The Good, The Bad, and the Distracted

Well, I'll get to the bad in a few minutes.  As for the distracted, this photo was taken in Santa Monica, heading toward Venice.

I used to skate this path all the time and always carried a camera with me (been carrying cameras with me since I got my first one at age 7) - one never knows what one may see along the bike path from Venice to Pacific Palisades.  Now I ride my bike out here whenever I get the chance.  But back to the photo - since the guy being distracted might itself be a distraction, below is the same photo with him removed in Photoshop.

I guess this would be the good.  A sunny day on the bike/skate path along the beach.  Palm trees, cool ocean breezes, and more.  Some days you'll see film crews, once a year the IFC Awards, and ya never know what else.  And as you get into Venice, you'll see lots of performers, tables set up with arts and crafts, and lots of shops and sunglass stands.

That covers the good and distracted; now for the bad, which you can avoid.  And that goes to all the substances in food that, well, aren't food.  Things that are genetically modified (which currently may be hard to find, as these items don't have to be labeled - however, there will be a ballot measure in CA which would make labeling of GMO "foods" mandatory - please vote for that).  Other non-food categories would be preservatives, artificial coloring and flavors, flavor enhancers, etc.  Other things to avoid or cut waaaay back on include sugar, fructose (aka HFCS or high fructose corn syrup), crystalline fructose, and artificial sweeteners (Splenda, aspartame (which was the number one product complaint to the FDA, and which a friend of mine said caused her to lose her memory until she stopped taking it in diet sodas), and asulfame K (K = potassium).  Now, some of these items listed above may or may not cause problems for everyone, but do you want to take the chance.  I don't.  I used to think that eating all this stuff would make life more enjoyable while I was here on Earth, but when I got ulcers, and when I got other health problems, that was when I realized those things (like milk duds, salt water taffee, and all the other junk foods) made life much less enjoyable.  Health is in the top three things in importance.  Without good health, everything else suffers - health problems cause more bankruptcies than any other cause, and can make life miserable, not to mention health problems can end your life prematurely.

All you need to do is read labels on your food, eliminate certain things, eat less (none is better) processed foods, and more whole foods.  Then you can look like the skaters above, or the guy.  OK - you do need to exercise, too.

As Jasmine Star (one of the best Wedding Photographers) says on her blog - if this helps just one person....

Have a great week.