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Beautiful and Inspirational Quotes of Mother Teresa — Cross posted from Be The Change You Want To See In Yourself…

I know God will not give me anything I can’t handle. I just wish that He didn’t trust me so much.

Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless.

Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies.

Do not wait for leaders; do it alone, person to person.

Every time you smile at someone, it is an action of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing.

I do not pray for success, I ask for faithfulness.

I want you to be concerned about your next door neighbor. Do you know your next door neighbor?

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Although the percentage of women diagnosed with breast cancer under the age of 40 is much lower (only about 7%) than the overall rates of diagnosis, sadly, these cancers are often not found in their early stages and can prove to be much harder to treat.  One reason these early onset cancers are more difficult to diagnosis is because the breast tissue of younger women is generally more dense than that of women over the age of 40.  There is also sometimes a “denial” aspect to the early diagnosis of breast cancer in younger women.  It seems that many younger women ignore some of the early warning signs, unknowingly believing that they are too young to have cancer.  For these reasons, diagnosis is often not made in the early stages of the disease (when treatment is much more likely to be successful), but rather in later stages that often prove to be more difficult to treat successfully.

In recent years the guidelines for when a woman should have their first mammogram has fluctuated quite a bit, making it even more confusing for young women to make informed decisions about their personal breast health.  Below are some guidelines that young women can use in screening for breast cancer.

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This is from a post I originally wrote in 2007.

What we learn from our so-called failures, are usually the greatest lessons in our lives, we need only to open our eyes so we can see it.  The importance of failures in our lives, can only be revealed to us, once we stop looking at them as failures.

It may even be that life lessons learned through what we perceive as our failures, are greater lessons than what we learn from our successes.  That’s because most success comes when we let go of our fear of failure, and become willing to take some risks.  Most people who are successful in their lives, are not people who have never failed.  They are people who have learned from their mistakes, and pushed ahead past their fears, to get to their successes.

I think the greatest “life lesson” we can ever learn, is the lesson that we should never give up on our dreams.   By reaching for our dreams and our goals in life, we are doing what we were meant to do.  When we follow our dreams, we will inevitably make many mistakes along the way, but hopefully we also grow along the way.  That is why the true “failure” is not when you don’t reach your dream, but rather, when you never even attempt to reach for it.

I’m not sure where I heard this…but it goes something like this — It is through your deepest struggles, that you reach for you highest goals.  I think what that means is; when we are at our lowest, at what we perceive to be rock-bottom, there is no where else for us to go but up.  It is at these times of complete hopelessness, that we consciously choose to either give-up, or to push past our pain and reach for our dreams.  We need to try and remember this, so when we are deep in our own despair over a perceived failure, we can recognize our pain, and see it as an opportunity to reach for our dreams.

FINDING EMPOWERMENT THROUGH ADVERSITY — by Catherine Morgan

When we are suffering it is very difficult, if not impossible, to see the light at the end of the tunnel. But, it is there. You will get through it. And, in time your wounds really will be healed.

Can something good come out of adversity? Often in the face of adversity, we are unable to see anything through our pain. The only thing we can think about, are questions. Why is this happening to me? How will I go on? How will I survive? These are all reasonable questions, and in the depth of your pain you will ask them, and more. But, there are no answers to these questions. Only after you realize this, will you be able to go on, and let go.

We can not turn away from our pain. It is very important that we feel all our feelings during these times of adversity and heartache. Denying our pain, or denying our feelings, will not benefit us in any way. In fact, it will only prolong our troubles. But, if we look at our situation, and face our problems head-on; we will triumph.

You may feel like you are losing the battle; but when you push through your battle, you come out on the other side the winner of your war. That is because you are empowered when you conquer life’s toughest battles. Only at these times of empowerment do we grow into the people we are meant to be. Think about that for a minute…Who would you be right now, if it wasn’t for the adversity you have been through in your life?

For me personally, I wish I had never had to go through many of the painful events of my life; loss, divorce, illness, betrayal, (just to name a few). But, I also know that I would not be who (or where) I am today, had I not. My past heartache, and my past pain, are what make me the compassionate person that I am today. And in retrospect, I don’t think I would want to be the kind of person, who knows no hardships. It’s because of these hardships that I appreciate every thing I have, even the little things that many people take for granted.

I can now see that my past adversity has truly been a blessing in my life. I don’t look forward to future adversity, however I know it will come. When it does come, I will have the knowledge of my past strength to help me overcome, and once again triumph.

My hope for everyone, is that they are able to one day look past their pain, to find their empowerment.

*This was cross-posted from a post I wrote back in January of 2007 for my first blog – Be The Change You Want To See In Yourself

Over the last few days, I’ve been noticing a lot more public service announcements about the dangers of smoking (some of them are so graphic I could barely watch).  I’m not a smoker, but I can’t imagine a smoker not being scared to death after seeing some of these.  And today, the Food and Drug Administration announced that new (larger and more graphic) warning labels will be mandatory on all cigarette packaging.

I actually think this is something that really could work.  I think these images have a lot of potential to increase the number of people who want to quit smoking, and I also think they will serve as a strong deterrent to anyone who might be considering starting.

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HCG Diet:  Should Starvation Be An Acceptable Weight-Loss Plan?

Have you heard of the hCG diet plan?  It’s been around since the 70′s and is making a comeback in today’s quick-fix society.  With promises of quick weight loss and little hunger, it sounds like the weight loss miracle we’ve all been hoping for.  But SURPRISE!  There is no miracle, just deception.  And much worse, this diet plan will most likely do you more harm than good.

With so many women trying to lose weight in this country, it scares me to think of how many of them may be taking this “diet plan” seriously.  It’s not a diet at all, it’s a dangerous consumer deception.  With a 500 calorie a day limit, this plan is nothing more than a starvation diet combined with a medical gimmick, and no good can ever come from it.

The New York Times — Diet Plan With HCG, a Fertility Hormone, Has Fans and Critics…

Ms. Brown, 35, is not taking hCG to help her bear a child. She believes that by combining the hormone injections with a 500-calorie-a-day diet, she will achieve a kind of weight-loss nirvana: losing fat in all the right places without feeling tired or hungry. “I had a friend who did it before her wedding,” Ms. Brown said. “She looks great.”

Before I even touch on all the problems with hCG injections, let’s look at the daily calorie intake for this “so called” diet.  Are they kidding?  Limiting the amount of calories you consume in one day to 500 is nothing more than starvation.  There is absolutely NO WAY to limit your daily calories to 500 and be healthy, it’s pure insanity.

Women like Ms. Brown are streaming into doctors’ offices and weight-loss clinics all over the country, paying upward of $1,000 a month for a consultation, a supply of the hormone and the syringes needed to deliver it. More than 50 years after a doctor at a Roman clinic began promoting hCG as a dieting aid, it is as popular as ever, even though there is scant evidence that it makes any difference.

Again, are you kidding me?  If you used that $1,000 a month to buy all healthy foods to stock your kitchen with for a month, you would still have more than enough money left for a gym membership.  Not only would you lose weight this way, but you would also lower your risk for heart disease, diabetes, and even cancer — and that’s not a gimmick, that’s a fact.

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Study Finds Drug Resistant Bacteria in US Meat Supply

On Friday I heard a quick mention on the news about a study showing that much of the meats sold in the United States are tainted by drug resistant bacterias.

This is from an article in the Seattle Times — Tests Find Drug-Resistant Bacteria in Meat…

Meat in the United States may be widely contaminated with strains of drug-resistant bacteria, researchers reported Friday after testing 136 samples of beef, chicken, pork and turkey purchased at grocery stores.

Nearly half of the samples — 47 percent — contained strains of Staphylococcus aureus, the type of bacteria that most commonly causes staph infections. Of those bacteria, 52 percent were resistant to at least three classes of antibiotics, according to a study published in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases.

This story reminded me about another article I came across a few weeks ago on Wired.com that talked about the shocking amount of antibiotics being used on farm animals in this country.  Would you believe that 80% of all antibiotics sold in the United States are used on farm animals?  It’s true, and very troubling.

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When it comes to healthy living, don’t sweat the small stuff.

Whether you’ve just begun to adopt a healthy living lifestyle, or you’ve been eating and living healthy for years, there’s no need to put pressure on yourself to be perfect at it.  You don’t have to sweat the small stuff.

Yes, if you go out to dinner with friends, it is possible to order healthy off most menus…

• choose light entrees off the menu
• avoid the bread and butter
• choose vegetables in place of fries or baked potatoes
• say “no” to dessert

But there’s no healthy-living law that says you have to.

Yes, if you are out of town, there are still many ways to fit your regular exercise routine in…

• use the hotel gym or pool
• take the steps rather than the elevator
• take a walk and see the sights

But there’s no healthy-living law that says you have to.

Yes, if you’re having a bad day, there are healthy comfort foods to choose from…

• fat free and sugar free puddings
• low fat and no sugar added ice-cream
• a pasta dish made with whole wheat pasta and a low fat sauce
• light banana cream pie

But there’s no healthy-living law that says you can’t just buy a gallon of ice-cream.

We all know that there are no “real” healthy-living laws, but that doesn’t always stop us from punishing ourselves when we perceive we are breaking them.  That’s all it is though, a perception.  It’s a perception of guilt, and often that negativity leads us to giving up on ourselves.  It doesn’t have to be that way — If we take the little step of not sweating the small stuff, we will see huge results.

• less stress
• less guilt
• increased mental strength
• more acceptance of ourselves

When we don’t sweat the small stuff, we do our body good…And that’s healthy living too.

For the most part, I think I’m making many more healthy choices in my life, and I feel good about that.  But I’ll admit, on a recent four day cruise with my daughter, I ordered cheese cake every night from room service just before I went to bed.  And even though I could have chosen healthy meals and desserts, I only did so when it was something that I really wanted.  I didn’t go out of my way to exercise, but I did take the steps instead of the elevator (sometimes).  Overall, I didn’t sweat the small stuff.  And you know what?  I had a wonderful, guilt free vacation with my daughter.

Do you allow yourself a “guilt free” break from healthy living every now and then?  Is it something you might want to try?  I hope you’ll let us know your thoughts in comments.

Did you know that more women die from heart disease than men in our country?  It’s true.  But when it comes to researching treatments for heart disease, women are being left behind.  So I wasn’t surprised when I read a recent article that highlighted the continued disparities of heart disease treatment between men and women.

From an ABC News article — Heart Device Studies Leave Women Behind…

Cardiovascular device development remains skewed against women, with too few trials adequately addressing gender despite long-standing requirements by the FDA, researchers found.

I contacted Carolyn Thomas of Heart Sisters to ask her if I could get her thoughts on this latest report for BlogHer, and she was kind enough to agree.  Carolyn writes about women and heart disease from a very unique perspective — She is a Mayo Clinic-trained heart attack survivor.   What she has to say about women and heart disease, we ALL need to hear.

My first question was…

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Today the government has issued new Dietary Guidelines for Americans, something they do every five years.  With obesity (and the deadly medical conditions associated with it) at a critical level in this country, they are guidelines that we can’t afford to ignore.

These new guidelines not only address the need to reduce our intake of unhealthy foods (such as high amounts of sodium, saturated fat, and sugar), but they go a step further, and suggest that Americans must begin to eat less.  Eating less may seem like an obvious suggestion, but most Americans have become a custom to extremely large serving sizes (even super-sizing).

But let’s talk about the specifics, this is from the Executive Summary of the New Dietary Guidelines…

Here are the suggestions for foods we should be trying to eat more of:

• Increase vegetable and fruit intake.
• Eat a variety of vegetables, especially dark-green and red and orange vegetables and beans and peas.
• Consume at least half of all grains as whole grains. Increase whole-grain intake by replacing refined grains with whole grains.
• Increase intake of fat-free or low-fat milk and milk products, such as milk, yogurt, cheese, or fortified soy beverages.
• Choose a variety of protein foods, which include seafood, lean meat and poultry, eggs, beans and peas, soy products, and unsalted nuts and seeds.
• Increase the amount and variety of seafood consumed by choosing seafood in place of some meat and poultry.
• Replace protein foods that are higher in solid fats with choices that are lower in solid fats and calories and/or are sources of oils.
• Use oils to replace solid fats where possible.
• Choose foods that provide more potassium, dietary fiber, calcium, and vitamin D, which are nutrients of concern in American diets. These foods include vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and milk and milk products.

Here are the suggestions for foods we should be trying to eat less of…

• Reduce daily sodium intake to less than 2,300 milligrams (mg) and further reduce intake to 1,500 mg among persons who are 51 and older and those of any age who are African American or have hypertension, diabetes, or chronic kidney disease. The 1,500 mg recommendation applies to about half of the U.S. population, including children, and the majority of adults.
• Consume less than 10 percent of calories from saturated fatty acids by replacing them with monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids.
• Consume less than 300 mg per day of dietary cholesterol.
• Keep trans fatty acid consumption as low as possible by limiting foods that contain synthetic sources of trans fats, such as partially hydrogenated oils, and by limiting other solid fats.
• Reduce the intake of calories from solid fats and added sugars.
• Limit the consumption of foods that contain refined grains, especially refined grain foods that contain solid fats, added sugars, and sodium.
• If alcohol is consumed, it should be consumed in moderation—up to one drink per day for women and two drinks per day for men—and only by adults of legal drinking age.

As important as I believe these new guidelines are, I am disappointed by the lack of acknowledgment about why most Americans make unhealthy food choices in the first place.  The bottom line is, healthy foods are generally more expensive than unhealthy foods, and the super unhealthy foods are down right cheap.

In a time when so many Americans are struggling financially, it’s unrealistic to assume that the reason people are making unhealthy food choices is because they just don’t know any better.   I hope the reason money wasn’t addressed isn’t because the USDA believes that even people who can only afford to eat junk food, are covered by their “eat less” guideline  (as in a post I wrote about Twinkies a few months ago).

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