Seecrets on Writing: Free Requotable Quotes for Internet Writers

Original quotes, when used at the beginning or at the end of an article provide a touch of class. At the least, it will make your article different from the thousands of articles filed daily. It can be witty, satirical, funny or just a different opinion on current issues. Perhaps, it could be an outrageous prediction that even no expert will dare to rule out.

Famous quotes are often used as templates. By substituting certain words, voila, you have created something worth pondering.

If you are the author of an original quote which you want to share with the internet writing community, send an email to this author. Objectionable material, pertaining to adult content, hatred, religious intolerances will be rejected. The list will be constantly updated at the author's website

Stan Seecrets:

The sum total of all human knowledge is a prime number. (Spoof of Fermat's Last Theorem and commenting the pool of public domain knowledge is great)

The sum total of all human wisdom is not a prime number. (Spoof of Fermat's Last Theorem and commenting the lack of wisdom among our political leaders)

There are two types of people in the world ? those who know what they don't know and those who don't know what they don't know. (Commenting on the lack of common-sense among individual investors and the public)

The imminent war for world domination will be fought between the gods of the internet and the gods of finance. (Disagreeing with Samuel Huntington's claim in "A Clash of Civilizations". All wars are economic in nature)

Crypto will be a search engine's nightmare. (Commenting of the possibility of using crypto as a safeguard against search engines increasing encroachments on individuals' privacy)

Website promotion is a journey of a million sweats. Savor each drop and it will taste like honey. (Commenting on most websites' futility in trying to use shortcuts and dubious methods to improve their site's ranking)

If reading maketh the man, conference the complete man and writing the exact man, then the internet maketh writers free. (Addendum to Francis Bacon's famous quote and commenting on the writers unprecedented freedoms)

Poets try to capture the essence of the universe with the elegance of words. Mathematicians try to do the same with their formula and numbers. Therefore, mathematicians are calculative poets. (Poking fun at mathematicians, and himself)

Those who write articles cannot write software. Those who write software cannot write articles. Those who can do neither, become publishers. (Spoof of Lao Zi's 56th verse and poking fun at publishers while jealous of their top positions of the content food chain)

The brand is the website. (Spoofing Marshall McLuhan "The Medium is the Message". McLuhan is considered by many, as the prophet of the electronic age).

Where we originate is the same ? our mothers' womb. Where we are heading is the same ? six-feet under. In between, we communicate. (Inspired by George Santayana, Spanish-born American philosopher - There is no cure for birth or death save to enjoy the interval).

If scientists can communicate, the whole world will be reading Membrane Theory right now. (M-Theory is the latest all-encompassing theory of the universe since Einstein.)

The 3 C's of effective communications ? Communicate, Communicate and Communicate. (Family members of this author will have a laugh over this one).

How does any ant bring down a giant ? by releasing its toxins into a certain part of the giant's anatomy where the sun has hardly shone on. (This is an example of an exploit as defined in the field of cryptography ? vulnerability.)

[This article may be freely reprinted provided it is published with the author's bio and activating the link to the URL below. It can be edited, summarized, expanded, and translated into any human language. In the case of print media, the same condition applies except that the URL must be printed in bold letters. If you want just to use a quote in your article, a simple credit is sufficient. Violators will be required to sing Das Lied der Deutschen, La Marseillaise & The East is Red 100 times without pause in front of 1000 neo-nationalists in your country of domicile. In cases of reprinting in realms outside this planet, you are free to do anything with it ? our copyright laws do not apply to you, nor enforceable within your realms.]

About the author
The author, Stan Seecrets, is a veteran software developer with 25+ years experience at http://www.seecrets.biz which specializes in digital asset protection and total website management. You can send your views or criticism by e-mail to Stan at seecrets.biz.

? Copyright 2005, Stan Seecrets. All rights reserved.

Overcoming Procrastination

Procrastination, the habit of putting tasks off to the last possible minute, can be a major problem in both your career and your personal life. Missed opportunities, frenzied work hours, stress, overwhelm, resentment, and guilt are just some of the symptoms. This article will explore the root causes of procrastination and give you several practical tools to overcome it.

Replace "Have To" With "Want To"

First, thinking that you absolutely have to do something is a major reason for procrastination. When you tell yourself that you have to do something, you're implying that you're being forced to do it, so you'll automatically feel a sense of resentment and rebellion. Procrastination kicks in as a defense mechanism to keep you away from this pain. If the task you are putting off has a real deadline, then when the deadline gets very close, the sense of pain associated with the task becomes overridden by the much greater sense of pain if you don't get started immediately.

The solution to this first mental block is to realize and accept that you don't have to do anything you don't want to do. Even though there may be serious consequences, you are always free to choose. No one is forcing you to run your business the way you do. All the decisions you've made along the way have brought you to where you are today. If you don't like where you've ended up, you're free to start making different decisions, and new results will follow. Also be aware that you don't procrastinate in every area of your life. Even the worst procrastinators have areas where they never procrastinate. Perhaps you never miss your favorite TV show, or you always manage to check your favorite online forums each day. In each situation the freedom of choice is yours. So if you're putting off starting that new project you feel you "have to" do this year, realize that you're choosing to do it of your own free will. Procrastination becomes less likely on tasks that you openly and freely choose to undertake.

Replace "Finish It" With "Begin It"

Secondly, thinking of a task as one big whole that you have to complete will virtually ensure that you put it off. When you focus on the idea of finishing a task where you can't even clearly envision all the steps that will lead to completion, you create a feeling of overwhelm. You then associate this painful feeling to the task and delay as long as possible. If you say to yourself, "I've got to do my taxes today," or "I must complete this report," you're very likely to feel overwhelmed and put the task off.

The solution is to think of starting one small piece of the task instead of mentally feeling that you must finish the whole thing. Replace, "How am I going to finish this?" with "What small step can I start on right now?" If you simply start a task enough times, you will eventually finish it. If one of the projects you want to complete is to clean out your garage, thinking that you have to finish this big project in one fell swoop can make you feel overwhelmed, and you'll put it off. Ask yourself how you can get started on just one small part of the project. For example, go to your garage with a notepad, and simply write down a few ideas for quick 10-minute tasks you could do to make a dent in the piles of junk. Maybe move one or two obvious pieces of junk to the trash can while you're there. Don't worry about finishing anything significant. Just focus on what you can do right now. If you do this enough times, you'll eventually be starting on the final piece of the task, and that will lead to finishing.

Replace Perfectionism With Permission To Be Human

A third type of erroneous thinking that leads to procrastination is perfectionism. Thinking that you must do the job perfectly the first try will likely prevent you from ever getting started. Believing that you must do something perfectly is a recipe for stress, and you'll associate that stress with the task and thus condition yourself to avoid it. You then end up putting the task off to the last possible minute, so that you finally have a way out of this trap. Now there isn't enough time to do the job perfectly, so you're off the hook because you can tell yourself that you could have been perfect if you only had more time. But if you have no specific deadline for a task, perfectionism can cause you to delay indefinitely. If you've never even started that project you always wanted to do really well, could perfectionism be holding you back?

The solution to perfectionism is to give yourself permission to be human. Have you ever used a piece of software that you consider to be perfect in every way? I doubt it. Realize that an imperfect job completed today is always superior to the perfect job delayed indefinitely. Perfectionism is also closely connected to thinking of the task as one big whole. Replace that one big perfectly completed task in your mind with one small imperfect first step. Your first draft can be very, very rough. You are always free to revise it again and again. For example, if you want to write a 5000-word article, feel free let your first draft be only 100 words if it helps you get started. That's less than the length of this paragraph.

Replace Deprivation With Guaranteed Fun

A fourth mental block is associating deprivation with a task. This means you believe that undertaking a project will offset much of the pleasure in your life. In order to complete this project, will you have to put the rest of your life on hold? Do you tell yourself that you will have to go into seclusion, work long hours, never see your family, and have no time for fun? That's not likely to be very motivating, yet this is what many people do when trying to push themselves into action. Picturing an extended period of working long hours in solitude with no time for fun is a great way to guarantee procrastination.

The solution to the deprivation mindset is to do the exact opposite. Guarantee the fun parts of your life first, and then schedule your work around them. This may sound counterproductive, but this reverse psychology works extremely well. Decide in advance what times you will allocate each week to family time, entertainment, exercise, social activities, and personal hobbies. Guarantee an abundance of all your favorite leisure activities. Then limit the amount of working hours each week to whatever is left. The peak performers in any field tend to take more vacation time and work shorter hours than the workaholics. By treating your working time as a scarce resource rather than an uncontrollable monster that can gobble up every other area of your life, you'll begin to feel much more balanced, and you'll be far more focused and effective in using your working time. It's been shown that the optimal work week for most people is 40-45 hours. Working longer hours than this actually has such an adverse effect on productivity and motivation that less real work is done in the long run. What would happen if you only allowed yourself a certain number of hours a week to work? What if I came to you and said, "You are only allowed to work 10 hours this week?" Your feeling of deprivation would be reversed, wouldn't it? Instead of feeling that work was depriving you of leisure time, you'd feel you were being deprived of work. You'd replace, "I want to play" with "I want to work," your motivation for work would skyrocket, and all traces of procrastination would vanish.

I also strongly recommend that you take at least one full day off each week with no work whatsoever. This will really recharge you and make you eager to start the coming week. Having a guaranteed work-free day will increase your motivation for work and make you less likely to procrastinate. If you know that the next day is your day off, you'll be less likely to put off tasks, since you won't allow yourself the luxury of allowing them to spill over into your day off. When you think that every day is a work day, however, work seems never-ending, and you always tell yourself, "I should be working." Thus, your brain will use procrastination as a way to guarantee that you get some form of pleasure in your life.

Use Timeboxing

For tasks you've been putting off for a while, I recommend using the timeboxing method to get started. Here's how it works: First, select a small piece of the task you can work on for just 30 minutes. Then choose a reward you will give yourself immediately afterwards. The reward is guaranteed if you simply put in the time; it doesn't depend on any meaningful accomplishment. Examples include watching your favorite TV show, seeing a movie, enjoying a meal or snack, going out with friends, going for a walk, or doing anything you find pleasurable. Because the amount of time you'll be working on the task is so short, your focus will shift to the impending pleasure of the reward instead of the difficulty of the task. No matter how unpleasant the task, there's virtually nothing you can't endure for just 30 minutes if you have a big enough reward waiting for you.

When you timebox your tasks, you may discover that something very interesting happens. You will probably find that you continue working much longer than 30 minutes. You will often get so involved in a task, even a difficult one, that you actually want to keep working on it. Before you know it, you've put in an hour or even several hours. The certainty of your reward is still there, so you know you can enjoy it whenever you're ready to stop. Once you begin taking action, your focus shifts away from worrying about the difficulty of the task and towards finishing the current piece of the task which now has your full attention.

When you do decide to stop working, claim your reward, and enjoy it. Then schedule another 30-minute period to work on the task with another reward. This will help you associate more and more pleasure to the task, knowing that you will always be immediately rewarded for your efforts. Working towards distant and uncertain long-term rewards is not nearly as motivating as immediate short-term rewards. By rewarding yourself for simply putting in the time, instead of for any specific achievements, you'll be eager to return to work on your task again and again, and you'll ultimately finish it.

The writing of this article serves as a good example of applying the above techniques. I could have said to myself, "I have to finish this 2000-word article, and it has to be perfect." So first I remember that I don't have to write anything; I freely choose to write articles. Then I realize that I have plenty of time to do a good job, and that I don't need to be perfect because if I start early enough, I have plenty of time to make revisions. I also tell myself that if I just keep starting, I will eventually be done. Before I started this article, I didn't have a topic selected, so I used the timeboxing method to get that done. Having dinner was my reward. I knew that at the end of 30 minutes of working on the task, I could eat, and I was hungry at the time, so that was good motivation for me. It took me a few minutes to pick the topic of overcoming procrastination, and I spent the rest of the time writing down some ideas and making a very rough outline. When the time was up, I stopped working and had dinner, and it really felt like I'd earned that meal.

The next morning I used the same 30-minute timeboxing method, making breakfast my reward. However, I got so involved in the task that I'm still writing 90 minutes later. I know I'm free to stop at any time and that my reward is waiting for me, but having overcome the inertia of getting started, the natural tendency is to continue working. In essence I've reversed the problem of procrastination by staying with the task and delaying gratification. The net result is that I finish my article early and have a rewarding breakfast.

I hope this article has helped you gain a greater insight into the causes of procrastination and how you can overcome it. Realize that procrastination is caused by associating some form of pain or unpleasantness to the task you are contemplating. The way to overcome procrastination is simply to reduce the pain and increase the pleasure you associate with beginning a task, thus allowing you to overcome inertia and build positive forward momentum. And if you begin any task again and again, you will ultimately finish it.

Steve Pavlina is the founder of StevePavlina.com, a popular personal development web site focused on time management, motivation, problem solving, and personal productivity. He is the editor of Personal Development Insights Newsletter and has written dozens of published articles on personal growth topics. His top-down approach to life begins with discovering one's purpose and systematically managing goals, projects, and tasks to live that purpose every day. He continues to read 50-100 books on personal growth each year and shares his best insights through his popular blog at http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog. Steve lives in Las Vegas and can be reached through his contact form at http://www.stevepavlina.com/contact-info.htm.

Introduction To ISDN, Part III: PAP

Introduction To ISDN, Part III: Configuring PPP PAP Authentication

Now we know how the ISDN link comes up (interesting traffic), and some scenarios that might cause the link to stay up, we need to look at ISDN authentication schemes. The two methods Cisco certification candidates must be familiar with are PAP and CHAP.

Password Authentication Protocol (PAP) sends the username and password over the ISDN link in clear-text. Sending any passwords over any WAN link in clear-text is generally a bad idea, but it's important to know you have this option.

Regarding both PAP and CHAP, it's a common misunderstanding that each side must authenticate the other. PAP and CHAP both support bidirectional and unidirectional authentication; that is, R1 can authenticate R2 without R2 necessarily authenticating R1. It's more common to use unidirectional authentication in a lab environment than a production network, but keep in mind that bidirectional authentication is an option, not a requirement.

The configurations of PAP and CHAP do have their similarities. For both, you'll configure a username/password combination in global configuration mode. Newcomers to ISDN sometimes put the local router name in for the username; remember that the remote router name is the username.

The only real advantage of PAP over CHAP comes in the password configuration. Since PAP actually sends the password as a whole over the link, the two routers can send different passwords during authentication. The operation of CHAP requires that both routers use the same password, and we'll see why in tomorrow's article.

Under the BRI interface, you'll enter encapsulation ppp and ppp authentication pap. So far, your authentication scheme looks like this:

username R2 password CCNA

Int bri0

encapsulation ppp

ppp authentication pap

PAP requires an extra command at this point. The ppp pap sent-username command is required under the interface, indicating the username and password this router will be sending to the remote router.

Int bri0

encapsulation ppp

ppp authentication pap

ppp pap sent-username R1 password CISCO

I always encourage CCNA and CCNP candidates to use as many debugs as possible when working in their lab, since these commands show us how things work. For any PPP authentication, always run debug ppp negotiation before sending interesting traffic to trigger the call. Watching exactly how PAP and CHAP work give you a much better understanding of what's going on "behind the command", and makes you a stronger candidate and a stronger networking engineer.

Tomorrow, we'll take a look at CHAP, and why routers cannot use the same password on both ends of the link.

Keep studying!

Chris Bryant

CCIE ? #12933

chris@thebryantadvantage.com

About The Author

Chris Bryant, CCIE (TM) #12933, has been active in the Cisco certification community for years. He worked his way up from the CCNA to the CCIE, and knows what CCNA and CCNP candidates need to know to be effective on the job and in the exam room.

He is the owner of http://www.thebryantadvantage.com, where he teaches CCNA and CCNP courses to small groups of exam candidates, ensuring they each receive the individual attention they deserve. Classes are offered over the Internet and in person in select cities. Chris has custom-written the Study Guide and Lab Workbook used in each course - no third-party training materials or simulators are used. You're invited to visit our site and check out our CCNA and CCNP courses and study aids, and to sign up for our weekly newsletter written personally by Chris. Chris is always glad to hear from Cisco certification candidates at chris@thebryantadvantage.com

The Holy Spirit is our Teacher

Now that we know God and Jesus want to release Their knowledge direct to us from Their throne room in heaven - how is this knowledge actually transmitted to us? This will now bring us into the next set of Scripture verses.

These next three verses will tell us that this knowledge is given to the Holy Spirit - and then the Holy Spirit, who is already living on the inside of us, will be the one to transmit all of this knowledge to us! The Holy Spirit will thus become your personal guide and personal teacher in this life. It will be His job to impart and transmit all of this knowledge direct to you once you start to seek after it.

Here are three powerful verses from Scripture showing us that the Holy Spirit will be the one to transmit the knowledge of God direct to us.

"But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God." (1 Corinthians 2:10)

"But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, HE WILL TEACH YOU ALL THINGS, and bring to your remembrance all things that I have said to you." (John 14:26)

"However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, HE WILL GUIDE YOU INTO ALL TRUTH ..." (JOHN 16:13)

The very first verse lays the foundation when it says that no one knows the things of God except the Holy Spirit - and that the Holy Spirit has been given to each and every one of us in order to reveal the things that God wants to reveal to us. In other words, it is the job of the Holy Spirit to release the knowledge of God direct to us!

The second verse confirms the first verse when it says that the Holy Spirit will be our teacher and that He will "teach us all things." Notice the word "all" - that He will teach us "all things."

Think about what is being said in this verse. This statement being made by God in that the Holy Spirit can teach us all things is a maximum intense statement being made by God. God is telling us that He is willing to go more than overboard in order to teach us things and to transmit His knowledge to us. Then the verse even goes one step further when it says that the Holy Spirit can literally bring back up to your remembrance, when you may need it, the knowledge that He has already given to you!

A perfect example of this is for those who really study the Bible in order to get it really worked and assimilated into their minds and spirits. What you will find start to happen if you are willing to spend some quality time to get the Word soaked into you - is that the Holy Spirit will bring back up to your memory the appropriate Scripture verses when you may need them on the spot when preaching or talking to others about God and Jesus. You'll literally see these verses float right up out of your spirit in front of your mind's eye right at the moment that you will need them. This is literally a supernatural transmission of knowledge direct to your mind by the Holy Spirit Himself!

Not only can the Holy Spirit do this with Scripture verses - but He can also do this with any other bits of knowledge that He may want to give to you. He can give you His words of knowledge and wisdom all day long on whatever else you may need His help on. That is why the Holy Spirit is called "the Helper" in the second verse above. The Holy Spirit cannot help you unless He is able to transmit words of knowledge and wisdom to you as you will need them. The last verse says that not only will the Holy Spirit be our Helper and our Teacher - but that He will also be our Guide in this life. Think about those three words - Helper, Teacher and Guide! This is a powerful three-fold ministry that the Holy Spirit has with each born again believer. The last verse says that the Holy Spirit will guide us into "all" truth. Again, notice the word "all" - all truth - not just some or part of the truth. If you can learn to be led by the Holy Spirit and pick up when He is starts to try and communicate with you, you can literally start to receive the knowledge of God in every area of your life where you need's God's knowledge and guidance to get you through!

Article written by Michael Bradley of Bible Knowledge Ministries. Their website is a resource of Bible knowledge. They currently have over 100 Bible articles. All free of charge.
The article was an excerpt from Michael's E-book titled, Seeking After the Knowledge of God You can go to their site and download the book free of charge. ? 2005 by Michael Bradley. All Rights Reserved.

Accepting Rejected Thoughts

Sometimes we are in a position to look into the lives of other people. It could be through a book, or a movie, or a story we hear, or occasionally it could be someone that we meet. Sometimes when this happens, we see qualities that we truly admire, and we think that we would like to have those qualities. Perhaps we just look at the person and think that we would like to be like them. Maybe we hear what they have said and think that we would like to be able to say things like that. It could be that we would like to have what they have, or do what they do.

When this happens, what we are thinking about are our own rejected thoughts. Sometime in the past we have rejected a thought or thoughts, that the person we are admiring has accepted.

When, perhaps when we were very young, we rejected the thought that we could have what we have just been admiring in someone else, we accepted a lesser thought, and allowed that lesser thought to become part of our self image, and therefore part of our definition of ourselves.

Our self image lives in our sub-conscious mind. Because of the way the sub-conscious mind works, we can only have one self image with regard to any particular quality. If we really want to have the qualities we are admiring, and there is no reason why we can't, then we need to change our self image.

The first step is to be prepared to do just that. Think about this for a minute. Are you prepared to let go of what you have learned in the past, that you believe is true about yourself? By that I mean to examine the ideas that you 'know' are true about yourself, and then to take the new idea that you are considering, and to examine that idea, entertain that idea, to see if it will improve your view of yourself. Will accepting that new idea, and rejecting the idea that you currently 'know', result in a happier, healthier or more prosperous life. If the answer is yes, and you are prepared to do it, then you have the possibility to change your self image.

The methods we use to change our self image is outside the scope of this article, but taking the above actions is the first step.

If you are prepared to go through this process of examining what you 'know' about yourself, and deciding to reject what you 'know' and replace it with a more empowering 'fact', when you see a quality in someone else that you admire, why not do it more often?

Rather than merely listening to the messages, questions and statements that flow past you every day, why not think? Ask yourself what could this mean to me, how could I apply this idea in my life. Forget the questions you have asked in the past like 'Is this right?', or 'Is this wrong?' and ask instead 'Could accepting this idea improve my life in any way?'

Tony McGlinn runs personal development programs, writes and is a personal coach and consultant. You can visit him and subscribe to his newsletter at http://www.mypowerfulmind.com

Busting the Dairy Myth ? The Truth About our Health and Dairy

Millions of people around the UK consume dairy products on a daily basis. Our huge consumption of dairy is due not only to the convenience it brings to cooking and the habit of cooking with and eating dairy for the majority of our lives but more alarmingly because of the mantra that we are fed by government and the dairy industry that it is beneficial to our health that somehow you need dairy to ensure you consume enough calcium to maintain strong and healthy bones.

The stories we are told about why we should consume dairy are based almost entirely upon half-truths and are driven, not for the benefit of the nation's health, but to ensure the continued profits of the dairy industry.

The Myths Surrounding Why We Should Drink Milk

We Need the Calcium Provided by Dairy for Strong Bones

Dairy UK advocates the promotion of three portions of dairy products per day. They claim that research results show that dairy is 'even more favourable (in terms of blood pressure, cholesterol, weight control, certain cancers, bones and teeth) than fruit and vegetables'.

This has been the golden ticket of the dairy industry for many, many years ? regardless of the fact that it simply is not true. Literally hundreds of highly respected research studies conducted over many years and with a huge cross section of participants have shown that increased dairy intake does not correlate with improved bone strength (Cumming and Klineberg, 1994; Huang and Himes, 1996; Cummings, Nevitt and Browner et al, 1995; Nordin, 1997). In several studies, dairy calcium has been shown to actually increase the risk of osteoporosis and decrease the strength of bones!

How the dairy industry is still allowed to promote their products on the basis of the benefits of dairy calcium is beyond comprehension. Research has proven beyond doubt that bone strength is not related to calcium intake.

Bone strength is increased through exercise (Lloyd, Petit et al, 2004), increased intake of vegetables and fruit (Tucker, Hannan et al, 1999) and a reduction of animal protein and sodium (Finn, 1998).

3 Servings of Dairy Helps Weight Loss

'Dairy Management Inc. (responsible for the 3-a-day campaign) is the non-profit domestic and international planning and management organization responsible for increasing demand for U.S.-produced dairy products on behalf of America's dairy farmers.' ? So clearly our welfare is more important than sales and profits then?.

The UK and US dairy industries are allocating more and more of their marketing spend to the message that three servings of dairy can actually help people to lose weight.

This campaign has clear commercial, rather than health goals as the dairy industry looks to ensure that dieters are given a reason to continue consuming dairy. In the US, the $180-million milk-moustache ad campaign during early 2005 was spearheaded by celebrities such as Dr. Phil, giving consumers very little information, but sending the message that it is ok to consume dairy on a regular basis. This campaign has been met with mixed reviews in health circles, but the bottom line is that it has boosted sales of milk in the US through the publicising of just one research study, funded by the dairy industry and with very questionable data. Is this legal?

The basis of their argument is that dairy contains calcium (stronger bones argument again), plus potassium, phosphorus, protein, vitamins D, A and B12, riboflavin and niacin. However, nowhere on throughout the 3-a-day literature are quantities of these nutrients or daily requirements discussed ? nor the fact that you can get each of these nutrients in abundance from fruit and vegetables without having to consume the cholesterol, calories, saturated fats and sugars contained in dairy produce.

There is simply no way that dairy can help support weight loss. Even skimmed milk is over 50% sugar (as a percentage of calories) and of the thousands of research studies conducted on dairy and its role in health, only one researcher claims that milk aids in weight loss. And his research is funded by the dairy industry.

The Facts about Dairy

The increase in cancer, heart disease, diabetes, obesity and asthma that has occurred in the Western world over the past century directly correlates with the increase in dairy consumption.

In fact, a Professor of Nutritional Sciences at Cornell University, Colin Campbell, has undertaken the largest study of diet and disease in medical history. His findings are incredible - high animal calcium and animal protein intake is the primary cause of degenerative disease.

Granted, dairy may contain certain useful nutrients in varying proportions. However, similarly to how we often hear that coffee, red wine and dark chocolate are 'good for us', it doesn't mean we should ignore the negatives or start on a diet of red wine and chocolate for breakfast, lunch and dinner. As with all life choices, we have to weigh up the pro's and the cons ? and with dairy, the cons far outweigh the pros .

Twelve pounds of milk are required to manufacture one pint of Ben's very rich ice cream.

Reasons to Kick the Dairy Habit:

1. Trans Fats, Sugar, Saturated Fat, Cholesterol, Chemicals, Calories

Dairy products are riddled with dangerously high levels of bad, saturated fats, cholesterol and sugars which all contribute significantly to degenerative disease. For example, butter is 100% fat, Cheddar cheese 74% fat, whole milk 49% fat and even '2% milk' is 35% fat .

High fat diets are, without doubt, strongly linked to the alarming obesity levels in the US and UK, with research showing that 59% of American men and 49% of American women now being overweight. In relation to dairy, this may have something to do with the fact that the average American consumes approximately 600 pounds of dairy products every year ? that is five times more dairy than fruit!

2. Cancer

Dairy products are directly related to an increased risk of prostate cancer , ovarian cancer , prostate cancer, breast cancer, colon cancer and testicular cancer

The American Cancer Society states that "about one-third of the 500,000 cancer deaths that occur in the United States each year is due to dietary factors?Although the committee recognizes that no diet can guarantee full protection against any disease, we believe that our recommendations offer the best nutrition information currently available to help Americans reduce their risk of cancer."

Furthermore, their two highest recommendations are: "1. Choose most of the foods you eat from plant sources"; and "2. Limit your intake of high-fat foods, particularly from animal sources."

3. Cardiovascular Disease (CVD)

CVD is the number one cause of death in the UK and the US with research suggesting that over 3,000 Americans suffer a heart attack every day ? and over the past 40 years, research from highly respected journals such as, the International Journal of Cardiology , European Journal of Epidemiology and the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition have all found a direct correlation between regular dairy consumption and a massive increase in CVD.

This increased risk of CVD is not just a result of the cholesterol and fat contained in dairy produce , but also the animal protein, milk carbohydrates and milk sugar lactose which play havoc with our bodies health.

4. Osteoporosis

For many years milk has been marketed for its supposed ability to prevent osteoporosis ? however, research has shown this to be untrue . According to the 12-year Harvard Nurses' Health Study, milk intake had absolutely benefit with regards to bone fracture risk and that increased dairy calcium could actually have the reverse effect and lead to a decrease in bone strength!

Studies into the factors that effect bone strength in young adults have highlighted that exercise is actually the predominant determinant of bone strength. Another research exploration which examined over 58 studies into nutrition and bone health found very little evidence to suggest that increasing milk or other dairy intake improved the bone strength of young adults .

5. Diabetes

Medical science has proven, beyond doubt that there is a direct relationship between frequent dairy consumption and an increased risk of diabetes. For instance, a cross-cultural study conducted with children from 40 different countries identified that the higher the consumption of dairy and other animal products, the more likely the child was of developing diabetes. The study also found that those children who had a largely vegetarian diet has a highly decreased risk .

Diabetes UK claim that 'over 80 per cent of people with Type 2 diabetes are overweight at diagnosis. The more overweight you are, the greater your risk of diabetes.' They also add that those with cardiovascular illness and those with high blood pressure are also highly at risk of diabetes. As it is clear that a diet high in dairy dramatically increases the likelihood of being overweight and of suffering from cardiovascular problems, the chances of suffering from diabetes are also increased.

Life After Dairy

Transitioning to a dairy-free diet or reducing the amount of dairy you consume is not as difficult as you would think ? and the benefits are well worth the sacrifices. However, many people retain dairy in their diet due to the belief that you need dairy to ensure you give your body certain nutrients. This is certainly not true as a diet that is rich in leafy, green vegetables and fruits offers you far more nutrients, vitamins, minerals and antioxidants:

• Sources of Calcium: Green vegetables, such as kale and broccoli, and almonds are far better than milk as calcium sources.
• Iron: Milk is actually very low in iron and also causes blood loss from the intestinal tract, which even depletes the iron stores from the body. Dried beans and dark leafy green vegetables are excellent sources of iron, and are even reported to be a more efficient source of iron on a per calorie basis than meat or any other animal produce.
• Protein: It is a common misconception that vegetarians or those who do not consume dairy regularly are somehow going to be deficient in protein. This could not be further from the truth. Although animal products often contain more protein than certain vegetables, the important fact to note is actually how much protein the body needs on a daily basis. The RDA of protein is only 47g for women and 54g for men. This is easily consumed on a varied dairy-free diet ? in fact, over consumption of protein can have a very negative impact upon the body inlcuding reduced kidney function and potentially the onset of osteoperosis.

  Non dairy sources of protein include cereals and grains; leafy green vegetables; Legumes - beans, lentils, peas, peanuts; Nuts; Spirulina; Seeds; Soy products; Sprouts; Wheatgrass and other grasses/ green powders;

  Wheatgrass juice is actually a complete protein and contains, amongst others, the following amino acids: arginine, serine, absenisic, lysine, aspartic acid, glycine, alanine, methionine, leucine, tryptophane, phenylalanine, valine and valine.

There is actually no health related reason why one should consume dairy on a regular basis. For the nutrients that it does contain, the sacrifices and damage it causes to the body far outweighs any potential benefit.

Energise for Life aims to bring you all of the information you need to make the most informed decisions about your diet and lifestyle - as well as all of the benefits you would associate with the ideal online shopping experience: exceptional choice, effortless ordering, speedy delivery and excellent customer service.

The Perfect Wedding Budget

Creating a wedding budget is one of the first things a bride should do. Although it is extremely important, brides often fear the task and in turn do not create one at all. This is a huge mistake. Brides who plan weddings without a wedding budget spend anywhere from twenty to fifty percent more than they anticipated. This can be a financial disaster for whoever is taking care of the wedding bill. So, be a responsible bride and use these helpful ideas to create your own personal wedding budget.

Tips

A good thing to remember is you can plan a beautiful wedding on any wedding budget. The most important thing to remember is to stick to your budget, no matter if you must forgo things you truly want to include. Will you really remember if you had to use cheap ribbon for your wedding favors instead of the designer ribbon you desired? Probably not, and it is certain your guests won't know the difference anyway.

A wedding that has a guest list of over 400 may need a professional wedding planner. However, if you feel capable of taking on the task yourself, then by all means, give it a try. If you start to feel too overwhelmed you can always call in for backup later.

Breaking It Down

A bride can take the total amount she plans to spend on her wedding and divide it for each planning category. This formula is great no matter what your total wedding cost goal may be however it is based upon a $5000 wedding budget. At any time, if you must spend more on one area than the other, then you will have to deduct allotted money from another area to compensate. Try keeping a journal of every purchase you make in order to fulfill you wedding plan successfully. Opening a specific bank account for wedding expenses is a great way to stay on track as well.

Location

Brides should set aside no more than ten percent of their total wedding budget for their wedding location rental. Brides who desire church weddings may find that it is sometimes free for them to use their family church. Other ways to save money are to hold your wedding at the home or garden of a friend or family member.

Attire

The bride should not spend more than twenty-five percent of their total budget on wedding attire. This includes attire for the bride, her attendants, the groom, and his attendants. A good way to cut down attire costs is to ask your attendants to help pay for their gowns and tuxedos. If you simply cannot ask them to help contribute, then you should choose lower costs gowns for them to wear.

Reception

A total of thirty percent of the total budget can be spent of the wedding reception. Couples usually spend more on the reception than the ceremony because they are entertaining their guests and the reception lasts a lot longer.

Decorations

Decorations can account for twenty-five percent of the total wedding budget. Brides must be very careful in this area, and be sure about their purchases before hand. Many brides waste money in this category simply because they change their minds about the d?cor several times. A bride with a tight budget cannot afford to be unsure and should wait until they are certain before purchasing. Making your own wedding decorations is a great way to save money in this area. Using creative and easy decoration ideas, you can make your wedding look fabulous for much less.

Extra

It is a good idea to leave ten percent of your total budget for last minute details or unexpected costs along the way. This is a good way to save money in the case you might not stick strictly with your budget and need extra funds.

Now that you know how important your wedding budget is to the success of your wedding, you can be motivated to stick to your plan. Sticking to your budget will not only free you financially but also give you the satisfaction of knowing you planned your ideal wedding by staying in your budget boundaries.

Whitney Acke is a freelance writer from Lexington, Kentucky. In addition to freelance writing she also enjoys songwriting. She and her husband have two young boys and four dogs. She is a regular contributor to http://www.wedding-decoration-idea.com