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About this book
This book is another in the Arnold Ehret library but except for a short article on The Definite Cure of Chronic Constipation at the beginning, this book was written by Dr. Benedict Lust, a student and supporter of Ehret. So here we have Ehret’s explanation of how and why humans are internally unclean; the “effect” of laxatives (which are very unhealthy and hurt the digestive system and, indeed, one’s vitality); what the “Real and Deeper Cause of Constipation” is; and how constipation is the cause of all disease. Using Ehret’s teaching, Dr. Lust outlines the natural way to overcome constipation through his recount of Ehret’s Mucusless Diet Healing System. Except for noting that Ehret recommended the first meal of the day be taken at noon (in everything I read, Ehret recommends to eat the first meal of the day between 10 and 11 AM) most of the information is an accurate record of Ehret’s methods, lectures, teachings, etc. as far as I can remember.

New information
There is some new information presented in this book that I haven’t read in his other books, Mucusless Diet Healing System, Rational Fasting (Ehret’s Health Literature),  The Story of My Life, Thus speaketh the stomach: The germinating center of all disease! also, The tragedy of nutrition, The cause and cure of human illness, Physical fitness thru superior diet, fasting and dietetics: Also a religious concept of physical, spiritual and mental dietetics. That is:

1. Boils, pimples and the like are evidence of constipation since it shows that the bowels aren’t eliminating all of the waste and must utilize the skin to help.
2. A few drops of lemon juice in distilled water replaces the minerals lost by distillation.
3. Drinking a glass of hot water with honey and lemon juice upon arising is recommended.
4. Water is a great laxative. – Just try drinking 16-32 ounces of water upon getting up in the morning. I find it not only helps my bowels move but it also wakes me up. My mother used to bring me a glass of water to drink when I was having trouble having a bowel movement.
5. "Holding it" instead of going to the toilet "when nature calls" can cause the reabsorbing of the poisons the body is trying to get rid of through elimination. This can also lead to further constipation since the fecal matter is then dried out and sticks to the colon more readily.
6. Foods that have been grown in chemically treated soil, nowadays called "conventionally grown" lacks vital minerals and nutrients and can cause an "additional health hazard", so buy organic foods.
7. Balanced living is as important as your diet. Ensuring you get enough sleep, have a "happy mental attitude", and "healthy working habits" is just as important for staying healthy and not being constipated.
8. Butter, margarines and cooking oils all stick to the insides of the alimentary canal thus adding to constipation.
9. There is evidence that proves the human body can’t "digest or assimilate saturated fats and greases".
10. A lot of foods in the Standard American Diet (SAD) are constipating and "form toxic waste poisons in the body".
11. Eating frozen foods "shocks" the digestive system and are actually high in acidity.
12. Making a habit of eliminating upon arising and after each meal can help your body avoid constipation. Just get in the habit.
13. Exercising regularly and breathing deeply will help keep the bowels regular.
14. For a natural laxative use fresh coconut and carrot juice. In the movie Cast Away the main character tells us that coconuts are a laxative but "Gilligan never told us that".
15. Dr. J. H. Kellogg is quoted as saying that eating "wrong-foods" as little as once a month can activate otherwise dormant disease cells and that we should abstain completely from these "wrong foods".
16. Never drink with any meal.
17. Only eat tree-ripened fruit, otherwise it’s acid forming.
18. If we all changed our diets using these methods we could wipe out illness in only one generation!
19. Over-eating is worse for the body than under-eating. (This advice is for adults.)

Conclusion
Even if you have one bowel movement a day you are chronically constipated. This book is another “must read” if you are planning on incorporating Arnold Ehret’s healing principles into your life. A complete understanding of his philosophies, experiments, methodologies and ideas are essential to your success. You can change your life, if you really want to.

View book details at Amazon.com: Definite Cure of Chronic Constipation Also Overcoming Constipation Naturally

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About this book
Getting Things Done (GTD) author, David Allen, brings us a way to manage our “stuff” in the way that works best with the way we think and act in the world. Drawing on intuition as well as the methods he recommends we are shown a way back to simpler thinking (leading to more creative and productive thinking) and a quieter mind. That’s right, a quieter mind. One thing most of us are striving for. By getting all the "stuff" out of our minds we free it from redundant thinking and it remembers how to think creatively again. That’s just what I want.

My experience
Since I started this process my mind isn’t cluttered trying to avoid thinking of all the things I have to do. It was stressful for me, not knowing what was going on. It made it hard to focus, meditate and relax.  With the tools in GTD and the additional electronic GTD tools I use with Outlook I feel empowered to take on my tasks. I know where I am, where I’m going and how to get there. Now I think of my in-bin as my friend instead of a dreaded foe. It intimidated me because it represented more things to do then I had time for. I also dreaded it because it contained reminders of all the promises to others that I hadn’t kept and things I hadn’t done. 

Know when to say "No"
In addition to being more organized I also find it easier to keep my commitments to people and know when I have enough on my plate and have to say, "no". It’s not just about getting everything done and whittling down our "To Do" lists. We have to know when to say "no". If our plates are full then taking on more things just keeps us from getting done what we’ve already committed to. To honor our commitments we need to know when enough is enough. How else can we free our minds and be able to relax when we aren’t at work.

What I would change about this book
1) He mentions having “family conversations around the dinner table”. I think “family conversations” should have their own place and time. Dinner should be considered sacred time to share good feelings and fellowship with our loved ones. Besides, some issues that need to be addressed in a family conversation could definitely affect the dining experience and consequently the health of the family. Read The Healing Secrets of Food: A Practical Guide for Nourishing Body, Mind, and Soul for more information on how our energies affect our digestion and overall health. I wouldn’t want anyone to dread having a family dinner because of what might be brought up during the meal and it might give someone indigestion.
2) David recommends using a legal pad and writing only one task/issue on each piece of paper, that’s one piece of paper per task/issue. Sounds like a huge waste of paper to me so instead I use the back of old business cards, the tear-off pages of a page a day calendar and small note cubes from the office supply store to save paper (and trees). This also takes up less room in my in-bin.

Conclusions
David Allen has coached executives and high level business people on getting organized. He wrote this book to help the rest of us get organized without having a personal visit from David. Practical and fun I found myself laughing throughout the the book. Humor is so great for stress relief and not being organized can cause so much stress! So, if your former attempts to get organized didn’t work, check out this method. It will take you some time but what’s your alternative? And, it’s working for me.

View book details at Amazon.com Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity

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About this book
This is a neat little book by Neale Donald Walsch. He calls it a “dangerous book” and how long has it been since you read a “dangerous book”? It was loads of fun for me to read. It isn’t the typical conversation with God that Neale is famous for. He distilled the information from his previous books to come up with this little gem that lays out just what it is that God wants. I think you’ll be surprised, by the book and by What God Wants.

What’s in this book
The keys to manifesting are here along with how to create events in your life, how to read your emotions to know if you are going the right way in your life, what God really wants from us, and so much more.

Is this book right for you?
Even if you think you know what God wants from you, especially if you think you know what God wants from you, I suggest you read this book. I mean, how often do we get to read a “dangerous book” that isn’t singed?

View book details at Amazon.com What God Wants: A Compelling Answer to Humanity’s Biggest Question

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Summary
We are meant to be blessed with unlimited prosperity and lavish abundance. This extraordinary book contains the secrets of abundance along with a 40 day plan to make abundance part of your everyday life, now and forever. John Randolph Price ensures us that we only have to learn the laws of abundance once and it carries us throughout this life and into all future lives. The secret is knowing, at the deepest level of our beings, that the source of our abundance is the Creator of the Universe. The Creator is our Source AND our Supply.

The Daily Program
The daily program includes the 40 day prosperity plan; controlled visualization; intense love; joyful thanksgiving; verbal harmlessness and right action.

The 40 Day Prosperity Plan
According to Price "it takes 40 days for consciousness to realize a truth." The 40 days kicked off by writing my intentions to be prosperous into my journal (the actual intention statement is included in the book in the section before the Statements of Principle). Then once a day, for 40 days, I meditated on one Statement of Principle for 15 minutes, there are 10 Statements of Principle and during the 40 days you go through the whole list of 10 four times. Then I wrote down the thoughts that came to mind when I was done. In addition I found it beneficial to review parts of the book each day to keep my mind entertaining thoughts of abundance..

Controlled visualization
A visualization to see the whole world and everyone on it as being abundant is also included and recommended. You can listen to it on the CD while doing the visualization, if you like. This visualization is meant to help speed your own abundance. Since we are all one and we see ourselves as we see others we want to see everyone as being prosperous so we can, in turn, see ourselves as prosperous. It is recommended to do the meditation in the morning and the visualization in the evening.

Intense love
Work on feeling unconditional love for all of God’s creation including other people and yourself. I practice what Neale Donald Walsch mentions in one of his books: seeing myself in everyone. I add a little extra something by including seeing them as prosperous. So, I’ll look at someone and say to myself, "There I am being prosperous." It takes a couple of seconds and I don’t want to be considered rude for staring at someone so I don’t do it all the time. Those in the service industry are prime opportunities since they are already looking at you and it is acceptable to look at them for longer. Anyone who is talking to you is also an opportunity, while you are listening to them.

Joyful thanksgiving
You remember this one, expressing thanks and gratitude even though the thing you want hasn’t appeared to you yet. Say "thanks" before knowing it is already yours.

Verbal Harmlessness
Basically the golden rule: treat others as you wish to be treated.

Right action
You are now in the flow! Follow your guidance and you’ll be lead to the next thing to do for the fulfillment of your needs and desires! (Remember, God’s voice is loving and only tells you to do things that feel right to you.)

The CD
The hardcover edition of this book includes a CD with more information about the Abundance program. I definitely recommend listening to this since it offers a deeper explanation of what is meant by meditating on the principles. The CD is not of the best quality and the tracks could be better divided. If you have the capabilities I recommend changing the tracks so the ten Statements of Principle each have their own track and the visualization and meditation are on their own tracks as well. If you don’t have the capabilities then you could note the CD time for these items, if it suits you, or make your own recording of the visualization.

Sharing/Tithing
A major benefit of being prosperous is our ability to share our abundance with others. As more flows to us we are able to share with others and this in turn increases our own prosperity. Wow! Talk about "what goes around comes around"! As you share more you get more, whether it is money, time, love, service, health, etc.

My experience
My life has been VERY interesting since I started this plan. I’ve done the 40 day plan twice now (40 days each time) and things have been moving for me ever since. On the third day of the first time I did it, my husband got a raise at work, and he hadn’t even asked! Stuck energy has once again started moving for us and amazing things have been happening, and continue to happen! We are becoming more abundant in every aspect of our lives. Time is slowing down and I find I can accomplish more each day. I’m enjoying life more and looking at the world differently now.

My recommendations
Read the ENTIRE book and listen to the CD before you get started with the 40 day prosperity plan. One Prosperity Secret mentions not to tell anyone that you are using spiritual principles to increase your abundance. That’s good to know before you start the 40 day plan. I review the checklist everyday to make sure I’m on track in all areas on my life and reread the directions every so often. When you sit down to meditate on the principles make sure you have the following in addition to your normal meditation set-up: The Abundance Book, a pen that writes (test it to make sure), a timer or stopwatch, notebook or journal to write in and two post-it notes. Since you are only supposed to meditate on ONE principle each day I recommend placing post-it notes over the words before and after the principle you are working on for that day. i.e., When I was working on principle 6 I covered principles 5 and 7 so I was only looking at 6. I also wrote the day and date at the top of the page, (i.e., "Day 7, Wednesday, May 24"). For the meditation I kept the book in my hand so I could refer to the principle I was meditating on. Above all, be patient with yourself.

Read my interview with the author John Randolph Price

View book details at Amazon.com: The Abundance Book hardcover with CD

View book details at Amazon.com: The Abundance Book paperback

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What this book’s about
Jo Frost, TV’s Supernanny, shares with us her philosophies and techniques designed so we can get the best from our kids. She doesn’t say it but I can tell you that this book can also help to keep harmony (or create it) within the marriage as well.

Summary
The book is broken down into two sections: Basic Techniques and Troubleshooting. Definitely read the whole book (I even read the chapter on Toilet Training even though my daughter has used the toilet successfully for years. I thought here might be some tip I could use to help her be even more successful during her trips to the bathroom.) The Basic Techniques are separated into the following chapters: Ages and stages; Routines and rules; and Setting boundaries. For Troubleshooting you’ll find chapters on dressing, toilet training, eating, social skills, bedtime and quality time. By all means skip directly to a troubleshooting chapter if you have an immediate need for help but make sure you circle back around and read the whole book, there are tips and techniques that are essential for successful use of the Supernanny methods. Keep reading the book to help you keep the momentum going, keep it in your memory and achieve ultimate success.

What’s good about this book
(1) The bedtime troubleshooting ideas are wonderful and kind. They work. Within a week your child’s bedtime troubles will be over. You’ll have your evenings (and sleep) back. (2) It has an index for reference later; (3) I especially like the “Top Ten Rules” at the end of each chapter. It makes it easy for a quick reference or for the spouse that hasn’t read the book come up to speed on the methods that are working so well for you. (4) The information on breastfeeding is good except that Jo recommends not expressing milk when weaning. I found it much more comfortable, in addition to cutting down on the chances of mastitis, by expressing a little to relieve the pressure while weaning my children from breastfeeding. It was defiantly more comfortable. The milk supply will decline and eventually stop with less discomfort. Even if it takes a little longer, it’s worth it. And who’s to say it takes much longer anyway? (5) I agree with talking to the child in a positive way such as “After you are in your jammies we’ll read the book,” instead of “No book until your pjs are on”. See the difference? I think most of us were brought up being told the negative and assuming the positive. I tell my children the positive and let them assume the negative. (6) I like her suggestions for eating but would only encourage children to eat until they are satisfied (no longer hungry), not until they are finished with their plates. I would NEVER encourage them to finish everything on their plates. It’s an unhealthy habit that will last into adulthood and cause many people to overeat. If my child eats a lot or does finish her plate I say, "You must have been hungry." I was told to clean my plate as a child. As an adult I decided it was healthiest to stop eating when I wasn’t hungry anymore and I decided to stop eating when I was satisfied. That was 15 YEARS ago and I still feel compelled to finish everything on my plate and sometimes finish my daughter’s plate too. She never eats past the point of satisfaction, we’ve taught her well.

What I didn’t like/would change/wouldn’t recommend about this book
(1) Sometimes before bedtime Jo will tell a child what events are happening the next day. I don’t think this is a good idea. The techniques in this book are designed to work best with children 5 years and under. Children of this age live totally in the NOW, time is a concept they just don’t understand. I choose to talk to my young child about what is happening now. I don’t tell her what’s going to happen tomorrow since she will expect it to happen now. Compound this with telling the child right before they are expected to go to sleep and they might be so excited they won’t go to sleep or have trouble falling asleep. (2) Instead of telling a child that a “new” baby is coming I would change the words to say that a brother or a sister is coming to join the family. As adults we usually throw out the “old” when we get something “new” and we don’t want our children to think they are being replaced. We want them to know the family is being augmented and they will have a very important part to play. (3) I disagree with praising. I understand Jo’s point that you need to do something to reinforce the child finally acting in an acceptable manner but there are other ways it can be done.  If you read Dumbing Us Down : The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling you know that praise can have a long-term detrimental affect on ones’ own sense of self-appraisal. Sure, it might make your job easier in the short-term and your child might do what you want more readily because they know you will withhold your praise if they don’t but it isn’t worth the long-term affects. There are ways of encouraging our children, to do their best and to help, without praise. I thank my children for helping and let them know what their help meant to me: “Thank you for helping. We got done faster by doing it together.” I’ve also had a lot of success with the book, How to Talk So Kids Will Listen & Listen So Kids Will Talk. (4) I don’t think children should watch television at all until they are much older. Jo isn’t keen on it but some parents are so I’ll share with you something you may not have known. Television, whether a movie, cartoon or whatever else, adversely affects the development of the child’s brain. The Waldorf Schools know this and try to help the child’s brain develop in the most optimal ways. (5) I disagree with not giving children raw foods. I ground up sunflower and buckwheat greens and the children loved them. Maybe certain children’s digestive systems aren’t ready for solid foods at all if they can’t take raw foods. On a side note, you can really give your children a great start in life by keeping their bodies clean of mucus by offering them mucus less or mucus lean choices. (6) On page 173 she recommends, when you are out at a park, telling the child to “stay where I can see you”. The child doesn’t know if you can see them or not. I recommend telling them to stay where THEY can see YOU. That they CAN do.

My own suggestions
I also suggest keeping in mind the adage “Observe more and interview less”. I learned this one when my 15 year old was 2. It’s been great for her self-esteem and ability to try new things. From birth to seven-years-old children learn by example. We can be more “wordy” with our children after they are seven and can process information in that “wordy” manner.

Especially good sections to read
Troubleshooting chapters for any problems you might be having.

What to skip
Nothing, read it all

When to get this book
With enough time to read before your child starts walking. Basically, before behavior problems can start.

Final comments
All-in-all this is a great book that will make your life as a parent better. Make sure you read, in this review, what I like and dislike as well as the accompanying suggestions and ideas and see what feels “right” to you. I think this is an essential book to have in your library if you have young children or are a care provider for young children. It will make your life easier, create happy, confident children and adults, both now and when they’re older. It worked for me.

View book details at Amazon.com: Supernanny : How to Get the Best from Your Children

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