I generally don't dwell on thoughts like this. I'm a firm believer that a person's experiences, good and bad, shape who they are and get you to where you are today. If you could warn your younger self not to make the mistakes you've made, or if you could share pieces of wisdom you've gained over the experiences of your lifetime, you'd probably keep your younger self from learning from those experiences and gaining the very wisdom you're sharing. Of course my sci-fi geek friends and I would debate about whether or not you're creating an alternate timeline...but I'm talking philosophically here :)
That being said - there are a couple pieces of wisdom I really wish I could share with my younger self that I don't think would hurt my "timeline" and would be of positive outcome.
First, I've come to realize that with just about any skill in life, there is just no substitute for experience and repetition. Certainly aptitude and ability differentiate someone's maximum potential or capacity for something, but in the end, NOTHING replaces years of experience and practice. This is most evident to me with my saxophone playing. I've been playing saxophone pretty much continuously since the 6th grade (26+ years if you're counting). That's thousands of hours of playing and practicing a wide and vast variety of music and musical situations. My horn is like an extension of me now. I have many musically talented friends where I see this sort of thing too - a longtime friend and colleague plays piano and when I watch him I can just tell that he doesn't have to think about it anymore, it's just an extension of his mind and fingers. I've made some attempts at learning other instruments in recent years. Some I just don't have the physical aptitude for (trumpet - requires the right lips). But others just require a lot of practice and experience, something I don't seem to have the time or attention span for at this point in my life. And gaining 26 year of experience on something starting now is going to be awhile .
Second, I would share EVERYTHING I've learned on eating, exercise, and health. Mainly because what I've learned contradicts all the "conventional" wisdom that was drilled into us as kids and young adults. When I was younger I just sort of assumed I didn't have the capacity to lose weight, be in good shape, etc. etc. and I've since proven all of that wrong to myself. I'd love to tell my younger self that you are capable of all of those things, and not only capable but they're not as hard as you think.
Wednesday, June 19, 2013
Thursday, June 6, 2013
Healthy Living Update
I do INTEND to set aside time to blog more, and I have even had the idea of creating a separate blog to share all my health and fitness experiences and research...but alas, life happens :)
I felt compelled to give an update though, in light of some of the many recent articles I've read related to healthy eating, genetically modified foods, CrossFit, and self-image.
On Food - I'm glad to see that some of the "true" science is finally coming to light and starting to expose about how backward our food system, the FDA, laws, etc. The fact that giant agribusiness companies like Monsanto are trying to control anything and everything about our food system, getting laws in place to protect THEM, and fighting tooth-and-nail to stop mandatory labeling of GMO foods pretty much tells you that they know what they're doing is not in the best interest of the world, but they must protect their business model. I believe that we all have the right to KNOW what is in the food we eat; and then we can make the choice ourselves as to whether or not we want to eat something that's labeled a GMO. And I also believe that there should be no way that "life" can be patented.
Along the same lines, we continue to perpetuate bad and disproven "science" and allow special-interest lobbies (both food and pharma) to influence our dietary and nutritional recommendations, which spills over into the medical field. The "low-fat" diet that has become accepted practice for healthy eating came into play around 1977, the same time the obesity problem in this country started its rise. Studies and emperical evidence have shown over and over again that the low-fat, low-cholesterol, high-carb diet doesn't work, and is based more on speculation and observation than actual science. This article sums up a lot of these points nicely, but I've done much reading and research on my own. And of course I have been following the low-carb/low-sugar/paleo diet since March 2011 (see some of my earlier posts) and am as healthy as I have EVER been in my lifetime - my "numbers" are all normal to great, my blood pressure is as low as it's ever been (much of that might be due to CrossFit though) and I haven't been truly sick since March 2011. I eat REAL food. I don't feel starved or deprived. I enjoy the food I eat because real food tastes good. I drink real, fully-caffeinated coffee with real cream. I don't count calories. I avoid anything marked "low-fat" or with ingredients I can't pronounce like the plague. Sugar is almost non-existent in my world.
On CrossFit - wow, I could talk for hours, and I'm sure some of my friends get sick of it :) But this is really good stuff for me. My ONLY goal when I started last August was to STOP DOING NOTHING. I wasn't horribly out of shape or unhealthy, but I was pretty sedentary. I am definitely whatever the opposite of sedentary is now. Just to give you an example of the amazing stuff we do in these workouts - today we did what is called "Prowlers", which is basically pushing a 250-lb sled 25 yards up and back, for 6 rounds (alternating with a partner). I was slightly woosy by the end, but by a couple of hours afterwards, I felt FANTASTIC. And that's typical for me now. I can tell that I have more energy, sleep better, am MUCH stronger, and am MUCH more flexible (and I still have a LOT of room to improve there). Sure it's great to be able to lift the big weights and do more situps or pushups or burpees than you did the time before, but this stuff carries over into being able to do things in real life, which is really the goal. When I'm 70 I want to be able to carry my bags of groceries or bags or lift my grandkids (and yeah, with the age I'll be starting to have kids, 70 for young grandkids is pretty likely). The workouts and the community are great and fun, but seeing the results of health and fitness in real life is even more fun.
On self-image - there is a lot of discussion among our CrossFit community on combating and redefining what our society idealizes as the "perfect" body type. My favorite slogan on a T-shirt my friend Caly has is "Strong is the new Skinny". I wish everyone would believe that. And I know that body image issues and wanting to be "skinny" is a much larger issue with women than with men, but the up-and-coming generations of men are getting programmed with the body self-image issues too.
Growing up, I ALWAYS wanted to be skinny. I'd be jealous of the people that seemed to have no problem being skinny no matter what they ate or did. And I admit that I still have a little bit of that thinking - sometimes I'd like to, for just ONE DAY see what it feels like to be skinny. But I've also come to realize that my body is built a certain way, and that being skinny for me is not being healthy. And I've also come to realize (wisdom?) that just like I wish I could be like some skinny person I see, they probably wish they could be "built" like I am. I am able to bulk up and build muscle with relative ease - I've ramped up really fast on Olympic Weight Lifting at CrossFit even in the 8 months I've been going. If I were skinny I wouldn't have that ability.
I love to see the women at my CrossFit classes. I love seeing them working just as hard as the men do, and getting just as excited at a new lifting PR or being a previous time record. I love to see the self-confidence that they have in being STRONG and fit, not necessarily "skinny". A recent WOD article talks about this (it was written for women but I think men can take wisdom out of it too). If I have a daughter someday, I hope that her self-confidence and self-esteem is built on being smart, strong, fit, etc. and not being whatever society's image of a woman's body is at the time.
OK, maybe blogging shorter and more often would be a good idea :)
I felt compelled to give an update though, in light of some of the many recent articles I've read related to healthy eating, genetically modified foods, CrossFit, and self-image.
On Food - I'm glad to see that some of the "true" science is finally coming to light and starting to expose about how backward our food system, the FDA, laws, etc. The fact that giant agribusiness companies like Monsanto are trying to control anything and everything about our food system, getting laws in place to protect THEM, and fighting tooth-and-nail to stop mandatory labeling of GMO foods pretty much tells you that they know what they're doing is not in the best interest of the world, but they must protect their business model. I believe that we all have the right to KNOW what is in the food we eat; and then we can make the choice ourselves as to whether or not we want to eat something that's labeled a GMO. And I also believe that there should be no way that "life" can be patented.
Along the same lines, we continue to perpetuate bad and disproven "science" and allow special-interest lobbies (both food and pharma) to influence our dietary and nutritional recommendations, which spills over into the medical field. The "low-fat" diet that has become accepted practice for healthy eating came into play around 1977, the same time the obesity problem in this country started its rise. Studies and emperical evidence have shown over and over again that the low-fat, low-cholesterol, high-carb diet doesn't work, and is based more on speculation and observation than actual science. This article sums up a lot of these points nicely, but I've done much reading and research on my own. And of course I have been following the low-carb/low-sugar/paleo diet since March 2011 (see some of my earlier posts) and am as healthy as I have EVER been in my lifetime - my "numbers" are all normal to great, my blood pressure is as low as it's ever been (much of that might be due to CrossFit though) and I haven't been truly sick since March 2011. I eat REAL food. I don't feel starved or deprived. I enjoy the food I eat because real food tastes good. I drink real, fully-caffeinated coffee with real cream. I don't count calories. I avoid anything marked "low-fat" or with ingredients I can't pronounce like the plague. Sugar is almost non-existent in my world.
On CrossFit - wow, I could talk for hours, and I'm sure some of my friends get sick of it :) But this is really good stuff for me. My ONLY goal when I started last August was to STOP DOING NOTHING. I wasn't horribly out of shape or unhealthy, but I was pretty sedentary. I am definitely whatever the opposite of sedentary is now. Just to give you an example of the amazing stuff we do in these workouts - today we did what is called "Prowlers", which is basically pushing a 250-lb sled 25 yards up and back, for 6 rounds (alternating with a partner). I was slightly woosy by the end, but by a couple of hours afterwards, I felt FANTASTIC. And that's typical for me now. I can tell that I have more energy, sleep better, am MUCH stronger, and am MUCH more flexible (and I still have a LOT of room to improve there). Sure it's great to be able to lift the big weights and do more situps or pushups or burpees than you did the time before, but this stuff carries over into being able to do things in real life, which is really the goal. When I'm 70 I want to be able to carry my bags of groceries or bags or lift my grandkids (and yeah, with the age I'll be starting to have kids, 70 for young grandkids is pretty likely). The workouts and the community are great and fun, but seeing the results of health and fitness in real life is even more fun.
On self-image - there is a lot of discussion among our CrossFit community on combating and redefining what our society idealizes as the "perfect" body type. My favorite slogan on a T-shirt my friend Caly has is "Strong is the new Skinny". I wish everyone would believe that. And I know that body image issues and wanting to be "skinny" is a much larger issue with women than with men, but the up-and-coming generations of men are getting programmed with the body self-image issues too.
Growing up, I ALWAYS wanted to be skinny. I'd be jealous of the people that seemed to have no problem being skinny no matter what they ate or did. And I admit that I still have a little bit of that thinking - sometimes I'd like to, for just ONE DAY see what it feels like to be skinny. But I've also come to realize that my body is built a certain way, and that being skinny for me is not being healthy. And I've also come to realize (wisdom?) that just like I wish I could be like some skinny person I see, they probably wish they could be "built" like I am. I am able to bulk up and build muscle with relative ease - I've ramped up really fast on Olympic Weight Lifting at CrossFit even in the 8 months I've been going. If I were skinny I wouldn't have that ability.
I love to see the women at my CrossFit classes. I love seeing them working just as hard as the men do, and getting just as excited at a new lifting PR or being a previous time record. I love to see the self-confidence that they have in being STRONG and fit, not necessarily "skinny". A recent WOD article talks about this (it was written for women but I think men can take wisdom out of it too). If I have a daughter someday, I hope that her self-confidence and self-esteem is built on being smart, strong, fit, etc. and not being whatever society's image of a woman's body is at the time.
OK, maybe blogging shorter and more often would be a good idea :)
Sunday, February 24, 2013
Throwdown
I feel I have to report on one of my activities from this weekend. Last August, I joined the "Crossfit Progression" gym here in town. For those not aware of the Crossfit philosophy, this Huffington Post article does a good job of describing it. At its most fundamental level, it's about whole body, highly efficient workouts, although that's a gross over-simplification.
Today marks 6 months since I joined Crossfit in August. Consider that in August, it had been really 6 years since I had done any serious form of exercise or set foot in a gym, which is significant since prior to that I was a gym regular and had run 3 marathons. While I was not in horrible shape thanks to my March 2011 decision to finally get control of my eating (see all my previous blog posts about how low-carb living can save your life), it was humbling to go to my one-hour "baseline" workout with coach Matt. After about 15 minutes, it took all my willpower and several minutes sitting on the bathroom floor to not throw up! Matt assured me this was pretty common, and encouraged me to sign up and give it a try. I did - beginner class 3 days a week, 1 hour a day, was pretty horrible, I was so sore that first couple weeks I could barely get out of bed in the mornings. But...after a few weeks I started to get the hang of it. Then I got "promoted" into regular class, and to my surprise, I was hanging in there.
Somewhere around November, I remember looking at the workout of the day (WOD in Crossfit lingo) and thinking "boy, I can't wait to do this one!" and then realizing what I had just thought. By 5 months I was back to hitting lifts that had taken me years to get to before with my "traditional" programs. I could easily see the difference in my body too - I hadn't lost any weight, but I hadn't gained any either, and it was very obvious that muscle had replaced bunches of the fat that was left.
But yesterday...I participated in the Crossfit Progression "Superfriends Throwdown". One of the aspects of Crossfit that is different from other gyms is that it promotes the "sport" of working out, competitive workouts if you will. You don't have to do the competitive part; indeed, if all you want is the best workout you can get in an hour's time, you won't be disappointed. And to be honest, I'm only ever really competing with myself. But the 10-team competition we had yesterday within our gym community was as motivating and fun as anything I can remember involving exercise. Each team had 4 people - two men, two women. There were 4 workouts, which you could strategize among your team for maximum points (either total weight lifted, or time completed). As it turned out, there were clearly 4 teams competing with each other at the top, and 6 competing with each other for the rest of the spots. But in the end, what I loved was that everyone was encouraging everyone else, and the coaches NEVER stopped coaching from beginning to end. I personally got a PR (personal record) lift in the first workout, and I would not have gotten it if coach Alex hadn't coached me through it, especially the mental stuff.
I tend to get really passionate about things in my life that I find value in or that work really well for me. This is one of them. If you had told me 6 months ago that I would be able to complete these 4 workouts, much less in one Saturday morning, I would have told you you were crazy. If you had told me it would only take me about 5 months to get back to the level of fitness I was at back when I was power lifting and doing marathons 10 years ago, I would have told you you were crazy. I think yesterday I decided I'm done not believing. No more "if you would have told me" stories.
Sunday, July 1, 2012
Mid-Year Update
July 1, which is halfway through 2012 already!
Nineteen days from today my capstone final report for my masters program is due. It's hard to believe it's gone so quickly - I started last June and it feels like it's just been a whirlwind. I am fortunate to have met so many great people and professors through this program, and am honored to have had 4 other outstanding colleagues in my year-long study group. Now I just need to get the report done....
I saw my niece today, a few days after her first birthday. Already toddling around everywhere - but still as happy as ever. I hope to get to see them more in the coming months when school is finished. I also dropped Erin off at the airport after seeing the family, for a few days visit to Vermont.
Work - I still like my job. People are still surprised when I say that. I will hit 15 years on July 7th. Hard to believe it's been that long, I've been fortunate to have been involved in some great projects.
Carb update - well, I haven't been paying as close attention as I should the past few weeks, there have been some weddings and other events and it's hard to resist some of those things you don't get to have very often like wedding cake. Still, I'm staying within reason. Today wasn't quite so good, just due to a lot of driving around and the need for convenience, I ended up having McDonalds breakfast, Caribou on the way to the Cities, Wendy's lunch, and then the one I should have passed on, DQ with the girls. When I got home I decided to see if the nutrition information is available for all of those places. It actually is - I commend restaurant chains for posting all this detailed information online, although I fear it's because they know no one really pays attention or cares anymore. I was, however, disturbed to find out that my Blizzard Mini (yes, smaller than a small size, it looks like a bathroom dixie cup) still had 61g of carbs, 45 of which are sugar. That's more than even a large full-sugar white chocolate mocha. OK, so no more DQ :( It continues to amaze me how much sugar is in our diet EVERYWHERE...you have to make a real effort to avoid it unless you make everything you eat at home.
Misc - I got my new Galaxy S III phone on June 21st when it was released, and I love it (and I love that I was able to give Erin my 2-year-old EVO, which HE loves!) I have to say the technology in these phones is now pretty amazing - I hold a palm-size powerful computer, which is probably more powerful than my current work laptop, and arguably has a nicer display.
I hope everyone has a great 4th of July, and that somehow we can at least take one day to forget about partisan politics and elections and be a "United" States.
Nineteen days from today my capstone final report for my masters program is due. It's hard to believe it's gone so quickly - I started last June and it feels like it's just been a whirlwind. I am fortunate to have met so many great people and professors through this program, and am honored to have had 4 other outstanding colleagues in my year-long study group. Now I just need to get the report done....
I saw my niece today, a few days after her first birthday. Already toddling around everywhere - but still as happy as ever. I hope to get to see them more in the coming months when school is finished. I also dropped Erin off at the airport after seeing the family, for a few days visit to Vermont.
Work - I still like my job. People are still surprised when I say that. I will hit 15 years on July 7th. Hard to believe it's been that long, I've been fortunate to have been involved in some great projects.
Carb update - well, I haven't been paying as close attention as I should the past few weeks, there have been some weddings and other events and it's hard to resist some of those things you don't get to have very often like wedding cake. Still, I'm staying within reason. Today wasn't quite so good, just due to a lot of driving around and the need for convenience, I ended up having McDonalds breakfast, Caribou on the way to the Cities, Wendy's lunch, and then the one I should have passed on, DQ with the girls. When I got home I decided to see if the nutrition information is available for all of those places. It actually is - I commend restaurant chains for posting all this detailed information online, although I fear it's because they know no one really pays attention or cares anymore. I was, however, disturbed to find out that my Blizzard Mini (yes, smaller than a small size, it looks like a bathroom dixie cup) still had 61g of carbs, 45 of which are sugar. That's more than even a large full-sugar white chocolate mocha. OK, so no more DQ :( It continues to amaze me how much sugar is in our diet EVERYWHERE...you have to make a real effort to avoid it unless you make everything you eat at home.
Misc - I got my new Galaxy S III phone on June 21st when it was released, and I love it (and I love that I was able to give Erin my 2-year-old EVO, which HE loves!) I have to say the technology in these phones is now pretty amazing - I hold a palm-size powerful computer, which is probably more powerful than my current work laptop, and arguably has a nicer display.
I hope everyone has a great 4th of July, and that somehow we can at least take one day to forget about partisan politics and elections and be a "United" States.
Monday, April 23, 2012
Mr. Brooks
I was just about to write this and then decided to read through my feeds before posting, and read my dear friend Shelley's blog and her post about a dear person in her life who departed earth too soon. It sort of reinforces to me how we all have those people throughout our lives that we may not see every day, or even have seen for many years, but who were SO important in defining the people we are today.
Mr. Brooks was my first band director when I started playing the saxophone in band in 6th grade. He was a wonderful teacher - approachable and easy-going enough for a shy kid like me to get along with. A wealth of musical wisdom that he just wanted to share with the middle school students who came through his band. Always a smile when you saw him in the hallway.
Mr. Brooks taught me how to play the saxophone. I'm sure that giving music lessons was part of his teaching contract, but I also have to think that his contact didn't cover all the lesson hours he put in with kids, or the help he gave them finding instruments and sometimes even fixing them. I remember a day in 7th grade when we had chair placement and I finished 7th chair out of 8 that day, and was ready to quit band. I went to my lesson later that week and Mr. Brooks said that I just needed to hang in there and practice, that I had the ability it just hadn't all gotten together yet. Thankfully I stuck with it (my mom had some say in that too, thankfully :)
I have been playing the saxophone now for 25 years. I've been involved in many things, groups, organizations, etc. over those years, but my saxophone has given me more opportunities and allowed me to meet more people and be a part of more important things than anything else in my life. High school band, college marching band (all the great trips I got to take! and many of my best friends came from there), concert band, and pep band, Rochester Civic Theater pit orchestra, Kasson Community Band, 37th Street Gold Jazz Band, Notochords Jazz Band, music groups at church, playing for weddings, the salsa band and world band gigs I got to be a part of. And probably more stuff that I haven't thought of. So many things and people I probably wouldn't have been a part of had it not been for Mr. Brooks and his desire to share the joy of playing music with kids.
I have tried to make a point of telling people from my life that they were important to me, that they made a difference. I've been blessed with so many. And sometimes I have actually made the effort to do it. But not enough. I hope Mr. Brooks knew how much of a difference he made in my life and the lives of so many other kids. It's too late for me to tell him that now. Don't wait "until later" to tell those people how important they were to you. It probably means more to them than anything you could say or do.
Mr. Brooks was my first band director when I started playing the saxophone in band in 6th grade. He was a wonderful teacher - approachable and easy-going enough for a shy kid like me to get along with. A wealth of musical wisdom that he just wanted to share with the middle school students who came through his band. Always a smile when you saw him in the hallway.
Mr. Brooks taught me how to play the saxophone. I'm sure that giving music lessons was part of his teaching contract, but I also have to think that his contact didn't cover all the lesson hours he put in with kids, or the help he gave them finding instruments and sometimes even fixing them. I remember a day in 7th grade when we had chair placement and I finished 7th chair out of 8 that day, and was ready to quit band. I went to my lesson later that week and Mr. Brooks said that I just needed to hang in there and practice, that I had the ability it just hadn't all gotten together yet. Thankfully I stuck with it (my mom had some say in that too, thankfully :)
I have been playing the saxophone now for 25 years. I've been involved in many things, groups, organizations, etc. over those years, but my saxophone has given me more opportunities and allowed me to meet more people and be a part of more important things than anything else in my life. High school band, college marching band (all the great trips I got to take! and many of my best friends came from there), concert band, and pep band, Rochester Civic Theater pit orchestra, Kasson Community Band, 37th Street Gold Jazz Band, Notochords Jazz Band, music groups at church, playing for weddings, the salsa band and world band gigs I got to be a part of. And probably more stuff that I haven't thought of. So many things and people I probably wouldn't have been a part of had it not been for Mr. Brooks and his desire to share the joy of playing music with kids.
I have tried to make a point of telling people from my life that they were important to me, that they made a difference. I've been blessed with so many. And sometimes I have actually made the effort to do it. But not enough. I hope Mr. Brooks knew how much of a difference he made in my life and the lives of so many other kids. It's too late for me to tell him that now. Don't wait "until later" to tell those people how important they were to you. It probably means more to them than anything you could say or do.
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Diet - Year in Review
I made the conscious decision last March 14th (2011) to change my diet. My goals were to
It is important/interesting to note that I did not add a lick of exercise to my routine over the past year. I am not at all advocating that people should not exercise, and I plan on doing so starting this summer now that school is finishing up and I will have more time. Mainly I wanted to note it because it makes the following that much more impressive and interesting.
I had another physical exam on March 19, 2012, and got all my test results back a few days after that:
So, in one year, with the only real change to my diet being elimination of sugar and refined carbohydrates and an increase in fat consumption, I was within 5 pounds of my goal of losing 40 (I actually got to 183 at one point so I was there), and my cholesterol and triglyceride numbers all drastically improved across the board, to the point where they are all within the normal ranges, or just a few points above.
Hmmm.
When the doctor saw my weight loss and numbers, he asked what I had done, and I told him what I'd changed. I could tell he was skeptical and really wanted to tell me what I was doing was not healthy (as just about every doctor and many other people have pushed back when I tell them I'm doing this) but he also couldn't argue with the numbers. He then suggested that I read about statin drugs (cholesterol-reducing drugs), which he said are being found to have preventative benefits, and decide if I wanted to start taking them. I was a bit surprised by this, given that I'm a relatively young healthy person who now has their numbers in the proper range, and show no symptoms. But I decided to be open-minded and read about them anyway (more on that later) and I did appreciate that he was advising me to make informed decisions.
I've since done some more reading on carbohydrates and statin drugs as well. In particular, I'm halfway through a book called "Good Calories, Bad Calories" by Gary Taube, which I would recommend EVERYONE read. It isn't a diet book or a book about what to eat and not eat exactly, but it does give a complete history of the research and the politics involved in food, diets, cholesterol, fat, and carbs, and how we got to where we are today. I will warn you that you may get increasingly angry at how much politics determines what is "truth" in the medical field, the FDA, the USDA, and many of the organizations like the American Heart Association and American Cancer Society (vs. true research organizations that are science-motivated and not politics-motivated).
The truth is that we really DON'T know everything about all of this, and studies involving diet, fat, carbs, cholesterol, etc. are extremely difficult to do accurately, and take many years of work to achieve (whereas things like drug trials can actually be done with control groups and double-blinds to produce much more accurate and meaningful results).
What we can say is that we've tried 40+ years of low-fat diets, with promises like conquering all heart disease and obesity by the year 2000, and we see can see where we are as a country (obesity rates are now around 50%). And for me personally, I've tried it both ways, and it's very obvious that one way has worked far better than the other. Certainly I can't know if what I've changed may have other long-term effects, but I have to believe that I'm better off now than I was in March 2011.
More to come...I'm excited to finish the book.
- lose 40 lbs
- bring my cholesterol and triglyceride numbers down to "normal" levels (within the accepted medical range).
- Weight = 223 lbs
- Total Cholesterol = 270
- Triglycerides = 185
- HDL = 23
- LDL = 188
It is important/interesting to note that I did not add a lick of exercise to my routine over the past year. I am not at all advocating that people should not exercise, and I plan on doing so starting this summer now that school is finishing up and I will have more time. Mainly I wanted to note it because it makes the following that much more impressive and interesting.
I had another physical exam on March 19, 2012, and got all my test results back a few days after that:
- Weight = 188 lbs
- Total Cholesterol = 204 (medically optimal range is < 200)
- Triglycerides = 129 (medically optimal range is < 150)
- HDL = 46 (medically optimal range is > 40)
- LDL = 132 (medically optimal range is < 130)
So, in one year, with the only real change to my diet being elimination of sugar and refined carbohydrates and an increase in fat consumption, I was within 5 pounds of my goal of losing 40 (I actually got to 183 at one point so I was there), and my cholesterol and triglyceride numbers all drastically improved across the board, to the point where they are all within the normal ranges, or just a few points above.
Hmmm.
When the doctor saw my weight loss and numbers, he asked what I had done, and I told him what I'd changed. I could tell he was skeptical and really wanted to tell me what I was doing was not healthy (as just about every doctor and many other people have pushed back when I tell them I'm doing this) but he also couldn't argue with the numbers. He then suggested that I read about statin drugs (cholesterol-reducing drugs), which he said are being found to have preventative benefits, and decide if I wanted to start taking them. I was a bit surprised by this, given that I'm a relatively young healthy person who now has their numbers in the proper range, and show no symptoms. But I decided to be open-minded and read about them anyway (more on that later) and I did appreciate that he was advising me to make informed decisions.
I've since done some more reading on carbohydrates and statin drugs as well. In particular, I'm halfway through a book called "Good Calories, Bad Calories" by Gary Taube, which I would recommend EVERYONE read. It isn't a diet book or a book about what to eat and not eat exactly, but it does give a complete history of the research and the politics involved in food, diets, cholesterol, fat, and carbs, and how we got to where we are today. I will warn you that you may get increasingly angry at how much politics determines what is "truth" in the medical field, the FDA, the USDA, and many of the organizations like the American Heart Association and American Cancer Society (vs. true research organizations that are science-motivated and not politics-motivated).
The truth is that we really DON'T know everything about all of this, and studies involving diet, fat, carbs, cholesterol, etc. are extremely difficult to do accurately, and take many years of work to achieve (whereas things like drug trials can actually be done with control groups and double-blinds to produce much more accurate and meaningful results).
What we can say is that we've tried 40+ years of low-fat diets, with promises like conquering all heart disease and obesity by the year 2000, and we see can see where we are as a country (obesity rates are now around 50%). And for me personally, I've tried it both ways, and it's very obvious that one way has worked far better than the other. Certainly I can't know if what I've changed may have other long-term effects, but I have to believe that I'm better off now than I was in March 2011.
More to come...I'm excited to finish the book.
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
News Article Roundup
First, my "best editorial of the week" - from the Rochester Post Bulletin:
http://postbulletin.com/news/stories/display.php?id=1488906
and on a lighter note, a fun very short and cute "political" video from my mom:
http://now.msn.com/now/0302-hank-attack.aspx?gt=50501
Finally - wanted to mention that I'm 3/4 of the way through reading Steve Jobs' biography. Fascinating. The tech history alone would have been enough for me to like the book, but it's a great story too. He was somewhat of a jerk (and he'd be the first to admit it) but he was certainly a visionary. Most of us know what a splash the original 1984 Macintosh made, and more recently the iPod and the iPhone changed those industries. But I forget/didn't really realize how much of an impact he had on the movie industry as the owner of Pixar. Hard to imagine what animated movies would be like without Pixar the last 15 years.
http://postbulletin.com/news/stories/display.php?id=1488906
and on a lighter note, a fun very short and cute "political" video from my mom:
http://now.msn.com/now/0302-hank-attack.aspx?gt=50501
Finally - wanted to mention that I'm 3/4 of the way through reading Steve Jobs' biography. Fascinating. The tech history alone would have been enough for me to like the book, but it's a great story too. He was somewhat of a jerk (and he'd be the first to admit it) but he was certainly a visionary. Most of us know what a splash the original 1984 Macintosh made, and more recently the iPod and the iPhone changed those industries. But I forget/didn't really realize how much of an impact he had on the movie industry as the owner of Pixar. Hard to imagine what animated movies would be like without Pixar the last 15 years.
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