by patbarone
It’s common knowledge being a couch potato is not healthy.
But, even if you exercise regularly, your job may be forcing you into couch potato condition and endangering your health.
Today’s computer, once merely convenient, is now essential to most jobs, and has absorbed a lot of other tasks that used to require running around on two feet: scanning, printing, emailing, faxing, interoffice delivery….
Sitting now dominates our work days and the ramifications are approaching the danger zone, according to new research at Harvard University.
Yes, sitting is the new smoking.
Computer use has tied us to seated position, and many of us don’t move for hours. Even if you exercise regularly, but sit the rest of the day, you are described as a sedentary individual. The danger zone starts at sitting 8 hours a day.
What’s the effect of this phenomenon on our bodies? Research has linked excessive sitting to obesity, diabetes, some cancers, heart disease and higher death rates.
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by patbarone
It may be hard to believe, but the push for body diversity in media’s portrayal of women started over twenty years ago.
In the 1990s, plus size beauty Emme became the first model to earn a supermodel salary at a size 16 or 18. Despite two decades, change seemed to be crawling slowly until Australian actress Rebel Wilson lit up the screen in the Pitch Perfect movies.
Advertising has embraced race and sexual identity more easily than age or size. However, women of varying sizes and shapes are slowly creeping into advertising, the runway, and even movies.
I was eagerly awaiting the release of “Pitch Perfect 2”, to see the irrepressible actress who gravitates towards playing women with high self-esteem and a wicked sense of humor.
I love her. I love her character’s insistence: “I’m the hot one.”
And, she IS most definitely the the hot one.
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by patbarone
I witnessed violence at Starbucks last week.
Fists didn’t fly. No weapons were present. No blood.
But violence nevertheless.
When I arrived, I heard a terrible screaming and crying. A little girl – I would estimate her to be between two and three years old – was in a full-blown meltdown. If you’ve ever been around a child, you’ve heard that mix of scream and sob that sounds bigger than any adult can make.
The scene went on for over five minutes, but here’s part of what I saw:
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by patbarone
As I celebrate my 15th anniversary of sustaining a 92-pound weight loss, I feel unimaginable sweetness in my life.
My journey to my own sweet spot began as a tiny girl when my grandmother and I would sneak candy as a secret.
I couldn’t admit to my mother I had developed a taste for candy, cookies, cake, pie, brownies – the list was endless – because my grandmother was diabetic and was not supposed to be eating sugary things!
Not only did I get the message that sweet things weren’t good for you, it had to be hidden. It was shameful!
As I developed a serious sugar addiction, I felt an outright fear around sweet foods – I craved them and I loathed them – quite a double message – and I hated myself for loving sweet things so much.
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by patbarone
As he sat across from me in my office, I could see the energy swirling around his head. (I am also an energy healer.)
My client was in a virtual tornado of thought patterns wreaking havoc on his life. As it pressed upon him, the mental rollercoaster of overthinking, worry and anxiety was obvious.
Today, we live lives that are non-stop continuous pressure and stress for many people, and most of my clients. They are overworked, overscheduled, overbusy, overtired. The result is not just diminished enjoyment of life, but diminished intelligence, cognitive ability and resilience.
Why do we live this way?
To be blunt, we’re looking for validation, security and a feeling of adequacy. And, sadly, running around to please others (whether that’s the boss, the spouse, the parents, the family, the friends who work just as hard) will NEVER give us those things.
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