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Nov
09

The Rankness Of Life

By | Blog, Culture, Health

Every time I walk up to a public ATM machine I always wonder about the keypad. Just take a moment and have a good look at one. Most are truly disgusting. Dirty beyond belief. What nastiness is on there? Now a new study shows that quite a bit of nasty is on those keypads, along with many other public items you touch on a daily basis.

Among the gems, 16% of cellphones have poop on them. Also, computer keyboards are 5 times dirtier than a toilet seat. There is no stat for ATM keypads but I can only imagine. Fortunately, we put these things out of our minds for the most part because if you didn’t, you woud be carrying around a large jug of hand sanitizer and rubber gloves everywhere.

Jul
26

McDonalds Reduces Fries In Happy Meals

By | Blog, Digital Dads, Food/Eating, Health

Happy MealThank you McDonalds. As a parent, it’s very difficult to avoid a little McDonalds now and then. We  have reduced our visits quite a bit, but sometimes there’s no avoiding it. McDonalds announced today that they will be cutting the french fry portion of their Happy Meal in half and adding apples. Thankfully they will not add a dipping sauce for the apples like so many other so. That sauce is basically a highly sugary carmel sauce. McDonalds also says they will reduce saturated fats, sugar and calories across the entire menu in time as well.

Consumer groups have been hammering McDonalds for years now to change their manu in these ways. A recent study came out last week noting that more sates than ever now count their population as obese. I’m not sure if American attitudes on health and fitness are strong enough to impact McDonalds as more people choose better options but I believe companies like McDonalds have a moral responsibility to act when studies like these come out. There is no doubt they are contributing to the obesity of America which has all kinds of negative impacts in other areas. Feed us, McDonalds but please don’t kill us. As a parent I applaud these recent changes as my 3yr old will eat little else but chicken nuggets and Mac&Cheese.

Feb
22

Climbing Through The Nine Layers Of Hell

By | Blog, Digital Dads, Health, Life

Dantes InfernoWe’ve had a pretty interesting week and a half.

The labor and delivery of Christopher was crazy enough. 36hrs for the whole thing which included incorrect doses of petocin, a bag of water that didn’t quite break, contemplations of c-section and finally an incredibly intense, manic and painful hour and fifteen minuets for the complete dilation and birth. This is our third chid. I have experience in these things. I’ve never, ever, experienced anything like that in my life. It’s just nothing like the videos tell you. It never is.

Despite it all, Christopher was born and is fit as a fiddle. We walked out of the hospital, no wheelchair needed. Lisa felt great.

24hrs later Lisa has the chills and a slight fever. Nursing is not going so well. The fever and chills get worse. By the next day things are falling apart fast. Now Lisa develops a strange rash on her hands that looks like hand foot and mouth disease.We have a baby visit with the pediatrician who says he has lost more weight than he should and he’s jaundice. It’s from not nursing well which is due to Lisa’s sickness. So we start supplementing immediately.  It’s the weekend, of course, and our ob is not on call or available. The on call doc prescribes antibiotics. Seems sensible enough but we are worried about the rash so we go to a clinic on a cold, wet Portland night. The clinic doctor takes one look at Lisa and says she has no idea what the rash is but thinks we aught to get ourselves to a hospital right away. The baby is on the bottle now and is already looking better in good hands of  Lisa’s mother so off to the hospital we go. Lisa’s not looking so good.

It takes them awhile and many scans/tests but the hospital docs and our regular ob do decide that Lisa has a viral phenomena. She is having trouble breathing by this time and is clearly retaining too much fluid from the pregnancy. We end up spending the better part of three days in the hospital recovering from the phenomena.  Lisa feels terrible and misses the baby too. Finally she is well enough to go home, again.

By the time we get home our oldest daughter (12) has a bad case of the flu. She is as sick as I’ve ever seen her and she ends up missing an entire week of school. Now we’ve got a post pardom recovering mom who is also recovering from phenomena and a kid with the flu. By the end of the week our daughter is starting to feel a little better. I am putting our 2yr old to sleep and my stomach is killing me. I can’t stand it anymore and I puke, hard and heavy. It’s bad. I don’t leave bed for the next day and a half. I am nauseous when I stand and I have body aches and a headache like I’ve never known.

By the time I am able to be somewhat functional although still feeling bad, Lisa’s mom starts feeling it. She has the chills and feels sick. Her dad goes home that night and pukes all evening. It’s spreading and we’ve all got it. By the next day Lisa’s mom is slightly better but now Lisa is in full nauseous, body ache sick mode. Lisa stays in bed for a day and a half.

Today, Lisa made it out of bed. Her mom and dad are looking much better and I’m feeling better than I have in days. I think today we are breaking through the last layer of hell and are seeing a bit of daylight. Christopher, you are a beautiful child; perfect in every way, but the story of your birth and postpartum is a thing of legend.

Jan
31

Saccharin Not Dangerous but it Still Tastes Like S*it

By | Blog, Health, Life

sweetenersAfter more than 20 years the sugar substitute Saccharin has been declared no longer a hazardous substance by the EPA. Saccharin was one of the first artificial sugars to be developed and found its way into many products. Very quickly, however, the controversy started about Saccharin and potential cancer links. The other problem with Saccharin is that it taste horrible and bitter.

Even though Equal and Splenda have been around for many years, you can still find Saccharin at many restaurants and especially low quality gas stations. I have a long running problem with establishments that provide Saccharin exclusively. I know it’s probably much cheaper but no self respecting diabetic will eat that crap. I’m not saying you cannot have Saccharin, but you have to provide one of the other alternatives as well. I can’t tell you how many times I have found myself in a situation where there is only Saccharin available. I do try to carry my own but that’s not always convenient and dammit I shouldn’t have to. There are millions of diabetic customers in the world and as one of them I have to tell businesses that when you only offer Saccharin it feels like a slap in the face. I feel like you don’t care about me at all and you are not willing to a make a little extra effort to make me comfortable. It’s a subtle point of business but an important one.

Nov
27

Advanced Diabetes Research: LifeBeads

By | Blog, Health, Technology

LifeBeadsBeing a diabetic I’m always on the lookout for new and promising developments in the field of diabetes research. Here is a super cool new technology from Japan where injectable glowing beads can indicate glucose levels. The technology could lead to 24/7 monitoring of glucose levels without any pin pricks to draw blood from a finger as is commonly done today. It’s a nice first step but still a little short of my ultimate dream which is for nanobots to not only do the glucose monitoring but also automatically release insulin as needed based on the glucose levels.

Nov
07

Starbucks VIA Cinnamon

By | Blog, Health

Starbucks VIAI am a coffee lover and while I try to shy away from large corporate giants like Starbucks, I have to admit, the VIA product of instant coffee is a pretty cool idea. The packaging is great and the large travel mug I got where you can store the VIA packages right in the side of the mug itself is awesome.

Up until now they have only had regular coffee or decaf. Now they have released several flavored coffees including cinnamon and vanilla. I was pretty excited to see this as I do love flavored coffee. Ah, but once again, a check of the label indicates large amounts of sugar in each one. As you know if you read this blog regularly, I am diabetic, so me and sugar don’t get along too well. I am continually frustrated at the lack of attention in the product world for diabetics. So many products, many that even promote health, are loaded with sugar. It’s no wonder diabetes is the nation’s most quickly growing disease. I still see lots of low fat labels and products around, but it’s so much more than just the fat. Sugar and carbohydrates are the real bad guys here but the anti-carb fad died out with the Atkins diet.

I wish, if possible, Starbucks would just use natural cinnamon and let me add my own sugar, regular or Splenda. That way, everybody can be happy and healthy.

Apr
04

Falling Off The Wagon

By | Blog, Health

BurgerAs some of you may remember, I went on the Lindora low carb weight loss program some months ago. I did, in fact, loose 18lbs. I was doing great; than the program ended. I never really completed the program properly as I missed my last two weeks of “metabolic adjustment”. It’s all my fault, really, I was not committed enough to follow through with the long term maintenance routine. It’s not that I didn’t know what to do, I just didn’t do it. It’s been a hectic time, of course, with all the house drama; a convenient excuse.

So I’ve completely and totally fallen off the wagon. I’ve gained back probably five pounds and noticeable inches to my waist. This has really got to stop. It’s a matter of balancing wants and desires. I desire to keep my weight down, but I often want to eat a hamburger. Somewhere there is the right balance. Starting to exercise regularly like I used to, oh, that would help greatly as well.

I write this to update you on where I am and to let you know the struggle doesn’t end. Hopefully soon, we will get through the move to Portland transition and things can get back to normal, which will make it so much easier to get on track. That and I plan on getting a really good bike in Portland (it’s bike city after all). So many things are bike-able, I may get it a good deal more exercise getting around town. Portland does have all those great food carts though…..oh, boy.

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Dec
21

Lindora Update

By | Blog, Health

Danish PasteriesSorry it’s been a long time since the last weight loss update. The news is good, very good in fact. After four weeks on Lindora I have lost a total of 17lbs and an inch and a half off my belly. This is an 8 week program so I have some more to go and I’m on track for my goal of 190.

It’s not been easy and there have been good days and challenging days. We are now on Christmas vacation away from home and thus on a hiatus from Lindora as well. I am trying to keep to the program as best as possible but the folks at Lindora said to not worry about loosing weight, just not to gain any. I haven’t stepped on a scale yet and I’m a little afraid to. We’ve not strayed greatly, but we have strayed. Let’s just say Solvang, CA is not a good place to go if you’re on a diet due to the abundance of Danish pastry treats .

The other big piece of news is that due to my weight loss I was able to stop taking the injectable insulin a few weeks back and I was able to cut another diabetes medicine in half. So far, even on this hiatus, my sugar is staying in line. I have also noticed several of my pants don’t fit right anymore due to my shrinking waist. That’s a very satisfying feeling.

After Christmas it’s back to the grindstone for the final push for 190. My ultimate goal is to stay below 200 for life. I started this adventure at 218lbs. So far, so good.

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Nov
11

Lindora – Day 2

By | Blog, Health

Cravings sneak in. The headaches today were much less but still there. No weight loss yet but it’s only day 2. I did feel a few small feelings of, man, would I love to really eat something. For these first three days we are on Lindora foods only and it ain’t much. Even the foods with some sustenance like Chili or Spaghetti are very small portions. At around 5:30 I did feel my first feelings that I was actually pretty hungry. I have a snap reaction to eat the second I feel the slightest bit hungry no matter what, so that’s a habit I am going to have to work on. I muscled through though with the help of some coffee. Caffeine is a natural appetite suppressant.

I have to say I’m starting to get sick of the lindora food and I am so looking forward to completing these fist three days so we can start eating “real” food. I try not to think about it because if I do it freaks me out a little. It will be important to see some improvement in my weight as well to starve off discouragement. So far, the first day is easy; the second day is harder. Hold on tight kids, it might be a rough third day.

Nov
10

Lindora – Day 1

By | Blog, Health

And so it begins. As you should know by now, I am starting the Lindora diet program today. For the first three days of this program, it’s a heavy protein based diet. At 7am I got to start with a chocolate shake which was quite nice actually. After I finish this blog post at 9am I will get some bbq nuts for a snack . So far, I feel fine and not hungry. But we’re only beginning, so by tomorrow I may be on the floor whining. No, I’ll be fine.

This diet is protein based in general. Very low carb and low fat. The doctor in charge thinks I should be off my insulin by the end of the first week and probably off one of my other diabetes meds a week later. That would be very cool and I’m looking forward to that. Overall, it’s expected I will loose around 20-25lbs in this 10 week program. That would put me comfortably under 200lbs which has always been my goal. So, here we go. It’s time for my snack.

Update: 9:00pm: Made it to the end of the day and it was quite an afternoon. I started to get a headache around noon and it increased rapidly. By 2 I needed some Advil and realized I had had enough water. I had my appointment at Lindora and they confirmed the drastic drop in carbs contributed to the headaches. They modified the menu for be, boosting the carbs to help out until I fully adjust. The good news is that I didn’t feel hungry so outside of the headache it was a decent day.

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