A new children's book called Vegan Is Love: Having Heart and Taking Action came out today, and it has some pretty gruesome drawings illustrating animal testing and consumption.  

I'm a meat eater (eating organic/free-range as often as possible) and an animal lover (dog owner for life!). I think many people are both, and we shouldn't ignore where our food comes from. There's definitely room for improvement in our food production standards and ethics. But... as child psychologists point out, that's not necessarily for a child who's already a picky eater to worry about.

Vegan Is Love is targeted to 7-year-old+ audience. Images of cowering, wounded animals should not enter our kids' minds when parents are trying to feed them a reasonable, balanced diet.

I can tell you that after reading Charlotte's Web as a child, I asked my parents if I could become a vegetarian, and they said no. I'm glad they did. I had my very own chicken legs and needed plenty of fat and protein to beef them up during my growing years. I'm not saying children can't thrive on a balanced vegan and vegetarian diet, but spreading a message of violence and guilt to draw our youngest eaters to a meat-free diet seems like a flawed approach.

It always seems like no matter how much sleep I get the night before, I'm always...ALWAYS...in desperate need of a nap come mid-afternoon.

Does that ever happen to you?

I suppose it's a combination of several things-- I usually workout during my lunch break and while exercise has an awakening effect for most people, it has always had a tendency to make me sleepy. Top it off with the fact that I usually eat lunch after I get back from the gym, and I've got the prime ingredients for a mid-afternoon slump-fest.

As I type, there is a group of 13 nutritional experts who have been charged with improving the infamous Food Pyramid.

The Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee will seek to come up with an updated Food Pyramid by spring of 2011 in an effort to address this nation’s extreme obesity issue.

Among the issues at the forefront of the discussion:

*Ways to encourage the eating of more fruits and vegetables

*A focus on more whole grains

*Efforts to reduce the intake of fat, especially fatty meats.

Work, kids, family, meals...oh my! It's no wonder so many people are stressed out these days!

So this begs the question...when was the last time you took time out of your busy schedule to take care of your health?

My guess is, it's been a while.

While I can't stress enough the importance of regular check ups with a medical professional, there are some easy, to-it-yourself ways to see how your mind and body are holding up under your hectic schedule.

With the holidays, comes food. And lots of it. I know when I go home I can't get enough of my mom's dirty cookin'. I overindulge till I am moaning on the couch.

But do you know which hors d'oeuvres and dishes are the absolute worst for you? I found this list on Health.com of some horrible holiday favorites, and alternatives your hips will thank you for later!

I'm always looking for new exercises to add to my workout routine. Not only does it keep the boredom at bay, but I usually am able to find an exercise or two that makes me work a part of my body that I was not previously working. (I know I've found such an exercise when I wake up sore the next morning and say, "I didn't even know I HAD a muscle there!")

The American Heart Association has recently provided new recommendations for the amount of added sugar people should consume in their diet.

I've always thought I eat pretty healthy, but this new bit of news has me seriously reconsidering my dietary choices. According to the new recommendations, women shouldn't consume more than 100 calories (about 25 grams) of added sugars a day; men, 150. This averages out to about 6 teaspoons for women, and 9 teaspoons for men.

It's no secret that I have had a long and tumultuous relationship with school lunches--not the kind you buy, even, but the kind you have to pack, five times/week. When L. first started preschool at age three, he had not yet developed his food aversions and the rigid eating patterns he has now. Things were still bad, but he was a "picky" eater--a  trait shared by many of the other kids at preschool. At three, L. would still eat peanut butter sandwiches, vegetarian hot dogs, and macaroni and cheese.

The other night I unwittingly created for my kids the "best dinner experience ever." Scott had a late meeting and wasn't going to be home until long past dinner, L. is still on Spring Break, and I had too much to do in the precious TV time leading up to dinner to even make dinner.