Thursday, July 22, 2010

Kids who think outside the box!

It’s twilight, soccer season, my older son,
my eight year old is on the field, and he’s the
goalie. It’s a practice game in the evening.
The score is tied. The field is well lit, almost
glowing, against the chilly November sky. This
is what it is all about. I’m a soccer mom; he’s
a soccer kid. Oh my gosh . . . the ball is coming
to him. I’m so glad I pushed him to all
those practices. I know it wasn’t easy for him,
he wasn’t that athletic, but I thought no pain,
no gain.

“Morgen, you can do it honey, look alive,
the ball is coming right to you,” I yelled in a
voice filled with support and hope for both
him and me. Whew! He’s in position, ready
to get that ball. “What’s going on,” I thought
to myself. He’s looking at the sky, not the ball.
Maybe at eight years old he has his own strategy.
“Morgen, look at the ball . . . look at the
ball . . . look at the ball.” I yelled as I clapped
my hands, cheering him on. The ball was moving
down the field, right toward my son the
goalie. Morgen again looked up to the sky and
not at the ball. Maybe at the age of eight he was
spiritual and was praying to God for a win.
With one last kick from the other team, the ball
was coming directly at him. “Easy recovery,” I
thought to myself. Then to my horror, while
my eight year old was engrossed in something
celestial, the ball went right through his legs
and the other side had scored a goal.
“What were you doing?” I yelled from the
sidelines. With a gleam in his eye, he turned
and looked at me as he pointed to the sky.
“Look Mom, I think I spotted a double star.” I
wanted to cry. Not because we lost the game
and not because he missed the goal. I wanted
to cry because I was trying to make my
wonderful, bright, scientific child something
he was not and never could be. Now it was
time for him to feel good about what he was
about. From that day on, we didn’t look back;
we located programs and activities that utilized
the intellect, insights, talents, and wisdom.
We didn’t stop at go, didn’t push him to
be something he was not, and once we knew
we had a “kid who thought outside the box,”
our family hit the ground running.

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Traveling to Lebanon - Ecotourism

Traveling to Lebanon: Don't miss La Reserve, Afqa

CONCEPT. La Réserve, the premier ecotourism resort in the mountains of Lebanon, offers all nature-lovers and adventure-seekers the opportunity to live thrilling moments, performing unique outdoors activities and sports, in a green and friendly environment.

LOCATION. Located at Mnaitra, at the heights of the caza of Jbeil, the resort spreads over millions of sqm, full of apple and cherries trees gardens and ever-green juniper, pine and oak trees. The surroundings nestle archeological remains, fabulous grottos, numerous valleys and plateaus with breathtaking sceneries, and natural water springs.

Lebanon SUMMER CAMPS. Every summer since 1998, boys and girls of 6 till 15 years old, meet at La Réserve and join all together in a harmonious team to spend unforgettable summer vacations. During each session of 12 days, kids and teenagers perform, in teams and individually, unique creative activities and sports aimed at stimulating their minds and bodies.

Lebanon Hiking programs are available at La Réserve for beginners and experienced hikers aged 12 till 65 years old. A welcoming Nature, pure fresh air, and zero pollution!

Lebanon ROPES COURSE. The Ropes course is a series of 'bridges' constructed of treated wooden poles, stainless steel cables, and ropes. They are desi-gned to be fun, but also are one of our newest and most useful tools in outdoors experimental education. They are set in beautiful woods overlooking the Adonis Valley.

Lebanon CAMPING. Feeling the need for a night or two in the wilderness? La Réserve's camping site wel-comes you from May till October. Every tent is equipped with four beds, mattresses, pillows and lighting. W.C.'s and showers are individual prefabricated units.

www.travel.lebanonchoices.com

Sunday, July 11, 2010

Que viva España!



Ya son campeónes! Y lo merecen.

Puesto a parte el hecho que jugaron mejor que los demas, y que buscaron la victoria en todos sus encuentros, hay que decir que la victoria les queda mejor que a los demas, mucho mejor:

1- Porque son humildes
2- Porque se echan adelante para buscar cualquier ocasion y cualquier posibilidad
3- Porque saben celebrar y saben vivir la felicidad

Así que felicidades para el futbol Español, y para adelante en el futuro!

Appetite Suppression or Regulation Tricks

I've came across an interesting article about appetite suppression. Actually it goes with my view of eating healthy and well being, that's why I am reproducing its basic ideas here.

As a matter of fact, one doesn't need to suppress his or her appetite in the first place, all one has to to is to increase his or her metabolism: the rate at which the body uses food for fuel. Then being hungry is a good thing... as long as one is eating the right foods at the right time.

But let's say you want to curb your appetite at night.... that's the time most people
really lose it on a dietplan. Even on a plan that ASKS you to eat frequently, there are times where night-time cravings need to be put to sleep.

So use these tips to ease the urge to eat at night:

1. Protein First: "Rise and shine with protein." But what does this have to do with night-time cravings?

Everything.

Set the body up to use your own fat-stores for fuel by eating protein in the morning and your appetite FOR fatty foods goes way down during the day and the night. Protein is "thermogenic", meaning it helps increase your metabolism. It also acts as a natural appetite regulator.

Notice I said "regulator" and not "suppressant." That's because you only need to regulate your appetite, no matter how much bodyfat you desire to drop.

Cool, right?

2. Go For The Grapefruit

In a study at the Nutrition and Metabolic Research Center at the Scripps Clinic in San Diego, people who ate half a grapefruit with each meal lost an average of 3.6 pounds in three months. That doesn't sound like a lot (and it isn't) but that's ALL they changed.

It doesn't matter for our purposes... we want to lower insulin at night. Why? Insulin is not only dangerous for your health in excess but it also can cause a LOT of fat storage if secreted too much at night. Enter the lowly grapefruit.

A great snack, especially if you have a few bites of lean protein with it.

3. Smell This! This is a trick I didn't know about until recently.

Smelling food can trick your brain into thinking you've eaten.

A recent study found that those who inhaled peppermint in scent form every 2 hours at (get this) 2700 calories LESS per week than they normally did.

Let me put that in perspective: That's a fat loss of more than half a pound a week...
from sniffing peppermint! Vanilla also works. You can keep vanilla-scented drops or even candles around the office and take a wiff every few hours.

How easy is that?