Yin & Yang of Staying Fit Unedited

When Exercise and Art come Together

2007-11-02T11:58:00.000-07:00

I make art. I have another blog that is for artsy stuff and traveling around the northwest. As I was out on my walk today, I thought about how the two aspects of my life have been combined. I should walk to maintain my health, but it has a few other benefits as well

1. The first benefit is pretty obvious. Going outside allows me to visualize new paintings and collect new materials. I love this season. The air is cool. Early in the morning, the frost paints the trees and grasses with white. Ice forms on my car windshield in wonderful patterns. Dew hangs on the spider webs making them stand out against the foliage. The trees are dropping their leaves and seedpods. A cool crisp morning is a great inspiration.

2. Walking helps me clear my mind. I often get “stuck” when I’m painting or working on something. Leaving something behind, strapping on my tennis shoes and going for a walk gives my conscience mind a break. Sometimes great solutions come to me in the middle of the walk. Sometimes I come back to look at my work in progress and I see it in a new light.

3. Although my family is often around me while I’m working, I spend a lot of time alone. It’s easy to see things from a limited perspective (no pun intended) when you work alone. Going for a walk, especially in a different neighborhood, I sometimes stop and chat. The other day I met an older man who was raking leaves. He stopped me and started reminiscing about a street in Boston where he grew up. I was reminded that things have changed considerably since he was a child. People didn’t have TV or computers, so they socialized and chatted more. He obviously missed the camaraderie. I think I miss it too. Great artwork has emotional depth. Contact with people helps to develop compassion and understanding.

I’ve struggled with integrating my work with my healthy lifestyle changes. I have days where I just want to finish my most recent project. I’m slowly learning to set things aside to exercise for 30 to 45 minutes. When I truly enjoy my walk, I get the added benefit of improving my art.

Body Types, Somatotypes, Endomorphs, Ectomorphs, Mesomorphs and Fitness Routines

2007-10-22T13:46:00.001-07:00

Since I heard about the 3 different body types, I’ve wondered what they really mean and if we can all be divided up so easily. I went off to do some internet research. My first stop was wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somatotype. I was surprised to learn that the body type descriptions were developed in the 40’s by an American psychologist name William Sheldon. He was actually using the body types to match personalities with types of bodies. It also turns out that William Sheldon was a thief, according to Wikipedia. It seems Sheldon’s theories have been discredited by modern scientists (again according to Wikipedia).

Given that Sheldon was discredited, I was surprised to see that the body type descriptions are still widely used by fitness advice sites. These sites give fitness information, usually body building, according to body type.

http://www.epigee.org/fitness/body_shape.html
http://bodybuildingpro.com/bodytypeinformation.html
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/topicoftheweek60.htm
http://www.gold1043.com.au/competition_xtras/gold/CraigsBodyTypes.pdf

Above is just a few of those sites.

Personally, I think Sheldon did bring up something very important about body type, dieting and exercise. Note, I don’t buy in to the connection between body type and personality. I really believe that fitness regimes have to be designed on an individual basis. I also believe that some people are naturally thinner, fatter or more muscular.

Because I’ve had to fight the insurance charts all my life, I know that not everyone fits within the normal range. I look at least 20 lbs lighter than most people who are my same height and weight. I build muscle very quickly. At the top of my weight range according to the standard charts, my muscles are well-defined and my hip bones protrude. Although just about every program stresses weight lifting, I do minimal amounts of weight lifting. I’m just not fond of great big muscles. Although I can’t control the definition of my muscles, I can make sure that I look like an lean and muscular athlete rather than a candidate for Ms. Universe.

Even though I’m not a body builder, I really appreciate that the body building websites take into account body type when designing a fitness routines. I wish more of the lifestyle change and dieting sites did the same thing. I resent the one size fits all fitness and dieting strategies.

YAY! I went for a walk today.

2007-10-20T20:30:00.000-07:00

I know not everyone gets as excited about a walk. When you live in Oregon, unless you want to get soaked, you have to time your walks just right this time of year. Between the weather and appointments, I've had a hard time squeezing in exercise. We have had lots of rain and wind this week. The rain has been coming down in buckets.

Thank heavens I still feel very motivated to keep on exercising. After 3 days of nasty weather, I finally decided to do the eliptical. After 2 days on the eliptical, I was ready for a break.

This afternoon the rain let up for a brief moment. I threw on my walking shoes and headed out the door. I was a little worried when I passed the llamas. They were heading for cover. I persevered and continued on.

I think I set a personal best walking time. Between the threat of rain and the excitement of finally getting a chance to go outside, I was highly motivated to get my walking in. It felt great. I love the crisp air on my face.

The rain started when I was about 3/4 of the way done. Even the rain felt great. Luckily it didn't really pour until after I was inside.

I love walking outside!

Caffeine Makes Me Hungry

2007-10-17T20:43:00.000-07:00

I had to stop drinking my green tea in the afternoon because about an hour later I would be starving. When I don’t drink the tea, I don’t get hungry. I’m back to just one cup of coffee in the morning. I’ve asked other people if caffeine makes them hungry. I’ve yet to find someone else who has noticed a connection between caffeine and hunger. I want to know why this is happening to me, so I decided to do a bit of research.

I know caffeine is a diuretic; therefore, drinking a lot will make you thirsty. I’ve heard that sometimes when a person thinks they’re hungry, they’re actually thirsty. This might be the case, but even if I drink water, I still think I’m hungry.

I found an interesting article on caffeine, http://www.stanford.edu/~johnbrks/theCafe/substance/caffeine.html. The article is somewhat contradictory because it states that caffeine is used as an appetite suppressant and then it goes on. Here’s the thing about caffeine and hunger “Ironically, caffeine can make it more difficult to lose weight because it stimulates insulin secretion, which reduces serum glucose, which in turn can increase hunger”. Aha! I thought I was getting hungry! The article is definitely worth reading because it talks about the amount of caffeine in a few beverages. It also says that more than 10 grams of coffee per day is lethal…hah…death by coffee! That would make an interesting mystery novel.

More articles that confirm the caffeine and hunger link are below.

http://walking.about.com/od/walkoflife/a/blday24x.htm
http://www.medterms.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=11068

This one has some caffeine links.
http://www.peakperformance.on.ca/health/caffeine_connection.htm

This article is very interesting. It says that coffee causes irritation of body tissues, which is mistaken for hunger. Could I be confusing my body trying to eliminate an irritant with hunger?
http://ccmhi.org/coffeedrinkingandweightgain.html

Here’s a Wikipedia article that shows the spider web of a spider on caffeine. I remember that picture from my biology class in the late 70’s.

http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caffeine

This article, http://blogs.webmd.com/busy-family-healthy-family/2006_02_01_archive.html, backs up the insulin/caffeine connection.

I hear conflicting health information all the time. It can be confusing. For me, it comes down to which resources I trust. I tend to trust the medical and scientific resources over the newspaper or TV reports. I always give the sources of my information on my blog, so if someone reads my blog they can form their own opinions.

I’ll continue to drink my cup of coffee per day and only occasionally have afternoon tea. I believe the medical and scientific resources that tell me a cup of coffee or tea a day is beneficial to one's health.

Changing Habits Acquired in Childhood

2007-10-15T18:09:00.000-07:00

I had to go to the dentist today. Since childhood the dentist has been a problem for me. Now the dentist is almost an hour away from my home and going to the dentist is still a problem.

You may think that the real problem I have with the dentist now is the distance. Although the distance is an issue, that is only a minor nuisance. I have two related issues with the dentist that occurred early in my childhood. The first time I went to the dentist I was horribly ill from an abscessed tooth. The second time I went to the dentist I had to have 3 teeth extracted followed by 3 more a couple weeks later. I started out early only going to the dentist when I had a problem. The second issue I have with the dentist is that I always received a treat after I finished my dentist appointment.

When I was a kid, not only did the doctor hand out suckers at the end of a visit, so did the dentist. Not only did I get a sucker, but also because my first appointments were so bad, I always received a treat from my mom when I was done. My treat was usually a milkshake. Maybe my mom felt guilty about waiting so long to take me to the dentist. I don’t know. Anyway every time I went to the dentist I received a treat.

The results from that cycle of dentist than treat are that I hate going to the dentist and after every trip to the dentist I feel like I need a treat. Twice a year for the last three years, I’ve been going to the same dentist. After every dentist appointment, I would stop at Starbucks and get a Chai, Mocha or Latte and a scone.

This time around I spent the long drive to the dentist thinking about my twice-yearly habit. I made a conscience decision to make a change. When I was finished with the dentist, I stopped at the drug store and bought myself a few new barrettes for my hair. I’m thinking buying things for my hair is better than unnecessary food for my tummy. We’ll see. Maybe I’ve just begun another ritual I’ll have to eventually break.

Taking a Break for a Day

2007-10-13T20:41:00.000-07:00

I've been consistently keeping a journal of everything I eat for the past 6 weeks. I make sure I'm not eating too much fat or cholesterol. I've been eating only whole grains and no trans fats. I've been diligently reading labels and buying only the things that fit within my guidelines.

Today I decided to give myself a break. That didn't mean I gobbled up deep fried foods, processed foods, white starches and trans fats. I made what I figured were good food choices. I just didn't write down anything I ate. The great thing about taking a break was that I realized I could enjoy what I was eating even when the food was "healthy".

I didn't look up all the foods I ate to see how much carbs, proteins, fats, fiber or cholesterol they had. I didn't worry if I had to have a white flour tortilla rather than whole wheat or corn because the restaurant only had white flour. I was just careful not to eat too much of the stuff on my "no" list.

I really didn't have a lot of choice. We went on a little trip today. We ate out for lunch and dinner. I didn't want to be overly picky about where we ate. I wanted someone else to get to eat where they wanted. Given what I've learned over the years about nutrition, I made the best food choices I could.

I just made a decision not to be anal about tracking it. I don't want to minutely track what I eat every day for the rest of my life. Once I reach my goals, I plan on using my own judgement to find the best foods at the right quantity.

Recording the nutritional information for every morsel that ends up in my mouth has been great for learning about quantities. I will continue to look up nutritional information and keep a food journal. Until I reach my goal, every once in a while, I'm going to have to take a day off to truly enjoy what I'm eating.

The Power of Home Cooking

2007-10-12T16:27:00.000-07:00

I loved the smell of coffee long before I ever drank it. When I was very young, I remember the smell of coffee brewing in the percolator, the smell of bacon frying and the murmur of adult voices. At Grandma’s and Thanksgiving morning at home, I would wake up to those smells and sounds. To this day, the smell of coffee and bacon in the morning comforts me.

Although my mother wasn’t a great cook, we almost always ate at home. She made a few things that I now consider comfort foods, beef stew, creamed tuna on toast, and oven fried chicken. My grandmother taught me to make the same fried chicken that my mother used to make. When my grandmother came for a visit, she brought gumdrop cake and potatoes. Because my grandmother and grandfather came at Thanksgiving, it was our big holiday of the year. Maybe that is why home cooking is so important to me.

I no longer eat any of those foods, but I think about them on occasions when I’m in the kitchen cooking a meal from “scratch”. Some of my kid’s favorites are pesto, sausage, tomato and basil spaghetti sauce, pumpkin pie, blackberry pie and apple pie. I love that they have favorites. Maybe someday after they have moved away the smell of an apple pie cooling on the counter will bring them back to me, if only in their memories.

Nightmare Lap Swimming With a Child

2007-10-11T07:58:00.000-07:00

I decided to take my youngest with me to lap swimming the other day. It was a fiasco. It may be some time before I do that again.

I can't really blame it on my daughter. Although she is extremely active and strong-willed, she is just a kid. She's just a kid who insists on having her hands into everything.

When we went down to the locker room to undress, she told me that she didn't bring a lock. The locker room has very small lockers. I had to rearrange our things several times to get them into the locker. She kept trying to put the lock on before I could get the locker locked. Finally I managed to squish everything in the small space and she insisted on putting the lock on. When she came away, the keys weren't in the lock. "Where are the keys?" I asked. Luckily they were in her hand. I insisted that she give them to me.

We walked to the showers. As we were stepping in, I asked her where she put her cap and googles. Of course, its in the locked locker. She wanted to unlock the lock, but I had the keys. I insisted that I needed to unlock the lock. She grabbed her googles and cap. I did the rearranging part a few times again. She kept trying to grab the lock out of my hand because she wanted to lock the locker. I persisted and locked everything up.

We showered and went out to do the lap swim. Instead of 3 lanes open for lap swiming, they only had 2 lanes. We hopped in the pool and started our first lap. Now she is on a swim team and can swim pretty well. This was however a different pool than the one she normally uses. She swam to about halfway across and flipped out. She realized that we had reached the deep end. She swam to the edge and held on.

After much coaxing and prying of her fingers off the edge of the pool, I finally convinced her that it was no deeper than her normal practice pool. When we finished our first lap, she had the nerve to ask me if she could swim down and touch the bottom. NO! How can a child who was one minute frightened of the bottom want to touch the bottom want to go explore it! Sheez!

Of course she insisted that I stay with her the whole time during lap swim. After much arguing, she agreed that I didn't need to do the same stroke as her every time. I did, however, have to stay behind her. I relented.

Everything was going along smoothly until we ended up with 3 other swimmers in our lane. I tried to explain to her how to do a round-robin in the pool. She just didn't get it. She drifted over to the other side as she was swimming and insisted on passing people in the return lane as another swimmer was heading her direction.

She insisted on trying out every single piece of equipment the pool provided. She wanted me to get out of the pool and help her find a new piece. I put my flipper down and told her "No!". She finally settled down and did a few laps.

At one point she was going so slow, I insisted she put on her fins. She whined the whole time about them not fitting right, how they were going to give her blisters and so on. When she finished her second lap, she stopped about 3/4s of the way across and screamed bloody murder. She had a cramp in her leg.

I massaged her leg a bit. I set her up on the edge of the pool. I told her I was going to do two laps by myself. I hastily did my two laps. We got out and headed into the locker room. We again fought over the lock. She took her bag out of the locker and I locked the lock. As I was pulling my hand away, I realized that the keys were missing. Yep! You guessed it! I locked my keys inside the locker.

We had to convince someone to go upstairs and get someone to unlock my locker. As we were heading out the door, I tossed my broken lock in the trash. I put my arm around my daughter and steered her out to the car. Well at least I didn't start screaming or blaming my daughter for my mistake.

I just have such a difficult time trying to hold it all together with so many distractions. My husband says it's a mommy protection thing. I don't know. I'm definitely not super mom. I've never been very successful at juggling kids and other things at the same time.

It will be a long time before I go lap swimming with my daughter again. I think we'll just take turns watching each other swim in our different pools.

Cholesterol Results Are Good

2007-10-06T16:55:00.000-07:00

I received the results of my blood test. All of my numbers are now within the normal range. My total cholesterol went down by 22. My good cholesterol went up by 15. I don't remember any of the other numbers from my test last year, but I know they were on the high end of the range. I'll find out how much the other numbers improved when I see the doctor in a week and half.

Although problems with the heart are not common in my family, my grandmother and mother have had increasing problems with dementia as they became older. Many who have symptoms of Alzheimer's also have high cholesterol. I'm hoping if I can keep my cholesterol in check, I can decrease my chances of getting Alzheimer's as I age.

Exercise for Stress Relief

2007-10-05T12:32:00.000-07:00

I have the nutrition part of my life under control. I know what I’m supposed to eat and I’m pretty good at getting the proper combination of foods into my body. My proportion size is correct and I’m eating just under the amount I need to maintain my weight. It’s exercise that is causing me the most problems.

I love to exercise. It makes me feel great. Sometimes I have to somehow manage to squeeze in the time between many of the errands I have to do in one day.

When I started this week I had planned to swim early this morning, delivery a package for a school auction tomorrow and get a haircut. By midweek, my husband had an appointment to get his car fixed, so I had to pick him up from the auto shop before 8:30am. Yesterday, I realized that the school pictures were today and I needed to do hair in the morning. Today, my daughter called from school to say she needed lunch money.

I dropped off school lunch money first thing in the morning. I had to go to the cafeteria to pay because everyone in the school was busy with the setup for the pictures and the coming auction. I had to write a note to my daughter and hand it to the assistant at the front desk at the school because my daughter is prone to panics. She would be calling home and nobody would be home. Of course I had to wait to hand it to someone because the office was full of people trying to get auction stuff together and trying to get the gym set up for pictures.

I continued on to town to pick up my husband. The traffic was bad and it took my ½ hour to get there from the school. When I got there he was still waiting for the shop owner to show up. Five minutes later the guy shows up. He gets in the car and we head home.

I get the auction and swimming stuff together and head out again. Did I mention that they are doing construction on the bridge near the school? I head out again back through the construction zone with the single lane of traffic and flag people. I drop off the auction package at the farm where it’s being auctioned and head toward swimming.

Swimming. I get in the pool and start my first set of laps. That first set is fast. I crush the water with my palms and kick furiously. I’m working out all that morning stress. By the time I finish that first set, I’m getting tired. I’m not pacing myself well. I get out of the water and take a drink of water. I start my second set at a slower pace. I start to look around me and follow the tiled bottom more carefully. I carefully put my hand into the water fingertips first, stretch my arm out and draw it through the water to the side of my thigh. I get into the rhythm of swimming. By the third set, I’m listening to my body. I’m making sure every stroke is perfect. I look around at the people in the other lanes and the children learning to swim. When I’m done, I’m relaxed and ready to continue on.

I will have no more time for myself today expect what I’m taking to write this. I’m off and running when this is finished….again.

Exercise Is it Competition or Recreation?

2007-10-03T11:57:00.000-07:00

For anyone who has ever tried to slim down, I'm sure, like me, you've had weeks where you get very discouraged by your lack of progress. I had to give myself a pep-talk today.

I haven't lost any weight at all in over a week. We didn't get our hike in last weekend because my daughter and I had to get blood tests done on Saturday. The weather has turned fairly cold. It's been rainy and windy. I'm trying to adjust to the new fall schedule, getting kids to school, appointments and swim practices. For some reason, our yearly exams, six-month dentist checkups and eye doctor all are scheduled from mid-September to mid-October. I'm tired and stressed out (and as a side note, I'm so looking forward to the clocks rolling back an hour).

I had a friend tell me the other day that she is now swimming 1 1/2 miles 3 days a week. I just started swimming again today after 6 weeks off. I'm at a new pool. The water felt heavy. My elbow ached. I did my mile plus some, but I had a hard time getting a good rhythm going. I know I'm doing good by keeping it up, but I keep thinking back to that 1 1/2 miles. I wonder why she told me that she's now swimming 1 1/2 miles.

I don't often compare myself to others. When my friend told me about her swimming, I started to wonder if I was competitive. My conclusion was that I used to be very competitive, but not so much anymore. As my schedule fills up, efficiently using my time has become very important. I do what's necessary and no more. When I walk, I walk for 45 minutes and no more. When I swim, I do a warm-up, 1 mile and a cool down. If I feel like I have a few extra minutes, I might paddle a bit on my back just for the fun of it. I enjoy myself while I'm exercising. I work out my problems and plan my days.

After much thought while swimming (what else can you do while swimming alone) and driving home, I decided that I have come a long way. Not only have I really started to integrate good habits into my life, but I've also started to have a better attitude towards exercise. It's no longer a competitive sport, it really is recreation for me. Now that's progress!

Online Calorie Counters

2007-10-01T19:55:00.000-07:00

I occasionally want to know the nutritional facts about a meal I ate out at a restaurant. Generally, I go to google, put in the particular item I'm interested in with the words "nutritional facts" or "nutritional information". Sometimes if the restaurant is a chain, I look up what I ate by using the restaurant name followed by "nutritional information". For instance if I had a Mocha at Starbucks, I might just search using "Starbucks Nutritional Information".

I usually want to know more than just the calories. I want the number for carbs, protein, calcium, cholesterol and fat. I'm not just trying to lose weight; I'm trying to get a good balance of foods in my body.

Every time I do a search, I end up with a lot of hits. It's amazing how many websites provide calorie and nutritional facts. I decided to take 10 minutes and write down all the ones I found. Here's my list.

Nutritional Data dot com
http://www.nutritiondata.com/

Calorie King
http://www.calorieking.com/

Calorie Information
http://www.calorie-counter.net/

The Calorie Counter dot com
http://www.thecaloriecounter.com/

Weight Loss Institute
http://www.weight-loss-institute.com/calorie_counter.htm

The Calorie Lab
http://calorielab.com/index.html

The Daily Plate
http://www.thedailyplate.com/

Calorie Count dot com
http://www.calorie-count.com/

dietfacts.com
http://www.dietfacts.com/

A lot of people must be looking for this information. Many of these sites are using the nutritional information as bait to get people to click on other ads or buy products. It must work. I suspect the majority of the people are more concerned about losing weight than finding a proper balance in their diet.

Metaphors While Walking in the Rain

2007-09-30T15:36:00.000-07:00

I delayed walking today because it was very rainy and windy. Finally, I decided it was never going to let up, so I took a walk anyway. It’s not always safe to go out walking in the wind around here because we have a lot of trees that throw down some of their branches in the wind. Every time I head a crack, I jumped a bit before continuing on my way.

I was reminded of a story read to me a very long time ago when I was still in grade school. I can’t even remember the name of the story It was about a contest between the sun and the wind. They were trying to see who could get the hat off of a man who was walking outside. Of course the wind blew and blew, but the man just held onto his tighter and tighter. When the sun took his turn the man rejoiced in the sunshine and took off his hat. Of course, the story wasn’t literally about the weather, but the weather did remind me of the story.

I don’t particularly like walking on treadmills. It seems that if I’m going to use all that energy, I might as well be doing something enjoyable. I did get wet outside, but I enjoyed the fresh air. Even though they were tucked under their various covers, I could see the dogs, llamas, sheep and horses along the way. I could see how the pond and the creek have changed. The world around me changed as I took each step.

Also, I need that exercise. I need to exercise to stay healthy. Staying healthy doesn’t just mean taking care of my physical body. Walking outside for me gives me a mental health boost. Even though it’s rainy outside, that little bit of light that shines through comes through is a great booster. Even just a tiny bit of sun makes me feel good.

Now that the weather is changing, I know that I won’t be walking nearly as often as I did. I will be heading off to the swimming pool a few mornings a week. When the weather is reasonable, maybe a little wet, but not too windy, I’ll walk.

Nothing should deter me from getting the exercise I need. The man’s hat in that story was not nearly important as his determination to do what was necessary to keep on going. If I’m willing to get wet to go swimming, why shouldn’t I be willing to get wet to go walking.

Mother and Daughter Blood Tests

2007-09-28T20:08:00.000-07:00

My daughter has to get her blood drawn tomorrow to test her blood glucose levels. She had the finger prick test. The test result would have been more troubling if she hadn’t just had a Strawberry Crème from Starbucks. The results were high enough that she needed to get a fasting test.

She had a shot today and a finger prick test. Both the shot and the finger test were traumatic. It was touch and go on whether she would actually let the lab technician prick her finger. Her doctor had waited around for the results and was debating whether or not to give her the fasting test. I did explain that my blood cholesterol test was scheduled for the middle of October.

When we came home, I found that the doctor had left a message on the answering machine saying that she thought the blood glucose test was needed and would I please call back. When I called back she asked if I thought my doctor would change my blood draw to tomorrow. Since I didn’t think my doctor would mind and both my and my children’s doctors work in the same building, she called my doctor.

It looks like my daughter and I will be fasting together and going together tomorrow to get our blood drawn. Of course, she has to get her blood drawn twice. I promised her since we have to fast until we finish our blood tests that we could go out to breakfast together after were done.

Although it’s not exactly typical, I guess it qualifies as mother and daughter togetherness time.

Turmeric Powder, Alzheimer’s Disease, Cholesterol

2007-09-27T19:48:00.001-07:00

I was just reading an article today in the September 15, 2007 (Vol. 172) issue. On page 167 they have an article titled “Curry Powder”. The article discusses the beneficial effects of regular consumption of turmeric.

Apparently in India, turmeric has been used as an anti-inflammatory for a long time. Researchers began investigating the anti-inflammatory properties in the 1990’s. I had already heard that turmeric was a great anti-oxidant and thus worked well at getting rid of free radicals. This article was the first time I had heard of the potential for Alzheimer’s prevention and treatment.

Alzheimer’s has been thought to occur as a result of the buildup of plaques in the brain. The article says that researchers have done tests on mice who have been genetically engineered to have the same gene that makes human’s susceptible to the plaques that cause Alzheimer’s. The studies showed that turmeric not only help prevent the formation of plaque, but it also was helpful at getting rid of existing plaque.

As a side note, the article also says studies have shown that people with cholesterol problems are more likely to develop Alzheimer’s. Reducing cholesterol might also reduce the plaque in the brain.

Researchers have started looking at Alzheimer’s rates for people who regularly eat turmeric. In countries, such as India, where people who regularly eat yellow curry containing turmeric the incidence of Alzheimer’s is much lower than the U.S. The data is not conclusive. They still need to do more studies.

A study is currently underway studying the benefits of turmeric on Alzheimer’s patients. The study will be complete next year.

I was fascinated. My grandmother had dementia that started to get bad in her 80’s. She lived to be 97. My mother, who is in her 70’s is already starting to forget things. I do eat yellow curry. I don’t know if my mother has ever had it and it’s unlikely that my grandmother ate curry. I’m definitely calling her to tell her about this article!

When did I stop doing cartwheels?

2007-09-26T18:29:00.000-07:00

As I were waiting for my eldest daughter to finish swimming, I sat on the grass and watched my youngest doing cartwheels and back flips. She was smiling and giggling. She tried over and over again to do a back flip. Most of the time it looked closer to a summersault except her knees were bent so that her shins were at right angles to her thighs.

When was the last time I did a cartwheel? I can’t remember. I don’t think I consciously made a decision to stop doing them. It’s like I crossed some threshold between childhood and adulthood and just forgot about cartwheels. I don’t know if it was a gradual thing. Maybe I went from doing cartwheels every day to once a week to once a month to once a year and finally just forgot to do one the next year.

I thought about whether I would do a cartwheel now. I decided I wouldn’t. Granted I am an older mom, but it’s more than that. I’m frightened now of tumbling head over heals. I don’t think it’s anything new. I think I would have been frightened to do it 10 years ago. When did I start becoming frightened of injury myself?

Cartwheels used to make me happy just like they make my daughters happy. How many of those wonderful things have I abandoned? Am I destined to abandon even more as I get older? Maybe I can recover just a few of them.

Health Benefits of Green Tea

2007-09-25T09:43:00.000-07:00

As I’ve mentioned before I need to have my cholesterol checked next month. I’m a bit worried about it, especially since my husband keeps buying pork when we go grocery shopping. He loves to barbeque, especially pork. When I complained he said I needed to start drinking green tea again.

I usually drink green tea when the whether starts to get chilly again. I love jasmine green tea. The real stuff that comes from China rolled up in little green and light green striped balls. I drink it because it warms me up when I’m cold. I don’t have to worry about added calories because I love the taste without adding anything.

I drink one cup of coffee a day. I justify my coffee intake by pointing to all the wonderful heart and health benefits related to drinking one cup a day. The realty about my coffee intake is that I’m not very good in the morning. I’m slow to wake up and sipping that coffee (with a little vanilla soy milk) gives me a chance to relax and slowly wake up. Coffee has a little more “meat” to it than tea. It makes me feel like I’m getting more in my cup.

So, the weather is changing and my hands are freezing. I’m starting to drink my green tea at lunchtime. Since my husband mentioned that green tea does something to help metabolize fats and lower the bad cholesterol and maybe even increase the good stuff, I decided to do a search.

About.com always has an article or two about these things.
http://chinesefood.about.com/library/weekly/aa011400a.htm

They say it helps reduce cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, high cholesterol levels, cardiovascular disease, infection and impaired immune function.

They sited the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, http://www.ajcn.org/, so I did a search on that site. It seems a lot of sources on the web quote them, including my favorite, Science News. You can do a search for articles on green tea on that site.

http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/abstract/83/2/355
The article above claims green tea lowers cognitive impairment, which I assume means Alzheimer’s and related conditions. I think it's easier to read the articles that site the AJCN studies.

If you want a good article about getting rid of the fat with green tea, try Science News. They’re articles are much easier to read.
http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20050212/food.asp

Ah Hah! Here’s some articles about Green Tea and it’s benefits including Lower bad Cholesterol and raising the good stuff.
http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/green-tea-000255.htm
http://www.ynhh.org/online/nutrition/advisor/tea_time.html
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/green-tea/NS_patient-green_tea

OK, I can’t argue with any of that. Dust off that box of green tea. Brew yourself a mug. Cheers!

Weight Loss, Sagging Ta-Tas

2007-09-24T10:23:00.000-07:00

Ok, I’m trying to keep it real, so here it goes…

I know people who lose a lot of weight really fast end up with a lot of extra skin. We had a model in my figure painting class who had obviously lost a lot of weight quickly. The skin on his arm, belly and legs sagged horribly.

I’ve been diligently exercising and allowing my weight to come off gradually, but there is one area that just won’t spring back to where it used to be, my chest. Yep, my ta-tas. Now I’m not about to make the cover of National Geographic yet, but they just aren’t as perky as they used to be. I was never a Dolly Parton, but I used to have a pretty shapely figure.

Unlike Dolly Parton (and a few others), I don’t think I’m likely to go under the knife to keep my girlish figure. Still I wonder…can you get your ta-tas lifted without adding extra padding? Many of those women with implants look like they have two softballs glued to their chest.

Pumpkin Curry

2007-09-23T19:12:00.000-07:00

My husband had been planting the garden every year for the past 3 years. Three years ago, I tried to plan it all out. He likes to start everything inside weeks before it needs to be planted outside. I like to plant things outside when it warms up. He won. Every year he plants so many seeds that the garden is full of his starts. As a matter of fact the seasonal garden overflows into our orchard space. It's less stressful for me to just let him do the garden. I have plenty of other hobbies to occupy my time.

This year he planted so many winter squash, I'm having to think up new recipes for cooking them. The other day on my walk I was pondering those darn squash. I remember eating the most wonderful pumpkin curry at a Thai restaurant.

When I came back from my walk I immediately headed to the garden, even before going inside. I picked a couple of small spaghetti squash and one very large golden acorn squash. I chopped onions and garlic, browned them with some olive oil. I cooked up some boneless chicken breasts and threw them in with the garlic and onions. I added some water and tomatoes from the garden and cooked it all on low. I seasoned the pot with Thai curry paste. I sliced open the acorn squash, removed the seeds, chopped it up in chunks, put it in a pot with water and steamed the acorn squash until it was just soft. I cut away the flesh of the squash from the skin and chopped it into chunks. I put the squash in a bowl in the fridge. When the tomatoes in the pot cooked down, I turned off the heat. I put the chicken curry mixture in the fridge.

When it was time to prepare the meal. I put the curry mixture on the stove to heat is up. I added the acorn squash and a few basil leaves (from the garden). We ate the chicken and pumpkin curry over spaghetti squash. It was pretty good. The meal was low in fat and calories and high in nutrients. I would have probably preferred the curry over rice, but what would I do with all that spaghetti squash.

Just some of our harvest...

Fueling Our Bodies

2007-09-20T13:24:00.001-07:00

I have two children that swim on a swim team. They’ve been asking for bags of chips before they go swimming. They usually eat a 100-calorie bag of chips and a piece of fruit before swimming. Swim practice lasts for between 1 and 1 ½ hours.

I’ve noticed when they are finished they are hungry and extremely grumpy. The carbohydrates just don’t seem to stick with them long enough. They’re great when the kids are competing. They give them quick energy needed to do their best. When they’re swimming for an hour straight, they run low on fuel.

I’ve decided to try giving them some nuts and fruit leather. I think they might need a little fat and protein to sustain them a while. The fruit leather has enough carbs to give them a quick pick-me-up after school.

Sometimes you just have to experiment with these things to really understand what their bodies need. I think the same is true for me. Because I’ve slowly made adjustments to my diet and exercise routine, I’m getting a better idea of what to eat when. I try to get a good balance of nutrients in my body everyday. I’m slowly getting rid of some horrible habits.

The wonderful thing about making changes slowly is that I can finally get my carb cravings under control. I love carbs, but I’ve learned how to get a good balance of carbs and proteins (and even fats). I’m no longer continually “starving” for something sweet. I’ve also been able to eat a small portion of a sweet treat without feeling like I want to gobble up the whole thing. I think it takes a body some time to adjust to a healthy way of eating. The scary part for me is that it seems to take so little time for it to get out of whack again.

Trans Fats, Cholesterol, Fiber, Nutrition ~ More Questions

2007-09-19T08:56:00.000-07:00

What’s a trans fat?

I read that trans fats lower HDL, but what are they exactly?

Here’s what this website says…
http://www.personalbest.com/yourhealth/library/trans_fat.html

Trans fatty acids are formed during hydrogenation, a process that turns liquid oil into a solid product such as margarine. Hydrogenation helps stabilize fat, and improves the texture and shelf life of processed foods.
Hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated fat, which produces trans fatty acids, is widely used in deep-fried foods, such as French fries, as well as many commercial, packaged chips, cookies and crackers.
Full hydrogenation produces more saturated fat, but does not create trans fat. Note: The term hydrogenated oil can refer to either process on ingredients labels.
Very tricky…It looks as though if it says hydrogenated oil, I don’t really know if that means trans fats…

http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/trans-fat-free-food-whats-the-truth

This website explains that not all trans fat foods are healthy. They also say that it’s the artificially created trans fats that are a problem not the naturally occurring ones. Meats and dairy contain natural trans fats.

Both websites say that if a product has up to .5g of trans fats, it can be labeled as trans fat free.

More Articles
http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=52186
http://healthlink.mcw.edu/article/1031002327.html
http://nutrition.about.com/od/askyournutritionist/f/cholesterol.htm

Why does fiber increase HDL?

http://bodyecology.com/07/05/31/too_much_fiber.php
Although this article doesn’t specifically tell us why fiber increases HDL, it does indicate that fiber cleanses the digestive tract. HDL’s are little cholesterol cleaners, so maybe some component of fiber is an HDL.

I have to give up. I can't find specific answers to this question.

More Articles about Fat and Cholesterol

OH! I like this one. Every wonder why we get conflicting data about what is good for us.
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0854/is_3_24/ai_n18611910/pg_2

Here’s a good overall nutrition article.
http://www.healthynfit.com/HealthyHeart.shtml

Back to does eating foods with cholesterol increase your cholesterol…

I don’t know why they can’t write these articles in plain English. If you can manage to get through the article, it indicates that someone who eats foods with cholesterol probably also eats other fats that increase LDL and lower HDL.
http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/full/80/4/855

Here’s another good article on fat and cholesterol. It gives some concise answers to questions I had earlier about cholesterol, fat and weight loss.
http://www.torrancememorial.org/dietary.fat.and.cholesterol_134.tmmc?PHPSESSID=0e95bfb.

More well-known inspiring woman over 40…

Oprah Winfrey
Mary Engelbreit

List of Inspiring Women over 40

2007-09-17T11:23:00.000-07:00

Today while I walking I thought about the women I see at the swimming pool. Since I often go swimming later in the morning most of the women are "older". At first I felt very self-conscience about showering and undressing in the locker room. I started to notice that most of the women don't give a darn. They are very comfortable with their aging bodies...and why not, short of massive amounts of surgery, we can do little about it.

I decided to start a list of admirable women over 40 that I could find on the internet. Here's the beginning of the list.

Athletes

Lynn Hill

Article from Hawaii about older women athletes

Women Runners over 40

Dara Torres Olympic Swimmer

Here's some inspiring women I've always liked

Maybe the women aren't over 40, but I thought Dove did a nice thing when they made their ads using real women.

I think I need to work on my list a little more.

Feeling Good About Myself

2007-09-16T12:08:00.000-07:00

Feeling good about myself is essential (for me) to staying on a path to better health and fitness. Until recently I only briefly glanced at myself in a mirror as I was washing my face or brushing my teeth and hair. I’ve had to learn to look at myself in the mirror and see the good physical things about myself. I see things in the mirror that are very different than what I see when I look at a photo of myself.

Today I looked at myself in the same old clothes, but to me they looked different. The shirt went in a little more at the waist. My logical side tells me that I’m only a little overweight now, but for a long time my emotional side has been telling me that I don’t look good. I see a healthy looking woman staring back at me and though I still have some weight to lose, I feel much better about myself.

I will hold off taking another photo of myself for a bit. I need to hold on to that image of myself in the mirror for just a bit longer. I know once the extra weight is gone, the journey to maintaining this new lifestyle will be very long. I don't need to discourage myself now.

Weight Loss Rewards, Pigeons and Other Musings

2007-09-13T09:24:00.001-07:00

It was drizzling outside when I went for my walk. I was a little earlier than usual. The weather was cool. I wondered how long before the cold wet weather would sap enthusiasm for walking early in the morning

I checked the pond and didn’t see the skunk or the man this morning.

I noticed that all the llamas were all out close to the house looking longingly toward the door. They are normally quiet, but this morning they were making little humming noises. I figured they were calling because they were hungry.

Funny, but I thought about sewing and my friend Belinda. I was thinking of posting another message asking her to begin a page to answer reader’s questions. Thinking about Belinda, and sewing, I was reminded that I need to find a reward for reaching my goals.

I’ve thought often about getting a glamour shot when I finally reached my weight goal. My weight goal is near the top of the recommended weight range. Once I reach that goal, I may want to lose a little more depending on how I feel. I thought maybe I should make myself a custom outfit tailored to my own measurements. It could be a while before I reach my goal, so I wondered if that one reward was enough. Maybe in the mean time I could make myself a wrap with that beautiful weave I bought at a rummage sale. Someone imported two bolts from Scotland and didn’t even fully open the package. I have to ask Belinda if she knows anything about it. I continued toward the hill thinking about the need for rewards to keep me going.

As I rounded the curve and headed up the hill, I saw something unusual on the ground ahead. It looked like critter, but it wasn’t moving. When I was closer to it, I saw a small movement. Slowly the object became clearer. It was a pigeon. We don’t have pigeons out here. Pigeons are city birds. Both of the pigeon’s ankles had tags, a white and a yellow. I know people keep pigeons. I know sometimes the fish and wildlife tag birds, but I’ve never heard of them tagging pigeons. I was relieved that pigeon flew off as I approached. I was worried that someone would run him over. After he was gone, I worried that he was lost and now I scared him further away. The pigeon occupied my mind on and off during my whole walk.

I left my thoughts of weight loss and cholesterol today and actually started to think about work. I was planning my next 2 or 3 projects as I walked. It felt good. I don’t want my eating habits and fitness to consume my life. It’s time for me to stop thinking so much about it.

I realized today as I was climbing the last hill on my way home that I was not nearly as exhausted as I used to be.

Finding Balance with Overweight Children

2007-09-12T12:36:00.000-07:00

I have a daughter who is slightly overweight. She also is on a swim team and practices between 6 and 8 hours a week. We control her food intake and make sure she eats a healthy mix of foods. We've been trying to insure that she eats healthy most of her life. She loves food, especially starchy foods like potatoes, chips and pasta.

In the last year, she's become very sensitive to anything we say concerning her eating. When we tell her she can't have thirds, she becomes sad and defensive. She's told us on and off that she wants to diet; she wants to stop eating totally. Yesterday, she confessed that the kids at school are teasing her. I've told her many times that I don't think it's a good idea for her to diet, she still growing and she may need that little bit of fat as she enters puberty. I tell her to just eat healthy and continue exercising. I tell her some people are just meant to be on the heavier side. I tell her she looks fine, only a little overweight.

Today she went to one of her doctors and she brought up her weight. He isn't her pediatrician, but she does see him regularly and he weighs her every time. He told her that he thought she looked fine, a little overweight maybe. He explained to her that kids just like to tease. I was so relieved to have someone else, someone she respects, reassure her.

It's hard to find that balance with my children. I don't want them to be so over concerned about their bodies that they damage their health trying to achieve unrealistic goals. I also want them to know how to take care of themselves, how to live a healthy lifestyle.