ParaNorman Confronts Our Fears
Leave a commentSeptember 22, 2012 by UtahMan&Wife
UtahMan and I had a really fun date night. We decided to go see a movie in an actual theater (something we haven’t done for a long time thanks to RedBox). We ended up watching the new animated feature “ParaNorman” (from the makers of “Coraline”).
We vaguely remembered that it got a good review in our local paper and a family member liked it, so we decided to give it a whirl.
I’m happy to report that we were both thoroughly entertained! The story is creative and well developed. The stop-motion animation is finely crafted and elegantly detailed. There’s a nice balance of laugh-out-loud humor and spooky tension, with some very thought-provoking words of wisdom. This movie is certainly “family friendly”, but it’s not just a “kids movie” – there’s something to appeal to all ages.
ParaNorman tackles the subject of “fear” from many angles. Here are two of the messages that really hit home for us:
The Fallout of Fear:
“When people are afraid of something they can say and do very mean things”.
Fear Management
“There’s nothing wrong with being scared, as long as you don’t let it change who you really are.”
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R2P2D30 STATS
UTAHMAN
Round 2 Start Weight: 216.5
Load Weight: 221.2
Yesterday: 196.5 lbs
Today: 196.0 lbs. down -0.5
Total Lost This Round So Far: Pre-load: -20.5 / Post-load: -25.2 lbs
**June 15, 2012 Start Weight: 249.4 Total Lost on hCG = -53.4 lbs!!
Cover via Amazon
Book Update: I’ve really been enjoying reading the book “Primal Blueprint” by Mark Sisson. It has some awesome information about the effects of sugar and grain on our bodies and why they are so detrimental. Luckily, Wife and I have already detoxed our bodies and our minds from those substances. Wife and I plan to live “Primal” permanently after we transition off of hCG.
Football Update: Sadly, the Utes got killed by Arizona State tonight [37-7] Our team seemed really lost out there. We turned the ball over 4 times.
ONLY 12 MORE DAYS UNTIL NEXT KICKOFF! GO UTES!
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WIFE
Round 2 Start Weight: 166.5
Load Weight: 172.5
Yesterday: 157.2 lbs
Today: 156.7 lbs down -0.5 lbs
Total Lost This Round: Preload: -9.8 lbs / Post load: -15.8 lbs
**June 15, 2012 start weight: 187.2 lbs / Total Lost on hCG = -30.5 lbs!
It was fun having a date night with UtahMan! It was especially enjoyable to go to a movie together, hold hands, laugh together and not be plagued with thoughts about having to eat or drink anything while watching. When we first started this diet, it was agony trying to watch a movie without constantly craving the candy and popcorn. It’s great to be free of that!
But, I still have my own fears to confront and deal with. Everywhere I go I see people eating sugar-and-carb laden junk. There’s no way to escape it. Nearly everything American’s buy and eat is blatantly or secretly killing them. It scares me. It gives me anxiety. Until June 15, 2012 that used to be us. It took us nearly 50 years to find out the truth about sugar and carb-and-sugar-laden processed foods.
I just wish that everyone could become educated on why they are so fat, why they can’t lose weight no matter how hard they try to count calories or sweat buckets exercising. It isn’t butter or bacon or burgers or other “fat” that’s pushing us into morbid obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and metabolic syndrome. I wish everyone knew how toxic sugar is. Our 21-year-old daughter has been sugar-free over 6 months. Today she mentioned that the effects of sugar on the body is as bad as the effects of tobacco and asked why our government isn’t doing anything about it. Good question. In many ways, sugar is worse than tobacco because it is so insidious and rampant and accepted in our society. For decades no one knew the truth about tobacco. Old advertisements even used to proclaim it was “GOOD FOR YOU”, and people believed that! It took a long time for people to start listening to the doctors and scientists. It took even longer for the government to step in, officially regulate tobacco as a drug, and launch an anti-smoking campaign.
How long will it take before an anti-sugar campaign will happen? How long before sugar will be officially declared a drug, and regulated? When will companies who currently advertise their deadly products (such as breakfast cereals) as “GOOD FOR YOU” be forced to tell the truth, and put warning labels on their packaging? When will it become basic knowledge that “Sugar Kills” and the vast majority of our society will do everything they have to do to break their addiction and refuse to buy anything with sugar?Like Martin Luther King, Jr., I have a dream. Like “Norman” I will face my fear with hope for a brighter day, and I will not let it change who I really am.
