Sounds like you guys are having a ton of fun learning all kinds of new things! One of these days I need to bite the bullet and get the family taught how to ski.. so we can all go and have a bit of fun. Only problem is the slopes around here really stink.

Capitalizing on the busy schedules of today's families and the strong need for nutrition, the meal prep industry now has estimated revenue of $270 million US. We have researched the industry and have incorporated its best practices into the SupperWorks system. SupperWorks position as the first Canadian meal-prep business to offer franchises provides a unique opportunity in this market (http://www.supperworks.com/franchise_info.php?store_no=7). A SupperWorks franchise provides an avenue into this rapidly growing industry with the support of a proven system that is already in use. Our premium customer experience is the key to our long-term success.

We are looking for franchisees to share our vision and mission. Do you believe that you can deliver what we expect for your customers? Do you have a passion for entertaining and good food? A SupperWorks franchise may be the right opportunity for you!

:confused:

Found this book at the library about hiding pureed vegetables in foods for picky kids.

Deceptively Delicious (http://www.nationalledger.com/cgi-bin/artman/exec/view.cgi?archive=18&num=16532)

Recipes here (http://www.deceptivelydelicious.com/site/image-gallery.php)

The chicken nuggets coated in broccoli puree just sound too interesting not to try.

In a bowl, combine the breadcrumbs, flaxseed meal, Parmesan, paprika, garlic and onion powder on the paper or foil and mix well with your fingers.

In a shallow bowl, mix the vegetable puree and egg with a fork and set the bowl next to the breadcrumb mixture.

Sprinkle the chicken chunks with the salt. Dip the chunks into the egg mixture and then toss them in the breadcrumbs until completely coated.

Coat a large nonstick skillet with cooking spray and set over medium-high heat. When the skillet is hot, add the oil. Place the chicken nuggets in the skillet in a single layer, being careful not to crowd the pan, and cook until crisp and golden on one side, 3 to 4 minutes. Then turn and cook until the chicken is cooked through, golden brown and crisp all over, 4 to 5 minutes longer. (Cut through a piece to check that it's cooked through.) Serve warm.

I'm made chicken wieners for my daughter and the friend she has over.

She asked "What's your mom having for supper?" and my daughter said "Something weird."

I'm drinking a spinach and banana and orange shake. :blank:

It tastes exactly like it sounds. :cry:

I blame Montel Williams for that one. I looked through his new book at the library too. But the video is pretty. :nod:

http://daytimetalk.com/2008/01/14/montel-williams-makes-smoothies-on-fox-la/

I don't know why everyone is so into deceiving kids. :(

Capitalizing on the busy schedules of today's families and the strong need for nutrition, the meal prep industry now has estimated revenue of $270 million US. We have researched the industry and have incorporated its best practices into the SupperWorks system. SupperWorks position as the first Canadian meal-prep business to offer franchises provides a unique opportunity in this market (http://www.supperworks.com/franchise_info.php?store_no=7). A SupperWorks franchise provides an avenue into this rapidly growing industry with the support of a proven system that is already in use. Our premium customer experience is the key to our long-term success.

We are looking for franchisees to share our vision and mission. Do you believe that you can deliver what we expect for your customers? Do you have a passion for entertaining and good food? A SupperWorks franchise may be the right opportunity for you!

:confused:



In the past five years I've noticed an explosion of prepared foods at my local supermarkets. Some, like the prepared salads are still healthy, just expensive, but others, like the marinated meats, add a whole new dimension of unhealthy ingredients in addition to the expense. There's definitely a market out there and people are willing to pay a lot for convenience although I have a hard time understanding it. The amount of time that some of the “convenience” foods saves is negligible.


About three weeks ago I had a conversation with a friend of mine who for a while was in an unfortunate financial circumstance that he's finally climbing out of . Money is still tight and the conversation I was referring to was about shopping prudently and eating healthy and he and his gf's idea of doing so for the previous night's dinner was to spend about $4 a pound on some pre marinated of pork tenderloin. When I told him that they routinely go on sale every couple of months and that he could pick up a ten pounder for 99 cents a pound, cut into appropriate portion sizes and freeze them until needed he scoffed at the idea. Too much work to cut it, bag it, and then defrost and marinate it. To each his own, but at least he's started to pay me some of the money he owes.

Found this book at the library about hiding pureed vegetables in foods for picky kids.

Deceptively Delicious (http://www.nationalledger.com/cgi-bin/artman/exec/view.cgi?archive=18&num=16532)

Recipes here (http://www.deceptivelydelicious.com/site/image-gallery.php)

The chicken nuggets coated in broccoli puree just sound too interesting not to try.

In a bowl, combine the breadcrumbs, flaxseed meal, Parmesan, paprika, garlic and onion powder on the paper or foil and mix well with your fingers.

In a shallow bowl, mix the vegetable puree and egg with a fork and set the bowl next to the breadcrumb mixture.

Sprinkle the chicken chunks with the salt. Dip the chunks into the egg mixture and then toss them in the breadcrumbs until completely coated.

Coat a large nonstick skillet with cooking spray and set over medium-high heat. When the skillet is hot, add the oil. Place the chicken nuggets in the skillet in a single layer, being careful not to crowd the pan, and cook until crisp and golden on one side, 3 to 4 minutes. Then turn and cook until the chicken is cooked through, golden brown and crisp all over, 4 to 5 minutes longer. (Cut through a piece to check that it's cooked through.) Serve warm.

I'm fortunate in that my kids like a wide variety of foods including vegetables. Not that I haven't hidden a healthy one or two in my time. :D

There's definitely a market out there and people are willing to pay a lot for convenience although I have a hard time understanding it. The amount of time that some of the “convenience” foods saves is negligible. My husband sent me the link. We have identical financial outlook, so I wasn't sure if he was suggesting we buy the franchise because it's really getting easier to sucker people of of money for that kind of stuff, or if he just forwarded it to me as a piece of humor.

I do all my sister's grocery shopping for her when I visit her, and she can't believe what I can get her for $50. I've peeked in her freezer and been horrified. She pays about $8/lb for chicken breast, while I never pay more than $3. She also buys the precooked bacon. I've suggested that she could just buy the regular bacon, cook it, and freeze it, but she didn't think that would be as convenient. :( I've also seen her buy garlic bread for $5, when a loaf of bread is only $1 and she has plenty of butter and garlic at home. I don't understand that one either.

We quit lending her money because we couldn't stand seeing them do things that we wouldn't think of being able to afford. :lol: (large screen plasma tv! :bang:) So, instead, we're a little bit more generous with their gifts when we can be. :)

Today's newspaper said that 52% of Canadians believe that it's getting too expensive to eat healthily. :confused: Last I looked, the restaurant industry has not been suffering. People are aparently perceiving it to be a source of "entertainment" or relaxation, rather than "nourishment".

So many people wouldn't need to work as many hours if they were smarter about how they used their money.

If I could figure out a good business plan for "Hand me over 100% of your food budget and I'll make sure you're well fed" I'd be right on it.

_____


We're visiting my Mom in BC at the end of next week. She's going to check what the snow hills are going to be like. And she's asked me if we want to go to an Avril Lavigne concert. Could be a good way to have some family fun.

I haven't been doing any formal weight training for a few months, but I'm easing back into it.

I squat because it feels good when I stop.

Avril Lavigne concert. Could be a good way to have some family fun.:eek: Do people have $118 worth of fun at concerts?

:eek: Do people have $118 worth of fun at concerts?

My sister wanted me to go to a Springsteen concert in June. All in all, the bill would have come to about 200 € (including train tickets, concert tickets (90 € each!) and a night at the youth hostel). I'm sorry, but as much as I love the Boss, there's no way I'm shelling out that much money to be able to stand way in the back at one of his concerts. :nono:

My sister wanted me to go to a Springsteen concert in June. All in all, the bill would have come to about 200 € (including train tickets, concert tickets (90 € each!) and a night at the youth hostel). I'm sorry, but as much as I love the Boss, there's no way I'm shelling out that much money to be able to stand way in the back at one of his concerts. :nono:
I figured out what's going on. :doh: Regular tickets are sold out (normally $55), and ticket scalping is not illegal in BC.

I do all my sister's grocery shopping for her when I visit her, and she can't believe what I can get her for $50. I've peeked in her freezer and been horrified. She pays about $8/lb for chicken breast, while I never pay more than $3. She also buys the precooked bacon. I've suggested that she could just buy the regular bacon, cook it, and freeze it, but she didn't think that would be as convenient. :( I've also seen her buy garlic bread for $5, when a loaf of bread is only $1 and she has plenty of butter and garlic at home. I don't understand that one either.

We quit lending her money because we couldn't stand seeing them do things that we wouldn't think of being able to afford. :lol: (large screen plasma tv! :bang:) So, instead, we're a little bit more generous with their gifts when we can be. :)

The parallels between your sister and my friend that I mentioned last night are eerie. I have two kids who eat adult size portions and except for my wife eating lunch at work we all eat our breakfasts, lunches, and dinners from what I buy on the weekly grocery shop. He and his girlfriend only eat breakfast and dinner at home and their weekly bill is more than mine. A lot more. And it's not happening because they're shopping smartly. :nope: And quite frankly, even if money is not an object, the quality and taste of many of the prepared foods can't come close to what I can produce in my kitchen.


Somehow, though, he did manage to find the money for a 52” high def television. I didn't ask, but I'm sure it was bought on credit and only added to the credit card debt that he's carrying at probably an astronomical interest rate. He's in his early 50's and I've spent years trying to council him on fiscal purdency, but he falls back into the same patterns time and again. I assume that there are many like him.

Today's newspaper said that 52% of Canadians believe that it's getting too expensive to eat healthily. :confused: Last I looked, the restaurant industry has not been suffering. People are aparently perceiving it to be a source of "entertainment" or relaxation, rather than "nourishment".

If someone is looking to tighten up their budget, cutting out restaurant meals is one of the quickest ways to do so. I'm not implying that my family and I don't go out to eat because we do three to four times a month. And when we go it usually rises above the pure need for nourishment. As with many decisions concerning $$ it needs to be done within the context of one's financial situation and that's what too many people lose sight of.

So many people wouldn't need to work as many hours if they were smarter about how they used their money.

Ain't that the truth! :nod:

If I could figure out a good business plan for "Hand me over 100% of your food budget and I'll make sure you're well fed" I'd be right on it.

You may have the seeds of an idea there.

_____


We're visiting my Mom in BC at the end of next week. She's going to check what the snow hills are going to be like. And she's asked me if we want to go to an Avril Lavigne concert. Could be a good way to have some family fun.

I haven't been doing any formal weight training for a few months, but I'm easing back into it.

I squat because it feels good when I stop.

Have fun with the weights and I love your squat quote.

If I could figure out a good business plan for "Hand me over 100% of your food budget and I'll make sure you're well fed" I'd be right on it.

That's pretty much what personal chefs (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_chef) do. :nod:

That's pretty much what personal chefs (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_chef) do. :nod:
Cool. :cool: The entertaining and dinner party portion of that would be the tricky part.

I wonder if there's much demand for that in an upper middle class neighborhoood. :confused: I'm not sure I have exactly the right skills for that either. The gathering of ingredients is my strength. If any dishwashing was involved, I would absolutely hate it.

You wouldn't have to do dinner parties or special events. Many personal chefs stick to simply preparing and packaging weekly meals for families. I would think upper-middle class suburbanites would be the ideal demographic.

You would, however, need to clean up after yourself. ;)

You would, however, need to clean up after yourself. ;):(
I'd need to look outside of the upper middle class bracket then, into a home with housekeeping staff. :tucool:

We tried out the new cookbook.

But I'm not into deceiving my kids. (I have enough trouble at Christmas time. :blank:) So they helped me make a chocolate beet cake.

It's in the oven, so I'm not sure yet how it's going to taste. :scared:

And I'm eating baked beets. :eat: Oh, so tasty. :drool:

Oh, and we have tickets for the Avril Lavigne concert! :claphigh: Mom's treat. I have no idea how much she paid, and I'm not going to ask. :nope:

If we are to have magical bodies, we must have magical minds. ~ Wayne Dyer

:spaz: :spaz: :spaz:

We just bought snowboards!

:spaz: :spaz: :spaz:

Mine is covered in hummingbirds, and then we have a dark blue one with stars, and a white one with butterflies!

:spaz: :spaz: :spaz:

http://www.sportmart.ca/store/images/products/27MORM07011_73lg.jpg

A mind at peace, a mind centered and not focused on harming others, is stronger than any physical force in the universe. ~Wayne Dyer

I'm not sure I have exactly the right skills for that either. The gathering of ingredients is my strength. If any dishwashing was involved, I would absolutely hate it.

Rachel Ray started out as a waitress and clerk. Charisma and confidence are all that you need. :tucool:

Oo pretty :dreamy:

I wouldnt think it'd be worth that much to see Avril Lavigne, especially if you're way at the back. But since your mom got the tickets, what the heck.

Is there really a way to make beets taste good? In cake no less? :lol:
Let me know how that turns out.

You don't like beets????!!!

I love beets, so I wasn't too worried. But I chose not to measure :doh: (and added whole wheat in place of some of the white flour), so the recipe turned out a little random (and dry). Also, I unfortunately ran out of cocoa, so I had to use carob powder, and it tastes a bit "off" because of that. To eat, I break it into chunks in a bowl, pour 1/2 cup of coffee on top, heat in microwave for 30 seconds, and drizzle with chocolate syrup (http://www.cooks.com/rec/doc/0,1625,155163-253194,00.html). :drool:

They cancelled the ski trip today because it's too warm. :mad: It was raining through the night, and the roads were too icy for the buses to travel safely earlier. I don't know what happens to the ski hills in whether like this; it would have been a gorgeous day to spend several hours outside. :(

But I had a fantastic strength workout last night before bed, and slept like a baby. :)

"Life is like riding a bike. It is impossible to maintain your balance while standing still." ~ Linda Brakeall

See attachment.. I couldn't stand it anymore!

See attachment.. I couldn't stand it anymore!
:confused:
You like higher contrast?

The lights were too dark and there was a lack of contrast in general. :blank:

The lights were too dark and there was a lack of contrast in general. :blank:
Well, I liked it how it was. It had a subtle gentleness to it.

But, for you, I changed my avatar to one with lighter lights and darker darks. Enjoy. :cool:

I also e-mailed the ski hill and asked why they don't have any group snowboarding lessons for kids under 8. There are ski groups for kids as young as 4 years old, so I don't get it. :confused:

It's very difficult to scale down the size of a snowboard to fit a child under the age of 7... the board is too short to allow them enough distance between their feet. It's also much easier for young children to use skis as the techniques can be easily taught ("pizza and french fries") and it requires much less strength to control the motions.

Equipment rentals would add on about $170 each for the 8 weeks, or I could buy equipment. But I looked at equipment to buy and I'm getting all confused. :cry: I found a snowboard (new, with bindings) for as low as $30, and some as high as $300, and I have no idea how to tell the difference. I'm also not completely convinced that specialized snowboarding boots would be required, since my own insulated winter boots look very similar.

I would ABSOLUTELY recommend that you RENT equipment for your kids and not buy it... unless you can buy REAL equipment for less than a $100 investment (boots, board, and bindings). A $30 snowboard is most likely just a toy (more like a plastic sled), and is much better suited for your neighborhood park. They wouldn't let you use it at a ski resort.

Until your kids have stopped growing (both in their height and their foot size) they will outgrow the equipment every year. You can expect to get 30% of the value of your equipment if you sell it off or trade it in... a $300 snowboard will sell for $100, $75 boots will sell for $25, etc.

You will also DEFINITELY want to buy snowboard boots and not try to use any other type of boots. The stiffness of the upper portion is critical to your ability to control your turn. And the lower portion is usually "oversized" to fit snugly into the bindings... any play at all between your feet and the boots, or the boots and the bindings, will cause problems.

Could people theoretically snowboard at a designated ski hill for free, as long as they didn't use the lifts?

No... that would be considered theft of services.

We just bought snowboards!

Guess I'm late with my advice. :doh:

I would ABSOLUTELY recommend that you RENT equipment for your kids and not buy it... unless you can buy REAL equipment for less than a $100 investment (boots, board, and bindings). Hey, thanks for the advice!!:D I was wondering when you were going to show up.

We have a 115, 140, and 146 board. I'd looked on ebay and they were quite expensive, so the sports stores looked like much better deals. I'm hoping that this will be a frequent enough pastime, and that my boards will have enough resale value for the purchase to have been worthwhile. I'm not likely going to use my board once my older daughter grows enough to fit into it; we'll need another board for my younger daughter when she's in between sizes. I was hoping to get about 50%, but 30% would be okay. I can anticipate that one a little better and look for something better than the ebay prices.

Of course, when I got home, I recalculated the ski hill fees, and we could have attended special lessons for $29.95 through March that include lift ticket and rental. :doh:

I thought we had bags at home that I'd be able to pack them in for travelling, but that's not going to work. I posted on freecycle and someone offered me a golf bag that might work for the smaller one. I'm going to call the airline and ask if I can pack the other two boards together, then check the sports stores to see if they have any that would fit them both. All together, including taxes, the total cost for all boards, binding, and bags, is going to be about equivalent to the regular rental cost for about 8 sessions each, and we won't have to get sized and do the silly waiting each time we go. Plus we feel really super cool and all in our spiffy gear.
http://www.maniacworld.com/Extreme_snowboarding.jpg

Beets, blech. They have a very distinctive flavor, so not an easily aquired taste.

They cancelled the ski trip!? All that work for nothing, that sucks :( .
But the snow sports bug seems to have bitten you since then, so maybe you guys will do that more as a family in the future. Or have you all already been into that in the past?

They cancelled the ski trip!? All that work for nothing, that sucks :(
Ski trip is rescheduled for tomorrow. :spaz:

But my daughter's not feeling well today. :(

I just wiped out really bad on my way back from buying bananas. Bonked my head a good one, and scraped the palm of my hand. It's more slippery than a skating rink out there. I was being really careful too. :nod: But the slope got me.

We haven't done much snowboarding/skiing in the past, but my daughter won't be playing hockey next year like she did for the past three seasons, and we've been lacking something to do together as a family when it's cold outside.

It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change. ~ Charles Darwin

I just wiped out really bad on my way back from buying bananas. Bonked my head a good one, and scraped the palm of my hand. It's more slippery than a skating rink out there. I was being really careful too. :nod: But the slope got me.

You're not alone (http://forums.johnstonefitness.com/showpost.php?p=583228&postcount=4039). It's been a clumsy (http://forums.johnstonefitness.com/showpost.php?p=583263&postcount=2326) day.

Hey, thanks for the advice!!:D I was wondering when you were going to show up.

We have a 115, 140, and 146 board. I'd looked on ebay and they were quite expensive, so the sports stores looked like much better deals. I'm hoping that this will be a frequent enough pastime, and that my boards will have enough resale value for the purchase to have been worthwhile. I'm not likely going to use my board once my older daughter grows enough to fit into it; we'll need another board for my younger daughter when she's in between sizes. I was hoping to get about 50%, but 30% would be okay. I can anticipate that one a little better and look for something better than the ebay prices.

If the boards are in very good condition, 50% is possible, especially if you go the eBay route. All the boards I have seen on there (especially in the smaller sizes) have gone for WAY more than they are worth. That being said, my younger son might be ready for that 115 next year... :whistle:

I thought we had bags at home that I'd be able to pack them in for travelling, but that's not going to work. I posted on freecycle and someone offered me a golf bag that might work for the smaller one. I'm going to call the airline and ask if I can pack the other two boards together, then check the sports stores to see if they have any that would fit them both.

If you are taking the boards on an airplane, you can put the two bigger boards together with the bases out (so the bindings are towards the inside), wrap them with foam rubber or bubble wrap, and then fit them into a box (with a lot of duct tape on the outside).

All together, including taxes, the total cost for all boards, binding, and bags, is going to be about equivalent to the regular rental cost for about 8 sessions each, and we won't have to get sized and do the silly waiting each time we go. Plus we feel really super cool and all in our spiffy gear.

Well that's cool then... and you will get a fair amount of usage out of them since your younger daughter will be able to use the "hand me down" and the older daughter will grow into your board soon enough.

Thanks ecrivain. I was feeling like an idiot for being a snowboarder with no balance. Comforting that other athletes are equally uncoordinated.If the boards are in very good condition, 50% is possible, especially if you go the eBay route. All the boards I have seen on there (especially in the smaller sizes) have gone for WAY more than they are worth. That being said, my younger son might be ready for that 115 next year... :whistle:I will keep you in mind. It does have pretty butterflies on it however.

I was offerred a bag from freecycle that was ideal. :D If I'd had more time, I would have tried the get the other couple in about the $20 range, but we leave in two days, so I bought some new bags yesterday for only $40 from the trade-in sports store nearby. The guy who owns it is really super nice, and trains all of his employees to be equally friendly and helpful, so I always feel good about giving them business. :) He managed to sell me three pair of goggles as well! :doh: He has several used snowboards there in the $80 range with bindings, so I think for the next ones, we'll buy there. I realize now that I paid more than what I could have, but the boards are more beautiful than cheaper ones would have been, and I saved some running around.

We're going to decorate the bags with crests and badges from swimming, gymnastics, guides, and other things. They'll be our "sporty" bags. :dance:

philly, I need advice on how to look after my stuff at the ski hill. The one we went to was really, really short on locker space and terribly inconveniently located. Rental skis were propped up unattended on racks, but I didn't see what people were doing with their own skis and boards.

Last night was the last class of swimming. My older daughter passed and will begin the stages of lifeguard training in the spring. My younger daughter did not pass, so I'm tempted to have her continue to practice in the spring and bump her into the next level for summer. But she'd rather take the same level again in the spring, which runs at the same time as her sister's lesson would. $$$ :blank:

My daughter is sick, but I'm pretty sure the ski trip is cancelled again due to bad weather, so I suppose we'll get another chance at rescheduling after vacation. School buses are not running today.

..A MIXED BAG OF WINTRY PRECIPITATION TODAY.. THIS IS A WARNING THAT DANGEROUS WINTER WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE IMMINENT OR OCCURRING IN THESE REGIONS. MONITOR WEATHER CONDITIONS..:scared:

My neck is sore. I don't know if it's because of the way I bonked my head, or part of DOMS from weight training, or an awkward way of sleeping, or the first stages of the same sick as my daughter. :(

"Plenty of people miss their share of happiness, not because they never found it, but because they didn't stop to enjoy it." ~ William Feather

Guava, I started to collect the quotes in your posts which I like most....some of them are just so good! I copy-paste them into a draft email which I should label the "feel good and pick me up" email :nod:

btw, in Switzerland most of the people put their skis/snowboards on the rack instead of locking them up. but then again maybe we're all just naive, thinking that we still live in a country where you don't need to lock your front door (which isn't the case anymore)!

My neck is sore. I don't know if it's because of the way I bonked my head, or part of DOMS from weight training, or an awkward way of sleeping, or the first stages of the same sick as my daughter. :(

Sorry to hear that. I hope you're not getting sick. Take care of yourself!

philly, I need advice on how to look after my stuff at the ski hill. The one we went to was really, really short on locker space and terribly inconveniently located. Rental skis were propped up unattended on racks, but I didn't see what people were doing with their own skis and boards.

A basic cable lock (http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=5750640)like you'd use on a bicycle is fine. Run it through the back of the bindings (around the heel) and lock them all together to a solid object (like a ski rack).

Basically you're just encouraging a potential thief to steal someone else's stuff, making it harder for them to just walk off with yours.

I didn't realize that you were going on a snow trip (and on an airplane no less) this weekend... maybe I missed that somewhere along the line. We're going for an overnight snowboard trip this weekend (Sunday-Monday) too, and then the last night of snowboard camp will be Tuesday, so it'll be the three last days for us next week.

Sorry to hear that. I hope you're not getting sick. Take care of yourself!I'm going to try. :)

The little one has the chills now. :(
I feel okay, though.:confused:

I didn't realize that you were going on a snow trip (and on an airplane no less) this weekend... maybe I missed that somewhere along the line. We're going to visit my Mom! :spaz: She lives in Manitoba, but it's cold there in the winter, so she bought a condo in BC, but she has it out on long term rental, so she's rented another one, (which is a little bigger and nicer than hers :p). Whew!

It's a little ironic that we're considering going to a ski hill (we might still decide against it), because we almost always plan our vacations to places that are warmer than home. It will be warmer in general there, so it might be somewhat silly to subject ourselves intentionally to snow. :lol:

hmm... Looks okay. :tucool:
http://www.theweathernetwork.com/skifx/CABC0300
http://www.bigwhite.com/mountain_showSnowReport.html

Have fun boarding, philly! I suppose the season is pretty close to over; I think our resort is normally open until April, but only if it stays cold enough to maintain it.

Voici mon secret. Il est très simple : on ne voit bien qu'avec le coeur. L'essentiel est invisible pour les yeux. ~ Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Love your avatar - adorable :)

Does your younger daughter have her heart set on lifeguarding as much as her older sister?

We're going to visit my Mom! :spaz:

Right... now I remember... Avril Lavigne. Have a great time!

Love your avatar - adorable :)

Does your younger daughter have her heart set on lifeguarding as much as her older sister?
No, the younger one is a speed demon, and a bit of a loner. I have her pegged as a sprinter or something along that line. She would probably get into something to do with paperwork as a career. The older one is a social butterfly, and likes to set the pace, so teaching (or enforcing rules) is right up her alley. I did the Jung Typology on them a few months ago, and the younger one turned out ISFJ (I'm INFJ) and the older one an ESFP just like her Dad. Even though they may not have completely understood all of the questions, I think the results are amazingly accurate. :nod:

INFJ: INFJs are champions of the oppressed and downtrodden. They often are found in the wake of an emergency, rescuing those who are in acute distress. INFJs may fantasize about getting revenge on those who victimize the defenseless. INFJs are deeply concerned about their relations with individuals as well as the state of humanity at large. They are, in fact, sometimes mistaken for extroverts because they appear so outgoing and are so genuinely interested in people -- a product of the Feeling function they most readily show to the world. On the contrary, INFJs are true introverts, who can only be emotionally intimate and fulfilled with a chosen few from among their long-term friends, family, or obvious "soul mates." While instinctively courting the personal and organizational demands continually made upon them by others, at intervals INFJs will suddenly withdraw into themselves, sometimes shutting out even their intimates. Usually self-expression comes more easily to INFJs on paper, as they tend to have strong writing skills. Since in addition they often possess a strong personal charisma, INFJs are generally well-suited to the "inspirational" professions such as teaching (especially in higher education) and religious leadership. Psychology and counseling are other obvious choices, but overall, INFJs can be exceptionally difficult to pigeonhole by their career paths.

ISFJ: ISFJs are characterized above all by their desire to serve others, their "need to be needed." Although they're hurt by being treated like doormats, they are often unwilling to toot their own horns about their accomplishments because they feel that although they deserve more credit than they're getting, it's somehow wrong to want any sort of reward for doing work (which is supposed to be a virtue in itself). In the workplace, ISFJs are methodical and accurate workers, often with very good memories and unexpected analytic abilities; they are also good with people in small-group or one-on-one situations because of their patient and genuinely sympathetic approach to dealing with others. ISFJs make pleasant and reliable co-workers and exemplary employees, but tend to be harried and uncomfortable in supervisory roles.

ESFP: Playful and fun-loving, the Performer's primary social interest lies in stimulating those around them, arousing their senses and their pleasureful emotions-charming them, in a sense, to cast off their concerns and "lighten up." ESFPs love people, and everybody loves an ESFP. One of their greatest gifts is their general acceptance of everyone. They are upbeat and enthusiastic, and genuinely like almost everybody.

Siblings can turn out so different from eachother can't they?
I'd say I'm a INFJ like you, and my little brother is a mix between INFJ and ESFP, and my older brother is a total ESFP. It's nice to be around a mix of people, because my brothers help bring me out of my shell when I'm around them :nod: Does your husband do that with you?


Hope you had a good time at your moms! :)

I just looked up the personality tests that you mentioned. Its accurate as far as i can percieve. I scored a ENTJ trait. Interesting reading either way.

Hope you got to your ski trip.

I'd say I'm a INFJ like you. It's nice to be around a mix of people, because my brothers help bring me out of my shell when I'm around them :nod: Does your husband do that with you?
Did you take the test? :spaz: Just 72 questions; it doesn't take long.
http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/JTypes2.asp
Because there are 16 possible outcomes, it's amazing how accurate and individualized the results can be.

Most of the people I initiate relationships with are extraverts (and, not surprisingly, everyone who has initiated a relationship with me has been extraverted, though there have been times of course where I've found introverted friends through common interests or activities) . I could have ended up never going out in public ever if I hadn't had the good example of my husband. :p He's also more "results oriented" instead of "living in the moment" which helps me to sometimes ground myself and be a little more functional/practical instead of optimistic/dreamy. I think I've learned a lot about how to relate to people who are different from me because of him.

My daughter wanted her hair cut over the weekend. Short. I've been putting it off for months. Finally we got it done, with more than four inches chopped off. She loved the results on Saturday. Sunday was fine, and Monday too. But today she decided she wanted to wear a dress to school, and she decided that short hair doesn't look good with a dress. She cried for ten minutes this morning, we missed the bus, and I had to drive her to school. It's pretty much put a bad taste on the whole day, even though I know she's completely over it by now, I can't let go of the stress I felt this morning for her. :(

Hope you got to your ski trip.We went snowboarding once while we were in Kelowna. They had an instructional package, where rentals were included, so we really didn't need to bring our boards on the airplane. :rolleyes: When we left for the day, we had intended to buy a lift pass good for 12:30 until 3:30, but ended up getting a two hour (beginner) lesson for cheaper than that. Unfortunately, they closed the lift at the beginner hill at 4:00, which we were unaware of, so we went for lunch at 3:00 and missed an hour that we could have been snowboarding. :cry: There were three "green" runs that were still open, but we took a look at them, and they were only a few metres wide, with no barricades whatsoever on the edges of the trails. In most cases, if you missed the turn, there was about a one metre drop-off before you would have crashed into the living room of someone's condominium. :eek: The school ski trip is rescheduled (for the second time now) until tomorrow.

I'm just remembering right now that I hated a nice big chunk of the lesson (and the whole time that we walked all the way down the green hill to save ourselves from certain doom), but I'm still really looking forward to going out again. I guess it helps that I saw a little boy out there grumbling, and heard his mom shout over to him "You have to hate it before you can love it." I think I'm still only entering the hating stage, but it's a good hate. ;) And I have no qualms with staying on the bunny hill for all of my snowboarding career.

I made a cake with spinach in it (http://www.turkishcookbook.com/2007/01/spinach-cake.php). :cry: I knew it was a bad idea, but I had to try it. I think my food processor is not powerful enough. I had it in there for almost five minutes, and it was still pretty chunky. It was barely edible straight out of the oven, and was positively nasty a couple of hours later. But it was a really nice bright color for St. Patrick's Day. :dance:

Hot cross buns are in season. :drool:

"Life is like riding a bike. It is impossible to maintain your balance while standing still." ~Linda Brakeall

My daughter wanted her hair cut over the weekend. Short. I've been putting it off for months. Finally we got it done, with more than four inches chopped off. She loved the results on Saturday. Sunday was fine, and Monday too. But today she decided she wanted to wear a dress to school, and she decided that short hair doesn't look good with a dress. She cried for ten minutes this morning, we missed the bus, and I had to drive her to school. It's pretty much put a bad taste on the whole day, even though I know she's completely over it by now, I can't let go of the stress I felt this morning for her. :(

How short is it now? I've had shortish hair most of my life. I started wearing it a bit longer in my teens when I was fifteen and still got mistaken for a boy when wearing baggy sweaters :blank:.

I made a cake with spinach in it (http://www.turkishcookbook.com/2007/01/spinach-cake.php). :cry: I knew it was a bad idea, but I had to try it. I think my food processor is not powerful enough. I had it in there for almost five minutes, and it was still pretty chunky. It was barely edible straight out of the oven, and was positively nasty a couple of hours later. But it was a really nice bright color for St. Patrick's Day. :dance:

:lol:

How short is it now? I've had shortish hair most of my life. I started wearing it a bit longer in my teens when I was fifteen and still got mistaken for a boy when wearing baggy sweaters :blank:.It's chin length.

Her sister gets mistaken for a boy all the time, but she doesn't mind. There's a boy in her class with beautiful long hair who gets mistaken for a girl all the time, so they joke that it all evens out in the end. ;) The little one is much more feminine, so she would be much more offended if she were ever mistaken as a boy. :mad: She added some jewelry and hair ties this morning, and that seemed to help. :tu:

It's chin length.

Her sister gets mistaken for a boy all the time, but she doesn't mind. There's a boy in her class with beautiful long hair who gets mistaken for a girl all the time, so they joke that it all evens out in the end. ;) The little one is much more feminine, so she would be much more offended if she were ever mistaken as a boy. :mad: She added some jewelry and hair ties this morning, and that seemed to help. :tu:

Mine is chin length, too. It's a good length. :nod:

Before I hit puberty I didn't mind getting mistaken for a boy since I was a real tomboy anyway. All my friends were boys and I kept complaining that I wasn't a boy. But when people still made that mistake when I was in my mid-teens my self-esteem kind of took a hit for some reason. I think it was because by that time I didn't really fit in with the guys anymore but I wasn't a girly girl either. I never really found my niche in high school.

I've done this test before, and it's one of the tests we did for the hypnotherapy assignment. I'm a ISFJ, one reason why hypnotherapy and helping people appeals to me. :)

Hopefully she'll get over it and enjoy the short hair! Though if it helps any I tortured my daughter for a few years with very short hair, because it would get so tangled at night and brushing it in the morning was too much of a tears and stress battle for me to take. Every time we went for a hair cut, she'd beg for longer hair and I'd tell her when she decided she could handle the brushings, then she could have long hair. I took her almost three years to decided she was ready and then another year to grow it out.

It's chin length.

Her sister gets mistaken for a boy all the time, but she doesn't mind. There's a boy in her class with beautiful long hair who gets mistaken for a girl all the time, so they joke that it all evens out in the end. ;) The little one is much more feminine, so she would be much more offended if she were ever mistaken as a boy. :mad: She added some jewelry and hair ties this morning, and that seemed to help. :tu:

Mine is chin length, too. It's a good length. :nod:

Before I hit puberty I didn't mind getting mistaken for a boy since I was a real tomboy anyway. All my friends were boys and I kept complaining that I wasn't a boy. But when people still made that mistake when I was in my mid-teens my self-esteem kind of took a hit for some reason. I think it was because by that time I didn't really fit in with the guys anymore but I wasn't a girly girl either. I never really found my niche in high school.

I was such a tomboy, mom made me keep mine long so she could have something to remind her she actually had a daughter! Now I can even fathom cutting it short! :lol:

:dance:

I can fool the twelve-year-old girls. About three of them said "Wow, you're a good snowboarder." :lol: At different times of the day too! :nod:

It was raining this morning, but we went on the ski trip anyway. :D A nice hot day 10 degrees celsius, so I did a lot of sweating.:cool:

I can now turn without falling, on about 90% of my attempts.:claplow: Except I realized on my last run that I was turning backwards when going from heelside to toeside, so it was more like I was doing twirls than turns. :) I guess I looked a little bit like a ballerina with a board strapped to her feet.

Now my toes are sore. They need a good soak.

Shall we call you SkaterGirl? :D

Shall we call you SkaterGirl? :D
Call me a slow learner but persistent. Call me exhausted but invigorated.

Technically, I'm a member of the RadGalz..All Girls Snowboard and Wakeboarding group, but their 2008 meeting in Ontario was cancelled, before I ever found out about it. :( I would feel a little bit pretentious to call myself a snowboarder at this stage yet and would be too intimidated to attend any such events. :nope:

They did not run the carpet shuttle ALL DAY. I WALKED up the hill more than a dozen times. On the bright side, it was surprisingly much easier to walk up on the astroturfed platform than on the hill itself. Sure am glad I didn't have to pay for a lift ticket.

It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare, it is because we do not dare that they are difficult.

I'm reading Good Calories Bad Calories by Gary Taubes, and so far, it's very upsetting. :(

http://www.nwcrossfit.com/pt/uploads/Good%20Calories,%20Bad%20Calories.jpg

Taubes has no training in health or nutrition. He is a journalist, and his book is an expansion of the article he wrote for the New York Times called "What if It's All Been A Big Fat Lie?" (http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F04E2D61F3EF934A35754C0A9649C8B 63&sec=health)

It focuses nearly exclusively on the fact that saturated fat intake is the main "cause" of both heart disease and obesity. But it does this not with biological information, not with new experiments designed to test the hypothesis, but with a ripping apart of all previous scientific experiments that have shown it to be so. It's upsetting for me because it warns right in the introduction that it's going to be mostly one-sided. And because I LIKE to believe what the "authorities" tell me, I feel extremely let down when I realize that their advice may not have been in my best interest, and may have been given without appropriate understanding of the facts. :(

I have preconceived notions that saturated fat IS bad, so it's very difficult for me to swallow this information, and really difficult for me to read the book. :o I keep putting it off, and can only handle a few pages at a time.

Believe those who are seeking the truth; doubt those who find it. ~ Andre Gide

I'm reading Good Calories Bad Calories by Gary Taubes, and so far, it's very upsetting. :(

http://www.nwcrossfit.com/pt/uploads/Good%20Calories,%20Bad%20Calories.jpg

Taubes has no training in health or nutrition. He is a journalist, and his book is an expansion of the article he wrote for the New York Times called "What if It's All Been A Big Fat Lie?" (http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F04E2D61F3EF934A35754C0A9649C8B 63&sec=health)

It focuses nearly exclusively on the fact that saturated fat intake is the main "cause" of both heart disease and obesity. But it does this not with biological information, not with new experiments designed to test the hypothesis, but with a ripping apart of all previous scientific experiments that have shown it to be so. It's upsetting for me because it warns right in the introduction that it's going to be mostly one-sided. And because I LIKE to believe what the "authorities" tell me, I feel extremely let down when I realize that their advice may not have been in my best interest, and may have been given without appropriate understanding of the facts. :(

I have preconceived notions that saturated fat IS bad, so it's very difficult for me to swallow this information, and really difficult for me to read the book. :o I keep putting it off, and can only handle a few pages at a time.

Believe those who are seeking the truth; doubt those who find it. ~ Andre Gide

:confused: dId you get it from the local library? I was hoping you would read it and make a few comments before i see whether i think its worth buying on Amazon. I found the video that Andy recently linked quite probing into accepted "truths"...

I want to get around to reading that. I suspect I just need to buy it instead of getting it at the library, as I doubt I could sit through that long of a book on studies, etc in a 3 week check out period. I'd have to digest it in smaller dosages.

I've actually read up on other articles on the same topic for awhile since starting AD. I still try to make sure I get a lot of the traditional "good" fats, but I don't sweat as much the saturateds, especially those like are in beef and eggs, as they do good things along with the "bad". The "bad" is often even cleaned up by the "good" in the same food.

I also suspect some of this is genetic, as there are studies showing some people are hyper-responsive to serum cholesterol problems after eating eggs, while others see virtually no bad blood results from upping their intake.

It is very interesting. I've come to believe that the governmental recommendation stuff is generally 20 years behind science. So their carb recommendations are not for me.

I thought this (http://www.diet-blog.com/archives/2008/01/28/good_calories_bad_calories.php) and this (http://www.diet-blog.com/archives/2008/03/14/the_good_and_the_bad_of_good_calories_bad_calories .php) were interesting takes on the book over at diet-blog. I suspect I'd agree with his take on exercise vs the book after watching people around as well as seeing my own results with exercise.

EDIT: Another piece (http://www.menshealth.com/cda/article.do?site=MensHealth&channel=health&category=heart.disease&conitem=a03ddd2eaab85110VgnVCM10000013281eac____) from Men's Health that I think I posted here somewhere before.

My hypnotherapy tutor believes the idea that fat is the cause of our weight problems is a myth too. He believes that processed sugar is the cause for our problems.

:eek:

:bang:


:cry:


dId you get it from the local library? I was hoping you would read it and make a few comments before i see whether i think its worth buying on Amazon. I found the video that Andy recently linked quite probing into accepted "truths"...Yes, it's from the library.

I'll try to make a few notes here, but it's giving me a bit of a headache. :(

I'll simplify this in my own confused words, because it doesn't completely make sense yet. I hope I get this right:

So far, the main point he's mentioned is that the government advice to eat a "low fat diet" is based on only two small studies, one of which was inconclusive, the other showing a moderate effect. In the meantime, there have been loads of evidence that the advice to limit dietary fat intake (and probably even the advice to limit saturated fat) is probably wrong, but nobody can say so because then they'd get in trouble from the government. It also seems from the reading I've done that a high fat diet, specifically a diet high in saturated fat may actually be protective against some cancers. Of course, many experts insist on saying the opposite, because of the previously mentioned issue, despite lots of evidence to the contrary.

I'd like to be able to believe that he's telling both sides of the story, because it's just so incredulous, but it's impossible to know for sure without doing my own research.

If anyone is leafing through it in a library or bookstore, trying to decide whether to borrow/buy it, flip to page 74, start at the last paragraph, and read on to the blank spot on page 76, including the footnote on 75. That's still pretty much got me floored, and it's going to take me a while to digest before going further.

I want to get around to reading that. I suspect I just need to buy it instead of getting it at the library, as I doubt I could sit through that long of a book on studies, etc in a 3 week check out period. I'd have to digest it in smaller dosages.

It is very interesting. I've come to believe that the governmental recommendation stuff is generally 20 years behind science. So their carb recommendations are not for me.

I thought this (http://www.diet-blog.com/archives/2008/01/28/good_calories_bad_calories.php) and this (http://www.diet-blog.com/archives/2008/03/14/the_good_and_the_bad_of_good_calories_bad_calories .php) were interesting takes on the book over at diet-blog. I suspect I'd agree with his take on exercise vs the book after watching people around as well as seeing my own results with exercise.

EDIT: Another piece (http://www.menshealth.com/cda/article.do?site=MensHealth&channel=health&category=heart.disease&conitem=a03ddd2eaab85110VgnVCM10000013281eac____) from Men's Health that I think I posted here somewhere before.Thanks Mannish. I'll check on those links later. And thanks for posting the initial video link that got me interested in the book.

It's definitely something you want to buy. I have a strong temptation to highlight areas and scrawl notes in the margins. Because he likes to fancy things up with words, it's particularly hard to follow in a lot of places.

It's not just that the government information is 20 years behind, it's that the initial process for determining the original dietary recommendations was severely flawed, and it's been terribly, terribly difficult to get people to change them, despite lots of evidence that fails to support them, or in some cases, outright contradicts them.

I'll be really pissed off it I do a whole bunch of my own research and find out this journalist just gets a kick out of stirring up shit and this whole book is a grand exaggeration. I've never quite trusted Sally Fallon (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Weston_A._Price_Foundation) for some reason. I have a feeling by the end of the book I'm not going to be very impressed with Michael Jacobson (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Jacobson), whose campaigns have always seemed very reasonable to me. :bang:

It was really hard trying to figure out what to have for supper tonight. :mad: I went with three chicken thighs (skin included), liberally sprinkled with cajun seasoning. It's been years. :lol:

Cue Naturegirl.

Anyone who conducts an argument by appealing to authority is not using his intelligence; he is just using his memory. ~Leonardo da Vinci

My hypnotherapy tutor believes the idea that fat is the cause of our weight problems is a myth too. He believes that processed sugar is the cause for our problems.
Yes, it could be sugar, or any form of processed corn, wheat, etc.

It also seems reasonable to me that there may be no particular foods or macronutrients (such as fat) that increases a person's health risks, but that there is something toxic about body fat (when present in a person's body to a certain degree) that creates a host of diseases. I think I've mentioned the Calorie Restriction Society (http://www.calorierestriction.org/), whose beliefs I'm quite curious about. Maintaining a low body weight, (or eating at a low level of calories) seems to have real and significant benefits to longevity.

If you don't read the newspaper, you are uninformed; if you do read the newspaper, you are misinformed. ~ Mark Twain

It was really hard trying to figure out what to have for supper tonight. :mad: I went with three chicken thighs (skin included), liberally sprinkled with cajun seasoning. It's been years. :lol:

I've been doing beer/coke can chicken weekly lately, eating skin and all :eat:

Cue Naturegirl.

Heh



I think the optimal diet is something we are going to learn is some kind of balance of less processed things. And I suspect my optimal diet may not be your optimal diet based on our genetics. Some of us probably are evolved to eat lots of fruits and maybe even grains, others meat. And I suspect we might even be able to be tested for this, and I think this is just starting now if you want to spend a bunch of money on it.

So carbs aren't evil, but neither are fats. For some people, one or the other might not work as well. But I think our over reliance on processed grains and fructose/sucrose isn't helping us much.

But what do I know?

I thought this (http://www.diet-blog.com/archives/2008/03/14/the_good_and_the_bad_of_good_calories_bad_calories .php) was in interesting take on the book over at diet-blog.

"It took me a while to finally get a copy, read and digest it, plus a 2 week decompression exercise that consisted of reading nothing but People Magazine."

:lol: Glad I'm not the only one. It's exhausting!

Jedi, here's an interview with Taubes:
http://tinyurl.com/ys5h8z

This question summarizes how the book unfolds:

Q: Everywhere we look, from Cheerios boxes to New York City’s recent ban on trans fats, we see the message that minimizing dietary fat will help prevent obesity and heart disease. How did we come to believe this “conventional wisdom” and when/how did you begin to doubt it?

A: We first came to believe this fifty years ago primarily because a handful of medical researchers of very dubious quality came to believe it unconditionally. They managed to get the American Heart Association to go along, which in turn convinced the health reporters and the politicians and it spread from there. The evidence never came around to support it, but after a while nobody cared. Or at least they didn’t consider the copious evidence refuting the hypothesis to be an impediment to believing that it was true.I came to doubt it initially because I had interviewed some of these people when I was doing an investigative article for the journal Science on the equally unsubstantiated belief that eating salt causes hypertension. My previous two books were about how hard it is to conduct good science, how rigorous and skeptical the scientists have to be, and here I was interviewing these prestigious and respected medical authorities, and they didn’t seem to have a clue what real science was all about. I decided to look into the fat story, knowing nothing about it, simply because these people were involved and claimed to have played significant roles. What I found was the scientific equivalent of a house of cards. These people would do a study to test their beliefs and it would come out either negative or just ambiguous. Then they’d interpret it as supporting their preferred hypothesis—that all fat or just saturated fat was harmful—in light of the fact that there were other studies that also supported their beliefs. And when I looked at the other studies, those were equally ambiguous but were in turn interpreted as supportive because still other studies appeared to support the fat-is-bad hypothesis. And that’s how it went, all the way down and back to the beginning. To mix my metaphors, there was a lot of smoke, but never any fire.

So it's fat all the way is it? :)

I think the optimal diet is something we are going to learn is some kind of balance of less processed things. And I suspect my optimal diet may not be your optimal diet based on our genetics. Some of us probably are evolved to eat lots of fruits and maybe even grains, others meat. And I suspect we might even be able to be tested for this, and I think this is just starting now if you want to spend a bunch of money on it.



I am amore an dmore coming to this conclusion Andy. Thus its maybe trial and error to discover this personally. then how that works if indivuals in your family all need different foods, I have no idea:D:D

You have piqued my interest enough, Gauva, to buy it ;) At least we can be pretty sure if we avoid HFCS and sugar/refined stuff, eating as unrefined as possible, that's a good start, and from there on in.... its a voyage of discovery :)

eating as unrefined as possible, that's a good start, I'm questioning everything now. If "processing" wheat into flour makes it so bad for you, beet puree is probably not as good for you as beets, and so on, and so on, and so on....

Supper last night: three handfulls of mixed salted nuts, two oranges, yogurt (This new Alive yogurt is fortified with green tea extract (http://www.dairyland.ca/yogurt.htm) :confused: It tastes kind of slimy and sticky, like mucus http://planetsmilies.net/vomit-smiley-7502.gif) . Supper tonight: T-bone steak, asparagus, grilled balsamic zucchini, orange

I was responding to a thread earlier today where hypoglycemia was mentioned. I did a google search to back up my advice and found some horrible recommendations. :mad: There was a website with a very detailed menu given to a hypoglycemic patient by her dietician, and it didn't look right at all! :( (1/2 serving of bread and half a serving of milk for an afternoon snack? :rolleyes: Surely they could have thought of something better. Puffed cereal, white bread, white rice and mashed potatoes are encouraged (http://www.programwitch.com/diet/bread.htm). :dance: I wonder when that diet was created.)

Snowboarding was awesome yesterday. :cool: And I didn't get any muscle strain today! :claplow: I've been stretching. :D Weather stayed right around the freezing point. The snow was hard packed in the morning, but turned quite slushy in the afternoon sun. I think it will be cold enough that we can go again tomorrow. :spaz:

I learned how to Wii bowl. That was pretty much fun. Then I watched my little girl do the Wii boxing. Whenever she got knocked out, she'd jump up and down until her Mii recovered. :lol: It was so cute I took a video.

There are many more wrong answers than right ones, and they are easier to find. ~Michael Friedlander

It sounds like the food advice is just confusing you rather than helping you at the moment. In the absence of a directionm trust your instinct..

Taubes is way cool IMO, he's the reason I found out about low carb back in 2001 and I've been fascinated ever since! :)

From all the material I've read covering the very extremes of both sides of the spectrum - from an ultra low fat plant based diet to an ultra high fat animal based diet, I've come to the conclusion that the most important element in all of them is how natural the food is. Humans have adapted to extreme environments all over the planet and thrived in good health. Number one is whole foods, number two is calories, number three is macronutrient ratios, IMO.

Pretty much what Andy said.

Now sure you can analyze it even more than that which has it's importance and is just fine, but I try not to miss the forest for the trees (one of my favorite expessions.) Even whole foods have their pitfalls, nutrient inhibitors and too much fiber being a couple. But the main thing is to look at the big picture.

I used to get angry about stuff like that, used to, because like you said, we turn to the authorities who've put the time and effort into these areas of study and become professionals to help guide us into making healthy choices and spending our money on the right medical tests and procedures. But you know what, you made my point with your Mark Twain quote :D

BTW, I checked out the link to that personality test and ended up playing around there for a while :lol:

I'm questioning everything now. If "processing" wheat into flour makes it so bad for you, beet puree is probably not as good for you as beets, and so on, and so on, and so on....



I think that beets are probably "better" than the purée but its often a very marginal issue and maybe just the fact that you are going to have a smile on your face eating your beet purée may well alter its processing in the body... what do ya think ?? maybe our moods affect it too :D as NG says as nautral as posible but without stressing about it either ;) so occsionally juicing my grapefruit instead of eating it can't have any really significant difference, I think!

Taubes is way cool :dreamy: He's the most amazing critical thinker I've come across since Feynman. (He's a fan of Feynman too. ;)) I've never ever come across a book better researched and as well thought-out as this one.

maybe our moods affect it too definitely

I can't always eat according to what nutrients I need. I sometimes need to eat according to what hormonal balance is required. Advanced planning and frequent meals should account for this, but sometimes mistakes are made. :(

I find that if I have the perception that someone is angry with me, I need to eat cake. And, of course, sometimes it's just fun to enjoy a nice big bowl of chocolate pudding :)

Taubes research is most relevant to diabetes, and those with insulin resistance. I think I have remarkably adaptable insulin, which allows me a much more relaxed diet than what other people could get away with. My blood sugar fluctuations haven't gotten me into too much trouble. Of course, a huge point of his book is unfortunate consequence that the large strides of information we've learned frome the diabetic population has been confined to the diabetic community. Nutritionists treat diabetes as a special condition which requires a special diet, when it might be better considered an extreme manifestation of the way that we all function.

One of the reasons I'm so interested in all of this research is because my husband at one point had some signs of hypoglycemia, and has a high likelihood of becoming diabetic (He's part Native Canadian, and his mother is diabetic and obese. He weighed 10 pounds when he was born! :eek:) There's also a history of alcoholism in his family, which concerns me because he's a moderate drinker. :( I'm hoping that if I find the right information and explain to him why things work the way they do, he might change to more healthy habits. On the one hand, I'd feel so much relief about his well-being if he drank a lot less than he does, but on the other hand, I don't like to suggest what he's allowed to do and not allowed to do, especially if he's not allowed to do "the fun stuff" or what relaxes him and keeps him sane.

Buying steak more often should be favorable in his book. :eat: I'm personally going to readjust my diet yet again, keeping my fruit intake similar to what it's been, cutting back a tiny, tiny bit on whole grains and yogurts, and cutting back a tiny bit more on sugar intake and bread, and substitute those calories with more nuts, olive oil, and chicken legs. I think a macronutrient ratio more like 40 % carbohydrates and 30% each from fats and proteins could be more favorable to my health. The only concern I have would be the effect on my satiety, mood and alertness. The effects of exercise, and increased hydration should be able to combat that. (But on the other hand, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" :whistle:)

I'm going to dump some pieces from the book here in this journal. Most of these I intend to look into further.

:read:

After a study of 1400 people showed that a diet high in fibre was not protective against color cancer, Jane Brody based her high fibre diet recommendations on a six week study of thirteen subjects who showed a positive impact. (April 2000)

Landsberg accepted the effects of insulin as real, but did not relate them to refined carbohydrates.

The details of lipoprotein metabolism circa 2007 remain a mystery to the great proportion of clinicians and investigators involved in the prevention of heart disease. (in favor of the erroneous facts they learned in school)

U of W epidemiologist Melissa Austin (http://depts.washington.edu/epidem/fac/facBio.shtml?Austin_Melissa) refuses to comment on the dietary implications that small, dense LDL is indeed the atherogenic form of LDL. Same with Goran Walldius, cardiologist at Karolina Institute, Stockholm. "Apo B is a much better predictor of heart disease than LDL cholesterol (http://www.njmonline.nl/njm/getpdf.php?t=a&id=412)". (I wonder what they eat. :confused:)

fructose is the most lipogenic carbohydrate

At a 2003 meeting in London to discuss the latest work on IGF, researchers speculated that the development of cancerous cells and even benign tumors is a natural side effect of aging. What's not natural is the progression of these cells and tumors to lethal malignancies. Such a transformation requires the chronically high levels of insulin and IGF induced by modern diets. This hypothesis, if not refuted, would constitute a significant shift in our understanding of the development of malignant cancer. It would mean that the decisive factor in malignant cancer is not the accumulation of genetic damage in cells, much of which is unavoidable, but how diets change the environment around cells and tissue to promote the survival, growth, and the metastis of the cancer cells.

(Instead of looking for environmental "toxins" that cause cancer, we can look at eating patterns that create a dangerous environment in the body)

Peter Cleave - The Saccharine Disease

John Yudkin - The five nations with the highest breast cancer mortality in women in the late 1970s had the highest sugar consumption, and the five countries with the lowest breast cancer mortality had the lowest sugar consumption (:eek: almost a perfect correlation)

Tannenbaum - If a rat is fed 2/3 of its preferred diet, it lives 30 to 50 % longer. (In fact, these rats who didn't live as long, were not just given extra rice chow - ie. a mix of carbs, protein, fat; instead, they had their rice chow supplemented with corn starch - ie. carbohydrates only, so the inhibition of cancer in the healthy rats could be due to a carbohydrate restriction rather than restriction of all calories.

Cynthia Kenyon - feeding glucose to worms reduced their lifespan by a quarter

Hrdlicka - Many Pima were obese, but also lived in poverty, at some points much of the population was eating fewer than 2000 calories per day, but getting 50% of calories from sugar and flour

Jared Diamond called agriculture "the worst mistake in the history of the human race"

There is a low occurence of type 2 diabetes among Europeans compared to other nations.

:read:

"The danger of simplifying a medical issue for public consumption is that we may come to believe that our simplification is an appropriate representation of the biological reality." ~Gary Taubes

On the cancer thing, I've been seeing more studies referencing low carb diets reducing the size of or slowing the growth of tumors in several different types of cancers. I posted about that in my journal the other day.

Even more of a reason for me to control carb intake, and make the carbs I do take in be full of antioxidants as much as possible. I just wish I could ever learn to like broccoli... :(

On the cancer thing, I've been seeing more studies referencing low carb diets reducing the size of or slowing the growth of tumors in several different types of cancers. I posted about that in my journal the other day.

Even more of a reason for me to control carb intake, and make the carbs I do take in be full of antioxidants as much as possible. I just wish I could ever learn to like broccoli... :(It's surprising!

I've never heard of a link between sugar intake and cancer. But yet many researchers have known about a possible relation for years!

I think it's kind of ironic how we've heard so much about the links between artificial sweeteners and cancers, but hardly heard much at all about the link between natural sweeteners and cancers.

Fortunately, I really like broccoli.
Do you like anything similar to broccoli? See this list (http://beckymillerfitness.com/superfoods/Broccoli.doc):
Cauliflower, brussels sprouts, and other vegetables offer some overlapping benefits.

I'd like to try to get more fish and beans into my diet, but I'm not really sure what's the easiest way. I don't really dislike the taste, but I find them somewhat awkward to prepare and just quite not as satisfying as other protein sources. I have the same issue with spinach. It's okay, but I don't go out of my way to eat it unless I'm feeling extra specially virtuous.
http://planetsmilies.net/angel-smiley-5124.gif

one of the biggest things i miss on low carb is beans and pulses :)

Guava, it seems like Taubes' book is really impacting you!

To change the subject a little, I have just read two novels (a book and its sequel) which had me in tears and laughter.... the most un-put-downable story I have read in a long time and with some exquisite sentences... the author is Marc Levy and the book in french is "Et si c'était vrai....?" it's set in San Francisco and abeen translated into English too. My friend has also seen the films but was hugely dissapointed.... I think you would enjoy them if you haven't already read them?

one of the biggest things i miss on low carb is beans and pulses :)

Guava, it seems like Taubes' book is really impacting you!

To change the subject a little, I have just read two novels (a book and its sequel) which had me in tears and laughter.... the most un-put-downable story I have read in a long time and with some exquisite sentences... the author is Marc Levy and the book in french is "Et si c'était vrai....?" it's set in San Francisco and abeen translated into English too. My friend has also seen the films but was hugely dissapointed.... I think you would enjoy them if you haven't already read them?Should I read it in French? :spaz: I have a few books for my daughter in French that I've been reading at bedtime and then translating. I hope she doesn't notice my mistakes. :doh:

I think I still might have a copy of Le Petit Prince somewhere. That's a pretty good one.

I bought a bakery fresh artisan sprouted grain bread the other day; I don't know much about those. It said on the label it had a GI of 43, which sounds pretty good. And it was very, very, very tasty; better than regular bread. I might just give up regular bread and switch to that one, except it's double the price. There's also a commercial bakery (http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/January2008/24/c3729.html) that makes it and supplies it to retailers, but I'm not sure it's as good an idea. :confused:

Research has shown that using sprouted grains increases the absorbable nutritional elements such as biotin, folic acid and
vitamins B1 (thiamin), B2, B3, B5 (pantathenic acid) and C (in some cases by as much as 300%)(*). On the heels of the best-selling Stonemill Bakehouse Sprouted Grain - 3 Grain Bread, Ontario's own innovative artisan bread baker is adding variety to healthy choice with the introduction of two new sprouted grain breads: Sprouted Grains, Psyllium-12 Grain Rye Bread and Sprouted Grain, Prebiotic-Flax Bagels. Both breads only contain ingredients you can pronounce - in other words all natural, with no chemical additives or preservatives.

:( (As an aside, I tried this bodywise (http://www.dempsters.ca/products/BodyWise_wholewheat.html) bread a few weeks ago, and it was kind of disgusting. Ingredients are pretty scary too.

And MannishBoy, I'm sure you've heard me mention my favorite way to eat my broccoli. Steamed, then cooled, and topped with pecans and chopped granny smith apple or raisins. :drool:

Il est bien plus difficile de se juger soi-même que de juger autrui. ~ Antoine de Saint-Exupery

I think it's kind of ironic how we've heard so much about the links between artificial sweeteners and cancers, but hardly heard much at all about the link between natural sweeteners and cancers.

Yeah, I've been stumbling on this stuff since after I got out of chemo and started reading more (why I didn't do it during treatment is probably some kind of morbid avoidance flaw in my personality).

Thing is I asked my doctors if I needed to do anything with diet, and they didn't really have much advice. They mainly didn't want me losing weight, but didn't care much what I actually ate. It's another failing of modern medicine. It's not sexy enough to talk about diet when we have these cool unpronounceable chemicals that can make you pee orange....

Fortunately, I really like broccoli.
Do you like anything similar to broccoli? See this list (http://beckymillerfitness.com/superfoods/Broccoli.doc):
Cauliflower, brussels sprouts, and other vegetables offer some overlapping benefits.

No, not really. Kale's good, I started eating it when I couldn't get spinach. But I eat broccoli and cauliflower and spinach frequently. Spinach I like for salads, the other two...I'm still fighting.

I have the same issue with spinach. It's okay, but I don't go out of my way to eat it unless I'm feeling extra specially virtuous.
http://planetsmilies.net/angel-smiley-5124.gif

I eat baby spinach in all my salads instead of lettuce. The bonus is it lasts much longer in the fridge. I buy it in huge Sam's bags once a week.

EDIT: I generally eat broccoli steamed with a bit of kosher salt and liberal crushed red pepper and maybe some EVOO.

I have just read two novels (a book and its sequel) which had me in tears and laughter.... the most un-put-downable story I have read in a long time and with some exquisite sentences... the author is Marc Levy and the book in french is "Et si c'était vrai....?" it's set in San Francisco and abeen translated into English too. My friend has also seen the films but was hugely dissapointed.... I think you would enjoy them if you haven't already read them?I checked that review. The French translation of the book didn't get as high reviews as the original "it doesn't help that Levy has no ear whatsoever for American speech patterns" (http://www.amazon.ca/Only-Were-True-Marc-Levy/dp/0743406176/ref=pd_bbs_sr_6?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1206371312&sr=8-6) but I don't think I could handle it in French. :p

But it reminded me of this book I read recently
PS I Love you by Cecilia Ahern (http://www.amazon.ca/Ps-Love-You-Cecelia-Ahern/dp/0007258925/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1206371438&sr=8-1)

My favorite book I've read recently is Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (http://www.amazon.ca/Extremely-Loud-Incredibly-Close-Novel/dp/0618711651/ref=pd_bowtega_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1206371704&sr=1-1) by Jonathan Safran Foer, but it's a little bit wacky. :p

Dude I love sprouted bread! Was yours in the refridgerated section? I also love bread that is heartily stuffed with nuts and seeds and whole grains. :drool: They've known about sugar and cancer for a while. It ties in with insulin and calories and lifespan and disease in general. Interesting stuff it is!

EDIT: Have you actually tested your blood sugar levels? I imagine you've had a fasting one at some point that came along with routine labs. But testing at other times, especially after meals is the most important. HbA1c is good to get too. But clearly as you said, you have a very flexible metabolic condition based on your physique and health and how you feel.

The thing that always made me think though, is that you dont need to have diabetes for elevated blood sugars to damage the body. They need only be moderately so, or if you have spikes here and there that will do it. Not only that, but there are all sorts of varying forms of dysfunctional sugar metabolisms, the body's hormones being sort of an orchestra making tuning adjustments.

I checked that review. The French translation of the book didn't get as high reviews as the original "it doesn't help that Levy has no ear whatsoever for American speech patterns" (http://www.amazon.ca/Only-Were-True-Marc-Levy/dp/0743406176/ref=pd_bbs_sr_6?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1206371312&sr=8-6) but I don't think I could handle it in French. :p

But it reminded me of this book I read recently
PS I Love you by Cecilia Ahern (http://www.amazon.ca/Ps-Love-You-Cecelia-Ahern/dp/0007258925/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1206371438&sr=8-1)

My favorite book I've read recently is Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (http://www.amazon.ca/Extremely-Loud-Incredibly-Close-Novel/dp/0618711651/ref=pd_bowtega_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1206371704&sr=1-1) by Jonathan Safran Foer, but it's a little bit wacky. :p

thanks I am ready for some good recommendations. the second one I reckon I could recommend to our librarians to buy for the school library ;)

I would be interested to compare the two language versions of Levy's books. for some reason I assumed he had written in French and it had been translated int o English:doh:

Dude I love sprouted bread! Was yours in the refridgerated section? I also love bread that is heartily stuffed with nuts and seeds and whole grains. :drool: They've known about sugar and cancer for a while. It ties in with insulin and calories and lifespan and disease in general. Interesting stuff it is!

EDIT: Have you actually tested your blood sugar levels? I imagine you've had a fasting one at some point that came along with routine labs. But testing at other times, especially after meals is the most important. HbA1c is good to get too. But clearly as you said, you have a very flexible metabolic condition based on your physique and health and how you feel.

The thing that always made me think though, is that you dont need to have diabetes for elevated blood sugars to damage the body. They need only be moderately so, or if you have spikes here and there that will do it. Not only that, but there are all sorts of varying forms of dysfunctional sugar metabolisms, the body's hormones being sort of an orchestra making tuning adjustments.This bread was baked in the store and sold in the bakery department. I don't know what they would do with it after the first day. There is no refrigerated bread section. There is an "organic" section with ezekiel breads, but they are frozen, not refrigerated. I think I tried one once and did not like it much at all. This one seemed to taste more like a "hybrid"

I haven't had my blood sugar tested that I can remember. I insisted that my husband have his checked, and it came back normal, so that was a relief. I am so lucky that my metabolism is so flexible. As long as I don't go crazy, my weight has always been very stable, or slowly moving in the direction I'm targetting. I've done that even on a low fat diet, which shouldn't have theoretically worked, but it did.

One of Taubes' theories is that it's the insulin variations that create such a favorable growth environment for tumors. That makes me think that every time I cause my blood sugar to spike, it's like putting another nail in my coffin. :eek: In that case, fat free cookies, fat free puddings, etc. are all worse for us than their full fat counterparts. To be on the safe side, I might just sprinkle every single thing that I eat with pecans. :D :drool:

I've been meaning to try this Southern Pecan Mist Cake (http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Kaylas-Southern-Pecan-Mist-Cake/Detail.aspx) for a while. I think the next time I get a sugar craving, that'll be the one. :tu:

thanks I am ready for some good recommendations. the second one I reckon I could recommend to our librarians to buy for the school library ;)

I would be interested to compare the two language versions of Levy's books. for some reason I assumed he had written in French and it had been translated int o English:doh:It sounds like Levy wrote both the French and the English version. I've always wondered about those translations too. I don't think I've ever seen more than one translation available, yet you think there'd be lots of different ways to say the same things. :confused:

This is another book I'm trying to spread the word about. I mailed a copy of the softcover, and a book on tape to my Aunt. She read it, gave them both away and ordered a copy for her library!

Letters for Emily (http://www.amazon.com/Letters-Emily-Camron-Wright/dp/0743444485) by Camron Wright

I was responding to a thread earlier today where hypoglycemia was mentioned. I did a google search to back up my advice and found some horrible recommendations. :mad: There was a website with a very detailed menu given to a hypoglycemic patient by her dietician, and it didn't look right at all! :( (1/2 serving of bread and half a serving of milk for an afternoon snack? :rolleyes: Surely they could have thought of something better. Puffed cereal, white bread, white rice and mashed potatoes are encouraged (http://www.programwitch.com/diet/bread.htm). :dance: I wonder when that diet was created.)

Things like this make me wonder what it's like to be a dietitian, and what's being taught in dietetic programs. Briefly poking around the American Dietetic Association website (http://www.eatright.org), it looks like they're pushing the government's recommendations. That's fairly grain-heavy. And that's why you see hypoglycemic patients given slices of bread to eat. Oh, and look! They're happy to have Coca-Cola as a partner! (http://www.eatright.org/cps/rde/xchg/ada/hs.xsl/media_16175_ENU_HTML.htm) :bang:

It would crush my soul to be a dietitian and be forced to provide patients with menus including bread and Coke because of government regulations and corporate partnerships.

The cancer thing scared me yes, but heart disease scared me even more because it's the number one cause of death and if I were to die of something lifestyle induced, that would probably be it. More alarming is knowing that it starts to develop in the teen years, and you dont have to be an old lady to have a heart attack.

The cancer thing scared me yes, but heart disease scared me even more because it's the number one cause of death and if I were to die of something lifestyle induced, that would probably be it.

Same here. Bad history of heart disease in my family. Actually, heart disease seems to get the guys and it's breast cancer for the ladies. Scary shit. :(

Where do you work? I'm sorry if you've mentioned it before and I didn't see it but you and Darol seem to be in the medical field and I'm curious.

Edit: Shit! Sorry guava...I thought I was in Naturegirl's journal. Too many tabs open. Hi! :wave:

Edit: Shit! Sorry guava...I thought I was in Naturegirl's journal. Too many tabs open. Hi! :wave:Hi M@.

My dad died from a heart attack when he was 57 (about 10 years ago). He had been to the doctor's office just a month earlier, mentioning chest pains.:( (I NEVER liked that doctor. :mad:) However, he always ate quite a relatively low carb diet. He had the traditional what I would have thought risky diet. He ate a lot of bacon, steak, eggs, ground beef, chicken, etc. Ordinary to low consumption of bread, rice, and pasta. Fairly low in cake, candy, and other sweets. Little to no whole grains. Not much fruit, no vegetables. Not active, but not sedentary. Mesomorph body type. He smoked about two packs a day though. :(

I'd asked my doctor about preventatively taking aspirin, but he didn't recommend it at the time, because I didn't have any of the "risk factors" (smoking, overweight, sedentary, high cholesterol). But I'm going to keep asking.

I'm into the 20th chapter of Taubes book. I was very extremely disappointed in the 17th chapter about energy balance. Compared to chapter 20, where he uses case studies of people on low carb diets to support health claims, he offers no positive case studies of people who have improved their health and/or body composition on low fat and/or calorie reduced diets and/or an increased exercise regimen. :rolleyes: He firmly stands by the fact that body composition is genetically determined and when calories in are decreased, energy out automatically adjusts and vice versa. He uses the term "compulsion to exercise", which is bizarre. I've never seen someone who eats too much get the sudden urge to run a marathon. :confused: Yet in the next chapter, he affirms that body recomposition can be achieved, but only with a low carbohydrate diet.

"When well nourished, the individual tends to become more energetic and it is quite possible that he will soon burn up his stored fat by extra work or exercise which would not be undertaken had it not been for the overfeeding."

"On the few occasions when the food intake of a group of obese persons has been measured with an approved technique it has been found to be no greater than that of a control group of persons of normal weight."

:blank:

Maybe when it's been measured it may have been found that way (they could have been on their best behavior), but I'm pretty sure that a large percentage of the people who weigh more than I do also consume more calories than I do.

The whole energy balance chapter was lacking. No mention of TDEE and how it varies according to a person's lean body mass, or even of how people of different body weights have different energy requirements. He reports the weight loss achieved in studies of where, for example, 1850 calories were assigned, but makes no mention of the baseline body weight and whether heavier subjects lost more than lighter.

He also so far, has not covered what happens when an obese or overweight person adopts a more balanced diet over a long term, instead of what happens during a specific testing period. He talks a great deal about hunger, but does not follow up with what happens to hunger or satiety after a several month adjustment period on reduced calorie diets. (Again, no mention that calorie intake should to be further adjusted up or down as a person's bodyweight fluctuates up or down)

An interesting hypothesis I'd like to learn more about:
"High blood sugars and/or high levels of insulin work to increase the bodies requirements for Vitamin C" (Theodore Van Itallie 1973) Was this not proven, or just not tested? Diets high in protein and low in refined carbohydrates appear to possibly suffer less from nutritional deficiencies in general than diets that include refined carbohydrates. Is this true, and why?

http://www.reason.com/news/show/28714.html

Taubes omitted any reference to hundreds of refereed scientific studies published during the last three decades that contradicted his position. Researchers from whom he could not pull even a single useful quote supportive of his thesis were banished from the piece, while many of those whom Taubes did end up quoting now complain that he twisted their words.

In April 2002, for example, the Journal of the American Dietetic Association (JADA) published a review of "all studies identified" that looked at diet nutrient composition and weight loss. It found over 200, with "no studies of the health and nutrition effects of popular diets in the published literature" excluded. In some, subjects were put on "ad libitum" diets, meaning they were allowed to eat as much as they wanted as long as they consumed fat, protein, and carbohydrates in the directed proportions. In others, subjects were put on controlled-calorie diets that also had directed nutrient proportions. The conclusion: Those who ate the least fat carried the least fat.

Having circumvented this mass of peer-reviewed literature readily open to public scrutiny in libraries and often online, Taubes instead tried to make his case with a mere five studies. All five were (and are) available only in abstract form. That is, they are summaries of about 300 words each that have been presented at various obesity conferences. "The results of all five of these studies are remarkably consistent," Taubes averred. "Subjects on some form of the Atkins diet...lost twice the weight as the subjects on the low-fat, low-calorie diets."

Taubes also ignored the approximately 3,000 members of a database called the National Weight Control Registry. For 10 years, the registry has tracked people who have lost at least 30 pounds and kept it off for at least a year. The average member has maintained a loss of about 60 pounds for about five years.

Co-administered by Hill in Denver and Rena Wing of the University of Pittsburgh, the registry is aimed at finding out what works and what doesn't. According to its members, what doesn't work is a high-fat diet. On average, they consume only 23 percent of calories from fat. "Almost nobody's on a low-carbohydrate diet," Hill says. Another important lesson that may be drawn from the registry is that the importance of any type of diet in weight control may be overemphasized. Ninety-one percent of the subjects said they regularly exercised.

We've done masses of studies on fat and satiety," says Barbara Rolls, professor of nutrition at Pennsylvania State University, where she has authored four books and written about 60 medical journal articles on human food intake. She's widely considered the nation's top authority on satiety. Some of her experiments involved ingestion; in others, "We directly infused pure fat and pure carbohydrates both directly into [human] veins and directly into stomachs." Says Rolls, "We found very little difference between fats and carbohydrates."

Rolls says she sent a big pile of her material on satiety to Taubes, but he "just brushed it aside." She says he also interviewed her for over six hours, but every last sentence disappeared into a black hole. Likewise for the interviews Taubes conducted with James Hill and at least five other top obesity researchers from whom he apparently couldn't extract even a single useful line: Dr. F. Xavier Pi-Sunyer of St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital in New York; Marion Nestle, chairwoman of the Department of Nutrition and Food Studies at New York University; Dr. Arne Astrup of Denmark; and Dr. Jules Hirsch

Taubes is "very selective in what he chooses to include because he's trying to sell a specific line," Rolls says. "He is a good writer; that's the thing that scares me. This is such a good example of how you can pick and choose your facts to present the story you want. But that's not how science should be done. You can't interview everybody and simply ignore the people you don't want to hear."

~ Michael Fumento

:(

I think we're just going to keep getting snow forever!

So I have another chance to go snowboarding! :D :cool:

And if you don't have a hill, you can kiteski!

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That looks even more fun dangerous.

I got a fairly good-sized headache yesterday, so I gave up the higher protein meal plan and had apple crisp for supper. (Well, not quite; I had an apple, cooked in the microwave, topped with homemade granola and yogurt). It seemed to make quite a big difference, so it seems likely that the headache was dietarily induced. High carbs seem to be important for me. Alternately, I suppose you could say I'm addicted and should be working on gradually reducing them, but that doesn't feel natural. I'm still avoiding sugar and most flour and will try to keep doing so. I'm also working harder at drinking my coffee black (or choosing tea) instead of adding white death and sweetener or sugar.

It's possible the dizziness/headache could have been just from a calorie deficit. I just inputted yesterday into fitday and came up with 1580 for the whole day, which is probably similar to what I've been getting for the last three days. :doh: My target to maintain my weight is 1800.

Taubes book still going good. :tu: I have some books on hold at the library for follow-up. I'm looking more closely into diabetes research, because it seems like that could be the key for all of us.

The literature on obesity is not only voluminous, it is also full of conflicting and confusing reports and opinions. One might well apply it to the words of Artemus Ward. "The researches of so many eminent scientific men have thrown so much darkness upon the subject that if they continue their research we shall soon know nothing." ~ Hilde Burch 1957

:(

I think we're just going to keep getting snow forever!

it's snowing again here, too. :blank:

i'm a big fan of winter, but i feel like i'm starting to miss my sunshine. just feeling a little low, and i get very excited when i see summer shots in movies. :spaz:

i get very excited when i see summer shots in movies. :spaz:
:nod:

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:dance: :dance: :dance:

:jumping::spaz:

High carbs seem to be important for me. Alternately, I suppose you could say I'm addicted and should be working on gradually reducing them, but that doesn't feel natural. I'm still avoiding sugar and most flour and will try to keep doing so. I'm also working harder at drinking my coffee black (or choosing tea) instead of adding white death and sweetener or sugar.

Richard Mackarness' Eat Fat And Grow Slim (http://www.ourcivilisation.com/fat/chap1.htm) proposes that some people have a better capacity for handling carbs (see the adorable diagram of Mr. Constant-Weight). Maybe you're one of those people. I think you're on the right track with cutting down refined sugar and flour. Even people that don't agree with low carb research would have a hard time justifying Twinkies and doughnuts as healthy options. :nod:

Taubes book still going good. :tu: I have some books on hold at the library for follow-up. I'm looking more closely into diabetes research, because it seems like that could be the key for all of us.

Managing insulin really does seem to be important, once you start digging into this, doesn't it? What other books are you going to read? My library doesn't have GCBC, and I can't get it on interlibrary loan yet.

...or an increased exercise regimen. :rolleyes: He firmly stands by the fact that body composition is genetically determined and when calories in are decreased, energy out automatically adjusts and vice versa. He uses the term "compulsion to exercise", which is bizarre. I've never seen someone who eats too much get the sudden urge to run a marathon. :confused: Yet in the next chapter, he affirms that body recomposition can be achieved, but only with a low carbohydrate diet.

That's what the Diet Blog post pointed out, too. It sounds like he concentrates on weight, which as we here all know isn't as important as body composition in how people look. We all know exercise is important in body composition based on what we see here.

TC over at t-nation actually wrote an Atomic Dog piece (http://www.t-nation.com/article/atomic_dog/atomic_dog_eat_food_not_much_mostly_plants)last week that wasn't a pubescent diatribe wrapped in fancy words and historical references. It was on Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilema and it's upcoming follow up In Defense of Food. Sounds like they might interest you, too. I have another book in this vein that I lost somewhere in the house that talks about a lot of this stuff (more natural types of foods, not avoiding fats, saturateds not being evil by themselves, etc). I'll try to see if I can remember what that one is...

"We show our surprise at this by speaking of something called the “French
paradox,” for how could a people who eat such demonstrably toxic
substances as foie gras and triple crème cheese actually be slimmer and
healthier than we are? Yet I wonder if it doesn’t make more sense to
speak in terms of an American paradox—that is, a notably unhealthy
people obsessed by the idea of eating healthily."

I like this quote from "Th Omnivore's Dilemma" :) the first chapter can be read here http://www.michaelpollan.com/omnivore_excerpt.pdf (:o how do you make links?)

how about this quote from his most recent book "My aim in this book is to help us reclaim our health and
happiness as eaters. To do this requires an exercise that might
at first blush seem unnecessary, if not absurd: to offer a defense
of food and the eating thereof. That food and eating stand in
need of a defense might seem counterintuitive at a time when
“overnutrition” is emerging as a more serious threat to public
health than undernutrition."

http://www.michaelpollan.com/in_defense_excerpt.pdf

I have never liked the concept of food as fuel, personally ;)

Even though we've received plenty of government funding and grants, our breakfast coordinator is still planning a cookie and popcorn sales fundraiser. :blank:

But someone else has finally agreed to take over the shopping and menu planning. :bow: :neener: :jumping: :claphigh:

What I've been doing was a joke, because the coordinator kept changing the menu to what she thought the kids wanted served (insead of what a good, wholesome, affordable breakfast should be), and when we ran out of stuff that wasn't on the menu, went ahead and purchased it herself at double the cost I'd been able to source it out at. :(

So I'm glad not to have to participate in such a strong conflict of interest. It is NOT a nutrition problem they are tackling. It's a hunger problem. In fact, you could almost say they are feeding the kids addictions. :eek: FACT: One of the volunteers told me that some kids would not take anything unless cereal and juice were offerred. She used this as justification that we need to serve cereal and juice every morning. Ironically or not, she suffers from diabetes. :nod:

So a year of fighting was enough for me. I'll slink into the background like all of those researchers from the 1960s who determined that a generous intake of protein and fat is metabolically advantageous.

Richard Mackarness' Eat Fat And Grow Slim (http://www.ourcivilisation.com/fat/chap1.htm) proposes that some people have a better capacity for handling carbs (see the adorable diagram of Mr. Constant-Weight). Maybe you're one of those people.

Managing insulin really does seem to be important, once you start digging into this, doesn't it? What other books are you going to read? My library doesn't have GCBC, and I can't get it on interlibrary loan yet.
Even lean healthy subjects exhibit great biologic variation in what they called the insulin secretory responses

"Virtually all hormones, with the exception of insulin, will mobilize fat from adipose tissue, but none of them will do so effectively when insulin is elevated."

Primary cause of overweight is a disturbed carbohydrate metabolism. All overweight people produce too much insulin and that lowers blood sugar and makes people hungry.(Atkins)

Chapter 23 was particularly good. :tu:

TC over at t-nation actually wrote an Atomic Dog piece (http://www.t-nation.com/article/atomic_dog/atomic_dog_eat_food_not_much_mostly_plants)last week that wasn't a pubescent diatribe wrapped in fancy words and historical references. It was on Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilema and it's upcoming follow up In Defense of Food. Sounds like they might interest you, too. The Omnivore's Dillemma was fantastic. I read it a couple of months ago, and I have In Defense of Food on my wish list.

I'm picking up Hypoglycemia: The Other Sugar Disease (http://www.amazon.com/Hypoglycemia-Other-Sugar-Disease-2nd/dp/0973520760) from the library today. They don't have a lot of books on the subject. I doubt this is the best, but the more I read, the more it will sink in.

how about this quote from his most recent book "My aim in this book is to help us reclaim our health and
happiness as eaters. To do this requires an exercise that might
at first blush seem unnecessary, if not absurd: to offer a defense
of food and the eating thereof. That food and eating stand in
need of a defense might seem counterintuitive at a time when
“overnutrition” is emerging as a more serious threat to public
health than undernutrition."

http://www.michaelpollan.com/in_defense_excerpt.pdf

I have never liked the concept of food as fuel, personally ;)
:dreamy: :eat:

I like the concept of food as fuel, but it didn't always seem very practical to me. :p It's pretty nice now because I can look at a spinach beet and pecan salad as a delicious meal, or look at cooked apple, homemade granola, and a dollop of yogurt as dessert. :drool:

But yeah, I don't like the idea that you're not suppose to eat unless you require the calories for some kind of physical growth. Sometimes you need the calories to improve your mood, or just to stimulate your taste buds into having a party in your mouth. :D :spaz: As long as you can savor those moments, and be fully conscious of their potential circumstance, then I think you're home free.

“The masses have never thirsted after truth. Whoever can supply them with illusions is easily their master; whoever attempts to destroy their illusions is always their victim.” ~ Gustave Le Bon, The Crowd

Sophisticated psychological processes like willpower and negotiation may embody your character, but they are also fed literally by glucose that circulates from get to brain. Exercising the self-control needed for dieting, overriding urges, paying attention, or engaging in any effortful executive bfain function imposes unusual nutritional demands on the brain.

It is sadly ironic that people might fail at dieting so often because dieting reduces the very energy source - glucose - needed to diet." Matthew Gaillot, professor of psychology at the University of Amsterdam (Psychology Today June 2007)

a.k.a The Reason Low Carb Diets Fail

Taubes book makes such an incredible case for low carb diets that it's nearly impossible to believe why so many people are still overweight. The reason why is that even if low carb diets are good for maintaining a healthy body weight, and even if low carb diets are good for keeping your blood lipids at favorable levels, they can keep your other hormone levels in places that mess up your mind or otherwise make you feel miserable or unfulfilled.

I agree that keeping simple carbs to an minimum is very important, it's best for me to keep complex carbs at a moderate to high percentage of my diet. Maybe the fact that I can "get away with it" without being overweight is an anomaly. I don't know.

But I hope that future studies on low carbohydrates include things like attention span, tendency towards angry outbursts, and other indicators of good psychological health instead of only focusing on body weight and indicators of physical health.

Another thing I don't like is how Taubes completely dismisses exercise as a weight loss tool, mentioning only how many calories it burns, but speaking very little about how exercise affects our metabolic processes and hormone levels. I feel the difference in my cravings for carbohydrates in periods which I'm engaging in regular exercise vs periods that I'm not.Exercise plays a substantial part in the regulation of insulin and other hormone levels (http://www.preventionpt.com/PIfolder/Mini%20Paper%20August.htm), but for some reason, he overlooks its importance in how it can shape body composition through that route.

Man is the only creature that refuses to be what he is. ~ Albert Camus

TC over at t-nation actually wrote an Atomic Dog piece (http://www.t-nation.com/article/atomic_dog/atomic_dog_eat_food_not_much_mostly_plants)last week that wasn't a pubescent diatribe...But the photos in the sidebar. :eek: They make my head hurt. :cry: Who rides a bike wearing only a thong, anyway? :rolleyes:

Sophisticated psychological processes like willpower and negotiation may embody your character, but they are also fed literally by glucose that circulates from get to brain. Exercising the self-control needed for dieting, overriding urges, paying attention, or engaging in any effortful executive bfain function imposes unusual nutritional demands on the brain.

It is sadly ironic that people might fail at dieting so often because dieting reduces the very energy source - glucose - needed to diet." Matthew Gaillot, professor of psychology at the University of Amsterdam (Psychology Today June 2007)

a.k.a The Reason Low Carb Diets Fail

Taubes book makes such an incredible case for low carb diets that it's nearly impossible to believe why so many people are still overweight. The reason why is that even if low carb diets are good for maintaining a healthy body weight, and even if low carb diets are good for keeping your blood lipids at favorable levels, they can keep your other hormone levels in places that mess up your mind or otherwise make you feel miserable or unfulfilled.

I agree that keeping simple carbs to an minimum is very important, it's best for me to keep complex carbs at a moderate to high percentage of my diet. Maybe the fact that I can "get away with it" without being overweight is an anomaly. I don't know.

But I hope that future studies on low carbohydrates include things like attention span, tendency towards angry outbursts, and other indicators of good psychological health instead of only focusing on body weight and indicators of physical health.

I've never had to go hungry to lose weight. Granted, I've never dieted down below 9-10% bf. But I don't think most people who exercise properly and eat at reasonable and sustainable deficits have to starve themselves.

And I do think carb ups are a key for me to be able to exercise and be happy long term if I'm going to eat this way, but I don't think the symptoms most people complain about are long term effects if you stick to something like this. Most people don't give it more than a few days before bailing, or go too low on calories to start, etc.

I have never had an anger problem on low carb, or brain fog. Ever.


But the photos in the sidebar. :eek: They make my head hurt. :cry: Who rides a bike wearing only a thong, anyway? :rolleyes:

True. But it's t-nation, so that's kind of understood. There is a lot of excellent info on there, but it's packaging makes it where it would turn off a lot of the "average" populace that needs to read this stuff. But the average populace isn't who buys SURGE, so I guess there is some logic to that.

Hey, I'm just glad it wasn't a man in a thong.. :lol:

It also seems reasonable to me that there may be no particular foods or macronutrients (such as fat) that increases a person's health risks, but that there is something toxic about body fat (when present in a person's body to a certain degree) that creates a host of diseases. I think I've mentioned the Calorie Restriction Society (http://www.calorierestriction.org/), whose beliefs I'm quite curious about. Maintaining a low body weight, (or eating at a low level of calories) seems to have real and significant benefits to longevity.



I think you're right about the body fat-- I've read a lot lately that points to fat possibly causing not just diabetes but fibroids actually. There might have been others but I don't remember. Alternative health sources seem to always be talking about how body fat holds in the toxins!



Taubes book makes such an incredible case for low carb diets that it's nearly impossible to believe why so many people are still overweight. The reason why is that even if low carb diets are good for maintaining a healthy body weight, and even if low carb diets are good for keeping your blood lipids at favorable levels, they can keep your other hormone levels in places that mess up your mind or otherwise make you feel miserable or unfulfilled.

I agree that keeping simple carbs to an minimum is very important, it's best for me to keep complex carbs at a moderate to high percentage of my diet. Maybe the fact that I can "get away with it" without being overweight is an anomaly. I don't know.

But I hope that future studies on low carbohydrates include things like attention span, tendency towards angry outbursts, and other indicators of good psychological health instead of only focusing on body weight and indicators of physical health.

Another thing I don't like is how Taubes completely dismisses exercise as a weight loss tool, mentioning only how many calories it burns, but speaking very little about how exercise affects our metabolic processes and hormone levels. I feel the difference in my cravings for carbohydrates in periods which I'm engaging in regular exercise vs periods that I'm not.Exercise plays a substantial part in the regulation of insulin and other hormone levels (http://www.preventionpt.com/PIfolder/Mini%20Paper%20August.htm), but for some reason, he overlooks its importance in how it can shape body composition through that route.



I don't think you're an anomaly. My director here is 49, extremely fit, and she lives on carbohydrates almost entirely. I'm at the point where about 15% protein, about 55% carb, and about 30% fat is best for me at this point in my life. It's kind of my natural way to eat, though, nothing forced about it. My boyfriend seems to do better with high carb, and my good friend does fantastically well with low carb.

I'm sure there will probably have to be more research into how people need different diets rather than the one size fits all approach. I know you've probably read about nutrigenomics-- I got an e-mail from my Precision Nutrition membership about it recently. Interesting stuff. (http://www.precisionnutrition.com/members/showthread.php?t=10829) I don't know if the link will work not logged in, but the interview is also at t-nation.

I just got that Taubes book from the library-- I'd been on a waiting list for months, but I think I'm getting a lot of it out of your posts.:D

I am sure that there are a good number like you and Butterflyer, Guava, who do well on quite a few carbs..... I don't seem to have difficult moods and lack on energy on low carbs, but then again I don't feel sluggish on lots of carbs and prefer a ratio like Butterflyer.... I am still trying to work out what suits me best.....

I am convinced exercise is beneficial for everyone in some form for a whole host of reasons, not least psychological ones tho am also convinced there are physiological benefits too....

I have also read a lot on the benefits of generally eating low cals however I also know that in the French culture food is so much more than fuel/nourishment...... some of the greatest moments I have with my friends are over a home prepared meal and a good bottle of wine.....; food is highly relational here

some of the greatest moments I have with my friends are over a home prepared meal and a good bottle of wine.....; food is highly relational here
Too true! Unlike in England unfortunately.. :cry:

however I also know that in the French culture food is so much more than fuel/nourishment...... some of the greatest moments I have with my friends are over a home prepared meal and a good bottle of wine.....; food is highly relational here

And sometimes the best part is making the meal with others-- that can be at least as good as eating the food, if not even better! :nod:

I don't think most people who exercise properly and eat at reasonable and sustainable deficits have to starve themselves.

And I do think carb ups are a key for me to be able to exercise and be happy long term if I'm going to eat this way, but I don't think the symptoms most people complain about are long term effects if you stick to something like this. Most people don't give it more than a few days before bailing, or go too low on calories to start, etc.

I have never had an anger problem on low carb, or brain fog. Ever.I think we get more valuable information from people who have tried diets and failed at them than we do from people who have tried diets that worked. That's why I hate to say to people "if you eat like this, you'll lose weight/feel great/etc." because I know from experience that different things work for different people.

So what's similar about the type of people who do not to well on diets that are high in carbohydrates? Taubes covered that.

What's similar about the people who do not do well on diets that are low in carbohydrates? (Including those who've lost weight but gain it back again)

Part of what I don't like about a book is that it's trying to make it into a one-size-fits all solution, which we already know doesn't work. We've got to keep with the trial and error diets, or find a way to test what type of person you are to determine what type of diet works (We've seen a "blood type (http://www.amazon.com/Eat-Right-Your-Type-Individualized/dp/039914255X/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1206738419&sr=1-1)" diet, and there's a "brain chemistry (http://www.amazon.com/Brain-Chemistry-Diet-Personalized-Prescription/dp/0399147446)" diet too, but where are all the "hormone level" diets?)

My mom and her husband were both most successful at weight loss when they were doing a low carb diet, but they're not doing it anymore. I'm kind of curious about why not, but I didn't ask her about it because she already thinks I'm too insanely focused on food choices. :p I don't know if she got food cravings, or just missed the taste of those foods, or if it got too complicated/expensive to eat out and/or buy groceries, or if she decided it was unhealthy. I did notice that she had bad breath during that period, but she didn't appear to be any more prone to bad moods or anything weird like that.

sometimes the best part is making the meal with others-- that can be at least as good as eating the food, if not even better!

I haven't baked a batch of brownies in a while. But it takes the fun out of it if I make them from a mix. We like making tofu peanut butter balls, but the recipe makes such a huge quantity that we don't need to make them all that often. Cinnamon buns are fun too.

Hey, I'm just glad it wasn't a man in a thong..
Men bike in bike shorts, silly.

And very bright colors. :nod:

:eek: That hurt my eyes!

:eek: That hurt my eyes!
You have very sensitive eyes. :nod:

Here, does this help?

People fail on "normal" healthy diets as well as low carb diets.

Since society is set up as high carb, following the low carb diet is almost a lifestyle. If you aren't a fitness geek, I could see how it would get annoying not to have your foods at hand all the time everywhere like carbs seem to be.


As to cyclists, Biotest even has their own sponsered team (or had...that domain in the picture seems to just point to biotest.com now):

http://www.t-nation.com/forum_images/1/1/1142218.1152131193699.anthem.JPG

I could have busted out the skis and headed to the mountains, if I did ski, because it actually snowed here today! Then it started to melt just as quick as it had come.

That's one thing that bothered me about Taube's position. He says exercise makes you hungrier and doesnt burn enough calories. I have to admit though that I only saw a short interview with him and decided not to buy the book because I started to go crazy reading about all this stuff. Anyway though, you'll have to correct me if he does say anything at all about exercise's immense positive impact on health, including insulin, which is a key point of discussion in pretty much any talk of low carb and obesity.

Guava, have you seen the recent ad for D&G The One? I thought you might appreciate it. :nod:

X1nfgcTUg7s

:cry:

I was shopping yesterday, and I tried on some bathing suits.

So. I stepped on the scale. 54.8 kg. It wouldn't read my body fat percentage, for some reason. I'm guessing it's about 19-20% or so. (My most preferred shape that I've reached before is 53 kg 16%.) :blank: So, I don't know. I'm kind of happy here, but I'd have more pride in myself if I pushed myself harder.

Today was the last day of the snowboard season. :dance:

So I went out with the girls. They did about ten runs each; I did about twenty runs or so. I don't think I improved any on this visit, which is possibly due to the difficult ice/snow conditions. I guess I should take comfort that I actually can turn, and that if I put enough effort into it, I can even steer slightly from the straightaway, and slow down a bit when I need to. Next season, we're looking at 8 consecutive weeks of lessons.

My little gymnast/cheerleader is asking me to help her every day do pullups because she wants a nice strong back. :D She lifted weights with me last night; it was cute. She was hoisting the five pounders up, complaining that she's weaker than she was the last time she lifted weights, so I told her she's welcome to train with me. She likes strapping on the ankle weights and doing leg lifts. I should teach her how to do these dragon flags (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjCMq2zkbOo&feature=related) that MannishBoy mentioned in his journal, because she already has amazingly strong abs.

I bought something called a turtle kringle, which looks like this chocolate one (http://www.olesensfamilybakery.com/OFBpdf/PDSCDN/OlesenCDNSellSheetFallHarvest.pdf), but is covered in pecans instead. I'm more hesitant about eating it than I normally would be, now that I've seen what I look like in a bathing suit. :o

Guava, have you seen the recent ad for D&G The One? I thought you might appreciate it. :nod:


:dreamy:
So sweet of you to think of me. I hadn't seen it before. I'd almost seen it, and it was driving me crazy. I got to one of those things where you click on the video and it says "this video has been removed".

It's actually a little disappointing. :( I thought he was a lot more smooth than that. It looks like it was a bit of a stretch of a role for him to play. I think all of those Marlon Brando clips I've been watching have raised the bar that much higher. And Raul Julia *sigh* :dreamy:
YyZnXvUcWkY

Yay me. I have a job interview on Wednesday afternoon for a position as "health coach".

I asked her what a health coach does, but she said she'd prefer to explain it at the interview. Perhaps it's nothing like I imagine.

I think it means "Go door to door and offer to book people for an appointment for a free detox and cleanse" I know this because I recognized the name and voice of the woman who offerred me the interview. She was at my door last week doing just that. :D She prefaced it by saying "Obviously you don't need to lose weight." I'm not sure I like the idea of ringing people's doorbells and then having to do a split second assessment about how fat they are. :blank:

So I will go to the interview, and I will be offerred the job. ;) And I will be either pleasant surprised, or I will turn it down and keep looking for something more fitting.

(I once had a job signing people up for credit cards. It lasted a whole three hours, and I made a whole $30.:spaz:)

That cyclist looks cheap dressed like that. I like women to dress with more style. :nod:

I can't believe you are going off of Matthew. Oh my! :lol:

And, YAY! for the Job interview. Good luck!! :claphigh:

Yay me. I have a job interview on Wednesday afternoon for a position as "health coach".

Yay you! That sounds nifty. It seems like it could entail a lot of different things, but I bet you'd be suited for any of them. :nod:

I think it means "Go door to door and offer to book people for an appointment for a free detox and cleanse"

Oh. :blank:

So I will go to the interview, and I will be offerred the job. ;) And I will be either pleasant surprised, or I will turn it down and keep looking for something more fitting.

There's the right attitude! :tu: You never know, it could end up being your dream job. If nothing else, you might at least come back with a good story for us. :p I think you should just go ahead and appropriate the title "Health Coach" for yourself, regardless of the outcome.

Good luck on the interview Guava. Even if you don't want the job you'll gain some interview experience. And it may turn out that the position is different than you're anticipating so aside from some time spent there's no big downside.

I think you should just go ahead and appropriate the title "Health Coach" for yourself, regardless of the outcome.:dreamy:

Thanks guys!

"Go door to door and offer to book people for an appointment for a free detox and cleanse"

Nothing wrong with a good detox and cleanse now and again. :cool:

yep, we can't really tell yet if its up your street, but interviews and are always good learning experiences :)

This journal is sooo slooowwww....

I've been meaning to start a new one, but it wouldn't seem right without some corresponding "new beginning", so it's going to have to stay the same while I'm still on the same path. Getting older, slowing down....hmm....

I can't believe you are going off of Matthew. Oh my! :lol::nope: I'm not "off". There are other men smoother than he, but nobody chills like Matthew chills. :madpimp:

I like how when I visit his website (http://www.jklivin.com/), and I choose "enter easy" he invites me into his trailer. :o :o :o

My husband is away on business for another two days. :( I haven't been sleeping well, and been having crazy violent dreams because it doesn't feel right when he's not here. He's enjoying beautiful New Orleans, and in June he's going to Las Vegas. :cool: (I'd like to go with him, but I'm not sure what I can do about the kids.)

The snow is melting here; my front flower bed is finally uncovered, but there's still a couple of feet of snow lining each side of the driveway. I think it's time for me to get ready to start my seeds indoors. I have a terribly non-green thumb, so I need to look it up all the time to figure out what I'm supposed to be doing.

Festival season is coming into full swing. The Eco Festival is in a few weeks, and they've decided this year to make the admission free. :claplow: I think it would be smart of us to take the bus, even though it's a lot more convenient for me to drive. Then the next week is the Good Food Festival (http://www.jklivin.com/). :drool:

I'm thinking good positive thoughts about the health coach. :tu:

Nothing wrong with a good detox and cleanse now and again. But if I steadfastly deny that I put any toxins into my body, then I can deny that the detox would be helpful. :p (That same logic has me forgoing my multivitamins too. :o)

I'm trying not to make any assumptions about what tasks they might ask me to do, and instead to be patient, but it's tricky.

"A man travels the world in search of what he needs and returns home to find it." ~ George Moore

I have been hesitant to start a new journal for similar reasons you mentioned, but I got over it today and started a new one finally.

The health coach job sounds pretty fitting for you by title...it will be interesting to see what it turns out to be. Good Luck!

I love your new avitar! Spring is in the air!!!:D

Spring is in the air!!!:DYeah, unfortunately it's snowing here. :rolleyes:

http://www.clipartof.com/images/emoticons/thumbnail2/273_cold_person_shivering.gif

http://www.indotekken.com/forum/images/smilies/070624/tabrakan.gif

:lol:

Join me in my new journal! (http://forums.johnstonefitness.com/showthread.php?t=42222)

So, your husband is away and you jump straight into Matthew's trailer? ;)

So, your husband is away and you jump straight into Matthew's trailer? ;)

Well he invited me in. :o He played me some nice music, told me all about his upcoming projects, played me some movie clips, and let me peek in his shirtless closet.

But my husband is home again now, and I'm feeling a lot better. :) :D

Damn your link to that website. I get the impression he is a fussy man. But damn he is a scorching hot one. Good thing women go for personality otherwise he would probably be mauled to death by now :lol: