it is so I’ll give you the basic rundown.

Misophonia is a neurological disorder, in which a person feels anxiety (sometimes even rage) in response to certain common sounds. It is also sometimes known as Selective Sound Sensitivity Syndrome. Some of these “trigger sounds” include coughing, sneezing, scratching, breathing, repetitive tapping of a pencil, music boxes, snoring….and a whole lot of others that can be classified as normal, everyday sounds.

While no one knows the exact cause of Misophonia, it is thought to be caused by a connection between the limbic & auditory systems, aka the part of the brain responsible for behavior/emotion & the parts responsible for hearing. As I mentioned above, I’ve had “Miso” since I was a little kid. The first triggers I can remember reacting to are music boxes, the sound of a ceiling fan & snoring. I seriously have to leave the room sometimes. It’s hard to explain the feeling that comes over me — my body wants to twitch and I get this panicked feeling like I have to get away. Things like dripping water or fingernail clacking will send me out of a room lickity split.

Sadly, at this point in medical history, there is not yet a cure since this is still considered a ‘new’ disorder. The most common way I deal with is it is to leave the room where the trigger is. In cases that I can’t leave, I sometimes have to take panic attack medication to ease the tension. There are no proven coping strategies out there and, in reading up on it, I find that people deal with it in a wide array of ways.

I run into people who think I am ‘freaking out over a little problem’ but they don’t understand what it is that I’m going through. These noises will fill your mind until you cannot hear anything else; where all you can focus on is that noise. It’s a scary situation. I am grateful, however, to know what it is that is ‘wrong with me’. I feel better knowing that I can explain why I behave the way I do sometimes. For the most part, people have been very understanding.

Investing In Self – 100 Free Ways to Nurture Your Mind, Body and Soul {Making the World a Better Place to Be (and to Blog)}

This month, we are focusing on Making the World a Better Place to Be (and to Blog). Later in the month, we will talk about ways you can help others, help your community and even help the world but what better place to start making the world better than with yourself. As women, as mothers, as bloggers, as humans we often tend to over look our own needs to focus on everyone else. Today, we invite you to take a moment, an hour, a day for yourself.

Investing in Self – 100 FREE Ways to Nurture your Mind, Body, Soul

1. Be still (meditate).
2. Forgive yourself, forgive others.
3. Breath deeply.
4. Stay off Facebook for at least 24 hours.
5. Watch old home movies.
6. Look at old picture albums.
7. Be Positive.
8. Sit outside, close your eyes and listen.
9. Go for a walk.
10. Go to the library.
11. Smile at someone you don’t know.
12. Walk barefoot through the grass.
13. Stretch.
14. Wash your sheets and hang them outside to dry.
15. Cut some wildflowers and place them in a vase on your nightstand.
16. Cut some more wildflowers and take them to a neighbor.
17. Get up early enough to watch the sun rise.
18. Take a bath, go for a swim, wade in a stream.
19. Go for a walk in the rain and leave your umbrella behind.
20. Go to bed early.
21. Read through your old journals.
22. Get in your car and just drive.
23. Visit a local park. (Arkansas has some amazing state parks!)
24. Go to a museum. (Crystal Bridges is amazing and FREE!)
25. Watch an old favorite movie.
26. Reread your favorite childhood book.
27. Bake cookies.
28. Finger paint.
29. Blow bubbles.
30. Give yourself a mani/pedi. (Or do this with your girlfriends or daughters.)
31. Make a friendship bracelet.
32. Make REAL Lemonade.
33. Have sex.
34. Repeat number 33.
35. Do something you’ve been putting off.
36. Stick inspiring quote on your mirrors.
37. Take a nap.
38. Call a friend.
39. Eat dinner by candlelight.
40. Laugh.
41. Do your hair and makeup and put on a nice dress for dinner at home.
42. Clean out your closet.
43. Call in sick.
44. Repurpose something into something new.
45. Keep a journal.
46. Read a poem.
47. Write a poem.
48. Write a love note to your spouse or significant other.
49. Make a list of things you are good at.
50. Donate your time at a school, a church, soup kitchen or other organization.
51. Learn how to do something new.
52. Color a picture in a coloring book.
53. Make a wish.
54. Ride a bike.
55. Sing a song.
56. Pray.
57. Exercise.
58. Watch the birds.
59. Make one positive change in your diet.
60. Eat chocolate.
61. Go to the store and try on clothes you have no intention of buying.
62. Test drive a fancy car.
63. Pet a dog or a cat.
64. Wash and vacuum your car.
65. Stay in your PJs all day.
66. Turn off the TV for 48 hours.
67. Start a 30 day challenge.
68. Plan out a dream vacation.
69. Start saving for your dream vacation.
70. Write a letter to your future self.
71. Have a cuppa tea.
72. Text a really cheesy joke to a friend.
73. Jump on the bed.
74. Compliment 5 people you know publicly. (Think Facebook and twitter.)
75. Cook a new recipe for dinner.
76. Scream into a pillow.
77. Listen to music with a positive message. (If you are a Christian try listening to only Christian music in your car for 30 days.)
78. Stand naked in front of a mirror and make peace with what you see.
79. Write about something you regret doing or not doing. Then burn the paper and let it go.
80. Dress for the day you want to have, not the day that wants to have you.
81. Write a daily gratitude list.
82. If you keep a planner or calendar, purposefully schedule time for yourself.
83. Organize your desk or work space.
84. Hide five dollar bills in the pockets of your clothes before packing them away for the season.
85. Cry.
86. Drink a smoothie.
87. Get rid of three things you never use.
88. Make a bucket list.
89. Make a list of all the really cool and amazing things you have already done in your life.
90. Before you get up in the morning, set an intent for the day.
91. Run as fast as you can.
92. Fly a kite.
93. Clean out your wallet or your purse.
94. Open a savings account.
95. Write a personal mission statement.
96. Do something you are scared to do.
97. Drink water.
98. Call your mom, grandma or other important female in your life.
99. Create a Dream Board. (Tutorial coming this afternoon! Check back!)
100. Be YOU!

Stop back by this afternoon at 3 PM as we continue Investing in Self. We will be making Dream Boards, a fantastic tool to help you realize the dreams and visions you have for yourself and your life.

Healthy Families Guest Post & Guest Bloggers!

Healthy Families is an Arkansas-based campaign through the Arkansas Department of Human Services. They were actively involved in the Arkansas Women Bloggers Unplugged (#AWBU) 2012 conference, and the leadership team of Arkansas Women Bloggers enthusiastically supports efforts to make every community in Arkansas healthier. This guest post is written by Amy Webb.

Watch throughout 2012 and 2013 – twelve members of Arkansas Women Bloggers have been selected as Healthy Families bloggers (one per month) and will post on their own blogs about issues related to healthy families and healthy communities. They will also receive goodies courtesy of the Healthy Families campaign partners. Interested in participating in opportunities like this? Be sure that your blog is active and currently listed on the Arkansas Women Bloggers statewide directory!

About two weeks into my maternity leave with my daughter, I remember thinking, “My friends lied to me.” I wasn’t filled with adoring, loving thoughts of motherhood; and my baby wasn’t quietly cooing in my lap as we “enjoyed” our time together. All she did was cry for HOURS, and no amount of swaddling or attempts at bonding seemed to make a difference.

Depressed and worried I was doing something wrong, I turned to people like you – moms who had blogs filled with real stories about their own parenting struggles, depression, colic and concerns of not bonding immediately with their children. The relief was immediate. I wasn’t a horrible mother, and my baby girl wasn’t malfunctioning. (And in fairness to my wonderful friends who supported me during that time, I just don’t think they wanted to scare me before the baby was born!)

Eventually, my family settled into a routine, and I took a job as the Communications Director for the Department of Human Services. One of my first assignments was to help revamp the Healthy Families program, which included the Happy Birthday Baby Book. The first line to moms in the book read, “Congratulations! Having a baby is a special and exciting time.” I thought, “The author forgot, ‘hard’ and ‘exhausting!’” Don’t get me wrong. I LOVE being a mom, and my now toddler is an amazingly sweet and funny child. But as rewarding as parenting is, it is hard work and people don’t always tell you that before you have children. So I wanted to make sure the new Happy Birthday Baby Book gave moms all the information they needed to be a successful parent and have a healthy child.

The women working with me on the book – and its sibling Happy Birthday Baby Book: Book Two – agreed, and we added all kinds of new information. There are sections for dads and grandparents. There’s information about how to cope with crying and how to create a crying plan. We also added information on domestic violence and created an entire new book dealing children from birth to age 5. Oh, did I mention that I also changed the opening line. “Congratulations! Having a baby is one of the most exciting yet difficult journeys you’ll ever take.”

I must echo Beth’s comment: Healthy Communities Are Every Blogger’s [or Arkansan’s] Business. Tell your family, friends, neighbors, co-workers, etc. about www.HealthyFamiliesNow.net and the Happy Birthday Baby Books.

I hope you enjoy the books as much as we enjoyed working on them and the new Healthy Families website. There is tons more information in the books and online than I could ever mention here. The books are free and easy to order online. And you don’t have to be a parent or a mommy blogger to get one. Order them for your pregnant friends, neighbors and co-workers. Or just tell them, to read them online.

Amy Webb is a former journalist who has been working for the Department of Human Services and the Healthy Families campaign for just over a year.

Miss June 2012 – Lisa Mullis

“…accountability is the acknowledgment and assumption of responsibility for actions, … encompassing the obligation to report, explain and be answerable for resulting consequences.” Thank you, Wikipedia.

Frenetic Fitness

Frenetic Fitness is my way of holding myself accountable for working out regularly and for recording some of the results of my frenetic/disorderly/chaotic style of working out. That includes admitting that I’m a middle to back of the pack runner, that I love to ride my bike but won’t ever be racing time trials, and that at the end of the day, the fact that I have the energy to be as active as I want to be is what truly matters. I want people who read my blog to recognize that there are so many ways to incorporate fun fitness as well as tough workouts into even the busiest of lives. I enjoy participating in organized athletic events but so far have refused to concentrate on one type of training long enough to be competitive at them. I do not consider what I do “training”. Training implies a goal. While I sometimes berate myself for my inability to concentrate on training for a specific event, I do consider working out as training for my Life. To paraphrase 80’s icon Cyndi Lauper and that movie Sarah Jessica Parker probably still regrets, this girl just wants to have fun. And eat lots of good food.

If you check my blog you might find a week’s worth of circuit workouts, a story about a road or trail running race, photos from a weekend bike ride, hike or backpacking trip, or the occasional oddity like the Warrior Dash. Much like my personality and conversational style, my blog is a little schizophrenic. I write about fitness as a lifestyle, not as an end product of effort. It’s not always about the gym workouts or what equipment I use, but about how fitness ties in to life with my family.

I live in Little Rock at the top of a long steep hill which means that any time I so much as walk the dogs, I count it as a workout. Besides the two dogs I share my house with my husband and my teenage daughter who just started driving, God Love Me. Occasionally, we have the two oldest kids around but they have their own lives that are usually much more interesting than ours. However, the promise of bike rides, mud, food or backpacking usually brings the middle one around.

Lisa Mullis Little Rock

When I’m not writing about the stuff that makes me sweat, I write about stuff that makes other people sweat at Arkansas Outside where my husband and I, yes a staff of two, try to keep a calendar of, photos of and stories about as many of the participatory sporting events in Arkansas as we can cover.

Embracing My Body: My Experience at Green Mountain at Fox Run {Women’s History}

Written by Jasmine Brown of The Brokins

As a part of Jasmine’s experiment dubbed “Project Totus”, Jasmine was invited to Green Mountain at Fox Run. To follow Jasmine’s journey with food, emotional wellness, and body acceptance check out TheBrokins.com

Women can become so body obssessed! We adopt what media and social constraints tell us about our body. Though the average woman is anywhere between size 12-16, we still glorify the size 2. There is nothing inherently wrong with size 2! She is beautiful! So is a size 26, though! I was one of those women chasing the perfect jean size, ever distracted from fulfilling my potential as a woman because I was lost in the tyranny of dieting and punishing my body with workouts I did not enjoy.

I was invited to come to Green Mountain at Fox Run as a blogger. I left Green Mountain at Fox Run changed from the inside out. Even as I write this, I feel the emotions I unearthed bubble up. I cringe, inhale, and think quietly to myself, “you are okay, you are safe.” Green Mountain at Fox Run is a facility that was founded to address the broken mentality that exists about women’s body, food habits, and fitness. It is a woman only center that helps address nutrition, emotional health concerning food, and body fitness. The staff at GMAFR stand by the belief that your size DOES NOT equate to your quality of life. This is a hard belief to hold in our body obsessed society. I used to be, and still frequently am, obsessed about “skinny”. Chasing the next diet, diet tip, “life style change”, and ideal weight became distractions and compulsions for me. I am a recovered Bulimic turned Binge Eater.

While at Green Mountain at Fox Run, I experienced professionals for the first time in my life applaud my body. They focused on what it had accomplished instead of what it had not. Robyn, their gentle-spirited nutritionist, encourages each woman to heal their relationship with food. “Feed your body well,” she said in a class I attended. Her beautiful long hair tossed from side to side as she passionately encouraged us to eat foods we love.

One of my most formative experiences was with Kate Nolte, Green Mountain’s fitness specialist. Kate is an energetic and approachable woman. Her level of fitness shows in her sculpted body. I felt very intimidated by her. By the end of the week, though, I was being challenged to believe in my body and my abilities the way Kate believed in me. She shows woman after woman that your body is an amazing tool, irregardless of its size.

Combine Robyn and Kate with Darla Breckinridge, the Clinical Psychologist whose “Darlaisms” will make you both cry and laugh, and you get what I call the Green Mountain at Fox Run Trifecta. I came home deeply broken. I was in mourning. I realized how ugly I had been to my body, to myself. I realized how I had adopted a lot of what society and the media tells me to believe. I am still mourning… but today I am inching closer to hope and joy. I am embracing this body of mine with stretch marks and all. I am celebrating that I am beautiful and a scale cannot tell me that. I am finding ways to appreciate my womanhood, curves, rolls, stretch marks and all!

Jasmine Brown of The Brokins is the kind of girl you either love or really love. She is smart, wet-your-pants funny, and sometimes brutally honest. She has a unique and even snarky outlook on life. You will learn a lot of things you’ve always wanted to know and even some things you didn’t on her blog The Brokins.

Setting Attainable Goals {New Year, New You}

Setting Attainable Goals
Written by Julie of Eggs and Herbs

As January comes to a close some of you may have already left those New Year’s Resolutions in the dust. Many times the problem with the resolutions we make are that we create a goal that is too unattainable in the short term. We set BIG goals for ourselves and when we have SMALL setbacks we give up. While some people may be able to set a goal they know will take months or possibly even years to accomplish and plug along without thinking twice; most of us need short-term attainable goals.

Today I want to to revisit those resolutions or intentions you’ve set for yourself and then try to break them down into more attainable bits.

Here is my BIG goal for 2012: Lose 30 or more pounds.

Is this goal possible? Absolutely!
Will I reach it in a month or two? Not likely.
Will I have setbacks? Probably.

So how can I make my goal to lose 30 or more pounds more attainable? For me what works is setting SMALL goals that will eventually lead to a better/healthier lifestyle and I include a reward when I reach that goal.

Here are my SMALL attainable goals:

Goal 1: Drink AT LEAST a liter of water every day and avoid soda.
Reward: At the end of the week (if I have reached my short term goal) I allow myself to have one glass of Soda as a treat. If I have not – I skip the reward soda.

Goal 2: Work out at least 3 times a week.
Reward: Each time I work out using a prescribed plan I pay myself $2.50. If I maintain my workout plan I should have saved enough money for a one hour massage at my favorite spa at the end of February. If I haven’t reached my goal – no massage!

I believe that by making these small changes I can eventually lose the 30 pounds I wish to rid myself of while at the same time changing my life to allow me to keep those 30 pounds OUT of my future life!

As this month comes to a close, don’t disregard the resolutions you were not able to keep. Instead, reevaluate them and set new, smaller, more attainable goals for yourself.

Celebrate Recovery {New Year, New You}

Celebrate Recovery {New Year, New You}
Written by Jamie Smith of Jamie’s Thots (Jamie’s blog will soon be moving to Jamiesthots.com so stay posted!)

I don’t know if I’m brave or just crazy, but for the “New Year, New You” series, I want to share about Celebrate Recovery.

It’s an interesting balance—wanting to protect my own anonymity yet wanting to shout from the rooftops about a program that, when I work it, actually makes a profound impact on my life. With that said, expect some vagueness from me. It’s not trying to be all “vague Facebook status update melodrama queen.” There’s simply just some stuff ya’ll don’t need to know. You do, however, need to know about how your life can be changed through Celebrate Recovery.

So what is Celebrate Recovery? CR is a faith-based recovery program for all of life’s “hurts, habits and hang-ups.” When most of us think of recovery programs, we think of drug addicts, alcoholics or some other obvious, possibly illegal habit. Consider this: what about the person who needs to recover from being a victim of childhood sexual abuse? Or who is struggling with self-debilitating anger towards a wayward spouse? Or someone who has a habit of being controlling and manipulative…even with the best intentions at heart?

Every hurt, habit or hang-up that consumes our lives and keeps us from functioning like a full healthy individual is something that needs recovery. Going into recovery isn’t about being weak; it’s about being strong enough to admit you can’t do it by yourself.

For me, it’s about dealing with the deeper issues that were at the root of a lot of different self-destructive habits. I’ve spent a lot of time in the last six years working to “take my life back” from lots of pain and inner turmoil that led to severe morbid obesity in the outward manifestation, and a whole lot of inner junk as the internal manifestation.

Celebrate Recovery operates from Eight Recovery Principles, all which are based on the Beatitudes. Incorporated into those Principles are the 12 Recovery Steps, which are very similar to the 12 steps that are found in most secular recovery programs.

CR is very group based with group meetings once a week where everyone is together for the first hour for a time of celebration and a lesson. The second hour is for small groups, which are based on the participant’s hurt, habit or hang-up. Small groups include Eating Issues, Divorce Recovery, Adult Child of an Alcoholic…just to name a few.

The second part, possibly the most important and most difficult, is the Step Study. This is a small group that meets together weekly and you go through the 12 steps together. This is where the real work … and the real healing happens. It’s where your heart will be torn raw, the damage will be exposed—and when you finally get to experience relief and recovery. The small groups and Step Studies are divided into groups of men and women, by the way.

Does Celebrate Recovery “fix” you? No. It doesn’t take anything away. It gives you a faith-based way of dealing with the pain and moving on in your life in a complete and healthy way. I’ve tried lots of methods for dealing with all the inner crap and this has been the only successful tool. I’ve heard addicts and other people in CR talk about the program and they say that it has been more effective in their lives than any other, secular recovery program.

So as we all start a new year and look at a “new us,” I think it’s important to look at what changes we want to make on the inside.

To me, it’s about more than making resolutions for better behavior. It’s about a life-altering, complete turnaround of our thought process, emotions and faith.

Are you ready to recover from a hurt, habit or hang-up?

*A note from the editor – Celebrate Recovery is a Christ-centered recovery program but is considered non-denominational and is offered at many different churches including 29 cities around Arkansas. You can click here to find a program near you or you can visit the Celebrate Recovery website to learn more about the program.

Eating for Pleasure {New Year, New You}

Written by ARWB January 2012 Blogger of the Month, Lyndi Fultz of NWAFoodie.

As this new year broadcasts its frantic message of resolutions and fervent hopes for tomorrow, twitter and the blogosphere is abuzz with diet tips, calorie counters, and an overall confusion of diet, diet, diet, and denial.

A healthy diet doesn’t have to mean denial.

A healthy diet should mean eating for pleasure.

First, let’s talk about the word “pleasure.” Webster defines “pleasure” as desire, inclination; a state of gratification; sensual gratification; frivolous amusement; a source of delight or joy.

These are strong and healthy phrases. Pause and dwell on them.

When we talk about eating for pleasure, it means that we should not focus on the guilt of eating. Eating is a privilege and should be a source of delight or joy for us.

It’s all about mindset.

Sometimes we just need a little tweak or reminder of our priorities!

The RIGHT mindset when eating

1)     Slow down.
2)     Engage all of your senses.
3)     Consume half of what is on your plate.
4)     Savor by taking time to chew.
5)     Give thanks.

The WRONG mindset when eating

1)     Fret about calories.
2)     Fret about fat grams.
3)     Don’t pay attention to what just went into your mouth.
4)     Shove.
5)     Regret another dissatisfied meal.

Let’s face it. We all have gone down the wrong mindset path a time or two. But that’s okay because that was yesterday. Today we start anew…

Which would you rather choose?

Eat well, my friends. Eat well.

Lyndi

Lyndi of NWAFoodie is a girl who just happens to live in beautiful Northwest Arkansas. Much of her blogging inspiration comes from this gem of a place which she refers to as the proverbial land of milk-and-honey.

Gluten Freedom {New Year, New You}

My name is Dana, and I am the author and creator of Gluten Freedom. I am a student at the University of Arkansas, a substitute teacher, a wife, a blogger, and will soon be a certified early childhood educator. I live in Fayetteville, and you can find me calling the hogs at football, basketball, and baseball games! PIG SOOIE!

As I think back to this time last year, when 2011 was fresh and new, I realize how much my life has changed. I have lost thirty pounds. I have started a new blog. And I have been diagnosed with celiac disease. So bring it on, 2012! I am ready for anything!

For those of you not familiar with celiac disease, I will give you the basics:

Celiac disease – an autoimmune digestive disease that damages the villi of the small intestine and interferes with absorption of nutrients from food. What does this mean? Essentially the body is attacking itself every time a person with celiac consumes gluten (National Foundation for Celiac Awareness)

Cooking, eating out, traveling, and holiday get-togethers are just a few of the things that I used to love doing and have had to completely overhaul. I was diagnosed two days before Thanksgiving, and with no time to learn or prepare, I found myself eating only turkey, turkey, and more turkey. I even had to check the label on the bird!

Here are some of the symptoms of celiac disease, but please be aware that the symptoms are a mile long, and this is just a list of some of the common complaints:

abdominal pain and bloating
diarrhea
anemia
gastric ulcers
Crohns disease
skin rash
muscle cramps
osteoperosis
depression
malabsorption
bruising

I also have some great resources for you to check out if you have, or think you might have, celiac disease!

National Foundation for Celiac Awareness

Center for Celiac Research at The University of Maryland

I have found, through blogging, that there are people everywhere facing this, and although it can be frustrating, resources, friends, and supporters are around every corner! If you or someone you know is going through life changes due to celiac disease, or a gluten or wheat allergy, come by and visit me in my gluten free world! In the meantime, here is a recipe that I have embraced in my gluten free lifestyle!

GLUTEN FREE HAM AND CHEESE QUICHES

3 eggs, slightly beaten
1/2 cup milk
4 ounces shredded cheese
1 tbsp minced dry onion
1/4 tsp thyme
1/8 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
3/4 cups diced ham

*AS ALWAYS, CHECK INDIVIDUAL PRODUCT LABELS TO ENSURE EACH INGREDIENT IS GLUTEN FREE*

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray muffin tin with non-stick canola oil spray.

2) Combine all ingredients besides ham.

3) Spoon 1-2 tablespoons into each muffin cup.

4) Sprinkle ham evenly on top of each muffin cup of mixture.

5) Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until knife inserted comes out clean.

6) Broil for 2-4 minutes to brown tops of quiches.

7) Serve and enjoy!

New Year, New You is the Arkansas Women Bloggers topic of the month for January 2012. If you have a story to share with our readers please check out our Guest Post Guidelines and contact julie@arkansaswomenbloggers.com.