Perspective On What Christmas Is Really About

Who Started This Christmas Stuff?

A woman was Christmas shopping with her two children. After many hours of looking at row after row of toys and everything else imaginable; and after hours of hearing both children asking for everything they saw, she finally made it to the elevator with her two kids.

She was feeling what so many of us feel during the holiday time of the year - overwhelming pressure to go to every party, taste all the holiday food, get that perfect gift for every person on our shopping list, make sure we don't forget anyone on our card list, and so on.

The elevator was very crowded as she pushed her way in, dragging her two kids and all the bags of stuff. When the doors closed she couldn't take it anymore and said, "Whoever started this whole Christmas thing should be strung up and shot."

From the back of the elevator a quiet, calm voice respond, "Don't worry, we already crucified Him."

For the rest of the elevator ride, it was so quiet you could have heard a pin drop.

This year, don't forget to keep "the One who started this whole Christmas thing" in your every thought, deed, purchase and words. If we all did, just think how different this world would be.

"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son; that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." (John 3:16)

Oprah, queen of denial on her forty pound weight gain

Oprah says of her weight gain "I'm mad at myself, I'm embarrassed" Has Oprah been the queen of denial when it comes to weight gain? The answer is a definitive yes. Fans have watched all year as she slowly grew to 200 pounds. Sometimes our loyalty and love for someone blinds us, or causes us to overlook their faults and frailties. Several times, my husband has said, "Oprah's getting fat again." He's not one to mince words. I've repeatedly said, "I don't know, she's always been a big girl." Perhaps fans like me we're in denial also.

Oprah's trainer Bob Greene tells her "you're depressed." Oprah has gained 40 pounds in the past year due to upsetting circumstances in her life. Her best friend Gayle Greene, editor at large of O Magazine appeared this morning on "Good Morning America" to talk about Oprah's weight gain and her issues with a thyroid problem and depression. Gayle says, "I see a sadness in her face." Upset by the trouble that beset her girl's school in Africa, while strapped for time working on her show, magazine, and radio station, Oprah apparently has let herself go...again. Read more at my Examiner column.

Check out "Plan Gives Dieters Day Off Each Week"

I've written about my experiences on Joel Marion's 'The Cheat To Lose Diet' and my belief this diet program works with your metabolism instead of against it like most diets.



Darlene Dunn of Cleveland / Akron's News Net 5 interviewed me, Joel Marion, Lee Keren, clinical director of the Structure House in Durham, NC, and Rebecca Regnier, 39, a former news anchor who now runs Does This Blog Make Us Look Fat? Darlene reports on our experiences with Joel Marion's 'The Cheat To Lose Diet' and whether this unique diet is for everyone.



Is cheating to lose right for you? Find out more by reading Darlene Dunn's insightful article "Plan Gives Dieters Day Off Each Week" - Author: Working Against Body Won't Help Weight. Darlene Dunn is a staff writer for News5.com

Make Functional Fitness You Goal

Cincinnati Functional Fitness Session with Dustin Carter

Bacon chocolate anyone?

Britain sells out of bacon chocolate

LONDON (UPI) -- The only British store to stock chocolate bars infused with bacon said its entire stock of the unusual candies sold out within 48 hours of hitting the shelves.

Officials with Selfridges said the department store has ordered a new supply of Mo's Bacon Bar, which features chunks of applewood smoked bacon and smoked salt in milk chocolate...Read more.

HINT Essence Water Is A Holiday Must Have

The holiday season is here and food and beverages often take center stage. If you're looking a new drink to offer guests, the latest must-have is a flavored water called HINT Essence Water.

Available in 13 delicious flavors, HINT is for people who want something other than plain water to quench their thirst. With just a hint of flavor, HINT doesn’t contain any carbs, calories, sugar, or sodium like many other flavored waters.

Instead of serving your usual spritzer, juice, or soda to friends and family, substitute your mixer with a HINT of Peppermint flavored water. We all know peppermint is the traditional holiday flavor and HINT Peppermint can be sipped alone or added as a mixer to your favorite vodka, gin, or other liquor. HINT served alone is a perfect alternative for a healthy holiday drink that won’t pack on the pounds.

Below is one example of a recipe incorporating refreshing Hint Peppermint, perfect flavor for the holidays sent to me by a HINT representative.

Hint of Mint!

Ice

3 whole mint leaves

Lime wedge

2oz. of 3Vodka (a no-carb liquor made from soy isolates)

4oz. Peppermint HINT

To find out more press about HINT Water contact Jamie Evans 212-584-4325 or jevans@5wpr.com.

Nourish Interactive promotes nutrition education for families

Nourish Interactive is "a free website that promotes nutrition education for families. Margaret LaBarbera started this website to promote nutrition to our nation's children because as a nurse she knows a few sobering facts:

* -childhood obesity is an epidemic and leading to a growing number of children with diabetes and heart disease (something seen in adults and rare in children but unfortunately is becoming more common now in kids)
* -over 80% of children do not eat a balanced healthy diet which leads to less optimal performance in school and increases the risk for diseases later in life
* -this is the first generation predicted to have a shorter lifespan than their parents

NourishInteractive.com is all about educating families about nutrition and exercise in a fun way. Nutrition education needs to be fun and engaging so that children will be excited to learn about being healthy. We provide fun, interactive online games for kids that are designed to teach through animation, exploration, and decision-making.

Nourishinteractive.com is the first website to create “matching” nutritional tools, one for the parent and one for the child. These nutrition tools send similar messages to both the parent and child, so the entire family can work as a team to establish good nutrition at home. Early nutrition education is the key to empowering children to make healthy choices throughout their lives."

I have made my site free because I believe all families need to have access to this information. As a Hispanic American, I also know that Latinos have one of the highest childhood obesity rate and fastest growing population of diabetic children. That is why I have made the commitment to offer the site and tools all in English and Spanish."