Daily Loaf

What’s the buzz on the latest issues in the Green Community? Check out what you may have missed this last week:

Living with the land: Florida’s first Earthship (video) – Eric Stewart gives a firsthand look at Florida’s first Earthship in Manatee County, and gets his hands dirty while helping out.

Not getting a million-dollar bonus this year? Think local stimulus- Scott Milinder shows us a real stimulus package that will work for us: we all commit to “Buying Local First.” According to recent economic studies, shifting your buying habits to locally owned businesses creates more circulation of money, more economic activity and more jobs in the local economy.

Eco-friendly summertime fashion accessories- Are you searching for a unique and beautiful purse to enhance your summer wardrobe? Then why not consider one of these recycled handbags that are made from recycled items that help to promote a cleaner and healthier world, reports Jen Meier.
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Reducing your beef (or all meat, for that matter) consumption could make quite an impact on not only your health, but also on the environment.

Beef contains high levels of cholesterol and saturated fat, as well as chemicals and growth hormones. Many scientific studies have linked the consumption of red meat to heart disease, stroke, and breast and colon cancer.

According to the National Research Council, beef has the highest levels of herbicides of any food food sold in the US. This is obviously due to all of the pesticides used on the corn and soybeans that is then used for cattle feed. The NRC says that beef rates as second highest on the list of foods that pose the greatest risk of cancer due to pesticide contamination (tomatoes being the highest on the list). Their studies also show that over 95% of all cattle in the US are receiving growth hormones and other pharmaceuticals, many of those then showing up in the cuts of beef we buy at the grocery store.
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I get tired of seeing people caught up in these diet fads that amount to unrealistic starvation and improper nutrition and an absence of physical activity.  Unless you seriously get into modern pharmaceuticals (another post) you just can`t sit around and lose weight on diet alone. Not healthfully, at least.  It is important to make your diet work for you instead of against you, and one such way is to look for certain power foods  I love supplementing my major meals with small snacks that are high in protein, such as yogurt.  Yogurt, with its fats and proteins is a good way of both staving off your appetite and improving your probiotic health. However all yogurts are not equal. Read the rest of this entry »

What’s the buzz on the latest issues in the Green Community? Check out what you may have missed this past week:

Stretching your diet and exercise comfort zone: moving through a plateau: contributor Kelly Rothwell lists a few ways to work through your diet and exercise plateaus.

Greenpeace comes to Tampa with bad news about Florida’s emissions: Joshua Michael Poll takes a look Greenpeace’s report that Florida is one of the biggest emissions producers in the world.
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Life is for learning and growing. As we go through the many lessons that are presented to us daily we grow or expand multi-dimensionally. Sometimes we take the easiest road, while other paths take us up above and over the most challenging mountain peaks imaginable. Considering what growing and expanding brings us in the long run, let’s focus on stretching our comfort zones in all we do. You can stretch your zone in baby steps or take giant leaps by trying new foods or activities or facing your fears head on.

Have you ever reached a point during a diet or exercise program where your progress ceases completely? This is a natural progression that occurs when your body has reached a maintenance point where you are able to stay at your current weight doing exactly what you have been doing. It can be very challenging to work through these plateaus especially when you have a long way to go to reach your ultimate goal. How can you get through a plateau?  Stretch your comfort zone! Read the rest of this entry »

The greening of our community starts with you. Here is a brief outline of 12 things you can do immediately to live smarter:

1. Turn your food scraps and yard waste into compost to replenish your starving soil.

2. Start a worm bin, worms eat food waste (garbage) and turn it into nutrient rich, organic soil.

3. Collecting and use rainwater, graywater and air conditioning runoff to water your plants.  Also, conserve the water you use by being conscious when you have the water running. Read the rest of this entry »

Staying on track with your diet can be challenging enough during the busy work week, but it is especially challenging when you are out of your normal routine.  We travel for many reasons, for business, relaxation and the occasional visit to friends and family in need.  All occasions many times can be reasons to let your diet slide, but there is no need to!  By letting your diet slide you run the risk of gaining 5 even 10 pounds, which sets you back tremendously on your accomplishments and can be damaging to your will and self-esteem.   In lieu of starting over with your diet accomplishments follow these simple tips and return home feeling positive about your meal choices. Read the rest of this entry »

The Canadian manufactured performance enhancement diet supplement Hydroxycut, used for weight loss and body building, has been pulled from the market in a voluntary recall at the request of the US Food and Drug Administration.

This is technically not a drug and is advertised as a “Diet Supplement”. The distress to the liver caused by this supplement has caused 23 reports of liver problems including the death due to liver failure a 17 year old boy. In at least one case a person survived their trouble by receiving a liver transplant. Read the rest of this entry »

As promised I am writing to update you on my process through the Master Cleanse.  It was one of the most challenging experiences of my life and I will absolutely do it again!  You can do anything if you stick your mind to it and I owned this journey and stuck with it for 8 days.  There are many benefits physically to allowing your body to cleanse of old toxic matter and resting your digestive tract for a few days.  Once you get into the process you see how much your body holds onto and you feel more empowered to control what you allow into your temple each day.  You realize even more the importance of eating healthy, organic food. Read the rest of this entry »

If you’re like me you wake up every morning wondering “How can I get more bacon into my diet?” Well, Lists Galore is here to help with “11 ways to get more bacon into your diet.”

Groovisions – a Tokyo-based design firm known for some pretty fantastic artsy graphics — put together a video for the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries that showcases that country’s dependence on foreign food imports. Seems dry, doesn’t it? Until, of course, you catch the bouncy technified soundtrack and watch little Sims farmers and families bouncing to the rhythm.

It also happens to be one of the best illustrations of how the Western diet is transforming nations across the world into fat, poor slobs like us. Catch it after the break — Read the rest of this entry »