Lions, Tigers And Cheese, Oh My! Tillamook® Brings The Loaf Love Tour To San Diego

In Celebration of the Loaf Love Tour, Locals Can Gain FREE Entry to the San Diego Zoo Saturday, October 27th

*Free entry for the first 100 eligible participants only.

Free entry starting at 9:00 a.m. until limit reached. Participating fans may check-in at the Tillamook Baby Loaf bus located outside the zoo’s main ticket gate. To win, attendees must come wearing orange. Limit one free entry per person, no monetary value.

WHO:  Tillamook, the 103-year-old, farmer-owned cooperative from Oregon that has earned a reputation as one of the nation’s premier natural cheese makers and leading dairy product company.

WHAT:  The Loaf Love Tour, the third annual mobile sampling event dedicated to bringing tasty cheese to the people, is traveling to San Diego as the last stop on their 2012 tour. As a fun way to celebrate the end of their nine month cross-country excursion with local residents, Tillamook will be offering free admission to the San Diego Zoo on Saturday, October 27th. The first 100 fans who show up wearing their happiest Tillamook orange will receive free access to the zoo, where attendee’s dressed in orange thereafter will receive $1 off general admission*. Once inside the zoo, event-goers of all ages can taste a variety of Tillamook Cheese, take pictures with Loafy, join in zoo bingo, taste yummy samples of Tillamook Yogurt new to the San Diego market, and much more.

WHEN: Saturday, October 27th from 9:00AM to 5:00PM

WHERE: The San Diego Zoo 2920 Zoo Drive San Diego, CA 92101

Before leaving California and wrapping up their third year on the road, the Tour will be cruising around San Diego in their fleet of mini-buses from October 23rd - October 30th. Local fans can find the Tour at grocery stores and special events educating attendees on Tillamook products while sampling their cheeses made in Oregon. To conclude their tour-end travels through San Diego, Tillamook is going out with a bang and holding a twitter contest where the winner gets a party for up to 50 people at a location of their choice. For more information on entering the contest click here.

To see a complete list of stops on the Tour or to sign up for cheese-filled news updates, stop by LoafLoveTour.com and to join in the live chatter, visit the Tillamook Facebook page or follow @TillamookCheese on Twitter.

How To Raise Your Self-Esteem

Things You Can Do Right Away Every Day to Raise Your Self-esteem

Often in both addiction and in recovery or self-esteem can be low. It really is hard to feel good about yourself when you are active in your addiction or testing the waters of beginning recovery. Here are some sobriety tips an helping your self esteem.

Pay attention to your own needs and wants. Listen to what your body, your mind, and your heart are telling you. For instance, if your body is telling you that you have been sitting down too long, stand up and stretch. If your heart is longing to spend more time with a special friend, do it. If your mind is telling you to clean up your basement, listen to your favorite music, or stop thinking bad thoughts about yourself, take those thoughts seriously.

Take very good care of yourself. As you were growing up you may not have learned how to take good care of yourself. In fact, much of your attention may have been on taking care of others, on just getting by, or on "behaving well." Begin today to take good care of yourself. Treat yourself as a wonderful parent would treat a small child or as one very best friend might treat another. If you work at taking good care of yourself, you will find that you feel better about yourself. Here are some ways to take good care of yourself

Eat healthy foods and avoid junk foods (foods containing a lot of sugar, salt, or fat). A healthy daily diet is usually:
1. Five or six servings of vegetables and fruit
2. Six servings of whole grain foods like bread, pasta, cereal, and rice
3. Two servings of protein foods like beef, chicken, fish, cheese, cottage cheese, or yogurt

• Exercise. Moving your body helps you to feel better and improves your self-esteem. Arrange a time every day or as often as possible when you can get some exercise, preferably outdoors. You can do many different things. Taking a walk is the most common. You could run, ride a bicycle, play a sport, climb up and down stairs several times, put on a tape, or play the radio and dance to the music-anything that feels good to you. If you have a health problem that may restrict your ability to exercise, check with your doctor before beginning or changing your exercise habits.

1. Do personal hygiene tasks that make you feel better about yourself-things like taking a regular shower or bath, washing and styling your hair, trimming your nails, brushing and flossing your teeth.
2. Have a physical examination every year to make sure you are in good health.
3. Plan fun activities for yourself. Learn new things every day.

• Take time to do things you enjoy. You may be so busy, or feel so badly about yourself, that you spend little or no time doing things you enjoy-things like playing a musical instrument, doing a craft project, flying a kite, or going fishing. Make a list of things you enjoy doing. Then do something from that list every day. Add to the list anything new that you discover you enjoy doing.
• Get something done that you have been putting off. Clean out that drawer. Wash that window. Write that letter. Pay that bill.
• Do things that make use of your own special talents and abilities. For instance, if you are good with your hands, then make things for yourself, family, and friends. If you like animals, consider having a pet or at least playing with friends' pets.
• Dress in clothes that make you feel good about yourself. If you have little money to spend on new clothes, check out thrift stores in your area.
• Give yourself rewards you are a great person. Listen to a CD or tape.
• Spend time with people who make you feel good about yoursel people who treat you well. Avoid people who treat you badly.
• Make your living space a place that honors the person you are. Whether you live in a single room, a small apartment, or a large home, make that space comfortable and attractive for you. If you share your living space with others, have some space that is just for you-a place where you can keep your things and know that they will not be disturbed and that you can decorate any way you choose.
• Display items that you find attractive or that remind you of your achievements or of special times or people in your life. If cost is a factor, use your creativity to think of inexpensive or free ways that you can add to the comfort and enjoyment of your space.
• Make your meals a special time. Turn off the television, radio, and stereo. Set the table, even if you are eating alone. Light a candle or put some flowers or an attractive object in the center of the table. Arrange your food in an attractive way on your plate. If you eat with others, encourage discussion of pleasant topics. Avoid discussing difficult issues at meals.
• Take advantage of opportunities to learn something new or improve your skills. Take a class or go to a seminar. Many adult education programs are free or very inexpensive. For those that are more costly, ask about a possible scholarship or fee reduction.
• Begin doing those things that you know will make you feel better about yourself like going on a diet, beginning an exercise program or keeping your living space clean.
• Do something nice for another person. Smile at someone who looks sad. Say a few kind words to the check-out cashier. Help your spouse with an unpleasant chore. Take a meal to a friend who is sick. Send a card to an acquaintance. Volunteer for a worthy organization.
• Make it a point to treat yourself well every day. Before you go to bed each night, write about how you treated yourself well during the day.

You may be doing some of these things now. There will be others you need to work on. You will find that you will continue to learn new and better ways to take care of yourself. As you incorporate these changes into your life, your self esteem will continue to improve. You should now have some new sobriey tools in your arsenal.

Chocolate Allergy Linked to Roaches

Allergy sufferers who react to chocolate might be shocked to learn their allergy could be linked to something other than the cocoa bean: an allergy to cockroach.

An average of 8 insect parts are found in a chocolate bar and deemed safe, according to the FDA's guidelines.

"Most foods have natural contaminants in them, but there are levels which the FDA deems safe," said allergist Dr. Morton M. Teich. "Anything more than 60 insect pieces per 100 grams of chocolate is rejected by the FDA. "

Trace amounts of insect parts that are ground into the food and can affect people with allergies and asthma. Some side effects include migraines, cramps, itching or hives.

Chocolate isn't the only food product to blame for contamination, other foods like peanut butter, macaroni, fruit, cheese, popcorn, wheat and some cheese also contain this material.
Allergists can help patients with cockroach allergies by giving them allergy shots with small amounts of the insect as well as removing chocolate from their diet.

First reported in 1943, allergists began skin testing for cockroaches in 1959. "Allergists are testing now because they're finding that asthma can be caused by cockroaches," said Teich, "I have patients whom we've tested for cockroach who really get reactions."

Teich says most of his patients are shocked at this information and swear off chocolate after discovering its contaminants. "Most of them say, 'I'm not going to eat that anymore!'"
However if you think a simple switch of brands will keep you from safe from roaches, you're wrong-cockroaches and their droppings seem to be indigenous to the cocoa bean.

"To avoid [insects in your food], it's almost impossible," said Teich. "You probably would have to stop eating completely."

To consume foods without traces of insects, producers would have to use more pesticides, which Teich believes are much worse than eating a few insects. Some argue that the pricier chocolate brands take extra precautions in separating the bugs from the beans but there is no evidence that proves it.

By: Lauren Torrisi