Michelle Obama to women: : Do what makes you happy
By DARLENE SUPERVILLE (AP) – 14 hours ago
WASHINGTON — First lady Michelle Obama says women should do what makes them happy, a lesson she says she learned after realizing her two children, her husband and her physical health feed off of her good moods.
In an interview appearing in the November issue of Prevention magazine, Mrs. Obama discusses the meaning of good health, aging and her exercise, diet and beauty routines. She sat for the interview at the White House in late July.
Mrs. Obama says she learned "what not to do" from her mother, Marian Robinson, who now lives at the White House.
"She'd say being a good mother isn't all about sacrificing. It's really investing and putting yourself higher on your priority list," Mrs. Obama said. She said Robinson put her own two children first, sometimes to the detriment of herself.
"She encouraged me not to do that," Mrs. Obama said.
The first lady said there are many facets to good health — physical, internal, emotional, diet — and all are intertwined.
"Throughout my life, I've learned to make choices that make me happy and make sense for me. Even my husband is happier when I'm happy," Mrs. Obama said in her first interview with the women's health monthly. "So I have freed myself to put me on the priority list and say, yes, I can make choices that make me happy, and it will ripple and benefit my kids, my husband and my physical health."
"That's hard for women to own. We're not taught to do that," she added. "It's a lesson that I want to teach my girls."
Asked for a definition of happiness, Mrs. Obama said it's when daughters Malia, 11, and Sasha, 8, "are good and when my family is whole." She expressed relief that early in the year after moving from Chicago the girls came and told her they liked living in the White House.
"My happiness is measured against theirs. When they're in a good place, I feel really good," she said.
Mrs. Obama, who is 45 and appears on the magazine's cover, also said she has no fear about getting old.
"To me, with age, everything has gotten better," the first lady said.
She strives to be "on the cusp of being in the best shape that I can be" in, but has found she needs to work a little harder at it the older she gets. As a result, she has begun to incorporate more Pilates moves and stretching into her workouts to maintain flexibility.
Mrs. Obama also is working on balancing out her diet, which she said has "no absolute no's."
"Overall, it's good, but there are some great bakers" at the White House, she said, noting that pie is always available. "So for me, it's about setting up new boundaries. I had some challenges with that, but I'm balancing out."
The November issue of Prevention hits newsstands on Oct. 6.
Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Beautiful Weather
I had just returned from my walk outside and I wanted to share the moment with others.
Rashun
Beautiful Weather
Posted using ShareThis
Rashun
Beautiful Weather
Posted using ShareThis
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Preview of the Movie "Precious "
Another Tyler Perry and Oprah Production
Life is hard. Life is short. Life is painful. Life is rich. Life is Precious!
Also Known as "Push", a novel by Sapphire
http://www.themovieinsider.com/m5752/5/precious/
Shared via AddThis
Life is hard. Life is short. Life is painful. Life is rich. Life is Precious!
Also Known as "Push", a novel by Sapphire
http://www.themovieinsider.com/m5752/5/precious/
Shared via AddThis
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Women and Heart Disease
Many people don't realize that heart disease is the No. 1 killer and disabler of American women. During childbearing years, estrogen helps prevent heart disease and high blood pressure. During menopause, estrogen levels drop, leaving women without this protection.
When HDL -- known as good cholesterol -- levels drop and triglyceride levels increase, women have the same risk for heart disease as men do, but seven to 10 years later in life.
To compensate for the loss of natural protection from heart disease, women need to make heart healthy choices.
Eat a variety of fruits, vegetables, grains, low-fat or fat-free dairy products, fatty fish and other lean proteins.
Engage in at least 30 minutes of moderate activity daily.
Keep a healthy weight.
Choose and prepare foods with less salt to help lower your blood pressure.
About two-thirds of women who die of heart disease had no previous symptoms. And signs of heart disease for women often differ from men and may go unrecognized or ignored. So it's important to realize that heart disease is a woman's health issue too.
Posted by rashun101 at 5:51 AM EDT
Updated: Friday, 29 May
When HDL -- known as good cholesterol -- levels drop and triglyceride levels increase, women have the same risk for heart disease as men do, but seven to 10 years later in life.
To compensate for the loss of natural protection from heart disease, women need to make heart healthy choices.
Eat a variety of fruits, vegetables, grains, low-fat or fat-free dairy products, fatty fish and other lean proteins.
Engage in at least 30 minutes of moderate activity daily.
Keep a healthy weight.
Choose and prepare foods with less salt to help lower your blood pressure.
About two-thirds of women who die of heart disease had no previous symptoms. And signs of heart disease for women often differ from men and may go unrecognized or ignored. So it's important to realize that heart disease is a woman's health issue too.
Posted by rashun101 at 5:51 AM EDT
Updated: Friday, 29 May
Friday, September 18, 2009
Will You Dance With Me?
A Toastmasters friend of mine shared this with me and I wanted to share it with others.
Too many people put off something that brings them joy just because they haven't thought about it, don't have it on their schedule, didn't know it was coming or are too rigid to depart from their routine.
I got to thinking one day about all those women on the Titanic who passed up dessert at dinner that fateful night in an effort to cut back. From then on, I've tried to be a little more flexible.
How many women out there will eat at home because their husband didn't suggest going out to dinner until after something had been thawed? Does the word 'refrigeration' mean nothing to you?
How often have your kids dropped in to talk and sat in silence while you watched 'Jeopardy' on television?
I cannot count the times I called my sister and said, 'How about going to lunch in a half hour?' She would gas up and stammer, 'I can't. I have clothes on the line. My hair is dirty. I wish I had known yesterday, I had a late breakfast, It looks like rain.' And my personal favorite: 'It's Monday.' She died a few years ago. We never did have lunch together.
Because Americans cram so much into their lives, we tend to schedule our headaches. We live on a sparse diet of promises we make to ourselves when all the conditions are perfect!
We'll go back and visit the grandparents when we get Steve toilet-trained. We'll entertain when we replace the living-room carpet... We'll go on a second honeymoon when we get two more kids out of college.
Life has a way of accelerating as we get older. The days get shorter, and the list of promises to ourselves gets longer. One morning, we awaken, and all we have to show for our lives is a litany of 'I'm going to,' 'I'll let you know,' 'I plan on,' and 'Someday, when things are settled down a bit.'
When anyone calls my 'seize the moment' friend, she is open to adventure and available for trips. She keeps an open mind on new ideas. Her enthusiasm for life is contagious. You talk with her for five minutes, and you're ready to trade your bad feet for a pair of Roller blades and skip an elevator for a bungee cord..
My lips have not touched ice cream in 10 years. I love ice cream. It's just that I might as well apply it directly to my stomach with a spatula and eliminate the digestive process The other day, I stopped the car and bought a triple-Decker. If my car had hit an iceberg on the way home, I would have died happy.
Now...go on and have a nice day. Do something you WANT to.....not something on your SHOULD DO list. If you were going to die soon and had only one phone call you could make, who would you call and what would you say? And why are you waiting?
Make sure you read this to the end; you will understand why I sent this to you.
Have you ever watched kids playing on a merry go round or listened to the rain lapping on the ground? Ever followed a butterfly's erratic flight or gazed at the sun into the fading night? Do you run through each day on the fly? When you ask ' How are you?' Do you hear the reply?
When the day is done, do you lie in your bed with the next hundred chores running through your head? Ever told your child, 'We'll do it tomorrow.' And in your haste, not see his sorrow? Ever lost touch? Let a good friendship die? Just call to say 'Hi?
When you worry and hurry through your day, it is like an unopened gift....Thrown away..... Life is not a race Take it slower. Hear the music before the song is over.
'Life may not be the party we hoped for... but while we are here we might as well dance!
Too many people put off something that brings them joy just because they haven't thought about it, don't have it on their schedule, didn't know it was coming or are too rigid to depart from their routine.
I got to thinking one day about all those women on the Titanic who passed up dessert at dinner that fateful night in an effort to cut back. From then on, I've tried to be a little more flexible.
How many women out there will eat at home because their husband didn't suggest going out to dinner until after something had been thawed? Does the word 'refrigeration' mean nothing to you?
How often have your kids dropped in to talk and sat in silence while you watched 'Jeopardy' on television?
I cannot count the times I called my sister and said, 'How about going to lunch in a half hour?' She would gas up and stammer, 'I can't. I have clothes on the line. My hair is dirty. I wish I had known yesterday, I had a late breakfast, It looks like rain.' And my personal favorite: 'It's Monday.' She died a few years ago. We never did have lunch together.
Because Americans cram so much into their lives, we tend to schedule our headaches. We live on a sparse diet of promises we make to ourselves when all the conditions are perfect!
We'll go back and visit the grandparents when we get Steve toilet-trained. We'll entertain when we replace the living-room carpet... We'll go on a second honeymoon when we get two more kids out of college.
Life has a way of accelerating as we get older. The days get shorter, and the list of promises to ourselves gets longer. One morning, we awaken, and all we have to show for our lives is a litany of 'I'm going to,' 'I'll let you know,' 'I plan on,' and 'Someday, when things are settled down a bit.'
When anyone calls my 'seize the moment' friend, she is open to adventure and available for trips. She keeps an open mind on new ideas. Her enthusiasm for life is contagious. You talk with her for five minutes, and you're ready to trade your bad feet for a pair of Roller blades and skip an elevator for a bungee cord..
My lips have not touched ice cream in 10 years. I love ice cream. It's just that I might as well apply it directly to my stomach with a spatula and eliminate the digestive process The other day, I stopped the car and bought a triple-Decker. If my car had hit an iceberg on the way home, I would have died happy.
Now...go on and have a nice day. Do something you WANT to.....not something on your SHOULD DO list. If you were going to die soon and had only one phone call you could make, who would you call and what would you say? And why are you waiting?
Make sure you read this to the end; you will understand why I sent this to you.
Have you ever watched kids playing on a merry go round or listened to the rain lapping on the ground? Ever followed a butterfly's erratic flight or gazed at the sun into the fading night? Do you run through each day on the fly? When you ask ' How are you?' Do you hear the reply?
When the day is done, do you lie in your bed with the next hundred chores running through your head? Ever told your child, 'We'll do it tomorrow.' And in your haste, not see his sorrow? Ever lost touch? Let a good friendship die? Just call to say 'Hi?
When you worry and hurry through your day, it is like an unopened gift....Thrown away..... Life is not a race Take it slower. Hear the music before the song is over.
'Life may not be the party we hoped for... but while we are here we might as well dance!
Monday, September 14, 2009
MTV Music Awards
I don't usually watch the MTV Music Video Awards, but last night I watched because I heard there was going to be a tribute to Michael Jackson. I have always been an avid Michael Jackson fan.
I was impressed by Madonna's reminiscense of her relationship with Michael Jackson. It didn't surprise me that one musical genius would want to know about another. I loved the part about asking him to take off his glasses and Michael replying, Do you see me now! It's good to know some people still believe in reaching out and getting to know a person for themselves.
Taylor Swift still shined because she just looked at Kanye. I don't really listen to Taylor Swift. However I think if a person receives an award they should be able to receive it without an attention starved maniac interrupting. Congratulations Taylor Swift.
Beyonce continues to demonstrate why she is a star, her graciousness, her talent, her warm heart and humility. She allowed Taylor Swift to experience her moment in the limelight.
Because Beyonce understands there's room at the top for more than one person. Thinking about her first experience at the VMA and how special it was for her she didn't want that moment ruined for Taylor. Thats a woman with a heart!
Pink made me gasp as she swung through the air on her trapeze, for a moment there I thought I was watching aBarnum and Bailey act instead of the VMA's. Pink you took entertainment on a different journey.
And of course there was JayZ's Blueprint 3, at great way to close the show listening to Alicia's beautiful notes.
I think watching the VMA was time well spent.
I was impressed by Madonna's reminiscense of her relationship with Michael Jackson. It didn't surprise me that one musical genius would want to know about another. I loved the part about asking him to take off his glasses and Michael replying, Do you see me now! It's good to know some people still believe in reaching out and getting to know a person for themselves.
Taylor Swift still shined because she just looked at Kanye. I don't really listen to Taylor Swift. However I think if a person receives an award they should be able to receive it without an attention starved maniac interrupting. Congratulations Taylor Swift.
Beyonce continues to demonstrate why she is a star, her graciousness, her talent, her warm heart and humility. She allowed Taylor Swift to experience her moment in the limelight.
Because Beyonce understands there's room at the top for more than one person. Thinking about her first experience at the VMA and how special it was for her she didn't want that moment ruined for Taylor. Thats a woman with a heart!
Pink made me gasp as she swung through the air on her trapeze, for a moment there I thought I was watching aBarnum and Bailey act instead of the VMA's. Pink you took entertainment on a different journey.
And of course there was JayZ's Blueprint 3, at great way to close the show listening to Alicia's beautiful notes.
I think watching the VMA was time well spent.
Saturday, September 12, 2009
HIV Is Incurable, So Don't Stop Caring
At first glance, a comment this week from the head of the HIV/AIDS department of the World Health Organization seems to indicate that the HIV/AIDS pandemic is all but over. In an interview with London's Independent, Dr. Kevin De Cock said, "There will be no generalized epidemic of AIDS in the heterosexual population outside Africa."
Coming on the heels of the UNAIDS report in November 2007 that revised the estimates of those infected with HIV downward from 40 million to 33 million, one could conclude that HIV is no longer a humanitarian crisis.
Not so. As De Cock goes on to say, "AIDS still remains the leading infectious disease challenge in public health. It is an acute infection, but a chronic disease. It is for the very, very long haul. People are backing off, saying it is taking care of itself. It is not."
To me, the larger questions are not about numbers or categories — how many people are infected, or whether more homosexuals or heterosexuals are likely to become infected. The reasons I became an advocate for people with HIV six years ago are just as valid as they were then. Not much has changed.
I can think of several compelling reasons why the church of Jesus Christ must care about people with HIV and AIDS whether they're straight, gay, old, young, victim, victimizer, African, Asian, Indian, Latino, or Caucasian. The categories are irrelevant to our call to care.
The most important reason is for the church to care is that it is completely unexpected. When was the last time the church cared about a sexually transmitted disease? Historically, we haven't done a very good job of teaching healthy sex and sexuality, so it isn't surprising that we don't want to talk about HIV and AIDS.
You can't talk about HIV without talking about sex! Because it is a sexually transmitted virus, the stigma is profound. Internationally and in my Southern California backyard, people diagnosed with HIV or AIDS can face divorce, beatings, job loss, rejection, loss of friends, discrimination, and violence. I could fill pages with the tragic stories of men, women, and children who have endured the painful stigma associated with HIV.
Unlike malaria or tuberculosis (which can be cured with $20 worth of medication when caught early enough), HIV is incurable. It is ultimately a fatal disease, ravaging the immune system of the infected person, leaving them vulnerable to opportunistic infections that a normal immune system could deal with.
One piece of good news amid the bad is that HIV is treatable. In the United States and in other developed nations, where life-saving medications are readily available, an HIV positive individual can expect to live a relatively normal life. People in developing nations do not fare so well. Without access to these "wonder drugs," life expectancy after diagnosis can be three to five years.
When I was diagnosed with breast cancer several years ago, I asked my oncologist how I got cancer. Did I do something wrong? Was it genetics? Should I have eaten more broccoli? He told me he had no idea why I got cancer. HIV is different. We know how it is transmitted. That mystery was solved more than 20 years ago, and in the process, we also learned it is almost 100 percent preventable.
The toll HIV and AIDS exerts does not end with claiming the life of the infected person. Children whose parents die prematurely face a bleak future, easily becoming HIV statistics themselves, thus repeating a vicious cycle of infection and death.
If you knew there was an incurable but preventable and treatable disease that brought shame and stigma, created millions of orphans, decimated families, and jeopardized the hard-won development gains of dozens of the nations of our world, wouldn't you care?
If you're still not sure, reluctant to give your heart and your help to those with HIV and AIDS, take a look at Mark 1:40-42 (NIV). A leper, widely assumed to have secret, unconfessed sin, braved the crushing stigma and fear his illness created to find Jesus. So ashamed of his condition, he approached our Master on his knees, begging to be healed. Jesus could have turned his back on the man, shouted accusations at his sinful state, refused to even speak to him. Instead, the Bible says he was "filled with compassion." He reached out his hand, touched the man, and healed him.
This story never fails to instruct me, to move me. Jesus had the perfect opportunity to ask this man how he became ill, but he didn't. He just helped him. I don't think it's wild speculation to assume that the man's spiritual leprosy was healed that day as well. Jesus models for us how to approach people with the leprosy of our time — HIV and AIDS. As we care for their bodies, care for the orphans and vulnerable children left behind, care for the spiritual wounds that lie hidden deep in the soul, categories and numbers become people.
People Jesus loves. People Jesus died for. People who will never know there is a Savior unless our biblical worldview includes a willingness to ask the larger questions.
"This article first appeared in the June 16, 2008 issue of Christianity Today.
Used by permission of Christianity Today International, Carol Stream, IL 60188."
Coming on the heels of the UNAIDS report in November 2007 that revised the estimates of those infected with HIV downward from 40 million to 33 million, one could conclude that HIV is no longer a humanitarian crisis.
Not so. As De Cock goes on to say, "AIDS still remains the leading infectious disease challenge in public health. It is an acute infection, but a chronic disease. It is for the very, very long haul. People are backing off, saying it is taking care of itself. It is not."
To me, the larger questions are not about numbers or categories — how many people are infected, or whether more homosexuals or heterosexuals are likely to become infected. The reasons I became an advocate for people with HIV six years ago are just as valid as they were then. Not much has changed.
I can think of several compelling reasons why the church of Jesus Christ must care about people with HIV and AIDS whether they're straight, gay, old, young, victim, victimizer, African, Asian, Indian, Latino, or Caucasian. The categories are irrelevant to our call to care.
The most important reason is for the church to care is that it is completely unexpected. When was the last time the church cared about a sexually transmitted disease? Historically, we haven't done a very good job of teaching healthy sex and sexuality, so it isn't surprising that we don't want to talk about HIV and AIDS.
You can't talk about HIV without talking about sex! Because it is a sexually transmitted virus, the stigma is profound. Internationally and in my Southern California backyard, people diagnosed with HIV or AIDS can face divorce, beatings, job loss, rejection, loss of friends, discrimination, and violence. I could fill pages with the tragic stories of men, women, and children who have endured the painful stigma associated with HIV.
Unlike malaria or tuberculosis (which can be cured with $20 worth of medication when caught early enough), HIV is incurable. It is ultimately a fatal disease, ravaging the immune system of the infected person, leaving them vulnerable to opportunistic infections that a normal immune system could deal with.
One piece of good news amid the bad is that HIV is treatable. In the United States and in other developed nations, where life-saving medications are readily available, an HIV positive individual can expect to live a relatively normal life. People in developing nations do not fare so well. Without access to these "wonder drugs," life expectancy after diagnosis can be three to five years.
When I was diagnosed with breast cancer several years ago, I asked my oncologist how I got cancer. Did I do something wrong? Was it genetics? Should I have eaten more broccoli? He told me he had no idea why I got cancer. HIV is different. We know how it is transmitted. That mystery was solved more than 20 years ago, and in the process, we also learned it is almost 100 percent preventable.
The toll HIV and AIDS exerts does not end with claiming the life of the infected person. Children whose parents die prematurely face a bleak future, easily becoming HIV statistics themselves, thus repeating a vicious cycle of infection and death.
If you knew there was an incurable but preventable and treatable disease that brought shame and stigma, created millions of orphans, decimated families, and jeopardized the hard-won development gains of dozens of the nations of our world, wouldn't you care?
If you're still not sure, reluctant to give your heart and your help to those with HIV and AIDS, take a look at Mark 1:40-42 (NIV). A leper, widely assumed to have secret, unconfessed sin, braved the crushing stigma and fear his illness created to find Jesus. So ashamed of his condition, he approached our Master on his knees, begging to be healed. Jesus could have turned his back on the man, shouted accusations at his sinful state, refused to even speak to him. Instead, the Bible says he was "filled with compassion." He reached out his hand, touched the man, and healed him.
This story never fails to instruct me, to move me. Jesus had the perfect opportunity to ask this man how he became ill, but he didn't. He just helped him. I don't think it's wild speculation to assume that the man's spiritual leprosy was healed that day as well. Jesus models for us how to approach people with the leprosy of our time — HIV and AIDS. As we care for their bodies, care for the orphans and vulnerable children left behind, care for the spiritual wounds that lie hidden deep in the soul, categories and numbers become people.
People Jesus loves. People Jesus died for. People who will never know there is a Savior unless our biblical worldview includes a willingness to ask the larger questions.
"This article first appeared in the June 16, 2008 issue of Christianity Today.
Used by permission of Christianity Today International, Carol Stream, IL 60188."
For Everything There Is A Time
For everything there is a season,
And a time for every matter under heaven:
A time to be born, and a time to die;
A time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
A time to kill, and a time to heal;
A time to break down, and a time to build up;
A time to weep, and a time to laugh;
A time to mourn, and a time to dance;
A time to throw away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
A time to embrace, And a time to refrain from embracing;
A time to seek, and a time to lose;
A time to keep, and a time to throw away;
A time to tear, and a time to sew;
A time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
A time to love, and a time to hate,
A time for war, and a time for peace.
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
And a time for every matter under heaven:
A time to be born, and a time to die;
A time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
A time to kill, and a time to heal;
A time to break down, and a time to build up;
A time to weep, and a time to laugh;
A time to mourn, and a time to dance;
A time to throw away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
A time to embrace, And a time to refrain from embracing;
A time to seek, and a time to lose;
A time to keep, and a time to throw away;
A time to tear, and a time to sew;
A time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
A time to love, and a time to hate,
A time for war, and a time for peace.
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
Friday, September 11, 2009
Monday, September 7, 2009
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