The National Highway Safety and Traffic Association (NHTSA) and the Ad Council are continuing their efforts with their PSA campaign called “Buzzed Driving is Drunk Driving.” With the holiday season upon us again, more people will be on the road and you can bet that a good few of them have had too much to drink.

According to MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving), about three out of every 10 Americans will be involved in a drunk driving incident in one way or another at some point in their life.

Many areas set up drunk driving check points. Some who drink learn about them ahead of time and manage to avoid them, but others get caught. The frustrating thing is if someone is caught for the first time, we hear that they’re a first-time offender. Really? Not according to a 1995 national survey, published on the MADD site, that showed “A first time drunk driving offender on average has driven drunk 87 times prior to being arrested.” That first time? It was the first time he or she was *caught*. Not quite the same thing.

Please – Buzzed driving truly is drunk driving. Why take the chance? Take the pledge not to drive drunk and help spread the word? You can also follow on Twitter (@buzzeddriving) and on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/buzzeddrivingisdrunkdriving).

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Images: PhotoXpress.com and MorgueFile.com

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The bucket/bath/tub is a clear bucket-shaped container that the website calls “womb-shaped and sized.” Created in the Netherlands, the tub is supposed to be popular, providing the baby with a comfortable transition from the womb to outside.

According to the website:

• Baby feels warm, safe, and relaxed within soft boundaries
• Eases indigestion, gas, and colic while calming baby
• Stimulates cognitive and physical development

What do you think? A good idea or a waste of money?

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Environmentally friendly ‘adult toys’ are being taken out of the bedroom and into the living room by a Northwest-based retailer who has launched Earth Erotic Parties.

Aimed at putting a sustainable twist on the more traditional sex toy parties, the Earth Erotic parties will showcase green vibrators, phthalate-free dildos, natural lubricants, recycled whips and all sorts of other ecologically and non toxic adult paraphernalia.

Sounds like a company that’s taking ‘doing it green’ to a whole new level. 

Interested?  Then sneak in and check out this ‘earth erotic party’ video over at Planet Green to  find out more…

Post from: Healthbolt

Change your habits, change your life (A Proven Plan for Healthy Living) by Danna Demetre. In this book, Demetere, a lifestyle coach, provides a 40 day guide to how you can make dynamic and lasting changes to your life by taking an ‘inside-out’ approach. Along the way, you will learn how to turn unhealthy thoughts healthy, stay active and maximize your energy by eating right, achieve true rest and regeneration, and discover how a  writing a daily journal can help in the move towards permanent change.

70 Ways to Beat 70 (Keys to a Longer, Healthier Life). I’m nowhere near 70 but the tips in this book can be used at any age. In fact, the earlier you start using these tips the better. You already know all this, but sometimes it doesn’t hurt to take a refresher course on the keys to a longer, healthier lifestyle.

Creating Your Best Life (The Ultimate Life List Guide) by Caroline Adams Miller and Dr Michael B Frisch. Another book by life coaches aimed at helping you get the most from your life. Anyone who loves lists will love this book which looks into the latest scientific research into happiness and the role life lists have in attaining happiness.

So stop procrastinating and start reading. You too can start living healthier now.

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Which is why Andrew J Sherman, in his self-improvement book Road Rules, suggests that we need to ‘Be the Truck. Not the Squirrel.’

Unlike squirrels, trucks are big, powerful, and have a plan, road map, and destination in mind. They, unlike the squirrel, don’t get squashed.

Yes, it sounds a bit extreme, even violent and aggressive. But once you get into the book, you’ll find that there is nothing at all aggressive about Andrew’s approach to life.

In fact, the book simply uses road signs and rules as the way to navigate the road of life.

Road Rules puts a new spin on many of the common road signs we see everyday in our travels

For example…

YIELD
We all need to yield to others more often – to other’s actions, to others thoughts and to other’s beliefs. Be open to their suggestions and alternative pathways.

LANE ENDS MERGE LEFT
Pay careful attention to changes in your roadway of life that are truly inevitable. You may be cruising along in your lane of choice, only to learn that you will be out of the runway sooner than you expected.

SLOW: Children At Play
Is an important message to slow down and watch out for young children, but it is also an important reminder to take your foot off the accelerator long enough to spend time with your children and your family

(from Road Rules, pages 89-94)

Anyone who likes to read self-improvement and motivational books will enjoy Road Rules.  It’s a easy, fun, and creative read with lots of little pointers and tips to get your life on track.

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His book, Yeah Dave’s Guide to LiVIN’ the MOMENT is all about Dave and his Zen approach to happiness and living in the moment.  Informally written, it’s a rollercoaster ride through Dave’s life, complete with anecdotes and encounters that illustrate why we all need to slow down and pay attention.

As the founder/teacher of “Yoga + Chocolate” and “Yoga + Wine” workshops, David Romanelli writes “There is a place where the chocolate tastes sweeter, the music sounds better, the inspiration feels richer, and the visions look clearer. That place is the Moment.”

If the path to enlightenment means indulging in chocolate, wine, and great tunes, count me in.

The two dozen chapters, or mini essays are entertaining and insightful. It will have you laughing and crying all at once, while at the same time offer clues and ideas on how to get your life on track.

But traditional yoga fans be warned. This is about yoga, but not as you know it.

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Vaudeville players back in the 1920’s and 1930’s, it’s easy to see that for Fran & Marlo Cowan (married 62 years), the show still goes on.

Learn more about their story here.

(another great find from  Seeing Good)

Post from: Healthbolt

But, as usual, it turns out that what I think is good for me might not necessarily be so.

According to this WebMD slideshow, there are three diverse sides to juice – the good, the bad, and the ugly – and how to spot the differences.

The Good – Vegetable Juices which have far less sugar and fewer calories than fruit juices

The Bad – Fruit juices might be the real deal full of vitamins and anti-oxidants but they are also naturally full of calories and sugars.

The Ugly – anything labeled juice cocktail, juice-flavoured beverage or juice drink. Odds are they will only contain minor amounts of the real stuff, with water and sugar making up most of the ingredients. They might not look filling but these sugary fruit drinks put kids (and adults) at risk of obesity and other related health problems.

WebMD, by the way, is not telling you not to drink juices. They are just wanting to make people aware of some of the pit falls of drinking them.

As to what juices they recommend, you’ll have to head over to the WebMD and check out their slideshow. A word of warning though – it might make you thirsty.

(image source)

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According to the daily green, some Swiss researchers in the mid-1980s did some tests and found that people ‘who used to suffer from headaches and tiredness felt better after working for two years with a cactus next to their monitors.’

Why?

One theory is that the cacti, which grows in areas of extreme heat and dryness, is able to counter the effects of harsh solar radiation.

My theory – the cactus simply reminds people of wide open spaces and helps their minds  escape from the confining office cubicle. A totally unscientific theory but it works for me.

(image source)

Post from: Healthbolt

In fact, according to Lawrence Frank of the University of British Columbia, “Every additional 30 minutes spent in a car each day translates into a 3 percent greater chance of being obese,” he said.

Unfortunately, many American cities are not made for walking. As David Goldberg of Smart Growth America (a coalition of nonprofit groups that works to improve town and city planning) says “We have designed cities to suppress walking”  But times have changed and now the cities need to look at ways to move away from car culture and focus more on the health of their residents. This can be done through urban renewal projects and also through education.

In the meantime, here’s a few ways to get those daily 10,000 steps…

•  use public transport wherever possible and get off a stop or two before you need to and walk the rest of the way
• don’t aim for the closest car park at the shopping mall. Instead, park further away and walk.
• do a lap or two of the shopping mall before going into the supermarket or department store.

Of course, you could always move to one of these more pedestrian friendly cities.

(news source and image)

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