No Snacks For You

English: Snack Machine (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The other day, I was browsing through some of email news alerts that I subscribe to at work.  These alerts are usually related to the retail industry, with a heavy emphasis on the convenience store industry.  I was going to delete most of the emails, but one of the articles caught my eye and I had to check it out further.

The article was about a new vending machine that they have developed in Europe.  This vending machine uses facial recognition and can detect your age, build, and mood.  It will then go through a series of calculations, including past purchases, before the machine decides whether or not to allow you to complete the purchase.  So if you are stress eating your 4th Snickers bar of the day, good luck.  It also has the capability to tie into your medical records in the approval process.

This disturbs me on so many levels.  I know junk food is bad for me but sometimes I just need, no, want a Reese's Peanut Butter cup.  The machine doesn't have any idea what I have had to eat that day so how can it make an educated guess as to whether or not to sell me the product?  I might not even be buying the product for me.  Perhaps my son or a friend is with me and I am treating them to a snack.

Let's also talk about the fact that the machine has the potential to tie into my medical records.  That just blows my mind.  There are somethings that nobody should have access and medical records is one of those.  That info should only be accessible by me, my doctor, and my insurer.  I would not trust that the info would be safe from other eyes that have no business seeing it.

Of course my geeky side thinks that the technology is very neat.  However, that doesn't override in the least the objections I would have about it.  Way too much Big Brother for my liking.  I'd like to know what others think about it.  Would you want a soulless machine to deny you a snack because it doesn't like the look on your face when you try to make the purchase or would you like a machine making decisions for you?

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Happy Birthday!

19 years ago today, I found myself in the car at 2:00 AM driving my very pregnant wife to the hospital in a spring rain.  She woke me shortly after 1:00 to tell me that she thought that her water had broke.  Once we got to the emergency room, we discovered that, in fact, her water had broke, but she wasn't quite ready to deliver.  So they took her to a room, and we waited.

After a few hours, they made the decision to induce labor.  It took a while to get the dosage right.  At first, they gave her too much of the drug and her contractions started too strongly and too quickly.  So, they backed off on the IV and my wife was able to get a little rest before all the real fun would begin.  Around 6:00-7:00 PM my wife started pushing in earnest.  Shortly before 9:00 my son entered the world.

It was without a doubt the proudest moment in my life.  The entire time my wife was pregnant, I steadfastly declared that I did not care one way or the other what the sex of our child was going to be.  One he came out and I was told we had a boy, I have to confess that my chest stuck out a little bit further.

Over the years, it has been quite an adventure.  From birth to about 2 years of age, our son appeared to be completely normal.  He was hitting all of his milestone markers on time and in a lot of cases early.  Then all of a sudden around his second birthday things changed.  His progress became delayed. We got him involved in early special education classes where a specialist from the school system came to the house a couple days per week.  By his 3rd birthday he started taking a bus to a school for children with special needs.

In the intervening years, there have been a lot of emotions and struggles.  There was a lot of denials about the  final diagnosis of autism.  I struggled a lot at times.  You see, I have always been considered a smarter than average person.  I was a nearly straight A student, always made the honor roll, and participated in talented and gifted programs.  I thought, "How could my child be mentally delayed?  He has my genes."

A few years ago, we made the difficult decision to try to get him into a residential school program.  It was one of the hardest decisions we ever made.  Several of the struggles and challenges of adjusting to this decision have been chronicled here on this blog.  It has been one of the best things that we ever did for our son.  At one point, I always thought that my son would live with us as long as we could care for him.  Now we look to the day when he will graduate in 2015 and enter a group home.

Today, we drove out to see him to celebrate his 19th birthday.  We decided that we would throw a little pizza party for him, his dorm mates, and the dorm staff.  One year ago, we couldn't get him to touch pizza.  The only thing he would eat was chicken, bacon, potato chips and Cheez-it crackers.  In fact, my wife and I couldn't eat pizza in front of him because he would gag.  Today, he ate six big slices of pizza, more than my wife and I combined.  We even offered him boneless wings and he chose more pizza.

Even with all of the progress he has made, he still has a long way to go.  For example, he still has not gotten to the point where he will have a bowel movement on the toilet.  I never really liked changing his diapers when he was a baby, changing Depends now isn't any fun either. He still has several undesirable behavioral issues.  He will drop to the floor if he doesn't want to do something.  He still hits at people and throws his glasses.  It has been a struggle and will probably always will.  I wouldn't change a thing.

Happy Valentine's Day

Sorry I haven't posted here much of late.  I have been out of sorts a bit and just haven't felt like writing anything.  Nothing serious.  Anyway, I wanted to take today to wish everybody a Happy Valentine's Day.  I hope that you are able to spend the day with somebody special.  Today will be a special Valentine's Day for us, because not only will I get to be with my wife, but she is picking up our son today for a weekend visit home.

Last night, I had to go by my doctor to have him check something out.  He ended up giving me a prescription for an antibiotic and an anti-inflammatory.  After leaving his office, I ended up having to go by Target to get them filled.  While waiting for the prescriptions to be filled, I decided to browse around the store.  I had already gotten my wife her main gift, but decided to check out the candy aisle to get her a little something extra.

I always like browsing around stores the day before a holiday to see the last minute shoppers, though as a matter of full disclosure, I did still need to pick up a card.  Given that guys are the ones that usually have the reputation of waiting until the last minute to do their holiday shopping, I found it interesting that most of the people in the card section were women.  The candy aisle looked like it had been struck by a tornado.  I did find a nice little box of Godiva Truffles to add to her main gift, though I would not have been stressed if I hadn't found a box of chocolates.

Up until about 8 days ago, I had no idea what I was going to get her for Valentine's Day.  Then I received an email from one of the autism causes that I belong to on Facebook.  Designs by Ja9 sells jewelry to support autism awareness.  The piece I bought her is the red heart with the puzzle pieces embedded in it along with a silver chain so she could wear it. The puzzle piece was created by the National Autistic Society to be the symbol for autism awareness.  The best part is that Designs by Ja9 donated $10 of every sale to the Autism charity of your choice.

2013

English: New Year's Resolutions postcard (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Well, here we are at the start of another new year.  I suppose I should think about making some sort of resolution or such.  To be honest, I usually don't go in for making New Year's resolutions.  The primary reason is that I don't feel like there is anything magical about January 1st for setting goals for yourself.  Another reason is that I feel that I must be mentally prepared to make that change within me otherwise I feel I would be destined to fail.

A case in point for me would be one of the more popular resolutions that folks tend to make and that is the goal of weight loss.  Last year at this time, I definitely needed to lose some weight.  I wasn't mentally prepared at that time to lose weight, so I knew I wouldn't change.  However, some time in the spring I was mentally ready and lost 40 pounds over a five month period.  Sadly, I have slipped a bit of late and lapsed into some bad habits and gained about half back.  Time to get back on the wagon.

That is not to say that I do not have some idea of things that I would like to accomplish in the coming year.  They are more or less some general ideas floating around in my mind and not things that I am 100% ready to commit to with specifics at this time.  One thing that is floating around in my mind are things that I would like to accomplish with this blog, specifically in regards to content and consistency.

Last year, I kind of let the consistency of posting slip from previous years.  In 2012, I posted less than 200 posts for the first time since I began this blog in 2008.  Of course 2008 was basically only 4 months of posting versus and entire year.  I am not sure that I will get back up to posting nearly every day, but I would like to post on a more regular basis, maybe 250-300 posts during the course of the year.

Then there is the content side of things.  In previous years, I posted a lot of political content.  Since the election two months ago, I have been taking a break from a steady dose of following politics.  I have found that I do not miss it at all.  Instead, I have been concentrating on doing more reading and trying to get back in touch with my spiritual side.  I suspect that you will see more posts with a spiritual leaning.  I have been considering a series of posts regarding some of my spiritual journey through the years.

With the start of the new year, as usual, I am concerned about financial issues.  I officially get my first pay check of 2013 on Thursday, but my credit union gives me access to my direct deposit early.  I noticed my deposit was about 3% less than usual which I can most likely attribute to the expiration of the 2% payroll tax holiday.  In two weeks, I should see the results of the 30% increase in my share of my health insurance premium.  Not an encouraging start.

The good news on the financial side of things is that I just closed on refinancing my mortgage through the government HARP program.  It is allowing me to reduce my mortgage by about $260 per month which hopefully will result in a wash when my health insurance premium kicks in.  The other good news is that with the timing of my closing, I will not have a mortgage payment due until March so it will give me two months to replenish my savings account some.

A couple of the nebulous goal thingies that are floating around in my head is to concentrate a bit more on my photography.  I kind of started this a bit last year, but time is a precious commodity and there were not as many opportunities to devote to it as I would have liked.  Another idea floating in my head is to attempt to write a book.  This one is so nebulous that I do not even have a clue what kind of book it would be.  That's why I can't commit to them as "resolutions."

So, in closing, I would like to wish everybody a very successful and happy New Year. If you are of the sort that makes resolutions this time of year, I hope you are able to achieve your goals.  If not, well that's OK too.

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cureLauncher.com

It is probably safe to say that all of us, in some way, shape, or form has had their lives touched by cancer.  We all know somebody, whether it be a family member, friend, or coworker who has had to battle a cancer.  Perhaps you yourself has been on the receiving end of the diagnosis of cancer.

The care and treatment of a diagnosis of cancer has improved in leaps and bounds over the years.  Several cancers, if found and detected early, can be treated successfully.  Still, I can think of no other diagnosis that can bring a sense of fear and shock than the doctor informing you or a family member that they have cancer.

Thankfully, there are medical researchers out there working diligently to further enhance the treatment of cancer to continue to improve survival rates.  They are working on experimental drugs and conducting clinical trials to come up with the latest treatment breakthrough.  These trails need money to be conducted.

You can now have the opportunity to help with these critical projects.  Through a website called cureLauncher.com, you can now search for project where you can donate to cancer research projects.  Currently, they are trying to fund a study of a new chemotherapy drug for breast cancer patients who have had the cancer spread to brain.

If you would like to take a more active role in the treatment of cancer, please check out cureLauncher.com.  Perhaps you will find a project you believe it and perhaps you can help fund the next treatment to help defeat cancer.

Dental Woes

I hate going to the dentist.  I know, who doesn't? Right?  The truth is that I don't mind going for a simple, routine checkup and cleaning.  I can even tolerate something as simple as a filling.  With my dental insurance, those types of procedures are relatively affordable.  It is when we get into things like root canals, crowns, and other types of treatments that even with insurance can get quite expensive.

Several years ago, I had a molar that was badly decayed and had to have it extracted.  Now, whenever I go to a dentist, they always want to talk to me about getting a partial bridge done.  Even with insurance, the procedure would cost several hundred dollars out of pocket.  Since the tooth (or lack thereof) has never bothered me, and since money (and lack thereof) is also an issue, I have never had this done.

Besides the fact that every time I go to the dentist they want to do an expensive procedure, another reason I hate going to the dentist is that I have had a few really bad experiences.  Once, while getting a filling done, I didn't get enough Novocaine and the dentist started drilling before I was numb.  Other times, I have had dentists lecture me on my dental sins rather than move forward to fix and prevent further issues.  Even if you know you are wrong, you don't want to be lectured by anybody.

One of the things, at least in my past, has been poor communication from my past dentists in regards to the importance of dental health.  I like to know all of my options.  It doesn't help if I feel that the dentist is only trying to come up with ways to get more money rather than looking out for what is best for me and my dental health.

I recently came across the website of Dr. Mac Lee.  He is a TMJ Dentist Richmond TX and has appeared on the Dr. Oz show.  He is also the author of the book "I Hate Dentists!"  His website is very informative about all sorts of different dental issues and explaining the consequences of not receiving treatment.  One of the things I learned is that issues such as headaches and neck pain could be the result of a bad bite.  Who knew?

As somebody who suffers from sleep apnea and has to use a CPAP machine, I also found out that there are dental alternatives to treat sleep apnea for those who have a hard time with the CPAP machine.  Personally, I have adjusted to wearing the CPAP mask just fine, but it is good to know that there are other options out there if I needed them.

Unfortunately, I am probably going to have to bite the bullet (pun intended) and get to a dentist pretty soon.  I have two wisdom teeth, one top and one bottom, in the very back of my mouth that are in need of attention.  Both had a little piece break off of them and will either need to be repaired or extracted.  I hope all they will need is a filling.  I definitely can't afford root canals or crowns which is why I will wait until after I get my tax refund next spring.

More Money, More Fun

The following post is being submitted for this week's Dude Write lineup. Wow, the Dude Write dudes have been at it for 100 days. Check out all the posts and hopefully read some good posts. Then come back and vote for your favorites.

Massage (Photo credit: o5com)

Many years ago, I suffered from some very severe back pain.  It came from years of taking part in sports and just throwing my body around with reckless abandon.  I thought nothing of diving for ground balls while playing baseball and other sports.  Eventually, that wear and tear took its toll on my body.  I suffered various injuries to my shoulder, knee, and the back.

The worst pain that I suffered was the back pain.  At one point, my back problems became so severe that my body was kind of twisted.  When I looked in the mirror, my hips would be in one place and my torso would be a couple of inches to the right.  The pain was so bad getting out of the car each day that it would take several minutes of stretching to be able to move enough to walk from my parking lot to my office in the morning.

Eventually, the pain got to be so bad that I finally decided to bite the bullet and go to a chiropractor even though it was not covered under my insurance.  I had to pay the entire fee out of pocket.  After several months of treatment, I was able to walk and function like a normal human being again.  I still get the occasional backache, but nothing like what I went through in those days.

Prior to springing for the chiropractic treatment, my family doctor treated me in a very conservative manor.  Every time that my back would act up, he would prescribe muscle relaxers, heating pads, stretching and a week of bed rest.  Things would clear up for a few months and the whole cycle would start again.  As conservative as he was, I am grateful he never suggested surgery.

During one particular bout with my back problems, my doctor gave me a referral for three visits to a physical therapist.  The therapist started each session with some heat treatments.  This was followed up with a series of stretching exercises.  The session would end with some massage therapy.  After my referral ran out, I asked the doctor if he could give me anther referral.  His response was to have my wife massage my back.  Only one problem; at the time I had no wife and had no prospects.

So, I started to look around for a place to get a massage.  I saw a few ads in the Washington Post sports page and called around to see what the price would be for a massage.  Most of the places told me it was $40 for a half hour and $60 for an hour.  I had taken a class in massage at a local community college, and the instructor had told us that we could expect to pay around $60 for a full body massage.

Sorebun Institue Of Sexual Awareness And Massage Parlour (Photo credit: A.Currell)

I decided to check out one of the places advertised in the Post.  I had made plans to go check out some condominiums that happened to be near one of the advertisers.  I made arrangements to stop by for an hour massage between visiting the various condominiums.  I showed up and an attractive Asian woman in a short dress answered the door.  That should have set something off in my brain.

The hostess, proceeded to take me back to a room that had a massage table in the middle.  She took my fee and left.  A second woman then came back to my room.  She was also Asian and was wearing a white lab coat similar to what you would expect from a clinician.  I relaxed and laid on my stomach on the massage table.  The massage went on for several minutes.  The entire process seemed rather clinical.  That is, until the masseuse said to me, "You spend more money, we have more fun."

It was a little difficult to understand her through her heavy accent, so I turned my head to look at her and asked, "Excuse me?"  She repeated herself and said, "You spend more money, we have more fun," only in addition to the statement, she proceeded to open her lab coat, pull down her top to reveal her bodacious tatas, breasts, whatever you want to call them.

Yes, my friends, this was not a legitimate massage establishment.  I stammered something to the effect of that I didn't have more money, and that I just wanted a massage.  She continued with the massage for a few more minutes.  Afterwards, I got dressed and she walked me out to the door.  As I was leaving, I heard her exclaim, "Next time you spend more money, we have more fun! OK baby?"

Sports Massage (Photo credit: amareta kelly)

There was no next time.  I guess it is safe to say that I was somewhat naive at the time.  Looking back, I should have seen a few warning signs as to the legitimacy of this location.  First should have been the hours the establishment was open for business, 7 days a week, and open late into the evening.  The second should have been the attire of the first women I saw, short, tight black dress.  I am sure there were other signs I should have caught.

As the old adage goes, "live and learn."  I really was looking for a legitimate massage experience at that time.  I never thought that a business advertising in the Washington Post would not be a "legitimate" business.  I was later able to find some legit businesses where I could get a massage.  One establishment went out their way to emphasize that they were a "real" massage business and nothing extra.  That's what I wanted.

Confessions of an Ex-Fat Person

myfitnesspal (Photo credit: oklanica)

Quite often, ex-smokers become the most vocal and ardent opponents of smoking.  I suppose that is understandable as they finally came to realize just how harmful their habit is and they want to, for lack of a better term, evangelize others to their side.  Still, it is almost like they have become too judgmental in their quest to get others to quit.

This morning, I hit two milestones in my use of MyFitnessPal in my weight loss goals.  First, I have logged into the app for 100 straight days.  Second, when I weighed in this morning, I hit the 40 pounds lost mark.  I now weight 190 pounds for the first time in years.   I still want to lose at least 10 pounds more, and perhaps another 20.  We will see how I feel once I get down to 180 pounds.

Hitting those goals is great for me from a mental point of view.  Continuing to see progress helps to keep me motivated to keep going.  But maybe more important than that is the reactions of some family members that I saw on Thursday that I had not seen in several weeks.  Their comments only further enforce in my mind that I am on the right path.

My youngest brother, who has never had a weight problem, asked me how much weight I lost.  When I told him, he said that pretty soon I would weigh less than him.  Right now, I am only 16 pounds heavier than he is.  My sister told me that I needed to go out and get all new clothes, which I don't want to do until I have finished losing.  My mother said I was now too skinny.  According to the BMI charts, 175 pounds is the upper limit for a "healthy" weight for me, which is why I may want to get down to 170.

Obesity Campaign Poster (Photo credit: Pressbound)

Later that night, my wife and I were attending the Bowie Baysox game.  As an aside, the Baysox won the game thus clinching a spot in the playoffs which begin next week.  At the game, we saw my brother-in-law and my father-in-law.  My brother-in-law told me he almost didn't recognize me.  My father-in-law asked about my weight loss and complimented me on doing so.

So what does the vocal ex-smoker's crusade against smoking have to do with my weight loss quest?  Thursday night, I had thoughts that entered my mind that made me think I may be becoming the same thing, only towards fat people.  As I sat in my seat at the game, I looked around and saw so many overweight people, many who were much larger than I was when I started.  I thought to myself, "My God! We do have an obesity problem in this country."

One thing that I will never do is be an advocate of the government stepping in and mandating behaviors in the quest of helping people. From my own experience, one must be mentally prepared to make the changes needed to lose weight.  For years I knew I was too heavy and needed to lose weight but just couldn't bring myself to do so. Education is the key to being able to make the right decisions to eat healthy.  It is one of the reasons I am such a fan of MyFitnessPal on my phone.  Having caloric information at my fingertips helps me to make wise food choices on a daily basis.

I have to confess that I was somewhat ashamed at myself for the thought because it was tinged with a touch of judgmentalism rather than thoughts of "there but by the grace of God go I."  It is one thing to make the observation about the obesity problem, it is another to think ill of those who need a change in their lives.  I never thought I would be that guy.  I also know that I could easily slip back into the behaviors that caused me get fat in the first place.  I hope that the realization that I have had those negative thoughts will help me to put them behind me.  I would much rather encourage and understand where others are at.

I haven't posted at DudeWrite for a while, so I am going to post this there as well.  If you haven't already, you should really check them out to see blog posts from other bloggers who happen to be dudes.  Read the posts and go back to the vote for your favorites.

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Another Goal Met

Funny Smile You Are Losing Weight Fitness Center Sign (Photo credits: www.mydoorsign.com)

There is power in knowledge.  The more information that one has at their disposal, the better decisions they are able to make.  It is with this in mind that I entered my most recent venture to get my weight down to a healthy level.  For the past 10 weeks, I have faithfully been utilizing the MyFitnessPal app on my phone and using their website.

When I signed up with MFP, I entered my height and weight, my goal weight, and how many pounds I wanted to lose each week.  This gave me a daily calorie goal that I would need to consume each day to reach my goal.  They have a massive database of nutritional information.  With my phone, I am able to scan a products UPC bar code and enter the calories into my daily diary.

Another thing that has helped me this time is that I also decided to take advantage of the community of users available at MyFitnessPal.  I felt that having "friends" in the community would help keep me motivated and accountable.  I also try to regularly go to the message boards and participate.  It has helped a lot.  It also helps that I have my wife and friends at work also utilizing the app.

When I started using MFP, in addition to setting an overall weight loss goal of 60 pounds, I decided to set some mini goals for myself. I figured that if I only set an overall loss of 60 pounds that I might feel like it was too daunting a task and lose motivation. By having multiple goals, I could stay motivated by having a more easily attainable goal in front of me.

I officially started my weight loss quest at 230 pounds. That gave me a BMI of 33 which was in the obese range. My first goal was to get out of the obese range and get my BMI under 30. I reached that goal exactly one month ago. I weighted 209 at the time.

The second goal was to get my weight under 200 pounds. It has been a long time since I have stepped on a scale and not see the weight start with a 2. To be honest, I am not sure how long it has been since I have been under 200 pounds, but know it has been several years, at least 10 years and maybe closer to 20. This morning, I stepped on the scale and it read 198.5 pounds.

Originally, I was going to have 180 pound as my next goal. Now I am thinking that I am going to break the mini goals into 10 pound increments and set 190 as my next target. My ultimate goal is to get down to 170 pounds which would put my BMI into the healthy range.

Having these mini goals has definitely helped me mentally.  As time has gone on, my weight loss has started to slow a little bit.  Knowing that the next goal isn't as far away as the ultimate goal helps keep me focused.  I also have started to notice a very little bit of definition appearing in my stomach area.  The possibility of actually having close to six pack abs as opposed to a keg is even more motivation.

Related articles

• No Longer Obese! (dickstersrandomthoughts.com)
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• If I Can Lose It (dickstersrandomthoughts.com)

Good News, Bad News

This may end up being a purely random post, keeping in line with the title of this blog.  There are just a few little things on my mind that I feel like sharing, none of which might be enough to make a whole post on their own.  So, I am going to share a little good news and a little bad news.

First the good news.  I always love the first week of a new diet when I am trying to lose weight.  When I have that mindset to lose weight, I do not feel like I depriving myself.  The great thing about the first week of the diet is  it is the week when I lose the most weight.  Last Tuesday when I posted that I was starting this quest, weighed 228 pounds.  This morning, I weighed in at 220 pounds.  A pretty good start.

A few days ago we had our annual IEP meeting at my son's school.  Since we made the decision, along with his doctor, to cut one of his medications out, he has been doing much better.  He is no longer sleeping in class and he is doing all of his work.  He also has started eating a lot more variety of food, albeit covered in BBQ sauce.  They even told us that he recently ate French toast, with BBQ sauce.  Yuck, but whatever works.

That's pretty much it for the good news, now the bad.  While my son has been doing better at school, he still has some of his behavioral issues like dropping to the floor, hitting others, and throwing things like his shoes and glasses.  When we were at school Thursday his glasses were pretty bent at the hinge. I bent them back into place while we were there.  On Friday, we got an email from the school saying he had thrown them and they were broken at the bridge.  We had to go back out to school on Saturday to give them a spare pair.

I have mentioned before that I hesitate to buy myself things.  I have this phobia that as soon as I splurge on something for myself, then something else will go wrong around the house and I will soon have to scrape up more money.  At Christmas, I had received some American Express gift cards and some cash.  I debated on whether or not to hold on to the money or to buy myself something I wouldn't normally buy myself.  I decided to get myself a Keurig coffee maker.

As luck would have it, last Sunday I went out to do my grocery shopping and other errands with our family car, which is the one my wife uses during the week.  It hesitated a little bit before starting, so I decided to take it up to Advanced Auto Parts to have them check the battery.  The diagnostic test indicated that the battery needed to be replaced, no big surprise as the car has over 85000 miles and it was the original battery.  So I had to replace the battery.

Yesterday, I had our other car while I was out delivering pizzas.  There were a few times that my car had a difficult time starting.  Since the car has almost 90000 miles on it, I took it up to Advanced Auto Parts to check the battery.  The battery checked out as fine which means that there might be something else wrong with it like the starter.  Plus, it recently started making a squeaking noise when traveling at slow speeds. I really need to get my tax info so that I can my refund to get things looked at.

Speaking of spending money, there have been a few things that I really hate buying when I do my weekly grocery shopping.  These items are things that I consider necessities in our daily lives, but I just hate spending money on them.

• Trash bags, I feel like all I am doing is throwing money away.
• Toilet paper, again a necessity, but it is like flushing money down the drain.
• Paper towels are another item that I put in the same category as trash bags.

Ironically, I do not feel the same way about laundry detergent.  I guess because I can usually find a decent brand name laundry detergent at a low price ($3-$4 a bottle) that will last several weeks, where a $6 or $7 pack of toilet paper only lasts a couple weeks.  I guess it is all a matter of perspective.

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Time to Get Serious

Image via CrunchBase

Well, today is the big day. It's time things get serious. No, it isn't the New Hampshire primary that I am talking about, though that is important.  It is something else entirely.  On New Year's Day, I posted about how I normally do not use that day to make resolutions to change something in my life.  I need to be mentally prepared to start that quest.  Today is that day.

As I said, I have to be mentally prepared for the task at hand.  I also have to clear away all of the obstacles that could potentially block the path to success.  One of my big stumbling blocks is having alcohol in the house, particularly red wine.  When I have it, I drink it, and when I drink it, I tend to eat a lot more junk food rather than healthier snacks.

Last night, I finished off the last of the red wine that I had in the house.  If I don't have it around, I generally do not miss it.  I also have gotten rid of just about all of the really bad food and have several healthier snacking options available should I need anything more after dinner, though I am going to try to not eat anything after dinner.

This morning, I stepped on the scale and weighed 228 pounds.  It's not the heaviest I have ever been, but it's close to it.  I have to lose 30 pounds, at least in my mind. I want to lose 50 pounds, and I would be extremely ecstatic if I could manage to lose a total of 60 pounds.  It has been several years since I have been in that weight class.

I have decided to keep track of everything I eat during the course of the day.  I have downloaded a calorie counter app for my phone and tablet from MyFitnessPal.com.  I enter my current weight, goals, and other data, and it gives me a target for number of calories to eat each day.  It has a huge data base of calorie and nutritional counts.  You can also scan the UPC code on a package and it will search for all the nutrional data to add to your daily diary.

Having the mobile apps is a great help for tracking things.  It shows how many calories you have consumed that day and how many more towards your goal for the day.  I think I will also be checking out the MyFitnessPal website as they have a large community to lend support in your weight loss goals.  As they say, the first step of any journey is the toughest.

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Happy New Year

Let me start off by saying Happy New Year to everybody.  I hope that you had a safe and happy New Year's Eve.  Traditionally, the start of the new year is a time when everybody hopes to make a fresh start.  Usually, it is filled with all sorts of New Year's resolutions that more often than not, at least in my experience, do not come to fruition.

In years past, I have stayed away from making resolutions just because the calendar turns to January 1st.  I have to be of the frame of mind to actually want to make that change in my life for it to be effective for me.  When I am mentally prepared to make a change and have that mindset, that is when I am able to achieve those goals.  So it does not matter if it is January 1st or March 1st.

This year, however, I have been thinking a lot about making some changes.  Like a lot of people, I struggle with my weight.  I have documented here previously that I have sleep apnea.  Excess weight exacerbates the situation.  Also, my doctor has told me that my blood sugar is starting to creep up into the pre-diabetic range. So, like a lot of people this New Year, one of my goals (I hate to say resolution) is to change my behavior and get my weight under control.

Aside from weight and general health and fitness resolutions, a lot of people want to improve their financial situation in the coming year.  With home mortgage rates at such historic lows, there is no better way to improve your financial state of affairs than by lowering your expense.  If you are a homeowner with good credit and haven't taken advantage of the lower interests rates, you might want to click here to see what is available where you live.

Health and finances are high up on my list of resolutions for 2012.  That, and continuing to blog on a regular basis and get ready for the 2012 elections.  Have you set any resolutions for yourself this year?  If so, share them here.  There is no better motivation to hitting your goals than by letting everybody knows what they are so they can help keep you on track.  Once again, Happy New Year!

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Good News From School

Image via WikipediaWhen my son was home from school for the Thanksgiving break, I was deeply concerned because he has still been losing weight.  All told since he started at the school 13 months ago, he has lost over 40 pounds.  He probably would have benefited from losing some of the weight, but he had lost a little too much.

When my wife took him back to school last week, she had a conversation with his teacher and the school nurse. There have been a couple of things going on. After breakfast each morning he would often lie down and go back to sleep until about 11 am.  He would also have a lot of undesirable behaviors such as dropping to the ground, hitting others, and throwing things like his glasses.

My son has never swallowed pills, so we have always had to crush his pills and mix them with his drink or food. One of his medications is supposed to be an extended release formulation.  Since we had to crush the pills, he was not getting the benefit of the extended release.  The nurse was concerned that getting all of the medication at once, combined with the weight loss was possibly causing some of his problems.

We contacted our son's psychiatrist, and he faxed a new medication order over to the school cancelling that one particular medication.  The plan is to see how he does without the medication.  If he does well, then we will keep him off of the medication.  If he continues to have issues, then we will look into putting him on another medication that is not extended release.

On Friday, they stopped giving him that medication.  On Monday, we received an email from the school nurse  that he had been better behaved and been eating more, as long as the food was covered in BBQ sauce.  She also informed us that he was using his spare pair of glasses because a lens had popped out of his primary pair of glasses and they could not find it.

Today, my wife drove out to school to take a new spare pair of glasses out to them.  She talked with everybody involved with our son at school, and they say he has been doing a lot better.  He has not dropped to the ground once, he has been focused and doing his lessons, and he has even eaten fish sticks (with BBQ sauce.)  He has never eaten fish before.

When my wife saw him in his classroom, he was not laying down like he usually does but was actively working on his lesson.  He even asked his aide for assistance.  The other good piece of news is that since he has been off the medication, he has actually gained a pound.  It has only been one week off of the medication, but so far so good.  I love the fact that he is eating a bit more and behaving himself. Hopefully this is the start of something good.  

Back to the Drawing Board

Image via WikipediaCurrently, I am on four different medications for various ailments and/or conditions.  I also take a daily dose of Vitamin D for a low Vitamin D level in my blood.  To save myself time and trouble, I have all four of my prescriptions set up for automatic refill at my pharmacy.

One day last week, I noticed that I was getting low on one of my medications and it had not been filled yet by the pharmacy.  I called to check on it and was told that I was out of refills but that they would send something to my doctor for a refill.  No worries, I had enough to last until yesterday and figured I had plenty of time to get it filled.

As of Monday afternoon, the prescription still had not been filled.  I called the doctor's office to check on the status of getting the refill and was told that the doctor wanted to see me before writing a new prescription.  The timing of this was not very good due to a lot of things going on at work, but I ended up having to take the morning off to visit the doctor.

The visit was rather non-eventful.  He went ahead and wrote three new prescriptions for medications that no longer had refills.  He reran a couple of tests that he ran last summer when I have my little scare that led to me going on the CPAP machine.  He also decided that he wanted to run another series of blood tests to compare them to the ones he ran during the summer.

There are a couple of things from the last blood tests that needed to be reviewed.  First, he wanted to check to see if my Vitamin D level has improved since I started taking the supplements.  Another concern is that my blood sugar level is a little elevated, and he wanted to make sure I wasn't pre-diabetic.  The last concern is my cholesterol level.  My total cholesterol has been in the acceptable range but my bad cholesterol has been a little on the high side.

There was one other thing that we talked about that I really didn't need him to tell me because I already knew.  I need to lose some weight.  I had done so well last year losing about 25 pounds.  Unfortunately, I started to fall back into my old habits and gained all of the weight back.  So now, just in time for all the holiday feasts and goodies, I need to start watching what I eat again.

Sleep Apnea Results

Image via WikipediaBack in July, I started the process of getting checked out for sleep apnea.  I had my first sleep study done on July 27th.  Two weeks later, I received a call stating that they needed me to go in for a second study.  At first, I thought something had gone wrong with the first study, but instead they told me I had mild to moderate sleep apnea and they wanted to see how I would respond to a CPAP machine.

On August 11th, I had my second sleep study so they could determine if the CPAP machine was the right treatment for my sleep apnea.  It usually takes a couple weeks to get the results back from the study as they have a lot of data to analyze.  Two weeks ago, I received a call from the doctor's office that runs the sleep clinic saying I needed to schedule an appointment to go over the results.

He proceeded to explain to me how when we are awake, that the air opening in our throat remain open because we are alert.  When we sleep, our muscles relax, and the opening narrows.  In my particular case, due to the shape and position of my chin and jaw causes my throat passage to be a little more narrow than average.  When sleeping, the passages can completely block the passage.

He then went over each of the two sleep studies with me.  First, he showed me the charts of the initial study.  He could identify each episode that occurred throughout the evening when my air passages were blocked and I stopped breathing.  During each occurrence, he showed me how my heart rate increased and my oxygen level dropped.  These episodes happened several times over the course of the night.  

Another thing that he showed me from the initial report were incidents that he called "brain arousals."  Each time that my air passages were blocked and I stopped breathing, the brain responded.  I would wake up enough for the brain to send a message out that would allow me to breath again, without fully gaining consciousness.  It was a lot of stress through the night, so no wonder I never feel refreshed when waking.

Next, he showed me the results of the study with the use of the CPAP machine.  Through out the night, they monitored my snoring and as my snoring would increase, they would increase the air pressure from the CPAP machine.  In the early part of the evening, I had more blockage episodes, but as they increased the pressure, those episodes decreased to less than one per hour.  This way, they would be able to identify the proper pressure to set the CPAP machine to.

The doctor said that normally with my mild sleep apnea, he would recommend some lifestyle changes including weight loss.  However, due to some other conditions that I have such as my high blood pressure and a history of blood clots his recommendation is to treat the sleep apnea with the CPAP device.  My insurance requires that I get my machine through another company other than the clinic doing the study so I was unable to get my machine right away.  I should have it early next week.  I am anxious to see if if it helps.

The Sense of Smell

Image via WikipediaOur sense of smell serves us in many ways.  The smell of certain foods cooking can illicit responses within us.  For instance, whenever I smell my wife's chocolate chip cookies baking in the oven, I immediately start salivating.  There are other food aromas that can bring about similar responses.

Smells can also alert us to potential danger.  There have been times when I have awakened in the middle of the night because I thought I smelled something burning.  Fortunately, it was something that had fallen on the burner while my wife was cooking so it was nothing to be alarmed about.  There were other times when somehow my wife's laminating machine was turned on accidentally, and I could smell it heating up.

There are other smells that alert us to things that might need attention.  My son still has issues with his toileting thanks to his special needs.  So there are certain obvious smells that tell us when he needs to have his Depends changed.  Smell can alert us to when foods have gone bad and are no longer safe to consume or prepare. 

There are certain smells that I am particularly sensitive to and can cause an adverse reaction.  At times, I often wonder if I am perhaps a bit to sensitive to olfactory stimulation.  One of the odors that I respond to negatively is when somebody wears too much cologne.  I am not talking about getting a subtle whiff of perfume or cologne when you are near somebody, but the overwhelming smell of somebody who seems to bathe in the stuff.

In my opinion, there is an appropriate amount of cologne for somebody to wear.  When applied correctly, perfume or cologne can be quite pleasant.  One should apply just enough cologne so that if you are in the near vicinity of that person that you can get just a sense of the aroma.  In some cases, it can even help to spark a sense of arousal.

Unfortunately, there are some who seems to think that the more smell good you put on, the better when in reality the opposite is true.  When I get into an area with somebody who has too much cologne on, I tend to have a negative physical reaction.  This reaction includes getting headaches, having my eyes itch and water, and a general sense of nausea.

Lately, I seem to be experiencing a lot more folks who are using too much cologne.  I will give you a few examples of the types of things that I have been experiencing.  At work, I park in a parking garage and have to go through a door to a small area where there are five elevators to take us upstairs.  I have entered that area to see nobody else around, but the strong smell of perfume remains in the area.  I have intentionally avoided getting into elevators with some that I recognize as heavy users.

The other day, I was sitting at my desk in my cubicle.  Somebody walked past my cubicle with an extremely strong odor of cologne.  More than a half hour later, I could still smell the cologne. I have also walked into an empty mens room to the overwhelming smell of cologne.  Sometimes I wonder which is worse, the smell of too much cologne or the smell of what is supposed to happen in there.

Years ago, when I worked at another job, we had a senior VP who used to bathe in  expensive cologne.  We could always tell where he was by the smell.  One time, I was walking near him in the hall of the building when he slapped me on the back and asked how I was doing.  I went to my office and he went another direction.  While sitting at my desk, I thought I smelled him, but I didn't hear him enter the office.  It was then that I realized that when he slapped me on the back he left his cologne on me.

I am not anti-cologne.   In fact, just the opposite.  When applied subtly, it can be quite an effective enhancement to one's persona.  However, when you scent lingers long after you have left a room, you have crossed the line from sensual to offensive.

Edible Cannabis

Image via WikipediaIn my job as a candy and snacks buyer, I receive a lot of email newsletters related to the food industry.  One of the newsletters that I subscribe to is put out by Natural Food Merchandising magazine so that I can stay aware of any trends in the natural and organic snack markets.  This week, they had a rather interesting article about the use of medical marijuana in food product.

Now, I am not, nor have I ever been a marijuana use.  I did try it a couple of times in college with a couple friends of mind, but all it did was make me cough.  I just could not manage to inhale the smoke.  I did have some friends who did smoke on a regular basis.  Some of them talked about baking marijuana into brownies, and I remember  a particularly funny Barney Miller episode where the squad mistakenly got high off of marijuana laced brownies.

The gist of the article was about companies in Colorado who were working on a variety of gourmet food products that are infused with medical marijuana.  In particular, they mention a company called Simply Pure that makes a wide variety of products that goes beyond the stereotypical pot brownies.  Among their offerings are pizza, sodas, energy drinks, cheese cakes, and candies.  Their goal is to product all natural, organic, gluten-free and sugar free foods.

The article goes on to include quotes from a doctor who specializes in medical marijuana evaluations and nutrition.  He talks about the benefits of healthy and natural eating for everyone, but especially for those who require medical marijuana.  In addition to healthy eating as a whole, the good doctor say that consuming medical marijuana in foodstuffs may be more beneficial to patients than smoking, due to a slower absorption rate in digestion and burning through smoking can destroy some of the beneficial cannabinoids in the marijuana.

I do not intend to get into the arguments on whether or not medical marijuana is a good or bad thing for society.  There seems to be some evidence that it does help some people suffering from cancer and long term pain.  Of course there is always the opportunity for abuse.  I can see the benefit of ingesting medical marijuana in food form versus smoking, just based on my experience of not being able to inhale smoke.  Though I hope I never get so sick that I will require medical marijuana. 

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Benefits of Chewing Gum

Image via Wikipedia

It has been a good week in the news for gum chewers.  I have read of two different studies this week about the benefits of chewing gum.

Earlier this week, a study came out that showed that chewing gum may help to reduce the craving for snacks between meals.  This would be a tremendous benefit for anybody trying to lose weight.  It is similar to another study that came out two years ago that I posted about here that stated that chewing sugar free gum could help reduce caloric intake and increase energy expenditures.

Today, I found another article that stated that chewing gum could help teenagers to increase their math scores.  This will certainly pose a dilemma for teachers and schools across the country who have always told students they can't chew gum during class.  There has been anecdotal evidence that gum chewing helps some folks stay focused on a task, and now there may be scientific evidence to that end.

There is one caveat that I would want to add about these studies.  Both studies were backed in part by the Wrigley Science Istitute.  One would think that they would have a vested interested in having a positive outcome regarding the benefits of chewing gum.  Consequently, I always tend to be a bit skeptical of some of these studies.  Isn't amazing how often the organizations backing a study manager to get their desired results?

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Bitterness and Regret

Image via WikipediaI have been thinking a lot more these days about mortality, my own and of others.  Thinking that you might have just had a stroke or were close to having one will do that to you.  It got me thinking about just how precious little time we all really have. 

Over the past year and a half, I have had two former classmates and friends pass away suddenly, prior to the age of 50.  At work, we had one of our coworkers pass away while on a business trip.  In addition to that, I have had a couple of salespeople that called on me also pass away.

As I ponder my existence and think about my life, I think it is important to not let regret rule the day.  As I look back, I think about the things that I regret.  Usually that regret revolves around something that I didn't do, rather than something that I did do.

For instance, I had two really close friends in high school and college.  After college we all went our separate ways.  Nearly three years ago, we finally reconnected through social media.  We met two years ago for the first time in nearly 25 years.  Unfortunately, one of my friends passed away less than a year later.  I regret that I waited so long to reconnect.

Another regret involves another old friend of mine.  This particular friend of mine was somebody I was very close to for years.  We had the same hobbies, and we did everything together.  After one particular occasion, I felt slighted by something that happened.  I let my bitterness ruin a great friendship.  Years later, we started talking again, but things were never quite the same.

Bitterness is a particularly tough pill to swallow.  It does nothing but breed contempt and regret.  I have come to learn that it is important not to let a perceived wrong, whether real or imagined, lead to bitterness and cause our pride to put a barrier up in our relationships.  Life is too short for that.

If I may take liberty with the words of Jesus in Mark 8:36 when He says, "For what shall it profit a man, to gain the whole world, and forfeit his life."  Perhaps we should think, "For what good is it to be justified in ones mind to be angry if in the end it costs you your friendships and family."  After all, Blessed are the Peacemakers. 

Vitamin D Deficiency

Image via Wikipedia

I have been feeling a lot better since I experienced tingling in my left side three weeks ago while carrying garbage out to the curb.  When I saw my doctor that day, he had a technician draw blood for a complete blood profile and put me on 5000 IU of Vitamin D.  Earlier this week, they called me in to the office to discuss the results of the blood profile.  It turns out, I have a Vitamin D deficiency.

According to WebMD, some of the traits that may put you at risk for a Vitamin D deficiency are not getting enough in your diet, too little exposure to the sun, and being obese.  I do not consume a lot of food rich in vitamin D.  As for sunlight, I do not get to spend much time outside.  I get in the car early in the morning, spend the day in the office, and drive home at the end of the day.  I do not consider myself to be obese, but acknowledge being overweight, however, if you put any stock in the BMI charts, I guess technically I would be considered obese.

Symptoms of a vitamin D deficiency include bone pain and muscle weakness though many people do not notice the symptoms.  Being deficient in vitamin D can lead to a host of other problems.  Among those are increased risk of death from cardiovascular disease, cognitive impairment as you get older, and cancer.  Some research also suggests that vitamin D can help with treatment and prevention of diabetes, hypertension (which I have), and multiple sclerosis.

Needless to say, none of those things are very appealing.  I am currently back to trying to eat right and lose weight.  I have dropped most of the weight that I regained after I fell off the diet wagon a couple months ago.  Vitamin D supplementation has become a regular part of my routine along with all of the other medications that I take.  All of my other blood levels were in the normal range, but I will probably start to take fish oil capsules again for the Omega 3's.  So, do yourself a favor and get plenty of sunlight, vitamin D, and have your levels checked out.

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