"A Bull in a Glass House"

By Michael Masterson

I met Jose Astorga, a 47-year-old former Marine, at AWAI's Bootcamp last year. He told me he was writing a book, and that when it was published he'd send it to me. Most of the time, these sorts of promises don't materialize - so I was both surprised and happy to receive a copy of A Bull in a Glass House in the mail last month [August 2007].

I don't have time for much casual reading these days, but I read this book with fascination. It's an intriguing account of Astorga's mind - how he sees the corporate world and how he saw himself as an employee. He was, truly, a bull of an employee. He was a hard worker with great potential, but he couldn't deal with corporate politics, and it eventually undid him.

This is a good book to read if you want to understand what not to do as an employee. Also, it's good to read as a manager if you want to understand how some employees may feel about you and your company.

It appears to be a self-published and self-promoted book. That's good, because for this type of book, Astorga would have little or no chance of making any money by trying to get it published through a trade publishing house.

I'm always impressed when people accomplish significant goals, and he has my admiration for what he's done.

Government Study Results in Resounding "Duh"

By Jon Benson

Ten years in the making. $415 million spent by the government. 50,000 participants.

What is it? The biggest low-fat nutrition plan studied to date. And the biggest flop in recent nutrition history. Geez. Uncle Sam could have paid me a mere million to say "Low-fat is not going to work for most people... and fat is not bad."

30,000 people were allowed to eat whatever they wanted, and 20,000 overweight and postmenopausal women were asked to radically change their eating patterns to low-fat. Eight years later, researchers looked at the data and concluded that "... there was little difference in the rates of breast cancer, colon cancer, and heart disease."

Do these boneheads not realize that we NEED dietary fat?

Reducing the trans-fats and other obviously bad fat fats in your diet is mandatory. Reducing overall fat is not. I eat meals very high in fat, but I do not overeat carbohydrates - and I am lean and healthy. Other people do really well on a lower-fat meal plan, which is not the same as a low-fat plan. They get between 20 and 25 percent of their total calories from fat, and they do okay with more carbs.

[Ed. Note: Jon Benson is a lifecoach and nutrition counselor who specializes in helping individuals discover a life-altering mind/body connection. His work in the field of post-40 fitness and mental empowerment has helped countless thousands.]

It's Fun to Know: About Gatorade

Gatorade was developed in the mid-60s as a beverage for the University of Florida football team - the Gators - to reduce the adverse physiological effects of extreme exercise. Funds received by the university from the sale of Gatorade (originally named "Go Gator") have been applied to support various research efforts.

(Source: University of Florida )

Word to the Wise: Sonorous

Something that's "sonorous" (suh-NOR-us) - from the Latin for "sound" - has an impressive, resonant, clear, or loud sound.

Example (as used by John Sugden in Tecumseh: A Life): "Tecumseh spoke fluently in the Shawnee tongue, adding weight to his emphatic and sonorous words with elegant gestures."

__________________________________________________

These articles appear courtesy of Early to Rise [Issue #2158, 09-27-07], the Internet's most popular health, wealth, and success e-zine. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com/.