Raise your physical standards. Shed the extra 10 pounds. Get to bed earlier. Wake 15 minutes sooner. Exercise five minutes longer. Get to the office 30 minutes earlier. Plan next year's vacations.

Raise your intellectual standards. Shun all commercial radio, television and newspapers. Read the books you've neglected. Journal. Relisten to those motivational tapes.

Raise your emotional standards. Stop all gossip. Drive the speed limit. Say, "I love you" to three people today. Introduce yourself to a stranger. Let someone else to be right.

Raise your spiritual standards. Worship. Fast. Express your gratitude. Forgive others. Forgive yourself. Conduct random acts of kindness. Secretly give money to someone in need.

As you hold yourself to higher standards, the new you attracts a new set of people, things and circumstances!  Have fun with these challenges, and as always...Be Well!

·         Some 600,000 cases of breast and colorectal cancers could be prevented each year if vitamin D levels among populations worldwide were increased, according to previous research by Dr. Garland and colleagues. And that's just counting the death toll for two types of cancer.

• Optimizing your vitamin D levels could help you to prevent at least 16 different types of cancer including pancreatic, lung, ovarian, prostate, and skin cancers.
• A large-scale, randomized, placebo-controlled study on vitamin D and cancer showed that vitamin D can cut overall cancer risk by as much as 60 percent! This was such groundbreaking news that the Canadian Cancer Society has actually begun endorsing the vitamin as a cancer-prevention therapy.
• Light-skinned women who had high amounts of long-term sun exposure had half the risk of developing advanced breast cancer (cancer that spreads beyond your breast) as women with lower amounts of regular sun exposure, according to a study in the American Journal of Epidemiology.
• A study by Dr. William Grant, Ph.D., internationally recognized research scientist and vitamin D expert, found that about 30 percent of cancer deaths -- which amounts to 2 million worldwide and 200,000 in the United States -- could be prevented each year with higher levels of vitamin D.

• Do a warm-up first. A tight, stiff body is asking for injury.
• Layer your clothing. Layered clothing will keep your muscles warm and flexible.
• Wear the right shoes. Choose shoes with plenty of cushioning in the soles to absorb the impact of walking on hard, frozen ground.
• Use the right size shovel. Your shovel should be about chest high on you, allowing you to keep your back straight when lifting.
• Drink lots of water. Drinking water frequently throughout the day helps to keep muscles and body hydrated.
• Use proper posture. When you do shovel, bend your knees and keep your back straight while lifting with your legs. Push the snow straight ahead; don't try to throw it.
• Take your time. Working too hard, too fast is an easy way to strain muscles. Take frequent breaks.
• See your chiropractor. Gentle spinal manipulation will help keep your back flexible and minimize the chance for injury. If you do overdo it, your chiropractor can help you feel better and prevent more injury.

These articles reporting on the CDC study, showed that in the United States alone, each year more than 71,000 children, 18 years old and younger, wind up in emergency rooms for unintentional overdoses of prescription and over-the-counter drugs. The article also notes that more than two-thirds of emergency department visits are due to poisoning from prescription or over-the-counter medications. This represents more than double the rate of childhood poisonings caused by household cleaning products, plants or other items.

Lead researcher Dr. Daniel Budnitz, director of the CDC's Medication Safety Program in the division of health-care quality promotion, was quoted in the articles stating, "Medication overdoses are most common among 2-year-olds" He then reports an alarming statistic by saying, "About one out of every 180 2-year-olds visits an emergency department for a medication overdose each year."

Dr. Robert Geller, a professor of pediatrics at Emory University School of Medicine and medical director of the Georgia Poison Center, added his concern about these alarming numbers by saying that "the number of children seen in the emergency room due to overdoses that are unintentional or medication errors is remarkable." He then added, "Right now, poison centers are having their funding cut. If poison centers are less available, the number of children going to emergency rooms will rise."

When this type of problem starts affecting our young ones we should realize how dangerous medications can be and do everything we can to avoid their use.  Live pro-actively, not re-actively!  That's what wellness care is all about.  Visit our website or call our office for more information.  Mention this blog and receive a wellness certificate for an examination at no charge.

The above headline comes from an October 8, 2009 story on the "Fox8Live" news show and on their website. This news story along with many others warn of the potential dangers of the H1N1 vaccine in contrast to the seriousness of the disease itself.

In the above story, Dr. Akili Graham, a family practice expert says that he and his family will not be getting the vaccine. He warns, "People are going to take the vaccine based on fear and ignorance." He warns that a more serious problem could develop, "When you start mixing the vaccine with the swine flu, when they co-join and change, they have the potential to cause major problems because of the combination of the two."

A similar story on the same day in the Virginia Beach Conservative Examiner carried the headline, "Infectious disease doctor says swine flu vaccine too risky". In this story infectious disease expert Dr. Kent Holtorf stated, "I have more concern about the vaccine than I do about the swine flu. It's been rushed to market." Dr. Holtorf, speaking about the fact that the controversial substance Thimerosal is being used as an adjuvant, added, "It's been shown to cause autism in children with mitochondrial dysfunction." When asked if he would give the shot to his kids, Dr. Holtorf answered: "I definitely would not."

On September 11, 2009, an interview appeared on the Financial Times health blog website with Dr. Tom Jefferson, a medically trained epidemiologist and Cochrane reviewer who has a special research interest in the effectiveness of vaccinations. Dr. Jefferson started his comments by answering the question of how effective are seasonal vaccines? He responded, "Our reviews either show no effect or limited effect, and poor data."

Another article on the website, Center for Medical Consumers, on September 24, 2009, Dr. Jefferson noted that the World Health Organization changed their definition of the word "pandemic" in May, 2009, just prior to classifying the "Swine Flu" as a pandemic. The earlier definition of pandemic was: "An influenza pandemic occurs when a new influenza virus appears against which the human population has no immunity, resulting in epidemics worldwide with enormous numbers of deaths and illness [emphasis in the original document]."  The NEW definition of pandemic was changed to: "A disease epidemic occurs when there are more cases of that disease than normal. A pandemic is a worldwide epidemic of a disease. An influenza pandemic may occur when a new influenza virus appears against which the human population has no immunity."

http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%253A%252F%252Fwww.komonews.com%252Fnews%252Flocal%252F61285622.html&h=c4d547bb0d68f78b85706af672a6268a&ref=mf

Please educate yourself about the latest in the vaccination frenzy!    They are OK with putting more mercury in the vaccines all for the sake of getting the shots to the public faser.  Even MD's are refusing to get these shots for themselves and there kids.  Here's Dr OZ saying he's not as well. 

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=147186606794&ref=mf

The evidence is overwhelming, screaming that these vaccines are harmful and should not be distributed.  Educate yourself first, check out AAC's facebook page.  Each day we have links about this topic so you can educate yourself and make an informed decision.  It's a life or death decision.  The last link I would like to share is from Fox news.  It discuss' the similarities between this shot and the shot in the 1970's that killed 25 people. Please watch. 

http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%253A%252F%252Fwww.foxnews.com%252Fstory%252F0%252C2933%252C539880%252C00.html&h=c4d547bb0d68f78b85706af672a6268a&ref=mf

1. Make it fun. Here are some ideas: a smiley face on oatmeal with raisins and nuts; sandwiches cut with a cookie cutter; anything that contains their name (ever try to write your child's name with string beans?), a flower out of apple slices... really the possibilities are endless. Once I sliced a banana into coins and arranged them around a plate with a big strawberry in the middle. It didn't represent anything but it was fun to eat!

2. Try not to engage in a power struggle. When they say "I'm NOT going to eat this" in attempt to get a rise out of you, say, "OK!" with a big smile. Nine times out of ten, they will eat it a few minutes later, because they realize you really don't care if they eat it or not (well, YOU DO, but they don't know that!).

3. Resist the temptation to reinforce the notion that vegetables taste bad but they have to be eaten. As hard as it is, try to treat all food relatively the same (except of course for special occasional treats like candy). That way, if you put all healthy foods in front of your child, they will pick and choose based on color, flavor, texture, and desire for variety -- not what is "good" or "bad."

4. Never use food as a reward. There are books written about this, but I'll try to sum it up with three points: one, using food as a reward ties behavior in with foods, which might lead kids to all sorts of parental manipulation using food. Two, if reward foods are a special kind of food, then non-reward food might feel like a punishment. Three, if reward foods are associated with parental pride and acceptance, then those foods might be later abused as a way for the child to feel accepted and loved.

Living longer and happier through positive thinking

Researchers continue to explore the effects of positive thinking and optimism on health. Health benefits that positive thinking may provide include:

• Decreased negative stress
• Greater resistance to catching the common cold
• A sense of well-being and improved health
• Reduced risk of coronary artery disease
• Easier breathing if you have certain lung diseases, such as emphysema
• Improved coping ability for women with high-risk pregnancies
• Better coping skills during hardships

You can learn positive thinking

Instead of giving in to these kinds of negative self-talk, weed out misconceptions and irrational thinking and then challenge them with rational, positive thoughts. When you do this, your self-talk will gradually become realistic and self-affirming -- you engage in positive thinking. You can learn to turn negative thinking into positive thinking. The process is simple, but it takes time and practice -- you are creating a new habit, after all.
Periodically during the day, stop and evaluate what you're thinking. If you find that your thoughts are mainly negative, try to find a way to put a positive spin on them. Start by following one simple rule: Don't say anything to yourself that you wouldn't say to anyone else.

Examples of typical negative self-talk and how you might apply a positive thinking twist include:

Have fun being more positive, you will feel and function better.