see more Lolcats and funny pictures

If, like most people, you have a little extra weight to lose – today could be the day you start making that happen.  If you really commit yourself to the task at hand, you could begin to see a noticeable difference in the way you look and (most importantly) feel.  When it comes to losing weight, the average person fails, usually because of one of the following reasons:

1. They give up too soon.
2. They get discouraged because they can’t exercise.
3. They think eating healthy is expensive.
4. They don’t realize how dangerous being overweight is or remember how wonderful being lighter feels.

THE DANGERS OF  BEING OVERWEIGHT

• Diabetes: Obesity is the leading cause of diabetes.  I’ve seen this disease, firsthand, with my mother and sister-in-law.  While diabetes can be lived with and managed, if any of us can do anything to avoid becoming diabetic, we’d be idiots not to.  This is one terribly unforgiving and difficult disease.  It has the power to turn your world upside down and inside out.  Avoid it at all costs – and the experts tell us that the number one way to avoid it is to be a healthy weight.
• Cancer: Men and women who are overweight have a higher risk of developing many different kinds of cancer. Yikes. As if diabetes weren’t enough, right?
• Stroke: Extra weight increases your chances of having a stroke.
• High Blood Pressure: When you have excess body fat, your body retains sodium. When your body retains sodium, blood volume increases and blood pressure rises. High blood pressure causes your heart to work harder, which is dangerous for the heart.

The conditions and diseases listed above (a nasty group if I ever saw one) are just the main ones.  You can certainly add gallstones, sleep apnea, respiratory problems, osteoarthritis, knee problems, back problems, physical discomfort, weak muscles, and depression to the list.

HOW TO LOSE ONE OR TWO POUNDS A WEEK

To lose one pound a week, each day you have to dispose of 500 unnecessary calories. To lose two pounds a week, each day you have to dispose of 1,000 extra calories. You can either cut them out of your daily diet or you can burn them off through activity.  Personally, I like to attack them from both sides.  Granted, when the weather turns cool and you don’t have the luxury of exercise equipment, it can get a little tricky – but not totally impossible.

Tips for Cutting Calories from your daily diet:

• use nonfat or 1 percent milk instead of whole
• use light bread for sandwiches (you’ll never taste the difference)
• when making spaghetti sauce, use mushrooms, onions, garlic, and peppers in place of meat
• replace your hamburgers with Boca Burgers
• use mustard and/or ketchup in place of mayonnaise
• when making eggs, use a nonstick pan with cooking spray instead of butter or margarine
• when eating out, your first option should always be either vegetarian (but without lots of cheese), grilled fish, shrimp, or grilled chicken (Cracker Barrel has an amazing grilled catfish that’ll rock your world)
• grill your sandwich with non-stick cooking spray instead of butter
• no more soft drinks – Read the labels!
• make tuna salad and chicken salad with fat-free mayonnaise
• use water-packed tuna instead of tuna in oil
• fall in love with those wonderful frozen meals with the calorie count right on the box
• leave croutons and bacon bits off of your salad – add edamame and sunflower seeds instead
• sweeten your coffee and tea with Stevia in place of sugar – it’s a natural, calorie-free sweetener and I’m hooked – I use Truvia and swear by it
• remove skin from chicken
• get baked chips instead of the regular
• use less cheese in recipes, on sandwiches, and on pizza
• eat slowly, you’ll eat less
• always opt for broth-based soups rather than cream-based soups
• use vinaigrette dressings rather than mayonnaise-based dressings – experiment with the many delicious vinaigrettes
• use lemon, lime, and/or dill to season your fish instead of tarter sauce – My philosophy has always been that if fish is cooked right (and seasoned right), you’ll never even think about tarter sauce!
• eat ice cream in a cup rather than a cone
• when you have a batch of cookies – keep a few broken up into pieces – sometimes all you want is a taste.. the rest is a waste after that initial flavor, right?
• share desserts
• drink your coffee black – or sweeten with Stevia
• at Starbucks, experiment with the different teas or order black coffee – Their Apple Cider is also a great drink…  Just avoid the lattes and fraps as often as possible.  When you’re weak (boy do I know the feeling), at least tell your barista to make the drink “skinny,” which will erase quite a few calories.  A personal recommendations – hot Passion tea, unsweetened.  It’s fantastic and calorie free.  In summer, have them fix it on ice.
• eat at Subway when possible
• no fries!
• read labels, read labels, read labels

If you have a weight problem (even a small one) – you have to treat it as a health problem, because it is! You may think it’s a headache, but you honestly have to start counting calories – in and out.  Once you do the research and see how many calories are in typical foods – you’ll know, automatically, what choices to make.  Remember, if you cut back on just 500 calories each day, you’ll lose 1 pound a week.  In one month, you could have lost anywhere between 4 and 5 pounds.  In a year?  Do the math!  This is even if you don’t exercise.  If you try to get more activity along with cutting back on calories – you could conceivably lose 2 pounds a week.  Just look at the Calorie Burning Chart below – you don’t have to have a gym or a walking trail.

These activities show you how the average person can burn 150 calories.  If you are heavier than the average person, you’ll burn even more (until that is, you lose the extra weight).

How to Burn an Extra 150 Calories

• cook for 48 minutes
• scrub floors for 20 minutes
• grocery shop for 36 minutes
• walk moderately for 35 minutes
• dust for 34 minutes
• vacuum for 34 minutes
• wash and wax a car for 45 minutes
• paper a wall for 45 minutes
• golf without a cart for 26 minutes
• skip rope for 18 minutes
• play badminton for 22 minutes
• rake leaves for 30 minutes
• play horseshoes for 33 minutes
• play ping pong for 33 minutes
• garden for 30 minutes
• play frisbee for 22 minutes
• climb stairs for 15 minutes
• mop floors for 36 minutes
• wash windows for 45 minutes
• bicycle leisurely for 30 minutes
• stack firewood for 25 minutes
• bowl for 23 minutes
• do the twist for 13 minutes (try it – it’s a heckuva lot harder than you’d think!)
• dance fast for 30 minutes
• mow the lawn with a power push mower for 29 minutes
• stock shelves for 40 minutes
• play croquet for 38 minutes
• play volleyball for 45 minutes
• canoe leisurely for 50 minutes
• 45-60 minutes hatha yoga

A great resource to have is a Calorie Burn Calculator -Discovery Health has a fantastic online Activity Calorie Burn Rate tool that’ll let you know exactly how many calories you’re burning.  Also, anyone who is serious about fitness should have a resource such as The Biggest Loser Complete Calorie Counter book.  Or, you could research calories online and write them in a specific notebook.  I’ve listed a couple of sources at the end of the article.

EATING HEALTHY ON A BUDGET

Okay, I’ll be honest with you – sometimes it does seem expensive to eat healthy.  Fish, fruit, turkey breast, certain vegetables – they can add up and when eating out, a burger seems so much cheaper than Subway.  However, a $5 footlong at Subway is still cheaper than most fast food sandwiches and fries.

The following foods qualify as eating healthy on a budget:  Brown rice, frozen vegetables, canned salmon, canned tuna, eggs (just remember: don’t cook them in butter), dry beans, broth-based soups, canned fruit, yogurt, whole wheat pasta, and many Asian-inspired meals in the Asian section of the supermarket (deliciousness!).  Always watch for sales on frozen meals, fish, shrimp, turkey breast, and sliced meats.  An obvious penny pinching idea for eating healthier on a budget is to start drinking more water instead of sodas.  Tea bags are also extremely budget-concious.

For your health, safety, and happiness, begin reshaping yourself and your life TODAY.  Keep in mind, along the way you’ll hit a couple of plateaus – weeks when the scale will not budge.  You’ll want to throw it out the window and go have a Big Mac – keep in mind: It’s right here, at this specific point that most people trip, fall, and never get back up.  Keep on keeping on, the scale will move again as long as you refuse to be a quitter.

Healthy Eating Links:

Eating Healthy on a Budget Recipes

Eating Healthy on a Budget – Shopping and Menu Tips (PDF)

Washington Post Fast Food Calorie Counter

Web MD Food Calorie Calculator

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How to Lose a Pound a Week: Time to Go Psycho Ninja on Calories!

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Do you get enough Vitamin D? I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t get anywhere near enough Vitamin D.  However, after reading an article my husband pointed out, I’ll soon be correcting that oversight.

Vitamin D is believed to be a great tool in preventing breast cancer. By the same token, a deficiency in this vitamin has been linked to breast cancer victims.

Please read the article linked below, then go out and buy the biggest jug of milk you can find.  If the thought excites you as much as it does me, grab a canister of Nestle’s Nesquick.  I said I’d be correcting an oversight, I didn’t say I’d be doing it without chocolate.  Nestle’s Nesquick is still as delicious as you remember!

Read: Prevent Breast Cancer With Vitamin D?

Yummmmm

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Dwell more and more upon thoughts of what you really want in your life.  Close and hermetically seal the door of your mind against thoughts of what you do not want in your life.  you desire health, vitality, wisdom, peace, confidence, hope, friendship, harmony, independence, serenity, cheerfulness, happiness, success, culture, and righeousness.  Give your thought to these and kindred subjects, since dwelling upon them often and intently tends to make them concrete in your life.  Waste no thought upon things you do not want.  Do not worry about things you do not need.  The power is yours to shoose the ideals that shall daily possess and govern your mental life.  When your mind is right your life will be right.  – Inspiration and Ideals by Grenville Kleiser, 1917

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Choose Your Thoughts, Choose Your Life

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The following story is an excerpt from Live Your Bliss: Practices That Produce Happiness and Prosperity by Terry Cole-Whittaker.

Sailors on a boat at sea found they had exhausted their water supply, and many of them became so dehydrated that all they could do was lie down on the deck and pray for water.  That night, fog enveloped the boat.  The next morning, before sunrise, one of the sailors heard a small, quiet  voice within him saying over and over, “Let down your buckets.”  Finally, the man got up and, in the fog, dropped a bucket tied to a rope over the side and pulled it up, thinking it would surely be full of saltwater and undrinkable.  To his great surprise and relief, the water he tasted was fresh and delicious.  Other sailors, too, dropped buckets over the side, and all drank to their satisfaction.  When the fog dissipated, they found that the boat had floated gently into the mouth of a large, deep, and slow-moving river.

We may believe we do not have enough and are drying up from lack of love, happiness, and wealth, and we affirm lack by means of our thoughts, words, and actions.  The sailor had to ignore appearances and do what his inner voice told him to do, although it probably did not make sense to him, given his past experience.  He did something:  he took action.  -  Live Your Bliss Page 34

The thing I love most about this story is the fact that the sailor who let down his bucket was surrounded by despair and hopelessness.  In spite of the dire situation, he listened to the small voice, held on to hope, and took action.  Hope and action very, very often produce miracles!

To read more about this beautiful and inspirational book by author and world renowned spiritual teacher Terry Cole-Whittaker, click the link above.

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Let Down Your Buckets: An Excerpt from Live Your Bliss by Terry Cole-Whittaker

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So,here you are -  on a website surrounded by polar bears, arctic seals, cats, wolves, dogs, and so forth – so you fully realize that you’re dealing with an animal lover extraordinaire here. Animals aren’t just beautiful, adorable, cuddly, and loving – although they are all of those things. They’re also incredibly good for you, body and soul.

I’ve seen, firsthand, the beautiful things animals can bring into a person’s life. After my dad passed away, my mom was (of course) unspeakably lonely.  She had me and my family living near her, of course, but her house and life had suddenly become unbearably quiet.  Out of the blue, one morning, an adorable little dog who resembled a white Benji (remember him?) appeared on her porch. After placing an ad in the paper and on the radio, she realized she had a new “baby.”  He had shown up on a Wednesday, so that became his name.

He kept my mom company and provided her with more entertainment than a roomful of Jim Careys.  His extremely playful personality and a sweet face that always seemed to be smiling helped light up my mom’s world in its darkest hours.

Caring for him and pampering him like crazy helped her healing process and made the impossible possible.

I was reminded of  precious Wednesday a few days ago when I read the story below.  I’m sure it’ll touch your heart just as it did mine.

“Lucky”

Mary and her husband Jim had a dog named ‘Lucky.’ Lucky was a real character. Whenever Mary and Jim had company come for a weekend visit they would warn their friends to not leave their luggage open because Lucky would help himself to whatever struck his fancy. Inevitably, someone would forget and something would come up missing.

Mary or Jim would go to Lucky’s toy box in the basement and there the treasure would be, amid all of Lucky’s other favorite toys, Lucky always stashed his finds in his toy box and he was very particular that his toys stay in the box.

It happened that Mary found out she had breast cancer. Something told her she was going to die of this disease…in fact, she was just sure it was fatal.

She scheduled the double mastectomy, fear riding her shoulders. The night before she was to go to the hospital she cuddled with Lucky. A thought struck her…what would happen to Lucky? Although the three-year-old dog liked Jim, he was Mary’s dog through and through. If I die, Lucky will be abandoned, Mary thought. He won’t understand that I didn’t want to leave him! The thought made her sadder than thinking of her own death.

The double mastectomy was harder on Mary than her doctors had anticipated and Mary was hospitalized for over two weeks. Jim took Lucky for his evening walk faithfully, but the little dog just drooped, whining and miserable.

Finally the day came for Mary to leave the hospital. When she arrived home, Mary was so exhausted she couldn’t even make it up the steps to her bedroom. Jim made his wife comfortable on the couch and left her to nap..

Lucky stood watching Mary but he didn’t come to her when she called. It made Mary sad but sleep soon overcame her and she dozed.

When Mary woke for a second she couldn’t understand what was wrong. She couldn’t move her head and her body felt heavy and hot. But panic soon gave way to laughter when Mary realized the problem. She was covered, literally blanketed, with every treasure Lucky owned! While she had slept, the sorrowing dog had made trip after trip to the basement bringing his beloved mistress all his favorite things in life.
He had covered her with his love.
Mary forgot about dying. Instead she and Lucky began living again, walking further and further together every day. It’s been 12 years now and Mary is still cancer-free. Lucky still steals treasures and stashes them in his toy box but Mary remains his greatest treasure.

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The Wonders of Animals in Our Lives

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Great Reasons to Adopt Wildlife

• Save beautiful animals that are in real trouble
• Perfect gift for Holidays, Birthdays, or any special occasion…for a friend or yourself
• Educate kids of all ages through animal fact sheets and wildlife activities book

What You Get

Most Adoptions Include:

• Cuddly plush animal (optional)
• Kids Activities Booklet (optional)
• Personalized Certificate of Adoption
• 5×7 photo
• Animal factsheet
• Gift-wrap with 100% recycled, eco-friendly reusable tote

How Your Adoption Helps to Protect Species and Habitats

Named “America’s Best Wildlife Charity” by Reader’s Digest, Defenders of Wildlife has been a leading innovator in developing the most effective ways to conserve imperiled wildlife and wild lands for over 60 years. Your adoption donation will immediately be put to use where it is most needed to achieve these goals.  – Defenders.org

When you do your Christmas shopping this year, you can truly make a difference and touch someone’s heart more than ever before.   You won’t believe all of the beautiful gifts (for you and those on your list!) in the Defenders of Wildlife Adoption Center.

The only problem is, if you’re like me, you’ll want one of each and every animal.

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Adopt Wildlife and Christmas Shop at the Same Time!

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You know all about the love affair I have with old books, or more to the point, authors of old books. There are few things I enjoy more than sitting around the table with men and women who are from another time. Although I can’t totally relate to period of time in which they lived, they have so much to teach me that I overlook the funny clothes – to say nothing of the hairstyles. To be fair, they must think I’m a sight, too.

I often post quotes, articles, and reflections from great authors of the past and I get a tremendous kick out of the response. There’s something remarkable about seeing an author’s teachings from the 1880’s being tweeted. Love it!

I have such a profound respect for the knowledge that these authors possess that I’m going to start a weekly tradition on Self Help Daily called, Thursday Throwback. Each Thursday, I will post a “guest article” from one of these authors. Why should their wonderful, rich knowledge lie in a dusty book in a dark basement? It should be brought out into the open and these amazing authors should be given an opportunity to educate, enlighten, and entertain generations of people who, like me, would look downright freaky to them. In spite of our looks, they’d want to reach out to us.

In my very small way, I’d love to give them this chance.

We’ll start with a great article by Isabel Leighton. Isabel Leighton was a journalist, actress, and writer. She began her career in the theater, appearing in several Broadway productions in the early 1920’s. In the 1930’s and 40’s she wrote for various magazines as well as for the North American Newspaper Alliance.

She also served as a naval correspondent in World War II. Can you imagine how fascinating it would have been to sit down and have a cup of coffee with this lady?

Below is an article Isabel Leighton wrote titled, “Meet Trouble as a Friend.”

MEET TROUBLE AS A FRIEND
by Isabel Leighton

“Trouble makes us one with every human being in the world.” – Oliver Wendell Holmes
A little more than twenty years ago I spent a treasured afternoon with Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes at his Beverly Farms home just north of Boston.  Lingering on the threshold as I took my leave, I asked if I might publish some of the typically rugged, earthy observations he had made during our tea together.
With a firmness that belied the gentle smile dancing at the corners of his mouth he replied, “In my more than ninety  years I have never allowed myself to be quoted, nor will I revise my pattern at this late date.  But write your interview,  child, and if, after twenty years from my going, anything I’ve said still seems to serve a useful purpose, it is yours to do with as you wish.”
During those hours, two decades ago, we spoke of many things:  the granite on which he built his home – and his life; the barberry bushes he never tired of seeing from his windows; the mystery stories he devoured; and, finally, more dismal matters.  Was he not deeply concerned, I asked, over the depression, threats of war and the lack of security in the world?  He shook his head indulgently.
“Oh, you young people, you think you’ve discovered trouble.  If you want to live without trouble, you’ll have to die young!  For if one thing’s sure, it’s that it’s always been with us and always will be.”
“Terrifying, you think?  Rubbish,” he chuckled, “it’s never fazed me.  Been almost grateful for it at times.  Makes us one with every human being in the world – and unless we touch others, we’re out of touch with life.  You might as well be dead as stop growing and if you’re unwilling to feel, yes, feel deeply, you’re only half alive.
“If I had a formula for bypassing trouble, I wouldn’t pass it around.  Wouldn’t be doing anybody a favor.  Trouble creates a capacity to handle it.  I don’t say embrace trouble.  That’s as bad as treating it as an enemy.  But I do say meet it as a friend, for you’ll see a lot of it and had better be on speaking terms with it.
“No, trouble isn’t the scourge of the world.  The world has its ups and downs.  So have people, and all the speechifying that breath can produce won’t change things or make the millennium come an hour sooner.  You can’t run away from trouble.”
He smiled now more benignly, “Accept it.  Don’t worry about it.  Have faith – and do the needful.”
************

Have faith and do the needful. In one sentence, Oliver Wendell Holmes gave a perfect example of why Thursday Throwback is long overdue.  Blunt, to the point, and powerful.
Mr. Holmes could have been quite the tweeter.   Stop #panicking. Have faith & do the needful.

Follow me on Twitter! http://twitter.com/JoiTaniaSigers

Ever Thought of Trouble as a Friend? Oliver Wendell Holmes Says You Should

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Do the little things in life sometimes get the better of you?  Do you find yourself flying off the handle – all while thinking, “This really isn’t worth getting this upset about…?”

The little things will get the best of us if we aren’t careful. Click the link below to find a great quote that will help you put things into perspective.  Then, the next time you have to run out at 10:00 pm for toilet paper you’ll be good to go.

Keeping Small Issues Where They Belong

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Oh Those Little Things!

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I recently wrote an article on my food blog about Oceana and their efforts to protect our oceans and the amazing animals who’s lives depend on them. Click HERE for the post and to see some of the world’s most gorgeous cookies! Oceana has an adopt a creature campaign going on right now and, frankly, I want to adopt one of each. You know me, so that doesn’t surprise you!

Oceana  allows you to “adopt” a particular animal of your choice (polar bear, whale, seal, penguin, shark, sea turtle, dolphin… ).  Depending upon your choice, you get an adoption certificate with a cookie cutter or a stuffed animal. It comes wrapped in a very nice box with a very beautiful sea-blue ribbon.

Can you imagine what beautiful Christmas gifts these adoption certificates, stuffed animals, and cookie cutters (including a great cookie recipe) would make?  This is the sort of thing that touches an animal-lovers heart like nothing else:  To know that you’re making a difference.

It doesn’t get any better!

If you are interested in joining the fight for our world’s beautiful animals, please use the following links to help you get started:

Oceana.org
Living Blue!
Adopt a Creature

Follow me on Twitter! http://twitter.com/JoiTaniaSigers

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1. In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

2. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

3. And God said , Let there be light: and there was light.

Make no mistake about it:  Everything has to start somewhere!

I’m sure I’ve written many times about my love of Mondays.  When you have a weird, against-the-grain fetish like that, you generally share it with others.  It’s like, “Look! Crackpot in the room!“  I’m okay with that.

Mondays, to me, are like tiny little New Year’s Days.  So much potential.  So many possibilities!

The coolest thing about Mondays is this: Last week is just that – last week. Monday marks a new week and a new beginning.  Things that you meant to do more often last week can be done more often this week.  Things that worked last week can be repeated this week.  The mistakes and missteps?  Leave them in the previous week and don’t go back for them.

If life were college (and the analogy fits), last week was your lesson.  This week is your test.  How much did you learn?!

As you embark on a new week, try to push yourself a little further each day.  If you normally operate at a level of 6, try 7 on for size.  If you normally compliment 2 people a day, crank the number up to 8.  If you haven’t brought your wife a Chai Tea home from Starbucks in a couple of weeks, surprise her with a Venti.  The closet, garage, or kitchen drawer you’ve been meaning to clean out.  Today’s good!

Basically, here it is.  If, next Monday, you want to be exactly WHO you are today, know exactly WHAT you know today, and be surrounded by things JUST AS THEY ARE…. keep on doing  what you’ve been doing.  It’s got you where you are and it’ll keep you there.

However, if you want to be better, healthier, wiser, stronger, happier, and possibly even leaner – kick it up a notch.  Everything starts somewhere and a new and improved you is now on the clock.

What are some things you, personally, would like to start doing differently?  Are there certain habits you’d like to develop or habits you’d like to drop? How will you use Monday to kick off a great week?

Follow me on Twitter! http://twitter.com/JoiTaniaSigers

How About a Monday Pep Talk?

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6. The Force of Habits     Two of my daughters (Brittany and Stephany) and I...