Falling Off the Wagon

Thanksgiving was its normal self. More food than people should eat in a sitting, knowing what will happen when you do, and ignoring common sense.

We started out the day with having some family members for a late breakfast. Of course Thanksgiving day being special...we could not just have a normal breakfast. I made some sausage gravy using a very good, but very fattening recipe. Biscuits are a requirement when you have sausage gravy, so I made some of those as well. Naturally, every package of refrigerator or frozen biscuits are laced with trans fats among other evil things, but I did not have time to make home made. We had some scrambled eggs on the side. Not normal eggs of course. These were loaded up with some Cajun spices, black pepper, onions and pepper jack cheese. Oh yes, there were some cinnamon buns too, for a nice lil breakfast dessert. All very tasty to be sure, but OMG this is not the way to start out your day especially if the meal takes place at about 10 in the morning.

Fast forward to the real Thanksgiving meal. (Starting at 1:30PM, so the huge breakfast was still digesting.) There was turkey, dressing, baked sweet potatoes with garlic, green bean casserole, two types of cranberries, bread and butter and of course gravy. I ate so much (totally abnormal) that I felt more stuffed than the turkey was and started to develop a headache and then had a sneezing frenzy as my sinuses went crazy.

Wow.....this was not going well. Next came the pies, pumpkin and pecan with whipped cream. Of course I could not just eat one...I had to try them both. Even though I said a little of each I was delivered two regular slices. Oh well...I shoveled them down and then limped off to the TV room to watch some football. My team won...but I was sure paying the price for having over done the eating.

I somehow managed to survive the rest of the day without eating any more food, and woke up this morning to have my protein shake and supplements for breakfast. Ahhhhhhhhhh now that's more like it, I feel better already. Lunch was some leftovers from the day before. Since we had only provided the veggies that was what we had for leftovers. Hmmmm not bad at all....why did I have to eat all that other stuff Thanksgiving day?

Anyway, I have climbed back up on the wagon, and things are back to normal, though I may have gained a couple of pounds that will need to go away again. From now on, I think I will strap myself into the wagon so I don't fall off again. I used to eat that way all the time, so it is understandable why I was obese and unhealthy. I don't want to go back there, so though Thanksgiving was nice overall...it also re-taught me something about eating the right things in reasonable proportions. I have seen the light once again and will keep on keeping on!!

Dinner tonight....a nice fresh salad with organic lettuce, avocado, tomato and cucumber with maybe a little bit of goat cheese and some light vinaigrette dressing. I may spurge a bit and throw in a slice of toasted Ezekiel bread. Normal is good!!

Should Diabetes be a Concern?

Let's look at some of the facts regarding diabetes. In America approximately 24 million people have been diagnosed with diabetes and the American Diabetes Association estimates there may be another 6 million with the disease that don't yet know it. Diabetes is the leading cause of blindness, kidney disease and amputations. Diabetes is rapidly becoming one of the major public health crises of the current century, and it keeps on growing.

There are three types of diabetes:

• Type 1 - Usually diagnosed in children, teens and young adults and likely caused by an autoimmune response which destroys certain cells in the pancreas so they cannot produce insulin.
• Type 2 - Most common form and also the most preventable and treatable. Here the pancreas cannot keep up with the demand for insulin and blood sugars rise. Overweight people and those who are inactive are most likely to develop this type.
• Gestational - A complication of pregnancy in women who experience excessive weight gain during pregnancy. This type usually dissipates after childbirth, but the women who have it are more at risk for developing type 2 diabetes later in life.

In cases of type 1 and type 2, it is essential that victims eat healthfully and control their caloric intake. If this is not done, there can eventually be damage to nerves and blood vessels, and an increased risk of serious and life threatening complications like:

• Heart disease and stroke
• Blindness
• Kidney disease
• Amputations

So....the bottom line here is this: Diabetes should be a concern. We need to watch what we eat and what we feed our children. Eat less processed, fast, nutritionally depleted foods and more fresh fruits and vegetables and lean meats and fish. We also need to get up off our fannies and get more exercise. If nothing else...walk walk walk. Keep that weight down, keep your metabolism up, and drink plenty of pure fresh water to keep the bad things flushed out of your system.

Type 2 diabetes is very very preventable, so make an effort to do those things that you should. The Good Lord made our bodies to use certain nutrients to make us strong and resistant to disease. It is our job to make the right choices and ensure that we ingest those nutrients, and avoid as much as possible modern, nutritionally empty junk foods. Always remember, that by doing the right things....the life you save may very well be your own!!

Who is Responsible for the Environment?

I have a hard time figuring out exactly who to listen to when it comes to the environment. I have pretty much decided that the environmental movement on the left hand side is pretty much based on emotion and little science. I suppose the right hand side may lean a bit towards making someone a buck or two. I am absolutely positive that the government and politicians are simply in the business of pandering to special interests and mostly talks the talk, but provides little else. We are being silly when we vote for someone because they are the "one"....that will save our environment and clean up the world.

I remember that years ago we were told that the freon used in our air conditioners was causing the ozone layer to disappear and that if something was not done....we were all doomed to a horrible death!! Of course the Government passed laws and that particular freon was removed and replaced with something else. However, I was a certified gas free engineer in the United States Navy at the time and knew without a doubt that freon was heavier than air. When I had to check for a freon leak I had to check the lowest areas of the space. This being the case, I have never been able to justify in my mind how this substance could get up to the ozone layer above the earth and destroy it!! To this day I have not been able to find anyone who could explain this to me, including a PHD from NASA Langley teaching a college course in biology I was taking. So, I am naturally very leery when I hear of new claims about what is destroying our environment this month.

To me it is simple. Each and every one of us should exercise common sense and not be wasteful. We can all do little things to improve our immediate environment and when we do them....we contribute to the improvement of the environment as a whole. We can use non- toxic highly concentrated cleaning products to clean our homes and offices saving money and improving our inside air quality. We can use cloth grocery bags which can be used over and over rather than plastic ones made from petroleum, or paper ones made from trees. We can use new fluorescent light bulbs which use far less energy than conventional ones and last a very long time as well. We can keep our homes in good repair caulking our windows, fixing water leaks, putting in storm doors and much more. We can turn the water off when brushing our teeth and shaving rather than letting it run. We can wash our dishes in a full dishwasher rather than by hand which uses more water. There are many many ways for each of us to do our part and little things done by many adds up to big things in a hurry. So, let's strive to do better little things, stop doing bad little things and it will all turn around to the betterment of all, probably more quickly than anyone might imagine.

As time goes on...I will be talking more about my views of environmental issues so stay tuned!!

What Are Kids Eating?

I remember that when I was growing up, and aware of what was going on, that we could only get fruits and vegetables in season. I remember the milk man delivering fresh milk, eggs, butter, and cheese. The milk even had cream floating on the top of the bottle. I remember the bread man coming and delivering his products. I also remember someones pet crow stopping by occasionally to open a bread box or two on a chosen porch and having a snack, after he stopped by and landed on our shoulders to chat as we waited for the school bus. We had very little processed foods to eat and got along just fine. We always had home cooked meals, and ate together as a family.

Fast forward to today. The stores are loaded with highly processed foods. Anything resembling fresh is usually found around the store perimeter, most items in the aisles are suspect. ( Careful label reading is required) The "fresh" fruits and vegetables are always available and come from all over the world. They are often picked green and sprayed with chemicals to speed ripening, or are waxed to make them look bright and shiny. Let's not forget the pesticides and other strange chemical things that used in their production. They just don't seem to have the flavor they used to have, and certainly their nutritional value is much lower than it used to be.

Many families today rarely eat a meal together. (Everyone is soooooo busy) Mom and Dad both work and it is so much easier to buy a frozen prepared meal to throw in the microwave. The foods that kids are given are loaded with sugar and little else. My grandson was listless and lacking energy one Saturday morning at his sister's volleyball game. I asked what he had for breakfast....and was told a pop tart!! I guess the sugar had burned out and since he had no good protein or other important nutrients he was dragging. My smallest granddaughters were visiting one Christmas and I was mixing up some whole grain pancakes for breakfast, to which I had added some soy protein, and one of them asked me what I was doing. I told her I was making pancakes. Her response was..."On the stove?" She had never had a pancake that did not come from the microwave oven. It really is scary!! More and more children today are obese, getting symptoms of diabetes early, being diagnosed with high blood pressure and high cholesterol. Some believe that kids of today may be the first generation to have a lesser longevity and quality of life than their parents.

The importance of giving our children nutritious meals cannot be overstated!! If they grow up eating properly, drinking pure water instead of sodas, and getting sufficient exercise and fresh air, they will likely carry those habits with them as they grow into adults. Our nation and future generations will be much healthier, and the burden on our health care system will be greatly reduced. It is important that we as parents and grandparents do the right thing!! Let's start feeding our children the real nutrition their bodies need to grow and become strong!! In this case simplicity and speed is most definitely not the answer!! Think about it....but not too long. DO THE RIGHT THING!!