Lisa J Lafave

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I’m Having Total Knee Replacement

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Several years ago, my rheumatologist told me that within 10 years time that I would require double knee replacement. Well, the first one will occur within the next week, and will be performed by Dr Peter Brooks at the Cleveland Clinic.

The surgery scares me a bit. They have this “Rapid Recovery” program, with an emphasis on education. Personally, I think they share too much. I nearly ran away and said, “Forget it!” Somehow, I pushed through and am having it done next Thursday.

So what scares me is the notion of a systemic infection causing damage to the unit, necessitating removal. In extremely rare causes, amputation has been the end result. Most people seem to do fine with the procedure, and most seem much more comfortable with the new joint, than their original knee. Our knees wear out and the replacement units do too. The average lifetime of the replacement units is 15 to 20 years, but some people keep them for 30 to 40 years. Holy moly do I ever hope mine lasts a long time.

The other thing that creeps me out is you have to take your advanced directives to the hospital just in case. That’s always unpleasant!

After my back surgery, my doctor, Elena Boruhk, MD, told me that many of her patients are too frightened to do a big surgery like this one. She told me, I was brave! Apparently, it is my bravery that allows me to push through.

Do you have any surgeries that you are putting off? Is there any cost to putting it off? What causes you to put it off? Do you think the surgery is in your best interest? Do you want to have it? What could make it happen for you, if you do indeed want the results that are likely with the surgery? Who needs to help you with this decision?

Best of luck, if you do decide to push forward.

Lisa J Lafave, PhD, MBA, ACC, BCC
CEO & Founder of Coaching Rocks, LLC
The Wellness Coach at Building Better Bodies Rocks
A Single Mom By Choice Raising Surrogacy Twin Boys
Written in My Little Brick in University Heights, Ohio

Leap Into Action!

Total Knee Replacement Yikes!

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I am having my total knee replacement, in a little more than 48 hours. Part of me just wants to hobble away and hide. Frank running has been out of the question for some time. This surgery seems so barbarric! I hope not to live long enough to learn that this surgery was definitely not the way to go, with this type of problem!

Every group of people, in every society, throughout time has had notions about how we should deal with various health concerns, and most clearly not all of them have been correct. My bones are telling me to run! They are screaming at me. However, state of the art surgery suggests this is the way. Seems like I am between a rock and a hard place! If I do nothing, I will continue to suffer, and there will be a point when the surgery will be much more difficult to perform. If I move ahead, there is reason to believe that I will feel better and lament not having moved forward sooner!

I hope when it’s all said and done, I am happy about my surgery, and have more functionality, as a result of the knee replacement. I so want to move about freely, with less modifications! I have had to change how I get along in the house, and out in the world! Although I can walk significantly further, than I could before my back surgery, I still cannot walk for long periods of time. Things have not been easy. I hope that the total knee replacement surgery, and recovery go well. Wish me luck!

Is there any health procedure you’ve been avoiding? How do you make decisions about procedures like these? Can you learn about the cost associated with forgoing the procedure, versus moving ahead with it? What factors keep you from moving ahead with it? Are these sound reasons for not pursuing the procedure? If yes, by all means, stay the course. If no, talk it over with your physician, and loved ones.

All my best to you and yours!

Lisa J Lafave, PhD, MBA, ACC, BCC
CEO & Founder of Coaching Rocks, LLC
The Wellness Coach at Building Better Bodies Rocks
A Single Mom By Choice Raising Surrogacy Twin Boys
Written in My Little Brick in University Heights, Ohio

Leap Into Action!

The Holidays got Me

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Everyone says I am so good at holding back and exerting will power! But it’s not true. I got it together after a two week break after Thanksgiving and then took a break again at Christmas, just three days! You see I am really just as human as the next person!

What I’ve come to realize is that each time I fall off, someone offers me something. This time it was eggnog. Whether it happens at the time of the offering or not is irrelevant. Just the kind heartedness of the offering gets me straight in the heart and makes me buckle in the knees! It’s my weakness. I have to develop a plan or strategy for handling these situations again in the moment and later after the moment has passed. I think I need to try to say something like, “Thank-you that is so kind, but I am after something bigger than pumpkin pie [cheese cake or eggnog or whatever]!” This way, I have acknowledged their true kindness and thoughtfulness directed toward me, but have firmly stated my position and desire for something far more dear to me than any temporary experience that any food could render in my mouth. Then later, I can restate, to myself, the importance of staying the course and not diverting for a momentary experience, which in the end will leave me flat, or better yet deflated, as I will then be off course from my true objective, which is feeling better, looking better, and having a more lively life, with less illness.

What concerns me about my current Christmas lapse is that I will have another break, when I have my total knee replacement, at Euclid Hospital with Peter Brooks, MD of the Cleveland Clinic. Obviously, while in the hospital they aren’t going to stick to my regimen and afterward I will be reliant on others to procure my food for me, so it’s going to be rough for awhile. The hospital stay is 2 – 4 days and it’s between 1 week and 6 weeks, before I will be driving again. I swear it’s going to be on the short side for me! It has to be. I’ve got grocery shopping, physical therapy, and boys to take to and from school, not to mention to after school activities! So I want to get back on Mark Hyman’s detox diet, as soon as possible. I need to lose as much as possible in the next month, before my surgery. Maybe if I put my nose to the grind stone, I can lose as much as 15 pounds. That would be great for my weight loss plan and good for healing and recovery after my surgery, as I will be in a state of anti inflammation, as opposed to an inflammatory state, which slows healing. Not to mention the fact that another 15 pounds off the old body frame would be a great relief to my back and my knees as well!

My walking regimen will be severely disrupted too. However, in the long run, the total knee replacement should make it easier to get around. So it will be awhile until I can put everything together and get back to walking 5 times a week and dieting the way I have in the past and want to in the future. I guess I need to see how much I can take off in the next month. It’s really time to hit it!

Anybody else struggle with lapses and relapses? What techniques do you use to avoid them? Have you developed a plan? Do you know what your triggers are? Why not take a minute right now and write out what your triggers are and how you might handle them better next time.

If it helps to work these things out with a coach, send an email or make a phone call today to hire a health coach to help you succeed in situations, in which you have tried and failed in the past. Health coaches can help you to WOOP it!

Whooping it refers to 1) considering your wish (W) perhaps weighing your ideal weight, 2) determining the best outcome (O) of reaching your wish, such as leading a vibrant life and interacting more fully with your kids or grandkids, 3) generating a list of possible obstacles (O) to attaining your wish, such as going out to eat with friends, sitting down to a family feast, attending a wedding, going on a cruise, and 4) developing a plan (P) to overcome any obstacle, such as carrying an alternate meal, carrying appropriate salad dressing, developing a polite way to say “No!” to those, who encourage you to stray from your intended purpose.

You can try the WOOP it technique on your own, with a friend or significant other, or you can hire a health coach to do it with you! WOOPing it is one method of trying to beat lapses and relapses, before they bite you in the butt!

Lisa J Lafave, PhD, MBA, ACC, BCC
CEO & Founder of Coaching Rocks, LLC
The Wellness Coach at Building Better Bodies Rocks
Single Mom By Choice Raising Surrogacy Twin Boys
Written in My Little Brick in University Heights, Ohio

Leap into Action!

Move it, Move it, Move it!

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So I had back surgery, last Spring in May 2015, just 4 months ago and I have been asked to have total knee replacement in March of 2016. I tell you what, that’s a lot to crunch on and absorb. I am a tad worried about how my two little 5 year olds will manage. It’s just so much for them to get through in such a short period of time.

In the next several months, in between the two surgeries, I will be exercising to strengthen my core muscles and my quadriceps. In common parlance, I need to strengthen my back and thighs to help the benefits of the back surgery to come to fruition and I need to strengthen the same muscle groups in order to prepare for the total knee replacement.

This morning, I met the physical therapist, Michelle Hribrar, otherwise known as Mickey, at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation’s Sports Medicine department. Mickey was friendly, compassionate, and very knowledgeable. She didn’t miss a beat. I’ve been through physical therapy a several times already. Mickey is a keeper!

I did the typical, and filled out a few assessments, told her some of my story and then she got to work assessing strength and range of motion, and presenting a few exercises for me to start with immediately. The thing that is so amazing about physical therapists is they are just so good at isolating muscle groups and know just what to tell you to do to strengthen what is not working properly.

Moreover, she gave me hope. Mickey reminded me that I am only 4 months out of my back surgery and the body takes at least a year to heal from a surgery such as this. I still cannot walk the way I want to walk, or the distance that I want to cover, but Mickey thinks it will come with time.

So my plan is to continue walking around the block 5 days a week. Do my physical therapy exercises daily and start back at the JCC swimming or more likely moving through the water with the purpose of gently moving my muscles and toning up my core, my gluts, and my quads! I hope to get to the JCC 2 – 3 times each week, likely directly after physical therapy, which should be two times a week.

So that’s my plan. What is up with you? Do you need help too? Can you possibly arrange to see a physical therapist or chiropractor or personal trainer? Or do you want to go it alone? The point is to get moving. When you are behind the proverbial eight ball, you have to start somewhere to pull yourself together.

Why not create a plan that you can stick to today to move a bit more? Can you take the stairs instead of the elevator? Can you park farther away at the office? Can you walk to the corner? You know what your limitations are. You are the expert on you! Can you just reach a little further than you have been? What is one thing you can do, starting today, that would be a symbol of the fact that you have chosen to stop this freight train toward decreasing mobility and diminished quality of life?

Do you have a Fitbit? Do you know what a Fitbit is? A Fitbit is a piece of wearable technology, which can clip to your clothing or be worn like a watch. A Fitbit is an activity tracker that will give you a variety of personal data, like how many steps you’ve taken today, stairs you’ve climbed, and calories you have burned. It can also measure the quantity and quality of sleep you’ve had. A Fitbit can link to the Fitbit website and be used to record food intake, heart rate, blood pressure, and glucose levels.

Are you willing to invest in one? A Fitbit just might be the gadget you need to help you to become more in tune with your body and more on track regarding your fitness goals!

Gadgets not your thing? That’s okay, you can get where you are going, without all this information. It’s totally been done before! Fitbits are just one of the new items out helping people to attain their wellness goals. You can totally go it alone, and do a low tech program!

What are you willing to do to move yourself back in the direction of health? Go ahead give it a try. I swear you don’t even need a professional to get started. Just take one small step. Commit to it and then make it a habit! Then in a few weeks you can consider another one!

Why not take some time to flesh it out with paper and pencil, or should I say finger and tablet? Take a few minutes to create a roadmap for yourself. Write down five or six things that you would implement right now, if you knew, with absolute certainty, that they would become a reality.

Put a star next to the two items you feel are most pressing. Circle the one you are willing to commit to in the next week. Start today, if you think you can swing it. Get out your calendar and pencil in, when you will begin work on the second goal. Time is of the essence! Don’t let the day, the week, or the month get away from you! And don’t forget to move it!

Lisa J Lafave, PhD, MBA, ACC
The Wellness Coach at Building Better Bodies Rocks
CEO & Founder of Coaching Rocks, LLC
A Single Mom By Choice Raising Twin Boys
Written in My Little Brick in University Hts, Ohio

Leap Into Action!

Looking Longingly at Food On The Other Side Of The Fence

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What do you do when you are looking longingly at all the forbidden foods on your diet? Do you cheat, have a bite, call it a lapse and move on or does a lapse turn into a total relapse, in which you find it nearly impossible to get back on your regimen?

Well, I can tell you what I do. I may look. I think there is power in being able to walk at a reasonable pace down the candy aisle at the pharmacy. I might even smell. Nothing like the smell of fresh baked goods, or KFC. After I have had a near fix, I review my whys. Why am I eating this way? What am I hoping to accomplish? How will I feel, if I stop midstream and endanger my goal? Have will I feel, if I overcome despite my desire to eat the forbidden fruit?

So I go back and get firmly in mind all of the reasons I chose to pursue this path to begin with and then ever stronger than before, I re-double my efforts and let more time pass on the road to recovery.

How do you handle temptation? What are your secret tips or tricks? What is your best method for walking right past a tempting situation? If you don’t know, can you think of a tempting scenario and write out a plan regarding how you could successfully avoid losing sight of your goal?

Do you know why you are doing what you are doing? Are you trying to look good at your upcoming wedding? Do you want to be able to get down on the floor with your grandkids? Do you want to be able to play a round of golf with friends from work? Do you want to go for a simple walk in the metro parks? Do you want to go to Disney and be able to keep up with your family? Do you want to fit into the seat in the airplane without the humiliating extra strap for those who are too well endowed? Do you want to enjoy better health and live a more meaningful life with less limitations?

Take a moment to pen out your most cryptic whys. Really get down to what is at the root of all this for you! Why are you really going through all this bother? What would it be like if you didn’t make it to your goal? Does it really matter to you? Is it a matter of life and death? Is it a matter of a life more well spent? Is it all owing to the type of relationship you want to be able to have with someone? Keep those ideas in mind and that just might be enough to sufficiently motivate you toward your goal!

As always, best of luck in all your endeavors!

Lisa J Lafave, PhD, MBA, ACC
The Wellness Coach at Building Better Bodies Rocks
CEO & Founder of Coaching Rocks, LLC
A Single Mom By Choice Raising Surrogacy Twin Boys
Written in My Little Brick in University Heights, Ohio

Leap Into Action!

What Did You Just Eat?

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Take a minute and think about what you last put in your mouth. Was it something healthy or was it junk food, processed food, or chemicalized food that is found in every grocery store in America? Are you proud of your general style of eating? Does your approach to eating need to be tweaked? If so, you are so not alone!

Even small or subtle changes continued over the long haul can produce results, such as smaller waists, and lower numbers on the scale, when maintained overtime. For example, just saying no to all carbonated beverages, all sugary drinks, all fruit juices, as well as, artificially sweetened beverages, including caffeinated beverages, can make a big difference in your general well being. Remember losing just a small percentage of your weight can change your risk for diabetes. It just might be worth it to consider a few areas that you might be willing to make a change.

Do you spend that little bit extra to purchase and eat mostly organic foods, or do you buy foods that are massed produced, by big agriculture, using heavy pesticides and genetically modified organisms (GMOs)?

While we are on this subject, choosing organic grass fed beef, free range chicken and wild caught fish are all better choices nutritionally for you and your family. Why not take the leap?

Regarding fruits and vegetables, eating locally and in season, wherever you live, is probably healthier than eating bananas from Ecuador in January! Get to know your local farmer and ask him or her questions about what their pesticide and growing practices are.

Are you still consuming corn and soy or have you tried to, not only not purchase these items, but also avoid any foods containing corn and soy? I know, it is a chore! Corn is in everything!

Have you begun to grapple with issues associated from drinking cow’s milk and eating cheese and yogurt made from cow’s milk? Do you realize that it takes a several cups of milk to create a small piece of cheese? According to T Colin Campbell, consuming dairy is highly linked to higher risk for developing cancer.

There are other choices. You can eat nut milk, such as almond milk, or coconut milk. For those of you who may be allergic to nuts, there is also oat milk, hemp milk, or rice milk. These choices will help you avoid the hormones that cow’s are given to perpetually produce milk, not to mention the hormones in their bodies, which are passed on in their milk, designed to help their baby calf, become a grown cow in one years time. I am quite sure you do not want to “grow” that fast!

Chances are you are like so many Americans, who are on the Standard American Diet (SAD). We like fast and easy. We are American right? Well fast and easy comes at a cost! Did you know there is a new movement out there referred to as “slow cooking”? Well there is.

When you take the time to purchase your own organic food locally and make food in your own kitchen, you have more control over what goes into the food, you consume. When you go through a drive thru or pick up something quick, at the grocery store, to heat up and wolf down, you give up those rights and then some.

Be vigilant about reading the labels on the foods you buy! When you don’t know what something is, chances are it’s no good for you.

Are you eating typical fare found in our restaurants and grocery stores and consequently suffering from any one of a whole host of health problems, including heart disease, cancer, diabetes, hypoglycemia, osteoarthritis, osteopenia, Alzheimer’s disease, celiac disease or gluten sensitivity? Wake up and do something about your plight. You don’t have to live like this.

You can improve your current health by making new choices and feeding your body in a healthier way. First, you will have to do some research and choose what regimen is best for you. Second, you will need to clean out your pantry and prepare to embark on your new program. Third, hire a wellness coach to support you through your journey. Fourth, write down why you are doing this. Knowing your why will help you, when the going gets tough! Fifth, make a change, and then make it a habit. Sixth, chart your progress. This can be very inspiring!

Best of luck, if you take the bait, and decide to improve your wellness one forkful/spoonful at a time!

Lisa J Lafave, PhD, MBA, ACC
The Wellness Coach at Building Better Bodies Rocks
CEO & Founder of Coaching Rocks, LLC
A Single Mom By Choice Raising Surrogacy Twin Boys
Written in My Little Brick in University Hts, Ohio

Leap Into Action!

The Non-Stress Stress Test was Normal

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Yep, you heard that right! The non-stress stress test was normal! No chest pain or dyspnea were noted during the stress portion of the nuclear stress test. No arrhythmias were produced by the stress portion of the test. The blood pressure response to the pharmacological stress was normal. Normal! normal, normal! Yee-haw doggie!

Now I can stay on Dr Mark Hyman’s Detox Diet, which is fairly Paleo in nature, and not stress over the meat I might consume weekly. If I had substantial changes, I might be looking at Dr. Esselstyn’s No Oil, Plant Based Diet, which if done correctly, promises to prevent and reverse heart disease. Dr. Esselstyn’s approach goes quite a bit beyond simply being vegan.

I’ve been on Dr. Esselstyn’s diet and didn’t get very far, despite following it for 10 months. When I met Dr. Hyman, his comment about my having been vegan was “Hmmm, I’ve known a lot of fat vegans.” My guess is the vegans he knew were not Dr. Esselstyn’s protégés, or were and simply did not follow the instructions very well!

Dr Mark Hyman’s diet, despite its restrictions, is a better fit for my tastes and lifestyle, plus it produces much faster results, in the weight loss department. So for now, armed with my NORMAL nuclear stress test results, I have the green light to continue trekking on the Mark Hyman Detox Diet! Yippee! No interference in my plan!

Have you had any wins lately that are allowing you to pursue your chosen path? Why not jot them down and make a record of them.

Lisa J Lafave, PhD, MBA, ACC
The Wellness Coach from Building Better Bodies Rocks
CEO & Founder of Coaching Rocks, LLC
A Single Mom By Choice Raising Surrogacy Twin Boys
One Woman’s Experience Recovering From Medical Challenges
Written in My Little Brick in University Heights, Ohio

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It’s the Sugar that’s the Problem!

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Sugar is seven times more addicting than cocaine. Sugar produces the same dopamine response as drug addiction. Simply said it produces blood sugar highs and lows. The highs cause excessive energy and excitability, and the lows cause malaise and depressed mood. Before the lows become too low, we find ourselves reaching for our next fix to bring on yet another high, so we can continue to function.

We, as a nation, are constantly stimulating ourselves, throughout the day, with sugar. We are sugar addicts. We drink Coca Cola which has 8 teaspoons of sugar per 12 ounce can. We drink coffee with several teaspoons of sugar added. A Starbucks Grande Mocha Frappachino (16 ounces) has 12 teaspoons of sugar in it. A simple 10 ounce serving of orange juice has 9 teaspoons of sugar. We eat candy and cakes and cookies, all loaded with sugar. A 2 ounce Snickers bar has 8 teaspoons of sugar added. A Cinnabon cinnamon roll has 14 teaspoons of sugar in it. A 1.69 ounce bag of M&Ms has 8 teaspoons of sugar added. A six pack of Oreos has 8 teaspoons of sugar added.

True to addiction, once we have had even a little bit of sugar, we want more. Sudden removal of sugar, from our systems, causes the onset of typical withdrawal symptoms, such as headache, fatigue, irritability, desire for more, and so on.

These same withdrawal symptoms are seen when caffeine, alcohol, prescription drugs and many street drugs are suddenly ceased. Sugar, whose consumption is rarely highly regulated,(except in the case of individuals, who are diabetic and doing something about it, or those who are dieting and knowledgeable about the effect of various food’s glycemic index on the body, or simply those who are highly health conscious), is used numerous times a day by most Americans. Most of the other addictive substances are not as easily attained, nor used as regularly, except perhaps caffeine and cigarettes.

According to Joshua Rosenthal, founder of the Institute for Integrative Nutrition, the typical American consumes 130 pounds of sugar and sugar alternatives in a year’s time. Now that is a heck of a lot of sugar. That doesn’t even begin to address the sugar that is naturally found in many of the whole foods we consume, nor the sugar added to many processed and refined foods found in our grocery stores.

According to the Harvard Health Publication, the glycemic index of various foods, such as watermelon (72) bananas (62), apples (39), raisins (64) orange juice, unsweetened (50), as well as, carrots (35), mashed potato (87), sweet potatoe (70) and a slice of wheat bread (71) demonstrates that we are consuming too much sugar within the foods that we eat. The Harvard Health Publication explains that the glycemic index shows the degree to which a certain food raises blood sugar and insulin in the blood. The higher the index which goes from 1 to 100, the more it raises your blood sugar.

John Douillard suggests we need to eat far more non-sugary vegetables to improve our diet! He suggests that perhaps 3/4 rds of our plate should be comprised of non-sugary vegetables.

Perhaps even more alarming is the fact that excessive sugar consumption increases your risk of developing cancer. According to Anderson Cancer Center at the University of Texas, sugar consumption, without increased exercise, causes weight gain, which increases your risk for cancer. Anderson further suggests that women should not eat more than 6 teaspoons of sugar, and men not more than 9 teaspoons of sugar, per day. Imagine how many more teaspoons you consume passively, each day, without even adding sugar, honey, maple syrup or Agave to your food.

So are any of these ideas new to you? Are you surprised how much sugar is in the everyday products we consume? Do you think you are a sugar addict like much of the rest of America? What concerns do you have now about your sugar intake? Is there anything you are prepared to do about it?

Now take out paper and pencil, your tablet or mobile phone and let’s get real about your sugar intake. How much sugar do you think you consume daily? Are you willing to do a little detective work about it? Could you keep a food journal for a week and then look up the amount of teaspoons in each food you ate. Add them up and divide by seven to get an estimate of your daily average.

What do you think about your daily average? Is there anything you want to do about this? What are the consequences for you, should you choose to ignore this information? What are the benefits, should you choose to reduce your sugar intake? Is there anyone else in the household, who could benefit from reducing their sugar intake. Do you think their sugar intake would reduce, if you decided to stop bringing sugary products into the home, and stopped eating things with excessive sugar in them? Is this something you are willing to pursue? How likely on a scale of 1 – 10, with 10 being the greatest likelihood, are you to follow through and make this issue a priority in your life?

Best of luck to you and your loved ones, should you decide to make a concerted effort to reduce your sugar intake.

Lisa J Lafave, PhD, MBA, ACC
The Wellness Coach at Building Better Bodies Rocks
CEO & Founder of Coaching Rocks, LLC
A Single Mom By Choice Raising Surrogacy Twin Boys
Written in My Little Brick in University Heights, OH

Leap Into Action!

North Coast Region Network for a Healthy California Champions for Change provided the information about the number of teaspoons of sugar referenced in various products.