Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Inflammatory Breast Cancer and The Pink Ribbon Challenge

I know this is kind of late but...
pink ribbon

October is breast cancer awareness month. As a concerned woman, I just had my mammogram two weeks ago and I praise God that the results show no notable issues for concern. I have also written a hub "What is Inflammatory Breast Cancer?" in support of the Breast Cancer Awareness Month.  Please read this as it is about a type of breast cancer that is not primarily diagnosed by mammogram nor breast self-examination. There are no lumps unlike most breast cancer cases. So, know about the signs and symptoms of this type of breast cancer.

I am also supporting the pink ribbon challenge. Just click the pink ribbon to help one woman save life by getting free mammogram. If you may join with me and pass the pink ribbon challenge. These links are ONLY for "Pink Ribbon Challenge" participants, any links not related to the Pink Ribbon Challenge will be deleted. Grab the code at Things We Share and post it in your blog entry. Please post only the Pink Ribbon Challenge actual post link here and help The Breast Cancer Site and National Breast Cancer Foundation Inc. by spreading the Pink Ribbon Challenge.

Sunday, October 17, 2010

I Received The Versatile Blogger Award

This award was given to me by Mommy Chris of The Mommy Journey, Reese of Random Thoughts and Krizza of Life's Tips and Tricks. Thank you very much.  What does being a versatile blogger mean?  I guess it means being able to blog about a variety of topics. I do write about a variety of topics but I try to keep them related to my being a stay at home mom. I've made posts about baby and child care, parenting, housekeeping tips, schooling, working at home and a lot more.

Now, I pass this award to the following bloggers.  Hope you can visit their blogs too.

I Love Hate America - Bing loves to exhaustive research when she writes her posts.  They're really informative and covers a wide variety of topics from fashion and hairstyle to coffee (Starbucks) history; vividly shares about her life in America and now her life as a balikbayan and more.

Xleon Tips - Aside from earning online tips, blogger Noel also discusses about SEO and some tips about blogging like the most recent one about how to put Google Adsense ads within your blog post.

Mizpah - Blogger Pong is so good at communicating his thoughts be it in English or in our native tongue, Filipino.  Love, Life, Work, God are just some of the themes in his blog.

One Proud Momma - Is just a 2 and a half month old blog but Momma Eihdra is already displaying so much verstaility in blogging, topics cover from family matters, parenting, health facts and earning online.

Georyl - Gee is one happy blogger as she achieves a high Alexa ranking in just 6 months.  Surely one of the reasons is attributed to her superb ability to blog with all her heart about many things she finds interesting. One of which I find touching is the Call to All UP Alumni: Honor and Excellence.

Certified Foodies - Just dropping by Certified Foodies makes my mouth water. Mhel extends her versatility in blogging by creating this fairly new food blog.  I am happy to get updates and tips on where I can eat good food in the Philippines.  She even highlights promos offered in various food establishments.  Good savings and good food - I love it.


Josie's Files - This is one blog I often visit to read on posts related to what's going on in the Philippine and blogging community. Read on her posts about the Children of Poverty, Fashionable Bags and the Pink Ribbon Challenge...and you'll see that she's one good writer.

For those I have passed on this award, here's what you should do next:
- Thank and link back to the person who gave you the award.
- Share 7 THINGS ABOUT YOURSELF
- PASS Along to 15 Bloggers who you recently discovered and think are fabulous. (I've passed the award only to 7 bloggers .... I like the number 7...he he)
- Contact the bloggers you chose and let them know about the award.

Now about the 7 Things About Myself
1. My mom just got out of the hospital but she's still not too well. Please pray for health too.

2. My sister is studying Voice in UP Diliman. She has an upcoming recital L' Amico Fritz on October 29, 2010. I can't come because I'm overseas, if you can, you're welcome, it's free admission.

3. I'm busy lately doing freelance jobs online, thanks to Freelancer dot com.  Join now if you want to do some freelance work too.

Freelance Jobs

4. I like joining contests in the blogosphere especially those that requires participants to write interesting posts. I won the latest I joined. Read my post about I *Heart* My Favorite Foods in the Philippines.

5.  Thanks to So Far So Good for hosting the contest I mentioned in number 4 that I won a 30-day Adgitize gift card. I guess I have a 30-day trial advertising at Adgitize. I'm just waiting for my schedule to be less busy.

6.  Do you know that I earn the most from Google Adsense through HubPages? I'll be making a blog post about it soon.

7.  There's another really new Google Adsense revenue-sharing site, similar to You Say Too, where I recently joined. It is called Best Reviewer. Here you create a review page of tops like Top 5 Women Health Issues or Top 3 Money Making Ideas and you can create back links to your articles.  It is another way of driving traffic to your blog and for every page you create you get to display Google Adsense ads with your publisher ID, so you earn every time someone clicks on ads displayed. 

So, that's it for this post. Hope you visit the blogs I linked to.

Disclosure: The links for HubPages, Freelancer and Best Reviewer are my referral links.  Hope you can join with me in these make money online sites.

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Do You Love Your Children Enough to Teach Them Healthy Eating Habits?

I did not receive a review copy of this book but I've read a book by Dr. Don Colbert before and I'm sure this is another information-packed book. Let's take a sneak peak at the first chapter of his new book Eat This and Live! For Kids.  Read the first chapter below and learn about:

  • the alarming statistics about children's health like "Cancer remains the leading cause of death by disease in children" and more.
  • the top 3 tips for parents to help their kids live healthy.
  • understanding child obesity
  • the 5 questions you need to ask your pediatrician about your child's weight.
  • the importance of making the right food choices.

If we love our children, we need to start early in developing in them healthy habits which they will treasure for the rest of their lives. Sometimes I'm guilty in being lax about this.  But I'm trying my best in getting them to eat and live healthy.  How about you mom or dad?


It is time for a FIRST Wild Card Tour book review! If you wish to join the FIRST blog alliance, just click the button. We are a group of reviewers who tour Christian books. A Wild Card post includes a brief bio of the author and a full chapter from each book toured. The reason it is called a FIRST Wild Card Tour is that you never know if the book will be fiction, non~fiction, for young, or for old...or for somewhere in between! Enjoy your free peek into the book!

You never know when I might play a wild card on you!


Today's Wild Card author is:


and the book:

Siloam; 1 edition (September 7, 2010)
***Special thanks to Anna Coelho Silva | Publicity Coordinator, Book Group | Strang Communications for sending me a review copy.***

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:


Don Colbert, MD, is board-certified in family practice and anti-aging medicine and has received extensive training in nutritional and preventative medicine. He is the author of numerous books, including two New York Times best sellers, Dr. Colbert’s “I Can Do This” Diet and The Seven Pillars of Health.

Joseph A. Cannizzaro, MD, has practiced pediatric medicine for thirty years with specialties in developmental pediatrics, nutrition, and preventive medicine. He is the founder and managing pediatrician for the Pediatricians Care Unit in Longwood, Florida.

Visit the author's website.

Here's a video about the adult version, Eat This and Live!:



Product Details:

List Price: $17.99
Paperback: 192 pages
Publisher: Siloam; 1 edition (September 7, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1616381388
ISBN-13: 978-1616381387

AND NOW...THE FIRST CHAPTER:


EATING HABITS OF

THE NEXT GENERATION


Eating Habits and Our Future



How Has an entire generation of hefty eaters changed the face of the world? By starting young. And once again, this unflattering trend originated in America. In the United States, 17.1 percent of our children and adolescents―that's 2.5 million youth―are now reported to be either overweight or obese.


As a result of childhood obesity, we are seeing a dramatic rise in type 2 diabetes throughout the country. And because of the connection obesity has with hypertension, hypercholesterolemia (high cholesterol), and heart disease, experts are predicting a dramatic rise in heart disease as our children become adults. The Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC) reports that overweight teens stand a 70 percent chance of becoming overweight adults, and that is increased to 80 percent

if at least one parent is overweight or obese. Because of that, heart disease and type 2 diabetes are expected to begin at a much earlier age in those who fail to beat the odds.2 Overall, this is the first generation of children that is not expected to live as long as their parents, and they will be more likely to suffer from disease and illness.


If you do not take charge of your food choices for yourself, at least do it for your children. Children follow by example, by mirroring the behavior of their parents. Don't tell them to make healthy eating choices without doing it yourself. I'm sure most of you love your children and are good parents. But ask yourself: Do you love your children enough to make the necessary lifestyle changes? Do you love them enough to educate them on what foods to eat and what foods to avoid? Do you love them enough to keep junk food out of your house and instead make healthy food more available? Do you love them enough to exercise regularly and lead by example?


If you answered yes to those questions, it is important that you not only take action right now but also that you make changes for them that last a lifetime.


But let me be honest; this is not an easy fight when it involves your children's lives. As the little boxes of information on this page illustrate, the culture in which your children are growing up is saturated with junk food that is void of nutrition but high in toxic fats, sugars, highly processed carbohydrates, and food additives. Consuming these foods has become part of childhood.


You can do it, but you must be prepared to stand strong! That's why I am ecstatic that you have picked up this book. I believe you now hold a key to truly changing your life and your children's lives.




Stand Strong!

If you're planning on taking a stand against this garbage-in, garbage-out culture, expect some opposition from every front. During the course of a year, the typical American child will watch more than thirty thousand television commercials, with many of these advertisements pitching fast-food or junk food as delicious “must-eats.” For years, fast food franchises have enticed children into their restaurants with kids' meal toys, promotional giveaways, and elaborate playgrounds. It has obviously worked for McDonald's: about 90 percent of American children between the ages of three and nine set foot in one each month.


It's All Part of the Plan

Fast-food establishments spend billions of dollars on research and marketing. They know exactly what they are doing and how to push your child's hot button. They understand the powerful impact certain foods can have. That is why comfort foods often do more than just fill the stomach; they bring about memories of the fair, playgrounds, toys, backyard birthday bashes, Fourth of July When your kids can't visit the Golden parties, childhood friends . . . the list goes on. Advertisers have keyed into this and products―most of which are brought learned to use the sight of food to stimulate the same fond childhood memories.


School Cafeteria or Fast Food Franchise?

When your kids can't visit the Golden Arches, it comes to them. Fast-food products―most of which are brought in by franchises―are sold in about 30 percent of public high school cafeterias and many elementary cafeterias.



An Alarming Trend in Children's Health



By teaching your children healthy eating habits, you can keep them at a healthy weight. Also, the eating habits your children pick up when they are young will help them maintain a healthy lifestyle when they are adults. The challenges we face are imposing. The state of children's health today is, according to recent measures, at its most dire. The rise in rates of complex, chronic childhood disorders has been well profiled. Here are some concrete examples of the current state of children's health:


Cancer remains the leading cause of death by disease in children.5

Obesity is epidemic.

Fifty percent of children are overweight.6

Diabetes now affects 1 in every 500 children. Of those children newly diagnosed with diabetes, the percentage with type 2 (“adult-onset”) has risen from less than 5 percent to nearly 50 percent in a ten-year period.

Asthma is the most prevalent chronic disease affecting American children, leading to 15 million missed days of school per year. Since 1980, the percentage of children with asthma has almost tripled.

Approximately 1 in 25 American children now suffer from food allergies.

From 1997 to 2007, the prevalence of reported food allergy increased 18 percent among children under the age of eighteen years.

One in 6 children is diagnosed with a significant neurodevelopmental disability, including 1 in 12 with ADHD. Autism affects 1 in 150 U.S. children, an extraordinary rise in prevalence.

Babies in one study were noted, at birth, to have an average of 200 industrial chemicals and pollutants present in their umbilical cord blood.


These statistics are sobering indeed, and perhaps the most sobering is the rise in childhood obesity. Why? Obesity plays a part in several other chronic illnesses that are also on the rise among children. And there's an unwelcome side effect―more kids are being put on prescription medications for obesity-related chronic diseases. Across the board, we are witnessing increases in prescriptions for children with high blood pressure, high cholesterol, type 2 diabetes, depression, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, and asthma. There must be a better way.


Top Three Tips for Parents


1. Lead by example. Your child will have an extremely difficult time making healthy eating choices and exercising

regularly if you don't consistently show him or her how.

2. Take baby steps that lead to lasting changes. If your child is overweight, avoid diets that promise instant

3. Take your time as you replace your child's old habits with healthy ones. This goes hand in hand with tip #2.


You're in this for the long haul. It takes time to adapt to a new lifestyle. Be patient as he or she adjusts to the new eating habits and activities that you will be introducing.


What we need now is an absolute paradigm shift. No longer are the “one drug, one disease” solutions of the past appropriate. These are times that demand out-of-the-box thinking. That's where this book can help. If your child is overweight or you want to lower his or her risk of becoming overweight down the road, there are many positive, natural ways you can address the situation. In this book, Dr. Cannizzaro and I provide you with information and ideas to help you help your child.



Understanding Childhood Obesity


Now that we've shared the bad news about the childhood obesity epidemic in the United States, let's make sure you really understand the terms overweight and obese. Many people have a general sense as to how these words are different, yet in recent years the delineation has become clearer. Various health organizations, including the CDC and the National Institutes

of Health (NIH), now officially define these terms using the body mass index (BMI), which factors in a person's weight relative to height. Most of these organizations define an overweight adult (twenty years of age and older) as having a BMI between 25 and 29.9, while an obese adult is anyone who has a BMI of 30 or higher.12 For children and teens, BMI is measured differently, allowing for the normal variations in body composition between boys and girls and at various ages.

For ages two to nineteen, the BMI (or BMI-for-age) is pinpointed on a growth chart to determine the corresponding age- and sex-specific percentile.


· Overweight is defined as a BMI at or above the 85th percentile and lower than the 95th percentile.

· Obesity is defined as a BMI at or above the 95th percentile for children of the same age and sex.


BMI is the most widely accepted method used to determine body fat in children and adults because it's easy to measure a person's height and weight. However, while BMI is an acceptable screening tool for initial assessment of body composition, please remember that it is not a direct measure of body fatness. There are other factors that can affect body composition, and your child's doctor can discuss these with you.

If you think your child may be overweight, start by talking to his or her pediatrician. (See the box on the next page for some suggested questions to ask your child's doctor.) After determining your child's BMI and targeting a healthy weight range for your child, make a plan together as a family. It's a good idea to include any regular caregivers in this plan as well. Set a goal for the whole family to get lots of exercise and eat a healthy, well-balanced diet. Keep reading for more ways to help your

family!


Wondering About Your Child's Weight?


Five Questions to Ask Your Pediatrician


I understand that you probably don't want to talk about the possibility that your child may not be at a healthy weight. To help make this as painless as possible, I recommend asking your doctor the following questions to get the conversation started.


1. What is a healthy weight for my child's height?

Your doctor will use a growth chart to show you how your child is growing and give you a healthy weight range for your child. The doctor may also tell you your child's body mass index (BMI). The BMI uses a person's height and weight to determine the amount of body fat.

2. Is my child's weight putting him or her at risk for any illnesses?

Based on your family history and other factors, your doctor can help you to determine what health risks your child may be facing. Overweight, inactive children with a family history of type 2 diabetes have an increased risk of being diagnosed with the disease. High blood pressure can also occur in overweight children.

3. How much exercise does my child need?

The National Association for Sport and Physical Education recommends at least one hour of exercise a day. Your doctor will be able to suggest specific ways to help your child, such as walking the dog, playing catch instead of video games, and other forms of activity.

4. Does my child need to go on a diet?

Although an overweight child's eating habits will probably need to change, I don't advise using the word diet because it focuses on short-term eating habits that are rarely sustainable for long-term health. Children (and adults) who become chronic dieters are setting themselves up for problems with their metabolism later in life. A healthier approach is to put your whole family on the path to a healthy lifestyle with gradual but permanent changes. The recommendations in this book are a great place to start.

5. How do I talk about weight without hurting my child's feelings?

Your child might be sensitive about his or her weight, especially if he or she is getting teased. Above all, the message must never be, “You're fat,” or “You need to lose weight.” Instead, it should be, “Our family needs to make better choices about eating and being more active so that we all can be healthy.”


Why Food Choices Matter


All men are created equal, but all foods are not! In fact, some food should not be labeled “food” but rather “consumable product” or “edible, but void of nourishment.” Living foods―fruits, vegetables, grains, seeds, and nuts―exist in a raw or close-to-raw state and are beautifully packaged in divinely created wrappers called skins and peels. Living foods look robust, healthy, and alive. They have not been bleached, refined or chemically enhanced and preserved. Living foods are plucked, harvested squeezed―not processed, packaged, and put on a shelf.

Dead foods are the opposite. They have been altered in every imaginable way to make them last as long as possible and be as addictive as possible. That usually means the manufacturer adds considerable amounts of sugar and man-made fats that involve taking various oils and heating them to high temperatures so that the nutrients die and become reborn as a deadly, sludgy substance that is toxic to our bodies.

Life breeds life. Death breeds death. When your child eats living foods the enzymes in their pristine state interact with his or her digestive enzymes. The other natural ingredients God put in them―vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients, antioxidants and more―flow into your child's system in their natural state. These living foods were created to cause your child's digestive system, bloodstream, and organs to function at optimum capacity.

Dead food hit your child's body like a foreign intruder. Chemicals, including preservatives, food additives, and bleach agents place a strain on the liver. Toxic man-made fats begin to form in your child's cell-membranes; they become stored as fat in your child's body and form plaque in his or her arteries. Your child's body does its best to harvest the tiny traces of good from these deadly foods, but in the end he or she is undernourished and overweight.

If you want your child to be a healthy, energetic person rather than someone bouncing between all-you-can-eat buffets and fast-food restaurants, take his or her eating habits seriously. Now is the time to help your son or daughter make the change to living foods.


Isn't it Really Just Genetics?

For every obese person, there is a story behind the excessive weight gain. Growing up, I would often hear it said of an obese person that she was just born fat, or he takes after his daddy. There s some truth in both of those. Genetics count when it comes to obesity. In 1988, the New England Journal of Medicine published a Danish study that observed five hundred forty

people who had been adopted during infancy. The research found that adopted individuals had a much greater tendency to end up in the weight class of their biological parents rather than their adopted parents. Separate studies have proven that twins who were raised apart also reveal that genes have a strong influence on gaining weight or becoming overweight. There is a significant genetic predisposition to gaining weight. Still, that does not fully explain the epidemic of obesity seen in the United States over the past thirty years. Although an individual may have a genetic predisposition to become obese, environment plays a major role as well. I like the way author, speaker, and noted women s physician Pamela Peeke said it: Genetics may load the gun, but environment pulls the trigger. Many patients I see come into my office thinking they have inherited their fat genes, and therefore there is nothing they can do about it. After investigating a little, I usually find that they simply inherited their parents propensity for bad choices of foods, large portion sizes, and poor eating habits. If your child is over weight, he or she may have an increased number of fat cells, which means your child will have a tendency to gain weight if you choose to provide the wrong types of foods, large portion sizes, and allow him or her to be inactive. But you should also realize that most people can over ride their genetic makeup for obesity by making the correct dietary and

lifestyle choices. Unfortunately, many parents forget that to make these healthy choices, it helps to surround a child with a

healthy environment.

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Join Nicquee's Giveaway and Win a Free Trend Micro Internet Security 2010

Another giveaway....Hooray!


Another easy to join giveaway by Nicquee.  It is to celebrate God's blessings on her upcoming birthday on October 22.  Advance Happy Birthday, Nicquee!  

Would you like to win one (1) original license of Trend Micro Internet Security 2010? It can be used for three (3) computers for a year, which costs $17.95 at Amazon). Join her giveaway.

It is open to all bloggers. Just do some simple tasks to earn raffle entries.  Tasks include creating a blog post like this about the giveaway, following her blog through Google Friend Connect and Networked Blogs, and adding her blog to your blogroll.



Hurry! Giveaway ends on October 22, 2010.  Check out Nicquee's giveaway post now.

Sunday, October 10, 2010

Join Written By Mys Giveaway and Win a Free Domain

Another contest to join....




Written By Mys is inviting everyone to join her giveaway where she will award one free domain name to the contest winner. The mechanics are very simple which include putting the contest button on your blog's sidebar, making a blog post like this about the contest where you mention why you want to have your own domain. Then submit your blog post link.  You can also get additional points for subscribing to her feeds or following her through Google Friend Connect.  To view the contest page, go to Written by Mys Domain Giveaway.

As for my reason why I want a domain name...I want a domain name to either brand this blog and make it easier for readers and visitors to remember the blog address (not as long as stay-at-home-blessings.blogspot.com).  Or I might use it for another website, maybe for business.  I'll think more about it later... hope I win.

What about you? Do you want a free domain name?

Friday, October 8, 2010

Join Georyl's October Daily Giveaway

Georyl.com is celebrating a milestone on its 6th month of existence by having a daily giveaway this whole month of October. It's Georyl's way of saying thank you to everyone for helping her blog be the 105,972th most popular website worldwide according to Alexa ranking, the 43,752th in the US and 1,627th in the Philippines in such a short time.

Lots of Prizes to Win
Everyday of October, there will be one winner of 1,000 Entrecard credits.  Every week there will be 1 winner of $5 Paypal cash and 2,000 Entrecard credits. On October 31, there will be 3 winners of $5 Paypal cash and 3 winners each receiving 5,000, 3,000 or 2,000 Entrecard credits. For the Top Commenter on her blog this October 2010, she will also award a special prize of One Year WPWebHost Rookie Plan WordPress Hosting with Free Domain Name.

Mechanics are very simple, just leave comments on her posts, subscribe to Georyl via email and blog about the contest.  For complete giveaway details, check out this post.  So, celebrate this month of October with Georyl.

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