I'm happy to report that my inner child is still ageless. (James Broughton)

     Happy birthday to me!  Being 60 turns out to feel just like being 59, or 49, or 29...except maybe achier.  Six months of blogging have come and gone so, as promised, it is update time.
     I bestow 5 well-deserved stars on my forehead for maintaining plant-based, whole food, vegan eating with gusto.
     I award myself 3 stars on the forehead for regular exercise--my Achilles' Heel.  I did exercise 3-6 times/week but could, should, and will try to do better and to diversify.
     A side benefit--I have lost 24 pounds in 26 weeks without dieting or feeling hungry, so I must be doing something right. 
     None of the above is earth shattering, but I will take it.
     My Plan:  Continue on with this experiment of one and together we will see what happens.

"With mirth and laughter let old wrinkles come."  Shakespeare (Merchant of Venice)

                                                                         8-2-11

                                                                          2-2-11

U.N. urges meat and dairy free diets

     http://hpjmh.com/2011/07/31/u-n-urges-global-move-to-meat-and-dairy-free-diet/

     If you needed more reasons to change to a vegan diet, please read the above link.   A report by UNEP (United Nations Environmental Programme) states that as the global population grows to 9.1 billion people by 2050, diets rich in meat and dairy are unsustainable.  Unfortunately, as developing nations become more affluent they opt to eat more meat and dairy, as we do.
     Did you know that agricultural water use accounts for about 75% of total global water consumption; industrial use accounts for about 20%, and the remaining 5% is used for domestic purposes.  Most of those crops being irrigated are to be fed to animals.
     I have read that the average American uses 106 gallons of water a day; however if they eat a quarter pound hamburger that day, they use 3106 gallons of water!
     If health reasons haven't caused you to decrease or cease your animal product consumption, maybe the environment will.  You can't call yourself an environmentalist and eat animal products.

Chiggers, not for the squeamish

     I was gardening last week, cutting down some tall mounds of flowers that were overgrown, and I must have wandered into an area of chiggers.  Usually we don't have chiggers here, but it has been an odd and wetter than normal year.  So, one week later, I am still miserable with these darn bites all over my feet, ankles, and waist area.  I must be especially sensitive because I have hives and blisters, and they itch like the dickens!  I am taking benadryl and also using antibiotic cream.  I hope they get better soon.

Good-bye Walter Reed

     Walter Reed Army Medical Center, the Army's flagship hospital, is closing after 102 years.  The closure ceremony is today, although most of the move will take place in August.  It is combining with the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md and a new community hospital in Fort Belvoir, Va.  The Bethesda facility is to be named the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.  On September 15, the new tenants take over at the current Walter Reed:  the State Department and the District of Columbia.
     You may have read in a previous post of mine that I am a WRAIN drop...I got my BSN education at Walter Reed and then worked there 3 more years in renal transplant and also on the gastrointestinal ward.  Two of our three children, Ben and Kate, were born there. Ben was baptized at the Walter Reed Memorial Chapel.  Dean had a couple of minor surgeries at Walter Reed, plus remembers tearing frantically around the hospital at 4 in the morning to get me admitted when Ben was insistent on being born NOW!  Walter Reed is an important part of our family's memories. We lived in the D.C. area for 7 years.
     A small NICU unit was located on the second floor just above the main entry shown in the photo.  I remember, as a nursing student, standing at those windows and watching King Hussein of Jordan entering the hospital just below me. 
     There was a beautiful rose garden located just south of the hospital where Jason saw clowns and bravely fought off  "snakes" early one dewy Easter morning.
     President Dwight Eisenhower died at Walter Reed.  Also John J. Pershing and Douglas Macarthur.  Foreign leaders were treated as well, such as King Hussein of Jordan and the Shah of Iran.
     Another important place in history is now consigned to memory; at least to mine.

Rescuing dogs, Rescuing people

     Saturday was Freedom Service Dogs Summer Class of 2011 graduation program.  18 client/dog teams graduated.  As always, it was a heart-warming and tear-filled event.  As a volunteer, I have worked with and know 10 of the 18 dogs.  One was Jonas, who we fostered for 6 weeks.  His photo was in a previous post.  He has a wonderful new family and home.  They are all fantastic dogs, and they had all been given to shelters by their previous owners, were rescued and trained to become service dogs and/or therapy dogs.  It is a glorious feeling to know that we have helped out, even in a small way.

      To learn more of one of the client/dog teams, here is an article from the Denver Post:
                                 http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_18538614?source=email

     To learn more about Freedom Service Dogs, go to their website or to you-tube to see some of their videos.
                                 http://www.freedomservicedogs.org/

   
     Have you found a way to give of yourself lately? 

"Don't ask yourself what the world needs, ask yourself what makes you come alive.  And then go and do that.  Because what the world needs is people who are alive."    Howard Thurman
    

    

    

    

Nutrition Facts and Fun

     I discovered a new website I would like to share with you.  It has a library of short, easy to understand, video segments on various published nutritional research topics.  Dr. Michael Greger, M.D.,  "scours the world of nutrition-related research, as published in scientific journals."  He is licensed as a general practitioner M.D. specializing in clinical nutrition.  The site is still in beta-testing mode, but will soon be adding a new video each day. 

                                      http://www.nutritionfacts.org/
  
     Here are a couple of interesting facts I picked up just this morning:

     Anti-Cancer vegetables:  One study pitted 34 types of vegetables against 8 types of cancer cells measuring tumor proliferation.  The take home data was to eat a variety of vegetables as each targets different cancers.  Eat a portfolio of vegetables.
     Some vegetables, however, do target multiple types of cancers.  Of the salad greens, spinach came in number one and radicchio second.  Beets, also, slow cancer cell proliferation by 50%. 
     But the two families of vegetables absolutely essential for cancer prevention are the cruciferous and allium vegetables.  The one clear winner was garlic which stopped cancer proliferation completely in 7 of 8 types of cancers.

     Aspirin levels in plant foods:  Aspirin is widely distributed in the plant kingdom.  Vegetarians naturally have low levels of aspirin in their blood, sometimes as much as those who take aspirin as a drug.  However the drug aspirin increases the risks of bleeding, as with stroke.  The vegetables with aspirin do not.

     Thousands of vegans studied:  The average BMI (body mass index, a measurement based on weight and height) in this country is 28.8, which falls into the overweight category.  Flexitarians, those eating animal products just occasionally, were also in the overweight BMI group.  Vegetarians, those eating no meat, were also overweight, but healthier than the flexitarians.  Vegans, those eating no animal products of any kind, were the only group falling into the normal BMI group with healthy weights. 
     The researchers thought that possibly the vegans exercised more than the other groups, and did study for that.  In actuality, the vegans in this group exercised less than the other groups.  The vegan group individuals weighed, on average, 40 pounds less than those in the flexitarian group.

     Gut flora and obesity:   Only one in ten cells in your body is actually human.  90% are bacterial.  The human colon is one of the most biodense in the world.  It has effects on hormonal balance, the immune system, and the energy systems of the body.  Researchers compared the colon bacteria of vegans versus that of omnivores.  The vegan colon bacteria had a small capacity for energy gain, maybe a 2% difference. 2% less calories were returned to the body, i.e. 2% more calories were excreted.  Over the course of a year this could mean 5 pounds less of weight gain for a vegan versus an omnivore. This 5 pounds is about the same amount as the average annual weight gain due to aging and changes in set point, and can counteract that gain.

     Interesting research.  My 10% human cells and I are signing out for today.

Fun is good. (Dr. Seuss)

     We, and hopefully you, have planted the seeds of exercise and nutrition but now need to nourish them.  What could be better to keep them growing than a dose of fun.  How to best incorporate fun into our fitness is a question I have been pondering this week.  Here are my thoughts.
     1.  Find a partner.  Dean and I are fortunate to have each other to exercise with on weekends and to encourage one another when needed.
     2.  Join a group.  Social support is key.  Surround yourself with supportive people.  We have joined a Saturday morning running group sponsored by our local running store and a neighborhood market.  All ages and levels of ability are welcomed.  Everyone is friendly, plus afterwards breakfast and coffee are available there at the market.
     3.  Set short and long term goals (kedges).  We have signed up for a 10K run for the end of September which winds through the 3 major sports venues in town.  It sounds really fun and not at all competitive.
     4.  Reward yourself.  After attending 10 sessions of our running group, we get a free running group tee-shirt.  Who could ever have enough free tee-shirts?  Am I right?  It gets me there.  Find a reward that inspires you.
     5.  Enjoy cooking.  I do...on occasion.  It is an inventive activity that can really get those creative juices flowing.  I love to try new and seasonal foods.  Last weekend after the group run, the sponsoring neighborhood market had great produce so we combined some of them ....we had arugula salad topped with quinoa with fresh ginger, steamed asparagus, broccolini, 3 colors of bell peppers, tofu, a little soy sauce, topped with pumpkin seeds.  It was fantastic.  I felt like a real foodie eating such a gourmet meal.
     6.  Learn to love a good left-over.  Always cook extra servings so you have something healthy and fast in the fridge for when you are in a hurry or cooking seems to be a drag or for next day lunch at work.  I still cook as if we had a houseful of teenagers at home, but teenagers who love vegetables.
     7.  Find a sport you love.  One that is purely play for you.  This is the one I haven't solved yet.  I do need a cross-training sport.  My husband loves basketball and bike-riding...they are play for him.  I like walking and hiking, but those aren't really cross-training for jogging.  So I am still looking for the exercise that is play in my life.  Maybe dance?   Maybe another dog in our family someday...dogs are all play.

     In summary, try new things, meet new people, shake it up, and get out of your rut.  Just play.

"I still get wildly enthusiastic about little things.  I play with leaves. I skip down the street and run against the wind."     Leo F. Buscaglia