I just added a new blog to my list which [GASP] has nothing to do with health and nutrition! It's POLITICAL in nature -- EEEEEW! ;-)
I friggin' HATE politics. But this guy is sane and reasonable, educated and well-read and a good writer on top of everything else. He has experience of the world and a good argumentative style. And i just LUUUUV how he rips trolls a new one. Dear god, how i'd love to turn him loose on a few jerks i know....
Stonekettle Station: it makes me feel better after reading facebook!
Sunday, July 21, 2013
Saturday, July 20, 2013
Mercury direct again -- here's hoping it will help!
...because the stoopid has been really thick lately!
Everyone in professional media seems not to have gotten the right kind or amount of attention during their formative years, because the clamor to get their fifteen minutes of fame has become deafening in these our times. Of course, an awful lot of amateurs are even worse.
Ladies and gentlemen, ANYONE can be (and almost everyone probably is) a racist, sexist, agist, religion-ist -- you name it. This just means that one makes a series of presumptions about people based on nothing but one's perception of what they MAY be like, because of the demographic to which they belong. Things like individual bearing and mien, how people dress and speak, influence us as well. This is deeply ingrained -- instinctive. It's adaptive and protective ... and often counter-productive.
What gets nasty is when unevolved people act on their instincts. When people with an axe to grind buy the airwaves and serve up the hate and fear in supersize portions. When selfish fucktards aren't knocked back into the primordial ooze in which they belong, because other selfish fucktards have seized power which they're not qualified to wield -- because when you live in a SOCIETY you have an obligation to behave in a SOCIAL manner. Breakers of the social contract should not be allowed to benefit from it.
Way too many people are ANTI-SOCIAL in every definition of the word. It's disgusting. GROW UP.
Everyone in professional media seems not to have gotten the right kind or amount of attention during their formative years, because the clamor to get their fifteen minutes of fame has become deafening in these our times. Of course, an awful lot of amateurs are even worse.
Ladies and gentlemen, ANYONE can be (and almost everyone probably is) a racist, sexist, agist, religion-ist -- you name it. This just means that one makes a series of presumptions about people based on nothing but one's perception of what they MAY be like, because of the demographic to which they belong. Things like individual bearing and mien, how people dress and speak, influence us as well. This is deeply ingrained -- instinctive. It's adaptive and protective ... and often counter-productive.
What gets nasty is when unevolved people act on their instincts. When people with an axe to grind buy the airwaves and serve up the hate and fear in supersize portions. When selfish fucktards aren't knocked back into the primordial ooze in which they belong, because other selfish fucktards have seized power which they're not qualified to wield -- because when you live in a SOCIETY you have an obligation to behave in a SOCIAL manner. Breakers of the social contract should not be allowed to benefit from it.
Way too many people are ANTI-SOCIAL in every definition of the word. It's disgusting. GROW UP.
Monday, July 15, 2013
hearing what we want to hear
I've been re-reading Adele Hite's "As the Calories Churn" series -- and it's time for another episode, dear! ;-) ... SO many quotable moments here! I was tempted to take a chunk out of her first article, which talked about how our dietary guidelines don't just ignore the science, but virtually put their fingers in their ears and say "lalalalala" to drown out the truth of our problem....
But continuing on through the first and into the second installment, i was inspired by a whole 'nother idea: that when people read studies or the articles, discussions and twitter-storms that follow, how often their personal predilections cause them to zero in on PARTS of the message that jibe with their very own desires!
It's human nature. The previously-fat-deprived individual hears the Good News a la Atkins, and the immediate take-away is, "i can eat all the bacon i want!!! :-D" -- except Atkins never told us to stuff ourselves with ANYTHING. He said to eat till we're satisfied, and pay attention to our bodies' cues so that we'll get ENOUGH, but not overload. Conversely, the carb-addicted individual will read the voices of reason in the paleo-blogosphere and hear, "carbs are GOOD for you -- you just burn them off, and they aren't stored as fat", whereas if they were paying attention to the fine print, they'd have noticed that the caveat that causes their interpetation to be true is IF THE CARB-EATER IS BURNING GAZILLIONS OF ENERGY UNITS while in serious athletic training ... and even then candy is not an appropriate source of carbohydrate. Sedentary individuals need not apply (this factoid to their personal experience).
The Oscar Wilde's maxim, "nothing succeeds like excess" is a very popular concept when it comes to indulging our hedonistic whims, but it really isn't as good a personal motto as "discretion is the better part ofspeeding valor" (oops, i was telling you my DRIVING motto, not my LIVING one). I've always been fond of "procrastination is the art of keeping up with yesterday," too, and other Archie-isms....
"Truth" is likely to lie somewhere between what we HATE and what we want to hear.
On a more Ernest note -- doggone it, once i start down that Wilde road it's hard to turn back -- on an EARNEST note, once we have hit that midlife speedbump, the time for manic abandon is pretty much over! The bacon or sweet-potato (or beer) orgies that we used to be able to indulge in our twenties with NO repercussions, and which we were able to recover from pretty quickly in our thirties, can now cause a lot more lasting damage. A wheat, lettuce or cheese binge can make me miserable for a week.
I've digressed, which easily happens when i get in a whimsical mood. ;-) But yeah -- it's a temptation to read what we want to, when ambiguous research reports come within our radar. If the message tends toward ANY extreme, we should look on it with much more cynicism than may come naturally. Any GOOD study is likely to tell us nothing that's entirely new or revolutionary; people HAVE been doing "good science" for a long time, even if the media pass it along very poorly, and bloggers do marginally better/worse. The best we can hope for are refinements of what we already know.
But continuing on through the first and into the second installment, i was inspired by a whole 'nother idea: that when people read studies or the articles, discussions and twitter-storms that follow, how often their personal predilections cause them to zero in on PARTS of the message that jibe with their very own desires!
It's human nature. The previously-fat-deprived individual hears the Good News a la Atkins, and the immediate take-away is, "i can eat all the bacon i want!!! :-D" -- except Atkins never told us to stuff ourselves with ANYTHING. He said to eat till we're satisfied, and pay attention to our bodies' cues so that we'll get ENOUGH, but not overload. Conversely, the carb-addicted individual will read the voices of reason in the paleo-blogosphere and hear, "carbs are GOOD for you -- you just burn them off, and they aren't stored as fat", whereas if they were paying attention to the fine print, they'd have noticed that the caveat that causes their interpetation to be true is IF THE CARB-EATER IS BURNING GAZILLIONS OF ENERGY UNITS while in serious athletic training ... and even then candy is not an appropriate source of carbohydrate. Sedentary individuals need not apply (this factoid to their personal experience).
The Oscar Wilde's maxim, "nothing succeeds like excess" is a very popular concept when it comes to indulging our hedonistic whims, but it really isn't as good a personal motto as "discretion is the better part of
"Truth" is likely to lie somewhere between what we HATE and what we want to hear.
On a more Ernest note -- doggone it, once i start down that Wilde road it's hard to turn back -- on an EARNEST note, once we have hit that midlife speedbump, the time for manic abandon is pretty much over! The bacon or sweet-potato (or beer) orgies that we used to be able to indulge in our twenties with NO repercussions, and which we were able to recover from pretty quickly in our thirties, can now cause a lot more lasting damage. A wheat, lettuce or cheese binge can make me miserable for a week.
I've digressed, which easily happens when i get in a whimsical mood. ;-) But yeah -- it's a temptation to read what we want to, when ambiguous research reports come within our radar. If the message tends toward ANY extreme, we should look on it with much more cynicism than may come naturally. Any GOOD study is likely to tell us nothing that's entirely new or revolutionary; people HAVE been doing "good science" for a long time, even if the media pass it along very poorly, and bloggers do marginally better/worse. The best we can hope for are refinements of what we already know.
Saturday, July 13, 2013
another good MR activity
Another week is left of the Mercury Retrograde, and it seems like a good time to talk about supplements again. Since my husband retired, we've been on the go a whole lot more, and the traveling-light times have given me more insight into what's ESSENTIAL for me, and what seems a lot more optional.
When i used to drive to New Orleans and spend a month at a time away from home, i used to take the whole collection. There was no reason not to -- my Cross Country has a lot of space, even when traveling with the dog (and his big crate) and the canary (RIP to my little Pip, who lasted a long time for such a little guy). Going to Texas, too, i didn't try to take just the bare necessities, because i was usually gone a good two weeks and had plenty of room. But on our train trip at Christmas, the Low-Carb Cruise, and various long-weekend kinds of excursions, it seemed ridiculous to take the 20 bottles that sit on my bathroom counter while at home. Some things i REALLY missed while we were away, and some things i ran out of mid-trip and was surprised not to be able to easily replace.
Good-quality cod liver oil falls into that last category. As discussed some time ago, vitamin A is something i MUST supplement and CLO is a stellar choice which balances it with D, and gives the omega-3s a boost at the same time. Before the winter trip, i ordered capsules of what i THOUGHT was the perfect alternative to the liquid stuff that lives in my fridge at home, but it was NOT. Before i take another trip, on which it will be difficult to carry the liquid, i need to find something better -- but in the meantime, i luv me my Carlson's!
I ran out of my systemic enzymes on the ship, and we stayed longer in TX afterward than i expected, so i was without those till i could order more and have them delivered at home. While i was away, i strained a knee which refused to return to normal till i had been a week back on a good serrapeptase supplement. LESSON LEARNED the painful way -- and that certainly teaches one in a manner that's hard to forget.
I've played with reducing my iodine intake, because i'd heard that megadoses are necessary for replenishment of one's stores, but after that a maintenance dose is all that's needed. I don't believe that any more. Splitting the difference between the 50mg mega and the 12.5mg maintenance seems to be the answer for me. Iron, too -- there's so much ferrophobia in the paleo blogosphere it almost makes me angry! It's clearer than the water of Montauk Spring that when i supplement i'm fine, and when i don't i shed like a big dog! I've gone through the supplementing/not-supplementing cycle SEVERAL times, and it NEVER FAILS. Case closed. Bless his little heart, Dr. Jayson Calton* chatted with me on the cruise, and gave me a good tip about taking my iron in isolation -- he DID NOT freak out and caution me about the DA-A-A-ANGER of supplementing this stuff like the make-believe authorities online do. :-D
I'm less sure about things like copper, selenium, K2, zinc and magnesium. I take the first two because i understand that they're needed to balance iron and iodine, respectively. The last three i take because i want to make sure i get enough, and most people don't. Whether any of these are things i do or don't absorb well ... i don't really know! They are just-in-case supps. I believe i also need B12 in the sublingual methylcobalamine form i take, but haven't given it the same kind of testing i gave iron.
Having decent energy levels is SO CRITICAL for my well-being, anything like zinc and B12 that help the thyroid and hormone conversion/usage, i don't want to mess with! I think they're helping, so i don't want to play around with them and risk crashing. I HAVE played with some other things that fall in the maybe-helpful category, and ... well, they really seem to deserve their own paragraphs....
Months ago, i tried tyrosine and stopped again because it seemed that instead of making me energetic it seemed to just make me jittery. Reflection and retrial has given me food for thought -- tyrosine appears to be a good thing on those days when i HAVE to be doing physical "work." When we have a long list of places to go, people to see and things to do -- activities that tend to wear me out -- tyrosine helps me cope, and i tend to return home without the excessive fatigue i used to experience. So tyrosine apparently helps me utilize energy better, but it's not so good to use for mental, sitting-down work.
Carnitine, i was pretty certain, helped with energy but being another damned pill i frequently didn't take enough, i suspect. Well, when i ran out of the last caplets, i ordered a bottle of the high-potency LIQUID, and ... YES. It DOES appear to be better-absorbed and more effective. I've become an enthusiast of the liquid supplement by Now (citrus flavor), but i find it better to take in two half-doses instead of the recommended dose all at once. Wooo's training taught her that carnitine competes with thyroid hormone for receptors, and it's therefore not recommended for hypothyroids -- i suspect that there's more to the mechanism than appeared in her textbook; don't quote me as an authority, but my experience seems to imply that carnitine MIGHT just spare thyroid in its job of escorting fat into cells for burning as fuel.
My raw thyroid glandular supplements are essential [full stop]. No compromise possible. Ditto for the pregnenolone.
Betaine-HCl, like melatonin and my favorite antihistamine (benedryl), is something i keep on hand because they belong in the sometimes-badly-needed category. Licorice root, too, seems to be helpful in times of stress. Mucuna SEEMS to help with essential tremor. Just like echinacea, goldenseal, zinc lozenges have their moments, when infection makes a rare appearance.
I've got it down. For now. Till something ELSE changes. ;-)
______
* Ph.D., FAAIM, DCCN, CMS, CISSN, BCIH, ROHP, A.M.P -- this guy works with real-life human patients, and i feel confident that he actually HELPS PEOPLE....
When i used to drive to New Orleans and spend a month at a time away from home, i used to take the whole collection. There was no reason not to -- my Cross Country has a lot of space, even when traveling with the dog (and his big crate) and the canary (RIP to my little Pip, who lasted a long time for such a little guy). Going to Texas, too, i didn't try to take just the bare necessities, because i was usually gone a good two weeks and had plenty of room. But on our train trip at Christmas, the Low-Carb Cruise, and various long-weekend kinds of excursions, it seemed ridiculous to take the 20 bottles that sit on my bathroom counter while at home. Some things i REALLY missed while we were away, and some things i ran out of mid-trip and was surprised not to be able to easily replace.
Good-quality cod liver oil falls into that last category. As discussed some time ago, vitamin A is something i MUST supplement and CLO is a stellar choice which balances it with D, and gives the omega-3s a boost at the same time. Before the winter trip, i ordered capsules of what i THOUGHT was the perfect alternative to the liquid stuff that lives in my fridge at home, but it was NOT. Before i take another trip, on which it will be difficult to carry the liquid, i need to find something better -- but in the meantime, i luv me my Carlson's!
I ran out of my systemic enzymes on the ship, and we stayed longer in TX afterward than i expected, so i was without those till i could order more and have them delivered at home. While i was away, i strained a knee which refused to return to normal till i had been a week back on a good serrapeptase supplement. LESSON LEARNED the painful way -- and that certainly teaches one in a manner that's hard to forget.
I've played with reducing my iodine intake, because i'd heard that megadoses are necessary for replenishment of one's stores, but after that a maintenance dose is all that's needed. I don't believe that any more. Splitting the difference between the 50mg mega and the 12.5mg maintenance seems to be the answer for me. Iron, too -- there's so much ferrophobia in the paleo blogosphere it almost makes me angry! It's clearer than the water of Montauk Spring that when i supplement i'm fine, and when i don't i shed like a big dog! I've gone through the supplementing/not-supplementing cycle SEVERAL times, and it NEVER FAILS. Case closed. Bless his little heart, Dr. Jayson Calton* chatted with me on the cruise, and gave me a good tip about taking my iron in isolation -- he DID NOT freak out and caution me about the DA-A-A-ANGER of supplementing this stuff like the make-believe authorities online do. :-D
I'm less sure about things like copper, selenium, K2, zinc and magnesium. I take the first two because i understand that they're needed to balance iron and iodine, respectively. The last three i take because i want to make sure i get enough, and most people don't. Whether any of these are things i do or don't absorb well ... i don't really know! They are just-in-case supps. I believe i also need B12 in the sublingual methylcobalamine form i take, but haven't given it the same kind of testing i gave iron.
Having decent energy levels is SO CRITICAL for my well-being, anything like zinc and B12 that help the thyroid and hormone conversion/usage, i don't want to mess with! I think they're helping, so i don't want to play around with them and risk crashing. I HAVE played with some other things that fall in the maybe-helpful category, and ... well, they really seem to deserve their own paragraphs....
Months ago, i tried tyrosine and stopped again because it seemed that instead of making me energetic it seemed to just make me jittery. Reflection and retrial has given me food for thought -- tyrosine appears to be a good thing on those days when i HAVE to be doing physical "work." When we have a long list of places to go, people to see and things to do -- activities that tend to wear me out -- tyrosine helps me cope, and i tend to return home without the excessive fatigue i used to experience. So tyrosine apparently helps me utilize energy better, but it's not so good to use for mental, sitting-down work.
Carnitine, i was pretty certain, helped with energy but being another damned pill i frequently didn't take enough, i suspect. Well, when i ran out of the last caplets, i ordered a bottle of the high-potency LIQUID, and ... YES. It DOES appear to be better-absorbed and more effective. I've become an enthusiast of the liquid supplement by Now (citrus flavor), but i find it better to take in two half-doses instead of the recommended dose all at once. Wooo's training taught her that carnitine competes with thyroid hormone for receptors, and it's therefore not recommended for hypothyroids -- i suspect that there's more to the mechanism than appeared in her textbook; don't quote me as an authority, but my experience seems to imply that carnitine MIGHT just spare thyroid in its job of escorting fat into cells for burning as fuel.
My raw thyroid glandular supplements are essential [full stop]. No compromise possible. Ditto for the pregnenolone.
Betaine-HCl, like melatonin and my favorite antihistamine (benedryl), is something i keep on hand because they belong in the sometimes-badly-needed category. Licorice root, too, seems to be helpful in times of stress. Mucuna SEEMS to help with essential tremor. Just like echinacea, goldenseal, zinc lozenges have their moments, when infection makes a rare appearance.
I've got it down. For now. Till something ELSE changes. ;-)
______
* Ph.D., FAAIM, DCCN, CMS, CISSN, BCIH, ROHP, A.M.P -- this guy works with real-life human patients, and i feel confident that he actually HELPS PEOPLE....
Friday, July 12, 2013
for the birds
Today has been a PERFECT summer day in the midwest. It hasn't been too hot but is definitely summery. The sun has shone, the breeze has blown, then stilled and come back again. After i did my morning reading and spent a couple of hours in the kitchen and garden, i sat down in the back yard with a book and a cold drink and turned the sprinkler on the petunias, crepe myrtles, tomatoes and sunchokes.
My chair turned toward the area being watered, i actually neglected my reading because of the impromptu performance going on in front of me. First it was the robins harvesting worms that came toward the surface of the soil in response to the sprinkler. Their appetites (and their families') being satisfied, they and their colleagues decided that it was a nice day to take a shower. A really stunning cardinal spent quite awhile perched on the netting protecting the 'chokes, letting the water get to all his feathers, then repositioning himself to shake it off and preen on the juniper in the sunshine. Another bird which i'm too ignorant to identify came next, bathing and flapping, then nervously flying away. A final robin returned and picked up a worm-to-go -- carry-out for the feathered set!
Sitting here watching it all, i thought to myself -- i'm a friggin' GODDESS, as far as the plants and animals in my yard are concerned! Having enough myself, i'm able to spare sustenance and tend the earth, so that the flowers are encouraged to put out new blooms, the trees are taken care of, the shrubs are watered and placed in sunshine, the birds fed, and even the buggies in the composter get theirs. I love and send blessings even to the dogs barking two houses over.
Life is good.
My chair turned toward the area being watered, i actually neglected my reading because of the impromptu performance going on in front of me. First it was the robins harvesting worms that came toward the surface of the soil in response to the sprinkler. Their appetites (and their families') being satisfied, they and their colleagues decided that it was a nice day to take a shower. A really stunning cardinal spent quite awhile perched on the netting protecting the 'chokes, letting the water get to all his feathers, then repositioning himself to shake it off and preen on the juniper in the sunshine. Another bird which i'm too ignorant to identify came next, bathing and flapping, then nervously flying away. A final robin returned and picked up a worm-to-go -- carry-out for the feathered set!
Sitting here watching it all, i thought to myself -- i'm a friggin' GODDESS, as far as the plants and animals in my yard are concerned! Having enough myself, i'm able to spare sustenance and tend the earth, so that the flowers are encouraged to put out new blooms, the trees are taken care of, the shrubs are watered and placed in sunshine, the birds fed, and even the buggies in the composter get theirs. I love and send blessings even to the dogs barking two houses over.
Life is good.
consumer warning! media ignorance causes ranting behavior in bloggers!
An important news release from autodescribed authorities in a highly-respected ivory-tower institution has proclaimed ... the same old bullshit!!!
grrrr....
Use of "artificial sweeteners" (funny, that ingredient NEVER appears on labels, though i often see aspartame, sucralose, saccharin, acesulfameK, etc) is correlated with the existence of FAT PEOPLE! Says onetalking head obesity researcher, "Studies in mice and rats 'subjects' have shown that consumption of noncaloric sweeteners dampens physiological responses to sweet taste, causing the [subjects] to overindulge in calorie-rich, sweet-tasting food and pack on extra pounds."
WHERE DO I BEGIN??? Variations on a theme of this have been posted all over facebook and the blogosphere. In the case of the former, it's some of the more intelligent info that A FEW of the people i know EVER post. Amongst the latter, there are two sub-groups: of one, i'm not at all surprised because it's typical of why i don't read THEIR blogs, but ... i AM a bit puzzled why the ones i regularly read might feel this is worth repeating.
This is not the first time i've made public my opinion about "artificial sweeteners" (<-- fyi, massive understatement). These products range from widely-toxic to slightly-irritating -- why the temptation to lump them all together? I can think of a couple of reasons, and they say ugly things about the state of research.
Either the Insulated Ones of Organized Academia are so tunnel-visioned they don't appreciate that toxicity is a spectrum, or they have so much contempt for the people they're in business to "help" that their attitude oozes all over every condescending word they utter. Go back to the third paragraph above and re-read the quote -- i barely edited the Purdue University bitch who made the pronouncement (i changed her "mice and rats" to "subjects" and changed "animals" to the same word, in brackets). Dare i insinuate the obvious -- "packing on pounds" is NOT what LAB RODENTS are capable of doing -- but of course, "packing on ounces" just doesn't have that pejorative ring.
I'm kinda inclined to think the problem with the thinking of such researchers (and the media "personalities" who parrot them) is THIS -- they believe that the obese are evil disgusting gluttonous lazy hedonistic horrible animals who DESERVE nothing tasty (which is why it's awful that they can improve their health with bacon, butter and steak). They BELIEVE that fat people should be sentenced to a boot camp where some obesity-resistant fashion model can yell at them while they're driving up stress hormones and ruining their joints (AKA "burning fat") on a treadmill for hours every day. They believe that the sin of being overweight should be penanced away with self-flagellation, mental anguish, a low diet of bread and water, and dried peas in the shoes.
Ooh, sounds vaguely reminiscent of something ... how about the "Dark Ages" and Inquisition?
Fuck 'em.
I apologize to the "nice ladies and gentlemen" who read here. I thought of using a euphemism, but the strength of my anger and contempt couldn't be expressed even by "piss on the self-righteous assholes." ;-)
The people i know who STILL struggle with their weight, and do so valiantly and self-denyingly day-in-day-out DESERVE the solace of an occasional "sweet." On a hot summer day, after chores in the garden or doing housework, or cheering their kids at a ball game, you can bet the farm that a cold diet soda is an appropriate treat for the sugar-avoider.
grrrr....
Use of "artificial sweeteners" (funny, that ingredient NEVER appears on labels, though i often see aspartame, sucralose, saccharin, acesulfameK, etc) is correlated with the existence of FAT PEOPLE! Says one
WHERE DO I BEGIN??? Variations on a theme of this have been posted all over facebook and the blogosphere. In the case of the former, it's some of the more intelligent info that A FEW of the people i know EVER post. Amongst the latter, there are two sub-groups: of one, i'm not at all surprised because it's typical of why i don't read THEIR blogs, but ... i AM a bit puzzled why the ones i regularly read might feel this is worth repeating.
This is not the first time i've made public my opinion about "artificial sweeteners" (<-- fyi, massive understatement). These products range from widely-toxic to slightly-irritating -- why the temptation to lump them all together? I can think of a couple of reasons, and they say ugly things about the state of research.
Either the Insulated Ones of Organized Academia are so tunnel-visioned they don't appreciate that toxicity is a spectrum, or they have so much contempt for the people they're in business to "help" that their attitude oozes all over every condescending word they utter. Go back to the third paragraph above and re-read the quote -- i barely edited the Purdue University bitch who made the pronouncement (i changed her "mice and rats" to "subjects" and changed "animals" to the same word, in brackets). Dare i insinuate the obvious -- "packing on pounds" is NOT what LAB RODENTS are capable of doing -- but of course, "packing on ounces" just doesn't have that pejorative ring.
I'm kinda inclined to think the problem with the thinking of such researchers (and the media "personalities" who parrot them) is THIS -- they believe that the obese are evil disgusting gluttonous lazy hedonistic horrible animals who DESERVE nothing tasty (which is why it's awful that they can improve their health with bacon, butter and steak). They BELIEVE that fat people should be sentenced to a boot camp where some obesity-resistant fashion model can yell at them while they're driving up stress hormones and ruining their joints (AKA "burning fat") on a treadmill for hours every day. They believe that the sin of being overweight should be penanced away with self-flagellation, mental anguish, a low diet of bread and water, and dried peas in the shoes.
Ooh, sounds vaguely reminiscent of something ... how about the "Dark Ages" and Inquisition?
Fuck 'em.
I apologize to the "nice ladies and gentlemen" who read here. I thought of using a euphemism, but the strength of my anger and contempt couldn't be expressed even by "piss on the self-righteous assholes." ;-)
The people i know who STILL struggle with their weight, and do so valiantly and self-denyingly day-in-day-out DESERVE the solace of an occasional "sweet." On a hot summer day, after chores in the garden or doing housework, or cheering their kids at a ball game, you can bet the farm that a cold diet soda is an appropriate treat for the sugar-avoider.
Thursday, July 11, 2013
nine days left
We're in the middle of one of the three Mercury Retrograde periods which happen every year. That's when, from Earth's perspective, Mercury appears to be moving backward in the sky -- an illusion of course caused by M's smaller and faster circle around the sun than ours. Astrologers decided millennia ago that Mercury-ruled activities were likely to go awry at this time, and that it's also a good time for "looking backward."
So look backward. Go somewhere there's NO extraneous noise, leave your ipod and phone and internet behind. Turn off that television which is ALWAYS on in the other room, and the radio, too. Listen to nothing but your own thoughts (and your own body) for an hour. And no "self talk" -- just shut up and listen. No distracting snacks or beverages. No other person. No distractions, period.
This activity is close to meditation, but no cigar. You're not trying to still the mind or solve a problem or pep-talk yourself. BE "bored" for a little while.
It's pathological to need constant outside stimulation. How did our world come to this?
So look backward. Go somewhere there's NO extraneous noise, leave your ipod and phone and internet behind. Turn off that television which is ALWAYS on in the other room, and the radio, too. Listen to nothing but your own thoughts (and your own body) for an hour. And no "self talk" -- just shut up and listen. No distracting snacks or beverages. No other person. No distractions, period.
This activity is close to meditation, but no cigar. You're not trying to still the mind or solve a problem or pep-talk yourself. BE "bored" for a little while.
It's pathological to need constant outside stimulation. How did our world come to this?
Monday, July 8, 2013
myopic points of view
It's an absolutely truism that we don't know what we don't know, but i also think that some don't know what the phrase properly means.
The problem is partly the Dunning-Kruger effect -- for various reasons, the "incompetent" tend to overestimate their competence. A few of the reasons might be that the person is simply stupid and they CAN'T register their degree of mental inferiority, or their psychology is such that clues of their ignorance fall on defensively-deaf ears, or they're so insulated they don't know what the range of possibility is, and self-esteem (a branch of the biological imperative to survive) forbids them to place themselves in a non-esteemable category.
WAAAAY back in the '80s, i read the book "Dress for Success" because ... well, i knew someone who didn't. One of the points made, which has stuck with me all this time, was that when looking down the social scale we see very clearly, but when looking UP it, we're definitely myopic. Seems to me this happens a lot in the diet-and-fitness world, when some young "undamaged" person or pushy musclehead knows what EVERYONE needs to be strong and healthy.
I've found it extremely illuminating that even people with the same gender, age, and symptoms don't react similarly to certain foods/supplements/pharmaceuticals/exercises -- hell, i find that i sometimes don't react as i did LAST WEEK, let alone ten years ago. So even though i'm a believer in the idea that one should start looking for answers to one's problems amongst the experiences of one's true peers, it really is ONLY a starting point.
No matter how much we read, no matter what our own experiences have been, we DON'T know what is going to be the magic bullet for somebody else. For Joe Bro to claim that he knows the answers because he's known an example of the demographic who succeeded on his plan only shows how out-of-touch he is. We can all see DOWN the river to our pasts in the valley below this hill we're climbing, but looking UP the river, our view is obscured by the mists coming off the rough water ahead. Somebody else's path, around the shoulder of the hill, may not be visible at all.
The problem is partly the Dunning-Kruger effect -- for various reasons, the "incompetent" tend to overestimate their competence. A few of the reasons might be that the person is simply stupid and they CAN'T register their degree of mental inferiority, or their psychology is such that clues of their ignorance fall on defensively-deaf ears, or they're so insulated they don't know what the range of possibility is, and self-esteem (a branch of the biological imperative to survive) forbids them to place themselves in a non-esteemable category.
WAAAAY back in the '80s, i read the book "Dress for Success" because ... well, i knew someone who didn't. One of the points made, which has stuck with me all this time, was that when looking down the social scale we see very clearly, but when looking UP it, we're definitely myopic. Seems to me this happens a lot in the diet-and-fitness world, when some young "undamaged" person or pushy musclehead knows what EVERYONE needs to be strong and healthy.
I've found it extremely illuminating that even people with the same gender, age, and symptoms don't react similarly to certain foods/supplements/pharmaceuticals/exercises -- hell, i find that i sometimes don't react as i did LAST WEEK, let alone ten years ago. So even though i'm a believer in the idea that one should start looking for answers to one's problems amongst the experiences of one's true peers, it really is ONLY a starting point.
No matter how much we read, no matter what our own experiences have been, we DON'T know what is going to be the magic bullet for somebody else. For Joe Bro to claim that he knows the answers because he's known an example of the demographic who succeeded on his plan only shows how out-of-touch he is. We can all see DOWN the river to our pasts in the valley below this hill we're climbing, but looking UP the river, our view is obscured by the mists coming off the rough water ahead. Somebody else's path, around the shoulder of the hill, may not be visible at all.
Sunday, July 7, 2013
i'm unable to praise systemic enzymes enough
By the time i finally arrived back home a month and a half ago, after the cruise and a week in Houston, i had managed to injure my OTHER knee -- the previously uninjured knee i depended on to take the load off Ralph. Well, when one has a chronically bad limb, the "relief part" comes under a LOT of strain and pressure, just like when one's life or business partner is incapacitated and one has to do ALL the household/job duties as well as try to help the out-of-commission person.
My first plan of action was to do all i knew how to lower the inflammation. I applied heat, elevated both knees, used NSAIDS, made sure i was getting a good omega-3:6 balance, took measures to get enough rest for it, drafted my husband to carry anything that needed to go from a lower to an upper floor of the house, lots of things of that nature. I also ordered more systemic enzymes to replace the ones i ran out of; a different type and brand, but what promised to sub for my usual stuff very efficiently.
Short story (too late) -- Louie the Left is pain-free again. There's still some swelling in the muscle-connection i damaged, and in the knee itself (probably the bursa like in Ralph), but at least i can raise and lower myself like a more normal person again.
SYSTEMIC ENZYMES ARE THE BEST ANTI-INFLAMMATORY SUPPLEMENT YOU CAN INVEST IN. They've been in use in Olympic-level sport for half a century, replacing steroids with the same sort of upgrade we see when people drop canola for butter. Systemic enzymes EAT exogenous proteins (duh -- they're proteolytic): proteins like the protective coatings on virus and cancer cells, the superfluous fibrin that creates problems in our bloodstreams and organs, the proteins that don't belong in our bodies.
Why do European and Japanese doctors believe in enzymes while American ones don't? ... Well, why do American doctors believe drug-company reps but not the clinical successes of other doctors? Maybe because they're lazy and gluttonous (for money and attention), as they're so fond of saying about the cases they're too incompetent to help....
My first plan of action was to do all i knew how to lower the inflammation. I applied heat, elevated both knees, used NSAIDS, made sure i was getting a good omega-3:6 balance, took measures to get enough rest for it, drafted my husband to carry anything that needed to go from a lower to an upper floor of the house, lots of things of that nature. I also ordered more systemic enzymes to replace the ones i ran out of; a different type and brand, but what promised to sub for my usual stuff very efficiently.
Short story (too late) -- Louie the Left is pain-free again. There's still some swelling in the muscle-connection i damaged, and in the knee itself (probably the bursa like in Ralph), but at least i can raise and lower myself like a more normal person again.
SYSTEMIC ENZYMES ARE THE BEST ANTI-INFLAMMATORY SUPPLEMENT YOU CAN INVEST IN. They've been in use in Olympic-level sport for half a century, replacing steroids with the same sort of upgrade we see when people drop canola for butter. Systemic enzymes EAT exogenous proteins (duh -- they're proteolytic): proteins like the protective coatings on virus and cancer cells, the superfluous fibrin that creates problems in our bloodstreams and organs, the proteins that don't belong in our bodies.
Why do European and Japanese doctors believe in enzymes while American ones don't? ... Well, why do American doctors believe drug-company reps but not the clinical successes of other doctors? Maybe because they're lazy and gluttonous (for money and attention), as they're so fond of saying about the cases they're too incompetent to help....
Saturday, July 6, 2013
to "like" civilization or not ... that is the question
The outstanding St. Louis art museum just opened a new wing, which we had a chance to explore on Wednesday (and OF COURSE we tried the new restaurant...). The whole place is so huge and labyrinthine, there are still areas to which i've never made my way! On every visit i TRY to blaze trails to the far corners, but frequently end up visiting favorite areas at the expense of the unexplored.
As i stood marveling at the rich teal glaze on an ancient bowl from the Far East, i began to think about the trade-offs of "civilization." The gorgeous shapes and colors all around me -- the patterns brushed and incised on dozens of different materials -- were the products of GOK how many years of how many brilliant and talented hands and minds. Only specialization, concentration of resources, undisturbed handing-down of esoteric knowledge can bestow this kind of benefit on society.
Art IS a benefit. Feasting my eyes on all that beauty, i DID feel "fed" at some soul-level. I reveled in the peace, contentment, harmony that traditional art tends to bestow. (There was more of mental excitement and intellectual involvement in the modern galleries, but that's a whole 'nother subject.) No, the rooms full of cases of ceramics, beautiful pictures and graceful artifacts of daily living were about enriching the surroundings of human beings whose lucky positions in the world allowed them the leisure to appreciate them.
Centuries ... millenia ago ... the nasty serf-whipping classes dribbled some of their ill-gained riches into the hands of artists, who long after their deaths are still giving delight and awe to anyone who takes the time to wander into an admission-free public gallery, and stand in front of these works, and merely gaze.
Art exists in primitive societies, too, but not at this level; nomads can't set up workshops of the kind required to produce what i saw the other day. Experimentation with minerals and plant matter is likely to get interrupted by the need to follow the antelope herd or flee approaching winter. Among hunters, the flint-knapper and fletcher are probably the crafters most valued, and the potter who makes a solid product which resists breakage is a better contributor than one who puts the prettiest pattern on its surface....
So is it worth the trade-off? The grain-based civilizations which allowed for that pale-celadon bowl (with the painted phoenixes cavorting about under its glaze) to be produced are responsible for some pretty nasty effects through the last few millennia. Inquisitions and pogroms, crusades, slave- and rape-cultures, child-labor sweatshops ... there are plenty of bad things that happen in a world where people compete for wealth. There are also literature and libraries, cuisines, theatre, the kind of music which cannot be performed on a pan-flute, and all those decorative arts on display in that big building in Forest Park. The graceful little phial some Egyptian lady kept her perfumed oil in, the delicately-tinted bowl that sat on a table in Korea a thousand years ago, the imposing marble statue which originally adorned a temple in the Hellenic world, the memorial from the grave of a much-beloved and long-forgotten beauty -- i don't know how to BEGIN to measure the gains and losses that "civilization" has brought.
As i stood marveling at the rich teal glaze on an ancient bowl from the Far East, i began to think about the trade-offs of "civilization." The gorgeous shapes and colors all around me -- the patterns brushed and incised on dozens of different materials -- were the products of GOK how many years of how many brilliant and talented hands and minds. Only specialization, concentration of resources, undisturbed handing-down of esoteric knowledge can bestow this kind of benefit on society.
Art IS a benefit. Feasting my eyes on all that beauty, i DID feel "fed" at some soul-level. I reveled in the peace, contentment, harmony that traditional art tends to bestow. (There was more of mental excitement and intellectual involvement in the modern galleries, but that's a whole 'nother subject.) No, the rooms full of cases of ceramics, beautiful pictures and graceful artifacts of daily living were about enriching the surroundings of human beings whose lucky positions in the world allowed them the leisure to appreciate them.
Centuries ... millenia ago ... the nasty serf-whipping classes dribbled some of their ill-gained riches into the hands of artists, who long after their deaths are still giving delight and awe to anyone who takes the time to wander into an admission-free public gallery, and stand in front of these works, and merely gaze.
Art exists in primitive societies, too, but not at this level; nomads can't set up workshops of the kind required to produce what i saw the other day. Experimentation with minerals and plant matter is likely to get interrupted by the need to follow the antelope herd or flee approaching winter. Among hunters, the flint-knapper and fletcher are probably the crafters most valued, and the potter who makes a solid product which resists breakage is a better contributor than one who puts the prettiest pattern on its surface....
So is it worth the trade-off? The grain-based civilizations which allowed for that pale-celadon bowl (with the painted phoenixes cavorting about under its glaze) to be produced are responsible for some pretty nasty effects through the last few millennia. Inquisitions and pogroms, crusades, slave- and rape-cultures, child-labor sweatshops ... there are plenty of bad things that happen in a world where people compete for wealth. There are also literature and libraries, cuisines, theatre, the kind of music which cannot be performed on a pan-flute, and all those decorative arts on display in that big building in Forest Park. The graceful little phial some Egyptian lady kept her perfumed oil in, the delicately-tinted bowl that sat on a table in Korea a thousand years ago, the imposing marble statue which originally adorned a temple in the Hellenic world, the memorial from the grave of a much-beloved and long-forgotten beauty -- i don't know how to BEGIN to measure the gains and losses that "civilization" has brought.
Friday, July 5, 2013
mayo for Kim :-D
FOUND IT! :-D
This is the recipe that i like best, but everyone will probably find a combination of oils that suits their tastebuds, alone as well as in various special combinations. For example, "potato" salad is particularly good with bacon grease as one of the fats involved in the dressing....
1 egg
1-2 T. lemon juice, depending on destined use and how tangy you like your mayo
1/2 t. ground mustard
1/4 t. pepper -- white pepper is the prettiest choice ;-)
1/4 t. sea salt
1/3 c. olive oil
1/3 c. avocado oil
1/3 c. MCT oil
You CAN use all-olive, but it dominates the flavor of the dressing. I haven't experimented with things like macadamia oil, but i think it would be lovely and buttery.
...And HERE is the method that turned me from a rarely-making to a routinely-making mayo chef! All i can say is WOW....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekytK_cWCGI
ENJOY!
This is the recipe that i like best, but everyone will probably find a combination of oils that suits their tastebuds, alone as well as in various special combinations. For example, "potato" salad is particularly good with bacon grease as one of the fats involved in the dressing....
1 egg
1-2 T. lemon juice, depending on destined use and how tangy you like your mayo
1/2 t. ground mustard
1/4 t. pepper -- white pepper is the prettiest choice ;-)
1/4 t. sea salt
1/3 c. olive oil
1/3 c. avocado oil
1/3 c. MCT oil
You CAN use all-olive, but it dominates the flavor of the dressing. I haven't experimented with things like macadamia oil, but i think it would be lovely and buttery.
...And HERE is the method that turned me from a rarely-making to a routinely-making mayo chef! All i can say is WOW....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekytK_cWCGI
ENJOY!
trolls need not apply
When did narcissism become such a widespread problem? Seems like it used to be confined to a few "beautiful people" but more and more i see it turning into a more mainstream ugliness.
Is it because in the late 20th century, American child-rearing practices became so fucked-up? "Entitled" children whose desires direct their entire households have been existant before, but they seem epidemic now. When parents don't want to behave like parents, but rather be their children's FRIENDS, it shouldn't be a surprise. Is it the gag-worthy example children have been seeing on television for the last couple of decades, on the Disney Channel and its imitators? My daughter doesn't agree with my hypothesis that the shallow and overpriviledged characters on television are a big influence on behavior in children -- she says that as a child she always had an appreciation that people in sitcoms etc. were not real-life role-models for behavior, but i have to wonder about others....
It's not that attention-seekers and human deraillieurs haven't been around a LO-O-O-O-ONG TIME -- of course they have. Way back in my youth, every year in gradeschool had its class clowns trying to attract the notice of their teachers and fellow-students. There was always one kid whose hand shot up and waved around when a question was asked or solicited, even if their input was off-topic. In later years, always someone who droned on and on while time ran out for others who needed questions answered too.
Did these people, as children, get too little attention at home or too much? Whatever the cause, i see more and more people in public and online, making every subject ALL ABOUT THEM. They are incapable of objectivity. Every discussion HAS to include them, relevancy be damned. If they aren't the center of attention, there is something wrong with the situation and the human wallpaper around them.
These people have no respect for others, and their own self-esteem is inflated to an anti-social degree. I wish more venues would ban their trolls, because correcting and arguing with them is counter-productive -- they're merely sucking up the attention they've solicited for themselves, whether it be positive or not. Simply ignoring them leaves them free to pollute and clutter; taking away their power to distract is a far better solution for their victims.
(On a related note, check this out: http://www.totalityofbeing.com/FramelessPages/Articles/BaronofVampires.htm )
Is it because in the late 20th century, American child-rearing practices became so fucked-up? "Entitled" children whose desires direct their entire households have been existant before, but they seem epidemic now. When parents don't want to behave like parents, but rather be their children's FRIENDS, it shouldn't be a surprise. Is it the gag-worthy example children have been seeing on television for the last couple of decades, on the Disney Channel and its imitators? My daughter doesn't agree with my hypothesis that the shallow and overpriviledged characters on television are a big influence on behavior in children -- she says that as a child she always had an appreciation that people in sitcoms etc. were not real-life role-models for behavior, but i have to wonder about others....
It's not that attention-seekers and human deraillieurs haven't been around a LO-O-O-O-ONG TIME -- of course they have. Way back in my youth, every year in gradeschool had its class clowns trying to attract the notice of their teachers and fellow-students. There was always one kid whose hand shot up and waved around when a question was asked or solicited, even if their input was off-topic. In later years, always someone who droned on and on while time ran out for others who needed questions answered too.
Did these people, as children, get too little attention at home or too much? Whatever the cause, i see more and more people in public and online, making every subject ALL ABOUT THEM. They are incapable of objectivity. Every discussion HAS to include them, relevancy be damned. If they aren't the center of attention, there is something wrong with the situation and the human wallpaper around them.
These people have no respect for others, and their own self-esteem is inflated to an anti-social degree. I wish more venues would ban their trolls, because correcting and arguing with them is counter-productive -- they're merely sucking up the attention they've solicited for themselves, whether it be positive or not. Simply ignoring them leaves them free to pollute and clutter; taking away their power to distract is a far better solution for their victims.
(On a related note, check this out: http://www.totalityofbeing.com/FramelessPages/Articles/BaronofVampires.htm )
Thursday, July 4, 2013
another seeker doesn't tolerate meat-only diet
Because of one thing and another, i'm slow in presenting the news -- my husband gave the Strong Medicine protocol the ol' college try, and concluded that it isn't for him. He faithfully played the game for three days, and got thoroughly bored with it ... AND said he wasn't feeling very well either.
Of course, three days didn't get him past the low-motility phase (i was doing it with him, and nor did i adjust in that fashion). However, i "allowed" him to quit at the point he did because of his first objection -- if the dietary tedium got to him so quickly, there's no way he can do this long-term. Sustainability is immensely important when choosing a dietary plan to live with for (essentially) the rest of your life.
I came up with a new way to compromise in our shared dietary future: he gets an additional side of bagged salad with home-made (low-omega6) dressing to add fat calories and bulk to every lunch and dinner we have at home. He's much more fond of salad than i am, and tolerates lettuce just fine (while i don't). Since i learned the stick-blender method of mayonnaise production, it'll be quite simple to churn out plenty of good dressings, especially since my daughter gave me the MDA recipe book of sauces and dressings for my birthday (thanks, L!).
For my part of the food landscape, i'll continue to go meat-heavy while being careful of what vegetable-matter i use by way of garnish. Realizing that some of my intolerances may be related to my intestinal flora, i recently began a probiotic containing C. Butyricum (and a couple of other "bugs" -- thanks for the inspiration, George!) in hopes of improving diversity of population in there. I've also been inspired by Kindke's recent post to increase my intake of carnitine, and i just ordered a bottle of a high-potency liquid version....
We'll see how these tweaks succeed! As Wooo pointed out, there's still a couple of months to profit from summer's seasonal benefits before autumn's fat-encouraging qualities descend on us again.
Of course, three days didn't get him past the low-motility phase (i was doing it with him, and nor did i adjust in that fashion). However, i "allowed" him to quit at the point he did because of his first objection -- if the dietary tedium got to him so quickly, there's no way he can do this long-term. Sustainability is immensely important when choosing a dietary plan to live with for (essentially) the rest of your life.
I came up with a new way to compromise in our shared dietary future: he gets an additional side of bagged salad with home-made (low-omega6) dressing to add fat calories and bulk to every lunch and dinner we have at home. He's much more fond of salad than i am, and tolerates lettuce just fine (while i don't). Since i learned the stick-blender method of mayonnaise production, it'll be quite simple to churn out plenty of good dressings, especially since my daughter gave me the MDA recipe book of sauces and dressings for my birthday (thanks, L!).
For my part of the food landscape, i'll continue to go meat-heavy while being careful of what vegetable-matter i use by way of garnish. Realizing that some of my intolerances may be related to my intestinal flora, i recently began a probiotic containing C. Butyricum (and a couple of other "bugs" -- thanks for the inspiration, George!) in hopes of improving diversity of population in there. I've also been inspired by Kindke's recent post to increase my intake of carnitine, and i just ordered a bottle of a high-potency liquid version....
We'll see how these tweaks succeed! As Wooo pointed out, there's still a couple of months to profit from summer's seasonal benefits before autumn's fat-encouraging qualities descend on us again.
Monday, July 1, 2013
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