I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. Charles Dickens

     That sounds like a great resolution for the New year.  How about you?  What are your resolutions and goals? This is the time to look back at 2011 and ask ourselves just what we have done.
     John 'The Penguin' Bingham, a runner/writer, had a resolution for this past year to exercise at least 30 minutes every day, which he has kept.....admirable and doable.
     Resolving to make 2012 our healthiest year ever is a good goal. I hope to jog or run/walk 1000 miles in 2012, bettering my 640 miles in 2011.  Also,  I am doing plank-a-days, which I have done daily since September, and plan on continuing in 2012, but the New Year and the world deserve and need more from me, and us, than that.
     Albert Einstein said that "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."  The same old tired resolutions won't cut it anymore for our world. It is time for a change, a tabula rasa or clean slate, a chance to start from the beginning. Today is the day to begin to contemplate possibilities for the future, for "the future you see is the future you get." (Robert G. Allen).  Spend some time reflecting on what you have done in 2011, and what you can do, in 2012.  I plan to.

Cheers to the new year and another chance to get it right.
                                Oprah Winfrey


Happy Christmas (War is Over), by John Lennon

So this is Christmas
And what have you done
Another year over
And a new one just begun
And so this is Christmas
I hope you have fun
The near and the dear ones
The old and the young

A very merry Christmas
And a happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one
Without any fear
And so this is Christmas
For weak and for strong
For rich and the poor ones
The world is so wrong
And so happy Christmas
For black and for white
For yellow and red ones
Let's stop all the fight
A very merry Christmas
And a happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one
Without any fear
And so this is Christmas
And what have we done
Another year over
And a new one just begun
Ans so this is Christmas
I hope you have fun
The near and the dear one
The old and the young
A very merry Christmas
And a happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one
Without any fear
War is over over
If you want it
War is over
Now...

Wheat Belly.

     Sugar and white flour are my gateway drugs for overeating.  They always have been and always will be.
      I recently read the book "Wheat Belly" by Dr. William Davis, a cardiologist.  He discusses the changes in modern day wheat.  It is not the same wheat that humans have eaten for the past 10,000 years.  In the past 50 years it has been genetically altered and hybridized so as to be almost unrecognizable to the human digestive tract, which has not evolved in that short amount of time to adapt to it. 
     Celiac disease has increased 4 fold in the past 50 years, and there are many other types of wheat sensitivities and allergies.  Dr. Davis feels that many adverse health conditions such as obesity, diabetes, heart disease, immunological and neurological disorders, may be eliminated by eliminating wheat. 
     Thus, being an experiment of one, I am going to go wheat free for 3 weeks to see if I notice a difference in my life, to determine if I am wheat sensitive.  In reality, I eat very little wheat anyway, but will avoid all pasta, cold cereals, and bread, plus start reading labels to make sure no wheat ingredients are listed. I will see if I feel less hungry or less achy or just better.
     He makes a good argument for not eating wheat, but then he generalizes it to most carbs, and the diet he suggests seems very Adkins-like.  He doesn't back up any of that part of the book with research.  He does state diet should primarily be plant/vegetable based, though, for health.

     I received a soy-milk maker for Christmas from my kids....they know me well!  Today I will try a batch of almond/rice milk as that is what I have on hand.  Later I will try soy milk and other nut milks.  I love to experiment.  

     
                    Go vegan and nobody gets hurt.

Love is what's in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen.

       We were very fortunate people this Christmas.   Dean and I, and our kids and grandchildren were all together, and in the relative warmth of Austin, TX.   We are lucky people.  Not everyone is as fortunate to have family near, or even far.  But as the saying goes, "There are no strangers on Christmas Eve."  We hope everyone found companionship and comaraderie, warmth, and love for the holiday.  Even our foster doggie, Rin, was with another foster home, the same one she was with over Thanksgiving.  It is a time to be thankful for all of our blessings.

"The best of all gifts around any Christmas tree:  the presence of a happy family all wrapped up in each other."  Burton Hillis.

Hiking in Austin

Our Grandson loves legos.



Tack room for the horses.



Our Granddaughter LOVES horses.

This Christmas cactus is from a plant given to Dean's Grandma by her aunt.  It is old!

Christmas is coming...

and I got no sleep at all last night.  Unlike the tiny tots awake and excited about Santa's upcoming visit, I was awake and mentally creating to-do lists and worrying about the weather.  I've always been a worrier.  I will be excited, too, but later on after the to-do lists are accomplished and we see how bad this winter storm becomes.
     Wishing you a wonderful holiday, no more to-do lists,  reasonably good weather, and no worries.

Get Plant Strong With Plant Power.

     Green leafy veggies are powerhouses.  Eat them for lean muscle growth.
          1.  They help the mitochondria in cells to function more efficiently.
          2.  They contain the amino acid glutamine, which is often taken by
                 body builders.
          3.  They are important for muscle building at any age, but especially in
                 older adults.
          4.  They cause muscle tissues to recover faster after an intense work-
                  out.
     Please read more:
     http://www.diet-blog.com/11/vegetables_for_lean_muscle_growth.php
       
     Let's all try to eat healthily and be more active this holiday.  Remember,
Nobody is impressed with how good your excuses are.

There's someone in there.

     Have you heard the haunting Christmas Carol, "In the Bleak Midwinter?"
It is based on a poem written by Christina Rosetti in 1872.  The first verse is as follows:
                         In the bleak mid-winter
                         Frosty wind made moan,
                         Earth stood hard as iron,
                         Water like a stone;
                         Snow had fallen, snow on snow,
                         Snow on snow,
                         In the bleak mid-winter
                         Long ago.
     Today is one of those bleak mid-winter days, dark and cold.  On days like today, this song always goes through my mind. 
                 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRobryliBLQ

    
     Emotions come from deep ancient parts of the brain.  The science is clear that animals have emotions, as do humans, and animals exhibit empathy as well.  New research shows that rats help other rats with no explicit rewards at stake.  http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/238929.php
     I am watching the 2010 "Get Healthy Now" conference, out on DVD.  They have the usual great speakers such as Dr. Joel Fuhrman, Dr. John McDougall, Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn, Jr,  Rip Esselstyn,  and John Robbins. 
     Rev. Heng Sure, PhD, a Buddhist Monk and mendicant, also spoke.  He is known for his 800 mile "three steps one bow" pilgrimage which lasted 2 1/2 years.  He and his companion, Heng Chou, bowed from South Pasadena to Ukiah, California, for world peace.
     He told the story of bowing his way, on that pilgrimage, past a mile-long stockyard next to the highway, and smelling the stockyard smells.  Cattle semis carrying cattle to slaughter traveled that same highway...he told how he and his companion smelled the cold fear eminating from those "Death Trucks", and that those cattle knew what fate awaited them.  "Death Trucks"....how aptly named.
     He also told this charming story.  His monastery has ceremonies where they rescue food animals and release them to sanctuary or nature.  In one ceremony his Mom, a Methodist lady, came to observe.  They were releasing turtles (saved from turtle soup) back to a lake.  He handed his Mom a large turtle and asked her to release it.  One of his associates told her to be sure and watch the turtle after she let it go, that the turtle would look back directly at her.  His Mom said " sure, sure," not believing, and released the turtle.  That turtle took off in a turtle sprint to the lake and dove in.  It swam a short distance, then turned and looked back at Heng Sure's Mom, directly in her eyes.  It swam off, but again turned back and looked directly in the eyes of Heng Sure's Mom.  It did the same thing a third time before diving down into the lake for good.  Heng Sure's Methodist Mom was absolutely shocked and said: "There's someone in there!"  
     Animals are sentient creatures, and they can be grateful.

"May my table be a blessing for the world."   Rev. Heng Sure, PhD 

Dalai Lama's 18 rules for living.

     I recently read the "18 rules for living" issued by the Dalai Lama at the beginning of the new millennium.  They are worth reading and remembering as we near the start of 2012.

1.  Take into account that great love and great achievements involve great risk.

2.  When you lose, don't lose the lesson.

3.  Follow the three Rs:
          1.  Respect for self.
          2.  Respect for others.
          3.  Responsibility for all your actions.

4.  Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck.

5.  Learn the rules so you know how to break them properly.

6.  Don't let a little dispute ruin a great friendship.

7.  When you realize you've made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.
 
8.  Spend some time alone every day.

9.  Open your arms to change, but don't let go of your values.

10.  Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.

11.  Live a good, honorable life.  Then when you get older and think back, you'll be able to enjoy it a second time.

12.  A loving atmosphere in your home is the foundation for your life.

13.  In disagreements with your loved ones, deal only with the current situation.  Don't bring up the past.

14.  Share your knowledge.  It's a way to achieve immortality.

15.  Be gentle with the earth.

16.  Once a year, go someplace you've never been before.

17.  Remember that the best relationship is one in which your love for each other exceeds your need for each other.

18.  Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it. 

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood...

I'm going on a squirrel hunt.



Going to catch a big one, but I'm not afraid.

It's a beautiful day in this neighborhood, A beautiful day for a neighbor. Would you be mine? Could you be mine?... It's a neighborly day in this beauty wood, A neighborly day for a beauty. Would you be mine? Could you be mine?... I've always wanted to have a neighbor just like you. I've always wanted to live in a neighborhood with you. So, let's make the most of this beautiful day. Since we're together we might as well say: Would you be mine? Could you be mine? Won't you be my neighbor? Won't you please, Won't you please? Please won't you be my neighbor?

Won't You Be My Neighbor By Fred M. Rogers © 1967

Are you a contender?

     To contend:  to strive in opposition to or against difficulties; to compete.
    
     I read a couple of interesting articles this week that I am going to pass on to you. 

     The first, "Shape Up America before it's too late," is from NPR's blog.  It has a great video :  "Living in Mississippi."  America is the fattest country in the world and Mississippi is the fattest state, therefore Mississippians are the fattest people in the world.  It is worth your time to watch.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2011/12/07/143271253/shape-up-america-before-its-too-late#more

     The second article is called "Too Fat to Fight".  It states that childhood obesity is now a national security issue.  "Three fourths of Americans aged 17-24 can't enter the military because they are ineligible---either because they are obese or dealing with substance abuse, a criminal record, or academic problems.  Obesity is the leading medical reason why potential recruits are turned away." 

     Academically, "the U.S. was once first in the world in both high school and college graduation rates.  Today we are respectively at postions 20 and 16."

     Our global competitiveness is at risk.  Is the USA still a contender?

     http://www.huffingtonpost.com/linda-novick-okeefe/too-fat-to-fight_b_1133758.html?ref=healthy-living&ir=Healthy%20Living

     These articles really make one think. What do you care about that makes you contend, strive, or compete, just a little bit harder?  Your health?  The planet's health?  Are you a contender?  I'd like to think that I am a contender.  Shout it out and mean it:  "I am a contender!"

  "You don't understand.  I coulda had class.  I coulda been a contender.  I coulda been somebody, instead of a bum, which is what I am, let's face it."      From the movie "On the Waterfront"

Never lose your magic.

"We all start out knowing magic.  We are born with whirlwinds, forest fires, and comets inside us.  We are born able to sing to birds and read the clouds and see our destiny in grains of sand.  But then we get the magic educated right out of our souls.  We get it churched out, spanked out, washed out, and combed out.  We get put on the straight and narrow and told to be responsible.  Told to act our age. Told to grow up, for God's sake.  And you know why we were told that?  Because the people doing the telling were afraid of our wildness and youth, and because the magic we knew made them ashamed and sad of what they'd allowed to wither in themselves."

Robert R. McCammon
Boy's Life    

Wisdom begins in wonder. Socrates

Otters hold hands when they sleep so they don't float away from each other.

Fitness is where it's at.

     More good news...this from a study reported by the American Heart Association.  For longer life, fitness is more important than losing weight.  Increasing your fitness is a better way to decrease your death risk than just decreasing your BMI.  Becoming less fit increases your death risk regardless of BMI.  This is great news for people who are physically fit but just can't seem to lose weight, and really good motivation to keep exercising for the rest of us.  Read more here:
http://newsroom.heart.org/pr/aha/physical-fitness-trumps-body-weight-219973.aspx

     I am trying to use the treadmill 3 times a week, but really hate it.  Hopefully it will grow on me, or the weather will warm up and melt the ice on the sidewalks.
     I am over the 90 day mark on my plank-a-day streak.  Still working towards one full year of planking. 
     Rin is still with us...no one has even called for an pre-adoption visit.  She is still stalking squirrels and rabbits, and is now even more intense.  She startled a squirrel and it fell out of a tree at her feet, but got away back up the tree and on to our garage roof.  The squirrel proceeded to chew us both out royally for several minutes.  Rin never forgets and carefully checks the tree and roof every time we pass.  She is such a typical labrador now....just loves bounding through the snow and sniffing for animal tracks.  No more timidity.  She is a hunter (on a leash at all times).

"And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow..."

     This says it better than I ever could:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DDaG6ayJPg

     I hope you Austonites (Austonians?), and all of you in the South, are realizing how lucky you are right now.  It is 7 degrees at 12 noon.  Poor little Rin isn't getting much "squirrel stalking," or even walking, in because I'm afraid it will frostbite the pads of her feet. 

     We attended a wonderful Christmas concert put on by the Colorado Chorale yesterday.  We were home before the snowstorm hit.  The old familiar carols and some new ones, too, did their job by starting to nudge us towards some Christmas spirit. We need it as we get grinchier every year. Great job, Kate, our daughter who is a Chorale member.

Being thankful for a warm house to come home to.

     Another 6-8 inches of snow so far and very cold temperatures.  We did take Rin out for her obligatory, what she considers to be, squirrel hunt.  Later, we will go out with shovels and get more functional fitness.  Once out the door you do notice the peacefulness and quiet of the snow.  I did look up, but I can't see foothills or their beauty right now, but I know they are there.
     I saw on Facebook that more than a dozen brave and hardy souls went to running group this morning.  Not us.  Keeping up a jogging routine is going to be more difficult than I imagined over the winter.
     I am so thankful to have a warm home and hope everyone has found a warm place out of the elements today.
     Do any of you get cabin fever, too?  I feel like I am trapped in a snow globe sometimes and wish someone would stop turning me upside down. 

Inside the snowglobe on my father's desk, there was a penguin wearing a red-and-white-striped scarf.  When I was little my father would pull me into his lap and reach for the snowglobe.  He would turn it over, letting all the snow collect on the top, then quickly invert it.  The two of us watched the snow fall gently around the penguin.  The penguin was alone in there, I thought, and I worried for him.  When I told my father this, he said, "Don't worry, Susie;  he has a nice life.  He's trapped in a perfect world." 
                            Alice Sebold,  Lovely Bones

Brave, hardy runners today (not us)

"A bear, however hard he tries, grows tubby without exercise." Winnie the Pooh

     In continuing yesterday's subject matter... there was an article in the New York Times on 11-23-11 discussing the FTO (fat mass and obesity) or so-called fat gene.  It was discovered several years ago.  65% of people of European or African descent and 44% of Asian descent do carry some version of the FTO gene.
     However a new report published last month in the Journal of PLoS Medicine emphatically suggests those with the FTO gene are not "doomed to be tubby."  Physical activity, even in small doses, may subvert genetic destiny by about 30%...enough to change from being seriously overweight to normal weight.  Physical activity plays a role in weight control even for those genetically predisposed.
     This is much better news than that presented in Gina Kolata's book, "Rethinking Thin." 
      
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/23/when-fat-runs-in-the-family/?scp=1&sq=doomed%20to%20be%20tubby&st=cse


     On to other things....we did get about 8 inches of snow yesterday, and more is to come tonight and tomorrow.  It is icy out!  Scooping snow last night was actually kind of fun once the wind died down.  I kept telling myself that it was functional exercise, and better than any old gym membership (which I don't have).  I am striving to love snow, cold, and ice.  It is only the first part of December.  I'd better get to love it.  After all, the snow on the foothills is truly beautiful if I just remind myself to look up once in a while. 

Why even try?

     I finished the book I mentioned yesterday:   "Rethinking Thin, The New Science of Weight Loss--and the Myths and Realities of Dieting" by Gina Kolata, who is a science writer for the New York Times.  The basic story line is coverage of a 2 year study comparing Adkins dieters and low calorie, low fat dieters.  This story line alternates with a history of dieting since the mid 1800s and also obesity research since the 1940s. 
     The history of dieting was very interesting.  People have been worried about their weights for at least 150 years.  Also, people's perceptions about what is normal weight have been changing....decreasing over the past 150 years.  At the same time, since the civil war, average heights have increased by 3 inches and people have gotten fatter.
     She didn't give the results of the 2 year study, just anecdotal results of some of the dieters.  Most of them lost weight at first and then, no matter what they did, the weight came back.  
     She quotes other research that found the same thing....weight loss will eventually lead to regaining the weight.  She states that most of obesity is due to genetics...that there is a narrow comfortable range of 20-30 pounds in weight that most people can sustain.  She also quoted studies that show that overweight people (not obese or underweight) are healthier and live longer.  She blames the Diet Industry for not letting this information be known...that overweight is not unhealthy, and that diets don't work.  She theorizes that "higher weights could be an unintended consequence of the nation's generally better health, or maybe even a contributor to it."
     I found the book depressing, hopeless, even.  I can see how being overweight can be healthier, especially if you are fit, but that doesn't explain the sudden growth in obesity in the world.  Morbidly obese people do have health problems, and it doesn't help to have someone generalize from a few studies that weight loss is never ever sustainable.
     She never mentions the people who do manage to lose weight and keep it off.  The National Weight Control Registry follows these people.  The registry participants have lost an average of 66 pounds and kept them off for an average of 5.5 years.  45% lost the weight on their own, 55% used a diet program.  98% modified their food intake in some way.  94% increased their physical activity.  The majority eat breakfast every day, watch less than 10 hours of T.V. a week, weigh themselves once a week, and exercise on average 1 hour a day.  Sustained weight loss is certainly possible.
     My thoughts: 
          1.  The point should be health and fitness, not a number on the scale.
          2.  None of the researched diets discussed were what I would call
               "healthy."   Low calorie, low fat, or even Atkins are starvation 
               diets and obviously won't work.
          3.  Why has no one researched eating high fiber, unprocessed, real food?
          4.  Why no research on plant based vs animal based diets?
          5.  Why no research on eating steroid-free, hormone-free, added
                chemical-free organic diets?
          6.  Why no studies on increasing fitness?  The fitter you are, the more
                you crave healthy food.
          7.  I do wonder what the statistics are for continued weight control for
               "Biggest Loser" participants.  That would be fascinating to know.
     After some of these questions have been answered, then and only then, should conclusions start to be drawn.

     In Dr. Andrew Weil's blog today he discusses new research showing that inflammation can cause depression, and that eating an anti-inflammatory diet can help treat it.  http://www.drweilblog.com/

     In Dr. Joel Fuhrman's blog today he discusses fighting breast cancer by eating flax.  http://www.diseaseproof.com/

One more Thanksgiving picture.