After watching the video of Romney discussing the murdered ambassador and three others murdered with him and watching that awful smirk on Romney's face I developed such an aversion to the man that I actually felt my revulsion for him viscerally. At that point I wasn't angry, just repulsed.
Then I watched the video I've linked.
http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2012/09/18/13936616-romneys-contempt-for-the-47-percent
That pissed me off. I have worked since I was 12 years old ironing and baby-sitting, got my social security card at age 14 when I went to work in a restaurant as a dishwasher. Since then I have worked continuously except for a three month period when I was just married and living in a new town, trying to pass the damned typing test so I could go to work.
I retired at age 61 with a decent but not huge pension and went back to work part time two years later and have been working most of the time since. During the time I didn't work I spent time taking my parents to doctors, hospitals, and taking care of empty houses and burials after they died two years apart.
So Romney does not just repulse me, he angers me. I just watched him explaining how he just said it inelegantly and he was still smirking.
His wife is more overtly creepy. She doesn't smirk. She sneers as she discusses "you people." What a couple of creeps. Repulsive creeps.
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Friday, September 14, 2012
Death of a Hmong daughter
The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, by Anne Fadiman
I haven't read the book. Read a NYT article (one of the free ten I'm allowed each month) about the subject of the book, Lia Lee, daughter of Hmong immigrants to the US. Lia died Aug. 31, age 30, after a struggle with epilepsy, cerebral palsy, pneumonia and sepsis that began when she was three months old.
As I was reading her obituary I was struck by the lack of understanding we have of other cultures. Living in a country ruled by the simplistic thinking of Teabaggers, fundamentalists, frighteningly ignorant national senators and congresspeople, people who only watch Fox News, it's easy to avoid developing an awareness of the need to open our minds and hearts to those who are different from us.
I'm not certain where I'm going with this. I had a brief flash of awareness of my own ignorance and how that ignorance contributes to enormous suffering. I need to let this simmer.
I haven't read the book. Read a NYT article (one of the free ten I'm allowed each month) about the subject of the book, Lia Lee, daughter of Hmong immigrants to the US. Lia died Aug. 31, age 30, after a struggle with epilepsy, cerebral palsy, pneumonia and sepsis that began when she was three months old.
As I was reading her obituary I was struck by the lack of understanding we have of other cultures. Living in a country ruled by the simplistic thinking of Teabaggers, fundamentalists, frighteningly ignorant national senators and congresspeople, people who only watch Fox News, it's easy to avoid developing an awareness of the need to open our minds and hearts to those who are different from us.
I'm not certain where I'm going with this. I had a brief flash of awareness of my own ignorance and how that ignorance contributes to enormous suffering. I need to let this simmer.
Sunday, September 2, 2012
The day after the day after
Aug. 31 was a wonderful day. I gave myself the day off and splurged.
I fixed a small, healthy breakfast and fed the cats. I did my small chores, got some laundry going, showered and dressed. Did not have any tea.
Left the house about 10 a.m. and went to Starbux with my book (a Miss Julia by Ann Ross), presented my coupon and ordered a grande Pike Place with heavy whipping cream in a mug. Went outside and sat at a table with an umbrella and savored my first cup of coffee in 31 days while I read about Miss Julia's latest adventure. Coffee is a drug of sorts and after 31 days I noticed it enhanced my appreciation of small birds looking for crumbs under the table, a young women training her young German shepherd, the slight breeze, the sun on my back, and my book. I sat and read for about an hour and a half, then ran some errands and met a friend for lunch.
I ordered the salad Nicoise which had a "basic vinaigrette" dressing. It did not occur to me to ask if there was sugar in the "basic vinaigrette" dressing. We live and learn. It was served on the side and I spooned a couple of teaspoons onto my salad and took a bite. Uh oh. I could taste the hefty sugar ration immediately. But, I figured, "What the hell, I'll see how it affects me." I had to spoon several more spoonsful onto the salad and ended up taking half the salad home for dinner.
Dinner was a small rib eye steak, the rest of the salad and an avocado.
Well, I went to bed early but woke up at 12:30, unable to get back to sleep until a few minutes after 5 a.m. Slept till 7 a.m., got up and felt like shit. I'm annoyed with myself that I didn't think to check my blood sugar two hours after lunch and dinner on my free day.
For the next four or five hours my sinuses were painfully stuffed or alternately, draining heavily, my eyes watered, I sneezed repeatedly, I felt slow and puffy, slightly depressed and exhausted.
The way I should have done day 31 was to add cream (my coffee with cream is the thing I missed during the Whole30 Challenge) to coffee with breakfast, cream to something at lunch and cream again at dinner. Then, on Sept. 1 I would have known what was responsible for the way I felt. That's the instructions all of us on the challenge were given by our hosts Dallas and Melissa Hartwig.
So, I'm back on schedule. Carol and Jim had me for dinner last night to share the beautiful fresh-caught trout he took out of the Walker River. Jim asked exactly what I could eat and prepared sauteed onions and mushrooms, a fabulous salad with vinegar and oil dressing and trout. They sent me home with a good-sized piece for lunch today.
I feel so much better today and ready for the next phase which began yesterday and ends Sept. 30. I am going to test the cream in 14 days and see if that accounts for the sinus problem. It definitely could be since dairy and sinus problems are often related.
Speaking of Miss Julia's books, they are a hoot. Ann Ross has produced a woman in her late 60s, recently widowed who is confronted by her late husband's nine-year-old love child, little Lloyd.
She is very proper, as was her hypocritical husband who kept her firmly tied down to severe rules about how a good Presbyterian woman, wife of the town banker and owner of multiple properties both business and residential, is supposed to conduct herself in the world (a small town in North Carolina). She is left a millionaire who decides to enjoy her money as well as deal with little Lloyd. The books are often laugh out loud funny, full of appropriate bad, hypocritical folks as well as endearing friends and neighbors.
First in the series is Miss Julia Speaks Her Mind.
I fixed a small, healthy breakfast and fed the cats. I did my small chores, got some laundry going, showered and dressed. Did not have any tea.
Left the house about 10 a.m. and went to Starbux with my book (a Miss Julia by Ann Ross), presented my coupon and ordered a grande Pike Place with heavy whipping cream in a mug. Went outside and sat at a table with an umbrella and savored my first cup of coffee in 31 days while I read about Miss Julia's latest adventure. Coffee is a drug of sorts and after 31 days I noticed it enhanced my appreciation of small birds looking for crumbs under the table, a young women training her young German shepherd, the slight breeze, the sun on my back, and my book. I sat and read for about an hour and a half, then ran some errands and met a friend for lunch.
I ordered the salad Nicoise which had a "basic vinaigrette" dressing. It did not occur to me to ask if there was sugar in the "basic vinaigrette" dressing. We live and learn. It was served on the side and I spooned a couple of teaspoons onto my salad and took a bite. Uh oh. I could taste the hefty sugar ration immediately. But, I figured, "What the hell, I'll see how it affects me." I had to spoon several more spoonsful onto the salad and ended up taking half the salad home for dinner.
Dinner was a small rib eye steak, the rest of the salad and an avocado.
Well, I went to bed early but woke up at 12:30, unable to get back to sleep until a few minutes after 5 a.m. Slept till 7 a.m., got up and felt like shit. I'm annoyed with myself that I didn't think to check my blood sugar two hours after lunch and dinner on my free day.
For the next four or five hours my sinuses were painfully stuffed or alternately, draining heavily, my eyes watered, I sneezed repeatedly, I felt slow and puffy, slightly depressed and exhausted.
The way I should have done day 31 was to add cream (my coffee with cream is the thing I missed during the Whole30 Challenge) to coffee with breakfast, cream to something at lunch and cream again at dinner. Then, on Sept. 1 I would have known what was responsible for the way I felt. That's the instructions all of us on the challenge were given by our hosts Dallas and Melissa Hartwig.
So, I'm back on schedule. Carol and Jim had me for dinner last night to share the beautiful fresh-caught trout he took out of the Walker River. Jim asked exactly what I could eat and prepared sauteed onions and mushrooms, a fabulous salad with vinegar and oil dressing and trout. They sent me home with a good-sized piece for lunch today.
I feel so much better today and ready for the next phase which began yesterday and ends Sept. 30. I am going to test the cream in 14 days and see if that accounts for the sinus problem. It definitely could be since dairy and sinus problems are often related.
Speaking of Miss Julia's books, they are a hoot. Ann Ross has produced a woman in her late 60s, recently widowed who is confronted by her late husband's nine-year-old love child, little Lloyd.
She is very proper, as was her hypocritical husband who kept her firmly tied down to severe rules about how a good Presbyterian woman, wife of the town banker and owner of multiple properties both business and residential, is supposed to conduct herself in the world (a small town in North Carolina). She is left a millionaire who decides to enjoy her money as well as deal with little Lloyd. The books are often laugh out loud funny, full of appropriate bad, hypocritical folks as well as endearing friends and neighbors.
First in the series is Miss Julia Speaks Her Mind.
Friday, August 31, 2012
Day 31
The 30-Day challenge ended yesterday and it was a success.
I weigh 108 pounds, down from 115.
As reported earlier (I think), my blood work came back with excellent results. Cholesterol very good, triglycerides excellent, thyroid pretty good except for the T3.
The bone scan was not good and I'm pretty certain I know why. A year ago my bone scan showed that I had reversed my osteoporosis and had the progress continued, this year's scores would have showed I no longer even had osteopenia.
However, last September I went from a sub-lingual dose of Synthroid to an oral dose of an expensive designer levothyroxine called Tirosint. Three weeks ago I discovered that a side effect of Tirosint is decreased bone density. I am not surprised about the reverse of the progress but I'm plenty pissed.
My former endocrinologist told me the sub-lingual dose was better for my bones but did not explain that levothyroxine in the intestine can prevent absorption of minerals, including calcium and magnesium, both very important to maintaining bone density. Had he explained this, I would not have agreed to go to the expensive designer drug my family physician prescribed.
This is really annoying, given that I gave up grains and legumes of every kind because elements in them also prevent the absorption of minerals in the intestines.
So I remind myself that doctors are educated by drug dealers hired by Big Pharma to show up in every doctor's office at least once a week. During the five years that I was taking my mother to doctor's appointment every month, we were never in one of their offices that a drug dealer didn't show up with a big (enormous) bag of samples and pretty literature to ensure the continuing huge profits of Big Pharma.
So now I get to argue with my doctor's Physician Assistant to change back to sub-lingual Synthroid and a compound prescription of T3 that I can also take sub-lingually. Not certain that is spelled correctly but you get the idea.
I am pleased with the 30 days. No sugar for 30 days has decreased my cravings for sugar in all its forms and the love handles I've been carrying around have been cut in half. They are still there but greatly reduced. I need to keep this in mind whenever I'm tempted to eat simple carbohydrates. The fat just above the waistline is what kills us. Heart attack anyone?
I'm pleased that I was able to be disciplined enough to stay with this for 30 days.
What did not work so well was the planning and cooking. I plan to spend the month of September working on that. I bought too much food for a week each week. I threw very little away but some greens had to be carefully picked over the second and fourth weeks. Even with that I spent less money on food than in any week in the last three years. I also did not eat out except for one breakfast. That helped.
Tomorrow I begin the second 30-day challenge, doing everything I did this month but adding two new food groups to the forbidden list--nightshades and brassicas. Nightshades for my joints and brassicas for my thyroid. I also intend to add 15 minutes a day of walking which could help with the removal of what is left of the love handles.
Life is good.
I weigh 108 pounds, down from 115.
As reported earlier (I think), my blood work came back with excellent results. Cholesterol very good, triglycerides excellent, thyroid pretty good except for the T3.
The bone scan was not good and I'm pretty certain I know why. A year ago my bone scan showed that I had reversed my osteoporosis and had the progress continued, this year's scores would have showed I no longer even had osteopenia.
However, last September I went from a sub-lingual dose of Synthroid to an oral dose of an expensive designer levothyroxine called Tirosint. Three weeks ago I discovered that a side effect of Tirosint is decreased bone density. I am not surprised about the reverse of the progress but I'm plenty pissed.
My former endocrinologist told me the sub-lingual dose was better for my bones but did not explain that levothyroxine in the intestine can prevent absorption of minerals, including calcium and magnesium, both very important to maintaining bone density. Had he explained this, I would not have agreed to go to the expensive designer drug my family physician prescribed.
This is really annoying, given that I gave up grains and legumes of every kind because elements in them also prevent the absorption of minerals in the intestines.
So I remind myself that doctors are educated by drug dealers hired by Big Pharma to show up in every doctor's office at least once a week. During the five years that I was taking my mother to doctor's appointment every month, we were never in one of their offices that a drug dealer didn't show up with a big (enormous) bag of samples and pretty literature to ensure the continuing huge profits of Big Pharma.
So now I get to argue with my doctor's Physician Assistant to change back to sub-lingual Synthroid and a compound prescription of T3 that I can also take sub-lingually. Not certain that is spelled correctly but you get the idea.
I am pleased with the 30 days. No sugar for 30 days has decreased my cravings for sugar in all its forms and the love handles I've been carrying around have been cut in half. They are still there but greatly reduced. I need to keep this in mind whenever I'm tempted to eat simple carbohydrates. The fat just above the waistline is what kills us. Heart attack anyone?
I'm pleased that I was able to be disciplined enough to stay with this for 30 days.
What did not work so well was the planning and cooking. I plan to spend the month of September working on that. I bought too much food for a week each week. I threw very little away but some greens had to be carefully picked over the second and fourth weeks. Even with that I spent less money on food than in any week in the last three years. I also did not eat out except for one breakfast. That helped.
Tomorrow I begin the second 30-day challenge, doing everything I did this month but adding two new food groups to the forbidden list--nightshades and brassicas. Nightshades for my joints and brassicas for my thyroid. I also intend to add 15 minutes a day of walking which could help with the removal of what is left of the love handles.
Life is good.
Monday, August 27, 2012
Day 27
I'm not doing so well with the daily posts.
However, I am doing well with the nutrition although not so much with the cooking.
I got all my scores on blood work but not the dexascan. My cholesterol is great. Triglycerides are way low. My hemoglobin A1c is 5.5, down from the high a year ago of 6.1 so absolutely no sugar in the diet is working.
Thyroid is still a little off. T3 is low. I'm on a designer T4 drug--same as the generics but it's Akrimax Pharmaceuticals new version, called Tirosint and it's expensive. I'm going to request that I go to Armour for three months and see if the T3 comes up. The Reverse T3 wasn't measured and I'm going to ask for all the tests again in three months and this time include a measurement of the Reverse T3 which could give a clearer picture T3 is still low. Armour comes from pigs and includes both T4 and T3. Most doctors aren't thrilled about Armour and I have to keep reminding myself that they are constantly educated by drug company reps.
I need to work on the menus and cooking. More cooking on Sunday, add more vegetables to the daily meals, more salads. This is a work in progress. This first 30-day challenge ends Thursday and the new one starts on Saturday, Sept. 1.
The new challenge calls for everything I'm doing now and adding in the elimination of nightshades and all the fruits and vegetables known to affect thyroid function. And there are a lot of them. Thank gawd raspberries, blackberries and blueberries aren't on that list.
I consider the August challenge a success. It's shown me that I can do what I need to and let go of some of the Want, Want, Want. Have to admit, I still miss my coffee with cream. And I missed my cigarettes for a damn long time after I quit smoking the last time. Addictions stay with us--all those damned neurons and pleasure centers.
Enough! Time to fix breakfast and get on with the day. And a lovely one it looks to be.
However, I am doing well with the nutrition although not so much with the cooking.
I got all my scores on blood work but not the dexascan. My cholesterol is great. Triglycerides are way low. My hemoglobin A1c is 5.5, down from the high a year ago of 6.1 so absolutely no sugar in the diet is working.
Thyroid is still a little off. T3 is low. I'm on a designer T4 drug--same as the generics but it's Akrimax Pharmaceuticals new version, called Tirosint and it's expensive. I'm going to request that I go to Armour for three months and see if the T3 comes up. The Reverse T3 wasn't measured and I'm going to ask for all the tests again in three months and this time include a measurement of the Reverse T3 which could give a clearer picture T3 is still low. Armour comes from pigs and includes both T4 and T3. Most doctors aren't thrilled about Armour and I have to keep reminding myself that they are constantly educated by drug company reps.
I need to work on the menus and cooking. More cooking on Sunday, add more vegetables to the daily meals, more salads. This is a work in progress. This first 30-day challenge ends Thursday and the new one starts on Saturday, Sept. 1.
The new challenge calls for everything I'm doing now and adding in the elimination of nightshades and all the fruits and vegetables known to affect thyroid function. And there are a lot of them. Thank gawd raspberries, blackberries and blueberries aren't on that list.
I consider the August challenge a success. It's shown me that I can do what I need to and let go of some of the Want, Want, Want. Have to admit, I still miss my coffee with cream. And I missed my cigarettes for a damn long time after I quit smoking the last time. Addictions stay with us--all those damned neurons and pleasure centers.
Enough! Time to fix breakfast and get on with the day. And a lovely one it looks to be.
Monday, August 20, 2012
Day 20
Twenty down and ten to go.
The best result so far? I have a calm energy that lasts about 12 to 14 hours a day. No more crashing at 3 p.m. with my book and a thrown together dinner.
Biggest disappointment so far? Although I have lost weight, I have not lost the belly fat and the bulge at waist level above my hips. Which indicates, if I'm understanding all the science thrown at me in the last two weeks, the blood sugar is still playing games with my hormones. That's so oversimplified but it's the best I can do.
Still working toward being fat-adapted rather than sugar-adapted. Sigh. I am assured that will come and it would probably help if I would exercise. That's the September challenge.
I managed to get all my recipes into one volume, separated by type--chicken, beef, fish, lamb, vegetables, eggs, soup, salad and miscellaneous. There are more categories but you get the picture. Next step is to go though each section and get rid of everything I won't actually cook. Probably at least half. Maybe a lot more.
I made a week's worth of menus yesterday and a shopping list from which I did not deviate while picking up what I needed. Nice not to have to think about what I'm going to cook and pack for lunch.
Nice tip from Kathy S. Costco has some lovely baby romaine heads, grown hydroponically, supposedly eight to a package but so far my packages have contained nine. They are the perfect size for one serving, wash easily and taste great.
The best result so far? I have a calm energy that lasts about 12 to 14 hours a day. No more crashing at 3 p.m. with my book and a thrown together dinner.
Biggest disappointment so far? Although I have lost weight, I have not lost the belly fat and the bulge at waist level above my hips. Which indicates, if I'm understanding all the science thrown at me in the last two weeks, the blood sugar is still playing games with my hormones. That's so oversimplified but it's the best I can do.
Still working toward being fat-adapted rather than sugar-adapted. Sigh. I am assured that will come and it would probably help if I would exercise. That's the September challenge.
I managed to get all my recipes into one volume, separated by type--chicken, beef, fish, lamb, vegetables, eggs, soup, salad and miscellaneous. There are more categories but you get the picture. Next step is to go though each section and get rid of everything I won't actually cook. Probably at least half. Maybe a lot more.
I made a week's worth of menus yesterday and a shopping list from which I did not deviate while picking up what I needed. Nice not to have to think about what I'm going to cook and pack for lunch.
Nice tip from Kathy S. Costco has some lovely baby romaine heads, grown hydroponically, supposedly eight to a package but so far my packages have contained nine. They are the perfect size for one serving, wash easily and taste great.
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
Day 14
Feeling very content. Salad and two organic beef (no mystery meats) hot dogs for dinner. A beef stew is almost done for four meals tomorrow and Thursday. Without the customary dredging of meat in flour the stew is more like an extremely thick soup. Just as good.
Finished reading the text of Diane Sanfilippo's new book, Practical Paleo and am now reading every single recipe.
This is the most informative of all the Paleo books I've read to date and I think that's close to 20. Sanfilippo has a bachelor of science degree and is a certified nutrition counselor.
She writes clearly, making hormones, digestive systems and parts, leaky guts, blood sugar regulation and poop understandable.
The book also has 30-day meal plans for folks dealing with autoimmune disease, high or low thyroid, weight loss, chemotherapy, blood sugar regulation and more.
Just realized I'm too tired to write more. Am going to bed with my book.
Finished reading the text of Diane Sanfilippo's new book, Practical Paleo and am now reading every single recipe.
This is the most informative of all the Paleo books I've read to date and I think that's close to 20. Sanfilippo has a bachelor of science degree and is a certified nutrition counselor.
She writes clearly, making hormones, digestive systems and parts, leaky guts, blood sugar regulation and poop understandable.
The book also has 30-day meal plans for folks dealing with autoimmune disease, high or low thyroid, weight loss, chemotherapy, blood sugar regulation and more.
Just realized I'm too tired to write more. Am going to bed with my book.
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