New Diet: Limit Flavors to Lose weight

Jan 25th, 2006

Have you heard of the new diet – limit flavors to lose weight? I hadn’t so I’m curious about it. I did a google search and here are a couple of links for you to read about it: Chicago Sun-Times – here USA Today – here I haven’t studied this new diet, but I know that some cultures believe you’ll be most satisfied with a meal when it contains all 5 flavors: sweet, sour, salty, spicy, bitter. Indian food comes to mind. Centuries of cooks have perfected a combination of spices to enhance flavor, improve digestion, and satisfy the pallet. Spices even have medicinal values – so your food can help heal you as well as satisfy you. So when you read about any new diet, always tune in to what your gut says about whether or not it’s for you and whether it makes sense – regardless of what the research says. Also these findings came from years of studying people who are obese. Limiting flavors in a meal may be really important for this group. The survey results may not translate well to normal weight people. I’m not saying this diet (or any diet for that matter) has no validity. I’m just recommending that you check it out with your internal knowing before going down any diet path.

Trying to Please Other People – A Bit of Humor

Jan 18th, 2006

Have you ever noticed how hard it is to please everybody…yet we still try? Maybe a little humor will help us see the futility of practicing people pleasing.

Warning: there is a bleep in the final line if you’re the sensitive type.

An old man, a boy & a donkey were going to town. The boy rode on the donkey & the old man walked. As they went along they passed some people who remarked it was a shame the old man was walking & the boy was riding. The man & boy thought maybe the critics were right, so they changed positions.

Later, they passed some people that remarked, "What a shame, he makes that little boy walk." They then decided they both would walk!

Soon they passed some more people who thought they were stupid to walk when they had a decent donkey to ride. So, they both rode the donkey.

Now they passed some people that shamed them by saying how awful to put such a load on a poor donkey. The boy & man said they were probably right, so they decide to carry the donkey. As they crossed the bridge, they lost their grip on the animal & he fell into the river and drowned.

The moral of the story? If you try to please everyone, you might as well… Kiss your * * * goodbye!

How Toxic is your Neighborhood?

Jan 18th, 2006

Get an in-depth pollution report for your county, covering air, water, chemicals, and more. Just go here and enter your zip code. You can find out how your county ranks regarding smog and soot, air pollutants that increase the risk of cancer, and water quality. You can also locate the polluters and see how close they are to your home or workplace. I was distressed to see that in 2002 my county (Douglas, Kansas) was ranked one of the dirtiest/worst 20% of all counties in the U.S. in terms of total environmental releases. Find out how your community ranks here: http://www.scorecard.org/

Great Time to Get Outside

Jan 5th, 2006

At least in Kansas we’re having a heat wave. The forecast for Saturday is 65! In January! January is usually our coldest month of the winter. Is it global warming? A fluke? Who knows….but if you’re having this heat wave too…you might as well take advantage it and take some walks. That’s definitely what I’m going to do. If you’ve been meaning to get more active, this would be a great time to start the new year out with a regular walking program. Do you know that on average Americans spend only 2 percent of their day outside? We walk from the car to the building and back…and that’s about it for being outside. I just figured out that I spend about 8% of my day outside on the average. This Sunday I took my dog, Jasmine, for a 4-mile walk on the levee in North Lawrence and it was fabulous. Make a game out of walking outside. See how many wild critters you can spot. Write a haiku poem about something in nature that inspires you. Take the kids, and the dog, and the significant other and do a little site-seeing. Comments Please How much time do you spend outside? What do you like to do outside? Anything inspirational you can share to encourage others to get outside more? Go to the comments link below and share your story.

Happy New Year

Jan 1st, 2006

I love having a brand new fresh New Year. It’s like getting a chance to start over, to dream bigger, or to just have a clean slate to draw up some new plans.

What is one big thing you’d like to accomplish in 2006?

What is one big thing you’d like to stop doing?

Let us know in the comments section below……