Archive for 'Health' Category
Overall thoughts on dental phobia
1 February 2007Though, as you all have read, I am in the middle of a series of dental procedures. I would still classify myself as a dental-phobe. I thought I would try to outline the main fears *I* have, and how I’ve overcome them, in the hopes that I might inspire someone else to do the same. In all my articles, I have a feeling that if I can help just one person make that initial decision to change their lives, I have succeeded.
Needles
The first, and the most powerful phobia, for me. I realistically know that the next fear, Pain, will not be an issue if I am given a needle. My fear of needles, however, prevents me from feeling any better about all of that. I have read numerous articles on where and why we fear needles. It has been said that many of the greatest thinkers have had a phobia of injections. At least we’re all in good company.
It’s not the pain involved in getting a needle that is bothersome to me, its actually the mental idea of having a piece of metal pierce my skin and enter in to my vein (or anything else). In fact, as I typed that, I felt a slight twinge to protect my arms. I imagine it is only natural, as any smart creature on earth would try to prevent itself from being stabbed. I wonder if there is some truth to the idea of intelligence causing a fear of hypodermics. Is it something in our brain that tells us its ‘just not right’?
The way I, personally, overcame my fear of needles was….by not overcoming it at all. I asked the dentist to tell me when he would give me the shot, he kept it out of my sight, and I closed my eyes when he did it. Honestly, it wasn’t comfortable. HOWEVER, I would say a simple banging of ones hand on a desk is 100% more painful than any of my needles ever were.
Pain
This is not a personal fear of mine, but I imagine it to be a fear of many. The fear of pain. If you are not afraid of needles, you should put this fear to rest. Once given a shot to numb your mouth, you should *not* feel anything. If you do, give a yell, and ask for another shot. That’s it. The entire procedure should, and if done right would, be painless.
Nausea
I have, at times, suffered from this. The idea that you will be sick and vomit. It’s not just with dentists that I have had this feeling, its creeped in to many other parts of my life. For instance, in a crowded car where I’m sitting in the middle of the backseat with a person on either side. There was a time when I would get myself so nervous about the prospects of being sick, that I would actually begin to feel sick. Ridiculous, isn’t it?
The way I overcame all this was by insuring that previous to my dental appointment I hadn’t eaten in well over 12 hours. I had no breakfast (I had a morning appt) and my last meal was dinner the night before. Just keep reminding yourself that since you haven’t eaten, you can’t be sick, and you will feel much better.
Loss of control
This is a personal phobia of mine as well. I have used it to my advantage, though, in my abstaining from alcohol and other mind-altering substances. It does, at times, cause a problem though. I have a fear that if I’m gassed or put under, I will say or do things that will make me look foolish. It’s pretty stupid, if you think about it. Nonetheless, I do fear it, and I do avoid it.
The way to overcome this is simply to not lose control. Ask the dentist if you can put the mask with the nitrous on your own face. You will put it on when YOU feel ready, no one is gassing you, you’re just controlling your own anxiety and level of pain.
Reprimand
This fear I personally did not suffer from as my teeth were not in any way damaged from my time away. However, I know that many people fear they will be the “worst case ever seen”, and suffer from a phobia of the dentist literally calling in colleagues to come take a look at the mess you are. The truth is, no dentist worth his salt would ever do such a thing. He will try to minimize your problem, and put you at ease. The reasons are simple. You have obviously stayed away from dentists for a reason. A kind dentist does not want to keep you away any longer, he wants you to come back and get your problems solved, he wants you to feel at ease. A savvy dentist doesn’t want to see a customer not return.
Think of it this way. If you had no problems the dentist would have no job. He counts on you not having perfect teeth to keep his business running, just as a doctor counts on illness and a lawyer counts on criminals. You can be guaranteed that you are NOT the worst case he has ever seen. When he was practicing, he practiced dental procedures on cadavers. CADAVERS. He worked on DEAD PEOPLE’S MOUTHES. You are NOT going to disgust him.
In conclusion
You might consider keeping a journal just as I have, as you progress through your appointments and procedures. It helps you to think outside of yourself, to the people who will read your fears, and how you overcame them, just as you have read mine. You, the reader, helped me get through. I hope I have done the same for you. If you need someone to talk about your problems with, be sure to drop me a line at andrew [at] leahey.org. I will answer all emails.
A site I found useful in overcoming my fear is DentalFearCentral.org. Be sure to check them out.
Read about MY journey through dental phobia in Phase 1 of my on-going journal.l
Did my post help you? Buy me a coffee?The Power of (Exercise) Routines
11 October 2006In implementing change in your everyday life, there is nothing more powerful than setting a regimented schedule or routine. Your routine will help you in several areas.
Motivation: Regardless of how pumped you may be with the idea of getting in shape right this moment, or even this week, your interest will inevitably taper off at times. This is when your routine kicks in. There will, more than likely, be days where you exercise solely because you have kept to your schedule thus far. You won’t want to break your streak. Your weight won’t bother you, your health won’t interest you, but you’ll ask yourself: “Do I really want to stop NOW, after I’ve exercised every day for 65 days?”. No, you don’t want to.
Eliminate the “no time” excuse: If you set up a schedule, and work exercise in to it, you will be eliminating the old “I just don’t have the time” excuse. You had the time yesterday, and the day before that, you can make the time today.
Beyond that, there are several things you can do to help yourself get into your routine, and remind yourself why you need to keep going:
Write down your goal: You don’t have to be specific. A simple “I am spending 20 minutes a day exercising because I am self-conscious about my weight. I feel I would have more confidence if I was in better shape” written on an index card and carried in your pocket is all you need.
If you don’t want to carry it with you, put it where you plan on exercising. Tape it to the wall, if you have to.
Make a list of the positive things you will gain from keeping to your regimen. It might look something like this:
Clothes will fit better
Better luck with women/men
The beach factor
Better shape as I age
More energy
Keep the list in the same spot you keep your goal-statement.
Tip: Keeping both the list and the goal-statement someplace you will see it when you first wake up is always a good idea. Live alone? Consider taping them to your medicine cabinet’s mirror.
Did my post help you? Buy me a coffee?14 Days to Physical Fitness
12 September 2006So I’ve decided to conduct an experiment.Let me prefix all this with the fact that I am not a particularly fit guy. I am not in terrible shape, but I’m not in great shape either. My idea is for 14 days of physical self improvement, starting on Saturday the 16th of September 2006.
Friday, I will weigh-in and attempt to complete an array of short exercises throughout the day. Friday night, I will email all those who join this fitness experiment (by emailing 14days@leahey.org) exactly what I completed. Your goal is to weigh in, and duplicate exactly what I did on Saturday. So basically you will receive a fitness todo-list each night for the following day. This will go on for a period of 14 days, at which point you are welcome to email me your results, and they will be posted at the end of this entry.
The idea is you will all keep me motivated, I (along with the other participants) will keep you motivated, and so on.
I will keep all exercises relatively short, with the exception of maybe a walk or a bike ride, none of them will exceed 15 minutes. There will be no weights, barbells, jump ropes, or any other gear required. Each day I will cut out one item I would usually eat, and substitute it with something healthier.
In the mean time, I encourage any questions or comments to be posted below, and anyone wishing to sign up for this experiment please email 14days@leahey.org with the subject line “I’m in”.
If I see there is an interest in these experiments, I would love to make it a monthly thing.
Day 1 [183 lbs]: Okay, so today was supposed to be the first day of the experiment, and it was for the most part. However, my basement flooded with water, so I did quite a bit more exercising that I had initially expected to. Nonetheless, heres my day:
Early morning: 25 quick, simple jumping jacks. Layed down on the floor and did 15 crunches and about 4.5 pushups. Had breakfast. Glass of skim milk, coffee with half and half.
I usually have 2, maybe 3 cups of coffee with half and half in the morning. Today I had one and substituted my second/third with a cup of tea with skim milk. So todays food cut-out is a dairy product. If you usually have 2 cups of coffee, have 1. If you put cream in your coffee and can replace it with something less-fattening, do so.
Afternoon: In the afternoon, it was raining. Nevertheless I took a .75 mile walk around my neighborhood, while attempting to wrangle my not-yet-leash trained puppy. So if you are going puppyless, make it 1 mile. Had 3 glasses of water, a little bit past lunch time.
Evening: This evening I did the same thing I did this morning, 25 jumping jacks, 15 crunches, 4-5 pushups. Had 3 glasses of water spaced out between 5 and 10. End of day 1.
Day 2 [181 lbs]: So, as you can see, today I am 2 lbs lighter. I reckon this is due in part to my exercising, but also just due to regular fluctuations. I will admit success when I pass the 5 lbs mark.
Morning: Situps, 20 of them today. 30 jumping jacks, followed by 15 more situps.
Afternoon: This afternoon I walked about a half a mile, and jogged/walked 60 seconds/90 seconds, respectively, for another half mile. This all took no more than 10-15 minutes. For lunch, I substituted my usual sandwich with a light salad, with no dressing. 2 glasses of water throughout the afternoon.
Evening: 30 jumping jacks, 20 situps, abdominal muscles were on fire at this point. I decided today to carry over what I did yesterday, cutting back no the dairy/fat product. I had my 2 cups of coffee in the morning, but had none in the evening (I usually have another ~2 cups). I drank approximately 4 more glasses of water.
Day 3 [180 lbs]: So I’m down another pound, so I can’t see how this can be taken as anything other than a direct result of my changed routine.
Morning: Woke up, had my coffee and hit the situps. 25 this time, followed by 8-9 pushups, and 25 jumping jacks. I then got my act together and went for a 1 mile walk. Came back, had 2-3 glasses of water between morning and afternoon.
Afternoon: In the afternoon I had a small lunch, half a sandwich and a small salad. I had another 2 glasses of water.
Evening: While watching TV I completed 5 sets of 20 situps, and did some running in place for approximately 5-6 minutes.
Day 4 [177 lbs]:
Apologies for being delayed in posting this. As you see, I am down 3 lbs.
Morning: Woke up feeling especially energized. I did 30 situps, followed by 2 sets of 30 jumping jacks, and ran to get weighed. At which point I did 20 more jacks, as I was amazed at my loss thus far. I have to say, though, I attribute much of this loss to my improved diet and water intake. I skipped breakfast, which was probably a mistake.
Afternoon: And here is why it was a mistake, for lunch I had 3 eggs and a bowl of cereal. At which point I felt guilty, and drank 5 glasses of water throughout the rest of the afternoon.
Evening: It was a decent day, so I took my puppy to a local park and walked her approximately 2 miles, rather briskly. I returned home and had dinner, I replaced my usual coffee entirely with green tea. I then did 2 sets of 10 pushups, approximately 45 situps, and took myself a nap.
Day 5 [177 lbs]
Did my post help you? Buy me a coffee?Well, I would say we have our answer to whether or not eggs are particuliarly good for you. No loss, as you can see.
Morning: Spurred on by the fact that I did not lose any weight, I did 20 pushups, 50 situps, 50 jumping jacks and headed for my coffee. When I went to pour the half and half, I couldn’t quite do it, so I used Coffee Mate low fat cream replacement. This tasted surprisingly….alright, and I will likely continue to use it.Afternoon: I wasn’t hungry, so I skipped lunch. I went for a 1.5 mile walk, and had a headache so didn’t do much of anything for the remainder of the afternoon.
Evening: For dinner I had steak, and completely cut out any table salt, which I usually load my steak up with. I had 5 glasses of water throughout the evening, and didn’t feel up to any more exercising.
