Cutting out soda can be one of your best weight loss techniques—here's why:
      Sweetened drinks can pack on the pounds. If, on average, we're drinking 18 ounces of liquid candy daily, we're adding about 225 calories to our diet. Over the course of a month, that's almost 7,000 additional calories, which can easily translate to a 2-pound gain. Over a year, these drinks could be adding 24 pounds to our bottom line.

That seems to be just what's happening: Over the past 4 decades, our increasing consumption of soda has been matched by our ever-expanding waistlines. "In my estimation, sugary beverages are one of the two leading environmental causes of obesity, perhaps second only to TV viewing in the magnitude of its effect," says David S. Ludwig, MD, PhD, director of the obesity program at Children's Hospital Boston.

He and colleagues at the Harvard School of Public Health presented the first strong evidence linking soft drink consumption to childhood obesity back in 2001. They tracked the diets of 548 teens for 19 months and found that kids who drank sugar-sweetened beverages regularly were more likely to be overweight than those who didn't. The researchers also found that the odds of becoming obese increased 60% for each can or glass a day of sugar-sweetened soft drinks.

Ludwig followed up with an intervention study, published earlier this year, examining 103 students from a Cambridge, MA, high school for 6 months. Half were instructed to drink whatever they liked. The other half were asked to stop drinking sugar-sweetened beverages and were given weekly deliveries of their choice of calorie-free options, including bottled waters, seltzers, and diet sodas. The intervention group lost weight—about 1 pound for each month of the study, while the soda drinkers' weight remained about the same.

Everybody knows that these drinks are high in calories (a 12-ounce can contains about 150 calories; the increasingly popular 20-ounce size packs 250). What people don't realize is that these calories may be particularly effective at making people fat. Perhaps because they pass through the stomach more quickly than food, "liquid calories slip past the body's weight-regulating radar system," says Ludwig. As a result, people who down sugary drinks don't feel as full as those who consume the same amount of calories in solid food.

This theory was borne out by researchers at Purdue University who, in 2000, gave 15 volunteers 450 calories a day of either soda or jelly beans for a month and then switched them for the next month, while monitoring their total calories. The candy eaters compensated for the extra calories by eating less food and maintained their weight; during the soda phase, the volunteers ate more and gained.

Liquid sugar is a problem—but the type of sugar used in the majority of soft drinks may be making things worse. Although the research is controversial, there's evidence that the man-made high fructose corn syrup used in most sodas fails to suppress the production of ghrelin, a hormone made by the stomach that stimulates appetite.

A Spanish teacher was explaining to her class that, in Spanish,
unlike English, nouns are designated as either masculine or feminine.

"House" for instance, is feminine: "la casa."

"Pencil," however, is masculine: "el lapiz."

A student asked, "What gender is 'computer'?"

Instead of giving the answer, the teacher split the class into two groups,
male and female, and asked them to decide for themselves whether
"computer" should be a masculine or a feminine noun.

Each group was asked to give four reasons for its recommendation.

The men's group decided that "computer" should definitely be
of the feminine gender ("la computadora"),  because:
 
1. No one but their creator understands their internal logic;

2. The native language they use to communicate with other
computers is incomprehensible to everyone else;

3. Even the smallest mistakes are stored in long term
memory for possible later retrieval; and

4. As soon as you make a commitment to one, you find
yourself spending half your paycheck on accessories for it.

(THIS  GETS  BETTER!)

The women's group, however, concluded that computers should
be masculine ("el computador"), because:
 
1. In order to do anything with them, you have to turn them on;

2. They have a lot of data but still can't think for themselves;

3. They are supposed to help you solve problems,
but half the time they ARE the problem; and

4. As soon as you commit to one, you realize that if you
had waited a little longer, you could have gotten a better model.

The women won.

what the... jessica simpson is dating john mayer?  and jLo is pregnant. 

here are a few of our professional pictures by Gerber&Scarpelli and joe kang. 
there are some more in my xanga.photos.

 

cake cutting - "growing old with you"

 

 
first dance - "L-O-V-E" by Nat King Cole (accompanied on trumpet by the talented Bobby Lee)

 

 

is it friday yet?  yay, it's a 3-day weekend!!!

hehe...i added a couple video clips of jobie when she was younger.    they show up kind of blurry though.  xanga is awesome!

CONGRATULATIONS,

Grace & Peter!
[see Joe's site for better pics of baby.]

Both mother and baby are doing well.  Joshua was 7lbs, 10oz.
Grace only had to push for 24 minutes!  Can you believe that?! 
It's crazy!  Some of us visited them at the hospital last night.
We only got to see Joshua through the window.  The baby room
wasn't really like the movies.  The babies weren't all lined up in
a row in front of the window.  *boo*  But Peter got the hook up.  ;o)
He was able to push Joshua's crib closer to us so we could get a
little peep.  *awwwwwww*  He's so cute.  He kind of looks
like his Uncle James.  hehe...same shape face.  I'll post pictures 
when I get home.  Wow, it was so amazing. 

welcome to the world, joshua!

so, how does it feel to be a brand new daddy, peter?    hahaha.
that was hilarious.  we were all standing on the other side of the window
gazing in amazement at this new creation.  and what does peter do?  crazy
stuff, man.  i was laughing so hard, the camera was shaking.

yay!  joshua's here!!!!!!    i can't wait to see him.  awwwwwwwwww........

Is anybody interested in making some extra $$$?  
a friend of jenny's is looking for help on Sept 9-10 in Niles. They are looking for people who are fluent in Korean to help out at the Hyundai Ride & Drive Program.  Please email Wayne at waynek@cmpgusa.com if you are interested in the job.

2006 Hyundai Ride and Drive Program:
Place: 801 Civic Center Dr., Niles, IL 60714
Dates: Sept 9-10
Time: 9am-8pm

Expected Participants: Approx. 120~150 people per location

Responsibility: Check the test drive eligibility; assist customer to waiver and direct them to the waiting area; complete the post survey questions, and present Hyundai gift bag. Answer any general questions about the vehicle. Assist in setup and tear down of the event booth. Attract customers from supermarket to participate in the event.

Staff Requirement:
Ethnicity: Korean (must be fluent in Korean)
Age:18-35
Gender: Female/Male
Regular staff: x 2
Rate: $185/day