The Alternative Broadcasting Online News Station

You have invested a ton of money in your golf clubs and bag. It makes sense, then, that you would want to care for your clubs and bag so that you get the most use out of them. These following golf bag tips and golf club tips will help you do just that.

These tips are suitable for an ancient golf bag with dividers, an old set of golf clubs that you inherited from your grandfather, or the finest set of clubs and bag that money can buy.

One of the best tips for caring for your bags and clubs is to keep them indoors when you’re not using them. Many golfers tend to leave their bag in their car trunk or in their garage. But this exposes the bag to drastic changes in temperature and moisture, both of which can ruin a nice bag and set of golf clubs.

Besides just a bag, you need additional equipment to protect your clubs. Many players follow the tip to put head covers on their woods. This protects these big investments from accidental dings and nicks. Some pros even recommend this tip: use covers for your irons and putter during storage, too.

One of the best ways to keep your golf clubs clean during a round of golf is a towel attached to your bag. This tip only works if you remember to actually use the towel! After every golf shot, whether or not the golf club head has a divot stuck to it, give the golf club a good wipe with the towel on your bag.

About the Author

Copyright 2005. Mike Ross is the founder of Golf-Equipment-World.com.
He writes reviews of all golf equipment including golf clubs, golf balls, golf
shoes, golf carts and golf
bags.

The are many reasons why a person may develop a stutter, and I
am going to explain a few of them in this article.

We learn to talk by observing the people around us. This happens
from birth and when our vocal chords are fully formed we start
to speak. If a member of our close family has a stuttering
problem, there is a good chance that we could pick up their bad
habits and also start to stutter. I have met many people who
stutter, who inform me that somebody in their family also
suffers with stuttering and for some reason it is normally their
father.

Many parents have stated to me, that even though they do have a
stutter, that they have always been able to speak fluently to
and around their child. Unfortunately children listen to
conversations when we least expect it (when we think they are in
bed, for example) and are likely to hear the stutter at various
time, like during a phone call.

How a parent reacts when their child first starts to stutter is
very important. If they are calm and patient and do not
over-react, there is a good chance the child won’t panic and
worry. If the parent reacts shocked and responds sharply, with
words to the effect of, get your words out boy, this can have a
very damaging effect. The child is likely to panic and is more
than likely to stutter again out of nerves and tension.

The third reason people start to stutter is a response to a
shock reaction. I have in the past number of years come into
contact with people who have started stuttering after a serious
car crash, after being mugged and even after giving birth.

The fourth reason is copying someone else who has a stutter. I
have heard in a number of cases where children have started to
stutter after copying a friend at school. This friend had a
stutter, and they copied them as if it was some kind of game. In
one story I heard, a fluent man joined the navy, accompanying
him on the ship was a man who had a stutter. During one trip
overseas, the fluent person constantly mocked and mimicked the
stutterer, and to his horror, by the end of the trip could not
stop stuttering himself. He eventually ended up killing himself,
so the story goes.

OK so you have bought yourself a 3 meter kite and a buggy and you’re itching to get out on the beach and ride the wind.

Stop there….leave the buggy at home and buy a 2 meter kite!

Although it’s tempting to go out and do it it’s not pleasant finding yourself dragged sideways a long a beach by a kite with the power of a 250cc outboard motor or even worse lifted into the air to be then smashed heavily down onto the beach smashing both yourself and the buggy in the process.

When starting out you have to learn how to use the kite. That’s where a 2 meter kite is useful. Even a child can control one in light winds and when the wind gets up it will drag a 200 lb adult along.

The basic method of starting off is to lay the kite on the ground and walk backwards into the wind extending the lines. Once fully extended with kite full of wind you give a tug and the kite takes off…..and probably so do you.

A safer initial approach:

When you have your kite down on the beach the first thing is to LEAVE IT IN THE BAG. In any sort of wind as soon as the kite is out you’re fighting with it.

Ask someone to accompany you on your first few flights.

Get them to hold the kite within the bag while you extend the lines ACROSS the wind. At 90 degrees to the wind the point of lowest power you will have much more control of the kite once it starts flying.

Check all lines are clear and ask your helper to remove the kite from the bag. Even at 90 degrees to the wind the kite will “find the wind” and inflate.

If your using a four line kite the kite actually flies on the top two lines. The bottom two are “brake line” basically when the kite is in the air if you want to de power the kite or drop it you gently haul back on the bottom lines and the kite stalls and drops.

When your ready ask your helper to release the kite and making sure that the brake lines are slack fly the kite at 45 degrees across the wind until it is directly above you.

In that the position the kite will have maximum lift and almost zero traction. Get a feel for the kite. Pull gently n the brake lines and watch how the kite starts to drop.

Ok lets move the kite:

Pull gently back on the left hand top line. The kite will start to move to the left. Pull back on the right line the kite moves back to the zenith. Try going right.

OK lets land the kite.

Fly the kite slowly at 45 degrees to the location of your helper and as you approach pull back on the brake lines. The kite will settle down to the ground.

Congratulations you can handle a power kite!

Next step a 3 meter kite ..then a 5 then…

James Roberts a mad Kite Buggy Racer runs traction-kite.info a small website devoted to the mad world of traction kites!

To teachers and parents: if your children have problems in
mathematics, reed this article, please. Maybe the cause of the
difficulties is very simple.

For success in school mathematics it is necessary to master
elementary mental computational skills at first. This statement
is obvious not only for teachers. Everybody knows that addition
and subtraction within the limits of 20, multiplication and
division within the limits of 100 are the foundation of all next
arithmetical and algebraic topics. But my practice shows that a
level of the skills, which maybe is suitable for primary school,
very often is insufficient for secondary school. During last
twenty years I investigated why some pupils can not study
mathematics successfully. Now I am sure - the first of the
causes is poor mental arithmetic. If elementary mental
computational skills are not enough good, a pupil has no chances
to understand and master more complicated topics.

How can we diagnose a lack of the skills? The answer seems very
simple. Mental computations must be swift and errorless. We may
say that the skills must be driven to automatism (the top
quality of skills) which means quick and errorless mental
implementation of the simple arithmetical operations.

Thus the computational speed is the first criterion of the
automatism. Meanwhile an error may be caused not only by lack of
skills. There are many other outside causes - a bad condition of
a pupil, a brief distraction of attention and so on. Therefore a
probability of occurrence of an error, which must be
sufficiently low but not equal to zero, must be taken as the
second criterion.

The results of my study allow determining permissible limits of
the average time of implementation of one operation and relative
frequency of occurrence of errors while a pupil implements a
sequence of simple uniform operations. All pupils who had not
reached the limits could not learn mathematics without big
problems. They could not work at lessons of full value and do
homework themselves. Their knowledge and skills were very bad.
In contrary, in those cases when it was possible to improve
their elementary mental computational skills, they began to make
progress.

If you want to know more about the implemented study, you can go
to

http://www.simplar.boom.ru

You can find there a description of the study with some figures
and diagrams, a test for diagnosis of elementary mental
computational skills and a description of two effective ways for
improvement of the skills: 1) The testing tables which are an
effective means for training work. Their using lets to bring up
quickly the elementary mental computational skills to the level
exceeding the calculated permissible limits of the considered
parameters. 2) The teaching computer program for improvement of
elementary mental computational skills. It makes a diagnosis of
a level of the skills; carries out the work on improvement of
the skills; carries out control by a psycho-physical state of a
pupil and by a level of permissible working load; allows
controlling the results of working.

For confirming the influence of quality of elementary mental
computational skills over success in school mathematics bad
achieving pupils (from one to three years after the
multiplication table was completely studied) were chosen. The
work upon development of the skills, which level had been very
bad, was carried out with each of them individually. In 85% of
cases the level was brought to stable correspondence to the
calculated values of parameters. The results exceed the limit
values of the parameters significantly. After that a work upon
main basic topics of school math (common fractions, algebraic
equations and so on) was carried out with the pupils. The work
was successful, and all of them had not big problems in their
subsequent math’s learning. It must be noted that the level of
elementary mental computational skills of actively working
pupils only do not decreases in due course. If a pupil works
passively at lessons and does not carry out home works
himself/herself, the level decreases gradually. In some time it
leads to difficulties in math’s learning.

Thus a level of elementary mental computational skills is a good
means of determination of pupil’s preparedness for successful
studies. The limit values of the considered parameters define
the first threshold of school math’s learning ability. The
pupils who have not crossed this threshold are doomed to poor
progress. It means that results of testing of the skills may be
used for prediction of failure in school mathematics.

MAIN INFERENCES 1) Unsatisfactory development of the elementary
mental computational skills adverse affects progress in school
mathematics. The skills must be driven to automatism. That is
the obligatory condition for success in school mathematics. 2) A
level of the skills may be determined by two parameters: average
time of implementation of one operation and relative frequency
of occurrence of errors. 3) For testing it is handy to use the
standard tables, for which the permissible limits of time and
errors were calculated (http://www.simplar.boom.ru)

Over dinner one day someone asked me a very interesting question: Why is it that people crave things like doughnuts and sweets and not life giving, cancer fighting foods like spinach and broccoli?

I simply said that’s an awesome question and that I’ve asked myself that question many times. In fact I also went on to say that although I’m a trainer I have many of the same struggles with food that most people have. It has always perplexed me why I crave sweets and not a bowl of spinach and broccoli. I mean how can this be that foods like broccoli, spinach, carrots etc… which provide nutrients that are vital to our well being don’t addict us like junk food does. I just have to walk by Crispy Crème doughnuts and I start fantasizing how delicious those little suckers will be.

In recent months I’ve come across some insights as to why many are addicted to or crave junk foods. Hopefully this information will at least motivate you to keep these foods out of your house. Outside of your house you will be tempted with many opportunities to eat these lifeless and addicting foods.

World famous health & nutrition expert, Paul Chek http://www.ChekInstitute.com calls this the “you can’t eat just one syndrome”. First he explains in his “You Are What You Eat” audio series that junk foods or non-foods are foods that:

1. Offer very little or no nutrition at all.

2. Force the body to the use its own nutritional stores to assimilate and digest the food.

It’s amazing that you are eating to nourish yourself with food but with non-foods you are actually depleting yourself of more nutrients thus creating a need for more nutrition.

These same non-foods also cause you to overeat and possibly become addicted to these foods.

The reason is as the foods enter your mouth your brain can sense if there is actually any nutrition (vitamins, minerals and enzymes etc…) present in these foods. If there isn’t then the brain simply signals you to keep eating until it finds nutrition. Problem with doughnuts, cookies and that soda pop is that there will never be any nutrition in that food. So what happens is you simply eat the whole box, or slurp down 20 oz of that soda. This then creates a big problem with your blood sugar because you’ve just taken in a great amount of worthless sugar which skyrockets your blood sugar level and forces your pancreas to secret an enormous amount of insulin to bring your blood sugar back down. Your blood sugar then plummets to very low levels and you feel horrible and guess what? Hungry again! And what better way to bring your energy level up than with good old worthless sugar laden nutrient-less junk food!

Can you see what I’m getting at here: These non-foods actually cause an addictive cycle similar to hard drugs and alcohol! In fact Paul Chek even talked about how scientists found that the addictive mechanisms of sugar and hard drugs are actually very similar.

You get high and feel great and then you crash and feel worse than ever and crave the same substances that got you high in the first place. This to me is amazing and very scary. Eventually what also happens as with hard drugs and alcohol is that you need more to get the same high. Now look at what’s happening to you: You’re eating a food that gets you high, robs you of valuable nutrition, makes you sick, gets you fat and on top of that makes you crave more of it.

The same reason you crave non-foods is the same reason you don’t crave spinach and broccoli. One could easily slug down 20 oz of soda but try doing that with spinach juice and you are likely to throw up. The reason for this is because with the brain will sense the enormous amount of nutrition coming in and say it’s enough. We naturally eat until we are satiated and it doesn’t happen with non-foods but happens easily with real foods.

With real foods you eat, feel good, don’t get bloated, don’t get high, don’t crash, don’t overeat, and just plain nourish yourself.

So how do you protect yourself?

First let me say that we start off at a very big disadvantage. Since we start eating these junk foods and non-foods at such a young age when we don’t know any better the cycle can be hard to break. Junk food is also heavily marketed to young children. Remember children will become the adults that eat these foods so what better time to reach them than when they’re young. I myself grew up on powdered ice tea, soda, crackers, pasteurized milk (which is also a non-food) and many other sweets. I also ate some real food like rice, vegetables, avocados and meat but I’ve always had way too much access to non-foods.

The first thing is to not keep any non-foods at home:

This is especially important for your kids because I believe it is easier for them to become addicted. Trust me and we all know this that but once you step outside you will be bombarded with temptations to feast on non-foods.

I’ve looked at many of my client’s kitchens and not one of them has passed my inspection. Many don’t even pass a second time (that’s how powerful these non-foods are). I mean if scientist can compare sugar to hard drugs shouldn’t that open your eyes.

Make use of a juicer and juice a few days week: Most people don’t get enough vegetables in their diet and juicing is one of the easier ways to do so. My favorite juice drink is spinach, kale, cucumber and green apples (I wished I craved it though)

Keep healthy snacks in the house like quality fruits, cheese and yogurt. It is more expensive but isn’t your health worth it. I mean it really saddens me when someone can drive to up to McDonalds in a 50,000 dollar car. They should have a 20,000 dollar car and just eat better quality food.

Get tested to find out what types of foods you are suited to: We are all unique in that we require different amounts of protein, carbohydrates, and fats and getting tested can help us figure out which type we are suited to. Below you’ll find resources to help you figure out what type you are.

Eat real food: Take the time to make yourself quality meals at dinner time. Beef, chicken, turkey and eggs make great protein sources. Brown rice, sweet potatoes, beans, salads and vegetables are good sources of carbohydrates. Don’t forget to include high quality fats and oils in you diet as well like butter, coconut oil, cod liver oil and olive oil.

If possible try to buy organic meat and vegetables. They are more expensive but offer more nutrition then commercial foods.

Empower yourself: You’ve just read this article because it can possibly help you. Keep doing so! Read the resources I’ve provided with this article so that you can continue to learn for yourself. You have the power to be better. Don’t ever forget that!

Here are some excellent resources that can further enhance your knowledge about these topics:

You Are What You Eat, by Paul Chek: This audio series will give you very valuable information on how to eat for optimal health. I can honestly say that the easy to understand information in this product can change your life!
http://www.chekinstitute.com/

http://www.Mercola.com/ : The most comprehensive health web site I’ve ever come across.
Best of all is that it’s FREE!

For over 12 years Virgil has helped numerous people from all walks of life reach their strength & health related goals. His career highlights include working as a strength & conditioning/baseball coach for the New York Mets Instructional Baseball Academy, serving as an assistant with the WNBA New York Liberty’s strength & conditioning staff and creating the Ultimate Stair Exercises DVD set http://www.StairExercises.com which has sold in 6 countries. Currently Virgil continues to teach, train clients and is releasing a new DVD series entitled GetFit Anywhere

Subscribe to his free health & fitness journal at: http://www.GivStrength.com

Sure it sounds easy… “Be happy.” Let’s face it there is a little art and a lot of personal measures you can take to reveal true and lasting happiness. Happiness is not just a series of warm fuzzies. It’s a combination of simple know-how and energetic effort that starts from within.

1. Believe in Yourself. Know who you are. Strive to love yourself for all of your unique, exceptional and distinctive qualities. Embrace your right to be happy! Get in touch with all the small, silly and substantial things that make you smile. They are uniquely yours. You have your own blissful happiness support system deep inside of you.

2. Be Open. Try new stuff. Discover more people, places, ideas and activities that delight and amuse you. There is no end to the supply of wonderful, beautiful, pleasurable, enlightening, tranquil and exhilarating experiences just waiting in the wings to dance with you! Play with the possibilities and be open to finding lots more happiness that’s personally yours… more ideas await you at www.shesite.com.

3. Be Active. Actively seek out happiness and take small actions to sustain you. If you were hungry, you’d seek out food. Until and unless you get up, decide what you want to fulfill your happiness and take action to bring it into your life, your happy hunger won’t be satiated.

4. Be with Others. People are powerful magnets that can help pull you toward your vision for happiness. Find people who share your common loves. Share small happiness miracles and blessings that pop up around you daily. Be thrilled when friends and family members around you feel happy. Celebrate it with them! The more happiness you give the more you will receive. See the infinite possibilities of seeking, sharing and spreading happiness.

5. Be Attentive. Wrap all of the above B’s with a bow of attention! Know each and every feeling, action and reaction that feels good and supports you. Be mindful to add more into your life. The more happiness you are willing to add, the more it compounds and sinks deep into your soul.

Think of your happiness as interest bearing bank account… the more you mindfully collect and deposit, the greater the compounded value. Invest in simple pleasures and redeem priceless returns. Your spot for simple happy essential ideas is waiting for you at www.shesite.com.

Julie Hunt is a female icon and founder of SHE, the foremost inspiration and personal development resource for women who want to live brilliant, happy, successful lives. Marketing consultant, sales expert, copywriting guru, improvisational actress, yoga instructor, author and just plain cool chick… she’s an inspiration to oodles of women who land on her free teleclass series ‘The Essentials.’
Don’t miss out! She’s on a mission to scream, skip, advise and acquaint with women around the globe who want live a vivacious life busting at the seams!

HEALTH BENEFITS of BLUEBERRIES: One of nature’s most amazing and
powerful anti-oxidants, blueberries offer a variety of health
benefits, from to lowering cholesterol to building up urinary
tract health, improving vision and much more.

Researchers around the world are proving without a doubt the
marked health benefits of this demure but powerful little fruit.
The growing body of evidence suggests this delicious gift, part
of Mother Nature’s Bounty, could possibly stand as an effective
disease fighter.

Research conducted at the USDA center has found blueberries rank
hands down number one in antioxidant activity. This is in
comparison to 40 other fruits and vegetables. The role of
antioxidants is to neutralize free-radicals, the by-products of
energy metabolism. Free radicals are responsible in part for
cancer and other age related diseases. Anthocyanin, the pigment
that makes blueberries their dark purply blue, is though to be
the key agent in this disease fighting process.

In another research study conducted by the USDA, it was found
that feeding blueberries to laboratory rats slowed down the age
related loss in mental capacity. This finding alone has major
implications for human cognitive decline, namely Altzheimer’s
and other age related cognitive diseases. Again, it is purported
that the high antioxidant activity probably played a role.

High Cholesterol? Try incorporating the mighty blueberry into
your daily diet. It is postulated that blueberries may reduce
the build-up of the bad cholesterol that contributes to heart
disease. And once again, the dark pigmented antioxidants are
thought to play a key role in cholesterol reduction. The
American Chemical Society feels that the health supporting
compounds can be extracted and developed into a nutraceutical
for those who do not respond well to current statin drugs.

Urinary tract infections? How about some blueberries? Rutgers
University researchers have isolated yet another blueberry
compound that appears to promote urinary tract health. It seems
special components of the blueberry inhibit the ability of some
types of infectious bacteria to adhere to the walls of the
urinary tract.

Your eyesight? European studies have documented the relationship
between bilberries (the European cousin of the American
blueberry) and improved eyesight. One study conducted in Japan
releaved that blueberries may help ease eyes fatigue. The magic
components again? The out dark blue pigment.

The belief that certain foods have medicinal and other healing
properties has been with us since the first recorded and
documented writings ever produced by man. Today food properties
and their potential for healing are being explored by both the
food and medical sciences. Though blueberries are not a
cure-all, it goes without saying that the natural substances
they contain are now thought to have marked health benefits,
including naturally occurring fiber, antioxidants and vitamins.
So far, the powerful antioxidant properties of the blueberry
seem to have the most conclusive role in the prevention and
delay of certain diseases such as cancer, cardiovascular disease
and the aging process. The caveat. There exist no long term
human studies to date. However, why look a gift horse in the
mouth? Have you had your blueberries today?

It is a hard call on whether to involve siblings in the
active birth of their new brother or sister. You may feel
societal, family or institutional pressure not to have the
children involved, to protect them from potential “trauma.”
But you know your children best. The two main questions
are:

1) Are they interested in birth and have you intellectually
prepared them for the birth?

2) Will their presence help or hinder you?

1) Are they interested in birth and have you intellectually
prepared them for the birth?

Do they want to be there? Some children will specifically ask to come to the birth. They may ask, “where will I be when the baby comes?” or “who will take care of me?” Advise them ahead of time if they will be left sleeping if labor happens at night. They might be shocked to wake up to sitter or even a new baby!

Do they understand the labor and birth process and the anatomy of how the baby comes out? Do they understand the normalcy of the noises, faces and fluids that are part of labor and birth?

Prepare them by showing them books and pictures. Start
with black and white and work toward full color. Use
proper words for the parts of the body.

If you wish to show them a video, I highly recommend “Birth
Into Being,” The Russian Waterbirth Video, as the births
depicted have a calmness and serenity to them that make it
an ideal introduction to birth. The anatomy of birth is
well depicted, without the fear and stress of some birth
videos. I also find that the involvement of children in
some of the births is intriguing to other little ones, as
well as the swimming and the dolphins. (Yes, dolphins. Just watch the video, you’ll see what I mean)

2) Will their presence help you or hinder you?

Will you be comfortable expressing your needs and your emotions in front of your children? Some children are very soothing
for their mothers in labor, as the very act of being a
mother gives you strength and serenity. It may be
impossible to lose hope or express fear in the presence of
your child, as your protective mother instincts take over.

My then 4-year-old son was very helpful to me in early active
labor, as he patted me, gave encouragement, and best of
all, made me laugh. That said, he has been pretty direct
about his wish not to come to my next birth!

If they do attend the labor and birth of your new baby,
ensure that there is a support person there for each child.
Children will be experiencing all the emotions that you
and your partner are. They will feel anxiety, fear, hope
and love. They need emotional support and care. They
need entertaining and explaining. They need hugs and toys.
They need reinforcement of how normal it is. They may
simply sail through, with funny comments and tender
moments. Or they may get overwhelmed, tired or upset.

That is the time for a caring person to take the initiative
to offer support and distraction or a cuddle to the little
person in their care.

You know your children best. If they want to be involved in the arrival of their new sibling, find a way to make it happen, to their and to your own comfort level.

Sarah Hilbert-West is a Childbirth Educator, Birth Doula, Breastfeeding Counsellor and Post-Partum Depression Support Group Facilitator. She owns and operates http://www.birthwares.com, offering birth stools, unique teaching aids and useful resources for childbirth educators, doulas, parents, and midwives.

http://www.birthwares.com - the site for YOU!

In Practical Spirituality and Anger I, we spoke of doing Tang Lin, a Tibetan form of meditation, not to get rid of anger, but to transform it. Through the practice of Tang Lin you can take your anger, experience it completely, and then use it’s energy to strengthen your positive behavior. In many other practices you try to get rid of the anger. This doesn’t usually happen because one of the natural reactions to what goes on in our lives is often anger. It’s only natural.

If you are put down at the job, if you are assaulted on the street, if you see injustice, or if someone is continually rude to you—putting you down just because they can, you become angry. It would be a bit odd not to get angry when you can justifiably do so. The psychological name for not displaying the correct feelings at the correct time is an affective disorder. That’s why this form of meditation does not remove anger, it channels into something more positive.

This article will discuss the next step in the practice of Tang Lin. If you have been doing the first step since the last article the next one will be easy. This step takes you deeper into cleansing your body. First, notice how you feel while meditating. Are there tense areas in your body? Do you sense the body holding some type of emotion there? Can you sense anger, resentment, grief, or other emotions? If you can’t tell what’s making you tense, concentrate on the area and just let your face relax. The expression on your face will reflect the emotion.

Once you have it, imagine that you are inhaling the emotion, bringing it to the center of your body into an open sky, a large sun, a star, the hands of God, or whatever you would like to visualize, and dispersing it, or recycling it. Exhale the opposite emotion into the tense area. Continue until all the tense areas are relaxed and flexible. After you have finished breath deeply, relax and enjoy the feeling for a few minutes.

Next imagine that you are in a very small space like a closet or very small room.

In this small room you are being surrounded by your emotions, in this case anger. You are going to exchange the anger for the opposite emotion by bringing it into the center of your body, and by exhaling the opposite emotion into the small space. Continue this practice until you feel that the little space is cleansed of anger and filled with the opposite feeling. Do this for several minutes until the small room around you is completely filled with positive energy. Stay there as long as is comfortable breathing deeply and relaxing. When you feel finished you can do some other type of meditation, or just stop.

The same technique can be done during standing chi-kung meditation, while walking, or in the midst of anger producing situations. It doesn’t only have to be done sitting alone, but it does take time and practice to be able to do it well in other venues. The more you do it the better for you and for anyone around you. Try doing the meditation this way until we get to Practical Spirituality and Anger III. At that time we will give you the last step for Tang Lin, which is very powerful and the most difficult, but the most rewarding. Until then, keep applying these and other spiritual practices to the betterment of your life.

In times like these, in a modern world where stress usually gets the better of us, and where holding in and covering up emotions like anger only make us feel worse, it’s important to deal with our anger and other emotions quickly and completely. Covering them up usually leads to an explosion or to a serious stress related illness. I hope that this will be an affective and very helpful tool for you.

Dr. John Gilmore is a writer, spiritual director, martial artist, a healer and ordained Unitarian Universalist Minister living in Costa Rica. For more information or like materials, or to receive a free e-copy of On Being Loves Warrior by Kendall Ronin, visit http://www.dswellness.com.

Something pretty interesting happens in the animal kingdom this time of year…something that you might recognize. As they do every year, all sorts of bears are preparing for their upcoming winter hibernation by padding themselves with plenty of extra pounds. Sound familiar? Sure it does. Because it describes half of the North American population.

While bears accomplish the porking up period by eating endless amounts of fish, berries, and plenty of natures other goodies, we humans balloon out by gorging on Halloween candy, splurging on Thanksgiving beer and turkey, and stuffing ourselves on endless Christmas dinners. Eventually, this is what leads to the New Year’s resolution of “finally getting to the health club” and the inevitable late spring decree of “I need to lose 20 pounds before I wear my bathing suit.”

In an attempt to save all of us from the extra-20-pound blues, I will attempt to share with you some helpful, albeit annoying tips about trying to beat the curse of the holiday fatties.

Alcohol: Usually, the only thing that helps most of us get through the holiday haze of endless Christmas parties and family gatherings is booze, and lots of it. Of course, if you must (and lord knows, some of us MUST) drink, go for some of the drinks with fewer calories. For instance, a glass of wine (no, not the whine of your mother-in-law) amounts to about 90 calories per glass, while a half cup of egg nog, with the mandatory shot of rum, is about 215 calories, not to mention the added fat from the creamy…ummm, what is egg nog anyway?

Candy/Sweets/Desserts: It starts at Halloween…a few extra candies here and there. You might have an extra candy apple or seven just to get you through another boring day at work. Then comes Thanksgiving and endless mounds of ultra sweet cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie. And finally you get to the utterly orgasmic chocolate paradise that is Christmas. And while I may be making light of the situation, ultimately, you have to learn when to draw the line. When you are surrounded with people who prefer to indulge, learn to practice some restraint. Ultimately, this is the hardest part of any moderation of lifestyle and the bottom line is that for many of us, food is a comfort food. We turn to it during our most emotional times. Whether those times be happy, or traumatic. If you can learn to disassociate food with your emotions - you’ll have a lot more control over your eating habits.

Beef and Poultry- Not many of you are going to like what I’m about to say. Red meat can be a killer. Can you say colon cancer? Can you say clogged arteries? Can you say excessive fat content? Well if you can say all these things, so can your doctor. In turn, your hospital bills are going to be sky high unless you take a moment to consider whether you really want to load up that plate with slabs of cow carcass. Skip the pot roast and grab some turkey. White meat is undoubtedly your healthiest choice this holiday season.

So as the holidays approach, don’t fret about your eating habits. You may gain a few pounds…we all do. But as long as you maintain confidence about your eating habits, and follow a few simple guidelines, you won’t have as hard a time creating and sticking to that new year’s resolution list come January.

Sharon B is a registered nurse and a contributing author to http://www.fitandwell.com She enjoys the internet and working on ebay with information she gained from http://www.buyingwholesale.com
In her spare time she enjoys her grandchildren and her church family.