…the most motivating of your Common Senses. People with most of their personality traits, or symptoms, in this kind of body like it hot, and busy. Summer is their season. They don’t believe that hot weather is a problem for them.
The weather isn’t the problem. Remembering their bodies need to cool off is the problem. They aren’t uncomfortable in the heat until it’s too late. Not cooling off, or slowing down, means burnout. Burnout symptoms are the same as those for people on chemo.
The following suggestions are for people built for speed AND those on chemo. Both are dealing with pushing their bodies to the very edge, all the time. If you push yourself too hard in the summer, you are putting yourself in danger of heatstroke as well.
The Common Sense of Touch is about accelerating your body as fast as it can possibly go. A very active, competitive, highly productive lifestyle has an aggressively stimulating effect on your body. Your heart beats faster, your mind is focused on whatever project or race you are running, adrenaline keeps a hum of excitement throughout the day…
This nonstop pace is only sustainable for people with a body built for speed. No symptoms is no problem. Go for it! Just remember to cool off every couple of hours. Move slower. Walk instead of running from place to place. Wear a hat against the heat of the sun. Sunglasses are good for keeping your mind calmer. Glare is stimulating to your brain.
Activities that help you stay cool while still working your body, mind and/or naturally competitive spirit pretty hard are swimming or playing in water, biking on a shady road, gardening (especially weeding), dancing, playing cards with a group of people, board games, a carpentry project, playing a musical instrument with other people, meditation, relaxing music, avoid anger
Symptoms that you are overheating are: Anxiety, restlessness, insomnia, talking too much or faster than normal, nervous laughter, more sweat than normal, flushed face, irregular or rapid heartbeat, painful urination, strong but erratic pulse, mouth sores, tongue sores, blistered lips, dry painful eczema, headache, feeling hot when it really isn’t
Cool your built for speed body with calming foods, and a lot of water. Avoid extra stimulation like caffeine, sugar or alcohol. Your body doesn’t need it in the summer, nobody does.Imagine being at the beach on a very hot day. Instinct tells you to drink something cold every now and then to cool off. Nobody instinctively drinks hot coffee while sitting in the sun. Your body instinctively wisely knows not to get any hotter. Choosing something lighter, cooling, to eat or drink when really busy, or on chemo, is also instinctive.
A heavy meal like beef stew and biscuits is not a typical choice. Your body wants lighter, more watery food that’s easy to digest. Lighter food means you have to eat more often during the day. Eat and drink something every two hours. If it’s mealtime, make it a light one. Then snack on something watery like a piece fruit. Then another light meal. Then another wise snack…and so on…all day.
Nothing to eat or drink for two hours before you go to bed will help you sleep better. A tall glass of water every two hours will keep you hydrated and cooler. Caffeine robs your body of water. For every caffeinated drink, you need to replace that same amount with a beverage that is not caffeinated.
Cooling foods include: Apples, applesauce, fresh apricots, asparagus, avocados, bananas, fresh basil, beans, beet greens, sweet berries, cooked broccoli, brussel sprouts, cooked carrots, cashews, cooked cauliflower, chard, mango chutney, cilantro, coconut oil, fresh corn, cucumber, dandelion greens, dill, dulse, egg white, mild flavored fish, flaxseed, fruit juice, ghee, grapes, grape leaf, leafy greens, ice cream, icy drinks, aloe vera juice, apple juice, kale, lemon, lemonade with honey or maple syrup, lentils, lettuce, fresh mango, maple syrup, melons, almond milk, goat milk, rice milk, soy milk, mushrooms
Oats, olive oil, black olives, cooked onions, fresh parsley, parsnip, pear, ripe sweet peppers, fresh plum, pomegranate, rhubarb, saffron, soybeans (edamame), spearmint, sprouts, spaghetti squash summer squash, black or green tea, iced tea, fresh tomatoes, watercress, watermelon, wintergreen, zucchini
Warming foods to avoid, or use in balanced moderation if any symptoms are present: Beef, sour berries, Brazil nuts, yeasted bread, buckwheat, burdock root, buttermilk, caffeine, carbonated beverages, cayenne, hard to bend cheeses, sour cherries, dark meat chicken, chili peppers, green chilies, chocolate, spicy mango chutney, cloves, coffee, corn oil, dried corn, cranberries, daikon radish, duck, filberts, oily fish, white flour (unless made from an ancient grain), garlic, dried ginger, grapefruit, ham, hazelnut, horseradish, sour berry juice, carrot juice, sour cherry juice, grapefruit juice, V-8 juice, ketchup, lamb, macadamia nuts, mace, marjoram, mayonnaise, chocolate milk, miso, molasses, mustard
Green olives, raw onions, oregano, paprika, peach, peanuts, pecans, hot peppers, pickles, pine nuts, pistachios, poppy seed, pork, quinoa, radish, rosemary, rye, safflower oil, sage, salt, raw scallions, sesame oil, sesame seed, sour cream, soy sauce, star anise, white sugar, tahini, thyme, dried tomatoes, cooked tomatoes, tomato sauce, tuna, dark meat turkey, turnip, turnip greens, vinegar, walnuts, yogurt.
When eating any warming food on a hot day, please make sure to surround it with cooling foods. That neutralizes the effect. If you are having burnout symptoms, or going through chemo, please avoid warming foods whenever possible. When playing hard on a hot day, please make sure to stop and cool down before you have to. If your mouth is dry, you are dehydrating. If you are sweating a lot, drink water with lemon in it to replace the electrolytes.
If you begin feeling dizzy, hear begins pounding in your ears or your vision begins to blur. Go inside immediately. You are at risk for heat stroke. Run ice cold water over your wrists. Cool off your head. Quickly. Run cold water over your head. Put a cold washcloth around your neck, inside your elbows and behind your knees. Stand in a basin or bathtub of cold water to cool your feet.
If your symptoms persist, call a doctor immediately. Heatstroke will kill you.
