Maui Avocado! WOW!

Aloha from Ireland...huh?

Okay, so maybe just greetings from the Emerald Island, where this post is being transmitted.  Besides my lingering jetlag, my confusuion stems from my desire to be back on Maui...and the size of this amazing avocado. 

I could have called this post:

THE ATTACK OF THE KILLER AVOCADO!!

And these babies were killer - killer tasting, that is.  I love Maui avocados even more than the California-grown Hass variety, which before encountering the above monster, were once my favorite.

I don't think you really can see from the above pic what I am talking about.  Maybe this photo will help demonstrate the size of this beast.  And while size is good, the taste is even better.

Is that a Maui avocado, or are you just happy to see me?

All of these fun and delicious recollections have moved me to reprint one of my favorite posts.  Please enjoy:

VIVA AVOCADO!

As much as I love eating avocados today, it's hard to imagine that I didn't taste my first one until I was well into my twenties. I grew up in a small town in a small New England state. Our foods of choice leaned more toward clam cakes and chowder than tacos and enchiladas. Avocado? I hadn't a clue what one was.
And don't even get me going about guacomole. Guaca...huh?


I understand that the avocado existed when I was growing up Back East, and they may even have been available at the local grocery store where my mother shopped. But mom never purchased one, never brought one of those green-skinned babies home. Believe it or not, I did not know WHAT an avocado WAS until I relocated to sunny California in the mid-80's. And even then, I wasn't sure what to do with one or how to eat it.

Today, avocados seem more popular and prevalent in everyday cuisine. In most restaurants you can find them chopped atop salads, sliced in between sandwiches, and, in its most popular form, as guacamole, that amazing green nacho-chip-dipping-taste-sensation.

While your mouth is watering, consider these interesting facts about the avocado:

• a member of the berry family, avocado is a fruit, not vegetable
• the Aztecs named it after the word, ahuacatl, which meant "testicle," because of its shape
• they have been around since 900 A.D.
•  they have been grown in North America since 1856
•  also known as the alligator pear, Jamaicans call them pears

(for more fascinating information about the avocado, visit this site)

Most of you by now have tasted avocados, but if you still are like I was, back in the day, you should give them a try. You don't know what you are missing. But do you know the best way to cut one open? Here's a video that will help:



Hey, next time you have that chip loaded with guac, happily remind yourself that besides enjoying a delicious snack, you are also getting:

• 10 grams of dietary fiber
•  more potassium than one banana
• vitamins E and B
• 10 grams of the good fats (monounsaturated and polyunsaturated)

RED FLAG!

While very healthy for you, avocados are also high in calories and fats. The good news: these are the good fats--monounsaturated and polyunsaturated. These are heart-healthy fats and help lower LDL (bad cholesterol).

The bad news, for those counting calories or watching their weight, is that an average size avocado has around 300 calories--so tread carefully. I know that I can eat one all by myself, diced, with a sprinkle of sea salt.
Try it! In moderation.

It's hard to imagine that I spent half my life deprived of the succulent taste of avocado. Maybe that's why I've spent the last twenty-five years eating more than my share, trying to make up for lost time.

You should too!

Always remember that you can watch hundreds of self-help videos about health and nutrition, and any number of other topics, at livelife365.com.

Until next time...

peace,

Mike

Aloha!

Aloha from Maui!  Please enjoy this helpful and humorous video I created on how to eat a coconut.  I picked that baby up yesterday at the local farmer's market.  Enjoy!

Mahalo and peace,

Mike

livelife365 

mikes daily

CBS Replaces Charlie Sheen With a Monkey!

I am sick and tired of hearing about Charlie Sheen.   I barely watch TV, and certainly not the gossipy shows that live off the detritus of train wrecks like Carlos Estevez (his real name, by the way)—so for me to even be writing this means that this story is everywhere.  And I do not like having it invade my space!

For those of you living under rocks or on some secluded island, Charlie Sheen is a television actor on a popular situation comedy who is too screwed up to show up for work.  As a health and fitness guru, not to mention a self-help and personal development guy, I do have some empathy for the messed up Charlie’s of the world—in fact, I would love to be the person who helps him and sets him on the path to enlightenment and recovery.  But, alas, Charlie does not want help or feels he needs it.  He is cool with who he is and how his behavior not only affects himself, but those around him.  Still, I would be more than willing to work with him…if he asks.

Since I’ve not received any SOS flare from Chuck, I have instead decided to offer up a few suggestions on how CBS, the most-watched television network in these United States, should handle the sad case of Charlie Sheen.

REPLACE HIM WITH A MONKEY!!

Here are the bottom-line, no-nonsense facts: Charlie Sheen is just an actor, a very lucky actor who was able to take mediocre talent and transform it, along with an established family name, into an amazing career.  He has been paid outrageous amounts of money for, basically, standing in front of a camera and reciting bad lines of dialogue that make millions laugh.  Now, there’s nothing wrong with making people laugh.  I think finding humor in things throughout the day is a necessity in living one’s life to its fullest, along with being one of the essences of living a healthy life.

But Sheen is just a guy who has a job that reaches millions…but IT’S JUST A JOB!  AND HE’S JUST A GUY!  AND HE DID NOT SHOW UP FOR WORK BECAUSE OF SELFISH REASONS AND THAT HAS AFFECTED HIS COWORKERS' LIVELIHOOD!!

The simple solution is to replace him.  If I behaved like Charlie has behaved, I would, indeed, be fired, terminated, axed, canned, let go, replaced, and FIRED (again!).  Why?  Because you cannot get away with being bigger than the job.  If you do not comply with what is asked of you by your employer, then you will not be employed.  End of story.

CBS can and should fire Sheen.  And replace him with…not a monkey.  That was my way of getting the attention of the masses (and CBS).    But replace him with any of the hundreds of talented, working actors out there looking for a break.

That’s why I suggest that CBS have a reality-themed show designed to replace Sheen.  Find ten hungry, talented, funny, out-of-work actors, put them all in one apartment, and have one replace Sheen each week on “Two and a Half Men.”  At the end of the ten-week talent search, and after creating a ratings powerhouse, the new “Charlie” is revealed.  Everybody wins.  The current cast of the show, who, because of the selfish antics of their star are not making a living, get to work and get paid.  And someone new on the horizon, as good as but more than likely better than Sheen, gets his shot at stardom.

And best yet, the audience, you out there who need laughter to end your day after having to scrape and toil for your daily bread and gasoline, you, my friend, gets to chuckle during dinner, a necessary respite, delivered by a fresh face, hopefully sans chemicals and attitude, that will make you smile…and not give a moment’s thought to Carlos Estevez.

Life is too short to put up with the Charlie Sheen’s of the world.  Think about it.  If this guy lived next door to you or, heaven forbid, were related to you, would you allow him to continue with such bizarre, destructive, and repugnant behavior?  No, you would see that he seeks help…and change the channel, in hope of discovering something to take your mind off your troubles.  And have a jolly chortle or two in the meantime.

Until next time…

peace,

Mike

Modulate, Please!

Who are these people?  You know the ones, those loud-talkers that call attention to themselves in places that were once civil and respectable establishments.

Take this recent dining experience—I’m sitting with the one I love, sifting through my salad, enjoying “normal” conversation, when this sudden noise, this garish shriek of uninteresting garbage, this overloud television commercial of a human being intrudes upon my space to share their day’s events with me, instead of quietly with the person across from them.

I find myself asking an unanswerable question: “Why does this clueless fool feel the need to share their banal personal life with the rest of us?”

Sadly, I always conclude with the obvious:

“Because they appear to indeed be clueless.”

At least I hope that’s why.  Because if ignorance is not the reason for being one of those loud-talking louts who interrupt (dare I say sabotage?) decent social behavior, then the only other conclusion would be selfishness, rudeness, or maybe just plain mean arrogance.

That is a rather frightening thought.

To those scary souls I say:

“MODULATE, PLEASE!”

But it’s not just in restaurants, not just clueless loud-talkers, sharing endless streams of trite drivel.  How about those cell phone gum-flappers?  Or those parents who publicly scream at their kids?  You know the ones that must be suffering from a mild case of amnesia, thinking that they are in their living rooms as they demand that little Sally or Bobby—for the tenth time!—pick up that toy RIGHT NOW!  ONE…TWO…Don’t make me count to THREE!

There is a rudeness going around these days, like a virus, only one with no hypodermic needle available as a remedy for this bizarre epidemic.  I say bizarre because the solution is simple manners, common decency, and the ability to differentiate between acceptable public behavior and the unacceptable.

But that’s just it.  Sadly, again, I am not sure enough people actually understand what acceptable public behavior is anymore.

“MODULATE, PLEASE!”

Blame can be doled out in several places, starting with the breakdown of family values.  These things need to be taught at home, at the beginning of one’s early development, as necessary as learning to read or walk.

Technology is an easy target.  After all, with electronic communication and social networking readily available at the touch of one’s fingertips, folks feel that the world is in their living rooms.  But is that any excuse for selfish, rude, intrusive behavior?  Sadly, again, it is not.

Frankly, I’m befuddled.  Because while I embrace having the world at my doorstep and fingertips, I have never used my cell phone in an intrusive, rude, or selfish manner.  Never imagined doing so.

Leading me to conclude that this problem—be it loud-talkers in public places, rude cell phone barkers, heavy bass music blarers, or oversaturated cologne and perfume spritzers—is linked to the spirit, the essence of our existence.  Basic tenets of decency taught to most of us…but somehow recently forgotten.

Simple, basic—HUMAN—behavioral traits like:

·        Kindness

·        Unselfishness

·        Being charitable

·        Politeness

·        Giving

·        Sharing

·        Considerate

·        Common decency

Anyone who argues that they are all of the above yet exhibit any of the sad behavior mentioned in this post are not only fooling themselves, but polluting the world.

Think about it.

Until next time…

peace (and quiet),

Mike

The Significance of Laughter

While I diligently work on juggling several projects, most notably the relaunching of my video site, editing my Green Tea video and my self-help book, I am republishing some of my favorite posts.  This one is always needed, a shot in the arm of laughter that helps get ya through the day.  And a few goofy videos too!

Please enjoy:

 The Significance of Laughter

Such a serious title for something as benign as laughter. Yes, it is, but for a reason. The need to laugh, to find humor in things sometimes unfunny, to chuckle, giggle, guffaw, shriek, snort, or titter, may be one of the best remedies for whatever ails you.

Humor is serious business. Huh? That's right. We need to laugh just as much as we need to eat or sleep. Think about how you feel when deprived of your recommended nightly hours of sleep - not too good, right? How about when your stomach is reminding you that you have not eaten recently, or that you have and that it was not sitting well down there. Again, not a pleasant sensation. Same can be said about those who do not get enough laughter in their daily lives. Eat, drink, and be merry. Perhaps there was something to that ancient adage after all?

One of the reasons I created livelife365 (both my website and this blog) was to be able to reach as many people as possible, sharing with them all the myriad ideals and ideas, videos and music, helpful programs and proven theories that I have amassed over the years. But the best part is that I not only can help others lose weight or eat right, gain self-esteem or proper balance, but that I can entertain them. Make them laugh. It's no accident that livelife365 offers more than most blogs or websites, a diverse menu of entrees. I want to be able to help and teach, council and coach, share and learn, yes, but I also get a great deal of satisfaction when I put a smile on someones face.

I have been asked,"Mike, how can you be treated seriously as a self-help guru when you are constantly acting like a goofball in some of your videos?" My response to that is: If I made you laugh, then it was worth it. Livelife365 is all about life, and the importance of living your life each day to its fullest. Yes, adhering to a healthy lifestyle is vital, as is proper mental focus and self development. But all that and not enough joy, humor or laughter in your life is an incomplete life. An unfulfilled life.

One of my favorite programs is the Triad of Balance. This is about getting your mind, body, and spirit in balance as one, after working on balancing each individually. It is easier said than done, but finding daily laughter in your life will help your balance in each area--Mind; Body; Spirit. That, in a nutshell, should underscore the importance of laughter. The significance of finding humor every day.

Good luck, here's to a hearty chuckle today, hopefully much more than one.

Until next time...


peace,

Mike

How to...Increase Your Network of Friends

It's faster, easier and less time consuming than this:



Until next time...

peace,

Mike

How To...Be Funny

When I created this blog, an extension of my video site, livelife365.com, by goal was to share information with as many people as possible, helping them learn about health, personal development, and, whenever possible, to make them laugh along the way. I like to deliver my message with a tinge of humor, a barb or two of self-deprecating fun, as long as the end result remains the same: you leave a visit to my sites with more knowledge than you had before you stopped by.

Being funny is tougher than it appears. We all, most of us, love to laugh. But the things that make each of us laugh are as diverse as the colors of a rainbow...or the bipartisan struggles of our government. My attempts at humor are derived from the same desires that drive me to help people lose weight, gain personal confidence, balance their lives, and improve themselves every day in every way.

My latest funny how-to video, I hope, delivers my message, one that makes you think, as well as makes you laugh:

HOW TO...DRINK WINE



If that made you laugh, here are a few other funny how-to vids that may also award you with a guffaw:

HOW TO...GET SLAPPED BY A WOMAN



HOW TO...DEAL WITH CHRONIC (SHOULDER) PAIN



And speaking of self-deprecating:

I MISS MY HAIR



Until next time...

peace,

Mike

Walking My Pet Peeves

Most of my writing—and I certainly hope that you would agree with this—focuses on the positive, from my nutritional and fitness tips, to my motivational and inspirational messages—even my music and humorous stuff is created to not only entertain, but to educate (yes, even this sad self-deprecating homage to follicle longing).

Yet (and some close family members and lifelong friends may be inclined to debate this) I remain a human being, one with flaws, faults, foibles, and faux pas (and those are just the “F”s). I do not wear my Mike Foster-goofy-grin-with-green-teacup face all the time, especially while I am in a car, either driving it or witnessing someone else manning the wheel.

Certain peccadilloes of human bizarre behavior seem to present themselves more frequently while scooting through traffic, many of these irk, irritate, infuriate, and raise my ire (and those are just the “I”s) to the point of adding them to my list of pet peeves.

Take, for example, the directional signal. This is one misused, seldom used, and overused instrument of driving that drives me nuts.

Scenario One: You’re driving in a queue of traffic, approaching a left-turn-only turn lane, you:

a) drive into the lane, idle in traffic while waiting for the light to turn, then when the arrow turns green, and as you proceed to turn you put your left blinker on, effectively indicating to the other drivers that you are going to turn left…IN A LEFT-TURN-ONLY LANE!!!

b) Approach the intersection, start to weave into the left-turn-only lane, you stomp on your brakes, slow down to a maddening crawl, pull into your lane of choice…THEN PUT ON YOUR DIRECTIONAL, effectively indicating to the poor soul behind you that which he already knows.

c) You flip your directional indicator on several miles before your turn, click-click-clicking away in oblivious nirvana, then actually get into the left-turn-only lane, blinker blinking away like a manic tweaker, sitting in queue, click-click-clicking the obvious, then when the light turns green, continue through the intersection, your directional still snapping away as you proceed to make a left turn around the world.

d) all of the above...are idiots!

As you can see I have a bit of a problem with the left-turn-only lane and the misuse of the directional signal. But my annoyance with blinkers does not stop there, oh, no. How about the guy who swerves in front of you, sans blinker, then slams on the brakes…THEN PUTS HIS DIRECTIONAL ON!! Why bother, buddy?

Or how about what this guy has to say about pet peeves?

WALKING MY PET PEEVES



Then we have the fast lane versus the slow lane, or the left lane, what we used to call the passing lane back when I went to driver’s education, and the right lane, the lane reserved for those who are related to snails.

Can someone explain to me why anyone drives in the left lane, the supposedly passing lane, and refuses to drive the speed limit—I’m talking about driving BELOW the speed limit?! Anyone?

While this pet peeve rankles, riles, and ruffles my feathers (that’s right, those are just the “R”s), I also use it as a self-challenge in practicing patience…excellent time spent plotting diverse ways at torturing the slow-Joe creating his own personal parade in the high-speed lane. And then, after a month of driving behind this joker, I am finally able to pass, casting a stink-eye glance at the culprit…only to see that it is some harmless, kind-looking, elderly woman who bears such a striking resemblance to my mother my guilt overwhelms me to the point of almost driving into a tree.

Okay, I understand that most of us behave differently inside the protective, stereo-blasting, French fry-eating, cell phone-chatting, Facebook-updating safety of our own vehicles, but my last pet peeve so bothers, bugs, bewilders, and befuddles (uh-huh, just the “B”s) me I am almost at a loss for words…key word being “almost.”

Smoking. Anyone or anything. Anywhere or anytime. I will never understand why anyone who has ever learned to read past the third-grade level would ever smoke a cigarette. Besides being the most rude, reprehensible, repulsive, and ridiculous (need I say that those are just the “R”s?) habit I can imagine, it has been proven to be so unhealthy for you that to ingest burning leaves of tobacco into your once clean lungs can only be the actions of a crazy person…or someone who needs my help.

***Serious segue*** You can stop smoking, by the way, I did and millions of people have. My video site, livelife365.com, has hundreds of videos that can help. And even though I am about to go off on a tangent aim in your general direction, I really do feel for you…to a point.***

Anyway, where was I? Right, discussing in the form of a diatribe about how smoking is disgusting, dangerous, damaging, and degrading. Anyone who has ever shared an elevator car with someone who has just spent their fifteen minute break puffing away on a cancer stick understands what a preview of hell might be like.

Let’s pretend smoking doesn’t smell horrendous, or will kill you sooner rather than later, what about that dreaded smoker’s cough? Working in an office, I am serenaded daily by the hacking wheeze of the chronic smoker’s phlegm-filled foghorn bellowing from the mouths, throats, and, sadly, lungs of my clueless coworkers. Do I feel empathy and compassion? Yes. But I also feel sad and peeved, prompting me to take steps…like writing this blog post, and praying and hoping that someday, very soon, these misdirected and weak individuals will get the help they need to live the life they surely desire.

So, next time I am driving to work, watching the click-click-clicking of a misguided directional signal in the car in front of me, who is also hogging the passing lane for reasons known only to he or she, and I am finally able to pass this “interesting” person, and I glance over and notice that he or she is puffing madly away on a cigarette, I will—gulp—nod, wave, smile, and continue on my way, ready to embrace my day, knowing that when in doubt:

TAKE YOUR PET PEEVE FOR A WALK!


You’ll be glad you did.


Until next time…


peace,


Mike

When in Doubt, Yank 'Em Out!

Is there anything more painful than a toothache? Okay, maybe a gunshot wound, but, thankfully, having never experienced being shot I can’t really make a valid comparison. Childbirth? Being of the wrong gender, I am legally not allowed to comment. How about having an angry ex-(anyone) rearing back and kicking you squarely in the lower region naughty parts? Having HAD experience with that, I can honestly say that, while having your family jewels rearranged is quite painful, a prolonged toothache is worse. How much worse? Bad enough to pay someone (a large chunk of cash) to knock you out under anesthesia and then take a sharp carving implement and have at the insides of your mouth. Turning you into something that resembles this:

WHEN IN DOUBT, YANK ‘EM OUT!



It all started with a little ache in the lower left side of my mouth. Being an avid tooth-brusher and compulsive flosser, as well as a regular dental checkup kind of guy, I figured the pain would go away, like one hopes an annoying neighbor will. Sadly, that is the wrong strategy to use for both toothaches and neighbors, so I paid a visit to my dentist. He probed and poked, x-rayed and consulted until he reached suitable recompense, then announced that I had a fractured tooth and that I should…

“Yes, yes?” I said, nodding hopefully, knowing that relief was just a few magical dental moves away.

“Wait,” my (not usually sadistic) dentist said.

“Huh?” said I.

“It’s fractured. Can’t fill it, can’t extract it, so just wait until…”

“Yes? Until…?”

“Until it either fractures some more or you need a root canal.”

After one more “huh?” and a few “what the…?'s”, my dentist smiled, nodded, and left me with drool on my chin and a still sensitive tooth in need of…what?

Patience.

So I waited, continued to eat my almonds and enjoy my dietary life as usual, while favoring that fractured side of my mouth. This went on for months and months, until…

AAARRRGGGOOOOOOOOCCCHHHHH!

The fracture fractured some more, creating enough pain to motivate me to make another visit to my dentist, who, after more adequate probing and x-raying to satisfy his curiosity and my deductible, announced:

“Looks like you may need a root canal.”

Through a mouthful of fingers, cotton, and that annoying little sucking machine, I said, “Warrgllehuhphmmm?”

My dentist smiled, nodded, added up my bill and decided to take one more x-ray, then shuffled me off to another practitioner of dental maneuvers: an endodontist, who specialized, I was told, in root canals, more probing, vague announcements, and, of course, additional x-ray taking. The biggest difference I noticed was the endodontist charges more and it takes longer to get an appointment. But if you tell them that you are in extreme pain, they will smile, recheck their appointment book, then tell you that whining won’t make the pain go away so take some Advil and practice…

Patience.

And that’s what I did, finally getting the pleasure of having a higher paid sadist probe my fractured tooth, while feeling the stirring of another tooth announce its painful presence on the other side of my mouth. So I said:

“What the heck, doc, it’s only money, right? Take a look at that other guy while you’re at it.”

My endodontist nodded, grunted, probed, ordered and received additional x-rays, probed some more then pondered and professed:

“You need two root canals. How much money do you have?”

My mouth stuffed with the expensive hands of a specialist, cotton, a dental assistant, and that annoying little sucky thing that sometimes gets stuck in the back of your throat, making you want to vomit and choke at the same time, I said, “Whadrrrgfhrrfertwwwooo?”

My sadistic little endodontist nodded, smiled, and left the room to order more x-rays. Leaving me to, you guessed it, practice…

Patience.

Finally the day arrived when I had my root canal exploratory exam that would let me know if I could save the fractured tooth, have the root canal, then be able to have a crown installed. The crown, of course, would be done by yet another dental practitioner and cost several arms, a leg, and the promise of donating various organs to science and x-ray development costs.

His hands deep inside my mouth, which was benumbed by enough Novocain to curtail the charge of a rabid rhinoceros, my endodontist announced:

“Tsk, tsk, bad news. Fracture is too deep, no root canal, have to have it extracted. I must leave now because you are no longer a viable money stream, but before you go let’s take a few more x-rays just to be sure.”

With that he left, leaving me with a numb face, two still very throbbing teeth, and an appointment with another dental professional.

While all this was going on, over the course of several months, I favored one side of my mouth over the other, effectively adding additional stress to that side, effectively causing the tooth that wasn’t yet fractured to SPLIT IN HALF!! This caused me enormous pain, and more trips to dental professionals, along with, you guessed it:

MORE X-RAYS!!

Finally leading me to this past Friday, where, after all three geniuses of the dental community, otherwise known as the Mike Foster Dental Retirement Fund Group, decided it was best that I had both fractured and root-befouled teeth extracted.

I, of course, had to find yet another dental practitioner, who, of course, took several more x-rays, and then, naturally, checked the balance of my dental coverage to make sure he charged enough, and then, thankfully, mercifully, at long last:

REMOVED MY TWO THROBBING TEETH!

Making my pain not necessarily go away, but at least be replaced by another pain, a healing, slightly bloody, cheek-puffing pain that while still nowhere near where I want to be pain-wise, at least was better than what I had been feeling for the past half-year.

The good news is I am feeling better every day, those two annoying teeth are gone (along with several painful extractions from my wallet and checking accounts), and I am well on my way to the road to recovery.

Hmmm, maybe just one more x-ray?


Until next time…

peace,

Mike

More Fun With Fiber

I love fiber! I have been an advocate of high-fiber diets for years. It was a diet high in fiber that helped me lose 40 pounds in 6 months. In my opinion, fiber is a miracle food, one of the key ingredients to fast and sustained weight loss.

Here is a typical day of eating fiber for me:



Fiber is a serious part of my everyday life. But I have also had a lot of fun with fiber, as you can see in this video:



Making people laugh (or at least attempting to) is as much a passion of mine as healthy living and personal development. By using humor to poke fun at serious topics, my goal is to widen my potential audience, thus reaching more people with my overall message, which is always:

LIVE LIFE EVERY DAY IN EVERY WAY

So, with hopes to make you laugh and think, I produced this goofy video:

"Talkin' Fiber" with Bernie Squirts



Eat healthy, laugh daily, work hard, and keep living life 365.

Until next time...

peace,

Mike