Diet and a lifestyle change....

Differences among a diet and a lifestyle change.........
As happy as I was to only gain two pounds last week, of course, I'm much happier to have lost six this week. And it's hard to ignore a pattern I've seen over the past 14 months - almost every time I've posted a gain for a week, it's been followed by a loss, and often a significant one.

What's it mean? I can't really take much away except "Stick to it!"

When I gained last week, I focused on the other ways that I had succeeded and forced myself to start my new week with a good attitude and a clean slate. This week was a really good one regarding both food and exercise and I even managed some indulgences -- nachos, a mozzarella stick, a half of an egg roll and ice cream were my splurges of choice.

Again, I think it all comes down to the same thing I keep harping on - this is a lifestyle change. And I find a lifestyle change mindset to be very different from a diet mindset.

Here's what I mean:

On a diet, there's a start, which means there's also an end. How you act after you feel like you've reached the end could undermine all the hard work you've done.

With a lifestyle change, you're committing to permanent change. You have to work to find the changes you can live with for the rest of your life. Results may be more gradual because you're not cutting out everything "bad," but I think they'll also be more lasting.

On a diet, you're either on a program or off it. Every time you slip up, you might feel like you've screwed it up, which could trigger feelings of failure and cause you to give up entirely.

With a lifestyle change, ups and downs are par for the course. We see this in our entire lives, why wouldn't we see it with how we eat and exercise?

On a diet, the main measure of success is often the numbers on the scale. A loss is a reason for celebration; a gain is a reason to wonder what went wrong and judge ourselves.

With a lifestyle change, it's easier to put things in perspective. Yes, reporting my loss or gain is the first thing I do here each week, but I also try to look beyond the numbers on the scale to gauge my success. There are so many reasons that you might gain weight in a given week that have nothing to do with if you did anything "wrong"... our bodies are confusing things! Sodium, exercise, menstruation - they can all complicate what the scale tells you. But when you look at your changes in the context of your whole life, successes are easier to find - going down in clothing sizes, feeling energized, breathing better, etc. And when you focus on the big picture, it's easier to put temporary gains in perspective and get past them - I may have gained two pounds last week, but that's no reason to undo more than 80 pounds of loss! And this week I'm especially happy that I didn't let last week derail me!

Advised in current outbreak

"How should I protect myself?"
As reports of swine flu continue to rise in the United States and around the world,
Health officials' advice is to follow common-sense precautions: Wash your hands, stay home if you're sick and listen to your local health authorities.



U.S. health officials stress the importance of frequent hand washing during outbreaks of illness.


"Very frequent hand-washing is something that we talk about time and time again and that is an effective way to reduce transmission of disease," Dr. Richard Besser, acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said Sunday at a White House briefing.

"If you're sick, it's very important that people stay at home. If your children are sick, have a fever and flu-like illness, they shouldn't go to school. And if you're ill, you shouldn't get on an airplane or another public transport to travel. Those things are part of personal responsibility in trying to reduce the impact. "

"In areas with no disease yet, a lot of what we can do sounds simple and repetitive but helps," said Dr. Anne Schuchat, interim deputy director of the CDC's Science and Public Health Program. In addition to washing hands often, she recommends covering your mouth when coughing and sneezing and avoiding touching your eyes and nose in case the virus is on your hands.

By midday Sunday, there were 20 confirmed cases in the United States. All infected U.S. patients have recovered. No one has died.

Mexico, however, has been hard hit: 86 deaths had been deemed "likely linked" to a deadly new strain of the flu virus by health authorities there. Viral testing has confirmed 20 cases, said Dr. Jose A. Cordova Villalobos, Mexico's health secretary, and Mexican authorities are investigating at least 1,000 cases of illness.

Cases also have been reported in New Zealand and Canada.

The World Health Organization calls the situation a "public health emergency of international concern," and the United States on Sunday declared a "public health emergency," likened by Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano to preparations for a potential hurricane. No authorities are calling the outbreak a pandemic.

Little Green Peace in the Middle East

Little Green Peace in the Middle East............
From September 20-27, a delegation of European environmental journalists, policy makers (ie World Bank and EU parliament), energy and climate change specialists, and activism leaders are coming to the Middle East to explore Israel’s environmental issues, policies, and clean technology.

The whirlwind tour will take these leaders to Hiria (Tel Aviv’s rehabilitating garbage dump); they will visit the renewable energy company Ormat, see solar technology in action, and will learn about Dead Sea issues at the Dead Sea. They will essentially experience different shades of “green” in Israel and discuss and debate with their Israeli counterparts along the way.

This trip, sponsored by the Washington-based Project Interchange gives leaders from international communities, an opportunity to understand Israel’s complicated reality through a “green” lens.


Israeli-based foreign and local journalists/bloggers are invited to attend the “by-invitation only” seminars and outings with the delegates and their Israeli hosts. The trip is an excellent opportunity if you are interested in obtaining the essential background and contacts for reporting on Israel’s “green” issues, a topic much in demand in newspapers and magazines around the world. The Jewish perspective on the environment will also be explored, as well as a Muslim one.

A Green Prophet is involved in promoting the eye-opening event, and will be posting more as events unfold. Contact us contact@greenprophet.com, if you are a journalist who would like an invitation to meet the delegates and “go on tour” with them.