I have certainly been neglecting this blog. I have been so busy with my kids and with maintaining my other blog that I have let this one kind of slide.

I have written about the importance of fresh air and sunshine so many times already but it really can’t be said enough. Getting some sunshine and fresh air makes us feel happier and healthier. I find it helps keep me motivated to do all of those boring tasks that we have neglected all winter long. Maybe that’s why spring cleaning is so universal. Maybe we just all want to get those windows cleaned, not just so that we can see outside properly but because we finally have the energy to do so.

I also wanted to talk about having fun. If you force yourself to do things that are “good for you” but that you really loathe you will counteract any benefit that that activity would bring.

Now, enjoying a greasy burger isn’t going to stop you from killing over from a heart attack but eating salads that you hate for lunch every day won’t help make you happy and therefore healthy.

So, yeah, make changes to your life but make changes that you can live with. Do activities you enjoy instead of slaving away on a treadmill.

I think the biggest secret to being healthy is being happy. When we are happy we take better care of our bodies and we get more exercise, socialize more and get more sunshine.

Do whatever keeps you motivated and enjoy your life. The rest should all fall into place.

We always hear people saying that they don’t eat healthy but at least they’ll die happy. Well, it does take a transition period to get used to healthier food but we haven’t looked back and neither will you if you take that plunge.

You’ll feel so much better that you’ll shudder at the thought of bacon!

My Tiffin arrived today. It is pretty spiffy. It looks smaller than you’d expect but when you compact everything together it has all the space Kevin will need for his lunch. My big challenge now though is that Kev wants me to make him a lunch kit that has a compartment for his stainless steel water bottle, his Tiffin and a special space for fruit and cutlery. Any ideas?

This is Kevin’s lunch for tomorrow. He is having left over Chinese stir fry from the Vegetarian Low GI book. He is also having homemade vegan pudding as well as olives, veggie crackers and some cheese.

We were trying to cut cheese out of our diet but then I found out that Kevin was losing weight from all his Martial Arts training as well as his regular work outs. I became worried that he wasn’t getting enough calories and started putting cheese back in his diet for the extra fat.

On Monday I was at Superstore and in their book rack (which I hardly ever look at) they had a copy of Thrive Fitness. It’s the newest book by Brendan Brazier. I own two of his other books and couldn’t resist snatching this one up too. I really like his philosophy on food, exercise and reducing dietary stress. His new book covers how to eat for optimum weight loss, muscle gain and overall wellness. He even talks about the ability to reduce the likelihood of disease or cancer even through diet.

A fantastic book for that is The China Study by Colin T. Campbell. It’s an absolutely fabulous book for anyone who wants to know how to combat diseases and cancers.

I have talked about this book many a times on this blog but I really can’t say enough wonderful things about it!

I borrowed a cookbook called Vegan Express from the library a couple of days ago. I wanted to share some of the foreword written by Neal Bernard, MD. He is the President of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine.

He states that by simply reducing the amount of meat and eggs we consume we ill only slightly reduce our cholesterol, blood pressure and body weight.

He states that collectively, Americans are more out of shape than any other American generation.

“Numerous scientific studies have shown that the healthiest diet of all is one that is low in fat and is completely comprised of plant foods. Vegetarians have healthier hearts, healthier skin, lower blood pressure, less risk of diabetes, fewer kidney stones and gallstones, and forty percent less cancer risk.”

He also says that vegan diets are even better and that vegetarians are about ten percent slimmer than non-vegetarians.

I know for myself that I lost thirty pounds just from giving up meat. I am having a hard time losing the rest of the baby weight but I think that exercise and giving up cheese will probably fix that. LOL.

Despite all of the evidence showing how dramatically a change in diet can affect your health and lenghten your life span it is unfortunate that doctors and dieticians don’t encourage these low to no cholesterol diets to their overweight and diseased patients.

I suppose there is no profit for large corporations in eating healthy…

 

Side note:  I saw some type Pharmaceutical companies wrong. They spelled it like this: Pharmapsodical. I wonder if they were trying to say pharma.pseudo.cal. That would be funny. Ha ha ha.

1. Reduce the amount of unnecessary items we purchase. Every few months I go through my whole house and send about two bags worth of stuff to my sister or Goodwill. This is a clear indicator of how we consume too much stuff. In many places of the world there are people who are barely surviving on less than what would be allocated for one person. Yet in the U.S. (Canada ranks a tiny bit better) people consume ten times what is allotted per person. I am sure that if you just take a look at your house you can see thousands of dollars of worth of rarely used items. Not only that, but most of those items are likely purchased using credit. This is a very unstable existence!

2. Borrowing more books/movies etc. from the library instead of buying them. Same premise as #1.

3. Reducing the amount of dining in/take out we participate in. Take out food is over-packaged with materials that aren’t always recyclable. This contributes to overfilled landfills. Also, any form of eating out is often unhealthy (especially compared to home cooked wholefoods meals) and far more expensive.

4. Trying to unload my plastic junk. Now this one requires some buying but it is a long term investment that is good for the family. Plastic is horribly toxic stuff and the sooner I can get it out of my home the better.

5. Using my computer and TV less and lowering my heat in the winter. This little effort can save hundreds of dollars over the course of a year. It’s funny that what benefits the environment often benefits my budget. I can’t lower my heat too much with a new baby in the house but I do try to lower it during the day. I also plan on spending much more time outdoors when it gets warmer out and that will mean a lot less time when the TV is on. We don’t have cable but we use it for watching movies and as a CD player these days.

6. Going fully vegan. The only vice left is cheese! We have given up all meats, eggs and all dairy except cheese. This will need to be a slow transition if we are going to stick to it but we will get there, so help me, by the end of 2009. The meat and dairy industry uses up piles of land and contributes to greenhouse gas emissions tremendously through all the different attributes of farming (from cow farts, to transportation of goods, to processing, to packaging).

7. Not eating any processed food. This is one that won’t be very hard for us to acheive. We didn’t eat much before. The processing of food often exposes it to chemicals and other garbage. It also reduces the nutritional value of many food items and makes them higher on the Glycemic Index scale. This means you aren’t nourished adequately and your body sends you signals to nourish it causing you to overeat and gain weight. Eating fresh foods means less packaging and less of a carbon footprint from all the over-packaging and processing.

8. Eating/buying items locally. Also buying organic food. I already boycott anything from Mexico (because of the pesticides) and try not to eat things from the USA either because of the GMO. The hardest will be giving up avocado but, I will likely allow myself to indulge in the healthy fruits and veggies. I want to start shopping at the Farmer’s Market more often too.  This also means that I’ll have to stop shopping at Wal Mart. Ha ha ha. I have hated shopping there but it is the closest store to my house and the prices are often what we can afford as a family of five living off of one income. But I am hoping that we can save a lot of money by changing our buying habits and can afford to shop in more local shops. Organic farming is much easier on the environment and the fruits/veggies from organic farms are often more nutritious and contain less pesticides. Another perk is that they cannot contain any GMO’d products.

9. Getting back to using cloth bags instead of taking plastic ones. We are pretty good about this one. When we do forget and are only buying a few, easy-to-carry items we often decline a bag and then just bag it in the car with one of our reusable bags. My goal for this year is to stop forgetting to bring the bags!

10. Streamlining our errands (ie. wasting less fuel because we go out to go get one container of soy milk).

Other, more personal goals:

1. Cheap dates. There are so many activities that are considerably cheaper than a dinner and a movie. We have thought of going swimming, going for walks on walking trails and playing tennis. There is also dancing at a latin club (we are taking lessons in the spring). These activities have the added benefit of offering quality time together and making our bodies healthier.

2. Exercising regularily and losing my baby weight.

3. Clearing out debt and not buying any large items with credit. Learning to have patience and save for the items we need.

4. Being more involved in my children’s education (see last post for details.

As much as the New Year is about setting new goals for ourselves it is a time for reflection.

When I sit back and think about the goals I had for myself for 2008 I realize why so many people don’t bother with resolutions.

In 2008 I wanted to eat healthy, lose weight and run the yearly marathon in my city. I did none of those things. I cheated on my vegan diet, I didn’t lose weight and I didn’t run any races at all. To be fair I found myself pregnant in February and up until that point I was working very hard and was on the right track for meeting ALL of my goals.

My goals for this year are pretty much the same. I want to eat vegan, exercise daily, lose weight, make better consumer choices (better for my budget, my health and the environment), and run that marathon.

I have also added some parenting goals. Like actively being part in my children’s education. All three are too young for school (my eldest is only three and a half) but I figure that they are never too young to be taught at home especially since they will be unschooled at home anyways.

I want to spend more time working on the alphabet with them and reading to them. I want to take them on nature walks (where they can collect nature samples, paste flowers into their Nature Journal and take pictures of the things that are either alive or too big to fit in the box) and I want to take them to different educational venues like the Space and Science Centre, local protests, the library, the museum, ethnic restaurants and such.

I want to limit their movie viewing time and increase the amount of free-play they get. I want to increase the time they get every week for making art (using watercolour and acrylic paint, wax and pencil crayons, sidewalk chalk, bathtub crayons etc.), singing songs and playing with musical instruments.

I know they will only truly grasp a new concept when they are ready to and therefore is no sense in torturing them to listen to a “lesson” on grammar. But just because their schooling is unstructured and unconstrained doesn’t mean that I can be lazy about it. The earlier that I allow them to follow their natural thought processes, the earlier I will be able to see some results. Children, even toddlers, are much more capable than we give them credit for so long as we allow them to take risks and learn from the outcomes. I don’t know why people insist on doing everything for their children. Even if you know their tower of blocks will fall over don’t interfere. They don’t know that it will fall over and when it does they’ll have learned something!

I am also trying to allow them to share stories and ask questions more and more often. This is very hard when I am busy and would rather say, “That’s nice sweety. Now please go away.”

 

So far in the year I have failed pretty miserably at most of my goals. I have had cheese and junk food. I have not excersized every day and I have forgotten to bring my cloth bags with me to the grocery store (which we were so proficient a remembering until the last month or so)! But I am going to keep trying and when my husband gets back to work tomorrow it should help us get out of our lazy holiday slump and back into our healthy routines! *Knock on wood.* Ha ha ha.

We all hear that we should reference the sacred Canada Food Guide when we are confused about food portions etc. But, there are many flaws with the Canada Food Guide. It has improved over the years to include legumes and so on and that is a positive thing for everyone’s health but the emphasis on the Milk and Meat groups is still deeply ingrained as is the perception of the healthfulness of these products thanks to very effective brain-washing in our youth.

For example, I was reading my Fit Kids book from the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada this morning. The book is only four years old and even there it states that children do not need vitamins or supplements unless they aren’t drinking milk. Those not drinking milk (vegans/lactose intolerant people) are encouraged to take a calcium supplement for the formation of strong bones. What a load of bull!

Experts are saying that those who don’t drink milk have stronger bones than those who do (see the video and read the book mentioned in my last entry for more information). This is because the high fat/protein composition of the milk (plus any added protein and fat from meat consumption) leeches milk from the bones and dumps it in the urine. In fact, those who were at risk of osteoporosis and were recommended a higher milk consumption actually disposed of more calcium in their urine and ended up with weaker bones than those who drank less milk. The countries with the highest rates of osteoporosis in the world are countries with high milk consumption. And conversely, the countries that don’t drink milk, like Japan and Thailand, have virtually no incidences of osteoporosis (unless someone starts drinking milk)! This means that a vegan child, for example, wouldn’t need to be on calcium supplements. If they are eating foods rich in calcium, like almods or green veggies ie.kale, they will absorb and retain their calcium. Besides many soy milks and rice milks etc. are calcium fortified these days.

It is shameful that our government and health authorities are still touting the “benefits” of milk when the research is pointing the opposite way. Not only is milk not beneficial, it’s actually detrimental.

Same with meat. Even the food guide puts a high emphasis on meat consumption. The research that is dribbling from the pipe on an almost daily basis (some of it started over fifty years ago) keeps pointing to the inadequacy of our digestive system for breaking down meat and dairy foods. It is literally killing us and people still think it’s healthy!

In the video I posted in the last entry, the presenting Doctor compares the digestive system of carnivores and herbivores and draws the conclusion that our digestive systems are NOT well equiped to handle meat. We are indeed herbivores. You can thrive on a vegan diet but you will die from a meat-based diet.

And the indication that one will waste away or become willowy on a vegan diet is not based in fact either. Consider these burly and strong vegan athletes:

Brendan Brazier: multi-time Iron Man Triathlon winner

Carl Lewis: “Olympian of the Century” -Olympic medalist in track

Chris Evert: Tennis champion

Bill Pearl: Professional bodybuilder and four time “Mr. Universe”

Ed Templeton: Professional skateboarder

Keith Holmes: Boxing champion

Desmond Howard: Heisman trophy winner and Super Bowl MVP

Raja Bell, Salim Stoudamire and Robert Parish: NBA

Edwin Moses: Olympic gold medals (2) for hurdles

Ricky Williams: Ultimate fighting champ

Scott Jurek: Ultra-marathon runner

But back to the Food Guide. It’s not all garbage. If you look at the portion sizes recommended by the Food Guide you can easily see the flaw in our western diets. If you add the maximum servings of grains and fruit and vegetables it adds up to 22 servings of wholesome, vegan food. The meat and milk portions add up to seven servings. There is a definite indication there as to the importance of veggies and fruits and carbs.

The fruits and veggies are the foods that help you fight disease and cancer. They are your antioxidants and your vitamins and minerals.

But consider that meat is pointless. Meat doesn’t make us stronger, meat doesn’t make us healthier and it doesn’t do anything for our health except provide us with fat and protein and alter our hormones and trigger disease and cancer. So why eat it?

The real fuel for our bodies is carbohydrates (the grain group). And it’s completely possible to obtain the amount of protein necessary for a healthy body from a plant based diet. So why not cut out the fat and start fueling our bodies with what it’s supposed to use. The Doctor in the video has a great analogy. If you don’t put the right gas in your car you can’t expect great performance but if you start putting the right gas in your tank you’ll start to see better outcomes from your car.

So fuel up with some healthy plant foods and you’ll rediscover your youth through increased energy and vitality. You’ll live longer and with less aches and pains! You’ll also have a healthier body weight and enjoy a better quality of life.

I have always been amazed by the people’s inability to connect the dots. I have just finished reading The China Study and I have found so much interesting information in there. I had heard of much of these results before but never in that much depth or accompanied with such an analysis.

The last quarter of the book focuses on the politics of health/nutrition. The author states that there is billions of dollars spent on research, most is spent to doing research enabling the creation of drugs, and only a sliver of that is spent on nutrition and prevention. Even the nutrition and prevention budgets of many organisations are actually thinly veiled as drug research budgets.

But what does that mean? Well, it means that these organisations, which are almost always heavily funded by the meat industry, dairy industry, sugar industry and other “bad” food industries, are not wanting to find out that there is a link between diet and food. They want to tell you to keep buying hamburgers but to buy supplements or drugs. If you don’t believe this you need to read the book. The author cites many examples where scientists, influenced by food industries, have made claims such as low cholesterol being bad for you, and how you NEED high cholesterol. There was a top health professional that encouraged people to eat hamburgers saying that they are good for you. Lately the dairy industry has been undergoing trouble for claiming that milk can help you to lose weight. This is not true and they are taking flak for it. Industries will take any bit of research out of context and bang it like a cheap drum. This is bad science and it’s confusing to the consumer.

Even yesterday my husband told me that on the news he was told that being obese can be healthy! Did I miss something? I thought that being obese increased your risk of hundreds of health problems and reduced your lifespan by years.

The point is that these industries fund research that ends up improperly done or improperly analysed to obtain the claims that are beneficial to them. They even establish committees to spy on research being done that may damage their profit margins so that they may strive to discredit them.

I know it sounds awful, but, they are businesses and as such they are deeply worried about their profit margins. That’s why when reports come out saying that milk doesn’t make your bones stronger but ACTUALLY leaches calcium from your bones, these industries have some major damage control to do!

But let us take a moment and focus on diet here. Did you know that heart disease, which affects and kills so many people in Canada and the U.S. is rare in other countries? In fact, the countries that have the most cancers, heart disease, osteoporosis, Type I and II Diabetes etc. are all countries where meat and milk consumption is high!

Can we blame it on genetics? I mean we ALL have genes. But we don’t all get breast cancer. So what causes one person to get cancer and the other to be healthy?

Did you know that if someone moves from a low risk area (ie. China) to a high risk area (ie. U.S.) that they adopt the high risk for those diseases? Why would someone who is so unlikely to get heart disease in one area all of a sudden become at a high risk of developing it? Could it be because as immigrants come to the land of affluence they adopt our diet?

So if we can clearly see that diet has an impact, why is the government so reluctant to alter our servings of dairy and meat in our food guides? After all, we, as a culture, have been over-eating meat for decades and our rates of disease are skyrocketing. Do they not see a connection?

Even more startling is the differences in our own people. For example, vegans and vegetarians are at a reduced risk of pretty much all diseases and cancers. Plus they are expected to live longer too.

So why do people still think it’s healthy to eat meat and dairy?

There have even been studies showing that cognitive function is improved with a vegan diet. This means a much lower risk of getting Alzheimer’s too! There have been experiments done in schools with many ADD-type children where they have noticed a significant improvement in mood and cognitive function by reducing the meat and dairy out of their lunches. So if your child gets diagnosed with ADD/ADHD you could try a healthy, whole-foods vegan diet for a while and see how it shapes up. It certainly would be much better than putting them on drugs.

But back to the main issue here. The data shows over and over and over again that areas/groups that eat less meat and dairy have much less disease and cancer. So maybe it’s time people started re-evaluating their perspective on diet. Don’t expect to see anything coming from the government acknowledging this anytime soon. They are in bed with those who profit from your sickness. Your meat and dairy and Coca Cola industries as well as your pharmaceutical companies.

Do you see how much big corporations have to lose by having you become healthy? There is much more profit for them in your sickness. But you don’t have to let them win. You can cut back the meat and dairy in your diet (ideally to nothing) and enjoy the benefits of a longer more vital life. This is much better than spending your last years of your prematurely shortened life in pain from your most recent stroke.

And if you are too macho to give us cow’s flesh then consider this: there are many top athletes that are vegan. They are triathlon winners, and boxers, and football players, and heavy weight champions. They are strong, healthy and reach their peak later than omnivores. Think of what you could do with a healthy body weight and all this extra energy!

If you want to watch a video that sumarizes most of this book’s dietary information you can check out this video: http://video.google.ca/videoplay?docid=4330900066502406356&hl=en-CA

I know it’s nowhere near wintertime but I was doing some reading this morning about how you can buy these light machines that are supposed to make you feel better in the wintertime.

I think they are silly but to each their own! It made me think about how rough winter is. It’s cold so you don’t want to go outside. You can’t open the windows and get fresh air either. For those of us who work in Canada you barely get any sun light at all. You go to work just before it gets light and come home in the dark. How depressing!

Not getting sunlight has an impact on our energy levels and our immune systems and our mood. When we feel crumby we act like potatoes. We sit on the couch instead of exercising, make bad food choices (craving carbs and junk food) and lack the self control and motivation to do something about it. If you start looking at the mood connection to your health and weight you will be shocked to see how you react. For example, when I am tired I spend money frivolously, I eat food that is bad for my body and lounge A LOT! 

(A small side bar: If you want to lose weight and make better food choices you need to improve your mood. This link goes to an article that talks about enhancing immunity. Point number five talks about the impact that mood has on your body:  http://theworldismysoyster.wordpress.com/category/immunity/ )

Combine all of these factors and the results are not that hard to predict. We get sicker! Not because of the cold, but rather, because our immunity is suppressed from lack of sunlight and fresh air and exercise. Then there is poor food choices and depression and likely a plethora of other reasons. For example, the Canadian Medical Association says that indoor air quality is five times worse than outdoor air quality (even for those of us who live with smog). And where are we spending all our time in the wintertime? You guessed it! Indoors. That doesn’t make for a very happy or healthy existence.

What can you do? For starters, bundle up and get fresh air. If that means going for a walk at lunch or spending your Saturday snowshoeing or cross-county skiing in a walking trail in your area or skating at the neighbourhood rink.

Then take vitamins. Make sure you supplement with Vitamin D and C if you are going to be house bound for the winter. You can also take Essential Fatty Acids (Omega 3, 6, 9) to help improve mood and if you just need a little extra help you can take some St. John’s Wort (but be careful not to take that if you are on prescription drugs without the approval of your doctor as St. John’s Wort can deactivate drugs sometimes).

Try to exercise indoors if you can’t make it outdoors and make sure to get the rest you need. Shouldn’t be too hard to get rest in the wintertime. The sun goes down at 5:00! Find activities that you enjoy. Throw a ball for your dog in the snow (my dog enjoys trying to catch snowballs), go sledding, go to a festival of lights. Just do something!

OK, why am I talking about sex? With the exceptions of the last “philosophical” entry I have mostly just talked about artificial sweeteners, chemicals in make-up and issues that are food related. But, sex is a noteworthy topic for many reasons. For starters it’s exercise, it’s good for your mood and your health, it helps to build intimacy in mature and committed relationships, it’s empowering and it’s fun!

I want to be upfront about how this entry is meant to be construed. It’s not meant to be advice/inspiration for every bimbo seeking to impress her date. I am dedicating this blog entry to wives and long-term partners. I certainly won’t offer ideas for positions or techniques here (but can find some resources for that in my recommended reading section). I want to talk about the health benefits of sex. These benefits are the most pronounced in marriages/long-term committed relationships. While I am sure you can have passionate sex outside of a marriage you will never experience the real freedom of sex, the kind that can be found in unions that are as committed as they are in a marriage. The trust and love in those unions will allow you both to push frontiers and experience new and exciting things. This entry won’t be crass. I promise!

For starters let’s look at sex from a chemical point of view. The act of sex, especially orgasm, is a cocktail of hormones. Rising and falling. It drives the interaction, the action and allows everything to flow as it should. The hormonal benefits of sex (for both sexes) include: reduced stress overall, relaxation, elation, better mood and more intimacy in a relationship. Statistically speaking, happily MARRIED people have the best health of any other demographic. So there is something to be said for the overall health and happiness that comes from being in a strong, loving, supportive union (not only that but people who are married tend to earn more money too). Sex can also help build that intimacy that makes marriage so wonderful. Another perk, especially for the ladies, is that the exercise and resulting sweat can help clear your pores, resulting in more beautiful skin.

Any kind of exercise will help keep you healthier. But sex has the added bonus of giving you exercise (cardiovascular benefits), relaxing you (making you tired and satisfied), strengthening intimacy (making you happier) and reducing stress (mostly hormonal I believe). The way to reap the most out of these benefits is to be in a loving, non-judging relationship.

There is a sense of taboo among women (the only women who have ever discussed sex with me are my sister and mother). I don’t think it’s healthy or appropriate to chat about sex with strangers but women would benefit from finding a safe haven to share ideas and ask questions. The idea of sex being dirty is unfair. The places we often hear about sex (comedians, movies etc.) are dirty but the act is actually very spiritual and sacred. That’s why we need a place to empower each other that isn’t dirty. Lou’s books are great for that. Even good girls want good sex.

To empower yourself to be a great partner will bring new levels of passion to your passion play. Men have a tendency to try to please in the bedroom and women can tend to be more passive. Being more aggressive shows him that you are into it, and while that is a turn on for him it is also an indicator of love. Women gauge affection very differently than men. I feel loved when my husband tells me so or takes out the garbage without me nagging or if he hugs me and kisses me. But he on the other hand, gauges much of your attraction and love for him through the act of sex. So, in a healthy marriage, you would want him to feel loved. Being proficient in the bedroom will give you more confidence to grab the bull by the horn so to speak. And he will certainly not resent you for experimenting with him in the boudoir to familiarize yourself with a new concept!

The better the sex becomes, the more you will want to have it. I think that that too is a hormonal thing. After a while you start feeling newlywed again. It’s a great feeling to be so excited and to desire to be so close to someone you love and have loved for years.

I don’t believe in things that demean women. We don’t allow porn in our home. I want my husband to think about me when we…you know. I don’t need anything to make me feel inadequate or self-conscious in our sex life. It’s also exciting to know that he seeks his fulfillment only in me and that notion encourages me to oblige.

If there is ANYTHING that makes the other partner uncomfortable, it is hands off for sex-play. So if porn, or toys or certain positions make you uneasy, then they are a no-go! You will only enjoy sex and feel safe in it if you are respected, protected and honoured. You should never feel pressured to do anything you think it too dirty or whatever.

I am now going to share a couple good ideas for date nights (for others you’ll just have to buy Lou’s books):

* Here is one of my favorites: You make/pick up a whole variety of finger foods: grapes, spread and crackers, fancy cheese, button mushrooms etc.  and serve it up on a tray. You serve juice or wine or whatever you want in a wine glass or a flute. Then you eat the entire meal in bed. Make sure that the food you eat is bite-sized food as to not make a mess in your bed. The part that sucks about going out for a date is that by the time you get home and bring the babysitter home it’s late and you just want to sleep. If you have a date in your room you are already half-way to your intended destination (with energy to spare). Even if you have to pick your kids up from a relative or a sitter afterwards.

* Try surprising the other partner when they don’t expect it with something you’ve never done before. The excitement of your sneaky plot will tantalize you and the surprise will excite him. 

Just to do my vegan plug (as I try to make all my blog entries relate to health and vegetarian issues): Veg*ns (both sexes) apparently taste and smell better and have lower incidences of erectile dysfunction. In fact, Lou Paget (see books below) states that if there are problems with erection that a diet change may cure all that ails him (in this area anyways).

I would feel irresponsible without at least touching on the topic of protection. I am hoping that those of you who are in long-term relationships will already have this one figured out but for those of you who are reading this blog that haven’t, you need to be educated. I read on Yahoo News that one in four people in New York City have an STD now! Come on people, be responsible. I am also fiercely anti-abortion and even if I weren’t, I would still urge you not to use abortion as birth control! The side effects (especially emotional) are well documented and it may make you prone to miscarriage when you actually want to have a baby! Be smart! If you’re going to have sex before marriage be protected!

My reccomended reading list:

By Lou Paget:

The Big O: How to Give Them, Have Them and Keep Them Coming. http://www.amazon.ca/Big-O-Have-Them-Coming/dp/0767907485/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1213881164&sr=8-1

365 Days of Sensational Sex: http://www.amazon.ca/365-Days-Sensational-Sex-Paget/dp/0340832622/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_b?ie=UTF8&qid=1213881164&sr=8-1

Any of her other titles. She is, in my opinion, the guru of sensational, tasteful sex! She makes it her goal to empower women to feel confident in this arena and has strenghtened many LONG, long-term relationships!

For a spiritual view on sex:

Sacred Sex: http://www.amazon.ca/Sacred-Sex-Spiritual-Celebration-Marriage/dp/1578564611/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1213881363&sr=1-9

Today I decided to please my husband by doing something I do about once or twice a year. I agreed to play a video game with him. While we were playing he noticed that I can’t help but sway my arms, as if I am willing the character to move with a higher intensity than the controller offers itself. He commented that I’d likely be more suited to a Wii.

I thought that he was probably right and that anything that would allow me to move around more would be easier on my body. I have the physical bones and tissues of an 85 year old woman (not confirmed by anyone btw) and sitting still playing video games is so hard on me. I rarely ever do it but ya know. So we went out and bought a Wii.

Wow! Was it fun!

The game Wii Sports came with our console. It’s so great. You can play tennis against each other as well as golf, boxing, baseball and bowling. It’s quite a sensitive system and you are literally controlling the intensity and angle and everything of the ball, racket, club, whatever.

You’re basically on your feet the whole time. We played for about two hours and now that I am resting I feel tired and sore. Just like I do after a work out.

A fun little feature of the Wii is that you can customize your own character (under the Mii application) choosing hair, skin tone, nose, lips, everything.  Then you can use your virtual self to play the games.

Anyways, the point of this post isn’t to brag about our new game system but rather to tell parents that if you are going to invest in a game system, not only is the Wii far less expensive than the XBOX 360 or the PS3, but this is the only game console that will not contribute to childhood (or adulthood) obesity. As far as I am aware the games all require a greater physical involvement than any other system offers. The remotes and nun-chucks are designed to be swung and thrust and used in ways that give the player a workout.

Plus, the accessories are cooler too. Light swords and steering wheels? C’mon! That’s cool even for a self-proclaimed non-gamer like myself.