2104 MoJoe Film Festival Winners!

Congrats to the Slivas!  2-years in a row of winning entries!  Winners of the coveted "MoJoe" Award at the 4th annual MoJoe Film Festival.

2014 entries:

https://m.youtube.com/user/MoJoeFilmFestival1

The Nutrition Source - Harvard School of Public Health

Very good nutrition link:
http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource

Good Weight Loss Article

http://m.yahoo.com/w/ygo-frontpage/lp/story/us/443350/coke.bp%3B_ylt=AkDlYZAKP.VBnfA6kT8BTxOx.tw4%3B_ylu=X3oDMTF0YXM2MDdoBGNwb3MDMTYEY3NlYwNtb2JpbGUtdGQEaW50bAN1cwRwa2cDaWQtNDQzMzUwBHBvcwMxNgRzbGsDaW1hZ2U-?ref_w=frontdoors&view=today&.intl=US&.lang=en&.tsrc=yahoo

Sent by iPhone

Red Robin's Silly Marketing

We took the 3 boys and one of their friends to Red Robin a few days ago and the kids' drinks all arrived in these nice plastic cups.  It was very reassuring to see that Red Robin reminded us that they favored these earth friendly cups because these cups are made with "fewer carbon emissions"!   

Now don't get me wrong.  I like Red Robin and their food.  The waitress noticed the thirsty boys and she gladly asked if they'd like refills, to which they all replied with a resounding YES!  Instead of collecting the empty cups, she brought out the next batch of eco-friendly plastic cups! 

By the time they were done eating I counted eight empty plastic cups.  Eight!  I was afraid to ask for a to-go container because I knew I'd receive a big tub-o-styro-foam to add to the jumble-o-permanent-waste.  We tipped the waitress and left.  Our hunger satisfied. 



I'm not an earth-muffin.  I wear Nikes and I don't know anything about Tibet.  I throw my garbage in a Glad trash bag.  Yet somehow I felt a sense of guilt in leaving all that plastic behind. 

We had a garage sell the other day and an African man stopped by to ask if he could buy every single pair of our old shoes to bring back to the needy in Africa.  My wife let him have them all for free.  I thought that was very noble.  I thought about these cups.  Couldn't the needy re-use these cups too?  The cups will just end up in the garbage where they'll sit for 500 years.  

Why did these cups  have to be made in the first place?  Why do so many restaurants and convenience stores serve their items this way?   It's cheap and easy.  When our garage sell was over we collected the unsold items and I took two pickup loads to Goodwill.  I'd estimate that about a half a load consisted of plastic toys that were less than a few years old.  I thought back to my childhood when virtually everything was made of wood or metal.   I'd challenge anyone to visit a toy store and walk the aisles to check out all the plastic toys.  Now I'm not "down" on plastic.  I just think that it should only be allowed to be in items with a certain life-span or in life-saving equipment.  A cheap 3-foot long plastic water blaster gun that lasts half a summer shouldn't be allowed to be made from plastic (just a thought???).

It's just too bad that most of us don't challenge this way of thinking when making our purchases.  I honestly think most of us (including me) are too busy at times to stop and think about the consequences of our actions and our impact, both good and bad, upon everything around us.

Best Way to Get Defined Abs

"The best exercise to develop really defined abs is walking,
walking away from the kitchen".  Christine Johnson

I thought this really summed up one of my prior blogs very well!  I've also attached a link from Women's Health that seems to support this statement.  http://www.womenshealthmag.com/fitness/cardio-vs-strength-training-workouts

When I drive by and see a visibly overweight person struggling to plod away on a run, I really give them kudos for their effort.  Of course I don't mean to judge and I don't know their background, but if I was a bettin' man I'd guess that they're not putting the same effort into their portion control. 

For me, it's a daily battle with the pooch, or pudge or whatever you want to call it.  It will appear within the week if my diet gets sloppy.  And "the pooch" will quickly become it's own beast.  Did you know that losing 10% of your bodyweight lowers your disease risk by 50%? !!!  I went from 173 lbs to 153 lbs last year when I was on the 5 & 1 meal plan with Take Shape for Life (TSFL).  I had tried to lose weight before but I was not nearly as successful until I did the TSFL program.

I went to one of their free weeking trainings that is open to anyone.  The woman leading the discussion was a long-haul truck driver.  She seemed to be of average height/weight.  Then she told her weight loss story.  I don't recall her exact weight, but I think she was pushing 300 lbs..  A few doctors in private practice also identified themselves as we went around the room....sort of like, "Hi my name is Bob and I have an anger management problem".  Anyhow, the 2 or 3 doctors in the small group of about 20 people stated how the TSFL program was the only tried and true program that was trusted and had proven results.  I know you're hearing this second hand from me, but when I heard it directly from these doctors, it made me trust this program even more. 

About 4 years ago I had paid $400 to attend a nutrition training program through a gym.  I was really eager to learn and use the knowledge to really, finally get into "fightin' shape".  I attended weekly classes and received all sorts of handouts.  When it was all over I was a disappointed.  Although the information was good and the handouts and charts looked good, the program was severely lacking one key thing: it was too difficult and timely to adapt into my everyday life.  Adding calories, carbs, computing calories burned etc..  It was just too much.  It worked at first and then I slowly returned to my old ways.

On the flip-side, when I stumbled on TSFL I found success!  For those of you in my "Take Shape for Lifer" group, please know that you've made a good decision.  It can be tempting and easy at times to fall off program.  That's why it's so important to build a support system.  My support system was my wife.  We did the program together.  I was way less tempted to sneak junk food or to order the french fries instead of a salad when she was sitting there next to me.  This program really emphasises a host of strategies to overcome obesity.  It's not just about the Medifast meal replacements.  Anyone can buy it.  It's about the free support network from me (your Health Coach), from the huge wealth of knowledge in the TSFL support material, the phone support with doctor and nurse's info calls, the science-backed John Hopkins research etc. etc..  It goes on and on.

Anyhow, I'll quit my Sunday morning ramble.  Hope some of this helps!

Don't Eat Like a Goldfish
Joe
http://www.mojoefitness.com/

Why I Won't Buy Knock-Offs (anymore)!

I went to a training class at work last week regarding the huge increase in “Trademark, Counterfeiting and Piracy”.  In the past I didn’t think it was a big deal to buy a cheap knock-off because I didn’t feel like it was harming anyone; especially big corporations that already had a boat-load of $$.  After hearing the below facts, I now feel much differently.  The below facts were provided by Investigative Consultants®:

·        10% of all U.S. consumer spending is for counterfeit goods

·        Many drug dealers and gang members are focusing on selling counterfeit goods because it produces more $$ for their criminal activities and it’s less dangerous than the drug trade

·        $312 billion in the drug trade VERSUS $500 billion in selling bogus goods!

·        The majority of this $$ funds criminal/ gangster and terrorist activity

·        Counterfeiting has cost LA County $460 million is lost taxes and 106,000 lost (legitimate) jobs

·        Counterfeit goods are not isolated to CDs and DVDs.  Dish soap, shaving razors, shampoo, clothing, computer components, Viagra, diapers, ball bearings etc. are among the many counterfeited goods.   Pretty much anything!   And yes, I mistakenly bought P90X via the internet and found that it was a knock-off.

·        Major U.S. companies are now employing full-time employees to help protect their intellectual property and to prevent counterfeiting. 

·        Terrorists know that the U.S. economy is a soft-target and they will milk it for everything they can.

·        Counterfeit Spiderman baby blankets netted Hezbollah $100,000.

·        LA and Mexican gangs (MS13, Crips, Mexican Mafia, Florencia13 etc.) have all had huge ties in “controlling the strings” behind the store front.

·        China produces 80% of the counterfeit goods.

·        I purchased a P90x workout video from a discount website, thinking that it was used or in a damaged package.  It was $75 versus the $150 from the direct website.  When it arrived it was packaged nicely, however I found that the print quality in the booklet was faint and I determined that it was counterfeit.  I entered in the company website into a domain name search and found that the company domain holder was in China.

·        One elderly store owner balked after receiving multiple warnings to cease selling counterfeit CDs at her small “mom and pop shop”.  After a search warrant was issued, it was determined that she had $1,000,000 in liquid assets tied to the sales of her counterfeit goods.  Some stores have had actual duplication and packaging machines in the store and/or at a family member’s residence.

·        The majority of products are sold via the internet.  Mom and pop shops, flea markets and street vendors are also a big problem.  Items sold as “replicas” such as police badges are counterfeits.

·        Ebay, Craigslist and other websites that aren’t controlled by the actual company can sell knock-offs (i.e. Tide detergent) for a huge discount to vendors or consumers that want a good deal.

·        A police officer unknowingly bought a counterfeit lithium battery from a discount website.  The battery did not have proper venting and it exploded.  The officer’s handgun and clothing were burned.  Another man unknowingly bought counterfeit Gillette Fusion razors.  The blade was tweaked at it cut his face open from his upper jaw to his chin.  He sued Gillette but lost after the razor was found to be a knock-off.  Do you think a terrorist organization would mind if a successful American company was shut-down overnight?  (Think, "U.S. Economy = Soft Target).

·        When we visit New York City, Cancun or other places and buy those $5 Oakley Sunglasses or the $20 Gucci purse, ask yourself, “What gang is profiting from this?”  Remember, it’s all black-market.  That $$ can be funneled to a shady gangster or terrorist organization for drugs, weapons and the promotion of their cause.

·        Oregon has successfully prosecuted suspects under ORS 164.865/ 858 (pertaining to unlawful sound and labeling recording) and ORS 647.135 (Trademark Counterfeiting).

Hope this helps you re-think buying knock-off products.  It sure changed my mind!

Joe