Too Much

Yes, friends, it's all too much.

I am completely overwhelmed by logistical challenges and will continue to be until we're in Ohio a few months from now. I'm doing well to find clean stockings every day and to remember to brush my teeth. The stacks of unsorted papers are reproducing as we speak and the clean laundry is in a giant unfolded pile - so for now I'm going to have to bid adieu to EP and to everyone here until life is more orderly and my car has Ohio plates. *Sigh*

And now, for your viewing pleasure, an excerpt from one of my favorite movies of all time, The Long Long Trailer starring Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz (isn't this just like the rest of life?):

 It starts like this:

And ends like this:

No Water? Up Goes the Scale!

While I love the fact that water weight is easily shed, today my weight graph looks really, really icky because I didn't drink enough water over the past couple of days and hence, I have retained. Ew.

I'm tuckered after yesterday's wanna-be-jock experiment but will commit to at least 45 minutes on the elliptical today. For now, however, I think I may just lie down.

I've been reading about "waist training" using corsets and how it has made a comeback. Performer Dita Von Teese  and her cohorts have fabulous hourglass figures thanks to the use of corsets...but repositioning one's ribs and internal organs in order to look more glamorous is perhaps slightly insane...perhaps.

I'm Absolutely Drenched with Sweat

First day at the gym:

I thought to myself, "I'm not going to overdo it like I usually do. I'll keep it slow and steady." I had a 45 minute workout this morning, kept my HR at about 140 and felt great for the rest of the day.

This is where I regressed/progressed (which is it?) to "gym rat" thinking:

This evening, I thought: "Gee, I'm not doing anything much tonight; why don't I go back and round it up to 90 minutes for the day?" Back I went just in time to watch The Biggest Loser as I worked on the elliptical trainer. I had thoughts of pushing through and working out 60 minutes, I have to confess. The heart rate was a little higher this evening, 145-150, I sweated harder and my muscles felt just a little bit sorer than this morning. About 35 minutes into the workout, I knew it was going to be a big push to hit 60 minutes. I stopped at 45.

My aim is to do 90 minutes of cardio (2 x 45 minutes) 6 days a week for now and eventually push each workout up 5 minutes per week until I'm hitting a solid 120 (will add in strength/circuit training later).

I've just walked in the door, though, and right now I'm thinking I'd better have a shower before I catch a chill. Tomorrow I'll be lucky if I can walk but I'll be back on that machine.

Have a wonderful night, everyone.

I've Changed My Goals

I've decided that :

1. My long term goal was unreasonable, given my bone structure (I was 119 pounds when I was 15, before I "filled out" completely).

and

2. I would be more motivated by intermediate term timed goals and successes.

Here are my projected goals and rewards:

1st 25 Pounds: Manicure & New Workout Outfit

50 Pounds: New Pair of New Balance (the pair I just got will be worn out by then)

75 Pounds: Thai Massage and a Manicure

Final Goal:  This will be a body weight that's comfortable and healthy, probably between 125 and 140 pounds.  Professional Photo Session (after years of hiding from cameras).

A Fat Rant

This video spawned a huge number of responses on YouTube. It's essentially a fat acceptance video, which you may or may not agree with - but it's certainly "food for thought."

What are your thoughts?

and the sequel:

Body Image v. Weight Loss

A nice little piece from Lynn Nicholson about the power of positive self image in permanent weight reduction. (Okay, but who is Lynn Nicholson?)

Need More Motivation? A News Item About Fertility

"CHICAGO (Reuters) - Obesity decreases the chances that a woman will get pregnant, and the more obese she is, the worse her prospects of conception, Dutch researchers said on Tuesday.

Researchers at the Academic Medical Center in Amsterdam looked at how obesity affects women who are still ovulating but having trouble with conception.

The study, published in the journal Human Reproduction, included more than 3,000 couples between 2002 and 2004 in 24 hospitals in the Netherlands.

Dr. Jan Willem van der Steeg and colleagues looked at the relationship between fertility in these women and their body mass index, a ratio of weight to height. Women with a BMI of 30 or higher are considered obese.

The women had to be ovulating and have at least one working Fallopian tube, and the men had to have a normal semen analysis.

The researchers found that women with a BMI of 30 or higher had significantly lower probability of becoming pregnant naturally, compared with normal weight women who had BMIs of between 21 and 29.

"In the case of a woman with a BMI of 35, the probability of spontaneous pregnancy was 26 percent lower, and in the case of a woman with a BMI of 40, it was 43 percent lower," van der Steeg said in a statement.

One reason for this may be the hormone leptin, which regulates appetite and energy expenditure and is secreted in fatty tissues.

"It is possible that obese women may have disturbed hormone levels, which decrease the chances of successful fertilization and implantation," he said.

Obesity is already known to disrupt ovulation, and the Dutch study now suggests it can lower pregnancy rates compared with women of normal weight.

However, the researchers did not track the timing and frequency of sexual intercourse, which may have affected the results. Some studies have shown that obesity is linked with less frequent sex and reduced sexual desire.

The researchers said the finding should be tested in further studies, especially given the rising rates of obesity.

"Owing to the fact that more women of child bearing age are becoming overweight and obese, this is a worrying finding," they wrote."

(Reporting by Julie Steenhuysen; editing by Mohammad Zargham)

Found here.

Natural Protection Against Estrogen Overload

"We are living in the age of estrogen. The food supply is laden with traces of herbicides, pesticides and petrochemical residues from plastics, all of which have estrogen-like, endocrine disrupting effects in animals and humans. These xenobiotics, or foreign biological substances, have been linked to abnormalities and cancers of human tissues that are hormone sensitive, including fibrocystic breast disease, breast cancer, cervical cancer and dysplasia, endometrial cancer, endometriosis and ovarian disease as well as prostatic hypertrophy and cancer.

How can we protect ourselves from these influences? Eating a whole food diet of organic or biodynamic foods, free of pesticides, is an important first step. Healthy water is the next. Municipal water supplies may be sources of many chemicals and water in plastic bottles can contain residues of polycarbonate plastics called phthalates, which are endocrine disrupters. It is important to drink only pure mineral water or water that has been treated by a reverse osmosis (RO) system.

Our bodies regulate and eliminate estrogens by the action of detoxifying enzymes in the liver. There are two pathways of estrogen oxidation and conversion, one of which converts it to a beneficial and non-toxic form 2-OH estrogen and another which converts it to the 16-OH estrogen form. The 16-OH form is carcinogenic and causes diseases of tissues that are responsive to hormones, including disorders and cancers of breast, uterus, cervix and prostate, and probably lung and colon. Xenoestrogens push the system toward the 16-OH pathway both directly and indirectly.

Cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, cauliflower, kohlrabi, bok choy, Brussels sprouts and cabbage contain a substance called indole-3-carbinol (I3C) which is activated and liberated when the vegetables are crushed in a wet environment, that is, when they are chewed, chopped or pounded. In the presence of stomach acid, I3C combines with itself to form DIM (di-indollyl methane). DIM induces certain P-450 enzymes in the liver to block the production of the toxic 16-OH estrogens and enhance the production of the beneficial 2-OH forms.

Studies have demonstrated that DIM reduces the incidence of fibrocystic breast disease, cervical dysplasia, endometriosis and prostate enlargement. In fact, the 2-OH form is not only benign but also enhances the process of apoptosis, the spontaneous death of damaged and cancerous cells. DIM also acts as an active surveillance for cancer cells. This is very exciting and while there is much to learn and more to say, I can state with assurance that this phyto-nutrient may be one of the most important protective substances of this new century.

It is very important to eat cruciferous vegetables every day for protection against diseases that may be induced by exposure to environmental estrogens. As raw cruciferous vegetables contain goitrogens, it is best to eat them fermented, because fermentation neutralizes these thyroid-depressing substances. (Cooking also neutralizes the goitrogens, but also deactivates I3C.) In fact, low rates of breast cancer in Polish women have been attributed to their daily consumption of sauerkraut. (Science News 9/23/00)

The amount of vegetables needed to supply adequate DIM for full protection or as part of a program of cancer treatment is at least two pounds daily. Of course, it is not always practical or possible to eat such large amounts of pickled vegetables. Fortunately, DIM is available as a supplement. I recommend it to almost any patient over 40 and anyone with a family history of breast or uterine problems as well as cancer of the lung, colon or prostate. I also add DIM to any hormone replacement therapy program for an added safety factor to prevent the above diseases. I have also used DIM successfully to treat PMS.

DIM is available from Tyler and Bio Response and directly from Healthyhumans.net or call 1-800-473-2810.

About the Author
John Foster, MD is a member of the Steiner Medical and Therapeutic Center in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania. He also serves as Associate Director of the Center for Integrative Medicine at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia."

Originally found here along  with additional articles about estrogen and women's health.

Minor Leg Injuries Can Cause Blood Clots

"CHICAGO, Jan 14 (Reuters) - Ankle sprains, muscle pulls and other minor leg injuries may be a major but unrecognized cause of blood clots in the veins, researchers said on Monday.

The risk of such clots lasts for about 10 weeks after a leg injury and may be due to damage to the blood vessel wall or the fact that even minor injuries may cause people to be less active, increasing the likelihood of clot development, the researchers said.

Karlijn van Stralen and colleagues at Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands said they reached the conclusion by looking at 2,471 patients who developed venous thrombosis, as such clots are known, between 1999 and 2004, and another 3,534 people who did not.

Of the people who had a blood clot, 289 had a minor leg injury that did not require surgery, a plaster cast or extended bed rest. This added up to 11.7 percent of the 2,471 blood clot patients.

In comparison, just 4.4 percent of people who did not have a blood clot reported some minor injury to the leg. That suggests the injuries tripled the relative risk, Van Stralen's team concluded.

"Because minor injuries are common, they could be major contributors to the occurrence of venous thrombosis," the authors wrote in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

Each year from one to three of every 1,000 people develop blood clots which block the veins, usually in the legs or thighs. Among the recognized causes are surgery and immobility, including that which can occur during extended air travel.

The problem can become life threatening if a part of the clot breaks off, travels to the lungs and blocks an artery.

Doctors who treat people for such injuries should be aware of the risk and may want to help their patients prevent blood clots, by moving around more often or by other means." (Reporting by Michael Conlon; Editing by Maggie Fox)

Originally found here.

The Gym Report 1-15-08

Elliptical Machine:

45 Minutes/500 Calories/2.71 Miles

I selected a fat burning workout in the menu, for which it wanted me to keep my HR at 120; I was holding myself back to keep it at 140, so clearly I need to build heart strength so that my rate comes down. I'll be doing cardio training workouts for a while, I guess. All in all, not bad for my first elliptical workout in about a year and a half.