Daily Om

We hold onto material objects because we think they make us feel secure, when in reality they are cluttering our lives.

So true - one of my favorite sayings is - LESS IS MORE!!!

I tend to feel cluttered often, which reminds me - it's about time to go through my belongings again and sort out what I really need to keep, and what I can donate.

Rule # 7 - Avoid food products containing ingredients that a third-grader cannot pronounce

Basically the same idea, different mnemonic. Keep it simple!

Rule # 6 Avoid food products that contain more than five ingredients

The specific number you adopt is arbitrary, but the more ingredients in packaged food, the more highly processed it probably is. Note # 1 - A long list of ingredients in a recipe is not the same thing; that's fine. Note # 2 - Some products now boast, somewhat deceptively, about their short ingredient lists. Haagen-Daaz has a new line of ice cream called "five". Great - but it's still ice cream. Same goes for three-ingredient Tostitos corn chips advertised by Frito-Lay-okay, but they're still corn chips. In such cases, apply rule 60 for dealing with treats and special occasion foods.

My thoughts - I have definitely been paying closer attention to labels recently. I sued to just grab a bag of chips without hesitating. Now, I think twice when I'm at the grocery store getting healthy food and some not-so healthy things that Nate loves.

Rule # 5 Avoid foods that have some form of sugar (or sweetener) listed among the top three ingredients

Labels list ingredients by weight, and any product that has more sugar than other ingredients has too much sugar. Complicating matters is the fact that, thanks to food science, there are now some forty types of sugar used in processed food, including barley malt, beet sugar, brown rice syrup, cane juice, corn sweetener, dextrin, dextrose, fructo-oligosaccharides, fruit juice concentrate, glucose, sucrose, invert sugar, polydextrose, sucrose, turbinado sugar, and so on. As for noncaloric sweeteners such as aspartame or splenda, research (in both humans and animals) suggests that switching to artificial sweeteners does not lead to weight loss, for reasons the brain with the reward of sweetness stimulates a craving for even more sweetness.

My thoughts - I have been cutting out sugar as much as possible. I have never liked splenda or aspartame - never liked diet soda either. I haven't had a soda in a few months. The only time I ever want one now is if I don't feel well, sometimes I will want a Ginger ale or a Sprite. I used to drink it all day long back in the day. I'm so glad I no longer have that addiction!

Criticism - Rhonda Byrne - The Secret

Criticism can be very subtle in the way it creeps into our thoughts. Here are some examples of criticism to help you become aware of its subtlety, so you can eliminate it from your thoughts:

The weather is awful today.
The traffic is terrible.
The service is really bad.
Oh no, look at the line.
He/she is always late.
How long do we have to wait for our order?
That motorist is a lunatic.
It's so hot in here.
I've been on hold for so long!
These are subtle things, but the law of attraction is listening to them all. You have the ability to appreciate something in every single circumstance. There is always something to be grateful for.

May the joy be with you,

Rhonda Byrne
The Secret...

Mexican restaurant

So, these have been my staples lately while working at the Mexican restaurant. I bring a salad in with some carrots and tomatoes. Sometimes I include cucumbers and sunflower seeds and sprouts, and I eat this for lunch. Breakfast consists of eggs, black beans and salsa. I'm cutting out tortillas and refried beans, so there goes the breakfast burrito I always look forward to!

Rule # 4 - Avoid food products that contain high-fructose corn syrup.

Not because high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is any worse for you than sugar, but because it is, like many of the other unfamiliar ingredients in packaged foods, a reliable marker for a food product that has been highly processed. Also, high-fructose corn syrup is being added to hundreds of foods that have not traditionally been sweetened - breads, condiments, and many snack foods - so if you avoid products that contain it, you will cut down on your sugar intake. But don't fall for the food industry's latest scam: products reformulated to contain "no HFCS" or "real cane sugar". These claims imply these foods are somehow healthier, but they're not. Sugar is sugar.

New Journal

So this is my new journal. I have so many of them. I keep track of what I eat in one, what workouts I do each day in another, and I have another one for my thoughts/feelings. It's good to vent. Get it all out. It's great therapy.

This journal is made from sugarcane. SAVE THE TREES!!!