"Watermelon ~

it's a good fruit. You eat, you drink, you wash your face."

~Enrico Caruso

The Wonderful Amazing Watermelon

Dr. Ann Wigmore states in her book Be Your Own Doctor, “The watermelon rind has the richest proteins, vitamins, and minerals. Vitamins A, B, and C are found in the rind, along with their respective enzymes and other elements. Melons aid in the elimination of uric acid, and are beneficial to the urinary tract, bladder and kidney.“The ‘water of life’ is found in abundance in watermelons, and they will prove to be the safest means of cleaning the body’s waste, while at the same time providing nourishment. Watermelon is a wonderful aid for the person with an acid condition, as it helps balance the body to becoming more alkaline.”

So, why not enjoy this natural cleanser for your body. You can have a detox elixir via the delicious watermelon juice. The juice is so refreshing, sweet and soooo tasty, it is the REAL THING, for pennies to a glass.

Drinking only watermelon juice for a couple days can be an incredible cleanser. It does wonders to the skin and overall well-being.

However, if this does not inspire you to go out and get a watermelon, you might want to see what else you can do with a watermelon: click at the link to check out watermelon art, amazing - www.rawbc.org/articles/watermelon_art.html.

Slurp! If you are nt a juicer, just enjoy a slice or two as a refreshing treat. ~j

My advice to you is not to inquire why or whither,

but just to enjoy your ice cream while it's on your plate.

~Thornton Wilder

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Oh! I love ice cream. Now I enjoy the dairy free version and relish every nibble.

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If you would love nothing more that a simple taste of fresh and flavorful, just freeze your fruit of choice and run it through the homogenizer on your juicer or give it a spin in the blender (Vita-Mix is my choice, but any high power blender will do). A delicious treat with a creamy texture is your reward. No cream needed.

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Keeping it cool. ~j

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Here's how to do it:

Take fresh, raw, ripe mangos. Peel and slice, store slices in plastic bag or other suitable container, and freeze. Then when you want to eat, remove from freezer and allow mangos to partially thaw. The mangos should not fully thaw: they should still have ice crystals in them. Put partially thawed mangos in blender, and puree. The result is an ice cream substitute that is 100% raw fruit, delicious, and better than any ice cream. This process can be used with other sweet fruit, such as papayas, pineapple, nectarines, mulberries, blue berries, bananas, etc.

Your Right to Know: Genetic Engineering and the Secret Changes in Your Food

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The Center for Food Safety is proud to announce our new book, Your Right to Know: Genetic Engineering and the Secret Changes in Your Food! Are you shopping in the dark? Your Right to Know: Genetic Engineering and the Secret Changes in Your Food provides a comprehensive and up-to-the-minute guide on the very real dangers genetically engineered foods present to our health, the environment, and farm communities. Written by Andrew Kimbrell, Executive Director of the Center for Food Safety, with a foreword by Nell Newman, this book provides you with all the necessary tools to understand this critical food issue, to choose to avoid GE foods and to become an active participant in the fight for an organic, environmentally sustainable and socially just food future.

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This is good stuff gang! If you haven't seen The Future of Food (produced by Jerry Garcia's wife). You will get a good idea of what is happening in the farming communities of our country. She did a fantastic job. The bonus features are not to be missed either.

Don't think it affects you? Think again, all of that produce in the grocery store, the wheat and corn in your packaged foods, all of it touches lives.

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These things are really coming to the forefront, stay informed. ~j

Don't ask yourself what the world needs.

Ask yourself what makes you come alive,

and go do that,

because what the world needs is people who have come alive.

~John Eldredge

I have to comment on this a moment. I really enjoy the writing of John Eldredge. He just has a way about him. When I came across this today I felt compelled to share.

The world has many needs and we all live here together. Being conscious of a healthier planet is important, very important, but finding your passion in life is also important. So many people are unhappy in their life situation or even on numb-mode. Just no longer feeling.

But feeling alive. Do you experience that on a daily basis? Weekly, monthly? A friend of mine and I got into the habit of sharing our AHMOTW, whew! Ahh ha moment of the week. That moment the we recognize our aliveness, so to speak. We get to pick one and share, every week, just to enjoy the joy of another and I am thankful for that. Observing someones passion or fire is really amazing.

Your passion? If you haven't found it yet, when you do, your contribution to the world comes along naturally. And that, my friends, is a beautiful thing.

To your passion! ~j

Hi gang! Great little tidbit from the Associated Press today.

If you are trying to cut down on those diet drinks, kudos. As you will see, they are a hindrance to health. The sooner you can completely get them out of your lifestyle, the sooner you will enjoy the fruits of your labor with full benefit.

Give it the good rip, just like a band-aid. ~j

Study: Diet soda linked to heart risks
Mon Jul 23, 6:55 PM ETExcerpts

People who drank more than one diet soda each day developed the same risks for heart disease as those who downed sugary regular soda, a large study found.

The results surprised the researchers who expected to see a difference between regular and diet soda drinkers. It could be, they suggest, that even no-calorie sweet drinks increase the craving for more sweets, and that people who indulge in sodas probably have less healthy diets overall.

The study's senior author, Dr. Vasan Ramachandran, emphasized the findings don't show diet sodas are a cause of increased heart disease risks. But he said they show a surprising link that must be studied.

"It's intriguing and it begs an explanation by people who are qualified to do studies to understand this better," said Vasan, of Boston University School of Medicine.
The research comes from a massive, multi-generational heart study following residents of Framingham , Mass ., a town about 25 miles west of Boston . The new study of 9,000 observations of middle-aged men and women was published Monday online in the journal Circulation.

The researchers found those who drank more than one soda per day — diet or regular — had an increased risk of metabolic syndrome, compared to those who drank less than one soda. Metabolic syndrome is a cluster of symptoms that increase the risk for heart disease including large waistlines and higher levels of blood pressure, blood sugar, cholesterol and blood fats called triglycerides.

Researchers expected the results to differ when regular soda and diet soda drinkers were compared, and were surprised when they did not, Vasan said. But Popkin said that result isn't that surprising. He said much of the market for diet sodas are people who have unhealthy lifestyles and know they need to lose weight — with the other portion being thin people who want to stay that way. That means many people drinking diet sodas have unhealthy habits that could lead to increased heart disease risks, whether they drink diet soda or not.

Outdoor Pleasures

Having A Picnic - great om today...

Dining outdoors is a tradition that spans many cultures and has withstood the test of time. A meal eaten under open sky in the company of loved ones is an occasion in its own right. The very character of picnics, by virtue of their bringing together so much that is pleasing to humanity, makes them a wonderful way to unwind from stress, reconnect with people and nature, and create new memories. There is something magical about picnicking. A blanket, a basket, and a landscape pleasing to the eye intensify the deliciousness of food and help us see the beauty of lazy afternoons spent in nature.

Thoughts of picnics past bring to mind images as varied as we are because the experience of dining outdoors with pleasant companions can unfold in myriad ways. We tend to picnic at the park or on the beach out of necessity, enjoying nourishment in the open air to prolong playtime. But botanical gardens, zoos, museum grounds, nature preserves, and our own backyards can also offer wonderful picnicking venues. Similarly, we associate quintessential summertime foods with picnics, though almost any category of cuisine can be enjoyed picnic style. Refreshing, light foods such as freshly sliced fruit and crisp salads are particularly invigorating on hot summer days. Anticipation of and preparing the food can be just as exciting as the picnic itself. Provisions are only one component of a picnic, however. Games of cards, a Frisbee toss, or other simple, traditional pastimes can provide a secondary focus that expands the scope of your outing beyond foodstuffs. Connecting with nature ! during your picnic can be an easy way to fit in a meditation; whether you lay down under a tree to watch squirrels play or sit by a creek to take in the sounds of trickling water. Remember, too, that if it should happen that your well-planned picnic is disrupted by inclement weather, the pleasures of good company and good food are rendered no less enjoyable when savored on a blanket spread indoors.

Though a solitary picnic can be a treat, picnicking is an activity best shared with the people you care for. Spending time outdoors with others to eat and to play and to be merry will revitalize you, reminding you that life's most sacred pleasures are often the simplest.

So, um...When was the last time you enjoyed a picnic? ~j

"There are only two options regarding commitment;

you're either in or you're out.

There's no such thing as life in-between."

~Pat Riley

I loved Pat Riley's coaching style. His book inspired me in those early years of team building and management and now, coming across this quote, I am inspired to ask you in a whole new context...

are you in or out?

Making dietary lifestyle changes is only as hard as you make it. You can take teeny weeny steps or humongous steps or steps in between. The point is that you have decided to be in...decided to take the steps and improve your health and well being as well as being a part of improving the environment by learning about sustainable and Eco-friendly choices.

This game is your life...

are you in or out?

Make the commitment. Get the 411, be well, live well. ~j

Buy a Bigger Bowl
This is an excerpt from http://ironmanlife.blogspot.com/.
Really wonderful inspirational insight. I hope that you enjoy it as much as I did today :-)

I dare you~j

We are interesting, us humans. Most of us can only imagine what we already know. Sure we can pretend to muddle about other things, but true imagination is different. Imagination has one foot in reality. In the confines of our human brains, imagination has boundaries.

We live in a box that we call reality, trapped on all sides by boundaries and categories. And for most of us that box defines the limit of our imaginations.We leverage our life experiences as a means to stretch our imagination.

Like a theme from the Truman Show, day after day we travel down the same road, until one day we dare to imagine a different route to a different destination.

We are given the opportunity to dream on a regular basis. And when we focus on the dream, when we set out a plan, suddenly the dream is in the realm of reality. It is within our box. Our bodies are controlled by our minds. Nobody ever won without first daring to dream that they could. So we push ourselves not as much to the limits of our body, but to the limits of our imagination. Assume you can never do it, and you never will.

In a funny way we are like goldfish – we will always expand to the size of our bowl. No matter how big the challenge set before us, we will find a way to succeed.

Think you can’t do it?

I think you are wrong.

Buy a bigger bowl.

Dare to dream. Dare to peek outside the confines of your imagination. Stretch out your arm and put your hand through the fire. Grab hold of the other side and pull yourself through.

I promise, you won’t get burned.

Blueberries, YEAH!

Blueberries are in the peak of their season.

Celebrate the mildly sweet, sometimes tart and tangy, flavor of blueberries while they are fresh, delicious and available.

Second only to strawberries in popularity, blueberries have consistently been ranked among the top fruits and vegetables tested for antioxidant activity.

Bursting with flavor and low in calories, blueberries make a quick, easy and nutritious addition to your Healthiest Way of Eating. There are so many ways to enjoy them...add them to your whole grain muffins or cereal, top your yogurt, swirl them into your smoothie or just enjoy them all on their own.

Nutritional Value

The anthocyanin phytonutrients found in blueberries, along with their vitamin C, deliver powerful antioxidant protection from the oxidative damage caused by free radicals.

One cup of blueberries provides 31% of the daily value (DV) for vitamin C, 20% DV for manganese, and 16% DV for dietary fiber.

~SaWEEEEET! ~j

It takes a deep commitment to change and an even deeper commitment to grow.

~Ralph Ellison (1914-1994)

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This begs for a few minutes of reflection.

Addressing life in all areas.

Take a moment to breathe.

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Commitment, Character, Truth, Integrity...all amazing attributes that are displayed every day in our ordinary lives. All attributes that we can strive to find a little more of in our lives as well.

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While taking time to reflect today, really think about what it means to your life to change and grow. I have seen amazing things happen in my own life and those in my circle. Things that were even approached with a little skepticism on the side but were willing to do the work. Maybe feel that change isn't ahead of you these days...at the very least offering a smile or kind word to someone new can be very rewarding to those on the receiving end :-)

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Changes great or small, whether it is related to food, exercise, works, spouse, kids or friendships...give yourself the opportunity make the commitment.

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It feels great to be alive! ~j

http://www.liveearth.org/

ANSWER THE CALL...Make the commitment

What a cool concert for a cool cause. If you didn't catch it, get caught up and enjoy. A worldwide call for awareness. My kind of fun! Just outstanding. Al Gore was asked if he was planning on running for the presidency and his comment was something to this effect...the president holds immense power, but there is great power held by these grassroots organizations...HOW COOL IS THAT?? He is right. I imagine that his life has be touched and changed immeasurably working toward this cause and that is true for those that find passion for something that they believe in. There is a great voice that each one of us has a part in. Speak up and take action for the call that you hear. For those about to rock...! ~j

Sign The Pledge:

Wow. Live Earth. Wow. But more on that later. First, down to business. Take Al Gore's 7 point Live Earth pledge, printed below.

I PLEDGE:

1. To demand that my country join an international treaty within the next 2 years that cuts global warming pollution by 90% in developed countries and by more than half worldwide in time for the next generation to inherit a healthy earth (remember my post waaaay back when on Kyoto...well there are individual cities that have jumped on board, but...still work to be done);
2. To take personal action to help solve the climate crisis by reducing my own CO2 pollution as much as I can and offsetting the rest to become "carbon neutral;" (check out your carbon footprint...link on my website. learn how to reduce your polluter status :-0).
3. To fight for a moratorium on the construction of any new generating facility that burns coal without the capacity to safely trap and store the CO2;
4. To work for a dramatic increase in the energy efficiency of my home, workplace, school, place of worship, and means of transportation (awareness goes a long way in initiating change, just talk about it) ;
5. To fight for laws and policies that expand the use of renewable energy sources and reduce dependence on oil and coal;
6. To plant new trees and to join with others in preserving and protecting forests (many cities already have great programs to help you with this) ; and,
7. To buy from businesses and support leaders who share my commitment to solving the climate crisis and building a sustainable, just, and prosperous world for the 21st century (Oh yes, this is a big deal. Your voice can be heard through $$, loud and clear. Why do you think organic has gone industrial. Yes, big deal here) .

Click here to sign the pledge!7/7/07: If you haven't seen Live Earth, the concerts are still online at MSN Live Earth.

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Plan to spend some time there, because the concerts are packed with incredibly cool stuff. Some of our favorite moments from YouTube are below...
http://www.algore.org/

FREEDOM

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

~The Declaration of Independence

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Let freedom ring! Celebrate~j

Whatever you do,

just always remember that for things to change,

you must get a picture of what you want them to change to.

~Jerry Clark

Most people are looking for change in their lives. Striving for that next big promotion, dreaming about a new house, hoping for something to come along and shake things up. No matter what it is for you...having a distinct picture in your minds eye will really provide motivation and purpose to get there.

Sometimes it is not all material. I recall a time (maybe even two...) when I thought that I had everything, but knew there was something significant missing. I was unfulfilled in an area of my life that I could not define. When I realized that it hinged on a spiritual need, I was suprised. But The Police said it well when the said that '...we are spirits, in a material world...' I was a good church girl all my life but I followed my religion with human expectation. I knew all the words to the songs, when to sit and stand, when to bow and kneel in prayer. But still something was tugging at my heart. I realized it was saying...open up and feel it! Don't just repeat it. My grandfather used to admonish me for not using the weekly prayer booklet and at the time I just didn't get it. Of course, I knew it all :-). What I believe he was trying to say was...it is more important to be in the moment than to just slip through it.

I find this change for me liberating. It opened up a whole new world of understanding, peace and joy. Reaching for those changes will take many shapes and forms and often the changes that we thought we really wanted become secondary to those that lay closer to our hearts than expected. There are always areas of growth in our lives. Sometimes they come around more than once.

A different season of life a different place to grow. These are a little more challenging because it is hard to picture in our minds eye. Look deeply, if you look to your heart, it will guide you whether in spirit or even for the touchy stuff.

Here's to your picture! ~j

Nothing is sacred but the integrity of your own mind. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Please be aware of the risk.

Aspertame is in so many foods, including some baby foods. It is completely unreasonable. These diet type of foods are quite harmful to the body. Especially in the amounts that Americans eat them.

I challenge you to read the labels on your foods and beverages. Yes, look at the active ingredients and the ingredients and see what lurks below the container or wrapper.

Aspartame Found to Cause Breast Cancer, Leukemia and Lymphomas

Not only are there links to cancer, but the neurological disruptions are extreme. ALS, Parkinsons, Epilepsy etc. Are you sure you want your children to have that diet drink? Your mom, your co-worker? Are you willing to put something in your body that can trigger these responses? Well, as ususal, there are two sides to the story. To satisfy your curiosity...check it out. A simple google will do the trick!

A very informative documentary style short film has been released regarding personal experience and effects of Aspartame in our real world. If you can find someone with a copy of Sweet Misery, watch it and share it.

http://www.sweetremedy.tv/pages/sweetmisery.html

With naturally sweetened smile! ~j