When it comes to your well-being, breakfast is the most important meal of the day, but fewer people eat a regular breakfast than they did 40 years ago. One reason for this may be that we eat more snacks these days, sometimes in place of meals.

Passing on breakfast can lead to weight gain, and that sets the stage for high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and diabetes — all of which can lead to heart disease. For a heart-healthy breakfast, skip the fatty bacon and sausage. Instead, load up on fresh fruit and whole grains.

To keep yourself feeling fuller longer, add eggs. Eggs have protein, which takes your body longer to digest than the carbs in cereal and fruit. A high-protein breakfast can help you feel fuller for the rest of the day and may keep you from reaching for fatty snacks in the evening.

If you work out in the morning, try to eat about an hour before you hit the gym. Fueling up first will give you energy to work out and keep you from feeling faint.

A morning meal can help you stay at a healthy weight.  Breakfast may keep you from overeating the rest of the day.

Breakfast boosts your brainpower. Your brain runs on glucose, a type of sugar, and you’re low on this fuel when you first wake up. A morning meal can boost your memory, attention, focus, and alertness and help your performance at work or school. Case in point: Kids who have breakfast get better grades than those who don’t.

Breakfast gives you energy — not only does this make you more likely to exercise, but you also may tend to get up and move around in general. One study found that people who ate a morning meal burned 442 more calories through physical activity than those who skipped breakfast.

A healthy breakfast can keep your blood sugar steady, and over time, this can protect you from type 2 diabetes. One study shows that men who didn’t eat in the morning were 21% more likely to get the disease than those who did. Start your day with whole grains, such as oatmeal, cereal, or bread. They have fiber, which can also lower your diabetes risk.

Hoping to avoid the candy aisle during the next few days? Try taking one drop of fennel essential oil in a glass of water to help fight sugar cravings. Or chew some fennel seeds. Or call me!  Hypnosis can help boost will-power and reduce cravings.

“At every level, from the microcellular to the psychological, exercise not only wards off the ill effects of chronic stress; it can also reverse them. Studies show that if researchers exercise rats that have been chronically stressed, that activity makes the hippocampus grow back to its preshriveled state. The mechanisms by which exercise changes how we think and feel are so much more effective than donuts, medicines, and wine. When you say you feel less stressed out after you go for a swim, or even a fast walk, you are.”
― John J. Ratey, Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain

Parenting stress is a critical factor influencing child health and development. 

To help reduce your parenting stress, contact me for a consultation. I offer parenting coaching sessions as well as hypnosis for stress relief (for kids and adults). 

A new study announced at the 2016 annual meeting of the American Academy of Orthapaedic Surgeons shows that drugs prescribed for ADHD can weaken bones in children during a time of critical growth. This study tested 5,315 kids between the ages of 8 and 17 and compared the results to a subgroup of 1,967. Each child was given a bone mineral density scan on the femur, femoral neck and lumbar spine. 

The children taking ADHD medications of Ritalin, Focalin, Dexetrine, Strattera, and Vyvanese had lower bone mineral density, and at least 25 percent were characterized as having osteopenia. 

Prescriptions of ADHD medications to children in the U.S. grew by 36 percent between 2008 and 2012. 

Hypnosis could be a helpful alternative.

There is no scientific evidence supporting hypnotherapy as a treatment for symptoms of ADHD like inattention, impulsivity, and hyperactivity. But clinical studies suggest that hypnosis can be useful in the treatment of anxiety and sleep problems, which many with ADHD experience. 

Hypnosis produces a relaxed state of heightened focus that increases receptivity to suggestions. 

Hypnosis can give a person with ADHD the feeling of being in charge of his or her behavior. 

You can schedule an appointment with me here. 

If you’ve ever had a cold, you know how awful it is to keep needing a tissue. Make blowing your nosea little more enjoyable by adding essential oils to your tissue box. Just open the bottom or side of a tissue box, and add a few drops of essential oil directly to the tissues. Seal the box again, and enjoy the scent each time you blow your nose. You may also enjoy the therapeutic benefits of the essential oil you choose as you breathe in its aroma. Some oils to try include peppermint, eucalyptus, lemon, or lavender. I really love a lavender/rosemary blend, or lavender/eucalyptus. 

It might seem surprising that a sweet, juicy orange has the power to control the negative effects of sodium in your body, but it’s true. Oranges are rich in potassium, the mineral that helps regulate sodium. The benefit: an orange a day may help lower your blood pressure, reduce the risk of stroke, and help keep your heart healthy and strong. 

1. Build your own “memory palace”

Used by the ancient Greeks, the “memory palace” technique is based on the fact that people have a far better memory for the tangible (physical spaces, images) than the abstract (numbers, words, ideas). 
To create your own memory palace, pick a familiar space and populate it with vivid representations of whatever you want to remember. The odder these images, the better. 
Let’s say you need to buy a bag of oranges, then pick up a dog at the pound. Picture walking into your house. Now picture an orange-skinned man standing on your TV wearing a bag as a hat (that’s your bag of oranges). Then mentally travel to your bathroom, where you see a tiny one-pound dog sitting on a scale. You’ve now created a “memory palace” that will make your to-do list very hard to forget.

2. Break information into bite-sized chunks

In 1955, psychologist George Miller discovered that most people can only hold about seven “chunks” of information in their head at once. While the precise number varies depending on the context and the individual, scientists agree that the number is relatively small.

Get the most out of your available memory chunks by grouping information intelligently. Let’s say you’re given the numbers “7 4 7 6.” Instead of storing them as four separate chunks, you can transform them into one memorable date: July 4, 1776. Keep doing this, and you’ll be amazed by how much information you can string together. 

– Courtesy of Lumosity.com

Some people think olive oil is the only healthy oil, but it’s not. Safflower and sunflower oils provide you with heart-protecting benefits as well, and can cost less.