Susan D’Addario
   Certified Eating Psychology Coach
   Founder, The HealthShrink

 

Janet and Susan relaxing at a hot springs spa in Sienna, Italy.

What's New?

Nov.1st-13th – Janet and I went to Italy and traveled all around. The trip was a huge success! You can read much more about it and what made everything so special below in Coming Out in Italy!

Dec.1st - I’m delighted to have completed the requirements for the Coach/Mentor Personal Resilience Program with the HeartMath group! This is a wonderful method designed to recharge our inner battery and avoid depletion and burn-out. I’m certain many can benefit from this information given the all to frequent chronic demands in our lives! I know I have already!

Dec.6th-14th – Happy Hannukkah / Festival of Lights! When I was a child in school we learned and sang a fun song called the Driedel Song. I can hum it to myself even to this day! “Oh, dreidel, dreidel, dreidel, I made it out of clay, And when it’s dry and ready, Then, dreidel I will play.”

Dec.9th – Can’t wait to return to Gotham Volleyball’s Health & Wellness Series for Part 2 of my presentation 5 Steps to Optimal Health and Weight. This time my talk focuses on food and eating including healthy macronutrient balance and food quality! Should be fun!

Dec.11th – Mewled un Nabil – This is the birthday of the Prophet Muhamad and if you partake, your Muslim celebration is honored!

Dec.20th – It’s time for Gotham Volleyball’s End-of-Season Tournament being held at the very beautiful City College in Hamilton Heights, a lovely neighborhood in Manhattan, NY! My boys and I are ready to take everyone down! Let’s go Team S*M*A*S*H!

Dec.22nd – Winter Solstice – This is the shortest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. There are 24 hours of sunlight in the Antarctic Circle and 24 hours of darkness in the Arctic Circle. Yikes! With less sunlight these days it’s always a good idea to eat more foods rich in Vitamin-D – salmon and other fatty fish and fish oils, mushrooms, beef liver, clean cheese and egg yolks.

Dec.25th – Have a holly, jolly, Merry Christmas! Whether entertaining or a guest, please enjoy your holiday meal in a slowed-down manner taking note of every luscious flavor, scent, texture and visual the food has to offer! Breathe long and slowly before, during and after your meal. Savor, appreciate, celebrate and… Ho-ho-ho!

Dec.26th-Jan.1st – The fairly new holiday of Kwanzaa, (created in 1965), celebrates African-American culture and historical heritage! Read more about this wonderful holiday, its 7-principles and how they relate to us all below in This Month.

Dec.31st – It’s the last day of 2015! What a wonderful time to stop and reflect upon ourselves, our lives and where we are as well as where we’d like to be! “Ring out the old, ring in the new, Ring, happy bells, across the snow; The year is going, let him go; Ring out the false, ring in the true," Alfred Lord Tennyson. Happy New Year!
 

EXTRA, EXTRA!  HOT OFF THE PRESS!!

Women’s Body, Food and Eating Empowerment Group

Calling all women! Are you tired of trying to lose weight without long-term success? Are you feeling frustrated and unhappy with your body? If so, please contact The HealthShrink to find out about our brand new group created for women just like you. The Women’s Body, Food and Eating Empowerment Group is starting this January, 2016. Kick-off your new year on a new path to self-discovery and real weight results! Small, private group – new, low group rate! Click here to request more information.
 

This Month: A Celebration of Family, Community and Culture

Joyous Kwanzaa – Dec.26th-Jan.1st : Inaugurated in 1965 by Maulana Karenga, Kwanzaa is the first holiday created to help African-Americans reconnect with their African cultural and historical heritage. The name Kwanzaa actually derives from the Swahili phrase matunda ya kwanza, meaning first fruits of the harvest. There are 7 principles of Kwanzaa or Nguzo Saba and each is dedicated to 1 of the 7 days of this holiday. Check them out:

¥ Unity - To strive and to maintain unity in the family, community, nation and race.
¥ Self-Determination - To define ourselves, name ourselves, create for ourselves and speak for ourselves.
¥ Collective Work and Responsibility - To build and maintain our community together and make our brothers’ and sisters’ problems our problems and to solve them together.
¥ Cooperative Economics - To build and maintain our own stores, shops and other businesses and to profit from them together.
¥ Purpose - To make our collective vocation the building and developing of our community in order to restore our people to their traditional greatness.
¥ Creativity - To do always as much as we can, in the way we can, in order to leave our community more beautiful and beneficial than we inherited it.
¥ Faith – To believe with all our hearts in our people, our parents, our teachers, our leaders and the righteousness and victory of our struggle.

As I read over these 7 principles, I am struck by how they reflect and speak to helping one’s community, supporting self, honoring family, teachers, leaders, working hard to achieve benefits for oneself and one’s community and believing in now and in the future for better things to come. These words and principles touch my heart with their good intention and positivity. Moreover, children are included in the Kwanzaa ceremonies during which respect and gratitude are given to one’s ancestors. Wonderfully, at the end of the multiple ceremonies, a family/community feast follows.

I just love what Kwanzaa’s all about! In addition to the pleasure family, friendships and social connections can bring, studies show that those who isolate actually carry the same increased mortality risks as those who smoke and/or consume excessive alcohol! Moreover, beyond supporting our physical health, belonging to a group or community can add to our sense of identity.

If it were up to the terrorists, we’d all be hiding, insecure, fearful and become non-trusting of everyone and thing. Let’s not let that happen! We are hard-wired for meaningful connections. It’s what helped our caveman ancestors to survive and thrive and not much has changed since. Therefore, getting connected, staying connected and giving back to our respective communities is a lesson well-learned during this Joyous Kwanzaa season!

 

If you haven’t had homemade lentil soup yet, it’s time you joined in the delicious fun! I’ve been eating lentils since I’ve been a child. Initially not terribly impressed, over the years I’ve grown to really enjoy this legume! Even if you’re familiar with lentils, you may not know that eating them on New Year’s Eve is a tradition maintained throughout Italy! It’s true! Lentils are a symbol of good luck and prosperity because they resemble small coins! The more you eat, the more wealth you’ll have!

Moreover, the lentil dish is frequently accompanied by a side dish of sausage – grilled or roasted.  The pork signifies the fat and bounty of the land. (Of course, for those who don’t eat pork, feel free to select turkey, lamb, bison, etc. for your sausage dish of choice!) Either way, we can all benefit from this high in protein, fiber, vitamins and minerals dish. Lentils really are a great way to start the New Year!

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