Since we were babies, we loved to watch things. We were visual and continue to be. We react to what we see. And to a lesser degree, we are auditory. Sounds can cause a reaction as well as sight. Cartoonists are aware of this and have to work harder than an actor or comedian to get your attention.

Pertaining to zen, where do cartoons fit?

Have you noticed, more often than not, you feel better when you are smiling or laughing? There is a good reason for this. Many eastern philosophers and yoga experts believe that the laughing chakra is in the same area as the sex chakra. I guess the powerful lesson here is to use them wisely and not at the same time. In other words this could be very upsetting to a soul-mate unless you can tactfully explain that your laughter chakra short-circuited during lovemaking. Stranger things have happened I guess. One caveat: If you are the female partner and should this happen to you, please respond, without missing a beat, the predictable compliment/lie “But size doesn’t matter, it is what you do with it.” Okay, you can omit the size statement, when, in fact, we men know better, as do you women.

Though men never buy this line, it feels better, and it lets you off the hook.

Cartoons are truly nothing more than a piece of art in a panel or a strip of smaller panels, hopefully funny, that tell a much longer story, using what I like to call “extreme editing”. Though we call ourselves writers, we truly are more editors than writers. Yes, we can write, and, though a cartoon may not have any caption or “word bubble” at all, generally some text is added to “drive the point home” Most cartoonists are instinctively aware, though, that if it can be done with no wording, a picture only, that is a triple bonus to the psyche, and, when we can occasionally do that, we get complimented way beyond our actual talents. But that’s ok. An ego is an ego no matter what you call it and the male ego is the most fragile.

Comedians, cartoonists, actors artists and others impace our society greatly, we often think of them as “bigger than life”. I can assure you, being one, we are just like everyone else. We just don’t crave the limelight; but the limelight craves us, it appears. This fascinates people. When you mention names like Charles Schulz or Gary Larson, some wonder if they are even in the same species. They are. Most of us love people in general and love to make them feel good.

So zen happens. Especially with humor (and sex) and it all starts in that silly chakra. Always keep that chakra open, as, as long as there is life, there will be humor. And as long as there will be humor, there will be people who will utilize it to make us feel better about ourselves, whether alone or with a mate.

A new concept in dieting called “calorie shifting” is causing quite a stir in among the health conscious. And although more and more of us have heard of us, few are quite aware of why this principle works. To understand why, we need to understand something about traditional dieting - and why it so often fails.

Traditional ’starvation’ diets work by the simple logic of ‘eat less and lose weight’. On the surface it may appear to make sense, but there is more to the mechanism of weight loss and gain than simple caloric intake.

This is because of changes that take place in the body during a starvation diet. When the body undergoes starvation, it senses that it’s under attack, and it acts to protect its stores of fat, which it holds onto so that it has food in time of emergencies. Seeing this starvation diet as an emergency, the body lowers its metabolism rate and begins storing as much food as possible as fat. Thus, more food than ever before turns into fat, while the body chooses instead to consume muscle tissue for its energy.

What happens next is that the body loses large amounts of water as it tries to flush out poisonous byproducts. To the untrained eye, this appears to be positive weight loss, but it isn’t permanent. As soon as you return to your old eating paterns, that water weight returns, and usually brings more fat along with it. Meanwhile, you have lost considerable muscle tissue.

On the other hand, the shifting calories diet works quite differently than the traditional ’starvation’ diet. It caters to the principle of having the type and amount of caloric intake modified from time to time, without sacrificing proper nutritional requirements to prevent the harmful effect of muscle breakdown.

What this means on a practical level is that instead of eating three meals a day, you eat four or five smaller ones daily. Each meal varies greatly with the types of food it offers and the amounts. In this way, you allow your body to burn fat and yet maintain a healthy food intake each day. During these mini-meals, you eat all you want, yet never allow yourself to feel “full.” This is important in making calorie shifting work.

The shifting calories diet, like any other diets need to be supplemented with the right amount of regular exercise and other healthy habits to experience its maximum potential. No need to be very enthusiastic about it initially to overlook other essential factors. This diet can benefit wonderfully even with just a daily walk around the block.

In conclusion, the shifting calories diet is more effective in losing weight. It does not cause unhealthy muscle breakdown since it only burns excess fat. One can even continue eating his normal food types.The traditional starvation diet on the other hand, is more harmful than effective and so not beneficial to the body.

So many dieting options - some good, some not so good, and so little help in finding the right one. There are diets that are honest and others that are just designed to make you feel good in order to get your money. So how do you sift through them all and find one that will work for you? As you consider which diet to try, remember this: Above all, it must be a diet that raises your metabolism rate. Without this key, you will not lose weight and keep it off.

Here’s the biggest problem most people have with weight loss: They try some quick-fix method that starves the calories away. But soon after, as they return to their old eating patterns, the pounds start creeping back on. Why is this? What causes the yo-yo effect?

It’s because the philosophy of traditional dieting is to get the body to use its stores of fat. The diet does this by basically starving the body. What most people don’t realize is that this is actually harmful to the person who wants to gain a healthy body, because this trains the body to burn muscle rather than fat. The weight that’s lost is usually just water loss.

This weight and then some is always gained back as soon as the dieter begins eating again; their body continues to store food as fat, usually leading to the dieter being worse off than before. Do not feel bad if you have tried this method of dieting and failed - it simply can’t work no matter what you do.

So how do we avoid this trap? By finding a diet that both burns calories while at the same time raising your metabolism. This is a method that will train your body to prefer the burning of fat rather than muscle. The result: You lose pounds without causing damage to your muscles and ultimately, you’re more likely to keep the pounds off.

The best way to approach weight loss is to take a holistic approach to losing weight. Exercising to burn calories, diet plans to guide your eating habits, and making sure that you don’t slip back into old habits are all important parts of the weight loss process.

Through it all, remember not to rush the process. Yes, it’s true that significant weight loss often occurs in less time than we might have thought, but big changes to the body cannot be instant and yet be healthy. You have to be patient with yourself.

What this means is to be kind to your body. Don’t over-exert yourself in exercise, and don’t starve yourself. You might think you’re hurrying the process along, but in reality, you’re just making it less likely that the weight loss will be permanent.

So now the ball’s in your court. Will you lose weight and keep it off or will you return to life as usual? To make this work, you’ll need a comprehensive weight loss program and a good exercise program. Most of all, you will always need a program that burns calories while at the same time increasing your metabolism. It’s the only way to go.