Sisters, Mandi and Jenni, are excited to share with you an on going journey of a health filled life! On a quest for truth wherever it may be found is becoming a voyage where we make discoveries of treasures that last a lifetime. We believe keys of health in our bodies and minds should be free, we share them with you here. Come discover with us!
Energy and Attitude. Body and Mind!
With Sincerest Love,
Mandi H. and Jenni B.
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
the flower-a parable
This is one of my favorite ideas my sister told about a flower.
Once upon a time there was a newly sprouted flower. It was young and tender and bought by a gardener to place in his garden. The gardener carefully transplanted the flower and gave it rich soil and plenty of sunshine. He fed the beautiful sprout attentively everyday with water. The flower grew as it was meant to; its shade of color unique, it's roots strong in the ground. As it grew older it began to show signs of strain, its color began to be dull and it could not hold up its own head in the prime of its life.
"What is wrong with my flower?" The gardener asked in confusion.
The flower heard this and wanted to please its master and tried to stand up straight, but could not. With all its might it tried to surpass its tiny chemistry and be the flower it was meant to be. But it was too late. It could only be the best it was given. For you see, unknown to the gardener, he was feeding the flower with water that had other things present in it.
The flower, trying its best,
had become
what it was fed.
-Jenni
Once upon a time there was a newly sprouted flower. It was young and tender and bought by a gardener to place in his garden. The gardener carefully transplanted the flower and gave it rich soil and plenty of sunshine. He fed the beautiful sprout attentively everyday with water. The flower grew as it was meant to; its shade of color unique, it's roots strong in the ground. As it grew older it began to show signs of strain, its color began to be dull and it could not hold up its own head in the prime of its life.
"What is wrong with my flower?" The gardener asked in confusion.
The flower heard this and wanted to please its master and tried to stand up straight, but could not. With all its might it tried to surpass its tiny chemistry and be the flower it was meant to be. But it was too late. It could only be the best it was given. For you see, unknown to the gardener, he was feeding the flower with water that had other things present in it.
The flower, trying its best,
had become
what it was fed.
-Jenni
Saturday, August 28, 2010
tell a man-a parable
Tell a man off the street that 7th Day Adventists and Mormons don't smoke and drink and he gets offended, laughs or says "That's nice for them!"
Tell a man who's interested in religion the same thing, and he gives it serious thought, ask more questions or says "When can I get baptized?"
Tell a man off the street that almost all of the food he's eating is slowing killing him by cancer and disease and gets offended, laughs or says "That's ridiculous, everyone's eating it!"
Tell a man who is interested in knowing the truth about food...
and he gives it serious thought, ask more questions or says
"What's the truth and when can I start?"
(No offense to men :)
-Jenni
Tell a man who's interested in religion the same thing, and he gives it serious thought, ask more questions or says "When can I get baptized?"
Tell a man off the street that almost all of the food he's eating is slowing killing him by cancer and disease and gets offended, laughs or says "That's ridiculous, everyone's eating it!"
Tell a man who is interested in knowing the truth about food...
and he gives it serious thought, ask more questions or says
"What's the truth and when can I start?"
(No offense to men :)
-Jenni
Friday, August 27, 2010
additives-a parable
She had called me again. I enjoyed talking with her. Being only 13 months apart, we had always had a speical bond. Finding the right words were never an issue. We could just talk, and the other would totally understand.
"...Yeah, I've decided to start eating healthy again, you know just like I did two years ago when Charlotte was around 8 months old." I said proudly. This was an exciting commitment for me to make to myself. Anne was almost 8 months now and I wanted to repeat my success.
"Ohhhh Jenni, that's great! How are you going to do it, how did you do it last time?"
"Well, I did my 10 Minute trainer a couple times a day and ate really healthy, and yeah, I am so excited! I've got my stair stepper and can jump on that anytime. You know it all adds up. I really think I'm ready. 8 months old might be the magic number for me!"
"That's cool Jenni!"
"Yeah!"
"What did you eat?"
"Well, I usually had a bowl of Kashi cereal with soymilk for breakfast, oh, or pro biotic yogurt with 2 pieces of whole wheat toast. Then, let's see, I ate almonds for snack. You can't have a too much, something like 28 or so. I just grab a handful cuz that's about 28..." My voice trailed off trying to think of what else. It seemed like I ate the same food over and over, but I couldn't put my mind on what it was again...
"Jenni, did you say soymilk?" Her voice interrupted my thoughts.
"Yeah, why?"
"It has MSG in it." She said in a flat tone.
This was not the first time Mandi had mention MSG in passing. She sounded almost like a scared little girl, worried that it was going to blow up the partaker. It was a tiny bit wearing on me. I wanted to challenge her knowledge.
"Mandi, soymilk has tons of good stuff in it, all that omega stuff. The box says it's heart healthy." I defended, "Even if they did put a little MSG it, it's ok, it's not going to hurt me." I was hoping she would be satisfied with my explanation. What is she trying to do, take away the good I had accomplished 2 years ago? Who cares about MSG?
"Jenni..." she said sort of hesitantly, trying to explain.
I was willing to hear, "Yeah?" I said.
"Do you know what MSG is?"
"No."
"It's a chemical that people put in food to make it taste good, to make you want more. It's called monosodium glutamate. And it can control you, sort of."
I blurted out loud, "Sooooo they put stuff in my food to make it taste good. What is wrong with that?" They should want me to want their food, it's healthy!
"Jenni think about this. If I were to take all of the ingredients of your soymilk and put them into individual glasses, put them all in front of you, and tell you to drink them, what would you say?"
My mind clicked. This was an easy answer. I pictured all the different colored liquids, labeled chemicals, additives, preservatives, sugar THAT DID NOT NEED to be in plain soymilk. Why? Why did they put in that extra stuff?
She echoed my thoughts and said, "No, I don't want all that stuff, just give me the actual soymilk!" I nodded in silent agreement, understanding now.
"Oh, Jenni, I'm learning so much. There are people who put stuff in our foods to make us feel good to make us want more. And what I've been reading just makes me so sad..." She was quiet for moment and I sat down and the table to let some of this soak in.
"And they put it under different names so you can't always find it! MSG is also carageean, spices, sometimes it is natural flavoring..." As she recited the names I stood up and grabbed the soymilk to read down the label...there is was! Carageean, crazy!
"If you want I can send you the link of all the different names?"
"Sure, yeah, I'd like to see it." I was in a slight daze, I felt a little used. Like someone had given me something against my will and they were OK with it.
"Hey Jenni, I've got to go, the boys need me." The boys voices were louder now, possibly clinging on her legs. "I want to tell you more if you want to hear it. Can I call you back later? Great! Love you Jenni."
"Love you too, bye."
I sat back down at the table, and like a programmed machine, poured over 12 ingredients into my bowl of cereal.
-Jenni
Hey, you can search the web and find tons about MSG. I have included links that might be helpful. These links are a "tasty" sampling.
Names and physical symptoms of use. (I do NOT endorse the book at the end of the site)
http://www.carbohydrateaddicts.com/msg.html
Dangers and the "Personal Responsibility in Food Consumption Act" (Logical positives to this, but it means we must be active in knowing what ingredients are)
http://www.advancedhealthplan.com/msg.html
"...Yeah, I've decided to start eating healthy again, you know just like I did two years ago when Charlotte was around 8 months old." I said proudly. This was an exciting commitment for me to make to myself. Anne was almost 8 months now and I wanted to repeat my success.
"Ohhhh Jenni, that's great! How are you going to do it, how did you do it last time?"
"Well, I did my 10 Minute trainer a couple times a day and ate really healthy, and yeah, I am so excited! I've got my stair stepper and can jump on that anytime. You know it all adds up. I really think I'm ready. 8 months old might be the magic number for me!"
"That's cool Jenni!"
"Yeah!"
"What did you eat?"
"Well, I usually had a bowl of Kashi cereal with soymilk for breakfast, oh, or pro biotic yogurt with 2 pieces of whole wheat toast. Then, let's see, I ate almonds for snack. You can't have a too much, something like 28 or so. I just grab a handful cuz that's about 28..." My voice trailed off trying to think of what else. It seemed like I ate the same food over and over, but I couldn't put my mind on what it was again...
"Jenni, did you say soymilk?" Her voice interrupted my thoughts.
"Yeah, why?"
"It has MSG in it." She said in a flat tone.
This was not the first time Mandi had mention MSG in passing. She sounded almost like a scared little girl, worried that it was going to blow up the partaker. It was a tiny bit wearing on me. I wanted to challenge her knowledge.
"Mandi, soymilk has tons of good stuff in it, all that omega stuff. The box says it's heart healthy." I defended, "Even if they did put a little MSG it, it's ok, it's not going to hurt me." I was hoping she would be satisfied with my explanation. What is she trying to do, take away the good I had accomplished 2 years ago? Who cares about MSG?
"Jenni..." she said sort of hesitantly, trying to explain.
I was willing to hear, "Yeah?" I said.
"Do you know what MSG is?"
"No."
"It's a chemical that people put in food to make it taste good, to make you want more. It's called monosodium glutamate. And it can control you, sort of."
I blurted out loud, "Sooooo they put stuff in my food to make it taste good. What is wrong with that?" They should want me to want their food, it's healthy!
"Jenni think about this. If I were to take all of the ingredients of your soymilk and put them into individual glasses, put them all in front of you, and tell you to drink them, what would you say?"
My mind clicked. This was an easy answer. I pictured all the different colored liquids, labeled chemicals, additives, preservatives, sugar THAT DID NOT NEED to be in plain soymilk. Why? Why did they put in that extra stuff?
She echoed my thoughts and said, "No, I don't want all that stuff, just give me the actual soymilk!" I nodded in silent agreement, understanding now.
"Oh, Jenni, I'm learning so much. There are people who put stuff in our foods to make us feel good to make us want more. And what I've been reading just makes me so sad..." She was quiet for moment and I sat down and the table to let some of this soak in.
"And they put it under different names so you can't always find it! MSG is also carageean, spices, sometimes it is natural flavoring..." As she recited the names I stood up and grabbed the soymilk to read down the label...there is was! Carageean, crazy!
"If you want I can send you the link of all the different names?"
"Sure, yeah, I'd like to see it." I was in a slight daze, I felt a little used. Like someone had given me something against my will and they were OK with it.
"Hey Jenni, I've got to go, the boys need me." The boys voices were louder now, possibly clinging on her legs. "I want to tell you more if you want to hear it. Can I call you back later? Great! Love you Jenni."
"Love you too, bye."
I sat back down at the table, and like a programmed machine, poured over 12 ingredients into my bowl of cereal.
-Jenni
Hey, you can search the web and find tons about MSG. I have included links that might be helpful. These links are a "tasty" sampling.
Names and physical symptoms of use. (I do NOT endorse the book at the end of the site)
http://www.carbohydrateaddicts.com/msg.html
Dangers and the "Personal Responsibility in Food Consumption Act" (Logical positives to this, but it means we must be active in knowing what ingredients are)
http://www.advancedhealthplan.com/msg.html
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