AUGUST 28, 2004:

No, I am not trying to hide my abs... I have a habit since childhood to sleep covered in pillows. Ridiculous, I know... Drives the wife nuts, I know... Oh well! I needed a break! We are in the middle of redoing the entire Don Lemmon website network (again)... You are going to dig this... I have almost a complete book's worth of information posted now and none of it is what I have in the books we have for sale, how considerate of me, right? I have bought books before only to discover the content was already online and boy was I let down. Oh, and I hope you like the new look of course. Plenty of people have come over in the middle of the reconstruction and sent emails full of kudos. And of course a few sent complaints. Feel free to let me know what you really think, it's cool. I want a proper presentation after all.... CLICK HERE

Before I go, meet a KNOW HOW customer, a professional musician and a nice guy: Glen Morrissette

AUGUST 20, 2004:

Three years ago I published my first news stand edition of our magazine "You Gotta Read This!" It grew so fast I had to step back a bit and rethink things last year and what I came up with for now is an all new online mag called "Uncensored Entertainment" and it is debuting little by little between this month's anniversary of YGRT and November's anniversary of my being online for 7 years... All of the editions that went to press will be posted there... WOW... That's amazing, even I haven't read all of the editions. Sounds crazy to say, but it is true. I am actually excited myself... This is great, I remember getting all the submissions of the last several copies from my friends who contributed to the first issue or other major magazines. I had hardly any work to do at all. Looking back, I am glad we went to print but it isn't easy to keep track of. Enough reminiscing... I will publish again after our time in Hawaii comes to a close. Enjoy...

P.S. Asia and I went away for a few days the first weekend of the month. It was her birthday but we are celebrating something else that is pretty special... Does anyone here know what parenthood is like? Our first baby is enroute! And Asia, the proud mommy-to-be has set up a registry for her fans already. I suppose I should offer the link as well, eh? CLICK HERE

You know I appreciate my customers and clients but sometimes I cannot get them to listen to me so I spell the issues out in print for the rest of you to benefit from. This time it is in regards to eggs and how depleted of original nutrients some foods are. Can you say a brown or grey looking green bean in a can that is eons old could be just as healthy as a bright green fresh or even frozen bean? That simply is not possible. One is old and dead in regards to nutrients, the other retains much of what is good for you and the fresh one, straight from the earth, it is bright in color, not pale... I think most of us know what is best...

The discussion on eggs began when I mentioned homogenizing and pasteurizing which is a dairy industry thing. The person sidetracked themselves as soon as I mentioned those two procedures and flew off the handle about eggs not being pasteurized... That wasn't my point... The next thing you knew, they went and spun into a tale that had nothing to do with where I was going and failed to let me get a word in edgewise. My point was that "like" with those procedures used in store brand milk products, eggs are radiated with ultra violet lights... That is how they last for months on end before you get to eat them... And that is not good... Sure, research shows that doing this sometimes provides a healthier baby chicken by killing bad bacteria, etc, but radiation also kills good bacteria... Besides, baby chickens do not sit on a shelf waiting to hatch as long as an egg does to sell and be eaten.... So this is bad for eggs that are to be fried, but said to be good for those about to hatch... And yet these are different eggs...

Since radiation is not always the tool used, we also have issues surrounding free range, organic and eggs that come from chickens that do not encounter pesticides. If an egg is an egg is an egg and a chicken is a chicken, why are regular old white egg shells thinner than organic, free range eggs? Look the next time you go shopping... And why do most regular eggs have yellow 5 dye added to them? Isn't that supposed to be illegal? Why are organic and pesticide free eggs higher in EFA's? I am not trying to say that all eggs are pasteurized. I am trying to say that LIKE pasteurization... The treatment and farming... The things done to eggs before we have them at home... It all adds up... Makes a big difference... And that is why I recommend tossing out at least half the eggs yolks you would ordinarily eat unless you are getting the egg right from the chicken's underside.

I understand the FDA does not discuss these things, the industry works to hide the things they do to foods and the reason they do not tell us the truth about "eggs" and Genetically Modified foods are the same reasons they hide a lot of the side effects of drugs and other things like what is in our tap water. However, they think you will not do your research and sometimes when we do, it is obvious they let their own cat out of the bag if you look further than one source of info... Listen, have you ever eaten a farm fresh egg? No, I don't mean an egg in a carton with an expiration date. I mean an egg that was laid in the past two or three days. If you try such an egg, you'll immediately realize the difference between it and what you buy at any store nationwide. You will also note that an egg straight from a healthy chicken is ORANGE not yellow... An orange yolk is also indicative of the chicken eating fresh green feed.

Another client added, "I had asked this question a couple months ago of a farmer in Iowa, she told me orange yolks are from corn fed chickens and yellow yolks are from oat fed chickens." This may be true but compare fresh eggs from both lots and tell me you cannot see the difference in color. We are talking freshness here folks. Surely the people making money off eggs could care less about the consumer. They just want to extend the shelf life of eggs in any way possible so none are wasted.

Pasteurized liquid eggs however have certainly been on the market since around 1996. And today, we can buy pasteurized eggs in the shell. These pre-heated eggs are said to last up to six months. Somehow, the idea of eating an egg that was laid a half year back doesn't strike me as healthy. The Food and Drug Administration authorizes ionizing radiation of eggs although it is not widespread, and not all companies need to state they do this. The FDA themselves said: "During irradiation, foods are exposed briefly to a radiant energy source such as gamma rays or electron beams within a shielded facility. Irradiation is not a substitute for proper food manufacturing and handling procedures. But the process, especially when used to treat meat and poultry products, can kill harmful bacteria, greatly reducing potential hazards."

Not all members of the medical community are standing behind the blasting of food with electrons and nuclear energy. One recently has cautioned: "In the course of legalizing the irradiation of beef, chicken, pork, fruit, vegetables, eggs, juice, spices and sprouting seeds, a process that has spanned nearly 20 years, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has dismissed or ignored a substantial body of evidence suggesting that irradiated food may not be safe for human consumption after all."

A reader sent this in from a manufacturer who defended using vaccinations versus cleaner environments for raising egg layers to protect the vital nutrients in the final product: "I can get the omega-3's, lutein, vitamin E, etc. in a pill if I have to, so they're not my deciding factor on eggs." He then said he preferred taste and safety over nutrition but added, "I should add that lutein is 6 times more digestible/bioavailable when you get it from eggs, than it is from spinach and pills. Other nutrients are also more bioavailable through eggs, than through pills." No offense, but which is it? Do you want the nutrients or not? Why would a person not care when you know darn well essential fats in pill form are dead as well?

So, considering what's on the market today, eggs that are ionized, vaccinated, salted in the shell, injected with experimental particles, or even dehydrated let alone extremely out dated, I am cautious with what I get at stores and prefer farm fresh if ever possible. Some say their chicken feed hasn't medicine or chemicals in it but many either are unaware of the fact or medicate their animals by other means. I love the eggs I got a few times a week from my sister who had a little coop where she raised chickens the right way. Green feed and no drugs anywhere. Does this change the way you see the moon and stars? Does this mean science and nature are once again at odds? I do not know, I just love a good omelet. If you believe the FDA on one subject but call them liars on another, reconsider your belief system. Lobbyists who stand to lose money will do anything, even lie, ask cigarette manufacturers, to remain on top of the consumer.

August 4, 2004

A client and I put this together based upon something they had seen or written and I figured you might like to read it:

DO YOU KNOW... The difference between margarine and butter? Both have the same amount of calories and yet butter is lightly higher in saturated fats at 8 grams compared to 5 grams in margarine. However, eating margarine can increase heart disease in women by 53% over eating the same amount of butter according to a recent Harvard Medical Study. How so? Eating butter increases the absorption of many nutrients in other foods. In fact, butter has many nutritional benefits where margarine has none and the arguable benefits margarine does have, are ridiculous arguments! Butter tastes much better than margarine and it can enhance the flavors of other foods. Butter has been around for centuries where margarine has been around for less time than our grandparents....

Margarine... Very high in trans fatty acids... You know... The "BAD" fats... The things that offer triple the risk of coronary heart disease... It increases LDL cholesterol (this is the bad cholesterol), Lowers HDL cholesterol (the good cholesterol)... Increases the risk of cancers by up to five fold... Lowers quality of breast milk... Decreases immune response... Decreases insulin response... And here is the most disturbing fact.... Margarine is but ONE MOLECULE away from being PLASTIC... This fact alone was enough to have me avoiding margarine for life and anything else that is hydrogenated (this means hydrogen is added to the fat to solidify it, literally changing the molecular structure of the substance all to preserve shelf life).

Try this experiment for yourself... Purchase a tub of margarine. Leave it in your garage or shaded area. Within a couple of days you will note a couple of things... One, no flies, not even those pesky fruit flies will go near it (that should tell you something) and two, that it does not rot or smell differently... This is because it has no nutritional value, nothing will grow on it, it cannot rot, it has no life in it to die and stink... Even those teeny weeny micro organisms will not a find a home to grow here. Hey, think about it, this is nearly plastic. Would you melt Tupperware and spread that on your toast? Do some research. You will find people who say this isn't true but they either haven't the background to know better or they are somehow losing money if you buy butter instead of margarine. Why was margarine created then? Because it lasts longer than butter and people like that for some reason, so do the people trying to sell it before something spoils. I like fresh food, I like real food. Go figure.

If you have read Book One, you know why even the best of what you think the grocery store has to offer in olive oil is not the best you can find... Nor the cheapest...

And here are some tid bits from years gone by...

August 2001: Ironman Magazine's publisher and marketing rep were kind enough to post a review of my book in their summer edition. They have been selling my program ever since and I am grateful for that. To see the review: CLICK HERE

August 2002: We released my first sci-fi fantasy novel Planet of the Gods in August of 2002. Oddly enough I couldn't give away these books, go figure... No, it wasn't bad, it wasn't marketed... By time we got around to it, I lost interest... To see the cover: CLICK HERE

August 2003: Don Lemmon's HOLLYWOOD SUSHI PARTY! I wish we took pictures of everyone that attended but we didn't remember who had a camera until the last minute. We had people there like my old room mate Devin Devasquez, Kiko Ellsworth and Marjean Holden, Mary L Carter and friend from Crunch Fitness, rock bands Takara and White Diamond's guitarist Neal Grusky and bass players Bjorn Englen, director Rolfe Kanefsky, San Diego client and Ms Fitness Olympia Monica Brant and Autumn House too... What fun... I was hoping the America's Top Models casting agent who was also my guest would hire one of my friends as their "trainer" for the show. I had turned it down (I'm not a Tyra Banks fan, long story). It was held at the Katana Robata and for the most part, was the best sushi party I have ever put together... Not a sober person in the house... Shhh... We deserved it! We work hard!