Tuscanlifeedit, I have emailed you :)

Faina, I'm sorry to read the news of your friend.

Calinurse, I hope your friend continues to do well.

LoveItaly, It is amazing what a person can be allergic to! My dear Aunt is allergic to black dye and rubber products! We are a very "allergic" family - and we do eat lots of corn. Something to think about.

Hi Tiff :)

PM :D Thanks for watching my back!

Congratulations on the Ipod Scarlett!I'm so proud that you were able to program the thing yourself :D I guess I should take the directions out of the box and actually read them, LOL, instead of waiting for "tech support" to come home ;)

Hey jorr,
55M gallons/year of etoh when the US uses 400M gallons a day of gasoline (Conoco Aug '05) is about 0.00377%: not very impressive, lol.
How much are the taxpayer funded US Federal and State Gov't subsidies?
M

mikemo: ...'not much', but maybe it's a step in the right direction...the beginning of a trend?

LoveItaly: I am thoroughly versed on corn allergies...my entire family is very allergic, and, when my 1st born was about 3 yo, we had him tested (due to constant ear infections). I became very neurotic trying to avoid corn in his food (although that was only ONE of the multi allergens he had). Trying to read all the labels with a baby or two tagging along while shopping was not easy, not to mention, just planning a meal! Even the 'juice' in nurseries and preschool are usually 'corn sweetened', and I found it frustrating to be bending over backwards to make sure the child wasn't exposed, only to find some caretaker had 'broken the rules'!

Then, when I was 40, I had three successively more severe reactions, requiring allergy testing. Have been on monthly shots/Allegra/Nasalcrom since with good results!
Even toothpaste and ketsup has corn syrup! (Does your mouth ever tingle/redden/ & maybe slightly swell after toothbrushing). And, like the aunt mentioned above, I'm even allergic to newsprint! However, if I've got to have a disability....I'm glad it's just allergies, even if it is annoying. I see so much worse in this world!

Cali: The doggie story is funny! I didn't realize you had had brain surgery recently?! At least your friend has you to look to as a good outcome! Hope she will bounce back as well!

Belle

Hi Belle, avoiding corn products is soooo difficult as you know.

I mistyped regarding sodas etc. I should have said corn sweetners. Years ago our sodas had sugar but corn was cheaper and consequently all companies switched to corn sweetner.
Corn starch is a filler for so many prepared foods (one example - canned chile con carne).

Belle, I am real careful with toothpaste, and yes I have had a burning stinging mouth.

The thing that scares me the most is medications. OTC is something I never use except for Advil Liquid Gel as all others have cornstarch coating and/or as fillers. Thank heavens I have never had a medical problem where I have to take daily meds. If I ever have to I think I will have a problem because the same is true of almost all prescription medications. If it is white it has starch on and/or in it.

I have had wine sometimes at Chamber of Commerce mixers, they served boxed wine. I would get sick. Turns out that some of these wine boxes have added "natural flavoring"..yep corn product, corn sweetner no doubt.

When I have cut myself I am fine until I put a bandaid on the finger, then the cut gets red and itchy. Corn product. I rarely cut myself but if I do I only use a bandaid while I am preparing food and than take it off.

I have from a website a three page, single spaced list of items and various names that all have corn or mean corn.

I can barely read the name of the website but going to check it out right now.

OK Belle, anyone that has an allergy to corn (or keeps having various physical problems and they can't figure out why) go to the website: http://www.cornallergens.com

I really encourage you to go to that website and when you have time read everything..even if you only have 10 minutes a day. There is so much information.

Best wishes and careful eating!!!

Tiff, I think we are both Daddy's girls, aren't we?

Proudly. And for always no matter our age.

Oh yes!

Two more things regarding weight loss...
#1 The power of 10- Anything you do 10 times becomes habit. Commit to 10 workouts in a set amount of time (10 in 2 weeks for those already exercising, 10 in 3 weeks for those not currently exercising)it will become part of your routine.

#2 No matter what your current weight- make the effort. Put on makeup, wear current clothes and awesome shoes, go out- don't hide yourself and think, "I'll do those things when I'm thinner."

Thank you seetheworld...
My tech support is in Japan LOL
It was so easy afterall...but then, maybe I am just brilliant :)

annesherrod, I am so impressed with people who are able to cut out ALL sugars.
I try, every once in a while, I take 4 sugar cubes to a cup of coffee..sigh.
But instead of feeling clear, I start staring at everyones bottle of soda or find myself standing in front of a bakery window for hours...it is pitiful.

Hi Dreamer. I totally missed your post. Thanks for the info :)

At the moment we're only considering land for the future. And it would be for a second home (summer/winter). But we are only in the early investigation stage.

seetheworld & amwosu:

I DID work out yesterday with my Yoga videos/DVD's I received for Christmas! ...But am still looking at the T-mill (perpheral vision only!)...trying to get motivated to actually get ON it! lol!

Speaking of Yoga, amwosu, do you have any recommendations of additional videos oe DVD's? I'm more of an indoor exerciser, when I DO do it!

The thing that works BEST for me, regarding diet, is journaling...that way I have to FACE IT...no hiding that cookie or other goodies!

Belle

'peripheral' for all the spelling police!

Belle

SeeTheWorld- Don't be fooled by 2% milk and cheese. 2% milk has 2% fat by volume but by calories it is 40% FAT!!! Volume doesn't mean much- calories count. I don't eat cheese so I haven't looked at 2% fat cheese to know the actual calorie count.

If you can't stand the thought of skim milk ease it into the diet slowly, first just using it in cereal and such.

OldSouthernBelle- while your yoga DVDs will be great for stress relief, flexibility, and core strength yoga isn't a very good fat burning routine (although some of the DVDs certainly purport it to be one). If weight loss is the focus you need to add higher intensity calorie burning cardio activity like walking or jogging (sidewalk or treadmill)or cardio tapes. Anything by Petra Kolber, Kathy Kaehler, or Keli Roberts is sound.

Weight loss & yoga would be Bikram Yoga. You have to lose weight doing it, it is impossible not to sweat off pounds!!

I won't argue against Bikram yoga (and have visited the headquarters in LA this year) but most Americans (and especially beginners) practice Hatha yoga. I don't know if Bikram has a widely available DVD routine and there are few who are lucky enough to have a Bikram trained instructor in their area.

The following report indicates that in a study by ACE a 50 minute Hatha workout burned an average of 144 calories. I burn 600 calories on the Stairmaster in the same amount of time.

http://www.acefitness.org/media/medi...spx?NewsID=237

Diet is not something you go on, or you come off.

Diet is a way of life. A way of living, a weay of eating.

To "go on a diet" implies you'll "come off it" eventually too. Change your diet, don't "go on" one.

rb: I do 'go off of my diet' when the holidays come around. It happens every year, and then in January, I get serious again about my otherwise generally healthy lifestyle. The holidays are so full of eating events and the time I would normally be exercising, I'm either socializing or planning/shopping. It's just too busy of a time for me.

The one year I can remember 'being good' and not really indulging as much during the holidays, I ended up struggling with feeling deprived the rest of the year, and thus over-eating!

Everyone is on a diet of some sort, whether it's a 'normal' diet, 'diabetic diet', 'cardiac prudent' or whatever you want to call it. I DO avoid the starve myself, all one type of food or slim-fast type diets.

amwosu: I realize that, but at 54, with the joints starting to act up, and not having been really exercising (except for work, which is quite physical), I wanted to start slowly with gaining flexibility.

Alright! I DID 1.4 miles, a 20 min. walk with 5 min cool down, burned 115 cal. tonight...are you satisfied!? :P
(Just joking with you)
Thanks for getting me motivated to take the first step!

I have more aeorobic video tapes than I know what to do with! Was really an addict in my younger years!

Thanks for both of the yoga suggestions/info!

Belle

Go Belle GOOO!!! I'm a sick girl. I taught aerobics at 6am. hee hee....