Love, Friends, and Blessings....

This is the time of year to treasure those in your lives, because they may leave this world before you tell them how you feel or before you get to say goodbye.

Think about this... You may not realize it, but it's 100% true.

1. At least 2 people in this world LOVE you
so much they would DIE for YOU.

2. At least 15 people in this world love you in some way.

3. The only reason anyone would ever hate
you is because they are jealous of you
and want to be just like you.

4. A SMiLE from you can bring
happiness to anyone, even if they don't like you.

5. Every night, SOMEONE thinks about
you before they go to sleep.

6. You mean the world to someone,more than you know.

7. If not for you someone may not be living..

8. You are special & unique & deserve to be loved.

9. Someone that you don't even know exists, loves you.

10. When you make the biggest mistake ever,
something good comes from it.

11. When you think the world has
turned its back on you, take a look:
you most likely turned your back on the world.

12. When you think you have no chance
of getting what you want, you probably won't get it,
but if you BELIEVE in yourself, probably,
sooner or later you will get it.

13. Always remember the compliments you received.
FORGET about the rude remarks.
Commit a random act of kindness.

14. Always tell someone how you feel about them;
you will feel much better when they know.
It may be to late the next day.
Live life as if it were your last.

15. If you have a great friend, take the time
to let them know they are great.
Because , A friend is a present you give yourself.

Be thankful for the people in your lives,
and think not of what you don't have,
be grateful for what you do.
If you have a roof over your head, clothes on your backs,
and food in your belly, and people who love you,
you are better off than 85% of people in this world
who are homeless, naked, starving, and lonely.

GOD BLESS ALL!
MERRY CHRISTMAS.
DONATE TO CHARITY!
KATRINA LIVES ON!

Love, Friends, and Blessings....

This is the time of year to treasure those in your lives, because they may leave this world before you tell them how you feel or before you get to say goodbye.

Think about this... You may not realize it, but it's 100% true.

1. At least 2 people in this world LOVE you
so much they would DIE for YOU.

2. At least 15 people in this world love you in some way.

3. The only reason anyone would ever hate
you is because they are jealous of you
and want to be just like you.

4. A SMiLE from you can bring
happiness to anyone, even if they don't like you.

5. Every night, SOMEONE thinks about
you before they go to sleep.

6. You mean the world to someone,more than you know.

7. If not for you someone may not be living..

8. You are special & unique & deserve to be loved.

9. Someone that you don't even know exists, loves you.

10. When you make the biggest mistake ever,
something good comes from it.

11. When you think the world has
turned its back on you, take a look:
you most likely turned your back on the world.

12. When you think you have no chance
of getting what you want, you probably won't get it,
but if you BELIEVE in yourself, probably, sooner or later you will get it.

13. Always remember the compliments you received.
FORGET about the rude remarks.
Commit a random act of kindness.

14. Always tell someone how you feel about them;
you will feel much better when they know.
It may be to late the next day.
Live life as if it were your last.

15. If you have a great friend, take the time
to let them know they are great.
Because , A friend is a present you give yourself.

Be thankful for the people in your lives,
and think not of what you don't have,
be grateful for what you do.
If you have a roof over your head, clothes on your backs,
and food in your belly, and people who love you,
you are better off than 85% of people in this world
who are homeless, naked, starving, and lonely.

GOD BLESS ALL!
MERRY CHRISTMAS.
DONATE TO CHARITY!
KATRINA LIVES ON!

Common Diet Myths BUSTED!

You think you have heard it all right? WRONG.
Here are some common Diet myths.. BUSTED.

I just wanted to share that recently
I have looked on the labels
of things I shopped for that if it had -
High Fructose Corn Syrup in it
I DID NOT BUY IT ,
also the item had to have less than 4 grams of
sugar and less than 4 grams of saturated fat,
zero trans fat is a plus too as
well as anything with omega-3,
as well as no enriched white flour
in the items, and buying whole wheat pasta for
spaghetti has helped and there is no difference in taste!
This has helped me shed quite a few pounds ,
as this is eating much much healthier.
I highly reccomend this!

(recreated from the Today show article found here : -

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16045168/

1 -If you eat late at night, the food turns straight into fat. - WRONG

Not true. Research has confirmed that if your collective calories —
calories eaten throughout the entire day —
are appropriate for personal weight maintenance,
you won’t gain weight from late night dinners and/or snacks.
Your best bet: Spread food intake out over the course of the day —
eating every four to five hours to fuel your body,
brain and regulate appetite.
For late night dinners, watch portions and be sure to adjust
according to what and how much you’ve already eaten that day.
And for late night munchies, stick with portion-controlled snacks
that are 250 calories or less (for example, some light popcorn,
a handful of almonds, a frozen banana or a low-fat ice cream pop).

If you find yourself locked
into a pattern of abstaining from food all day
and gorging at night, speak with your physician.
Night eating disorder, a form of binge eating,
is becoming more common,
but thankfully better understood by the medical community.

2- Fresh fruits and vegetables are more nutritious than frozen.

Not necessarily.
You may actually get more nutrients
from frozen fruits and vegetables.
One reason for this it that the “fresh” produce
you just bought at your corner grocer
may be a lot older than you think.
Unless you live on a farm or shop at a greenmarket,
these items generally spend days being sorted,
packaged and then shipped (often cross country)
after being harvested. During that long process,
fluctuations in light and temperature rob fruits and vegetables
of important nutrients such as vitamin C and folate.
Also consider how long they sit in your fridge!
Canned and frozen produce sometimes retain more nutrients
because it’s been whisked off the fields to a processing plant
in a fraction of the time it takes for the fresh stuff
to make it to your dinner table.
Furthermore, the nutritional value of some produce
is actually enhanced by processing.
Take tomatoes; canned ones are cooked first,
which helps release lycopene, an antioxidant that has been
shown to help prevent many types of cancer.
Of course, the negative side of processing primarily
comes down to three things: taste, texture and additives.
Frozen and canned foods rarely taste as good as fresh,
and food manufacturers often have a nasty habit of
with Mother Nature by adding salt, sugar and fat to their products.
Canned vegetables are notoriously salty,
and frozen fruits and vegetables often contain added sugar or fat.
You can get around this by looking for
"low sodium” or “no salt added” canned items,
and bypassing frozen foods that contain added sugar, salt and fat.

Bottom line: Buy both, a variety of fresh and frozen.
When it comes to fresh, eat asap!
When it comes to frozen, remember to avoid varieties
with added salt, sugar and fat.

3- Cravings are your body's way of telling you
it needs something. - NOT.

Probably not.
To date, scientists have not been able to link cravings in humans
to specific micronutrient deficiencies.
In fact, an experimental psychologist conducted a study
on people with constant chocolate cravings.
In this experiment, one group was given a cocktail that
mimicked the chemicals found in chocolate,
and another group was given a fake chocolate bar which
looked, smelled, and tasted like chocolate but contained
no authentic chocolate-like compounds.
Guess which bar satisfied the participants most? The fake chocolate!
Even though it didn't chemically resemble chocolate,
the look, smell and taste hit the spot and satisfied cravings.

That said, cravings are believed to be
emotionally or psychologically driven.
People also tend to crave foods they enjoy
and associate with pleasurable times and places.

For example, you may crave hamburgers
because you downright love the taste and
typically eat them in cozy pubs and at family barbecues —
not because you’re deficient in the mineral iron.
Hormonal changes can also be responsible for cravings.
Ice cream and pickles anyone?

4- A juice fast is a great way to slim down quickly
and clean out your body.

No! For one thing, your body doesn’t need help cleaning itself —
the kidneys, liver and bladder do the job nicely.
And rather than trim you down quickly, j
juice fasts may actually cause you to overeat.
The beverages are high in refined sugar,
which starts the digestive process and can create
peaks and valleys in your blood sugar levels, leaving you hungry.
Juice is also void of protein, a macronutrient that’s
critical during weight loss (protein helps maintain lean muscle mass,
revs your metabolism and stabilizes your blood sugar levels).

To slim down quickly, you’re much better off
focusing meals on lean protein, such as
chicken, fish or tofu, loads of vegetables and
moderate amounts of fresh fruit and whole grains.
And be sure to drink loads of water!

5 - Certain foods, like grapefruit, celery or cabbage soup
can burn fat and make you lose weight.

These are anecdotal stories that have no scientific back-up.
It’s true these foods are low in calories (and loaded with nutrients),
but they do not actually burn fat.
If you lose weight when you add grapefruit
or celery to your eating plan, it’s probably because
you’re substituting it for another food that has more calories.

6 - You should only weight yourself one time each week.
Not true.

Checking your weight loss progress on a scale
can be quite encouraging, and two new studies —
one published last year in the Journal of Behavioral Medicine
and another published this past July in the
International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity —
found that people who were trying to lose weight
or avoid gaining weight were more successful if they weighed themselves daily.

One caveat: If you have an obsessive personality
and could potentially become too preoccupied with the scale,
this is not for you.
Use other effective ways to track your progress:
take body measurements, test body fat, compare personal photos
and access the fit of your clothing.

For more information on healthy eating,
visit nutrition expert Joy Bauer at http://www.joybauernutrition.com/.

I have but one small voice.. yet they wish to silence me.

*Just a note.. this blog is for my sanity. I welcome open discussion on the topic I am about to write about, but only kind, courteous, and civil chat will be allowed. I respect all races, all religions, and the good humans of this planet earth. Just to be clear, any threat will be reported.*

THE EXTREMISTS WHO WISH
TO DESTROY THE WEST ARE
EXACTLY LIKE THE GERMANS
WHO WANTED TO RULE THE WORLD.
We Will NOT Allow Any group to Destroy civilization!

I recently wathced a movie called, The Hamburg Cell.
It is about a young lebanese student who falls in with
muslim extremists who eventually carry out
the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.
I respected this film in some ways and others, I did not.
It also saddened me and frightened me.

I respect the aspect of the muslim culture of putting
God at the center of your universe. I like that idea.
The muslims in the movie, and yes this is just a movie,
even though it is based on actual events,
talked about a muslim holocaust,
yet put down the trials that jews went through
they put down the jewish holocaust,
stating that jews got rich off world war two.
Remember this is just a movie.

I want muslims to live in peace, yet the radicals want to kill me
just because of what land on earth I happened to be born.
I want to raise my son to be
tolerant of all races and religions like I am.
Yet, if Osama and his men had their way,
my son, my little 6 year old child,
would be shot dead just for being born,
just for being born white,
just for being born american, just because.
I am trying to teach my son to value all life,
to be a good , kind, and just man,
to teach him to respect his fellow man and woman.

Yet, because I am a single mother, because of my circumstances,
I am an infidel, and should be killed.
According to Osama and those like him,
I don't deserve happiness, or paradise
or everlasting peace when I die,
because I am a woman, I am american.
They want to destroy me, my mother, my grandmother, my child,
my life, as sucky as it is, it belongs to no one but me, it is MY life.
The muslims speak in the movie, of god and forgiveness,
one even says when he dies,
some of his value should go to the poor and needy.
I cannot understand how they can hate so blindly,
but try to look compassionate on the other end.

They hate us so much , they will die to kill us.
They are unrelenting in this movie, and it is sad,
and it infuriates me, and yet I pity them.
I pray for all muslims. Everyone has a right to exist. EVERYONE.
Well, yet again there, that too is debatable,

I should say everyone who never wants to harm anyone
has a right to exist. Murderers should not exist.
I am a woman, I was born in America, so you want to kill me.
I respect your religion, yet you want to kill me
and deny my choice of religion or how I wish to worship God.

You want to destroy me and my life,
even though I have a good relationship
just God and myself and noone else.
With God, that is all you need, you and him.

want to destroy me because I want to teach my son tolerance,
and to respect a woman. When the extremists attacked on 9/11,
the did not destroy faith, they did not destroy america,
they did not destroy hope, they did not bring us to our knees.
Many people from all walks of life died that day.
We need to be reminded of that,
we do lose sight sometimes in this country.

We are not perfect. No man or GOD is perfect.
GOD created us in his image, we are not perfect.
I pray for peace, yet I know I know I will never see it in my lifetime,
know my son will not see it, I even know
my grandchildren will not see peace.
The muslims in this movie claim America humilates them,
I was sorry and sad they felt that way.
T
he sins of the country are placed on us its citizens
That's what infuriates me, I want to cry out,
"I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING TO ANYONE!
Don't hurt me or my child!"

We need to take people on an individual basis,
case by case, person by person
one radical shouts they hate america,
do all muslims feel that way? No. *SIGH*
The muslims in this movie claim America is a disease,
but what you find here, you will find anywhere.

If you destroy America, who's next?
Because I have one small voice,
because I have opinions and ideas,
I am a threat to Osama and others like him.
They wish to kill me and destroy me.

Even in this movie, there were muslim men
who did not agree with the others,
they were good muslims,
and those who did not agree were outcasted,
the extremists do not tolerate. They are intolerant and evil.
How many peoples' livesdo you need to destroy with Jihad?
Where do you stop?

Intolerance is ugly, vile, and evil.
Those who are intolerant, will not have peace.

I respect muslims and their religion, I respect everyone.
And again I am being very general and I am mostly
talking about the DECENT HUMANS on this planet.
However, I do not, I cannot, will NOT respect
ANYONE that wishes malicious, purposeful , vindictive,
harm to any other human on this planet.
Killing is wrong. again I am being general.

Sadly in this world, it happens when good people
are backed into corners by predators, and maliciousness.
You kill someone who was trying to kill you or your family.
If they would've left you the heck alone in the first place,
the good human would never have to be in that situation.

If some crazed person were trying to hurt my child,
I would like to believe I would kill anyone to save my son.
Even though, it goes against every fiber of my being and my nature.
Basically leave me and mine alone.
I won't bother you and you don't bother me.

I am trying to live my life as safely as I can, and good as I can,
as respectful as I can, I stick to myself and I don't bother anyone,
and I am trying to teach my son to
respect other's lives the same way.

Yet, Osama and his like, wish to destroy me,
my values, even now I pray for them all.

Praise GOD, Praise Allah. Praise Buddah. Praise to all.

The men who wish to destroy will pay with their souls, they who follow Osama, will not reach enlightenment,
will not reach paradise, they will never be at peace. They will be doomed to be tormented for eternity.
That is some small consolement. For their roles in the 9/11 attacks, those men will never have paradise and will be eternally on fire, and to me it is comforting to know my families souls
will be at peace away from their poisoned spirits.

BLESS AMERICA, BLESS THE PLANET.
BLESS THE GOOD HUMANS
NO MATTER WHO THEY ARE
BLESS EVERYONE
Bless, muslim, agnostic, christian, jew, white, arab, black , chinese ,
italian, irish, german, english, french, gay, straight , bi..
IT DOES NOT MATTER. OK!

HATE HAS NO PLACE IN THIS WORLD!

I wish no ill will to those who wish me no ill will. And if you wish me ill will, god have mercy on your soul.
The good people, the good HUMANS of this planet will get paradise, no matter what race, creed,
religion, orientation, no matter what as long as you have had a good heart, you will have peace and paradise.
The murderers of 9/11 are NOT in paradise, and never will be, they are doomed to eternal hell
and damnation and torment -
--Praise ALLAH. Praise Buddah, Praise GOD!