Wal-Mart is committed to high quality, affordable, accessible and secure health care for our associates and for all of America. And, even though over 90 percent of Wal-Mart associates have coverage, the current health care system doesn’t work for many. Health care costs only seem to get higher every year, and the uninsured epidemic is growing. “Government alone won’t and can’t solve this crisis. We have to work together – business, labor, government and our communities. By following this campaign’s common sense principles, we believe America can have high quality, affordable and accessible health care by 2012,” said Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. President and CEO Lee Scott.

The four principles specified in the campaign are:

• We believe every person in America must have quality, affordable health insurance coverage.
• We believe individuals have a responsibility to maintain and protect their health.
• We believe that America must dramatically improve the value it receives for every health care dollar.
• We believe that businesses, governments, and individuals all should contribute to managing and financing a new American health care system.

Wal-Mart has been working hard over the past year to offer real solutions to the working families of America. Some of the major health and wellness initiatives Wal-Mart has implemented to improve health care conditions include:

• Offering $4 prescription drugs to customers and associates across America.
• Reducing the eligibility waiting period by half for part-time associates.
• Expanding coverage to the children of both full- and part-time associates by offering coverage for only 50 cents per day as soon as their parents are eligible.
• Providing individual health care coverage for as little as $11 per month in some areas.
• Promoting and supporting our associates’ wellness and healthy lifestyle choices by providing convenient, affordable and innovative opportunities to make healthy choices every day.

The announcement was well-received by a variety of leaders involved in the health care debate. From elected officials to civic leaders to those in academia, the company continues to be recognized for its leadership and commitment to improving America’s health care system.

• Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., who is championing his own measure (S 334) to create universal health care coverage, said the alliance of business and labor groups creates even more momentum for fixing the nation’s health care system. “What business and labor seem to be agreeing on more and more is that everyone needs to be covered and it can’t be done on the backs of business if we are to be competitive in a 21st global economy,” Wyden said.

• Wal-Mart’s push for universal health care lends more heft to the debate, Glen Mays, associate professor at the University of Arkansas said. “It makes it a much more serious dialogue when you’ve got large corporations like that who are coming to the table,” he said. (Glen Mays, associate professor, University of Arkansas)

• “Today’s announcement by America’s largest employer and some of America’s largest unions, along with organizations from across the political spectrum, is one more piece of evidence that there’s broad agreement that Americans deserve a health care system that covers everyone and lowers costs. It is time for bold yet practical solutions and I will use today’s encouraging news to continue my efforts to build support for universal health care.” (Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton)

• Democrat John Podesta, a former chief of staff for President Bill Clinton, and Republican Howard Baker, former chief of staff for President Ronald Reagan, introduced the speakers. “I believe we have virtual unanimity that health care reform is an issue whose time has come,” Baker said.

• Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who is pushing his own universal health insurance proposal in California, welcomed the creation of the broad-based national coalition. (Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, R-CA)

• “I think this is one more clear call by employers for help,” Dr. Joe Thompson, the state’s [Arkansas] chief health officer, said of the Washington news conference. “All the data suggests that we are losing the employer-based or the private-sector health insurance coverage.”

• Greg D’Angelo, research assistant with the Center for Health Policy Studies at the conservative Heritage Foundation, told Cybercast News Service Wednesday’s event demonstrates that many financial leaders realize the health care model “we have now doesn’t necessarily work for the type of dynamic economy we have.” For more information on Wal-Mart’s benefits plans, please visit www.walmartstores.com.

Source: http://walmartstores.com/FactsNews/FeaturedTopics/?id=428

Weight Loss Surgery Gave CJ a New Birthday

In January 2003, at 36 years old and 280 pounds, CJ Triplett had gastric bypass surgery. She calls it her birthday because it’s the day she took control of her life-threatening weight condition. Today CJ weighs a much healthier 175 pounds and enjoys an active life. She eats right, plays golf and keeps up with teenage sons. She even coached them in football.??Family played a big role in CJ’s motivation for weight loss surgery and the strength she needed to make permanent changes to her life. “My mother was always dealing with health issues, high blood pressure, diabetes,” says CJ. “When I visited her in the hospital after her fourth angioplasty, I couldn’t imagine my children seeing me that way.” She adds, “Having had weight loss surgery, and by being healthy, I hope I can make it different.”?

Fighting Excess Weight Fights Related Conditions

Health risks rise sharply for people who are 100 pounds or more over their ideal body weight. Scientists have looked at information about patients in this condition who have had weight loss surgery and lost significant weight over the long term. They found those who keep the weight off are less likely to die from heart disease, diabetes and cancer than those who did not have an operation. Laparoscopic gastric banding and laparoscopic gastric bypass today are the two most common weight loss procedures. They are performed using small incisions. This typically results in less pain, less scarring, a shorter hospital stay, and a quicker recovery from surgery compared to conventional, open surgery.?

A Complete Range of Surgical Weight Loss Solutions

Ethicon Endo-Surgery, Inc. is a worldwide leader in devices for surgical weight loss procedures. Ethicon Endo-Surgery recently received U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval to market the REALIZE™ Adjustable Gastric Band, a surgical implant for weight reduction and improvement in obesity-related health conditions, in morbidly obese patients. The REALIZE™ Band has been available outside the U.S. since 1996 and has been used by more than 100,000 patients worldwide to help manage their weight. Outside the U.S. it is known as the Swedish Adjustable Gastric Band (SAGB). “We’re committed to providing solutions that can help people worldwide realize their health goals and live longer and healthier lives regardless of which surgical option may be right for them,” says Kevin Lobo, president, Ethicon Endo-Surgery, U.S.

Source: Johnson & Johnson, http://www.jnj.com/connect/caring/patient-stories/weight-loss 

Growing Thirst

Remember the drinking fountain, that once ubiquitous, and free, source of H2O? It seems quaint now. Instead, bottled water is everywhere, in offices, airplanes, stores, homes and restaurants across the country. We consumed over eight billion gallons of the stuff in 2006, a 10 percent increase from 2005. It’s refreshing, calorie-free, convenient to carry around, tastier than some tap water and a heck of a lot healthier than sugary sodas. But more and more, people are questioning whether the water, and the package it comes in, is safe, or at least safer than tap water — and if the convenience is worth the environmental impact.

What’s in That Bottle?

Evocative names and labels depicting pastoral scenes have convinced us that the liquid is the purest drink around. “But no one should think that bottled water is better regulated, better protected or safer than tap,” says Eric Goldstein, co-director of the urban program at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), a nonprofit organization devoted to protecting health and the environment.

Yes, some bottled water comes from sparkling springs and other pristine sources. But more than 25 percent of it comes from a municipal supply. The water is treated, purified and sold to us, often at a thousandfold increase in price. Most people are surprised to learn that they’re drinking glorified tap water, but bottlers aren’t required to list the source on the label.

This year Aquafina will begin stating on labels that its H2O comes from public water sources. And Nestlé Pure Life bottles will indicate whether the water comes from public, private or deep well sources. Dasani acknowledges on its website, but not on the label itself, that it draws from local water.

Labels can be misleading at best, deceptive at worst. In one notorious case, water coming from a well located near a hazardous waste site was sold to many bottlers. At least one of these companies labeled its product “spring water.” In another case, H2O sold as “pure glacier water” came from a public water system in Alaska.

Lisa Ledwidge, 38, of Minneapolis, stopped drinking bottled water a couple of years ago, partly because she found out that many brands come from a municipal supply. “You’re spending more per gallon than you would on gasoline for this thing that you can get out of the tap virtually for free,” she says. “I wondered, Why am I spending this money while complaining about how much gas costs? But you don’t ever hear anyone complain about the price of bottled water.” Ledwidge says she now drinks only filtered tap water.

The controversy isn’t simply about tap vs. bottled water; most people drink both, knowing the importance of plenty of water. What they may not know is that some bottled water may not be as pure as they expect. In 1999 the NRDC tested more than 1,000 bottles of 103 brands of water. (This is the most recent major report on bottled water safety.) While noting that most bottled water is safe, the organization found that at least one sample of a third of the brands contained bacterial or chemical contaminants, including carcinogens, in levels exceeding state or industry standards. Since the report, no major regulatory changes have been made and bottlers haven’t drastically altered their procedures, so the risk is likely still there.

The NRDC found that samples of two brands were contaminated with phthalates, in one case exceeding Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) standards for tap water. These chemicals, used to make plastic softer, are found in cosmetics and fragrances, shower curtains, even baby toys, and are under increasing scrutiny. They’re endocrine disrupters, which means they block or mimic hormones, affecting the body’s normal functions. And the effects of exposure to the widespread chemicals may add up.

When exposed to high levels of phthalates during critical developmental periods, male fetuses can have malformed reproductive organs, including undescended testicles. Some experts link phthalates to low sperm counts.

Water bottles do not contain the chemical, which means the phthalates detected by the NRDC probably got into the water during processing at the bottling plant, or were present in the original water source (phthalates have been found in some tap water).

Bottled water is regulated for safety, but it’s a tricky thing. The EPA regulates tap water, while the FDA oversees bottled. Yet FDA oversight doesn’t apply to water packaged and sold within the same state, leaving some 60 to 70 percent of bottled water, including the contents of watercooler jugs, free of FDA regulation, according to the NRDC’s report. In this case, testing depends on the states, but the NRDC found that they often don’t have adequate resources to oversee bottled water, in some cases lacking even one full-time person for an entire state.

The FDA requires bottlers to regularly test for contaminants, but the agency considers bottled water a low-risk product, so plants may not be inspected every year. According to one FDA official, it’s the manufacturer’s responsibility to ensure that the product complies with laws and regulations. Some bottlers turn to NSF International, a trade group that conducts yearly unannounced inspections of plants, looking at the source of the water and the treatment process, and testing for contaminants. Other companies belong to the International Bottled Water Association (IBWA), which also performs annual unannounced tests to ensure the plant is up to FDA standards. IBWA has its own regulations, some of which are stricter than the FDA’s.

Bottlers don’t have to let consumers know if their product becomes contaminated, but sometimes they pull their products from stores. In fact, between 1990 and 2007, this happened about 100 times, says Peter Gleick of the Pacific Institute in Oakland, California. Among the reasons for recall: contamination with mold, benzene, coliform, microbes, even crickets.

The Plastic Problem

Most bottled water comes in polyethylene terephthalate bottles, indicated by a number 1, PET or PETE on the bottle’s bottom. (No, it’s not the same phthalate mentioned earlier.) The bottles are generally safe, says Ken Smith, PhD, immediate past chair of the American Chemical Society’s division of environmental chemistry. But scientists say when stored in hot or warm temperatures, the plastic may leach chemicals into the water.

Brenda Decker, 45, of Lake Stockholm, New Jersey, used to buy bottled water in bulk and store it in the crawl space under her house, where it was exposed to high temperatures. But a friend who owns a natural food store recently warned her that the plastic could leach chemicals into the water. So Decker has stopped buying bottled water and is going back to the tap. “It’s a process, but I’m willing to go with it to make sure my kid is healthy. That’s my biggest drive.”

High temperatures in your storage space aren’t the only potential risk; so are the other things you keep there. Experts advise against storing water in the garage, near gas fumes, pesticides and other chemicals that could, at the very least, affect the smell and taste of the H2O.

It’s not just where you store your water, but what you do with it as you carry it with you. Many people sip from a bottle that’s been sitting in a hot car, a potentially dangerous move. “Leaving bottled water out in the car changes the chemical equilibrium so that the materials from the plastic go into the water faster,” says Smith.

When 22-year-old Amy Dowley, a senior at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York, heard about these risks, she was worried. “I never drank bottled water, because I knew the water from my tap was clean and healthy, but I used to fill used plastic soda or juice bottles with tap water to carry around,” she says. Now she uses a stainless steel Klean Kanteen portable container or fills a cup from the sink. “Any way we can cut back on plastic is a good thing.”

“Are there hazards associated with these chemicals?” asks James Kapin, a chemical safety consultant in San Diego. “Absolutely.” But as with many debates on chemicals, the exact health risks are unknown. “We very rarely get black-and-white answers for the health effects of long-term exposure. At some point, I hope, there will be a scientific consensus.”

In the meantime, experts have raised a warning flag about a few specific chemicals. Antimony is a potentially toxic material used in making PET. Last year, scientists in Germany found that the longer a bottle of water sits around (in a store, in your home), the more antimony it develops. High concentrations of antimony can cause nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. In the study, levels found were below those set as safe by the EPA, but it’s a topic that needs more research.

Last summer, a National Institutes of Health (NIH) committee agreed that bisphenol A (BPA), a chemical found in polycarbonate (used to make watercooler jugs, sport-water bottles and other hard plastics, but not PET), may cause neurological and behavioral problems in fetuses, babies and kids. A separate NIH-sponsored panel found that the risk was even greater, saying that adult exposure to BPA likely affects the brain, the female reproductive system and the immune system. The FDA has reviewed these reports and says it will keep monitoring the data to see if the agency needs to take regulatory action.

The potential health risks are important to understand, but bottled water also affects the health of the planet.

“Bottled water is an increasingly growing business, and with that comes a whole lot of environmental impact that can be avoided by a turn of the faucet,” says Jenny Powers of the NRDC. While we struggle to cut down on our consumption of fossil fuels, bottled water increases them. Virgin petroleum is used to make PET, and the more bottles we use, the more virgin petroleum will be needed to create new bottles. Fossil fuels are burned to fill the bottles and dis-tribute them. (Stephen Kay of IBWA points out that it’s not just bottled water, but juices, soda and other beverages packed in plastic that add to this waste.)

Some brands of water come from islands and countries thousands of miles away, and shipping bottles can cause carbon pollution to spill into the water and spew into the air.

Then there’s the waste of water itself, says Todd Jarvis, PhD, associate director of the Institute for Water and Watersheds at Oregon State University. According to his calculations, it takes about 72 billion gallons of water a year, worldwide, just to make the empty bottles.

Treating and filtering tap water for bottling creates even more waste. By some estimates, it takes about two liters of water to make every liter you see on store shelves. “Bottled water has a significant environmental burden,” says the NRDC’s Goldstein.

A big part of the appeal of bottled water is those convenient single-serving bottles. Yet fewer than 20 percent of them ever make it to a second life, according to estimates by the Container Recycling Institute. The rest are tossed onto beaches and roadsides and into landfills, where they could be around for a thousand years. Nestlé Waters, Dasani and other bottlers are trying to be greener, introducing lighter-weight bottles that use up to 30 percent less plastic.

It’s a good start, but more needs to be done — by them, and by us.

What You Can Do

Worried about the toll your bottled water habit has on you or the earth? Take these steps.

Try the tap again. First, check it out. If your water comes from a public source (rather than a well), you should get a water-quality or consumer-confidence report from the water company once a year. It’s also available at any time from the local water utility. Read the report carefully, making sure not only that your water has received a passing grade overall but also that contaminants haven’t exceeded the maximum allowable levels, even for a short while. If you have well water, get it tested every year. For more information, call the EPA’s toll-free Safe Drinking Water Hotline at 800-426-4791, or visit the website for the Campaign for Safe and Affordable Drinking Water.

Get a canteen. Carry your plain or filtered tap water in a reusable stainless steel or lined drinking container, and clean it between uses. Some come with an easy-to-tote strap. We like the stainless steel versions from Klean Kanteen and New Wave Enviro, and the colorful bottles from SIGG.

Think twice about the office watercooler. If it’s made of polycarbonate, it has the potential to leach BPA, a chemical that can cause neurological problems, among other things. And have you ever seen anyone actually clean the watercooler? Probably not.

Shop smart. When you must have bottled, look for brands that have NSF certifica-tion or belong to IBWA. Check out the lists at nsf.org or bottledwater.org, or look at the bottle itself (the NSF logo appears on labels of tested brands). If the brand you’re looking for isn’t there, contact the bottler. Ask where the water is bottled and what exactly is in it.

Keep it cool. Don’t drink from a bottle that’s been subjected to high temperatures (sitting in your car, for example), don’t store it anywhere it will be exposed to heat or chemicals, and don’t reuse plastic bottles.

Go with glass. Choose glass containers (Eden Springs and Voss are two popular brands) over plastic whenever possible. When you’re done, recycle!

Do You Need a Filter?

The water that comes out of your faucet is probably safe. In general, toxins in drinking water don’t exceed EPA limits, but there are still legitimate concerns. From a funny taste to lead contamination from aging pipes, your tap water may have picked up some unsavory additions along the way.

What’s in your water? Certain areas of the country are subject to particular toxins, such as runoff from farms and by-products of industry, like arsenic, which can also occur naturally in the environment.

Have it tested. If you’re concerned, have your water tested by a lab that’s certified by the state; the EPA has an online listing of certification officers, or call your health department for recommendations.Choose a filter. Choices range from tabletop containers, such as a carafe with a carbon filter (Brita and PUR are popular brands), to devices that purify the water as it enters your home. In between are faucet-mounted, under-sink and reverse osmosis units. Look for one approved by NSF, Underwriters Laboratories or the Water Quality Association, and clean it as recommended by the manufacturer. Do it yourself. Some water is treated with chlorine to kill bacteria, but the taste turns people off. The fix? Pour water into a clear glass container and leave it uncovered in the refrigerator for 24 hours to let the chlorine dissipate into the air.

Fluoride Facts

Most bottled water doesn’t contain added fluoride (if it does, it will say so on the label). Kids are drinking more bottled water and less fluoridated tap, and some say that’s behind the recent rise in dental decay. While the cavity link hasn’t been confirmed, pediatric dentist Mary Hayes, DDS, says, “I tell parents that if they choose bottled water without fluoride, they’re losing an opportunity to protect their child’s teeth. We know fluoride has a great track record in diminishing the risk of decay.”

If your tap water is fortified, you probably don’t need fluoride in bottled. But if your family has well water without fluoride, drinks only bottled or uses a filter that removes fluoride (many do), ask your dentist about supplements for your child.

Bottled Water’s Environmental Toll
Eco Footprint

• The energy used each year making the bottles needed to meet the demand for bottled water in the United States is equivalent to more than 17 million barrels of oil. That’s enough to fuel over 1 million cars for a year.

• If water and soft drink bottlers had used 10% recycled materials in their plastic bottles in 2004, they would have saved the equivalent of 72 million gallons of gasoline. If they had used 25%, they would have saved enough energy to electrify more than 680,000 homes for a year.

• In 2003, the California Department of Conservation estimated that roughly three million water bottles are trashed every day in that state. At this rate, by 2013 the amount of unrecycled bottles will be enough to create a two-lane highway that stretches the state’s entire coast.

• In 2004 the recycling rate for all beverage containers was 33.5 percent. If it reached 80 percent, the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions would be the equivalent of removing 2.4 million cars from the road for a year.

• That bottle that takes just three minutes to drink can take up to a thousand years to biodegrade.

Sources: Earth Policy Institute, As You Sow, Container Recycling Institute.

This article can be found at: Readers Digest

I opened the email and it was an invitation to a dating site called “Rich Kiss”  it is almost exclusively for millionaires.  I laughed so hard I nerly fell out of my chair.  How ridiculous is this?  Then after a few minutes I reluctantly clicked the link she provided after her quirky anecdote.

It is a pay site….Big Surprise huh?  I created a profile, just to see *wink.

After submitting my application for their services, my mind immediately jumps back to Curves of a Mother.  LOL  I can’t escape it!

I’m obsessed I think to myself.  I am professionally employed educated and considered attractive by most.  All I’m thinking is if I was just 5lbs lighter maybe even a millionaire would want to pick me up!!!  Who am I kidding?

Being a woman is torture.  Maybe it’s time to revisit that flat belly diet book I have tucked in the bottom of myunderwear!

HELP!!!!

I work out every single day for at least an hour.  Eat clean, low calorie count foods, high in protein and low in sugar.  To my disappointment, my breasts are not perkier rather they have gotten worse.  My stretch marks are marching across my less than toned belly, and my hips have been fighting with the waistline of my pants for nearly two years now…..

What can I do now?

I am at war with my body.  The more stressful my life becomes, the more I take it out on my body.  When I look in the mirror I cringe.  My friends are all so positive.  Are they lying to me or am I lying to myself?

My friend Stephanie is working it to fabulous results with the Flat Belly Diet.   I’ve tried and tried and the fad diets just don’t work for me.

More later!!!!!!

I wanted it to be a workout we both could do together, and something she’d find fun. At only a few months shy of twelve-years-old, no calisthenics programs or military workouts were going to hold her interest. So we opted on a dance-type routine. I have some videotapes from years ago, the Richard Simmons’ Sweatin’ to the Oldies tapes, and I used to enjoy those. We might try those together when the VCR’s hooked up, but I’m not sure it’s something someone her age would be engaged in more than a few times.

We narrowed the choice between two DVDS, one called “Dance off the Inches: Hip-Hop Party” and one called “Express Workout: Dance it Off!” from Prevention magazine’s DVD workout series. I was interested to discover that both had the same instructor, Jennifer Galardi, dancer and fitness instructor. She has many more DVDs available, all dance-centered.

We settled on the Hip-Hop Party DVD, because of its name, mostly. I thought it’d likely appeal to more to my daughter than the other. The picture on the cover certainly did. But now that we’ve tried it, I don’t doubt that I’ll add the Prevention DVD, and probably some of Jennifer’s other offerings, to our collection at some point.

We had so much fun! There’s a step-guide we did first that leads you through the basic steps used in the workout—that made it much easier. The workout itself never really feels like exercise at all. And she doesn’t yell the whole time or constantly tell you how good you’re doing, it’s more that she encourages you to feel sexy, really pop your hips and put your personality into the moves. I liked her style very much, not too-low key, not annoyingly perky.

Both of us made it all the way through, and were smiling and sweaty when it was over. I’ll be 39 this year, and I have a severe weight problem, and I kept up. I even enjoyed myself, unlike the way I’ve felt after completing some exercise videos that left me exhausted and panting, like I needed an oxygen tank, and a plasma transfusion didn’t seem out of the question, either. Some of the moves I did do at half pace, but only a few times where jumping or knee-twisting was required, and I didn’t bend my knees quite as deeply as the instructor because I know my limits. But I didn’t stop, and I had fun with it. My daughter has put on some weight over the last year with the beginnings of puberty (that’s when it started for me, too). Hers in her hips and her belly, and she’s become quite conscious of it lately. So she’s all for the exercise to help her get that under control a little, or keep it from getting OUT of control.

We laughed and played around as we danced, and she had a lot of fun, too. She only stopped briefly, as I did, for a quick drink. Though once she had to stop because she was laughing so hard–when we were supposed to be doing body rolls, I didn’t quite get it at first, and commented that I must look like an epileptic snake. I had to laugh, too. At least it was just us, and not a room full of people. And we made a vow before we started that we would not make fun of each other. At least, not without really good reason.

We both got the hang of the moves pretty quickly. We could even manage to do part of the routine to other music now, if we wanted to. By the end, we were hooping and hollering during certain parts, where you roll your hips and shimmy and do a sort of body-wave from head to toe, just like we were hip-hop dancing and having a good time, instead of exercising for health and fitness. And we already have plans to do it together again day after tomorrow.

Though I have plans to do it by myself tomorrow and bust a move or two.

My health plan isn’t completely on-track yet, but then again, it hasn’t derailed either. I haven’t started walking—our weather’s been atrocious and bitterly cold on all but a few days, and I haven’t been able to line up an indoor walking spot yet. But when I do walk somewhere, even just into a store from the parking lot, I’ve been walking faster with a longer stride. I go up and down the stairs a few extra times at work. And I’ve been doing lots of organizing and shuffling around at home. I’m hoping it all adds up to at least get me moving toward being more active.

My stress level managed to get entirely too high for a few weeks. Fortunately, I’m feeling much better now, in many ways. But for a while, I wasn’t sleeping well, and when I did get to sleep a decent amount of time once a week or so, I found myself wanting to sleep for too many hours. And I’m a stress eater.

Well, okay, let’s be honest. I eat no matter what I feel. Any emotion that swings the needle too far in one direction, be it a happy or sad one, triggers my urge to eat. But depression, worry, nervousness and stress are the big ones for me. So when I feel stressed out, as I have for a while, I tend to try to console myself (maybe drug myself) with food.

I remember an episode of Family Guy where Peter, who is quite fat, said to his wife (paraphrased), “I’m very upset with you right now. So I’m going to go to a Denny’s and abuse myself.” I laughed, but it struck a chord. It can be a form of self-abuse or punishment at times, a reward at others. Thinking about all these things hammered home to me that I don’t have a healthy relationship with food. At least I’m aware of it, and can be on the watch for unhealthy and self-abusive (it feels strange to use that word, but that’s what it is) eating patterns.

One positive change I’ve been making is trying to make sure we eat breakfast. It seems that the benefits of breakfast really do make it a crazy thing to skip.

Breakfast eaters have one-half the risk of becoming insulin resistant and obese? Recently an article came out, I think it was through Yahoo, that claimed eating anything for breakfast, even things tagged as not necessarily healthy like doughnuts or cold pizza, was better than eating nothing. I thought, well, I can do that!

Yet, I have been trying to make healthy choices. And my daughter, 11, tries to do the same. While she loves sausage and would eat it daily, we limit it to once, maybe twice a week, with eggs or the occasional pancake. And as a working mom, the convenience foods do call out to me, especially the ones she loves, like doughnuts, or mini-muffins. I’ve opted for healthier hand-held choices most of the time, like fruit, and granola or nutritionally balanced breakfast bars.

I noticed another article about breakfast after I read the one linked above, touting the benefits of cereal.

We used to eat cereal all the time, and then got out of the habit of eating any kind of breakfast. So I’m incorporating healthier cereals into our breakfast routine as well. I do notice that when I skip breakfast, I graze all evening after I get home from work. I’m already obsese, but if I can instill the right habits in my daughter, maybe her odds of developing those maladies later in life really can be sliced in half.

Walking a little faster, taking the stairs more, and eating breakfast don’t seem like much, when I think about it, but they’re all steps in the right direction, so I do feel like I’m making progress. And facing the fact that I have a problem with eating in general, that makes it easier for me to look at something and think about how I don’t really need, or even want it, it’s just some sort of conditioned response at this point.

I won’t lie and say it works every time, but it doesn’t have to. As long as it works some of the time, I’m still making progress, and that’s good enough for right now.

I’m getting over the flu now, the first real flu I’ve had in years, and I’m thinking that next year it might be worth the risk.

While I was spending my days and nights in a recliner, with tissues, cough drops, water and a thermometer handy, with a humidifier blowing into my face just so I could breathe without choking, I started to wonder if I’d been in better physical conditon, would I feel quite this bad?

I’m obese, there’s no hiding the fact. I can’t wear slimming colors or tight pants and fool anybody. Yet, the last time I had anything checked, my blood pressure and blood sugar were fine. My cholesterol was pushing the upper limits, however, and as I sat in my recliner, coughing and moaning and wondering if fit people fought off the flu faster than fat folks, I got to thinking about how I never really took my ‘borderline’ cholesterol number seriously. I wondered if it were higher now, lower, and did it really matter?

A couple of years ago I made fitness a priority, for a while. No fad diets, I just made myself aware of what I was putting in my mouth, and I walked for exercise . The difference it made in how I felt was astounding. And I’ve never kicked myself more for not keeping up with that than when I was recently running a fever over 103 degrees. I thought about how rotten such an acute ailment could make me feel—I was worthless for a solid 3 days—and how rotten I could feel if the chronic stuff that runs in my family started to get a hold of me.

My relatives all seem to suffer from Insulin-dependent diabetes, high blood pressure, arthritis, gout. Some have one or two, some have them all, and more. And I finally accepted the fact that if I don’t do something about my weight, and my general health, I’m kidding myself if I think I won’t suffer the same ailments that all of my heavy aunts and uncles and cousins suffer with. One cousin I used to be particularly close to, very heavy like me, was warned by doctors for years about the path she was on. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, they would stress that over and over. Yet she never lost enough weight to make a difference, and what she lost, she gained back and then some. Finally, she just gave up.

She’s been taking 3 insulin shots a day for 3 years now. She’s 45. I’ll be 39 later this year. I don’t want to end up like her.

I’m thinking I should be grateful for that horrible flu, as it seemed to make me sit still and feel bad long enough to know that I don’t want to feel bad anymore. I don’t want to be miserable and have aches and pains that, if I work on my health now, I may be able to prevent. I’ve lost tons of weight over the years, enough to make whole people, but never successfully kept it off or made lasting changes. I haven’t yet, at least, but I’m convinced I can if I just lose my all-or-nothing attitude. The same attitude that made my cousin finally give up on her health. I’m not good with moderation, but I’m determined to learn it. I need to believe that if I mess up one meal, or one day, or even a week or a month, that does not undo every good thing I’ve done prior. The next meal, the next month, the next workout, I can keep doing better.

I think this time I’ll truly be able to embrace that idea, because as I sat there in misery from the flu feeling like death warmed over, I started to believe that my life might just depend on it.

This is the lifestyle change that my husband and I implemented last year when he had a diabetic scare. By following it, he was able to stop all diabetes medicine and control his sugar by food alone.

The whole process is outlined in a wonderful book called Sugar Busters. We went through our pantry and refrigerator and eliminated all refined wheat and sugar items, then replaced them with whole wheat and items using Splenda. We no longer have sweets in the house, so the temptation is never there. When I do get a sweet craving, a small candy bar fulfills it for a long time. We don’t eat white potatoes as a rule, though we do occasionally have them when we eat out.

Photograph by RJP. Some rights reserved.

It didn’t take us long to figure out that we could eat healthy with tasty foods, and quite frankly mealtime became more pleasurable than it had been for a while. We eat controlled portions most of the time, though on occasions one or both of us will over indulge in something that is particularly tasty. Read your labels at the store before you buy and plan ahead.

Along with the healthy diet we strive for daily exercise, though we don’t always succeed due to our schedules. The benefits of these changes have been great. Controlling his diabetes with diet alone has been the biggest boon for my husband, but both of us have lost weight in the process. It has come off slowly, but the advantage to that is it is staying off. As a general rule, we feel better and have more energy as well.

Making sure you get enough protein is a big part of this lifestyle, too. Too many people cutting back on carbs end up cutting out their protein as well, which leaves them feeling sluggish most of the time. Our body has to have the protein to run efficiently. Moderation is the key. The plan also reminds us to eat regularly. It is better to have several small meals than to starve ourselves for a large part of the day then gorge ourselves once or twice.

Eat right, Exercise, and Live Well!

I always lost weight, but very often I felt horrible while I was doing it, and eventually gave up on every single ‘plan’ because I figured what was the point in losing weight and being miserable in every other regard? I’ll take my fat, I always decided, and at least feel human and somewhat happy.

Then, two years ago, I stopped focusing on losing weight and instead made my goal becoming more healthy and fit. I’ll admit up front that I haven’t stuck with this plan completely, but I’m preparing to adopt it again because as I look over all the years of ‘everything else,’ I realize it’s the only thing that worked, and didn’t make me feel like I was being punished. In fact, I felt good while I was doing it. There were no pills, no fasting, no crazy diet foods, no cutting out an entire food group or category like carbs or fat. It was almost crazily simple, given all the machinations I’d gone through for years, from complicated diet plans to pills that had to be taken precisely at certain times.

I avoided super-sugary or starchy foods most of the time, ate lots of fruits and vegetables, and I walked at least 5 days a week.

Complicated, isn’t it? Good healthy food and exercise. Who knew! I’d found the ‘miracle cure’ that I’d been trying to buy in all those boxes, bottles and books, found it completely by accident! I simply knew I had to do something to improve my life, and eating right and exercise seemed reasonable enough. They seemed a lot more reasonable than a liquid diet, or a diet comprised of only meat, eggs and macadamia nuts.

I ate regular, small meals, sometimes five or six a day, but these were meals about one-third to one-half the size of what I’d been eating before, two or three times a day. I ate salad at least once a day, but often two or three times. I made it more satisfying by adding a little cheese, or one of my favorite things in a salad, fruit. A lettuce salad with a little ranch dressing, a few raisins or grapes, or even prunes thrown in, that was heaven to me. All the crunch with a little sweetness inside was quite a treat after a two-mile walk, and it was healthy, too. We’ve always eaten a varied diet with lots of fruits and vegetables, fish, chicken and now and then some beef. But on top of those good things, we tended to eat quite a bit of prepared and fast foods. I merely cut back on those things and filled in the gaps with the good stuff.

Photograph by Andy Melton. Some rights reserved.

I started out walking one mile at a pretty leisurely pace, and in only a couple of weeks I was walking two miles, sometimes two-and-a-half, at a brisk enough pace that I was breathing faster than normal, but I could still talk, as sometimes my cousin walked with me. We had some profoundly personal chats on our walk, something else I enjoyed about it. Exercising with another person has to be the absolute best. I didn’t weigh myself before I started, but in two months my pants were about to fall off me, I felt pretty energetic, I looked forward to my daily walk-sometimes I walked 7 days a week because I craved it. Imagine that, I enjoyed exercise for the first time in years. A few months before that, if someone had told me I’d end up looking forward to a daily walk, I’d have laughed.

The walking wasn’t terribly easy most days; it was mid-summer and the heat was often oppressive. So I would wait until almost sundown, take a frozen water bottle, grab the mp3 player and my tennies, and head to the middle school to use the track around the football field. There’s no view there, nothing but a road and the school, no shade, very little breeze. And some days I forgot the mp3 player, some days my cousin who walked with me couldn’t be there, so it was just me, my heavy breathing and the sound of the bugs waking up as the sun went down. But I knew I was doing something good, that every step I took was a step toward better health, and yes, a smaller behind! It got me out of the house for an hour a day, a precious hour of ME time, something I hadn’t had for a few years. I felt independent and strong, and even proud of myself for taking my health into my own hands instead of sitting idly on a butt that was getting bigger and, I feared, arteries that were getting smaller.

Winter came, and I don’t tolerate cold well. I should have made arrangements to walk indoors somewhere, but I didn’t. I fell off my eating plan, little by little. Looking back, no excuse really holds up, but as anyone who has ever stopped something good for them knows, it really does sort of just happen without a conscious effort. I’m happy to report I haven’t bounced too far in the other direction. I didn’t eat that well for a while, but I am back to more fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and natural foods. I don’t get nearly enough exercise, not as much as when I walked, but I’ve been getting some.

I think the best indication that my ‘healthy food and walking’ plan was a good one is my behavior when I stopped. Unlike the times before when I would fall off the ‘popcorn’ diet or the diet that forbade any food that contained flour, I didn’t go to the opposite extreme and undo every good thing I’d done. I wasn’t starved, I wasn’t so sore from over-exerting myself with exercise (as I’d done many times before) that I gave up on all activity for a while. I hadn’t gone without bread for three months, so I didn’t want to camp out in a bakery and make up for it. I hadn’t even gone completely without sugar-filled comfort food, I indulged occasionally in moderation, so I didn’t go on an M&M, Hostess or Hershey shopping spree to gorge myself on what I’d been missing. I continued eating in moderation (albeit a little less moderately than before) and I still managed to get some exercise now and then.
I’m starting to feel that health plan is like many things in my life that I’ve done one slow step at a time, with each time bearing more success. Two years ago, I peeled away the top layers, and now I’m ready to dig a little deeper. Now that we’re having nice weather for winter, I’m feeling the desperate need for that hour of blissful, sweaty, private ‘me’ time each day. I want to feel that good again, maybe even better. So I’m ready to pick up where I left off and take my health a few steps farther in the right direction.

Shelley Ontis lives in Illinois, surrounded by corn, cows and pick-up trucks. She claims it’s not nearly as exciting as it sounds.