How Congress Guts Our Food Safety Laws

United States government work If you’re fairly itching to send your Congressperson an angry email just on principle (the principle being the current unwillingness of Congress to accomplish absolutely anything), but you need a specific issue to use as a hook, let me humbly suggest something along the lines of the following. Dear (name of Representative who has been a waste of salary since 2004): Wise up and fully fund the damn Food Safety Modernization Act! Now! Cordially, (your name here). In case you happen to be the picky type who wants to know what a government program is and does before you begin banging the drum on its behalf, here’s what we’re talking about. The Food Safety Modernization Act was passed by Congress

You’re an Overcomer

Thinking of quitting? Thinking of giving up? Feeling hopeless? Watch this: Seriously…tears. Did you watch it?  The whole way through?  If not, you won’t get as much out of this post so please take a few minutes and watch it.  It’s powerful! If you did watch it, good. I have something to say.  Sometimes, life is going to be rough.  Sometimes,  you are going to ask yourself, “God, where are you?”  Sometimes you are going to want to give up and quit.  Sometimes, you are going to want to sit down and eat an entire chocolate cake. Don’t do it.  ANY of it. I can tell you, He is there.  He is right there with you.  Whatever you are going through,

Walk, But Don’t Sing: Karen Collins’s Guide to Moderate Exercise

Wikipedia So you’ve decided to finally meet the recommended 30 minutes of moderate daily activity, and you want to accomplish that the simplest way, by walking. How fast do you need to walk for it to be considered “moderate”? You can find reputable sources with lists of activities that identify your activity’s intensity – labeled as light, moderate or vigorous. For example, walking as moderate activity typically refers to “brisk walking” at a pace of three-and-a-half miles per hour, whereas very fast walking (at four-and-a-half miles per hour) or jogging (five miles per hour) is classified as vigorous activity. But these categories don’t necessarily work for everyone. One easy way to estimate your activity intensity is to

Measles Vaccination Boosts Overall Disease Resistance

(CC BY 2.0) frankieleon/Flickr Most of the claims made by anti-vaxxers in defending their refusal to vaccinate their children against measles and other diseases – that the vaccines cause autism, that they actually give some children measles, that they’re loaded with mercury and other toxins – have been shown again and again to be utterly groundless. But there is one argument that has been made against the measles vaccine in particular that actually seemed to have an element of intuitive reasonableness behind it. To wit: in battling the measles infection, the child’s immune system is toughened up, like going through a kind of biological boot camp, and thus becomes more able to resist and defeat other common childhood diseases. Lowers the death rate

Parents Tend to Feel Their Child is ‘About The Right Weight’

(CC BY-SA 2.0) Wellness Corporate Solutions/Flickr All parents care about their children. But there is a disconnect with parental caring when a child is overweight or obese. In spite of data to the contrary, the majority of parents feel that their child is “about the right weight.” according to a new study led by the New York University Langone Medical Center. These results are important because parents with accurate perceptions of their children’s weight are more likely to implement behavior changes, in themselves and the child, that could lead to weight reduction. Published online in the journal Childhood Obesity using the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, the study looked at NHANES data covering nearly 8,000 children, 2 to 5 years old during two periods

Fish with Omega 3s, and Fish without Them

Atlantic mackerel, courtesy National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration If you’re looking to increase your consumption of omega–3 fatty acids, you’ll need to eat eight ounces of fish and seafood per week. But not just any fish and seafood. And you don’t have to limit yourself to salmon. Eight ounces of fish and seafood per week (for example, two four-ounce servings) is enough to provide an average of about 250 milligrams (mg) of heart-healthy EPA plus DHA (the major omega–3 fatty acids from seafood). This amount of fish with omega 3s is enough to reduce heart attacks and deaths from heart disease. That’s aiming for one serving a week from choices high in omega 3s. One fish high in omega 3s is salmon

Food Babe: A ‘Food Purist’ Dishing up Some Strikingly Tainted Fare

Wikipedia You’ve probably heard of Vani Hari, just not by that name. She is far more widely known as the Food Babe, thanks to her Facebook page and blog of the same name. She has something on the order of a cool million Facebook followers (whom she calls the Food Babe Army), her co-authored book The Food Babe Way hit number one on the best-sellers list in February, and her bubbly charm and cheerleader attractiveness (hence Food Babe and not, say, Food Gal or Food Lady) have made her a hot get for magazines and TV talk shows, to the extent that she might wind up hosting one of the latter herself. Although that might be superfluous, these days. TV is still considered the

Summer is Coming!

Happy Mother’s Day!  I had an amazing day celebrating with my mom and my siblings.  We had a yummy lunch of hamburgers and hotdogs and salad and veggies!  It was a nice, relaxing day with lots of good talking. It dawned on me that summer is really almost here.  Time for bathing suits and flip flops and everyone seeing you half naked! AGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!! Are you ready?  Me neither.  I have just the solution for you…another Dietbet. This game only costs you $25 to play and you will be so thankful in June when you not only have lost weight but have some extra money.  The people who lose 4{c754d8f4a6af077a182a96e5a5e47e38ce50ff83c235579d09299c097124e52d} of their starting weight split the total pot…usually almost doubling their money.  All weigh in’

Obesity Found to Increase Irregular Heartbeat Risk – Newsmax

Science RecorderObesity Found to Increase Irregular Heartbeat RiskNewsmaxUsing data from nine studies involving more than 157,000 participants, the researchers found that every five-point increase in BMI, enough to tip the scales from overweight to obese, was associated with a 29 percent increased risk of developing atrial …Risk for heart rhythm disorder increased by obesityScience Recorderall 14 news articles »

No Weigh May – Weekly Weigh In

I weighed last week.  It was ok.  A loss is a loss is a loss. Here is my total for the year: We weigh ins have changed lately.  It is such a roller coaster and it messes with my emotions.  A friend of mine encouraged me to take May off from weighing.  This is hard since I have been committed to weighing every week. After a lot of thoughtful consideration, I have decided to make May, “No weigh May.”  So, this will be my last weigh in post for the month of May. I will do an updated weigh in post in June and let you all know the progress I made in May.  Think of it as a big reveal.  I can’t promise

Speaking is Believing: How We Speak Affects How We See the World

(CC BY-NC-ND 2.0) Eric Andresen/Flickr You’ve heard the expression, “Seeing is believing.” But let me tell you about a more profound adage: “How we speak becomes what we believe, which shapes how we see the world.” I learned this directly from the legendary architect and inventor R. Buckminster Fuller one evening in Indiana when I went to one of his lectures. I had first discovered Bucky through his book I Seem To Be a Verb while browsing the shelves of my college bookstore. Impressed with the book, I made sure to be there when Bucky came to campus to give a two-hour lecture. One of the topics he addressed was our use of language, and how it forms