Melissa's Idea Garden

I have rediscovered my love of reading. When I was growing up, I always had a book with me. I read as I brushed my teeth, dried my hair, ate my breakfast, walked to the bus stop, on the way to school and whenever I had a break during the day. My senior year of highschool, I read over 100 books. My favorites at the time were gothic romance, Stephen King, Dean Koontz and John Saul. My 12th grade English teacher, Mrs. Boswell, told me it was fine to read the fun stuff, but to be sure to spend time in the classics as well. I took her advice to heart and developed a love for Hardy, Steinbeck, Dickens and Vonnegut (to name a few). Well, now my challenge to myself is to read nonfiction books as well as fiction.

You can check on my Shelfari account in the sidebar of my blog to see what all I have been reading this year. I read from my Kindle while I exercise and then from the stack of books that I have collected over the last 10 years, but hadn't gotten around to reading. The book I finished today was Reversing Heart Disease. It is a book that my hubby bought a few years ago, but then never read. When my dear friend, Carole, called me to tell me her hubby had had a heart attack, Daniel remembered the book and told her about it. I thought to myself...this is a book I should read, so onto my shelf it went. And I got a copy of Reversing Diabetes by Dr. Whitaker to read on my Kindle. I have a history of Diabetes in my family. I am overweight, sedentary and love to eat sweets. Last August, after my yearly physical, my doctor sent me my blood test results and a prescription for a cholesterol medication.

Continue reading "Reversing Heart Disease by Julian Whitaker, M.D." »

Posted by Melissa Markham at 7:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

There are a lot of products on the market today that are designed to help us lose weight. Everything from diet pills to exercise equipment to special foods and drinks. And sometimes all of that gets to be a bit overwhelming. Which product after all is the best? Which one is going to work? I believe a lot of them work, but they don't work for everyone. And then there are the prices...how do you find the best prices for the best diet pills? There are sites that can help you sort through the mess, but check them out carefully because some of them have an agenda. If you research, they might be promoting 'their pill' as the best.

Posted by Melissa Markham at 9:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Okay after four and 2/3 day of no refined sugar, I ate a piece of fudge this evening. And the stupid thing is I didn't even really want it. It was there. I got it out to throw it away and I just couldn't do it. I have a strong don't waste food problem. But tomorrow it is back to no sugar and I am going to throw the rest of the fudge away. I have to. I have resisted cakes, brownies, Golden Corral buffet, and my normal grocery shopping day treat. But I was overcome by peanut butter fudge...so out it must go. However, going almost five days with no refined sugar is good and I have met my goal of exercising five days this week and I have been drinking tons of water.

Jack and Katrina are supposed to practice piano 6 days a week. Somedays it is hard to fit in the practice with everything else that goes on. One of the things that intrigues us regarding practice is that Mika, our gray cat, really is intrigued by the piano as you can see below. Sometimes, she sits on the bench next to Jack or Katrina and merely listens attentively, somtimes she tries to play along.

Continue reading "Sugar Slip, Piano Kitty, Found Treasures" »

Posted by Melissa Markham at 8:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)