What I Learned about diets from the Therapist

As mentioned before, I had arthroscopic knee surgery three weeks ago tomorrow, the day Michael Jackson died. It wasn't a major surgery, but there is some rehabilitation that goes along with it, and I am in the process of doing that. Apart from the knee the therapist, Darren, addresses other issues such as my weight that will be a definite factor in long term use of all my limbs. He is in the process of co-writing a book about weight loss. He spoke of several things that I might have learned, but soon forgot, in the many diet programs I have been on over the years.
But I will pass on some of the wisdom he discussed today:
1. They have learned in many recent studies something about addiction -- be it to food, drugs, alcohol, or whatever-- that there is a center in the brain that responds in addictive-prone people to stimulus more than in other people. When that center is rewarded by food etc it pays off to a greater extent by releasing more serotonin and consequently locks in the source of pleasurable response more strongly in their minds. The only way to overcome that powerful addictive center is to exchange the bad behavior with good, beneficial behavior. So bottom line: don't fight it but reward it with other pleasurable experiences which will build the body rather than tear it down.
2. Any weight loss plan is good if it does three things
a) shows how to control the amount of caloric intake
b) includes some type of regular aerobic (cardiovascular) exercise and
c) stresses the oft-overlooked advantages of weight training and resistance exercises

He made a point of saying that bikers for example who do a fast amount of cardiovascular work lost only an average of 3.8 pounds per year if they did not include either of the other two things in the list. And that those who did resistance training only lost 15 lbs on average even if they didn't do the other two things on the list.

Interesting? To me it is ....anything is interesting that motivates me to good works.

Right? Left? or Down the Middle

I am a victim of the political press. There are so few articles written by non-biased writers when it comes to politics. I think the average person has got to realize that both sides have a legitimate POV at times and are dead wrong at other times. The Left has got to understand that despite the great needs of the poor and the needy whom they pretend to support, the limit to government spending and taxation should take priority, and that spending cuts must be considered, and that government is not the only way to solve the world's problems. The Right, on the other hand, must acknowledge the abundance of poverty and misery that exists and has to be addressed. As the Savior said, "The poor you will have always."

Denise and I spent a year and a half doing missionary work along the Texas-Mexican border. We were based in Harlingen, Texas. We ran a very small employment agency out of the stake center and were responsible to people from Port Isabel to Donna. We saw it all. What limited training we received prior to our mission helped us understand two things: Welfare has two sides -- one is that we are indeed responsible to help those in need where we can, but also each person has a responsibility to become self reliant and self-sustaining when they are capable of doing so. We learned that to teach a person to fish was much more valuable than just handing them a cooked fish. True, there are times when those who are down just need a fish to get them through the day. That is what the Bishops storehouse was for. But that is to be a very temporary means to giving them a boost when needed, but in the meantime, there must be a specific expectation that they would be on the lookout for self improvement -- for looking to see what resources are available to them to get them on their feet and reaching upward. It is easier to help a person who is striving to climb a mountain than to lift a limp, lifeless body up the same mountain.

Parable of the Maple Tree

We had a lovely six-year-old maple tree, apparently the strongest and surely the tallest tree in our close neighborhood where four homes share a common driveway. The tree – elegantly endowed with thick, full leaves – elicited admiring remarks from our neighbors. We didn’t know what we were doing to make it such a neighborhood example; but needless to say, we were proud of it and happy with the way it was growing and the beauty and shade it provided.

One stormy afternoon our neighbor, Brother Johnson, who had been diligently taking care of our yard since before I had knee surgery, stood on our porch. “Have you seen your tree? It looks like the wind got hold of it.” I limped my way behind him to notice that indeed one of the sturdiest-looking branches had broken off and in its fall had torn deeply into the heart of the tree, leaving a huge scar.

I was shocked and immediately saddened by the devastation. With Brother Johnson’s help we cut off the sagging branch and tried to bind up the torn area.

As we worked on the tree, we noticed a shiny, dark black spot about the size of a baseball on the scar left by the broken limb. Apparently a disease had been gnawing into the tree, unobserved, even though the tree looked healthy and flawless. When the powerful gusts tested it, it had split apart in that weakened area, and the weight of the dangling limb – aided by the intense, thrashing wind – had caused it to tear into the healthier core of the of the main vertical branch.

We sought professional advice from the Utah State Extension Center and from our wise and caring home teacher, Brother Behling, a farmer who raises fruit trees. Each suggested what we might try to do if we wanted to save the tree, but warned us that possibly there were other hidden damaged areas that could result in disaster when the tree grew larger and more potentially dangerous.

After prayerful consideration, we sorrowfully concluded that for future safety we needed to cut the tree down, dig it up, and replant another one in its place. Denise and I were saddened deeply by the potential loss of something that we had loved so dearly. Our grandson McKaid came to cut the tree down and dig it up.

In my distress an inner voice bore a sudden witness that this tree symbolized a tragedy in today’s world. Recent news reports have exposed individuals in high places who have betrayed the trust of family and friends. On the outside they seemed to be great examples of strength and leadership; on the inside they had a decaying virus of the soul – a latent destructive weakness, leading to their eventual downfall.

Then sprang an even more relevant thought: We all need to review our own lives to see whether there is some deteriorating disease of the spirit that requires mending and repairing before the winds of life rage against us.

As a corollary, when I think of the sadness that we felt over the loss of the tree we had loved so much, I am reminded of the great sorrow our Heavenly Father must feel, knowing of the soul-destroying diseases, secluded in the lives of so many of his beloved children.

I intend to pass this story on that it might serve as a paradigm of a spiritual reality. I pray that I may purge any concealed impurity I might uncover to come more openly unto Christ with greater strength, having become a surer example, inside and out, of devotion to the Savior, the healer of our souls.

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Greeting

Hello family and friends,
This is our first real attempt to get a blogsite going, something our daughter Erika has been at us to do for a long time. It took us looking at her site for a while and seeing all the neat things she has done on it before we got excited about doing one! (See our link to her blog as well as other family sites.)

It takes me some time getting used to doing this. But as with all things I will get better with time....until time runs out, of course.

We plan to use this for family and for personal things we are involved in. This is a good thing. Better than starting my personal history a thousand times and never getting past my tenth year or the year we moved to Texas. Well, I will ramble on here for a while until I get an idea...of course .... all of this will probably be edited out at a later time...but for now I am getting a good idea of how to do this.