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u262f
Jun. 15th, 2009
09:57 pm - Food Sensitivity in Patients With Obesity
Interesting link: The Effect of The ALCAT Test Diet Therapy for Food Sensitivity in Patients With Obesity
Basic summary: Removing foods that show positive on the ALCAT test may help reduce weight and fat.
May. 2nd, 2009
02:37 am - Quote of the Day
"Food isn't the enemy – it's the solution."
http://www.prevention.com/cda/article/d
I have found this to be true from experience. I lost weight when I started to truly love food.
Apr. 18th, 2009
07:22 pm - Calories in vs. calories out
The human body is far more complex than just calories in vs. calories out. Yes, it isn't healthy to eat too much, but it's even worse to eat the wrong things. Various poisons have zero calories, but that doesn't stop them from killing you.
Don't you believe that wheat bread is healthier than white bread? One slice of whole wheat bread and one slice of white bread have pretty much the same number of calories. However, whole wheat bread will give you more protein, more fiber, and fewer carbs for those same calories.
However, it's good to keep in mind that wear and tear is also a factor. Various studies have increased life span in animals by using calorie restriction, and centenarians have been found to eat less than those who don't live as long. As food goes in and out, it gets processed, putting strain on various organs. Even if you burn all the calories you eat, livers and kidneys still have to filter and process the food, for example, and all these cycles have to keep running. Even organic parts will probably eventually get worn out if you keep running them too much for too long.
Apr. 17th, 2009
01:12 am - Quote of the Day
"The important thing about having lots of things to remember is that you've got to go somewhere afterwards where you can remember them, you see? You've got to stop. You haven't really been anywhere until you've got back home." -- Twoflower, from The Color of Magic by Terry Pratchett
This would be something to put up in a place that would be seen at the end of a geek entertainment convention.
Apr. 8th, 2009
06:48 pm - Visceral vs. Subcutaneous Fat
https://www.health.harvard.edu/news
http://discovermagazine.com/2007/feb/vi
These links have interesting pictures about where visceral vs. subcutaneous fat is stored.
Mar. 27th, 2009
01:07 pm - Looking back: contemplating college choices
http://www.forbes.com/2009/03/26/colleg
The article claims, "Either way, if you're thinking about college quality in terms of rankings or prestige, you're looking at it all wrong."
I have to very strongly disagree. Quite frankly, for anybody who has a reasonably similar definition of success to the author, the rankings and prestige are the only things that matters to college selection in the long run. Maybe the world will eventually change to make me wrong and her right, but I also got fed that line even way back when I was applying for colleges. In my experience, it ended up being entirely the opposite, but I didn't know it until my 30s. From what I know now, "if you're thinking about college quality in terms of getting an education, you're looking at it all wrong". During high school, I fell (hook, line, and sinker) for the line that college is about learning and education, but that's not it at all. It was only my parents who insisted I go to the highly prestigious university (to the point that they would pay my tuition if I went to their choice university, but I would've had to pay my own way if I chose to go anywhere else). Even after I graduated, I initially had no idea why I ever went. I looked at my paltry starting salary, and I ranted that the time and money spent on college just wasn't worth it.
Fast forward a decade or so. Having been in the "real world" so long has taught me to appreciate my insanely expensive education. This was a lesson that I could never have learned as an undergrad, and this economic downturn makes me appreciate the expensive university experience even more. It's not the education: I probably would've gotten a better education at a much smaller and more personal school because I'm an introvert. I quite simply learn best when I'm by myself, occasionally consulting experts when I hit certain plateaus. It's not the piece of paper or any random goodwill from people knowing where my degree came from: I try to avoid telling people where I went to college because people often react strangely to the information. The value in my college experience was entirely a side effect of the prestige and rankings. High prestige and rankings attract people who are likewise both have high qualifications themselves and want to be successful in the world that produced those rankings, and those people -- my fellow alumni -- are the best and most important resources I can imagine.
There are no losers at a highly prestigious university. The long-term value in college is in establishing a respectable network. I wasted most such opportunities due to my introversion. However, in spite of doing my best to concentrate on my education instead of interacting with my fellow students, I still managed to end up with some very impressive friends just due to the sheer density of highly impressive people at the prestigious university. Sure, I would've still made friends at the unknown colleges, but the probability of them being successful (and consequently able to give me advice in times of need) is much lower. As much as I dislike people in general, as much as I like to think I can do everything myself, I am a more successful person for knowing these people.
In retrospect, the college decision is and always should have been very easy: people who are accepted to a prestigious university should simply go to the highest ranking university they can afford -- unless they know for sure that they don't belong there to the point that they know for sure they can't do well. For me, I simply knew that I can't overcome the weather at the Ivy Leagues for four years straight, so I didn't bother to apply. Still, I recognize today that my decision to not even try for Harvard meant that I had no chance of meeting people like President Obama. Today, I'm OK with that because my support network includes people whose accomplishments I value far more than merely being President of the United States.
My parents made the right choice for me, and they made the choice based on rankings and prestige. It now makes sense to me how and why rankings work. Thank you, Mom and Dad.
12:43 am - What's the impact of a weak week?
I'd like to rant about the following articles:
http://www.thatsfit.com/2009/03/26/crui
http://www.loveandblueberries.com/2
The articles express shock at people gaining an average of seven to fourteen pounds on a week-long cruise. Furthermore, while the article laments the impact of the cruise environment on people's health, I think everybody faces even more challenging food every day in the course of normal life.
People with kitchens at home have 24x7 access to food as well. Worse, if it's already in the kitchen, it means that we've already paid for it, and it'd be a waste to let it go bad, so we were taught to eat it before that happens. Furthermore, for anybody living with other people, these kitchens usually have to be stocked with at least enough food for everybody sharing the household. It's the decisions that we keep making day in and day out that can make or break our health.
As an admission, I've been out and back on various business trips where vast quantifies of food paid for by someone else was always available. (I normally telecommute.) I ate whenever food was available (nervous eating -- I kept stuffing food in my mouth so people won't expect me to talk), so I gained 12 pounds over the course of the three weeks. The most recent conference ended Friday. By Wednesday, I was back to my normal weight. It's not the temporary indulgences that make us unhealthy. If we pig out on a cruise (or a series of business conferences) for a week out of every several years, then it's no big deal. If we do it every weekend, then it will become a huge problem.
Our bodies are very forgiving of small mistakes, and in a life spanning multiple decades, one week (or even three) is a very small amount of time. It's the long-term behaviors that count. One week won't ruin years of good behavior as long as we go back to our good habits after the cruise is over.
Mar. 26th, 2009
08:31 pm - When is unbalanced balanced?
I came across an interesting idea today: as long our overall food consumption is nutritious and balanced, we don't have to balance each and every last meal. It seems likely to me that trying to have some lean protein, some vegetables, AND some whole grains at every meal is partly responsible for making us feel compelled to eat more than we should. Also, preparing three courses for every meal is a lot of work, and preparing one mixed course requires a lot of skill because cooking the animal proteins until they're safe to eat often means that the vegetables become overcooked. (This is probably why many of us grow up hating vegetables.) Also, I've run into studies claiming that keeping carbohydrates separated from fats and proteins would result in better health (although I'm not sure whether I believe them or not). So, something to try might be to balance nutrition across an entire day rather than for each and every meal. For example, maybe have oatmeal or whole wheat waffles for breakfast, grilled fish for lunch, vegetables for dinner, and fruits for dessert. I haven't tried doing this yet, but it sounds like a good strategy for me. For busy people, it should be a lot easier to cook only one course per meal. Besides, having to eat a three-course breakfast, and then a three-course lunch, as well as a three-course dinner does add up to be a whole lot of food.
I gleaned this idea from a blog talking about Diet Myths That Keep Us Fat by Dr. Nancy L. Snyderman. The book will come out in May, and Amazon is taking pre-orders. (Just to be clear, I haven't read it -- it's not even out yet, and I am not endorsing it, but I'm giving credit where credit is due.)
Mar. 17th, 2009
01:50 am - Captions
Why don't more Internet videos have captions? The sound quality on the Internet tends to be poor, and there are so many tools for captioning videos. For people who create podcasts, why not post a transcript with the video in the blog? It shouldn't be that difficult.
Mar. 16th, 2009
11:51 am - Digital Books
Random observation: digital books cannot be used during takeoff and landing. Until that gets fixed, paper books will still have a place.
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