I do not know how many of you really pay attention to church "advertisement" signs (you know the ones where they put the little plastic letters on and create phrases like "The only thing missing from CH  RCH...is U!). Well, eventhough I am not a religious person, I do read these signs pretty much everytime I pass by one. Sure, most are strictly spiritual or Biblical, but a lot of them have pretty good meanings and intentions behind them. However, I've NEVER seen one that made me laugh harder than one I saw today. I do not remember what church it was, but it was somewhere in Anniston. The sign stated...

"SATAN called. He wants his weather back!"

LOL

Well, that sums it up...this hot weather is no longer wanted in Calhoun County and surrounding areas. I know it is no longer wanted by a lot of people in Munford either...including me!

First of all, I will say that most of my life I have been UNDERweight; however, after having 2 kids, I am finally at a healthy weight for my height, and I'm happy. I have never "battled" with weight issues like a lot of people in my family and a lot of my friends. As a nurse, I've seen many of my patients battle with weight issues also. Of course, when I hear of a family member or a friend going on some fad-diet that is the latest rage, it worries me and also makes me upset. It worries me and makes me upset because most of these fad-diets have no scientific-basis and no medical research, but instead they are programs that are designed by money-grubbing people who are wanting to make money off peoples' insecurities and weaknesses. I just don't understand why our society has to put so much emphasis on a woman's beauty based on her weight. So many people go on diets with the one goal of being skinny. This goal ends up not being met most of the time, which ends up making the person feel like a failure, but usually this goal is not even practical for most people. Not only is it impractical, but exactly how much weight does a person have to lose to be "skinny" or "beautiful"? What so many people fail to realize is that each person's body frame is suited for a specific amount of weight. A person's body frame is based on skeletal structure. Most people with small frames are going to fall under the "skinny" category. People with medium frames are going to be "average" according to most peoples' opinions. People with large frames are going to usually be looked at as being overweight. If someone is large framed and sets a goal to be "skinny," this is not going to work out most of the time because the body frame size is still going to be large, which is going to make most people feel that they still look "fat".

Before jumping on some crazy diet train, people need to realize that many more things decide the weight someone is going to be, and most of the time, it can not be determined by some fad-diet. Considerations have to made for body frame, family body sizes, genetics, health issues (such as diabetes, hypothyroidism, Cushings Syndrome, etc), and also the types of foods and drinks being consumed.

Our society needs to forget what the next great model is weighing in at. Instead people need to get off the couch, stop playing the video games, cut back on the fast food and sugary snacks, and become more active...even if it means just walking around the lake or up and down the block. Take it from the older crowds who enjoy walking around the mall...it's indoors and cool, which makes it easier and more manageable during this extreme hot weather we are having. Not only do adults need to do this, but so do their kids. Kids imitate their parents' actions. If a kid sees his or her parents getting off the couch and giving up junk food, then the kid will want to also.

"Eat right. Stay fit. Get healthy." If I'm not mistakened, I think that is what the Disney Channel keeps telling our kids, right?

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My Girl Scout Troop #20074 is going to be creating a cook book this year as one of our fundraisers. We will be needing the help of the community to create this cook book so that we can fill it full of wonderfully delicious recipes! Once we have the cook book created and can submit it to the publishing company, we will receive hard copies of the cook book to sale. If you would be interested in submitting recipes to be put into our Girl Scout Troop cook book, please email the recipe, your name or the name of the contributor, any Girl Scout affilitation you may have, and your city and state. I will let everyone know when these go on sale. Thank you for your support!

Please email these to GSTroop20074@gmail.com !