This guy can write. I'm going to put him in my blog-roll. Oh, the post is about how you enable others to convince themselves that it might not be a bad idea to consider changing their eating habits. Told from the point of view of the "The willfully ignorant dude"--him, a while back.

One thing Dr. Lisle talked about that I really liked was this idea that you shouldn't compare yourself to others, but just try to live up to your own potential. This is in any area of your life. Now this I understand and really like. I'm going to try this out at work.

I was thinking more about the first talk on the Douglas Lisle DVD called "The Continuum of Evil." (see yesterday's post for a recap). So the first talk was about not trying to be perfect, but aiming for eating A+ foods most of the time and letting yourself have some A, B, and C foods here and there, and averaging an A overall. This is a lot like Dr. Fuhrman's 10% plan. Dr. Lisle emphasized that the most important thing is getting right back on track when you eat the C (sugar,oil), D (dairy), and F (meat) foods. He follows the McDougall program which is a little more relaxed about salt and sugar than Dr. Fuhrman's program. Having followed Dr. Fuhrman's program for a while, I do prefer going without salt and sugar because the salt makes my fingers swell up, and it's even worse after breaking my elbow; and your taste buds get much more sensitive without salt and sugar, and then fruit and vegetables taste really good.

I just watched a very good DVD by Douglas Lisle. He wrote the Pleasure Trap. He applies psychology to eating healthy. The first lecture was about the continuum of evil. He's referring to good foods and bad foods here. Grading food, he gives meat an F, dairy a D, processed grains and sugar C, tofu, whole-wheat bread, veggie burgers a B, and whole unprocessed produce an A+. He then says, we're not perfect, but it's good to eat as many of the A foods as you can and only occasionally eating the B and C foods. He spent much of his career counseling on addiction. He says failure is fine, it's part of the process. Don't aim for perfection 100% of the time. If you aim for perfection and then you fail, that sets up weird behaviors, like going on a binge and promising you'll be perfect tomorrow or next week. You want to average a very good score (A on the grading scale) but know that it is a process getting there and that you will dip and know to get back on track when you do--that is the most important part, not aiming for perfection. I'm paraphrasing and surely not distilling this as accurately as he presented.

I've been doing something very weird lately. I've been watching the Food Network. I think I will stop now as it's probably a dangerous thing to do, but it was kind of fascinating, and I think it says a lot about the culture we live in. I was expecting more cooking shows but it's mostly about restaurant food--at least when I've watched, which is around prime time. There are shows about "diners, dives, and drive-ins" (my favorite), and your favorite foods (at so-and-so restaurant), and how various convenience foods are made. And then of course, there are the chef competitions. In all of them, you get to see what goes into the meals, and that is shocking to someone who tries to avoid oil, salt and processed foods.

I ended up cooking more this weekend than I thought it would. It was fun. Today's breakfast was ice cream. Lunch was steamed greens, Mexican hummus, and steamed veggies for dipping in the hummus. That will be dinner too.

I wanted some hummus but didn't have any of the usual ingredients except sesame seeds but I wasn't in the mood for those either, so I came up with this. I call it Mexican hummus because of the southwest flavors (cilantro, lime, cumin). It is very creamy and yummy. Note that my ingredients are just what I had on hand--you can do the same. The basic idea is to use a bean of some kind, spice--usually cumin (but in searching for the cumin I saw pumpkin pie spice and did wonder what that would be like), some kind of nuts or seeds, and citrus or vinegar flavoring.

Today I decided to see if I could make a sweet nut butter. The answer is yes, but watch out--it tastes great and is really rich. It is not so easy to make though. I made it in a blender and you need to add a lot of nuts to make it work in the blender, 2 cups works.

I forgot to say in my last post that I am planning to cook more on weekends even though I won't this weekend. I think I have gotten boring in my weekday eating, and that helped me to stray last week in my eating. I'm going to expand my weekly pot of beans to a pot of soup full of beans, veggies, and maybe some wild rice or barley. These are really good, especially with carrot juice as a broth. That will give me more cooked veggies during the week. Then I also hope to make something nice for a Sat. or Sun. dinner. It doesn't have to be complicated, just enjoyable to eat, which many of Dr. Fuhrman's recipes are!

Reading the Fuhrman forums this morning, I was reminded of this great post by Darryl. This pretty much says it all. No need to read anything else! I'm going to link to it on my recommended websites links at the right side of the page here. I looked over my links to see if they needed updating and so I visited fatfreevegan's blog. I discovered Susan's blog pretty early on when I became a vegan (5 years ago now!) and found her recipes creative and delicious. As I got more "strict" in my diet, I used her recipes less and less since many use refined grains, sugar, and salt. But I see from her recent posts that she is following Dr. Fuhrman's Eat to Live program now! That is cool. I hope to see some creative "nutritarian" recipes from her blog. I am a big fan of hers.

Anyone remember that catchy “buckle up” PSA from the 60’s? Anyone? With motor vehicle crashes as the leading cause of death among those ages 5-34 in the U.S, the message can certainly still resonate even today.

Seat belts are the single most effective and easiest way to reduce serious crash-related injuries and deaths. According to the National Highway and Safety Administration fastening your seatbelt can reduce your chances of injury by approximately 50 percent.

Everyone should take the life-saving measure and buckle their seatbelt. Period. And in case you’re traveling with little ones, here are a few tips to pack before take to the streets:

• CDC recommends that children ages 12 and under should be seated in the back seat.
• NEVER seat a child in front of an airbag because they are more likely to suffer more possibly fatal injuries with an airbag.
• The safest spot to seat a child in the backseat is in the middle of the row.
• Rear-facing car seats are ideal for infants till age 1 and front-facing car seats are ideal for children up till age 4.
• Booster seats can be used till age 12, but remember to check weight and height requirements!

Driving can be fun when going on a road trip or a relaxing cruise downtown-but it can also be dangerous. Take these safety tips into consideration next time you get into a seat. Together, we can learn to live injury-free because, remember, safety is NO accident. To learn more about road safety visit our website at www.nphw.org also check out these great online resources.

This is a great post from a fairly recent "nutritarian" (not sure he calls himself that):

I feel I should 'fess up when I go offplan. It may not be as inspiring as if I stay on plan all the time, where you can think, if she can do it, so can I. Instead, now you think, she failed, so will I. But I want to be honest and share my mistakes--maybe there is something to learn from them without repeating them yourself. So last week, I deviated for a couple of days. The last time I did this was in early December when I was in France. So I guess I made it about 10 weeks; the previous stretch was 10 months, so this is a bit disappointing. Oh well, try try again. What were my reasons? Well, the brain can manufacture good reasons any time, any day, so I don't think that matters. I can tell you that being tired is a big warning flag so watch out for the rationalizations when you are tired--you are much weaker. And it also started out by eating too much rich healthy food, so that's another warning flag. For me, being tired and/or overeating healthy food are both danger zones where vigilance against excuses should be exercised. Your brain is always ready with millions of excuses and they are just that, excuses, so you have to learn to ignore them.

This is tasty and simple.

I don't have much to report that would excite a reader. I've been enjoying my food but you might find it boring. I still only have about 1.5 arms to work with, so have been eating the usual: salads and soups. Actually it's pretty much what's described in this post. Some of my salads were fruity, some savory. All have a base of lettuce, kale, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, seed mixture. Then add apple, orange, frozen berries, and sweet vinegars to some, add sweet corn, peas or edamame, onion, vinegars to others. Actually onions taste good on the fruity salads too, and apples taste good on the savory salads. I bought a sample pack of Dr. Fuhrman's vinegars and have been having fun trying a different one out every meal. I'm still rating them so might make a report at some point even though I don't think it's helpful to others because it's completely a personal taste preference thing.

Today’s guest blog is by Jessica Wehrman, communications manager of the American Association of Poison Control Centers. AAPCC represents the 57 poison control centers across the United States and works to educate the public about poison centers and poison safety.

You can’t have a conversation about public health without talking about poisoning.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, poisoning is the second-leading cause of accidental death in this country after car accidents. In 2009, more than 4 million people called their local poison centers, either to ask about poisons or report a poison exposure. Painkillers, personal care products and cleaning products were among the substances most often involved in poison exposures that year.

Poisoning is a very real and very present danger. It’s an epidemic with no signs of waning, but it’s one that offers easy and authoritative help: Poison centers.

You can connect to your local poison center anywhere in the United States by calling 800-222-1222. Poison centers offer free, confidential medical advice 24 hours a day, seven days a week and take calls in more than 150 languages and from the hearing impaired.

By calling 800-222-1222, you can, in the majority of cases, avoid an unnecessary and costly trip to the hospital. Calling a poison center is easier than unloading your dishwasher or ordering a pizza. And the peace of mind that comes from making the call is far more rewarding.

So why should you call? Many people only think to call poison centers if their child gets into the medicine cabinet. That’s one reason, but there are many other reasons to pick up the phone.

Call your poison center if:
·You’ve made a medicine mistake.
·You have questions about how two medicines might interact.
·You’ve been bitten by a critter.
·You’ve mixed household cleaners and are worried about the fumes.
·You have any questions about poisons or possible poisons.

You can also help yourself by working to prevent poisoning. Here are a few ways to do so:
·Have a working carbon monoxide detector in your home.
·Don’t take medicine in the dark or without your glasses.
·Read and follow the directions on the label before taking any medicine.
·If you have questions about the intended use of your medicine, contact your doctor.
·Talk to your doctor before taking natural or herbal supplements.
·Never use food containers such as cups or bottles to store household and chemical products.
·Store food and household and chemical products in separate areas.
·Keep products that could be poisonous in their original containers.
·Remember – there’s no such thing as “child-proof.” Still, make it harder for children to get
at possible poisons by using safety latches on drawers or cabinets.

Keep this number by your phone: 800-222-1222. When in doubt, check it out. It doesn’t have to be an emergency to call. Poison center calls are free and confidential, and in return, you’ll get advice from a medical expert. It’s one of the best deals in health care today. And all you have to do is remember to call. To learn more about poison prevention visit http://www.blogger.com/www.aapcc.organd join APHA in celebration of National Public Health Week.

“The American Public Health Association encourages you to take action today and help keep key programs such as Poison Control Centers protected from sever budget cuts by telling your representative to protect public health funding."

Sometimes I am really lazy:

Drum roll, please! APHA is happy to announce the theme of this year’s National Public Health Week, “Safety is No Accident: Live Injury-free.” We just launched our new National Public Health Week 2011 website, Join us as we celebrate NPHW, April 4-10, and work towards creating a safer and healthier nation. There are a number of ways you and countless public health advocates across the country can help promote safety and prevent injury and violence in your own community throughout the week. Get involved and help us make injury and violence prevention a priority in all areas of life: at work, at home, at play, in your community and anywhere people are on the move. Visit us at http://www.nphw.org/. While there download logos, wallpaper, talking points, find an event in your area using our interactive map of events, sign up to become a partner and much, much more!

Here are a few ideas:

Host a National Public Health Week event. Identify officials who have been vocal on issues related to injury prevention and invite them to partner in a community event. Hold a child safety seat demonstration to ensure safety seats are installed correctly. Feeling chatty? Tune into APHA’s #NPHW Twitter Chat on Monday, April 4, at 1p.m. ET by including #NPHW in your tweet. Reach out to local media. Submit a letter to the editor about the importance of injury and violence prevention. Highlight the stories of local heroes who have made a real difference in improving the safety of a community. Partner with a local college or university to promote public health student day, April 8th 2011. Help promote safety and prevent injuries and violence across the nation by taking action within your community-Everyone has a role to play. Join APHA during National Public Health Week 2011 as we work together to create a safer nation.

Hi everyone,