Lost and Found – a Novel by Ron Rink

Yep! It’s me again with another one of those bad habits that work against our goals of living a healthy lifestyle and keeping our weight under control.

Okay! Let’s get serious here for a moment. Take a look in your pantry or your refrigerator right now.

How much of what you eat comes in cans, bags or boxes?

Go ahead! Take a look! I’ll wait.

Done? Good. I’ll be willing to bet that a great percentage of what you found did come in either a can, a bag or a box, right? Now, I know that some of the people who have been reading here for awhile, may not have too much of that, but I know that some of you will have found yourselves to be thoroughly busted!

Here’s the problem with this — packaged foods, like soups, frozen meals, rice mixes, and those boxes of stuff you can add to other things to make a meal — well, those things can be super-sneaky sources of unhealthy fats, sugar, high fructose corn syrup, trans fats, salt and other excess calories. I took a look at one can of low-fat soup I had in my pantry and it contains enough sodium for a half-days allowance.

Here’s some ideas on what you can do to fix this habit.

Don’t feel guilty about relying on packaged foods; just be smart about which ones you choose.

Frozen entrées — especially lower-calorie, lower-sodium versions — can provide a quick, portion-controlled meal. Compare labels to find the healthiest ones — that is, those that are higher in fiber and lower in salt and that have whole grains and nutrient-rich vegetables at the top of their ingredient lists.

Frozen vegetables, cooked chicken, and a whole-grain rice mix can kick off a healthy almost–home-cooked meal, particularly when you serve them with fresh vegetables or a leafy green salad. Finish with a piece of fruit or low-fat yogurt for dessert.

If you can remember this one rule you’ll be way ahead of the game:

Read The Labels!!

That’s where the answers to all your questions can be found.
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Got questions?

Contact me at: http://www.ronrink.com

My email and phone number are at that site. Feel free to contact me. I’m here to help you with your health, nutrition and fitness goals.

Have a healthy and nutritious day!

Shanti … (A sanscrit word meaning, “Let there be Peace. Peace, beautiful Peace. Peace within, Peace without. Peace in this world. Peace for all beings.”)

Ron
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As you know, I do practice sitting, silent meditation every day in my life. Recently, I did a podcast about this for another blog that I read. Take a moment and click this link to hear what meditation means to me and what it does for me.

My Meditation Podcast

In my meditation I use what I truly believe is the most powerful personal growth and mind development tool on earth. It’s the The Holosync Solution. I knew that meditation was a vital element to nurturing my soul — to opening myself to the universe — and this tool has allowed me to achieve and receive the benefits of deep, long-term meditation — and to achieve it much more quickly. If you’re having trouble “getting meditation to work for you” – then the The Holosync Solution is what you’re looking for.

Regular, daily meditation can give you …

(1) Increased intelligence and creativity.
(2) Lower stress levels — and with that — increased ability to handle whatever the world tosses your way.
(3) New levels of self-awareness and inner peace.
(4) The healing of emotional issues at the deepest levels —

— it’s definitely worth taking the time for this powerful practice every day.

With a One-Year 100% Iron-Clad Guarantee, you can now do so with no risk whatsoever — just click any of the links that say … The Holosync Solution

— The Holosync Solution

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You’re going to start thinking that all I do is spend time dreaming up more bad habits to write about. I don’t know why you’re thinking that — other than that you’re absolutely right! That’s precisely what I’m doing. The sad thing is that it’s not that hard to come up with these — and also — I have most of these habits myself!! It’s no wonder it’s so easy to find more of these to write about.

Here’s a bad habit that I’m really guilty of — and that is that I do a great job of behaving all week — I eat all the right foods — get lots of fiber — keep the sweets to a bare minimum — keep the quantities where they should be — and then — Bam! On the weekends I seem to lose all control.

I don’t know why this is. I work from home as a writer, so it’s not like my environment changes that much — I do tend to do some work over the weekends — but I seem to forget about staying healthy on the weekends.

There are consequences to this bad habit. If I’m trying to lose weight — or if I’m trying to maintain a healthy weight, I can demolish all my good efforts all week long by falling off the wagon on the weekends. I read something this morning on the National Weight Control Registry that said that people who kept to their healthy lifestyles all week long would stay within a pound or a pound and a half of their ideal weight. People who only behaved on the weekdays gained weight. This was tested over the course of one year.

One of the reasons why this happens is that we tend to relax more on the weekends. It’s also the time of the week when we’re more likely to socialize in some way — either have friends over — or go out to eat. We may also be more likely to consume alcohol on the weekends, and alcohol is loaded with calories. If you’re going to party on the weekend — eat a small healthy meal beforehand. This will help to keep your appetite more controlled and you’ll opt for healthier meals. And, if you’re going out to eat, don’t have more than one drink — and have that drink early in the evening.

Also, don’t be so rigid with yourself during the week on your eating habits. Keep eating nutritiously, but don’t make it so restrictive that you get the idea that the only time to splurge is on the weekends.
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Got questions?

Contact me at: http://www.ronrink.com

My email and phone number are at that site. Feel free to contact me. I’m here to help you with your health, nutrition and fitness goals.

Have a healthy and nutritious day!

Shanti … (A sanscrit word meaning, “Let there be Peace. Peace, beautiful Peace. Peace within, Peace without. Peace in this world. Peace for all beings.”)

Ron
===============================================================
As you know, I do practice sitting, silent meditation every day in my life. Recently, I did a podcast about this for another blog that I read. Take a moment and click this link to hear what meditation means to me and what it does for me.

My Meditation Podcast

In my meditation I use what I truly believe is the most powerful personal growth and mind development tool on earth. It’s the The Holosync Solution. I knew that meditation was a vital element to nurturing my soul — to opening myself to the universe — and this tool has allowed me to achieve and receive the benefits of deep, long-term meditation — and to achieve it much more quickly. If you’re having trouble “getting meditation to work for you” – then the The Holosync Solution is what you’re looking for.

Regular, daily meditation can give you …

(1) Increased intelligence and creativity.
(2) Lower stress levels — and with that — increased ability to handle whatever the world tosses your way.
(3) New levels of self-awareness and inner peace.
(4) The healing of emotional issues at the deepest levels —

— it’s definitely worth taking the time for this powerful practice every day.

With a One-Year 100% Iron-Clad Guarantee, you can now do so with no risk whatsoever — just click any of the links that say … The Holosync Solution

— The Holosync Solution

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Last week I shifted out of our usual health articles and asked you to take a good look at the Cinema Circle special for February. I hope you took advantage of this offer.

If you didn’t, check out last weeks’ article and place your order today. Just Click Here Today — or click the Spiritual Cinema Circle banner over in the left margin. Remember, this offer expires on the 20th of this month. so you need to get it done.

This week we’ll get back to some of those bad habits we’ve developed and see what we can do to fix them.

How often do you find yourself eating to soothe a bad mood? You know, you’re feeling really grumpy and without giving it hardly any thought at all you grab for food. You might even think as you’re doing it that it won’t make any difference — you’re in bad mood anyway — so who cares if eating this extra food makes you feel even worse.

There’s a ton of fallout for this habit, let me tell you. It might be soothing for the length of time it takes you to eat the extra food, but using this method to feed your fears and frustrations, instead of facing them head-on, only weakens you so that you end up with more bad habits — plus as a bonus, you get an expanding waistline!

When we’re feeling crappy, the type of foods we seem to gravitate towards are the bad carbohydrates — those filled with sugar and fat. There’s a reason why we do that — and that is that these carbohydrates produce this thing called “tryptophan”. This is one of the amino acids that is used by the brain to produce serotonin. When the brain makes more serotonin, we find that our mood will improve. The bad news is that this mood improvement only lasts for a short while. As soon as it passes, we start to feel hunger again because of the nutrition-empty carbs we just ate. So, we grab more carbs and feel good for a few more minutes while we watch our pants shrink.

How do we fix this?

The best way is to think seriously about whatever it is that’s bothering you — before you run to the cupboard. There’s almost always a reason for a bad mood. Discover what it is and deal with it. There are no calories involved if you do this. You could use a mood booster while you’re thinking about it — something like taking a nice walk — or going to see a good movie — or even pick up the phone and call a good friend. Again — no calories here either. If you just have to have some carbs, then get your serotonin kick without triggering an eating binge — do some nutritious whole grains with good fiber and little sugar. It still works, but you won’t feel hungry in a few minutes.
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Got questions?

Contact me at: http://www.ronrink.com

My email and phone number are at that site. Feel free to contact me. I’m here to help you with your health, nutrition and fitness goals.

Have a healthy and nutritious day!

Shanti … (A sanscrit word meaning, “Let there be Peace. Peace, beautiful Peace. Peace within, Peace without. Peace in this world. Peace for all beings.”)

Ron
===============================================================
As you know, I do practice sitting, silent meditation every day in my life. Recently, I did a podcast about this for another blog that I read. Take a moment and click this link to hear what meditation means to me and what it does for me.

My Meditation Podcast

In my meditation I use what I truly believe is the most powerful personal growth and mind development tool on earth. It’s the The Holosync Solution. I knew that meditation was a vital element to nurturing my soul — to opening myself to the universe — and this tool has allowed me to achieve and receive the benefits of deep, long-term meditation — and to achieve it much more quickly. If you’re having trouble “getting meditation to work for you” – then the The Holosync Solution is what you’re looking for.

Regular, daily meditation can give you …

(1) Increased intelligence and creativity.
(2) Lower stress levels — and with that — increased ability to handle whatever the world tosses your way.
(3) New levels of self-awareness and inner peace.
(4) The healing of emotional issues at the deepest levels —

— it’s definitely worth taking the time for this powerful practice every day.

With a One-Year 100% Iron-Clad Guarantee, you can now do so with no risk whatsoever — just click any of the links that say … The Holosync Solution

— The Holosync Solution

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Yes I know, this isn’t directly related to your health or nutrition. I’ll get back to some of our bad habits next week — I promise.

However, in a way, this is related to your health. It’s about a wonderful way to share some beautiful films with someone you love. That has to make you feel good, doesn’t it? I know it will work for me — and here’s your chance to make it work for you.

Why do we fall so deeply in love?
Why are relationships so difficult?
Are life-long monogamous relationships still possible in today’s world?

Interesting questions, huh? Profound too! Read on to see what this is all about.

Some of today’s prominent experts and ordinary people explore these questions and more in the Emmy-nominated documentary film SONG OF SONGS. This endearing film addresses an often misunderstood topic that most of us spend much of our lives trying to find, maintain, or rekindle…romantic love.

Filmmaker Chris Brickler interviewed over 150 people around the world, from all walks of life, trying to understand the essence of what makes relationships successful.

Spiritual Cinema Circle co-founder Stephen Simon says, “Brickler’s debut film is passionate, mesmerizing, humorous, and touching.

SONG OF SONGS is a paean to love in all its wonderful, messy, and complex glory. In addition, Brickler’s background as a musician serves the film beautifully, as the music throughout is both haunting and utterly romantic.”

With the divorce rate at 50% and statistics showing that 60% of men and 40% of women cheat, the film asks, “Are we built to be monogamous”? Relationship expert Harville Hendrix offers this insight: “Stay in your relationship when it’s the worst because when it gets really bad, it’s about to change, yet most people leave so they never get to the change and it’s such a tragedy.”

For this month of February, 2008 — AND ONLY UNTIL FEBRUARY 20TH — new subscribers to the Spiritual Cinema Circle can receive their first DVD free (for a nominal shipping fee). (After February 20th, we’ll be delivering the March films only!)

With Valentine’s Day right around the corner, this is the perfect way to offer meaningful and heartfelt gifts to share with your loved ones.

SONG OF SONGS is the featured selection in the February Spiritual Cinema Circle DVD club. New subscribers to the Spiritual Cinema Circle can receive a free trial membership (for a only nominal shipping fee).

Click Here — or click the Spiritual Cinema Circle banner over in the left margin to place your order for your free trial membership. This is a great month to do this, especially if you have someone you love to share them with you.

Song of Songs: This feature documentary explores the challenges of relationships. If we are all so fascinated by love, why is it so difficult to make a romantic relationship last? This sweet film reminds us of our true inner nature: one that is inspired and nourished by love.

Driftwood: Blair (Melinda Page Hamilton) attempts to lighten up her life by dating (adopting, really) an odd young man with amnesia.

The Rub of Attraction: This Elevate film festival winner stars SCC favorite Scott Cervine in a humorous take on the challenges we face in getting the Law of Attraction to work for us.

Up on the Rope: Lucia wants to be with Oscar, but can she find a way to get to his level?

Place your order today. Just Click Here Today — or click the Spiritual Cinema Circle banner over in the left margin.

I hope you’ll take me up on this. As I said above, I’ll be back next week with another article about how to combat some of our bad habits.
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Got questions?

Contact me at: http://www.ronrink.com

My email and phone number are at that site. Feel free to contact me. I’m here to help you with your health, nutrition and fitness goals.

Have a healthy and nutritious day!

Shanti … (A sanscrit word meaning, “Let there be Peace. Peace, beautiful Peace. Peace within, Peace without. Peace in this world. Peace for all beings.”)

Ron
===============================================================
As you know, I do practice sitting, silent meditation every day in my life. Recently, I did a podcast about this for another blog that I read. Take a moment and click this link to hear what meditation means to me and what it does for me.

My Meditation Podcast

In my meditation I use what I truly believe is the most powerful personal growth and mind development tool on earth. It’s the The Holosync Solution. I knew that meditation was a vital element to nurturing my soul — to opening myself to the universe — and this tool has allowed me to achieve and receive the benefits of deep, long-term meditation — and to achieve it much more quickly. If you’re having trouble “getting meditation to work for you” – then the The Holosync Solution is what you’re looking for.

Regular, daily meditation can give you …

(1) Increased intelligence and creativity.
(2) Lower stress levels — and with that — increased ability to handle whatever the world tosses your way.
(3) New levels of self-awareness and inner peace.
(4) The healing of emotional issues at the deepest levels —

— it’s definitely worth taking the time for this powerful practice every day.

With a One-Year 100% Iron-Clad Guarantee, you can now do so with no risk whatsoever — just click any of the links that say … The Holosync Solution

— The Holosync Solution

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