I had heard about this vegetarian restaurant a little while ago from a friend who couldn’t stop raving about the great food. I’m always up for trying something new (bonus if it’s healthy!), and so decided to give it a try.
I’m not sure if my friend was just a great salesman, or if I just happened to have a bad experience, but I have to say that I was not impressed. No wonder people don’t like to eat their veggies!
My unhappy tastebuds also had a buddy in my unhappy wallet.
Taste aside, why is it that to go out to a supposedly “healthy” restaurant is significantly more expensive than going to the local pub? Shouldn’t we be trying to make it easier for people to grab a quick and healthy meal at an affordable price?
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A couple of days ago there was a news story describing how elementary schools in the UK are considering sending warning letters home to the parents of overweight children about the health-related dangers of being overweight or obese.
Nobody is denying that obesity has become a significant health crisis in the western world; and one that needs to be addressed in short course, no less.
However, I can’t help thinking that a letter home to parents is a pathetic attempt at addressing the real issue. Let’s see how well it goes over when parents read a letter essentially saying “You’re child is fat!”.
We have all heard the ever increasing percentages of obesity rates in the western world. Click here to see an estimate of worldwide obesity rates based on BMI in 2005 and a prediction of rates in 2015, courtesy of WHO.
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So I realise that the HPV debate has been raging in Canada for quite some time, but I feel like I’ve only just come to some of my own realizations and conclusions.
I think I have been reading up diligently on the news updates that are released about Gardasil, the new HPV vaccine that has been released by Merck that is supposed to prevent the majority of HPV related cervical cancers. Despite my efforts, I still feel that I am missing a large part of the picture.
Thank goodness I am not a parent who has been forced into the position of needing to make a decision about having my pre-pubescent daughter vaccinated from potentially contracting this virus; and all before the government decides to stop funding the vaccine or before my daughter becomes too old to be eligible for the government-funded vaccines.
We are suddenly being told that we have an epidemic of cervical cancer on our hands. And while I do not want to minimize the seriousness and life-altering changes that occur with such a diagnosis, I feel as though the powers that be may be witholding valuable information from me.
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I received an email today from a friend that said “FYI - Cancer” in the subject line. Inside was a long list of “Cancer Updates” supposedly published by Johns Hopkins Medicine. As I went through each item one-by-one, I immediately began to wonder about the validity of several, if not all, of these statements.
After a quick google search for “Johns Hopkins cancer update”, I found the official Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Centre at Johns Hopkins Medicine website stating that they had no involvement in the email hoax regarding cancer.
I know that this email was forwarded to me by a friend who genuinely thought that this information would be informative and useful. It is only by chance that I have a personal interest in this type of information that I feel able to question the validity of such pieces of information.
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After writing some intial thoughts about the incentive program initiated by the mayor of Varallo and the potential implications if implemented on a larger scale in Canada, I began to wonder what the possible success rate of such a program might be.
Mike Howard on the Diet Blog poses some interesting initial questions to consider about this incentive program. I also wondered about these questions and have finally come up with some good reasons why I like this program along with some areas that could possibly be improved on.
Why I like this program:
The health benefits that accompany weight loss are undisputable. The list of health benefits range from decreased risk of heart disease, diabetes, cancer, etc. to increased lifespan; which all adds up to increased quality of life. Who can argue with that?
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Whenever we come to a crossroads in our lives and must decide on a new path, a change of paths, or just a slight detour, there are inevitably several considerations that we take into account before making our final decision.
I have recently started to wonder what types of considerations we make and what finally makes us decide to journey down that new path of uncertainties.
I suppose a clearer and more simplistic question would be “What motivates us to do the things that we do?”.
Let’s take an example that I’m sure everyone can relate to.
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Soccer-mania has recently hit Canada in a way that I never would have imagined. With the FIFA-U20 World Cup being held across the country, people seem to have been hit with a potent maladie only hinted at during the World Cup held last year.
The clusters of people surrounding the huge Reuters TV screen at the StandardLife centre in downtown Toronto last year have been replaced by an exodus of fans decked out in full fan gear, painted faces, hats, loud horns and their favoured flag tied around their necks trekking toward the new soccer stadium at Exhibition Centre.
Never really having been a soccer fan, I never quite understood the frenzy that accompanied international soccer. It’s a game! What’s all the fuss about?
I couldn’t have been more wrong!
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Just a quick link to an interesting study on the changing values of new employees today.
A steady paycheque just doesn’t seem to cut it with the new recruits of today’s workforce. This new generation of workers expects employers to support them in achieving worklife balance.
Employers take note!
Perhaps it is that we have seen what our parents sacrificed in order to be succesful in their careers. Perhaps we know people whose priorities were dictated to them for whatever reason and were unable to pursue their dreams. Or perhaps it is just that we have been brought up knowing that we could do and have it all.
These may be lofty ambitions, but they’re not impossible.
When you know what you want, there’s no reason why you can’t have it.
Remember when you loved your job? Oh wait…Not loving your job now would imply that you did, at some point, enjoy your job and what it contributed to your life.
As a new recruit into the working world, I admit that I had idealistic dreams of finding my dream job; a job that would allow me to spread my wings and fly. Like I said, it was an idealistic dream.
As my peers and I have begun to make our own paths in the world, I notice that the confident, “bring it on” attitude that most of us had leaving school has now become more of a complacent, survival kind of attitude in the workplace.
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