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By Nellie 

I am currently in the midst of reading an engrossing novel regarding food and the yo-yo crisis we find ourselves in when it comes to our health. In Defense of Food (An Eater’s Manifesto) by Michael Pollan, is an insightful book which talks about how we as eaters, barely consume “real” food, instead consuming “foodie like substances”. It’s a hard thing to look at your daily diet and asses what is actually true “food”. Ideally we would eat fruits and vegetables, a little meat and just enough to keep us going.
 
Hard as this is these days, we tend to eat for bonding, to reduce stress, a reflex for boredom, etc. Food has found its way into our lives not just as to function, but as entertainment, amusement and worst case scenario: addiction. The book doesn’t break much ground in the sense that it asks us to follow a few simple rules, but it’s huge in the sense that it asks us to *remember* these same ’simple rules’. To “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” It’s polite attempt to question the reality of food urges you to identify what it is you are actually eating and why, and to inquire whether or not this is actually considered ”food”.
 
Pollan’s book recalls recent health studies, trends, the relations between the food industry, marketing campaigns, crop growers and a nation looking for someone to tell them what to eat next. It all comes down to being beneficial for everyone, except the eater. The beginning of the book presents us with an idea that lingers: newer studies actually suggest that everything we are told about diet and discoveries regarding health, potentially lead us nowhere and could perhaps mean absolutely nothing. Such research easily changes with every different person who reviews it, alters by who is paying whom to research it, and is encouraged as an adopted lifestyle change by those poised to profit. Then, only by trickle-down effect leads to a society just brimming with eager buyers who long to embrace it; for the answers are the stuff of dieter’s dreams.
 
Our country happens to have an alarming amount of obesity and in a place where so much emphasis is placed on weight, image, less fat more carbs, I find this all very depressing. Shifting trends in what is ‘right’ to eat, only shifts around the weight of the problem: we inherently know what we *should* be eating, but have yet to find our way back to the source. As idealistic as this novel appears; the fact that it could pave the way for a better future for everyone, rests on it being only as good as the number of people who believe in it. (To which I may add, the number is perhaps quite high considering the popularity of this book.)
 
So, why do you eat the things you eat? Who is telling you what to eat, why to diet and what is good for *your* body? It’s hard enough to try and manage life, why should diet be something that is any easier? This is what we are continuously told and eventually come to believe. Low-fat, less carbs, now made with _______, new and improved, these are all claims to make life ‘easier’ and maximize your health. Really though… the fine print screams “not-real food” and “altered from original composition”, two results of ’nutrionism’ and a major movement called ‘food science’. 

It doesn’t have to be this difficult though in choosing food! I think where the book is going, is to guide you more to follow your instincts instead of following a trail of ‘inedible’ crumbs. To not be so quick to digest the advice from the health industry experts, but to rely more from the sustenance of Momma Earth than from the labels on the boxes of ‘jacked’ up foods; to veer more towards the farmer’s market than to the frozen food aisle, to keep it ‘real’ so to speak. We already know all this though. Right? Question to ask yourself.

Happy Eating!

PS: This post is fully based on *my own opinion* and is not after full completion of said book.

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How we derive energy from food.

Food = energy.  Calories come from food. Therefore, calories = energy. 

Energy is what keeps your body functioning.  The majority of our energy comes from fats and carbohydrates.  Food it is broken down and absorbed by your digestive system into a usable form of energy called glucose.  Glucose is a sugar.

The body then takes this sugar through a process that uses the energy stored in the sugar and transfers it into a molecule called adenosine-tri-phosphate (ATP). 

ATP is used by the muscles of your body, your heart, lungs, stomach and the rest of your body to maintain your life. 

Food is energy that becomes ATP which maintains your life.

What we do with energy

The amount of energy your body uses to keep running that is, digesting food, breathing in and out, sending blood to the body, returning blood back to the heart, and a myriad of other activities = your metabolism.

A fast metabolism = high amount of energy used = a high amount of calories burned.

Exercise increases how much energy your body needs.  As you continue to exercise over time the overall energy the body needs increases, which increases metabolism!  

A faster metabolism burns more energy throughout your day. Which means that while you are sitting, reading, writing, thinking, standing, etc… your body is working, churning and burning away energy to maintain your life.

Metabolism is going on all the time.  Metabolism represents the idle speed of your engine.  The higher this speed the more energy you need and the more calories you burn.

What is fat?

Fats are oils like, olive oil or canola oil, etc….  Fats are butters and margarines.

Fat is a rich source of energy!

The breakdown of fat releases a large amount of energy.  

Say you ate a stick of butter. Your digestive system has to work to break all that fat down and release it into the blood steam to be delivered to the cells of your body.

Imagine an aggressive freight train traveling through your bloodstream at high speeds. Its one goal is to be used.  It is looking for work to do.  Work is the functioning of your body.

But let’s say that you have a slow metabolism and not much work for all this energy.  There is too much energy and not enough work. Eventually the body will need to put it someplace else.  So it will store it.

Excess energy will first be stored in the liver and the muscles of the body however; the amount of energy that can be stored in these areas is limited.  So the body looks to store the rest of the energy elsewhere.  Can you guess where it ends up?  That’s right, as fat on your body. 

So right now look at the fat on your body. 
Understand this is stored energy that is waiting to be used. 
The goal is to get your body to use this energy!

Carbohydrates

There are processes in the body that takes the energy found in food and through chemical reactions it transfers this energy into ATP.  ATP is the gasoline of the body - to be used whenever energy is needed (millions of times per second). 

The digestive end product of carbohydrate is glucose.  Glucose is a simple sugar.  That means that it is easily converted to energy.

If you took a bowl of white table sugar and ate it, it would enter your blood stream and be quickly taken in by the cells of the body. This is the “sugar rush”. 

Basically, what you are doing is dumping a large amount of energy into your bloodstream and just as quickly it is removed from the bloodstream by the cells.   You feel a rush of energy as it hits your blood and once it is used up and there is nothing left in your blood and you feel drained.

The goal is to maintain consistent amounts of glucose/energy in the bloodstream at all times.  This is why smaller meals throughout the day can be a good idea (based upon your individual metabolism and lifestyle.)

Now more complex carbohydrates like pastas, grains, multi-grain breads are composed of many glucose molecules put together so it’s called complex.

These take longer to be broken down into the body and therefore their energy is released slower into the body over a longer period of time.  So there is less of an energy rush.

Further, if you combine proteins, carbohydrates and fats in one meal it takes longer for this energy to be digested and it is released into the bloodstream over time.  This provides a consistent source of energy.  No major swings up and down which causes energetic rushes and crashes.

Understanding how your body functions goes a long way to indentifying and addressing your needs based upon your goals. 

The Trouble With MySpace

By Nellie

Yes indeed, perilous stalking tools on the internet are no longer fun and games. Seems nowadays such forums can lead to drama, questioning and fights. Sure, you can be self-expressive, store some picz, find an e-boyfriend, post a few jpegs of your favorite celebs, artists, memories, etc, but perhaps this place is really just a secret haven to harbor strange intentions?

Interesting enough, a lot of info can be taken from someone’s page, so it’s best to be careful in what you post and to whom you make this information available to. With hundreds of friends and real-time stalkers and spammers, it’s easy to get your information lost/hacked on the world wide web. Question: What do you infer by the information you find on someone’s page? And from that information do you really make a solid life judgment, based on a silly (?) page, posted for “fun”?

Well now, I say that it’s really based on personalities, priorities and partialness. Some people really go above and beyond when it comes to their pages and others have the boring template skin that makes the page look like the previously mentioned spammers’ and stalkers’ profiles, i.e. question mark for head, 3 friends and a bunch of freaky comments by women who look like pro-wrestlers. For some, it’s a fun hobby to occupy oneself at work, amuse, entertain, or frighteningly devote oodles of time to, changing skins, status updates and albums by the hour.

Personally, I think that none of it means anything. Real life matters. Living your life through the internet seems so common these days and what’s worse, I think it’s a cheapening of the life experience. For those who feel like life is not lived, unless it’s up for “all to see”, this is sad, but for those who think life lived should be shared and want to express their joy for that life via posting on the ‘net, this is fine too. Networking, re-connecting, meeting new people, dating, online education, employment, the CL etc, these are all benefits of the net… BUT: Moderation people…

The internet is a funny place. Anyone can do anything on it, be whoever they want and represent themselves in any manner they so choose. It’s a puzzling thing, but shouldn’t be taken so seriously, for life’s moments are what we need to understand and ‘remember’. Having a place to store these memories is harmless, but realize; that your choices in what you post can be up for interpretation if explanation is not provided. Know that whatever you post can easily be searched, will most likely be searched (by potential/current employers, coworkers, friends, significant others, even family, i.e. EVERYONE). Nothing is really ever what it seems (sigh) and appearances should never be sole decision breakers, but forget not that appearances can influence much.

Final words of advice? Don’t let the internet get you. Keep some stuff private, have a life you call your own and keep the special moments in your heart and between the ones that share it. I’d really love to sit around and chat about the dangers of the internet, but we know all too well this topic and well, frankly you wouldn’t be reading this post if you stood opposed. A blurring of online and offline life is normal, but a little bit of mystery never hurts. Use that caution, because your digital footprints (tiny giggle), will be imprinted forever.

FIN

PS: Don’t forget to check out: The Fitness Personals on MySpace!

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A blurb on reality checking

By Nellie 

In yoga we open our ‘inner eye’ to create a peaceful mind and let the problems of our life all fall away like silk~confetti~on~a~baby. Like a lullaby, that sentence can rock you away into a blank and blissful dream. Before you pass out though, ask yourself, should it also follow that in life we must survey our ‘inner motives’ for tranquil living and a clear kind of conscience?

Before you say: Of course!, commonly we find obstacle in coming to terms with the present; often repressing true feelings out of guilt, fear, loneliness, etc and so on and so forth. In my experience, realizing your truth can be quite difficult! Forced to see yourself in bad lighting (ack!), you are faced with choices. Sometimes those choices are none too appealing and leave you thinking that it is easier to tell yourself “things are really just fine” and “it too shall pass”, essentially convincing yourself that such a life is ”so much easier to remain easier”.

Alarmingly, things don’t always ‘pass’. Resentment forms in blocks and begs to build its walls and echoing in those walls we faintly hear the repititious “It ain’t easy when it’s easy”; a phrase which can be often ignored. Looking outward and within to find your truth shall bring answers that will sooner rise to the surface thru reflection rather than repression. Analyze your motives. If you are happy now, ways to make it better can only highlight your happy moments even more. The same goes in reverse, ultimately because, unhappiness; it falls on *you* and sooner or later such peaceful tunes will stop track to shrieky goth music. Poor decisions, failure to act and betrayal to the self are the 3 bitter notes I find, that will bring you down and without questioning, can sound out right before your own eyes.

Keep your heads up though, since there is always a bright side. The route is always the most intriguing in life. It should never be about *just the end*, but the ongoing pursuit of ourselves, discovery and freedom, using that ‘passionate fire’ from within, you know, the one I always speak of! The most mundane tasks can be given life and the wildest moments flatlined. It’s all in your heart. Everyone certainly questions different aspects of their lives, but lots of times the cons outweigh the pros. Once the negatives start to beat on your actions and thoughts, you must truly have a self-intervention. Life is too short to settle, so whatever you do end up doing, I would say use your lovely heart.

Sometimes I think back to how easily I came to justify unhappy moments of my past. In an instant reflection I can be brought back to the scene of the ‘crime’. So much perfection, but so much heartache, where too much of the latter always does one in. As smilies turned to skulls, choosing the ‘easy’ way out, I blanketed my unhappiness with trying to maintain constant perfection, which in the end (trust) was not such E-Z livin’. 

On a final note, I should add that ‘perfect’ relationships rest on the ability to communicate conflict and resolve on the basis of a shared love. That doesn’t always mean that only love can be enough though. Sadness! Conflict is healthy in matters of maintenance and lasting love remains upon seeking to find a resolution. However, once that urge to pacify dissolves; that is when Time forces change, so the efforts must be active and reciprocated. Remember: As caution is an art, practice well. We can never be too careful when it comes to the fragility of hearts. 

Happy times ahead…

This article is for the guys.   Women, if you are feeling lucky then the next one may be dedicated to you.

Ok – lets cut to the chase and get started. 

One of the critical differences between men and women is the way we communicate.  Guys – face it.. women don’t sound like us and the words they use mean something else.  It’s like women have their own secret language and you probably understand very little of it.  As that may be true let me be the great one to give you some good news…… you are not alone.  I wager that less then 5% of all men fluently understand woman tongue. 

Woman, as creatures of the opposite sex rarely come right out and say what they mean or say what they are thinking.  In many cases (sad but true) they are trying to preserve your fragile ego.  Yes guys…women “just know” (aka women’s intuition) without thinking that most men’s egos are about as strong as a cracked egg shell so women being women typically speak in a way to preserve that.  Now if you keep pushing with questions, well then you may get the direct answer she was trying to avoid.  It’s not the woman’s fault, most men are wussies and that is just the way things are.   If men would only start being men.. ahh that is whole other article in the making.  

Now the real good stuff.  I have taken the time to translate some common woman tongue lines into easy “men can understand” English.  These translations apply when it comes to dating and love.  You can thank me later buy purchasing a copy of my e-book when it’s ready.

Here we go…

1. Woman: “I like sensitive guys” TRANSLATION: “I like to wear the pants”
2. Woman: “Let’s see where it goes” TRANSLATION: “This isn’t going anywhere”
3. Woman: “I have never felt this way towards a man” TRANSLATION: “I have never felt this way towards a man this week”
4. Woman: “No Rush” TRANSLATION: “It will never happen”
5. Woman: “We had an ‘off’ and ‘on’ again relationship” TRANSLATION: “I kept him around as filler until the next bozo showed up”
6. Woman: “I will be ready in 30 minutes” TRANSLATION: “I will be ready in 2 hours”
7. Woman “I am short” TRANSLATION: “I am fat” **TIP** guys NEVER call a woman short.. you can say ‘little’ but NEVER short.
8. Woman: “Where is this going?” TRANSLATION: “Are we going to get married?”
9. Woman: “Looks aren’t important” TRANSLATION: “You better look like a Men’s Health cover boy”
10. Woman: “I’m thirtyish” TRANSLATION: “My fortieth birthday is tomorrow”
11. Woman: “I’ll think about it” TRANSLATION: “Not even if you were the last guy on earth”
12. Woman:  “I’m tired of mind games” TRANSLATION: “The next male body that comes along will get lucky”
13. Woman: “Our values have changed” TRANSLATION: “I’m dumping you because I cannot change you, you idiot”
14. Woman: “Money isn’t important” TRANSLATION: “I brought it up because money is important”
15. Woman: “Tell me what you like” TRANSLATION: “I want to be your love slave”.

That’s enough for today fella’s. 

You want to understand woman tongue for yourself?  Ok smart guys – real tough formula.  Ready for it?  Here you go….  LISTEN, LISTEN, and LISTEN some more AND  put your ego to the side.  Those are the keys to understanding what a woman is really trying to say.  Much easier said then done I know, especially the ego one. Don’t forget this either – at birth you were given two ears and one mouth, here is a tip: from now on try using them both in proper proportions to one another. 

Till next time…

Signing off - Doctor Date

And I’m back!

Hello,

Open relations. A world of love. Shared love? Shared ‘not love’? Relationships which are ‘not closed’. Suspicious couples. Shady partners. Questionable encounters. These all follow in rapid fire succession in my mind, leaving a paper couple in smoking shreds. I just don’t get it. What are open relationships, why do people desire them and WHO are these people? After reading about open relationships on Wikipedia, I must cut and paste. I thought it hilarious, but on 2nd thought is not a laughing matter people, it is a real classification. See quote.

“An open relationship denotes a relationship (usually between two people) in which participants are free to take other partners; if the couple making this agreement are married, it is an open marriage. While “open relationship” is sometimes used as a synonym for “polyamory” or “polyamorous relationship”, these terms are generally differentiated. The “open” in “open relationship” usually refers to the sexual aspect of a non-closed relationship, whereas “polyamory” refers to the extension of a relationship by allowing bonds to form (which may be sexual or otherwise) as additional long term relationships:

• Some relationships place strict restrictions on partners (e.g. polyfidelity); such relationships are polyamorous, but not open.
• Some relationships permit sex outside the primary relationship, but not love (e.g. swinging); such relationships are open, but not polyamorous.
• Some polyamorists do not accept the dichotomies of “in a relationship/not in a relationship” and “partners/not partners”; without these divisions, it is meaningless to class a relationship as ‘open’ and ‘closed’.
• Some polyamorists consider ‘polyamory’ to be their philosophical orientation — they believe themselves capable and desirous of multiple loves — whereas ‘open relationship’ is used as a logistical description: that is, it is how their polyamory is expressed or implemented. They would say of themselves, for instance, “I am polyamorous; my primary partner and I have an open relationship (with the following ground rules)….”

However, there is enough overlap between the two concepts that ‘open relationship’ is sometimes used as a catch-all substitute when speaking to people who may not be familiar with ‘polyamory’.”

Um, okayyy… well now, I guess that’s that! Just so you know, I was making a face that makes me look like I have a slight lazy eye, the whole time I read thru that blurb. If we are all free, then why are we in a bound relationship that allows freedom in promiscuity? Lights on: everyone is calm. Lights off: everyone scatters. Lights on: only few have chosen to stand frozen in their monogamy.

After a moment of thought, I myself, remain frozen in confusion. Isn’t that called being single? Anyhow, take it for what you can. I don’t believe these relationships are beneficial, but a distortion of reality if anything and a slander to the sacredness of marriage and commitment. We can all have more than one person we are attracted to, able to love etc, yet it is a personal choice and should be seen as a responsibility to commit or simply, to not. The gray in-between seems not viable in terms of life and a true quality of fullfillment. 

I’m probably not making sense at this point, so I am ending this post ASAP for fear of treading the skeevy waters of ‘polyamory’. Although for those who *are* cozy with this type of living, then power to them! I for one, won’t be anywhere near that power.

Ciao!

-n

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Warm Up

Warming up before weight training increases blood flow to your muscles, making them more flexible so you can perform exercises with greater ease and avoid injury. About 5 minutes or cardiovascular exercise, such as running at an easy pace, is sufficient to warm up. If you will be working a specific muscle especially hard, you may want to use a light weight for the first set to further warm up the muscle.

Perform Exercises in the Right Order

To work your muscles efficiently, consider the order in which you perform exercises. It is generally best to work larger muscles before smaller ones.

Think of your body as divided into an upper, middle and lower section. If you are performing a full body workout, you should work your lower section, then your upper section and then your midsection. Work you muscles within each section in the following order:

Lower Body:

• Quadriceps and hamstrings
• Inner thighs
• Buttocks
• Hip flexors and outer hips
• Calves and shins

Upper Body:

• Chest, upper and middle back
• Shoulders
• Biceps and triceps
• Forarms

Middle Body:

Abdominals and lower back

Cool Down

Cooling down helps to release the tension in your muscles and flush out waste products that build up during your workout. Generally, if your workout was slow with lots of rest between sets, you can stretch for a few minutes to cool down. However, after a fast-paced weight training workout, perform 5 minutes of light cardiovascular exercise to get rid of build-up lactic acid in your muscles to help prevent soreness after your workout. You should then stretch for a few minutes.

Yours in health,

Terri