Alias Reader wrote: "Deb...you still there? Oh Deb...... :) It's not all bad.... read on. ..."

LOL! You got that right, Alias! It's not that 30 minutes is bad, only that i'm unlikely to do that because i would quickly add it up in my mind & realize i was spending 3 1/2 hours walking each week. My math skills are such that i can't quickly figure out how long i'm walking if i do 20 min. a day. SICK!

My brother recommended that interval exercise. He runs & feels he gets more out of his running by doing this than the "usual" way. I hope to build up to doing it & still not falling apart after 10 minutes. LOL!

Thanks for the thoughts, Alias. I appreciate it. I love Ellen's comment & find it inspirational in many ways.

deborah

Well, one study by the Institute of Medicine recommended "to maintain cardiovascular health, we should all engage in 60 minutes of daily vigorous physical activity....The authors make it quite clear that they are not talking here about merely accumulating the equivalent of an hour of exercise during one's routine daily activities (such as climbing stairs or doing the laundry). No, they're talking about adding 60 minutes of honest to goodness exercise (the equivalent of walking or jogging at least at a 4 to 5 miles per hour pace) to whatever other activities we might perform during the course of a normal day."

Deb...you still there? Oh Deb...... :) It's not all bad.... read on.

"More than 40 studies in the scientific literature document that cardiac risk can be reduced by 30 - 50% by regular, moderate exercise - exercise averaging far less than one hour per day. Indeed, on September 5, the very day the Institute of Medicine report was released, yet another major article appeared in the New England Journal of Medicine showing that, among 73,743 women followed for a number of years, those who reported walking at least 2.5 hours a week (roughly 20 minutes a day) reduced their cardiovascular risk by 30%. Women who exercised more than this reduced their risk even more, but the point is that 20 minutes a day was enough to gain a substantial improvement in cardiac risk. This study is consistent with a large body of medical literature.

The bottom line: if you can engage in vigorous exercise for an hour a day without making yourself crazy, crippling yourself, losing your job, or instigating a divorce, then by all means do so. But if you are a mere mortal, then at least try to go for a walk every day. Twenty minutes of moderate daily activity won't make the pounds melt off or give you the same body composition as Frank Shorter or the Williams sisters, but it will make a real impact on your cardiovascular health.
this info is from: http://heartdisease.about.com/cs/exercis...


As for me I aim for a minimum of 30 min, in one exercise period, if I am on my manual treadmill. As the treadmill really gets my heart rate up.(I use an Omron heart rate Monitor to keep me in the correct zone) I like Omron because you can change the battery yourself. Many HRT you have to send it back to manufacturer or take it to a jewelry store. If I am exercising walking outside, in one shot I am for at least one hour, and really try to do 10,000 steps in one shot. I don't speed walk, but do try to walk as fast as I can, not stroll. Sometimes I try interval walking. Prevention magazine is a big fan of that. This is where you walk at a normal pace for 2 of 3 min. than speed walk for one min. You gradually increase the speed walking and decrease the normal walking. Continue doing that for 30 min. I use a Omron pedometer to measure my distance. 10,000 steps is about 5 miles. You can google 10,000 steps a day for a ton of articles. Many people do this over the course of a day. Note the Omron pedometer measures : distance, calories, regular steps over the course of a day, and aerobic steps -that is continuous steps. This is the one I have. I like that you can keep it in your pocket or even pocketbook, you don't have to clip it to the waist. You can change the battery yourself.

I think the bottom line is the more you put into your walking program the more you will get out of it. Personally, I would think 30 min every day, in one shot, is a minimum.

"Moderate exercise, such as walking 30 minutes a day, can reduce your risks of dying of heart disease, even if you can't seem to lose weight or reduce your high blood pressure or high cholesterol. Studies published in the April, 2005 issue of Diabetes Care show the big benefits of physical activity for everyone. "

http://walking.about.com/od/hearthealth/...

To motivate you:

- subscribe to health magazines like Prevention or always have on hand your favorite exercise/health books to skim.

- keep a journal of how far you walk each day. I write down the stats from my Omron pedometor.

- Join a free walking website for motivation. http://walking.about.com/od/pedometerpro...

I used WalkerTracker.com

-http://walking.about.com/b/2008/12/29/walking-resolutions-central.htm This site gives you various walking programs.

- keep inspirational quotes around. Here are a few.

Exercise is King, nutrition is Queen; put them together and you have a kindome ! Jack LaLanne

We get 86,400 seconds every single day. What is a mere 30 minutes to be heart healthy.?

- Self discipline begins with your thoughts.

- Just Do it !

- 30 minutes of exercise is better than 24 hours of dead.

- I have two doctors, my left leg and my right. ~G.M. Trevelyan

- Above all, do not lose your desire to walk. Every day I walk myself into a state of well-being and walk away from every illness. I have walked myself into my best thoughts, and I know of no thought so burdensome that one cannot walk away from it. ~Soren Kierkegaard

- If I could not walk far and fast, I think I should just explode and perish. ~Charles Dickens

-My grandmother started walking five miles a day when she was sixty. She's ninety-three today and we don't know where the hell she is. ~Ellen DeGeneres

- "The soverign invigorator of the body is exercise, and of all the exercises walking is the best."- Thomas Jefferson

- Those who do not find time for exercise will have to find time for illness.- Earl of Derby

Alias Reader wrote: "Keep up the walking, Deb. Remember you need at least 30 min. every day to maintain good health.
You can do it ! :)"

Alias, i'm a tad confused here. Is this 30 min. walking a day? Or are you talking about cardio-activity? Last i heard "they" weren't necessarily recommending daily exercise 30 minutes (i was thinking 20, which is why i was pleased with my walking last week) and not daily, either.

Having written that, i want to make clear that for me the regularity of the exercise is what keeps me going. When i take a day off, it's too easy to stretch it to another day & on. Therefore, i decided to not skip a day of exercise any more. It's just too hard to get back on track, i am that bad. ;-)

So, maybe i don't want an answer to that question, Alias. LOL! It'll just give me a valid reason to skip.

deborah

I love Cash Cab ! Some people stay so calm. I know every single thought would fly right out of my head and I wouldn't be able to answer a single question.

Keep up the walking, Deb. Remember you need at least 30 min. every day to maintain good health.
You can do it ! :)

Alias Reader wrote: "... That month long slide really set me back. It was only due to being lazy. It's amazing how fast you can lose your hard earned aerobic fitness and muscle strength."

I know! I'm glad we've been walking our nephew to school each day. It's 20 minutes round trip, times 2. So it was an easy & fun way to slowly get back my stamina. Hurrah! Now for a return to my boring walks & the treadmill with "Cash Cab." ;-)

deborah

Thanks, I will need it. I hope I can do it. At least I am getting back into the exercise thing. That month long slide really set me back. It was only due to being lazy. It's amazing how fast you can lose your hard earned aerobic fitness and muscle strength.

This is the time of year when i declare that Next Year i'll cut out more sugar. This allows me to partake in holiday foods while simultaneously "fooling" myself. Good luck, Alias, as you remove the white stuff from your home!

deborah

You're welcome, Deb. I think we all know what we need to do by now. But I find articles like this a real help in the motivation dept.

I need to cut out the white potato. I like them baked. I can switch to sweet potatoes. I was doing real well with the 100% whole wheat breads, but have regressed recently. :( I love Arnolds white bread. But once I finish this loaf, no more.

My next thing I am going to try is to cut down on sugar. My idea is to substitute apples for snacks. We shall see. First, I need to get the offending stuff out of the house. I can't afford to throw food away, so I will finish what I have.

Thanks for another incentive to cut out the white carbs, Alias. The only white rice we have in the house is a specialty one. It's been years since we've had the other white rice...i find brown rice tastier. Same with white bread, although i occasionally get cravings for it, particularly when making meatloaf sandwiches. ;-)

deborah

I was skimming one of the women's magazines at the library the other day. There was a small article that said eating white carbs, -white rice, white bread, white potatoes, and sugar dramatically increase the risk of breast cancer.

For myself, I am going to stay away from white potatoes. I am already working on cutting sugar down. And have switched to 100% whole wheat bread and brown rice.

If you google white carbs breast cancer you will see a lot of articles. I am not sure if this is the article that the magazine was referring to but I think the substance is the same.

http://cbs2.com/optimumwellness/Carbs.Gl...

Low Glycemic Carbs for Breast Health
A diet rich in high-glycemic foods may increase a woman's risk of developing breast cancer. A study linking a diet rich in high-glycemic index (GI) carbohydrates with an increased risk of a woman developing breast cancer was recently published in the International Journal of Cancer. The glycemic index (GI) connects our body's blood sugar response to certain foods. High GI foods increase the body's sugar levels quickly compared to low glycemic foods, which increase sugar levels more slowly. High GI foods include simple carbohydrates like white bread (and other white flour products), soda pop, ice cream, cake, potatoes, pasta, and candy bars. Whole grain breads and pastas usually have lower GI ratings.

Another study lends support to the idea that a higher intake of dietary fiber can decrease the risk of developing breast cancer. Higher fiber usually means lower GI. The National Institutes of Health – Divisions of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics and Cancer Control and Population Sciences published a study that examined the relation of dietary fiber intake to breast cancer in postmenopausal women. The scientists concluded that dietary fiber can play a role in preventing breast cancer.

In the Black Women's health Study, also performed by scientists at the National Cancer Institute, investigators found that African American women who followed a dietary pattern that included whole grains, vegetables, fruit and fish had a lower incidence of breast cancer compared to women who followed a dietary pattern that included refined grains, processed meat, and sweets.

The best way to start "going low" is simply to start swapping out your processed foods for whole-food versions. For example, if you are a cereal eater, choose whole grain cereals that are based on oats, barley, bran and whole wheat. The same goes for breads. Choose sweet potatoes or yams instead of white potatoes. Eat plenty of fresh vegetables, especially the dark green leafy variety including kale, cabbage, chard, collards, broccoli, etc. Choose whole grains like brown rice, quinoa, and whole wheat pasta for your starch. Indulge in fresh salads. And forget about fried foods and sugary baked goods – they don't serve anybody's health.

Ah, that's the truth! We know what we SHOULD eat, it's those cravings or what's easy right this minute that gets us. If I had Oprah's money for a chef, I've always imagined I could do it. What a luzury it would be to be able to tell them my likes and dislikes and have a nutritionist organize it so that I eat properly! So what's Oprah's excuse? That free will gets us every time, doesn't it?

We have no trick or treaters. Glad to know they are packaging healthier snack for it though.

Donna in SOuthern Maryland

We no longer get Trick or Treaters. The kids mostly go to stores, where they know it is safe. It's sad. Halloween used to be such fun.

There is a new book out titled The End of Overeating, that explains that we crave fat, sugar and salt. The food makers know this and have been pumping up these flavors. Unfortunately, our waistlines and health are the worse for this.

Another book that addresses this is The Pleasure Trap


And when you find your resolve fading
The China Study will get you back on track.

Alias Reader wrote:Now if we could all follow the advice. "

This is the key, Alias. After spending a week with my SIL who is battling her third type of cancer, i am tired of eating healthy food. This makes me feel like a pathetic human being, btw. However, the article was insightful & may actually get me to reconcile my cravings for the goodies we have ready for the kids knocking on our door tonight. [Btw, i was pleased to see Snyder's pretzels are packaged for Hallowe'en, as well as graham crackers & other treats. Not just candy...SO, we'll give out those snacks first & hope no one comes by for all the chocolate bars we bought. :-) ]

deborah

Glad you liked it, Deb. I read the author's book Anti-Cancer and would highly recommend it.



Now if we could all follow the advice.

Great article, Alias, thank you. The more we learn, eh?

deborah

I thought this was an interesting article.
*****************************************

New research shows our bodies are surprisingly good at fighting some cancers on their own. Dr. David Servan-Schreiber on how lifestyle changes can supplement surgery or chemo.

Last week, a large study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association and picked up by The New York Times courageously raised the question of whether prostate-cancer screening and mammograms are really useful screening exams for cancer.

It’s a fascinating question to ponder in and of itself. But challenging the need for these common tests illuminates an even more tantalizing fact: Cancer is not the ominous downhill process it has been feared to be for several decades. Yes, cancer starts with genetically abnormal cells that begin to grow wildly. The evidence now shows, however, that many small tumors of cancer cells are perfectly well contained by our body’s natural defenses, and often even disappear on their own. Cancer, we now know, is not a one-way street. Small tumors may appear, grow a bit, and then go away.

In one study, women who were treated for their cancer had a 50 percent reduction in relapse risk if they ate five vegetables and fruits per day and practiced 30 minutes of physical activity six days a week.

What this means is that lifestyle choices that weaken or strengthen the natural defenses that protect us against cancer may play a major role in whether early tumors develop—or not—into a dangerous disease.

Yet, over the past 30 years, “early detection” has been the primary and almost exclusive mantra of our medical institutions when it comes to breast- and prostate-cancer prevention. These rather expensive—and lucrative—mammograms and biopsies were based on the assumption that cancer inevitably progresses, and had become a largely unchallenged practice. Even though most experts have known for some time that the benefits of these screenings are limited, and that the downsides of overtreatment are significant, they have been hesitant to say so publicly for lack of an alternative.

Missing from this debate is the fact that well-proven prevention methods do exist for breast, prostate, and other cancers. For example, an 11-country European study published in JAMA in 2004 observed that people who did not smoke for at least 15 years, used moderate amounts of alcohol, had 30 minutes of physical activity (e.g., walking) six days a week, and ate a diet rich in anticancer ingredients (such as the Mediterranean diet, with fish, olive oil, plenty of vegetables and fruits, whole grains, and low in refined sugar and red meat) had a 60 percent lower chance of ever getting cancer. This was confirmed by another, larger study a few years later, with a similar reduction in cancer rates.

The benefits of such lifestyle intervention even extend to women who already have cancer. In a large California-based study, women who were treated for their cancer had a 50 percent reduction in relapse risk if they ate five vegetables and fruits per day and practiced 30 minutes of physical activity six days a week. Even more impressively, after conventional treatment for stage II or III breast cancer, women who participated in a lifestyle and stress-reduction program had a 68 percent reduction in mortality compared to those who followed conventional treatment alone. In the same manner, a variety of simple lifestyle interventions have been found to dramatically slow down the growth of prostate cancer, even when it is already in place. These include ground flax seeds for breakfast, pomegranate juice, green tea, tomato sauce, fatty fish, and physical exercise.

If early detection of breast or prostate cancer were used to encourage people to adopt these healthier habits instead of sending them to surgery or chemotherapy, there would be no downside. Of course, the most advanced cases would still need immediate treatment, and the others would need to be followed closely to make sure that the lifestyle interventions worked. Early detection will always have a place in cancer medicine.

The old model of cancer as a purely genetic disorder that thrives outside of our control is slowly disappearing. Even our most conventional medical institutions are beginning to acknowledge the role of the body’s natural defenses—and our lifestyle choices that support them—in controlling whether cancer cells become a threatening disease or not. Now is the time for the funds and efforts directed toward recruitment for screening programs with questionable benefits to be spent differently. We need to teach children in our schools, employees in our corporations, and physicians in our hospitals how to really prevent cancer.

David Servan-Schreiber, MD, Ph.D., is clinical professor of psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh and a founding board member of Doctors Without Borders, USA. He is the author of Anticancer: A New Way of Life

(Viking).http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-10-29/fighting-cancer-with-fruit/?cid=hp:beastoriginalsC5

Oh yes......I look forward to your comments! You are a big part of us Barbara!

Wow -- thank you my friends.

Barbara

YES!

ditto !

We care very much Barbara! You are an important person in many people's lives, and an integral part of the Book Nook!

Donna in Southern Maryland

Let us know how it goes next month, Barbara.

Alias,
Thanks -- it probably would be good for me to buy one of those blood pressure monitors. And yes, it is worth the investment.
I know about sitting still and relaxing and not talking. Which is also why doing it at the drug store is probably not particularly accurate.

I am going to do my best not to have a high salt meal so I'm not thinking about that.

I do try to do low fat. Do not eat deep fried foods and do a lot of steaming or poaching. However, I already know that there is no way I can do the Dean Ornish diet. I have to be realistic. If I try to do it I know that I will just feel so deprived that it will drive me to do worse.

There is rarely a day that I don't walk so clearly I need to do more variety of exercise. It's a wake up call.

And I have been eating my fruit and veggies and I take a multiple vitamin which has magnesium, calcium, and potassium. I have the list on my fridge of things you should eat -- like broccoli, sweet potatoes, berries, etc. Potatoes and bananas are good for potassium I know. And I never "fancy up" my potatoes so even white potatoes are OK.

The doctor wants to see me in a month to see how I am doing.

Thanks for caring.

Barbara

Alias, thanks for those tips. I've been keeping an eye on my bp but wasn't aware of the no talking & relaxed jaw. I'm pleased with my results but feel it could get better. Good tips!

deborah

Barbara, they have easy to use digital monitors that you can buy. You just put the cuff on and press a button. They cost around $70. It's worth it imo. You get a more accurate reading then when you go to a drugstore for ex. Becasue you are supposed to be sitting still for a few minutes and you can monitor it a few times a day. Keep a journal of the results. That helps get a better picture. -- Maybe morining, noon and night, and also an hour after a certain high salt meal to see how sensitive you are.

When taking your BP:

No caffeine
both feet on ground
arm with cuff at heart level- rest in on the table
relax. jaw, shoulders etc
do not talk or change breathing for example taking a deep breath.

You might want to look into grape seed capsules. do a google search. They have been some studies that show it helps lower bp. You can buy them at the Vitamin Shop.

If you take a baby asprin, some studies show taking it at night lowers bp.

Of course, getting daily magnesium, calcium and potassium is a must. You can google the words - foods high in magnesium- for ex. to get a list for each

Low fat &low sodium. Some don't realize low fat is also key.
.
Dean Ornish type diet has been shown to lower BP. google his name for info.

daily exercise 30 min.

Good luck !

The stress of the day might have added to it but I have seen myself looking flushed occassionally over the summer so I am not going to kid myself. There was a trend.


Barbara

Barbara:
And then it appears that my blood pressure has taken an uptick. Rats!!
------------------------
Could be just the stress of the day made it go up.

Do you monitor it at home? It's a good way to see a trend or just a minor normal blip.

It's a good warning/reminder anyway to double up the efforts with low fat, low sodium and exercise.

Yes, the Wind Advisory went all through the NorthEast.
There was nothing obvious on my side of the block but something must have landed somewhere. LOL
Thankfully it got back on before I lost any stuff in my fridge.

I was particularly stressed because I had an appointment for a physical in the afternoon and I really wanted to take a shower. And then it appears that my blood pressure has taken an uptick. Rats!!

OK -- so I promise to pay attention.

Barbara

Barbara:
my power went off over night
====================================

Barbara, did you have a huge wind storm?

Here, in the city, we had gale force winds all day. I think we topped out at around 55 - 60 MPH.

And in case my life wasn't hard enough my power went off over night. As you can see it is back on now -- praise be!!

Barbara

Bobbie57 wrote: "Why is life so hard?? LOL "

I know! Isn't it supposed to get easier?!

deborah

My friend who is a nutritionist and writes books on health issues told me last week that she has started grinding her own meat and I didn't pick up on it.
I just called TOPS customer service to ask if they grind the meat in their stores and she said it varies and gave me the numbers of the two local stores that I use most often. I am going to follow up. I never use those pre-made patty things.

Why is life so hard?? LOL

Barbara

Our nearest Costco is 80+ miles away, so we aren't members. However, we go there with my sister, who is a member. The store is quite generous in allowing us to buy under her membership, once they see how far we live from them. So to us that's just more Good News from Costco.

After we read FastFoodNation i found a butcher 30 miles away & that is where we've been buying our beef. It's taste is superior and i feel better about eating it, although we still don't eat it often.

We eat chicken more than any other meat. The individually vacuum-packed sounds very handy. I buy family packs, then rewrap to assure little or no air gets in. I'm sorry your store stopped carrying it, as that sounds terrific.

deborah

I don't have a Costco near me, but I applaud them for taking a stand on inferior food that can kill. I won't by Tyson chicken that for sure. The beef isn't labeled as to the supplier. But I very seldom eat beef at home.

For few weeks my supermarket was selling organic chicken. Each cutlet was individually vacuumed packed. It was terrific tasting and moist. I like the individual vacuumed pack because I don't eat it often. So I could pop it in the freezer and it stayed nice. Unfortunately, the price was high, and the supermarket didn't get the demand it needed to keep carrying it. :( I thought the taste was worth the extra money.

Alias Reader wrote: "Costco, The New York Times says, is a bright spot in bacterial testing; the retailer, which grinds its own meat, tests all its suppliers' offerings upon delivery. Because of this practice, feedlot giant Tyson won't supply them with beef parts. ..."

We were fully disgusted with this info re. Tyson. Incidentally, we weren't aware Tyson sold beef, but find it incredible. We're supposing the reason they now won't sell to Costco is because if they brand the meat as below their standards, Tyson would be even more culpable if they resold it & illness followed.

deborah

FYI- AOL had this story on their welcome screen.

Beef industry gets a closer look as story of paralyzed woman hits the press
Sarah Gilbert
Oct 5th 2009 at 6:30PM


Food safety expert Dr. Jeffrey Bender says mildly, "ground beef is not a completely safe product." The understatement is not lost on The New York Times, whose hugely popular, endlessly retweeted and emailed article on ground beef safety Sunday points out the "restrained" enforcement of safety procedures by the USDA.

The article tells the story of children's dance instructor Stephanie Smith, who was paralyzed after eating tainted beef at a Sunday dinner with her family in September 2007. Smith, 22, was taken to the hospital five days after the family dinner, "in excruciating pain" that a doctor described as worse than childbirth. (Smith wouldn't know; she hadn't yet started a family of her own.)

Smith was having so many seizures that doctors had to put her in a coma and fly her to the Mayo Clinic, where her mother worried she wouldn't live out the year. Scientists ended up tying 11 cases in Minnesota to hamburgers manufactured by Cargill and marketed as American Chef's Selection Angus Beef Patties. Four of the 11 sickened developed hemolytic uremic syndrome, a condition which can affect kidney function. In the worst cases, the colon wall is penetrated, impacting blood vessels and causing clots that can lead to seizures. This is what happened to Smith, and her coma lasted nine weeks. When she woke up, she couldn't walk. Her doctors say she'll probably never walk again.

After the E. coli outbreak that sickened Smith, the USDA did spot checks at 224 plants, only to discover that nearly a quarter of them had "serious safety problems" -- they weren't even following the safety plans the plants themselves devised. The USDA allows this, as well as allowing grinders to decide whether they want to test for harmful bacteria before or after grinding beef; beef suppliers prefer having the meat tested after it's ground and combined with other companies' beef, since it keeps their exposure to recalls low.

The reaction of consumers reading the article has not been mild. Among my friends and social media contacts, those who read the long and sordid tale of the lax food safety bureaucracy and the tangled weave of questionable meat that goes into our hamburgers swore off the stuff for good. Those of us who've long chosen only meat from very small, sustainably-managed ranchers are wiping our brows in relief.

Not only is this the old story of enormous slaughterhouses where overworked, underpaid employees are the only defense against cross-contamination of the meat by feces, and the ingredients are so cheap that quality cannot possibly be expected; but there are new little shockers throughout the story. Ammonia masks the presence of E. coli, so is often used to treat cow trimmings from the outside of the animal, those more likely to be contaminated. Bread crumbs and spices are added to patties -- even though the ingredients list only "beef." "Using metal detectors, [Cargill:] workers snagged stray nails and metal hooks that could damage the grinders, then warned suppliers to make sure it did not happen again," Michael Moss, the Times reporter, writes. (Oh good! They are protecting their grinders! Consumers will be so happy.)

Costco, The New York Times says, is a bright spot in bacterial testing; the retailer, which grinds its own meat, tests all its suppliers' offerings upon delivery. Because of this practice, feedlot giant Tyson won't supply them with beef parts. The USDA, ever the nagging grandma, never the dictatorial dad, finally released a "draft guideline" in August 2008 in which the word "should" appears far more often than words such as "must." Helpfully, it says, "Optimally, every production lot should be sampled and tested before leaving the supplier and again before use at the receiver."

The USDA has responded by reminding consumers to use "safe handling" procedures when cooking hamburger, and yes, not following these rules could have contributed to Smith's paralysis; but even scientists find it difficult to avoid contamination with such a virulent strain of E. coli as the one from 2007. Cooking hamburgers to 160 degrees and washing counters with bleach wouldn't save, for instance, a few cells that dripped onto the side of the sink or the corner of an apron. And those few cells are enough to make you sick.

At least three different slaughterhouses and a separate beef processor supplied the meat that went into Smith's family's hamburgers, and despite many investigations neither the USDA nor Cargill has ever determined which supplier was responsible for the contamination. In my opinion and that of a vast number of consumers who've read this article, it's obvious that sickness is not the result of bad home cooks who can't handle their meat; it's the necessary and evil result of a factory meat system that is ill-regulated and designed in a way that breeds disease.

It's complicated to explain why this is. Looking at a photo of a feedlot, where cows are kept in extremely close quarters for the few months' fattening before slaughter, fed antibiotics and stomping in one another's excrement until they're eventually, messily, killed, skinned and chopped up for delivery to one of hundreds of independent grinders may explain a bit of it. More important is the realization that washing your hands and using a meat thermometer won't fix this: only a wholesale redesign of our meat industry will.

Stephanie Smith's mother, home cooks across America: this is not your fault. You're the ones paying, though. And for that, I, for one, am very sorry.
Source

http://www.dailyfinance.com/2009/10/05/b...

Well, color me old-fashioned, but i still turn to Laurel's Kitchen. (This is a link to the new version i see but i'll add it anyway.) The New Laurel's Kitchen A Handbook for Vegetarian Cookery and Nutrition

Other than that, i just use the recipes i clipped over the years &/or adapt "meat" recipes. When i clipped them i had kids at home but rarely tried them back then! Lazy Cook!

deborah

http://www.worldvegetarianday.org/

October 1 is World vegetarian day and the vegetarian month !

What is your favortie vegetarian book ?

The Tropical Vegan Kitchen: Meat-Free, Egg-Free, Dairy-Free Dishes from the Tropics by Donna Klein


The Mediterranean Vegan Kitchen by Donna Klein

Vegan with a Vengeance : Over 150 Delicious, Cheap, Animal-Free Recipes That Rock by Isa Chandra Moskowitz


MAD COWBOY: Plain Truth from the Cattle Rancher Who Won't Eat Meat by Howard F. Lyman

The China Study: The Most Comprehensive Study of Nutritionby T. Colin Campbell



The Food Revolution: How Your Diet Can Help Save Your Life and Our World by John Robbins


Becoming Vegan: The Complete Guide to Adopting a Healthy Plant-Based Diet
by Brenda Davis

Alias Reader wrote: "Ok, seriously. Thanks for the reminder. You are such a good cheerleader, Alias!
=========================

Or pest. :)"

Nah! Cheerleader!

Ok, seriously. Thanks for the reminder. You are such a good cheerleader, Alias!
=========================

Or pest. :)

What?! With the winter holidays ahead? September 23 should mark the beginning of calorie-free, fat-free, carb-free foods. All foods must lose those traits IMMEDIATELY!!!

Ok, seriously. Thanks for the reminder. You are such a good cheerleader, Alias!

deborah

It turns out that this Wednesday September 23 marks the last 100 days until the end of this year.

Let's really get strict with out diet/exercise and have a strong healthy finish to 2009 !

Clearly this man has never tasted chocolate covered caramels. ;-)

anonymous

In another thread here we talked about the new Dr. Oz show. He had a good quote that I wanted to share with you.

There is no food as good as healthy feels.

Alias, i tried that link to the board and did like it. Overall, though, the recipes were the same. I really kinda joined for an easy way to get vegan recipes. I think i need to be honest with myself--i don't really want to cook, vegan or not. :-)

deborah

Deb, I forgot to mention that the PCRM emails also give you a link to their message board. It's pretty good.

I was surprised the other night I was over at my sister and we took a walk up her street which usually would kill me if I haven't walked it in a while and it didn't. So felt good about that. I've been thinking of starting in Oct the town jazzersize but not sure. If it was during the day it would be great but it's at night and not crazy about signing up for something at night. Hate driving at night plus when the lousy weather comes I will not want to go. But I don't know how many times you sign up for or anything since they didn't list the different plans they had.

Yes, I know that I can get in a rut sometimes. Actually this is why I like my old books better than getting some of this stuff online because hunting up something in my files on the computer seems harder to me than enjoying leafing through and seeing something I had forgotten about. I do have a few books with healthy choices. And that reminds me -- I have this book that is called something like the Microwave Diet. I don't use it as a diet but it has some good and at least slightly different fish recipes that I haven't used in a while and it suggests healthy side dishes to go with it. It suggests light soups to begin your meal. Getting back to that wouldn't be a bad thing.

Barbara

I can see that, Alias. We tend to stick to a few dishes, forgetting there are many more out there.

deb

deb---How about you, Alias? Are you pleased with it? Don't get me wrong, there is nothing bad about it, i'm just not inspired by it.

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I like getting the tip or recipe each day. Anything that nudges me to be healthy is ok by me. :)

Even if some of the recipes are basic, it's a good reminder for dishes that I haven't prepared in a long time.