Cha-Cha-Cha-Changes in Midlife

Went to a book group yesterday where Jane Jelenko was the visiting author. She’s a co-writer of the just released “Midlife Renewal” book, Changing Lanes.

It’s tough on both the body and the soul when your heart is not in your work or your current life doesn’t feel satisfying. So I think this book is worth mentioning here.

If you’re considering a midlife transition, check out Jelenko’s Changing Lanes. Both she and her co-author Susan Marshall are former “suits” who made career changes in their 50s. But their book tells more than these two women’s stories. It’s filled with rich insights and helpful advice, and the authors also interviewed 55 other “change artists” whose stories and wisdom are included.

“Sometimes making a change seems interminable,” said Jelenko to the book group. “At those points, it can help to be in that place of not knowing and decide to be OK with it.”

Being inspired by other successful “change artists” may be just what “the doctor” needs to order.

Warm regards,

Robin Quinn, CNHP
Health and Nutrition Educator

What's for Dinner? According to the FDA, Cloned Meat!

For me, the disgusted look on the news anchor's face yesterday told the whole story as he introduced the cloned food segment on the evening news. Is meat and milk from cloned animals safe for human consumption? Yes, announced the FDA after years of review. "These products are no different than foods from traditionally bred animals," commented Bruce I. Knight, an Under Secretary at the US Department of Agriculture.

My questions are the following... just because we have a technology does that mean we have to use it? What's wrong with the meat and dairy products that we already have available? Is there really a way to know that this food is no different, or will we simply become the guinea pigs and learn the dangers later?

It could be more than two to three years before such foods reach our grocery stores. Meanwhile the cloned animals will be used more for breeding what is believed to be superior stock. The FDA plans no labeling of these products because they have concluded they pose no safety issues.

If you object to cloned food products, write to:

FDA Commissioner Andrew von Eschenbach MD
Food and Drug Administration
5630 Fishers Lane, Rm 1061
Rockville, MD 20852

Organizations that have been working on this issue include:

The Center for Food Safety, http://www.centerforfoodsafety.org/
The Center for Environmental Health, http://www.cehca.org/

Amazed at our wacky world,

Robin Quinn
Health and Nutrition Educator

Losing Weight in 2008! A Startling Incentive

Is becoming healthier, eating better, or losing weight among your goals for the New Year? To support you, I thought I’d pass along a wonderful resource for learning how to achieve all of these goals – the "Nutrition Action" newsletter, which is published by the consumer advocacy group, the Center for Science in the Public Interest (www.cspinet.org/). CSPI is a very important group. They have been around since 1971, working hard for you as an advocate and lobbyist for honest food labeling, healthy food ingredients, and consumer nutrition education. A yearly subscription to the newsletter is only $10 in the United States.

For many people, reaching an optimum weight is one of their New Year's resolutions. The cover article of the last issue of "Nutrition Action" gives you a powerful incentive – discovering that being overweight is an important factor in developing cancer. According to the Newsletter and a new report from the American Institute for Cancer Research/World Cancer Research Fund, maintaining your goal weight is the single most important factor in preventing cancer beyond quitting smoking!! Even a 5 to 10 percent loss in weight can make a difference.

If you need help and information for losing weight, consider signing up for my weight loss support program. To learn more, write to me at DietLifestyleEd@aol.com.

To your health, joy and prosperity in 2008!

Warmly,

Robin Quinn
Health and Nutrition Educator