Just got another alert about relocating my active journal to dw.  I already backed it up but seems like not a bad idea to just remove ourselves from this forum.  I have enjoyed it, it has been a good place for me to journal and take notes.  I kept my same username on dw, and will complete the transition in the next couple of months.... Here goes.

I just went looking around LJ for communities or interesting people and found..... nada.  Where did everybody go?  When did all this nonsense and commercialism show up?  Guess I've not been paying any attention.

May you live in Interesting Times.

It is reported that this was the first of three ancient Chinese curses of increasing severity,
the other two being:
May you come to the attention of those in authority.
May you find what you are looking for.

Purpose: To Be Here Now.
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I just heard on NPR that a new Kaiser Permanente study has found that people who keep a food diary loose more weight, and keep the weight off better than people who don't. It was a pretty good sized study, and the people all received the same diet counseling and assistance, only some kept a food diary and some did not. The ones who did lost the most weight, and also were able to stabilize at their new weight. Part of the program was calculating caloric intake based on the diary, and sharing the diary with others in the group. The ones who did not keep a food diary lost less weight and were more likely to pile the pounds back on.

I suppose that this highlights something very fundamental about the way we eat. We eat what we want, not really knowing if it is good for us or not, just doing so out of habit or convenience. If we take the time to record exactly what we take in, and to understand the implications of that intake in terms of calories and nutrition, we are educating ourselves about the value of our food. That education is a permanent change. Once a person grasps how many calories they take in with soda pop or french fries, and how nutritionally empty those calories are, they will naturally begin to choose other foods out of self interest.

It's pouring rain now, finally. Rained all day yesterday, and I rode my bike in the rain to and from school. I don't mind it too much, I find the spray on my face refreshing, but I can tell that it affects Suzanne's mood. Shakti the wild kitten doesn't like it much, but sometimes she spends the entire day holed up out there and isn't wet when she finally meows at the door to come in. Vida the pug doesn't like the rain at all. When she goes down the stairs and finds out that it is raining, she tries to run back up the stairs to the apartment. Suzanne has to pick her up and put her in the back yard to get her to eliminate.
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