Before starting the experimental diet the rats were taught to navigate their way through a maze using visual landmarks to remember the way.  The researchers then separated the rats into two groups, both consumed a fructose solution as their water, but one half of the rats also received omega-3 fatty acids, which are thought to protect against damage to the synapses — the chemical connections between brain cells that enable memory and learning. After six weeks of their new diet, the researchers tested the rats’ recall of the maze route.

“The second group of rats navigated the maze much faster than the rats that did not receive omega-3 fatty acids,” study researcher Fernando Gomez-Pinilla, of the University of California, Los Angeles stated, “[The rats who only drank sugar water] brains showed a decline in synaptic activity. Their brain cells had trouble signaling each other, disrupting the rats’ ability to think clearly and recall the route they’d learned six weeks earlier.”  In other words, the rats who did not receive the omega-3 fatty acids were dumber than their counterparts.

The average American consumes more than 40 pounds of high-fructose corn syrup per year, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Some scientists even think sugar should be taxed the way alcohol and tobacco products are. (A sentiment I personally do not agree with.)

“We’re not talking about naturally occurring fructose in fruits, which also contain important antioxidants,” Gomez-Pinilla said. “We’re concerned about high-fructose corn syrup that is added to manufactured food products as a sweetener and preservative.”

What have we done to ourselves? Perhaps this is the reason that we struggle more in standardized testing than the rest of the world.  Have our actions finally come full circle to destroy ourselves from within? 

What will this cause you to do?  Maybe you should lay off the Mountain Dew….

What if I guaranteed that this ONE, SIMPLE CHANGE could make you MORE MONEY??  And it would lead to deeper, richer relationships with those you love?

What is this ONE, SIMPLE CHANGE?  The answer is so very simple….

(Use Inviso-Text* to see it)

Turn off the television and get rid of your cable/satellite service.

*Hold your Left Click on your mouse and drag in the empty space above

Before you react, hear me out…

• According to the A.C. Nielsen Co., the average American watches more than 4 hours of TV each day (or 28 hours/week, or 2 months of nonstop TV-watching per year). In a 65-year life, that person will have spent 9 years glued to the tube.
• According to William H. Deitz, pediatrician and prominent obesity expert at Tufts University School of Medicine, “The easiest way to reduce inactivity is to turn off the TV set.  Almost anything else uses more energy than watching TV.”
• Children are not the only Americans suffering from weight problems; one-third of American adults are overweight. According to an American Journal of Public Health study, an adult who watches three hours of TV a day is far more likely to be obese than an adult who watches less than one hour.
• On average, American cable and satellite viewers pay $71 per month, which adds up to a staggering $852 a year. 

I hear you, “But how can I watch    Insert Favorite TV SHOW Here    without cable or satellite?”  Easy, with Hulu, Netflix, iTunes, and several other options, there are more ways than ever before to get rid of that cable and satellite bill and STILL stay current on your favorite shows.

The hardest part for me and my family (yes, I already followed my own advice) was breaking myself of the habit.  Like a cigarette smoker, I NEEDED my TV fix just to get by.  We still watch some TV, via Netflix, but we watch 1 episode at night.  If we have a free afternoon on a weekend, we may watch more, but we have filled that gap with better things: working out, running, cleaning the house, visiting friends and family, and hobbies.

In reality, there are more reasons to “cut the cable” than there are to stay.  

Try it for 6 months and let me know how you did… I’ll be you’ll thank me for it!

To be clear, let’s define some terms: obese is defined as roughly 30 pounds over a healthy weight, and severely obese  is 100 or more pounds over a healthy weight.  (For the record, I would fall under the severely obese category).  

Normally, I read these articles and shrug it off.  There is usually a story in some newspaper or blog every week about obesity or the high price of being overweight, which usually focuses on the monetary costs of our obesity crisis.  This usually boils down to the high prices everyone pays in insurance costs because of fat people.  Independent of smokers, drug addicts, and people who game the health care system, I guess fatties WILL bring down the country!

But the number 53% was a significant amount of people.  That is over 1/2 the nation will be too large to walk without being winded, run a 5K, enjoy regular theme park rides, sit on any piece of outdoor furniture without wondering if it was going to hold them up, sit comfortably in an airplane seat…  These are just SOME of the things I think about.

What does it say about those individuals?  But more importantly, what does it say about us as a nation?  Is it too late for us to change?

I have a very interesting exchange that really affected me yesterday.  I was out on a job and a security guard came up to let me know where I could return the water key that I had borrowed from the Security office.  The guard was going out of his way to explain that I could return the key to one of the other guards or I could return it to the parking guard.

This is when I explained that I had gotten the key from the Security Office and the guard said, “Oh, when I thought that you might want to return it to the office seeing that it’s upstairs…I guess you could stand to loose a few pounds at that…”  Of course, he did say it with a smile and a chuckle.  I didn’t laugh.

I remember thinking…”Yeah, and you could stand to read a book.”  But I didn’t want to insult his intelligence.  Why is it acceptable to insult people who are over-weight.  

Why is the assumption always that people who are fat are lazy and worthless?   To say something like that to someone like me was unbelievable.  

You can’t always read the book just by the cover…

By way of some back story, I have been blogging here, at JohnCDonahue.com, for several years.  I wrote about all sorts of things that I love: Disney, running, leadership, my faith, serving others, and food.  And for a long time, I wrote a lot about my work in ministry.  About 3 years ago, I stepped out of full time ministry and entered the “secular” world and my blogging pace slowed to almost a crawl.  And then my website crashed…and I lost everything.  So this is the first post on my “new and improved” website.

It is often easy to answer some simple questions and re-introduce myself.

Hi…my name is John.  I have a lovely wife and 2 really cool dogs…no children, yet!  I work for an audio/visual company and I do websites and graphics on the side.  I am an avid Disney Blogger and podcaster.  I am a classically trained musician and can often be found playing at a church that I attend when I am home.  I love Jesus, but I wrestle with what we have made of the church.  I work too much and I am over-weight.  But I have been running more serious lately and have become much more knowledgeable on healthy lifestyles.

I want to inspire you to be better: a better spouse, friend, leader, follower, athlete, and person.  I want to be inspired by you through the comments and conversations we will have here, and on Twitter and Facebook.  I need you and I hope that you come to rely on me.  I am, at my very core, a minister.  I ALWAYS want to leave people better than I find them.

So this is the new beginning.  It’s eclectic…sort of like me.  It’s not perfect, but it IS a start.

(All Dates are Subject Change)

May 5 – Running in the 5th Anniversary Expedition Everest Challenge (5K , Scavenger Hunt, and Obstacle Course).
May 10 – FitNiche Pub Crawl 5K (Weekly event)
May 15 – Sign Up for the Inaugural Canton 1/2 Marathon in Canton, Ohio on June 17
May 17 - FitNiche Pub Crawl 5K (Weekly event)
May 22 – Running in the 1st Anniversary “Unofficial/Unprofessional” Beach Bum 5K at Vero Beach, FL
May 31 - FitNichePub Crawl 5K (Weekly event)

As you can see, this month is pretty busy…I did not even mention the training runs or anything else that Sarah and I may get ourselves into.

How will you be celebrating Running Month?