Talking health with kathy

“Green Goes with Everything” and the Ten Simple Steps for a
Greener and Healthier Home!

Sloan Barnett, wife of Shaklee CEO Roger Barnett, is a green consumer advocate and regular contributor to NBC’s “Today Show”. Sloan has written a thoroughly researched, highly readable book about getting the chemicals and toxins not just out of our homes and out of our environment, but out of our bodies as well!

As Sloan reports in her book, “Most Americans, and especially children, have dozens of pesticides and other toxic compounds in their bodies, many of them linked to health threats. A source of many of these toxins? Common, everyday, run of the mill household products. Experts call the total amount of chemicals and pollutants that are present in our body at any given time, our “Body Burden”.

Today there is a body burden test but it requires more than a dozen vials of blood and urine, and is very expensive. Sloan took the test and talks more about it in her book. She also shares a simple Body Burden Quiz that you can take online at: http://www.greengoeswitheverything.com/quiz.html

So, what can you do to make your environment greener and remove the toxins from your home and from your body?

Here is Sloan’s Ten Simple Steps for a Greener and Healthier Home:

1. Start by replacing a bunch of your cleaners (your general spray cleaner, glass cleaner, counter-top cleaner, floor and bathroom cleaners) with a natural, nontoxic all-purpose cleaner. You will only need one product to do that. Really! Shaklee’s Basic-H2 will accomplish this step: www.shaklee.net/ahealthylife/product/00015

If this is your first time using Basic-H2, we recommend getting the
3-pack of “Get Clean” spray bottles. Each spray bottle is attractively labeled and has instructions for different mixtures for All Purpose Cleaning, Glass Cleaning and Degreasing: www.shaklee.net/ahealthylife/product/50443

2. Replace your laundry detergent with a natural nontoxic one so the clothes you wear and the sheets you sleep on have no fumes for you to breathe. Shaklee’s Fresh Laundry Concentrate in powder or liquid form does the job even better then store bought brands. HE compatible and fragrance-free options available. Go to: www.shaklee.net/ahealthylife/product/GetCleanLaundry

3. Go to your bathroom and read the shampoo, makeup and moisturizer labels. Ask yourself, “Do I really need scent in these products?” Take stock of all of your other products and try to replace one a week with a safer, greener choice.

For Shaklee’s Natural Personal Care Products go to:
http://www.shaklee.net/ahealthylife/product/DailyCare
For Shaklee’s Natural Beauty Products go to:
http://www.shaklee.net/members/shopNowProd/Beauty
For Shaklee’s ProSante Hair Care Products go to: http://www.shaklee.net/members/shopNowProd/HairCare

4. Use BPA-free plastic baby bottles and fill them with breast milk or organic formula. Choose powdered formula over canned formula to avoid BPA leaching from the can lining.
For more information on BPA-free bottles go to: http://babyproducts.about.com/od/feedingdrinks/tp/BPA_free_baby_bottles.htm

5. Pay attention (without freaking out) to the toys you buy for your kids. Avoid lead paint and soft plastics that contain phthalates. Also a good germ cleaner for toys is Shaklee’s Germ Off Fragrance-Free Disinfecting Wipes. They clean and disinfect odor-causing bacteria without alcohol or bleach. Order online at:
http://www.shaklee.net/members/shopNowProd/00322

6. Shop the perimeter of the grocery store and avoid processed foods. Even better, choose organic and locally grown meats, dairy, fruits and vegetables. Find locally grown produce, farmer’s markets, family farms and other sources of sustainably grown food anywhere in the country at: http://www.localharvest.org/

7. Try to get the plastic containers out of your kitchen and replace them with glass containers. For more on the benefits of glass containers go to: http://www.greendaily.com/2008/09/18/glass-vs-plastic/

8. Make a vow to stop buying bottled water—NOW. Instead, buy a water filter pitcher and keep two in your fridge at all times. Shaklee’s BestWater Pitcher or MTS 2000 Water Filter (both rated #2 by Consumer Reports) provide clean fresh and easily accessible water that saves you big money over bottled water. http://www.shaklee.net/members/shopNowProd/WaterTreatment

9. For cleaner and healthier air, open your windows once a day when the outside temperature is comfortable. Also check out the AirSource 3000 Air Purifier that dramatically reduces all three of the major forms of indoor air pollution, including particles such as pollen, pet dander, dust and cigarette smoke; microbes such as mold and bacteria; gases and odors. It purifies the air up to 3000 sq. ft. making it ideal for most homes. For more information go to: http://www.shaklee.net/members/shopNowProd/55102

10. When buying new stuff for your home, focus on green products, especially mattresses and carpets.
For green carpeting check out: http://www.thegreenguide.com/doc/96/letters
For green bedding check out:
http://www.thegreenguide.com/doc/107/bedding

You can order Sloan’s new book Green Goes with Everything: Simple Steps to a Healthier Life and a Cleaner Planet at Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble or where other bestselling books are sold.

Receive Sloan’s book as a hostess gift. Contact us to schedule your Healthy Home event today.

Don’t let the kids have all the fun over the holiday weekend. Create a grown-up Easter basket for your loved ones, friends or even yourself.

Easter baskets don’t have to be packed with chocolate bunnies designed to throw you from your healthy goals; you can still enjoy a sweet Easter treat with Weight Watchers Chocolates. Take a look at this idea and add your own flair, and favorite Weight Watchers snacks, to the mix.

* Select a basket for your friend based on her favorite color, decorating scheme at home, etc. You can make it yourself if you’re feeling crafty! Try looking at your local drug store, grocery store or even thrift store for just the right one.
* Instead of using plastic grass (which can be messy and even be a harm to pets), take colored paper and run it through a paper shredder. If you don’t have a shredder, don’t worry. Cut thin strips and scrunch them up to to create a crinkle effect.
* Once the basket is filled with your paper grass, start adding your favorite Weight Watchers snacks. Try wrapping the packages up in pastel-colored wrapping, adding bows or even removing the individually wrapped pieces from the package and placing them directly into the basket.
* Now that your basket is filled with snacks, feel free to add your own decorative touches for a finished look.

If you make a Weight Watchers basket this weekend, we’d love to see a picture of it! Post it here!

Many of you have played around with the Weight Watchers ‘I Really Want’ snack widget and some have even placed it on your own site or blog! Others have asked questions about what exactly is this widget? We know it’s hard to fight hunger temptation and if you are looking for a snack that might not be the best option for you, the snack widget was designed to help give you a smarter option!

It’s a simple interactive tool where you enter in what you are looking for and the “I Really Want!” widget will show you various Weight Watchers sensible food products and everyday snack alternatives to try.

You can even download the snack widget to your computer or place it on your own website or blog to use whenever you want! You can visit WeightWatchers.com/SnackWidget for full information.

And we can’t forget to mention that you can also sign up at WeightWatchers.com/SnackWidget to receive information and COUPONS from Weight Watchers!

Hey Weight Watchers Supermarket Fans, we heard your request for quick low-point breakfast options and we have a couple suggestions for you!

If you haven’t tried Weight Watchers new Banana Nut Muffin, what are you waiting for? The yummy taste of real banana and a POINTS value of 3 will have you ready to start the day. Weight Watchers has an additional variety of muffins as well if you prefer the taste of blueberries or chocolate. Or enjoy one of the many flavors of Weight Watchers yogurts. This low-point treat comes in 11 delicious options, including White Chocolate Raspberry and Boston Cream Pie.

If you are looking for a flavorful recipe, this unique breakfast selection from Weight Watchers is a good way to get you going in the morning.

Individual Ham, Cheese, and Veggie Frittatas
Hands-On Prep 15 minutes
Cook 25 minutes
Serves 8
Makes 8 frittatas

1 pound frozen hash brown potatoes, thawed
4 large egg, beaten
1 tablespoon fat-free skim milk
1⁄8 teaspoon salt, or to taste
1⁄8 teaspoon pepper, or to taste
2 ounces cooked lean ham, finely chopped
2 tablespoons sweet red pepper, finely chopped
2 tablespoons green pepper, finely chopped
2 tablespoons onion, finely chopped
½ cup Weight Watchers Reduced Fat Shredded Cheese

1 Preheat oven to 350°F. Coat 8 muffin tin holes with nonstick spray. Spread potatoes around bottom and press potato up sides of each muffin hole; place in oven and cook for 10 minutes.
2 Meanwhile, beat eggs and milk together in a medium bowl; season with salt and pepper. Add ham, peppers, onion, and cheese to bowl; mix to combine.
3 Remove potatoes from oven (after cooking for 10 minutes) and press potatoes down firmly with a spoon so that they are spread out like mini pie crusts (potatoes should cover bottom and sides of each hole). Pour about 1⁄8 cup of egg mixture into the center of each muffin hole.
4 Return pan to oven and cook until potatoes are crisp and golden, and the egg mixture is set, about 15 minutes. Remove from oven and let sit about 5 minutes before serving.

Per serving (1 frittata): 110 Cal, 4 g Fat, 1.5 g Sat Fat, 0 g Trans Fat, 110 mg Chol, 115 mg Sod, 10 g Carb, 1 g Fib, 8 g Prot, 4% Calc. POINTS value: 2.

We asked ONE members for submissions to The Big Read book — a collection of stories from people around the world supporting education for everyone. Although only one member story will be published in the book, the runner-up submissions, including the one below from Maureen Rooney of Annandale, NJ, were so good that we wanted to share them here.

You can show your support for The Big Read and help ensure a pathway out of poverty for children around the world. Endorse the book by adding your signature here.

Thanks for reading!

-Emily Stivers

Education Empowers

Maureen Rooney
Annandale, NJ

On March 11, 2005, I suffered a severe brain injury caused by a ruptured brain aneurysm. I was in a coma for three days at Jefferson Neuroscience Hospital in Philadelphia, and almost died. I spent two weeks at Jefferson and two additional months in rehabilitation facilities.

When I recovered to a moderate brain injury, I was searching for a cause I could advocate for and wholeheartedly believe in. I needed a cause that champions those in need and empowers those who have little. That is when I learned about ONE and its network of grassroots activists. Through ONE.org, I would be able to affect public and world policy for the better, empower those who dared dream of hope, and help educate those who yearn to read, write and to communicate.

ONE rekindled my latent idealism and lifted me from my own catastrophic situation by helping me to put my brain injury into proper perspective. Fortunately, at the time of my illness I was living and working in Philadelphia, a center of excellence for neuroscience. Because my brother and sister-in-law became my advocates, my life was saved. I needed to do something with my life that would validate their belief in me.

Before my brain injury, I had an established career in the publishing industry as a sales executive. I have a B.A. in English from William Paterson University. During my sales career, I traveled all over the world and toured many of the countries I read about as a student. My dreams were to travel the world and to become an author. I always believed I had stories to share with the world. I was well-traveled and well-read, but I was not yet a writer.

Through sales I became a strong communicator. Through ONE, I used my persuasive abilities and communication skills to lobby my legislators and inform the media of the plight of those battling extreme poverty, disease and illiteracy. I have been an involved and motivated member of ONE.org since 2006.

I have lobbied my senators, congressional representatives and the 2008 Presidential candidates with phone calls, emails and letters. I have written to New Jersey’s highest circulating newspapers. I have attended and participated in meet ups with my Congressional representative. I have written to Secretary of State Clinton about the key issues of global poverty and disease and the need to intervene in crises such as those in Zimbabwe. I proudly sign every ONE.org petition I receive.

I realized that without education, I would have been powerless to influence change. Joining ONE.org continued my education. It reminded me that those who live and are educated in the non-industrial world critically need the tools and building blocks to improve their situation.

The most important advantage we can give to one another is a good education. Education provides one with choices gives us confidence and makes all things possible. Those who can read and write find a new world through books, can understand training and technical manuals, and are informed by newspapers and magazines and the information on the Internet. With a good basic education, one can expand one’s horizons to comprehend math and the sciences. That leads to understanding how things work, answers many questions and provides a method to pass on information to future generations.

When one is able to read, one can understand the history of one’s family, one’s birthplace, one’s country and the world at large. That is why universal education and adequate funding are critical. I attended university because I received a New Jersey state scholarship. That scholarship shaped my life. In 2009, I have begun to write the first of what I believe will be many books. At long last, I am living my dream.

My first book is the story of my father, and the love he shared with my mother. Edward Rooney was educated in a one-room schoolhouse in the Northern Ireland of the 1920s-1930s. My father joined the Royal Navy before World War II and remained a sailor until 1945. He helped to save the world. My father had the most curious, inquisitive, remarkable mind. His joys in life were my mother, his family, politics, following world events and reading books. He was the single most successful person I have ever known. He owned his own home, raised a fine family and positively influenced all of those whose lives he touched. His three children all graduated from college. Edward Rooney was always grateful to his parents for educating him, his three sisters and eight brothers.

I am proud to say my brain has recovered to the extent this year that I will share my father’s story with the world. My father achieved a great deal and died, in 2006, one of the most contented men who ever lived. While on port duty in Johannesburg, he refused to enforce the township curfews mandated by the apartheid regime, and was thrown in the brig. When the war in Iraq began, he spoke of his time in Iraq, remarking on what fine, compassionate people he had met while serving in Basra.

My father’s education continued throughout his life, honed by his travels during WWII, the people he met and the information he digested reading his local, city and national newspapers daily. Like our great President Abraham Lincoln, my father began his lifelong education in a one-room schoolhouse. Like Lincoln, my father independently pursued knowledge his entire life. Edward Rooney was the most widely read and best-informed person I have ever known. A good education is something my father believed all children should have. My father was a gunner on the HMS Repulse.

His battle cruiser the Repulse was sunk on December 10, 1941 when she set sail to save Singapore. Edward Rooney did his duty, lived his life with compassion and passionately believed the world should be a better place. A guarantee of quality basic education to the disenfranchised would have brought him joy and made him smile.

More than 50 community volunteers worked with Rebuilding Together Greater Green Bay to help renovate the home of recently retired Army Sergeant, Mark M. Meunier. Mark was injured by a double IED explosion while on duty in Iraq and now suffers from significant mobility issues. Rebuilding Together Greater Green Bay provided home repairs and improvements that focused on accessibility.

The double IED explosion left Mark with injuries to his knee, ankle, shoulder, and wrist. He suffers from a traumatic brain injury (TBI), extreme rheumatoid arthritis, post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and a lower back injury. As a result of his injuries, Mark suffers intense back pain and is prevented from performing many simple tasks. He can only walk for short distances and is not expected to run again.

Mark spent the last few months of his service at the local armory in Green Bay, Wisconsin, working with reservists, while receiving ongoing treatment for his injuries. Mark served in Operation Iraqi Freedom, Somalia, and the Persian Gulf War.

Mark and his wife, Dawn, live in a home near downtown Green Bay that was built in 1917 and has significant repair needs. It was purchased prior to Mark’s last deployment with the intent that he would complete the repair work himself. Mark is now unable to complete the repair work and needs additional modifications to make it more accessible for him. The current state of the home results in high heating bills and requires Mark to walk up a slow and painful 40 stairs to access the nearest bathroom on the second floor. “It’s amazing,” said Meunier, 36. “I don’t even know what to say.”

Rebuilding Together made significant repairs and modifications at the Meunier home including replacing the roof, installing a wheelchair ramp, replacing windows, building a new accessible bathroom on the first floor, repairing electrical wiring, installing a new water heater and furnace, installing a new front door, replacing flooring, and painting. “It’s overwhelming, unbelievable,” Dawn Meunier said. “It’s all way more than we could ever have hoped for.”

Rebuilding Together Veterans Housing Coverage:

The Chicago Tribune – http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-ap-wi-veteran-homerepai,0,907401.story

Green Bay Press Gazette – http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/article/20090404/GPG0101/904040536/1207/GPG01

WBAY-TV – ABC – http://www.wbay.com/Global/story.asp?S=10130188

WLUK-TV- Fox 11 – http://www.fox11online.com/dpp/news/news_wluk_greenbay_veteran_home_makeover_200904021728_rev1

WXOW-TV- ABC 19 – http://www.wxow.com/Global/story.asp?S=10130188

WKOW-TV- ABC – http://www.wkowtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=10130188

It is a horrific injury but I think what you’ve got to understand first is that Taylor’s not run 15, 20 yards and jumped in with two feet. Kahty like her forum:talk my disease health forum,He’s made the tackle from a standing start and he’s just been done by a bit of pace.

It’s early on in the game, he’s trying to find his feet, and he nearly gets the ball but Eduardo just nips it away from him.

It is a red card, he mistimed the tackle, but the only person that can tell you if there is real intent is the player himself and, as Alex McLeish says, the guy’s absolutely distraught.

I’m glad Arsene Wenger has retracted his initial statement. We’ve all been there and emotions run high. In 1987, Jim Beglin broke his leg against Everton. I was the captain of Liverpool, he was my room-mate, and it was a horrific injury. I said things after the game that possibly I shouldn’t have said, and I do regret saying them.

You could see how the Arsenal players were with this horrific injury and emotions run high, you say things that later on you regret.

Arsene has made this statement, he’s cleared it up and hopefully that’s the end of it.

Alan Hansen was speaking on Match of the Day