News & Information for Health, Life, Diet

Whey, Fertilizer, Milk, and Culture

Just working up some research about what to do with the amount of whey I'm having leftover after converting my raw (whole) milk to cream cheese. 

English: Draining of cooked curds during the manufacture of chedder cheese (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Outside of using it to ferment and preserve vegetables, fruit, and even meat (which processes don't use all that much), I recalled some older articles about using milk on pastures to improve soil health. 

 The only question comes up is the acidity of the whey - which is usually solved simply by cutting it with water. The additional point I would use is to also add in some Basic H so that it is more readily absorbed in the soil. 

For those involved in intensive grazing, I'd say to spray the pasture right after you get the cows out of it - as Basic H alone is known to facilitate the breakdown of manure (as it is an "anionic surfactant"). 

 Here's a set of links and relevant points I've found about whey and fertilizer: Using whey or milk as fertilizer | Keeping A Family Cow

We always mixed water in with the milk and just sprayed it on with a sprayer. Sometimes it goes into a 5 gallon bucket, add water and an old can and it's scooped out onto individual plants. It just depends on what you're using. When we use it on the fields it's a ratio of 3 gal milk to 17 gal water. It doesn't have to be very scientific. Just prep your beds, plant and use the whey/water when the plants need watering. I wasn't aware you could overuse the whey. Hopefully this summer your garden will do better. Good luck!

The Back Forty: Another Whey to Fertilize

Here is the fig tree (in a pot) that regularly was fed the kefir and Caspian Sea Yogurt whey, and even leftover bits of the actual kefir and yogurt. I watered it in each time I applied it. It was often applied a quart at a time, a few days apart. Notice the color... Below is the second fig tree -- the one that received regular watering without any whey. Hey look! It's a cute little baby fig! Obviously it's a healthy tree...but notice the difference in the color compared to the first tree. It's particularly noticeable when looking at them side-by-side. The one fed the whey regularly is a much deeper, richer green, and the leaves are sturdier and more robust.

How to Use Whey for Watering Plants | eHow

Instruction

Remove the whey from your refrigerator. To avoid any unwanted odors, strain the whey well before using it on indoor plants. Whey used outdoors does not have to be strained.

Measure 1 cup of whey into the watering can. Add 9 cups of water and mix well. Use to water houseplants by alternating watering one week with the whey mixture and one week with regular water. If any plants do not seem to be responding well, discontinue the use.

Put the yardstick into the bucket and pour the whey into the bucket until the level is at 1 inch. Pour water from the garden hose in until it reaches 10 inches. Using the 1 cup measure, pour 1 cup of the whey solution around the base of small vegetable plants once a week. Fertilize larger plants and trees by applying half a bucket at a time to the base of the trunk and then watering as usual.

Fertilize acid loving plants, like junipers or roses, with a more concentrated solution by mixing 1 part water to 1 part whey.

Good Whey to Generate Electricity > ENGINEERING.com

The word Wisconsin brings up visions of beer, cheese, and the Green Bay Packers. Although the football team is powerful, Wisconsin’s cheese industry may win the waste-to-energy Super Bowl. During the cheese making process, milk solids are separated from liquid whey. The solids become cheese, and the whey is used in various food products. After the cheese is rinsed, the rinse water includes traces of whey and milk. This rinse water can be used as a fertilizer, but during the winter months when the ground is frozen, the water would run off into streams, rivers, and lakes, causing pollution. Entrepreneur and former dairy farmer Tom Ludy decided to tackle this problem. His company, GreenWhey Energy, is building a plant that converts this waste water into solid fertilizer and methane gas. The methane is burned to produce electricity. The “waste” heat from the generators heats the anaerobic digester and the plant itself. The solid fertilizer is sold to farmers. The nearly clean waste water from this process goes to a municipal water treatment plant and is then discharged into the water supply. In the future, Ludy hopes to process the water at the GreenWhey facility rather than shipping it to a treatment plant.

The GreenWhey plant is under construction. They expect to go online in June of 2013.

The GreenWhey facility will be one of the largest of its kind, generating 3.2 megawatts of electricity - enough to power 3000 homes. While that doesn't seem like a lot of power, GreenWhey's web site states, "GreenWhey Energy is first and foremost a wastewater treatment facility. We’ll charge a fee to manage waste streams for dairy and food processing plants. The income we’ll generate from the production of electricity, heat, and fertilizer sales is like icing on the cake."  The old saying “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure” holds true, as GreenWhey will make money on both ends of the process. Not only do they not have to pay for their raw material, GreenWhey gets paid to take it off the hands of cheese factories. After processing, GreenWhey sells the solid fertilizer to farmers and sells the electricity to the power company.

Whey to go!

Farmers turn to milk for fields - Columbia Daily Tribune | Columbia Missouri: Local News

Wetzel began making specialty butters and cheeses that required only the fats from the milk his cows produced. This left behind large quantities of skim milk as a waste product, and to dispose of it Wetzel drove up and down a portion of his pasture with a gusher of the white liquid flowing out of a tank. He dumped as much as 600 gallons of skim milk on the field every other day.

A funny thing happened. When Wetzel let his cows out to graze, they made a beeline for the patch of field that had been doused in milk. As the months wore on, Wetzel started to notice that the grass felt more supple, looked healthier and more dense in that area.

In the dead of winter with temperatures dipping to negative 10 degrees, Wetzel paid a fertilizer company to take soil samples of his land. Because the earth was frozen, the worker was unable to punch a hole into the soil anywhere on Wetzel’s property until he reached the soft soil of the milk field. There, Wetzel said, the testing device went into the soil like a hot knife into butter and showed soil packed with nutrients.

So Wetzel asked his neighbor, Terry Gompert, a University of Nebraska Extension educator, to come take a look. Gompert, who is not a researcher but specializes in holistic land management, called on some favors from colleagues who helped him set up test plots to put the milk hypothesis through the ringers. After 45 days, the results were startling.

The plots treated with milk grew about 1,100 more pounds of grass per acre than untreated plots, a 26 percent increase in yield. Also, the soil was 18 percent softer than untreated soil according to compaction tests — meaning it had a greater “porosity” or ability to absorb water and air.

More than that, Gompert said, the grass just looked healthier with fewer lesions or yellow discolorations.

While stressing that much more research is needed, Gompert said the findings makes sense because milk is food for the invisible bacteria, fungi, protozoa and nematodes that teem inside a healthy soil. 

“Our unfair advantage is getting the microbes to work for us,” Gompert said. The milk “is just feeding the workers.” 

Raw milk is a veritable stew of protein and sugar complexes that microbes need for growth. Additionally, raw milk is one of the best sources of vitamin B found in nature and it brims with enzymes that can break down food for microbes and plants. Many farmers, Gompert said, have heedlessly scorched microbe activity in their pastures with years of tillage, chemical use and overgrazing.

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Facts about whey protein

Homemade Greek Yogurt

Need to Find Shaklee Products and Vitamins in Missouri?

This is what I ran into recently. You may know that I am a fan of Basic H and the Cinch Diet Plan.

Well, my dentist's assistant grew up on Shaklee, but her parents got out of touch and kinda wanted to get back on that wagon with products - but didn't know where to turn.

Just so happens that the membership I got also allows me to distribute their products. While I didn't have a card on me with my website (ordered some today, for sure) - so I wrote it out on the back of another.

But that brings me to the reason for this post. Yes, I'm in Missouri and I'm a Shaklee Independent Distributor.

Here's the pitch from my main site:

Supplements and Weight Loss Shakes are popular - and can save you money if you buy the ones which work.

Shaklee has been around for over 55 years, and people have grown up with their products, but it's often hard to find a distributor near you.

That's why we are moving to the Internet to let people know how to find us.

You may not have known that you can get Shaklee products delivered right to your door. It's been possible for years, but now ordering online has never been simpler - and have it arrive within days.

Just  visit our Shaklee product website: http://order-online-today.myshaklee.com/. You can easily search for the product you need and order directly.

Or contact us today and we can suggest ways to help you find what you're looking for.

The point is that your health is up to you. Getting high-quality, natural vitamins and home-care products can improve your active lifestyle with more energy and ease.

All Shaklee products are backed with an unconditional, money-back guarantee. Same as it's always been.

Time to get these great products back into your life.

Call Today!

Why Americans think Obesity is worse than cigarette smoking

Not too hard to find this one. A recent Gallup poll refreshed earlier findings on obesity. It shows that since cigarette smoking has been broadly discredited and reduced, obesity (and overweight conditions) has continued to rise.

"Most Americans say obesity is an "extremely" or "very serious" problem to society, the 81% who do so is up significantly from 69% in 2005, the last time Gallup asked this question. Americans now see obesity as a more serious societal issue than cigarettes -- a change from the past."

Of course, you have to thank our way of living in these Western culture nations. Fast food and sedentary lives have replaced home-cooking and high-caloric-throughput of physical labor jobs.

Few of us can now have physically demanding jobs where you actually have to walk a mile or more each day in addition to lifting and really physically working up a sweat during the course of the day. So many have instead started including work-outs in their daily regimen.Others have such a long commute that they are exhausted from simple stress at each day's end - wanting no more than to sit and watch TV with a beverage of choice at hand.

Diet is another scene entirely. Instead of fast food, we could all be eating healthy home-cooked food made from natural ingredients. But city life demands those long commutes and little access to sources or wholesomely grown food that we can afford.

Those of us who live on farms have this much simpler, since good food and plenty of exercise is built-in to our lifestyles.

This doesn't mean we can't get some extra pounds added on.

My own solution to this is to simply steer myself away from unhealthy eating by getting on a shake and supplement diet called the Cinch Inch Loss plan. It's from Shaklee, which is the leader in natural supplements. Built on studies of athletes, it was found that the amino acid leucine is key to keeping metabolism high by preserving muscle mass.

The trick is that this diet not only has great weight loss shakes (which can involve tons of recipes) but also pays for itself as you quit buying those expensive "latte's" and fast food "meals" which simply put pounds on. Instead, they have a system of meal and snack bars, as well as teas which are actually less expensive than what you are already paying for. It's a question of investing in your health instead of cravings for sweets, fats, and salts. You lose no convenience, but actually save time (which your boss will appreciate.)

If you follow the links above, you will be able to get more data on the Cinch Diet Plan which should be useful and help you solve any extra poundage you may want to rid of.

- - - -

Some additonal links on this subject:

Obesity and the Built Environment | Star - Hi Books - Posted in Uncategorized Tags: Childhood Obesity, Definition of Obesity, Effects of Obesity, Graph of Obesity in America, Height Weight Age Calculator, Main Causes of Obesity in America, Obesity Chart, Obesity Facts, Obesity ...

Why the surge in obesity? « Consider the Evidence - The Weight of the Nation is a four-part series on obesity in America by HBO Films and the Institute of Medicine, with assistance from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH). It's been ...

Watch Your Wallet: Meat Prices will just continue to rise.

The trick is in getting wholesale meat online, particularly in local markets such as Fulton, Columbia, or Jefferson City. But the reasons have everything to do with how our markets operate.

Enduring 2 years of drought have proved to be hard on both cattle ranchers and corn farmers. Of course, this has driven up the prices of supplements. Grass fed beef graziers have only had half of this problem. But even they have the problem of requiring closely managed pastures, because the grass they live on - unless properly managed - is under extreme stress and won't regrow at any speed with lack of moisture and increased heat. 

"This appears to be a long-term spike because we've seen a reduction in the mother cow herd in the United States, and with that there's no calves for next year so we look to see this to go on for a long time," said Jack Lavers, President, Kern County Cattleman's Association.

More interesting perhaps, U.S. ranchers are finding it as or even more profitable to export beef to other countries. That gives us another problem with demand for beef locally.

"We're actually exporting our own meat to countries like South Korea, Mexico and to Russia. So with all that going on we're playing a little game here trying to make sure the American consumer is getting all the meat they want and it's driving up the costs," added Lavers.

Beef Industry Officials compare this with a two to three years cycle, which means any relief for customers is seen at the market would be a couple of years out.

All this means that it's the weather which holds the upper hand for now. Parts of Texas and Oklahoma are now on their third year of this drought; Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska are also seeing extreme conditions ongoing which started last summer.

While some are weaning their calves early in order to save their pastures and cut supplement requirements, this just worsens the problem of beef supply. All of this brings costs to a new higher level.

Richard Vasquez, Meat Department Manager at Wood-dale Meat Market, layed it out recently:

"Ground beef is at about $2.99 and that's pretty much stayed. It's your higher end steaks that we've seen the high jump in, about $2.00 a pound. One is supply and demand, and the second is the drought in the midwest has a lot to do with it. The supply of cattle, the grain, the corn has a lot to do with it. Everything I'm seeing, at least a 10 percent increase in all proteins."

For the uninformed, this means there is no end in sight for rising meat prices.

My own suggestion, as usual, is to Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food.

As you can access wholesale beef online by networking with your local farmer, you can still take advantage of wholesale meat prices by buying in bulk. And that is a solution which will bring you even cheaper meat, regardless of the economics farmer and markets face.

- - - -

And here's some related blog posts which cover this discussion of getting wholesale meat over the internet:

Buying Wholesale Meat Online Posted By : charlie helen | Gourmet

Are you looking for wholesale meat that is only a few clicks away and can be delivered right to your front door? Well it is only a few clicks away. Buying meat online is an option most people do not consider. However, there are ...

Can You Purchase Extensive Meat Online? | Castricum ...

For with much of online wholesale meat portals coming on the site, it is normal that users will prefer to purchase meat online instead than visit the meat store a mile away. How comprehensive meats do costs work? Carrying ...

5 Reasons To Buy Meat Online | Nike Free 1

The age old tradition of going to meat market with your dad to buy that favorite pork chop for dinner or the full blown turkey for Thanksgiving can well be over by the end of this decade. For with a lot of online wholesale meat ...

Should I Buy Meat Frozen Or Chilled? | Meat Gallery Blog

To buy meat online can be a tricky affair, as you can either buy frozen meat or buy fresh meat online. However, chilled wholesale meat has slowly become more popular than frozen meat in cases of buying meat online.

Wholesale Meat : www.ifindwholesalers.com

Links and Reviews of Missouri Grass Fed Beef

When you are trying to get the best quality, all-natural protein - wholesale grassfed beef is one of the least expensive ways to do this. Since I keep up with research along this line, I've found some great links you can use. Key point that seems to keep coming up are the high Omega 3/6 ratios which promote better heart health (and so, longevity). The idea of protein-heavy diet is an effective one, because it works to keep the metabolism high to burn fat - similar to successful diet shake recipes with leucine.

Grass-fed beef conference attendees seek management, expansion ... - A roomful of grass-fed beef producers came to Texas A&M University in College Station recently to learn more about an emerging aspect of beef production that continues to steadily gain momentum. \u201cIt's not going to take over ...

How Bad Science and Big Business Created the Obesity Epidemic ... - A few years ago I cut out grains and sugar, stopped eating soy and other garbage foods, and switched to eating lots of grass fed beef, fish, raw milk & other nutritious food. I dropped almost 40 pounds and have kept them off ...

Model Restoration | EJ Magazine - Nonprofit group buys Montana ranch to inspire cleanup of region scarred by mining. By Thea Hassan Spring 2011. Dry Cottonwood Creek Ranch looks like any other Montana ranch: Cattle graze on lushly vegetated fields as ...

Cinch Diet Plan gets Results if You Follow Advice

When I finally moved my cattle down to their next pasture - and farther away from the house - I realized that the pounds I regained in the last couple of weeks were due to dropping the mile and 1/3rd which I was walking cross-country every day in checking on them.

For I had my "patient patient" up at the house by now, and so the herd was also there - giving me only a few hundred feet of walking daily, if that.

So, since the calorie intake was not reduced along with the calorie "burning", extra weight was restored. (Wondered why I wasn't hungry at night.) And that's the advice with this Shaklee weight loss program which I didn't heed.

The rule then becomes - sleep when you're tired, drink when you're thirsty, and eat only when you are hungry: but only enough to satisfy, not to satiate. (Pleasantly full, not stuffed.)

And do get some substitute activity if you find yourself temporarily at odd ends.

(Needless to say, I did about 2 miles to check my other pastures, where I could find elderberries this year, and how a remote patch of blackberries was doing...)

Ups, Downs, and Side-ways - Cinch Diet Plan Results

While I haven't been logging my posts about weight-loss and inch-loss progress, it's not like I haven't had any.

The problem is, as I've found, that if you don't follow the program, you get different results.

My core problem has been getting past 220lbs. However, I've done down 3 pants' sizes. That is more the result I wanted.

The deal is that if you don't follow the diet choices, then you simply are rolling the dice. Today, I'm back to 230. Now, I started at 244, so I still have a net loss of 14 pounds. (And don't forget the 3 pants' sizes.)

The side benefit is that I have considerably more energy available. So I often will skip the afternoon snacks and have found that "dinner like a pauper". Result is leftover snack bars and meal bars.

And I adjust this now to enter my final month of this diet. Final, because I entered this with the idea that I'd be able to afford the diet if I took their 4-for-3 month's purchase special. It was simply a test which concludes when the supplements do.

The idea originally was to move over to a more extreme version for the last month. Unfortunately, the only reference I found was to use water instead of milk, and use 3 scoops instead of 2. For that, I'd also drop my morning banana (which was added tomy morning mix to give it more substance). Probably move that banana to evening, or have it at my lunch - or something.

This is where the diet drops off the cliff, as it were. We are beyond what Shaklee recommends. And means anyone using this for extreme weight loss is on their own.

But I did find this article, which seems to be unique: http://www.articlesbase.com/nutrition-articles/a-healthy-diet-4959234.html

Their salient quote is this: 

But I always recommend that you fit Cinch into your life, don't make your life fit into the Shaklee Diet. Many diets are unrealistic with the rules, the points, the special food to buy with no education on how to cook healthy yourself. Cinch is simple: Drink a protein packed delicious shake for breakfast and lunch ( or just breakfast or Lunch), eat a healthy snack of raw fruits and veggies or a Cinch snack bar when you are hungry and have a  nutritious dinner. Enjoy some Cinch energy tea instead of diet soda and fill in the gaps with powerful nutrients in the Cinch 3-in-1 boost supplements.

Grab and Go, Shake and drink, Move and move and you will see the results. You will enjoy the inches falling away and not miss those lost pounds.

It's the point, which I found, that you are able to shake these cravings for excessive fats and sugars in your diet. That is the result of the Cinch Diet Plan. Drop fat, improve your metabolism. Make this stuff a part of your life - for real.

That's the trade-off. And is a consistent point of Shaklee - make their products a part of your life, and improve your quality of living immeasurably. I've already gone over the point that the Cinch Diet Plan is affordable simply on dropping out the expensive treats and restaurants and replacing these with a structured diet with their supplements.

Similarly, you can afford to replace your household cleaning compounds by simply shifting over to Basic H and their "Get Clean" product line. They last longer, and are less toxic - plus are designed to be environmentally responsible.

Even with a month left, I already have my "Plan B" in action. The 3-in-1 Cinch daily vitamins are replaced with their Vitalizer set. Cinch is replaced with the less-expensive Soy Protein Vanilla, and as well, the Nutriferon immune booster. It's called the "Vitalizer Men's Wellness Pack" This gives me the vitamins and protein I need, as well will then take the immune response booster in order to improve my resistance to infection even higher. You simply can't beat the quality of Shaklee vitamins. Period. Especially at that price. (Good enough for NASA and all that.)

Practically, what has kept my blogging progress down in this area is that I've more energy and have taken on additional projects, which keep me particularly busy. And so you may not hear from me all that much in the coming days - until some of thos projects are completed. (Not to mention earning a living meanwhile...)

What I am happy with is the product of losing the waist sizes and in proving for myself that this Shaklee diet plan works exactly to the degee you follow it just as laid out. Simple. I've met no one who has followed it and has been unable to lose weight/inches.

The overall outcome is that now I'm able to simply reduce my input at will, and so able to decrease my weight - all under my own control.

Toxin-Free Pest Control - Home Remedy

Do it yourself - Very economical

Equipment needed:

Garden hose

Ortho sprayer

Step 1: Mix your concentrate

1½ parts Basic H² (or 3 parts Basic H Classic)

1 part Basic-Germicide

Steps 2: For Outdoor Use:

Fill Ortho Sprayer (or similar) with concentrate

Set the dial selector at 2 … you will automatically spray a dilute mixture of 2 tablespoons (1 oz.) of concentrate per gallon of water

For Indoor Use:

Fill 16 oz. (500 ml) spray unit with water

Add ¾ teaspoon of concentrate

Where to Use

On lawns for control of fleas, ticks, chiggers, and mosquitoes

On patios & porches for control of flies, spiders & other insects

On houses as a house wash and pest control combined

On dog houses, dog beds, and kennel runs

This mixture is also an effective spray to kill wasps

Kills lice and fleas, and is effective as a fly spray on animals: cattle, horses, dogs, chickens, turkeys, pigs, cats (do not get in the animal’s eyes)

Controls bag worms and other insects in cedar, pine, and nut trees, etc.

Spray as frequently as needed

Most pesticides are guaranteed to work, so why not use them?

The answer is simple … agents toxic to cellular tissue can have devastating effects on the respiratory system, nervous system, and the immune system:

1. Once inside the brain, toxins can alter the ability to concentrate & can lead to nervous system disorders and permanent learning disabilities

2. Toxins overload the immune system & lead to less resistance to colds, flu-like systems, etc.

3. Toxins cause sensitivity of the respiratory system, and lead to proliferation of allergies and asthma

4. Toxins have been linked to liver & kidney damage and many forms of cancer. Recent studies by the National Institute of Health & Safety and the National Cancer Institute, show that leukemia risk increases greatly for children and adults where toxic pesticides are used in the home and garden. A cancer journal reported children under ten, exposed to toxic pesticides in the home or garden at least once a month, have a 7x higher incidence of leukemia.

5. Some toxic pesticides can produce demyelination in nerve bundles and the spinal cord - this can lead to M.S. and paralysis

What are Your Choices?

Are people actually willing to take this risk and contribute to this suffering in order to kill ants, fleas, spiders, moths, and other insects? Certainly, this is sufficient confirmation to persuade every reader of this brochure to never again purchase toxic pesticides.

Basic H² is an all organic, biodegradable wetting agent … actually making water 300 times "wetter" - it reduces water tension and also improves assimilation by chemically enabling water to bond better with anything it touches. It is concentrated and economical. It was developed in cooperation with nature, as are all Shaklee products. When mixed with water, Basic H² delivers an immediate wetting (surfactant) action, penetrating dirt and emulsifying grease and oil. For this reason, it has been used for almost 50 years as a general purpose cleaner.

Basic-Germicide, as its name indicates, is a versatile, non-polluting germicide, which is totally biodegradable and will not hurt the environment.

Does it Work?

Since 90% of insects have an oil coating, Shaklee Basic H², as a wetting agent, penetrates the outer shell and actually suffocates the insects. Insects eggs are softened by the spray, which prevents hatching.

NOTE and disclamer: Officially, Shaklee Corporation markets Basic H² as a Household Cleaner and Basic-Germicide as a Highly Concentrated Germicide. These pest control recommendations are not published or endorsed by Shaklee Corporation, but have been gathered from environmental field experts. A surfactant/germicide combination will accomplish similar results on insects. But can you find a pair which work together and are non-toxic as well as biodegradeable?  

More information about Basic H is available as linked below: 

Basic H® Classic

Efficient, powerful, safe, biodegradable, and economical, the world's most versatile cleaner.

Size: 30 gallon

Basic-G® Concentrated Germicide

Excellent choice for use in the kitchen, bathroom, or pet area. EPA registered

Size: 32 oz.

Basic H® Classic

Efficient, powerful, safe, biodegradable, and economical, the world's most versatile cleaner.

Progress: 20 lbs. lost in 6 weeks - Cinch Diet Plan

Started this Cinch Inch Loss Diet at 244lbs. Today: 224lbs. Almost 40% through the diet plan (4 months or 16 weeks).

And went down a waist size (at least.) Starting to see the 6-pack under that surface fat showing up. (Always knew they were there, just well insulated...)

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I'd shifted into a different diet and work activities. But dropping 8 pounds in a week is something new. (232lbs. last week.)

Again, what I did was to lower my calorie intake and boost my calorie burn rate. Less food, more exercise. And I still have plenty of energy for everything I want to do. Quite a bit of a difference. This seems to give me anecdotal support to the idea that all the fat you are carrying around is really just slowing down your metabolism. So the more fat you burn off, the easier it is to burn off more fat. (And so the easier it is to keep it off.)

And it meant I became familiar with what hungry was. Not ravenous, just knowing that I could eat - but didn't have to. I touched on this concept slightly in that last post, but could say more in this area. 

To my mind, a person has to be in touch with their body enough to know what thirst, hunger, and tiredness really are. And solve each according to its needs, not substituting something else. I've heard before that people eat when they are actually thirsty. And people toss back stimulating energy drinks when they are tired. You are really just putting extra calories away which will more likely turned into fat - which again slows you down.

My ideas at this point:

When you're thirsty, drink water.

Be hungry before every meal. If you aren't hungry, don't eat. Eat just enough to satisfy your hunger: don't overeat to feeling "stuffed". 

When you're tired, either sleep or nap. Get up when you are rested or refreshed. 

Of course, this can play hob with any schedule. (It helps that I freelance and farm the rest of the day. I am my own boss.)

This is exactly why I took on the Cinch Transformation Challenge. I'll be seeing exactly what 4 months of this diet can do for a person. Since I blog, I'll keep this whole scene (mostly) going as a blow-by-blow. Or hope to, at any rate. 

I wanted to see if this stuff worked. It didn't hurt that I can always send back the empty boxes and get a full refund - no questions asked. So there was literally nothing to lose. Plus I got in on the special offer of the last month free - so it's a discount you can't pass up.

Again, what I changed this last week was the above. Especially in the afternoon and evening, if I wasn't hungry, I put off eating. Instead of eating the full meal bar, I'd eat half and save the remainder until later or the next day. Your snack bars are basically half of a meal bar. And different flavors. So that's another option. Oh, and the fruit I was eating in the evening was oranges. (Banana's have a higher fat content.)  This fills the need for "food" toward the evening - and the general rule is to eat essentially nothing after dinner. A low calorie fruit fits here. (I imagine celery would be another great option.)

My meals now are these:

Breakfast is a Cinch Shake with a banana. (Occasionally, I throw in some cinnamon or use a different shake flavor - can't wait until our garden-fresh strawberries come in later this summer - and our peaches...)

Mid morning snack (after farm chores) is my (big) mug of coffee with honey. And a peanut butter/jelly half-sandwich on whole wheat.

Lunch is whatever, but I just watch the portions and keep it heavy on vegetables and lighter on meat portions.

Afternoon is a tall iced glass of tea (kinda dilutes the Cinch Tea, but the flavor still comes through, as well as the energy it gives.) When I feel like it (about 3 hours or so later), I'll have a Cinch snack bar.

Dinner is depending on how much I want to eat. It's becoming more of a half Cinch meal bar - or even none, if that snack bar was late enough in the day. (Eat only when you're hungry, remember?)

Anything after dinner time (or within 3 hours before sleeping) is fruit - oranges.

And we'll see how this goes next week. I see my energy staying higher than before and I'm more interested in taking on various projects now which I was putting off due to lack of energy before. (I'm even considering tidying up and organizing the barn, it's gotten that extreme...) I'm not expecting to keep dropping 8 pounds a week - I figure that it's going to plateau at some level where my input and output match. Target right now is to get under 200lbs (I graduated high school at 185, mostly muscle, so that would be a good level to regain.)

3 Tips to Cinch Diet Plan Success

Rest when you're tired.

Eat only when you're hungry.

Drink when you're thirsty.

Of course, these are common sense. And "everyone" knows these, don't they?

Well, maybe so, but do they actually listen and follow their own body's signals?

Eating has become something that's disrelated from reality. We don't have the problem (for most people) of not having food in front of us. We don't go days without a meal as our ancestors did. The problem we have is that we are on a "now we're supposed to" schedule of activities which have kept us avoiding any symptoms of hunger or discomfort.

Meals are on a schedule, regardless of whether you need to eat or not. So we too frequently simply are into the social event of eating, rather than feeding the body what it needs when it needs it. Too often I've gone to a "dinner" which winds up some 2 hours later than I normally eat. It's a long, drawn out affair which starts out with some people having wine or drinks first, then filling up with a heavy meal after, then some 3 hours after sitting down, you get up to toddle off home. If you're used to eating at 6pm, then you aren't eating until 8 or later - on top of tossing back a few just to be "sociable". So you have a heavy meal right before sleeping, which means it's going to be stored away as fat.

When we eat large portions (a habit picked up when we were teens and needed all that fuel to grow and run our bodies) we no longer utilise all those nutrients, so the body stores them as fat. But that's OK, since we get complacent with the way things are and figure that it's fine to always be full. Plus (as I went over in an earlier post) you are gaining both visceral (belly) fat and liver fat, which in turn slow down your metabolism - so you don't want to do much and you burn less calories. So you are on that slippery slope to gaining more weight where you don't need it - which then wrecks your metabolism and slows down your system. What you ultimately inherit from this is heart disease, diabetic indicators, and bad joints, gout, and many other problems.

The solution is simple prevention. Get rid of that extra fat now and live an energetic, healthy life from there on out.

But if you simply keep doing what you've been doing, then you'll keep on that slope.

One solution could be called "cinching the girth".  When a horse doesn't want to be harnessed, they'll hold their breath so the girth is loose. A smart horseman won't get in the saddle in that condition, but will make the horse let go of that air and tighten the girth up every time that horse lets some go. Ultimately, you get a tight fit which is safe to ride.

Diets are simply "eat less, burn more". So if you hit a plateau where you don't lose any more weight, you simply have to drop more calories or get more exercising done - on a daily basis. Look over what you're eating and see what you can cut out, or change to a lower calorie version. Adding a salad and vegetables, while taking a smaller portion is sensible. Skipping fried, salty foods (or the extra cheese) is another. And desserts, snacks... well you know what happens there.

And this is what I love about the Cinch Inch Loss Diet Plan. You get some great tasting food which has all the flavors and sugar taste you've been used to. But the calories are down and also you are just as full with the leucine and vitamins you need to boost your metabolism while you cut down all that mass of food you've been used to.

There's another adage which Adelle Davis used to repeat "Eat breakfast like a King, Lunch like a Prince, and Dinner like a Pauper."  You can see the logic in this right off. You are probably most active in the morning, and least active after dinner. So it makes since to eat less and less through the day. 

After working my breakfast (and coffee) up and down and around, I finally settled on getting a shake with a banana in it, then going out to do chores and coming back to get my coffee (I like honey in it) and a half peanutbutter/jelly sandwich (spread it half-way across for each, then fold it over). This allows my coffee not to interfere with my shake, plus gives it some bread to absorb all that side-effect  coffee has on the stomach by itself.

While the breakfast concept is a hard one to master in our current "get-up-and-get-gone" culture, I did make the one regular meal I eat with the Cinch Diet Plan to be lunch. And quit eating anything in the evening after my dinner Cinch supplement (either a shake or a meal bar) - well, I'll have fruit.

And when I'm tired, I'm ready to sleep. It's not because I had some sugar or caffiene or something else which is keeping me up. So I rest well and get up with some energy. Plus, I'm ready for breakfast.

You know what? When you're hungry, food starts tasting better. Not just good - great!

Yes, there are side-effects to this diet. You have a lot more energy and feel more like doing stuff. I quit having that after-lunch droop - now I can stay focused straight through. Well, until my body says it's time for that afternoon Cinch snack.

But the funny thing is - as I only eat when I'm hungry, that snack might be just before dinner. Since I'm not hungry again until just before bed, that fruit takes the edge off. So I'm winding up having next to nothing for dinner (that pauper concept.)

Tomorrow, I do my weekly weigh-in and I'll let you know if I'm on track again. Since I only really nailed this routine down this week, it may only be that I'm the same level.

In that case, I'm not going to let up on the girth. I'll keep this schedule in and then add more exercise to the mix. Yesterday, I added an extra mile walk at noon, to go check on a calf who's mending. Take all the supplies for the day down in the am by truck, but all the other visits are by foot - and probably come back overland, where I can check out my pastures to see where I can put my cattle next. But farmers can move their schedule around like that. It does take some attention, but exercise isn't a short suit around here.

And here's hoping your own diet is going as well.

Plateau's, Backsliding, and Cinch Diet Plan

OK, so I apologize for not blogging more. Just saw that it's been almost a month since I last raved about my Shaklee Cinch Inch-Loss Plan.

Here's a short rundown. I've been busy eating more or less what I was supposed to, and as long as I stuck right to the diet, I was going along fine.

First week: 4 pounds lost

2nd week: 3 pounds lost

3rd week: 3 pounds lost

4th week: 2 pounds lost

So I was pretty happy with all this. Went from 244 down to 232 - and I went a belt size smaller (literally another notch).

Bad news - 5th week gained 2 pounds.

What happened? Got cocky and quit watching my portions. As well, I got "bored" with the diet and added a banana with my morning shake, plus moved the snack up to the mid morning, as that was when I really needed the energy  - for my farm work. (More like a workout, since it entails a variety of exercise - from walking a couple of miles cross-country in heavy boots, and lifting heavy items, such as getting a mower off a roadside loaded into the backend of a pickup truck.)

The good news is that I haven't been lacking for energy at all. And feel nicely hungry just before meals, so I feel like eating.

The culprit, as I said, was larger portions. And desserts (I have a weakness for brownies.) Added to this the fact that I spent what seemed like most of last week in the seat of a tractor all day. While this is strenuous, it isn't all that physical. Of course, I spend most of my afternoons in front of a computer screen making my living's other half - but that's not so much of the excuse. 2 days of not -so-strenuous work on a tractor dropped down my calorie consumption.

You see that pizza slice above? That was the demon I visited early in the week. All-you-can-eat buffet. And I did. Oops.

But you see here what I should have had to begin with: hit that salad bar and be responsible. And maybe ask for a pizza with extra vegetables on it, maybe leave the crusts (or take them home for my dogs).

Now the solution is in an MP3 from Dr. Jamie McManus about plateaus. It's a scene of where your calories-in matches your calories-out. What you have to do then is to strictly get back onto your Cinch Diet and then simply work to improve your exercise.

One thing I noticed as I write this is that I dropped out one of my favorite things - which was to walk my pastures in the late afternoon as I went to check my cattle for new calves. That's about 1-2 miles in addition to the am. I've been treating a calf that twisted its leg and so needed to run down 3 times a day in a vehicle toting something. Better organization would simply have me getting some foresight going as to what feed and water would be needed. Do all that in one load in the early morning, then walk the other two times. Without the truck, I could then walk across the pastures and check into what the cows were actually doing - cross-country instead of giving them a lick-and-a-promise.

(That calf has been able to stand up on its own now, so we get it up to make sure it gets some exercise every day. And thanks for asking. Video here.) 

My consistent observation about Cinch and where I've seen people not get expected results: they just aren't doing the program for one reason or another.If you get the whole kit and follow the instructions, then you lose both inches and pounds each week.

Oh - and my plans for the bonus month of my Transformation Kit special - do the extreme track and see how much I can lose. Means the supplies won't last me more than about 3 weeks, but I should have an acid test for someone who really wants to drop the pounds and inches. (Or recover from a binge like my small one above.)

And I hope to post more frequently about this diet. (You see, I got this new Android Smartphone and was checking it out...)

Missouri Grass Fed Meat For You to Buy - Wholesale Beef by Quarters

Of course, our beef is special. Everyone's is. But seriously, we work to constantly improve the quality of the beef we feed here in Missouri as meat to buy, based on the needs of our clients, our own "taste tests" and what is good for our resident cows and calves (and the bull, too.)

What you get with Worstell Farms beef is based on how we raise them:

Only fresh grass and water - all they can eat.

No growth hormones or additives. They get needed salt and minerals as supplements.

Antibiotics only when they prescribed by a doctor (vet) to cure an illness.

Our beef has been selectively bred to thrive on grass, not grain.

Constant humane treatment in natural environments.

All of these, combined, result in incredibly good-tasting beef. And meanwhile, these animals are also improving the pastures they feed from, as part of the circle of life.

We sell by the wholesale beef quarter.

Meaning that we have the cow processed according to your preferences and what quarter is available for you. The processor calls you to see what cuts you want. (If you want all the best cuts, it's better to buy a half and then share it with family and guests.

The average quarter from our beef will give you about 80 lbs. of various cuts (depending on how many bones you need or want). Our grass fed, smaller-frame animals are lighter in weight, but bigger in flavor. We've found that an average freezer (stand-alone, not your typical refrigerator-freezer combo) will hold this easily and give a couple or small family enough to last them just over half a year, depending on how many parties they host. Figure with what you share with friends and family, you may need to order once or twice a year.

The reason for quarters in in the way beef is cut (and you can see the parts charts at What Beef Cuts Are). The steaks are mostly in the front half and these are the most popular cuts. Our culture has put more emphasis on cuts which can be quickly seared on a hot barbecue, so chuck roasts aren't as popular. (Very little demand for ox-tail soup these days...)

Can't I just get hamburger?

Occasionally - and very rarely - we have a demand for substantial amounts of ground beef. We'll try to partner you up with someone else with similar requests. Now note: this is some of the most flavorful ground beef you can find, since all the cuts which would have been sirloin or other steaks are now mixed with everything else.

If you partner in on half a beef, then you can request ahead to have your half all ground if you want. Your cost is the same. (Note that most processors charge extra for patties. If you make your own, you'll save...)

On other pages in this section, we go into more detail of exactly what puts the flavor into (and takes it out of ) grass fed beef, plus other factors such as stress in handling and how they are processed.

And as usual, you can contact us for any additional information.

Special Processing Requests

You are buying a partial share in a live animal as a down payment and then paying the difference in service charges. So how you get your beef cut is up to you. Again, we process for the most possible cuts, which makes for thinner steaks than those $50 ones in high-priced restaurants.

As you buy on the half or whole, you have a greater option in how you can get your beef processed. So have them cut as thick as you want - you'll get fewer, but boy will those be impressive and tasty!

Just let us know when we contact you about the processing date, so we can then pass this on to our processor.

We are currently investing in a "buyers club" option, where we will process a beef for just steaks and hamburger, and members of that club are able to purchase smaller quantities, but on a strictly first-come, first-served basis. The beef is owned by the club and so is a benefit to members only. Contact us for more details.

Update: Sorry, we're out of beef for this year - if we haven't contacted you about your order, contact us to get on next year's list.

We only process so many beef a year. Because we are a small, local farm that is more interested in delivering lots of value through our beef.

And our harvest season is in Spring, right up to June, not all year round.

As more people find out about our farm, more people want our product. Unfortunately, we can't provide our beef to everyone. And some people simply live too far away.

So we did some research and found U.S. Wellness Meats for everyone else. They are another Missouri grass fed beef producer, who also deals in other produce from local farmers nearby. And they ship next day to your front door. Well worth checking out.

(Get more info here.)

Diet Plans: Our Addiction to Sugar is our fat creator

What makes any diet plan hard to keep, and what makes our extra fat to begin with are one and the same. Sugar.

This one flavoring and additive is also what sells us the fast food, treats, and so on that is causing all out pre-diabetic conditions. However, we are the ones who buy this stuff, so don't think I'm going to get on a rant about the big, bad, corporate evils out there. Our bellies and thighs are what we did to ourselves. Even if your family has a heredity factor for being heavy-set - if you know about it, you can do something about it.

My sister brought me an article the other day that actually got me to stop everything until I'd read it completely through. (Rare in these days of Internet video's and scanning web pages.) I had gone for a blood screening our local Cattleman's Association put on (before I started this diet) and we were both stumped on what "triglycerides" were in the results. (They roughly measure sugar content in your blood.) This article was an eye opener.

I searched around and found it on Free Online Library, almost exactly like it was published. And I want to take some excerpts in review of it below (emphasis added):

You've heard of a beer belly. Now there's new evidence that the fructose in added sugars may send more of your extra calories to that bulge where your waist used to be.

For years, researchers have found a higher risk of type 2 diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, high triglycerides, gout, and weight gain in people who consume more sugar-sweetened beverages. Now a flurry of new studies suggests that our out-of-control sweet tooth is connected to our out-of-control belly fat.

And it's that kind of fat that may cripple the body's ability to use insulin, setting the stage for diabetes and heart disease.

Soft drinks, sports drinks, fruit drinks, energy drinks, coffee drinks, cupcakes, cookies, muffins, doughnuts, granola bars, chocolate, ice cream, sweetened yogurt, cereal, candy. The list of sweet temptations is endless.

The average American now consumes 22 to 28 teaspoons of added sugars a day--mostly high-fructose corn syrup and ordinary table sugar (sucrose). That's 350 to 440 empty calories that few of us can afford.

How much added sugar is too much? Cutting back to 100 calories (6 1/2 teaspoons) a day for women and 150 calories (9 1/2 teaspoons) a day for men might mean slimmer waistlines and a lower risk of disease.

This is the key point. Look over what you are eating and see how much of it has been "sweetened". Tons of the stuff in almost everything we eat. And the "funny" part is that we've now been conditioned to think (Westernized) that food is supposed to be sweet all the time.

Clearly, too many calories from anything--sugary beverages, beer, burgers, fries, pizza, ice cream, or dozens of other foods--explains why many American waists have been replaced by a spare tire.

And studies haven't found that you'd gain more pounds from, say, 100 calories of added sugars than from 100 calories of other foods. But calories from fructose (which is found only in added sugars and fruit) may be more likely than other calories to aim for your waist.

To find out if fructose is destined to end up around your midsection, researchers compare fructose to glucose (which is found in added sugars but is also the building block of starches).

The first solid evidence came in 2009. Researchers gave 32 overweight or obese middle-aged men and women 25 percent of their calories from beverages sweetened with either fructose or glucose for 10 weeks. Both groups gained the same weight (about three pounds). But their new fat didn't all go to the same place.

"We saw an increase in visceral fat in people fed fructose," says study author Kimber Stanhope of the University of California, Davis.

Visceral (deep belly) fat is more closely linked to a higher risk of heart disease and diabetes than subcutaneous (just below the skin) fat.

That's the rub. This deep belly fat is what is increasing our chances of getting heart disease and diabetes.

The link between diabetes and sugars is clearest when researchers look at sugary drinks.

"We summarized the results from eight studies," explains Harvard's Vasanti Malik. All told, the meta-analysis pooled data on more than 300,000 people. (14) The results: "For each 12 oz. serving of a sugarsweetened beverage you drink per day, you're getting about a 15 percent increased risk for diabetes," says Malik. "So it really doesn't take much to increase your risk."

"Fewer studies have looked at cardiovascular disease," she observes. "But we found an increased risk."

When Malik and colleagues tracked 88,000 nurses for 24 years, those who consumed at least two sugar-sweetened beverages a day had a 35 percent higher risk of heart attack than those who drank less than one a month.

Sugar-sweetened-beverage drinkers also have a higher risk of the metabolic syndrome, which can lead to type 2 diabetes or heart disease. (14,16) (You have the metabolic syndrome if you have at least three of the following:

elevated blood sugar, blood triglycerides, blood pressure, or waist circumference, or low HDL cholesterol.)

If you thought this was bad, it's not just the deep belly fat we have to worry about - it's also the fat we're putting in our liver from all these over-sweetened foods.

...[T]he people who drank a liter a day of sucrose-sweetened cola didn't just have more visceral fat. Their liver and muscle fat more than doubled. ...

Why does liver fat matter? When the body stores fat anywhere but in fat cells, it's called "ectopic" fat. And ectopic fat, especially in the liver, means trouble.

"When liver fat levels go up, that may trigger the sequence of events that leads to insulin resistance," says Stanhope.

That's when insulin loses its ability to admit blood sugar into cells. It's often the first step on the road to diabetes or heart disease. The liver may also explain why fructose leads to higher levels of triglycerides.

"Fructose gets metabolized by the liver very quickly," says Welsh. "When there is more sugar than the liver can process, it converts the sugar to fat. Some of the fat goes into the bloodstream, and that's why we get elevated triglycerides."

What's more, in Stanhope's study, the fructose drinkers burned less fat (and more carbohydrate). "The body doesn't make fat and burn fat at the same time," she explains. "In our study, fat oxidation got blocked every time people drank the fructose drink because that fructose is getting turned into fat."

Here's the bottom line - the more sugar you eat, the less the body has to digest and so it stores it all as fat. That fat (both deep belly and liver types) is actually preventing your body from normal function. So you are setting yourself up for illnesses and chronic diseases which will make your retirement a living hell on earth. (No wonder health insurance is so high.)

The point is that you are better off taking control of your life and living with a decent diet to begin with. Preventative medicine is where all this is heading. All the pills and surgeries are useless when you've already wrecked your health with lack of good choices and self-control.

So I continue with my Cinch diet plan. It's not easy, but it's effective and as good as they can possibly make it. Yes, all these shakes and teas and meal bars have some sort of sweetener in them to make them taste "good". However, the point with these is that you now are learning to eat less with your portions and be aware of the calories you are putting in your body. Since the diet shakes fill you up, plus the supplements give you the energy you need, you don't need to be constantly snacking and keeping "diet" drinks around.

As this Cinch Transformation scene continues, I'm finding out more and more about myself and how these things tend to work. I'm also finding out more about how the conventional wisdom of this society we live in is slowly decreasing our life spans.

Of course, and as usual, I don't expect you to take my word for all this. It's more that you need to do your own research.

And if you are really interested, I'd suggest you try the Cinch Starter Kit and see how these shakes and bars and such agree with you. 2 weeks worth, plus the measuring tape, odometer, and what not. If you like it, take the Transformation challenge.

Up to you - like everything in your life.

More information about the Cinch Inch-Loss Diet Plan can be found as linked below:

Women's Income Opportunity - Turnkey Business Makes Sense

from http://www.cbsnews.com/2100-500164_162-20045344-2.html

Jen Groover, author of "What If? and Why Not?: How to Transform Your Fears Into Action and Start the Business of Your Dreams," filled viewers in on some of what she deems well-worthy of consideration.

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She says making money and starting your own business in your spare time doesn't have to be daunting.

Groover explains that a turnkey company "is essentially a company that is already set up for you. The operations and the products are ready to go. You have all of the tools and technology at your fingertips, so essentially, you are given everything and just have to "turn the key" to get started. These companies are very low risk because you're working with brands that have been built over generations, so you already have the brand-value there which is one of the biggest concerns for a new business owner to create. You'll also get personal discounts on the product you're selling and, many have web support, education support and meetings with other people who are working with the organization who can help you learn and grow.

"They're really for anyone. Why I love all of the companies I'm going to talk about so much is because they can work for you and how well you do at them really depends upon the amount of time you want to put into them. You could start one of these businesses as a stay-at-home mom, but then it can turn into something that makes you a lot of money where you're doing it full time if you want to, building yourself a true business for decades to come. You could even start one of these companies as a hobby. People that go at these companies aggressively have built their own empires, hiring their own sales forces and are making good money.

Groover says there are three things every woman should consider before choosing a turnkey company:

No. 1, choose something you're passionate about. You can't sell something you don't believe in. Choose a company whose mission you believe in.

No. 2, know what it takes to get involved. For some, it's $25. For others, it might be $250. You really need to consider the costs.

Third, you really want to assess the tools that will be available to you that you feel you'll need to support you in getting things done.

Shaklee

The key thing to know about Shaklee is that it is the No. 1 natural nutrition company in the US and is focused on creating the most sustainable and effective whole health product on the planet. To get started, Shaklee offers a full kit of products for $600. They also have a less expensive kit at $300 (with slightly fewer products), but there's also the ability for new distributors to start for $40...but for that price they only receive business materials (no products). Under their compensation plan, people earn between 20-50 percent and have the ability to participate in a car payment program, trips and other cash bonuses.

Their sweet spot is women aged 35-45 that have come out of the workplace or want to come out of the workplace and create their own businesses.

These are people that have a passion for healthy living and understand that the things they put in, on and around their bodies make a difference in their long term health. Their key product categories include Healthy Nutrition (core and targeted health solutions), Healthy Weight (weight management), Healthy Home (natural non toxic cleaning products) and Healthy Beauty (personal care products).

The Results are In: Facebook is a Useless Time Suck.

A Manifesto of sorts.

Now, if you know me, you also know that I rarely get strident about something unless it somehow runs across what I feel passionate about.

I am passionate about honestly helping people, and have made it my work this life to do so. If you look up my back-trail, you'll see that this is mostly all I've done. Of course, I'm made my mis-steps in following this or that trail down, but you won't find me honestly decieving people in the name of help.

That's really why I write and draw funny pictures (caricatures and cartoons). If I can help someone have a better day or improve their lives somehow, then it's worth it - completely regardless of whether I've ever earned income with it.

Scammers who come across my lines tend to get a rough time of it. Sure, I have some skin invested in getting scammers gone - but I learned that no law or government will do anything effective about it. However, when you educate someone about how scams work and how to get free from scams (free download), then they no longer fall for scams.

Before I explain why I'm quitting Facebook (again), let me tell you some facts I've figured out along the line. (Now don't take these as Gospel or anything else. Please reject them utterly. Your own truth is what you have to prove for yourself. The most expensive advice is free.)

1. The world is what you think it is. That comes from the oldest surviving philosophy on this planet. It is the basis for all self-help and religions as well. Your attitude creates the world  you live in. And as Jesus said, Heaven is already within you. So if you are surrounded by Hell on Earth, you might consider changing what your attitudes are about the people in your life.

2. Politics is a useless time suck. Government isn't actually vital or necessary. In these days, it's mostly set up so small minorities can get their way and enforce expensive requirements on everyone else. The days of the Big Steel Trusts is over - so why do we have government-sponsored and protected unions? Some "reverends" who don't have a church can get people to march all over the place and intimidate companies so that they give special favors to their chosen minority. But like the statistics show with lotteries - if you don't know how to manage money and are given a million dollars, you'll wind up poorer than you started. People who are poor have made poor choices. People who are rich have made smart choices. As I read today, "If the government gives you something, that means it took from someone else."

Tonight in our house, we decided to simply turn off the national news as it's going to be filled with political garbage from here on out. And we vote every election. But it doesn't mean we have to listen to garbage in our own home. (Local news is different, since they are going to hear from someone if they do something stupid. National news is too stupid to listen.)

3. Most people (statistically, it's 97%) out there are following conventional wisdom like sheep being chased through a pasture. That's why it's called "conventional wisdom". And any good herdsman (or "community organizer") can get a flock to go wherever they want. (As long as they have some mindful dogs with sharp teeth on the flanks.) 

Conventional Wisdom is full of lies which keep people from succeeding. And so we have the ongoing concern with "getting a job" or "getting a good education" or "affordable insurance". But if you think these through, you'll see that the highest taxes are paid by individuals with jobs. And they take it out before you see it - even if you get a refund, they don't refund the interest they made on your money while they had it.  If you want to keep your money, study books by Kiyosaki 

Every person who has ever gotten "rich" in this country did it on their own. They quit following the current "conventional wisdom" and learned by looking and testing their way.

and others, who will tell you the tax laws are the policy the government issued to tell you how to make your money. Work for yourself, on a contract basis. Have no employees. Set your business up as an LLC or corporation and then only pay taxes on profit (after you invest and pay operating costs.) [Note: check with a reputable accountant or financial planner and you'll find that they'll begrudingly tell you this is true - but don't act on what I say until you've done your own homework. Mileage can vary. Poor choices will make and keep you poor.]

Conventional Wisdom in Farming keeps farmers poor. Because they think they have to use expensive fertilizers and pesticides/herbicides to raise crops. And buy huge equipment, farm huge acres. Grass Fed Beef is the cheapest protein to raise, and can take no more acreage than the feedlots and corn/soybean fields already used. Plus, it's mostly done on marginal land that can't raise conventional crops. Takes some study, but can be gotten to the point where no inputs are required besides fencing - and checking them twice a day. But you can write off walking among them as exercise, can't you? What studies I've done on conventional crops shows that they can be farmed with organic (note the small "o" with no government trademark) and natural methods, following how Nature has done it since before history started being recorded.

And there is no logic in what stands for Conventional Wisdom in government. Smart people go there and do very stupid things. For the most part, deal with people on your own local level, as they interpret what goes on in our government centers. Never take any money or favors from someone in government is a good general policy. As above, they only can give to you by taking from someone else. And vote for the person who thinks most like you - and then hold their feet to the fire to vote the way you think they should. But don't let politics decide anything for you.

Jesus the Christ made a living with no job, no house, and didn't even own the clothes he wore. Yet changed the lives of billions forever. If you only took what Jesus actually said (as close as we can figure it) you'd do well. Not what came after, but just the "letters in red".

Spammers make their living because they figured out how to herd sheep so they could be sheared.

4. So it follows that "popular" applications like Facebook just suck time (and other things.) Statistically, they only ever reach about 50% in a given country, and then start declining. However, the majority of the people on there use it for what? Name one invention or charitable cause which has sprung as the result of interaction on Facebook. Anything which has used Facebook or some other social media to forward a cause wasn't invented or organized as part of any Facebook interaction. Only in spite of.

Facebook (and Google) make their money from advertising. Yes, that's the stuff blockers are made for - and what people have been training themselves to ignore. Advertising is based on the same points spammers abuse. People can be herded this way and that according to how they are programmed by conventional wisdom through their lives.  Advertising is just another set of sheep herders. And why (like news media) they aren't trusted or listened to very much.  With DVR's, people now simply fast-forward through the ads, even in spite of the programming some of them have to stop that. (It used to be that you could also record with out the ads, but they figured out how you had to do that at least.)

A couple of weeks of experimenting have showed me (again) that it takes an intense amount of input into Facebook to get any result from it at all. And that result isn't in terms of getting products sold, just that you get some popularity for whatever you said or did. But you can't spend popularity.

I run a site for Grass Fed Beef, which I've recently expanded to include Shaklee health supplements - a logical extension. How many people do you think ever bought beef or supplements from me by what I did on Facebook? None. Zip. Zilch.

Facebook is a lovely walled garden where you can spend time and money and get nothing. You simply return to your day job for the rest of your waking ours. It's not the real world, and it isn't the real Internet. It is another MySpace.

It is like the model of the Insurance salesperson who joined every club in town. Because by meeting all these people and gaining their trust, you would then be the one they turned to as they felt they needed insurance. (But insurance is a racket I don't even need to go into here.) The point is that you don't do deals inside Facebook, but outside, in the real world. You can meet people and chat with them and gain their trust there - but you have to take it outside FB in order to do the deal.

All the articles and studies I've done about Facebook simply tell this same story - you can't get there from here. Corporations spend money to "brand" themselves online this way. But they get a "tax write-off" for advertizing. Small businesses don't have the personnel to spend on "social activities" like this. Sure, have a page. And get your blog posts sent to Facebook if you figure it out on your own.

Facebook makes their money on you visiting and spending time there.

It doesn't make anyone money except for itself.

It's a time suck.

I don't know about you, but I've got a lot better things to do.

You can Succeed In Network Marketing - and Help Friends and Family TOO

Profile: Penh and Lyna Lo

The key point to the below - as you weed out all the specialized terms - is that there is at least one legitimate Network Marketing outfit which isn't simply a pyramid scheme. When you deal in real products with an actual guarantee - then you get out of the "scam" territory and into actually helping those around you to improve their lives. Do your own due diligence. Then decide for yourself. (From the Power of Shaklee, April 5th 2012)

A Dream That Can Be Shared

Penh and Lyna Lo (Senior Executive Coordinators, MN) were looking for a company they could trust. Through a friend of a friend, Penh learned about Shaklee and after a lot of questions, they joined in September 2011. Within their first six months, they were promoted to Senior Executive Coordinator and earned $9,000 in FastTRACK bonuses, two trips and a Dream Car bonus. But more than that, in Shaklee, they have found a company they can share with others.

In February of 2008 we had less than $500. Our oldest was 11 months old, our financial world was imploding and we were desperately looking for an opportunity. Penh dove into the network marketing industry and started to rebuild our family’s finances. We became involved in a travel company, and although we made quick cash, our friends and family never experienced the same success that we did. We felt that we had sold them a dream of financial freedom that would never become their reality.

After that experience, Penh promised our family and friends that he would always do his due diligence before sharing an opportunity with them and he personally apologized to everyone he sponsored and their downlines. Penh reentered into the work force and for over three and a half years, while working full time, he thoroughly researched the network marketing industry, went to a lot of presentations, and looked at a lot of companies.

Penh was introduced to Shaklee by a woman who was not in Shaklee and through her, he met Keith Snelson (Associate, MN) who introduced him to Muzafer Najfi (Senior Executive Coordinator, MN). Penh attended one of Muzafer's presentations and by chance, Bo Short (Master Coordinator, VA) was also presenting that evening. Penh was one of only two guests there, but he believes he was in the right place at the right time. The other guest left, but Penh stayed, listened and did his due diligence. After the presentation, Muzafer spent another two hours with Penh answering all his questions. Then we took another two and a half weeks to research Shaklee and made the decision to sponsor in September 2011.

We’ve made some sacrifices but it was well worth it. Almost seven months later, we’re experiencing the success we were looking for…with Shaklee. Penh was able to replace his salary, we qualified for two trips – the Dream 2012 Incentive Trip to the Mayan Rivera and the Spring 2012 New Directors Conference, and we earned a Dream Car bonus. But the best part is that other people on our team are experiencing success as well! Thanks to Shaklee, we are able to offer a real opportunity to our family and those who trust us.

Additional References:

PDF: The Dream Plan - How it Works PDF: Rewards Brochure PDF: First Step Brochure Presentation: Live Your Dreams Narrated Presentation Video: Your First 48 Hours

Shaklee Link to Join Now

Any questions? Contact Us

We want you to succeed. So if you have any questions, here's the number and name of the person to call:

Cheap and Easy Lawn Mowing with Your Steers

(Fertilizer No Extra Charge)

OK, my mother finally suggested it. And this year, our cattle have taken the job of mowing (most of) our lawn.

We have a large front and back yard. It would take 2-3 hours to mow all of it, and this was once a week during the worst of the year.

Our old mower had hit the shop the last couple of years during that worst time. Once with a broken rod, and another with electrical problems (bad starter). So the grass got long and shaggy. I suggested that since we were short on grass for the Bull and steers we had up at the house, we just let them have it. A section away from the house, just for trial. (We keep the Bull and grass-fed steers up near the house for pampering/finishing until the Bull is ready to go back with the cows and the steers are ready for harvest.)

Since they crop it close, we couldn't care. It's just lawn, anyway. And the manure is an extra. We found that the first time through, they do a great job, since there aren't any patties (much) left from the last year. Otherwise, they leave little tufts here and there. The rave results, and the improved weight of those guys, was a good seller to expand the activity.

This year, I was about to take out the mower for the first time, and my mother seemed to be astonished that I was going to mow so much, almost insistent that I let the Bull and steers do that job. So I listened to her and strung the polywire around anything we didn't want rubbed on or trimmed (a couple of out buildings, the thornless blackberries, and the dwarf fruit trees). One trick was to park an old trailer on edge of the gravel lot and wire on an insulator rather than attempting to drive a post there. And we have an oil pipe welded to a tire rim that takes up the slack in a similar area.

I still get the job of mowing around those low trees.

These bovine boys are so trained to that polywire, I don't even have to charge it all the time. If it's a wood building, I found that the polywire can go right on it, so I need less posts (as long as I keep it tight).

And this is part of our rotation by the house. They eat all this off close, and then I let them into another pasture they haven't been in for awhile. I don't have to water them in our back yard as there's a big pond there - and they trim right down to its edge, a plus. While I don't let them mow the pastures that close, lawn is still lawn.

When they are done, I take down the polywire and go through to clip off the high spots (as mentioned above - tufts) After that we leave it to grow high again. And mow anything I couldn't get to near those out buildings.

Then the lawn sits to grow up again until it gets back up to about 6-8 inches. Meanwhile, I trim off the edges and make it look like it's cared for  - and the Bull/Steers crowd gets it again.

This continued until June, when the Steers are shipped and the Bull is back to other quarters with his harem. But these boys keep the lawn trimmed through the most abundant growing season. (Later I can also let in the cows and their calves, as one of their pastures is right "next door", but have to string a double polywire to keep the calves out of the road. And it definitely is charged at that point.)

What do our neighbors think? Well, they find it amusing. We have Belted Galloway/Angus crosses, so it's a bit picturesque, especially with the yellow polywire as an "accent". And I always trim the roadsides and ditches. The cattle take care of trimming the trees and shrubs (not the evergreens by the house, which are toxic), so the lawn keeps an interesting "ambiance" all summer.

And visiting family knows what we are doing - and usually get a half from one of those steers, so usually stay mum if they have any complaints or comments. (Or get a return comment that they can come over and take over the mowing anytime they like.)

One side-benefit is our mole population gets a work-over. Not only does the pulsing effect (and fertilizer) make for more luscious lawn, but the cultivator action forces the moles to dig deeper.

FWIW - your own mileage may very. Don't try this with your corn-fed feeders, but grass-finished steers, momma cows, their calves, and grass-fed stockers seem to do fine.