Some people make you feel good each time you enter their sphere. My Uncle Joe was that kind of person. He was a truck driver and he worked on cars in a garage at the rear of his house. When I was young, I walked a mile and half down the tracks to his house. I’d walk into his garage and he’d stop working on a car and welcome me. He made me feel welcome. He’d talk to me while he worked and I felt like I belonged. He had a special gift. I looked up to him. When people are made to feel wanted, the sun breaks through the clouds and a rainbow appears.
Month: August 2023
Healthy Lifestyle Tips ~ Are You Addicted to Certain Foods?
Do You Have a Food Addiction?
An online article in Healthline describes food addictions and lists 8 symptoms.
Food addiction involves the same areas of the brain as drug addiction. Also, the same neurotransmitters are involved, and many of the symptoms are identical (2Trusted Source). Processed junk foods have a powerful effect on the reward centers of the brain. These effects are caused by brain neurotransmitters like dopamine (3). The most problematic foods include typical junk foods like candy, sugary soda, and high fat fried foods. Food addiction is not caused by a lack of willpower but believed to be caused by a dopamine signal that affects the biochemistry of the brain (4Trusted Source).
There is no blood test to diagnose food addiction. As with other addictions, it’s based on behavioral symptoms.
Here are 8 common symptoms of Food Addiction
- frequent cravings for certain foods, despite feeling full and having just finished a nutritious meal
- starting to eat a craved food and often eating much more than intended
- eating a craved food and sometimes eating to the point of feeling excessively stuffed
- often feeling guilty after eating particular foods — yet eating them again soon after
- sometimes making excuses about why responding to a food craving is a good idea
- repeatedly — but unsuccessfully — trying to quit eating certain foods, or setting rules for when eating them is allowed, such as at cheat meals or on certain days
- often hiding the consumption of unhealthy foods from others
- feeling unable to control the consumption of unhealthy foods — despite knowing that they cause physical harm or weight gain
If more than four to five of the symptoms on this list apply, it could mean there’s a deeper issue. If six or more apply, then it’s likely a food addiction.
Daily Inspirational Quotes ~ Death Where is Thy Sting?
“Death is not extinguishing the light; it is only putting out the lamp because the dawn has come.”
Poem for Today ~ For Who?
For Who?
Mary Weston Fordham
When the heavens with stars are gleaming
Like a diadem of light,
And the moon’s pale rays are streaming,
Decking earth with radiance bright;
When the autumn’s winds are sighing,
O’er the hill and o’er the lea,
When the summer time is dying,
Wanderer, wilt thou think of me?
When thy life is crowned with gladness,
And thy home with love is blest,
Not one brow o’ercast with sadness,
Not one bosom of unrest—
When at eventide reclining,
At thy hearthstone gay and free,
Think of one whose life is pining,
Breathe thou, love, a prayer for me.
Should dark sorrows make thee languish,
Cause thy cheek to lose its hue,
In the hour of deepest anguish,
Darling, then I’ll grieve with you.
Though the night be dark and dreary,
And it seemeth long to thee,
I would whisper, “be not weary;”
I would pray love, then, for thee.
Well I know that in the future,
I may cherish naught of earth;
Well I know that love needs nurture,
And it is of heavenly birth.
But though ocean waves may sever
I from thee, and thee from me,
Still this constant heart will never,
Never cease to think of thee.
Word Jumble Challenge: Unscramble the Nutrition and Fitness Word
Today’s Word: eirubeslerb
Yesterday’s Word: Tomatoes
The Answer to Today’s Word will appear in tomorrow’s Word Jumble Challenge
Thinking out Loud ~ Men Should Not Fear a Strong, Independent Woman
In her book, We Should All be Feminists, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie writes, “We say to girls: you can have ambition, but not too much. You should aim to be successful but not too successful otherwise you will threaten the man.” P. 26
NOTE: I have five daughters. When my wife and I were raising the girls we hoped they would fall in love forever. We also knew that sometimes that relationships don’t always work out. So, we also raised them to be strong, independent women who could take care of themselves. All five have turned out to be strong and independent, yet highly capable of having loving relationships.
Word Jumble Challenge: Unscramble the Nutrition and Fitness Word
Today’s Word: ooamsett
Yesterday’s Word: Eyesight
The Answer to Today’s Word will appear in tomorrow’s Word Jumble Challenge
Poem for Today ~ The Miracle
The Miracle
Fenton Johnson
Though I was dwelling in a prison house,
My soul was wandering by the carefree stream
Through fields of green with gold eyed daisies strewn,
And daffodils and sunflower cavaliers.
And near me played a little browneyed child,
A winsome creature God alone conceived,
“Oh, little friend,” I begged. “Give me a flower
That I might bear it to my lonely cell.”
He plucked a dandelion, an ugly bloom,
But tenderly he placed it in my hand,
And in his eyes I saw the sign of love.
‘Twas then the dandelion became a rose.
