Terrible Tips to Tame Hunger and Tip the Scales at 100 lbs Maximum

Okay I’m not a fan of eating disorders.  I swear.  In fact I don’t have one and this isn’t admirable at all. I don’t have the guts (pun) to purge when I eat.  I hate vomiting. I like the after effect in clearing out a nauseous stomach when I’m sick, but it’s the getting there that I loathe. I hate that heaving and hurling and I cannot stand seeing my own bile.  I don’t champion eating disorders for so many reasons, but if memory doesn’t fail, I believe I have blogged about the pitiful mental state that leads one into anorexia,  bulimia, or a host or other illnesses. Oh, about that. Bulimia rarely results in long-term weight loss. Most bulimics’ weight fluctuates. Bulimia is also about control over the body as a means of controlling the environment around you, rather than weight loss or the influence of the media.

Having said that, I came across some of the weirdest tips imaginable if you are determined to pursue bulimia nervosa as your eating disorder of choice. Naturally, I am inclined to share them with you. Listen, this blog is entitled “faulty wiring” not “politically correct.” You don’t like? Don’t read. Move on.

1. Don’t try to throw up heavy, doughy food such as bagels, untoasted bread, pancakes, perogies, and tortillas. Avoid peanut butter, cheese, chocolate candy, dried fruit or nuts, and pastries. These are difficult to get out of the digestive tract.  All that effort for no reason.  Use your common sense would ya? Try ice cream, small, overcooked pasta, soup, frozen waffles (not pancakes), milkshakes, cereal and milk, scrambled eggs, Kraft Dinner and Hamburger Helper. Gross.
2. Begin your purging with a marker food – something bright and colorful so you know you have puked it all out.
3. Water – Heavy, dense foods of any sort, including meat and dried fruit, are tough to clean out of one’s digestive tract, so the ideal way to know if you’ve succeeded is to drink plenty of water. When all that’s coming out anymore is clear liquid, you know it’s all outta there. n.b.  This one is especially dangerous. Practice with caution.
4. Watch For the Love of Nancy – it worked for a ninth-grader. – blogger Jessica (happens to be my daughter’s name, but no, she isn’t my daughter)

Here’s a Jessica quote about the Nancy movie:

Around me, in the semi-darkness of the classroom all of the girls watched, rapt, as she demonstrated how important it was for her to be skinny and to feel in control of her weight. When the movie showed people reacting in horror to Tracy’s thin frame we surreptitiously poked at our own stomachs and were for the first time disturbed by what we found there.

On the one hand, I can comprehend the girls’ perspectives. Nancy becomes thinner and in her mind more victorious. It’s people around her who are critical and worried about her health. When the support group counselor asks Nancy what recovery means to her she blurts, “fat!” Ouch. On the other hand, this movie was so entirely heart-wrenching and darkly disturbing, I couldn’t in the slightest comprehend the girls’ perspectives. Bulimia and anorexia are such complicated illnesses.

On with the litany of gross ways to disappear into yourself:

1.      Wear baggy clothes so no one can see how thin you are and thereby railroad your attempt at weight loss.

2.       Exercise compulsively. Go, girl (to the point of exhaustion).

3.       Avoid social activities that include food.

4.       Learn tricky ways to appear as though you are eating in front of others when you aren’t: push your food around on your plate; when someone is watching, scoop food onto your fork, bring it to your mouth, then put it down again when the nosy observer is distracted.

5.        Insist you’ve just eaten and are full when people try to feed you. Always have a menu in your head to be able to rattle off
when they demand “oh yeah? What did you eat?”Make sure the menu has an appetizer, an entrée, a side dish, and a dessert.

6.        Talk a lot while pretending to eat with others. Spend a lot of time rapidly cutting up all of your food, including weird stuff like french fries and cookies.

7.        Always carry a toothbrush in your purse in case you give into temptation and eat something.

8.        Eat lightly before every purge if you can….bulimics this advice isn’t for you. The idea with bulimia is to stuff yourself to the brim and then puke. Good times. n.b. triggering: (Watch the preceding video link and mute the sound).

9.        Take it from Matthew McConaughey as he starved himself for his most recent movie role: the first two weeks of starvation are the hardest. Then it gets easier. You can’t buy memories like that.

10.      Join the cult of the Breatharians. Those whack-jobs claim they neither eat nor drink for years on end yet they live healthy, long lives. If you consider 2 weeks to be a long life, then sure. Go for it.

Alright those are some general and hopefully helpful tips as you starve or puke yourself to death.  I would be remiss if i didn’t include some of the more severe consequences of any current, designer eating disorder.

1.      Your dental work will cost a fortune if you are a puker.  Your tooth enamel will erode. You will develop wicked chancres too and they will hurt.  Don’t forget gum disease.

2.       Have a friend who knows CPR on hand when you vomit in case your heart stops. No kidding. You get an electrolyte imbalance in your stomach from all the vomiting. It’s been known to happen.

3.       Invest in extensions or a wig. Your hair will eventually fall out in wads.

4.       Prepare for gastric anguish. Vomiting on a regular basis is somewhat hard on the stomach lining. All organs involved in the digestion of food will be damaged by your vomit.

5.       Prepare for major heartburn in the esophagus. Same reason as number 4. Your skin may also be damaged by acid in your vomit. Your face will also bloat. Pretty.

6.       You will become anxious, irritable and in general be a bi-atch. You will lose friends. Meh. Who needs em’? Prepare to become very depressed and experience mood swings. This isn’t that fun, you know. If you’re truly into it, you will become suicidal.

7.        Your grades will drop severely. Forget about applying for that scholarship.

8.        Learn to  habitually lie, cheat and sneak. Especially with people you love.

9.        Develop a lifelong guilt complex every time you put food in your mouth.

10.     Draft a living will in the event that you die. You probably will (pun). Don’t say I didn’t warn you in my caring, sarcastic way.

If you think I am trying to guilt trip you about your ED, you are right. I am trying to guilt trip you into getting help. Now. You’re worth it.

God bless and be well.

Tasty Toenia Tapeworms Tighten and Tone the Torso

Have you heard of the Tapeworm Diet? I swear it’s real.  In fact, one of my fave programs, 1000 ways to Die, aired an episode in which a girl swallowed a tapeworm that lodged snugly in her intestines, she lost scads of weight, and died from various complications. That’s the idea behind the TD (no, not the dying part – the weight loss part). I first read about swallowing the parasitic tapeworm at least two decades ago. The man who swallowed it didn’t do so for cosmetic reasons. He wanted to prove for scientific research if Fred the Tapeworm (that’s what he named it) could save his life and boost his immune system in the event that he was internally exposed to elements that should have been fatal. For example, this brave (or gross) person drank from the Ganges River, and ate stuff that would turn off a billy-goat. Happily, Fred did his work and absorbed all of the incredibly dangerous viruses and bacteria that came from the exotic diet. Eventually, the scientist had to somehow de-worm himself so he could void it, since Fred was also killing him. via extreme weight loss. Can you imagine having a tapeworm hanging out of you when you go to the bathroom? Gross.  The things people will do in the name of science.

Tyra Banks had a panel of women on one of her silly episodes (stupid show) and a female tapeworm user’s doctor had inserted it inside of her tongue, just beneath the surface. She stuck out her tongue at Tyra and the camera zoomed in so we could all see it, Ick. The woman was still chunky. I guess the tongue doesn’t work as well as the intestine….you know, you could interpret that statement on so many levels. These tapeworms can grow several feet inside the human body  It keeps pace with your intestines. Tapeworms have been known to void from a person’s anus. Seriously. Are you eating just now?  Sorry.  The tapeworm expert on the show presented beef and pig tapeworms. Beef tapeworms are known as taenia saginata. The tapeworm eggs hatch inside the cattle and travel to the muscles becoming inclusions called cysticercus. Pig tapeworms are called taenia solium. Humans become infected from passed eggs or by consuming contaminated meat.

These are normally not ingested by humans. Humans come in contact with them by eating contaminated beef or pork, but in North America that seldom happens.

Women have swallowed tapeworm eggs and larvae (gross) to lose weight and yet many have not. I suppose it doesn’t work for everyone, like any diet and exercise program. At least reasonably normal diets like eating extra veggies and fruits than you usually do, or cutting down on carbs, or some such thing, doesn’t do any damage and doesn’t threaten your life.  I mean, are people that desperate to lose weight that they would put their lives at risk and become a nursery for wriggly worms? Eesh. In other countries in the world, obesity is considered very attractive. Obese women  have far more marriage options than thin women, since the weight suggests the husband is wealthy and can afford to feed her well. However, before you get all excited and think you might move there, these women usually eat all day in order to gain massive amounts of weight. Since food is expensive they are known to eat cattle feed and to die from it. Sheee-it. No matter where we are on the globe, it’s all about the body.

Other opinions about tapeworms state that the TD does no harm to the human body. This article, Null Hypothesis, claims that death is unlikely, but if it occurs it is due to massive infections. So far as I know, the woman who ate a tapeworm on the Tyra Banks show is still alive, so perhaps there is some truth to the Null Hypothesis. Mind you, I wouldn’t accept the article’s information over that of a doctor. Not for a minute.

If you are considering the TD, here are a few facts for you to consider:

1. tapeworms grow up to 20 yards long (nasty)
2. tapeworms can eat their way out of the intestines into the abdomen, causing death by internal hemmhoraghing (ouch)
3. taenia solium, a type of tapeworm, is the leading cause of acquired epilepsy, originating in pigs (th-th-that’s all folks)
4. you will be swarming with eggs, larvae and tapeworm (gross)

Here’s a great paragraph summing up more reasons to avoid tapeworms as dietary aids:

While a tapeworm might take in some of the food you do, it would at the same time be taking in a lot of vitamins and other nutrients you need to stay healthy. Do you know what ascites are? A big pool of fluid in your tummy caused by an immune response to something in your guts. Something like a tapeworm. It gives you a big potbelly, which runs kind of counter to the look you might be wishing for. And a tapeworm might not necessarily just set up camp in your innards. It can also cause cysts in your muscles, liver and eyes. Your eyes! So don’t you think it might be easier instead to just eat a bit less and exercise a bit more?  Well said.

Stages

• Tapeworm eggs hatch in the intestines of the infected animal. This hatched stage of the tapeworm is called an oncosphere.
• The oncospheres penetrate the intestine wall and move to other organs, such as the brain, liver, tissues and striated muscles.
• Once the oncospheres have migrated to other organs, they turn into cysts.
• Cysts found in under cooked meat travel to the intestines in humans. The intestines are where the cysts stop in humans.
• Cysts turn inside-out, causing the insides of the cysts to protrude in a tubular fashion.
• These inside-out cysts attach themselves to the small intestine of their human carrier by their scolex, or head-like segment.
• Adult tapeworm development from the scolex
• There are 1000 segments of adult tapeworm
• Each segment carries 50,000 eggs
• Adult tapeworms lay eggs and the cycle continues

Sounds gorgeous? Hardly. Healthy is a write-off. But if it’s an easy form of weight loss you want, the TD might be the (dangerous, gross, foolhardy) solution. Two internet sites where you can order tapeworm larvae are tapewormeggs.com  and  lieware  See you in the cemetery.  I’ll bring flowers. Oh, and a scale.

 

Living on Air and a Prayer

Marilyn Monroe said it best: gravity catches up with all of us. I don’t know about you, but I’ve morphed into and out of, all manner of body types. I know your basic body shape squeezes into one of four categories:  pear, apple, hourglass, rectangle, or some such ridiculous analysis. If I had to place myself in any one category alas, it would be that of apple.  When I am fit the fat disappears and you wouldn’t agree…but I know better. I’ve been obese (170 lbs), underweight (100 lbs), healthy and athletic, inert yet thin, and currently in my ideal weight range, however, at the perilously high-end. I’ve got a lot of toning to do to trim that saggy apple (ick). I can blame or credit these weight and body changes on any manner of variables: diet, exercise, age, thyroid, hypoglycemia. If I’m begin truly honest with myself, I know the bottom line is self-discipline. It’s all about me and my choices. Here’s a strange revelation: when I was overweight I had no clue that I was overweight!  I truly didn’t. Even though I avoided the mirror whenever I undressed, I dressed to flatter my shape, wore polished makeup and always wore a trendy haircut. I got many compliments during this time. Perhaps fat is also an attitude.

I’m not a dieter. Weight Watchers has been very effective. Jenny Craig has not. The only difference between them is that I chose to follow WW program and I wasn’t ready for JC. It was all about choice (JC’s food by the way is awesome…worth the money if you are going to follow the program).  I’m not a calorie counter. I don’t own a scale or a tape measure. I have a full-length mirror and a gym membership at Curves that I use faithfully. I love that place. My eating habits have improved about 80% in the past 3 weeks. However I will never be anorexic or bulimic. Stop eating? Not me. Vomit or otherwise void my food? Never. I love food. I love eating. I hate being hungry.

I am slightly baffled by people who develop eating disorders…or at least those who do so for beauty’s sake. I know a lot about this sad phenomenon. I’ve researched it, blogged about it, created a PowerPoint and uploaded it onto AuthorStream entitled 14 eating disorders and facts you never knew. I learned some unexpected issues that factor into an eating disorder:

• spiritual beliefs
• genetics
• epigenetics
• mother has the disorder (we’re always blaming poor mom)
• environment (media, friends, criticism)
• low self-esteem
• athletics
• sexual abuse
• cultural norms
• childhood origins

These are very influential factors for women with a variety of eating disorders/problems. There are lots of disorders btw:

• anorexia nervosa
• bulimia nervosa
• binge eating
• orthorexia – (obsession with eating healthy food until choices become extremely narrow)
• pica (related to mental health issues and disability – eating non-edible items such as matches, feces, or paper clips)
• EDNOS (eating disorder not otherwise specified)
• compulsive eating disorder
• diabulimia (diabetes and an eating disorder)
• geophagia (eating soil or clay)
• night eating syndrome
• purging disorder
• sleep eating disorder
• personal trauma

Strange stuff, huh? Actually, considering all the many different types of eating disorders and the many different means of developing them, it’s remarkable more women and men don’t have one. An obsession with food is a key characteristic of people with eating disorders. Yet these people are still in the minority of the population. Treatments are intensive yet ambiguous, since the individual’s dedication to treatment programs determines the outcome. Unfortunately, the BBC documentary Living on Air, reveals that an experiment yielded the result that force feeding, the worst thing you can do to an anorexic, became a “solution” to eating disorders.

So far as living on air is concerned, (not the documentary), there is a bizarre cult called Breatharians who actually convince themselves that they do not require food or drink, except the occasional glass of fruit juice, to survive. Nope. All they need is love. And light nutrition (pardon the pun). Not lite nutrition. They believe that all they need is light and spirituality to survive. Wiley Brooks, a prominent Breatharian, even insists that Breatharianism would work on a brand new infant if the mother is herself a Breatharian. In the real world, that is known as child abuse and the mother does a long-term prison sentence when her infant dies of malnourishment. Further, these flakes insist a body won’t age when people stop eating. Yes, we have the power to live forever. Jasmuheen,  a spiritual leader of this worldwide cult, insists she doesn’t eat or drink. 60 Minutes Britain put her claims to the test by holing her up inside a hotel and filming her for 5 days…she only made it to 4 days when she began to experience kidney failure. She couldn’t continue the test. She blamed 60 Minutes for placing her near a highway, where she had to spend 2 days “fighting carbon monoxide poisoning.” She insists that 6,000 people worldwide live this lifestyle successfully. She began to experience kidney failure and fearing that her kidneys would shut down, the television program cancelled the experiment. Jasmuheen’s teachings have been linked to the deaths of 3 of her followers. Naturally, she blames the people for having another motive besides spiritualty, that of weight loss. Further, she defends herself by insisting she doesn’t advocate fasting in order to remain in the Breatharian cult. When confronted by an interviewer that her publication of books such as Living on Light promotes the fasting lifestyle, she hesitates and replies she promotes self-discipline. So much for her dietary and spiritual claims, I strongly do not recommend joining this cult.

I also strongly recommend you tell someone if you are in the grip of an eating disorder or problem (eg, pica). I recommend you start with your family or a close friend. If you aren’t receiving sympathy and assistance in finding a support group, tell your doctor, tell your EAP counsellor, or your guidance counselor at school. Don’t be embarrassed. These people have heard this sad tales umpteen times. Know that you’re not alone. Tell someone. You’re worth saving. And even though you don’t believe it just now, you truly are beautiful exactly the way you are.

The Mother of a King or a Beauty Icon Failure?

Here’s something that yet another “fashion” magazine (or whatever OK is), has to be ashamed of: Kate Middleton just gave birth to a future King; little Prince George Alexander, a healthy, beautiful baby boy, and the pride of England. Yet the focus OK has on the royal birth is that of Kate’s post-baby body (only a few hours later). The pathetic magazine criticizes her for having a round tummy, even though she is no longer pregnant with Prince George. Say what? The baby is hours old and it’s time for Kate to get a trainer and tone that tummy. Seriously?

Kate is one of the most beautiful, natural women in the world. Women strive to be like her: they copy her hairstyle, her clothing, her makeup. She is the mother of a future King. She is a model wife and yet, a humble girl next door. However she made the mistake of maintaining a tummy a few hours after

birthing her baby. Tut-tut. How will she ever face the public again? Imagine looking that beautiful and refreshed after birthing a baby and having to face photographers? Her most private and precious life moments will never be respected by paparazzi, will always be under public scrutiny this simple and yet, this simple girl, who is not of the aristocracy and married the most powerful heir in the royal family, is unfazed. She continues to face the camera with flawless poise and grace, no matter the circumstances.

Why does it always come down to this shallow perspective where a woman is concerned? Small wonder so many actresses and models develop eating disorders. Ditto young women and teens, who strive to mimic their unlikely, unhealthy bodies. The obsession with women’s weight and proportions has led to so many negative consequences, yet the media is unrelenting:

1. eating disorders
2. low self-esteem
3. depression
4. suicide

Before and after photos of young women who arrive fresh-faced and beautiful in the Hollywood spotlight, and soon deteriorate into skeletons in Gucci shoes bear witness to this phenomenon. Consider Amy Winehouse, who was a healthy weight with gorgeous curves at the start of her precarious career. Soon after, her involvement with drugs and alcohol, and bulimia nervosa, led to a tragic, premature death.  Victoria Beckham had a beautiful, near-perfect body as a Spice Girl. Post-Spice, her head looks bigger than her body, and she has become the butt (pun) of endless media jokes about her reticence to eat. Nothing Posh about that.  Kiera Knightley must work to maintain a non-weight to appease public scrutiny. Is anorexia or bulimia nervosa part of her exercise and diet regime? I’ll toss my hat into that ring. Does anyone remember Brittany Murphy? She began in Hollywood as a healthy brunette and died of anorexia as a pathetically thin blonde. Drugs are always mentioned by the paparazzi. That may be, but with a painfully thin frame like that, I’m not convinced this was the main reason for her early death. Nicole Ritchie frightens me. Tara Reid is a liposuction gone horribly wrong.

Why don’t male celebrities develop eating disorders? If they do, they keep it under wraps (pun).  True, there are occasional headlines about celebs such as Matthew Perry fighting weight fluctuation. Has he ever used diet pills or resorted to bulimia? Who knows? The press don’t tell us that. Most male celebs tend to gain or lose weight for a role. Matthew McConaughey deliberately dropped 38 lbs for a role and looked frighteningly ill. However, he was quick to regain a healthy weight after the self-starvation. He admitted to simply not eating for several weeks, stating that “the first two weeks are the hardest.”  How did the press react to McConaughey’s weight loss? It expressed fear for his health and a sigh of relief when filming finally began. Why don’t paparazzi react the same way to painfully thin and ill women? It’s a constant yo-yo: too fat, too thin, too skeletal, too chubby. No one seems to mention “relief” when a woman starts eating or after she has a baby. The only sigh of relief is when the post-partum belly disappears and the fashion icon regains her footing upon an eternally unsteady pedestal.

 

The Elixir of Youth? Anti-oxidants Aren’t It

The BBC documentary, Don’t Grow Old, features several scientists who offer unique and intriguing theories about the molecular processes that age us, and possible ways to prevent them. There may never actually be an elixir of youth that comes in a bottle (darn), in spite of scientists’ efforts to package and sell it. In this documentary, a number of scientists claim they have done just that. There are a plethora of theories about what causes aging and what we can do to slow it down.

Resveritrol 
David Sinclair, a Harvard Medical School professor suggests an exciting possibility in the documentary: stay slim, age much more slowly, yet don’t cut calories. Sinclair began experiments ten years ago, using yeast and mice. Yeast is a simple organism with 6,000 genes (about a 10th of ours). Almost all of these genes exist in human being. Even more intriguing, a set of genes were discovered in yeast that increase life longevity that greatly extends the life span of yeast. Adding one extra copy of the gene greatly expanded the lifespan of yeast: about 30%.  The chemical that acted like this set of genes, along with a molecule called resveritrol, were added to a control group of people’s diets, yielding the results he hoped for: high energy and a much more youthful appearance. Sinclair sold his drug for $720 million dollars. However before we get too excited. Resveritrol hasn’t been released onto the market, yet. It is till in its developmental stage. Interestingly, people in the documentary who look much younger than their actual age don’t appear to be taking any drugs: they eat very well and stay active. Rather than the old adage, eat less and exercise more, the new mantra should be eat well and exercise more. Your love affair with food may continue unabated, so long as your menu is a good one. Hooray. Moving right along….

Anti-oxidants
Across the continent Professor Arlin Richardson experimented with anti-oxidants. He set out to prove that the 1950s theory, (not his own), oxidative stress, was a leading cause of aging and premature death. The theory suggests that a faster heart rate while at rest causes the stress, however many scientists now believe that isn’t the case. Oxygen, however, remains a central part of the oxidative stress theory. Surprisingly, after ten years of experimentation with mice, Richardson discovered that anti-oxidents, the supposed cure-all against aging, wasn’t. Another research scientist has confirmed these results. Oxidative stress doesn’t make a difference in aging. Therefore, eating and using anti-oxidents aren’t the answer to slowing down the aging process. In fact, oxidative stress is probably a cause of the environment, including pollution, rather than a lack of anti-oxidants. It’s going to take a long time for anyone to buy into that one. Don’t let cosmetics companies in on that discovery either: they earn billions of dollars annually by claiming to package anti-oxidants into their products. Regardless, food agnostic that I am, I insist on seeking out skin care products with anti-oxidants, and eating foods that nutritionists claim to have loads of the stuff.  Just in case.

Telomes
Dr. Bill Andrews believes there is a fundamental cause of aging: telomes. Every time our cells divide, the tips of the cells, called telomes, become shorter. Eventually they become short enough that our cells no longer divide. Since we can’t produce new cells, we age. Andrews insists there is nothing we can do about telomesl however, he discovered a natural enzyme in our bodies called telomerase.  He injected the enzymes into cells and it prevented the telomes from shortening. Andrews sought a drug that would transport telomarese into our cells and prevent aging; however another company, TA Science, beat him to it, developing the product TA65. Andrews began taking TA65. TA65 is on the market for $25,000.00 a year. Seriously. Another scientist argues that telomes are responsible for aging. He worked with children with progeria, a disease that causes extremely rapid aging, and discovered a mutation in a gene called lamin A. Lamin A causes the body to produce an abnormal protein within the children’s cells. The same protein is made at very low levels in healthy individuals who don’t have the mutation. Elderly people’s cells cannot cope with lamin A, which tries to do damage. So much for TA65.

How to Be Slim
Alongside anti-aging documentaries, the BBC documentary how to be slim is another interesting perspective on healthy lifestyle and attractive bodies.  Metabolism is in every fitness aficionado’s Have vocabulary, it seems. Yet, none of us use it correctly. In the documentary, an overweight woman named Joan, claimed she ate half of what Becky, her skinny friend, ate, yet she remained fat and her friend remained skinny. An experiment revealed that  Joan actually ate 50% more than Becky.  Mindless snacking throughout the day added significant calories to her diet. Another big surprise (for all of us), Joan burned more calories while sitting down because her body had a faster metabolism than Becky.  What? Her body had a faster metabolism than Becky. Isn’t that contrary to everything you’ve ever learned about metabolism? Aren’t slimmer people supposed to have a higher metab?  Not so. The more Joan ate, the hungrier she got, the more she cranked up her metabolism, and the hungrier she got, and the vicious cycle kept repeating itself. Joan ate more than she needed. Period. Extra calories are stored as fat. If this is you, your weight problem isn’t due to your metabolism at all. You eat too much! And you eat unhealthy, unfriendly food. Stop that!

There are hoards of BBC documentaries about healthy eating, slim living, and contrasts between healthy and unhealthy eating. They are informative and interesting. I suggest you check them out.

Not all of the Plague’s Outcomes were Deadly

The Black Plague, the Bubonic Plague, or the Black Death, was one of the most devastating pandemics in human history.  Historically, it has plagued humans 3 times; we are most familiar with the Medieval Era. The Black Death is thought to have started in China or central Asia. It reached the Crimea by 1346. From there, it was carried by Oriental rat fleas living on the black rats that were regular passengers on merchant ships.  Spreading throughout the Mediterranean and Europe, the Black is estimated to have killed 30 to 60 percent of Europe’s population.All in all, the plague reduced the world population from an estimated 450 million to a number between 350 and 375 million in the 14th century. Nasty. Gives new meaning to the phrase “I see dead people.”

SYMPTOMS

Symptoms begin with bubos, which are like gross boils, appear on the body as pink bumps and turn black within a day or so. Today they can be treated with antibiotics, although these are considered to be less effective than previously (yes, this plague is still around in third world countries).   Bubos generally appear in the groin area and arm pits where lymph nodes are located. Without treatment, the bubonic plague kills about two-thirds of infected humans within 4 days. Infection from the bubos went septic, meaning it quickly worked its way into the blood stream. As the bubos darkened, gangrene set in and people were literally eaten alive.  The Italian writer Boccaccio said its victims “ate lunch with their friends and dinner with their ancestors in paradise.”

EFFECTS ON THE SOCIAL STRUCTURE OF MEDIEVAL ENGLAND
Even when the worst was over, smaller outbreaks continued, not just for years, but for centuries. The survivors lived in constant fear of the plague’s return, and the disease did not disappear until the 1600s. Medieval society never recovered from the results of the plague.  The plague, along with the King Ricard I poll tax,  even led to a major revolt across Europe. After the pestilence, many buildings, great and small, fell into ruins in every city for lack of inhabitants, likewise many villages and hamlets became desolate, not a house being left in them, all having died who dwelt there; and it was probable that many such villages would never be inhabited. In the winter following there was such a want of servants in work of all kinds, that one would scarcely believe that in times past there had been such a lack. So many people died that there were labor shortages all over Europe, leading workers to demand higher wages, but landlords refused.By the end of the 1300s, peasant revolts broke out in England, France, Belgium and Italy. The Peasants’ Revolt, Wat Tyler’s Rebellion, or the Great Rising of 1381 was one of a number of popular revolts in late medieval Europe and is a major event in the history of England.  As a result, the end of serfdom, the status of peasants under feudalism, was the next major English reform.

Serfdom was a condition of slavery. Serfs occupied a plot of land and were required to work for the Lord of the Manor who owned that land, and in return were entitled to protection, justice and the right to exploit certain fields within the manor to maintain their own subsistence. Having said that, this so-called exploitation was pitiful.  The serfs were poorly fed, lived in shacks with dirt floors, and had to work the land even during harsh, cold winters. Many children and infants died during this era, since two parents had to work the land together and they often left toddlers alone to watch over their infant siblings. A peasant who was a serf worked for the Lord often until death. Should the family debt to the Lord not have been repaid, his family were now indentured and had to continue working for the Lord. There were many illegitimate children throughout the Lord’s property, since he forced himself upon women whom he felt were under his”ownership.” Talk about exploitation.

PLAGUE DOCTORS
A plague doctor was a special medical physician who saw those who had the plague. They were hired by towns that had many plague victims in times of plague epidemics. Since the city was paying their salary, they treated everyone: both the rich and the poor.They were not professionally trained experienced physicians or surgeons, and often were second-rate doctors not able to otherwise run a successful medical business. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, some doctors wore a beak-like mask which was filled with aromatic items. The masks were designed to protect them from putrid air, which was seen as the cause of infection.Being a plague doctor was unpleasant, dangerous and difficult. Their chances of survival in times of a plague epidemic were low. ague doctors could not generally interact with the general public because of the nature of their business and the possibility of spreading the disease; they could also be subject to quarantine.Plague doctors practiced bloodletting and other remedies such as putting frogs on the buboes to “rebalance the humors” as a normal routine. Humors were believed to comprise the human body with four distinct bodily fluids. The four humors of Hippocratic medicine were black bile, yellow bile, phlegm and blood, and each corresponds to one of the traditional four temperaments. A famous plague doctor who gave medical advice about preventive measures which could be taken against the plague was Nostradamus the Seer. Nostradamus’ advice was the removal of infected corpses, getting fresh air, drinking clean water, and drinking a juice preparation of “rose hips“. Nostradamus also recommended not to bleed the patient. I wonder if Nostradamus predicted the plague. If he didn’t then that was a bit of an oversight (pun).

PLAGUE IN THE 20TH CENTURY
On March 6, 1900, a city health officer autopsied a deceased Chinese man and found organisms in the body that looked like plague. In 1894, two research physicians had simultaneously and independently identified the bacillus that causes bubonic plague. In San Francisco, political issues vied with scientific efforts. Anti-Chinese feeling ran strong in the city then, and the first step taken was to quarantine Chinatown. The Chinese objected, and so did the business community, not to protect the rights of the Chinese, but because the knowledge that the Plague was in the state was bad for business. The quarantine was lifted but health officials ran house-to-house inspections of Chinatown. People resisted, hiding their dead and locking their doors. More plague cases were found. In April 1901, a clean-up campaign of Chinatown was undertaken, scouring almost 1,200 houses and 14,000 rooms. On February 29, 1904, a woman in the town of Concord, California, died of plague, its last victim — for a while. There had been 121 cases in San Francisco and 5 outside, with 122 deaths. North America is the world’s largest reservoir for the plague. Every year people are infected a few die from it. The early signs of plague are easily mistaken for flu or other illnesses: fever, chills, and weakness to the point of severe prostration. Plague’s ability to masquerade as flu in the early stages is particularly unfortunate, since successful treatment depends on using the appropriate antibiotics within a narrow time frame.  Our main defence against the disease is hygiene. Our modern sewage systems and Public Health organisations keep this plague to a minimum.

MYTHS SURROUNDING THE BLACK PLAGUE

The Flagellant Brahren and their Atonement for Sin
Bands of hooded men, wearing white robes marked front and back with a red cross, are moving to and fro across Europe, attempting to atone for the ravages of the Black Death by whipping themselves in ritual public ceremonies. The Brethren mistakenly believed the plague was a punishment for human sin, and that by scourging themselves they showed mankind’s repentance. They travel in parties of anything from 50 to 500 men, and were high ly organized. They moved from town to town to perform their rituals. Singing hymns and sobbing, the men beat themselves with scourges studded with iron spikes. Blood gushes from their many wounds, and the spikes embed themselves in the torn flesh. The ritual was performed in public twice each day.

Astrology
The movement and position of the planets, suns, moons, and anything else in orbit you can think of, was also believed to be the culprit during the Medieval Era.  Ahem.

Bad Air
Many people closed their doors and windows, burning incense, in the mistaken belief that the plague was spread by bad air.  Villages set controlled fires in the streets. I’ve breathed some bad air before but it wasn’t from the plague.

Witchcraft
Poor witches.  It always comes to that, doesn’t it?  Many people were suspected of witchcraft and this, naturally, was the cause of the plague.  Many people were tortured and put to death for “consorting with the devil.”  What a terrible time to be alive.

The Disappearing Woman
This story has circulated for decades, originating in Paris, France, around the Victorian Era.  A woman and her mother were travelling through France together and checked into a hotel.  Later that night, the mother became very ill. After the hotel manager examined the woman, he sent the woman across town to visit a doctor for a medication.  The woman left but when she arrived at the doctor’s address, she discovered his house was shut down and he was away on vacation.  She returned to the hotel to report the matter but the hotel manager was confused.  He asked her why she had gone searching for a doctor.  Bewildered, the woman reported he had sent her to the very doctor he denied knowing, in order to treat her mother’s illness. The manager stated he was unaware of the woman’s mother accompanying her into the hotel and that she had checked in alone. She insisted on returning to her room, and was brought to the same room with a different number on the door.  When she entered she discovered the room was furnished in a completely different manner; even the wallpaper was different. Only her own possessions were there and none of her mother’s luggage.  There was no sign of her mother.  The woman contacted police, who visited the hotel.  The hotel staff insisted the woman had arrived alone and they had never seen her mother.  Eventually, the poor woman returned home without her mother and never discovered what became of her.  Speculation suggests that the woman’s mother had somehow contracted the Black Plague since they had recently travelled through India.  In order to prevent pandemonium in the city, police advised hotel staff not to admit the mother had ever been in the hotel. Whether or not this actually happened has never been verified.

When Passing a Test is Failing

I’ve never had to worry about passing a drug test.  I’ve never taken a job, gone to work, driven a car, or sat around in rehab worrying about the illicit toxins in my system. I have consumed a legal drug, alcohol, a time or two (but not whilst drinking).  I happened upon an interesting site that gleefully offered not only information, but a number of synthetic products guaranteed to help those with a drug addiction to pass a drug test. The products help a drug user to fool the four main types of drug tests, being urine, hair follicle, blood and saliva. To wit there are shampoos to remove traces of drugs from your hair; bottles of “ultra-pure” urine (I’m not kidding, although the synthetic stuff doesn’t smell like the real thing…gross); marijuana home test kits; marijuana detox kits; alcohol strip saliva tests; “ultra-pure” blood kits; and products for random drug tests. It’s eerily similar to starting drugs in the first place:  whatever you need, they’ve got it.

This site is disturbing on two levels:

1. Why are we helping drug addicts to pass drug tests?
2. What do we gain and what do we lose when we keep drug addicts in positions of responsibility?

Some jobs that are particularly worrisome where drug users are concerned include: surgeons, forest workers, transport people, construction workers, people who have your life in their (shaky) hands. That’s scary stuff.

Consider the many other situations where drug addiction is truly frightening:

1. a drug-addicted expectant mother
2. a drug-addicted mother
3. a drug-addicted father
4. a drug-addicted transient
5. a drug-addicted criminal

A transient or a foster-child teen may not be a danger to others, but the potential to become a criminal in order to maintain a drug supply is high (pun). And we don’t want even “harmless” people walking about high. They do stupid things like step in front of oncoming cars without looking. They start stupid fights with other high, transient people. Criminals and transients make a community less valued and less safe.  The majority of criminals and transients are drug users and always will be.

In case you are loathe to use a synthetic product to alter your drug tests, there is a 1999 Drug Detection Times chart published by the Nationa Institute on Drug Abuse  that provides information as to how various drugs stay in your system. The chart is well-intended: it isn’t intended to provide you with the knowledge to pass a drug test. It provides information as to how much time must pass after using before you can safely go to work, care for a child, walk down the street and chew gum at the same time.

Drug detection time in urine is expressed in upper and lower boundaries.  For instance, if you are an infrequent, small-dose user, the detection test places you in the lower boundaries.  For heavy, regular users, the upper boundaries are the results. Overweight people are more prone to getting caught as drugs linger longer in fatty tissue. Aging and chronically ill people are also likely to get a positive test result. Urine tests isolate four factors: pH levels, colour, creatin levels and temperature. Oddly, methods such as eating red meat, sex, taking vitamin B-12, increasing creatine levels, and mixing a detox drink, have been tried and proven successful in avoiding detection, but only in urine (again, not in everyone).

Having said that, everyone’s drug reaction is different. Some people may hold traces of marijuana for up to two months in their systems. Some may retain trace amounts of cocaine for weeks, others for hours.  It depends on your physical condition, age, usage, weight, and whether or not you eat regularly. Some people believe that drinking large amounts of water, or using a diuretic, will purge their system of drugs but this isn’t so. There are drug users who substitute their urine with another person’s, however this deception isn’t always accurate: temperature is critical.

The argument for using synthetic products and passing a drug test is feeble: the test only measures what you have previously done with drugs and not whether you are currently using. A peculiar sort of logic, but it manages to evade the law.

Bottom line: the best way to avoid failing a drug test, losing your job, your spouse, your child?  Don’t use.

How to be Extremely Vain and Like it

Many of us believe Shakespeare actually penned the saying, “vanity, thy name is woman.” As a matter of fact, the line from Hamlet is “frailty, thy name is woman.” Personally I’m more impressed with the former. watch easy does it, ladies What’s wrong with Vanity?  Vanity is the ultimate manner in loving and accepting yourself.  Isn’t that what healthy, self-assured people do? I don’t mean the kind of vanity where you fool yourself into believing you are something or will achieve something you obviously can’t or won’t put the effort into….wasting your time on delusion is stupid. Vanity is pride in your appearance, your face, body, fashion, personal style. watch how to be well-groomed  It is pride in your intelligence and personal accomplishments.  These things are a little harder to advertise so they must be casually dropped into a conversation at every possibility.  Here’s a few more tips on how to be extremely vain and like it:

1. never leave the house without every hair in place from head to toe…..self-explanatory. watch shocking 1950s commercial
2. always name-drop
3. accept compliments easily
4. when people ask what you do, elaborate and sprinkle a little bling on it (you may wish to exercise caution on this one if your surname is Ponzi.)
5. develop your own signature style from an era that most appeals to you …  personally I like pin-up girl couture from the 1940’s and 50’s.  It’s work to keep up with it every day but the compliments feel soooo good.   watch vixen pin up photography
6. A colleague insisted I have a lot of money because of all the clothes she sees me in every day….usually I’ve added a piece of my wardrobe no one has seen before so it appears as though my surname is actually Trump. Bliss. watch miss universe winners 1960 – 1969
7. never stop learning….Vanity means acknowledging to yourself that you don’t know everything (but you wouldn’t say that out loud)  watch social class in america and when you sign on for a new course make sure people know about it. watch habit patterns 1954
8. never stop earning …. the more you make, the more you can spend and stash cash for the inevitable, dreaded retirement. watch 1972 avon commercial
9. always mention places you have been.  Once a colleague casually mentioned he’d been in some country somewhere skydiving and mentioned the spectacular view from the air.  Everyone was impressed.  It’s not bragging.  It’s Vanity. watch women know your limits
10. when making an impression, know when to quit. A colleague of mine showed up driving a Nissan Altima ( a car I’ve always liked) and mentioning he spent $400.00 on his girlfriend for her birthday.  I was impressssed.  Then he blew it by admitting it was his parent’s car and he wouldn’t be spending $400.00 on her ever again since he really couldn’t afford it.  What’s the point in that? watch the snob 1958
11. get every nip and tuck you need but don’t be an idiot like this woman.
12. Hit the fitness scene often …. you don’t have to have a gym membership to be svelte and strong, just make sure you exercise that bod daily.  Make you a priority and that is as wonderfully Vain as you can get. watch 1949 exercise and health
13. Be a food snob. Eat sickeningly healthy food… never lower yourself to eat junk food.
14. Spend, spend, spend. Buy what you want, step out in style, stop saving for a rainy day … what does that even mean anyway? watch queen for a day
15. Build the largest bling collection of anyone you know.
16. Shoes. You can never have enough.  watch prevent foot pain when wearing high heels
17. look rich on a modest budget…..buy relatively inexpensive blouses, look for skirts and slacks on sale, and accessorize with your own signature jewellery – that is the huge move to make yourself look put together.  Above the neck is essential. Simple, classic (cheap) wear polished off with bling, every day, don’t miss a day, and great makeup.  watch grooming essentials for women 1956
18. now go out and preen.  Preen like a peacock….Vanity’s mascot. watch 1947 are you popular

Food, Food, Food…..Subliminal Tricks and Traps to Whet Your Junk Food Appetite

Of course it doesn’t have to be that way but fast-food advertising and convenience of hitting the drive-thru to grab your pre-cooked food, certainly makes it difficult to refrain from eating it.  Everywhere you go there’s a visual lure into the land of junk food: that familiar golden M, Burger King’s ugly king (that somehow never fails to hinder people from walking through the door), Wendy’s winking redhead.  They make a show of offering nutritious alternatives to alleviate adult guilt but how many people actually indulge in a salad or a bowl of chili?  From what I’ve observed not too many. watch Inside Edition Subliminal McDs Ad Busters

Normally, people already know what they’re going to order before they arrive at their choice of junk food junction.  I’ll have the usual grease-ridden fries and 5,000,000 calorie Big Mac, thanks.  Oh and a chocolate milkshake to wash that down. No one’s mouth is watering over ordering a thai chicken salad or a grilled chicken wrap without the fatty sauce they wrap it in. I love how McD’s alleviates people’s guilt while at the same time offering a “healthy” sandwich with the alternative of a deep-fried 5-oz hunk of chicken.  I mean, what’s the point?

These truly are demon-foods, dead, non-nutritional.  perhaps that’s why so many of us feel guilty after we shovel that shit, later thinking why did I eat that? We all do it.  I’m no saint either and I’m certainly not pointing fingers.  I’m pointing fingers at the junk food aficionados who undermine people’s health and rake in a profit doing so. Hey, I know it’s a personal choice but that visual advertising is a killer.  Visuals in fact are the most successful human stimulus. Aroma is believed to be second but not according to stats gathered by the Seoul International Colour Expo 2004: watch Pepsi Logo Scandal Exposed

1. 92.6 percent said that they put most importance on visual factors when purchasing products.
2. Only 5.6 percent said that the physical feel via the sense of touch was most important.
3. Hearing and smell each drew 0.9 percent

As the rather bezerk yet sometimes amazingly accurate Charlie Sheen once said, “the numbers don’t lie.”

When asked to approximate the importance of color when buying products, 84.7 percent of the total respondents think that color accounts for more than half among the various factors important for choosing products. It’s no accident that M is bright yellow, a colour associated with happiness and joy. Red whets the appetite and encourages people to eat, hence Wendy’s adorable red braids. Orange is the colour most people feel ambiguous about; small wonder most junk food corporations avoid it like the plague. The psychology of visual advertising, although subliminal for most people, is brilliant in its function. watch the psychology of colour

Having said all that, I do concede that people who sue junk food junctions because they have become “addicted” to chemicals in their food are about as mad as Sheen.  In spite of the aforementioned power over the human mind, it still remains a free choice to walk through the doors of McD’s or KFC.  Perhaps these “victims” of addiction seek to recover the thousands of dollars they have spent on fast foods over the years.  Certainly no one is buying into the addiction story. watch I eat 33,000 calories a day

Ever noticed that after gorging yourself with junk food it only takes a few hours and you’re hungry again?  Probably because your body is craving the nutrients you didn’t receive when eating deep-fried crap.  However, when you indulge in nutrient-dense, guilt-free foods, such as fruits, lean meats, protein, healthy fats, dairy products, vegetables, broth-based soups, it takes a lot longer to work up your appetite. Foods that are packed in nutrients, including vitamins, healthy fats and natural sugars tend to fill the tummy a lot longer than junk, that merely stretches it. watch healthy food that fills you up

Please understand I am not an advocate of “getting skinny“. I don’t like that putrid “Skinny Bitch” series. watch 1000 ways to die boot camp There is some reasonable advice in there but the concept of being skinny, especially to make others envy you, is wrong on so many levels. This isn’t about skinny.  It’s about your beautiful and your health and well-being.  for a laugh, watch skinny bitches chick comedy

It’s easy enough to avoid temptation: pack pre-made healthy snacks and lunches and leave your cash at home so you can’t run out and buy demon-food. Avoid driving (or biking) the route home that you know has a McD’s and a KFC along the way. That’s the easiest way to save money and exercise (pun) self-discipline. Get an “audiotape” running through your head and arm yourself with it every time you leave the house: junk food is gross; I deserve better….or some such thing. I have a CD I play on my laptop at night that talks about eating nutritious foods and enjoying exercise.  I fall asleep to it while the male voice croons on and on.  It’s a great way to train the brain. watch paul mckenna i can make you thin

And Right on the Heels of “You’re Not Skinny” (Bitch)…

Women are built to have babies and to accumulate fat stores.  That’s a fact.  For most of us, aging (or even leaving our teens) causes the body to put on excess fat. Women feel ashamed about that.  Why?  It isn’t your fault….blame genetics and Mother Nature for that one.  Of course eating healthy foods and getting a reasonable amount of exercise is essential and not just to have a good-looking body.  It’s an interesting truism that the inner workings of our bodies are much more complicated than we think.  We get peed off looking in the mirror and seeing extra rolls or cellulite yet knowing how and why the body ends up that way can help make different choices in our eating and exercise habits.

Knowing what is best for your body on the inside is even better than concerning yourself with how you look on the outside.  For instance, there are 4 supposed body types that involve not shape, but body chemistry. (I’m not referring to the fashionista categories of apple, pear, hourglass, and ruler, as that is strictly for aesthetic purposes). The 4 types include:  adrenal (many women fall into this category), thyroid, gonads and ovaries, and liver.

Adrenal – broad shoulders and muscular legs – adrenal women usually have large breasts. Men and women have rather flat buttocks. When they are overweight, they carry it throughout the torso, in their back and in the stomach area. If they have cellulite, they will carry it in the back, upper arms and stomach, never in those great legs.  The foods that make them feel more energetic are meat, cheese, salt, eggs and alcohol. However these foods lead to high blood pressure, insomnia, stress, back problems, constipation, kidney problems, osteoporosis and gout. This body type is a perfect one to be a semi-vegetarian. What a semi-vegetarian is I cannot say, this is the research I uncovered.

Liver – Although this is most common in men, women have this type as well. Liver type is “pot belly” symptom. There is swelling in the abdomen from toxins in the liver. This swelling may appear to be “fat”, but is toxic swelling which will harden from pressure. The Liver Type craves deep-fried foods like fried chicken because the liver cannot absorb any fats. This diet leads to skin irritation and chronic digestive problems. The whites of the eyes become yellowish and bloodshot; blood pressure will get higher and cholesterol will raise to unhealthy levels.

Ovary – clearly this is found in women. If it is found in a man then he has more worrisome health problems than his weight. When ovaries become dysfunctional, they produce an excess of estrogen, which causes fat. This fat is deposited on “saddlebag” thighs, the lower stomach and the buttocks. You have difficult menstrual cycles with excessive bleeding and pain, and you get moody. You have cellulite on your thighs and stomach area. But your upper body stays suitable and does not take on the same effect as your lower. You have a small waist relative to the rest of your shape. You crave creamy foods and dairy; like ice-cream, cream cheese, cheese cake, vanilla yogurt and those types of foods.

Thyroid – The predominant characteristic of a Thyroid Body Type is “weight gain all over“. You most likely have a slow metabolism and the  fat accumulated is a spongy product. You may start losing the outer part of your eye brows and get loose skin underneath your chin and arms. Your nails become brittle, you will have some constipation and your feet feel cold. Cravings are “quick energy sources” like breads, pasta, cereals, crackers, biscuits, pan cakes, muffins, Juices, and even alcohol.

Read how to exercise for your exact body type

When I eat healthy and exercise regularly I notice impressive results in a short period of time:

1. my skin is clearer
2. i have more energy
3. i need less sleep
4. i feel proud
5. my body is more attractive

It makes sense when you think about it. You need to eat, you’re going to get hungry, so why not fill that hole with healthy food instead of junk?  It’s equally easy, it is not more expensive (in fact I’m inclined to believe eating junk costs bigger bucks), and you can’t help but feel more self-disciplined.  Notice I’m not referring to “health food“. I don’t believe you need to go organic or eat some weirdly designed combination of foods.  Certainly I wouldn’t touch diet pills, shakes, speed (legal in the States). That stuff is a crock anyway for the most part and anything that supposedly works can be addictive. In the long run, you are going to stop surviving on liquid shakes and pills.  It’s not natural to live that way. It does more harm than good and you learn nothing about how to eat a healthy, daily diet.

HGH, the designer drug for dieters and athletes, is a scary drug.  Your body naturally produces HGH throughout your childhood and teens, then by the early 20’s the pituitary gland slows the production of growth hormone significantly. There are essential reasons for this: Mother Nature knows what she is doing. Messing  with the pituitary gland, a protrusion off the bottom of the hypothalamus at the base of the brain, by adding HGH into our diet sounds risky, at best. There are several alarming side effects.  watch hgh side effects  In fact, your body does produce its own natural growth hormone as a healthy side effect of intense exercise. However, a diet high in fat actually suppresses this effect. watch growth hormone diet

There is a new line of books and other products entitled Skinny Bitch and Skinny Bastard on the market.  I have read Skinny Bitch and there are some reasonable tips in it (although excessive use of insults to the reader seems a bit counter-productive).  One thing I truly disagree with Rory Freedman’s assertion that everyone should “go vegan” (I saw this in a TV interview). Going vegan is a huge sacrifice.  it is very difficult to find restaurants that cater to vegans.  In fact it can be difficult to find restaurants that cater to vegetarians.  Freedman is overlooking the fact that women who do not ingest enough calcium are prime targets for osteoporosis.  I wouldn’t take her advice.  Just saying.

Seems to me the old “eat less and exercise more” adage still applies in this day and age.  Portion control and less junk. Exercise daily but not to extremes. I remember reading a Richard Simmons interview and when he was asked how often he exercised he said “every day.  Even if I just get out walking, I still consider that to be exercise. The body has to move every day.” Another way to achieve the lifestyle you want:

1. work with a nutritionist
2. refer to your medical doctor
3. work with a trainer
4. join a gym and get a workout buddy
5. workout at home and set up a small exercise area
6. Learn which foods make the healthy list and which
   don’t at restaurants
7. tell your friends and family you are changing your lifestyle
   for the better and would appreciate their support.
8. Expect that your spouse or best “friend” may try to
   sabotage your efforts due to envy or jealousy. Be
   prepared to discuss it in a non-accusatory way and
   even include that person in your healthy lifestyle
   choices.
9. Keep a food journal and assess your progress at the
   end of the week.
10. Watch exercise and diet programs…they are a good
    influence.
11. Be wary of extreme advice offered in books such as
    Skinny Bitch or Skinny Bastard…these books
    can be very damaging, especially if
    you have health issues.

There are many other ways to make and maintain healthy choices. You will find them yourself in your journey toward good health.

Cheers!