Life is Healthy

The department of health adjusted the scheduling of some medication containing ephedrine, pseudo ephedrine and d-nor-pseudo ephedrine. Over-the-counter appetite suppressants with d-nor-pseudo ephedrine used to be schedule 2 medication, but since last month they have been changed to schedule 6 medication.



"It's about the safety of the public," Mandisa Hela from the South African Medicine Control Council (MCC) told Die Burger.

Criminals use ephedrine products to make the drug Tik, and teenagers abuse appetite suppressants by using them as stimulants when they go to parties or to stay awake when studying into the early hours of the morning. Pseudo ephedrine products were rescheduled overseas years ago.

Source: Health 24

If you haven't seen the "Oprah" show I was on in November, it will re-air this Monday, June 2. The show is truly inspirational and I often wondered why I was chosen to be on when there were so many awesome people on the show who lost a LOT more weight than me, all through diet and exercise. Their stories are incredible. I hope you'll give it a look. (To read about my Oprah experience, click here.)

On to the workout clothes section of this entry.

My hands-down favorite workout clothes company is Under Armour. Their stuff is expensive and so I only own three items - yoga pants, tank top and t-shirt - but I wear the hell out of them. When I sweat in ordinary cotton, I get really cold when I'm done working out because the clothes stay wet for so long. I don't know how, but UA dries faster and keeps me warmer.

This morning I decided to work out in shorts since I'll be working out at home. I'd never wear shorts to a gym for the big reason I'm sure you can guess: jiggly inner thigh skin. It's not real attractive and yes, I'm vain that way. A lesser reason for not wearing shorts to the gym is that my legs look like...well...scrawny chicken legs. I'm laughing as I tell you this, so don't think I'm being too harsh on myself. They're long and don't really match my short torso, and with knees like mine (you've all seen the photo, right?), my legs really aren't my most attractive asset unless they're covered with tights or tight jeans and boots. (I swear that's why I got picked for the Oprah show.)

Bras. Oy. I've tried workout bras, but they squish what little boobies I have so flat that they're uncomfortable. I hate feeling bound in. Besides, very few bras in my size (34A or 34B) account for loose skin under the arms. I wish they made bras with wider bands. Why do bra designers assume everyone with a 34-inch chest can be held together with string? Drives me nuts.

Anyway, so I work out in underwire bras, some padded, some not - again, it depends on if I'm going to the gym. I don't like to be all "headlights" at the gym, you know? The underwires are a bit uncomfortable, but not as bad as the exercise bras.

Shoes. I just bought a new pair of Asics. They are wider at the top and fit me snugly in the back, not an easy find in a shoe. There's very little leather or binding straps on these shoes, which is good. My feet have never been happier. I should go back to that store and get four more pairs. You know I'll never be able to find this exact type of shoe again.

So what do you all wear when you workout? Any favorites you want to pass along? Any bra advice? As always, post a comment or send me an email! Thanks for reading!
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Announcing the launch of my new website: “Refuse to Regain: Providing a supportive and educational online community dedicated to helping you maintain your weight loss”. I’ve been working on this along with my website partner, Dr. Barbara Berkeley, for a few months now. The blog is in its infancy and will evolve over time, and one day become a “real” website and not just a blog. Check it out and give us your feedback. Join the discussion board! Ask questions! We’d love to hear from you.

Escape from Amsterdam, by Barrie Sherwood was a quick, fun and compelling read. And, for a first time novelist, the guy can write.

Any writer who can throw in a reference to reading War and Peace, at the end of a violent scuffle (in this case, to illustrate the length of time spent waiting for the elevator to escape said scuffle) has earned my admiration and caught my interest.

The novel is the story of Aozora, a cynical, bitter university student who is not much engaged with the world around him. He is also deep in debt to a local gangster, after losing too often at the Mah-Jong tables. An inheritance from an aunt may save his neck but to collect the money, he must find his sister, Mai (who has inherited along with him).

Aozora’s search for his sister leads him to the South of Japan, through the red light district and underworld to a gigantic theme park called Amsterdam. Along the way we meet a cast of characters reminiscent of the best of Carl Hiaasen (if Hiaasen’s novels were set in Southern Japan). The action moves quickly and even the most violent scenes are touched with ironic humour.

I didn’t much care for Aozora as a person, but I don’t typically have a ton of patience for the studied cynicism of middle class disaffected youth (although I did warm to him towards the end of the book, as he goes some distance to redeem himself). But I did appreciate his ability to laugh at himself (even after being thrown off a bridge by a pair of thugs or being chased at gunpoint by a gangster who just found him in bed with his girl). However, I appreciated the book’s cast of characters as a whole, most of whom are deeply flawed yet seem to have at least one redeeming characteristic.

The book’s setting is a character in and of itself – modern, tourist-driven, westernized Japan at odds (and yearning) for more traditional times. The author’s descriptive passages were perhaps what I loved most about the book, not overdone but highly evocative.

I also loved his descriptions of people. An old woman is said to have “the face of a dried prune” while a mobster is “a cross between Kim Jong-Il and Liberace.”

I can’t help but wonder, though what a Japanese reader would make of the book. While Aozora is Japanese, Sherwood is not and I don’t know enough about Japan or its culture to judge the authenticity of his voice.

The book is sprinkled with black and white illustrations. I am not sure that they added anything to the narrative and I actually, for the most part, just found them to be unnecessary distractions from the text.

On the whole, I really enjoyed Escape from Amsterdam and I found myself thinking about it when I had to tear myself away. look forward to another novel from Barrie Sherwood.

*This is a review of a book that was sent to me via Library Thing's Early Reviewer Program.

We hope you find the time to read the book and review it on LibraryThing. You are free--indeed encouraged--to put your review on your blog, or wherever else you want, and to talk about it in the Early Reviewers group. I want to repeat that, although writing a review will help your chances of getting more books, the actual content of your review will not.

Is Water Becoming The New Oil?

Public fountains are dry in Barcelona, Spain, a city so parched there’s a €9,000 ($13,000) fine if you’re caught watering your flowers. A tanker ship docked there this month carrying 5 million gallons of precious fresh water – and officials are scrambling to line up more such shipments to slake public thirst.

Barcelona is not alone. Cyprus will ferry water from Greece this summer. Australian cities are buying water from that nation’s farmers and building desalination plants. Thirsty China plans to divert Himalayan water. And 18 million southern Californians are bracing for their first water-rationing in years.

Water, Dow Chemical Chairman Andrew Liveris told the World Economic Forum in February, “is the oil of this century.” Developed nations have taken cheap, abundant fresh water largely for granted. Now global population growth, pollution, and climate change are shaping a new view of water as “blue gold.”

Water’s hot-commodity status has snared the attention of big equipment suppliers like General Electric as well as big private water companies that buy or manage municipal supplies – notably France-based Suez and Aqua America, the largest US-based private water company.

Global water markets, including drinking water distribution, management, waste treatment, and agriculture are a nearly $500 billion market and growing fast, says a 2007 global investment report.

But governments pushing to privatize costly to maintain public water systems are colliding with a global “water is a human right” movement. Because water is essential for human life, its distribution is best left to more publicly accountable government authorities to distribute at prices the poorest can afford, those water warriors say.

“We’re at a transition point where fundamental decisions need to be made by societies about how this basic human need – water – is going to be provided,” says Christopher Kilian, clean-water program director for the Boston-based Conservation Law Foundation. “The profit motive and basic human need [for water] are just inherently in conflict.”

Will “peak water” displace “peak oil” as the central resource question? Some see such a scenario rising.

end of excerpt.

My comments;

This is a scenario that some including myself have been warning about for the last twenty years. The prognsosis that increasing population and lack of proper maintenance of infrastructure along with destructive corporate policies that pollute and waste this precious resource will culminate to bring us to a point where there will not be enough potable water to sustain this world's population.

And as with the warnings given by many including Al Gore regarding the climate crisis for the last thirty years, we are just now coming to a consciousness that this is indeed a global emergency that needs our attention and action. Why does it take so long for us to come to these ephiphanies? Is it politics? Or is it the desire of the human species to simply resign itself to not taking responsibility for its own actions?

The water justice movement in this world is now just starting to make headway with bringing people to that consciousness regarding water and the impending repercussions we will most certainly face upon not giving this crisis the attention and action it deserves on a global scale. Drought (caused by waste but now also caused predominantly by climate change and the burning of fossil fuels at a rapacious pace unprecedented) is a silent killer that is creeping across this planet very stealthily in search of more land to suck dry, which is now putting the lives of millions in the Horn of Africa and in other parts of this world including the United States at risk. And in that process, where will that leave the poorest in our world? At the mercy of corporate conglomerates that will charge them unsurious rates to have a substance they cannot live without? How can anyone claim this is even moral let alone legal?

Water is a human right. It sustains our lives. Without it we would die. To have corporations and governments telling us whether or not we can have that resource and what we must pay to have it is beyond the boundaries of morality and human dignity. Yet, this is happening now with this issue which is so important to the very sustenance of human beings given little to no weight in political platforms, the media, or in every day discussion.

Have we truly become so distracted with the frivolous and mundane that the very issues that decide our ability to survive have become frivolous and mundane to us? When a child dies from a waterborne disease brought on by a lack of sewerage facilities, is that not a reflection on the moral character of the human species? When a young woman has to go without an education because she needs to walk 9 hours a day to fetch water that is polluted thus putting herself in mortal danger of rape, robbery and even death, is that not a reflection on the moral character of the human species? When we see the steady decline of Democracy because multi-national companies with money and back door political associations buy policy and get away with it because of our apathy, is that not a reflection of the moral character of the human species?

If governments and multi-nationals have their way, water will become a commodity to trade like oil and pork bellies. It will be reduced to something that only the rich can afford and many will die because of it. It is not only imperative that the water justice movement then continue to be vocal about this gross injustice to the poorest in our world, but also imperative that we, every citizen in America and elsewhere who treasures this most precious resource speak out for water being declared a human right to make it known to those who seek to use it for their own profit that it will not be tolerated any longer. We are at a crossorads as a species. The future of water is our future.

So my week ends well. "Crush" sighting this morning—although a piece of exercise equipment obstructed my view, it was still nice. OMG. He looks good.

...I'm tired and I want to go to bed, having done three weeks consecutively I think I deserve it.

Yet another great program (programme??) under my belt. Everyone got to do something and they all seemed to enjoy it, which was nice!
A slightly smaller group this week, which in itself presents new challenges, but no problems I'm glad to report.

Aye, very good week, very good indeed! Some really talented people showed off their own skills, whether it was in activities, karaoke, in 1 to 1's or simply on the dance floor, it was good to see.
The entertainment hour was simply brimming with acts, performances, jokes and readings.

The weather has been kind although the threat of rain was always looming.

Only one small piece of new material this week - its getting harder to keep producing new stuff for every program, but I still have a few tricks up my sleeve (as all good magicians do).
Well time to move on, like ships passing in the night!

Vaughan Town - Gredos - Program 82

Women who are obese are at a significantly increased risk of developing Barrett's oesophagus, researchers reported here at Digestive Diseases Week 2008 (DDW).
Dr. Jacobson and colleague Charles S. Fuchs, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, analysed data on 18,428 women participating in the Nurses' Health Study, a large prospective cohort study ongoing since 1976.

All the women had undergone oesophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD); at the same time, they were each asked if they had been diagnosed with Barrett's oesophagus and about the presence and frequency of heartburn/acid-reflux symptoms.

The investigators obtained and reviewed endoscopy and pathology records from the women reporting Barrett's oesophagus, and they used data from oesophageal biopsy to identify cases with specialised intestinal metaplasia (SIM).

The researchers excluded women reporting Barrett's oesophagus who did not have documented SIM and women with a history of cancer before 1980.

The researchers categorised the women by their BMI in 1980 (<25,>30 kg/m2), and they used standard statistical models to calculate the odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for the risk of Barrett's oesophagus. They adjusted their calculations for age and potential confounding variables as reported in 1980, including physical activity, smoking, menopause status, postmenopausal hormone use, diabetes, and intake of calories, alcohol, coffee, tea, soda, and chocolate.

The investigators reported that, among 18,428 women who underwent EGD, 763 reported having Barrett's oesophagus, and 255 were confirmed to have SIM diagnosed after 1980.

They found that the mean Barrett's oesophagus segment length was 1.7 cm.

Compared with women with a BMI <25,>30 had an OR of 1.62 (95% CI, 1.08-2.42).

Notably, a history of frequent reflux symptoms was significantly associated with Barrett's oesophagus (multivariate OR = 2.79; 95% CI, 1.96-3.97).

When the investigators added symptoms of gastro-oesophageal reflux to the multivariate model, the relation between BMI and Barrett's oesophagus was markedly reduced (OR = 1.22; 95% CI, 0.72-2.08 for women with BMI >30).

The researchers found that height, waist-to-hip ratio, and waist circumference were not significantly associated with Barrett's oesophagus.

The authors concluded, "Obesity (BMI >30 kg/m2) is associated with a significant increase in the risk of Barrett's oesophagus. This risk appears to be mediated through gastro-oesophageal reflux."

Source: Digestive Diseases Week

Last weekend, I went on a 3-day backpacking trip with some friends. We endured rain, snow, difficult river crossings and a vicious mouse attack, but managed to have a good time nevertheless. Here are a few pictures:

If my life had a mission statement, this would be it.

Image and sentiment, courtesy of Sara, as this week's contribution to Love Thursday.

Today's aerobics class was a lot of fun. It was a mix of zumba and step. I really enjoyed it, and it was a nice break from the hardcore "training-for-the-Olympics" stuff we have been doing. The regular instructor must have the week off. She gets a break and so do we. Ahhhh.

I am a label reader. Whenever I'm thinking about buying food in a box, which is rare, I typically read the whole label to look for sinister ingredients. So when I got a booster vaccine for tetanus last week, naturally I asked for the product information.

Along with a nice dose of tetanus and diphtheria toxoids, my medial deltoid received 0.28 mg of aluminum, up to 0.3 micrograms of mercury, and up to 100 micrograms of "residual formaldehyde". I got the vaccine because I like being able to chew, but I wasn't able to lift my arm for several days. I don't know if that was due to an immune response to the tetanus and diphtheria (probably) or if it was caused by the aluminum, mercury and formaldehyde they injected into my arm.

We work with formaldehyde in my lab, and I can tell you it is not to be messed with. I had to take an entire training course just to use it, during which I learned that if there's enough of it to smell, it's toxic. 0.1 parts per million in the air is enough to cause a burning sensation in the mucous membranes. We always use it in the fume hood. Formaldehyde is a toxin, a carcinogen, and a teratogen (causes birth defects). So I'm sure you'll understand why I wasn't too happy about having 100 ug of it injected into my body.

I'm not criticizing the concept of vaccines, I just wish they'd make more of an effort to clean them up!

Well, over the past two weeks I have gained four pounds. WTF. So the soy and resveratrol are a joke. I have been counting calories everyday. I should have lost weight. However, I did injure my knee and it is swollen, but I don't think it's four-pounds-worth-of-fluid swollen. That would be a heck of a knee. My legs do feel swollen. And I have been taking prednisone for allergies. So the weight gain is most likely due to the steroids. I did some reading and they not only cause fat gain, they cause fluid retention. Damn. I'm going to stop them and see what happens.

I took a sleeping pill before I went to bed last night. It was the one with the reputation for "sleep eating" problems. I got up in the middle of the night and ate the pineapple I had in the frig. No, it wasn't a whole pineapple. It was cut up. And at least it was something that was good for me. I don't know why I took the whole pill. I usually break them in half. At least I didn't go out and drive somewhere. One time after Al died, I actually drove to McDonald's while under the influence of this sleeping pill. So why do I still take them? I have an additive personality.

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about a question a reader asked a few weeks ago: “What can I do to get out of the mindset of wanting to see immediate results?” I totally relate to that feeling and still find myself wandering into that mindset with other of my life journeys or decisions. Thinking about my answer has renewed my conviction that slower is better. Here’s why.

When I first started losing weight, especially the first 50 pounds, I was highly motivated. Almost too motivated. There were some days I felt so desperate to get the fat off that I’d chastise myself for the following: 1) putting on the pounds in the first place; 2) waiting so long to start doing something about it; and 3) not getting it off faster. I’d get this really anxious feeling throughout my body, like I couldn’t get the fat off fast enough, like a centipede was crawling up my leg. “Get it off me!” I screamed in my head.

I spent way too much time being angry and judgmental, too. I’m sure this will sound familiar: You get on the scale and see you’ve lost a pound or two, so you’re a “good” person. You get on the scale and you’ve stayed the same, lost “only” point something or, God forbid, gained, so now you’re a “bad” person. I still struggle with this. I’m “good” if I eat or exercise perfectly and I’m “bad” if I don’t. I’m always reminding myself that I’m on a lifelong journey of eating well and exercising, not just a day trip.

I’m not a bad person if I don’t feel like going to the gym. Rather than have that emotional knock down drag out and calling myself names, I’m learning to ask myself, “Why don’t I want to go to the gym?” The answer that emerges is never “Because I’m a bad person.” The answer is always something tangible like I don’t feel well or something is on my mind that is distracting me. Those are issues I can deal with. Calling myself a name does nothing more than make me feel worse than I already do. This also works when you see a number you don’t like on the scale. Instead of judging, ask yourself, “OK, what are some of the reasons this is the number I’m seeing?” Work with yourself instead of against yourself.

When Claire grabs something she shouldn’t put in her mouth, like one of the dog’s rawhides, I take it away and immediately give her something she can put in her mouth. She’s usually quite happy with the exchange if she notices at all. When she crawls toward electrical cords, I tell her “No” and move her to another part of the room that is safe. This often times makes her mad and she’ll turn around and head back in the direction of the cords. We go a couple rounds before I get her satisfactorily distracted with a toy.

That’s kind of how I view “getting ‘out’ of a mindset”. We have to replace destructive thoughts with tolerant ones. It takes a conscious effort to change our self talk from negative to positive, but being fully aware of what we are saying and how it affects our behavior will turn our weight-loss journey into more than just a “Get it off me!” race to some goal we think will make us happy. By being happy in the process of losing weight, by being accepting of our bodies and what they do for us, by appreciating that we’re taking good care of ourselves by eating well and exercising, and forgiving ourselves those times when we don’t, we’re learning to love ourselves as we are in the moment.

There’s a reason, other than the baby’s physical growth, why pregnancy is nine months long. It gives parents time to prepare for the huge lifestyle change that occurs when a baby joins the family. It’s like that with weight loss, too. Every milestone, sometimes every five pounds, comes with a change to our bodies, and we need time to adjust to and appreciate that change. I didn’t start appreciating those changes until I settled my mind down a bit after losing 50 pounds. I bought some new clothes because I was still wearing the old ones, and seeing my body in well-fitted clothes helped me enjoy the body that was emerging.

This journey takes a lot of deep breaths, a lot of patience, and a lot of attitude adjustments. By being your own best friend, by standing beside yourself instead of always running away from who you are in the moment or standing over yourself like some mean coach, chastising your mistakes, you can appreciate who you are and see more clearly who you want to become.

Results of a phase 3 study on the experimental anti-obesity drug taranabant demonstrated significant weight loss with relatively few treatment discontinuations, according to a presentation here at the 16th European Congress on Obesity (ECO). Taranabant, however, carries an appreciable risk of adverse psychiatric and gastrointestinal side effects depending on dosage.

The randomised study of 2,502 obese patients, presented on May 16, took place over 52weeks, noted Joseph Proietto, MD, Sir Edward Dunlop Chair of Medicine, University of Melbourne, Heidelberg, Victoria, Australia.

Part of the cohort received placebo, he explained, while the others received taranabant in doses of 2, 4, or 6 mg.

Early in the trial, Dr. Proietto and colleagues re-randomised the subjects, taking those who had received 6 mg of taranabant to 2 mg or placebo after it was observed that the patients had a higher incidence of adverse psychiatric and gastrointestinal effects without obtaining significantly greater benefit.

The patients in the placebo arm achieved an average weight loss of 2.6 kg. The patients in the 2-mg arm achieved an average weight loss of 6.6 kg. The patients in the 4-mg arm achieved an average weight loss of 8.1 kg.

Approximately 57% of the patients in the 2-mg group achieved a minimum weight loss of 5%, compared with approximately 27% of patients in the placebo group.

There were other positive effects as well. Waist circumferences, for example, shrank an average of 3.1% in the patients receiving placebo, 7% in those receiving 2-mg taranabant and 7.5% in those receiving 4 mg. High-density lipoproteins (commonly known as "good cholesterol") increased, too -- by an average of 7% in the patients receiving placebo, 13.2% in those receiving 2-mg taranabant, and 14.1% in those receiving 4 mg.

At the same time, high proportions of patients suffered adverse effects. In patients who received placebo, 28.5% had gastrointestinal problems, compared with 41.8% in patients who received 2-mg taranabant, and 46.7% in patients who received 4 mg. The gastrointestinal problems included nausea and diarrhoea.

Similarly, 20.4% of patients who received placebo encountered psychiatric problems, compared with 28.3% who received 2-mg taranabant and 40.2% who received 4 mg. The psychiatric problems included depression, anxiety, and irritability.

Nevertheless, there were relatively few discontinuations of the treatment due to the adverse gastrointestinal and psychiatric effects. Discontinuations due to adverse gastrointestinal effects were 0.7 % in the placebo arm, 1.7% in the 2-mg arm, and 2.7% in the 4-mg arm. Discontinuations due to adverse psychiatric effects were 4.6% in the placebo arm, 8.9% in the 2-mg arm, and 12.5% in the 4-mg arm.

"In combination with diet and exercise, treatment with 2 mg of taranabant was generally well tolerated and led to meaningful weight loss and improvements in obese and overweight patients," Dr. Proietto concluded.

Taranabant is known as a cannabinoid-1 receptor (CB1R) blocker.

Source: Doctor's Guide

The B-Life will be back on June 9th. Until then...

One of the surprising things I noticed when I was poring over data from the NHANES survey (US CDC National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey) from 1975 to 2006 is that the number of inactive people has diminished in that same time period from 50% to 24%. This is shocking to most people. We have this romanticized idea that in the 1970s people were more active, as if everyone chopped wood and walked 15 miles to work in the morning. The reality is, there were office jobs, housewives and cars without the large numbers of runners and gym-goers we have today.

Granted, NHANES data are self-reported and should be taken with a grain of salt. However, Chris at Conditioning Research pointed me to a study looking at changes in energy expenditure from the 1980s to the present in North America and Europe. It doesn't suffer from the same biases because it's based on direct measurement rather than self-reporting. Here's the executive summary: we're expending slightly more energy than we used to, partly because we exercise more and partly because it takes more energy to move our heavier bodies around.

I'm certainly not blaming the obesity problem on an increase in physical activity, but I do think we can safely rule out inactivity as the reason we've gotten fatter. In my mind, this only leaves one major possible cause for the obesity epidemic: changes in diet. Don't get me wrong, I think exercise is good. It has numerous positive effects on physical and mental health. But it's not as powerful of a tool for fat loss and general health as diet.

Anecdotally, I do know several people who lose fat when they exercise regularly. I also know some who don't lose fat when they exercise. Exercise and a healthy diet converge on some of the same metabolic pathways, such as sensitivity to insulin. But diet changes are far more effective than exercise at correcting metabolic problems. The reason is simple: the problems a person corrects with a good diet are caused by a poor diet to begin with.

Hopefully, I will be doing this at the 2009 BlogHer conference.

How cool is that?

And how cool is it to be planning for a year from now?

Chemo today. I will try and keep this happy thought in mind over the next couple of days.

It is so humid here it makes exercise difficult. Although I was trying as hard as I could, exercise this morning left me feeling a little worn.

This is possibly my favourite piece of graffiti ever. It contains neither the territorial pissing of "Kilroy Was 'Ere" and its ilk, nor the angry sloganeering of "George Davis Is Innocent" (note to self - update graffiti references). No, this urban scribe has taken it upon themselves to correct a postcode from NW10 (Willesden) to NW2 (Cricklewood). How genteel is that? It is like the geo-locational wing of that organisation that goes around Tippexing out rogue apostrophes.

Except this road is definitely in NW10. The border is admittedly only a couple of streets away, and does veer wildly around as though the Royal Mail person drawing it were either drunk or looking to perform Anschluss with Kilburn. Given the quality of the postal service around here either is possible. But this road isn't even a Kaliningrad-esque exclave of NW2 with its own Passport to Pimlico-style customs posts on the North Circular - it's NW10 both sides from one end to the other.

Postcodes are clearly important to some people though. With insurance premiums often based on them there are many campaigns to have one's address associated with a less risky neighbourhood, or just a posher one in the case of Windsor residents who don't wish to be stamped with the SL of Slough. Why anyone would pick NW2 over NW10 is harder to answer though, with neither area likely to rank highly on any hot property guide. Perhaps the writer suffered from dyscalculia and meant to write NW3 (Hampstead), thus instantly transforming the road into an oasis of bohemian chic amongst the suburban semis and light industrial estates.

But for true upward mobility they would need to get their Tippex out:



(For anyone not au fait with London postcodes, W1 covers the priciest Monopoly squares of Mayfair and Park Lane.)

With each one lasting an average of five weeks. That adds up to 104 diets between the ages of 18 and 70, in total lasting the equivalent of ten years. One in ten women goes even further, spending 25 years or more dieting. The poll of 4,000 women by LIPObind, a firm which makes natural weight-loss supplements, found a third started their first diet at the age of 16 or under.
Thirty-nine per cent said they tried to lose weight because they were embarrassed about their looks.

However, 32 per cent were concerned they will be responsible for making their own children fat or obese.
With each diet seeing an average of 6.3lbs dropping off, that means women could lose almost a stone every year.

However, a quarter of all women lose nothing at all, and the fact that the average woman embarks on at least two diets every year suggests any weight they do lose does not stay off.

Dr Glenn Wilson, of the Institute of Psychiatry at King’s College, London, said: ‘This highlights just how much women think about their weight and the pressure associated with keeping in shape.’
"Women's weight is bound to fluctuate due to life changing events such as having a baby, emotional factors associated with relationships and changes in their working environment. "These changes and yo-yo dieting seems often to go hand in hand.

"Feeling healthy and in shape can make such a difference to overall well-being yet many people struggle to reach and sustain their ideal figure with a shocking 25 per cent who would even be willing to go under the knife to get rid of their extra pounds."

The survey also showed that more than 41 per cent of women admitted they feel like they are constantly on a diet or watching what they eat, 44 per cent say that no matter what they do, they never seem to lose weight, and 59 per cent don't think they will ever achieve the shape they want.

According to the research, the average woman aspires to be a size 10, however a quarter believe being a size eight or under as ideal. Thirty nine per cent of people have been so embarrassed by their looks, they have lied about their dress size or weight.

And 77 per cent of people would support a ban on airbrushing pictures of celebrities and models in a bid to take the pressure of normal women. Another 39 per cent even get shy when they come to stripping off in front of their partner.

However, it's not just our own weight we are worrying about. A total of 32 per cent of women are concerned that they will be responsible for making their own children fat or even obese.

Source: DailyMail

The last few days before chemo are always very, very busy.

All day today, I kept thinking of really great blog ideas.

But now I'm too tired.

And my head is full of snot (thank you to D. for that).

So after sitting and staring at the computer for an hour, I am off to bed.

I'll try to come up with something better when I next post on Wednesday.

Chemo tomorrow am.

Good night.

I had to write this down. Last night, I dreamed I was pregnant. At first I didn't know I was pregnant. It was only after I took a pregnancy test that I discovered it. I'm not sure why I was taking the test, only that I did it. When I turned the indicator over, there it was in bright red letters--PREGNANT. My first thought was, "How can this be? Al has been dead for more than two-and a-half years. Yet he is clearly the father. In fact he was the only one who could be the father." I wondered why I would get pregnant now. I never could get pregnant before. But now that Al was gone, I get pregnant. Could this pregnancy have been lying dormant for more than two years? No that was ridiculous. Then I remembered having some kind of surgery, and I thought about some hormones that I had been taking. All of this must've cleared the way for a prgenancy to be possible.

After a little more thought I remember that I had artificially inseminated myself. (Weird I know, but that's dreaming for you. And I even had a memory of how I had done it, but I will not go into detail. And don't ask because I won't tell you. It was just too weird.)

Once I knew for sure that I was, in fact, pregnant, I immediately got scared. How could I possibly do this on my own? But here was my belly getting bigger. And that explained why I was having such a difficult time losing weight. This baby was growing inside me. And I was already three months along. I remember thinking that baby must've already taken a form and its sex would be known.

Now for reason, I went back in time to when I was in high school. I was wondering the halls of my school trying to find my class. But I was lost. I thought that the teacher would surely excuse my tardiness since I was, after all, pregnant.

Now I began to accept my pregnancy. And I was excited because it was Al's baby. I thought that his DNA would carry on after all. He would be a part of its life. I remembering rubbing my tight belly and feeling the baby move inside me. I was already showing a little bit, too. I got on a bus and sat in the front seat. I guess I was going home. I remember writing about being pregnant in my blog. I wondered what people would think.

So what do you think?

The Pulitzer Center is holding the Pulitzer Center Global Issues/Citizen Voices contest on Helium.com, an online writing website. The contest is calling for independent voices to answer questions based on our international reporting. Our latest contest has a question that might interest you and your readership. The question is: How is the struggle for water, such as in Ethiopia and Kenya, shaping conflicts in this century? The deadline to enter is May 30. To enter, visitors can just click on a question above and submit an essay to Helium. Essays will be judged by other Helium users and staff here at the Pulitzer Center.
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If interested, please visit their site at the link in the sidebar here.

I’m digesting the bugs I inadvertently feasted on during my 15-mile bike ride through Cook Forest today. They were everywhere, slamming me from all sides, but that’s wasn’t a problem. It’s warm, I was on my bike, and all was right with the world. So what that I found a bite on my thigh when I was in the bathtub earlier this evening? No matter. It was a fabulous ride. I only had to stop twice to sit on a hard rounded surface to rub my right butt cheek muscle because I was tightening up, a sciatic problem I developed this year. Go figure. I rode 15 miles in 70 minutes – just a shade off 13 mph; a nice pace, nothing that makes my thighs yodel.

People were on the river canoeing, fishing, swimming, and sunning themselves on the rocks along the shore. I love to watch people lay out their picnic table food, play volleyball and bocce ball, sit around in the sun while kids climb the jungle gym and play in the sand. It’s energizing being out in the buzz of life around a river. Never mind that Memorial Day weekend is the “official” start of summer. In my book it’s finally spring.

I grow mostly perennials in my gardens, but I love sunflowers, basil, violas, petunias, dahlias, pansies and dwarf grasses that only live one season, so they get bought and planted in one big weekend gardening bonanza. That weekend is usually two weekends ago, but it’s been so cold and we’ve had two frosts so this was my first opportunity.

Rather than feel behind, I’m just sucking up the time and enjoying my deck and porch starting now.

It’s kind of like having a bad day or week or month of food or exercise choices. You can’t do anything about the time that’s gone. You start from now and go forward. Every moment, every breath, every decision.

It’s spring! Are you making the most of it? Planting your garden? Riding your bike? Soaking in the energy around you?

You might ingest some bugs along the way., maybe pick up a bite or two, but damn….isn’t it worth it?

The experimental anti-obesity drug tesofensine not only helps patients with obesity to lose weight, but also helps them to lose the right kind of weight and in the right places, researchers reported here at the 16th European Congress on Obesity (ECO). Danish researchers studied the effects of tesofensine on body composition, including body weight, fat mass, waist circumference, and sagittal diameter (a measure of the upper abdomen).

The team was led by Anders Sjodin, MD, Associate Professor, Department of Human Nutrition, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.

The study, presented on May 16, was a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, phase 2b trial of 203 otherwise healthy men and women with obesity (defined as body mass index between 30 and 40).

After a diet and exercise lead-in period of 2 weeks, the patients were put on 24 weeks of tesofensine in once-daily doses of 0.25 mg, 0.5 mg, 1.0 mg, or corresponding placebo.

Body weight loss was 2.3 kg for the placebo group, 6.8 kg for the 0.25-mg group, 11.4 kg for the 0.50-mg group, and 12.7 kg for the 1.0-mg group.

Sagittal diameter decreased 0.6 cm in the placebo group, 2.1 cm in the 0.25-mg group, 3.3 cm in the 0.5-mg group, and 3.5 cm in the 1.0-mg group.

Waist circumference decreased 3.0 cm in the placebo group, 6.4 cm in the 0.25-mg group, 9.8 cm in the 0.5-mg group, and 9.8 cm in the 1.0-mg group.

Of particular importance to the research were the measurements for reduction in fat mass. Fat mass decreased 2.8 kg in the placebo group, 5.7 kg in the 0.25-mg group, 9.2 kg in the 0.5-mg group, and 10.1 kg in the 1.0-mg group. The reductions accounted for 108% of total weight loss in the placebo group, 85% in the 0.25-mg group, 81% in the 0.5-mg group, and 79% in the 1.0-mg group.

"Eighty percent [of the weight reduction] could be accounted for by a reduction in fat mass," said Dr. Sjodin.

"The concomitant decrease seen in sagittal diameter and waist circumference, therefore indicates that tenofensine is highly effective in reducing central obesity," Dr. Sjodin concluded.

Dr. Sjodin and his collaborators also claimed that tesofensine was shown to result in weight reductions that are twice that produced by currently available anti-obesity drugs.

Tesofensine acts by inhibiting the presynaptic uptake of the neurotransmitters noradrenaline, dopamine, and serotonin.

Source: Docguide.com

Spain's Drought: A Glimpse At Our Future?

Barcelona is a dry city. It is dry in a way that two days of showers can do nothing to alleviate. The Catalan capital's weather can change from one day to the next, but its climate, like that of the whole Mediterranean region, is inexorably warming up and drying out. And in the process this most modern of cities is living through a crisis that offers a disturbing glimpse of metropolitan futures everywhere.

Its fountains and beach showers are dry, its ornamental lakes and private swimming pools drained and hosepipes banned. Children are now being taught how to save water as part of their school day. This iconic, avant-garde city is in the grip of the worst drought since records began and is bringing the climate crisis that has blighted cities in Australia and throughout the Third World to Europe. A resource that most Europeans have grown up taking for granted now dominates conversation. Nearly half of Catalans say water is the region's main problem, more worrying than terrorism, economic slowdown or even the populists' favourite – immigration.

The political battles now breaking out here could be a foretaste of the water wars that scientists and policymakers have warned us will be commonplace in the coming decades. The emergency water-saving measures Barcelona adopted after winter rains failed for a second year running have not been enough. The city has had to set up a "water bridge" and is shipping in water for the first time in the history of this great maritime city.

A tanker from Marseilles with 36 million litres of drinking water unloaded its first cargo this week, one of a mini-fleet contracted to bring water from the Rhone every few days for at least the next three months. So humbled was Barcelona when prolonged drought forced it to ship in domestic water from Tarragona, 50 miles south along the Catalan coast, 12 days ago, that city hall almost delayed shipment and considered an upbeat publicity campaign to lift morale and international prestige.

The whole country is suffering from its worst drought in 40 years and the shipments from Tarragona prompted an outcry from regions who insist they need it more. For now the clashes are being soothed by intervention from Madrid, and plans to ship water from desalination plants in parched Almeria in Andalusia are shelved until October. But there is little indication of a strategy to deal not just with an immediate emergency but an ongoing crisis. Buying water on an epic scale from France has given the controversy an international aspect as French environmentalists question whether such a scarce natural resource should be sold as a commodity to another country.
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As I continue to read daily about this global crisis, it is obvious the pattern that has emerged throughout the world is the one that has been coming and warned about for years. Countries whether rich or poor are experiencing severe repercussions environmentally, and these effects are most pronounced regarding drought and water scarcity.

And once again we are seeing the truth about human nature which knows no nationality, race, creed, or political persuasion: We don't understand the urgency of the situation we are creating by our behavior until it begins to affect our lives. Are we then truly incapable as human beings of conserving freshwater? Of doing the right thing for our future? Of caring for those who live a world away? Has our society worldwide become so consumptive, selfish, and greedy, that even in the face of repercussions that threaten our very lives we will not change?

We are wasting the very substance that sustains our lives as if it will always be there. It won't. And if we as a species are going to ever survive this challenge, we must wake up to the reality surrounding our behavior that is contributing to the global water crisis.

And it will require:

Education. Education. Education.

Moral strength.

Moral will.

Moral conviction.

Then after that:

Global cooperation with water scarcity and waste being one of the main issues covered in any new global climate treaty that also prohibits making water a commodity to be sold at the expense of the right of humans to access to it. To commoditize it will only exacerbate inequality in its distribution which will lead to war.

Finally considering population in the developing world as one of the chief factors in any water policy and looking to educate people about family planning.

Effective water management being mandatory and enforced with particular emphasis on water footprints of nations being used to determine water policy much like carbon caps.

Effective water catchement and conservation techniques being taught to people in countries experiencing the worst droughts.

Agricultural methods such as drip irrigation that allow for the least amount of water to be used to grow crops without waste, with an emphasis on less water intensive crops being planted in areas with more severe conditions so that at least those who farm will still have an income to rely on.

Standing up to corporations that continue to privatize water for a profit, especially in poor countries in Africa, South America, and Asia.

Mandatory clean up of rivers and other waterways required with penalties assessed for those who do not comply. *Corporations must be made accountable for their actions.* Willfully polluting a river or other freshwater resource to save money knowing that such resources sustain humans and other species should be seen as an act of negligence punishable by law.

***All of us coming together to mitigate the amount of greenhouse gases we spew into the atmosphere that are making the conditions that cause drought.***

Declaring access to potable water a human right that is not to be commoditized at the expense of the weak and the poor, with an emphasis on holding companies like Coca Cola, Nestle, and private companies like Thames Water, American Water, Suez, Vivendi and other companies to stringent standards regarding price and quality. There must also be the threat of penalty for gouging customers or using the climate crisis as a vehicle to raise prices beyond what is needed to maintain water infrastructure.

However, can we do this? Are we capable as a species of coming together to do what needs to be done to ensure our continued survival? Is greed truly an overriding quality of human nature that cannot be overcome for the good of us and this planet?

Only through education and action will we know the answer to those questions and they must be answered because time is running out while we continue to look the other way while taking our most precious resource for granted.

MUTO a wall-painted animation by BLU

I stumbled across this great work of art / graffiti very well done and must have taken ages!
enjoy ;)

In a study conducted at Stanford University, obese patients who took probiotics after undergoing gastric bypass surgery lost more weight than patients who had the surgery but did not take the supplements. These findings were presented Tuesday during Digestive Disease Week 2008 by Dr. John M. Morton, during a session on the management of patients with obesity.


"We have better treatments for crack cocaine addiction than we do for obesity," Dr. Morton asserted, "but there has been a real revolution with bariatric (obesity) surgery. It provides strikingly durable weight loss...As a result, blood pressures will normalize...We have seen diabetes cure rates of 82 percent, and this can occur within weeks of surgery."

According to the World Health Organization: "probiotics are live microorganisms which, when administered in adequate amounts, confer a health benefit." Most probiotics are bacteria similar to the type normally found the people's guts, the "good" bacteria, which helps maintain a balance in the digestive tract and may confer natural protection against disease. The most common probiotics taken as supplements are Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium.

The trial involved 44 patients who underwent gastric bypass surgery and were randomly assigned to receive either 2.4 billion lactobacilli daily or no probiotic therapy for the next 6 months. Quality of life, hydrogen (H2) breath tests, vitamin B12 levels and weight were measured before surgery and at 3 and 6 months afterward.

At six months, the probiotic group had lower H2 breath tests, lower fasting insulin, lipoprotein A and triglyceride levels, and higher HDL cholesterol levels compared with the placebo group, although the differences were not statistically significant.

There was, however, a significantly greater improvement in quality of life in patients taking probiotics compared with those taking placebo.

"What was surprising was that probiotic patients lost more weight after surgery," Morton told Reuters Health. The study group lost 70 percent of their excess weight after 6 months compared with a loss of 66 percent of excess weight in controls.

He added, "This suggests that the cause of the weight increase may be bacterial...and may help explain the observation that fat people have fat friends...Some of it may be environmental and related to social factors, but it may also be related to high bacteria levels in some way."

"We know that probiotics have to be live cultures and you have to (ingest) a minimum of two billion colonies a day," Morton said. "We don't know exactly which probiotic organisms are best and how much to recommended...The populations vary. They are different in the gut flora in different patient types."

At the very least, probiotics are safe, Morton said. "There doesn't seem to be any downside to taking them," he added.

Source: Yahoo news

Remember Eli?

Eli has taken to chasing his tail (and catching it) again, an activity that apparently became an obsession when I was in London (he doesn't have to like me, apparently to miss my presence in the house during the day). Upon my return, it became routine for us to wake up in the middle of the night to the sound of a hissing, spitting cat fight taking place at the foot of the bed (and we only have the one cat).

Last Monday morning, I was sitting in the living room when I heard ear-splitting yowling coming from the kitchen. I ran into a scene straight out of a horror movie, as blood gushed from a three-inch gash at the end of Eli's tail. I simultaneously applied pressure and called the vet.

It turns out that he also had severely impacted anal glands (sorry if this grosses you out, I did warn you, though the blog is "Not Just About Cancer") and is hyperthyroid (this will mean medication for the rest of his life.

Every morning, I now find myself administering antibiotics and thyroid meds, then feeding wet food that has been sprinkled with metamucil to the cat, even before I have had coffee or breakfast.

And we haven't even begun to deal with the crazy (because although the anal glands and the thyroid problem may have made things worse, they aren't really the root of the problem).

OK, so maybe I feel a little sorry for him.


After fourteen years, it's hard not to be a little attached.

And he's always had a certain sociopathic charm.

I've got to go hold him down now, so that my spouse can change his bandages.

I didn't go to work today, and I need to be careful because it's starting to become a pattern for me. Anyway, I woke up and my right calve was aching--it had been aching all night. I decided to take the day off from everything--work and workouts. I think I might be pushing myself a little too hard.

But I'm seeing such great results in the way I look. I hate to stop anything I'm doing. I'm not really losing weight right now, but I'm firming up so much. I must've lost a good half inch from my thighs, and at least that much from other areas. In fact, my measurement under my breasts is 37 inches. My butt is 40. Waist about 33. Around my boobs it's 43. My waist when I started all of this was 45 inches. So I've lost an entire foot of fat from around my middle. When I think of it like that I'm amazed myself.

Here's the rotation plan that I'm doing for my diet: 1200 calories for three days, 1500 for four, and then a week at 1800. And then I start all over again. The diet includes lots of fruit and vegetables, lean meat like chicken and fish (certain kinds of fish like tuna and salmon), low fat dairy, and whole grains. I'm going to work up some menus ahead of time so I'm less likely to cheat. I'm also writing it all down. OK, that's to kick start me. Then after three weeks, I'm moving to a 1200 day, 1500 day, 1800 day and back again so my body doesn't get used to any kind pattern. I'm hoping that if I mix it up enough, I'll begin to see some progress on the scale again. I know that the scale isn't the only measure of success. But so many things make the scale important--even Weight Watchers.

So that's where I am now. Until next time.

Read about three more bloggers who have had success losing weight here. One of them, is Shauna, pictured here. She used to weigh 350 pounds and now weighs 175. She's written a book about her weight loss journey and her blog is at The Amazing Adventures of Diet Girl.

This week all the Spaniards were Doctors, which I was a little apprehensive about given the profession. As it turned it out it was a great group of people and personalities.

It was good to see the formula working as it should. I have to say I think everyone gave 100% this week which helps enormously. I found myself getting quite tired though too, which is unusual, and on Thursday I had such a bad headache (no, alcohol wasn't the cause)!?

We got up to all sorts of things and the competitive edge came out like a Samurai sword when we played Scattergories, hehe (it didn't help I messed up the scores on the last round, oops) but I did learn that rust is a colour and houses do fly! So it was educational too.

The karaoke went very well and the party I thought may never end, and for some I dont think it did!! Dylan made his debut of the year and everyone seemed to like him which was nice, but then he let himself down by getting drunk at dinner time!

So I guess I'm looking forward to my next Doctors program, they have a lot to live up to!
Keep up the good work guys, its nice to know were in safe hands.

To see the time we shared simply click the folder below

Vaughan Town - Gredos - Program 81

I'd like to point out an interesting post from Peter at Hyperlipid. He discusses a paper that uses a novel technique to look for immune activation in the gut in response to wheat gluten. For the nerds: they challenged patient gut biopsies with gliadin fragments (gliadin is one of the proteins that make up gluten) and looked for expression of interleukin-15 (IL-15), a marker of activation of the innate immune system. The innate immune system is an old system (evolutionarily speaking) that predates the antibody-producing "adaptive immune system" and nonspecifically defends against pathogens.

Biopsies from 5 out of 6 patients showed an IL-15 response to at least one gliadin fragment. The implication is that the majority of people have an immune response to wheat, even if they don't have Celiac disease. The reason they aren't diagnosed as Celiac patients is they don't have circulating anti-gliadin antibodies (and they presumably don't yet have severe structural damage to their intestinal tract as judged by biopsy or endoscopy), but as the paper shows, people can react to gluten without producing antibodies via the innate immune system.

As someone who regularly does Western blots, I can say I'm not impressed by the quality of their data, but if this is confirmed more solidly and on a larger scale it would be HUGE. As you know if you've been following the blog, the small intestine has a lot of important functions: besides absorbing nutrients and secreting enzymes, it also plays an important role in regulating satiety and insulin secretion by the pancreas and overall insulin sensitivity. It's not an organ you want to damage.

Like many other Apprentice-watchers I am somewhat mystified by the continued presence of Michael Sophocles. But on a recent visit to the BBC I found the following transcript from the final show, which I think reveals everything.


INT. BOARDROOM – DAY.

SIR ALAN

Michael – why should I hire you?


SOPHOCLES
Sir Alan, I’m a good Jewish boy.


SIR ALAN

Are you?!


SOPHOCLES

Well, half-Jewish. I never knew my gentile father though. My mother said that he was driven to suicide in the 1980s when his range of cheap personal computers was ruthlessly undercut by Amstrad. Amstrads had crappy 3” disk drives for fuck’s sake, yet everyone bought them instead. You killed my father. Well now you’re “fired”.

SIR ALAN

You’re not half-Jewish.


SOPHOCLES

I am! I am! I’m half-Jewish!


SIR ALAN

You’re not half-Jewish. You’re 100% Jewish.


SOPHOCLES

You killed my father!


SIR ALAN

No Michael. I am your father.

SIR ALAN

That’s right – you’re sired. Sired by me.


SOPHOCLES

COME ON!

[NAME DELETED]

Um, is it even worth mentioning that I won this task? No? OK, I'll just fire myself. Frances - could you call me a cab please?

Part One (in which running is harder than walking)

Yesterday, my oldest son and I went running.

He is a couch potato and I want him to get fit and get moving.

I used to be a runner but stopped shortly before my surgery in 2006 and have not run since.

S. balked at this proposal at first but I stood firm. Then we saw Run Fatboy Run and he came around (he adores Simon Pegg. And the 'slacker turns long distance runner and gets the girl' theme really appealed to him. Whatever works, I figure).

We did Week One of a beginner's run/walk programme. We ran for one minute and walked for two minutes for a total of twenty minutes (we also did ten minutes of walking to warm up and cool down on each end). Even though I walk almost every day (and sometimes quite briskly), I really felt it (I was also running in a pair of really crappy old shoes which I threw in the garbage when I got home). It's hard to imagine that there was a point in my life when I was able to run for more than an hour and that I once finished a half-marathon.

And S., who had started by saying that he can walk faster than I run (which is true), was panting pretty hard at the end and asking "are we done yet?" Every few seconds.

Still, we both agreed that it was hard work but not overwhelmingly so (I even think that S. was a little proud of himself) and that we would keep at it. I told S. that I expect him to finish the programme with me (in ten weeks we will be running for twenty minutes in two ten-minute increments) and then he will be off the hook.

By then, I am hoping that we will both be addicted.

He was asking yesterday about running a marathon. I think it would be fun to do a 5k together.

We'll see.

On Friday, we will go out and do it again.

Part Two (in which I am pretty)

It was well past D.'s bedtime last night when he asked if he could 'do' my hair. I couldn't resist.

Ever since I was a little girl, I have loved having my hair brushed. This hadn't happened for a very long time. My hair hasn't really been long enough for years and when it was, there wasn't anyone in my life who was interested in brushing it.

D. set to gently brushing (he was standing on the bed as I sat on it). As he worked, he would make comments:

"Tell me if I hurt you."

"S's hair tangles because it is curly."

"Your hair is like mine and S.'s is like Papa's."

"In the light, your hair looks golden."

and

"I like your hair, Mama."

After brushing, it was time to add some adornments. We both loved the end result:


I have been growing out my hair since it started growing back after the Adriamycin. What you see is the result of almost two years of persistence (I am sure that the current treatment regimen has slowed progress, too).

Recently, I have been thinking of giving up. I had very short hair in the months before my diagnosis and I keep coming across photos of myself with short hair in which I think I look pretty good.

But after last night I don't want to cut it any more.

And I've invested in all these cute little clips. Who knew I could wear them all at the same time?


Update on my heart situation: I just got off the phone with my oncologist. He's not really worried about the drop in my ejection fraction. We're going to proceed with next week's treatment as planned and he is going to book an echo cardiogram for me and see if it gives the same results.

People who would know have been advising me that such tests can produce inconsistent results and it seems that my oncologist agrees.

Cross-posted to Mommybloggers.

Man. Aerobics was tough this morning. One of the other girls in the class asked the aerobics instructor: "What? Are trying to train us for the police academy?" Full sit ups. Jumping squats.I thought I was going to die. But it was one of those workouts that you end up being glad you made it through. I know if I could workout like that everyday, I would really get somewhere in my fitness goals.

A high protein, low carbohydrate diet is most effective at reducing hunger and promoting weight loss, at least in the short term. Healthy, obese men were given two different diets during their stay in the Rowett’s specialised Human Nutrition Unit. Both diets had a high protein content (30% of total energy value of the diet) but they differed in the amount of carbohydrate: One diet was low in carbohydrate (4%) and the other contained a moderate amount of carbohydrate (35% total energy value).

“Our volunteers found both diets to be equally palatable, but they felt less hungry on the high-protein low-carbohydrate diet compared with the diet which contained high-protein but moderate amounts of carbohydrate,” said Dr Alex Johnstone, the Rowett’s weight-loss expert who led the study.

“Weight loss during the two four week study periods was greater on the high-protein low-carbohydrate diet, averaging 6.3 kg per person, compared with 4.3 kg on the moderate carbohydrate diet,” said Dr Johnstone.

An important part of this study was to unravel the physiological mechanisms behind this type of diet. It is known that when people eat low carbohydrate diets, within a relatively short time their body has to switch from using glucose as a fuel to using something different called ketone bodies. Ketone bodies are appetite-suppressing and they may have an effect on the appetite centres in the brain. It’s also well known that protein itself is very good at making people feel full-up.

“In this study, we showed that on the high-protein low-carbohydrate diet the volunteers became ketogenic within 1-2 days of starting this diet and so it may be that high-protein, low-carbohydrate diets are particularly effective because of the combined effect of the protein and the ketone bodies,” said Dr Johnstone.

“We showed that the volunteers on the ketogenic diet reduced their energy intake without increasing their hunger and this was a very important factor in their ability to stick to the diet.”

Dr Johnstone sounds a note of caution about her findings: “A paper published last year from the same study showed that low carbohydrate diets may have consequences for the health of the gut by dramatically reducing the numbers of particular types of bacteria. So we will be looking in more detail at the complex way in which we respond to changes in our diet before we can say whether low-carbohydrate ketogenic diets are a suitable tool for everyone who wants to lose weight.”

When the phase of the study which involved the volunteers finished in October 2004, it attracted considerable interest because of its celebrity volunteer, Cameron Stout, who lost just over 12 kg during his nine week stay at the Rowett Institute. At the time, Cameron mentioned his surprise at not feeling hungry during the study and said he had adjusted to eating smaller portions.

Source: ScienceDaily