Changing lifestyle for the better

I didn't realize how bad my personal lifestyle (diet and exercise) had gotten until I recently read a book that my sister Heather recommended on nutrition called "The Culprit and the Cure." I was addicted to the "western diet" without a clue as to what the "prudent" diet was or how to pick foods to achieve it. All I really knew before was that whole grains, and fruits and vegetables, were good for you cause mom and the scriptures said so, but now I feel armed with the why and the how, and a sense of relative importance of these foods over previous bad choices (Krispy Kremes and Cinabons were literally killing me early - "the whiter the bread, the sooner your dead").


This book, written by a BYU professor while on sabbatical, is the "tour de force" in current scientific research on nutrition and disease prevention. Amazingly, modern science again confirms the revelation given to the prophet Joseph Smith as recorded in The Doctrine and Covenants, Section 89, commonly referred to as the "Word of Wisdom." This time however, the emphasis is on the positive admonitions, rather than the restrictions that are much better known and followed within the membership of the church. If you have not yet read this book, I highly recommend it. The Holy Ghost and my personal life experience bore testimony of it as I read it, and I have now implemented its recommendations for lifestyle in my own life. By following its simple advice on nutrition and exercise, I am already feeling much more energetic, healthier, and have shed 15 lbs over the past month. I have a dietary and exercise direction now that I feel like I can truly exercise faith in, as it has motivated me to action. Johnny keeps telling me he wants his "sugar daddy" back, but I think having me around for a few more decades is a good tradeof to a few sacrificed donuts, cinamon rolls, and Big Macs in the short run. At least I won't be eating these things in the place of proper nutritional food. Sugar and white bread are the occasional treat now, instead of the staple at the bottom of the pyramid.

This book can do more to improve well-being, now and for years to come, than the best available medicines."

Walter C. Willett, M.D.
Chair of Nutrition, Harvard School of Public Health

See also www.theculpritandthecure.com

and www.fastfoodbook.com

Thoughts on time . . .

“Time is an illusion. Lunchtime, doubly so”
– Douglas Adams – Hitch-Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy”

Faster and slower time spans exist in my reality. By the clock or timer, such spans should be equal, however, I’ve noticed that great expectations and rapt anticipation create slow spans, sometimes painfully slow; and correspondingly, any time your having so much fun that you forget to look at a clock, the hours slip by at hyper-speed. Slow time events in my memory: waiting for spaghetti or eggs to boil, The last five minutes of school before the release bell for recess, or going home time (and if there is a father & sons outing after school, the slow time span is magnified exponentially). Fast spans include family walks in nature, fishing, camping, golfing, video gaming, programming a computer, singing in a choir, the span of time in my children’s lives between birth and baptism, and baptism and college, and college and marriage, and dates with my wife — all these events go by way too fast! When we get to rewatch the great video recording of our lives (except for the parts edited out by repentance), I will have my finger on the rewind button for these fast spans of time, and expect to have proof that playback time for these is much faster than for the slow time spans.

What makes time fly for you, and what makes it feel as if the clock hands are moving through thick molasses?