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Dr. Issa Gets Juiced!
THE DOCTOR TALKS ABOUT HIS WEIGHT LOSS JOURNEY
OCTOBER 2020
2) Self-Discipline: This is a follow-up to having the right mindset. When you’re adapting to a new schedule or habit, you have to put in a lot of effort. After a few days of juicing, I was tired. I wanted to go back to my old diet. Find what motives you and use that to your advantage. Here’s what I mean by that: I started juicing on July 6. My birthday was July 9. My friends threw me a surprise birthday party complete with cake and a barbecue. I wanted to eat all that good food so bad, but I knew I couldn’t. My friend’s wife was mad, but I explained the situation. The next morning, I felt refreshed because I didn’t break. It even gave me a boost of motivation to keep going. 3) The Right Equipment: You don’t want to start juicing unless you’re prepared, not just mentally but also in the kitchen. The most important things you need are the juicer, a recipe, and ingredients. This way you’re ready to go every morning or any day you make fresh juice. It makes things quick and easy, which helps with motivation. You can find one of the recipes on Page 3! 4) Accountability. This comes back to the idea of having support. It’s important to have a juicing buddy or group. I don’t know what I would have done without Dr. Omar’s support. He was there with me, helping keep me on track and focused on my goals. The more support you have, the better your results will be. With a plan in place, we got started. While the first week was very challenging, by the end of the first seven days, there was one thing that motivated me more than anything else: results. After my first week of juicing, I had lost 12 pounds! I was ready to keep going. But
Earlier this year, I suffered a back injury while off-road biking. One of my doctors told me that I might need surgery. That’s when I realized something needed to change. That change? I needed to lose weight. If I lost weight, I might not need the surgery. But I needed to lose weight in a relatively short period of time, and I couldn’t do it with exercise alone.
my goal wasn’t just to lose weight, it was to lower my body mass index (BMI). I actually stopped tracking my weight early on. Instead, I only used the weight to calculate my BMI. Tracking BMI is very different from tracking weight. You may lose 12 pounds in a week, but your BMI will only drop by about half a point. It takes a lot of work to really lower your BMI. Thankfully, I had Dr. Omar by my side. While he didn’t juice for the whole 60 days, he juiced along the way. We focused on cutting processed foods from our diet and replacing everything with fresh fruits and veggies. The end result was worth it. We felt like different people. To date, I have lost 40 pounds and have gotten much closer to my BMI goal. We have more energy and feel great every day. Even as I write this edition of the newsletter, I continue to juice. I don’t juice every single day, but I’m working to taper off as I return to a solid diet. Even better, I didn’t have to have surgery!
I decided to try juicing. But before I started, I knew I would need support, so I went to my brother, Dr. Omar, for help. He offered his support and even said he would join in! He said, “We can support each other!” Support is an important part of juicing (or any successful diet and exercise regimen). And I was going to need support, especially if I was going to do the juicing challenge for 60 days. I needed a plan.
–Dr. Issa
Here’s my advice if you ever think about doing this:
1) Determination: Finding success with juicing is all about mindset. You have to want to do it and have the mindset to see it through. Juicing can be very challenging, especially after several days when your body craves food (especially junk food). Your mind and body put up a good fight! If you’re determined, you’re one step closer to success.
SignatureSmilesOH.com — 1
The Best Fall Spices to Boost Your Family’s Health
It’s the season of fall spices. Pumpkin spice — which is actually a mix of many different seasonal spices — is a favorite, but it’s not the only one we should try this year. Seasonal spices are a fun way to literally spice up your meals, and many of them also have surprising health benefits! SOMETHING FOR YOUR HEART: CINNAMON Cinnamon can actually help lower your blood sugar levels, which is especially beneficial for folks with Type 2 diabetes. The Johns Hopkins Medicine website also reports that cinnamon has heart- healthy benefits. For example, studies show that cinnamon can reduce high blood cholesterol and triglyceride levels, thus decreasing the risk of developing heart disease. How to add more cinnamon to your diet: Sprinkle cinnamon on oatmeal or plain yogurt for a warming boost of flavor. You’ll also find cinnamon in pumpkin spice, a seasonal favorite. SOMETHING FOR YOUR BRAIN: TURMERIC Recent research has found that turmeric can reduce inflammation. A compound in turmeric called curcumin has been shown to help reduce the pain and swelling associated with arthritis. The anti-inflammatory properties of turmeric may also help reduce inflammation in the brain, which has been linked to depression and Alzheimer’s.
How to add more turmeric to your diet: Homemade curries are a great way to get a good dose of turmeric. You can also add turmeric to roasted vegetables or taco seasoning. SOMETHING FOR YOUR STOMACH: GINGER If you’ve ever drunk ginger ale on a plane to calm your upset stomach, then you’ve already experienced the healing properties of ginger. Ginger can be used to treat nausea, including nausea due to motion sickness and pregnancy. Studies show that ginger can also offer relief to cancer patients suffering from nausea caused by chemotherapy.
How to add more ginger to your diet: There are many baked goods that call for ginger. Your morning coffee or tea could also benefit from a hint of ginger. These are just a few spices that are also superfoods! Do some research to discover the secret benefits of your favorite spices.
A STAFF TRADITION COMES TO THE OFFICE Painting and Pizza!
We got all the supplies we needed for the event:
some time to find the perfect painting, but it’s totally worth it! There are also websites dedicated to virtual paint parties. One example is PaintingParties.com. Sites like this do cost money, but they’re usually inexpensive for a night of fun. It is important to remember this is about having fun. It’s a great way for everyone to express their creativity and individuality. No one is expected to be an expert. It’s a great team-building exercise for coworkers, and it’s a great way for families to spend time together. In the end, you’ll find this is a rewarding experience, and you also get something out of it — a painting! We put our paintings up for a vote on our Streetsboro Facebook page to select the winner. You can check out the other paintings on the Streetsboro Facebook page and see the Signature Smiles staff paintings in our patient rooms as well. We bring in new paintings every season!
• Standard canvases • Paints • Paint brushes • Paper plates (to use as palettes, but you can also get actual palettes) • And, of course, pizza! Thankfully, we had Alyssa to direct the painting, but if you are interested in doing a similar event, either for your team at work or your family, you don’t need an in-person art expert to lead the painting. You can go virtual. There are many online art classes that you can use for inspiration and direction. For instance, many art classes and tutorials can be found on YouTube. Simply search for art classes, paint parties, or painting tutorials. Then search for the specific type of painting you would like to do. It can take
At Signature Smiles, our team has something of a tradition. Every once in a while, we get together and paint. There are a few “paint party” businesses in the area where groups of people can go and paint after work. It makes for a great team-building exercise! However, due to COVID-19, we had to change our tradition and find a new way to safely get together and paint. So, we brought all of our supplies to the office for an evening of painting and pizza! One member of our team, Alyssa, has a background in art. She has a fine arts degree and majored in illustration and graphic design. Who better than Alyssa to run our paint and pizza night?
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Cierra’s Wedding Story
THE SUMMER OF WEDDINGS:
Last month, we shared the wedding story of Keylon and Lauren! This month, we bring you the wedding story of another member of our amazing staff, Cierra. Cierra, along with her new husband, Colin, had to navigate getting married during COVID-19. Needless to say, they made it happen. Here is their story!
Though we had to make changes, the day was absolutely magical — and I may have been a little late to my own wedding! I was supposed to walk down the aisle at 4:30 p.m., but didn’t actually happen until 5 p.m. Thankfully, the small delay didn’t put a damper on our fun. After the ceremony, we sat down for a celebratory dinner. However, Colin and I decided that as soon as we were done with dinner, we were going to go home, order pizza, and watch a movie. And that’s exactly what we did! It was low-key and exactly what we needed — especially considering that we left on our honeymoon the next day! Our destination? Wilmington, North Carolina, near the beach. While we had to make some big changes to our wedding, we knew they were for the right reasons, and it turned out more special than I could have ever imagined. Next year, we’re planning on having a big party to celebrate and to see everyone we couldn’t invite the first time. We can’t wait!
CIERRA & COLIN — JULY 17, 2020
When we initially planned our wedding, the big day was May 15, 2020. The more we planned, the more we knew we would have to delay it. So, we picked the new date: July 17. It was meant to be. We also had to make another change: The guest list had to be downsized. Our original plan was for 100–150 people, but we decided to bring it down to about 25 close family and friends. Honestly, it was for the better. Colin and I have been together since freshman year of high school and we had been waiting forever! We knew we wanted to get married and to take our relationship to that next level, even though it meant we couldn’t have the exact wedding we had imagined before this year.
Makes 2 servings. Joe’s Mean Green Juice
INGREDIENTS • 1 lemon • 4 apples • 16 kale leaves • 2 cucumbers
• 8 celery sticks • 2-inch piece of fresh ginger root
How would you like to win your own juicer? We are raffling off a new Breville juicer. Here’s what you have to do: Any current patient who refers a new patient to our office (and that new patient comes in for their appointment) between October and December will be entered into the raffle. There will also be monthly raffles in October and November leading up to the big quarterly raffle. Call us or see our Facebook page (Facebook.com/ SignatureSmilesStreetsboro) to learn more!
DIRECTIONS 1. Wash all ingredients. 2. Peel the lemon and core the apples.
3. Place all ingredients in your juicer and juice away. 4. Pour and enjoy!
NUTRITION (PER SERVING) • 251 kcal (1049 kJ) • 6 g protein • 54 g carbohydrates • 1 g fat / 0 g saturated fat
• 2 g fiber • 30 g sugar • 128 mg salt
Don’t have a juicer? Be sure to enter our quarterly raffle! You could win a brand-new Breville juicer!
SignatureSmilesOH.com — 3
9519 State Route 14 Streetsboro, OH 44241 330-423-6779
Other Location Elyria, OH 440-281-8031
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Free 24-hour recorded message reveals the “9 Questions You Need Answered Before Committing to Dental implants.” Call Now: 833-332-7373 Ext. 2.
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Dr. Issa Talks About Juicing and Weight Loss
2
3 Healthy Spices to Try This Fall
2
A Night of Painting and Pizza!
3
Cierra Gets Married — Another Wedding in the Year of COVID
3
Joe’s Mean Green Juice Recipe
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When ‘Star Wars’ Invaded Halloween
A long time ago … in October of 1977 to be exact, Halloween was fast approaching and many parents faced a major dilemma. That year, kids didn’t want to go trick-or-treating dressed as vampires, witches, or ghosts. The classic costumes simply wouldn’t do. That Halloween, almost every child in the United States wanted to dress as their favorite character from the new hit movie, “Star Wars.” Today, you can walk into a Halloween City on Oct. 30 and easily pick up a costume for Rey, Darth Vader, or Princess Leia. But in 1977, less
stores reported selling more “Star Wars” costumes than pumpkins. Kids who got their hands on an authentic Han Solo or C-3PO costume were considered lucky. But kids who arrived at the store to find the costume shelves empty didn’t throw in the towel. Instead, they went and found some brown towels to make their own Chewbacca costumes. In the current age of cosplay, homemade costumes based on movie characters are commonplace, but in 1977, this was uncharted territory. Kids searched
for white dresses to be Princess Leia and bathrobes they could cut short to mimic Luke Skywalker. Moms everywhere broke out their sewing machines and created costumes using only action figures for reference. It was grueling work, but it
than five months after the release of the first movie in the popular franchise, getting your hands on “Star Wars” merchandise was a bit more difficult. Ben Cooper, a costume company in Brooklyn, had the foresight to license “Star Wars” for costumes right after the movie came out. Unfortunately, they didn’t foresee how great the demand for these costumes would be.
showed how much kids wanted to spend Halloween in a galaxy far, far away.
The “Star Wars” costume shortage marked a new era for Halloween — one where making your own costume
Retailers across the country were selling out of “Star Wars” costumes as fast as they came in. Some
was just as cool, if not better, than buying it.
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