thisiswritersblock
In an effort to cut down on sending junk email, I present you with my miscellaneous postings.
Friday, January 26, 2007
Friday, December 08, 2006
Thursday, December 07, 2006
How the Left stole Christmas...
When all through our land,
Not a Christian was praying
Nor taking a stand.
See the PC Police had taken away,
The reason for Christmas - no one could say.
The children were told by their schools not to sing,
About Shepherds and Wise Men and Angels and things.
It might hurt people's feelings, the teachers would say
December 25th is just a "Holiday".
Yet the shoppers were ready with cash, checks and credit
Pushing folks down to the floor just to get it!
CDs from Madonna, an X BOX, an I-pod
Something was changing, something quite odd!
Retailers promoted Ramadan and Kwanzaa
In hopes to sell books by Franken & Fonda.
As Targets were hanging their trees upside down
At Lowe's the word Christmas - was no where to be found.
At K-Mart and Staples and Penny's and Sears
You won't hear the word Christmas; it won't touch your ears.
Inclusive, sensitive, Di-ver-si-ty
Are words that were used to intimidate me.
Now Daschle, Now Darden, Now Sharpton, Wolf Blitzen
On Boxer, on Rather, on Kerry, on Clinton!
At the top of the Senate, there arose such a clatter
To eliminate Jesus, in all public matter.
And we spoke not a word, as they took away our faith
Forbidden to speak of salvation and grace.
The true Gift of Christmas was exchanged and discarded
The reason for the season, stopped before it started.
So as you celebrate "Winter Break" under your "Dream Tree"
Sipping your Starbucks, listen to me.
Choose your words carefully, choose what you say
Shout MERRY CHRISTMAS, not Happy Holiday!
Wednesday, December 06, 2006
Dr. Berardi’s Good Nutrition Rules
Dr. Berardi’s Good Nutrition Rules
To help you out, I’ll show you the exact rules I use, both in my own diet and in those I’ve used with people around the world for years with phenomenal results. For more on how I arrived at these rules, and on how to apply them daily, pick up a copy of Precision Nutrition.
Here they are:
1) Eat every 2-3 hours - no matter what.
Now, you don’t need to eat a full meal every 2-3 hours, but you do need to eat 6-8 meals and snacks that conform to the other rules below.
To make it easier on you, in Precision Nutrition we’ve provided nearly 150 meals and snacks to help you eat great tasting, healthy food more frequently.
2) Eat complete, lean protein each time you eat.
Complete, lean protein generally is food that, well, was an animal or comes from an animal. Things like chicken, beef, fish, dairy, and the like. “Lean” means low fat. So you want stuff with protein, but low fat content (e.g., leaner cuts of meat, low fat dairy, etc.). Are you getting protein in each meal? If not, make the change. Note: If you’re a vegetarian, this rule still applies – just like for the non-vegetarians, I discuss your needs in Precision Nutrition.
3) Eat vegetables every time you eat.
That’s right, every time you eat (every 2-3 hours, right), in addition to a complete, lean protein source, you need to eat some vegetables. You can toss in a piece of fruit here and there as well. But don’t skip the veggies.
To show you that eating veggies isn’t the frightening proposition it used to be, most of the meals contained in Precision Nutrition use veggies in their preparation and actually make them taste good!
4) If want to eat a carbohydrate that’s not a fruit or a vegetable (this includes things like things rice, pasta, potatoes, etc), you can – but you’ll need to save it until after you’ve exercised.
Yes, these grains are dietary staples in North America, but remember that heart disease, diabetes and cancer are medical staples in North American – and there’s a relationship between the two!
To stop heading down the heart disease highway, reward yourself for a good workout with a good carbohydrate meal right after (your body best tolerates these carbohydrates after exercise). For the rest of the day, stick to lean protein and a delicious selection of fruits and veggies.
To make this rule easy on you we’ve labeled the meals in the Precision Nutrition program as Post-Workout (good carb-containing meals to be eaten within a few hours after exercising) and Anytime (good meals for any other time of the day).
5) A good percentage of your diet (25-35%) must come from fat. Just be sure it’s the right kind.
There are 3 types of fat – saturated, monounsaturated, and polyunsaturated. Eating all three kinds in a healthy balance can dramatically improve your health, and even help you lose fat.
Your saturated fat should come from your animal products and you can even toss in some butter or coconut oil for cooking. Your monounsaturated fat should come from mixed nuts, olives, and olive oil. And your polyunsaturated fat should from flaxseed oil, fish oil, and mixed nuts.
The meals contained in Precision Nutrition offer a good variety of healthy fats and teach you why they’re important.
6) Ditch the calorie containing drinks (including fruit juice).
In fact, all of your drinks should come from non-calorie containing beverages. Fruit juice, alcoholic drinks, and sodas – these are all to be removed from your daily fare. Your absolute best choices are water and green tea.
7) Focus on whole foods.
Most of your dietary intake should come from whole foods. There are a few times where supplement drinks and shakes are useful (we’ll discuss them later in the Precision Nutrition program). But most of the time, you’ll do best with whole, largely unprocessed foods.
8) Have 10% foods.
I know you cringed at a few of the rules above – perhaps #6 in particular. But here’s a bit of a break. 10% of the time, you can eat whatever you want.
That’s right, you heard me. 100% nutritional discipline is never really needed to completely change your body. The difference between sticking to the rules 90% of the time and sticking to them 100% of the time is minor, really.
But here’s the catch: make sure you do the math and determine what 10% of the time really means. For example, if you’re eating 6 meals per day for 7 days of the week – that’s 42 meals. 10% of 42 meals is about 4 meals. Therefore you’re allowed to “break the rules” 4 meals each week. If you skip a meal or eat something not on the plan, that counts as breaking the rules!
This program contains mostly 90% foods but I'd imagine that those of you who have eaten pizza for your 10% foods in the past will really enjoy our Chicago Deep Dish Pizza recipe in Precision Nutrition!
9) Develop food preparation strategies.
The hardest part about eating well is making sure you can follow the 8 rules above consistently. Knowing what to eat is pretty useless if you don’t have the time to make the food.
In Precision Nutrition, I’ll teach you strategies for doing this throughout the program. I’ll show you the tricks I teach clients, from shopping right to preparing food in record time; from eating at restaurants to finding someone to cook for you if you have more money than time; and even what gadgets and items can really make it easy for you in the kitchen, at work and on the road.
10) Balance daily food choices with healthy variety.
Let’s face it; during a busy week you’re not going to be spending a ton of time whipping up gourmet meals. So you’re going to need a set of tasty, easy to make foods that you can eat day in and day out. However, once every day or a few times a week – you need to eat something different – something unique. Search the web, ask around, watch the Food Network; come up with some healthy variety.
Or pick up Precision Nutrition, which provides you with both simple foods that you can prepare quickly and gourmet meals you can cook in order to mix things up, impress others, or just treat yourself to something exquisite.
Tomorrow's lesson: Following the 90% percent rule -- when it's okay to break the plan, and how to stop from going overboard.
See you then,
John M. Berardi, Ph.D., C.S.C.S.
Monday, December 04, 2006
BUDGETS
U Use it up, wear it out or give it away
D Don't spend what you don't have yet
G Garage sales, thrift shops, pass downs
E Eat at home or make it at home
T Tracking your spending
S Simplify your life
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
Quote of the day.
Sunday, November 19, 2006
To my lady friends...
Some will always be smarter.
Some of their houses will be bigger.
Some will drive a better car.
Their children will do better in school.
And their husband will fix more things around the house.
So let it go,
and love you and your circumstances.
Think about it!
The prettiest woman in the world can have hell in her heart.
And the most highly favored
woman on your job may be unable to have children.
And the richest woman you know,
she's got the car, the house, the clothes....
might be lonely.
And the word says, "If I have not Love, I am nothing."
So, again, love you.
Love who you are.
Look in the mirror in the morning and smile and say,
"I am too blessed to be stressed and too anointed, to be disappointed!"
"Winners make things happen--
Losers let things happen."
Be "blessed" ladies.....
and pass this on to encourage another woman.
"To the world you might be one person,
but to the one person you just sent this to,
it could mean so much."