Vita-holics

Andrew Thorton (44) drowned himself drinking too much water. Supermodel Ana Carolina Reston (21) died on a diet of tomatoes and apples. My own mother was sick in bed for a whole week after chewing too many vitamin gum balls.

Why? Because too much of anything is a bad thing!

Since when does health come in plastic packaging?

It is impossible for vitamins to meet 100% of your daily needs. Your body's receptors are not designed to absorb a rush of vitamins all at once. Most of the vitamins from tablets pass through the body and then out in urine.

Don't believe me? Take a vitamin tomorrow and check out your neon yellow toilet bowl when you go to the bathroom.

A vitamin overload can put strain on your liver, and in some cases even poison you.

I would now like to quote Marian L. Neuhouser of the Public Health Sciences Division at the Hutchinson Center who said of her studies :

"...we found that multivitamins did not lower the risk of the most common cancers and also had no impact on heart disease."

Studies have generally shown two things:

a) that vitamins do not greatly benefit the body

b) people who take vitamins are healthier.

This suggests that people who take vitamins are healthier simply because the type of person who buys vitamins is a health conscious individual (the type who eats healthfully, exercises, etc.) NOT BECAUSE OF THE VITAMINS THEMSELVES!

So remember..

Vitamins were not designed to meet your needs.

Vitamins are designed to turn a profit.

The message is: GET YOUR VITAMINS FROM FOOD!

EXCUSES....

1.) Healthy food is too expensive.

Buy cans or bags of beans and large bags of rice; Find fruits and vegetables that you can buy in bulk (carrots, bags of apples, etc.); Plant something. Just one plum tree yields a crazy amount of delicious fruit..

2.) I am busy and have to eat whatever I can.

Plan Ahead -- whenever you leave the house, toss an apple in your bag; throw some fruit in the blender and save your smoothie in the refrigerator to have on hand for a quick snack; only keep healthy food in the house. If you want a snickers bar, you'll have to go out to buy one

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1534393/Tomato-diet-model-dies-of-anorexia.html

http://www.livescience.com/health/090209-multivitamins.html

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/2262683/Man-dies-after-drinking-10-litres-of-water-in-eight-hours.html

Concrete Bliss

So... the inspiration for this blog all started several months ago.

I had decided to spend a few minutes a day in silent meditation to clear my mind and the only nearby place I could find to be peaceful and utterly alone during my busy day was on the very top of a parking structure.

To my delight, I found it also to be sunny and quiet--

the perfect place to write, study, or even change clothes really quickly ;)

Despite the occasional stoner killing a few brain cells before class, I have seldom run into people up there. It is like my own private getaway.

Since then, I have started using other parking structures (mostly at work) and have never been let down.

So there you have it.. This blog is meant to share the tips that I have learned about living a happy, healthy, "parking lot" lifestyle despite the modern world.

I try to keep my blogs relatively short because the average attention span seems to drop every minute, but please let me know if anyone would prefer longer entries. Also, since this is my first entry/mission statement, I will re-post it from time to time for new readers.

THINGS TO DO on a rooftop

(without being embarrassed, overheard, or stared at)

1.) Stretching

2.) Meditating

3.) Writing/Journaling

4.) Making phone calls

TIPS..

1.) Even if a parking structure looks really full, the rooftops are usually empty

2.) Beware, if you tell people that you do this, they will either think you're a bit crazy or try and join you