Down at the bottom left is my exercise ticker. The ladies on the Leslie Sansone forums were keeping these tickers, allowing 1 mile for every 15 minutes walked (1 1/2 if you used "boosters" but I didn't do that). I set up my goal as the distance between our house and our former apartment in Kissimmee, Florida, a distance of 1200 miles, give or take. I'm ending 2011 at the total of 1087, only 113 miles to go!
Ah, how I wish that was real life and we WOULD be going back to Kissimmee early this year. That wish is on hold until after the aunt in the nursing home dies, and since her father lived to age 95 and only died because he fell off a stretcher when he went to be examined for an enlarged prostate, even in her current state of health at age 93 we know she's going to be around for quite a bit longer, even though she's been praying for death for 26 years now. Remember, only the good die young, as the great sage Billy Joel once sang.
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Why I'm No Longer Working in My Chosen Profession
This article is about New York, but it's already an unwritten law all around this area. Every ad for a Registered Nurse demands a minimum of a Bachelor's Degree, some demanding a MSN degree for jobs like head nurse or supervisors, a job I did for years with only an Associate Degree in Nursing (and almost 20 years' experience). I still have my nursing license, but keep it inactive, because otherwise I would have to pay for 30 hours of continuing education credits out of my own pocket every year. I can find courses on-line or magazines, usually a credit or 2 here and there, but it would take a few hundred dollars to get all thirty, money I don't have when there's no chance in hell I'd get hired anywhere.
Also, the article states there's a nursing *shortage*, but there really isn't. Hospitals are closing, leaving hundreds of nurses out of work. The remaining hospitals and other institutions that employ nurses are constantly laying off nursing staff to save money, leaving units dangerously understaffed. My son has friends that are in nursing, and only one is working right now and that's not even full time. The rest had gone from full time, to part time, to per diem, and now all but that one have been laid off for over a year now with no job prospects in sight.
And if hospitals would drop the BSN requirements there's an even bigger pool of nurses to choose from, nurses like me who originally went to nursing school based in hospitals, not universities, where we worked on the units form 7am until 3pm every day of the week (Weekends included) and had our classes scattered throughout the day and nights. I know a few university trained nurses, who had more hours in a classroom than giving hands-on patient care, who don't even know how to take a temperature. My own sister-in-law is one of them. She has multiple college degrees and one year decided to add MSN to her curricula vitae. She never did one day of clinical work, yet *she* will be hired before me, if we both applied for the same jobs. More doors have opened for her than ever did for me.
And as for the "BSN in 10" the article espouses. Not gonna happen. I tried to get my BSN in less than 10 and was told in 3 different schools that I would have to retake courses I had taken just a few years earlier, that the credits were only good for 3-5 years, depending on the school. Now what busy nurse is going to want to retake courses when she already has at least 2 years of classwork already ahead of her - and that's if she goes full time? Going part time it she'll already need all of those 10 years to get the classes - and practicum - in around her work schedule, and if she has a busy family life, too, 10 years may not be enough.
NY bill would require bachelor's degrees for RNs
Dec 30, 6:56 AM (ET)
By MICHAEL GORMLEY and GEORGE M. WALSH
Also, the article states there's a nursing *shortage*, but there really isn't. Hospitals are closing, leaving hundreds of nurses out of work. The remaining hospitals and other institutions that employ nurses are constantly laying off nursing staff to save money, leaving units dangerously understaffed. My son has friends that are in nursing, and only one is working right now and that's not even full time. The rest had gone from full time, to part time, to per diem, and now all but that one have been laid off for over a year now with no job prospects in sight.
And if hospitals would drop the BSN requirements there's an even bigger pool of nurses to choose from, nurses like me who originally went to nursing school based in hospitals, not universities, where we worked on the units form 7am until 3pm every day of the week (Weekends included) and had our classes scattered throughout the day and nights. I know a few university trained nurses, who had more hours in a classroom than giving hands-on patient care, who don't even know how to take a temperature. My own sister-in-law is one of them. She has multiple college degrees and one year decided to add MSN to her curricula vitae. She never did one day of clinical work, yet *she* will be hired before me, if we both applied for the same jobs. More doors have opened for her than ever did for me.
And as for the "BSN in 10" the article espouses. Not gonna happen. I tried to get my BSN in less than 10 and was told in 3 different schools that I would have to retake courses I had taken just a few years earlier, that the credits were only good for 3-5 years, depending on the school. Now what busy nurse is going to want to retake courses when she already has at least 2 years of classwork already ahead of her - and that's if she goes full time? Going part time it she'll already need all of those 10 years to get the classes - and practicum - in around her work schedule, and if she has a busy family life, too, 10 years may not be enough.
NY bill would require bachelor's degrees for RNs
Dec 30, 6:56 AM (ET)
By MICHAEL GORMLEY and GEORGE M. WALSH
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - New registered nurses would have to earn bachelor's degrees within 10 years to keep working in New York under a bill lawmakers are considering as part of a national push to raise educational standards for nurses, even as the health care industry faces staffing shortages.
The "BSN in 10" initiative backed by nursing associations and major health policy organizations aims to attack the complex problem of too few nurses trained to care for an aging population that includes hundreds of thousands of nurses expected to retire in the coming years. But some in the health care industry worry that increased education requirements could worsen the problem by discouraging entrants into the field.
Currently, most registered nurses have two-year associate's degrees. No state requires a four-year degree for initial licensing or afterward, though New Jersey and Rhode Island have considered proposals similar to New York's over the past several years. New York's legislation died in committee last session, but it has bipartisan support in both chambers this year and could be debated as early as January.
Demand for more skilled nurses is increasing as the population gets older and has more chronic diseases, and as the new federal health care law promises to help 32 million more Americans gain insurance within a few years.
Federal health officials have recommended upgrading nurse education to BSNs for more than a decade, and the idea got a boost in a 2010 report, "The Future of Nursing," by the National Academy of Sciences nonprofit Institute of Medicine and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. As of 2008, about a third of RNs had bachelor's degrees or higher, according to federal statistics. The institute recommended increasing that to 80 percent by 2020. Advocates say that in addition to improving patient care, a key reason for requiring more education is to put more nurses in position to move on to jobs in administration and in-demand specialties like oncology, and to teach at nursing schools, where the average faculty age is 53.
"More and more hospitals are looking to hire BSNs, but the catch is that not that many schools offer the RN-to-BSN program or have the faculty to teach it," said Sharon Shockness, an adjunct teacher at Mercy College in Westchester County.
The New York bill's main sponsors, Democratic Assemblyman Joseph Morelle of Rochester and Republican Sen. James Alesi of Monroe County, said the bill is needed to further professionalize nursing. Both serve on their respective higher education committees and represent districts that include University of Rochester Medical Center and St. John Fisher College, which have BSN programs.
In addition to helping provide future teachers, the lawmakers say the added education and critical thinking skills are needed as patient care has become more sophisticated and studies show staff with higher levels of education serve patients better.
In a memo supporting the bill, the New York State Nurses Association cites a 2003 University of Pennsylvania study that found every 10 percent increase in staffing by nurses with bachelor's degrees results in a 5 percent decrease in surgical deaths.
Current registered nurses would be exempt from the education requirement to prevent driving more nurses from the field.
"This bill shouldn't discourage anyone at this point because it doesn't involve anyone even applying for licensure right now ... and 10 years is a long time to get a degree that will give you better pay," Alesi said.
Alesi contends the measure will "improve the landscape of nursing" by increasing the pool of RNs who can go on to obtain master's degrees and teach.
Researchers say almost 900,000 of the nation's roughly 3 million licensed RNs are older than 50, and while there's been an uptick in new, younger nurses, shortages are still expected as the health care industry continues to add nursing jobs. The federal Bureau of Labor Statistics estimated in 2009 that almost 582,000 new RN jobs would be created by 2018.
Federal projections in 2004, the most recent available, forecast a shortfall of 54,000 RN jobs in New York by 2020; the state currently has about 170,000 working nurses. But the state and national shortage estimates have varied greatly as the overall economy and national health policy have changed. A study published this year in the journal Health Affairs reports a surge among younger RNs entering the workforce, pointing to an easing of a national shortage previously forecast to reach 400,000 by 2020.
That shortage concerns New York's health care providers.
William Van Slyke, spokesman for the Healthcare Association of New York State, said the organization representing health care networks and hospitals supports having a better educated nursing workforce, but opposes a four-year degree mandate.
One problem, he said, is the lack of nursing faculty - the same issue advocates say the bill would address.
"If you start the clock and you don't have the educational system, we may find ourselves having to turn away staff and have shortages," Van Slyke said.
The association has proposed legislation that would provide incentives like loan forgiveness to encourage people to become nurse educators, he said, but lawmakers haven't taken up the idea.
Morelle, the Assembly sponsor, said the state's community colleges also have expressed concerns that the requirement will cut into the number of people seeking the 2-year degrees they offer.
"Their classes are overflowing," Morelle said, and there is a "whole host of programs" that allow students to progress from a 2-year to a 4-year program.
A spokesman for the New York nurses association said New York City metropolitan area hospitals are increasingly requiring new RNs to have a bachelor's degree or earn one within five years, creating a disparity in standards between downstate and upstate, where fewer candidates have four-year degrees.
"Even without the legislation in place, hospitals and other medical facilities are making hiring decisions that favor those with BSN degrees over those without them," said Dr. Peggy Tallier, program director and associate professor in nursing school health at Mercy College.
The "BSN in 10" initiative backed by nursing associations and major health policy organizations aims to attack the complex problem of too few nurses trained to care for an aging population that includes hundreds of thousands of nurses expected to retire in the coming years. But some in the health care industry worry that increased education requirements could worsen the problem by discouraging entrants into the field.
Currently, most registered nurses have two-year associate's degrees. No state requires a four-year degree for initial licensing or afterward, though New Jersey and Rhode Island have considered proposals similar to New York's over the past several years. New York's legislation died in committee last session, but it has bipartisan support in both chambers this year and could be debated as early as January.
Demand for more skilled nurses is increasing as the population gets older and has more chronic diseases, and as the new federal health care law promises to help 32 million more Americans gain insurance within a few years.
"More and more hospitals are looking to hire BSNs, but the catch is that not that many schools offer the RN-to-BSN program or have the faculty to teach it," said Sharon Shockness, an adjunct teacher at Mercy College in Westchester County.
The New York bill's main sponsors, Democratic Assemblyman Joseph Morelle of Rochester and Republican Sen. James Alesi of Monroe County, said the bill is needed to further professionalize nursing. Both serve on their respective higher education committees and represent districts that include University of Rochester Medical Center and St. John Fisher College, which have BSN programs.
In addition to helping provide future teachers, the lawmakers say the added education and critical thinking skills are needed as patient care has become more sophisticated and studies show staff with higher levels of education serve patients better.
In a memo supporting the bill, the New York State Nurses Association cites a 2003 University of Pennsylvania study that found every 10 percent increase in staffing by nurses with bachelor's degrees results in a 5 percent decrease in surgical deaths.
Current registered nurses would be exempt from the education requirement to prevent driving more nurses from the field.
"This bill shouldn't discourage anyone at this point because it doesn't involve anyone even applying for licensure right now ... and 10 years is a long time to get a degree that will give you better pay," Alesi said.
Alesi contends the measure will "improve the landscape of nursing" by increasing the pool of RNs who can go on to obtain master's degrees and teach.
Researchers say almost 900,000 of the nation's roughly 3 million licensed RNs are older than 50, and while there's been an uptick in new, younger nurses, shortages are still expected as the health care industry continues to add nursing jobs. The federal Bureau of Labor Statistics estimated in 2009 that almost 582,000 new RN jobs would be created by 2018.
Federal projections in 2004, the most recent available, forecast a shortfall of 54,000 RN jobs in New York by 2020; the state currently has about 170,000 working nurses. But the state and national shortage estimates have varied greatly as the overall economy and national health policy have changed. A study published this year in the journal Health Affairs reports a surge among younger RNs entering the workforce, pointing to an easing of a national shortage previously forecast to reach 400,000 by 2020.
That shortage concerns New York's health care providers.
William Van Slyke, spokesman for the Healthcare Association of New York State, said the organization representing health care networks and hospitals supports having a better educated nursing workforce, but opposes a four-year degree mandate.
One problem, he said, is the lack of nursing faculty - the same issue advocates say the bill would address.
"If you start the clock and you don't have the educational system, we may find ourselves having to turn away staff and have shortages," Van Slyke said.
The association has proposed legislation that would provide incentives like loan forgiveness to encourage people to become nurse educators, he said, but lawmakers haven't taken up the idea.
Morelle, the Assembly sponsor, said the state's community colleges also have expressed concerns that the requirement will cut into the number of people seeking the 2-year degrees they offer.
"Their classes are overflowing," Morelle said, and there is a "whole host of programs" that allow students to progress from a 2-year to a 4-year program.
A spokesman for the New York nurses association said New York City metropolitan area hospitals are increasingly requiring new RNs to have a bachelor's degree or earn one within five years, creating a disparity in standards between downstate and upstate, where fewer candidates have four-year degrees.
"Even without the legislation in place, hospitals and other medical facilities are making hiring decisions that favor those with BSN degrees over those without them," said Dr. Peggy Tallier, program director and associate professor in nursing school health at Mercy College.
What Are You Doing New Years Eve? by Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-L...
As for me and my family, hubby and I will be asleep hours before the ball drops and our son will probably be on-line with his buds in battle playing some game on Steam.
Happy New Years, dear readers, and may 2012 be a heck of a lot better than 2011 for everyone.
Friday, December 30, 2011
You Say You Want A Resolution . . .
Hi, boys and girls! It's that time of year again, the time when every adult (And many of you kiddies) make promises to yourself that you rarely keep. Most people resolve to lose weight, exercise more, eat healthier, better their relationships, and all that good stuff. Kids resolve to do better at school, listen to their parents, get a better score in their favorite video game.
I've even seen people resolve to make no resolutions. Three different comic strips this week used that old joke.
So, what will MY resolutions be for 2012? Let's see . . .
Stop weighing in daily. Why bother?
Allow myself to eat some feast meals without feeling guilty.
Ditto eating from mouth hunger (emotional eating) in times of stress. NOT doing so only adds more stress, which eventually leads to a binge.
Watch more videos and read more books.
NOT buy any weight-loss related videos or books. I *will* allow myself the pleasure of purchasing Dr. McDougall's new book when it's finally released this year - The Starch Solution.
Here's the first chapter for those who care.
The only other books I'll allow myself to buy (as opposed to get from the library) are the few cozy mystery series I'm working on and the rest of the Dresden Files books. I still have 3 to go to be caught up.
And that's all I'm saying for now. 2011 has been a very crazy, messed-up year, and although I HOPE 2012 will be better, I'm not too optimistic. Fat-phobia is worse than ever, not just in my own life (doctor, extended family, strangers on the street) but in the world in general. The economy still sucks. My son, who graduated with an engineering Master's degree 2 1/2 years ago, still can't get hired to even pick up dog poop and still has about $30k in student loads to pay off, so every spare penny we have goes towards helping him out. And those spare pennies are getting harder to find as prices go up in every facet of life, from a bag of beans to rent on the apartment, while income decreases as companies cut back and tax and insurance rates rise. Everyone and every thing is getting older and in need of repair or replacment, from hormones to car radiators. Winter iscoming here and snow won't be far behind. Spring is a long way away. I'm just glad we got the aunt into a nursing home (and her house sold) so she won't be left alone when the roads are closed and nobody can get to her house an hour away to cook, clean, and care for her and her shovel her sidewalks and that long driveway.
Okay, so one good thing to look forward to.
I've even seen people resolve to make no resolutions. Three different comic strips this week used that old joke.
So, what will MY resolutions be for 2012? Let's see . . .
Stop weighing in daily. Why bother?
Allow myself to eat some feast meals without feeling guilty.
Ditto eating from mouth hunger (emotional eating) in times of stress. NOT doing so only adds more stress, which eventually leads to a binge.
Watch more videos and read more books.
NOT buy any weight-loss related videos or books. I *will* allow myself the pleasure of purchasing Dr. McDougall's new book when it's finally released this year - The Starch Solution.Here's the first chapter for those who care.
And that's all I'm saying for now. 2011 has been a very crazy, messed-up year, and although I HOPE 2012 will be better, I'm not too optimistic. Fat-phobia is worse than ever, not just in my own life (doctor, extended family, strangers on the street) but in the world in general. The economy still sucks. My son, who graduated with an engineering Master's degree 2 1/2 years ago, still can't get hired to even pick up dog poop and still has about $30k in student loads to pay off, so every spare penny we have goes towards helping him out. And those spare pennies are getting harder to find as prices go up in every facet of life, from a bag of beans to rent on the apartment, while income decreases as companies cut back and tax and insurance rates rise. Everyone and every thing is getting older and in need of repair or replacment, from hormones to car radiators. Winter is
Okay, so one good thing to look forward to.
Monday, December 26, 2011
Tao of Joy Every Day
I've been following the Tea House forums of Derek Lin's for a number of years now, and in the past bought every book he's put out. Last week I got this new one, Tao of Joy Every Day. Lovely book of Tao daily affirmations. So far it's a pretty fantastic book.
Here's the reading for today. I read this after a night of tossing and turning trying to decide what to do about my weight, since the food plan I've been following isn't giving me the results originally promised (The typical promise of 4 or more pounds a week. Oh, wait a minute, that's only in the beginning, that most people should expect a pound or 2 IF they stick to the more restricted version and get an hour of aerobic exercise daily AND they have no medical condition such as hypothyroid that would affect their metabolism) and I was thinking of switching to an even more restricted food plan, one that allows you to eat about a thousand calories of green and yellow veggies a day with a bare minimum of starchy foods. Sure, I would be hungry all the time, and yeah, I would be spending most of my days and nights in the bathroom, but won't it be worth it to finally lose this weight?
What idiotic thinking!!
Then I read this and decided to just take a deep breath and relax:
Day 360
The Great Vessel
Chapter 41 of the Tao Te Ching says: "The great vessel is late in completion." The meaning of this is the same as our familiar expression "Rome was not built in a day." A big, worthwhile goal takes time to accomplish and cannot be rushed. If you push yourself too hard, you will end up with not a great vessel but a leaky container.
This is why Tao cultivators do not stress themselves out. It is quite all right if they are not as successful as they want to be. They never stop taking meaningful steps toward the goal, but their attitude is one of relaxed optimism. This is contrary to our success-obsessed society, where people compare themselves with one another and feel upset of they think they are lagging behind.
In life, we see evidence of leaky containers all the time. They are the hard-charging, aggressive personalities who keep pushing themselves for the bigger paycheck at the expense of health, family, relationships, and peace of mind. By the time they realize the frantic rush does not work, their container of life is already broken into pieces. By then, it is too late.
The Tao Today
Heed the words of Lao Tzu and avoid the mistakes of others. Do not beat yourself up if you get to where you want to be more slowly than your peers. The important thing in life is not doing things quickly, but doing things correctly. Relax and take all the time you need to complete the great vessel of your own creation.
Here's the reading for today. I read this after a night of tossing and turning trying to decide what to do about my weight, since the food plan I've been following isn't giving me the results originally promised (The typical promise of 4 or more pounds a week. Oh, wait a minute, that's only in the beginning, that most people should expect a pound or 2 IF they stick to the more restricted version and get an hour of aerobic exercise daily AND they have no medical condition such as hypothyroid that would affect their metabolism) and I was thinking of switching to an even more restricted food plan, one that allows you to eat about a thousand calories of green and yellow veggies a day with a bare minimum of starchy foods. Sure, I would be hungry all the time, and yeah, I would be spending most of my days and nights in the bathroom, but won't it be worth it to finally lose this weight?
What idiotic thinking!!
Then I read this and decided to just take a deep breath and relax:
Day 360
The Great Vessel
Chapter 41 of the Tao Te Ching says: "The great vessel is late in completion." The meaning of this is the same as our familiar expression "Rome was not built in a day." A big, worthwhile goal takes time to accomplish and cannot be rushed. If you push yourself too hard, you will end up with not a great vessel but a leaky container.
This is why Tao cultivators do not stress themselves out. It is quite all right if they are not as successful as they want to be. They never stop taking meaningful steps toward the goal, but their attitude is one of relaxed optimism. This is contrary to our success-obsessed society, where people compare themselves with one another and feel upset of they think they are lagging behind.
In life, we see evidence of leaky containers all the time. They are the hard-charging, aggressive personalities who keep pushing themselves for the bigger paycheck at the expense of health, family, relationships, and peace of mind. By the time they realize the frantic rush does not work, their container of life is already broken into pieces. By then, it is too late.
The Tao Today
Heed the words of Lao Tzu and avoid the mistakes of others. Do not beat yourself up if you get to where you want to be more slowly than your peers. The important thing in life is not doing things quickly, but doing things correctly. Relax and take all the time you need to complete the great vessel of your own creation.
Sunday, December 25, 2011
Bye, Clara, and Thanks for Everything
Clara Cannuciari, who has done the Great Depression Cooking Series, has finished filming episodes. She's now 96 years old and deserves the rest.
Thanks, Clara, for many wonderful recipes - and stories - that have helped us all through these tough financial times.
Thanks, Clara, for many wonderful recipes - and stories - that have helped us all through these tough financial times.
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Late December Update
Latest lab work - chemistry, blood count, etc. - showed just about everything is perfect. No diabetes, or even the hint of it, no anemia, no liver problems due to meds. My Vitamin D is now *just* in the normal reference range at 31 (normal 30 - 100) so my dosage is increased again to 5000 mg 5 times a week instead of 3.
The past few months I haven't been sticking to any strict food plan, although I would say 90% of my meals are low fat, starch-based vegan. That other 10% includes the occasional fast-food burger and fries, pizza once or twice, even a Blimpie here and there. And yeah, all my lab work is fine! Because of that, I'm going to continue to eat this way and not feel so guilty about it.
Guilt. About eating foods the rest of the world eats without worrying about, like water-packed tuna and low-fat mozzarella cheese. I wrote about this over on the new Overcoming Overeating forums. You should take a look at the newly re-vamped OO website - lots of bells and whistles but the forums are the only thing new. But I love forums, so it's a big plus for me.
The elderly relative I've mentioned in the past is still sinking physically and mentally. She's only out of bed an hour or so a day, and even then she prefers to sleep rather than eat or participate in any activities. I was told she even sleeps through the children's choirs who have been streaming in on a fairly steady basis all month. Her bedsores aren't healing, she's still anemic and they can't find out why. She doesn't even wake up when we visit any more, just groans and tells us she's tired and is going to go back to sleep. The staff is at a loss as what to do next for her, and they even discontinued her physical therapy because she refuses to allow the therapist to even do range of motion exercises while in bed. All the appetite stimulants are doing are giving her a sweet tooth, and all she's eating are the pastries and donuts that are part of each breakfast, rarely anything else.
At least her house has been sold so there's enough money in her bank account to pay for her nursing care for a few more years.
So this is how we're entering Christmas week and the end of 2011. I hope 2012 is better. Right now we're all hoping it WILL bring the end of the world with it!
The past few months I haven't been sticking to any strict food plan, although I would say 90% of my meals are low fat, starch-based vegan. That other 10% includes the occasional fast-food burger and fries, pizza once or twice, even a Blimpie here and there. And yeah, all my lab work is fine! Because of that, I'm going to continue to eat this way and not feel so guilty about it.
Guilt. About eating foods the rest of the world eats without worrying about, like water-packed tuna and low-fat mozzarella cheese. I wrote about this over on the new Overcoming Overeating forums. You should take a look at the newly re-vamped OO website - lots of bells and whistles but the forums are the only thing new. But I love forums, so it's a big plus for me.
The elderly relative I've mentioned in the past is still sinking physically and mentally. She's only out of bed an hour or so a day, and even then she prefers to sleep rather than eat or participate in any activities. I was told she even sleeps through the children's choirs who have been streaming in on a fairly steady basis all month. Her bedsores aren't healing, she's still anemic and they can't find out why. She doesn't even wake up when we visit any more, just groans and tells us she's tired and is going to go back to sleep. The staff is at a loss as what to do next for her, and they even discontinued her physical therapy because she refuses to allow the therapist to even do range of motion exercises while in bed. All the appetite stimulants are doing are giving her a sweet tooth, and all she's eating are the pastries and donuts that are part of each breakfast, rarely anything else.
At least her house has been sold so there's enough money in her bank account to pay for her nursing care for a few more years.
So this is how we're entering Christmas week and the end of 2011. I hope 2012 is better. Right now we're all hoping it WILL bring the end of the world with it!
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
If At First You Don't Suceed . . .
You know what happens when you eat a heck of a lot less and do a heck of a lot more exercise? First off, after a week or so of near starvation level eating you lose maybe a pound, pound and a half. You rush to get your annual lab work done at this point because nothing but veggies and water have passed between your lips. Your doctor is very happy with all the results.
BUT you then become ravenously HUNGRY and want to eat the paint off the walls. So you have second breakfast. And elevenses. And lunch. Then tea time, then dinner. Yeah, you get so hungry you become a Hobbit.
And what happens then? Well, because you have now scared your metabolism into thinking another famine (a.k.a. diet) is coming, just as it did hundreds of times before, not just that pound and a half but 2 or more pounds come back on. And you're worse off than before you started. You're glad your next doctor's appointment isn't for another 4-6 months.
When will I learn?
BUT you then become ravenously HUNGRY and want to eat the paint off the walls. So you have second breakfast. And elevenses. And lunch. Then tea time, then dinner. Yeah, you get so hungry you become a Hobbit.
And what happens then? Well, because you have now scared your metabolism into thinking another famine (a.k.a. diet) is coming, just as it did hundreds of times before, not just that pound and a half but 2 or more pounds come back on. And you're worse off than before you started. You're glad your next doctor's appointment isn't for another 4-6 months.
When will I learn?
Thursday, December 01, 2011
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Thursday, November 17, 2011
What? The Doctor Doesn't Like the Results?
Ah, the "childhood obesity" and "obese baby" epidemic. The parents are probably following the advice given to them by the mass media to prevent OGGABOOGA DEATHFATZ!! in their baby and some sane person in the doctor's office finally pointed out that the baby is looking a bit too thin and he figured be better cover his ass and say he told them to feed her more.
I feel for the parents. They're damned, and probably threatened by CPS with child abuse, if they feed her normally and she gains a lot, damned - and arrested - when they don't and she remains thin.
Appleton couple charged with neglect
11:19 PM, Nov. 12, 201
APPLETON — An Appleton couple have been charged with felony child neglect for withholding food from their 14-month-old daughter against the repeated advice of doctors.
A criminal complaint alleges that Christopher and Mary Sultze of Appleton failed to heed advice from several medical professionals that their daughter needed to be fed more food due to concerns with her low weight and failure to thrive during regular well baby visits and special checkups.
A preliminary hearing has been scheduled for 2:30 p.m. Wednesday before Outagamie County Judge Dee Dyer for Mary Sultze, who remains in jail under a $10,000 cash bond.
Christopher Sultze was released from jail Thursday after posting $10,000 cash bond. A preliminary hearing has yet to be scheduled in his case.
Both parents resisted doctors' advice to give the child more than they were providing to her and became irritated at times and upset with recommendations to provide her with more calories, the complaint said.
An Outagamie County child protective services intake investigator was contacted Sept. 9 when the girl, who had been born at 8 pounds, 2.8 ounces, on July 9, 2010, had gained less than 3 pounds at age 14 months when she weighed 10 pounds, 14 ounces.
Christopher Sultze said the family follows a very low cholesterol diet and told a doctor that he "doesn't want to have obese children."
On Aug. 24, 2011, he told staff at Children's Hospital of the Fox Valley, Neenah, that doctors were forcing his daughter to drink more milk and eat more food "just trying to stretch her stomach." She had gained 10 ounces during a 20-hour stay in the hospital where she was fed about 1,000 calories as recommended by a dietician for her age.
Dr. Mary Bartel told police that she believes the child was not gaining weight because she was not getting enough calories at home. She said both parents kept insisting that the child was going to "get fat" while she was in the hospital and Christopher Sultze was upset over what he considered overfeeding of his daughter.
Bartel described the child as being cachetic, which she said means her muscle mass was being consumed by her body. The doctor added that the child was "essentially starving" and had "no subcutaneous fat on her."
~~~
I particularly love this part:
"she was fed about 1,000 calories as recommended by a dietician for her age."
So, a newborn to 14 month old baby is supposed to have 1000 calories? So why is that also the number my doctor tells me *I* should be eating at age 58? Under 1000 is starving the child, causing harm. Hmmm.
Another article about this has this paragraph:
"What we believe we'll be able to show in trial is evidence that Ms. Sultze and her husband intentionally withheld food from their young child starting, really shortly after she was born," said Outagamie County Assistant District Attorney Andrew Maier."
Gee, too bad the doctor who delivered me is no longer alive. Those were his exact orders to the nurses at the hospital and to my parents when I was born. They were ordered to dilute my formula in half because I was too fat as a newborn. I was born at 7 pounds, weighed 10 the next morning, so he immediately gave the order to starve me. Didn't do anything but slow my metabolic rate down to a crawl before I was even a week old, dooming me to a life of being fat and unable to lose weight at even the lowest starvation level of calories. Thanks, Doc.
I feel for the parents. They're damned, and probably threatened by CPS with child abuse, if they feed her normally and she gains a lot, damned - and arrested - when they don't and she remains thin.
Appleton couple charged with neglect
11:19 PM, Nov. 12, 201
APPLETON — An Appleton couple have been charged with felony child neglect for withholding food from their 14-month-old daughter against the repeated advice of doctors.
A criminal complaint alleges that Christopher and Mary Sultze of Appleton failed to heed advice from several medical professionals that their daughter needed to be fed more food due to concerns with her low weight and failure to thrive during regular well baby visits and special checkups.
A preliminary hearing has been scheduled for 2:30 p.m. Wednesday before Outagamie County Judge Dee Dyer for Mary Sultze, who remains in jail under a $10,000 cash bond.
Christopher Sultze was released from jail Thursday after posting $10,000 cash bond. A preliminary hearing has yet to be scheduled in his case.
Both parents resisted doctors' advice to give the child more than they were providing to her and became irritated at times and upset with recommendations to provide her with more calories, the complaint said.
An Outagamie County child protective services intake investigator was contacted Sept. 9 when the girl, who had been born at 8 pounds, 2.8 ounces, on July 9, 2010, had gained less than 3 pounds at age 14 months when she weighed 10 pounds, 14 ounces.
Christopher Sultze said the family follows a very low cholesterol diet and told a doctor that he "doesn't want to have obese children."
On Aug. 24, 2011, he told staff at Children's Hospital of the Fox Valley, Neenah, that doctors were forcing his daughter to drink more milk and eat more food "just trying to stretch her stomach." She had gained 10 ounces during a 20-hour stay in the hospital where she was fed about 1,000 calories as recommended by a dietician for her age.
Dr. Mary Bartel told police that she believes the child was not gaining weight because she was not getting enough calories at home. She said both parents kept insisting that the child was going to "get fat" while she was in the hospital and Christopher Sultze was upset over what he considered overfeeding of his daughter.
Bartel described the child as being cachetic, which she said means her muscle mass was being consumed by her body. The doctor added that the child was "essentially starving" and had "no subcutaneous fat on her."
~~~
I particularly love this part:
"she was fed about 1,000 calories as recommended by a dietician for her age."
So, a newborn to 14 month old baby is supposed to have 1000 calories? So why is that also the number my doctor tells me *I* should be eating at age 58? Under 1000 is starving the child, causing harm. Hmmm.
Another article about this has this paragraph:
"What we believe we'll be able to show in trial is evidence that Ms. Sultze and her husband intentionally withheld food from their young child starting, really shortly after she was born," said Outagamie County Assistant District Attorney Andrew Maier."
Gee, too bad the doctor who delivered me is no longer alive. Those were his exact orders to the nurses at the hospital and to my parents when I was born. They were ordered to dilute my formula in half because I was too fat as a newborn. I was born at 7 pounds, weighed 10 the next morning, so he immediately gave the order to starve me. Didn't do anything but slow my metabolic rate down to a crawl before I was even a week old, dooming me to a life of being fat and unable to lose weight at even the lowest starvation level of calories. Thanks, Doc.
Hey! This Is What *I* Had!!
Women more likely to have 'broken heart syndrome'
Nov 16, 4:11 PM (ET)By MARILYNN MARCHIONE
It happens when a big shock, even a good one like winning the lottery, triggers a rush of adrenaline and other stress hormones that cause the heart's main pumping chamber to balloon suddenly and not work right. Tests show dramatic changes in rhythm and blood substances typical of a heart attack, but no artery blockages that typically cause one. Most victims recover within weeks, but in rare cases it proves fatal.
Dr. Abhishek Deshmukh of the University of Arkansas had treated some of these cases.
"I was very curious why only women were having this," he said, so he did the first large study of the problem and reported results Wednesday at an American Heart Association conference in Florida.
Using a federal database with about 1,000 hospitals, Deshmukh found 6,229 cases in 2007. Only 671 involved men. After adjusting for high blood pressure, smoking and other factors that can affect heart problems, women seemed 7.5 times more likely to suffer the syndrome than men.
It was three times more common in women over 55 than in younger women. And women younger than 55 were 9.5 times more likely to suffer it than men of that age.
No one knows why, said Dr. Abhiram Prasad, a Mayo Clinic cardiologist who presented other research on this syndrome at the conference.
"It's the only cardiac condition where there's such a female preponderance," he said.
One theory is that hormones play a role. Another is that men have more adrenaline receptors on cells in their hearts than women do, "so maybe men are able to handle stress better" and the chemical surge it releases, Deshmukh said.
Bizon was 57 when her attack occurred; she's now 63. She and her husband are pharmacists and live in Scarborough, Maine.
"I remember grabbing the counter and a black curtain coming down before my eyes," she said in a telephone interview. Her attack was so severe that she went into full cardiac arrest and had to have her heart shocked back into a normal rhythm. Although most such attacks resolve without permanent damage, she later needed to have a defibrillator implanted.
About 1 percent of such cases prove fatal, the new study shows.
"In the old days, we'd say someone was scared to death," said Prasad.
About 10 percent of victims will have a second episode sometime in their lives. And although heart attacks happen more in winter, broken heart syndrome is more common in summer.
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) - A woman's heart breaks more easily than a man's.
Females are seven to nine times more likely to suffer "broken heart syndrome," when sudden or prolonged stress like an emotional breakup or death causes overwhelming heart failure or heart attack-like symptoms, the first nationwide study of this finds. Usually patients recover with no lasting damage.
The classic case is "a woman who has just lost her husband," said Dr. Mariell Jessup, a University of Pennsylvania heart failure specialist who has treated many such cases.
Cyndy Bizon feared that was happening when her husband, Joel, suffered a massive heart attack in 2005. "May God work through your hands," the Maine woman told the surgeon as her husband was wheeled past her into the operating room. She later collapsed at a nurse's station from "broken heart syndrome" and wound up in coronary care with him. Both survived.
Japanese doctors first recognized this syndrome around 1990 and named it Takotsubo cardiomyopathy; tako tsubo are octopus traps that resemble the unusual pot-like shape of the stricken heart.
Females are seven to nine times more likely to suffer "broken heart syndrome," when sudden or prolonged stress like an emotional breakup or death causes overwhelming heart failure or heart attack-like symptoms, the first nationwide study of this finds. Usually patients recover with no lasting damage.
The classic case is "a woman who has just lost her husband," said Dr. Mariell Jessup, a University of Pennsylvania heart failure specialist who has treated many such cases.
Cyndy Bizon feared that was happening when her husband, Joel, suffered a massive heart attack in 2005. "May God work through your hands," the Maine woman told the surgeon as her husband was wheeled past her into the operating room. She later collapsed at a nurse's station from "broken heart syndrome" and wound up in coronary care with him. Both survived.
It happens when a big shock, even a good one like winning the lottery, triggers a rush of adrenaline and other stress hormones that cause the heart's main pumping chamber to balloon suddenly and not work right. Tests show dramatic changes in rhythm and blood substances typical of a heart attack, but no artery blockages that typically cause one. Most victims recover within weeks, but in rare cases it proves fatal.
Dr. Abhishek Deshmukh of the University of Arkansas had treated some of these cases.
"I was very curious why only women were having this," he said, so he did the first large study of the problem and reported results Wednesday at an American Heart Association conference in Florida.
Using a federal database with about 1,000 hospitals, Deshmukh found 6,229 cases in 2007. Only 671 involved men. After adjusting for high blood pressure, smoking and other factors that can affect heart problems, women seemed 7.5 times more likely to suffer the syndrome than men.
It was three times more common in women over 55 than in younger women. And women younger than 55 were 9.5 times more likely to suffer it than men of that age.
No one knows why, said Dr. Abhiram Prasad, a Mayo Clinic cardiologist who presented other research on this syndrome at the conference.
"It's the only cardiac condition where there's such a female preponderance," he said.
One theory is that hormones play a role. Another is that men have more adrenaline receptors on cells in their hearts than women do, "so maybe men are able to handle stress better" and the chemical surge it releases, Deshmukh said.
Bizon was 57 when her attack occurred; she's now 63. She and her husband are pharmacists and live in Scarborough, Maine.
"I remember grabbing the counter and a black curtain coming down before my eyes," she said in a telephone interview. Her attack was so severe that she went into full cardiac arrest and had to have her heart shocked back into a normal rhythm. Although most such attacks resolve without permanent damage, she later needed to have a defibrillator implanted.
About 1 percent of such cases prove fatal, the new study shows.
"In the old days, we'd say someone was scared to death," said Prasad.
About 10 percent of victims will have a second episode sometime in their lives. And although heart attacks happen more in winter, broken heart syndrome is more common in summer.
Saturday, November 12, 2011
And Now Low-Salt Is BAD?
Low-salt diet increases heart attack risk, say Danish researchers
Study finds that reducing sodium intake leads to 2.5 percent jump in cholesterol levels and 7 percent increase in trigylcerides
Friday, November 11 2011, 1:34 PM
To salt or not to salt? For decades health experts have been warning people to put down the salt shaker to reduce their risks of heart attack and stroke. But a new study finds that while cutting back on salt does in fact lower blood pressure, it can also boost cholesterol levels.
Published Wednesday, Danish researchers report in the American Journal of Hypertension that reducing sodium consumption led to a one percent drop in blood pressure in people who had normal pressure readings, and a 3.5 percent drop in those with hypertension.
But at the same time, people who reduced their salt intake also saw a 2.5 percent jump in cholesterol levels and a 7 percent increase in trigylcerides, which can boost risks for heart disease and diabetes.
ESSENTIALS: SALT
Experts told health news site LiveScience that while the findings warrant further research, it's too soon to overturn the recommendations to keep salt levels low just yet. Too much sodium has been found to lead to high blood pressure, heart disease and strokes, yet most people are consuming more than three times the daily minimum requirement of 1,500 mg of sodium a day.
In general, being mindful of sodium in your diet can increase your intake of fresh vs. canned or processed foods, which can give your overall health a boost. The Mayo Clinic also advises to opt for low sodium foods and use fresh herbs to flavor meals. The American Heart Association recommends selecting unsalted nuts, and avoiding adding salt and canned vegetables in favor of homemade dishes.
AFP/Relaxnews
Another Wacky Diet Drug
My comments after the article
~~~
Experimental drug takes pounds off overweight monkeys
Success of Adipotide in lab tests could lead to breakthrough in fight against human obesity
Friday, November 11 2011, 1:23 PM
An experimental drug helped obese monkeys lose 11 percent of their extra weight in a month, a promising sign in the hunt for obesity drugs that could apply to humans, US researchers said.
The drug, known as Adipotide, works by attacking the blood supply of a certain kind of fat, known as white adipose tissue, that tends to accumulate under the skin and around the belly.
Most other obesity drugs focus on either reducing appetite, boosting metabolism or preventing the absorption of fat.
The research, led by the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, offers a potential new pathway for treatment and has also shown effects in mice who lost 30 percent of their body weight during treatment.
"Most drugs against obesity fail in transition between rodents and primates," said co-senior author Renata Pasqualini, whose study appears in the journal Science Translational Medicine.
DO THE MATH: WEIGHT LOSS TIP
"We're greatly encouraged to see substantial weight loss in a primate model of obesity that closely matches the human condition."
The monkeys in the study were spontaneously obese, meaning they overate of their own free will, avoided exercise and therefore had packed on extra pounds.
Their weight declined for the first three weeks of treatment, though a small uptick was seen in the fourth week. The average weight loss during that span of time was 11 percent of their body weight.
The drug designed by the MD Anderson group "binds to a protein on the surface of fat-supporting blood vessels," and contains a "synthetic peptide that triggers cell death," the findings said.
"Their blood supply gone, fat cells are reabsorbed and metabolized."
Clinical trials of the drug on obese men with prostate cancer are planned next, in which human subjects will get daily injections of the drug for 28 days.
"The question is, will their prostate cancer become better if we can reduce their body weight and the associated health risks?" asked co-author Wadih Arap, a professor in MD Anderson's David H. Koch Center for Applied Research of Genitourinary Cancers.
Another promising sign was that monkeys treated with the drug showed an improvement in their resistance to insulin, suggesting it may help ward off the development of type 2 diabetes.
However, it was seen to have some damaging effects to the kidneys, which could be lessened by administering the drug in smaller doses.
The journal noted that Arap, Pasqualini and some other researchers involved in the project own equity positions in two drug-development companies working on the research.
Those positions are "subjected to certain restrictions under institutional policy. MD Anderson manages and monitors the terms of these arrangements in accordance with its conflict-of-interest policy," it said.
Funding for the research came from grants from the National Institutes of Health, the National Cancer Institute and several other foundations.
AFP/Relaxnews
~~~~~
So, you take this injection which somehow kills off the blood supply to only a certain kind of cell, causing those particular cells to be killed off, giving you about a 10% weight loss in the first 3 weeks, BUT you start to regain by week four AND it starts to destroy your kidneys by that time, too?
And somebody thinks this is a GOOD idea??
Besides, is there anyone left on earth that doesn't know you can lose substantial amounts of weight in the first few weeks of any weight loss scam but it immediately starts to come right back on unless you take further steps, such as exercising more and eating even less?
I think I'll avoid this drug, TYVM.
Friday, November 11, 2011
Thursday, November 03, 2011
Same Thing Happens to Me
any time I try do this yoga stance, too.
Heck, I waver like that standing on both feet most days!
Heck, I waver like that standing on both feet most days!
The comic strip is Between Friends.
Frustrated and Bored
I found this old post sitting in my Drafts folder, the original date back in early September.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
I know I've written this probably hundreds of times already, but I'm so frustrated at lack of weight loss and so bored with the bland meals I've been making.
New labwork shows that my thyroid replacement med is at the correct dosage (Doc doesn't care that I still have every symptom of hypothyroid, including a pulse in the 40's). No Hashimoto's disease. No liver problems. No parathyroid disease. But the labs DID show my vitamin d level is plummeting, something it shouldn't do in summer sunshine months, and a positive ANA, which may mean lupus. (sigh)
And what to eat? I had a few lapses in the low-fat vegan food plan, mostly because of being away from home for a good part of the day unexpectedly while caring for the elderly aunt with Alzheimer's disease (Who was finally admitted to a nursing home just 3 weeks ago), and a recent partaking of green smoothies, which are high in fruit as well as greens, which raised my triglyceride level. My HDL went down a bit, LDL went up a bit. But those lapses were no more in number or different from food consumption from previous lapses before other lab tests.
I also gained about 6 pounds in the 6 months between visits.
After getting the lab results I tweaked the food plan a bit to provide for blander, more boring foods. The idea was to make food so unpleasurable I won't eat so much of it. At least that's Dr. McDougall's philosophy - monotonous meals means less pleasure from them so you naturally eat less of them. Of course, it backfires. If a food is not tasty I still eat it, then go in search of better tasting food and eat my fill (or over-fill) of that to get the memory of the monotonous food out of my memory.
So I started eating even more off program foods. Cheese and roast beef sandwiches have had a particular pull. Or more higher fat/salt choices of on-plan foods, like nuts and stews.
And of course, every other web forum I go to tells me to run away from the starch based plant food diet as fast as I can, to avoid gluten, avoid starches, if I want to ever lose any weight. A few cardiologists' sites even say it's better to eat low fat dairy and meats than whole grains and potatoes. Are they trying to drum up business for their professions? They all offer links to as many peer-reviewed articles proving their way of eating is perfectly healthy, that meats and most fats don't raise cholesterol and people haven even lowered their cholesterol levels on their food plans; either that or they say cholesterol levels have nothing to do with cardiovascular health. They, too, show cardiograms with arteries clearing after a week weeks on their diets, just like Ornish and Esselstyn do.
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Why Were's Still Fat, Explained Again
Another study, reported by Associated Press:
Not your fault! Hormones linked to weight regain
Oct 26, 5:10 PM (ET)
By MALCOLM RITTER
NEW YORK (AP) - Any dieter knows that it's hard to keep off weight you've lost. Now a study finds that even a year after dieters shed a good chunk of weight quickly, their hormones were still insisting, "Eat! Eat! Eat!"
The findings suggest that dieters who have regained weight are not just slipping back into old habits, but are struggling against a persistent biological urge.
"People who regain weight should not be harsh on themselves, as eating is our most basic instinct," Joseph Proietto of the University of Melbourne in Australia, an author of the study, said in an email. The research appears in Thursday's issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
Weight regain is a common problem for dieters. To study what drives it, Proietto and his colleagues enrolled 50 overweight or obese patients in a 10-week diet program in Australia. They wanted to see what would happen in people who lost at least 10 percent of their body weight. Ultimately, only 34 people lost that much and stuck with the study long enough for analysis.
The program was intense. On average, the participants lost almost 30
pounds during the 10 weeks, faster than the standard advice of losing 1
or 2 pounds a week. They took in 500 to 550 calories a day, using a meal
replacement called Optifast plus vegetables for eight weeks. Then for
two weeks they were gradually reintroduced to ordinary foods.
Despite counseling and written advice about how to maintain their new weights, they gained an average of 12 pounds back over the next year. So they were still at lower weights than when they started.
The scientists checked the blood levels of nine hormones that influence appetite. The key finding came from comparing the hormone levels from before the weight-loss program to one year after it was over. Six hormones were still out of whack in a direction that would boost hunger.
The dieters also rated themselves as feeling hungrier after meals at the one-year mark, compared to what they reported before the diet program began.
Experts not connected to the study said the persistent effect on hormone levels was not surprising, and that it probably had nothing to do with the speed of the weight loss.
People who lose less than 10 percent of body weight would probably show the same thing, though to a lesser degree, said Dr. George Bray of the Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge, La.
A key message of the study is that "it's better not to gain weight than to try to lose it," Bray said.
Why would a dieter's body rebel against weight loss? It's an evolutionary holdover from earlier times, when weight loss could threaten survival and reproduction, says Dr. Rudolph Leibel, an obesity expert at Columbia University in New York. So "it's not surprising at all" that our bodies would fight back for at least a year, he said. "This is probably a more or less permanent response."
People who lose significant weight not only gain bigger appetite but also burn fewer calories than normal, creating "a perfect storm for weight regain," Leibel said.
He said avoiding weight regain appears to be a fundamentally different problem from losing weight in the first place, and that researchers should pay more attention to it.
The study was supported by the Australian government, medical professional groups and a private foundation. Proietto served on a medical advisory board of Nestle, maker of Optifast, until last year.
---
Online:
New England Journal of Medicine: http://www.nejm.org
Not your fault! Hormones linked to weight regain
By MALCOLM RITTER
NEW YORK (AP) - Any dieter knows that it's hard to keep off weight you've lost. Now a study finds that even a year after dieters shed a good chunk of weight quickly, their hormones were still insisting, "Eat! Eat! Eat!"
The findings suggest that dieters who have regained weight are not just slipping back into old habits, but are struggling against a persistent biological urge.
"People who regain weight should not be harsh on themselves, as eating is our most basic instinct," Joseph Proietto of the University of Melbourne in Australia, an author of the study, said in an email. The research appears in Thursday's issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
Weight regain is a common problem for dieters. To study what drives it, Proietto and his colleagues enrolled 50 overweight or obese patients in a 10-week diet program in Australia. They wanted to see what would happen in people who lost at least 10 percent of their body weight. Ultimately, only 34 people lost that much and stuck with the study long enough for analysis.
Despite counseling and written advice about how to maintain their new weights, they gained an average of 12 pounds back over the next year. So they were still at lower weights than when they started.
The scientists checked the blood levels of nine hormones that influence appetite. The key finding came from comparing the hormone levels from before the weight-loss program to one year after it was over. Six hormones were still out of whack in a direction that would boost hunger.
The dieters also rated themselves as feeling hungrier after meals at the one-year mark, compared to what they reported before the diet program began.
Experts not connected to the study said the persistent effect on hormone levels was not surprising, and that it probably had nothing to do with the speed of the weight loss.
People who lose less than 10 percent of body weight would probably show the same thing, though to a lesser degree, said Dr. George Bray of the Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge, La.
A key message of the study is that "it's better not to gain weight than to try to lose it," Bray said.
Why would a dieter's body rebel against weight loss? It's an evolutionary holdover from earlier times, when weight loss could threaten survival and reproduction, says Dr. Rudolph Leibel, an obesity expert at Columbia University in New York. So "it's not surprising at all" that our bodies would fight back for at least a year, he said. "This is probably a more or less permanent response."
People who lose significant weight not only gain bigger appetite but also burn fewer calories than normal, creating "a perfect storm for weight regain," Leibel said.
He said avoiding weight regain appears to be a fundamentally different problem from losing weight in the first place, and that researchers should pay more attention to it.
The study was supported by the Australian government, medical professional groups and a private foundation. Proietto served on a medical advisory board of Nestle, maker of Optifast, until last year.
---
Online:
New England Journal of Medicine: http://www.nejm.org
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
The Last Heart Attack on CNN
This show was pre-empted a number of times due to unforseen factors, and when they did air it it was unannounced so the people who wanted to see it didn't, so I was so happy to see that CNN posted it on-line. So sit back, grab yourself a cup of tea, and watch this hour-long presentation.
Monday, August 22, 2011
Weight Truisms from Weighty Matters Blog
An obesity medicine doc from Canada has a blog called Weighty Matters, and in this blog post he has "Twitter sized weight management truisms."
This one is my favorite of them all:
Your best weight is whatever weight you reach, when you're living the healthiest life you actually enjoy.
Now THAT is what the Health At Every Size movement is all about!
This one is my favorite of them all:
Your best weight is whatever weight you reach, when you're living the healthiest life you actually enjoy.
Now THAT is what the Health At Every Size movement is all about!
Saturday, August 13, 2011
Friday, August 12, 2011
Will Losing Weight Make You Fat?
Will Losing Weight Make You Fat?
An excerpt:
"I often joke that the easiest way to gain 25 lbs is to lose 20!"
"Unfortunately, this may not be much of a joke, as there is mounting evidence that intentional weight loss may indeed be an important driver of long-term weigh gain."
Even though Dr. Sharma is an obesity expert and even proposes WLS for some people, reading through his site is such a breath of fresh air! Just about everything he has said about the effects of dieting rings true in my own life.
An excerpt:
"I often joke that the easiest way to gain 25 lbs is to lose 20!"
"Unfortunately, this may not be much of a joke, as there is mounting evidence that intentional weight loss may indeed be an important driver of long-term weigh gain."
Even though Dr. Sharma is an obesity expert and even proposes WLS for some people, reading through his site is such a breath of fresh air! Just about everything he has said about the effects of dieting rings true in my own life.
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Pattie Thomas has a book out called Taking Up Space: How Eating Well and Exercising Regularly Changed My Life. If you click on this link it'll take you to a preview of the book, a place where you can read the book, page by page, as if it's on one of those electronic book readers like Kindle.
I recommend this book for everybody. Great read.
I recommend this book for everybody. Great read.
Friday, August 05, 2011
How It Is
Today's Hagar the Horrible comic shows how life is when on the McDougall food plan, when people continue to gain weight and are told to increase calorie dense foods, i.e. eat more green & yellow veggies, especially salads.
Wednesday, August 03, 2011
The Inevitable Effect of Scare Mongering
What did they THINK would happen with the shaming of fat folk of all ages and nearly mandatory bullying of fat kids by not only their peers but people in command positions, such as parents, teachers and doctors?
Could children as young as 5 become anorexic?
While it seems hard to believe that at that age there could be awareness of a link between weight loss and appearance, British health authorities have reported 197 kids 5 to 9 years old have been hospitalized for eating disorders.
Data from 35 hospitals showed that 98 children were age 5 to 7 at the time of treatment and 99 age 8 or 9.
Numbers spiked with approach of adolescence – around 400 were age 10 to 12, with more than 1,500 13 to15, according to Agence France-Presse.
Because many hospitals do not release data on their patients, many experts believe these numbers may underestimate the problem.
Susan Ringwood, chief executive of the eating disorders charity B-eat, said the latest figures reflected "alarming" trends in society, with young children "internalizing" media images that seemed to reward only the thinnest.
"A number of factors combine to trigger eating disorders. Biology and genetics play a large part in their development, but so do cultural pressures, and body image seems to be influencing younger children much more over the past decade," Ringwood said. "The ideal figure promoted for women is that of a girl, not an adult woman. That can leave girls fearful of puberty, and almost trying to stave it off."
In the US, 42% of girls from first to third grade want to be thinner, according to the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders. Fat fear starts early – 81% of 10-year-olds say they are afraid to put on weight.
Eating disorders are psychologically and physically lethal – they carry the highest mortality rate of any mental illness.
Children as young as 5 suffer from eating disorders; 81% of 10-year-olds are afraid of being fat
Wednesday, August 3rd 2011, 4:00 AM
Could children as young as 5 become anorexic?
While it seems hard to believe that at that age there could be awareness of a link between weight loss and appearance, British health authorities have reported 197 kids 5 to 9 years old have been hospitalized for eating disorders.
Data from 35 hospitals showed that 98 children were age 5 to 7 at the time of treatment and 99 age 8 or 9.
Numbers spiked with approach of adolescence – around 400 were age 10 to 12, with more than 1,500 13 to15, according to Agence France-Presse.
Because many hospitals do not release data on their patients, many experts believe these numbers may underestimate the problem.
Susan Ringwood, chief executive of the eating disorders charity B-eat, said the latest figures reflected "alarming" trends in society, with young children "internalizing" media images that seemed to reward only the thinnest.
"A number of factors combine to trigger eating disorders. Biology and genetics play a large part in their development, but so do cultural pressures, and body image seems to be influencing younger children much more over the past decade," Ringwood said. "The ideal figure promoted for women is that of a girl, not an adult woman. That can leave girls fearful of puberty, and almost trying to stave it off."
In the US, 42% of girls from first to third grade want to be thinner, according to the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders. Fat fear starts early – 81% of 10-year-olds say they are afraid to put on weight.
Eating disorders are psychologically and physically lethal – they carry the highest mortality rate of any mental illness.
With AFP Relaxnews
Monday, August 01, 2011
Saturday, July 30, 2011
One thing I disagree about in this article is that it's only these rich women doing this. Thousands of women all across America - the WORLD - are being ordered to starve their fetuses by their doctors, and in Great Britain they're being given medication to prevent the absorption of nutrients (metformin), therefore preventing weight gain in both the mother and baby, all in the name of "preventing obesity" in the far future. I DO agree with this doctor that this has to stop, though!
Mommyrexia is 'upper East Side, obnoxious, white girl problem': 'Today' show's Dr. Nancy Snyderman
Friday, July 29th 2011, 1:10 PM
'Mommyrexia'
Dr. Nancy Snyderman has some advice for pregnant women who can't stop obsessing about exercise and staying skinny: Knock it off.
The "Today" show medical expert got angry on Thursday at the idea of "mommyrexia" and dubbed extreme obsessing about weight during pregnancy an "upper East Side, obnoxious, white girl problem."
Snyderman said that she was tired of the women hating their bodies, especially during the changes of pregnancy.
"It's irritating to me," she continued. "We want perfect babies, we want perfect bodies, we want perfect lives. I just find the whole thing vulgar."
Earlier in the segment, Snyderman said it was normal and healthy to continue to exercise during pregnancy but not to add more workout hours due to pressures to inhibit healthy weight gain.
Not gaining enough weight during pregnancy can cause serious medical problems.
"You're starving your fetus," she said. "At a time when we're talking about Africa's greatest famine in 60 years, I find this particularly vulgar."
"Pregnancy should be nine months of root beer floats and bliss," she continued, angrily. "Then deal with it afterwards."
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/lifestyle/health/2011/07/29/2011-07-29_mommyrexia_is_upper_east_side_obnoxious_white_girl_problem_today_shows_dr_nancy_.html#ixzz1TaFGOjxZ
Friday, July 22, 2011
Quote of the Day
Or, "Why I know I will NEVER be able to lose any weight."
Said by a 30-something person who exercises a few hours per day:
"I learned years ago I am one of the very unlucky ones -- to maintain weight I cannot eat over 30-40 TOTAL carbs and not more than 700 calories! "
Said by a 30-something person who exercises a few hours per day:
"I learned years ago I am one of the very unlucky ones -- to maintain weight I cannot eat over 30-40 TOTAL carbs and not more than 700 calories! "
Monday, July 18, 2011
Richard Simmons in Paris
He's such a silly little man! LOL
Here's Richard pointing out French hot dogs from a street vendor. After watching the video, you can go to his YouTube site and view even more Paris videos with Richard.
Here's Richard pointing out French hot dogs from a street vendor. After watching the video, you can go to his YouTube site and view even more Paris videos with Richard.
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Friday, July 15, 2011
Off to Buy Another Exercise Video
The weather this summer has been BRUTAL, and again next week we're going to break heat records.
For the first time in about a decade I've been using my rescue asthma inhaler because my peak flow readings have been dropping, I get the feeling of not being able to take a deep breath, I get short of breath just sitting there, and I have so much mucus that those little creatures in the Mucinex commercial are vacationing there.
Because of all this, I'm having a difficult time getting my daily cardio workouts in. I've gone back to gentler workouts, like Richard Simmons' BlastOff and Silver Foxes,
Leslie's Gentle Mile and older adult workouts, even Linda Izzolino's More to Love Fitness (which just whipped my fat ass this morning because I moved up to 5 pound weights instead of my usual 3). I still do my qigong, usually Robert Bates' Fun With Qigong
or even Thich Nhat Hanh's Mindful Movements.
But I want more. I get bored easily and need variety in my workouts. Which is why I'm finally going to order Jeanette DePati's The Fat Chick Works Out DVD and possibly her exercise/bio book, too. She has 2 very short clips (less than a minute each) on her web site that show the workout itself (I really wish it was at least a minute each), but I also found this interview clip of her on YouTube that shows her giving an outdoor class:
If this weather - and asthma symptoms - continue I'll probably be making a visit to the doc to have him change my meds around again. I hate doing that - this combination has served me well for over 10 years now - but I guess I need a steroid boost to make it through these air quality alert, high heat & humidity days. Yecch!
For the first time in about a decade I've been using my rescue asthma inhaler because my peak flow readings have been dropping, I get the feeling of not being able to take a deep breath, I get short of breath just sitting there, and I have so much mucus that those little creatures in the Mucinex commercial are vacationing there.
Because of all this, I'm having a difficult time getting my daily cardio workouts in. I've gone back to gentler workouts, like Richard Simmons' BlastOff and Silver Foxes,
Leslie's Gentle Mile and older adult workouts, even Linda Izzolino's More to Love Fitness (which just whipped my fat ass this morning because I moved up to 5 pound weights instead of my usual 3). I still do my qigong, usually Robert Bates' Fun With Qigong
or even Thich Nhat Hanh's Mindful Movements.
But I want more. I get bored easily and need variety in my workouts. Which is why I'm finally going to order Jeanette DePati's The Fat Chick Works Out DVD and possibly her exercise/bio book, too. She has 2 very short clips (less than a minute each) on her web site that show the workout itself (I really wish it was at least a minute each), but I also found this interview clip of her on YouTube that shows her giving an outdoor class:
If this weather - and asthma symptoms - continue I'll probably be making a visit to the doc to have him change my meds around again. I hate doing that - this combination has served me well for over 10 years now - but I guess I need a steroid boost to make it through these air quality alert, high heat & humidity days. Yecch!
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Why Dieting Makes You Fat - a.k.a. Setpoint Theory
The article in this link on the Big Fat Blog is one lady's opinion, one that I, and thousands of others like me, subscribe to. Dieting Makes You Fat! Period!
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
More "Childhood Obesity Epidemic" Stupidity
It was bad enough when they wanted to put fetuses on diets by giving overweight mothers a diabetes drug to reduce the amount of nutrients the growing baby gets. Now they want infants and toddlers to exercise excessively! Yes, INFANTS!
To fight obesity, even babies should exercise
Jul 11, 1:54 PM (ET)By MARIA CHENG
LONDON (AP) - Preschoolers, even babies, need daily exercise, the British government says in its first-ever exercise advice for its youngest citizens.
In a new campaign against obesity, Britain issued guidelines on Monday saying that children under the age of 5 - including babies who can't even walk yet - should exercise every day.
The new guidance from the British health department said kids under 5 who can walk should be physically active for at least three hours a day. Officials also said parents should reduce the amount of time such kids spend being sedentary while watching television or being strapped in a stroller.
Pudgy toddlers are also a big concern in the U.S., where the Institute of Medicine last month issued diet and activity recommendations for youngsters. It said preschool-aged kids should get at least 15 minutes of exercise for every hour they spend in child care and suggested the US government create dietary guidelines for babies from the time they're born until they are 2 years old. About a third of American adults are obese.
Like the British, American experts say parents should limit the amount of time babies spend in swings, bouncy seats or other equipment while they're awake.
In the U.K., officials said the recommended three hours of activity for kids under 5 should be spread throughout the day. Officials said the children's daily dose of exercise is likely to be met simply through playing but could also include activities such as walking to school.
For babies who can't walk yet, the government said physical activity should be encouraged from birth, including infants playing on their stomachs or having swimming sessions with their parents. It said floor-based play encourages infants to use their muscles and helps bone development. The government said children's individual physical and mental abilities should be considered when interpreting the advice.
"It's vital that parents introduce children to fun and physically active pastimes to help prevent them becoming obese children, who are likely to become obese adults at risk of heart disease, diabetes and some cancers," Maura Gillespie, head of policy and advocacy at the British Heart Foundation, said in a statement.
Nearly a quarter of British adults are obese, and experts estimate that by 2050 about 90 percent of adults will be heavy.
According to a 2008 health survey that used devices to measure how much people actually exercised, officials found only about five percent of Britons meet the government's minimum physical activity advice - about 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise every week, including some every day.
For children aged 5 to 18, Britain recommends at least one hour of exercise, but that should include intensive activities to strengthen muscles and bones.
In the U.S., the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advises children and teenagers to get about one hour or more of physical activity every day.
In a new campaign against obesity, Britain issued guidelines on Monday saying that children under the age of 5 - including babies who can't even walk yet - should exercise every day.
The new guidance from the British health department said kids under 5 who can walk should be physically active for at least three hours a day. Officials also said parents should reduce the amount of time such kids spend being sedentary while watching television or being strapped in a stroller.
Pudgy toddlers are also a big concern in the U.S., where the Institute of Medicine last month issued diet and activity recommendations for youngsters. It said preschool-aged kids should get at least 15 minutes of exercise for every hour they spend in child care and suggested the US government create dietary guidelines for babies from the time they're born until they are 2 years old. About a third of American adults are obese.
In the U.K., officials said the recommended three hours of activity for kids under 5 should be spread throughout the day. Officials said the children's daily dose of exercise is likely to be met simply through playing but could also include activities such as walking to school.
For babies who can't walk yet, the government said physical activity should be encouraged from birth, including infants playing on their stomachs or having swimming sessions with their parents. It said floor-based play encourages infants to use their muscles and helps bone development. The government said children's individual physical and mental abilities should be considered when interpreting the advice.
"It's vital that parents introduce children to fun and physically active pastimes to help prevent them becoming obese children, who are likely to become obese adults at risk of heart disease, diabetes and some cancers," Maura Gillespie, head of policy and advocacy at the British Heart Foundation, said in a statement.
Nearly a quarter of British adults are obese, and experts estimate that by 2050 about 90 percent of adults will be heavy.
According to a 2008 health survey that used devices to measure how much people actually exercised, officials found only about five percent of Britons meet the government's minimum physical activity advice - about 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise every week, including some every day.
For children aged 5 to 18, Britain recommends at least one hour of exercise, but that should include intensive activities to strengthen muscles and bones.
In the U.S., the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advises children and teenagers to get about one hour or more of physical activity every day.
Tuesday, July 05, 2011
Who Can Survive on THIS??
I found this while browsing on-line. I wanted to make something other than potatoes for a change and bought some Gardein fake chicken breasts and thought this recipe looked pretty good. I would use the vegan chicken and nooch instead of parm. What I saw at the end of the recipe shocked me, though. Here's the basic recipe:
(The exact recipe has been altered to protect the (not so) innocent. The original listed name brands for every item, including the chicken.)
Chicken Parmesan Noodle Bake
1/4 c chopped onion
1 3/4 (one 14 1/2 oz. can) stewed tomatoes coarsely chopped and undrained
1 1/2 tsp. Italian seasoning
2 tsp. sugar substitute
1/2 c. (one 2.5 oz. jar) drained sliced mushrooms
1/4 c. (3/4 oz) grated fat free Parmesan cheese
1 1/2 c. (8 oz) diced cooked chicken breast
2 c. hot cooked noodles rinsed and drained
~~~~~
If you're like me, aside from the amount of cheese, this would make a nice lunch or dinner for one person, right? Everything would neatly fit on one dinner plate. I was going to double it when making dinner for my husband and myself tonight.
The details say this recipe serves 4!! FOUR? 4 what - cockroaches? Certainly not 4 adult humans! It also said it was 250 calories per serving. Since when is 250 calories a decent dinner? Even when I was a kid and on a 1000 calorie a day diet I was told to eat 500 calories for my main meal for the day.
Am I totally off base here? Has "eating to satisfaction" of McDougall-approved meals done something to my perception of what a healthy amount of food is? I don't think so. I read the daily menus of other McDougallers and they eat way more than I do on any given day.
(The exact recipe has been altered to protect the (not so) innocent. The original listed name brands for every item, including the chicken.)
Chicken Parmesan Noodle Bake
1/4 c chopped onion
1 3/4 (one 14 1/2 oz. can) stewed tomatoes coarsely chopped and undrained
1 1/2 tsp. Italian seasoning
2 tsp. sugar substitute
1/2 c. (one 2.5 oz. jar) drained sliced mushrooms
1/4 c. (3/4 oz) grated fat free Parmesan cheese
1 1/2 c. (8 oz) diced cooked chicken breast
2 c. hot cooked noodles rinsed and drained
~~~~~
If you're like me, aside from the amount of cheese, this would make a nice lunch or dinner for one person, right? Everything would neatly fit on one dinner plate. I was going to double it when making dinner for my husband and myself tonight.
The details say this recipe serves 4!! FOUR? 4 what - cockroaches? Certainly not 4 adult humans! It also said it was 250 calories per serving. Since when is 250 calories a decent dinner? Even when I was a kid and on a 1000 calorie a day diet I was told to eat 500 calories for my main meal for the day.
Am I totally off base here? Has "eating to satisfaction" of McDougall-approved meals done something to my perception of what a healthy amount of food is? I don't think so. I read the daily menus of other McDougallers and they eat way more than I do on any given day.
Friday, July 01, 2011
Warehouse 13 Marathon Today
Getting ready for the new SyFy summer season starting next week, the channel is running marathons of its shows this weekend. Today, during the day, is Warehouse 13 from 8am until 11pm. After that, Eureka takes over. Makes me sorry now that I pre-ordered the DVD set, which stupidly on SyFy Channel's part, isn't being released until July 5th and the new season starts before they will even be delivered.
Back to Warehouse 13. Already I'm annoyed at the new season. This clip on the SyFy channel site tells me the new season is going to bombard us even harder with product placement than previous seasons. ARGH!
Back to Warehouse 13. Already I'm annoyed at the new season. This clip on the SyFy channel site tells me the new season is going to bombard us even harder with product placement than previous seasons. ARGH!
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Person of Interest Preview
I can't wait!
Quick & Easy Corndogs | Everyday Dish
Quick & Easy Corndogs | Everyday Dish
Just in time for the July 4th weekend! Click the link for the written recipe on Julie's site.
Just in time for the July 4th weekend! Click the link for the written recipe on Julie's site.
To Florida, and Back Again
When we moved there in 1999, when my husband was forced into early retirement before the age of 50 because the army base he worked in since high school was closed thanks to the BRAC committee, we moved to Kissimmee to be near my parents. My son and I loved it there, but my husband, not so much. For him it was more the shock between a government clerk job from 27 years versus the "real world" of employment and not the geographical area. After a few months he insisted we come back to urban NJ, and he insisted we move back to the same city, same neighborhood so our son can be with his old friends again. At 12 years now, this is the longest we stayed in any place since we married 33 years ago.
We spent months surrounded by armed National Guardsmen at our city's borders because of our proximity to Manhattan. Each day now when he leaves for work we never know if he'll make it there and home safe because of the subway bombing plots.Unemployment is highest in this part of the country than anywhere else, even for those with advanced degrees like my husband and my son, or those with decades of experience in the engineering fields like my brother.
What's keeping us here, when we know we could all easily get jobs in Disney if we moved back to Florida? The elderly aunt. She's failing since her concussion in May, but still feisty enough that we know that even though she's now 93 she could very well live to 100 or more. Since we're the only relatives that will put up with her, we're stuck here until she goes.And as soon as she does, and as soon as her estate is settled (my husband is executor and we're willed her run down house that has to be fixed up to be good enough to sell), we're out of here and back to the Land of the Mouse, maybe even back to the same apartment complex.
Until then, I have to be content with all my Disney movie soundtrack cd's and videos, photos taken those 10 months we lived there, and this mileage ticker showing me how I could have walked down there, one step at at time.
Friday, June 24, 2011
ALPOCALYPSE IS HERE!
I can't believe I forgot to pre-order this new cd! We own just about everything Weird Al ever put out, and just because I have no idea what songs he's parodying it's no excuse not to get this album. At least he included Craig's List for my generation.
And here's Perform This Way for the Lady Gaga generation:
And here's Perform This Way for the Lady Gaga generation:
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Pottermore!
Pottermore is not opening until October, but a "lucky few" will be allowed in July. I've been trying to submit my email address for 10 minutes now but it keeps timing out. Good luck!
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Another Boring Update
I'm sorry of my blog is beginning to look like it's just a collection of videos gathered from various web sites, but I really have nothing new to say.
Each day I debate over what food plan - if any - to follow, from Dr. Fuhrman's very restricted Eat to Live program to the very liberal and freeing Overcoming Overeating's philosophy, and everything in-between. It doesn't make a difference on the scale. I've gained weight some days I followed Eat to Live and lost weight on days I ate everything not tied down.
I'm still getting in as much aerobic/cardio exercise as my sciatica allows, a minimum of a half hour a day. Out of the last 6 weeks I did not exercise only 4 days. Burn out? Possibly, but my doctors insist I exercise that much for heart health and their futile hopes I lose weight by doing more than they tell other patients to do.
A new injury to my every growing list is a tendinitis or ligament injury on my left hand from twisting it weirdly while carrying bags of groceries up the three flights of stairs to my apartment. It first happened a few weeks ago, and this weekend it happened again, and again with grocery bags. I feel guilty making my husband and son carry everything, but I guess I'll just have to sit back and let them do it all for a while.
Still not getting along with the elderly relative with early Alzheimer's disease. The last time we visited I walked out, telling my husband I'll meet him at the car, when every 2 minutes she would moan loudly begging Jesus for death, complaining she's so lonely, yet refusing to have people over, locking out the homemaker, and the few people who do visit her (us, mainly) she makes their lives a living hell. Yesterday again she refused to open the door to let the homemaker in (but still has to pay for the whole 3 hours), and before he even heard about it my husband was discussing with a co-worker that he's ready to just hand all her paperwork back to her, get our names off the bank accounts and power of attorney forms, and let her do what she wants, since she refuses to do anything that needs to be done or we suggest she have done.
And before I start getting nasty-grams about caring for the person-with-AD, let it be known that aside from her short term memory loss, this woman has been like this her entire life! Her own mother used to cringe when she heard she was coming for a visit and would sometimes leave the house rather than be home and let her in. Her sister (my m-i-l) would end every phone call in tears. Her own husband waited as long as possible to take his retirement (was forced to go, actually) then immediately got himself part time jobs so he would be out of the house when she was home because even he couldn't stand being with her for hours at a time. She has alienated every other family member and any local acquaintance she ever had. One woman, a bit younger than her but in bad shape medically, has complained that this aunt has the nerve to insist she do her shopping for her, that she take her places in her car at a moment's notice. She as happy when her doctor told her she could no longer drive because now she had an excuse to tell this aunt NO! It's the antics of this aunt that put me in the hospital 2 years ago with stress cardiomyopathy!
ARGH!
So, nothing new, just SSDD, as the gang in Stephen King's Dreamcatcher would say - Same shit, different day.
Each day I debate over what food plan - if any - to follow, from Dr. Fuhrman's very restricted Eat to Live program to the very liberal and freeing Overcoming Overeating's philosophy, and everything in-between. It doesn't make a difference on the scale. I've gained weight some days I followed Eat to Live and lost weight on days I ate everything not tied down.
I'm still getting in as much aerobic/cardio exercise as my sciatica allows, a minimum of a half hour a day. Out of the last 6 weeks I did not exercise only 4 days. Burn out? Possibly, but my doctors insist I exercise that much for heart health and their futile hopes I lose weight by doing more than they tell other patients to do.
A new injury to my every growing list is a tendinitis or ligament injury on my left hand from twisting it weirdly while carrying bags of groceries up the three flights of stairs to my apartment. It first happened a few weeks ago, and this weekend it happened again, and again with grocery bags. I feel guilty making my husband and son carry everything, but I guess I'll just have to sit back and let them do it all for a while.
Still not getting along with the elderly relative with early Alzheimer's disease. The last time we visited I walked out, telling my husband I'll meet him at the car, when every 2 minutes she would moan loudly begging Jesus for death, complaining she's so lonely, yet refusing to have people over, locking out the homemaker, and the few people who do visit her (us, mainly) she makes their lives a living hell. Yesterday again she refused to open the door to let the homemaker in (but still has to pay for the whole 3 hours), and before he even heard about it my husband was discussing with a co-worker that he's ready to just hand all her paperwork back to her, get our names off the bank accounts and power of attorney forms, and let her do what she wants, since she refuses to do anything that needs to be done or we suggest she have done.
And before I start getting nasty-grams about caring for the person-with-AD, let it be known that aside from her short term memory loss, this woman has been like this her entire life! Her own mother used to cringe when she heard she was coming for a visit and would sometimes leave the house rather than be home and let her in. Her sister (my m-i-l) would end every phone call in tears. Her own husband waited as long as possible to take his retirement (was forced to go, actually) then immediately got himself part time jobs so he would be out of the house when she was home because even he couldn't stand being with her for hours at a time. She has alienated every other family member and any local acquaintance she ever had. One woman, a bit younger than her but in bad shape medically, has complained that this aunt has the nerve to insist she do her shopping for her, that she take her places in her car at a moment's notice. She as happy when her doctor told her she could no longer drive because now she had an excuse to tell this aunt NO! It's the antics of this aunt that put me in the hospital 2 years ago with stress cardiomyopathy!
ARGH!
So, nothing new, just SSDD, as the gang in Stephen King's Dreamcatcher would say - Same shit, different day.
I'm Glad I'm Not the Only One
Watch this spoof of a J.J. Abrams film and you'll see what I'm referring to.
If You Love Rob Zombie Movies . . .
Then you'll love this ad he did! It actually has a title: Torturer!
Friday, June 17, 2011
Ocarina of Time 3D - Robin Williams Commercial
I love Robin Williams (His comedy stuff, at least) and I love the Link games (even though I'm too uncoordinated to play most of them except the original Nintendo version, gold case), but I never knew he named his daughter Zelda, after teh character. Cool!
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
How To Replace A Bridge Without Moving It
This is the bridge between Staten Island, NY, a borough of NYC, and Bayonne, NJ, former oil refinery capital of the US. They need to raise the bridge to accommodate the new super tankers and giant panamax and ultra-large container ships that are out there now, and once the Panama Canal expansion is finished those ships can come to the NJ/NJ shipping docks.
Friday, June 10, 2011
I just LOVE finding YouTube sites like this one, and the recipes look pretty good, too.
The official site is VeganBlackMetalChef.Com, but aside from the forums there really wasn't much there when I looked. The recipes aren't written down, only in these videos.
That reminds me, I'm behind in watching those episodes of Metalocalypse on DVD.
The official site is VeganBlackMetalChef.Com, but aside from the forums there really wasn't much there when I looked. The recipes aren't written down, only in these videos.
That reminds me, I'm behind in watching those episodes of Metalocalypse on DVD.
Jay and Silent Bob's Secret Stash Spot
I've been to the Red Bank store a number of times and didn't even know he had another one in LA.
Congrats, Kevin! And good luck on your AMC pilot, Pawns Star for the Fanboys. If I knew about the shoot before today I would probably have applied to be part of it.
Tuesday, June 07, 2011
For the Science Geeks Out There
I just found out about the existence of this musical project called the Symphony of Science. Fantastic!
This one is called "We Are All Connected" and I see the web site has a number of these there that I'll explore further when I have a bit more time.
Makes me want to go visit Liberty Science Center again, and soon!
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I Miss Richard Simmons
The voice, the hair, the outfits, that laugh - I miss every single thing about that glitzy, ditsy, outrageous person. Oh, yes, his workouts...
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Haven't been posting about my weight loss because there really hasn't been any. Yes, I'm still following the , and when I had la...
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Every now and then, in his Message of the Day , Richard Simmons reminds people how he was anorexic in his younger days and would go on fasts...
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Unfortunately, it's all stuff we need. Fortunately, all of what I ordered helps lower my grocery store bills. First was my twice-yearly ...
