Life is Healthy

Its a shame but things are REALLY starting to slide with the hotel in Gredos.
The new manager is trying to implement change but too much too soon I fear, and as a result it is starting to effect the way the program is going. I am hoping this can be changed and rectified before it goes to far.

As the program - a good week as usual. A few small issues with lateness both from Spaniards and Anglos (my pet hate) also a little too much Spanish spoken when in relaxed company. However all the participants threw themselves into what ever they were asked to do, which was very good!! The quiz went very well, and all seemed to enjoy it, but you know no matter how much entertainment you give them, some will always try to amuse themselves, by... ...flipping cows!?
If not the cows then flipping each other: don't ask!!!

We managed to cram in lots of sketches, monologues, poems, presentations, singing and dancing, sadly no stand up comedy or magic: maybe next time ;) - if only you were more punctual!
hey ho!

The presentations were of course of high calibre and the usual I couldn't possibly speak for 10 minutes excuse came out - but again typically at 12 minutes I'm having to almost drag some of them off the stage!!

I must say the weather has been in our favour this week mind, and a few sun burnt arms and noses have been spotted hehe. The party got into full swing in fact it almost become a problem stopping it, but thankfully I managed too!

As usual I have posted are the photos of our week simply click the folder below.

Vaughan Town - Gredos - Program 75

I've noticed how the word "hydration" has crept into the popular lexicon in the last decade or so. Before that, we were so primitive, we just "drank water". Now you need a PhD just to put a glass to your lips. I'm not sure I'm qualified!

I've been hearing so many people, including health professionals, tell me to drink 8 glasses of water a day for my entire life. In my middle school health class, I was told by my hydrophilic teacher that I should be urinating every hour and my urine should always be clear. For my whole life, I've thought it was nonsense. Yet the message has reached people. Walk around any college campus and you'll see undergrads faithfully carrying around their endocrine-disrupting plastic-water everywhere they go.

You see, our bodies have this very sophisticated mechanism to ensure water homeostasis. It's called thirst. If we need so much water to be healthy, why aren't we thirsty more often?

I skimmed through a paper today in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology that reviews the evidence for health benefits from drinking more water than your thirst demands. Their conclusion: there's no evidence to suggest it helps anything. Water is just a nice harmless placebo.

The term "hydration" has helped fuel a whole industry to satisfy our need for hydration technology. Gatorade claims it hydrates better than water. It must be the high-fructose corn syrup and yellow #5... And make sure to bring your "hydration pack" when you go on your 20 minute jog; you might get lost and end up in the Kalahari desert!

I actually think the water craze isn't totally harmless. Drinking large amounts of water with a meal interferes with digestion by diluting digestive enzymes and stomach acid. Drinking a tall beer does the same. Wine is better because it tends to be a smaller volume.

As far as I'm concerned, with minor exceptions, the only thing to drink is water. I'll have an occasional glass of wine, beer or whole raw milk, but 99% of what I drink is good old-fashioned dihydrogen oxide.

The only time I drink a large amount of water without being thirsty is if I'm about to do vigorous exercise or spend time outside in hot weather.

Thanks to Snap for the CC photo.

I have been thinking a lot lately about cancer as a chronic illness. This is how my oncologist defines my cancer. My illness will be with me for the rest of my life and I will likely always be in treatment. But my cancer is being managed and I am thinking about sticking around for a long time, and living really well while I'm doing it.

And the truth is, that, much of the time, I feel very well indeed.

Dr. G. often refers to the various tools at his disposal. Some day (hopefully a long time from now), this particular treatment regimen will stop working. When that happens, Dr. G. will use another combination of drugs to keep the cancer at bay. And the longer we can keep one regimen working, the greater the possibility for medical breakthroughs.

More of us are developing cancer at younger ages. And more of us are living longer and well, despite fighting metastases. I have written before about the feeling of ennui that tends to beset me after chemo.

My life looks quite different then it once did and I am still struggling to figure out where I fit in, as a productive member of society. I have been doing a lot of work on this and will continue to do so but it's not always easy.

Nor is it easy to stand by and watch while friends who are overcoming breast cancer are treated callously by an employer who refuses to acknowledge the need for accommodation. To see these very talented women, who have always worked very hard on behalf of their employer being treated so shabbily is depressing in the extreme.

I came upon this article today, written by Jennifer Jaff, a lawyer who runs a non-profit called Advocacy for Patients with Chronic Illness (based out of Connecticut) and who herself lives with Crohn's Disease. It's called Square Pegs in Round Holes and it really resonated with me:

"Despite all the talk in the press about the cost to our society of the health care costs associated with chronic illness, nobody really looks at us and tries to fashion solutions that work not only for those in wheelchairs, the blind, the deaf, but for those of us with illnesses that come and go. They talk about preventive medicine, but that does nothing for those of us who are too sick to leave the house, but otherwise willing and able to contribute whatever we can to society.

Thus, we are left trying to fit ourselves into a definition of disability that doesn't fit us. We are society's square pegs trying to squeeze into round holes. It doesn't have to be this way."

At the moment, I am not contemplating a return to my workplace (and for the record, my employer is very open to accommodation. I had negotiated a very gradual return to work before I was diagnosed with the mets). But I do feel strongly that for those who are willing an able to do so, coming up with a workeable plan for accommodation should become as common place as any other basic workplace right.

My hamstrings are wishing I'd stayed in California. So are my obliques. They aren't super sore, but they're letting me know this morning that they are NOT happy that I "abused" them again yesterday. I think they liked the week off.

No gains! At least nothing substantial. I stepped on the scale this morning and it said 129. I was 127.8 a day before vacation. Just a little water weight, probably.

So how are you all doing? Eating well? Working out? Yes? No? Thinking about it?

One of the comfort foods I missed while I was on vacation was this pumpkin/pudding concoction I discovered over at Hungry-Girl.com. Mix 1/2 cup pureed pumpkin, a container of Jell-O sugar-free vanilla pudding, a packet of stevia (or Splenda) and 1/2 t. of cinnamon. You get a LOT of creamy yumminess for your calories. And a lot of fiber, too. Very filling. I bought my weekly can of pumpkin yesterday and a six-pack of pudding and I'm good to go for awhile.

Catching up on my blog reading, I found a great article link at The Skinny the other day. "10 Best Foods For Women" talks about, well, the kinds of foods women should eat to stay healthy. I thought I was all smart and stuff until I got to the part about kale. Kale? I've not seen much written about the health benefits of kale. Spinach, yes, but kale? So I bought some kale yesterday. Any of you have it before? How do you cook it? I was going to saute some in onions and garlic and serve it with the tempeh that's currently in my freezer.

Also included in the article is a recipe for Pistou Vegetable Soup which includes kale. I'll "vegetarianize" it (it calls for chicken broth) and try it this weekend.

I was a little ticked this morning when I discovered the calcium supplement I bought has gelatin in it. My vitamin D levels are low so my doctor put me on it. Considering we haven't had any sun in four months, no wonder my levels are low! Unfortunately I already opened the package so I can't return it. Now I'm on the hunt for vegetarian calcium supplements. I'm sure it won't be too hard to find, but really. Gelatin? Is that really necessary in calcium?

It's good to be home again, but I really loved California. I'm also not afraid to take time off from my workout schedule anymore. Not that I want to take a week off again anytime soon, but always in the back of my head was that worry that I'd gain all 168 pounds back. In a week. Irrational, I know, but that's how my head works sometimes.

I updated my 2008 page on my Lynn's Journey site with some photos from California. Click here to go there.

Well after hearing the latest news about a transgender man getting pregnant, I was kinda confused what was happening to the world - men now having babies???? Personally I always thought women would find a way to impregnate themselves and do away with man - I never even considered the option of man giving birth.

If you want to read more about this weird/amazing story click this link
http://guanabee.com/2008/03/pregnant-man-thomas-beatie-to-1.php

So I looked around and it would appear this is something a few people have obviously been working towards with such sites as:
http://www.malepregnancy.com/
http://www.pregnantmen.net/
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6190772.stm
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/230917/a_pregnant_man_carries_his_twin_for.html

I guess with all the possibilities to change genders and body parts today its really no surprise! But it is worrying where it will all end!?

I noticed it for the first time a few weeks ago. One of my labs was having a cake and ice cream party for someone's birthday and it didn't tempt me in the slightest. Today, I looked at a box of candy on the table at work and it seemed distinctly unappetizing. My taste for sugar has all but disappeared.

When I was a child, I couldn't get enough sugar. My parents would buy reduced sugar cereal and I would add a heaping tablespoon of sugar to each bowl. My favorite part was the sweet slurry at the bottom after the cereal was gone.

By the time I went to college, I knew sugar was unhealthy. It took massive amounts of willpower to keep myself from gorging on donuts and ice cream. Often, my willpower wasn't enough. Since then, I've been gradually refining my diet and the cravings have become more manageable. Sugar binges became rare.

In the past six months, I've made some new lifestyle changes based on my current understanding of nutrition and health. I've reduced my carbohydrate intake, drastically reduced my grain intake, and increased my fat intake. Most of my carb intake comes from vegetables now, with small portions of legumes from time to time as well. I've also added interval training and weight lifting to my exercise routine, which was formerly a 30 minute bike commute every day.

After an adjustment period of 3-4 months, my tastes have changed. I don't crave sugar or starchy foods anymore, and I can't get enough fat. I could eat practically nothing but fatty meat, but I don't for environmental and financial reasons. I do eat a lot of eggs, and an amount of lard, butter, olive oil and coconut oil that would make Dean Ornish weep. I see it as a very good sign that my body has made the shift from a carbohydrate-burning metabolism to a fat-burning one. Since carbohydrate and sugar cravings are related to insulin levels in my opinion, my insulin has probably dropped.

I'm going to get my bloodwork done sometime soon; I'll post it on the blog so you can all see how my self-experimentation is working. Then we can decide whether I'm onto something or full of hot air. I'd like to know my total cholesterol, HDL, LDL, triglycerides, fasting insulin, HbA1c and perhaps glucose tolerance.

Thanks to Andrew Huff for the CC photo.