How to be healthy, Part 2 of 5

In my last post I discussed how Abraham Maslow developed a system of human needs that we must all meet, and how I have adapted this hierachial system to influence a person's health.

The base or foundation level of the hierachy is the physiological needs. These must be begun to be worked on, and ideally mastered before moving on to the next stage, or level.

This next level is the Safety needs, or otherwise said, all humans need to feel safe. If we do not feel safe there will always be an innate feeling of being un-safe which can be very stressful to the human being and their nervous system. So what does "safety" consist of for human needs?

Breakfast at Your Desk: Indian-Spiced Oatmeal, With Coconut Milk

Is your oatmeal getting a little bland these days? Consider spicing it up with steel cut oats, a bunch of Indian-inspired spices and a drizzle of coconut milk! Now we're talking, right? Here's more on this oatmeal makeover ...

Beth over at Budget Bytes is raving about her Indian Spiced Oats With Coconut creation. And, I have to say, this sounds amazing. I read her post and promptly decided that spiced steel-cut oats were going to be on the menu at my house--stat.

Here's what she had to say about her heavenly (and affordable!) bowl of oatmeal:

"This little Indian pilaf-inspired oat mixture turned out FANTASTIC," she writes. "The spices, sweet raisins, crunchy almonds and super creamy coconut milk balance each other perfectly. This breakfast will make you feel like the Maharaja while only costing you $0.70!"

Breakfast At Your Desk: The Easiest, Tastiest & Most Budget-Friendly Breakfast Idea Ever!

I'm still crazy about my favorite new no-bake breakfast cookies, which I told you about last week, but I have found a new breakfast love that I'm absolutely giddy about (no joke). Wait until you see the genius breakfast idea I have for you busy, time-pressed gals...

You guys know that I love pancakes (Exhibit A: Body by Glamour's amazing fiber-rich banana pancakes). But I hardly ever have time to make them on hectic mornings at my house. Then, my friend Annette told me about her solution: She bakes big batches of healthy pancakes, freezes them, then pops them into the toaster oven to reheat whenever she wants one. Brilliant, right?

How to be healthy, Part 3 of 5

In part 1, and part 2 of this 5 part series of blog's I discussed the need for a person to create their own health holistically through firstly the physiological needs of good food/nutrition, water, breathing, and balancing their stressors, and then secondly through creating safety and security in their employment, finances, and body, through healthy methods outlined in part 1.

All of these are aspects of health and although prioritised into levels or hierachies, it is important to note that all are important if you truly want to be healthy.

The next level in the hierachy are the social needs, or the needs of love and belonging.

Breakfast at Your Desk: These Easy Pancakes Will Change Your Life (Promise)

Have you ever seen a photo with a recipe that made you so hungry you whipped up the recipe on the spot? I did that yesterday after seeing an amazing recipe for pancakes ...

Health magazine recently released their new book The CarbLover's Diet (sounds like a terrific book), and USA Today featured a recipe for oatmeal-blueberry pancakes with a maple-Greek yogurt topping--yum!

I loved the idea of making pancakes with four simple ingredients: oats, eggs, cottage cheese, and blueberries (oh, the vanilla, too). So, I whipped up a batch and was so incredibly smitten with the recipe (it makes a great breakfast or a hearty snack), I wanted to share it with you too:

How to Talk to Your Kids About Love and Sex

We teach children to read and we expect them to read. We teach them about numbers and we expect them to be able to do mathematical equations. So then how can we not teach our kids about human sexuality and still expect them to make sensible love and relationship decisions? Some societies say that sex education will cause more pregnancy, but drivers' education certainly doesn't cause more accidents, does it?

In my opinion, one of the most wonderful wishes you can have for your children is that they have healthy happy love lives. The best way for them to achieve that is to be raised with open and honest communication about love and sex.

How to be healthy, Part 4 of 5

When it comes to human needs, and fulfilling these needs in order to be healthy, the next stage after the social needs of a person are the esteem needs - self-esteem, confidence, achievement, respect of others, respect by others.

All of these esteem needs, in my eyes, come down to one thing and one thing only, and that is whether a person loves themselves or not. The word "esteem" comes from the similar word "estimate", which would show that "self-esteem" is a person's own estimate of themselves, or how much they feel that they are worth.

Obviously to feel that you are worth anything requires you to love yourself. When a person truly loves themself they can sure to be free of all mental ills, particularly the prevalence of depression. And once a person is at this stage of developing their human needs, it almost makes the lower or more primal human needs less important.

Breakfast At Your Desk: Whole-Wheat Cinnamon Rolls

Is there a breakfast more festive and comforting than cinnamon rolls? I think not. But who wants to load up on sugar and butter in the a.m. hours? Not me, thanks. So, I devised a healthier cinnamon roll that I'll be making during this holiday month ...

I told you guys about my love for cinnamon rolls in this post, where I referred you to a really good--lighter--cinnamon roll recipe from Cooking Light. But, I wanted to tell you how I'm making these little breakfast treats lately--namely, with whole wheat flour (extra nutrients!) and less sugar.

Cinnamon Rolls

Adapted from Cooking Light

Ingredients:

How to be healthy, Part 5 of 5

To conclude this 5 part article on 'How to be healthy', we are going to discuss the final level of Abraham Maslow's Hierachy of Human Needs.

In order to be healthy we must visit each of these needs in turn, beginning with the primal needs, or physiological needs, working our way through social interaction, the need for love or belonging, self-esteem, and now finally once those lower level needs are met we move onto self-actualisation, otherwise known as the aesthetic needs.

These aesthetic needs are realised through reaching one's own maximum potential through morality, creativity, spontaneity, problem solving, lack of prejudice and acceptance of facts. There is a very spiritual view to all of these points, however Maslow himself towards the end of his life acknowledged that beyond self-actualisation is actually self-transcendence - the level associated with much more mysticism and insight than any of the other levels.

Bye Bye Burgers! This City Has Declared Mondays Meat-Free--Could You Get on Board?

One U.S. city has made a bold move by declaring "Meatless Mondays" in the name of health and the environment. City residents are encouraged not to eat meat on this day of the week and restaurants are encouraged to offer more vegetarian fare. What do you think?

(Sorry, but that photo is making me really hungry! For the sake of this post, let's pretend it's a Boca.)

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors is asking residents not to eat meat on Mondays. That's right, better not order a steak or the roast chicken while eating al fresco on a Monday night this spring in San Fran, or risk getting a dirty look or two.

How To Be Depressed

"Depression was, indeed, the hand of a friend trying to press me down to the ground on which it was safe to stand--the ground of my own truth, my own nature with its complex mix of limits and gifts, liabilities and assets, darkness and light."

- Parker Palmer, Let Your Life Speak

I don't think I've ever been clinically depressed. Well, maybe I have, but it certainly didn't feel clinical. It felt morbid, cosmic, and unavoidably essential. When I was thirteen, my parents split for the umpteenth and final time and a few months later, my dad brought it to my attention that I'd been wearing the same hockey jersey for weeks and that I needed to start doing the dishes again.

Celeb Health: What Jennifer Aniston Said About Motherhood (No, She's NOT Pregnant)

Isn't it amazing how many celeb magazines seem to be spotting baby bumps on Jennifer Aniston? She's tiny, but I tell you, if I were her, I'd want to start wearing Spanx 24-7 for fear that some paparazzo might snap my belly in an unflattering light. Imagine how you'd feel if people kept pointing out your pooch and whispering "baby"! So, she's not pregnant, but she is speaking out about it...

In her own words, to People magazine, here's what Jennifer, 39, had to say about motherhood: ''I feel like that's in my future and I'm on the verge of it in some way--or it's something I long for," she explains.