Baby Hercules

If you missed the Green Corn Moon of August last night, don't worry--there's another one coming up on the 31rst. That's right, a Blue Moon. http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/objects/moon/3304131.html So, keep a soft blanket in the car and stake out a spot in the grass so you'll be all set for snuggling between the moonshadows. Baby Herc

Okay, so far I've got lots and lots of cucumbers fattening on a vine that I'm training along the top of a fence, plenty of Cherokee Purple, Heirloom Brandywine, and Sweet 100 tomatoes setting fruit, one pie pumpkin growing, plenty of Rainbow Lights Swiss Chard to carry me through to winter, a few sweet corn stalks, and an out of control mini-cantaloupe vine that looks like it's gonna feed the entire neighborhood. I've got a spoon all ready! Baby Herc

KarakD., weren't you going to get a shepherd puppy? How goes the search? Baby Herc

Well, you're on your own, guys. It's been a fun summer but I'm off the stuff until a sweet pumpkin stout rears it's beautiful, frothy head next October. I'll leave you with this until then...(Warning: Profanity).... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P6fHQVyesj0 Baby Herc

Halloween decorations and candy on the shelves already?! Are you frickin' kiddin' me? Baby Herc

Homemade lemonade made with stevia and a teaspoon of chlorella mixed in. Ahhhhh, refreshing! Baby Herc

That is either a bad ass cupcake or some really horrible sex. I'm gonna have to try those. Where the attitude goes, the mind goes. Where the mind goes, the body goes. Where the body goes, others will follow. Hahahaa, this is hilarious! But the question is still fresh for me, as I am gonna get married, and half of the guests from my husband's side are vegans. I couldn't imagine that'd be so hard to create two kinds of menu and two cakes! Grrrh.... It's not hard at all. As a matter of fact, a menu could be designed such that all the dishes complement one another as one large spread--especially if there is a flavor theme to tie it all together, such as Indian, Thai, Tex Mex, Italian, etc. That way, there wouldn't be "two menus," just a grand variety to choose from. Whether you are doing a buffet or a sit down with menus, the vegan dishes could be tastefully labeled somehow with an artistic little leaf next to them. As for the two cakes, since your husband's side is in large part Team Vegan, why not make the Groom's Cake vegan? You can go all kinds of crazy with a Groom's Cake with unique flavors, toppings, fillings, etc. and it would still be considered traditional. Plus, it would give the vegan-curious in the wedding party a chance to taste the possibilities! Baby Herc

No plants--however, if it is synthetically produced, it would be vegan, just not exactly "natural." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retinyl_palmitate http://www.livestrong.com/article/468186-what-is-vitamin-a-palmitate/ Baby Herc

Congrats on your new lease on life, Yeti! It feels good to revel in one's own power, and you got so much of it. Baby Herc

Mina, I'm glad you brought up the blood type diet. It was one of the many resources I discovered along my health journey. Ironically, I was looking into ayurveda at the same time and I was amazed at how closely they lined up! Certain doshas in ayurveda tend to be certain bloodtypes and the recommendations for eating in each discipline match up with almost spooky accuracy. And ayurveda has been in practice for thousands of years! I'm blood type A and sure enough, almost all the foods the blood type diet A (and the Pitta-Vata dosha) says to avoid are foods that I don't care much for and steer clear of naturally. Most of the foods recommended by both were already staples for me. I experimented back and forth, added a few spices here and there, and bingo, I had a delicious diet. Shortly after that, I went vegan--which, frankly, wasn't much of a jump by that time. Since then, I've gone back and forth from vegan, raw vegan, and vegetarian in order to work out some kinks. I found the kink: I was dangerously magnesium deficient. Turns out, once you are seriously magnesium deficient and under a lot of stress, there is no way on earth to get the megadoses of magnesium necessary to balance again from plants alone. That's why I was craving diary and meat so bad and getting ill on a vegan diet--my body was desperate for mag. So, supplements. And they're working--Yay! I'm going to take a few months to equalize and make sure I'm actually absorbing what I'm eating now (one of the many things mag regulates), and then try raw vegan again. I still follow the blood type diet and ayurveda for the most part because it works so well for me. Statistics and medical tests are worthless to me if I wasn't in them; I always conduct my own test, I call it "eating." The blood type diet has a load of great information in it and I learned a lot about how the circulatory, endocrine, and the gastrointestinal systems rely on one another. As you said, you don't have to adhere to the diet tightly to get a huge benefit from it. It would be interesting to learn how blood type lines up with ectomorphs, mesomorphs, and endomorphs, too, because ayurveda sure does! Baby Herc, a gorgeous mesomorph pitta-vata A

Actually, I'd been researching magnesium for about a month before this. But I won't tell anybody. I'm starting with a blend of different forms and I'll go from there. I've heard from multiple sources that glycinate is the best absorbed and oxide is the least but in the end, if it works for you, it works. I just prefer to save money by spending it on the sources I absorb most completely and since things tend to occur in a variety in nature, I'm going to give my body a buffet and let it choose as it needs. I now take a 1:1 cal-mag ratio supplement in split doses that offers the calcium in hydroxyapatite, citrate, alpha-glutarate, aspartate, and lysinate and the mag in oxide, citrate, alpha-ketoglutarate, aspartate, and taurinate. I also take an ultra-mag containing magnesium citrate, taurinate, malate, glycinate, and succinate throughout the day as needed. I've started storing it in my purse like mints. I thought about investing in some magnesium oil spray for the transdermal thing but I did a little poking around online and I am discouraged by the fact that it must be left on the skin for 20 minutes, then leaves behind a flaky white residue that must be washed off (it is a salt, after all). I need around 1000mg a day as a baseline and it takes several sprays just to get 100 mg! Plus, nobody seems to carry it in town--not New Seasons, not Whole Foods, not specialty stores, nobody. So much for convenience. Baby Herc

That's a good question. I don't know for sure since I haven't had any lately. If I come across some, I'll do an experiment and let you know. Baby Herc Nope. Had a handful of chocolate candy right in the middle of the day and the only effect it had on me was a sugar buzz, not unlike eating a banana. Actually, I don't like sugar much anymore, even bananas. Now that I'm absorbing everything I'm eating completely, I'm no longer drawn to extremes like salt, sugar, caffeine, alcohol, fat, etc. It's such a relief no to have to worry about food anymore! Baby Herc

What delicious food combination have you recently tried that sounded weird but ended up tasting amazing? I had some cold leftover whole wheat spaghetti that I had tossed in oil, hot pepper flakes, and bruschetta instead of sauce, so it was already light. I chopped up raw Rainbow Swiss Chard leaves into 1/4" pieces and mixed them in with a 1:2 ratio to the pasta. Delicious! It added beautiful greens and pinks to the dish and made it fresh and crunchy. Gotta write this one down and do it again next summer! What strange concoctions can you share with us? Baby Herc

Do you deliver? Baby Herc

It's either Extra Virgin Olive Oil or Evoo, the long lost fifth Teletubbie. Slacker. Baby Herc

That's a good question. I don't know for sure since I haven't had any lately. If I come across some, I'll do an experiment and let you know. Baby Herc

Since my last post above, I reduced my calcium intake and greatly increased my magnesium intake and, boy, did it make a difference! I had a slew of seemingly unrelated symptoms that I mostly blamed myself for and every single one of them has either improved noticeably or disappeared completely--after just a few days! As things balance out over time and my mag levels equalize in a less-stressed, happier body, I expect 100% improvement. I placed stars before the symptoms that were severe for me before I upped my mag levels. *Chronic fatigue, weakness and exhaustion -- almost gone *Excessive noise and pain sensitivity -- somewhat reduced *Photophobia (light sensitivity) -- noticeably reduced *Hypertension -- almost gone *Edema, pitting oedema -- almost gone Headaches -- gone *Trouble breathing deeply -- gone *Irritability, nervousness, anxiety --almost gone *Depression and apathy --gone *Deep muscle spasms, cramps -- almost gone *Difficulty with memory and concentration --gone Insomnia --greatly improved Loose skin - greatly improved Chronic constipation -- gone *Chronic excessive muscle tension -- almost gone Confusion and disorientation -- gone *Hypoglycemia --almost gone *Junk food cravings -- gone *Weight gain --gone *Insufficient nutrient absorption -- gone *Adrenal fatigue & salt cravings --almost gone Sugar cravings -- gone *Hypothyroidism --gone Thymus problems -- noticeably improved Weak immune system - gone Emotional instability/overreaction -- greatly improved Irregular or rapid heartbeat -- gone Menstrual cramps --almost gone I recommend the book "Transdermal Magnesium Therapy," by Mark Sircus. I'm looking forward to using transdermal mag soon but in the meantime, I'm pretty happy with the results I've gotten with just vitamin supplements. Last night, for the first time in memory, I got home late after a long day of hiking and driving and I actually felt calm and serene instead of being stressed out physically and mentally to the point of illness. I can definitely get used to THIS! Baby Herc, so relieved

This is a sublime example of how caring persistence can improvement the environment naturally and change the experience for everyone. Beautiful animation, lovely music, soothing narration--all in all, an excellent way to spend a quiet, happy 30 minutes. http://vimeo.com/32542316 Baby Herc

The elk would be very surprised to learn that they have to pull Santa's sleigh this winter. Baby Herc

Found a Veetle Retro channel that streams a of variety of 50's, 60's, 70's, and 80's television shows: http://veetle.com/index.php/channel/view#4fe509c6585a4/96a328dfa35d8cc4198c582630f30433 Baby Herc

I thought "vegan bodybuilder" was Latin for "tofu eating contest." Baby Herc

Equally? That's pretty cool: tridosha. Then it's just a simple matter of experimenting with cooling foods and spices and leaving out the heating ones and seeing what happens. It's something to try, anyway. Baby Herc PS: The most cooling beverage I know is chilled peppermint tea. You can actually feel your organs--especially the stomach--relaxing right after you drink it.