My mother is not well, and I am worried about her. She is due for a pretty major operation tomorrow, St. Patrick’s Day, which is also my grandmother’s 79th birthday. My mom and I spoke on the phone yesterday for about an hour, and it was one of the most difficult conversations we’ve had, probably only second to my coming out conversation in 1996. When we hung up the phone I was left with the nagging reality that she could be… mortal.

I never think about my mother dying. She is the impermeable stalwart of life — the one who bore me, after all. Imagining a world without her, even though our relationship is very different now, is terrifying.

If you don’t see many blog entries this week, you’ll know why.

by CONNY VAN DYKE

The #1 thing that I have learned when accepting the custom Zig-Zag meal plan from my trainer, Sam Page is that, when you are given the plan, don’t question it; do it.  Do not start substituting foods or asking Sam if you may substitute foods.  You have engaged a professional and it makes no sense to augment, delete or substitute information which you have decided to follow.  No more than you would second-guess your auto mechanic, your doctor, your lawyer or your accountant.  If you adhere to the plan, you will see a marked change in your health and in your body contour/shape.  After only 10 days, I began to see difference in the way my clothing fit me.

Conny Van Dyke is an accomplished actress, singer and songwriter whose career has spanned 20 years. Her guest starring role on CBS’ “Cold Case” last fall marked her return to prime time.

Although looking at the numbers on a scale can be helpful, it is also noticing the change/shift in your body shape.  Muscle mass develops and body fat decreases. Both things are necessary to achieve a healthier and more physically attractive you.  I have adopted the plan sincerely enough that it has changed the way in which I perceive food and it has broadened my understanding of how my body is happier.  Even on my “Cheat Days” (Wednesday and Saturday), there are so many things that I would have eaten last year which I now wouldn’t think of eating!  This includes the portions of these things.  If you pay attention to your body, you will notice that it is repulsed when you even think of consuming a huge lump of something heavy and laden with sugars and starches. Your body has begun to respond to the right things it has been given and no longer wants to break-down for utilization the junk with which it was once forced to work.

Yes, I have lost 27 pounds. It has made a huge difference in my appearance but, and more importantly, it has made a huge difference in the way I carry myself, my ability to think more clearly and to be present.  I do not have the same pain intensity in my back because I am not carrying the same load around.  That means a lot to someone like me who has had 2 back operations and has some arthritis.

Brad Pitt testifies to the power of fundamental choice, telling W Magazine that becoming a father inspired him to quit smoking cigarettes:

In the late 90′s, Brad was something of a slacker, “spending too much time smoking things I shouldn’t be,” Pitt recalls. “I was asking, What’s it about? It couldn’t just be wanting a successful movie or something. Then I got more engaged, started studying more and [my] interests blossomed.”

Pitt admits that his own mortality frightens him—”I’m scared to death of death,” he says—and he also acknowledges that becoming a father inspired him to give up a deadly 20-year habit. “I quit smoking,” he says when asked how family life has changed him. “‘That was the only thing that got me to quit. That was it. Done.”

DUDE! Have you heard that using marijuana may actually increase your risk of getting testicular cancer? That’s according to a U.S. study published this past week. Keep in mind, this is the first (and only) study about the topic. Still, it makes you think.

The study of 369 Seattle-area men ages 18 to 44 with testicular cancer and 979 men in the same age bracket without the disease found that current marijuana users were 70 percent more likely to develop it compared to nonusers.

You’re at highest risk if you’ve smoked marijuana for 10 years or more, use it more than once a week, or started using it before the age of 18. The study appears in the journal, Cancer.

“Pride goeth before the fall” may be the mantra soon plaguing the misguided marketing team behind Gatorade, launching this lame ad campaign trying to re-brand the time-honored sports beverage as “just G”.

Or is it just a big inside joke being played out on us consumers?

Don’t they know that club kids often mix the street drug GHB with Gatorade?  It’s a problem among bodybuilders too.  Just last week, in the Philadelphia suburb of Falls Township, a bodybuilder was accused of giving GHB-laced Gatorade to a co-worker at the gym where he worked:

[GHB] is often ingested by bodybuilders to calm down after a strenuous workout. Police say it is also used as a so-called date rape drug, because it puts users into a deep sleep.

Krueger, who worked in the sales department of the club and was not a bodybuilder, did not use the drug, prosecutors said. Schwendiman allegedly offered Krueger a sip of GHB-laced Gatorade while the two men were at work but did not tell him what it was. A witness told the grand jury that Schwendiman told the victim “trust me, you’ll like it.”

Several hours later, prosecutors said, Schwendiman dropped Krueger off at a hospital emergency room, where he was pronounced dead. When questioned by the grand jury, Schwendiman allegedly denied using GHB and giving it to Krueger.

All these bad associations, plus this lame re-branding? I for one ain’t drinking the Gatorade any more. Besides, there’s newer (and more efficient) electrolyte replacement technology, such as Enlyten’s SportStrips. When placed between your cheek and gums, these tiny strips (which look like breath strips) deliver electrolytes through buccal absorption.