the mystery of food...ancient chinese secret

A friend sent me this e-mail...I thought it was pretty funny. Couldn't get the photo to transfer, but he's a cute little dalai lama-esk asian doctor.
His practice has no more room for new patients! Apparently they consider him a medical wizard....

Q: Doctor, I've heard that cardiovascular exercise can prolong life. Is this true?
A: Heart only good for so many beats, and that it.... Don't waste on exercise. Everything wear out eventually.. Speed up heart not make live longer; that like say you can extend life of car by driving faster. Want live longer? Take nap.

Q: Should I cut down on meat and eat more fruits and vegetables?
A: You must grasp logistical efficiencies. What does cow eat? Hay and corn. What are these? Vegetables. So, steak nothing more than efficient mechanism of delivering vegetables to system. Need grain? Eat chicken. Beef also good source of field grass (green leafy vegetable). And pork chop can give 100% recommended daily allowance of vegetable products.

Q: Should I reduce my alcohol intake?
A: No, not at all. Wine made from fruit. Brandy is distilled wine. That means they take water out of fruity bit; get even more of goodness that way. Beer also made out of grain. Bottoms up!

Q: How can I calculate my body/fat ratio?
A: If you have body and you have fat, ratio is one to one. If you have two bodies, ratio is two to one, etc.

Q: What are some of the advantages of participating in a regular exercise program?
A: Cannot think of single one, sorry. My philosophy: No Pain...Good!

Q: Aren't fried foods bad for you?
A: YOU NOT LISTENING!!! .... Foods fried in vegetable oil. How getting more vegetables be bad for you?

Q: Will sit-ups help prevent me from getting a little soft around the middle?
A: Definitely not! When you exercise muscle, it get bigger. You should only do sit-ups if want bigger stomach.

Q: Is chocolate bad for me?
A: You crazy? HELLO ... Cocoa beans! Vegetable!!! Cocoa beans best feel-good food around!

Q: Is swimming good for your figure?
A: If swimming good for figure, explain whales to me.

Q: Is getting in-shape important for my lifestyle?
A: Hey! 'Round' is shape!

Well, I hope this has cleared up any misconceptions you may have had about food and diets.

new beginnings

It ours!!!!! We officially own our new home!!!!! Yay!!!! Sorry I haven't been posting - just hang in there with me, it might be a bit sporadic, but I'll be with ya soon. We bought a cute little 2 story and the best news is...I will have my own gym again!!! yay!!!! It might be a bit older and not much to look at, but it's all ours :)

Women Who Sleep Less, Eat Less...and Still Gain

So in my constant battle to find the best research on health and weight loss I stubbled on this little article about how sleep effects your weight...it's crazy but they found that sleep was PARAMOUNT to the success of your body function specifically, weight loss. I have a little tidbit of it here for you to digest...

Inadequate sleep:
http://thyroid.about.com/od/loseweightsuccessfully/a/sleepdiet.htm

•interferes with the body's ability to metabolize carbohydrates and causes high blood levels of glucose, which leads to higher insulin levels and greater body-fat storage.

•drives down leptin levels, which causes the body to crave carbohydrates.

•reduces levels of growth hormone--a protein that helps regulate the body's proportions of fat and muscle.

•can lead to insulin resistance and contribute to increased risk of diabetes

•can increase blood pressure

•can increase the risk of heart disease
Even in young, healthy people, a sleep deficit of three to four hours a night over the course of a week has a triple-whammy effect on the body.

go read the rest...is a small article, but gets you thinking!

what?!? redheads...extinct?!?!?

I will be refraining this evening, from my usual crazy health ramblings to ramble on another subject. As you know, I'm a strawberry blond (you can see from the crazy photo to my right) and I am a natural redhead - no hair from a box for me. Now, I know that I'm a rarity... this is obvious to me, when no one makes products for red hair...whilst blonds and brunettes have their own shampoos, styling products, eyebrow pencils and more. But imagine my surprise when a sweet friend sent me an e-mail about an article she read in a medical journal...the extinction of the red head.

We are an anomalie, one that began as a mutation in Europe centuries ago, and one that (due to cross breading) is become more and more rare... less than 2%, in fact in the world. they predict that in 100 years - red heads will be no more, that it will be "bred" out of the gene pool...say it ain't so. Well I for one, hope they're wrong. I love my hair! I love the color, the reputation..whatever the costs, the mean names in grade school... I love it! And now when I look down on my lone redheaded child (my newborn daughter is a strawberry tart just like her mom - my two boys both toe heads) and I pray she keeps the gene and passes it along....because let's be honest:

what would the world be like, without redheads?

feeling better ...thanks to you

thanks to all of you in blogger land. Today was much better. I started it off with a shower...yes a shower something I haven't had since sunday morning (yuck...right?!) I can't believe, sometimes, what we deprive ourselves of unwittingly or otherwise. After that I felt human again. I did fast, but not like crazy - just 2 meals to get myself in control again, and to ask the lord for a little added strength. Of course I did appologize to my boys (they were so over it) and to celebrate (we signed some of the papers on the house today - the rest on the 10th) we went out for dinner. I had salmon and rice, with asparagus...oh and ice water :0)

I don't know, I really do have some unusual cravings lately, I ALWAYS want food - I'm never staisfied. But I will be trying the supplement recommended by my bear friend and hopefully that, and an insane ammount of luck, all will be stable soon :)

thanks again for the amazing support...you guys know me, it takes a lot to get me down..it's just nice to know I can vent a bit, get the "you're not alone" - we all need to hear sometimes, and try again...and again...and again... he he:)

what is too much?.....

can I be honest with you, good (like you have a choice - right;)wink
I'm overwhelmed, today I yelled at my boys because they were fighting over who got the darker green plate, and I mean yelled. I'm not a yeller, in fact I almost never raise my voice to them like that. I hated it, I hated myself. Then later today I looked down and realized, I can't suck in my fat anymore. Even when I 'engage' my abs, they stick out. My muffin top, is a loaf of bread.
But the worst thing is, I'm discouraged, I don't feel like I can fight it and get EVERYTHING else done, you know? I'm not sure why, but food has had some weird power lately, like I can't get enough. I have to force myself to stop eating, and then, I'm 'hungry' again in like an hour. I'm really starting to think, I'm going to have to fast for a few days to break this trance it has over me...sorry to throw all this out there in cyber space, but I'm trying so hard, I go to bed completely exhausted and yet... I feel like I'm not being personally fed. Even the short devotionals I do with the boys in the morning, just aren't cutting it.
And the worst part is, my sweet hubby came up behind me tonight to hug me, and I pulled away, ashamed at who I've allowed myself to become. I'm replused by myself, yet unmotivated and beaten. I feel like all I can do right now is just keep afloat, the tide is so strong...sorry about the post...but I just needed somewhere I could be real, it's been a really bad day....