Men's Brain Women's Brain -

Now you know!

Tale of Two Brains

Now you know...
People like to think that men’s brains and women’s brains are fundamentally the same.

But research indicates that men and women do in fact have different structures and wiring in the brain, and men and women may also use their brains differently. Men do score better at tasks that involve orienting objects in space, while women do better at language tests.

Scientists have known for a while now that men and women have slightly different brains, but for many years they thought the changes were limited to the hypothalamus -- the part of your brain that controls sex drive and food intake.

In 2001, researchers found that certain parts of the brain were differently sized in males and females. The study found that parts of the frontal lobe, responsible for problem-solving and decision-making, and the limbic cortex, responsible for regulating emotions, were larger in women. In men, the parietal cortex, which is involved in space perception, and the amygdala, which regulates sexual and social behavior, were larger.

Men also have approximately 6.5 times more gray matter in the brain than women, and women have about 10 times more white matter than men do. This difference may account for differences in how men and women think -- gray matter is full of active neurons, while white matter consists more of connections between the neurons. A woman's brain is a bit more complicated in setup, but those connections may allow a woman's brain to work faster than a man's. However, average IQ scores are the same for both men and women.

Sources:
• How Stuff Works

Home Repair and Fitness.

Home repair and Fitness… Who knew?

As some of you know I bought a condo two years ago. Living in my own place has been a great experience, I can't complain about that. There are, however, some big differences between renting a spot and owning your own place.

When something breaks in a rental, you just call up the landlord and it's magically (and freely) fixed. Forget about that in your own place! Also, when you own the place you get to make changes to it as opposed to most rentals. While trying to make this place my own, I've had the "pleasure" of making some pretty substantial cosmetic overhauls.

There are times when this whole process can be disheartening, to be honest. You read a book, watch a show on HGTV, get an idea in your head, and you think whatever you want to do will be a quick and easy job. Yeah right! Any of you who've done any sort of home remodeling know exactly how wrong that turns out to be!

Last night after fixing the plumbing in my kitchen sink and having to try, try and try the fix again… ahh success and only three bloody knuckles. (I had to finish it, otherwise I couldn't cook dinner!) I realized that remodeling a house isn't all that different from building the fit, lean body that you want.

1. You wouldn't start tearing apart your kitchen without a plan, would you? Well then why do you hit the gym and start ripping up your body without some forethought?

2. Setbacks happen when it comes to doing home repair. People accept and acknowledge that it's going to happen. The same thing happens on your fitness journey, as well.

3. When a setback happens to a major part of the house, you don't just ignore it and forget about it - Do you? No, you curse a little and then get back to work fixing it. It doesn't get much more important than your body, but people seem to drop out of fitness programs at the first site of adversity.

4. Do you expect your whole house to be primed, painted, recarpeted, have the hardware changed, retiled, and landscaped in a day? No, you sure don't. You take pleasure in the little accomplishments and changes. Yet when someone doesn't suddenly weigh ten pounds less after eating perfectly for a week… why does the two pounds they did lose mean nothing?!

5. There are some things I don't know how to do or am not confident enough in my abilities when it comes to remodeling a house. For example, down the road I have some fairly detailed tile work that needs to be done in my kitchen. I have never done any floor tile like that before, and if you mess it up then it's a big deal.

So instead of trying to learn, make mistakes, and just generally muck it up I'm going to call a professional to come in and save me mess, time, aggravation, and in the long run probably money. People have no problem with that and yet "don't need a personal trainer" when someone mentions working with a fitness professional. I just don't understand.

This "house" experience has taught me a lot of real-life skills as well as a lot about the philosophy of life. (And some minor first aide)But you know what, I wouldn't trade it for the world, but I might still swear at it a little bit.

Til next time…

A turkey day thought

In the world of fitness there are, really, only so many topics…
There's a finite amount of shit stuff about which to write (a vast finite—from yoga to ultra-marathons–but finite none the less) so we in the fitness blogosphere each simply strive to put our own twist or stamp on well worn topics.

Today's dead horse which we shall proceed to flog a few times? Gratitude.

The older I get the less I find that being thankful is a daily struggle or conscious focus. I'm grateful most days just for the fact I can get up in the morning and go peee without having a debate about what is right and wrong with my hair, clothes well you name the topic… and, if I find mid-day that my gratitude is waning, it's far easier now than when I was younger to refocus my feelings.

A few years ago I was more in a place of complacency. That is code for a bad marriage.

If you'd have asked I would have said I liked my life. I liked my friends. I loved my kids, I liked my own personal Barrister. Everything was good. Fine.

Then, due to circumstances; some within and some beyond my control, bingbangboom I was divorced. Note to self, be careful when marrying a family law attorney. Three months later, I was in a new house – four months later in more debt than any one person should be.

Let me clarify: four months. I was in a new life - one that was completely turned upside down. No palpable routine (forget the working out. that wasn't even on my I WANT list – probably not good PR for a Personal Trainer). I was away from Barrister Babe, and Tornados (2 of 3 kids). Felt like I was in a completely different country. Didn't have too much that was familiar except work – which is what I excelled at. The notion of working, 12/14 hours a day was comfortable and in a very strange way calming.

It was during that time period that I had the opportunity to learn about being grateful for all that I have. Big and small. It also explains why my walls in my home are mostly shades of green… calming.

I realized that, at least for me, gratitude is linked closely with the Law Of Attraction. What we think truly impacts what flows back toward us (agree? disagree? I wanna know) & when one starts from a place of gratitude it's amazing what a domino effect it can have on one's life.

(lecture over. I know. but I truly believe all of this. operate from a place of I WANT AND IM NOT GETTING! & see how far *that* chickenbus takes you. Ill save you the time: nowhere good. fast. Lived it for five years with Barrister Barbie)

That said, if you're anything as I am, there are still days where it's difficult to find the gratitude in your heart. For me it's:

UpAt5 + ArlarmDidntGoOff + TwosecondsToShower + pipes didn't warm up = damn cold water - Amazingspouce= HardPressedToBeThankfulMe. Been there?

Here are some ways which work for me to locate the silver lining in my cloud when it's lookin' 100% like rain.

• For an entire week set an alarm/reminder for the same time of day. When the reminder PINGS! I take a minute (literally) & focus on one aspect of my life/ or someone in my life for whom I'm grateful. (a warning -that was really hard at first)
  
• I adore my GRATITUDE BOARD. It's crammed with pictures & words to remind me precisely for what I'm grateful —-everything from the health of friends/family to work opportunities to travel souvenirs. A quick glance is all I need to refocus my day.
  
• I have a friend who came this close to losing one of his 5 senses. It was only after that I became truly thankful for my ability to see, hear, taste, touch & smell. Take five days & spend one focusing on each sense. Dedicate a day to being grateful for all you hear. Another to being thankful for all you see. It's amazing how, when you focus on gratitude, even when what we HEAR isn't what we're longing for just the fact we CAN hear is a gift.
  
• Surround yourself with like minded people. This is an obvious one but bears repeating. Remember the old adage of one negative, bitter, cynical, complaining apple spoils the barrel? It's true. Strange, but this has been my single biggest challenge at work – and believe it or not, when successful really makes my life much easier.
  
• Bliss list. Trite? Yes (here's that horse we're beating). Work? FOR SURE. Take a moment every day to jot down some things for which you're thankful.
  

Are you still with me? (I know. I ramble because I love.) Good.

What would your gratitude touchstone be?

A few inspirational words or quote?

Perhaps a photo of someone you love?

A pet?

A drawing by you child? Being by yourself?

A photo of your favorite place?

Hit me up in the comments and let me know. Oh, and thank you for reading!

Happy Thanksgiving…

Til next time.

A Quick Thanksgiving Thought....

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

I read something the other day.... just seems like it would be a good thought to focus on for Thanksgiving Day and the holidays.

"If you don't make time for gratitude you'll have plenty of time for despair."

If this one hits home, take some time today to recall everything you have to be grateful for. Doing so can completely rewire the day for you. My guess is that if you practice this exercise regularly - it will rewire your life.

Take care!

Larry

P.S. And for those of you who I am seeing on Friday to repent Thursday's transgressions - Get Ready!

Christmas is nearly upon us.

As much as we all like to try and ignore it.

As of today there is one month left. Scary I know, but there you have it.

I love Christmas.
The air is crisp, the lights are pretty I rally do like almost everything single thing about it other than the commercialization that retailers seem intent upon. And so early too!

Ah the Christmas’s of old.

I miss the Christmas’s of my childhood.

In those days, it was a simpler affair.

Presents were generally hand made, there were no huge amounts of money spent as there are today, and Christmas was celebrated as opposed to being seen as an excuse to spend as much possible on the biggest present you could lay your hands on.

Xbox, PS2, I Pods, mobile phones, DVD players, none were even thought of let alone given as presents. Any gift received or given was probably worth all of {in those days} a few buck, other than whatever “big” present Santa had decided on for you. Then it may have been the scandalous amount of perhaps $20 dollars!

Christmas was to spend with family and friends. It was all family too, not just those in your immediate vicinity, but uncles, aunts, cousins and grandparents, from miles and miles away. In one of our houses, that meant, some years, up to 25 or 30 people for Christmas day. My Mom and Dad both had good sized families all who believed in having children and large families… Organized chaos admittedly, but it was a lot of fun.

Cousins everywhere, boys and girls, running all over the place, anticipation about what Santa would bring, giggling as we tried to nod off to sleep, but excitement making it difficult. Depending on who had Christmas, we might have had sleeping bags and mattresses all over the floor to make one giant dorm - Innocence prevailed we had to be good cause Santa was on his way.

Neighborhood parties were standard on Christmas Eve. Everybody enjoying the season, we would hop from house to house playing, parents talking, having a cold beer, cooking their holiday special. One fella loved BBQ – he was out in the back yard burnin some food that you could smell forever.
Back then a BBQ was a BBQ, not the stainless steel 8 gas plus work burner types you see today. These were a few dozen bricks, a steel grate and some newspapers, sticks and charcoal bruquets held over from the summer with puddles of lighter fluid all around it’s base. The bigger the flame the better – think it might have been a neighborhood sport.

Chicken and chops were a folded over in a piece of white bread with some sort of homemade bar-b-q tomato sauce, not 87 different types of kebabs, or marinated steak with corn in foil. This was a real fire and we were livin!

Neighbors would come for breakfast and to exchange home made preserves or hand crafted items for the house, maybe a doily or pot holder, a hand sewn embroidered mat for a table, or perhaps a plant or Christmas candle for the table. If you were really lucky you’d receive homemade spritz cookies or fudge that had been made from a family recipe that could be 100 years old, handed down from generation to generation, and the best thing you could ever wish to eat. The fudge in my house was in high demand let me add! To receive one of these gave you bragging rights almost until the following Christmas with some of my friends!! These days you would be lucky to KNOW your neighbor let alone exchange gifts such as these.

While the adults were inside drinking tea (that’s code) on Christmas morning, we kids were comparing presents with the other neighborhood kids. Riding a new bike, racing around on new roller skates (in the snow, unencumbered by knee, elbow and leg pads or helmets, they were for sissies!!!) Trying to master the required movement to make a hula hoop work properly was hysterical, let alone an all day chore! Squirting each other with the cheap plastic water pistols found in the stockings that held all sorts of little wonders. There were hoots of laughter, much running and yelling with the odd bout of tears as someone fell, but there was always a bigger kid to pick them up, dry their tears and dispense advice on how to do whatever was being attempted when the fall happened. There was a camaraderie that is sadly lacking these days. I can count on one hand how many kids you see outside on Christmas morning these days.

Lunch was huge I’ll admit. A full meal with turkey, chicken, stuffing, ham, lamb and/or beef, miles of veggies, and gallons of gravy all over the lot! Much of the food came from your own, neighbors and families gardens the summer before – we all canned our vegetables in those days.

The main course was pretty much the only thing you needed to buy, much of the rest was part of your gift, or simply handed to you over the back fence because there was a surplus in that particular garden. Not for us was expensive, frozen food, it was all fresh, chemical free and tasted wonderful. Compared to the norm these days, it was fine fare indeed.

Call me old, call me silly, but those WERE the days. Political correctness had not been thought of, people didn’t have to put themselves in the poor house to provide a wonderful family day that was appreciated by all and remembered for many years to come.

Kids were happy to be given any present at all regardless of size, value or supposed popularity. It didn’t matter if it wasn’t the latest gadget on the market, or the newest game around. Not so these days. If it doesn’t have a brand name, or isn’t worth an arm and a leg, no one seems to want it. My response is go without then!

It’s funny you know. I always thought the only people that longed for the past were old, but I don’t feel old and this year, for some reason, more than any other holiday I remember, I long for the past. For the days when the meaning of Thanksgiving and Christmas was not only remembered, but (EGADS), actually spoken of! When the word “Christmas” wasn’t a dirty word or wishing someone a happy holiday was not something to be concerned about or offending people with.

I would like nothing more than for the values many of us hold dear to be fashionable again.

I’m not holding my breath waiting for it to happen though.

Might turn blue….

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving, and enjoy time spent with family and friends.

Til next time…

Teachable Moments

I belong to our local park district fitness center... The machines are old, but well maintained and the dumbbells and free weights are a bit worn with just a little hint of rust on them. No frills for sure, but I kinda like it - folks who work out their are just trying to get fit, stay strong, or in some cases avoid their families.

Which leads me to a lesson that translates well to health and fitness. I see a lot of people avoiding healthy activities out of fear of making mistakes. If you exercise in a gym setting then that fear is multiplied by the very public nature of the environment.

For instance, a few days back I saw a woman pick up a resistance band. After glancing around a few times, she finally stepped on it and pulled up on the handles, just like she'd seen a personal trainer do with a client.

Unfortunately she didn't have a good lock on the band and it whipped out from under her feet and smacked her across the face. I had to fake a coughing fit for a good five minutes to keep from laughing until I fell off my treadmill, it was that funny. It was certainly embarrassing.

So what did the woman do?

Dropping the handles, she stepped over the band and walked away as if nothing had happened. But her beet-red face betrayed her. I wanted to run after her and tell her that it's okay, I've totally snapped myself with the resistance band and then show her how to put it under the groove in your shoe so it can't come loose but she was gone, hopefully not to hide under a rock.

If she had stuck around long enough I would have told her how I actually put a hole in the back of my head when I snapped myself with a jump rope while trying to show off during an exercise class.

For me, making mistakes is about being teachable. It's about admitting that I don't have all the answers and that I have a lot to learn from other people. I've learned that I will never be perfect at anything the first time I try it. Chances are, I'll never be perfect at it period. I've also learned that nobody likes a perfect person anyhow. People are drawn to those who can make mistakes and learn from them. And hey, if you don't believe me, take it from...

Til next time....

If I only had a...

Often times you'll observe me walking around the center humming the refrain "If I only had a brain" from "The Wizard of Oz"

You've all seen it haven't you?
(In my view, one of the greatest movies of all time... at least in the top ten. OK, 20 - I'm a boy so seeing some cheap gratuitous violence with lots of explosions and a little skin does get computed into the mix of the top fave... but I digress.)

If you remember the movie, the big theme was that the main characters all thought that they didn't have what it takes to get what they wanted in life...

The Scarecrow thought he needed a brain...
(my favorite hummed song)

The Tin Man thought he didn't have a heart...

The Cowardly Lion was a scaredy-cat...

Dorothy felt lost and wanted to go home...

And it turned out that they all already had everything they needed...But they were looking around outside of themselves, while they should have been looking inside

In my line of work that is usually the problem...we know a lot more than we think we know, but sometimes we just need a little nudging from a "wizard" to remember it...

The other life story.... Pay No Attention to the Man Behind the Curtain!

Don't surrender your life to the so-called "gurus" that try to get you to spend hundreds, or even thousands of dollars that you can't spare to find out the supposed "secrets" that you must have... They're just throwing levers and flicking switches, dazzling and hypnotizing you with a fantastic floor show that's all smoke and mirrors...

Hum...
Just like the Wizards (trainers) in my neck of the woods...But you already have everything you need to succeed inside of you. Sometimes you just need to hum or sing so you start listening to your inside.

Til next time....

I had an interesting discussion yesterday with one of my long-standing clients.

As we were finishing up our session, in which she had just hit a personal record deadlift of 210 lbs (not bad for a grandmother of two!). She is working towards competing in powerlifting, and I have no doubt will be a smashing success.

That’s one of the things that keeps her going.

However, she asked me when it would be best to move more to a maintenance style of training and what that would entail. I had to think about it for a second, but the more I thought the less appealing the sound of “maintenance” was.

Unfortunately, I see a lot of people in the gym who seem to be “just trying to maintain”, and I get that. There’s a point where you don’t want to get leaner, bigger, stronger, or whatever. At some point people become happy with their results and don’t seek to push it further… I guess.

But I gotta tell you, There aren't too many times where I’ve never been satisfied with my progress. I’ve achieved goals that I’ve set for myself and been proud of that. But completely satisfied - not usually - there is always something to be learned in the journey and used next time for the battle. After thinking about it some, I realized that to me the idea of just “maintaining” is really just a controlled backslide.

I think that if you decide that you’re not going to improve anymore, you’re inviting some trouble. Think for a second about how hard you worked for your results. Think about all of those times where you pushed yourself further, trying to add another five pounds on the bar or complete just one more sprint. That attitude is what got you to where you are now and is responsible for the progress that you’ve made. That’s the attitude that kept you showing up day after day and pushing hard.

Now you’re suddenly going to stop that trend and just start going through the motions? That doesn't make sense to me. How long is it going to be before your four-day per week maintenance program becomes three, then two days? Man, the weights feel heavy this week… maybe you should go lighter. You’re just maintaining, right? Do you see where I’m going with this?

Now, I’m not saying that you need to be balls-out, driving towards a goal with no prejudice 100% of the time. That's just silly and inviting a mistake. However if you did achieve your goals, lets say you were happy with your performance and or physique. I would find it hard to believe that you couldn't come up with some way to challenge yourself and stay out of maintenance mode.

Seems to me that those who try to stay in one place will soon find that life is passing them by.

Til next time...

A Thought for the ages

"Time is an equal opportunity employer. Each human being has exactly the same number of hours and minutes every day. Rich people can't buy more hours. Scientists can't invent new minutes. And you can't save time to spend it on another day. Even so, time is amazingly fair and forgiving. No matter how much time you've wasted in the past, you still have an entire tomorrow." - Dennis Waitely


We're only human, right?
I'm not gonna judge anyone for mistakes they've made and tasks they've put off until "later". It's a waste to dwell on things from the past. But it's not too late to change something.

When today is over and if you're dissatisfied with your appearance, your level of fitness, your quality of life, or any other possibility... you CAN take steps to change it tomorrow.

There are people all over the world doing just that.

Preparing for tomorrow and CHANGING that with which they are no longer pleased. And most of them have just as many obstacles as you do. Plus - it's true - they do have the same amount of time in a day that you do.

If they can do it, why aren't you??

There are no good excuses for neglecting to start on a new pathway. Time issues, work, laziness, etc. There are millions or reasons, but not one good excuse. If you want something bad enough, you'll find the time to do what it takes.

Just some food for thought before your weekend.

Til next time...

Today is a special day for me....

I've been doing this blogging thing for a year now - it's hard to believe really.

152 posts later, I have "spoken" to folks from over 22 different countries and have had more than five thousand visits to this site - more importantly there are several hundred who read these electronic key strokes on a regular basis.

Who knew? ....

When I first started writing I wanted to share. My thoughts, my moods even some well intended fitness advice. But what I received through your emails, your comments and thoughts over this past year was a far greater gift than I could have anticipated or imagined. You're friendship.

I hope to continue this trek through the written word and invite you to join in. Perhaps I/we will get to know a little bit more of you, and hopefully we will continue to build our friendship... until then I hope you enjoy.

Imagine if you will; the garden honey bee, hopping from flower to flower collecting pollen that he intends to take back to his hive family in order to feed the queen bee and keep his friends and family in sustenance.

A simple maneuver. A basic task. A solid, honorable, selfless purpose. ‘Go out young bee and – as Cuba Gooding Jr screamed down the telephone at Jerry McGuire (in the film of the same name) - show me the honey!’ (it was on TV last week - sorry)

They honey bee knows its purpose. It knows what it is doing.

Or does it?

What the honey bee does not know, what the honey bee could not know is that in the process of travelling from plant to plant, from flower to flower he inadvertently collects pollen on his tail and accidentally pollinates all the flowers and plants in an act so vital to the ecosystem that mankind would perish without it.

The bee’s purpose is simple and it is based on its hive instinct.

Now, I want you to imagine another cross pollinating effect that is equally mammoth and equally accidental and it all started with a race. One that was precipitated by fear.

The race in question was ‘the space race’ and it occurred between the Russian and American governments. The finish line? Man walking on the surface of the moon!

The premise of this race (or the belief) was that whoever landed a man on the moon first got to control space, and who ever gained control of space automatically held dominion over the earth. As I said it was a race precipitated by fear and ignorance.

At the time, who really cared who got into space first? I didn't, I was 8 at the time, and really, I just wanted to go to Bozo's Circus and play the grand prize game? At the time the notion of walking on the moon did not excite nor inspire me... But today I reap its benefits....

History can be a great teacher - As far as President Kennedy was concerned he just wanted to place an American astronaut on the moon within a decade. He felt that this would bring back power-pollen to the American hive and insure its survival in a war that was freezer-box-cold. What Kennedy did not realize, what Kennedy could not have realized was that America was at a time in it's history that we did not have the technology to place a man on the moon.

It was discovered at the time that in order to meet Kennedy’s weighty directive and place moon dust on the soles of Neil Armstrong within ten years they would have to leave the cutting edge of sharply current technology and venture out onto the bleeding edge of the unknown and undiscovered, where imagination meets creation and where creation launches mankind into a new era.

To satisfy an outrageous demand, one has to go to outrageous lengths. In other words, in order for man and moon to marry they had to invent and create new technology (now known as space technology). In fact, it is said that in order for President Kennedy to bring his ‘one small step’ into mankind’s reality 1,000,000 (that is one million) new pieces of technology had to be invented by the current crop of scientists.

1,000,000!!!!

Kennedy could not have known that his space dream would change the course of mankind forever. The by-product of the technology that built a ship capable of space travel was and is the mobile phone you are carrying in your pocket right now, or the computer at your desk, the engine in your car, in fact pretty much every new and exciting piece of life-enhancing technology that you and I absolutely take for granted on a daily basis can be traced back to that race for space.

Aiming for the moon changed the earth almost beyond recognition, inventor Buckminster Fuller called this the "processional effect". This cross pollination (although accidental) was so very far reaching.

The race for space, or in today's world - energy independence, inspires me to aim equally high in my own life. If for instance I aim to be a millionaire, or billionaire, or Nobel prize winner or recipient of any other such global goal, how many things will I have to learn, how many skills will I have to master, what bleeding edge human extensions will I need to imagine and create in order to make my goal a living reality? And in creating these new tools, how many individuals peripheral to my singular intention, will benefit from my example as I have benefited from the examples set before me, either with the inspiration it fed me or the proven path it created? Equally important; who will be inspired to aim high and create by your aspirational conquests?

Often we are motivated to achieve by desirous longing or by buck-naked terror. For most of us we think that our creations and efforts are personal and autonomous. But what I have learned especially though this blog and the type of work that I do is that (we must keep an awareness), everything we do has an effect on everything and everyone else - even though our singular purpose is just to bring home the honey. The "processional effect" is so vast, so grand and so earth shatteringly vital that all of mankind has the potential to be elevated by it.

Let that be your motivator - by achieving your goals you pollinate our collective hive.

If it is your motivation, then I think it only right that whatever you think, however you speak and whatever actions you take - should be BIG.

If you indeed do fully commit, you will ensure that the by-product of your worthy labor and joyful creation will encourage labor worthy enough to inspire joy in all creation.

Til next time....

Will the Downturn....

Will the Down Economy Herald the Use of Natural Medicine?

That is the title of an article I just read this morning... Here's the article It's short please read on.

For the first time in a decade or more, U.S. consumers are trying to get by on fewer prescription drugs. As people around the country respond to financial hard times, drugs are sometimes having to wait.

The drug giant Pfizer, which makes Lipitor, the world’s top-selling prescription medicine, said U.S. sales of that drug were down 13 percent in the third quarter of this year. And although the overall decline in total prescriptions was less than 1 percent, it represents the first downturn after more than a decade of steady increases in prescriptions. From 1997 to 2007, the number of prescriptions filled increased 72 percent.

In some cases, the cutbacks might not hurt. According to Gerard F. Anderson, a health policy expert at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, “A lot of people think there’s probably over-prescribing in the United States.”

Sources:
New York Times October 22, 2008

Here's something to put in your pipe and ponder...
The American health care system is more than twice as expensive as the health care system of any other industrial country, yet premature deaths caused by its inappropriate, and overpriced, interventions are increasing at an exponential rate.

Despite the fact that Americans pay $7,600 a year per person for healthcare -- 16 percent of the GDP – (NIH stat) it produces remarkably poor results - (my opinion). We actually rank LAST out of 19 countries for unnecessary deaths, despite the vastly increased use of a wide variety of “wonder drugs” and vaccines.

How can this be?

Because Americans have been successfully brainwashed into believing the fairytale that prescription drugs can prevent and cure disease. But as Paul Harvy would say "Here is the rest of the story"

The number of reports of serious problems, including deaths, linked to medications hit a record in the first three months of this year.

The FDA received nearly 21,000 reports of serious drug reactions, including over 4,800 deaths, over that period. Two drugs accounted for a disproportionately large share of the problems -- heparin, a tainted blood thinner from China that caused an international safety scandal, and Chantix, a new anti-smoking drug from Pfizer.

Chantix had the most reports of any medication. Earlier this year, the FDA warned that Chantix may be linked to psychiatric problems, including suicidal behavior.

Serious drug reactions are ones that cause hospitalization, require medical intervention, or place a life in jeopardy. The total of 20,745 cases reported from January to March was 38 percent higher than the average for the previous four calendar quarters, and the highest for any quarter.

Fatalities accounted for 23 percent of the cases.

Sources:
Seattle Times October 22, 2008

There is no doubt in my mind that a vast majority of the population is severely overmedicated with expensive and nearly always unnecessary drugs, considering the multitude of natural therapeutic options.

The only way to turn this devastating situation around is to remind the public of the basic truths that nearly all their ancestors knew:

Health has nothing to do with pills, and everything to do with sensible lifestyles that include a healthy diet, stress relief, and exercise.

What’s Missing in Talks About Health Care Reform?
What’s missing in all of the debates about health care reform for the United States is a holistic approach.

The reason the U.S. ranks so poorly is because our system focuses on disease mongering and sickness care, whereas the health care systems in most other countries rely heavier on prevention.

As a result, the people in those countries live longer, healthier lives. Whether or not to provide universal health care or health insurance to every American is not the question that needs to be answered. What we need to ask is how to give Americans more time to relax, exercise, cook healthy meals, and get enough sleep and healthy doses of sunshine.

Rather than subsidizing agribusiness that produces mostly junk food and permitting direct-to-consumer drug advertising, it would be far wiser to focus on providing Americans access to healthy foods, and opportunity to exercise and rest.

Think about this, just 50 years ago, according to IMS Health (a company that tracks the pharmaceutical industry), the two biggest sellers were over-the-counter drugs Bufferin and Geritol. At that time the prescription drug business was microscopic.

In 1954, Johnson & Johnson had $204 million in revenue. By 2004 it had grown to about $36 billion. Merck’s drug sales in 1954 were a minuscule $1.5 million; by 2002, that figure was $52 billion.

The New York Times states,
“If enough people try to save money by forgoing drugs, controllable conditions could escalate into major medical problems. That could eventually raise the nation’s total health care bill and lower the nation’s standard of living.”

I disagree, and if you don’t, I suspect you haven’t viewed the town of allopath video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4NEQzZlSDE


If enough people realize that they don’t need many of the drugs they’re on, and change their lifestyle that would eventually lower the nation’s health care bill and increase the nation’s standard of living.

Last year, 3.8 billion prescriptions were filled. That’s a 72 percent increase in prescriptions in just ten years, from 1997 to 2007.

In that same period, the average number of prescriptions filled by each person in the U.S. increased from about 9 a year in 1997, to almost 11 in 2006, and 13 in 2007!

The average annual prescription rate for seniors is 28 prescriptions per person. (you'll be amazed after clicking on this link)

Please understand that there is no possible way to preserve or improve your health by taking a dozen or more prescription drugs. That is a misconception; a fairytale complete with a story-book happy ending, concocted by shrewd marketing professionals acting in the best interest of the industry that signs their paychecks.

It’s a myth that simply must be dispelled.

Curing Disease Means Finding Health!

If you make drugs a last option, not a first choice, you will have taken a major step in the right direction.

For example, if you suffer from any of the conditions listed below, please understand that you can treat or prevent all of them with relatively simple, inexpensive LIFESTYLE CHANGES.
Most people who are prescribed drugs for these conditions are spending their dwindling cash reserves on drugs they don’t really need to be well:

Type 2 diabetes
High blood pressure
High cholesterol
Insomnia
Arthritis
Cognitive decline
Osteoporosis

I realize that it takes a massive shift in thinking to realize that your body can heal itself. But I can’t stress enough the importance of the most basic principle of HOW to resolve an illness: finding the underlying cause of the problem. Masking it with a drug that lessens your symptoms does NOT fix anything.

The notion of Change has been in every story line before, during and since the election... well.... How about taking control of your health?!

More government involvement doesn’t hold the answer to the health care crisis. What is needed is more personal involvement -- your personal involvement -- in the form of a commitment to your own health.

If you carefully follow some basic health principles - simple things like exercising, eating whole foods, sleeping enough, getting sun exposure, reducing stress in your life, and nurturing personal relationships -- you will drastically reduce your need for conventional medical care.

As drug sales are now dwindling due to a depressed economy, you and your children are likely to be bombarded with increasingly aggressive pharmaceutical direct to market advertizing.

Don’t fall for the scare tactics and disease mongering! And don’t believe the fairy tale that taking a pill with a laundry list of side effects will somehow make you feel as glowing and wonderful as the well-paid actors in the commercial.

The more you take responsibility for your own health -- in the form of nurturing your body to prevent disease -- the less you need to rely on the “disease care” that passes for health care in the United States in the first place.


Til next time...

More Doctors Smoke Camels Than Any Other Cigarette

I wonder what we are doing now, that we'll look back on in a generation or two and say "What were they thinking?"

A rant!!!!

Got to rant here - you may not want to read, it ain't pretty....

Well, heckfire folks, our savior is not even in office yet and already an early Christmas has begun. This little item and this little item shows that Congress really does believe in Santa Claus since apparently they want to emulate him.

My, my, universal health care, mandatory tithes to the UN and while we’re at it, let’s make sure all the companies who can’t keep their shit together get a little incentive (bail out) while we’re at it, eh? Nice… it’s giving me some very good ideas. I think I’ll start a public company, mismanage it, take a huge salary and then beg Congress to bail me out instead of throwing my ass in jail. I think it’s quite the workable plan, don’t you?

I don't think a meltdown has to come folks - but it is apparent that Congress has other ideas.

Well, all I can say is Happy Holidays GM and thanks Congress for giving us a final farewell gift (for which we will undoubtedly be able to blame Bush) as we rapidly approach the end of the winter session. At least I hope it’s rapid, God knows we can’t afford too much more of your generosity - we have presents to buy too you know? Of course maybe we’ll get some discount coupons for something off the back lot as some sort of incentive to balance out all the increased taxes you’ll lay on us in order to pay for all these gifts, eh?

I think you may have to practice a might more to really get the Santa personna down though, specifically the lumps of coal angle, check the subject index in the Santa Handbook for that one.

Just a tip.
Oh and Nancy, I think it’s time to nix the close ups (click on the second link and you'll understand)

Til next time....

A quiz...

I am your constant companion.
I am your greatest helper or heaviest burden.
I will push you onward or drag you down to failure.

Any guesses yet? No!? I'll keep going.

I am completely at your command. Half the things you do you might just as well turn over to me, and I will be able to do them quickly and correctly. I am easily managed-you must merely be firm with me. Show me exactly how you want something done, and after a few lessons, I will do it automatically. I am the servant of all great people, and alas, of failures as well. Those who are failures, I have made failures. I am not a machine, though I work with all the precision of a machine plus the intelligence of a human being. You may run me for a profit or turn me of ruin-it makes no difference to me. Be easy with me and I will destroy you. Take me, train me, be firm with me, and I will place the world at your feet.

Who am I?

I am habit


2008 is almost over. There are about eight weeks left.
It has been said that the average American gains ten pounds between Thanksgiving and New Years?

Ten pounds.

Now I'm not sure how accurate that statistic is -- but what I am sure about is that most people do gain some weight and don't lose it again. So even if it's only 3 or 4 lbs, that can add up fast...But here's the kicker ... your body doesn't know it's the holidays.Your physiology doesn't change just because it's the holidays.

There's absolutely no reason why - with eight weeks to go - you can't actually lose weight over that time frame.

Actually - with a good nutritional approach, and a solid training plan - even allowing you to "cheat" 10% of the time and enjoy some parties, there is absolutely no reason why you can't lose at least ten pounds by December 31st.

Let's take Thanksgiving completely off. Let's add in a Christmas or Hanukah party and maybe three more family parties or get-togethers.That's five days completely off. No diet - no training.

Enjoy it!
But that also means seven weeks on!

Don't you think it's time to start some new habits before the first of the year? You just might be surprised how well you do.

Til next time...

Fun Stuff

Did you know that a good hearty laugh can produce an increase in your heart rate that is equivalent to ten minutes on a rowing machine or fifteen minutes on an exercise bike? Not to mention the ravings about laughter releasing stress and lowering blood pressure.

Laughter is good for us.

Sadly, while children laugh up to 400 times a day, it is claimed adults laugh only about 15 times.

While some might contest the specific data here, I think most of us will agree: we're not laughing as readily as we did when we were little-'uns.

So, on that note - we did a little research into laughter, and found:

In September 2001, The Laugh Lab project (run by Professor Richard Wiseman at the University of Hertfordshire), tested over 40,000 jokes across the globe to discover the world’s universally funniest joke. Here it is:

Two hunters are out in the woods when one of them collapses. He doesn't seem to be breathing and his eyes are glazed. The other guy whips out his phone and calls the emergency services. He gasps, "My friend is dead! What can I do?". The operator says "Calm down. I can help. First, let's make sure he's dead." There is a silence, then a shot is heard. Back on the phone, the guy says

"OK, now what?"

They also found out that:

Germans laugh the most. Who knew!?

Jokes containing 103 words are the funniest.

Jokes mentioning ducks are funnier than others.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Til next time...

History tonight...

My goodness what a cool time to be alive, to think of all the things I have experienced this lifetime. All I can say is that I hope to live a lot longer to see how this story unfolds.

Yes for sure we are going to have a new president - and it looks like our native son, Senator Obama. Who would have thunk! Its amazing what a determined person can do in 22 months. Now I guess the real work begins..

If it is indeed Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States beginning 12:00 noon, eastern standard time, on January 20, 2009.

The next important question is, " What he can accomplish thereafter?"

Each of Obama's major initiatives – affordable health care, high-quality schools along with early-childhood education, an end to oil dependence along with a cap-and-trade system that reduces carbon emissions, a more equitable tax system, and a withdrawal from Iraq – would be difficult to achieve on its own.

Together they comprise one of the most ambitious presidential agendas in my living memory and perhaps US history. But is it achievable?

Not even a Democratic majority in both houses of Congress – not even sixty Democratic votes in the Senate – can easily overcome the obstacles.

First are the corporate and financial interest groups that will lobby intensely to preserve the status quo or get a disproportionate share of whatever the government is handing out.

Pharmaceutical companies, insurers, and giant hospital chains will seek control over any health-care initiative.

Teachers unions, textbook publishers, and state and local education interests will want to take over any educational reform.

Producers of coal, ethanol, and nuclear power will try to dominate the energy and environment agenda.

Military contractors will want a say over defense policy.

Wall Street will seek to retain control over its massive bailout.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff will demand that defense expenditures remain high, however quickly the Iraq War winds down.

Fiscal conservatives – including a newly-enlarged group of “blue-dog” Democrats – will fret over the ballooning budget deficit brought on by slower growth and the enormous expense of bailing out Wall Street.

They’ll want to put any new spending initiatives on hold.

Business groups, Republicans, libertarians, talk-radio hosts, and the Wall Street Journal and Fox News will emit a constant and consistent cacophony of bilious rage over anything resembling a tax hike on the rich or big corporations.

Obama’s agenda may and can survive all this – if a deepening economic crisis focuses the public’s attention and mobilizes its support; if Obama communicates to the public clearly and compellingly why his agenda is necessary to the future; and if his vast campaign network of volunteers and networks transforms itself into a movement to take back politics from the lobbyists, naysayers, pork peddlars, and moneyed interests that normally run things in Washington.

In other words, if Obama wins today, the only real way WE win the contest is by staying actively involved in our government. We need to stay involved from our local municipal taxing bodies to the biggest national campaigns - we have to keep them all honest.

Truth is, the real contest begins with ALL of us tomorrow.

Til next time...

lookie here

Thought this is the way many of you might feel - enjoy the weekend.

Til next time...

A smile?

Decision Day is almost upon us.

And I must say that for many people, this has been the most stressful election ever. The last two months have felt like a continuous full moon to many people.

One thing I know, regardless of what is going on "out there" - you can still radiate a smile from within - and enjoy peace of mind. Let me give you an example on how I had to do it this weekend.

I was going through some old files the other day.... there was some correspondence from my ex that I stumbled upon. This email was filled with anything but praise. Initially I was shocked, but then I started to smile. I remembered what a very wise person said to me when I used to play big matches in front of a lot of people.

He used to say "Remain emotionally neutral about both praise and criticism - but wise enough to know when either can be turned to your advantage." Kinda weird that I remembered those words at that particular time, but in essence the words resonated to - don't sweat this stuff. It doesn't matter. Neither did her praise when I did something "right". All of it was either false or at bare minimum: temporary.

None of it will last.
Neither the praise nor the criticism is permanent.
Neither is she. Neither am I.

"When it comes to politics, it's very hard for people to remain neutral. It's very difficult for people to realize, that no matter who gets elected, and no matter how difficult these promising politicians make life for us - it is unwise to let them rule your emotional world. Even if you choose to fight for or against a specific candidate - you can fight with the same smile the politicians wear almost everywhere they go.

Smiling is one thing you can learn from politicians and use for your greater good. At first you may need to fake it. But with daily practice - you'll radiate a smile from within that others can feel. This inner smile will attract others to you. It will also help improve your career, economic situation and health. The more you practice smiling and finding something to smile about - the more you'll be able to remain emotionally neutral and effective in any situation - including a crisis.

Keep this in mind today and over the next few days. Don't let anyone or anything ruin your day. Stand up for what you believe - with a smile. And go for more of what life has to offer you - with this same smile.

Til next time.....