The Jehovah Witness ladies came by the other day. I know, I know. Everyone laughs at me for letting them into my house. But they’re nice ladies. And one is a neighbor.

And I’m always interested in how other people think, and what they believe. I think we’d get a lot farther if we tried to understand people rather than automatically hating someone because they’re different from you, don’t you?

Anyway, I always read the publications they bring me. This time it had to do with Global Warming. In one of the articles, they quoted an article that appeared in National Geographic in October, 2007. It said –

“Global Warming presents the greatest test we humans have yet faced….If we are to meet that challenge successfully, we need to move quickly and decisively – and with a maturity we’ve rarely shown as a society or a species.”

In another article in the same publication, the author states –

“At the very least, making such changes would mean promptly addressing the root causes of earth’s problems – human greed, self-interest, ignorance, inept government, and apathy.”

The author goes on to ask, “Is such a prospect probable, or just wishful thinking?”

I guess if you look at how quickly the become a millionaire working at home gurus are becoming multi-millionaires selling their products like hot cakes – even though only a few actually become millionaires using these courses,

and how slowly people are moving towards any real attempt at energy saving,

and how slowly people are moving towards taking care of their health by changing their diet,

and how willing industry is to take advantage of people’s unwillingness to change rather than leading the way to change – and how willing the government is to support industry rather than protect it’s people,

sadly, I think we have the answer.

But, I’m going to keep trying!

Carole

In yet another reason to avoid packaged foods – over 50,000 children have been hospitalized in the latest China food safety scandal. The same ingredient that killed pets not too long ago is now found in powder milk products made in China.

The problem here is – we cannot tell the country of origin on most packaged foods. Some packages say; others simply give a statement saying something like imported by such and such company.

Does your baking mix contain powdered milk from China? Who knows? Who will tell if it does?

I think it’s become painfully obvious that profits come before people.

If you’re ready to take your diet and health into your own hands, I’m here to help.

Seriously, it’s not that hard – and it doesn’t have to be torture. We sure eat well.

Isn’t it time you quit poisoning yourself?   

Carole

Well, here is the update. Did Carole get sick? How is her co-worker? Did the Doctor prescribe antibiotics for a viral infection?

Let’s start with my co-worker. As of Saturday – she was still pretty sick. And yes, the Doctor certainly did prescribe antibiotics. Can you believe it? Of course, they weren’t working – because antibiotics don’t do anything for a viral infection. Don’t we all know that by now?

She was getting lots of rest and drinking lots of fluids. She’s been resistant to healthy eating so far… I guess we’ll see what happens tomorrow.

As for me – I escaped with just a couple of symptoms. I had a stiff neck for 3 days – which was really irritating. Otherwise, I was just really, really tired. Friday night and Saturday night, I was just beat. I was falling asleep at my desk trying to check emails after work. Didn’t’ do dishes, or clean up, and I was in bed before midnight both nights – and you know that’s not like me.

Today, I was almost lethargic. I got the dishes done and that’s about it.  I tried doing a little weeding down at the beach, and I thought I was going to pass out. So, I just laid low. I made a good healthy dinner. And I’m going to hit the sack early again tonight.

But I didn’t get full-blown sick. And no one else seems to have any symptoms – so that’s good. Even though it would have been a better story if it became a total epidemic. I’ve heard that once you have had pneumonia, you are more susceptible to it – and that seems to be true for me. Bummer.

And what about my previous family epidemic? Well, my grandparents were elderly and had weaker immune systems. My sister had knee surgery that day, so her immune system was compromised too. Besides, she’s never been very healthy anyway. It spread through the family like wildfire.

And I guess with the stress at work, and the constant chaotic schedule changes, and trying to keep my computer running a little while longer; I was just run down enough - and I worked with my co-worker more last week than I usually do. Just a bunch of bad timing. But it’s never convenient, is it? Actually I was tempted to just let myself get sick so I could get some paid time off work You never get rewarded for not taking your sick days… I know – bad girl! Hey, it’s true!

OK - So how did I keep from getting sick?

Well, I’m pretty sick of cantaloupe! And tomatoes too. I did a lot of salad, and cantaloupe, and orange juice, and some green tea.  For the first day, I took 500 mg of Vitamin C every 4 hours, and aspirin for the stiff neck.

But the FDA says Vitamin C doesn’t work. And they’re partially right. If you eat a crappy diet and your Vitamin C levels are low to begin with – it won’t work. You won’t be able to bring your Vitamin C levels up fast enough to fight the infection. And if you try to bring your levels up too fast, you end up spending a lot of time in the bathroom.

It takes a good 6 months of eating healthy and taking your vitamins everyday to get your body really healthy and strong. Why not start now?

Now, if we can just survive the corporate visit this week…  I’ve heard it’s going to be Wednesday – which is great because I’m off that day! But Monday and Tuesday promise to be days from…

Wish me luck!

Carole

It’s been a strange week. I’ve been uncharacteristically unmotivated. Even an associate commented on the phone the other day that I sounded tired. I said, “no, I’m fine.”

My computer keeps crashing. There’s a lot of stress at work. Sometimes I get as tired of the struggle as anyone else. Maybe I was just emotionally tired?

Yesterday, a call came in. Our other assistant manager has pneumonia. Now that’s on top of the stress of a pending corporate visit early next week. Which is another whole can of worms, let me tell you.

The last time I had pneumonia, I gave it to both of my grandparents and my sister. She took it home to Connecticut and gave it to her family. My grandparents were both hospitalized. My grandfather died. So I take this very seriously.

Hmmm, I wonder if that’s why I thought of them earlier this week. Was my subconscious trying to tell me something?

It was one of those situations where I had to be there. My sister was having surgery and I was the one taking her in. She was staying at my grandparent’s house. I knew I was sick, but I didn’t know that it was pneumonia. No hugs, no kisses, I’m in and out. By that night, I was bedridden.

And because I’ve had pneumonia a couple of times, I guess I’m more susceptible to it.

But here’s the real problem –

Pneumonia is highly contagious – and we work in retail.

With the other assistant out, the rest of us will have to cover her hours. Everyone will get more run down.

The store has been really cold, so our systems are compromised already.

On top of that, our staff has been covering another sister store where they never seem to have enough people willing to work. So we can infect 2 stores.

Not to mention all of the people we come in contact with.

OK, maybe a little alarmist, but I know first hand how this can affect people.

Last night, out of the blue – I got a stiff neck. As soon as I got home, I started preventative attack. Take vitamins, drink orange juice, baking soda mouth rinse, hot shower, sleep.

This morning, I had that little interior chill. You know, where you feel cold inside your body rather than outside? I know I have the virus, but can I beat it?

And again, it’s one of those situations where I can’t stay home. There is no one else to work. What do you do? Close the store? I’m scheduled to close tonight, and then open tomorrow and work at least 10 hours. Not good.

I’m going on Vitamin C every 4 hours, and lots of fruits and vegetables and orange juice, and green tea. I will dress warmly. Fortunately, I won’t look too weird. We’re having a sweater sale and we’re supposed to wear sweaters anyway. I’d better stock up on chicken soup too.

I’ve already called my friend who gave her kidney to her husband and told her she is not allowed to come here.

I know even if I lose the battle, I will survive it. I hate that I have to put others at risk. Even if I don’t fully come down with it, I’m a carrier. It really stinks. I don’t know what else I can do.

Keeping my fingers crossed and hoping for the best… We’ll see how well my healthy eating theories hold up under this challenge!

Wish me luck. I’ll let you know how it all comes out.

Carole

P.S. Antibiotics won’t help – even though that’s the first thing most doctors will do. It’s a viral infection.

I was cutting up another cantaloupe. Yeah, I know, we’ve been eating a LOT of cantaloupe lately. It’s been so sweet and good, and it’s great for your skin, which is as important to me as an ‘old’ lady who refuses to get old, as it is to my teenaged daughter.

As I cut it in half, I remembered my grandparents.

They would cut a cantaloupe in half, scoop out the seeds, and then fill the center with vanilla ice cream. They would do this almost every night when cantaloupes were in season.

They were from the south where everyone makes healthy food unhealthy – or do they?

My grandfather lived until just short of his 90^th birthday. My grandmother lived to be 96.

Oh, so now you’re saying “Well, that’s why she’s so healthy – she came from good stock.”

My mother was adopted.

Eating habits are learned – NOT genetic.

Oh, you may be predisposed to gaining weight faster, or slower, but overall – the way you eat is a learned habit.

One of my ‘followers’ went from a size 16 to a size 10. That’s where she leveled off 2 years ago. That is her natural set point. She could work out and get smaller, but she doesn’t have the time, and doesn’t want to. She’s perfectly happy at her natural set point, and she looks and feels good.

When you eat a healthy balanced diet, your body will take care of bringing you back to your natural set point. It happens all by itself, and pretty quickly. Yeah, you need to get a little exercise, but it doesn’t have to be a marathon.

Wouldn’t it be exciting to see what your natural body is supposed to look like?

Once you get there, then you can decide if there’s something else you want to do, but you might be surprised to find that your natural body suits you just fine.

Want to find out?