The 4 Hour Body is my 1st GREAT Read of 2011

I couldn’t wait to get Tim Ferriss’s new book – The 4 Hour Body – and I have not been disappointed. Tim’s previous book – The 4 Hour Work Week – was a bestseller on the New York Times and Wall Street Journal book lists.

I ended 2010 reading several books on nutrition, exercise, weight lifting, yoga, stretching and thought I had a pretty good idea of what I would do in 2011 to continue my efforts toward better health and well-being – the 4 Hour Body turned all of that upside down!

This book is so full of information, whether you want to lose weight, gain weight, increase your core strength, increase your batting average, repair permanent injuries – you get the idea – the book is a marvel. Tim’s a little fanatical and he admits it. There’s more data in the book than your average scientist might want, but it’s great to read about real life results backed up personal trial, error and data.

You might see a lot more of The 4 Hour Body around Petoskey as I have given copies to my sister and her boyfriend. I’ve also recommended it to 3 other friends and even recommended it to a fellow I met in the sauna the other day at Petoskey Health & Fitness. I’m going to recommend that Petoskey Health & Fitness carry a few copies on the counter.

In addition to spreading the word locally, I’ve emailed 3 Rolfers, 2 Chiropractors, 3 Massuesses and 12 other friends about this book. I think that is the most people I have have personally recommended a book to since I read – My Stroke of Insight -by Jill Bolte Taylor – which I still think is a must read for everyone.

Another great book which I read last year was Women, Food & God by my friend Geneen Roth – also highly recommended. I was elated at Geneen’s success with Women, Food & God as she and her husband, Matt, lost a ton of money to Bernie Madoff – great article about her experience on the Huffington Post. I saw Geneen in November and she told me she just sent her newest manuscript off to the publisher.

In addition to reading The 4-Hour Body, I have 5 new books on Internet & Social Media Marketing in my que as that is what I do for fun and a living.

If you’ve been looking for the perfect 600 page book to help you get your body back to where it wants to be, get a copy of  – The 4-Hour Body: An Uncommon Guide to Rapid Fat-Loss, Incredible Sex, and Becoming Superhuman. Did I mention that there is a chapter on getting the perfect butt? – Building the Perfect Posterior (or Losing 100+ Pounds). I think it only takes about 6 weeks – I’ll post a pic in March!

John

Waking Up to May in Petoskey MI

I walked out the door at 6:45am to a very quiet Sunday morning in Petoskey, Michigan. Birds were chirping and the occasional car passing by kept me company on my walk down to Roast & Toast.

As I crossed Wooland Avenue & Mitchell Street, the morning scents reminded me of childhood days of being near lakes – there’s just something about a lake & the woods that impresses the mind forever.

Sitting at Roast & Toast sipping green tea and reading all the free alternative news, I once again appreciated the treasures this wonderful town of Petoskey in northern Michigan has.

Christine (my little sis) showed up for a cup of coffee before running into the office to knock out some work. After she left, I just continued sipping and reading until – lo and behold! – she was back with Ptom to drag me out of there and down to Bayfront Park.

The trees are awash with flowers and only three boats in slips at this time. A lone photographer with a 20# lens was heading back from the dock as we arrived.

After 10 minutes, Christine turned to Ptom and said – let’s go get the kayaks! To which Ptom replied – yippppeeee! It’s great to see these two fifty-somethings still excited about the finer things in life.

We hurried home for a quick omelette and some vegetarian sausage.

John

Heinz Has Upgraded Their Ketchup Packet

In this down economy while others are scaling back on research and development, Heinz has announced a huge upgrade to their lowly ketchup packet.

Heinz sells over 11 million of cases of ketchup packets a year and there are 1500 packets in a case. That’s a lot of single serving ketchup!

The new packets seem to be more like those little single serving jelly packets, but there is more ketchup in the new packets for dipping your fries, eggs or meatloaf in!

The new packets hold three times as much ketchup as the old ones – good news for pranksters that like to use them for special effects.

Ketchup (also spelled catsup) started out as a general term for sauce, typically made of mushrooms or fish brine with herbs and spices. Some popular early main ingredients included blueberry, anchovy, oyster, lobster, walnut, kidney bean, cucumber, cranberry, lemon, celery and grape.

The first recipe for ketchup surfaced in 1801. F. & J. Heinz launched their tomato ketchup in 1876. Heinz tomato ketchup was advertised: “Blessed relief for Mother and the other women in the household!”

Heinz seems to have led the way in the evolution of ketchup and they are still at it.

For those who still don’t know how to get that thick Heinz Ketchup out of a bottle -

Click on Items of Interest for More Info

John

Is Pale Skin Safer than a Good Tan?

What is it about a tan that makes us feel better? Why do so many equate a nice tan with health – especially when more and more research is showing up on the link between tanning and DNA damage and skin cancer?

A recent report from London reported – International cancer experts have moved tanning beds and other sources of ultraviolet radiation into the top cancer risk category, deeming them as deadly as arsenic and mustard gas.

The article noted that the risk of skin cancer increases to 75% for those under 30 years old using artificial tanning means.

Most tanning bed industries promote that indoor tanning is much safer than receiving outdoor exposure to the sun. Light emitted from tanning equipment contains approximately 40% less UVB rays, the most harmful type of radiation, than does light from the sun. Tanning beds have the power to control exposure time and the ratio of UVA to UVB rays for a “perfect balance”. Since tanning beds filter out most of the burning UVB rays, chances of getting burned decrease dramatically.

The statistics about tanning beds and skin cancer is frightening and should be an eye-opener for all of us. If you love to indoor tan or are considering it, medical experts say you should think twice if you care about your skin.

Doctors and medical researchers say you should never be fooled by claims made by tanning salons or bed/booth manufacturers whereby they state their beds are completely safe – no tanning bed or booth is safe.

Just because tanning equipment emits mostly UVA rays included of UVB rays that too should not fool you. Sure, UVA rays do not cause sunburn as often but studies actually show UVA rays can cause melanoma, the deadliest of all cancers. UVA rays also increase the risk of the other two types of cancers.

We envy, golden tans and healthy looking skin but when it comes to tanning devices, the bottom line seems to be health versus beauty in the eye of the beholder.

Googling “tanning and cancer research” is enough to make you think twice. But, like many things, this is a personal decision. Look at all the research on smoking and the millions that continue to ignore it at the cost of their health and potentially, their life.

Skin cancer and colon cancer are two of the cancers which we can help prevent with common sense and regular check ups. It’s a shame that there are so many stories of people who waited too long to go to the doctor. I knew several people who finally did only to have the doctor say – gosh, I wish you had come in a couple of months ago, we might have been able to do something.

John

Michigan Lawmaker Wants Action on Asian Carp Issue

Kevin Elsenheimer, Republican Leader in the Michigan House, wants a Northern Michigan summit on the invasive Asian carp, a fish many believe poses an environmental and economic threat to the entire Great Lakes ecosystem.

What to do, what to do against the invasive Asian carp will be the focus of the summit.

Everyone with a financial stake in the health of the Great Lakes should have an interest in this issue.

“All the states and Canadian provinces in the Great Lakes Basin stand to lose out in their economies, their quality of life, the loss of existing natural resources and ecosystems if the Asian carp is not stopped soon,” Elsenheimer said in a statement. “The cooperative agreements we have worked on for years to share the Great Lakes resources and their protection will be for naught. And the Great Lakes legacy that has been passed down from generation to generation will stop today unless we join together against this threat.”

The U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling against Michigan’s attempt to get the state of Illinois and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to immediately close the shipping canal increases the opportunity for the carp to get into the Great Lakes before all of the political haggling settles.

If you think action needs to be taken against the Asian carp contact your state congressman. Or contact Kevin Elsenheimer.

John

Michigan – Emergency Weather Bulletin

This text is from a county emergency manager out in the western part of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan after a severe snow storm …

The Mining Journal,Marquette, MI

WEATHER BULLETIN

Up here in the Northern part of Michigan we just recovered from a Historic event — may I even say a “Weather Event” of “Biblical Proportions” — with a historic blizzard of up to 44″ inches of snow and winds to 90 MPH that broke trees in half, knocked down utility poles, stranded hundreds of motorists in lethal snow banks, closed ALL roads, isolated scores of communities and cut power to 10′s of thousands.

FYI:

• Obama did not come.
• FEMA did nothing.
• No one howled for the government.
• No one blamed the government.
• No one even uttered an expletive on TV.
• Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton did not visit.
• Our Mayor’s did not blame Obama or anyone else.
• Our Governor did not blame Obama or anyone else either.
• CNN, ABC, CBS, FOX, or NBC did not visit – or even report on this category 5snow storm.
• Nobody demanded $2,000 debit cards.
• No one asked for a FEMA Trailer House.
• No one looted.
• Nobody – I mean Nobody demanded the government do something.
• Nobody expected the government to do anything either.
• No Larry King, No Bill O’Rielly, No Oprah, No Chris Mathews and No Geraldo Rivera.
• No Sean Penn, No Barbara Striesand, No Brad Pitts, No Hollywood types to be found.

Nope, we just melted the snow for water and  sent out caravans of SUV’s to pluck people out of snow engulfed cars. The truck drivers pulled people out of snow banks and didn’t ask for a penny. Local restaurants made food, and the police and fire departments delivered it to the snow bound families. Families took in the stranded people – total strangers.

We fired up wood stoves, broke out coal oil lanterns or Coleman lanterns. We put on an extra layers of clothes because up here it is “Work or Die”.

We did not wait for some affirmative action government to get us out of a mess created by being immobilized by a welfare program that trades votes for ‘sittin at home’ checks.

Even though a  Category 5 blizzard of this scale is unusual, we know it can happen and how to deal with it ourselves.

I don’t imagine this is a commentary on the situation in Haiti as much as it is meant to address the ubiquitous sense of entitlement and the mindset that the government or others should take care of us. I guess what this person is saying is – we are us.

John

Are You Prepared for a Disaster Should One Strike Petoskey?

Imagine a scenario like the one in Haiti hitting our little town of Petoskey. Are you prepared to live for two weeks or more without access to food, water, power and the other elements of daily survival we take for granted?

Yesterday’s aftershock in the Cayman Islands (5.8) and today’s in Haiti (6.1) illustrate that when it comes to Mother Nature, we are very vulnerable – in spite of what we believe.

Prepare for Disaster in Petoskey

Imagine what a rogue hurricane or intense tropical storm would do to Haiti right now. The majority of those in need have yet to receive any relief and efforts by the international community are still in the beginning stages. Even when the initial relief efforts help to stabilize the situation, it will take years to rebuild Haiti to provide food and shelter to its citizens.

A tornado or two, or a geological catastrophe could cause damage in Petoskey. Just because it hasn’t happened doesn’t mean it’s not possible. Even something as simple as losing power for a week in the winter would challenge many of us.

Visit FEMA’s Ready website to see what’s recommended for disaster preparedness. Don’t let Mother Nature catch you unprepared should disaster strike Petoskey, MI.

John

Gas Sipping Cars and Sporty Boats for Michigan

The Detroit auto show rolled out the gas sipping cars we will be driving in a couple of year. The mph standard seems to be around 40 mpg and more electric cars and hybrids are on the way.

For those interested more in looks than mileage or the environment, there are still plenty of options available.

If you’re thinking more about summer and being on the water, then the upcoming Petoskey Boat Show may be just the place to cool your jets for awhile.

The Petoskey Boat Show will feature boats, jet skis, camping  and fishing vendors.

The Petoskey Boat, Camp & Fishing Show will be held at North Central Michigan College February 26 – 28.

Why not make 2010 a memorable year – get a new car and boat!

John