my blessing

My foot has been hurting for the last 8 or 9 months. It seems like I have plantar fasciitis but we're not sure because I haven't been to a docotr because I don't have health insurance.
I LOOOOOOVE doing zumba and I am so happy that I was given the opportunity to teach boot camp (and now I'm even going to get certified, AFAA) but my foot keeps bothering me and having it hurt takes the fun out of exercising and makes me not want to work harder in fear of further hurting myself...
So today paguei o dizimo (generoso) e a oferta de jejum($300) e pedi uma bencao do Br. Ritchie.
Notes from the blessing:
-be disciplined about how much sleep you get and also about what food you eat
-eat food high in antioxidants like blueberries and other berries
-you have been like a 'savior' to your family and Father is very pleased and will continue blessing youfor it
-keep putting your role as a wife and as a mother as a priority
-a prayer of faith will bring you blessings. Keep praying, have faith and Father will hear your blessings and answer them
-reading the scriptures (regularly) will help bring happiness to your life, and so will attending the Temple - in other words- exercising is not the only way for you to feel uplifted- read your scriptures
-testify to the children in your nursery
-share the gospel while you are in Portugal, and be an example so people can actually see the light of Christ in you and know that the gospel brings you happiness - people in Portugal will be able to see a difference in you
-Father loves you

I love my Savior Jesus Christ, and my Father in Heaven. I know that Father will help me recover my health. I have faith.
Ninhas

My little boy

For Mother's Day I got a little poem and my boy's hand-print. I like the poem so much that I want to share it here:
"SOmetimes you get discouraged
Because I am so small,
And always leave my fingerprints
On furniture and walls

But every day I'm growing -
I'll be grown up some day,
And all those tiny handprints
Will surely fade away.

So here's a little handprint
Just so you can recall
Exactly how my fingers looked
When I was very small."
May 2011

I love my little Tiago  so so much. He does know how to push my buttons though. Sometimes I get impatient and even upset at him. He bites, scratches, screams, is defiant, doesn't take long naps : ), he has destroyed a few books, and broken a few other things (including our entertainment center door, and one of my necklaces). Tiago is very strong willed and enjoys doing what HE likes doing... So, at times I get frustrated. I'm not sure how to discipline him and help him understand that he needs to listen to what I say. I know that I don't want to spank him, and I certainly don't want to yell at him either - I have lost it a few times and yelled at my children and I felt the Spirit immediately living our home.
So this poem is a good reminder that he will grow up and his little hands won't always be little. Again, I love Tiago so so much. Tiago sometimes looks at me with a certain smile that makes me feel like he's almost 'flirting' with me. He likes giving really tight hugs - that melt my heart, and he and Gabi are the happiest little children I know. They giggle and laugh ALL the time.

If I get hurt or if one of them hurts me (ex. bites me) they immediately ask: You OK? You OK?
Anyway, I thanks Heavenly Father everyday for "giving" me such beautiful children. They are a ginormous blessing in my life.
Gabi and Tiago - I will always love you, and I will always be your Mama - no matter what you do, or what happens in life.
com amor
Ninhas

cheese IS addictive!!! and so is sugar and meat and chocolate!!!

http://www.vegsource.com/news/2010/01/chocolate-cheese-meat-sugar-physically-addictive-foods.html  video of a really cool talk!!!!!!!!

 

Casein and Cheese More Addictive Than Chocolate?

A couple days ago I joked that I was detoxing from dairy and that I needed a 12-step program because I find it so hard to give up cheese. Amazingly, little did I know that cheese has actually been proven to be addictive. This explains why so many people like me find it incredibly difficult to give up cheese. It has been harder for me to give up dairy than cigarettes. I am not joking about that. Perhaps the more shocking thing is that the Dairy Industry has deliberately fed on cheese's addictive quality, with all of us being completely duped. I feel sickened by the following article. I feel cheated, fooled, angry, repulsed, and depressed that people can be so evil. If you can honestly read the last paragraph of this article and not be furious, you are a better person than I am.
So here is an excerpt from an article in the Orlando Sentinel July 13 2003:

Of all the potentially addicting foods, cheese may be the most complex. In research studies using vegan and vegetarian diets to control cholesterol or reduce body weight, most participants soon forget the lure of ice cream, sour cream, and even burgers and chicken. But for many people, the taste for cheese lingers on and on. Yes, 70 percent of its calories may come from waist-augmenting fat, and, ounce for ounce, it may harbor more cholesterol than a steak. But that cheese habit is tough to break. Why is cheese so addicting? Certainly not because of its aroma, which is perilously close to old socks. The first hint of a biochemical explanation came in 1981, when scientists at Wellcome Research Laboratories in Research Triangle Park, N.C., found a substance in dairy products that looked remarkably like morphine. After a complex series of tests, they determined that, surprisingly enough, it actually was morphine. By a fluke of nature, the enzymes that produce opiates are not confined to poppies -- they also hide inside cows' livers. So traces of morphine can pass into the animal's bloodstream and end up in milk and milk products. The amounts are far too small to explain cheese's appeal. But nonetheless, the discovery led scientists on their search for opiate compounds in dairy products.
And they found them. Opiates hide inside casein, the main dairy protein. As casein molecules are digested, they break apart to release tiny opiate molecules, called casomorphins. One of these compounds has about one-tenth the opiate strength of morphine. The especially addicting power of cheese may be due to the fact that the process of cheese-making removes water,lactose and whey proteins so that casein is concentrated. Scientists are now trying to tease out whether these opiate molecules work strictly within the digestive tract or whether they pass into the bloodstream and reach the brain directly.
(some paragraphs about chocolate addiction snipped)
The cheese industry is miles ahead of them, having gone to great lengths to identify people who are most vulnerable to addiction. It dubs them "cheese cravers," and tracks their age, educational level and other demographics so as to target them with marketing strategies that are tough to ignore. With a $200 million annual research and marketing budget, the dairy industry is not content to have you just sprinkling a little mozzarella on your salad. It is looking for those Americans who will eat it straight out of the package, whatever the cost to their waistlines or cholesterol levels.
At a "Cheese Forum" held Dec. 5, 2000, Dick Cooper, the vice president of Cheese Marketing for Dairy Management Inc., laid out the industry's scheme for identifying potential addicts and keeping them hooked. In his slide presentation, which was released to our organization under the Freedom of Information Act, he asked the question, "What do we want our marketing program to do?" and then gave the answer: "Trigger the cheese craving." He described how, in a partnership with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the dairy industry launched Wendy's Cheddar Lover's Bacon Cheeseburger, which single-handedly pushed 2.25 million pounds of cheese during the promotion period. That works out to 380 tons of fat and 1.2 tons of pure cholesterol in the cheese alone. A similar promotion with Pizza Hut launched the "Ultimate Cheese Pizza," which added an entire pound of cheese to a single pizza and sold five million pounds of it during a six-week promotion in 2000. The presentation concluded with a cartoon of a playground slide with a large spider web woven to trap children as they reached the bottom. The caption had one spider saying to another, "If we pull this off, we'll eat like kings."

Cheese Has a Little Known Secret: Consumers Beware

by J.M.K on Feb 02, 2008 with 21 Comments

Most never know that they are addicted; people figure that they just like it. It is deeply disturbing to a cheese loving consumer that there are small amounts of addictive opiates involved in one of America’s favorite foods.

According to an article in 2003, Dr. Neal Barnard authored a book about the cravings of food that many of us face. His book is titled Breaking the Food Seduction: The Hidden Reasons Behind Food Cravings and Seven Steps to End them Naturally. He concluded that cheese is particularly addictive because it has small amounts of morphine that is produced from the cow’s liver. Additionally, other foods like sugar and chocolate are addictive to consumers.

These food supplies are so plentiful that the cravings are easily solved. Most never know that they are addicted; people figure that they just like it. It is deeply disturbing to a cheese loving consumer that there are small amounts of addictive opiates involved in one of America’s favorite foods. After all, we have cheese in most sandwiches, pastas, and snacks that are contributing reasons for obesity. Most fast food places offer plenty of cheese on their sandwiches and people do crave for the tasty meals.
Possibly, the addictive morphine that is created in the cow when digesting has led to increased weight issues. As a society, we must consider that the large quantities and availability is greater than ever in history. Therefore, it is likely to have an impact on the obesity rates for those that become addicted.

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In the past, it was taught that cheese was a substitute for meat. Now, most people eat them together and they taste great. This could be too much for our bodies to consume long term. More research is truly needed because something as common as cheese could be harmful. Hopefully, more manufacturers will become aware of the hidden potential dangers in the product as well. So far, there have not been any serious complications following cheese consumption, but for how long?
Sharing this kind of information is important to those that are struggling with weight in particular. It could be that most people are addicted to eating cheese products and obesity is not the individual’s fault. Good exercise and a balanced healthy diet should offset any addiction, while cheese may still be part of the eating regimen. To view the actual article, check here. Also, typing a simple search will show other information as well.