Overeating

I was browsing the New York Times this morning trying to get up to date with the news. Quite accidentally I ran into this semi book review of the book "The end of overeating: taking control of the insatiable American appetite", by Dr. David A. Kessler.

Basically, Dr. Kessler finds that, much like cigarette makers manipulate nicotine levels to make them more additive, food manufacturers might also manipulate fats, sugar and salts to keep us wanting more food than we actually need. How fascinating! I think I will read the book.

One of his main messages is that overeating is not due to an absence of willpower, but a biological challenge made more difficult by the overstimulating food environment that surrounds us. “Conditioned hypereating” is a chronic problem that is made worse by dieting and needs to be managed rather than cured, he said. And while lapses are inevitable, Dr. Kessler outlines several strategies that address the behavioral, cognitive and nutritional factors that fuel overeating

Eroding Trust

I just finished reading this great op-ed by Thomas Friedman in the New York Times. He is writing about Al Qaeda and their strategy to create a closed American society by causing an erosion in trust.

"By turning human beings into walking missiles and instruments from our daily lives — cars, airplanes, shoes, cellphones, backpacks — into bombs, Al Qaeda attacks the very feature that keeps our open society open: trust. If you have to fear that the person next to you on a plane or in a theater might blow up, there can be no open society."

It is a scary thought that it is up to all of us to keep an open mind and an open heart regardless of how chaotic things become. Once we, as a society, allow fear and prejudice to separate and isolate us from each other, they win.

Easter Revelation

The first time I heard the song our choir director wanted us to sing for our Easter program I was shocked. Here are some of the lines:

"You are a lunatic prophet, deceived and deranged . . . Crucify, let the cross be your fate. Crucify, it's your lies that we hate. Crucify, there is no time to wait. Jesus must die! Crucify, Crucify, Crucify."

I marched straight up to the choir director and told him I would not sing such a song. He simply replied: "That is exactly the reaction I am looking for. I want people to really feel the hatred in the crowd." My steely resolve began to erode on the spot. After all, he made a good point.

Of course, I was not the only one that felt a bit uncomfortable with the song. Many other choir members protested, but little by little, we were convinced that everyone else was singing, so why not sing too.

By performance time I was bellowing out along with everyone else in the choir: crucify, crucify, crucify!

A couple days later I started to analyze what went wrong with my resolve. It suddenly dawned on me that I had experienced what many people might have experienced who were at Jesus' trial that day. I am sure there were dozens of people there that knew in their hearts that Jesus was innocent. Little by little, however, witnesses came forth, religious leaders accused, people around them began to cave, and by the end of the trial, they had joined in with the others in bellowing together:

Crucify, crucify, crucify . . .

Snow Days

It snowed about 8 inches on Sunday night. When I woke up on Monday morning there were fallen branches, my car and driveway were totally buried, and there was no way for me to go to work. Yes!
I love snow days. Unfortunately, Trevan is in California for a conference, which means that I have been stuck in my house for two days now totally alone. Since Richmond does not see this amount of snow very often, the road crews tend to ignore entire neighborhoods when plowing. Mine happens to be one of the abandoned streets. Not to worry though, I have filled in my home alone time by working on various house projects.
Tomorrow the temperature is suppose to get up into the 50s, so I will be able to get out of the house.

Valentine's Day

This year for Valentine's day we had a blast! We started out with pancakes on Wednesday. Then I helped Trevan preach on Sabbath (mostly I just helped demonstrate proper communication techniques).

Then Trevan gave me chocolate and a wonderful card! The chocolate is so decadent . . .
Tomorrow, we are going to Ipanema Grill for lunch, my favorite restaurant in Richmond! This has been a wonderful week for Trevan and I.

Bring on the Pain!

I am becoming more and more disappointed with the apparent inability of congress and this administration to make tough decisions and bring on the pain. It almost feels like I am sitting in the doctor's office and he is going on and on about all the different things he can do to ease my symptoms because he is too scared of telling me that it will take a dramatic surgery to cure whatever I have.

We know things are bad, and we know we have to sacrifice and be in even more pain before things get better, but if we never get started with the surgery, then the real healing will take that much longer.

Maureen Dowd has a great article specifically dealing with Geithner's cuddly plan to deal with the financial sector. It is obvious that he is trying to avoid surgery. Here is an excerpt:

"Geithner is wrong. The pay of all the employees in bailed-out banks, not just top executives, should be capped. And these impervious, imperial suits who squander taxpayers’ money after dragging the country over the cliff should all be fired — preferably when they come to D.C. on Wednesday in a phony show of populism on Amtrak and the shuttle to testify before Barney Frank."

"Wall Street cannot be trusted to change its culture. Just look at the full-page ads that Bank of America (which got $45 billion) and Citigroup (which got $50 billion) are plastering in newspapers, lavishing taxpayer money on preening prose."

"We don’t want our money spent, as Citigroup did, to pat itself on the back “as we navigate the complexities together.” Bank of America cannot get back our trust by spending more of our cash to assure us that it’s “getting to work” on getting back our trust."

"Just get back to work and start repaying us."

Vegan for a Month

At the beginning of every year I like challenging myself to do something interesting or new. This year I decided to go vegan for the month of January.

While I have not been totally successful in my quest (had some cheesy pasta and some chicken once) this has been an interesting month.

Mostly, I cannot wait for it to be over. I miss yogurt for breakfast. . .

For some reason I expected to feel different by the end of the month. Not sure how this difference would manifest itself: more energy, better sleep. . . I don't know, something. Alas, nothing has changed. I feel the same as I did at the beginning of the month. I think this is because I don't eat that much meat and dairy to begin with, so it has not been a huge transition for me.

Overall it has been a fun experiment. This experience has showed me that I can cut down even more on my animal products consumption without much effort. Moderation is the key. . . and yogurt for breakfast!

On Twilight

Yes, I admit it, I read all four books in the Twilight Saga.

I have always been a fan of vampire tales so I found it hard to resist this teenage drama. Everyone (under the age of 16) seemed to be reading it so I thought: "Why not?"

It totally got me hooked. For three weeks every free minute I had went into reading. It became quite an obsession. I just wanted to finish the books.

When it was finally over I was thoroughly dissapointed. First because the ending of the book left lots to be desired of. Second, I really did not like the casting desicions made for the movie - the people on the screen did not match the people I had created in my head. Finally, there was a bit of a let down. I spend so many hours with the characters it felt like they were a part of my family. Then they were all gone. With one flip of the final page my life went back to normal and I realized that I had no idea what to do next. . .

The quest continues!

Book Recommendation

Over the holidays I read various books. One of the books I read was Sex God by Rob Bell. This book explores sexuality and spirituality and the connections that we sense but are not always sure why.

I came away from this book thinking: "My kids have got to read this." Why? Because in my opinion this book explains in a very concrete way the emotional consequences of pre-marital sex. While parents usually like to mention the scary stuff like an unwanted pregnancy or STDs, the emotional impact of sexual relationships is the best reason to abstain until marriage. That's my opinion anyways, so I appreciate some resources in that department.

Bell does a great job of applying biblical soundness to the sometimes insane world of sexuality that we all face on a daily basis. It is also a very quick read!

Holiday Pictures

Now that I am feeling much better I thought I would post some pictures. We spent Christmas in Arizona along with Trevan's parents, Heather, Patrick, Ainsley, and Uncle Larry and Aunt Gillian.

Here is Ainsley with aunt Shari. . .
. . .And here is Ainsley with uncle Trevan

If you got a call from me over the holidays. . .let's just say my phone was being help hostage.
We also got to go to the Phoenix zoo, and I got to see a Sumatran tiger for the first time in my life. It was a very exciting experience.
Finally, it would not be a holiday unless someone got frisky with the ostrich!

To 2009!

This year has started off with a bang!

On New Year's day I threw-up on my way to the airport and have been sick for about a week now.

Yesterday I went to the doctor and found out I have an upper-respiratory infection...

I am looking forward to great things this year!

Great Food Blog

This morning I was searching for a fun soup recipe that I can try this weekend and I ran into this blog: www.eatnvegn.blogspot.com.

Trevan's cousin Kim, and her husband Paul are coming to visit for the weekend and I will attempt to make the Samosa soup for them. It sounds and looks delicious.

I will let you know how it goes.