Juan is a strong supporter of Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution.

If you’re not familiar with this campaign, you soon will be. I encourage you all to find 22 minutes in your day to watch this speech. It’s time to listen and time to take action.

The Plan

Set up an organization to create a popular movement that will inspire people to change the way they eat. The movement will do this by establishing a network of community kitchens; launching a travelling food theater that will teach kids practical food and cooking skills in an entertaining way and provide basic training for parents and professionals; and bringing millions of people together through an online community to drive the fight against obesity. The grassroots movement must also challenge corporate America to support meaningful programs that will change the culture of junk food.

The Needs

• Help to establish the organization, with funding, office space and facilities.
• Find partners to equip and run the community kitchens, and food suppliers to provide the fresh ingredients.
• A partner to build and maintain a fleet of food theatre trucks.
• Education experts, graphic designers, artists and writers to develop and produce creative, fun teaching materials.
• Communications experts to create messaging for the movement.
• Web designers and developers to create and build the website.
• Establishment of a food line that generates a sustainable income for the movement.
• Corporate partners to invest in cooking and food education for their customers and champion honest food labelling.
• Your names added to the petition to challenge our leaders to make change now: www.jamiesfoodrevolution.com/petition

About Jamie:

“Every child should be taught to cook in school, not just talk about nutrition all day. Good food can be made in 15 minutes. This could be the first generation where the kids teach the parents.” – Jamie Oliver

Jamie Oliver is transforming the way we feed our children, and ourselves.

Jamie Oliver has been drawn to the restaurant kitchen since he was seven or eight. First working in his father’s pub-restaurant and then training in England and France, he not only displayed incredible culinary talent, but also a passion for creating fresh, honest and delicious food. Although he is now one of the world’s top celebrity chefs, his commitment to simple, unpretentious food remains, and with it, his drive to break people’s unhealthy eating habits and get them cooking again.

With the obesity epidemic growing globally, Oliver is using his notoriety to bring attention to the changes Englanders and now Americans need to make in their lifestyles and diet. Campaigns such as School Dinners, Ministry of Food and Food Revolution USA combine Oliver’s culinary tools, cookbooks and television with more standard activism and community organizing to create change on both the individual and governmental level.

Learn more about Jamie at jamieoliver.com.

Reprinted from The TED Awards. Thanks for your concern with our childhood obesity epidemic.

In the beginning, God created the Heavens and the Earth and populated the Earth with broccoli, cauliflower and spinach, green and yellow and red vegetables of all kinds, so Man and Woman would live long and healthy lives.

Then using God’s great gifts, Satan created Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream and Krispy Creme Donuts. And Satan said, “You want chocolate with that?” And Man said, “Yes!” and Woman said, “and as long as you’re at it, add some sprinkles.” And they gained 10 pounds. And Satan smiled.

And God created the healthful yogurt that Woman might keep the figure that Man found so fair. And Satan brought forth white flour from the wheat, and sugar from the cane and combined them. And Woman went from size 6 to size 14.

So God said, “Try my fresh green salad.” And Satan presented Thousand-Island Dressing, buttery croutons and garlic toast on the side. And Man and Woman unfastened their belts following the repast.

God then said, “I have sent you heart healthy vegetables and olive oil in which to cook them.” And Satan brought forth deep fried fish and chicken-fried steak so big it needed its own platter. And Man gained more weight and his cholesterol went through the roof.

God then created a light, fluffy white cake, named it “Angel Food Cake,” and said, “It is good.” Satan then created chocolate cake and named it “Devil’s Food.”

God then brought forth running shoes so that His children might lose those extra pounds. And Satan gave cable TV with a remote control so Man would not have to toil changing the channels. And Man and Woman laughed and cried before the flickering blue light and gained pounds.

Then God brought forth the potato, naturally low in fat and brimming with nutrition. And Satan peeled off the healthful skin and sliced the starchy center into chips and deep-fried them. And Man gained pounds.

God then gave lean beef so that Man might consume fewer calories and still satisfy his appetite. And Satan created McDonald’s and its 99-cent double cheeseburger. Then said, “You want fries with that?” And Man replied, “Yes! And super size them!” And Satan said, “It is good.” And Man went into cardiac arrest.

God sighed and created quadruple bypass surgery.

Then Satan created HMOs.

Someone sent me this funny story and I thought I would post it.

Author Un-known.

Friday, January 8, 2010, orientation day at The International Culinary School at The Art Institute, what a great day. We received all the usual college orientation day information, safety, lunch plans, housing of which none pertains to me. But, I could not wait to get to the my building and meet the Chefs and see my class rooms that I will be part of for the next 9-16 months.

My plan is to do the diploma program and then maybe continue to my AS degree in Culinary. It all depends where the money situation is at the time.

So the Chefs talked about all the cool stuff we would be learning over the course of the months to come. I cannot wait for next week. I will be attending Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, yes I am a full-time student. I guess that’s one of the blessings of being retired. All classes will be from 7:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.

Then the time came, YES…we would received our uniforms, books and knife kit. I must say I look like a Chef! Might not cook like one yet, but definitely look like one.

So here we go. I am on the road to recreate myself. To turn this average good fire house cook to a master chef! OK maybe I am getting a little ahead of myself, but I am just very excited.

Staying on track with weight loss and your fitness goals can be difficult in a world filled with temptation. With all the holiday parties and family get together this time of the year. I am here to say, you can make it through the festivities without sabotaging your success’s. To be successful, it’s important that you remember some key things about celebrations:

•    It’s okay to indulge, just don’t overdo it. Everybody needs a treat now and then, and you are no exception. If you avoid all temptation, you’ll only want to indulge more on another occasion, and then you may go overboard. Instead, permit yourself a cocktail or a special dessert on festive occasions.
•    It’s just another day. Remember that a holiday or the day of a special event is like any other day, except that you’ll most likely have more obstacles in your way when it comes to your meals. To avoid falling off the wagon, enjoy your meals as you normally would, but pass up any extra treats until you get to the event.
•    Watch the drinks. Enjoying one or two cocktails or glasses of wine (one for women, two for men) won’t kill you; they may even be good for your heart health. But don’t go overboard. Mixed drinks can bring your daily calorie totals way up — not to mention the harm excess alcohol can do to your liver. If you do partake in some alcoholic drinks, be sure to fill up on water in between. It will keep you hydrated and not as tipsy — which means you’ll be more attuned to what you’re eating.
•    Be selective. There’s often more than one thing to eat at events and parties, and to avoid overindulging, you need to choose wisely. Before you put anything on your plate, be sure to survey the options so you can choose a few things you really crave or want to enjoy. Be sure to choose at least one vegetable and one source of protein — both will fill you up and keep you from overdoing it when dessert time comes.

Avoiding holiday and party weight gain is not the easiest task, but it’s one you can accomplish. Enjoy the holidays, just use MODERATION!

I have had a passion for cooking for many, many years. I started cooking, or really learning to cook, while I was a child. I would sit around our small kitchen in Hialeah, Florida watching Abuela (grandma) cook great Cuban meals. I asked allot of questions, but she would not allow me to get my hands in the mix, I was just too small.

In 1979 after graduation from high school, shortly there after I was accepted into the Fire Academy, where I went on to become a Firefighter/Paramedic. I served for 28 years in the City ofDeerfield Beach, Florida retiring as a Captain. That is where my passion for cooking really took off.

Within a short period of time my co-workers realized I could cook so from then on, it was off to the races. I would cook just about 90% of the time. Not because I was forced, just because I loved it so much.

I am sure you have noticed fire trucks at the grocery store on a regular bases. Well, that is what we do. At the beginning of the shift we all pitch in and send off the truck with who ever is cooking that day to get the food for the night’s dinner.

During my later years as I got older and more health conscious, I started to cook healthier meals and became very involved in nutrition, health and fitness. Upon retiring from the fire department I established a website that focused on helping others achieve there dreams of better health.

I admit I am a good fire house cook, but no where near what I would want to be, “A REAL CHEF”. That is why I have enrolled to “The International Culinary School at The Art Institute”. I want to take my passion to the next level. Perhaps that would mean having my own restaurant, doing some personal catering, or becoming a private for hire chef. What ever God has in store for me I know that this is a new chapter in my life, as I recreate myself.

This would not have been possible without the support of my grown children and the most incredible wife a man could ever want. They are so supportive and excited to see the new me along with my new dreams. So culinary, school here I come.

It was the middle of the night at Station #75 Deerfield Beach, Fire/Rescue department. The call came in of an over turned boat on the beach. We jump out of bed, ran to our trucks and headed for the emergency call.

As usual you never know what you will encounter till you get to the scene. As I pulled up as the Captain on the fire truck, I saw something I had only seen on TV. An old boat that looked like it had been put together in some one’s back yard, with some old nails and left over wood. A six foot pole in the middle nailed to some supports and an old sheet as a sail.

A police officer stated that witnesses noticed the boat pull up on the shore and several folks jump out and start to run. To my surprise the police officer stated they had caught the boaters and were being questioned by immigration.They were Cuban immigrants.

It hit home because at the age of 9 months old, my family and myself left the communist regime in Cuba and came to South Florida. I have lived in Florida all my life and have been a Firefighter/Paramedic most of my years, but have never experienced this scene, up close and personal.

As I looked in the boat and saw the half empty jugs of water, the cans of food, old clothes and THE CUP, I thought to myself, how many Cubans get in these home made boats and try to head for freedom crossing the Atlantic ocean not knowing what will happen to them? How many die crossing the rough waters of the Atlantic? The determination, desire, the faith for a better life.

The Cup with the letters “MP” engraved on the bottom with a hard instrument, as to say this is my property. Who owned this cup, what was he or she like, why did they do it? Every time I look at that cup, I think of the hard decisions people have to make in life. So what holds me back from living life to its fullest?

What holds us back from changing, from making our lives better? You have to take that first step. Take chances in life. You will never know what you can do till you TRY!

I served as a Firefighter/Paramedic for 28 years. I was a fire house cook for most of those years. I have always had a passion for cooking. So I have decided to take a chance, a leap of faith, that first step to recreate myself. I have registered in the January 2010 class at, “The International Culinary School at The Art Institute”.

Every time I look at that “CUP” I am motivated to do something new. What will you do with your life today that will affect you for the rest of your life?

Come and follow along with me as I go on this Culinary Journey. I promise to keep you informed and maybe even stir some deep rooted desires in your own heart.

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Juan

Have you ever wanted to say, “Thank you,” but didn’t…then later wished you had? Maybe you were in a hurry; Maybe you felt awkward; maybe they felt awkward. Next time, say it; it’s easier than you think, and it means more than you think.

It is not about politics. It’s about service and sacrifice, and it’s about gratitude. So visit the monuments, wear your red shirt on Friday, and keep that yellow ribbon on your car. Just don’t miss the opportunity to thank the person right in front of you.

If you appreciate their service, give them a sign.

TheGratitudeCampaign

Make small changes every day, every week, build on these changes over time, and you will see big results in your nutrition, fitness, and lifestyle goals. You might think that this type of plan is too slow-paced or not difficult enough for you (leading a healthier life should be overwhelming and burdensome. Making small changes and adding to them every week ensures your success because you are able to maintain them over time.

Decide to have three healthy square meals and two snacks today. Go for a walk with your friend, kids, or spouse. Enjoy the outdoors and all the beauty that surrounds us. Join a gym or purchase a home based workout program. Go for a workout three days this week. Start doing something different today, and the results will come.

Starting small and working your way up to multiple changes is the way to go. No need to stress about doing everything at once — take a deep breath, make a plan, and take some small steps in the right direction. You can do it!

The truth can set you free. What is the truth? You are were you are today because of the choices you made yesterday.

If you made good choices yesterday, you are experiencing good results from those choices. If you made negative choices, well then you are experiencing negative feelings  and effects from those choices.

The control, the well power is within you to make good things happen in life. Don’t be a victim, decide to create a new you TODAY!

You can change. You will be different. You will not live the way they keeps you from being the real you.

“Your Choices Today, Will Shape Who You Become Tomorrow”

Watch the Video and be INSPIRED to change.

A friend sent me this article and I felt like I just needed to share it with all of you.

If this does not motivate you nothing will. Take 3 minutes out of your busy schedule and read this story.

If you are just a amazed at this woman as I am, please leave a comment at the end of this post.

I want to look like this when I’m 71, the male version off course.

In the corner of the gym, Ernestine Shepherd is quietly training a petite client, Cynthia Evans, who weighs 110 pounds and is 4 foot 11 inches tall. They are working on their rear delts, lifting 5-pound weights and stretching their arms into a “T” before they move on to the 30-pound weights.

It would all seem pretty dreary — the rain, the routine of weightlifting — if it weren’t for the fact that Shepherd, at age 71, is so dazzling to watch. Wearing red sweat pants, a red-and-white sports bra and
a baseball cap that reads, “Determined, dedicated, disciplined to be fit,” she is a unique figure in the world of fitness.

Shepherd’s attitude lends credence to the adage “age ain’t nothing but a number.” Five days a week, she trains women of all ages — three days at Energy gym and two days at her church,Union Memorial United Methodist Church , 2500 Harlem Ave. , where she has a class of 25.

ERNESTINE SHEPHERD Profile

Age: 71

Profession: Certified personal trainer and retired school secretary at City Springs School in South Baltimore .

Training grub: She drinks 16 ounces of water and eats a light snack that includes a bagel with peanut butter or two hard-boiled eggs before starting her workout.

On the run: Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer, Turkey Trot, Women’s Classic in
Baltimore, Resolution Run at Patterson Park, Race for the Kids, the Dreaded
Druid Hills at Druid Hill Park, Baltimore Marathon.

Other acclaim: Has appeared in Essence (1991 and 2003); The Baltimore Times (2002); and the book Self Seduction, Ultimate Path to Inner and Outer Beauty (2003); has appeared on The View (2001); in a Carmax commercial (2004); and in the Miss America Senior Pageant (2004). She models for Nova Models in Baltimore .

Status: Married to Collin Shepherd, 77, for 52 years. They have a son and a grandson.

What her husband says: “She is a very determined person and she is not only in this for herself, she is interested in helping other people, including myself,” he says. “We exercise at home. She is an inspiration tome; sometimes I get lazy, but she gets on me. I learned you are never too old to
exercise.”

“I usually start off with about 15 minutes of cardio, running in place, then we do floor exercises working on the abs, legs, upper and lower obliques, and then we proceed with the weights,” she says about her training sessions that last about an hour. Wendy Barry, 38, started training with Shepherd six months ago. After her weight went up to 241 pounds, she started working with a nutritionist and lost 50 pounds.

When she started working with Shepherd, she lost another 20 pounds and traded her size 22 dress for a size 8. Some days she walks 10 miles with Shepherd before she goes to work at the Department of Social Services in Baltimore .

With 10 percent body fat, Shepherd is 5-foot-5 and about 130 pounds of inspiration to her clients, many of whom she includes in her routine of walking or running, which begins at 4 a.m. at Druid Hill Park.

Sharron Woods, 60, and her mother, 85-year-old Eva Miller, attend Shepherd’s Saturday class at the church. Both are former body builders who have successfully competed in weightlifting competitions.

When Miller was 70, at 5 feet 3 inches tall and 150 pounds, she could bench press 175 pounds. So she
and her daughter were skeptical when they began Shepherd’s first class and were instructed to run in place.

“I looked at my mother and said, ‘This is not going to get it; we are used to vigorous exercise,’ ” Woods says. “Well, then she pulled out some exercises I had never seen. Before we left, I was begging for more.”

Some of the exercises, Woods recalls, included trunk twists while holding a pole– right, and then left, before going down and doing squats still holding the pole.

Still, Woods wasn’t convinced. When Shepherd asked her to run with her in the morning, her first thought was, “She’s 70, I can keep up with her.” “That woman was a road runner!” remembers Woods. “I am really energized working out with her.”

Her mother was equally humbled:
“She didn’t go easy on me because of my age,” says Miller, who works part time as a teacher’s aide in the Baltimore school system. “She works me just like she works everybody else.”

Indeed, she even works hard enough that her former trainer, Raymond Day, can’t keep up with her.

Though he runs with her some mornings, he is reluctant to take her up on offers to participate in the
marathons she runs in. In addition to her regular workout routine and training others, Shepherd has participated in numerous 5K and 10K races and marathons.

But Shepherd hasn’t always had a focus on fitness in her life. In fact, in her younger days she was a “prissy” girl, with little athletic interests.

It wasn’t until she turned 56 that she began to exercise with the aid of her sister.

They were both spurred on to join a gym after shopping for bathing suits and not liking what they saw in the mirror.

Day trained them both at a gym on U.S. 40 and remembers that Shepherd was in good shape, but had a lot of body fat and didn’t know how to lift weights. Her sister, a year older, acclimated her body quickly to the routines.

Then one day in 1992, her sister came into the gym complaining of a ringing in her ears. “A few days
later, she passed away,” remembers Day. “She had a brain aneurysm that burst in her head. They were really close, they did everything together.” “When she died, I said I didn’t want to do anything,” says Shepherd, a retired Baltimore schools secretary. “A friend of mine said, ‘You know your sister wouldn’t want you to do
that.’ ”

Day says that when she decided to come back to the gym, she came back with a new vigor and dedication. Before long, people would compliment her on how she looked. “She was the most dedicated person I have ever trained,” says Day, who worked with her for 15 years.

Nowadays, she works with nutritionist Todd Swinney. She keeps busy by modeling in magazines and
commercials and recently participated in the Senior Miss America pageant in Baltimore .

But mostly she inspires others.

“She is a people person,” says Woods. “She is constantly asking, ‘How do you feel about this? Are you feeling OK?’ Most people just follow a routine and they don’t pay attention to how you feel. With Ernestine, every day is different.

“So that means, it not only keeps you thinking, it keeps your body thinking and challenges your
body,” she says. Miller agrees.

“She is amazing,” she says. “I don’t think I’ll ever look like that, but I am working on it!”