Life is busy! Schedules are hectic! Time is short, but the To-Do list is long!
These statements describe the way most of us live today. With all the stresses of everyday life, it’s no wonder that stress, fatigue and depression are so commonplace. Certainly between dropping off the kids at school, picking up prescriptions, and staying awake at work, you took the time to pause, drink a cold glass of water, then plan out a healthy meal plan for you and your family. For the next six months.
What? You didn’t?!!!
Truth is, neither did I. Yes, I did eat an orange instead of the cookies I would much rather have eaten, but that didn’t come naturally. I had to remind myself that I want to take care of myself by making healthy choices. It’s so much easier to eat a cookie rather than an orange!
But I also know I have the power to change my habits. I can buy dried fruit that doesn’t have to be peeled before being eaten. I can touch my toes when I’m watching TV. I can even do butt scrunches while driving. No one but me will know, and I’ll know I’m doing something good for myself. Sure, these little changes probably won’t amount to much if that’s all I do, but when added together, I know I’ll feel a bit lighter, breathe easier, laugh heartier and enjoy life more fully, because I’m doing the Right Things for myself and my body.
It’s not easy to always do the Right Things. After all, I’m a human, not a robot! And, if you’re reading this, I’m guessing you’re a human, too! I used to be one of those stubborn mules who thought she could do everything alone, so I often found it difficult to ask for help. But, as I (so gracefully!) age, my ego has finally allowed me to recognize that sometimes, I actually can’t do everything myself. Some problems are too complicated, some challenges too difficult for me to fix alone. It’s taken me a long time to finally see that overcoming what I call my “overeating and overseating” is not something I can do by myself. I need help. I need direction. I need encouragement. You might, too.
Dr. Jordan M. Garrison, Jr., who founded The Garrison Center for Healthy Living in 2006, understands how challenging and complicated life can be. He wants to help people understand how to handle those problems so they don’t use food as way of hiding from their problems. For some of us, stressful living leads to overeating -- and it’s no secret that overeating can lead to obesity. Obesity is linked to serious medical problems such as diabetes, heart disease and high blood pressure. Not only that, it just doesn’t feel good to lug that extra weight around.
Dr. Garrison founded his Center to help people meet the many challenges they face on their journey from obesity to vibrant health. For people who are severely overweight, bariatric surgery may be an important step in the process of losing excess weight and discovering new-found joy. Dr. Garrison also performs minimally invasive Roux-en-Y and LapBand procedures in those who are unable to lose their weight through diet and exercise. True, he is a surgeon whose operations are designed to help people lose excess weight. But he’s more than that. Dr. Garrison seeks to treat the WHOLE person, not just the stomach. The Garrison Center is a place where people come together to work on improving their whole selves, not just the parts of their bodies they want to lose.
We’ve begun this blog because the Garrison Center wants to be an interactive partner on your journey to self-improvement. This blog will discuss a wide variety of topics related to your journey to health, including nutrition, exercise, medicine, social and emotional issues, and much more. We might even get Dr. Garrison to share some of his famous recipes. We also encourage you to suggest topics you wish to learn more about, and to contribute to group discussions about what’s been posted. This is a community forum that can only flourish by your interest and participation.
We open our arms to welcome you to The Garrison Center. We hope you’ll hug us right back.
Tami Kamin-Meyer is an attorney licensed in Ohio and the U.S. Supreme Court and an oft-published freelance writer about health, law, business, sports, travel, pets and relationships. To ask her a question or suggest discussion topics, email her at tkmwrites@hotmail.com.
Visit The Garrison Center for Healthy Living at www.garrisoncenter.org
