Me and My (lack of) Writing

I haven't written in a long time. I've been feeling useless. My writing has gotten more and more sparse. I've finally been accepted to write on another blog, but my mind has gone blank. Writer's block, I suppose. Or maybe I think that there's no one interested in what I would say. Heck, I don't even know why I'm writing this.

My life has changed so much in the past 12 months. I have pain every day of my life. From the tests, so far, it looks like rheumatoid arthritis, but the rheumatoligist has yet to make a specific diagnosis. I take pain medication, but no DMARDs. I don't like to talk about it too much, but I guess people can tell something is going on. Besides the pain and stiffness, it makes my tire easily, have difficulty balancing when I walk and weakens my hands. I don't want people to treat me differently, I just want to find different ways to "make do".

I am still trying to find my place; what I can do (and want to do) within the time limits of my lower energy. I can't say if, or how, writing will fit into all this. I do miss the writing, but there are other things I also want to do.

Food, Toys, and Parental Responsibility

This past week, Santa Clara County (California) supervisors passed a law prohibiting the inclusion of toys in children's meals unless the meal meets certain caloric and sodium guidelines (no more than 485 calories or 600 milligrams of sodium). This is just another step in the ongoing movement to have government take away our choices and our responsibilities.

The most visible target of this ordinance is McDonald's. People see statistics on childhood obesity and want to do something about it. I can understand that. We had so much more physical activity when I was growing up. We had gym class more than once a week (which is how often my teen sons have it). We could join sports without having to make major monetary investments. We walked or biked almost everywhere. We went outside every day. We did yard work. And, yes, we also had McDonald's Happy Meals with toys. The difference there was it was a special occasion to go to McDonald's (or any other restaurant, for that matter). We ate most of our meals at home. Once every two weeks (for us), we would eat out somewhere. Some families ate out once a month, some once a year!

Our lifestyles have changed, and now we are trying to legislate ourselves some easy answers. But there is no "easy answer". Why should we penalize businesses for something that is our own fault? McDonald's (and most other fast-food chains) offer alternatives to the traditional, high-calorie meals. Children can choose (or parents can choose-imagine that, parents actually telling their kids what they will eat instead of having the government choose for them!) chicken nuggets or a hamburger instead of the cheeseburger, apples instead of fries, and juice or milk instead of soda. They still get the prize. And then they can burn off the calories running around the McDonald's Playland. Better yet, they can walk to McDonald's (on their once per two-week excursion).

Sugar Detox

Yes, I have gone off sugar. Well, for the most part I have. I still have some sugar (the occasional ice cream, etc.) But I no longer sup on it like mother's proverbial milk. And going off sugar was so much harder than I thought it would be.

First, some background: I started having severe joint pain in May of this year. I just this past Thursday got in to see the rheumatologist, but I digress. A friend of mine suggested that lowering my sugar intake might lessen my pain. She said it worked for a friend of hers. So, I thought to myself: I'll just try it for a day or two to prove that it doesn't work. Then I can forget about this nonsense. I should tell you right now, I am a sugar-aholic (if there is such a thing!) I love candy, cookies, ice cream, sweet tea. There's not a sugary confection I don't love. And I regularly was buying candy of all different sorts to enjoy. My two favorite holidays are Halloween and Easter-because they involve candy! Even special candy not available at other times of the year!

Besides eating candy every day, I was putting 3 sugars in my morning coffee (I had worked myself down from 5 packets, so I was pretty proud of that) and drinking 12 to 24 ounces of sweetened iced tea per day. I would ocassionally treat myself to sweet tea from McDonald's.

So, getting back to what I was saying, I started avoiding sugar that first day. I was expecting no changes. I was so wrong. The first day-The First Day-of no added sugar I noticed a difference. My pain decreased by about 70 percent! I was so happy, and so sad. I loved not having the pain, but I didn't want to go without my beloved candies and sweetened drinks.

The second day of no added sugar was pure torture. I was angry. Every time I saw something with sugar in it I got mad. I wanted to buy candy so badly. I felt so out of control. It felt like the candy was sitting on the shelves at the store mocking me, broadcasting their desire to be in my belly-home sweet home. Yes, I felt like I was going crazy. For the next couple days this went on. I was shaky and angry and even angrier at myself that it effected me this way. One of those days I snuck in a big piece of cake. It tasted good, but it also tasted weird. The sugar tasted different. It tasted too sweet. A few hours later I paid the price with increased pain. That was enough to deter me from doing that again.

So, now I have been off sugar for over a month, and I feel better. I am still having joint pain, but not nearly as much as I was before I went off sugar. In the past two to three weeks I have also lost weight (about 6 pounds). That's amazing in itself because I have not been able to loose weight for the past 4 or 5 years, since I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism. I never thought that all this trouble could come from sugar. I had heard people talk about it, of course, but I thought it was some new age-y, natural-eating propaganda. Plus, I didn't want to believe it. I thought I couldn't live without my sugar. I guess I was wrong.

Obese can get healthier without diets - Diet & Nutrition - MSNBC.com

Obese can get healthier without diets - Diet & Nutrition - MSNBC.com

My Kingdom for Some Sleep!

I have been having sleeping problems for what seems like forever. I was falling asleep on the way to and from work. Because of that, I stopped working in June and went to see a sleep specialist. The specialist scheduled me for a sleep study at the end of July, which I have since completed. They called me later that week and asked me to come in to do another sleep study at the end of August (next week). I asked them what was wrong with me and they said the doctor wouldn't talk to me about it until after my next sleep study. Wait, wait, wait. Meanwhile, I can't get any productive sleep, and I can't work. It's driving me crazy.

Officials Cite Obesity Surgery Complications - New York Times

Officials Cite Obesity Surgery Complications - New York Times
"Four of every 10 patients who undergo weight-loss surgery develop complications within six months, the federal government said today."

15 Ways to live a longer life, Forbes.com

Forbes.com

Change in sex habits cut HIV infections in Zimbabwe: study - Yahoo! News

Change in sex habits cut HIV infections in Zimbabwe: study - Yahoo! News

Infection with adenovirus causes obesity: study

Infection with adenovirus causes obesity: study

A Million Little Lies - January 8, 2006

A Million Little Lies - January 8, 2006

Say it isn't so! I am incredibly disappointed! I liked this book, despite the bad writing and lack of punctuation. It somehow gave hope that someone as bad as James Frey could turn himself around, and without a Twelve-Step Program. I don't know if any of what he wrote is true. I spent a few hours reading the above article at the Smoking Gun, along with the supporting documents, including police reports. You have to read this article for yourself, if you are a fan of the book.

Wisdom Tooth

I am having my second wisdom tooth removed tomorrow (we only get two wisdom teeth in my family). I am having it removed at the dental surgeon's office under local anesthesia, because I have never been under general anesthesia. I'll let you know how it goes.

The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005) - the movie

I don't have a problem with Hollywood making a movie about a fictitious exorcism, but this "horror" movie is based on the true story of Anneliese Michel (and is billed as such). According to Wikipedia, she was diagnose with grand mal epilepsy, and showed many symptoms of mental illness. According to an article at Movies Online, Anneliese starved to death and her parents and the exorcists were found guilty of manslaughter. This appears to be a case where superstition kept a woman from receiving proper medical and psychiatric treatment. This is a step back in the way the mentally ill may be seen/treated. I'm all for fictitious movies about exorcisms, or whatever you want to watch, but why tout it as being based on this story?

Now we can live to 130! | The Other Side | Breaking News 24/7 - NEWS.com.au (28-08-2005)

Yes! One more step toward my goal of living to 150! Link.