Category Archives: Interesting Tidbits

26

Feb. ’16

March Ab-ness Returns

Spring is in the air, so soon we will be bare!

Well, not totally bare, but shedding the concealing layers of winter clothing and stepping out in short sleeves leaves me feeling bare and suddenly self-conscious each spring. I’ve found a solution. Salt water! That joke’s for you, chemistry teachers.

My solution for feeling good in fewer clothes is March Ab-ness, when we challenge ourselves to strengthen our abdominal muscles in the month of March. Strong abs are not just good for looks, but also for strutting and lifting. Working your abs— or core—makes them tighter, which makes your clothes fit better, which makes you strut your stuff with confidence.

A strong core also helps support your lower back. When I slipped on ice last year and injured my lower back, my physical therapist recommended ab strengthening exercises as part of my recovery. Its’ all connected, folks. If one part of your body is weak, another part works harder to make up for it. The back and the front of your abdominal area are two sides of a sea saw. A strong core supports a strong back which is equivalent to two kids having fun on a balanced sea saw. A weak core is a two year old whose feet don’t touch the ground and your back is the parent trying to make the sea saw go up and down by straddling the board and doing squats. She squats sea saws down by the sea shore.

Two years ago, the challenge was to do 3100 crunches in 31 days. 100 crunches takes about 3 minutes to complete—including pauses to catch your breath, moan, groan, and get back at it. In order to include a variety of abdominal exercises—crunches, planks, etc.—the challenge this year will be based on minutes. Three minutes of abdominal torture per day for 31 days: 93 minutes total. I’d love for you to join me in this challenge and see how three minutes a day can change your core! And yes, I do feel like an infomercial.

Before we start, measure your waist and write that number on your calendar or somewhere else you’ll remember it. Your waist is between your belly button and your ribs; if you stand up straight and bend to the side, your waist is where the crease forms. I measured my waist while standing relaxed and while sucking my gut in as hard as I could. There’s a two inch difference between the measurements, and I’m curious to see if both numbers change.

I find it helpful to make a chart and mark off the minutes each day. If I miss a day (life happens), I make up the minutes in the next day or so. The three minutes can be done all at once or spread out during the day. Here’s my chart:

 

Day Minutes Day Minutes Day Minutes
1   12   23  
2   13   24  
3   14   25  
4   15   26  
5   16   27  
6   17   28  
7   18   29  
8   19   30  
9   20   31  
10   21      
11   22   TOTAL 93

 

If you’re willing to join me in this challenge, say “YES” in a comment below. Bring on spring! We’ll be ready! The challenge begins Tuesday March 1st.

 

Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. Romans 5:3-4 (NIV)

 

Images courtesy of: www.3tresidence.com (how to plank), www.dreamstime.com (sea saw), fitdocs.com (core muscles), www.pinterest.com (baby)

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19

Feb. ’16

Dear Jane Letter

dear Jane letter illustrationsIt’s not you, it’s me. I’m no good for you. They say size doesn’t matter, but I’m just too big. You need someone smaller.

I know, I know, we’ve been together since that sale in ’04, but it’s time you moved on, looked for someone new. You have a lot to offer: spacious cabinets, a working dishwasher. You’ll be okay, Kiddo. You’ll be better than okay.

I have a 12” diameter, for crying out loud! The box said “dinner plate” but I’ve always felt more like a serving platter. A 10 incher would be good for you. 34.5 fewer square inches—that’s the volume of four slices of bread. Truth be told, I could see you happy with a slim 8” model.

dear Jane letter illustrations_0001Salad, shmalad, if you put dinner on it, it’s a dinner plate, right? An 8” plate would hold less than half the volume that I do. Less than half!

You won’t miss me. You won’t notice the difference after a few days, but your body will.

Is there someone else? Not yet, no, but there’s the dream of someone else—like a sumo wrestler or a teenage boy.

 

Make a plate of pure gold and engrave on it as on a seal: holy to the Lord. Exodus 28:36 (NIV)

Posted by . Categories: Interesting Tidbits, TWO FISTED EATING: Portion Control and Enjoyment. Tags: , , , , . 4 Comments

28

Jan. ’16

Buttocks Reveal All Natural Botox (Part 2)

Last week we learned that exercise helps our buttock skin to look perkier under the microscopes of research scientists. This week we’re talking about why exercise benefits skin. The biggest benefit of exercise is blood flow.

blood flow skin healthWhen you get your heart pumping faster with exercise, your blood flows faster, which allows the blood to take more laps around your body per minute—30% more laps per minute. So instead of delivering blood with its load of oxygen and nutrients 60-100 times in one minute like it usually does, that ventricle visitation increases to 95-150 times in one minute. Tiny arteries in the skin open up and the nutrient-oxygen payload is delivered everywhere.

Why is this important? Your cells need a certain amount of nutrients and oxygen (let’s call it Nutr-O2) to live. When they get extra Nutr-O2, they can use the bounty to do things like repair damage to the skin from the sun and pollutants. They can increase the skin’s collagen production (in this case the collagen production of Les Misérables Wrinkles, a musical about a French collagen student, Jean They’regone, who smooths fine lines and reduces wrinkles). Fibroblasts are the theater geek cells in the skin responsible for collagen production. As they age, these fibroblasts acquire mortgages and dependents which require them to quit the theater and get real jobs. This results in fewer, lazier fibroblasts remaining in the campus theater troupe… I mean skin. The extra Nutr-O2s are a surprise inheritance that funds the fibroblasts and gets them back into production.

Les Misérables Wrinkles

Les Misérables Wrinkles

Don’t forget the veins! Extra Nutr-O2s are delivered, but the blood doesn’t return to the heart empty-membraned: blood carries waste away from the skin. Instead of removing free radicals and pollutants 60 times per minute, it takes out the trash 95 times per minute: that’s a lot of trash. Exercise benefits every organ of the body, including the largest one—the skin— so get your body moving. Your buttock will thank you.

Note: Theater majors are wonderful people. The phrase “collagen production” was simply too good to pass up. If I’ve offended any theater people, I encourage them to respond with a one act play.

Listen to advice and accept discipline, and at the end you will be counted among the wise. —Proverbs 19:20 (NIV)

 

Posted by . Categories: Health, Interesting Tidbits, SEX: Sleep and Exercise. Tags: , , , , , , , . 2 Comments

03

Dec. ’15

Drink More Water With VISIBLE WATER™

2015 sibling visit 275Drinking water is essential for looking and feeling your best, but how can you be sure to drink enough water each day? With new VISIBLE WATER™!

Unlike the invisible water that lurks in your home’s pipes or refrigerator, VISIBLE WATER™ is guaranteed to enter your body. And using VISIBLE WATER™ is easy! Simply fill a glass, cup, or bottle with invisible water and place it where you can see it: your desk at work, your car’s cup holder, or – my personal favorite – the kitchen counter. 2015 sibling visit 276VISIBLE WATER™ starts working immediately. Your eyes are drawn to the VISIBLE WATER™, your hand reaches for it, and before you can say “Hydrate me!” cool liquid refreshment is pouring down your throat and working its miracles.

VISIBLE WATER™ is easy to maintain. Once your VISIBLE WATER™ level drops below 50%, simply refill the glass, cup, or bottle and place it back in its Visible Location. You’ll be amazed at how much VISIBLE WATER™ you’ll drink in a day!

VISIBLE WATER™ comes in a variety of flavors like Public, Well, Spring, Distilled, and Lemon Zest!

2015 sibling visit 274VISIBLE WATER™ helps ease constipation and joint pain and prevents muscle cramps. It aids digestion, helps with weight loss, and has even been known to fight cancer and heart disease!

If you want to increase your water intake, join the billions of satisfied customers who choose VISIBLE WATER™ every day.

 

Remember: if it’s invisible, you forget, but if it’s VISIBLE WATER™, you drink it!

 

Coming Soon: VISIBLE VEGETABLES™ (Sold separately)

Posted by . Categories: Interesting Tidbits, SOUP: Water and Vegetables. Tags: , , , , , . 6 Comments

10

Nov. ’15

Biking the Washington DC Memorials

2015 Sept Oct 103Biking is my new favorite way to tour Washington D.C. You can rent bikes for a few dollars (that’s for the day, not per hour) and the bikes allow you to see more memorials in less time. A great place to start is the Tidal Basin.lake path dc

The 2 mile loop Basin is surrounded by the Franklin D. Roosevelt, Martin Luther King, and Thomas Jefferson Memorials.

Half a mile away are the World War 2 Memorial and the Vietnam and Korean War Veterans Memorials. One more mile gets you to the White House to the north and the Smithsonian to the east.

ww2 memorialkorean-war-veterans-memorial-58425I could go on listing memorials, but the point is that there is a LOT to see in D.C. and a bike makes it easy to see most of them in a day.

2015 Sept Oct 067Take my family, for example. We’ve been to D.C. for the day a few times (we live 2 hours away), but we’ve only managed to see one or two sights per day maximum. We have little kids who get sooooooo tiiiiiiiirrrreeeeeddd when we walk from place to place. But bikes are beautiful. With bikes, we covered more than 10 miles in one afternoon. (We brought along 2 kid bikes for the seasoned child riders and a bike trailer for the wee kiddos. The rent-a-bikes are adult size only.)

Washington D.C.’s memorials are beautiful places to remember our Veterans. If you can’t make it to D.C., try biking around your own town’s center and see what you can discover!

 

Images courtesy of: www.wwiimemorial.com (WW2), roadtrippers.com (Korean), www.flickr.com (MLK), www.panoramio.com (FDR), http://www.tclf.org (cherry trees with Jefferson)

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05

Nov. ’15

Truly Addictive Foods and Voting Results

The winner (by a narrow margin) is cartoon ending B! Thank you to everyone who voted!processed-food-packaging

The scientific study that led to the “Cheese is Crack” headlines did not prove that dairy’s like dope, but it did come to an important conclusion that was mostly ignored by the media. The study had 500 people rate foods from least addictive to most addictive and yes, cheese ranked high on the list, but the top of the list was dominated by processed foods. The more processed the food, the more fat added to that food, the more addictive it felt.  See why they went with “Cheese is Crack”? “Manufactured Munchies are Meth” is a mouthful.

processed food 2The addictiveness of processed foods is what should have made headlines! (Or the felt addictiveness; remember, no one was probed, prodded, or even fed during the study; they were asked for their opinion.) Companies know that processed foods are addictive and even test their products for “cravability” (ie addictiveness). If they can get us to eat a little, they know we’ll want more.

This is important for weight loss. If you’re trying to eat less, avoid highly processed foods as best you can. The more processed the food, the more addictive it is, so do yourself a favor and stop buying the worst of them. You might crave them for the first few days, but they’re not crack cocaine: you can resist and you can handle any withdrawal symptoms (like irritability, nostalgia, or desperately cleaning out the back corners of the cabinets) at home.

 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/cheese-is-not-addictive-like-crack_562ad63de4b0443bb5641eb1

http://www.latimes.com/food/dailydish/la-dd-cheese-crack-science-20151023-story.html

Images courtesy of: www.shadylabib.com (processed foods), trinityriverfitness.com (quote)

 

 

 

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30

Oct. ’15

Cheese is Crack Cartoon: Vote for Your Favorite Ending

Cheese is crack cartoon

What do they say next? It’s up to you! Vote for your favorite ending to the cartoon by typing “A” or “B” in the comments section below. (If you don’t see a comment button, scroll down to a bunch of words in a box and click “leave a comment”.) I’ll announce the winner next week!

cheese is crack cartoon part 2 fixed

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19

Oct. ’15

Pastor Appreciation Month

Pastor App monthOctober is a time to focus on boobs (Breast Cancer Awareness), candy (Halloween), and spiritual shepherds (Pastor Appreciation). I don’t envy pastors having to share their special month with pink Ta-tas and costumed children, but hopefully appreciating our pastor is something we do all year long. Since October makes our Appreciation official, I’d like us to take a moment to ponder our pastor’s health.

Pastors spend much of their time sitting and studying or sitting and talking or sitting and listening – all necessary for preparing sermons and caring for their flock, but these are not exercise-rich work hours. And how do we often show our appreciation? With baked goods. Baked goods are a natural choice: most people like them and they require neither heating nor cooling to remain edible. But…

baked goods womenYou knew there was a “but” coming and there’s a 3 out of 4 chance that it’s a BIG butt.

“A 2001 Pulpit and Pew study of 2,500 clergy found that 76% were overweight or obese compare to 61% of the general population at the time of the study.” (Fat in Church , 2012) If we really appreciate our pastors, we need to contribute to their health, not lead them down the saccharine coated path to the Dark Side.

Instead of baked goods, take your pastor fruits and vegetables. Don’t know his favorite herbivore snacks? Ask him. Or take him a bit of your favorite vegetables; maybe he’ll learn to love it too. (Include the recipe so he can recreate it if he does like it.) Most of us will eat a healthy snack if we’re handed one: carrots and dip, broccoli with cheese, guacamole with chips, etc. And most of us will eat an unhealthy snack if we’re handed one: cookies, brownies, sweet breads, etc. So hand your pastor something healthy.

Ladies, I’m not saying that you and I can turn an overweight pastor into a thin one – that choice is up to the pastor. I’m saying that we can do our part by equating love and appreciation with vegetables and soup. Keep your pastor preaching longer (in years of service, not minutes on a Sunday morning) by appreciating his health!

 

“Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood.” Act 20:28

 

Fat in Church http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2012/06/03/obesity-epidemic-in-america-churches.html

cliparthut.com (women with baked goods)

gregburdine.com Pastor Appreciation Month logo

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02

Oct. ’15

What We Can Learn From a 100 Year Old Athlete

don_pellman_ljDon Pellman set 5 world records at the San Diego Senior Olympics this year. That’s impressive, but becomes exponentially more impressive when you learn that Don is 100 years old and two of the medals were for the long jump and the high jump.

You’d expect that kind of athletic prowess to be a lifelong pursuit, but Don didn’t start competing until after he retired. I love that. If it wasn’t too late for him, it’s not too late for me. He gives good advice too:

“People ask me what do you attribute your success [to] and I can say four words: ‘eat sensibly and exercise’ – those are the things that you have to do,” he explained. “Eat sensibly, keep your weight down, and exercise every time you get a chance.”

A hundred year old man who can high jump? That’s someone worth listening to.

 

http://www.foxnews.com/science/2015/09/22/incredible-100-year-old-athlete-worked-on-nasas-apollo-program/

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