“Take a video of the light on your phone,” suggested my colleague, pointing up at the long fluorescent lamps that lit up the office. “A video? Why?” “I read that some lamps flicker. You can’t see it but if you take a video then watch the video on your phone you might be able toContinue reading “The headache of electric lights”
Category Archives: Lifestyle Medicine
Time to ditch daylight saving
As every parent knows, daylight saving is a bitch. The twice-yearly ritual of shifting the clocks is rife with sleep deprivation and bad moods. I have been rubbing my eyes blearily every morning this past week as my four-year-old adjusts back to standard time (I feel like he only recently got used to daylight savingContinue reading “Time to ditch daylight saving”
Outsmart food marketing: read your labels
“I eat that high protein Milo cereal stuff.” “Well I buy him Nutri-Grain because it’s got 4 health stars.” “I just use those porridge sachet things. They’re really low in fat.” And that’s just breakfast cereals. I’ve met countless clients who are incredibly misled by food marketing. And it’s amazing to watch their eyes widenContinue reading “Outsmart food marketing: read your labels”
Breastfed babies can be fat… and perfectly healthy
I was invited to speak to my local group of Plunket nurses a few years back. I didn’t prepare anything specially for them, I simply rocked up and held a question-and-answer session. They were a fun bunch of ladies and I had a great time. But I left the session chewing my lip, worried aboutContinue reading “Breastfed babies can be fat… and perfectly healthy”
Fitbit – friend or foe?
I was recently gifted a smartwatch. And the first thing I did with it was turn off all of the health tracking features. Seems a bit of a strange move, I know. Having something so fancy and expensive on my wrist but only using it to alert me to select calls and messages… Why notContinue reading “Fitbit – friend or foe?”
Why you should stop making New Years resolutions
When I was 19, my older brother bet me that I couldn’t go three months without consuming added sugar. My stubborn adolescent self began the challenge immediately. For the next three months, I watched wistfully as my family ate perfectly ordinary things like spaghetti and cheese toasties (added sugar in the spaghetti), my mum’s homemadeContinue reading “Why you should stop making New Years resolutions”
Overindulging and the holidays
Every year someone asks me how they can avoid overeating during the festive season. I could give them a yarn about only making one or two desserts for Christmas, instead of five, as the more varieties of food on offer, the more you’re likely to eat… But I think giving answers like that, even ifContinue reading “Overindulging and the holidays”
Growing older doesn’t mean growing old
My preschooler shuffled around on his seat until his face was almost pressed against the glass of the gondola. The whir of the cables serenaded us over rocks, grass and the odd sheep, until a small shudder rocked the gondola and we stopped. “Why have we stopped?” My son asked, clearly slightly worried that hisContinue reading “Growing older doesn’t mean growing old”
Stressed out? Change your mindset
A while back, I wrote a small piece on stress management as part of a larger resource. I started off by writing all the usual stuff about how chronic stress kills. But as I was writing, I was thinking to myself how utterly unhelpful it is to tell people to just avoid stress. It’s totallyContinue reading “Stressed out? Change your mindset”
What is lifestyle medicine?
Today I received confirmation that my fellowship to the Australasian Society of Lifestyle Medicine has been approved: I’m officially a fellow. While it’s a big deal to me, I know it means next to nothing to most people, because most people have never heard of lifestyle medicine! Let’s change that. Lifestyle medicine is a branchContinue reading “What is lifestyle medicine?”