The Freedom Net

You have to take time for recreation, did you know that? Yep, it’s a proven, scientific, medical fact that your body needs recreation to deal with stress. If you’re all work and no play, then let’s consider a recreational sport that I’ve always wanted to get into.

Ever heard of paintball? Yes, that “game” where you and possibly a team take on another team … with paintball guns shooting paint pellets. Next to being in the military and playing real war games, I can’t think of anything quite as exciting as this sport. In fact, in some ways, it’s more exciting than in the military, because half the time the MILES (Multiple Integrated Laser Engagement System) didn’t work right. Okay, it actually sucked. With paintball, there’s no denying if you’ve been clobbered!

While doing research into this great pasttime, I found what could be the ultimate resource for paintball materials and supplies. The name of the site is Ultimate Paintball, and it looks like they carry everything you would ever need, and then some. From Smart Parts to Draxxus paintball gear and spyder paintball guns, this site is loaded. Let’s put it this way: when I get ready to gear up for paintball, I know where I’m going for my supplies!

So I was up late the other night, watching an infomercial, and saw one I haven’t seen before. If you’re up late all the time like me, then that’s a pretty good feat - to sneak a new one in on me. Well, it turns out it was about a “new” diet (new to the U.S., at least) by a Canadian woman who lost over 180 lbs in just 18 months, and has kept it off for over 20 years.

So what’s the scoop? Well, it’s all about thermogenic foods. Do what? Thermogenic foods, i.e., the hot foods that heat up your body and thereby your metabolism. Of course, one of the cheapest thermogenic foods isn’t hot at all. In fact, it’s ice cold … water, that is.

There is some debate regarding the ice water issue, but it does remain a fact that your body has to increase the temperature of the water for digestion, so you are burning calories. The debate is over how much energy is actually expended. Bottom line, if you drink your 64 oz of water each day ice cold, you should be burning the same amount of calories that you would if you went out jogging a mile or so each day. All of this is relative, of course, to your personal body weight and metabolism, etc.

According to one site that I found, if you consumed 8 16-oz. glasses of water cooled to 40F each day, it would be the equivalent of burning 200 calories a day exercising. That is supposed to be the equivalent of running 3 miles a day!!! Of course, a side effect is also that the water will help in reducing cravings, as your stomach will have that “full” feeling more often.

Want more information? Do a google search for thermogenic foods, and you will find all kinds of info out there. It’s simply one hot diet idea!  Here are two interesting resources I found:

Low-Carb Diet Thermogenic Foods Thread

Carbohydrate Guide - Thermogenic Foods

I’ve always considered any type of surgery to assist with weight loss as a last resort. Over the last decade, however, as my waistband has expanded, so have my horizons. I’m open to more options now than ever, especially since I have around 100 lbs. to lose. That will make you open your eyes to something like the Lap-Band System. Now, I’m not saying that this type of obesity surgery is for everybody. In fact, it’s probably not for me (yet). However, Journeylite offers a comprehensive evaluation and follow-up program with plenty of support to help you at every step along the way. If you’re considering some type of overweight surgery, take time to check out Journeylite.

Do you ever get that joint or muscle pain that just nags on you after a rigorous day of activities? How about maybe aggravating an old injury area that has never come back up to par, or perhaps you’ve got arthritis?

Wouldn’t it be nice to freeze pain right in its tracks? Well, now you can do just that. I know, I know, there are a lot of products on the market that say that, but I’ve just found out about one that is different. It’s called Freeze It, and it’s put out by Perfecta Products, Inc. out of North Lima, Ohio. Now, at first sight, this might appear to be just like any other topical analgesic creme (or gel - it comes in both forms). However, it has some very distinguishing features.

First off, it doesn’t look like most other gels or cremes, which are usually white. Instead, Freeze It is actually a greenish color. It contains several ingredients which were of interest to me, as someone who prefers a natural remedy to a synthetic chemical one. It has camphor, an herbal extract called ILEX paraguariensis, aloe, and vitamin E. Now out of all of these, the ILEX really peeked my interest. I discovered that ILEX is an extract from a shrub grown in South America, and it has actually been used by native indians in Paraguay to enhance the effects of their medicines for centuries.

Well, I tried it out. I’ve got a shoulder that bothers me from an injury I sustained several months ago, as well some wrist strain from typing transcription work. So I applied it to my hands, wrists, and my left shoulder today. While the smell of the camphor is pretty strong at first, it does seem to fade with time after application. As for the feel of the gel, it was very sticky to the touch immediately after application, but became non-sticky after complete absorption into the skin, which took about 5 minutes. I did wash the palms of my hands, as I didn’t want to take a chance on getting my keyboard mangled. The pain has diminished significantly in both my shoulder and my wrist. The vapors from the gel do seem to be a little irritant to the eye, so be sure and cover up with a shirt if the location where you are applying the gel is close to your head.

Overall, I think this product has a lot of merit. I did a little price comparison, and it is definitely competitively priced in it’s market. So the next time you’re out to freeze pain in it’s tracks, head out to your local pharmacy and request Freeze It. If they don’t have it in stock, tell them they should get it!

It’s about that time of year again, depending on where you live, to start sprouting and planting that fall garden.� I’ve never done this before, but I am going to go for it this year, using a method called Square Foot Gardening.� If you’ve never heard about it, it’s pretty awesome.� You can grow enough veggies to feed a family of 4 on roughly an 8′ x 12′ plot of ground (96 square feet) vs. the normal garden of many many times that size.

I’ll have more on this in an upcoming post, where I will also review the book that is the inspiration for it all.� Suffice it to say that right now you need to be getting your seeds for spinache, lettuce, broccoli, carrots, cabbage, cauliflower, peas, beets, and radishes ready for sprouting!

You would be surprised how much a bad back can get you down. While it doesn’t bother me every day, almost every day I have a tingling sensation in my right leg. This is from a nerve condition called sciatica. Interestingly enough, a lot of people have it, and many never figure out it’s not actually from their leg, it originates in their lower back.

So what do I do to get relief? Well, Ibuprofen helps a little, but when I get really down in my back, I go to my local chiropractor. I know, I know, you don’t believe in that stuff. But let me tell you, it can make a world of difference! I know from personal experience.

If you live in New York, New York, these people look like a good place to visit:

New York Physical therapy