My Revamped More Ergonomic Home Office for Just $70, A Huge Bargain

I should have upgraded my home office ten years ago. Better late than never, right?

And my four purchases this year were under $70.00 total (plus tax and any shipping charges), which really begs the question: why did I wait so long? Especially for such a bargain price for my ongoing health. Anyway, here's some details that may help others to upgrade their home office space.

1. I was using the worst office chair in the house for my home office (the oldest one too). So I swapped it for the newer one from the kitchen desk area. Remember to adjust the height of the chair (and any related seatback positioning) to give you maximum comfort. Big improvement already but still not enough. See next item.  
2. If your butt is going numb, despite various trips to the coffeepot and back, or your legs are going numb from not getting up from your desk chair at all for long stretches, then it'll affect the rest of your body too. This was my son's suggestion in lieu of buying a new office chair: buy a memory foam seat cushion instead. Mine is an Everlasting Comfort (on sale for $33 at Amazon; I'm not an affiliate). This may be my best purchase of the whole year. Instant comfort. No more numbness. No more stiff body parts. I feel ten years younger.
3. I'm using a laptop only. No desktop computer. But the desktop setup is better for my text-heavy copyediting work, with its keyboard placement allowing for my ninety-degree arm position, and yet the bottom edge of the screen itself is at least ten or more inches above said keyboard for better eye alignment. So I bought an external keyboard. My choice was a Verbatim model (currently on sale for $7 at Amazon), an old-fashioned plain-Jane concept with feet at the back to give it a bit of a tilt. Just perfect. You know those two-keyboard organs in some of the huge Catholic churches? My external keyboard + laptop now look like that, with the external keyboard on the pull-out keyboard drawer to my desk and my laptop atop the main desk area, with a little boost going on. Read the next item.
4. To get my laptop screen up higher to meet my eyesight, I'm using a flat 4" riser (but would prefer a 6"-7" one in theory), a hand-me-down item marked 3M LX500 (for those of you trying to find it online). This one is really great as it has a shorter base so that the extended shelf overhangs, allowing me to pull my laptop, hence my screen, closer to my eyes, especially if I pull my chair closer to my desk, my legs fully within the desk well, the keyboard tray at my stomach. Of course this disallows any office mascot from sitting in your lap. Just so you know ... 
5. I bought an ergonomic mouse. Mine is an Anker four-button (currently on sale for $20 on Amazon). Prefer it over the traditional mouse.
6. My final purchase was a wrist rest. Mine's a Belkin jell-filled wave design (now $9 on Amazon). Love it. Again an old-fashioned tool from desktop computer days of years ago. But I like it better than the hard keyboard shelf. I don't have carpal tunnel after decades of typing, and I sure don't want it now. I can't prove use of a wrist rest prevents that, but I can say it makes my typing more comfortable. Maybe I should have bought the accompanying wrist rest for the mouse too. May do that yet.
7. For those of you who do detailed computer work (be it numbers or letters), I've incorporated a new element into my workday to relieve eyestrain. I'm the grammar police, looking for extra spaces to delete, spaces to add, whether a semicolon should be a colon or a comma or vice versa. In other words, tedious work that strains my eyes. Also, since I do two complete read-throughs of every project I receive, I'm doubling my reading time. So a 50K project means 100K worth of reading for me. Thus I now do my first read-through (1RT) on my computer as usual, with Microsoft Word's Track Changes program. However, for my second read-through (2RT), I send a PDF of said updated Word document to my Kindle. Easier on the eyes without a backlit screen. Saves paper and toner from having to print out a hard copy.

One final note: this takes care of everything but the remaining tension in my shoulders and one middle point along my spine, which just prove I should spend some time doing yoga and/or weight lifting, plus some quick deep-breathing breaks during the day and more restful sleep at night.

I'm a work in progress.

Hope this helps someone else out there too.

"If your vocation isn’t a vacation, then quit, leap, change careers."

Denise Barker, Author, Blogger, Copy Editor
Books that Build Character(s)

amazon.com/author/denisebarker

Five Regrets to Avoid Over Your Lifetime

I found this courtesy of StumbleUpon. For the full article, click here: http://www.inc.com/jessica-stillman/5-surprising-life-regrets-that-you-can-easily-avoid.html. You may need to sign up to review more than once.

However, for the recap, I'm providing this handy list:

• Too much effort in pleasing others [especially when to the exclusion of self]
• Too much pointless worry [when does your worry ever manifest itself?]
• Too much acquiring of stuff [the important things cost nothing]
• Too little taking care of your physical health [our health is actually our first wealth]
• Too little travel [does armchair researching of faraway places count?]

I happen to agree with all, especially the first two bullet points and the fourth.

Don't wait until the final days of your life to address these issues. We should all hope to die peacefully in bed while asleep (or however you envision it) and with no regrets, no forgiveness due anyone (including ourselves), and with overflowing love filling our hearts, minds, and souls.

God bless us, one and all.

"If your vocation isn’t a vacation, then quit, leap, change careers."

Denise Barker, Author, Blogger, Copy Editor
Books that Build Character(s)

amazon.com/author/denisebarker

http://denisebarkerauthor.blogspot.com/

http://bit.ly/DeniseBarkerBlog

http://bit.ly/AMAZONDeniseBarkerEbooks

http://bit.ly/BNDeniseBarkerEBooks

http://bit.ly/SMASHWORDSDeniseBarkerEBooks

http://bit.ly/KOBODeniseBarkerEBooks

What lies behind you and what lies in front of you pales in comparison to what lies inside of you. Ralph Waldo Emerson
When you give someone a book, you don’t give him just paper, ink, and glue.  You give him the possibility of a whole new life. Christopher Morley
The best inheritance you can leave your kids is an example of how to live a full and meaningful life. Dan Zadra

A Freelancing Foodie's Tips

DISCLAIMER: I'm not a medical authority, just a layperson interested in bolstering my health by holistic methods, someone who believes that good fats don't make you fat. Too much sugar (in its various forms) makes you fat. That it's not about calories. It's about good carbs, eating clean.

I almost entitled this post Foodie Friday. I'm not sure I have that much new to say on a weekly basis. I'll have to see how this works out. This year I'm working fewer hours (no more >230-hour months for me!) for better pay (after 2.5 years at the same rate, now more in line with industry standards for someone like me with 8.5 years' experience) and plan to have more blogging time. More "me" time too for my own writing. In other words, I get to do all that I love being: an author, a blogger, a copy editor. Of course I also love reading good books and watching great movies. More of that too please!

As a freelancer, my income is not a steady paycheck of a set repetitive amount coming like clockwork on the first and the fifteenth (or any two other random days of the month), as I am paid per project. So the fluctuating earnings make for lean and fat times monetarily. I would love to eat clean, only organic, but that ain't happening yet. So what to do in the interim?

First, if not a vegetarian, buy whole meats, like whole hams, whole beef or pork roasts, whole chickens, briskets, etc. Yes, the animals will probably still have been fed grain and GMO corn instead of grass and pumped up on chemical-based hormones, but at least you can avoid the added hormones and fillers. I look for meats at $0.89/lb. One exception is seafood, which I love but costs more per pound, yet you'd be amazed how some canned seafood is wild caught, which is the best kind.

Yesterday I bought a six-pound chicken that, with the veggies, wouldn't allow the lid on my slow cooker to seat properly. I used foil instead, until the potatoes, onions and carrots cooked down. Then I exchanged it for my lid. (Be sure to check the internal temp of your chicken and other meats.) This will be two meals for two as is, roast chicken and veggies. After that, it can be chicken spaghetti (to use up the dark meat, not my favorite), chicken and dressing, tortilla soup, quesadillas, even chicken salad sandwiches. I expect to get about ten to twelve individual servings from this bird.

And I buy most of my food at Aldi's, which is like a Sam's Club but without the annual fees. Love my Aldi's, which I find is even cheaper than my local Walmart (but I still shop there for various things). Also my Sprouts store is great and, if you watch the weekly sales, sometimes rivals Aldi's low prices.

Whether flush or in need, I still like to have a veggie-only meal at least once a week, usually a trio of cooked ones in the winter. And when summer returns, I love a good meatless taco salad, marinated cukes and onions, marinated three-bean salad, Caesar salads, wilted lettuce, even a meal of coleslaw, etc.

Second, certain foods show up on various "lists," whether you need more calcium in your diet or are fighting a family trait for Alzheimer's or want to prevent the three major diseases of cancer, heart attacks/strokes, diabetes. Some of these wondrous foods that come to mind are onions, garlic, avocados, coconut and olive oils, dark leafy greens (fresh or sauteed), berries, ginger, turmeric, honey, green tea, etc. Even on a restricted budget, I try to incorporate a handful of these each day.

One example would be skillet-frying onions in olive oil for breakfast instead of hash browns. Add some garlic at the end, then cook your scrambled eggs in the same skillet. Plate all these hot elements on top of fresh spinach to wilt it, with a side of sliced tomato and avocado, and a small serving of berries and ginger-flavored green tea with honey. Perfect. I've used everything but the turmeric listed above, and this is only breakfast. Not a bad start to a day. Granted, some days it's only eggs or buttered noodles around here and not just for one meal that day.

Third, sugar is fed to cancer cells in the lab to get them growing. Sugar has been proven to be addicting, even more so than cocaine (per Dr. Mark Hyman). So I'm trying to swap whole fruits for baked goodies. But, when I do have brownies, I make them at home, so at least I know what went into them (like no MSG, no HFCS, no GMO corn oil, etc.). Besides, 70% chocolate is good for us. Still do not go overboard on fruits as even they can affect diabetes (see Suzanne Somers's remarks regarding her hubby eating like ten pieces of fruit a day and having to cut way back).

Besides cutting down on eating sugar, watch out for drinking it. I love Dr. Pepper (I live in Texas after all), those flavored creams for my coffee, sweet tea (I'm from the Deep South), lemonade, etc. Thankfully I don't like the taste of alcohol, as it converts to sugar too from what I understand. But sugar is also hidden in most of our condiments.  I don't use ketchup, but check your label on your store-bought version. I'd suggest you make your own.

I even (unknowingly) bought salt with sugar in it. Come on! I have to check the ingredients list for SALT? When I complained to the store, they directed me to the manufacturer, which a representative said the sugar was "just corn" (GMO variety, I'd bet) and was a preservative. My salt, which is already a preservative, needs a sugar preservative? I wonder if these people ever stop to really listen to what they've been groomed to say. If I want sugar, I'll buy it and hope it is not tainted with whatever. I've been in a sugar cane field and have tasted that wonderful delight, standing on Louisiana soil in the sunlight, surrounded by stalks taller than me. What an experience. Would love to taste that pure sugar again.

I don't understand why we continue to have corn subsidies when there seems to be so much corn that it is mostly made into animal feed and HFCS, which is not healthy for man or beast from what I'm reading. I do indulge in my craving for "fresh" corn on the cob with butter and salt, but I limit that "treat" to about once a year. Until I can buy organic ears of corn, it's the best I can do to just avoid these problematic foods.

Fourth, eat food without an ingredients label (meat, veggies, fruits), found on the perimeter of your local grocery store. Old news but still valid good news. Also use a vinegar wash/soak to clean the outside of your produce/fruits. You can't wash/soak away what the plant absorbed through tainted soil, but you can at least reduce the toxins on the outside.

Fifth, watch those "white" carbs, anything made with white flours, white sugars, white potatoes, white rice, etc. I will confess that I resort to white bread, white rice, white potatoes, bagels, tortillas when I'm in my "starving artist" phases. You do what you gotta do.

Sixth, don't feel guilty about the detours you take. As mentioned above, I believe in the mind-body connection, where the holistic healing of one influences the other. So don't let worry taint your health too. Somewhere I read that the Bible links all the (thirty-nine?) diseases to various emotions. Interesting, right? I'll have to research that further and see if I can't share some studies on that with you here.

Seventh is think about substitutions. When I crave something salty, instead of chips (which I try not to buy), I eat mixed nuts or a sliced tomato (or avocado) with a sprinkle of sea salt or some black or green olives. If I want something sweet, I think about what fruit I have in the house and if it would satisfy my desire. Maybe I can get away with ginger tea sweetened with some honey and/or Stevia. Perhaps even a teaspoon of almond butter topped with honey will sate my taste buds.

So start your own substitutions list. I know when I fall off the wagon, invariably immediately thereafter I think of the better substitute I should have eaten. So I'm starting my own reminder list as well.

Eighth is to not eat three hours before bed. I find that hard to implement as I work all hours, all days (which is the nature of the freelancing career), so don't have a set bedtime. It's easier for me to do as Tim Ferriss states: eat two meals a day, although I'm not rigid on this.

Ninth, eat only when truly hungry. Drink some plain water first. Wait fifteen minutes. Try a teaspoon of organic apple cider vinegar (with the mother) in more water. This helps with indigestion and heartburn. If still hungry, eat something but make wise choices.

That's it for now. Here's to a healthier life in 2016.

"If your vocation isn’t a vacation, then quit, leap, change careers."

Denise Barker, Author, Blogger, Copy Editor
Books that Build Character(s)

amazon.com/author/denisebarker

http://denisebarkerauthor.blogspot.com/

http://bit.ly/DeniseBarkerBlog

http://bit.ly/AMAZONDeniseBarkerEbooks

http://bit.ly/BNDeniseBarkerEBooks

http://bit.ly/SMASHWORDSDeniseBarkerEBooks

http://bit.ly/KOBODeniseBarkerEBooks

What lies behind you and what lies in front of you pales in comparison to what lies inside of you. Ralph Waldo Emerson
When you give someone a book, you don’t give him just paper, ink, and glue.  You give him the possibility of a whole new life. Christopher Morley
The best inheritance you can leave your kids is an example of how to live a full and meaningful life. Dan Zadra

Stress Relievers

This post is as much for me as for y'all—although my stress levels are way down, now that I work for myself at home and no longer work as a legal assistant in downtown Dallas. Loved it for a time, then took the leap of faith and became an entrepreneur. Still, I need this reminder list some days too.

Some common physical symptoms of stress include a racing heart, headaches, rashes/itching/hives, heartburn, stomach pain, nausea, change in bowel habits. If they persist, go see the professional of your choice.

I'm not a health professional, just a layperson who collects data/info. That means, instead of collecting owl figurines or antique letter openers (nothing wrong with either), I collect what I find interesting (usually health or writing related) along with cookbooks and published fiction and nonfiction.

So I found a bunch of loose sheets dealing with stress. I have more on this subject somewhere else, in another box I've yet to sort through, because I had this humorous list of about thirty items on how to deal with stress. However, the only one I remember, without benefit of said list, is something about seeing how many minimarshmallows you can stuff up your nose. Not that I'd advocate that, but the thought makes me smile. So here are my current findings, which are on a more serious note. I'll share the funny ones later, when I find them.

1. Get more financially organized. Put your bills to be paid next to your computer. Or, even better, go ahead and set them up for payment online, with the date to be paid selected as needed. Have your important papers gathered in one spot: your Last Will and Testament, your medical powers of attorney, your general power of attorney, your car titles, your banking info, your life insurance policy, etc. Tell your executor where to find this.
2. Stop procrastinating. If you are scared to make that doctor's appointment, just do it. You are more than likely worrying needlessly. Or you can worry less if you catch "something" sooner rather than later.
3. Reach out and touch something soft: a beloved pet, satin sheets, an angora sweater, your baby's soft skin, even your hubby's rough hands.
4. Watch a favorite movie for the tenth time.
5. Water! Drink it. Bathe in it. Seek its source. Watch the ocean. Swim in a lake. Magic!
6. Smell something good. Bake fresh bread at home. Put on a pot of simmering cinnamon sticks and orange rinds. Buy yourself some flowers (or just visit a florist and inhale).
7. Exercise.
8. Play the piano.
9. Listen to music. Dance to music. Sing to music. Your choice.
10. If the budget allows, go have lunch with the girls/guys.
11. People who work hard at satisfying jobs, and who have rich family and personal lives, are usually the happiest. So if you spend most of your waking hours at a job you hate, where you are not appreciated, get one better suited for you.
12. Play hard.
13. Hike. Research your town's/city's hiking trails. Go explore.
14. Go biking.
15. Practice yoga or other stretching exercises.
16. Remember, feeling as if you have too little control over your life can cause stress. Seek to resolve that.
17. Also too little to do can cause stress. Find a hobby. Go volunteer and help others.
18. Scented candles can be soothing. Go for beeswax candles that don't put toxins in your environment.
19. Figure out your particular stressor(s) and take steps to remedy them.
20. Remember that worry cuts into your productivity. You are punishing yourself. Stop that now. Realizing you are doing this is the first step to recovery.
21. High-pressure jobs (a lot to do) with low control (little say so on your part) are the most stressful. Maybe stop to evaluate your position in a new light. Check out the current job market. Wouldn't it be great to find a job closer to home, that pays you more, with better benefits? Go find one now.
22. Working where you don't feel meaningful causes stress. Move toward your goals instead of someone else's goals.
23. Get your house more organized. Per FLYLady.net, the cheapest remodel is to declutter your house. Won't that make you smile?
24. Be decisive. Quit waffling about that decision on your mind, taking up hours and hours of your day and leading to nothing productive. Make a decision. Now. Flip a coin if you have to. If the first decision turns out to be wrong, correct course and make another decision.
25. Worrying is your first red flag to get some good advice, to act, to do something instead.
26. Make a list of what stresses you and divide it into two columns: that which you can control and that which you can't. Then have a trusted friend or your spouse look over your "can't control" list to offer any insight that you may not be seeing.
27. Figure out what are your "hot buttons." Find a way to avoid them (or avoid that person most likely to push all of them!).
28. Make a realistic budget for now and revise it for later when things are not so tight financially. It has to be doable or you'll feel stress in not making it work.
29. Create a mission statement for your life. List all goals, like write that novel, return to college, take a cooking class or a language class or whatever. Read this first thing every morning and last thing at night. Keep your mind aware of your bigger goals. You should start seeing opportunities regarding these, now that you've alerted your subconscious mind that these are important to you.
30. Now act on one of your goals. When you do something you really love, you won't need so many stress relievers, as you've focused on correcting the cause, not the effect.
31. Don't contaminate the good times. Stop feeling guilty when you do splurge and eat that Death by Chocolate dessert. Enjoy it. Savor it. Then eat salads tomorrow. And enjoy them, savor them too.
32. Kick bad habits: smoking, drinking to excess, sugarholicism, etc.
33. Make a To Do list. Be realistic. Affix a timeline for how long it would take you to do it all. You may be surprised how little time is involved. Plus remember that procrastinating about doing these jobs is truly wasted time. Prove it to yourself by choosing the "quickest" item on your list. Time yourself. Did it take all of fifteen minutes? Surprised you, didn't it? Well, keep at it.
34. Say no.
35. Give yourself at least fifteen minutes of "you" time each day. You deserve more than that, but this will suffice for now.
36. Breathe deeply, slowly.
37. Think of the best sex you ever had.
38. Play a computer game.
39. Read!
40. If the budget allows, take vacations, meet friends for lunch/dinner, romance your hubby with a candlelight dinner at home or out somewhere special.
41. Keep things in perspective. Be grateful for health and home and love. For most of us here in the States, our "problems" are probably first-world "problems."
42. Take a weekend to prepare forty freezer meals. I haven't yet done this (my freezer is packed), so I can't recommend any one plan to you, but I did find two or three websites with free instructions on this. Check them out and let me know how they worked for you. See https://newleafwellness.biz/2015/02/17/17-freezer-meal-prep-sessions-that-will-change-your-life/ and http://foodwineandpoopydiapers.com/2014/03/23/how-i-feed-my-whole-family-for-about-60-a-week/ and http://www.aturtleslifeforme.com/2011/06/freezer-meals-on-cheap.html. If your budget allows, you can buy freezer menu mailers from Leeann Ely at savingdinner.com. If money is truly no object, you can go with the paid meal deliveries of fresh food that you cook yourself. Research the Internet for these companies.
43. Initiate date night with your special honey, whether it's once a week or once a month. Have fun!
44. If a traditional vacay is not in the cards for you, take a day trip. Drive to a nearby town and walk the square and check out antiques or watch the hot air balloon celebration or visit an upcoming festival.
45. In that vein, go to the library, the bookstore for a day of browsing and adding to your wish list, and/or Starbucks (but sit outside this time, weather permitting).
46. Stop focusing on yourself and your problems. I bet there are plenty of people with much worse ordeals to survive.
47. Empty a drawer! The universe likes to fill vacuums.
48. For the ladies, give yourself a mani-pedi.
49. Have a full spa day at home.
50. Buy yourself flowers.
51. Keep things around you that make you smile.
52. Declutter!
53. Draw. Paint. Use charcoal, pen and ink, pastels, oils, etc.
54. Use white noise to calm you.
55. Recover from the drain of negative emotions by trying this: with mouth closed, tap your tongue against the ridge behind your upper front teeth. Do for three to four minutes. Let me know if this works for you.
56. Interrupt bad thoughts that are on a vicious loop in your head. Simply change the state of your mind. Use a positive mantra word. Repeat it. Passively disregard other thoughts.
57. Take a break hourly to stretch whatever body part is the tensest.
58. Remember that fretting is not productive. Fretting is just delaying solving the problem.
59. Do like Scarlett O'Hara did. Worry about it tomorrow (which then turns into "today"). But set about solving it today.
60. Ask yourself when your worries actual came to fruition. See? Waste of time ...
61. Gather info that either solves your problem or dismisses the worry associated therewith.
62. Visualize good outcomes.
63. Savor the moment. Be more present.
64. Remember to take care of yourself. That replenishes the courage you need to go on.
65. Caring for yourself tells you that you are worth the effort.
66. Caring for yourself tells the world that you are worth it.
67. Create a sense of possibility, which raises your spirits and your energy levels.
68. Remind yourself that taking care of your family, your home, yourself, is a privilege, not a chore.
69. Treat yourself well. With respect. With the utmost care. People will begin to treat you in the same manner too.
70. HALT: Ask yourself if you are Hungry, Angry, Lonely, Tired? Fix the underlying problem. Either eat something healthy, confront the anger, go hug someone, take a nap.
71. If angry, remember that you can't control others. You can control your responses to them though. You can avoid them as well. Plus look for the faulty "should" talk that appears in your angry-mode thinking. "They shouldn't treat me like this. They should know better. They should apologize ..."
72. Forgive. Holding a grudge takes mental, emotional and physical energy. Not worth it. Say a prayer for those people and move on, doing what you can about it. NEVER stay in an abusive relationship.
73. There's a strong connection between anger and health problems, such as chronic stomach upsets, heart problems and skin conditions. Get healthier by addressing the root of the anger.
74. Forgiveness releases enormous energy. So does acting on that procrastination.
75. Forgiveness works whether you speak to that person face-to-face or just forgive them in your mind.
76. Forgiving someone DOES NOT MEAN you trust them. They have to earn that. Again.
77. Speak up when someone wrongs you. Don't let their wrong and your silence both fester inside you. Plus some people need to be told what bothers you and why. Establish those boundaries early on. And it could be simply a failure to communicate. Correct it. Immediately.
78. Get professional help if needed.

Wow. I had no idea I had collected so many. As always, use what resonates with you and dismiss the rest.

Here's to happier people all around ...

"If your vocation isn’t a vacation, then quit, leap, change careers."

Denise Barker, Author, Blogger, Copy Editor
Books that Build Character(s)

amazon.com/author/denisebarker

http://denisebarkerauthor.blogspot.com/

http://bit.ly/DeniseBarkerBlog

http://bit.ly/AMAZONDeniseBarkerEbooks

http://bit.ly/BNDeniseBarkerEBooks

http://bit.ly/SMASHWORDSDeniseBarkerEBooks

http://bit.ly/KOBODeniseBarkerEBooks

What lies behind you and what lies in front of you pales in comparison to what lies inside of you. Ralph Waldo Emerson
When you give someone a book, you don’t give him just paper, ink, and glue.  You give him the possibility of a whole new life. Christopher Morley
The best inheritance you can leave your kids is an example of how to live a full and meaningful life. Dan Zadra

My 15 Healthy Food Tips for Broke People, Like Me

I read several health-related blogs/newsletters and totally understand that organic is the better way to go in the States, what with our comparatively lax standards here as compared to Europe, plus our depleted soils. But some of the people writing those blogs/newsletters, touting how going organic now should be viewed "in the long term" or for "just $5 a month ..." don't have a clue what it's like to be broke.

So, "long term" means leaving my $4.98 just sitting in my bank account, right? Not spending it? Got it.

Conversely, that "just $5 a month" in my world is not "just." It's my "only." Or, in the current matter of my $4.98 in my bank account, I find I'm two cents short. Such is my life. Usually it doesn't bother me, as I know another project will pop in my queue shortly. You've got to be able to roll with the punches when you work freelance.

But when I get to the point of $4.98 (or less) in my bank account while in a slow period and then read one-too-many emails pushing organic as the only healthy option, with the writers of those blogs/newsletters seemingly having no concept of people out there who do not have the money those blog writers obviously do ... Well, I hope I'm never like that when I'm monetarily rich. And from where I sit, there are many, many "rich" people when compared to me.

Yes, I understand how thinking long term is better than short term, whether speaking about relationships or finances. But when it comes to putting that theory into practice, I'd love to hear how to stretch an annual but varying shortfall overnight, not long term. Yes, I've gotten day jobs before and may have to again. Yes, I've worked three jobs simultaneously many times in my life and may have to again. Yes, I've cut my budget to what it takes to keep my house basically running (cheaper than the Dallas apartment I had over fifteen years ago!), plus that extravagant catchall expense of "food," which includes toilet tissue and dishwashing detergent and lightbulbs, as needed. I'm no slacker.

But I am a freelancer. I have unplanned slow periods, where I need a "day" job for a couple weeks or three months to tide me over, and then my 234 hours of work some months kick in (my hours are a reflection of the perfectionist I'm trying to be and have nothing to do with my income, as my main client pays me by the project, not by the time I invest in each project). Even my slow months in this profession are not always consistently slow from year to year. If you know any day-job employers seeking such off-again/on-again temporary employees, let me know.

Don't get me wrong. I love working for myself, even though I've never in my lifetime been so broke for so long (eight years and counting). Still I don't understand how few people truly understand "being broke." Surely most people have had a moment or two being broke, especially in this economy. If their memories fail them, can't they imagine what would happen if their four-figure (and beyond) paycheck was cut to three figures, sometimes two? And its payment was erratic to boot?

Sigh.

I'm no food expert, just a layperson with a lust for knowledge about many topics, including cooking and health. I'm just another gal in the trenches with you. So decide for yourself which of these items in my list below will work for you:

1. Don't stress about it. The last thing you need is another stressor on top of being money-challenged. Watch the documentary, Fat Head, where Tom Naughton loses weight and improves his health (per blood tests) while eating at fast-food chains (which are not touted as organic food havens, as far as I know). As of this writing, you can watch it for free on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=fat+head+documentary. So there's hope for us to be somewhat healthy, even while not eating organic. And I'm not proposing eating mostly at drive-through establishments either, to be clear. In fact, with my budget, grabbing a meal to-go from the golden arches is considered "eating out" and is a rare "treat," in that I didn't have to prepare and cook it myself.

2. Eat whole foods. I believe that an intact apple contains a vital synergy of components, far exceeding whatever's in some mass-produced apple juice or jam/jelly on a shelf. 

3. Wash or soak your produce as needed. I happen to prefer a 50:50 mix of apple cider vinegar and water rather than to use white vinegar. In my mind, the white version is for household cleaning, not ingesting. 

4. Eat more beans, eggs, seafood. Did you know canned seafood (tuna, salmon) is most likely wild caught (or "organic," if you will). Who knew? 

5. If you eat cured bacon and cannot afford the uncured bacon price tag much less pure organic bacon, then eat citrus fruit with your bacon. I read somewhere the citrus will counteract the nitrates/nitrites. I keep a bag of cuties (clementines, etc.) in my fridge, whenever I can. They last a long time too, not going bad before the last one is eaten. NOTE: Add those washed citrus peels to your water and/or your tea for the day. It's amazing how they highly flavor your drink without squeezing, zesting.

6. Homemade is better than prepackaged, store-bought foods. If you are going to eat brownies, make them from scratch at home. That way you can avoid the high fructose corn syrup, the GMOs, the MSG, and whatever else lurks in our foods under the generic term natural flavorings.

7. Lessen the toxins you put in your body by sheer avoidance (like that aisle with all the cookies and candies down it, plus the soft drink lane). Eat fresh fruit for dessert instead and brew your own green tea at home. Even if sweetened, make it with Stevia or honey or a mix of both. 

8. Pick your poison. If you use cream or half-and-half in your coffee daily, but only eat beef three times a month, then I'd suggest you spend any of your dollars set aside for organic foods on purchasing those day-to-day routine items. 

9. Do the best you can with what you've got. Be happy. Be thankful. Pray over your food before eating it, as Dr. Christiane Northrup said in one PBS show from long ago. 

10. If a blog, newsletter does not qualify "if you can't afford to buy organic, don't," then maybe we should just unsubscribe from them. Remember that verse from the Bible about it's better to eat a dinner of herbs in peace than a fatted calf with strife? I just unsubscribed to two blogs/newsletters. Feel calmer already.

11. Stop microwaving. I did, some ten years or so ago. I'm afraid we'll learn that, in the long run, bad side effects are associated with this practice. I hope I'm wrong. 

12. Do some research on your own. Remember the source of your food can make a difference, both good and bad, so read up. Make notes. Plus determine what the first number(s) in bar codes mean as to the country of origin, in case you can't find it otherwise printed on your food packaging. Make a naughty and nice list for your grocery shopping trips. 

13. Be sure to check out ewg.org for their continually updated dirty dozen and clean foods list. 

14. Be more frugal, like our grandparents. Don't throw anything away without considering how it could still be useful. About to toss that hard-as-a-rock bread? The French make salads and soups with it. If it's too far gone for human consumption, toss it outside to feed the birds and the squirrels. You can still be a giver, even when broke. 

15. One more thing. "Rich" is not just about money. It is about quality of life. It is about happiness. Love. Making the world a better place. Fulfilling your purpose here. Keep that in mind too. So while I am rich in a lot of areas, I just happen to be broke as far as dollars go.

These items are a gross overview of course. For all our advanced learning in this the twenty-first century, I read somewhere how we still don't know 80% of the makeup of our unadulterated foods. So, keep on studying. Carry out your due diligence.

Hope this helps you on your road to better health.

"If your vocation isn’t a vacation, then quit, leap, change careers."

Denise Barker, Author, Blogger, Copy Editor
Books that Build Character(s)

amazon.com/author/denisebarker

http://denisebarkerauthor.blogspot.com/

http://bit.ly/DeniseBarkerBlog

http://bit.ly/AMAZONDeniseBarkerEbooks

http://bit.ly/BNDeniseBarkerEBooks

http://bit.ly/SMASHWORDSDeniseBarkerEBooks

http://bit.ly/KOBODeniseBarkerEBooks

What lies behind you and what lies in front of you pales in comparison to what lies inside of you. Ralph Waldo Emerson
When you give someone a book, you don’t give him just paper, ink, and glue.  You give him the possibility of a whole new life. Christopher Morley
The best inheritance you can leave your kids is an example of how to live a full and meaningful life. Dan Zadra

Sugar in My Salt? I Mean, Really?

I do read labels, for the most part. I like to stay as healthy as I can, whether my freelance earnings are nil or nice. But salt? Do I have to read salt labels?

Guess I do.

Little did I know that salt wasn't all my salt contained.

Here are the Ingredients, straight from its own label:

Salt
Calcium Silicate
Dextrose
Potassium Iodide

And is there any surprise why Americans are getting fatter and sicker each year when dextrose, aka sugar, is added to salt?

I'd like to know how this was approved by governmental standards.

This was a store brand, which I won't embarrass on the Net (at this time). And I bought it because "This salt supplies iodide, a necessary nutrient," which is clearly printed on its label. But given what else is detailed on its label, I'm wondering if we can trust anything this manufacturer and its distributor says.

I wasted good money buying a cheap brand of iodized salt, which is now relegated to my trash can. I would suspect that salt without the added sugar would have been even cheaper, so I have no clue what was going on here. Sugary salt should never have been offered for public consumption to begin with. Shame on everyone involved in this fiasco.

Rant over.

For the moment.

"If your vocation isn’t a vacation, then quit, leap, change careers."

Denise Barker, Author, Blogger, Copy Editor
Books that Build Character(s)

amazon.com/author/denisebarker

http://denisebarkerauthor.blogspot.com/

http://bit.ly/DeniseBarkerBlog

http://bit.ly/AMAZONDeniseBarkerEbooks

http://bit.ly/BNDeniseBarkerEBooks

http://bit.ly/SMASHWORDSDeniseBarkerEBooks

http://bit.ly/KOBODeniseBarkerEBooks

What lies behind you and what lies in front of you pales in comparison to what lies inside of you. Ralph Waldo Emerson
When you give someone a book, you don’t give him just paper, ink, and glue.  You give him the possibility of a whole new life. Christopher Morley
The best inheritance you can leave your kids is an example of how to live a full and meaningful life. Dan Zadra

It's Too Sweet

Never thought I'd say that!

But since about 08.08.13 and cleaning up my diet, this has become my new mantra. Weird. I made three-bean salad today from a tried-and-true fave recipe. Even though I added in a fourth can of beans and cut the sugar in half, it is still too sweet.

So next time, instead of one-fourth cup of Stevia, I'm gonna add one tablespoon of honey to the vinaigrette and see how that works.

Since I've been on a salad kick, I also bought several dressings to try out for the first time. There is a raspberry oil and vinegar that is great, except it is also too sweet and has HFCS in it, plus the EVOO is diluted with another veggie oil that I would prefer was not in the mix.

I'll be glad when my local grocery store has low-sugar and no-HFCS versions. In the meantime, I guess I'll dilute what I bought while I play experimenter in my kitchen and make near duplicates.

Wish me luck.

Happy first day of fall to you all. It's beautiful here in Texas. I've got my windows open and am enjoying not paying for AC. At least today.

Denise Barker, author + blogger + copy editor

amazon.com/author/denisebarker

http://bit.ly/DeniseBarkerBlog

http://bit.ly/AMAZONDeniseBarkerEbooks

http://bit.ly/BNDeniseBarkerEBooks

http://bit.ly/SMASHWORDSDeniseBarkerEBooks

http://bit.ly/KOBODeniseBarkerEBooks

Dr. Hyman on PBS Years Ago

Yesterday I found this video I don't remember watching before: Dr. Hyman on PBS. I have no idea what date this show on UltraMetabolism was aired, but since I haven't had cable for eight years, it has been a while.

I watched it yesterday and he espoused many of his tenets as found in his The Blood Sugar Solution of today.

However, he said one thing that really stuck with me. Here it is paraphrased: Americans eat 185 pounds of sugar a year. Which was probably more accurate a decade ago and has now risen exponentially.

So I wondered how many tablespoons that was. Something I could relate to visually. If one pound (16 ounces) = 32 Tablespoons, then 185 pounds is 18,532 Ts/year divided by 365 days = 50.77 TABLESPOONS a day or 152.31 TEASPOONS a day.

Wow!

It kind of put my sugar addiction in a new light. Dr. Hyman calls sugar a toxin. I agree. While our bodies may have arsenic, mercury and other toxic materials residing within, they are hopefully at such minute levels that they do us no harm.

It's the amount of the potentially toxic substance that matters.

Still, knowing that I may have been eating 50 Ts (or more) of sugar a day and now I am trying to go without any (none, zilch, nada, zero, nil) during each twenty-four-hour period makes me feel better about my struggle to conquer this beast.

Like I said in one of my previous posts, sugar is my last frontier.

I'm making headway. Which should give hope to others. And I find if I focus on getting through the first three full days without sugar or whatever, then the going gets easier.

I'm keeping that in mind. Plus staying busy.

Luckily, Dr. Hyman's plan allows for fruit (berries) daily. That helps.

Along with knowing that my body is rebuilding itself, stronger, healthier, more disease-resistant.

Hang in there, everyone.

Denise Barker, author + blogger + copy editor

http://bit.ly/DeniseBarkerBlog

http://bit.ly/AMAZONDeniseBarkerEbooks

http://bit.ly/BNDeniseBarkerEBooks

http://bit.ly/SMASHWORDSDeniseBarkerEBooks

http://bit.ly/KOBODeniseBarkerEBooks

I Am So Blessed

I got up today without an alarm, as is my usual practice. Dressed, cooked breakfast and brewed coffee. Ate while I caught up on my emails. Then made a grocery run. I like to go weekday mornings to avoid busy times. I remember, in yesteryears, driving home from downtown Dallas, reaching my neighborhood about 7:00 p.m., yet I was with a mob of other people at the market, just wanting to be home already. So I like to avoid those after-work hours to give the nine-to-fivers one less person in their way.

Now I'm home, groceries in their proper places, my hot Café Bustelo espresso at hand, my cats within petting distance and my windows open to enjoy the breeze and sounds of nature. Even though it may reach a tad over ninety degrees today, that is way better than the one-hundred-plus heat of not too many days ago. I'm seated at my computer and can see outside, which may or may not be a good thing. I happen to think it is okay, as long as I pay more attention to my screen than the goings-on in my yard.

I'm in black flip-flops, a taupe prairie skirt topped by a man's white cotton undershirt (love those!). I think I need red nails to match my outfit. So later I'll give myself a mani-pedi. Meanwhile, frozen chicken breasts are thawing, to be breaded and baked for dinner.

And I'm at work.

Yes, too glorious to be true, but it is nonetheless. I am my best boss ever--ha!

I'm an author. And when not creating, I'm a freelance copy editor for two large publishers. Either way, my computer and I are inseparable. I love my profession so much that I work holidays, weekends, my birthday, Christmas, New Year's.

I work probably eleven hours a day. Most days. Now I don't get paid for all that, as I love to research, to read, to learn more about my craft and then to blog about what I've found. I enjoy every bit of it. With no commute, I saved myself fifteen hours a week. And have put them to better use than by incurring a three-thousand-mile oil change every season.

Now there was one day I did copy edit for eleven hours. That was a brutal day. My mind is not set up for that. But I can weather six to eight hours, seven days a week. I happen to think I'm very productive in that mode.

I wish everyone had the freedom I do. To work those sleepless nights from 2:00 a.m. to 6:00 a.m. and then sleep to noon to be revived to resume work from noon to six that evening. To work around errands. To work outside once the weather gets comfortably into the seventies and hopefully the mosquitoes are gone.

For that matter, if money were no object, I could work at the beach, in a woodsy cabin or on a boat I suppose. As long as I have battery power and an occasional internet connection, I'm golden.

It took me several years to reach this glorious pinnacle, but it was worth every bump. In this my new career, worry is such a waste of energy. It stifles the creativity. And things usually work out. Granted I had to get a McJob in two really lean times, but I'm fully at home now. With steady work and expected earnings that exceed my monthly bills. That, along with my health, is my definition of wealth.

I've never been more broke nor as happy--except at the birth of my son. That remains the ultimate high. But these days, they are right on up there. And now that I've done without for a period, I'm ever-so-grateful for the plenty on its way. And will be a better steward of it because of my new heightened insight.

So, Happy Friday, all! I wish you manifold blessings.

Denise Barker, author, blogger, copy editor

The Law of Expansion and Law of Compound Interest

No, this post is not about finances.  But it is about our lives and what we get in them.

I have been close, in family or at work or with friends, to several people who were fighting with cancer.  In each and every instance, the core personality of that individual was amped up.  If selfish, they became uberselfish.  If kind and giving, they were more so.  If self-contained, they withdrew further.  If "poor me, woe is me," then they hunkered way down into their victim mentality.

There are two sayings which, paraphrased here, go something like this:  You see the real manner of a man when you put him in the depths of despair or in the heights of power.

I find that to be true.

So, use these Laws, of Expansion and of Compound Interest, by thinking the best, acting out of love for yourself (don't be a doormat) and your innate love will spill over to love of others.  I believe cell memory holds onto our thoughts and the good ones produce health while the bad produce disease.  It is your choice.

Oh, and one final note:  When these people had cancer, the first noticeable symptom was bad breath that would not go away no matter what mouthwash, what toothpaste, what superficial device was used.  And that makes sense since their bodies were trying to throw off this toxic pollution from deep within.   

Here's to everyone's health and well-being.  Take good care of you.