So, Changes and More Changes

I decided to focus on my health this year.
I need to lose weight, quit smoking, exercise more, yada yada yada, all the things we tell ourselves all the time.
Well, I started small.
I decided to have one meatless day per week. Then twice a week, then three times a week...
I am now down to 8 to 10 ounces of meat per month. I use meat as a condiment more than as a main dish.
Result?
Blood sugar? Down.
Cholesterol ? Down.
Blood pressure? Down.
Weight? Down.
Energy levels? Up.
Sleep quality? Much improved.
Health-wise, it has improved my quality of life so much.
Plus, my food budget has decreased drastically!
Almost effortlessly.
I eat a lot of vegetables, salads, beans, grains, etc, now.
I still eat cheese and other dairy.

My smoking has reduced, also without much effort.
I switched to a "light" cigarette.
But I have noticed that with less meat consumption, my craving for cigarettes has gone down.
My beloved Dr Pepper?
I am drinking WAY more sparkling water than soda these days.

This may not be the answer for others, but it is helping me.

Diet and Exercise and Medicine, Oh My!

My physical condition is pretty good, but I want and need it to be better.
So, with that in mind, I have embarked on a program to *prep* my body.
First, diet.
I already ate a fairly decent diet, mainly organic, lots of veggies, few carbs and no cakes, pies, candies, etc.
I have to make it healthier.
I still have the bad habit of grabbing a soda every few days ....though not as bad as when I swigged down a couple of 2 liters a day.
So...I am working on what will hopefully be my LAST 2 liter.
Other than that, my only sweet thing in my diet is my raw honey that I use to sweeten my herbal tea and I put a bit in my farina when I make that. And fresh fruit.
I do not bake bread now as the carb load is far too high...and fresh bread is too damn tempting! I do have a sandwich for a meal once in awhile, but I normally use a whole wheat tortilla/wrap.
My oils/fats are real butter, olive oil, and coconut oil. I do eat avocados once in awhile and I like using a nut butter that is a blend of peanut, almond, pumpkin and flax seed blended together.
I need way more protein in my diet than I am currently getting, so I will have to work on that.
Beverages are water, milk, juice, teas and that last 2 liter (sigh...).
The problem is, some of my medications put a damper on my appetite. Sometimes it seems too hard to eat.
Meals, actual meals are almost an impossibility. I sort of graze, more than anything.
One egg and a few slices of tomato is a meal for me. Maybe 3 hours later I'll have some popcorn or a handful of seedless grapes and I am good for another 3 or 4 hours. Last night I had a grilled cheese sandwich. Woke up this morning and couldn't face having a *real* breakfast, so just ate a small Slim Jim and felt full.
Grapes, Slim Jims, and beef jerky are snacks I rely on these days.
So, going to have to get my diet on track.
*********************************
No gym here, so my exercise is walking. I try to walk up to a mile or two a day. Have been gradually increasing it.
Next month, I am going to try to get some weights, at least small dumbbell types. Need to increase my upper body strength.
Youtube has LOADS of yoga and other videos to help me exercise, so I am using that, too.
*********************************
On to my medications.
I hate taking medications.
Right now I am on 4 medications, after initially being on 7.
So, that's an improvement.
The doctor says I will ALWAYS be on the aspirin, so I am okay with that. The others, he felt, I would be able to stop as my physical condition improved.
So...that is what I am *prepping* for...to get into good physical shape so that I can get rid of 3 of my 4 medications.
**********************************
Yes, physical conditioning is *prepping*, too.
Health is the major thing a prepper needs and I am determined to get mine back.

Round and Round We Go....and a Few Honest Opinions

So, switched real estate agents in Vt. The last one kept sending me listings of condos, for pity's sake! I don't think a condo association would be too happy with the goats!
So....looking at the listings the new realtor sends me, listings on auction.com, listings on the GSA site and so forth and so on. Our lease, such as it is, is up the end of March.
So....Vt., or NH.
Have to find a realtor in NH now as the VT one is not licensed to work in NH.
****************************************************
Now, on to some honest opinions.
The opinions are mine, not anyone elses and if they offend you, you need to pull up those big girl (or big boy) panties and suck it up...or just move on.
****************************************************
The whole mess of food stamps.
I am sure everyone read about the panic in some areas when peoples food stamp cards wouldn't work due to a *glitch*.
Then the free for all that occurred when another *glitch* didn't show food stamp cards balances and a few Wal-Marts allowed those shoppers to get whatever they want. (Wal-Mart has to pay the bill for that, by the way)
And then there is the absolute angry frustration that people that are NOT on food stamps feel when they see some use their food stamp card to pay for lobsters and thick steaks, OR conversely, pay for loads of chips and sodas and other *junk* foods.

First of all, I have nothing against feeding the hungry, especially hungry children. I had to get on food stamps in the past and they were gratefully received as a temporary help until I got back on my feet.
Food stamps, however, were never meant to be a PERMANENT *entitlement*. (and, boy, do I hate that word!)
Food stamps, in fact, were not meant to provide ALL the food a person/family needed every month. They were meant to ASSIST a family in having proper nutrition, to SUPPLEMENT their food budgets.
Food stamps can also be used to buy seeds and vegetable bedding plants. A lot of people don't know that.
I used my food stamps to buy flour, yeast, milk, orange juice, a lot of chicken (I am surprised my now-grown kids even like chicken, as much as I fed them when they were young!), plenty of produce, seeds and plants for my gardening efforts, etc. I bought mainly basic foods and I cooked/baked/prepared everything I could from scratch.
People tell me that folks on food stamps don't have the TIME to cook from scratch. Bullshit.
I worked two jobs, plus various side jobs and still managed to cook from scratch. Sometimes I had to do all my cooking for the week on my day off, so I could just pull something out of the freezer after a long day and put it in the microwave or oven.
I also did food storage in case my benefits were denied unexpectedly or my garden didn't produce sufficiently.
All that being said, let me get into the junk food debate...
If a parent using food stamps is taking home chips, sugary cereals, soda, and other *junk* food, they are creating health problems for their child that will become every tax-payers problem later on.
Diabetes and other chronic health problems are directly connected to our diets.
Cooking, shopping and nutrition classes should be a MUST for all food stamp recipients.
I have given such instruction to friends that were on food stamps. They were appreciative and found they could get more out of their food stamp allotment when they cooked from scratch.
I also think that ALL recipients of *entitlement* (ugh, that hated word again) benefits should have to undergo unannounced  and random drug screenings.
That pisses a lot of people off, especially liberal type people. I have no clue why.
As far as the lobster and thick steak food stamp purchases, I can understand that for a special occasion, but not for an every month thing. Also, I learned when I was on food stamps, that some recipients buy expensive items to sell so they can use the cash to buy things not allowed on food stamps. Like drugs and alcohol.
Look, I didn't buy JUST basics, at Halloween, Easter and Christmas I used my food stamps to get candy for the kids. That is reasonable. Kids need those special celebrations and occasional treats in their lives.
But they also need good basic nutrition and far too many are just not getting it!
Look ahead 10 or 20 years...if only 10% of those kids currently on food stamps develop diabetes (and I am being generous on the low side with that estimate), what kind of stress will that put on our health care system? How many tax dollars will it cost? How many people will not be able to work because of medical disability?
Too many people look at the short range and not at the long range.
**********************************************
We have 5 adults (over 18) in this household currently.
Dinner tonight:
Shepherds Pie
Rolls
Salad
Iced Tea

Cost breakdown:
Bag of potatoes...I used 6 of them for the mashed potatoes...entire 10 lb bag was 2.99 (on sale!) still have plenty of potatoes in the bag. Enough for 3 to 4 meals.
Frozen corn, used half a bag. Bag was 1.00 (again on sale!)
Hamburger...I used 1/3rd of a *chub*, 6.59 (on sale) 3 lb chub.
6 cups of flour for the bread (rolls) and I made enough dough for a loaf for tomorrow, too. I buy my flour in 50 lb bags for around 20 bucks and I have no clue what that breaks down to in cups, lol!
Yeast, salt, sugar for bread....lets call it .50 for all as I buy those in bulk, too.
Salad....found salad *kits* on sale 2 for 5.00 Half a bag will be enough salad for 5.
I make my own salad dressing...50 cents of ingredients...more or less and it will be enough for 2 meals.
Iced tea...one pitcher will do it. I buy tea on sale for 1.50 for 100 tea bags and use 8 bags per pitcher.
Sugar for iced tea...again, I buy it in bulk and figure maybe 50 cents worth per pitcher.
Butter for bread....found it on sale for 1.50 per pound (YIPPEE!!!) bought a lot and froze it. Figure half a stick. We like butter. MUCH healthier than margarine.
Figure it out. That's for 5 full grown healthy adults.
I may even make some brownies for dessert. Found some baking chocolate I had forgotten about in the freezer.
We spend around 300 bucks a month for groceries. We eat well, no one is starving. I have snacks (healthy ones) available most of the time.
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So there.....there's my opinion, my experiences and my menu for tonight!

Do You Have Daughters? READ THIS!

Puberty at age 10. The New "Normal"?
This article is scary. Is it the hormones in our commercially raised beef and chicken? Is it the formula they are fed as infants? Is it the plastics that are houses are filled with? The chemicals we mop our floors with, spray on our furniture, etc.?

Read this article please!

We Live in a Sick Society, Part 4....The Cure

Curing our Sick Society

In my own opinionated way, I have laid out what I think are some of the "illnesses" (real and/or figurative) our society suffers from.
The cure?
The cure is not an easy pill to swallow.
WE are the only ones that can effect a cure.

Step One:
Take responsibility for your own health.
That, by the way, is the ONLY step.
That means that if you are ingesting in any way anything you KNOW is unhealthy for you, STOP IT!
Smoking, drinking to excess, white sugars, too much fat, etc.
Shop as organically as possible. Garden, raise livestock for your table if you can. Buy local. Use baking soda and vinegar for cleaning whenever possible.Get as much plastic out of your home as possible.
Look into herbal medicine for everyday aches and pains. Avoid OTC medications as much as possible.
Exercise. Even if you have difficulty doing so, exercise at least a little. Then a little more, every day, do something physical.
Watch less t.v. Move your t.v. OUT of your bedroom! You'll sleep deeper and longer without it in there!
Question your doctor. Don't demand antibiotics for every sniffle! Always ask for treatment options that do NOT involve medication. If your doctor is the type to use his prescription pad at the drop of a hat...find a new doctor.
Eat more salads. Eat more vegetables. Try to have at least one or two vegetarian meals a week. Eat more whole grains.Eat more beans.
Cook from scratch all you can. Bake your own bread, make your own tortillas.
Pack your lunches for work. Pack your children's lunches for school. Better yet, if you are able, home school!
Cut your portion sizes.Get a water filter or water filter pitcher and drink more water.
Drive less, walk/bike more.
Read labels. I'll say that again...READ LABELS. Know what you are eating, what you are feeding your family, what you are cleaning with, etc.
Do all of the above for your children as well!
Give your kids healthy options for snacks. Involve them in gardening, take them to the Farmers Market with you, let them help in the kitchen. 

Make decisions with your wallet. DON'T buy Monsanto products. Try to stay away from the "big box" stores.
"Buy American" is not just good for country, it is good for your health. Other countries do not do the inspections and have the quality control we have in this country.
Again, check those labels! For example, many of the canned vegetables on Wal-Marts shelves are grown and canned in China.They use pesticides and herbicides not allowed in the US. Honey in many groceries is a "blend" of honey from several countries. Sometimes it contains HFCS. ONLY buy local honey! Much produce, meat, honey and fruits that come from South America are similarly suspect. Argentina and Brazil have allowed Monsanto to run agriculture in much of their countries, so many of the products from those countries are GMOs or have fed on GMO corn, wheat, etc.

I know, I know, it seems like a lot to do to reclaim your health.
But once you take the first few "baby steps", it becomes second nature. I have not completed all of the above myself, but I am working on it!
I read the labels. I avoid doctors, OTCs and chemical cleaners. I buy organic and/or local as much as I am able and we are in the process of banishing sugar from the house.
We garden, raise livestock and have home raised eggs, milk and meat.
I have just started getting rid of all the plastics and petroleum-based materials in our home...that's a VERY tough one, by the way!
Take a first step, even if it's a baby step.

We Live in a Sick Society , Part 1

I went to a lot of schools as a kid. Around a dozen different elementary schools, a couple of middles/junior high, but fortunately, only one high school.
In all that time, I never once met a child with a severe allergy. You know, the "if little Billy eats one peanut he will die" allergy. Only one child in elementary school died. She was in a car wreck.
In high school, I knew perhaps 2 kids that died. Both accidents.
Also, in all those years, besides not knowing anyone with an allergy, I also only met precisely one child that had diabetes and that was in high school.Never met a kid with cancer in any of those schools, either. There was no such thing as ADHD, ADD, hyperactivity, etc.
Similarly, I knew a lot of older adults growing up. I knew ONE adult with diabetes. She still bought a box of Girl Scout cookies from me, though. Shortbread trefoils. Said her dog liked them.
I lost all my grandparents by the time I was 21. Two to cancer, two to heart attacks. None of them were young and while they were alive, all of them lived active lives and were not plagued with myriad physical ailments. (Well, except for my paternal grandmother...if you asked "How are you? she would start with her gallbladder operation in 1957 and work her way up from there. She died while  in her 90s.)

Now, go turn on a t.v. for an hour or read a medical page online or open a newspaper.
Ads for medications for ailments that were unheard of 40 or 50 years ago. "Cancer clusters" in various areas of the country. One out of four boys being medicated for "ADD" or "ADHD". Advertisements for diabetes meters and test strips, advertisements for drugs for eczema, psoriasis, heartburn, nail fungus, arthritis, etc. All, of course with the warnings spoken sotto voce (or written in very fine print) about the side effects...some of them potentially fatal.

How did we get here? What happened?
How did America get from a healthy, vibrant society to a sickly, medicated, sick one?
I put part of the blame on food, another part of it on Womens Lib and the feminist movement, and the rest on corporate America and the medical profession.
Let me break that down:
1) We don't eat healthy. We (as a society) have become dependent on highly processed food, microwave meals, fast foods, etc. We expect a "quick fix" for everything. Spend two hours preparing lasagna from scratch? NO WAY! Just pop some frozen lasagna in the microwave and TA-DA, dinner is served! Ever read the ingredients on that package of frozen lasagna? Let's put it this way, if you can't buy each of those ingredients off the shelf at your grocers, or grow them yourselves, you shouldn't be eating them!
Fast food? How about TOXIC food? I have worked at all of the major fast food places in the US, and frankly, I will not eat at any of them. I know what goes in their food. I have even worked at a cattle ranch that was under contract to one of the major fast food places...and I know the hormones and other chemicals that go into those cattle.
We also eat WAY too much meat. Meat consumption in this country is absolutely at ridiculous levels.
I love a good steak as much as the next person, but we should take a cue from Thomas Jefferson who  advised using meat as a condiment. We eat a lot of curries, soups, stews and stir-fries here. I can stretch a half pound of meat (before cooking) to fix a hearty satisfying meal for five people! We also eat "dinner salads" some nights or I use eggs as a base for a meal, making an omelet or souffle.
Sugar consumption of highly refined white sugars and High Fructose Corn Syrup is also WAY too high.
When I was a kid, an orange, some grapes or a banana was a "treat". Apple cider, apple juice, orange juice or a cold glass of milk was a beverage at the table. Kool-Aid once or twice a week in summer. Now kids stuff themselves with candy bars, chips and sodas. Parents excuse buying it by saying "But Billy/Susie won't drink anything else!" Oh, yes they will! We are cutting our soda consumption drastically here. First we cut it down to half of what we normally drank (which was WAY too much). Then we cut it in half again. Next week we will be getting a Soda Stream and will no longer buy ANY sodas. We'll flavor our drinks with spices and fruit juices and sweeten them with raw sugar or honey.
Our portion sizes are WAY too big. Go into any restaurant and order a meal. The amount of food they pile on a plate is astounding. Even at home, most of us have gotten used to huge portion sizes. We need to cut down on the size of our portions. I started using a dessert plate as my dinner plate. It fools the eye and makes you feel as if you have eaten more than you thought.

2) On to the Feminist/Womens Lib movement. Look, I believe women can and should do whatever they want in today's world. But I think it has gotten too extreme. Watch commercials...happy kids and moms at McDonalds. Happy family at Chuckie Cheese's. Happy kids and husband wolfing down moms choice of frozen dinner.
Yes, women got out of the kitchen...and nutrition for their families took a nosedive.
The last 20 to 30 years has seen a brainwashing of society in this country. We have been told that daycare is just as good as a mothers care, that fast food is a great replacement for a home cooked meal, that frozen foods ARE a home cooked meal, etc. They haven't told us about all the communicable diseases young children pick up in daycare from the other kids and caregivers. They haven't (until recently) warned us about all the fats and sugars in fast food and frozen dinners.
Women were told that what their mothers had done was "not enough" but now, women could "have it all".
Yes, as the song said "She could bring home the bacon, fry it up in a pan and never let you forget you're the man". But that's not how it actually happened. A hot breakfast, lovingly cooked by Mom?
Nope, cold cereal it is, maybe a Pop-tart or two. No home packed lunch. School lunch would be fine. Dinner? Mom is exhausted so she stops and grabs a bucket of KFC and a couple of 6 packs of sodas.
I know, I was there once myself. I worked, not to "fulfill" myself but to support my kids.  I didn't enjoy working outside the home, but it was a necessity. I always tried to fix dinner for them, I am glad I did that, at least.
I know a lot of working moms that read this may be pissed at me right now. That's okay, I really don't mind.
I would ask those of you that are married and/or have a partner that works to figure out something.
Do you PAY to work?
Add up each of your work expenses separately. Include clothes you have to buy for work, commuting costs, eating lunch out (if you do), paying for daycare or a babysitter. Every single cost. By the way, both you and your spouse should add in the daycare/babysitter costs on both your work expense costs. I'll explain why in a minute. Now, when you get done, subtract that amount from your TAKE HOME  pay.
If you are in the red, i.e., bringing home less than you are spending for your job...you need to quit your job. Otherwise, see who actually brings home the most and figure out if you can make it on their salary alone if you have kids that would benefit by having a stay at home parent. If you BOTH have to work to make ends meet, that is understandable in today's economy. Just come up with sensible guideline for your diet and your kids diets.
Now, I know that some women out there have their jobs because they have a passion for their work, and that is wonderful. But, please, try to do it without cheating your child (or yourself!) of proper nutrition. No fast food or frozen dinners...plan ahead and maybe involve your kids in helping you make meals for the week on the weekend and have frozen meals that really are home made!
Keep your fridge stocked with snacks that you WANT your children to eat. Fresh fruit, carrot sticks, celery sticks, etc. A good idea is to get small tupperware type containers and fill each with snacking yummies that are easy for kids to make their own little snacks out of.  Similarly, you can use the small containers for dry, non-refrigerated snacks and designate a "snack cabinet" . Make good choices there, too. Dried apple slices, raisins or other dried fruit.You don't have to buy all "health foods", but try to give children better choices.

If you are on your own and have no kids and only cook for yourself, maybe make healthy cooking a hobby! Spend a Sunday afternoon teaching yourself to bake whole grain bread from scratch...then use that bread to make sandwiches for your lunches during the week. Invest in a crock pot if you don't have one and start a nice stew or soup before you leave for work in the morning...arrive home to a wonderful home made dinner!
Eat more salads. There is some evidence that shows a raw diet can slow or even reverse diabetes and other obesity related illnesses.

Tomorrow, Corporate America, Corporate Agriculture and the poisoning of America....

Diet Can Prevent Diabetes, Heart Attacks and Cancer...

I have been thinking a lot about my health, my fellas health and the health of others I care for.
This morning I watched a great documentary...it is almost 2 hours long, but well worth the watch! I found it on Hulu. It is called Chow Down (just click on the name to go watch it!)
Watching that documentary has made me even more determined to get a good garden going this spring and providing healthy food for my family here.My fella (like most American men) is of the opinion that unless there is a juicy slab of meat on his plate, dinner has NOT been served! I am going to have to convince him and the kids that having a meatless meal is NOT torture! I do have them eating salads about twice to three times a week now, thank goodness. I probably won't be able to switch them completely to a meatless diet, but perhaps I can get them to view vegetables and fruit as friends and not enemies!
Just to open your eyes a bit more...think about this....the US is considered the richest, most powerful nation on earth, yet we are NOT the healthiest!
I ended up going to Wikipedia looking up diet, longevity, cultural diets and a slew of other food related topics and found this:

Rank by UN member state	Rank by entity	Entity	Overall life expectancy at birth	Male life expectancy at birth	Female life expectancy at birth
-	1	Macau	84.36	81.39	87.47
1	2	Andorra	82.51	80.33	84.84
2	3	Japan	82.12	78.8	85.62
3	4	Singapore	81.98	79.37	84.78
4	5	San Marino	81.97	78.53	85.72
-	6	Hong Kong	81.86	79.16	84.79
5	7	Australia	81.63	79.25	84.14
6	8	Canada	81.23	78.69	83.91
7	9	France (metropolitan)	80.98	77.79	84.33
8	10	Sweden	80.86	78.59	83.26
9	11	Switzerland	80.85	78.03	83.83
-	12	Guernsey	80.77	77.76	83.88
10	13	Israel	80.73	78.62	82.95
11	14	Iceland	80.67	78.53	82.9
	15	Anguilla	80.65	78.11	83.26
	16	Cayman Islands	80.44	77.2	83.72
	17	Bermuda	80.43	77.65	83.26
12	18	New Zealand	80.36	78.43	82.39
13	19	Italy	80.2	77.26	83.33
	20	Gibraltar	80.19	77.3	83.22
14	21	Monaco	80.09	76.3	84.09
15	22	Liechtenstein	80.06	76.59	83.53
16	23	Spain	80.05	76.74	83.57
17	24	Norway	79.95	77.29	82.74
	25	Jersey	79.75	77.23	82.46
18	26	Greece	79.66	77.11	82.37
19	27	Austria	79.5	76.6	82.56
	28	Faroe Islands	79.44	77	82.05
20	29	Malta	79.44	76.95	81.47
21	30	Netherlands	79.4	76.8	82.14
22	31	Luxembourg	79.33	76.07	82.81
23	32	Germany	79.26	76.26	82.42
24	33	Belgium	79.22	76.06	82.53
	34	Saint Pierre and Miquelon	79.07	76.69	81.57
	35	U.S. Virgin Islands	79.05	76.02	82.26
25	36	United Kingdom	79.01	76.52	81.63
26	37	Finland	78.97	75.48	82.61
27	38	Jordan	78.87	76.34	81.56
	39	Isle of Man	78.82	75.86	81.93
28	40	South Korea	78.72	77.45	82.22
	41	European Union	78.67	75.54	81.97
	42	Puerto Rico ( US)	78.53	74.85	82.39
29	43	Bosnia and Herzegovina	78.5	74.92	82.34
	44	Saint Helena	78.44	75.52	81.5
30	45	Cyprus	78.33	75.91	80.86
31	46	Denmark	78.3	75.96	80.78
32	47	Ireland	78.24	75.6	81.06
33	48	Portugal	78.21	74.95	81.69
	49	Wallis and Futuna	78.2	75.22	81.32
34	50	United States	78.11	75.65	80.69
35	51	Albania	77.96	75.28	80.89
	52	Taiwan	77.96	75.12	81.05
36	53	Kuwait	77.71	76.51	78.95
37	54	Costa Rica	77.58	74.96	80.34
38	55	Cuba	77.45	75.19	79.85
39	56	Chile	77.34	74.07	80.77
40	57	Libya	77.26	74.98	79.65
	58	British Virgin Islands	77.26	76.03	78.55
41	59	Panama	77.25	74.47	80.16
42	60	Slovenia	76.92	73.25	80.84
43	61	Czech Republic	76.81	73.54	80.28
44	62	Georgia	76.72	73.41	80.45
	63	French Polynesia ( France)	76.31	73.88	78.86
	64	Northern Mariana Islands ( US)	76.71	74.26	79.29
	65	Netherlands Antilles ( Netherlands)	76.65	74.03	79.09
45	66	Argentina	76.56	73.32	79.97
46	67	Saint Lucia	76.45	73.78	79.27
47	68	Uruguay	76.35	73.1	79.72
48	69	Saudi Arabia	76.3	74.23	78.48
49	75	Poland	76.28	73.12	79.44
50	70	United Arab Emirates	76.11	73.56	78.78
51	71	Mexico	76.06	73.25	79
52	72	Tunisia	75.78	73.98	77.7
53	73	Paraguay	75.77	73.19	78.49
54	74	Brunei	75.74	73.52	78.07
55	76	Dominica	75.55	72.61	78.64
	77	Turks and Caicos Islands	75.42	73.12	77.83
56	78	Slovakia	75.4	71.47	79.53
57	79	Croatia	75.35	71.72	79.18
58	80	Qatar	75.35	71.66	77.14
59	81	Ecuador	75.3	72.37	78.37
	82	Aruba ( Netherlands)	75.28	72.25	78.38
60	83	Bahrain	75.16	72.64	77.76
61	84	Sri Lanka	75.14	73.08	77.28
	85	New Caledonia ( France)	74.98	71.99	78.12
62	86	Lithuania	74.9	69.98	80.1
63	87	Antigua and Barbuda	74.76	72.81	76.81
64	88	Macedonia	74.68	72.18	77.38
	89	West Bank	74.54	72.54	76.65
	90	Cook Islands	74.22	71.46	77.13
65	91	Oman	74.16	71.87	76.55
66	92	Algeria	74.02	72.35	75.77
67	93	Mauritius	74	70.53	77.65
68	94	Maldives	73.97	71.78	76.28
69	95	Barbados	73.94	71.65	76.26
70	96	Serbia	73.9	71.09	76.89
71	97	Suriname	73.73	71	76.65
	98	American Samoa ( US)	73.72	70.8	76.82
72	99	Dominican Republic	73.7	71.88	75.6
73	100	Solomon Islands	73.69	71.14	76.37
74	101	Lebanon	73.66	71.15	76.31
75	102	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	73.65	71.82	75.54
76	103	Venezuela	73.61	70.54	76.83
77	104	Jamaica	73.53	71.83	75.3
78	105	People's Republic of China	73.47	71.61	75.52
79	106	Hungary	73.44	69.27	77.87
	107	Gaza Strip	73.42	71.82	75.12
80	108	Malaysia	73.29	70.56	76.21
81	109	Saint Kitts and Nevis	73.2	70.33	76.25
82	110	Thailand	73.1	70.77	75.55
83	111	Bulgaria	73.09	69.48	76.91
84	112	Seychelles	73.02	68.33	77.85
85	113	Estonia	72.82	67.45	78.53
86	114	Colombia	72.81	68.98	76.76
	115	Montserrat	72.76	74.74	70.68
87	116	Armenia	72.68	69.06	76.81
88	117	Romania	72.45	68.95	76.16
89	118	El Salvador	72.33	68.72	76.11
90	119	Latvia	72.15	66.98	77.59
91	120	Egypt	72.12	69.56	74.81
92	121	Brazil	71.99	68.43	75.73
93	122	Turkey	71.96	70.12	73.89
94	123	Uzbekistan	71.96	68.95	75.15
95	124	Samoa	71.86	69.03	74.84
96	125	Morocco	71.8	69.42	74.3
97	126	Cape Verde	71.61	68.27	75.05
98	127	Vietnam	71.58	68.78	74.57
99	128	Nicaragua	71.5	69.35	73.75
100	129	Palau	71.22	68.08	74.54
101	130	Marshall Islands	71.19	69.15	73.34
102	131	Syria	71.19	69.8	72.68
103	132	Iran	71.14	69.65	72.72
104	133	Philippines	71.09	68.17	74.15
105	134	Federated States of Micronesia	70.94	69.06	72.93
106	135	Trinidad and Tobago	70.86	67.98	73.82
107	136	Moldova	70.8	67.1	74.71
108	137	Indonesia	70.76	68.26	73.38
109	138	Peru	70.74	68.33	68.88
110	139	Fiji	70.73	68.18	73.41
111	140	Tonga	70.73	68.18	73.41
112	141	Belarus	70.63	64.95	76.67
113	142	Guatemala	70.29	68.49	72.19
	143	Greenland ( Denmark)	70.07	67.44	72.85
114	144	Iraq	69.94	68.6	71.34
115	145	India	69.89	67.46	72.61
116	146	Kyrgyzstan	69.43	65.43	73.64
117	147	Honduras	69.4	67.86	71.02
118	148	Tuvalu	69.29	66.99	71.7
119	149	São Tomé and Príncipe	68.32	66.65	70.04
120	150	Ukraine	68.25	62.37	74.5
121	151	Belize	68.2	66.44	70.05
122	152	Kazakhstan	67.87	62.58	73.47
123	153	Turkmenistan	67.87	64.94	70.95
124	154	Mongolia	67.65	65.23	70.19
125	155	East Timor	67.27	64.92	69.75
126	156	Bolivia	66.89	64.2	69.72
127	157	Guyana	66.68	64.09	69.4
128	158	Azerbaijan	66.66	62.53	71.34
-	-	World	66.57	64.52	68.76
129	159	Papua New Guinea	66.34	64.08	68.72
130	160	Bhutan	66.13	65.33	66.97
131	161	Russia	66.03	59.33	73.14
132	162	Grenada	65.95	64.06	67.85
133	163	The Bahamas	65.78	62.63	68.98
134	164	Nepal	65.46	64.3	66.67
135	165	Tajikistan	65.33	62.29	68.52
136	166	Pakistan	64.49	63.4	65.64
137	167	Nauru	64.2	60.58	68.01
138	168	Vanuatu	63.98	62.37	65.66
139	169	North Korea	63.81	61.23	66.53
140	170	Comoros	63.47	61.07	65.94
141	171	Burma	63.39	61.17	65.74
142	172	Yemen	63.27	61.3	65.33
143	173	Kiribati	63.22	60.14	66.45
	174	Mayotte ( France)	62.91	60.65	65.24
144	175	Madagascar	62.89	60.93	64.91
145	176	Cambodia	62.1	60.03	64.27
146	177	Botswana	61.85	61.72	61.99
147	178	Eritrea	61.78	59.71	63.9
148	179	Equatorial Guinea	61.61	60.71	62.54
149	180	Haiti	60.78	59.13	62.48
150	181	Mauritania	60.37	58.22	62.59
151	182	Bangladesh	60.25	57.57	63.03
152	183	Ghana	59.85	58.98	60.75
153	184	Benin	59	57.83	60.23
154	185	Senegal	59	57.12	60.93
155	186	Togo	58.69	56.56	60.88
156	187	Kenya	57.86	57.49	58.24
157	188	Guinea	57.09	55.63	58.6
158	189	Laos	56.68	54.56	58.9
159	190	Côte d'Ivoire	55.45	54.64	56.28
160	191	Ethiopia	55.41	52.92	57.97
161	192	The Gambia	55.35	53.43	57.34
162	193	Democratic Republic of the Congo	54.36	52.58	56.2
	194	Western Sahara	54.32	52	56.73
163	195	Republic of the Congo	54.15	52.9	55.43
164	196	Cameroon	53.69	52.89	54.52
165	197	Gabon	53.11	52.19	54.05
166	198	Burkina Faso	52.95	51.04	54.91
167	199	Uganda	52.72	51.66	53.81
168	200	Niger	52.6	51.39	53.85
169	201	Burundi	52.09	51.2	53.01
170	202	Tanzania	52.01	50.56	53.51
171	203	Sudan	51.42	50.49	52.4
172	204	Namibia	51.24	51.61	50.86
173	205	Rwanda	50.52	49.25	51.83
174	206	Mali	50.35	48.38	52.38
175	207	Somalia	49.63	47.78	51.53
176	208	South Africa	48.98	49.81	48.13
177	209	Guinea-Bissau	47.9	46.07	49.79
178	210	Chad	47.7	46.67	48.77
179	211	Nigeria	46.94	46.16	47.76
180	212	Zimbabwe	45.77	46.36	45.16
181	213	Afghanistan	44.64	44.47	44.81
182	214	Central African Republic	44.47	44.4	44.54
183	215	Malawi	43.82	44.07	43.57
184	216	Djibouti	43.37	41.89	44.89
185	217	Liberia	41.84	40.71	43
186	218	Sierra Leone	41.24	38.92	43.64
187	219	Mozambique	41.18	41.83	40.53
188	220	Lesotho	40.38	41.18	39.54
189	221	Zambia	38.63	38.53	38.73
190	222	Angola	38.2	37.24	39.22
191	223	Swaziland	31.88	31.62	32.15

Did you happen to see where the United States was on that chart?

We are NOT Number 1!