You can watch all 6 movies from here.
Enjoy!
Friday, November 27, 2015
'MST3K' Turkey Day Marathon: Watch it Here!
For all of you MST3K fans, here's a blast from the past.
You can watch all 6 movies from here.
Enjoy!
You can watch all 6 movies from here.
Enjoy!
Ohio Town Outraged By Zombie Jesus Nativity Scene On Man’s Lawn
You just can't please everybody, but then why try?
Ohio Town Outraged By Zombie Jesus Nativity Scene On Man’s Lawn
Thursday, November 26, 2015
Nice Ways to Say No to Food Pushers
Nice Ways to Say No to Food Pushers: Politely Turn Down Food at Parties & Other Gatherings
During family gatherings, food temptations are everywhere. From stuffing and pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving to eggnog and sugar cookies in December, to barbecues in the summer, the seasonal temptations are endless. It can be tough enough to navigate the buffet without having your great aunt force an extra helping of potatoes on your plate or resisting Grandma Dolly's pleas that you take a second piece of her famous apple pie. There's always some kind of event going on: birthday parties, family get-togethers, company meetings, bridal and baby showers--and all of these events have one thing in common (besides all the tempting food): food pushers.
Food pushers range from well-intentioned loved ones to total diet saboteurs. Regardless of their motivation, it's important to stick to your guns. You can always be honest and say that you're simply trying to eat healthier but if that response gets ignored (or doesn't come easily), the following retorts to their food-forcing ways will keep you in control of what goes on your plate and in your mouth!
1). The Push: "It's my specialty, you have to try it!" Your Response: "I will in a bit!"
2). The Push: "This [insert name of high-calorie dish] is my favorite. You'll love it!" Your Response: "I had some already—so delicious!"
3). The Push: "It's just once a year!" Your Response: "But I'll probably live to celebrate more holidays if I stick with my nutrition plan!"
4). The Push: "Looks like someone is obsessed with dieting…" Your Response: "I wouldn't say obsessed, but I am conscious of what I eat, and to reach my goals, I need to be."
5). The Push: "If you don't try my dish, I'm just going to have to force you to eat it!" Your Response: "Sorry, but I don't like (or can't eat) [insert ingredient here]."
6). The Push: "You need some meat on your bones." Your Response: "Trust me, I'm in no danger of wasting away!"
7). The Push: "One bite isn't going to kill you." Your Response: "I know, but once you pop you just can't stop! And I'm sure it's so delicious I wouldn't be able to stop!"
8). The Push: "But it's your favorite!" Your Response: "It used to be, I think I've overdosed on it. I just can't eat it anymore!"
9). The Push: [Someone puts an extra helping on your plate without you asking.] Your Response: Push it around with your fork like you did as a kid to make it look like you tried it.
10). The Push: "Have another drink!" Your Response: "I have to drive."
11). The Push: "We have so many leftovers. Take some!" Your Response: "That's OK! Just think, you'll have your meals for tomorrow taken care of."
During family gatherings, food temptations are everywhere. From stuffing and pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving to eggnog and sugar cookies in December, to barbecues in the summer, the seasonal temptations are endless. It can be tough enough to navigate the buffet without having your great aunt force an extra helping of potatoes on your plate or resisting Grandma Dolly's pleas that you take a second piece of her famous apple pie. There's always some kind of event going on: birthday parties, family get-togethers, company meetings, bridal and baby showers--and all of these events have one thing in common (besides all the tempting food): food pushers.
Food pushers range from well-intentioned loved ones to total diet saboteurs. Regardless of their motivation, it's important to stick to your guns. You can always be honest and say that you're simply trying to eat healthier but if that response gets ignored (or doesn't come easily), the following retorts to their food-forcing ways will keep you in control of what goes on your plate and in your mouth!
1). The Push: "It's my specialty, you have to try it!" Your Response: "I will in a bit!"
Why It Works: Stalling is a great tactic with food pushers. Odds are the offender won't follow you around making sure you actually try the dish. If they catch up with you by the end of the party to ask what you thought, tell them that it slipped your mind but you'll be sure to try it next time.
2). The Push: "This [insert name of high-calorie dish] is my favorite. You'll love it!" Your Response: "I had some already—so delicious!"
Why It Works: A white lie in this situation isn't going to hurt anybody. You'll get out of eating food you don't want or need, and the food pusher will have gotten a compliment on what probably is a delicious dish.
3). The Push: "It's just once a year!" Your Response: "But I'll probably live to celebrate more holidays if I stick with my nutrition plan!"
Why It Works: People can sometimes see healthy eating as vain—a means to the end result of losing weight and looking better. It's harder for a food pusher to argue with you if you bring attention to the fact that you eat right and exercise for better health and a longer life. Looking good just happens to be a side effect!
4). The Push: "Looks like someone is obsessed with dieting…" Your Response: "I wouldn't say obsessed, but I am conscious of what I eat, and to reach my goals, I need to be."
Why It Works: Words like "food snob" or "obsessed" are pretty harsh when they're thrown around by food pushers. But don't let passive-aggressive comments like this bring you down—or make you veer away from your good eating intentions. In the long term, acknowledging your willpower and healthy food choices might influence others to be more conscious of what they eat. Sometimes you just have to combat food pushers with a little straightforward dialogue.
5). The Push: "If you don't try my dish, I'm just going to have to force you to eat it!" Your Response: "Sorry, but I don't like (or can't eat) [insert ingredient here]."
Why It Works: It's hard to argue with someone's personal food preferences. If someone doesn't like an ingredient whether its sweet potatoes, pumpkin, or butter, odds are that he or she hasn't liked it for a very long time. If you'd like to get creative with this one, go into detail about how you got sick on the ingredient as a kid or how your mom says you always threw it across the room as a baby. Who can argue with that?
6). The Push: "You need some meat on your bones." Your Response: "Trust me, I'm in no danger of wasting away!"
Why It Works: This food push is definitely on the passive-aggressive side. Using humor to fight back will defuse any tension while making it clear where you stand.
7). The Push: "One bite isn't going to kill you." Your Response: "I know, but once you pop you just can't stop! And I'm sure it's so delicious I wouldn't be able to stop!"
Why It Works: This is another situation where humor will serve to distract the food pusher from his or her mission. It's a way to say "thanks, but no thanks" while making it clear that you're not interested in overindulging.
8). The Push: "But it's your favorite!" Your Response: "It used to be, I think I've overdosed on it. I just can't eat it anymore!"
Why It Works: If you have a favorite holiday dish that everyone knows you love, it can be especially tough to escape this push. If a loved one made the dish specifically for you, the guilt can be enough to push you over the edge. But people understand that food preferences change, and most have been in that situation of enjoying a dish so much that they can't touch it for awhile.
9). The Push: [Someone puts an extra helping on your plate without you asking.] Your Response: Push it around with your fork like you did as a kid to make it look like you tried it.
Why It Works: While putting food on someone else's plate can be viewed as passive-aggressive, it was probably done with love. (Let's hope!) Making it look like you ate a bite or two can be an easy way out of the situation, but you can also just leave it alone and claim that you've already had your fill. (After all, you didn't add that extra helping!)
10). The Push: "Have another drink!" Your Response: "I have to drive."
Why It Works: No one will argue with the fact that you want to drive home sober. If they do, you should have no qualms about walking away from the conversation, period. If they offer a place for you to stay, you can always get out of the situation by blaming an early morning commitment or the fact that you need to get home to let the dog out. Kids will also get you out of everything.
11). The Push: "We have so many leftovers. Take some!" Your Response: "That's OK! Just think, you'll have your meals for tomorrow taken care of."
Why It Works: Not every party guest wants to deal with the hassle of taking food with them, and this makes it clear that you'd rather the food stay. If the host is insistent, you can feign worry that they'll go bad in the car because you're not going straight home, or it'll go bad in your fridge because you've already been given so many leftovers at other parties recently.
Monday, November 23, 2015
Memory Mondays: "Regression Therapy" Isn't Real, but Hollywood Keeps the Myth Alive
In October a movie appeared in cinemas around the world. It is a movie
about a concept that has been a distinct part of our social
consciousness for about a century. A concept that has many believers but
even more non-believers. This incredibly contentious topic that I speak of, which has led to the so-called "memory wars” is that of regression, and along with it it’s sister concept repression.
Read the entire story here...
Memory Mondays: "Regression Therapy" Isn't Real, but Hollywood Keeps the Myth Alive
Read the entire story here...
Memory Mondays: "Regression Therapy" Isn't Real, but Hollywood Keeps the Myth Alive
Sunday, November 22, 2015
Friday, November 20, 2015
Tuesday, November 17, 2015
A View from the Rear
A View from the Rear - Marlene Harris, NSCA-CSCS, NASM-CES
Today’s 411 is nothing but butt--all about the largest muscle you own, your gluteus maximus (see image at right) and friends. Yes, there’s more to your bum than just your “glutes” as the gluteus maximus is commonly called. Few people realize that lurking beneath this highly visible swath of might are a merry band of other supporting muscles, discussed later.
The glute max is a very important muscle for a number of reasons besides just appearance. There’s many functional considerations, and since it is such a large muscle, it even impacts your metabolic rate. Remember: strength muscles require calories for maintenance, and the bigger and stronger they are, the more calories they require.
In terms of function, it’s one of the strongest muscles in your body, and when it contacts it extends your upper leg & hip rearward and works to you get up our of a chair, climb stairs, & similar actions. It also rotates the upper leg outward (away from the front/center of your body) and serves a stabilizing role in maintaining your upright posture (hopefully…). If you’re having difficulty with any of these actions, your glutes could use some attention of the focused strengthening variety. Variations of squats, deadlifts, and my personal favorite, lunges, all work to keep this important group strong and able to do its good work.
Unfortunately, in addition to being the largest and potentially strongest muscle, along with the other lower body muscles, it’s also among the first to degrade from the ravages of sarcopenia. Sarcopenia is the natural loss of Type II (strength) muscle that begins its insidious creep around age 30 if you’re not doing regular resistance training and not taking in adequate amounts of protein. Ever wonder why some older folks have problems getting up out of chairs, climbing stairs, squatting down to pick something up off the floor and more importantly, rising back up again? THAT’S why--a loss of glute strength and stability, mostly from disuse and a lack of maintenance. Fortunately, it’s quite preventable and reversible with a bit of consistent and appropriate action following the time-honored gym wisdom of the “use it or lose it” principle.
As noted earlier, your glute max is accompanied by an array of friends that lurk beneath it. The 2 larger of these, depicted at right, are the gluteus medius (upper right side of image) and underneath it, the glute minimus (left side of the image, middle). These muscles serve a couple of different functions depending on which portion (anterior/front or posterior/back) of the muscle is contracted. Since this gets a bit complicated due to the opposing nature of the movements, I won’t elaborate to avoid mental meltdowns among readers. The point is that there are other muscle groups layered under your glute max, and that movements of the hip involve more than just glute max action.
Also clustered beneath your glutes and below (but not underneath) the glute medius and minimus are 5 smaller bands of muscle (see image at left, middle of image) including the pesky piriformis (more on this later). I won’t name them all for the sake of brevity and reader sanity but these smaller bands are all involved in external rotation of the hip and upper leg (a couple have multiple functions). The piriformis is notable due to its proximity to the sciatic nerve, which runs right under it (see the pic at, right).
When this muscle become irritated (all too common) it puts pressure on the sciatic nerve which results in one of the more nagging, burning, and depending on the level of inflammation and compression, radiating pains one can experience. Unfortunately for us modern folks, prolonged sitting is one of the more common triggers of this annoying event, so frequent bouts of upright movement are strongly advised!
To recap, when we talk about your hip muscles or “your glutes”, there’s more to consider than just the top layer, your gluteus maximus. Beneath this large, strong muscle, towards the top of your hip, there’s also your gluteus medius and layered beneath it, your gluteus minimus. Situated below those, in the middle of the hip, are smaller bands of 5 (mostly) external rotators, including the piriformis. These 8 muscles, large and small, all function together in performing many movements of your hip and upper leg. These movements are important in terms of everyday life, so use these muscles often, or lose them and compromise your functional capacity; translation: lose your ability to effectively do the stuff you want/need to do!
Today’s 411 is nothing but butt--all about the largest muscle you own, your gluteus maximus (see image at right) and friends. Yes, there’s more to your bum than just your “glutes” as the gluteus maximus is commonly called. Few people realize that lurking beneath this highly visible swath of might are a merry band of other supporting muscles, discussed later.
The glute max is a very important muscle for a number of reasons besides just appearance. There’s many functional considerations, and since it is such a large muscle, it even impacts your metabolic rate. Remember: strength muscles require calories for maintenance, and the bigger and stronger they are, the more calories they require.
In terms of function, it’s one of the strongest muscles in your body, and when it contacts it extends your upper leg & hip rearward and works to you get up our of a chair, climb stairs, & similar actions. It also rotates the upper leg outward (away from the front/center of your body) and serves a stabilizing role in maintaining your upright posture (hopefully…). If you’re having difficulty with any of these actions, your glutes could use some attention of the focused strengthening variety. Variations of squats, deadlifts, and my personal favorite, lunges, all work to keep this important group strong and able to do its good work.
Unfortunately, in addition to being the largest and potentially strongest muscle, along with the other lower body muscles, it’s also among the first to degrade from the ravages of sarcopenia. Sarcopenia is the natural loss of Type II (strength) muscle that begins its insidious creep around age 30 if you’re not doing regular resistance training and not taking in adequate amounts of protein. Ever wonder why some older folks have problems getting up out of chairs, climbing stairs, squatting down to pick something up off the floor and more importantly, rising back up again? THAT’S why--a loss of glute strength and stability, mostly from disuse and a lack of maintenance. Fortunately, it’s quite preventable and reversible with a bit of consistent and appropriate action following the time-honored gym wisdom of the “use it or lose it” principle.
As noted earlier, your glute max is accompanied by an array of friends that lurk beneath it. The 2 larger of these, depicted at right, are the gluteus medius (upper right side of image) and underneath it, the glute minimus (left side of the image, middle). These muscles serve a couple of different functions depending on which portion (anterior/front or posterior/back) of the muscle is contracted. Since this gets a bit complicated due to the opposing nature of the movements, I won’t elaborate to avoid mental meltdowns among readers. The point is that there are other muscle groups layered under your glute max, and that movements of the hip involve more than just glute max action.
Also clustered beneath your glutes and below (but not underneath) the glute medius and minimus are 5 smaller bands of muscle (see image at left, middle of image) including the pesky piriformis (more on this later). I won’t name them all for the sake of brevity and reader sanity but these smaller bands are all involved in external rotation of the hip and upper leg (a couple have multiple functions). The piriformis is notable due to its proximity to the sciatic nerve, which runs right under it (see the pic at, right).
When this muscle become irritated (all too common) it puts pressure on the sciatic nerve which results in one of the more nagging, burning, and depending on the level of inflammation and compression, radiating pains one can experience. Unfortunately for us modern folks, prolonged sitting is one of the more common triggers of this annoying event, so frequent bouts of upright movement are strongly advised!
To recap, when we talk about your hip muscles or “your glutes”, there’s more to consider than just the top layer, your gluteus maximus. Beneath this large, strong muscle, towards the top of your hip, there’s also your gluteus medius and layered beneath it, your gluteus minimus. Situated below those, in the middle of the hip, are smaller bands of 5 (mostly) external rotators, including the piriformis. These 8 muscles, large and small, all function together in performing many movements of your hip and upper leg. These movements are important in terms of everyday life, so use these muscles often, or lose them and compromise your functional capacity; translation: lose your ability to effectively do the stuff you want/need to do!
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