BEST WASHINGTON DC FLORIST

EAT: The Effortless Weight Loss Solution

Diets are made to go “on” and “off of”, and if you’re like most people—who want to be fit, lean, alert and healthy—you don’t want to diet. You want to eat naturally and normally, in a way that helps you have the body and lifestyle you deserve to enjoy. In EAT, Dr. Ian Smith has created a blueprint for you. It’s a flexible and intelligent plan you can follow every day, in every situation—eating out, working late, traveling, cooking for the holidays—and that will urge your body to perform at its peak. You’ll drop any excess pounds you need to lose. You won’t worry about what you “can” and “can’t” eat, but will listen to yourself and eat smart.
Dr. Ian’s Ten Simple Rules for Good Eating tell you what the experts know:
--Follow the Rainbow: if you eat color, you’re getting vitamins and minerals in the right package
--Carb Heaven: don’t ban carbohydrates—or any nutrient group!
--The Whole Truth About Whole Grains: they may not be what you think they are, and you should be eating them all the time
--Feel Full Fiber: it’s magic at every meal
--Protein Bonanza: all proteins aren’t equal
--Spicetopia: 5 of the tastiest and healthiest spices in the world
--Size Matters: how to portion, and secret calories you don’t know about
--You are What You Drink: the miracle liquid and drinks that can wash out good eating
--Unearthing the Organic Truth: it’s not always healthier
--The Power of Snacks: they can help you lose weight!
Cut to the chase with Dr. Ian’s EAT Plan at the end of each chapter, or become your own expert by reading from start to finish. Either way, EAT is not about denial. It’s about permission….to live, to fuel your strong body, to eat!

"But it isn't dark, you poor ... Dwarfs," said Lucy. "Can't you see? Look up! Look round! Can't you see the sky and the trees and the flowers?"
. . .
"Aslan," said Lucy through her tears, "could you - will you - do something for these poor Dwarfs?"

"Dearest," said Aslan, "I will show you both what I can, and what I cannot, do." He came close to the Dwarfs and gave a low growl: low, but it set all the air shaking. But the Dwarfs said to one another, "Hear that? That's the gang at the other end of the stable. Trying to frighten us. They do it with a machine of some kind. Don't take any notice. They won't take us in again!"

Aslan raised his head and shook his mane. Instantly a glorious feast appeared on the Dwarfs' knees: pies and tongues and pigeons and trifles and ices, and each Dwarf had a goblet of good wine in his right hand. But it wasn't much use. They began eating and drinking greedily enough, but it was clear that they couldn't taste it properly. They thought they were eating and drinking only the sort of things you might find in a stable. One said he was trying to eat hay and another said he had a bit of an old turnip and a third said he'd found a raw cabbage leaf. And they raised golden goblets of rich red wine to their lips and said "Ugh! Fancy drinking dirty water out of a trough that a donkey's been at! Never thought we'd come to this." But very soon every Dwarf began suspecting that every other Dwarf had found something nicer than he had, and they started grabbing and snatching, and went on to quarrelling, till in a few minutes there was a free fight and all the good food was smeared on their faces and clothes or trodden under foot. But when at last they sat down to nurse their black eyes and their bleeding noses, they all said:

"Well, at any rate there's no Humbug here. We haven't let anyone take us in. The Dwarfs are for the Dwarfs."

"You see, " said Aslan. "They will not let us help them. They have chosen cunning instead of belief. Their prison is only in their own minds, yet they are in that prison; and so afraid of being taken in that they cannot be taken out. But come, children. I have other work to do.

C.S.Lewis, The Last Battle, Narnia-Chronicles, Vol. 7


"Aber es ist gar nicht dunkel hier, ihr armen ... Zwerge", sagte Lucy. "Konnt ihr nicht sehen? Seht doch und schaut euch doch um! Konnt ihr nicht den Himmel sehen, die Baume und die Blumen?"
. . .
"Aslan", bat Lucy unter Tranen, "konntest du ... willst du ... willst du etwas fur die armen Zwerge tun?"

"Meine Lieben", sagte Aslan, "ich werde euch zeigen, was ich tun kann und was nicht." Er kam nah an die Zwerge heran und gab ein schwaches Brullen von sich, ganz schwach nur, aber es erschutterte die Luft. Doch die Zwerge sagten zueinander: "Hort ihr das? Das ist die Sippschaft vom andern Ende des Stalles. Die wollen uns nur erschrecken. Das machen sie mit einer Maschine. Kummert euch nicht darum. Sie konnen uns nicht wieder betrugen."

Aslan hob den Kopf und schuttelte die Mahne. Sogleich lag auf den Knien der Zwerge ein herrliches Festmahl: Pasteten und allerlei Kostliches, Zungen, Tauben, Truffeln und Eis. Jeder Zwerg hielt in seiner rechten Hand einen Becher mit gutem Wein. Aber das alles hatte keinen Zweck. Die Zwerge a?en und tranken gierig, merkten aber nicht, was sie a?en. Sie meinten, man hatte ihnen das vorgesetzt, was man in einem Stall findet. Ein Zwerg sagte, er versuche Heu zu essen, ein anderer, er hatte ein Stuckchen von einer alten Rube, ein dritter, er hatte ein rohes Kohlblatt im Mund. Sie setzten goldene Becher mit kostlichem roten Wein an die Lippen und riefen: "Hu! Schmutziges Wasser aus einem Trog fur den Esel. So weit sind wir gekommen!" Aber sehr bald glaubte ein Zwerg, ein anderer habe etwas Besseres gefunden als er selbst. Im Nu gab es Streit, Rauferei und offenen Kampf zwischen den Zwergen. Sie verschmierten das gute Essen auf ihren Gesichtern und Gewandern oder zertrampelten es unter ihren Fu?en. Doch als sie sich endlich anschickten, ihre blau und grun geschlagenen Augen und blutenden Nasen zu pflegen, sagten alle: "Na, auf jeden Fall gibt's hier keinen Unfug wie anderswo. Wir haben uns von niemandem ubers Ohr hauen lassen. Die Zwerge sind fur die Zwerge."

"Seht ihr", sagte Aslan, "sie wollen sich nicht helfen lassen. Sie haben Misstrauen und Arglist dem Glauben vorgezogen. Ihre Gefangenschaft besteht nur in ihrer eigenen Einbildung, sie bleiben jedoch gefangen, weil sie so denken. Aber kommt, Kinder, ich habe noch anderes zu tun."

C.S.Lewis, Der letzte Kampf, Die Chroniken von Narnia, Bd. 7

They say it makes you feel like this: "blind as a bat, mad as a hatter, red as a beet, hot as hell, dry as a bone, the bowel and bladder lose their tone, and the heart runs alone." There's another: "Can't see, can't spit, can't pee, can't shit." And the Navajo had their own saying about this plant: 'Eat a little, and go to sleep. Eat some more, and have a dream. Eat some more, and don't wake up.' Your pupils will dilate, you'll get a nasty case of dry mouth, you won't be able to pee, your heart will race, and you might jerk around a bunch. Eat a little more and you might get hyperthermia, a coma, respiratory arrest or have a seizure.

One lady came to dinner the other night and mentioned she picked a beautiful white flower and thought it was so beautiful she wanted to share it with her fellow camper, so she left it outside her tent. By the time said camper emerged from her tent the flower had wilted in the sun. I remember our boatman Travis' eyes lighting up upon over-hearing this. Wait - what kind of flower did you pick? And she goes on to describe and we all start looking at each other thinking oh shit, pretty soon this woman is going to be thoroughly delusional, but thankfully, nothing happened. It is said, that even if you camp near one of these plants, you can have some frightfully intense dreams. On the trip we heard many a story of what kind of reactions people have to this plant, and the common theme is that it's not so much the plant that hurts people, it's people hurting themselves when on the plant because they are a total danger to themselves.

Liz Gilbert (Julia Roberts) is a modern woman on a quest to marvel at and travel the world while rediscovering and reconnecting with her true inner self in Eat Pray Love. At a crossroads after a divorce, Gilbert takes a year-long sabbatical from her job and steps uncharacteristically out of her comfort zone, risking everything to change her life. In her wondrous and exotic travels, she experiences the simple pleasure of nourishment by eating in Italy; the power of prayer in India, and, finally and unexpectedly, the inner peace and balance of love in Bali. Based on an inspiring true story, Eat Pray Love proves that there really is more than one way to let yourself go and see the world.

Elizabeth Gilbert's memoir of enlightenment gets the deluxe treatment at the hands of Glee creator Ryan Murphy, who bathes every scene in a golden glow. Unaccustomed to being alone, Liz (Julia Roberts) exits her marriage to Stephen (Billy Crudup, quite good) only to enter into an affair with an actor (James Franco, curiously uncomfortable), who introduces her to meditation. Just as her editor, Delia (Doubt's Viola Davis, making the most of a small role), longed to have a baby, Liz has longed to see the world. Delia persuades her to seize the day (plus, money presents no obstacle). First, she travels to Italy, where she noshes from Rome to Naples, making new friends along the way. Then, she heads to an ashram in India, where she meets a bride-to-be and a remorseful man (Richard Jenkins, heartbreaking), who nurture her altruistic side. Her sojourn ends in Bali, where she reunites with Ketut (Hadi Subiyanto, hilarious), the healer who first encouraged her to reassess her situation. While there, she befriends a single mother and a single father (No Country for Old Men's Javier Bardem) who falls for her charms. In an improvement over his version of Running with Scissors, Murphy combines two Oscar winners, two Oscar nominees, and four countries to follow one woman's path to fulfillment. Like Julie and Julia and How Stella Got Her Groove Back, Liz's story becomes more involving as she lets go of the superficial, but Murphy's movie still represents a triumph of escapism over spirituality. --Kathleen C. Fennessy