The CDC Website Offers the Most Accurate Swine Flu Information

For those interested in the latest facts on the Swine Flu, the United States Center for Disease Control in Atlanta, GA offers the latest and most accurate global information.

The Site:  CDC Swine Flu

The CDC Site’s RSS Feed

The World Health Organization (WHO)

And for complete news coverage, Alltop has set up a page:

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Heirloom Seeds - Ever Taste a Tomato Grown for Flavor Instead of Transport?

(This is a slightly modified re-post from April, 2008)

In between discussions of high blood pressure, and the upcoming dreaded first colonoscopy, those of us of the “I owned an 8-track once” generation, will sometimes sit around reminiscing about the good old days. One sunny spring afternoon recently, amidst the usual memories of the firsts- first communion, first part time job, first kiss…- one of my friends looked up at the sky, big puffy white clouds rolling by, and said “Remember the tomatoes?”

We sucked on our frozen margaritas and fell silent.

Ahhh, yes, the tomatoes of summer from the local farm stand, or if you were even luckier , your own family garden, where you would pick one off the vine, and later sit on your back steps with your father, a tomato in one hand and the salt shaker in the other, and take a bite out of what had to be positively the best tomato in the world- or so your father said.

Now, tomatoes just don’t taste like they used to. I couldn’t even grow a good tasting tomato last summer. I diligently fertilized and watered three plants. The tomatoes sure looked great. But they tasted like grocery store tomatoes in February- bred for longevity, transport and the flavor of cardboard.

I bought my seedlings at the local nursery. Not this year. I’ll be buying heirloom tomato plants through the mail. Bred to test like a tomato, not the package they come in.

The largest provider of tomato seeds- and all seeds -to the commercial agricultural farmers these days is Monsanto Agrochemical. The seeds are genetically engineered(GE) to meet commercial grower’s needs for a sturdy, pest and drought resistant tomato. Notice flavor is not a Monsanto criteria.

There’s something inherently unnatural about one of the largest toxic chemicals manufacturers in the world now also being the world’s major seed - and therefore food- supplier.

And Monsanto is so big, they have been systematically buying up their smaller competition, now totally controlling the seed market.

Luckily, there are alternatives. A growing number of traditionalists are starting organizations around the world such as The Seed Saver’s Exchange. Their purpose is to protect heirloom varieties of fruits and vegetables for future generations.

Thank goodness.

I wonder if some day Monsanto will decide to genetically engineer the flavor back into the tomato?

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Is it Weight Gain or Weight Loss This Recession? Plus 7 Tips to Avoid Weight Gain.

The recession hasn’t curbed my appetite.

I’m on a diet.

Like always.

And if I’m not careful, I find myself reaching for low cost comfort foods.

Here’s two examples of how tough times have affected the weight of many of us, with 7 solutions for the “weight gain” camp.

~~~

1)  Financial hardship has led to “recession pounds”

Less expensive foods fill you up faster.  And when I need comfort food, I don’t reach for an apple.

Wall Street tells the story.

• McDonalds and Burger King is the place to be in the stock market these days.
• “Buy stock in pasta,” advises Stockweb.com.  “Shares of AIPC ( American Italian Pasta Company) have something around 110% performance since the beginning of the year and is one of the best performing stocks this year (2008.)”

What you can do?

If you’re finding your comfort in food these days:

• pick up a copy of Dr. Judith Beck’s, The Diet Solution at the library, and learn to “think like a thin person.” Not your run of the mill fad diet book, Beck bases her suggestions on sound cognitive principles developed by her father, Dr. Aaron Beck.

• stay at the perimeter of the grocery store. That’s where most of the more nutritional foods are.

• think about it. If you eat less, you’ll spend less, and will be able to afford better food.

• HALT.  it’s ok to let yourself feel hungry for a few hours.  But a lethal combination is being hungry, angry, lonely and tired.  This is an Alcoholics Anonymous acronym that I use for everything.  To battle the hungry part, keep healthy snacks with you.

• it takes twenty minutes for your body to respond to something you eat. So eat slower, and consciously wait to feel the response.  You’ll realize how little your body needs to ward off hunger.

• follow these tips from Wise Bread’s post “How to Avoid Putting on Recession Pounds.” It’s full of great suggestions for staving off the pounds.  Here’s a great quote from the article: “It is ironic when you think that in the past, lower socioeconomic standing often resulted in people losing weight due to lack of food. In the modern era of plenty, however, obesity has now become a symptom of poverty because these highly processed foods are not only promoted vigorously and widely accessible, but they are also cheap.”

• you’ve heard it before but I’ll say it again.  Exercise! Do anything!  You’ll feel better!

2)  Companies have been tightening their belts on corporate lunches

“I can’t justify cocktails and fillet mignon when I’m laying off employees,” says one CEO.  “It’s coffee at Starbucks now.”

And when executives are springing for lunch they’re often choosing healthier options.  “Sometimes I’ll ask clients to meet me at McDonalds,” says a well known publisher.  “But often we’ll hook up at a lower priced restaurant with a good salad bar.”

According to the Boston Globe, “The thinning ranks of the region’s executives and financiers has spurred business for tailors in Wellesley and Harvard Square on Newbury Street in Boston, who report a steady stream of clients dropping off cashmere top coats, Brooks Brothers suit skirts, and Brioni trousers in need of resizing for trimmer physiques.”

They don’t want to spend the money on new clothes.  After all, the layoffs are still going strong.  Who knows if they’ll be next?

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Are You Buried in Clutter? Get Organized.

Clutter equals Chaos.  Here’s 12 ways to reduce clutter, be more productive, feel lighter, and think more clearly.

Categories of Clutter

1. Too much stuff. Not enough space.
2. Too much to do. Not enough time.
3. Too much change. Not enough planning.
4. You’re a slob, admit it.

Clutter Control

A.  Clutter Type: Hoarding

Possible Causes:

Usually psychological: depression, attention deficit disorder, low self-esteem, fear of becoming homeless.

Clutter Control:

1) Reuse it, Sell it, or Recycle it. And if you can’t do any of those, throw it away!

You don’t need:

• those clothes from high school!
• three lawn mowers, two that don’t work.
• 6 potato peelers
• old magazines.  How often have you been able to go back and find that article you liked?
• stuff you haven’t used it for two or more years.

2)  If this is difficult to you, find yourself a good therapist.

B.  Clutter Type: Disorganization

Possible Causes:

Lack of time, psychological (see above),

Clutter Control:

1)  Buy the right tools, like

• storage bins for seasonal clothing,
• file cabinets for important papers,
• spice racks,
• magazine racks and bookcases.

2)  Purge.  See A.

3)  Set aside a regular time each week, both at home and at the office, to “tidy up.

4)  Hire a professional to get you started. Once a system is set up, it’s a lot easier to keep it going.

C)  Clutter Type: Time Management

Possible Causes:

High demands, life changes, such as getting married, or having a baby.

Clutter Control:

1)  Make lists

2)  Buy a daily planner such as a Franklin-Covey Planner. They also have software and classes.

3)  Prioritize your lists into what has to get done by today, tomorrow or next week

4)  Don’t schedule too much. Be realistic.  Rome wasn’t built in a day.

5)  Make appropriate timelines for any projects - that allow for a balanced schedule.

6)  Cut what you have to. Just say no.  If you know you won’t have time to do all that the boss is asking of you, and the boss just won’t listen, schedule a meeting with him.  Show him that the schedule is unrealistic, and ask him to prioritize your work.  It can be hard to push back, but I’m sure that he’ll agree that it’s better for you to get some things done well, than nothing done badly.

Yea, this is one of my “don’t do as I do, do as I say” posts. I haven’t mastered the de-cluttering philosophy yet.  I’m in process.

What are some ways you’ve organized your work, home, or life?

photo credits: PicApp

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Taking Time for Your Health Pays Off

My spouse has decided we”re going to Bootcamp for Goddesses in August.  I was informed of this while sitting on the couch eating ice cream with Pete.

“Do they have ice cream there,” I asked?

“You have 5 months to get ready,” I was reminded.

My winter hibernation has come to a screeching halt.

I know in the long run this is good for me.  Lower blood pressure, lower health bills.

“Don’t you want to be able to move when you’re 80?”

“Pass the cookies,” the sloth replies.

Eating Healthy Without Being Wealthy - Dark Chocolate and Red Wine Have More in Common Than You Think

Dark chocolate and red wine have more in common than you think.  It’s all about their Flavonoids - a clan of polyphenolic compounds that pack a powerful antioxidant punch.  Antioxidants eat free radicals, and free radicals cause many age related degenerative diseases such as cancer and heart disease.

Dark Chocolate - The darker the better.

Dark chocolate, but not milk chocolate, or dark chocolate eaten with milk, according to a recent Web MD article.  Recent evidence shows that milk puts a roadblock on much of the adsorption of the powerful antioxidants that chocolate is laden with.

Also, milk chocolate typically has only 15 percent to 25 percent cocoa.  Dr. Sheeler of the Mayo Clinic says that to gain the health benefits, the chocolate must contain at least 60% cocoa.  Dark chocolate tends to have 50 percent to 80-plus percent cocoa.

“No need to eat a whole chocolate bar,” says Dr. Sheeler.  “30 calories of dark chocolate per day provide you with all the health benefits.  And no need to buy the priciest brands.”

You just want to stay away from the really cheap brands which are stripped of the flavonols during processing.

Web MD describes one example of how flavonols work in A Dark Chocolate a Day Keeps the Doctor Away::

“Epicatechin is a particularly active member of a group of over [6000] compounds called plant flavonoids. Flavonoids keep cholesterol from gathering in blood vessels, reduce the risk of blood clots, and slow down the immune responses that lead to clogged arteries.”

So be a good do-be, and eat your fruits, vegetables and chocolate.

Red Wine - It’s in the red.

White wine is called the “white bread” wine when it comes to health benefits.

From Science Daily, Mar,2008:

“Researchers showed for the first time that a natural antioxidant found in  purple grape skins and red wine can help destroy pancreatic cancer cells by reaching to the cell’s core energy source, or mitochondria, and crippling its function.”

Graph of Antioxidant Activity

Antioxidant Activity is reported as Oxygen Radical Adsorbance Capacity (ORAC) of various foods. Note that since this chart was published in 2004, milk chocolate has been removed from the list due to the negating milk effect and low cocoa content.

Where else are flavonoids found?

In a ubiquitous  variety of inexpensive common foods such as tea, soy products, and many fruits and vegetables.  Western populations consume an average of 150-200 mgs per day.  Mediterranean diets top the list of cultural diets containing higher levels.

Here’s the top ten fruits, vegetables, and legumes:

Apples, apricots, blueberries, pears, raspberries, strawberries, black beans, cabbage, onions, parsley, pinto beans, and tomatoes.

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Wednesday Night Yoga

Had someone whispered “avoid high impact sports” in my ear years ago, I would’ve ignored them.  My young body let all that running feel sooo good.  I lived for the runner’s high, the game winning hit, the drive to the net.  I would play injured “for the team.”

At 50 it’s all catching up with me.  If someone whispered in my ear now, I wouldn’t hear them.  I take ibuprofen like a daily vitamin.  My joints and back are not bending.  My “sliding” knee let’s me know when a storm is coming.

So, as my senior years approach, I have graduated to yoga.

I’m told that yoga, unlike many western sports, doesn’t take away in impact as much as it gives in health benefits.  That I’ll love it.  That it’s like meditation.

On this advice, I committed to ten weeks of Wednesday night classes.  Tonight’s my fourth week - the first week I’m looking forward to it.  It’s been shear torture.  My instructor assures me that’s a sign that I really need it.  I know I need something.

But I’ve also started feeling its positive affects.

So much so that I slipped into a few extra classes over the weekend.  Of course, my Downward Dog doesn’t look quite like the instructor’s Downward Dog.  But I’m starting to love it anyway.

Go figure.

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Hot Flash: I’m Turning 50

There’s 28 days to go, now.  But, hey, who’s counting?!

My latest discoveries:

Hot Flash Barbie - Press Barbie’s bellybutton and watch her face turn beet red while tiny drops of perspiration appear on her forehead. Comes with hand-held fan and tiny tissues.

Hot Flash Pajamas - The article - in the NY Times, no less - starts out with, “As fashion trends go, hot flash pajamas are not glamorous.”

That ought to sell a lot of pajamas.

Other observations:

Sayings that I’ve heard since childhood have taken on a whole new meaning.

• “I’ve fallen and I can’t get up.”
• “Drop dead.”
• “No-brainer.”
• “Out of sight, out of mind.”
• “Bad Hair Day.”
• “A fool’s paradise.”
• “A little bird told me.”
• “Keep your chin up.”
• “Age before beauty.”
• “You’ve come a long way baby.”
• “A legend in one’s own lifetime.”

Guys in their twenties look at me as a mother figure.

Random acts of kindness really works.

I make a lot more lists.

I’m one of the oldest at the family weddings.

The “gene advantage” is real. 

For example,  I have a lot less gray hair then people my age, but this is balanced out by the fact that I’ll be deaf as a doorknob by the time I hit 70.

Maybe I need an attitude adjustment, but bite me.

I’m 50, and I can say anything I d#$#%m well please.

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Countdown to 50

OK, I’m a little obsessed with the idea that I’m turning 50 in 50 days.  That saying “You’re not getting older, you’re getting better” is hogwash.  My body is falling apart.

Here are some famous musicians/actors that are turning 50 this year.  The ones who can afford plastic surgery.

Michael Jackson (definitely falling apart.)

Madonna ( she claims her spiritual age is 36 )

Prince

Ellen Degeneres (who just joined the Married Club, after living in sin for 4 years, by the way)

Alec Baldwin (which baldwin is he, again?)

Jamie Lee Curtis (have you seen her picture on the cover of the May issue of AARP magazine?  One word: topless.)

Michelle Pfeiffer

Kevin Bacon (still hot.)

Sharon Stone

Ice-T

Prince Albert

Holly Hunter

Andie McDowell

Tim Robbins (remember Shawshank Redemption?)

The Peace Symbol turns 50 this year.
Not an actor, but worth mentioning.

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Pushing Fifty. We Carry a Big Stick.

I’ll be an official AARP member in two months. That means I’ll be 50. I can go kicking and screaming but, other than possibly pulling my back out, what’s the point?

Time to accept.

So, getting into the spirit of it, I borrowed my (over-50-I-won’t-say-by-how-much) spouse’s copy of this month’s AARP magazine. We have a subscription.

One of the articles in the magazine is entitled “50 reasons to love being 50+“. 50, sheesh, are there really that many reasons? By the time I finish reading them I’ll be 51. Actually I did read them, and I found a lot that were similar to each other, so I don’t think there are really 50 reasons. Maybe by the time they were writing 40-50 they had forgotten 1-10.
I did find reasons 30-35 pretty good, especially with the November election. Here they are:

“30. 41 percent of American adults are over 50, the highest percentage in U.S. history.

31. 80 percent of Congress is over 50.

32. Half of the Americans who voted in the 2006 elections were 50+.

33. People over 55 own 77 percent of all financial assets in the United States.

34. 50+ adults account for 45 percent of U.S. consumer spending, or $2.1 trillion per year.

35. By 2011 the American 50+ population will surpass the 100 million mark.”

We over 50 people carry a big stick!

Any thoughts on aging out there? Is it something you ever think about?

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