PEACE

JOY

KINDNESS

MAY WE SEND THESE OUT INTO THE WORLD, WITH HOPES THEY WILL BE FRUITFUL AND MULTIPLY.

Grab Bag Krilling Me Softly:

The gift of health….

In choosing to supplement your diet with Omega-3 fatty acids, many choose  fish oil capsules. You might want to consider the latest research on krill oil as a preferred supplement. This research was reported by NYU Langone Medical Center’s website:

Therapeutic Uses

Based on its omega-3 fatty acid content, krill oil would be expected to have many of the same effects as fish oil. 

A few studies have evaluated krill oil specifically. In one double-blind, placebo-controlled study, 120 people with high cholesterol were given krill oil, fish oil, or placebo.  The results over 3 months showed that krill oil (taken at a dose ranging from 1-3 g daily depending on body mass and which group the participants were assigned to) improved all aspects of cholesterol profile as compared to placebo, and it was more effective than fish oil (taken at the fixed dose of 3 g daily). Krill oil also reduced blood sugar levels. Though these results need to be confirmed by independent trials, they are certainly promising.

Another double-blind study compared krill oil against fish oil for treatment of symptoms of premenstrual syndrome (PMS) and dysmennorhea (menstrual cramps).  This study suffered from many problems in design and reporting, but appeared to show that krill oil was more effective than fish oil for treating both of these conditions.

Grab Bag Human Beauty:

The gift of dance…

Grab Bag Green Gold:

The gift of thin….

It’s been AT LEAST a month or two since I have sung the praises of green tea. Can you tell yet that it is a part of my every day life and I think it holds amazing health benefits??

So here I go for the upteenth time…

Read what RealAge.com has to say about drinking green tea and reducing belly fat. At the bottom of the article I have reminded you of my very favorite green teas and where to get them:

Here’s an easy way to turn a routine workout into a powerful waist-whittler: Drink green tea.

A Drink for a Smaller Waist

That’s right. Ditch the Gatorade and instead sip several mugs of the green stuff throughout the day. Research shows that the wonder duo of green tea and exercise may target belly fat better, so it shrinks more easily than with exercise alone.

Fat-Busting Brew

In a study, overweight adults who engaged in an exercise program for 12 weeks lost more belly fat if they also drank green tea daily. The green tea seemed to boost overall weight loss and triglyceride control in the study group, too. The magic amount of tea needed for the effect? Enough to get about 625 milligrams of catechins plus a little caffeine every day (roughly 7 cups daily). Start drinking green tea and use our free online Waistline Tracker to chart your progress.

The Power of Green

Researchers think that catechins in green tea might blast tummy fat by acting on enzymes that influence the body’s calorie- and fat-burning mechanisms. And catechins and caffeine together may boost the body’s metabolism. Brew up a pot of tea the next time friends visit and you can all enjoy these extra benefits as well:

• More energy. Green tea is one of four key energy-upping nutrients. Find out what the other three are.
• Healthier joints. Sore? Find out why green tea is great for creaky knees.
• Stronger heart. It doesn’t take much to cut your heart disease risk. Here’s how much tea you’ll need in order to help your heart.

Find out how to make a quick and easy green-tea face refresher.

Grab Bag Ponder:

The gift of wisdom….

FIVE BEST SENTENCES:

1.   You cannot legislate the poor into prosperity by legislating the wealth out of prosperity.

2.  What one person receives without working for…another person must work for without receiving.

3. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else.

4. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it.

5. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work, because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work, because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that is the beginning of the end of any nation!

Grab Bag Brain Game:

The gift of discovery…

PERFECT BALANCE

Grab Bag Funny Stuff:

The gift of perspective….

For all those kids from the 30’s, 40’s, 50’s, 60’s and 70’s… you’ll remember when. For all of you born later…. here’s a glimpse of what it was, way back when:

First, we survived being born to mothers who may have smoked and/or drank  while they were pregnant.

They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, and didn’t get tested for diabetes.

Then, after that trauma, we were put to sleep on our tummies in baby cribs covered with bright colored lead-based paints.

We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, locks on doors or cabinets, and, when we rode our bikes, we had baseball caps, not helmets, on our heads.

As infants and children, we would ride in cars with no car seats, no booster seats, no seat belts, no air bags, bald tires and sometimes no brakes..

Riding in the back of a pick- up truck on a warm day was always a special treat.

We drank water from the garden hose and not from a bottle.

We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle, and no one actually died from this.

We ate cupcakes, white bread, real butter, and bacon. We drank Kool-Aid made with real white sugar. And we weren’t overweight.

WHY?

Because we were always outside playing…that’s why!

We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on.

No one was able to reach us all day. And, we were OKAY.

We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then riding them down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes.. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem.

We did not have Play Stations, Nintendos and XBoxes. There were no video games, no 150 channels on cable, no video movies or DVDs, no surround-sound or CDs, no cell phones, no personal computers, no Internet and no chat rooms.

WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found  them!

We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth, and there were no lawsuits from those accidents.

We would get spankings with wooden spoons, switches, ping-pong paddles, or just a bare hand, and no one would call child services to report abuse.

We ate worms, and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever.

We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays, made up games with sticks and tennis balls, and -although we were told it would happen- we did not put out very many eyes.

We rode bikes or walked to a friend’s house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just walked in and talked to them.

Little League had tryouts  and not everyone made the team. Those who didn’t had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!!

The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law!

These generations have produced some of the best  risk-takers, problem solvers, and inventors ever.

The past 50 to 85 years have seen an explosion of innovation and new ideas..

We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned how to deal with it all.

If YOU are one of those born between 1925-1970, CONGRATULATIONS!

You might want to share this with others who have had the luck to grow up as kids before the lawyers and the government regulated so much of our lives for our own good.

While you are at it, forward it to your kids, so they will know how brave and lucky their parents were.

Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn’t it ?

Image by Soojin