What a Difference a Day Makes...sort of

First, my numbers for today and yesterday:

• Blood Glucose:  Today, 132 mg/dl.  Yesterday: 111 mg/dl
• Weight:  Today, 187 lbs.  Yesterday, 187 lbs.
• Exercise:  45 minutes riding my bike, both days. 
• Mood:  7.0 both days. 

Menu for today:

• Breakfast:  An orange and oatmeal with craisins. Time to go shopping for some fruits and veggies 
• Lunch:  Left over pinto beans and cornbread and an apple. 
• Dinner:  Taco salads.  See need to get some fruits and veggies above.
• Snacks:  Pretzels, just not as many as yesterday.

I think the difference is the pita chips, hummus and pretzels I had waiting  for dinner, which was some killer pinto beans and rice the Charming Mrs. SWMBO cooked.

Question.  Is it better to be fit or slender?  Apparently, slender wins.  Fit and slender is best, but if you are just thin, it probably is better than fat and fit.  People who are don't exercise and are slender seem to have lower blood pressure, and thus stronger hearts and less heart disease,  than those who exercise and are overweight.  If you are fat couch potato, nice knowing you.

Anybody remember Jim Fixx?  Scary stuff.

My Ypsilanti Adventure. No, Really.

I just got back from a trip to see some family in Ypsilanti, MI.  I was there to see my mom, my sister, my new nephew Calvin and her other four kids.  I am a very fortunate Uncle Dave. My nieces are some of the prettiest and charming an uncle could hope to have and the nephews aren't bad, either.

While there, I was not necessarily sticking to my new and developing eating regime.  I am happy to report I still did okay for a guy on a bit of a vacation.  I like to think I was sensible in my indulgences.  I didn't gain any weight, which made me feel really good. Here are a few of my indulgences in no particular order. 

Indulgence Number One:  Baked Oatmeal for Breakfast

Yep, oatmeal.  I stayed at the proverbial charming B&B call the the Parish House Inn.  It's was what I want in lodging, clean and quite. The big plus were the breakfasts that featured a fabulous baked oatmeal.  I mean this stuff was exceptional, like a breakfast desert that's actually good.  When I have some time, I am going to make a batch. The recipe is here.  It's really not that hard and it the variations are almost endless. 

Indulgence Number Two:  The Corner Brewery.

I got in Saturday afternoon and two of my nieces, Charlotte and Maddy, took me to a local micro-brewery called the Corner Brewery after dinner.  The IPA I had was exceptional.  Michigan has some wonderful micro-breweries and this fits right in there (despite the owners being big Democrats; can't be humorless about these things, right?  Good beer is good beer and I bet the employees are not unionized, so this stuff could not be served at the UAW's resort.  They don't know what they are missing, but that's their problem.)

Indulgence Number Three:  Sander's Hot Fudge.

My excuse for buying Sander's Hot Fudge was for my mom, who is in a nursing home.  It made me look like the good son, but real reason is that I wanted it.  Mom was just a convenient excuse.  In the Detroit area this stuff is almost like the center of a cult, a happy cult, a cult open to anyone, a pudgy cult maybe, but a cult nonetheless.  People there will find almost any excuse for something with Sander's Hot Fudge on the top.

All you need to enjoy this stuff is a spoon and in an emergency your fingers will do the trick.  Anything that it goes on top of is strictly optional.  It's perfect on ice cream and a worthy addition on top of almost anything else that is a food stuff.  I just like to eat it straight out of the jar.

I had one sundae and we left the jar and the ice cream we bought at the nursing home.  It was all gone in short order.  Oh well, Mom was happy, along with a lot of other people.

Indulgence Number Four:  A Miller's Cheeseburger.

Miller's Bar is a classic Midwestern corner bar with one exception.  They make the best burgers in the world.  There is no debate on this.  They taste like no other I have had anywhere and served with a timeless, simple elegance.  They stand alone at the top.  They have no equal. 

The patties are spot-on juicy, never greasy, and served only with toppings necessary to enhance and compliment the flavor of the meat: cheese, yellow mustard, catchup, dill pickle chips and white onion.  These culinary gems are served hot off the grill on wax paper. My preferred version is with cheese, mustard, pickles and onion.  Anything else, like lettuce, tomatoes, bacon, and whatnot are better off put in a salad for another time at another place.  They would only cloud the ecstatic taste of these burgers.

These burgers have now transcended four generations of Miller's and I hope it continues for generations to come. 

Indulgence Number Five:  Cottage Inn Pizza. 

Good Lord I love this stuff.  Cottage Inn maybe not make the best pizza I have had, but I am drawing a blank to think of an equal.  What makes this pizza so good is the crust.  It's thick yet light with a flavor all of it's own that highlights the toppings.  The toppings are good, the sauce is good, but standard.  It's the crust that makes this pizza so memorable and it's even good cold for breakfast.  I wish we had them here in Houston.

Indulgence Number Six: Carol's Blueberry Pie.

I saved the best for last, my sister's blueberry pie.  Why is it so good?  She uses butter or lard in the crust, fresh Michigan blueberries, a marvelous streusel, and that magic ingredient, love. Yea, it's corny to say it and it's also true.  I had four very large slices.  Here is a recipe for it and I will tell one and all in advance no one will every make a blueberry pie as good as hers. 

My numbers for the day:

1. Blood Glucose:  119 mg/dl.  Good.  
2. Weight:  186.  Not that good. 
3. Exercise:  45 minutes on the bike.
4. Mood:  8.0.  Hey, I am on vacation for the rest of the week.  How bad can it be? 

Menu for the day:

1. Breakfast:  A banana and morning breakfast glop, which is soy yogurt, applesauce and pumpkin granola. 
2. Lunch: Portobello mushroom sandwich at Empire Cafe with the Charming Mrs. SWMBO.
3. Dinner:  Homemade pizza while watching Project Runway.  Sue me,  I think the Heidi Klum is beautiful.
4. Snacks:  Hummus with some Stacy's Pita Chips.  

If It's Down, Is It Really Up?

I found this on WebMD's website.  The story posits that if your LDL, the bad cholesterol, is down way low, usually because of taking medication to get it down, and your HDL, the good cholesterol, is not where it should be, it's really OK because the LDL is so low. One really good thing negates a not so good thing.  Statins are one of the drugs that can do this and a statin maker did fund this study.  HDL is considered a predictor of heart disease.  Low is bad. 

So, taking a pill is good thing, right?  Maybe. 

Buried way down at the end of the story is this..."other research has found that even in patients with very low LDL levels, HDL cholesterol was still predictive of heart attack and stroke risk. So why the new findings didn't reach this conclusion is unclear..."

Further up the story a researcher notes this:  "If you are at increased risk [of cardiovascular disease] due to increased LDL, a low HDL, or an elevated high sensitivity C-reactive protein [another marker for heart disease], the real message should be to go to the gym, throw out the cigarettes, and lose some weight. Next, talk to your doctor about statin therapy."

Would you trust you long term health to this sort of information?   I wouldn't.  It is this type of  story that frustrates me so much.  It always goes like this:  Good news, good news, good news, caveat, caveat, contradictory news, muddled conclusion. 

So, where does this leave us?  Doing the old fashioned thing, diet and exercise,  is still the best thing to do.

Today's numbers (Aug. 12, 2010)

• Blood Cholesterol:  125 mg/dl.
• Weight:  187 lbs
• Exercise:  45 minutes riding on my bike
• Mood:  7.00

Menu:

• Breakfast:  Banana, oatmeal with craisins, blueberries
• Lunch:  Leftover country spare rib, mashed sweet potatoes and white potatoes and cole slaw.
• Dinner:  Homemade pizza and a salad.
• Snacks: Hummus

Wednesday, August 12,2010

Saw this article on the Nutrition  Data web site and they cite a study published in the British Medical Journal that possibly links these conditions or problems to dementia:  Type 2 diabetes, of low vegetable consumption, depression and low education levels.

So, if this article is to be believed we may avoid dementia by avoiding or controlling type 2 diabetes, eating  lots of veggies, looking on the bright-side and reading books or get at least getting a night school diploma. 


The what and why and how of the links are never discussed in this little article and this is what bothers me about so much of the information on health we get from popular places.  It so lacks in authentication and even just basic evidence, which may explain the last link above.  It cites a correlation only they go no further than that.  Watch, a few years will go by and any perceived link will have faded away as untrue or unprovable and we will have moved on to the next possible calamity.

Alzheimer's is a type of dementia and it is near epidemic levels now.  My mother has it. Trust me, you don't want to get it. All through out her life she was not a diabetic of any sort, ate lots of vegetables, was a happy and outgoing woman, and read a lot about the things that interested her. For good measure she exercised routinely.  I remember her exercising along with Jack LaLanne and local Detroit guy named Ed Allen.

For the record, however, I am going to control the type 2 diabetes, eat lots of veggies, look on the bright-side and read a lot.  For Christmas, I am going to ask Santa for one of these to keep up on the reading.

Numbers for today:

• Blood Glucose:  125 mg/dl.  Been better, been worse.
• Weight:  187 lbs. I have scales.
• Exercise:  45 minutes riding the bike.
• Mood:  7.0  

Menu:

• Breakfast:  Banana, oatmeal with craisins and strawberries.
• Lunch:  Hummus, pita bread and lots of raw veggies (see above)
• Dinner:  Chinese takeout of chicken and vegetables (see above)

Chicken Fat!

As I got on my bike this morning I thought of the "Chicken Fat" song from the " The Music Man".  This is from YouTube.

Given that Robert Preston, if memory serves me right, was a heavy smoker, I doubt that he took Henry Hill's advice.  I remember that song being popular when I was in elementary school.  I think the gym teacher used to play it.

Since I am on a "Music Man" theme, here is Buddy Hackett's big number, Shipoopi.

And here is the version Peter Griffin did on the Family Guy.




I have to give the nod still to Buddy Hackett's version.  Close, though.

My numbers for today:

• Blood Glucose:  115 mg/dl.  As Peter Griffin says "All right."
• Weight:  187 lbs.  WTF?  
• Exercise:  45 min riding the bike.
• Mood:  7.0  Weight issue.  Why am I gaining?

Menu:

• Breakfast:  Banana, oatmeal with craisins and blueberries. 
• Lunch:  Birthday luncheon at work for one the guys there.  Had a moderate lunch, fried chicken, some raw vegetables, a few crackers with hummus and a few little rounds of ham, turkey and cheese.  The killer was a the cake.  I did have a small slice of it.   It was a chocolate, mocha, espresso, caramel confection that actually gave me a sugar  buzz.  
• Leftovers from Sunday, pork country ribs, whipped sweet potato and white potato with low fat sour cream, and cole slaw. 
• No snacks.  Not after the cake.

It Brain Day

I found two articles on brain health.  Hey, if you are brain dead, the best body in the world isn't going to do you any good, right?

The first one is from Future Pundit and the study cited suggests a correlation between a strong heart, one that pumps a lot of blood,  and a brain that ages more slowly.  A heart that pumps less blood may cause a brain to age more quickly.  To keep the brain functioning better, it needs more blood.  To get more blood to the brain you need to exercise to build the heart muscle to pump more blood to the brain.  Unlike other cell, brain cells do not rejuvenate, so the problem is to keep the ones you have healthy and that may mean more blood.  Simple, right?  Who knows.

The second is on brain health and vitamin D.  Vitamin D is very big right now, much the way vitamin C was big a few decades ago.  This suggests vitamin D can slow or prevent cognitive decline. Vitamin D is found in oily fish, some dairy products and good old sunshine.

Remember a few years ago how we were all told to stay out of the sun?  Mainly the advice was given to reduce skin cancers and wrinkles.  Well, staying out of the sun is not good if you want to get some vitamin D to keep you brain healthy.  Healthy brain, rotten skin.

There is a calculator here to figure out how much you need.  Here in Houston, TX, if I have done this right, I need a whole two minutes to get all of the sunshine I need on today's date.  That's pretty easy to do, and I don't think I risk any premature skin aging.  Assuming I did this correctly here is what it looks like for me here in Houston.

Looks like Mom may have been right.  Go out side and play.  It's good for you.

How much do you want to bet that in a few years the claims for the benefits of vitamin D may have been greatly exaggerated?

My numbers for today:

• Blood Glucose:  125 mg/dl.  After a weekend, OK.
• Weight:  186 lbs.  More like 186 1/2, but who's counting? 
• Exercise:  45 minute ride on my bike.  Back in the saddle again.
• Mood:  7.  I do have a job.  That counts for something.  

Menu:

• Breakfast:  Banana, oatmeal with craisins and blueberries.  Lots of blueberries.  Lots of antioxidents, but that turned out to be more than a bit of a bust.  Never mind, I still love blueberries. 
• Lunch:  Leftover black bean salsa with some rye bread and a Texas peach.  None better. 
• Paula Dean's Tortilla Soup as interpreted by the Charming Mrs. SWMBO and a small salad. 
• Snacks:  Pretzels.

Just Do It, and if Nike Is Irked, Sue Me.

I know it is Nike's saying, but it's true.  Given the hurly-burly stretched for time way we live our lives, exercise is something all too often put aside for the expedient reason of no time.  Even if it is just walking around the block a couple of time a day, start doing it. Although this WebMD article was written with a woman's health in mind, the prevailing theme applies to both men and woman:  start doing it. 

Stop whining and fretting and just start doing something.  The details will all fall into place soon enough.  It's amazing to learn what other activities that once took up your time move down the list of what is important. Eventually the thought of why-did-I-waste-my-time-on-stuff will dawn you.  Trust me, if you deem something of A1 importance and make it a habit, the results will surprise you.  It did me.

My numbers for today and yesterday.

•  Blood Glucose:  124 mg/dl.  Yesterday 113 ml/dl.  I panic when things go up.  I ate a lot of stuff yesterday, sampling at Sam's and HEB Grocery, and nibbling on things the merchants served at the White Linen Night street fair in Historic Houston Heights. I did pick up three new razors at a couple antique stores, 2 Gillette TTO's (twist to open) from the 1970'a I didn't have and a rare Schick DE probably from the 1930's.  I am going to use the Schick today. 
• Weight:  185 lbs.  Yesterday:  185 lbs.  I am definitely at a plateau
• Exercise:  Day off.  Yesterday:  Day off.  I did sweat a lot yesterday and I did walk a lot and I did work a bit on the flower beds.  Does that count?  
• Mood:  8.0.  It's the weekend.  How bad can it get?

Menu for today:

• Breakfast:  Banana, oatmeal with craisins and blueberries.  I loves me some blueberries.  
• Leftover something.  Not sure.
• Dinner:  We bought some good looking country pork ribs at Whole Foods and I think we will grill those. 
• Snacks:  Pretzels.  Will also have a manhatten.  It is the weekend after all.

Damn, I Was Hoping for a Pill

First the numbers.  I didn't post them yesterday.

• Blood Glucose:  119 mg/dl.  Yesterday was 124 mg/dl. Okay. 
• Weight:  185 lbs.  Same as yesterday.  On that plateau again.
• Exercise:  45 minutes on the bike. Same as yesterday. 
• Mood:  7.5 Same as yesterday. 

Menu for today:

• Breakfast:  banana, oatmeal flavored with blackberry herbal tea and craisins, blueberries (yes, it is blueberry season and I am going gorge on this stuff.  Lots of anti-oxidants. Those are supposed to be good for me.  Whatever.
• Lunch:  Left over pasta rustica, but with brown rice instead of pasta. 
• Dinner. Not sure. I am sorely tempted to get some pizza tonight with SWMBO after the grass is cut and the yard is cleaned up.  Moderate portions, off course, and with a salad and a bottle of cheap wine.  
• Snack:  Soy yogurt with applesauce and granola stuff.

There was an article publish recently in the Wall Street Journal on why our nation is getting fatter.  It was reprinted here.  The reason, basically, is that food is getting better, cheaper and more available.  The two authors don't see much that can change tht unless a pill of sorts is developed.  Not diet programs, not education, not any sort of government action. We will just keep getting plumper.  Their weak hope is some sort of pill that keeps us thin, but for now that is won't happen and we will just be getting fatter.

For certain we don't have the magic pill now.  WebMD posted an article about a German University that tested 9 different over-the-counter weight loss supplements.  FTA: 

Those expensive dietary supplements that promise dramatic weight loss by trapping fat, blocking carbs, or boosting metabolism work no better than placebo pills, a new study shows.

The best that could be said for them is that if they did inspire someone to eat better and exercise, well good.  But to take pill or supplement to be slim and trim, not there yet.  Nothing works to block or burn fat and reduce calories except a good diet and exercise, damn it. 

This is for my fetching SWMBO.  It's about iced tea.  Overall, it's pretty healthful stuff and little is more refreshing in a Texas summer than a glass of iced tea. 

Six Month Review

Six months ago, I started a new diet-for-life regimen.  I had to.  I was in bad shape and getting worse.  I have since lost about 40 lbs. and I get rave reviews about my appearance.  SWMBO is eager to take me shopping to get some new clothes.  Lots of my old ones are now just hanging on me.  I don't get tired of the notice or compliments, either.

I still have about 35 lbs to lose, so I am about half way to that goal. I still have a noticeable belly and that has to go.  I started this around 225 lbs. and had an expanding 38"+ waist line.  The last several pairs of dress pants I bought for work,  I bought them with a 40" waist had them taken in.  More comfortable that way. My waist is now a more pleasing 36".  I want it to be 32" again.  That is what I was in high school and I think I can do it.

Six months ago, what set this all off was my type 2 diabetes.  My blood glucose was first measured at 263 mg/dl after fasting and I am now averaging in the 120's mg/dl after fasting.  Good, but I want and need it to be lower.  Ideally, I want to routinely measure in the low 100's and even a the 90's would be great.  Insulin not being absorbed seems to be a function of fat inhibiting or preventing absorption on insulin by the cells that need it. Lose the fat, lose the problem.  I still have plenty of fat to lose and I need to reduce it further. 

Six months ago I was the type who when thinking about exercise would lie down and wait until the thought had passed.  Them made myself a snack and turned on the TV.  Now I force myself to get up early to get on my bike and peddle.  My inspiration for all of this is Jack LaLanne.  For decades he was up at 4:00 am to put himself through a nearly three hour daily work out.  He is now in his 90's and still doing it.   My favorite line of his is:  "Only a masochist likes to exercise."  He does it because he likes the results.  I think of that every time I get up at 5:00 am to ride my bike. 

He is also a near lifetime vegetarian.  I think of that, too, when I am tempted to go get a cheeseburger.  Yes, I have not given up meat and I do eat an occasional cheeseburger, but I eat a lot less of it.  I eat a lot of whole grains, beans and vegetables. I have learned to love to fill up on that stuff.  Eating that seems to work for me.  I even have some good tofu recipes. 

Six months ago I was not sleeping well and never knew it. I would get so sleepy in the afternoon.  I had sleep apnea and SWMBO always complained about my snoring. I just thought it was due to nothing more than getting older.  Now I know it was do to my type 2 diabetes. This was a symptom and I didn't know that.  All of that unabsorbed blood glucose was keeping me up like little kid who is bouncing off of walls from a candy bar.  Now I get good restful sleep.  I don't snore.  The sleep apnea is gone and no more complaints from SWMBO.

Six months ago, I started to seriously search out articles to learn about keeping my health up. I read articles about about how bad saturated fat is for heart health and how there is no link to saturated fat and heart health.  What to do?  Find what works and stick with it.  I have also read this about using sex to treat diabetes.  I like it.

So, in six months what have I learned?  My diet has be better for the rest of my life.  My exercise habits have to be better for the rest of my life.  My health is something I have work at everyday for the rest of my life.  I have to find what works for me and stick with it.  I have also learned that I better have a lot of room on my credit card for all the new clothes I am going to have to buy.  But hey, why not?  I look good.

Take a Pill Because We are Only Going to Get Fatter

Saw this on Volokh Conspiracy blog on why we are getting heavier.  The researchers say it is due the falling cost of food, rising incomes and falling need for physical labor.  In other words, nirvana.  Life is getting easier and tastier, and the result is that we are getting fatter.  The authors, Tomas J. Philipson and Richard A. Posner, go on to say that there is ultimately little we can do about it. Food cost, availability and physical exertion at work are only going to get cheaper and better.  Nothing we do, such as dietary education, exercise or diet programs and even taxing fattening foods, will do much to get us thinner. They are looking at medicine to develop a pill to keep us thin.  That fits.

The original article was published in the Wall Street Journal here.

In my little war against fat, the numbers:

• Blood Glucose:  134 mg/dl.  Sigh. 
• Weight:  185 lbs.  OK, now that I am here I just want to get lower.
• Exercise:  45 minutes on the bike.
• Mood:  7.  Weight going down, good and GB inching up, bad.

Menu: 

• Breakfast:  Oatmeal flavored with blackberry herbal tea and craisins.  
• Lunch:  Hummus with cucumber slices, an orange and these whole wheat sandwich rounds, which are quite tasty.
• Dinner:  Pasta Rustica, my version.
• Snacks:  Soy yogurt, applesause and some sort of granola stuff. 

Yeah, but will it last?

Drew Carey has lost over 80 pounds and he really looks good.  I am jealous, actually.  I love the bow tie. I hope he keeps it off.

Amazing what losing 80 pounds can do for you

He did lots of cardio exercises from what I have read, was a type 2 diabetic and ate no carbohydrates.  None.  "No carbs," he said. "I have cheated a couple times, but basically no carbs, not even a cracker. No bread at all. No pizza, nothing. No corn, no beans, no starches of any kind."

I think this proves that if you eat less of anything, you will lose weight. The ultimate challenge is to keep it off. 

I bet in a few years he gains the weight back.  I hope not.  I don't think he can maintain that sort of regimen indefinately.  We seemed to be programmed to eat carbohydrates for one thing.  It's the type of carbohydrates we eat that matter.  I don't think a no carbohydrate diet is healthy.  They are like little packets of energy easily used and readily released into the body.  Too much of anything can't be good and that was my big problem.  Too much fuel going in and not enough going out.  Carbohydrates from whole grains and beans are low in fat and calories, have all sorts of nutrients and are filling.  For me, it helps keep the out going above the in coming. 

So, I am going to continue what I do. It may not be as fast, but I think it is a sensible way to eat to live.  Eat a potato, not potato chip. 

My numbers for the day:

• Blood Glucose:  124 mg/dl.  Good, but not where I want it. 
• Weight:  187 lbs.  Gained two over the weekend.  Must have been the beer.
• Exercise:  45 minutes on the bike.  I want to add the resistance bands, but time, time time. 
• Mood:  7. Two pounds.  Frustrating.

Menu:

• Breakfast:  Banana, oatmeal with craisins and a kiwi fruit.
• Lunch:  Leftover ribs (2) and half a chicken breast and an orange.  Cleaning out the fridge. 
• Dinner:  Speaking of whole grains and beans, a bean sauce made from red bean, pinto beans, navy beans over brown rice. Not sure of the the vegetables. 

I over served myself at favorite of place of ours, the Petrol Station.  I had several glasses of Arrogant Bastard's  SSR (Simply Sublime Reserve).  It's a dark, hoppy beer with a lot of alcohol in it.  I have noticed that it takes less to get there faster when it come to alcohol.