It‘s been another one of Those Weeks. It started out badly. My computer had been driving me nuts with a “mouse stutter” and I decided the only way to fix it was to start Windows loading again on Saturday night. I went on to bed, secure in the knowledge that it would do what it was supposed to do and it would be finished Sunday morning. Not so.

There was a program that monitored all the activity and I had to give it permission to let Windows install. That was what greeted me Sunday morning. I said yes and went on about my business. I got out my trusty netbook and did my online reading for my devotions on it, read my books and hooked the speakers up to it so I could listen to the Sabbath School discussion on PineKnoll. Was I ever glad to have a spare!

Laundry was done and on the line early because rain was predicted in the afternoon. (It never materialized.) I changed the bed and came in to check on the computer. There was a message that it had encountered an error and couldn‘t proceed. I kept trying to get past that but couldn‘t. Then it got so all it had was a blank screen. GRRRRRRRR! I hooked the Magic Jack up to the netbook and called Support.

I actually got someone who was nice, patient, spoke clearly and was female. I think her name was Taura. I have it written down along with the case number but I won‘t take time to look it up. She had me take the battery out and put it back in and then boot it up while pressing F9. That would take it back to the factory defaults. After Vista installed, I was to do a clean install of Windows 7. So I did. Everything went well then but the day was pretty much shot. I knew it would take days to get everything back the way it was supposed to be.

Thankful I had a clean bed, I took a shower and fell into it later than was advisable.

Monday-Friday, it was back to the track in the mornings. I averaged waking almost an hour before the alarm went off every morning but Friday and it was just 40 minutes then. I‘d rush around and get ready to go so I could be there early enough to walk before it started getting really hot. One day, it was 81 degrees in the valley before I left the house and I groaned. I know it won‘t do me any good not to walk so I went. Another day, it was misting when I left the house and started sprinkling the first few laps. Then it started raining. It wasn‘t a hard rain but I sat in the car until it was over. I got my 12 laps in and, for four days, I‘d do another one around the hospital. Friday, it was too close to my starting time to do that extra one.

Grocery shopping didn‘t take place until Tuesday and that was a bad day to go. I did get some of my favorite romaine and lots of fruit plus a huge cantaloupe that I cut yesterday. It‘s really really good. I‘ve had two meals out of it and still have enough for two or three more. I‘d called the produce place a day or two before and asked for a half box of juice oranges but they were unable to get any. They‘d cleaned the cooler out and had almost a box full of rejects that I could have for nothing if I wanted it. I figured if I couldn‘t use them, they could be used for target practice or something so I took them. I‘ve had to throw one away but they are, mostly, just ugly but still good.

I learned my sister in the Great Northwest has been transferred from the hospital where she was a patient for several days to a nursing home. At least that‘s the impression I get. No one seems to be able to tell me what level of care it is and they have all of them available. Then my oldest sister has had some issues but she‘s doing better and is back home and will wind up the home health visits soon.

Speaking of my oldest sister (my “big” sister) (she weighs about 84 lubs), she called Wednesday and said her computer was driving her nuts. We talked until her phone started dying with me not helping a bit. It‘s kind of hard to be Support when I know nothing whatsoever about her system. She‘ll be back in CyberSpace maybe by tomorrow or Monday. I let the others know what was going on.

I was the bank/post office person Wednesday, Thursday and yesterday. I loaned my netbook to the Absentee One so no mind would be lost by being away from the home system. I‘m so nice!!

My eating routine made me late getting to church this morning. Song service was over and they were singing the opening song when I went in. There were some nice surprises. Central air has been installed and the heat will be hooked up later. It was a little on the cool side for me but not having the roar of the a/c was welcome. Then, when it came time for a video, I found out what the wires hanging out of the ceiling the last several weeks were for. There are twin projectors that display on the walls on either side of the platform. New windows that don‘t have to be covered since the projectors are close enough not to wash out have been put in. We are getting uptown! We‘ve had a two holer for a couple weeks now, too. There‘s more to be done but it shouldn‘t be long.

Representatives from Adventist World Radio were there and it was a good service. The two of them joined two ladies for some music that was toe-tappin‘. There was a bass, two guitars and an autoharp. The three ladies sang while the man played the bass. I know one of the singer/guitar players and her mother, sister and brother were there. Her mother, sister and I had a good conversation after church.

I was invited to the fellowship meal even though I hadn‘t brought anything but I declined. I came on home and ATE. My neighbors got home yesterday after being out of pocket for several days. It was nice to see them back.

My netbook was waiting at the hospital so I went by to get it and ended up getting the ox out of the ditch. There was someone waiting to be registered and had been there for something like 1/2 hour. The registrar was either in the ED or at lunch. I took pity on the person and did the registration before I walked out. I figured it was doing good on the Sabbath.

There are loads of tomatoes ripening. I‘d share them but stink bugs have messed them up. I cut that part off and eat them anyway. One of my Facebook friends said her father would gather up the bugs, blend them with water and spray the “juice” to keep them away. I don‘t think I‘d have the heart. She said they‘d smell death and destruction and leave.

The Wordscraper games are rocking on. I guess my opponent got tired of my winning so she set up a board where she could get so many points on the first word that I could never catch up. I turned the tables on her and started a game with the same board and now I‘m ahead.

Tomorrow is another day. We‘ve had some rain this week. I‘d turned the container to catch the water off the roof over to keep the wigglers from turning into mosquitoes so I didn‘t catch any. Unless it rains again soon, I‘ll have to use city water to give my deck plants a drink.

WordPress notified me a new version was available so I‘ve upgraded. It‘s been a couple of weeks since DD and I have visited by phone but we still email and chat.

I‘m winding this up for another session. I have a busy day planned tomorrow. My computer is just about back so I shouldn‘t have to do anything that is so time-consuming.

I don’t know if this draft of a letter helps anyone, but please feel free to use any of it for your own purposes. I think the point is to be both CLEAR and COMPASSIONATE. Not CONFRONTATIONAL, which will just cause defensiveness.

Dear Mom,

I love you and I know that you love my children. There are only a few people in this world who love my kids as much as you do, and I will forever be thankful for that! I want to talk to you about something that’s really important to me.

I spend a lot of time, effort, and money studying, buying, and preparing whole foods for my family. If you’re interested, I can tell you more about what I’ve been learning and why I’ve been changing our nutrition.

I know it’s different than what everyone around us is eating, but I feel strongly as a mother, that for MY family, it’s important to take another path, back to the kind of nutrition we had before fast food and processed food. I feel strongly that for my children’s health and their future, that it’s critical we avoid sugar and other processed foods and dairy and meat products. Our diet isn’t “perfect,” but I believe that what we do 95% of the time will determine whether we are healthy and fit, or sick, overweight, and miserable. We have had many improvements in our health because of these changes, and I don’t want to go backwards.

I know that for you, candy and treats are a way to show love. Again, I so appreciate you and your love for my babies! For me, good nutrition is a way to show love. These two things have the potential to come into conflict while you are here.

I feel that candy is not an appropriate reward for children, and it creates a habit, into adulthood, that high-calorie foods are “earned” by good work or good behavior.

It’s very important to me that when you visit, you not use the desire to “spoil” my children as a reason to feed them foods I feel jeopardize their health. Could you “spoil” them in another ways, like reading to them, playing with them, or making a healthy treat?

I would love to provide you with a healthy cookie recipe and buy the ingredients. I will have healthy treats in the fridge and freezer so you don’t have to wonder what to give them.

I would like us to be friends, and not have any strain between us. I know that the way we view diet and nutrition is different, but I am asking for your support while you are here in something that’s very important to me.

We are all very excited to see you! Thank you for honoring this request.

I love you!

Momof3

Hey you awesome person you!  Yeah I’m talking to you!  Just thought I’d remind you that you rock!  Sometimes we let that lil’ annoying internal critic (Haha If only it had the voice of Jay Sherman (Jon Lovitz’s cartoon alter-ego in “The Critic”) it’d be easier to blow off!) and those nagging doubts get the best of us.  This especially happens when we start to push past the boundaries of our comfort zones as we change our diets, our lifestyles, or decide to live in a van for almost 2 years…ok that’s me talking. :0) Those internal voices start to pipe up and spook us back into the old familiar ways… that’s when we need to pause, breathe and inform them kindly, but firmly that we aren’t interested in what they’re selling! 

All the health gurus, celebrities, professional athletes and other people we are often amazed by are people…like us!  Heck some of them even started out in worse situations then we are in right now!  As I write this and you read it, there are people with disabilities doing things we couldn’t possibly imagine doing, there are elderly people doing complex yogic moves and ordinary peeps pushing the boundaries of what is considered “humanly possible”!  We have such amazing potential lurking within us it just needs us to realize it, get excited, have a lil’ faith and take those first steps in the direction we want to go! 

While your inner annoyers are mulling over your stance (and trust me it may take them sometime to accept it so you may have to remind them from time to time!) you can also let them know that you’re also not going to be wasting any time beating yourself up when you stumble because you’d rather spend that time picking yourself back up!  You got the potential, you have access to the most amazing information ever, and you can connect with thousands of like-minded people 24 hours a day online so go for it baby!!  :0)

Keep rockin’ your awesome potential, because You can do iiiiiiiiittttttt!!! :0)

Check out the video I did on realizing your potential for the Geeked Fu Challenge ~

Momof3, I feel your pain. Been there.

I could give you my usual responses, but I sense you’ve read the Intro to 12 Steps to Whole Foods, and my further comments on this topic, on this blog. You seem to know my ideas on this subject really well. What I hear is deep concern, anxiety even, for what your children are learning as well as what they’re eating in Grandma’s care.

I remember once being at my mother-in-law’s house many years ago, where the Standard American Diet rules and the Standard Health Consequences inevitably do, too. I walked around the kitchen corner to find her hurriedly shoveling chocolate cake in my toddler’s mouth. She startled, seeing me, since I was the one she was hiding the cake from.

I’m sure I stopped short and frowned. I remember she said something in her own defense, to the effect of it not being “normal” that my kids weren’t fed candy and cake and cinnamon rolls like other kids. Refined and processed foods are so ingrained in us, now, as a culture, that it seems some grandmas feel junk food belongs in the Bill of Rights.

Your family may truly feel they are “rescuing” our children from “deprivation.” My friend Jan told me the other day about her friend who secretly took Jan’s kids to McD’s because she felt sorry for them. She tells people her Down’s son, Jordan, is “allergic” to dairy and sugar. I laughed because I did the same thing when my kids were little and I delivered them to a babysitter or a teacher at church.

Jan says, “He’s allergic because I say he is!”

My MIL and I then went through a period of learning to work with each other. She eventually did respect my wishes even if she never had any interest in nutrition, herself. She was the one who taught me, through her reaction, when I was in my 20’s and first began studying nutrition, that people aren’t interested until they’re interested, and not a minute sooner, and sometimes never.

(I had mistakenly thought, in my own reading and discoveries, “Everyone should know about this! I think I’ll undertake a mission to teach everyone!” Mistake #1! Not to be repeated!)

As strongly as you feel about this, it’s time for a frank talk with your mother-in-law. Being short with her, or rolling your eyes, just builds tension—so you’ve nothing to lose by just talking.

Tell your husband that you intend to do it calmly and with love and every benefit of the doubt possible, but you do plan to do it.

I would do it on the phone BEFORE she comes. Or, write her a letter. That way she can mull it over before arriving and clear the air on any “hurt feelings” in advance. I would cover the points in my blog tomorrow, which I’ve written as if I were you.

Chicken producers debate 'natural' label

By JULIANA BARBASSA, Associated Press Writer  Fri Jul 30,

SAN FRANCISCO – A disagreement among poultry producers about whether chicken injected with salt, water and other ingredients can be promoted as "natural" has prompted federal officials to consider changing labeling guidelines.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture had maintained that if chicken wasn't flavored artificially or preserved with chemicals, it could carry the word "natural" on the package.
But the agency agreed to take another look at its policy after some producers, politicians and health advocates noted that about one-third of chicken sold in the U.S. was injected with additives that could represent up to 15 percent of the meat's weight, doubling or tripling its sodium content. Some argue that could mislead or potentially harm consumers who must limit their salt intake.
The USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service plans to issue new proposed rules this fall.
Perdue, the nation's third largest poultry producer, is among those pushing for a change. The company has joined a group called the Truthful Labeling Coalition, which has hired a lobbyist and launched an advertising campaign.
"Our labels say natural or all natural only if there is nothing added," Perdue spokesman Luis Luna said. "Under no circumstances is it acceptable to label poultry that has been enhanced with water or broth or solutions as natural, or all natural."
Such mixtures are injected into poultry to make the meat tastier and more tender.
The two largest chicken processors, Pilgrim's Pride and Tyson Foods, are among those that affix "natural" labels to chicken injected with extra salt and water. Industry experts said the practice has become more common in the past decade.
Tyson spokesman Gary Mickelson said the company sponsored a national study that found most consumer didn't mind those labels if the ingredients added were deemed natural.
Gary Rhodes, a spokesman for Pilgrim's Pride, said the company simply wanted to offer its customers a choice.
"We offer both 100 percent natural enhanced and non-enhanced fresh chicken," Rhodes said. "It really depends on what the customer wants. It's all about choice."
But Bill Mattos, president of the California Poultry Federation, argued that current labeling rules leave consumers confused. He said the industry needs to work harder at being clear about its products.
"With all the talk about food now, all the interest in salt, the chicken industry needs to be very upfront about these issues, and be very truthful," said Mattos.
A buyer perusing the chicken counter at a San Francisco supermarket agreed.
Muembo Muanza, 30, said he read the label and considered the price but never thought to check the salt content when buying fresh chicken.
Most people buying fresh, unprocessed food will assume, like he did, that nothing is added, said Muanza, whose family has a history of high blood pressure, a condition that can be worsened by high salt intake.
"If it says natural, I expect it to be all natural - nothing but chicken," he said.
California Sen. Barbara Boxer weighed in on the issue earlier this year, calling in a press conference for the USDA to "immediately prevent sodium injected chicken from using the 'natural' label and require all poultry producers to identify added ingredients in print large enough to ensure that consumers can make informed choices."
The issue is worrisome because Americans generally eat far too much salt, with serious health consequences, said Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo, a researcher at the University of California, San Francisco.
Her research, published this year in the New England Journal of Medicine, found that regulations aimed at cutting back Americans' sodium intake could save $10 billion to $24 billion in health care costs, and thousands of lives, every year.
Government intervention is needed, Bibbins-Domingo said, because much of the salt people eat comes in prepared food, not out of a salt shaker.
"We have to educate people to read labels and make better choices," she said. "When there are foods that people consider to be fresh and without additives, and they also have salt added, you feel you are almost fighting a losing battle."
In a report issued this year, the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee, which advises the federal government, revised the recommended daily salt intake from a teaspoon a day to about two-thirds of a teaspoon. It pointed to meat with added salt as a particular problem.
Foster Farms, based in Livingston, Calif., has been at the forefront of the campaign to change labeling rules.
The company sells marinated products that have added salt - but it is clear to consumers, said company spokesman Ira Brill. The problem with injection is the customer can't tell what's in their chicken.
"One of the issues we face as a nation is how to eat healthy," Brill said. "To the degree you like salt, you should be able to add it. But you should be able to make that decision for yourself. "

This information is provided by Creating Health Institute through our Health Matters(c) project.

The case for real food -

Monsanto: The evil corporation in your refrigerator

When we consider the rogue's gallery of devilish, over-sized, greedy and disproportionately powerful corporations, we generally come up with outfits like Microsoft, Bechtel, AIG, Halliburton, Goldman-Sachs, Exxon-Mobil and the United States Senate. Yet somehow, Monsanto, arguably the most devilish, over-sized, greedy and disproportionately powerful corporation in the world has been able to more or less skulk between the raindrops -- only a household name in households where documentaries like Food Inc. are regarded as light Friday evening entertainment. My house, for example. But for the most part, if you were to ask an average American for their list of sinister corporations, Monsanto probably wouldn't make the cut.

See full article from WalletPop: http://srph.it/bpzXks

This information is provided by Creating Health Institute through our Health Matters(c) project.

FDA Finds Pneumonia Risk with Daptomycin - The FDA said that the intravenous antibiotic daptomycin (Cubicin) may be linked to an increased risk of eosinophilic pneumonia -- a rare but serious potential side effect -- and requested that a new drug label warning be added. 

The agency reviewed the medical literature and adverse event reports for daptomycin and identified seven cases of eosinophilic pneumonia between 2004 and 2010 "that were most likely associated with Cubicin" on the basis of six criteria, the agency indicated in a Drug Safety Communication.

This information is provided by Creating Health Institute through our Health Matters(c) project.

Thanks for enlisting your child’s quotes to help me write the best nutrition book available for children!

I got lots of emails through my support team, from moms willing to have their children interviewed. The book is written, recipes are done, and we are planning photography and production.

The daunting piece was interviewing your kids via the phone, so I‘ve come up with an easier way.

Email Jenni and Jackie at support123@greensmoothiegirl.com if you didn‘t already write us to volunteer and you want your child age 4-13 to participate.

(If you DID volunteer, I have a list and will be emailing you. However, since I thought I‘d be calling everyone, I don‘t have email addresses for a few of you. That‘s Shellie V., Ambre, Valerie D., Lisa St., Jennifer Ga., Laura Mo., Amber P., Tina H., Wendy S., and Tiffany L.) If that‘s you, please write support123@greensmoothiegirl.com so we have your email.

This is how it will work: YOU will read the questions to your child and capture a few of the best quotes and return it to me.

I think you‘ll learn some interesting things from your children! Tell them they will be immortalized in a book so they will sit still for 10 mins. to talk to you.

Just capture the best quotes for me. I am looking for pithy, meaningful, funny, insightful, quirky, and just generally awesome stuff, in the voice of a child, about her choices and how she understands the consequences of those choices. How he uniquely observes the world around him.

If I use your child’s name and photo, it will be just one or two quotes—not an entire interview. No more than a few sentences each. Please record exactly what your child said, unedited.

And if I use your child’s words (I‘ll notify those I am using), I will need a photo of her.

The more high quality the photo, the better, as this will be a hardback, four-color, photography-oriented book.

Of course I will send you an autographed copy as thanks for helping me, whether I use your child‘s quote or not. Thus my request at the bottom of this questionnaire for your address.

GSG readers Dr. Lauren Clum and Dr. Mariza Snyder are hosting my free class / demo / book signing on Aug. 13 at lunch time. Not only that, but they‘re providing lunch AND offering free mini-consultations afterwards. This will be a fun one!

I‘m excited to meet readers from the Bay Area! Please RSVP here.

Friday, Aug. 13, Oakland, CA
12:00 noon
The Specific Chiropractic Center
4179 Piedmont Ave.
Suite 210

Quick note about the retreat: I think we will do it in APRIL instead, and it will be at Noah‘s in Lindon, which is a lovely facility. That‘s where I live, but more importantly it‘s right off the freeway, about 40 min. from the Salt Lake airport. Closer than Provo.

Hotels would not allow us to do our own catering, and Noah‘s has a kitchen. And we will have a kids‘ room with all kinds of Wii/big-screen games, ping pong, wallyball court, etc.  I will have qualified people there to tend kids while they‘re not in their mini-retreat Saturday.

Phytoplankton Population Drops 40 Percent Since 1950

Researchers find trouble among phytoplankton, the base of the food chain, which has implications for the marine food web and the world's carbon cycle.

This information is provided by Creating Health Institute through our Health Matters(c) project.

Physicians often misjudge patient beliefs

HERSHEY, Pa., July 28 (UPI) -- Doctors often guess wrong about their patients' health beliefs, U.S. researchers found.

Dr. Richard Street from Texas A&M University in College Station and Dr. Paul Haidet of Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine in Hershey found patients' health beliefs differ from their physicians' perception of these beliefs, and suggest doctors pay more attention to what their patients have to say.

The study, published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine, found physicians generally do not have a good understanding of patient's health beliefs, but their understanding is significantly better when patients more actively participate.

"If physicians had a better understanding of their patients' beliefs about health, they could address any misconceptions or differences of opinion they had with the patient regarding the nature, severity, and treatment of their illnesses as well as make treatment recommendations better suited to the patient's life circumstances," Street said in a statement. "Encouraging the patient to be more involved in the consultation by expressing their beliefs and concerns is one way physicians can gain this understanding."

Street, Haidet and colleagues analyzed 207 audio-recorded physician-patient consultations as well as surveys about the cause, treatment and other aspects of the patients health condition conducted by both physicians and patients after the consultation. Physicians were also asked about how they thought the patients responded.

© 2010 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

This information is provided by Creating Health Institute through our Health Matters(c) project.