On Saturday, January 21, 2012, the second TEDxManhattan “Changing the Way We Eat” – an independently organized event, licensed by TED – was held at the Times Center in New York City. TEDxManhattan will explored the issues, the impacts and the innovations happening as we shift to a more sustainable way of eating and farming and help to create connections and unite different areas of the food movement.

Riverside’s Habitat For Humanity ReStore hosted one of 70 global, live stream viewing parties and invited Riverside’s community garden advocates, teachers, gardeners and people who love to eat healthy food to come together, get connected and be inspired about how achievable healthy, safe and delicious food really is.

The presentation by  Stephen Ritz, Edible Food Walls and How They’re Changing Students’ Lives, was truly an amazing tale of inspiration and joy. The talks are short, compelling and potentially life changing. You won’t waste your time if you take a look at some of them. WARNING!! You might not ever look at the food you eat in the same way, but then that’s the point isn’t it?

Thanks to Tedx, Habitat for Humanity and to all my friends and neighbors who will make a difference in the community because of this event.

Technorati Tags: farming, food movement, Food Safety, social justice, sustainable agriculture, TEDx Changing The Way We Eat

The New Year symbolizes a fresh start, and we’re all more motivated than usual—at least in our minds. The typical resolution cycle shows a steep incline in health-related goals during the first quarter of the year, followed by a rapid decline soon thereafter. We’ve all been there.

We do a lot of talking about what we plan to accomplish in the New Year, but the actual “doing” is what takes real effort. In fact, 78% of people break their resolutions because their goals are too aspirational and lofty.  Overly ambitious goals thwart the will to stick to and stay with a game plan.

Real change takes planning—if our goals are broken down into bite-size nuggets and are properly thought out, we’ll be a lot more successful at making a long-term commitment. Consider, if you’re overweight, you didn’t get that way overnight.  Don’t expect to get back overnight.  Scientists tell us weight gain is more calories consumed than burned.  True enough.  It’s the ‘consumed’ bit that matters.  It’s our actions, conscious or unconscious, in consuming that are responsible for our results.

This is particularly true as it pertains to our health and wellness plans.  When it comes to our health goals, success or failure comes from taking or not taking the discrete actions appropriate to the result. This is really good news because we’re already in action.  We breathe, move, think and feel!

Successful health-related programs can help people overcome struggles and reach their goals in incremental steps. They address the need for very targeted and specific daily goals, providing continuous motivation and short-term rewards that keep resolution-makers on track.

New Year’s resolutions are annual goals—and like all goals, they are best reached when they are measurable. There should be well- defined milestones during the year when metrics can be checked toward achievement of those goals.

The key to success in achieving our health goals is in focusing  our awareness on our behaviors in the moment. We only have right now, this moment to take action.  If we can make even very small improvements over time, we quickly build synergistic momentum as those improvements lead to expanded capacity to experience even more vibrant, energetic and radiant health.

Knowing what to do is the booby prize. If we don’t take action on what we know to do, we only have ourselves to blame for one more rationalization.  So what are you measuring today, this week, this month and this happy, healthy New Year?

Technorati Tags: health habits, health planning, health resolutions

A new study published in the journal Nature  links 24% of our intelligence to genetic factors. That means 76% of our intelligence is determined by environmental factors.

Scientists found decades old intelligence tests done in 1940 on 11 year olds in Scotland and then retested the participants at age 65.

DNA from blood samples was collected from all 1940 people. An analysis of the genetic markers revealed various genetic similarities. Scientists compared these genetic similarities with the participants’ intelligence levels in both youth and old age.

Read more in the Wall Street Journal.

Technorati Tags: I.Q., intelligence tests

Maybe they’re just too  worn down and exhausted to work out.   That’s too bad because the costs of not working out are well known.  In case you’re thinking of joining or getting back into a gym,  here are 27 Rules of Conquering the Gym from the mind of Jason Gay for the Wall Street Journal.

1. A gym is not designed to make you feel instantly better about yourself. If a gym wanted to make you feel instantly better about yourself, it would be a bar.

2. Give yourself a goal. Maybe you want to lose 10 pounds. Maybe you want to quarterback the New York Jets into the playoffs. But be warned: Losing 10 pounds is hard.

3. Develop a gym routine. Try to go at least three times a week. Do a mix of strength training and cardiovascular conditioning. After the third week, stop carrying around that satchel of fresh-baked chocolate chip cookies.

4. No one in the history of gyms has ever lost a pound while reading “The New Yorker” and slowly pedaling a recumbent bicycle. No one.

5. Bring your iPod. Don’t borrow the disgusting gym headphones, or use the sad plastic radio attachment on the treadmill, which always sounds like it’s playing Kenny Loggins from a sewer.

6. Don’t fall for gimmicks. The only tried-and-true method to lose 10 pounds in 48 hours is food poisoning.

7. Yes, every gym has an overenthusiastic spinning instructor who hasn’t bought a record since “Walking on Sunshine.”

8. There’s also the Strange Guy Who is Always at the Gym. Just when you think he isn’t here today…there he is, lurking by the barbells.

9. “Great job!” is trainer-speak for “It’s not polite for me to laugh at you.”

10. Beware a hip gym with a Wilco step class.

11. Gyms have two types of members: Members who wipe down the machines after using them, and the worst people in the universe.

12. Nope, that’s not a “recovery energy bar with antioxidant dark chocolate.” That’s a chocolate bar.

13. Avoid Unsolicited Advice Guy, who, for the small fee of boring you to death, will explain the proper method for any exercise in 45 minutes or longer.

14. You can take 10 Minute Abs, 20 Minute Abs, and 30 Minute Abs. There is also Stop Eating Pizza and Eating Sheet Cake Abs—but that’s super tough!

15. If you’re motivated to buy an expensive home exercise machine, consider a “wooden coat rack.” It costs $40, uses no electricity and does the exact same thing.

16. There’s the yoga instructor everyone loves, and the yoga instructor everyone hates. Memorize who they are.

17. If you see an indoor rock climbing wall, you’re either in a really cool gym or a romantic comedy starring Kate Hudson.

18. Be cautious about any class with the words “sunrise,” “hell,” or “Moby.”

19. If a gym class is going to be effective, it’s hard. If you’re relaxed and enjoying yourself, you’re at brunch.

20. If you need to bring your children, just let them loose in the silent meditation class. Nobody minds, and kids love candles.

21. Don’t buy $150 sneakers, $100 yoga pants, and $4 water. Muscle shirts are for people with muscles, and rhythm guitarists.

22. Fancy gyms can be seductive, but once you get past the modern couches and fresh flowers and the water with lemon slices, you’re basically paying for a boutique hotel with B.O.

23. Everyone sees you secretly racing the old people in the pool.

24. If you’re at the point where you’ve bought biking shoes for the spinning class, you may as well go ahead and buy an actual bike. It’s way more fun and it doesn’t make you listen to C+C Music Factory.

25. Fact: Thinking about going to the gym burns between 0 and 0 calories.

26. A successful gym membership is like a marriage: If it’s good, you show up committed and ready for hard work. If it’s not good, you show up in sweatpants and watch a lot of bad TV.

27. There is no secret. Exercise and lay off the fries. The end.

Where’s my infomercial and best seller?

Nobody ever wants to think about cancer but this genius piece of marketing from a company in Poland used the simple act of buying ladies underwear like bras to grab shoppers attention. (I wonder what we can come up with for convenience food and obesity?)

The main aim of the campaign was to show that a machine was the most important part in detecting cancer early and as such machines played a central role in this campaign.

The creative behind this campaign is simple outstanding and it left people with an experience that they would never forget and also hopefully helped to save some lives. 21st century Candid Camera with a multiple purpose – entertainment and education. Great way to raise awareness.

Technorati Tags: cancer, cancer prevention, early cancer detection