Browsing Tag: health

    Miscellany

    “Are you afraid?”

    April 24, 2017

    I made a big decision recently: I bought a 23andMe DNA kit and have submitted my saliva sample so I can learn more about myself — at least the stuff that DNA testing can tell.

    One of the things it can reveal is my proclivity to contract certain diseases and/or health conditions. This is a black box for me because I’m adopted. My whole life, whenever I see a doctor and they ask about my family medical history I have to say, “I don’t know.” I have no idea if my parents had any diseases or conditions that could’ve been passed on to me. For me, it’s really the only downside to being adopted — the not knowing.

    I posted the photo above on Twitter not long ago, and one of my followers asked, “Are you afraid?” It’s a legit question: Would YOU want to know if you have the potential to contract a serious or even terminal disease?

    I thought about it for a moment and tweeted back, “No.” I’m not afraid. I’m tired of the not knowing. I’m tired of shrugging my shoulders every time I see a doctor and they want to know about my medical history. I want to know. 23andMe won’t tell me all the answers; I may have to track down my biological parents for that, and I’m giving that some thought for the first time in my life.

    But in the meantime, I need as much information as possible. And I’m ready for 23andMe to tell me whatever it can. No fear. God is in control. Whatever will be, will be. And I’d rather know than not.

    Miscellany

    The Five Guys Diet

    June 17, 2013

    five-guys-diet

    I’ve been saying for a couple months now that I’m going to be Five Guys’ version of “Jared” — you know, the guy who lost weight by eating a lot of Subway sandwiches.

    Here’s why: Five out of the last six times that I’ve had Five Guys for lunch, I’ve lost weight when I got on the scale the next morning.

    Seriously!!!

    Let me explain how and why it works.

    The Five Guys Diet

    What I eat: This happens when I have Five Guys for lunch. I order a regular meal, which is typically a Little Cheeseburger with my favorite toppings, a Little Fries and a small drink if I’m eating at the restaurant. If I’m bringing the food home, I skip the drink and just have water at the house.

    What happens: A Little Cheeseburger at Five Guys isn’t very little, and the Little Fries turn into an enormous serving of fries because they always scoop an extra serving into the bag. It’s a lot of food and it fills me up for the rest of the day.

    I eat this at about noon or 1 pm and I literally don’t eat again the rest of the day. It’s that filling.

    Sometimes I work out in the evening, sometimes not. Either way, by skipping dinner I somehow end up being full while eating less than a full day’s worth of calories … and I lose weight.

    How much I lose: Some days I’ve lost as much as a full pound. Some days just .2 or .4 of a pound. But it’s still weight loss, no matter the amount.

    Requirement: You have to eat breakfast first. Read on for why….

    The One Time It Didn’t Work

    As I said, this has happened five of the past six times that I’ve had Five Guys. The one time it didn’t happen? Well, I didn’t exactly follow the above plan.

    I skipped breakfast that day and decided to try to make Five Guys my only meal of the whole day. Didn’t work. Since I didn’t have the breakfast calories in me, the Five Guys lunch didn’t fill me up. I got hungry and ended up having a late dinner (about 8 pm) and actually gained a pound that day.

    So the lesson is obvious: You gotta have breakfast.

    That’s it. The Five Guys Diet. If anyone from the restaurant chain happens on this and wants to get in touch, I’m easy to reach. 🙂

    Miscellany

    Accountability: Highly Underrated

    December 27, 2012

    fitbit-logoA couple years ago, I got in shape and lost 26 pounds in about 2.5 months.

    I’ve since put back on about 15 of those pounds.

    So, a month or so ago, I decided that I’d go back on the same plan after the new year. (Trying to lose weight in December is pointless. It’s a crazy month here with holidays, both kids’ birthdays, etc.)

    Part of that plan was to get a Fitbit to track my daily activity … or lack thereof. It had been recommended to me by friends like Todd and others. Plus, I have this unusual love of tracking things. Like, how many times I filled my car with gas in 2011. And another thing I’ve been tracking all of 2012 that I’ll post about soon.

    Anyhoo…

    I got a Fitbit Zip for Christmas and just set it up tonight. Easy-peasy. I connected it to the Lose It app, which I used in 2010 to track my food and exercise. (Like I said, I have a thing for tracking stuff.) I updated my current weight, set my weight goal, and did all the stuff to be ready to start the weight loss effort.

    One of the things Fitbit asks is for you to tell it how much water you’ve drank each day. Even though it’s 9:30 pm, just seeing that made me grab my water bottle and guzzle as much as I could.

    Subconsciously, I’m already wanting to eat and drink healthier because my activity is being tracked. I’ll get hungry late tonight like I always do, but I’m telling myself I won’t eat anything. Because if I do, I have to tell Fitbit and Lose It.

    Accountability is a strong motivator. And highly underrated.

    Miscellany

    Doctor’s Orders

    October 27, 2011

    Went to the doctor this morning for a checkup. I’m at that age, you know? The age when guys need to have a doctor and need to get all of our parts checked regularly because things start to break about now.

    Well, I’m generally in excellent shape … BUT … turns out that my cholesterol is a bit high, likely due to genetics. As you can see below, one of the new doctor’s recommendations is 1-2 glasses of alcohol per day. Hehehehehe.

    doctors-orders

    And I have to say … considering that I tend to have about five alcoholic drinks per year and usually only drink rum and Coke, this will not be an easy directive to follow.

    Miscellany

    Is there a One-Hour Flu?

    March 1, 2011

    I’ve heard of the 24-hour flu, where you get sick and better again within a day. But is there such a thing as the one-hour flu? Because I swear I had it last night.

    Craziest thing: Out of the blue at about 11:00 pm it hit me like a brick wall — aches all over my body, nasty headache, chills, and extreme fatigue. That’s all the stuff that the flu normally brings me. I was this close to calling it a night and going to sleep, but still had some stuff to finish. So I plugged along. I think I took some vitamin C. And about an hour later, I felt fine.

    Bizarre. Whatever it was, I’m glad it went away that quickly.

    Miscellany

    You are Your Attitude

    August 21, 2010

    Hate to get all Tony Robbins here, but I put this on Twitter and Facebook earlier today and also want to mention it here and bookmark it via a blog post because I really believe this to be true.

    Research shows what you say about others says a lot about you

    In a nutshell, how you think about others and talk about others says as much about you as it says about them.

    They discovered particularly strong associations between positively judging others and how enthusiastic, happy, kind-hearted, courteous, emotionally stable and capable the person describes oneself and is described by others.

    “Seeing others positively reveals our own positive traits,” Wood says.

    The study also found that how positively you see other people shows how satisfied you are with your own life, and how much you are liked by others.

    In contrast, negative perceptions of others are linked to higher levels of narcissism and antisocial behavior.

    The mouth speaks from the overflow of the heart. If you’re attacking, criticizing, and saying hateful things about others … think about where it’s coming from.