“There’s nothing “wrong” with needing more sleep, or letting ideas rest this season—it’s only natural. It’s permission to revel in the easier pace. Go on, revel!”
A psychologist in town asked me to help her plan a healthy body image workshop for girls and their mothers. So we met today at her home office on her horse farm, which if you ask me is a pretty great place to hold a meeting.
In addition to the many reasons I enjoyed this meeting, I benefited deeply from the beauty of Kentucky nature that surrounds her little farm. Even in the middle of winter, the natural flow of the life-cycle is easy to feel there. I’m talking about the hibernating trees, the water eroded spots in the grass, the dormant gardens, and the thick soft coats that the horses grow. I felt the beauty in these predictable, natural aspects of nature despite having become an outspoken professional whiner about the winter season in recent years.
I’m writing about this because going with the flow of the four seasons—understanding that we humans are designed to take cues from the symbolic and environmental qualities of each season in particular—can be a powerful and nourishing way to maintain emotional and physical health throughout the entire year.
This truth is evident from many of the wisdom traditions around the world. In particular, Native American tradition teaches that winter is THE time to slow down, sleep a little more, sit with projects. In Ayurvedic medicine from India, the circadian rhythm is an internal 24 hour clock that measures the slower and heightened energy hours of each day, even.
But I read an FB post this week that said, “I have so much energy when the moon is full, I’ll know I’ve arrived when I can maintain that zing during the rest of the month.”
The truth is that living in rhythm with nature means that there are times in the day, the month, and the year that are naturally slower and less energetic. We need them because we are not machines—we are supposed to notice when personal energy feels slower, lazier, less exhuberent. And then we’re supposed to go with it—lean into it, ENJOY it. It’s each body’s internal system of need that determines health, not external, intellectual rules. What makes sense for one body, may not, for another.
Read the rest of… Lisa Miller: Winter’s Rhythm is Right On, Right On, RIGHT ON, Baby
Being from the San Francisco area, I was one of many locals horrified by Chris Culliver’s homophobic remarks last week (about how he’d never play with a gay team-mate – “We dont got no gay people on the team. You know, they gotta get up out of here if they do. Can’t be with that sweet stuff”) And being the daughter of a former English teacher, I was one of many writers almost as equally horrified by his mangling of the language.
But the reaction he prompted was incredibly reassuring. Of course the 49ers organization condemned his remarks – they know their market! – but plenty of other NFL players chimed in, offering their support for gay rights and marriage equality. Seemingly overnight, becauase of one fairly idiotic remark, the homophobia that has long been ingrained in sports culture seems to be dissolving.
Frankly, I never understood sports homophobia – events involving large numbers of incredibly buff young men running around a court or field, jumping, chasing, and tackling each other, is about as homo-erotic as anything not x-rated. And while I don’t expect most teams to dump end-zone prayers for group performances of YMCA, it sure does seem like the overall climate has changed. Sure, a few neanderthals are sputtering about the horrors (“what’s next, people marrying their horses?”), but it’s hard to dispute the fact that public opinion is shifting. Who knows whether it’s because of Will & Grace, or because Idaho and New England haven’t suddenly gone beserk (no pet marriages yet!), but I for one am thrilled. (I am a card-carrying Jewish mother, so naturally I’m still hoping that one of my sons turns out gay, so he’ll never replace me with another woman and I’ll have a shopping pal.)
So here’s a new ‘fight song,’ in honor of the welcome changes within the sports community:
By Erica and Matt Chua, on Mon Feb 4, 2013 at 10:00 AM ET
How much does it cost to travel the world for a year? Between $26,821-36,534 for two people*. In 2012 we spent $26,821**. In 2011 we spent $36,534***.
As always, the devil is in the details, those asterisks that terrorize our lives…those evil symbols that advertisers have trained us to recognize as “it’s possible, but only for a hypothetical person that we’ve never actually met, who managed to work through our very convoluted systems that our programmers assured us wasn’t possible”. Our numbers though are real, it’s what we’ve actually spent, visiting countries as expensive as Japan and Australia, and as cheap as Vietnam and Sri Lanka. This is every dollar we’ve spent traveling hundreds of thousands of miles. The asterisks are because everyone travels differently, these differences are the details that determine how much it would actually cost you.
HOW WE TRAVEL
We travel to see the sights, meet the people, taste the foods and try new things. We keep a budget as a guide, not as a limiter. Our costs reflect the following decisions:
– The length of our trip has never been a goal, we aren’t trying to stretch our time abroad by staying places for extended periods or saving money.
– We travel overland whenever possible. Grueling at times, overland travel has given us the opportunity to see more of countries, savor the local foods and interact with locals the way they travel. How else would you experience this!?!
We met Amit by overland traveling in India. Later he showed us Israel, this “Amit” tour was one of our 2012 highlights.
– Hostels and Couchsurfing are home. We stay in dorms when private rooms cost substantially more. We only Couchsurf when we can connect with a host, not just to save money.
– We average a new city every four days. We set off with the goal of seeing whatever interested us in the world, having visited over 200 cities we learned that a lot of the world interested us. Moving costs money as shown by transportation (ground and air) being our largest area of spending.
– We didn’t visit Europe or North America. Our costs reflect a vast majority of time spent in the developing world, which is substantially cheaper than Europe, the USA or Canada. We set off with very few goals, but number one was to see the rapidly changing developing world, we have keep true to this mission.
These are the things that affect our spending, for everyone it is different. We’ve met people that are comfortable spending $20/day and people that couldn’t possibly be comfortable for less than $1000/day.
Read the rest of… Matt and Erica Chua: Cost to Travel the World
Today’s post is courtesy of the queen of romantic planning, Sarah Pease, The Proposal Planner (TM). Whether she’s taking over the flight deck of the Intrepid for an epic proposal, or organizing the perfect picnic in Central Park, Sarah knows what’s what when it comes to making romance happen.
For some, Valentine’s Day is the most romantic day of the year filled with love, red roses and candlelit dinners. For others, it’s a commercialized, manufactured holiday rife with cheesy teddy bears, silk boxer shorts and exorbitantly priced prix fixe menus. Regardless of your opinion, it’s a great excuse for organizing a fun date with your loved one (even if it’s just your most-loved friend!). Here are five of my favorite ideas for Valentine’s Day:
1) For the Wallet-Conscious: Create your own wine tasting. With a little research done online or with your local wine shop, select 2 reds and 2 whites and pair them with cheeses or chocolates. Using a scarf from your closet, conduct an official blind tasting by candlelight. Not only will you expand your knowledge of wines, but you’ll also enjoy the flirty part of blindfolding each other! Budget not an issue? Hire a sommelier to do a private tasting!
2) Starry Night: Research the hours at your local planetarium or night-sky observatory and arrange to have a private tour. Whether you’re strapped into an IMAX seat watching the latest space-themed movie, or gazing at real stars in other galaxies, you’ll be in a romantic mood under all those stars.
3) Love is all Around: Plan an entire evening around love. Meet your sweetheart at the Museum of Sex near the Flatiron Building – who says a museum can’t be fun? Once you’ve explored all the newest exhibits, head to your favorite cocktail bar to sip on the cocktails she loves. From there, treat her to her guilty-pleasure food – is it cheesy biscuits from Red Lobster? Coconut Invasion cake from Asia de Cuba? Tonight is the night to indulge. End the evening by sharing three reasons why you love each other.
4) Futuristic Love: Want to know what the universe has in store for you? Do a psychic reading together! Make an appointment or stop in to see what the crystal ball or tarot cards say. If you really want to tempt fate, try a few different fortune tellers to see if their predictions overlap.
5) Ice Skating and Hot Chocolate: Strap on your skates and join the crowds for a lively spin around the ice rink. If you’re in New York, you can blend in with the tourists in Central Park, Rockefeller Center or Bryant Park, or discover some of the smaller rinks around the city. Reward all of your activity with a cab ride to City Bakery and test out the “drinkable chocolate” of the day. Got a sweet tooth? Plan to come back every other day for the rest of their Hot Chocolate Festival which runs the entire month of February. That way you can try a new flavor every night.
Many thanks to Sarah for sharing her fantastic ideas. For more info on Sarah, check out her website.
And now that you’ve got the best date ever planned, read here for what to wear.
Myths are fun, especially when that myth is prominent. The Fat Burning Zone myth has stood the test of time, through several decades and held its own in exercise mythology. To this day people still believe that keeping their heart rate in the “fat burning zone” is better than short bursts of interval training. Maybe it has to do with every piece of cardio equipment has a fat burn option, thus disallowing you to get your heart rate up past a certain.
Let me explain this in more detail. The theory is if I keep my heart rate at low level (60-65% of max) my body will burn more fat than if I were to run a 15 second sprint. That part is true. You will use fat as the predominant fuel during your workout. Heart rate/intensity are inversely related to which energy system you use. The lower your heart rate the more oxygen is available, when oxygen is available you can use fat as fuel. The higher your heart rate goes the less oxygen you have available and the more you must rely anaerobic sources (glycogen, glucose, creatine) to perform the exercise. So the thought is, I will walk on a treadmill for 30 minutes, keep my heart rate low and burn body fat. Wrong! You can walk on a treadmill all day if you want but that’s not going to change your body composition. For one, your body will adapt very quickly. For two, you are not burning any significant calories needed to burn body fat. Want proof take an Olympic marathon runner and put them side by side with an Olympic sprinter. What difference can you tell? Lower body fat and more muscle tissue in the sprinter, there is a reason for that.
Research has shown that quick bouts of exercise are more beneficial in cardiovascular health but also body composition change. Dr. Al Sears, M.D. the Director of The Center for Health and Wellness who has reversed heart disease in over 15,000 patients has this to say in his book The Doctor’s Heart Cure. “When you exercise for more than about 10 minutes, your heart adapts by becoming more efficient. It achieves this efficiency through downsizing. Long-duration exercise makes the heart, lungs and muscles smaller so that they can go longer with less energy, but there’s a trade-off. The cardiovascular system becomes very good at handling a 60-minute jog, but it gives up the ability to provide you with big bursts of energy for short periods. Far from protecting your heart, this loss makes you more vulnerable to a heart attack.”
Also remember the importance of resistance training and body composition change. Post resistance training workout, your body will burn fat 24-48 hours post workout. This is from the increased oxygen needs of the person. When oxygen is available body fat will be burnt.
Read the rest of… Josh Bowen: The Myth of the Fat-Burning Zone
By Lauren Mayer, on Tue Jan 29, 2013 at 3:00 PM ET
I know there’s a lot going on politically right now, between immigration reform, deficit ceiling craziness, and gun control, and it may seem hard to find much in the world that is even remotely bipartisan.
But certain human experiences connect us all – as I was reminded by watching the way Sybil’s childbirth death on Downton Abbey affected both the privileged gentry and the hard-working servants downstairs. Birth, marriage, death, putting on our trousers one leg at a time – it helps me to remember that even those with whom I vehemently disagree still love their families or enjoy good dark chocolate. And on the same day Downton Abbey aired that episode, I had my own version of one of those experirences-which-unite-us-all . . . my younger son took possession of his first car (an ancient one he got from my ex, his dad, with 300,000 miles on it, but it runs!)
Suddenly after two decades of my life revolving around my kids and their various activities, doctors, etc., I’m mostly done with driving them, and that’s something we can all relate to! (or as they would say at Downton, “something to which we all can relate . . . “)
By Erica and Matt Chua, on Mon Jan 28, 2013 at 9:15 AM ET
Travel itself is enlightening, but we learn just as much by the books we read. Since our last book report in 2012, we’ve continued reading opportunistically…reading whatever we find left by other travelers. While this has allowed us to read a variety of books, this year we purchased several titles as well. Here are our favorite books of late and what we learned.
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HE SAID…
While wandering the aisles in a Kolkota, India bookstore this year I had a revelation: I should be using this period of my life to study and practice new skills. Then and there I committed to reading several “self-help” books that I can’t recommend highly enough.
–How to Win Friends and Influence People (Carnegie). I saw this title on my mother’s bookshelf throughout my childhood. I always thought it was some corny sales book that focused on deception and smooth-talking. Then the monk at our 10-silent meditation retreat told us it was “Buddhism for real life” and how shocked he was that it contained so many valuable lessons. I think anyone who can get over the title will be impressed by the lessons.
–How to Talk to Anyone (Lowndes). The 92 tips in this book help people break into conversations, revive failing conversations, and get people that you converse with to leave with a positive impression. This book is much like Carnegie’s above, but more practical. Having been a wallflower at too many events, the first few lessons I turned to interested me so much I bought the book. It was an investment that will pay dividends throughout life.
–Rich Dad, Poor Dad (Kiyosaki). The seminal personal finance book I’ve read many parts, but never the whole book. I loved the aggressive “if I can do it you can too” tone of the book along with the practical lessons. He put to paper many of the lessons I’ve learned from multi-millionaire mentors I’ve had in my career that taught me to focus on investment cashflow over ordinary income.
Read the rest of… Matt & Erica Chua: He Said-She Said — Required Road Reading
Dear Avis: If you want to win big with the Zipcar acquisition you will have to try harder.
Resist the temptation to impose your core car rental business model on the upstart transformer. Zipcar is your sandbox to scale a car-sharing model with potential to disrupt the automotive and car rental industry. Stop with the number two shtick, Zipcar can help Avis become a market maker instead of a share taker. Your main competitor, Hertz, is a share-taker demonstrated by its recent acquisition of Dollar Thrifty. Your opportunity is tremendous but throw away the classic post-merger integration playbook. Here are five ways to do that:
It isn’t about Avis. It’s about Zipcar
Change your lens. It isn’t about you. Zipsters aren’t your current customers. Your business model, renting cars by the day or week, isn’t designed for Zipsters. Start by understanding their experience and view the world through the lens of Zipcar’s business model, which provides members with access by the hour to a network of shared cars. You aren’t buying a platform to improve the Avis business model. You are buying a new business model that will benefit from access to Avis capabilities. ZipCar was struggling to scale its model and Avis can help. This is about enabling more Zipsters and improving their car sharing experience.
Innovate Through A Connected Adjacency
Scaling Zipcar without suffocating its nascent business model will require both autonomy as well as access to resources and capabilities from the core. Set Zipcar up as a sand box adjacent to the core. Give it plenty of room to operate independently. The more disruptive the new model the more line-executives from the core will try to undermine its success. Autonomy doesn’t mean Zipcar should operate in isolation to the core. It’s imperative to build strong connections so that people, ideas and capabilities can flow in both directions. This tricky balance requires significant CEO involvement to run interference on what will be many inevitable conflicts and tension points.
Read the rest of… Saul Kaplan: Dear Avis, Please Don’t Screw Up Zipcar
Do you avoid opening your closet door because you’re afraid a tennis racquet is going to fall out on your head? Sporting goods aside, it’s always nice to have a workable closet. Much of my client work is helping people to streamline and edit their wardrobes; trust me, I’ve seen it all in there…everything from bike pumps and paint cans to women’s unmentionables. And that’s all I’ll say about that! So don’t worry; no one is beyond help when it comes to getting a closet in shape.
Here I am on a recent closet session checking out my client’s go-to navy suit.
When your wardrobe contains only items you actually wear, it allows you to get your day started faster so that you can focus on what you do best – instead of worrying about where the pants to your gray pinstripe suit are. The first step to creating a closet that works for you is to set aside a couple of hours for a closet clearing. Below are 7 questions to ask yourself when considering each item:
1. Is it in good condition?
2. Is it out of style or do you not like the style?
3. Is it relevant to your lifestyle?
4. Does the color look good on you? (to find out what colors look best on you, contact me).
5. Does it fit?
6. Have you worn it in the past year and a half?
7. Do you actually like it?
If the answer to 2 or more of these is “no,” then you can do better, and I’d recommend donating it. And if you’re too busy or don’t have the patience to do this yourself, call in a professional who can get the job done for you quickly and efficiently.
Here’s to starting 2013 with a functional closet that suits your needs.
I believe most of us are educated enough to realize that most of the foods at the grocery store are contaminated in some way. Whether it be hormones and nitrates added to our meats, pesticides and insecticides sprayed on our vegetables or genetically modified crap thats all over the grocery store. It almost seems like the only way to eat decent food is to grow it and hunt it yourself. On top of all of that, we now have another problem child, gluten, that wrecks our digestive systems and puts our bodies in a state where we cannot lose weight or bodyfat. In fact gluten (which seems to be in everything) will not allow our bodies to absorb fat soluable vitamins (A,D,E,K) which leads to malnutrition. Malnutrition, you thought, only occured in third world countries right? Nope, it happens here in the US because of the food industry and the crap they put in our foods.
On to the important stuff, I wrote this blog as educational and from a disertation point of view. It is somewhat “technical” but I find this topic interesting. This is a comprehensive list of gluten free foods, foods with gluten AND ingredients to look out for when considering gluten-free options (there are alot of options now). So here you go…
What is Celiac Disease? Also referred to as gluten sensitive enteropathy (GSE), or celiacsprue, is a chronic, inherited digestive disease that can lead to malnutrition if untreated.CD is the result of an immune system response to the ingestion of gluten (a protein found in wheat, rye, and barley) that damages the small intestine. When the small intestine is damaged, nutrients pass through the small intestine, rather than get absorbed. To develop celiac disease (CD), you must inherit a gene, be consuming gluten, and have the disease activated. Common triggers include stress, trauma (surgeries, etc.) and possibly viral infections. Approximately 10% of first-degree relatives could have CD triggered in their lifetime. The disease is permanent and damage to the small intestine will occur every time you consume gluten, regardless if symptoms are present.
Celiac disease is a genetic disorder affecting 1:133 persons in the United States,potentially 2 million people. For every person diagnosed with CD, approximately 80 people are undiagnosed.
What is Gluten?
Gluten is a composite formed from several different proteins. It is found most commonly in wheat and other related grains, such as barley and rye. Adding texture and a characteristic chewiness to baked goods, gluten is used in a wide variety of other foods as a thickener and binder, flavor enhancer, and protein supplement. Some people can develop intolerance to these proteins, however; a gluten-free diet often helps to alleviate symptoms caused by this intolerance and prevents further damage to the body.
Diseases Associated with Gluten Intolerance-
Systemic Lupus Erythematosus
Lupus can affect many organs: the skin, joints and muscles, kidneys, heart, brain, lungs, blood and blood vessels, intestines, hearing and balance. Ninety percent of patients are female. Symptoms vary depending on the organs involved, but may include fatigue, fever, anemia, rashes in sunexposed areas, aching muscles, painful and stiff joints,confusion, seizures, inflammation around the heart or lungs, sores in the mouth, vasculitis, blood clots, and changes in the urine.
Thyroid Disease
There are two common forms of autoimmune thyroid disease commonly associated with CD and DH – Grave’s disease and Hashimoto’s disease.
Grave’s Disease: An overaactive thyroid. Symptoms may include weight loss, rapid pulse, protruding eyes, feeling too warm, restlessness, insomnia, diarrhea, irritability, palpatations.
Hashimoto’s Disease: An underactive thyroid. Symptoms may include weight gain, slow pulse, red puffy eyes, feeling too cold, mental slowness, drowsiness, confusion, constipation, enlarged thyroid gland in the neck, thick and coarse hair.
Addison’s Disease
A rare disease involving the adrenal gland. The prevalence of CD in persons with Addison’s Disease is significant. Symptoms of Addison’s may include weight loss, increasing fatigue, lack of appetite, anemia, darkening of the skin, increased sun sensitivity, low blood sugar, low blood pressure, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea or constipation, and dehydration.
Autoimmune Chronic Active Hepatitis
A disease of the liver that may be mistaken for alcoholic liver disease. Seventy percent of patients are female. Symptoms can include fatigue, abdominal discomfort, itching, nausea, vomiting, bloating, yellowing of the skin and whites of the eyes (jaundice), enlarged liver, tumors on the skin, aching, fever, mental confusion, and cirrhosis.
Insulin Dependent Diabetes Mellitus (Type 1)
A disease of the pancreas. The incidence of Type 1 diabetes and CD is between 6-12%. Often the second disease is silent (having few symptoms). Symptoms can include excessive thirst, hunger, weakness, frequent urination, blurred vision, trembling, confusion, weight loss, and coma (if left untreated).
Where is Gluten commonly found?
Read the rest of… Josh Bowen: The Limited Factor — The Gluten Story
This truth is evident from many of the wisdom traditions around the world. In particular, Native American tradition teaches that winter is THE time to slow down, sleep a little more, sit with projects. In Ayurvedic medicine from India, the circadian rhythm is an internal 24 hour clock that measures the slower and heightened energy hours of each day, even.
Gluten is a composite formed from several different proteins. It is found most commonly in 
