COMPOSTING: HOW AND WHY (ISSUE 149) OCTOBER 7, 2014

By Diane Gold

Composting, how and why discusses how easy it is for us to replenish the soil using our raw kitchen waste and why it benefits us to do it.

So, let’s define composting for those not familiar. It is a method of gathering decayed and decaying plant matter for the purpose of replenishing and fertilizing the soil so that something new has lots of nourishment from which to grow.

Nature composts through the decay of falling leaves, windblown seeds, seed casings, branches, the growth of fungi and microbes. We compost by mixing our vegetable waste with certain carbon-based products to cause the very same process.

WHY COMPOST?

According to Lynn Russell, composter, small garden enthusiast and new friend,

“The main reason to compost is to make your soil alive with all the bacteria and the fungi and beneficial microbes the plant needs and exchanges energy with into the soil. The second reason is that you are imitating nature by using your waste to go back into the soil to make something good rather than just disposing [of] it. Constant recycling… It’s the way the world works. It’s the way nature works.”

Just a note, by imitating nature, we are using waste and turning it into usable goods, nutrients for the food we grow.

WHO CAN COMPOST?

For those of us who have a garden, we probably have some land on which to place containers in which to compost. For those in suburban apartments, we might have a terrace or outside dumpster next to which to keep a container. For those in urban apartments, like Jen Doll did for 10 days last year while writing a compost article, she put hers in the freezer. She concluded that composting could reduce rats because garbage cans would no longer be overflowing, and monitoring our compostable goods in the freezer could make us more aware of how not to buy more than we can use during the week.

Some people choose to do the whole process. Many people, either through choice, lack of space or location circumstance choose to give their waste to a local farmer.

CARBON FOOTPRINT

According to a 2011 report by epa.gov on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, composting food waste rather than putting it in the land fill has a significant greenhouse gas emission reduction and is a great way to reduce each of our carbon footprints.

PREPARATION FOR PLANT-BASED MATERIALS

So how do we do it? When I asked Lynn about what materials to use, she outlined the process easily. Although I’ve heard this before, I think I got it this time because she broke down the process into the simplest of steps.

CONTAINER PROCESS

1) For those who want to complete the entire composting process starting with a bin and finishing with composted materials, we can follow Lynn’s system:

a) the 2 container system.
This consists of 2 – 20 gallon flexible
garbage cans with lids that cost around $14.

b) A $10 shovel to turn the materials.

c) AERATION

On the bottom of each garbage can, drill 8 to 10 – 5/16 inch holes.
10 inches up, drill 8 to 10 (or 1 hole every 8 inches or so) 5/16 inch holes around the circumference of the can.
10 inches up, do the same as the previous step.

2) For those who want to give food waste to a farmer or drop compost at a city or county composting site, all we need do is place the scraps in a container that belonged to some empty produce container, either a shaped plastic container from pre-cut wheatgrass or a pliable plastic bag or paper bag from market and place it in the refrigerator or the freezer. I put mine in the refrigerator. Lynn puts hers in the freezer.

THE 2 CATEGORIES OF STUFF WE USE

There are 2 types of items we use for our compost.

1) The first is GREENS which provide NITROGEN. These consist of fruits, vegetables, maybe uncooked bread with no spreadable food on it. If any food is rotted from a microorganism, Lynn has recommended to leave it out so the soil is purer. Raw food is best. It also attracts less vermin, if it is outside.

Greens from the lawn can be used if it’s our own lawn (called soft waste). We must be sure there are no pesticides on the lawn greens. Lynn suggests that it’s better to leave it out if the green clippings are sprayed with contaminants of any kind.

2) Then we have our BROWNS WHICH are CARBONS. This would consist of shredded newspaper and plain brown cardboard. (Sawdust can be used if the wood has not been treated, which is doubtful.) We have to wet the cardboard. Then we need to break it into small pieces which makes it easier for the microbes to get at it.

THE LAYERS

Now comes the good part: the layers, which do not have to be so exact, according to Lynn. She says,

“Some say use more carbon, but it can also be 50-50.”

We start with 1 garbage can which we can label as “BIN #1.”

1) We begin with a carbon layer, 6 inches high in the bottom. We just place it in there, no special way.
2) Next, we put our layer of fruit and vegetable waste, 3 to 6 inches.
3) Then, there’s another layer of newspaper and brown cardboard, if we have it.
4) If we do have more, we add another layer of 2) and then 3).
5) Now, it gets exciting. We let it sit, covered for a few days.
6) When it starts decomposing, we use the shovel to turn it.

7) Now, the interesting part. We let it sit and stir it for about 8 weeks, noticing how it changes.
8) When it looks too wet, we add carbons. When it looks too dry, we add greens.
9) When we have 3/4 of a bin full, we can either dump it out into the second bin so that we get to mix what’s on the bottom OR we can start layers in the second bin.

10) When the compost in the bin has broken down and is starting to look like soil, we stop adding to it. We just turn it, let it get dark and finished.

THE SURPRISE

Worms will make their way into the compost pile through the holes that we drilled. Their waste (called castings) is some of the best fertilizer for any soil. They also turn and aerate the soil.

CONCLUSION

I am very respectful of composters. When we have land, it’s not such a big thing to compost. When we have not much more than a terrace, I think it’s courageous. Since I don’t really have a backyard that I can monitor, I give my fruit and veggie waste to Lynn. I am grateful because I have somewhere for my greens to go, other than the garbage can. She is grateful because she can depend upon my weekly layer of greens. And, an added bonus that was not part of the deal, we are becoming friends.

ACTION STEPS

Here are some action steps that you may find rewarding.

1) Buy a tiny 8 ounce can and put holes in it for aeration.

2) Put 3 layers into the can: bottom browns (carbon), about 2 inches, middle greens, about 2 inches, top browns, about 2 inches.

3) Nurture it on the windowsill or near the garbage cans.

4) Stir regularly.

5) When it’s finished,
plant something into that soil.

6) Decide today to do one of the two: start composting regularly or give your food waste to a farmer.

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FEEDBACK

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DIANE GOLD, PUBLISHER AND AUTHOR

Diane Gold, Founder of Warriors of Weight, Turning Habits Into Health, is a mentor in tai chi, kung fu and meditation, a music, fitness and stress expert, dedicated mom, studying plant-based nutrition, peaceful conflict resolution and habit replacement.

She believes in the power of sustainable education. She believes in educating youth so that future generations can live well. She says,

“Any time we can reduce greenhouse gas emissions, it is good, even if we impact a small bit at a time through composting. The very act of composting shows us life cycle. Being close to this cycle makes us close to understanding. I have no doubt that being close to understanding can bring us peace.

“Finally, let us all take good care of ourselves because we are so worth it!”

NUTRIENT COMPOSITION, AS PER T. COLIN CAMPBELL (ISSUE 146) SEPTEMBER 16, 2014

By Diane Gold

Nutrient composition, as per T. Colin Campbell, is far more important than looking at the amount of one nutrient quantity alone. The amount of calories we ingest is not as important as what type of calorie we take in.

When I was preparing to interview Dr. Campbell, the author of The China Study, Whole, grand researcher of 58 years and father of plant-based nutrition; I asked about his own diet, using the word “vegan.” He very astutely answered me in a way that gave me a much fuller understanding of how we eat and what is the right way for us to eat, the crux of this article. He said,

“Average dietary fat [when speaking about vegans and vegetarians as one group] is about 30% of total calories—not very different from omnivores—and 90% of vegetarians still use dairy and have relatively high fat diets. Therefore, the nutrient composition of the ‘V’ diets is not that different from the average American diet; and

“it is nutrient composition that is the best estimate of the health value of foods.

“The WFPB [whole food plant-based] diet is more like 10-10-80 (fat:protein:carbohydrate) and is all whole food and is plant-based. This is a very big difference from most vegan and vegetarian diets.”

According to the National Academy of Science, Food and Nutrition Board, which is used by the US Department of Agriculture for statistics, the ratio is 20-35/10-35/45-65 (fat:protein:carbohydrate). This is quite different from the words of this great researcher whose words and studies I trust and respect.

MACRONUTRIENTS

As has been mentioned in https://warriorsofweight.com/food-labels-the-next-generation-in-nutritional-data, macronutrients refer to the large divisions of food including fats (including an additional breakdown for saturated fats), proteins and carbohydrates.

MACROMINERALS

There are certain minerals that we need in large quantities for our bodies to function well, build bones, make hormones, etc. In humans, these are sodium, potassium, phosphorus, calcium, magnesium, sulfur and chloride.

Although the FDA Food Labeling Guide 14, Appendix F, January, 2013, shows that we need 3500 mg of potassium; the Institute of Medicine, 2011 Dietary Reference Intakes summary indicates that the optimum amount is 4700 mg per day.

Just for fun, and because I really wanted to know; I added up my intake for the day which was only 3063. I think I will add a head of broccoli or a double serving of spinach to my selection of other plants. That will put me around 4700.

http://www.fda.gov/Food/GuidanceRegulation/GuidanceDocumentsRegulatoryInformation/LabelingNutrition/ucm064928.htm

FACTORS THAT CHANGE OUR NEEDS

The following factors can change the amount of a macronutrient (like a carb), a micronutrient (like vitamin A), a macromineral (like calcium), a micromineral (like copper), a phytochemical (like quercetin) that we need on a particular day. When just 1 change occurs in our lives, the body goes through the domino effect, where every system’s connection to every other system in the grand infrastructure we call the human body is affected.

Hopefully, we take care of ourselves so that we have a functioning immune system that can protect these changes.

1) over use or under use of a particular organ

2) body size

3) amount of physical activity

4) emotional state

5) compromising organism (bacteria, virus, fungus, cancer cell), diagnosed or not

6) the weather and our a change in altitude

7) hydration and nutritional changes

CONCLUSION

To date, we are not “yet” teaching nutrition throughout our school systems. The fact that we are left to nourish our bodies by trial and error is ludicrous. The fact that we don’t “yet” teach a full course in nutrition to everyone who passes through the doors of medical school is ridiculous. We are technical geniuses, artistic geniuses. Where’s our common sense?

Understanding nutrient composition is crucial to our lives. Shouldn’t we give ourselves, our children and our grandchildren their best chance at having healthy lives? As T. Colin Campbell says,

“It’s never too late to start eating well.”

ACTION STEP

Since not all of us are going to run right out and get interested in the nutrient composition of our diets, here is a 3-stage action step that will suit many different interest levels.

STAGE 1)

Pick up a chart that tells the difference between a fat, a protein and a carbohydrate so that you become familiar which of your foods is which.

STAGE 2)

After completing STAGE 1), estimate how much of your food is in each of those categories.

STAGE 3)

After completing STAGE 2), specifically write down how many grams of each of fat, protein and carbohydrates you eat on an average day. Add up the grams, making sure not to confuse grams, milligrams and
Micrograms (that funny symbol) micrograms.

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FEEDBACK

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Please leave a comment below.

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WarriorsOfWeight on Facebook.

You can also follow us on Twitter: @warriorsoweight.

Thanks.

DIANE GOLD, PUBLISHER AND AUTHOR

Diane Gold, Founder of Warriors of Weight, Turning Habits Into Health, is a mentor in tai chi, kung fu and meditation, a music, fitness and stress expert, dedicated mom, studying plant-based nutrition, peaceful conflict resolution and habit replacement.

She has been experimenting with plant-based food for only about 5 years. Prior to that, she included dairy. As she evolved in understanding the importance of the plant-based diet, she made more recipes of her own. She says,

“It’s pretty interesting to realize all the wonderful ways we can combine nutrients and to realize how vast the overview of nutrition is.

“I have never looked at the percentages of macronutrients that make up my food. But now I am determined to match the nutrient ratios that Dr. Campbell mentions for optimal health in my own diet. And to tell people about this conclusion by one of the world’s medical nutritional greats.

“I’m very excited to have this nutrient composition formula to go by and will start to use it to maximize my life.

“Finally, let us all take good care of ourselves because we are worth it, even if we don’t feel it!”

THE HABIT OF MEDITATION: THE TRUE MISSION (ISSUE 142)

By Diane Gold

The habit of meditation has been growing worldwide. It went from being quite common in the East to being quite common in the East and the West.

MEDITATION, DEFINED
A definition for this discipline that mirrors mine is this, given by Deepak Chopra, M.D., speaker and author,

“Meditation is a” [body of work] “that takes us beyond the noisy chatter of the mind into a place of stillness and silence.”

This removes any questions about whether a certain religious base is connected. Meditation is a set of action steps that teaches us to focus our attention. When we do achieve a quiet(er) mind, we may choose to fill it with universally good things which may include some religion. This would be a personal decision and is not part of the meditation process, itself.

RATIONALE

     All throughout the day, each of us has so many stimuli: noises, smells, people, electronics, world events, our own creative projects and work, our family and friends. As we walk to our car, bike, train, we see all the different parts of each person that may draw our attention.

We smell smells, remember experiences related to locations, and we may have our own preoccupations that flood our mind. Then we stand on line to get coffee/tea/wheatgrass juice. We experience all the stimuli of the store providing it. Then we arrive at our destination and have all the stimuli associated with that.

Some of us have the ability to choose which of the stimuli come into our sphere. Others of us, and that’s most people, allow ourselves to be hit like a sponge with everything in our view at the expense of own time.

What meditation gives us is the ability to do is to have time for ourselves, whether it’s sitting in a quiet spot at the meditation center or walking through a crowd.

DON’T MISS At Peace With Diane Gold
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WHICH METHOD IS BEST?

As with many body/mind disciplines, there are many methods. What is common to them all is this: we focus the mind in one place on a non-stimulating area that is meant to prevent the sucking away of our attention by a myriad of unrelated thoughts and is meant to assist us in being attentive.

When I was 21, I was a member of a philosophy called Radha Soami (sound current yoga). We listened to the words of the head guru, followed a lacto-ovo-vegetarian diet (although not strictly since we knew that cheese contained animal enzymes, and we ate pizza anyway), professed to lead a moral life and sat in the corner to meditate for 2 1/2 hours daily.

We repeated a mantra to hold our attention for the 2 1/2 hour  period. I did this for 5 years and then moved on to other adventures.

When I began tai chi 25 years later and had full concentration instantly from the first movement, I had a realization that has led to what I teach today.

When we concentrate on something other than ourselves, such as a mantra or a cloud or pretty thoughts, we are splitting our attention: we are concentrating on our bodies because we are in them, and we are concentrating on a mantra or thought repetition.

In order to give ourselves a fighting chance of learning one-pointed focus, meaning to do one thing at a time; body movement makes it easier for most people. Watching my tai chi movement did the trick for me as it does for so many. The wave-like movement I made with my hand was what it took for me to be in instant sync. Bam!

When we stand to meditate as in chi kung or we sit to meditate in lots of other types of meditation, our minds usually fly around, unless we have worked on meditation through moving the body first. We may also wonder why we are the only ones for whom meditation doesn’t work. Ha.

When we do tai chi, free dance, body shaking; we’re so absorbed in the body movement that it’s hard to lose our focus since we would we would lose our physical balance if our attention strayed. That’s why it is massively easier to rule out external stimuli when we’re physically moving.

REJUVENATION

The big reason to meditate is so that we rejuvenate. When we expend our mind’s energy from thinking, reacting, working, creating, loving, playing; we need sleep to replenish ourselves. When we are out of fuel and liquid, we need food and water. In the same way, when the mind goes running around grabbing on to lots of different thoughts, we need time for it to settle. It needs time to wipe itself clean, that is, empty itself so that we can fill it again with the next set of (hopefully) meaningful things. This clearing is what meditation is about. When we meditate, we renew our energy. One-pointed work clears all but our one focus. Once we can do this with some ease, the mind will graduate and clear even this one focus.

MEDICAL CONDITIONS

Medical research studies have confirmed that meditation reduces blood pressure, anxiety, PTSD, cholesterol, depression, stress. In April, 2014, a team at Brown University finally structured the coding of verbal responses that can be correlated to quantitative neurophysiological measurements.
This means we are able to measure meditation benefits through scientific method, rather than subjectively only. It should be mentioned that Dr. Shin-Lin of University of California, Irvine, began studying the biomedical effects of tai chi and chi kung using scientific method over a decade ago.

CONCLUSION

Many of us have the habit of meditation. Some call it the fountain of youth because it increases our vital energy flow (our chi). This can keep our body’s organs moving well and our minds sharp and happy. Whatever kind of meditation we do, it makes sense to experience meditation on some level.

ACTION STEPS

Here is a set of action steps to see which kind of meditation you may prefer.

1)   Dance freely to your favorite kind of instrumental music for 1 minute with your eyes closed. Just let it go. Notice how you feel with your eyes still closed.

2)   Stand with chin slightly bent down with knees bent, butt tucked, for 1 minute with your eyes closed. Concentrate 10 feet in front of you, even though your eyes are closed. Notice how you feel with your eyes still closed.

3)    Sit in the middle of a room on the floor or on the floor on a towel with legs relaxed, crossed, if possible, for 1 minute with your eyes closed. Concentrate four feet in front of you, even though your eyes are closed. Notice how you feel with your eyes still closed.

4)   Do steps 1), 2), 3) for 2 more days.

5)   For the next 4 days, do the 1 type of meditation you prefer for 1 minute each day.

6)   Once you have completed a week, decide if you want to devote that 1 minute a day to meditation.

7)   Make sure to write about your experience, go to  CONTACT US
and tell us you wish to share your experience. We will be honored to reply.

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FEEDBACK

Please leave a comment below.

Please LIKE us on the website

and at WarriorsOfWeight on Facebook.

You can also follow us and chat

on Twitter @warriorsoweight.

Thanks.

DIANE GOLD, PUBLISHER AND AUTHOR

Diane Gold, Founder of Warriors of Weight, Turning Habits Into Health, is a mentor in tai chi, kung fu and meditation, a music, fitness and stress expert, dedicated mom, studying plant-based nutrition, conflict resolution and habit change.

She believes it is so important to make quiet time for ourselves daily. She says,

“There are almost one-and-a-half thousand minutes in a day. We can each find a fraction of one minute to take a moment out from regular rat race activity to stop and focus in meditation. It’s good for the heart, the lungs, the mind; and we need it. Imagine if we never tuned up or oil changed our car. Wouldn’t it get run down?

“We are the same in that we require regular periods of meditation, but we are all more worthwhile than an inanimate car. So, as we wouldn’t let a car deteriorate, we cannot disregard ourselves. It might be the perfect time to meditate right now.

“Finally, let us all take good care of ourselves because we are so worth it!”

INFLATED EGO AT THE EXPENSE OF OTHERS (ISSUE 141)

By Diane Gold

THE BIRTH OF THE INFLATED EGO

The inflated ego begins the
minute we are exposed to a pat on the back or the chant of someone’s saying,

“Good job.”

This incantation teaches us, from a very young age,

1)   there is something to judge, and someone is judging us;

2)   we have a lone or team of cheerleader(s) to make us feel safe and not alone;

3)   we work to act in ways to cause the chant “good job” to be repeated so we can feel warm and fuzzy;

4)   if there is a good job, there must be “not a good job;”

5)   we copy the behavior we see, so we begin to judge ourselves and others.

The chanting of encouragement is not a bad thing. In fact, it’s extremely important to have support at every stage of our lives.

Although we all like encouragement, we can become dependent upon it. Unfortunately, hearing we did a good job sets us up to buy into the “compare me” way of living (on which most societies depend), rather than the “no judgment” way of living, on which few societies depend.

With this said, our society judges: our laws are based upon behavior within certain rules; this keeps order, for the most part. Our acceptance into schools and job positions has to do with how well we are judged as people and through academic and personality testing.

PRAISE FROM A RELIGIOUS GROUP

When the preacher or leader of our chosen group discourses that our particular congregation of members is loved more than other religious groups, we are refining how we see the world. Our ego becomes falsely inflated with the knowledge that we are in a special tribe which means we have been taught that there are other tribes less worthy. We have been lifted up while others have been lowered.

SCHOOL

We go to school and get rated on academic prowess. The tests we take for our ratings may be nothing more than our ability to memorize well. For performance of the task that is tested, we may hear,

“Good job,”

by the teacher or

“Not such a good job.”

This reinforces the idea that some people do good jobs and others do not.

Although it is true that some people do better jobs than others, the rewards through smiles and cheers at home, house of worship and school set us up for the laser-focused competition circuit. We get social credibility from classmates and home/ house of worship credibility from the success or failure of our intellectual endeavor.

And so the comparison game is in full swing now. We’re comparing ourselves to others at home, at house of worship and in school. Which means we are pushed to focus on ego issues rather than on the importance of bettering ourselves for ourselves.

WORK

Finally, we choose a field assignment, aka a job, whose acceptance or rejection may be dependent upon our being better than the girl who interviewed before and after we did. We are measured by the grades we received in college and community. Or how many customers buy our product. Being faster, wiser, a better learner all matter on the path to securing the work we desire or that for which we trained.

DON’T MISS At Peace With Diane Gold
TUESDAYS, 2 pm ET on Internet Radio 

http://bit.do/atpeace or call in at 1-425-440-5100, 836846#

Past Shows: http://bit.do/at-peace-archives

WHAT’S MISSING?

It’s great to strive to be the best that we can be. We become more knowledgeable for the effort and may end up helping humanity as a result.

The lesson that is missing, in general, and it goes way back to the first day we were told,

“Good job,”

for the most part. It is that we are all equal. Most of us rarely consider this point, and we are often too busy getting the better clothing, car, phone, vacation to think about it. And, let me be the first to say it’s fun and great to play with new cars, clothing and collectibles. But, without realizing that a human is a human, we may live a sad life.

Comparing our worth based on financial status, color, intellect, college status or vehicle is one way of looking at life; as I see it, this is the plastic dance (plastic referring to something that is not real or genuine). We are not considering that it takes air for each of us to breathe. It takes water for each of us to survive and it takes nourishment for each of us to live healthy lives. No exceptions.

Would we refuse the hand of someone who was unschooled if we were hanging off a cliff?  No.

Would we refuse lifesaving medicine our baby needed from the only doctor on our isolated island because her skin was the wrong color? No, again.

How can we judge that a person with a high profile job is a better human being than someone whose position is low profile?
Electricians may say,

“Teachers have easy jobs. We, the electricians, are the ones who are really working.”

Or teachers may say,

“Those multinational CEOs sit around in their offices all day doing nothing while we work hard.”

Or CEOs may say,

“Teachers have the easiest job. They get to go in late, leave early; and we have 12 hour days every day.”

This inflated ego talk is harmless and never carries over to discrimination that may result from the comparison game.

LABELS

Let’s look at what happens when people are labeled. Being labeled “gifted” does not mean we are better than someone labeled “intellectually challenged,” or as I say, “intellectually different.” It does get us better jobs and acceptance to better schools because the world runs on the comparison system, and with more intellectual expertise, we can engage in more complex projects. Although we may be able to generate more income than the next person; it certainly has nothing to do with our worth as a human being. Unless that worth is being measured by how much financial value a person has; then it is true.

WHEN INFLATED EGO CAUSES CRUELTY

Anyone who teases, bullies, insults  people with lesser intellectual capacity, less expensive clothing, a physical imperfection,  is doing it to inflate the ego. It serves no other purpose. This has come out of the original “good job” that was uttered way back when to encourage us along into the competitive world. This simple statement or one like it started our competition engine, but competition is not the culprit here. It what we were supposed to learn along with this concept.

Anyone who teases, bullies, insults  people with lesser intellectual capacity, less expensive clothing, a physical imperfection,  is doing it to inflate the ego. It serves no other purpose. This has come out of the original “good job” that was uttered way back when to encourage us along into the competitive world. This simple statement or one like it started our competition engine, but competition is not the culprit here. It what we were supposed to learn along with this concept.

I’m talking about the “kindness is more important than competition” rule and the concept that supporting people who ignore this rule means we are breaking it.  

The whole concept of some comedic acts is to tease and bully others. We laugh while one person cringes. I know I’m being dramatic, but comedy can be legal use of a non-lethal firearm in a crowd. We say comedy is in fun, yet comics who rely on singling out individual’s defects in the audience probably never learned that kindness overrules the need to feel powerful.  Worse than this type of comic is the bully who picks on her victim’s ethnicity, religious difference, sexual preference or physical traits.

CONCLUSION

Excelling is great. Belittling someone whose excellence is slower, weaker, less beautiful, less academic wreaks of poor self-esteem, nothing more.
Let us make an effort to keep our inflated ego from causing others emotional harm.

“If it’s not kind, truthful or necessary; don’t say it.”     I have a friend who used to say,

“If it’s not kind, truthful or necessary; don’t say it.”

ACTION STEPS

Here are several steps we can take to insure we turn our kindness up a notch.

1)   Notice the next time you gossip about someone in the same room. Stop doing it as soon as you realize it.

2)   Vow to help someone or converse with someone you have ridiculed in the past or have thought less of for any reason.

3)   Stop yourself the next time you are having a random comparison conversation aka gossiping about someone who is not present.

If you wish to share your story, please hit reply in your email program to be contacted.

FEEDBACK

Please leave a comment below.

Please LIKE us on the website

and at WarriorsOfWeight on Facebook.

You can also follow us on

Twitter @warriorsoweight.

Thanks.

DIANE GOLD, PUBLISHER AND AUTHOR

Diane Gold, Founder of Warriors of Weight, Turning Habits Into Health, is a mentor in tai chi, kung fu and meditation, a music, fitness and stress expert, dedicated mom, studying plant-based nutrition, conflict resolution and habit change.

She believes we must temper ourselves to enjoy a great life. She says,

“Just like any habit, we can take praise and get addicted to it. This happens when we don’t get strong within ourselves. In this case,when we do get praise, we’re seemingly balanced. When we don’t get it, we become savage-like and bully others to cover up our insecurities.

“We will get bigger and better the kinder we are to others. The more we replace our bullying behavior with niceness, the more we will like ourselves.

“Let’s be nice instead of nasty to those we see as weak. Let’s treat others the way we’d want to be treated if we were vulnerable and weak (which we are). This will make us strong and balance our need for inflated ego at the expense of others.

“Finally, let us all take good care of ourselves because we are so worth it!”

THE WORLD IS FLAT, A DISCUSSION TO HELP US WITH PERCEPTION OF TRUTH (ISSUE 136)

By Diane Gold

When we say, “The World Is Flat,” people look puzzled because our current perception of truth is different from this. But, at one time, this was current thought. This article aims to show how, with new or updated information, what we used to perceive as true is replaced by a new perception, which may or may not be what truly exists in the real world and how through mis-education or swarm mentality, we may not be seeing the real truth, supporting what is ethical and being the best that we can be.

FLAT EARTH

Although we know that Eratosthenes measured, within 2% accuracy, the circumference of a spherical earth in or circa 250 B.C., perception (knowledge using our senses) and religious debate about evolution continued this non-empirical theory in more modern times. One person told another who told another who told another. Then a large group perceived that the earth was flat.

But, let’s look at how we originally found the earth to be flat:

1) we heard it our tribes from our families, our peers and our educators – imagine each person telling one other person would change what the entire tribe perceived.

2) we could see with our own eyes a flat image across the field which looked like a flat earth, our perception of truth.

Although we were not correct, we believed, from all our fine education, the good intentions of our parents and community and what we could see far and wide that we were correct. Until…

Overwhelming evidence to the contrary appeared. Navigational instruments were using more sophisticated instruments to calculate distances, Magellan’s crew circumnavigated the world, (Magellan died before the culmination of the voyage in 1521), student education was more accurately based on scientific evidence rather than perception.

In the 1680s, Newton’s treatises taught us about gravity (the force that allows a stronger object to pull another object. Which led to later discoveries that gravity can pull object bodies greater than 400km in diameter (N. Whewell, National Space Centre) into a sphere as a result of their gravitational pull toward their center. And (according to Int’l. Astronomical Union), in order to be called a planet, a body must have a strong enough gravitational force to sphericize].

And, then, the first photo proof that Earth was spherical came in 1946 from U.S. Army Facility, White Sands, New Mexico.

PERCEPTIONS CAN CHANGE WITH EMOTIONS AND EVIDENCE-BASED FACT

OK. So we have seen a simple perception, “The World Is Flat,” and how perception can change our actions which allow us to see subtle visual changes that we missed before and grand changes from credible science. Think about new concepts and how their creators, inventors, champions were ridiculed for new ideas – until they weren’t. If it were 1707, and I suggested to light the house with a light bulb and electric circuitry, few would have listened. Someone worked and succeeded at that very issue, almost exactly hundred years later. And Thomas Edison perfected the process and brought it to market 50 years after that. He is quoted as saying,

“I have not failed. I have just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”

Although others had created the incandescent bulb, Edison, with money and power, perfected the life of the incandescent light bulb using his own and previous ideas that finally changed perception as people saw the bulb. The same revelations came with the airplane, the computer, the cell phone. We saw, and we perceived it to be. And yet, these are all technological objects.

WHAT IF WE COULD WORK ON ADVANCEMENT OF SOCIETY THROUGH A COMMUNITY, A COOPERATIVE NETWORK BASED ON COLLABORATION RATHER THAN GREED TO PROFIT FROM A TANGIBLE PRODUCT?

As with all ideas that were in their beginnings and have not taken root, a cooperative network based upon collaboration seems far- fetched. But, what if we worked on our greed and chose to replace it? As we know, if it’s not motivated by money, we have to dig deep within ourselves to become evolved through a different kind of motivation.

The idea of wanting more or something tangible is not bad. Most of us were probably taught to excel, do more, get more, strive hard to get more. But, how many of us were taught to step on others to do it? Not most of us. But most of us are not part of the 1% who have to make more ethical decisions on a daily basis than the 99% because they do more and manage more.

IMPORTANT: EVALUATING TRUTH

We each have mixed perceptions about getting ahead. We each define our own ethical lines. Some of us believe we have to go about excellence through the bureaucratic systems that exist within multinationals, (such as corporations being friends with media outlet owners who protect bad stories from coming out of the friend multinational, who are friends with politicians who pass laws

protecting corporate interests with the promise of campaign contributions who partner with food and drug industries and manufacture food that is not healthy for us which, in turn, makes us sick so that we have to use the health care and insurance system to get better which brings money to the insurer, manufacturer, the food and drug industries who supply the original item that causes massive side effects creating the new problem,

all of whom need the banking system from whom to borrow money for said insuring, manufacturing and health care as well as consumers who need to borrow and rack up debt because they don’t have the money to live or buy their foods, clothing, drugs or shelter.

Plus, the whole while, we are spending money militarily to keep ourselves safe (which is necessary), but we are doing it in such a way as to further the military industrial complex for profit’s sake, rather than to look toward the peaceful conflict resolution process to diminish conflict, death, starvation, debt, strife and make money in other ways.

ACTION STEP 1 THAT CHANGES OUR PERCEPTION OF TRUTH

Others of us see the vision of evolving into peaceful or cooperative coexistence, not from waving peace flags , but from joining together and actively choosing companies whose ethic is not greed. This, in effect, would support a new network of companies that were not involved in greed as motivation but who joined together to build a new infrastructure to replace the old one described in the above paragraph.

1) This step would socially prove to others that it is possible to live ethically. In a similar way to our reading labels on food or choosing organic produce; we could decide to buy only from entrepreneurs who work outside of greed. This would insure that new, ethical companies would flourish.

2) This step would further change people’s perception about how it is possible to live a mainstream life without buying into the corporate greed structure, but without ending up in “New Age” land. It would be similar to our knowledge going from “The World Is Flat” to The World Is An Oblate Spheroid.” (That’s the technical term for our planet’s shape, whose rotational axis’ diameter is shorter than the diameter of its equatorial axis.)

CONCLUSION

So, what can we conclude? We are creatures of perception, and our perceptions change. We gather our impressions from what we see, feel, hear, taste, touch and then we put our latest knowledge on top of that. When we are made to see newness, we perceive it. When we add empirical fact, we are enhanced.

BIG ACTION STEP 2

Consider supporting:

1) PREVENTION methods like tai chi and nutrition rather than reductionist (one-at-a-time) cures for already sprouting dis-eases that arrive because we never did anything to prevent them,

2) UNATTACHED MEDIA INFORMATION, meaning media that would share information while disclosing how its news could be trusted based on who its advertisers were, what political affiliations it had and how free its journalists were to write without censorship,

3) FULL DISCLOSURE, meaning products and services manufactured, conceived, created by an individual or group that discloses all financial and special interest relationships it has, including religious, political, media and academic affiliations and relationships of any of its board members by filling out a newly formed full disclosure chart that all consumers would see as obviously as we see nutritional facts (which are not fully disclosed) on packaging,

4) ADVANCEMENT ETHICALLY WITHOUT GREED, meaning we would only support organizations that advanced humanity in an ethical fashion, whose employees were ethically treated, who used materials that were sustainably developed (meaning we could replace them) that did not hurt life in the process (like slave laboring Thai shrimp workers or animal torture).

THE BIG CONCLUSION: IN THE COMING WEEKS, WE PLAN TO ANNOUNCE THE OPENING OF A NETWORK OF PEOPLE WHO PREVENT, INFORM, DISCLOSE AND ETHICALLY ADVANCE.

Watch for the sensational opening of an ethical network that will, not only, make us powerful with knowledge and tools, but will offer us ways to communicate with, get involved with and do business with change makers who will advance our perception of truth and the ethics of our world.

Here’s a closing thought from Thomas Edison,

“Non-violence leads to the highest ethics, which is the goal of all evolution. Until we stop harming all other living beings, we are still savages.”

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Thanks.

DIANE GOLD, PUBLISHER AND AUTHOR

Diane Gold, Founder of Warriors of Weight, Turning Habits Into Health, is a mentor in tai chi, kung fu and meditation, a music, fitness and stress expert, dedicated mom, studying plant-based nutrition and habit change.

She believes we can believe or perceive one thing for many years, and that perception can change to something quite different. She says,

“One of the great things about being alive is that we evolve, share, grow, change, adjust, choose, rejuvenate and reinvent. This means we can learn at any age.

“One of my biggest goals is to be able to build bridges for myself and others to transition from one belief or perception to another. If, in one decade I believe that big media tells the truth and then in the next decade, I realize big media does not; I want to be free enough to deal with the new information and have my readers be ready to perceive this new information. If in one decade I believed that milk was good for the body and in another, I discovered it causes cancer; I want to be free enough to adjust, move on and communicate this information in such a way that others will get it with eyes wide open.

“Long live transparency. May I find a way to remind people how important it is to keep an open mind.

“Finally, let us all take good care of ourselves because we are so worth it!”

PROFIT FROM PEACE – THE PEACE INDUSTRY TV SHOW (ISSUE 134)

By Diane Gold

Profit From Peace is an ideal that has fallen through the cracks in discussions at the university level, in primary and secondary schools, across diplomatic and corporate tables. It’s not really in the back of our minds, yet, either.

Peaceful coexistence is talked about a lot. Personal peace of mind is a popular topic. Yet making profit in a peace environment is not considered.

Well, why not? As I see it, people know what currently works for profit and don’t want to do the exact opposite of that, infrastructurally. But, brilliant entrepreneurs can create a new industry of peace that can transition us into an entirely new method for profit: The Peace Machine. Let’s think outside the box as to what a TV show like this could accomplish.

Let’s consider the peace industry show, Profit From Peace, in development. Just as Donald Trump’s The Apprentice, runs a competition-like job interview show whose prize is running one of his corporations; the British The Apprentice: UK’s prize has evolved to become an investment in a business of the winning candidate’s creation. The British version is more the concept we have for Profit From Peace, discussed here.

Each candidate would pitch the business plan of her/his created company, including how to finance and manage it. The show would include role playing a board meeting run by the prospective director of the company.

To qualify, the business being pitched would have to profit from peace and peaceful coexistence similar to the way we now profit from war: only the peace economy would include green transportation instead of petroleum or diesel spewing vehicles and energy efficient lighting on all our roadways including photoluminescent paint that depicts roadway lanes and current weather conditions.

It would also have to be funded, in part, by a multinational company whose products typically are used in wartime, business investors and/or celebrity investors, all of whom are TV judges of the ideas being presented before them.

The challenge of the show is to come up with a lucrative enterprise that can, eventually, replace the current war economy enterprises so that profit motive is removed from influencing whether or not we go to war. If we remove the profit temptation, we look through different eyes.

PUBLISHER’S NOTE

I want to make it very clear that I support our military’s being strong. But, as with martial arts, just because we have the training and the equipment doesn’t mean we use it to solve a conflict.

I also stress the importance of creating a new infrastructure that can stand on its own, inclusion of the business of war, so that the powerful business concerns that currently fund war products would be motivated to support peace profits for profit purposes.

THE CONCEPT OF MAKING MONEY THROUGH PEACE, NOT WAR

We already know how to make money from war. Military equipment, location and protection technology and gear, air, land and sea vehicles need manufacturing, technological assembly, fuel for transport, human personnel, financing up front to pay for the above, medical costs during and after war. We have mastered this art. Let’s explore another.

What if we focused our attention on making money from peace? That would be a game changer. By doing so, we would be taking away the demand for extra war products by not creating wars, which would entail developing other industries than those making money from the projectile products of war. Plus, we who would like to develop this profit from peace set of industries would be motivated to examine the ways to seduce multinational companies to begin coming on board.

INTERNET SEARCH FOR PROFIT FROM PEACE

When I looked on the almighty internet for the phrase “profit from peace,” there was one entry. In 2011, on a ted.com site, one person questions “what if we had peace industries.” Not surprisingly, the discussion was closed with only 2 comments. I found lots of links showing discussions of people making peace with money but none specifically targeting making money from peace. Furthermore, when I searched for peace products, I found flags, clothing, mugs with a peace sign, jewelry; but no infrastructure for profit from peace.

THE OPPORTUNITY

Although there are big bucks to be had from war; people die, families get fractured, cultures get lost. So, as with every strong habit, if we can replace it; it will go dormant. That is to say that if we start showing strategy that will work, we can turn companies who profit from war into companies who profit from peace and support us.

BUSINESS INVESTORS

There are some business investors who tend to favor projects that involve human rights. There are also those financiers who are looking for the next best start up. Finally, multinationals donate money to worthy projects, as this one might be viewed. So there are many possibilities for funding.

CELEBRITY PEACENIKS

There  are many lists out there of celebrity peaceniks. They are mostly written by non-peaceniks and may include people with a broad range of charitable interests. So, even if I called Woody Harrelson, Jane Fonda, Diahann Carroll, Harry Belafonte, Jeremy Gilley of Peace One Day, together; each might have a very different agenda. But, together, we can do it, meaning get celebs on board!

CONCLUSION

Profit For Peace, The TV Show, is such a huge idea that, I think, any celebrities who actively pursue upgrading human rights would jump on board. I’d like to think so, and only time will tell.

ACTION STEPS

Below are several action steps we can take that can contribute to the TV show to further the infrastructure of industries making profit from peace.

1)   Create 1 business idea that can take the expertise of a company that currently makes profits from war and use it and its already built manufacturing plants for the purpose of peace. An example might be  having an airplane manufacturer shift their emphasis from military planes to human rights ambassador planes for protection of human rights throughout the world.

2)   Make a list of 3 industries that can be used for profiting from peace.

3)   Write down what you think would happen if we kept looking at new ways to profit from peace.

Hopefully, the profit from peace concept is now embedded in our minds. It can only grow as we talk and refine it. If we are consistent, don’t disrespect the profit position of war manufacturers and give them an alternative; we might have embarked upon something that will work.

4)   Last, but not least, if you would like to be involved in this project; please connect.

If you wish to share your story, please hit reply in your email program to be contacted.

FEEDBACK

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Please leave  a comment below.

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You can also follow us on Twitter @warriorsoweight.

Thanks.

DIANE GOLD, PUBLISHER AND AUTHOR

Diane Gold, Founder of Warriors of Weight, Turning Habits Into Health, is a mentor in tai chi, kung fu and meditation, a music, fitness and stress expert, dedicated mom, studying plant-based nutrition and habit change.

She believes there is a way that is within our grasp to profit from peace. She says,

“Before there was an auto industry, or a computer industry; someone had to have the concept. Once there, focused, systematic attention had to be paid to each task devoted to success. The conceptualizers of our time figured out the next step. This meant many, many failures, each of which, as we know, brings us one step closer to success.

“Let’s focus our attention on the idea that the peace industry is active and that it is worth creating products and services, funding and supplying and distributing products. Let’s make more money, which would have nothing to do with war, from peace concerns now. We can put our minds together and work toward profit from peace and can help in the development of Profit From Peace – The Peace Industry TV Show.

“Finally, let us all take good care of ourselves because we are so worth it!”

WEIGHT LOSS SECRET WEAPON (ISSUE 131) JUNE 3, 2014

By Diane Gold

Accidentally, a weight loss secret weapon came to my attention. I was minding my own business, looking for the next best thing to eat – for taste, not for substantial weight loss – I am lucky enough that my Buddha belly is only a pound or two. But, I always eat what I recommend, and I always taste new foods.

I happened upon this weight loss enigma when one of my suppliers endorsed its superior taste and confirmed its being a super food.

SUPER FOOD AND CREDIBILITY

Just to define, the term “super food,” as so many dietary expressions, does not have any specific clinical trial evidence in science. The food that is referenced by the term usually has some such research behind it. But it always refers to food that has tremendous nutritional effects, so much so that its benefits may prevent disease.

“Super food” has more credibility than the word “natural” whose label means absolutely nothing and could mean anything from pig juice from non-hormonally treated adorable baby pigs to apple juice from genetically modified seeds whose crop is minimally sprayed. It also far surpasses the label that shows nutritional facts being none of our business by ingredient omission due to some legislative exemption or by the manufacturer’s not knowing the source of an ingredient.

THE SECRET WEAPON

So, let’s talk about the dreamy and subtly nutritious food that has such a marvelous effect. It is not luxurious and is somewhat flexible in growth locations. It is tasty and has different tastes based on how ripe it is and its variety. And it is a  super antioxidant.

What is it? It’s the Olive.

ANTIOXIDANTS AND DISEASE

What’s so great about antioxidants is that they inhibit a cell from interacting with oxygen. Think of the browning of cut apples or the healing of a cut on your skin. Some cells die, like rotting fruit. But, in the case of the body, we make new cells that replace the old cells which results in a healed cut.
Sometimes, during the oxidation process; as per Jeffrey Blumberg, PhD at Tufts U.,

“1% or 2% of cells will get damaged in the process and turn into free radicals.”

These are scavenging molecules looking to pair.

“Free radicals often injure the cell, damaging the DNA, which creates the seed for disease.”

Antioxidants protect the body from this process by slowing it down or eliminating it. That’s the big deal about antioxidants under which category olives fall.

Sometimes, cholesterol oxidizes. This causes heart disease. Olives reduce this. John Summerly, nutritionist and homeopath, refers to research studies where the fat from olives can reduce blood pressure as well.

Finally, antioxidants are known to prevent cancer, and olives are both antioxidants and have anti-inflammatory properties.

REGULARITY

Completely to my surprise, after beginning to eat olives, my elimination became more slippery, meaning the walls of my intestines seemed to be coated with the a substance that eased out the waste. This leads me to mention that the fat content from olives may have a positive effect on constipation, although this phenomenon may not occur in anyone else.

WEIGHT LOSS

Since the time I began eating olives, I have lost several of the stubborn pounds that did not please me. I had gained 5 pounds for no reason, and it was not coming off. Now it is off. One of the only additions to my eating regimen is olives. I have researched that scientists believe that mono-saturated fats, the kind found in olives, can help with weight loss by breaking down fat inside of fat cells.

The great thing about eating olives is that they are high in fat – the good kind – the mono-saturated kind. To eat some every day does not require a lot of effort and does not require any preparation. They smell  and taste good, but their full and robust flavor does not lead to over-eating.

The fact that they create a good condition in the intestines may also lead to weight loss since good elimination is part of healthy living and healthy weight. The fact that they are antioxidants may keep the system healthy which improves the mind’s will power for weight loss.

THERE ARE OLIVES, AND THEN THERE ARE HIGH QUALITY NON-LYE-SOAKED OLIVES

Recently,I have been eating olives: both with salt and without, black only. They taste nothing like any olives I have ever tasted before.

I do not believe in calorie counting but will mention that the blacks have 40% more calories because they are older, riper and have more fat. They are all low in calories. They are organic and packed in olive brine only for shipping before being sun-dried. Commercial olives can be soaked in lye before they are put in brine with ingredients we never hear about, which is why I am careful about the quality of my olives, the supplier from which they come and the supplier’s knowledge of the process from tree to me.

Although I rarely eat anything that has added salt, I have researched that the sea salt in the olives I am eating will not harm me, and I value it for my health.

Here is an opportunity for you to get them. Here are my two kinds:

BOTIJA PERUVIAN OLIVES WITH SEA SALT (the only ingredients),
8  oz., PITTED, RAW, ORGANIC, VEGAN:

CLICK HERE

BOTIJA PERUVIAN OLIVES, (the only ingredient),
8 oz., UNSALTED, PITS IN, RAW, ORGANIC, VEGAN

CLICK HERE

Just so you know, I do business with Sunfood. Therefore, if you go ahead and purchase these lovely olives from the above links, I may be entitled to a stipend. I’m telling you about them for your health and not for my financial gain, though.

CONCLUSION

Anything that works for us can become a weight loss secret weapon. Sometimes we can come across healthful and goal-achieving eating habits by accident. Although I knew olives were part of the reason that people living close to the Mediterranean (and Latin Americans whose ancestors came from there) show lower coronary heart disease per 100,000 as per worldlifeexpectancy.com/cause-of-death/coronary-heart-disease/by-country (using WHO’s and other credible sources’ data). We can also see complete variations within this chart.

Here are several action steps that may be of interest toward the goal of bettering health. Be well.

ACTION STEPS

1)   Set a goal to add 1 weight managing food this week. This can also include removing a food that is negatively impactful.

2)   Drink a 12 oz. glass of water 15 minutes before every meal, snack, drink you are going to have. If you are at the bar, be it in your home or out on the town, count each drink as a meal whereby you will drink a 12 oz. glass of water 15 minutes before it. This technique may help reduce the amount of your sugar intake (in alcohol and fruit drinks).

3)  Give my new raw, vegan, organic, weight loss OLIVE DISCOVERY a whirl.

Organic Olives with sea salt and no pits HERE.

Organic Olives with no salt and pits in, HERE.

4)   Know you have inner beauty, or you wouldn’t be part of the race (the human race).

5)   Know that you have value, or you wouldn’t be here (part of our family).

If you wish to share your story, please hit reply in your email program to be contacted.

FEEDBACK

We value your feedback very much.

Please leave  a comment below.

Please LIKE us on the website and at

WarriorsOfWeight on Facebook.

You can also follow us on Twitter @warriorsoweight.

Thanks.

DIANE GOLD, PUBLISHER AND AUTHOR

Diane Gold, Founder of Warriors of Weight, Turning Habits Into Health, is a mentor in tai chi, kung fu and meditation, a music, fitness and stress expert, dedicated mom, studying plant-based nutrition and habit change.

She is always interested in alleviating pain in others. She makes an effort to investigate claims about health and weight loss. She says,

“Most weight loss techniques are hype. We don’t yet have the full picture about what makes some of us huge and others of us big eaters who never gain an overweight pound. (Similar to the paradox of France,  a country eating highly saturated fat, having the lowest coronary heart disease of any nation, except a tiny island in the Pacific.)

“I do know that if a method is simple and requires no preparation; it’s a great weight loss strategy: like drinking water instantly or pressing both sides of the ear lobe to suppress appetite.

“Now we can add the olive secret weapon to viable ways for weight loss. This is a breakthrough since it is a tiny food, easy to tote around and one not likely to over-eaten.

“Finally, let us all take good care of ourselves because we are so worth it!”

INCOMPLETE MEDICINE VS. INTEGRATIVE MEDICINE: OUR HABIT OF ACCEPTING LESS (ISSUE 129) MAY 20, 2014

By Diane Gold

Integrative Medicine is the new buzz phrase that refers to medical doctors’ looking at biology, psychology, exercise, social adjustment, spiritual balance and nutrition to conclude the best way to work together with a patient on her health.

This is not a new concept; it focuses on a stronger doctor-patient relationship, the way it used to be back when patients weren’t rushed out after 5 minutes of appointment time. It focuses on prevention and upon uniting all the factors that affect health, also not new concepts. The rise in popularity of integrative medicine comes from the movement of patients managing their own health care due to lack of one medical professional to do it, which includes not trusting over-prescription of pharmaceuticals and not accepting ludicrously minimal face time with the actual doctor.

OLD VS. NEW

When I was in my teens, we went to a psychiatrist to talk. Now, people go to a psychiatrist to get drugs. It’s not that shrinks don’t like talk therapy. It’s that the “Western health care system” pays next to nothing for talk and lots for the prescribing of pharmaceuticals. In my mother’s day, people would go to the doctor and have long conversations about what felt bad, what was going on at home, at work, at school, in the town.

Today, traditional medical doctors are always looking at the clock and rarely taking the time to get to know a patient. The initial visit is usually the last time any real conversation takes place. Furthermore, general doctors or family medical doctors are typically underpaid and overbooked because specialty pay is higher so there is a shortage of plain old generalists.

Thus, the growth of integrative medicine, the way Western medicine used to be and Chinese medicine still is.

SELF-EXPRESSION AS HEALING

Because part of healing has to do with self-expression, integrative medicine includes counseling and discussing what is going on in the life of the patient or how the patient feels. Yes, we pay for the time since we may be billed at the highest tier should we touch upon 5 subjects that ail us instead of 1; but we have the ability to have a full and complete session with an expert. Hallelujah.

And when was the last time anyone got to see a nutritionist and a exerciser as part of standard treatment? Not all doctors bill by time and number of subjects discussed, but more time means fewer patients so compensation deserves to be higher.

THE INTEGRATIVE MEDICAL DOCTOR I SAW

The integrative medical doctor I saw was one of the best doctors I have ever seen. Here’s why.

Since I study nutrition, I know the importance of proper food for the body, mind and spirit. Almost all medical schools require an inferior amount of courses in nutrition as a requirement. How pathetic is that? The outcome is that each doctor who understands the importance of nutrition has to make some time and study it on her own. Pretty shabby when nutrition is a daily factor  for every patient.

After $250,000 worth of debt (from med school), not all doctors are motivated to do more studying even though all know that nutrition matters.  The doctor I saw had learned about food and was able to converse about it while being an expert in internal functions of the body. This was the first time I had been to a doctor who had any professional knowledge of nutrition. Being vegan, which is the minority, I always look for someone who understands the no meat and no dairy way. I lucked out. The doctor whom I saw had been exposed to my kind of eating through his family’s vegetarian Indian roots and his own due diligence.

As part of the general appointment, this doctor had an exercise physiologist and a nutritionist on staff as well as assistants to help with the regular vital signs. Each of his patients was asked to see each of these other professionals so that the doctor could get a fuller picture of the health systems of the patient. Unfortunately for me, but not to my surprise, the nutritionist had no idea how to discuss a vegan diet or even a vegetarian diet. This failure motivates me to study plant-based nutrition with more zeal.

INCOMPLETE  MEDICINE VS. INTEGRATIVE MEDICINE

Having been aware that the health care system compartmentalizes each area, many of us have known that the infrastructure of medicine as it has been displayed and taught to us is out of balance and incomplete medicine. We who know what mind/body disciplines can do for health are thrilled to see the continued popularity of integrative medicine.

Imagine if integrative medicine were the standard. It will be. It will take time, but, if we talk about it, we can spread the word and get the secret out. It’s not really a secret that medicine includes the entire life of the patient, that whole medicine consists of Western medicine, Chinese medicine, the tai chi mentor, the herbalist, the masseuse, the personal trainer, the nutritionist, the meditation mentor, even the music therapist. We know that lots of factors affect our health. So how can we believe that isolating one piece of the body for study would be the most accurate way to diagnose, treat, heal, mentor? We know it’s not. Let’s talk about it.

CONCLUSION

Those of us who have been brought up remembering we can always go and talk to our doctor who is our friend are coming full circle. With integrative medicine coming out in full force, we may have that opportunity again. Those of us who were born in or after the 1990s may have been brought up with some of the integration that balanced medicine deserves. Talking, trusting, getting comfort are all things the doctor provides. Are we getting these at every visit?

This nurturing from medicine will happen again with the mainstreaming of integrative medicine. Not all at once because things take time to change. But change is coming, and it is long overdue.

ACTION STEPS

Here are several steps that may help with the understanding of true health care and integration.

1) Talk about integrative medicine with friends, family, colleagues. Have actual discussions about what each of you would do to further our medicine from a disease management system to a true health care way.

2) Attend TheWorldsStage.com’s Virtual Conference. More info at http://theworldsstage.com/#!the-story/c1wgz
which will including presentations by change makers including integrative medicine. There is no charge for this amazing virtual experience.

3) Consider the way you are treated when you go to the doctor. Question all your health care providers about integrative medicine. They will be happy to talk about it, even if they only know about Western medicine. It will be an informative conversation. Either you will inform your medical provider or she will inform you.

4)  Join our virtual discussion about how to spread the word so that doctors include other disciplines for the benefit of our healing. Click HERE!

If you wish to share your story, please hit reply in your email program to be contacted.

FEEDBACK

We value your feedback very much.

Please leave  a comment.

Please LIKE us on the website and at

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You can also follow us on Twitter @warriorsoweight.

Thanks.

DIANE GOLD, PUBLISHER AND AUTHOR

Diane Gold, Founder of Warriors of Weight, Turning Habits Into Health, is a mentor in tai chi, kung fu and meditation, a music, fitness and stress expert, dedicated mom, studying plant-based nutrition and habit change.

She has been talking about how medicine involves the whole person since she received her Masters in Music Therapy in 1976. She says,

“The name Integrative Medicine is fabulous. It attempts to bring medicine full circle, combining all that we know from the West and the East and cultivating those with many other disciplines that study various parts of a patient’s life.

“Each patient is different and responds to different approaches uniquely. The philosophy of Integrative Medicine desegregates knowledge for the benefit of the patient, intermixing mind/body work with herbs, drugs, chiropractic, music, nutrition, exercise and anything else that is or that will be available. Its job is to expand medicine rather than coop it up in little cubby holes, labeled by specialty.

“The concept is great. Let’s get the word out so it gets more popular!”

THE HABIT OF AN EYE FOR AN EYE: CHANGING THE PENAL SYSTEM FOR NON-VIOLENT CRIMES (ISSUE 128) MAY 13, 2014

By Diane Gold

We are raised to believe an eye for an eye is a civilized technique for cooperation and balance in our society. Social proof teaches us that many live by it, and social proof is the phenomenon that lets us feel comfortable about doing what we see others doing. So, we do it. When someone wrongs us, scorns us, steals from us, murders us; our egos are burned. We sit in humiliation because we didn’t see it coming. that Our ego tells us that if we don’t act, we will look weak. We wonder why we weren’t the first to scorn. Is this the way of civil, educated people?

LICKING MY WOUNDED EGO

Recently, I learned a big lesson, or, rather, I was reminded of an old lesson that I believe is as inherent as our survival instincts which lead us to an eye for an eye. I was asked to help a friend use the punishment system on her child. I did not look at the end results of this situation that was spinning out of control. But, I said I’d lend a hand. Not until the punishment I helped to deliver was hijacked by intervention from the other parent did I realize I was acting out of my belief system and into a system which lacks cooperation and respect.

My ego started to jump around and think I had to show the punishee that no one gets away with circumventing my mighty rule. I was watching my ego be out of control And then, I was able to break the cycle of thought and realize that this ego stroking, not only doesn’t help the situation but had nothing to do with the original issue I was working to help. I had relegated myself to licking my wounded ego. With this realization, I stopped and started writing this article.

THE HABIT OF PUNISHMENT

 We’ve spoken before about habits that are internal, such as addiction to cocaine, and external, such as the habit of punishment and feeling powerful from this technique. In this case, I agreed to use the deprivation method of behavior to restore order, that is, the taking away of a freedom to maintain discipline. There is a better way.

The synonyms for civilization – that means being civilized – are advancement, enlightenment, development. How can we call barbaric, vindictive behavior for the sake of ego soothing any of these? It is preposterous.

We, humans, are a funny bunch. We cling to our basest behaviors even though we go all out in the personal development department. What’s the use of meditating or doing our tai chi if we don’t take the knowledge and apply it to world situations?

HOW WE ACT IN ADVERSE CONDITIONS

In martial arts or other mind/body training, we say that the only way to evaluate how far we have progressed is to look at how we behave in adverse situations. Here’s what I mean:

When we are kind to someone we like, this act does not require us to utilize the patience, love and understanding we have cultivated through any cultivation of mind/body aka personal development training. When we are civil to someone we do not like, this shows our discipline and personal power, our “civilized” mind and is the only time we can know our true nature.

WHEN THE WRONG-DOER DOES OR DOES NOT FEEL REMORSE

I regularly get to see the punishment system in action in almost every fiction film and television show I watch. She murders him, so she has to give up her life to prison. An eye for an eye. One way it works may be familiar to us:

When someone commits a crime and shows no remorse; we tend to have no sympathy, no mercy, have no inclination to show understanding, wish for a large consequence to be handed down and label the person a sociopath.

When someone commits a crime and shows remorse; we are often eager to lend an ear, show mercy, wish for a small consequence with special privileges for this person and label the person a regular one who made a mistake.

Judges and juries, who determine what consequence a wrong-doer will get, are supposed to be impartial to the influence that knowing the subject’s position on remorse yields and are supposed to evaluate facts. Since whether or not someone shows remorse is a fact, it may come into play with either the most experienced judge or the first time juror. From where this vengeful feeling for the non-remorseful labeled sociopathic comes is a matter for further study.

CONCLUSION

All through history, there are stories of an eye for an eye, stories of how the person who does a wrong pays with a consequence of time in prison or beatings or sacrifice of life. What benefit comes from imprisonment? If someone is on a killing spree and is removed from being able kill, obviously society is being protected. When people commit crimes of non-violence, what’s the point? Couldn’t another method of consequence work?

What if we had a different set of protocols for non-violent crime where the consequence was based on earning back the reputation? What if people became used to seeing this new method through social proof? Would we evolve to a society without need for the penal system as we know it? Truly, I am confident this answer is yes.

ALTERNATIVES TO AN EYE FOR AN EYE ACTION STEPS

1) The wrong-doer would wear a consequence badge on the right breast pocket at all times, which would signify having done a social wrong and would be warn based on the giver of consequences’ decision. A digital readout would display total time of consequence and total time served.

The philosophy behind this is that we care what others see in us and would avoid doing wrong so as to avoid such a badge. Another possibility would be to wear a bright orange ID tag around the neck that was required to be seen from the back of the wrong-doer.

2) When someone committed a non-violent crime; part of the protocol would be to use that person’s skills to build or maintain an already built organic fruit/vegetable or solar or wind farm that those who had no skill would learn to work. This would not be a reward for committing a crime; it would be a way to fortify our society. A large percentage of the wage salaries made would be donated to fund an education program for the unskilled in our society to become skilled. Win, win.

3) The wrong-doer would punch into a website at various intervals throughout the day, similar to head count in a prison. Since the wrong-doer would be responsible to keep her GPS device on for tracking, any failure to comply could be corrected without much trouble.

I am reminded of the hierarchy in a drug rehab in Delray Beach. The structure was based upon patients’ gaining status for tattling on the other patients to the staff. If we tattled, we would get closer to being the head patient with more responsibility. This worked famously because everyone wanted to be the head patient since it looked good to the probation officer. Everyone was telling on everyone. Well, not everyone, but it was a system of training people to rat on each other to get ahead, for the ease of the staff under the guise of being therapeutic since it is true that secrets don’t work when we hide things from ourselves.

What I am thinking is that there could be a group of wrong-doers who have completed more than half of their consequence. They could be responsible for the physical tracking of wrong-doers who were in their first half of serving their consequence. That way, if the first halfers went off grid and tossed their GPS trackers, some of them would be in the purview of the second halfers who were, so to speak, confidential informants for the new method of penal system. The idea would be to develop honor in wrong-doers which elevates the essence of a society.

The benefits of not putting non-violent wrong-doers in prison is huge. We’d save loads of money, although private prison boards might frown. We’d use wrong-doers’ skills to create sustainable farms and to teach the unskilled a trade. Both the working and the training would put the wrong-doer in productivity mode which would lead the wrong-doer to be a productive society member at the completion of the consequence. (Check out some recidivism – re-offending – rates from the Bureau Of Justice Statistics, halfway down the page at http://www.bjs.gov/index.cfm?ty=pbdetail&iid=4986. These show how an eye for an eye system does not work in two-thirds of the cases and how changing the penal system for non-violent crimes is a good idea.

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DIANE GOLD, PUBLISHER AND AUTHOR

Diane Gold, Founder of Warriors of Weight, Turning Habits Into Health, is a mentor in tai chi, kung fu and meditation, a music, fitness and stress expert, dedicated mom, studying plant-based nutrition and habit change.

She has been researching why we are addictive, aggressive, selfish, vengeful, arrogant, egocentric. She says,

“It’s important for us to elevate ourselves. If we are lucky enough to have access to schools/ knowledge, to civilization; we certainly might want to use these for the good of humankind. This means learning to temper ourselves.

“If we continue along acting out our habit of an eye for an eye, we know nothing will change and we will be hitting each other over the head like cave people in the Stone Age.

“Let’s take the opportunity to grow so that we can leave our archaic ways behind and advance as a people.

“And, finally, let us all take good care of ourselves because we are so worth it!”

MOVE OVER BOTOX, HELLO EXERCISE TO REJUVENATE THE SKIN (ISSUE 126) APR. 22, 2014

By Diane Gold

So many people are concerned with how to rejuvenate skin that they inject various fillers into themselves, like Botox, mostly into their faces, in order to reduce the age they look. As is common with so many things, they look outside themselves, outside of what their bodies naturally can produce rather than inside at the marvels  of the body.

A new study conducted in Ontario at McMaster University by Mark Tarnopolsky (MD, PhD) and his team came up with something astounding: that exercise can rejuvenate the skin.

Many of us know that, usually in our twenties, collagen production reduces, we exfolate less and our fat cells shrink. The outer layer of skin gets thicker and drier. The next layer under gets less elastic and thinner by losing cells, making it look saggier.

So researchers in 2010 started wondering whether exercise could stop or reverse this aging process and looked at mice bred to age prematurely. The ones who stayed sedentary became frail, demented, ill, gray and bald. But the ones who exercised with a running wheel stayed healthy, alert, furry and didn’t turn gray.

So Tarnopolsky and team did testing on a group of 29 men and women, ages 20 to 84. About half were active, doing three hours of workout per week. The other half did less than one hour a week. So the team examined skin on the butt, since that area would have less sun damage.

The scientists biopsied the skin and did microscopic examination.  When compared strictly by age, older volunteers had thicker outer layers of skin and thinner inner layers.
But when researchers divided them by exercise habits, they found that those who exercised frequently had skin closer in composition to that of 20- and 30-year-olds, even if they were over 65.

To factor in whether lifestyles and diet made the difference, they took another sample of individuals for study. They put a group of previously sedentary people, 65 years and older, to exercise after first sampling their skin, which looked average for their age. They did a routine of jogging or cycling for 30 minutes two times a week for three months. At the end of this period, their skin measured that of 20- to 40-year-olds.

Tarnopolsky marvelled,

“I don’t want to over-hype the results, but, really, it was pretty remarkable to see.”
He said that under a microscope, the skin of these formerly sedentary volunteers
“looked like that of a much younger person, and all that they had done differently was exercise.”

The researchers are not totally clear as to how this works. They did do portion of the study to find that substances released into the blood stream called myokines increase from exercise. And the myokine IL-15 was found to be 50% more prevalent with exercise.

The researchers also said that taking a pill or applying an oral application of IL-15 would not have the same effect as exercise. They also did not conclude that sun damage could be restored with exercise.

Tarnopolsky did say,

“It is astonishing to consider all of the intricate ways in which exercise changes our bodies.”

Which leads me to talk about people’s habit of changing from the outside what they could more efficiently change from the inside.

I stepped out the other night because I promised a friend I’d meet her at a bar for people over 60 with music from the 1950s and 60s. Since I don’t drink because I don’t drink just two, I was able to observe the crowd. What I was not prepared for was the amount of people, both men and women, who had had injection procedures to make the face look less wrinkly.

Botox, an FDA approved substance that uses botulin toxin A, a neurotoxin from the bacterium clostridium botulinum was the first one of these injectables to get popular. The toxin inhibits the release of acetylcholine in the nerve endings which inhibits the contraction of muscles; so it comes down to no moving, no wrinkling. That’s why we have all seen frozen faces on some people. The muscles are prevented from moving naturally. Side affects like paralysis seem to take a back seat to the possibility of looking younger for a few months.

There’s not only one company with one patent for this kind of thing. There’s also Juvederm which uses synthetic hyaluronic acid made with bacteria (genetically modified prior to January 13, 2013).  But, wait. It is one company. Allergan (in the news for possible restructuring today) owns both Botox and Juvederm (and if its proposed buyers merge it with Bausch and Lomb, the resulting conglomerate will be the number one seller of lots more).

Wouldn’t it be simpler to jump rope, swim, bike, run, dance, or other work out?

CONCLUSION

We want to rejuvenate the skin because we like the look and how others look. Or some of us think about it, and that’s great. However, we look outside ourselves so often when the answer is within. It would be greatly advantageous if we saw our own inner tools and power. When we get injections, massage, chiropractic adjustments; someone is doing something to us. When we use our own body and mind to further our lives, we are doing for ourselves.

It’s always best to heal from within because it lasts. That’s why doing exercise to rejuvenate the skin is a win-win activity. Whatever we choose, we all have beauty for the world to see, and it’s good to take care of it as we choose.

ACTION STEPS

1)   This set of action steps is simple:

a)   Do an extra 5-15 minutes of workout this week, depending upon your usual routine. Write about that time. Then repeat for 3 more weeks in a row, writing down the specific experience each time.

b)   If that works, do an extra 5-15 minutes twice a week for 4 weeks. And write about it.

c)   Finally, if that works, add another 5-15 minutes making it 3 times a week for 4 weeks. And write about it.

This will get you moving and creating your own health through exercise. From your inner self out to the world.

2)   Drink many 12 ounce glasses of water a day.

The skin study at McMaster University was presented in April, 2014, at the American Medical Society For Sports Medicine’s annual meeting in New Orleans.

Tarnopolsky’s quotes were taken from Gretchen Reynolds’ New York Times article on April 16, 2014.

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We value your feedback very much.

Please leave  a comment.

Please LIKE us on the website and at

WarriorsOfWeight on Facebook.

You can also follow us on Twitter @warriorsoweight.

Thanks.

DIANE GOLD, PUBLISHER AND AUTHOR

Diane Gold, Founder of Warriors of Weight, Turning Habits Into Health, is a mentor in tai chi, kung fu and meditation, a music, fitness and stress expert, dedicated mom, studying plant-based nutrition and habit change.

She is a believer in doing the work from the inside out but has great respect for everyone who makes decisions with independent thinking. She says,

“Although I, personally, am not interested in injecting my face, I like it when I look vibrant and when my wrinkles soften. This happens when my body likes the food I give it and from exercise, rest, love, creativity, good mental state and sharing.

“For all those who add chemicals to themselves for cosmetic reasons, be careful. For those who think one product is safer than others, remember the marketing you hear was created by the manufacturer.

“Finally, let us all take good care of ourselves because we are so worth it!”