MedWorm: Eating Disorders

Join me in texas!

Recovery Support — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 04:00:00 +0100

I am headed to Texas to celebrate the 4th of July with my family. I am excited to meet my newborn nephew, Aiden! On July 7th, I will be speaking at the Texas Freedom House in Kerrville. Please join me:Monday, July 7th Kerrville, Texas Texas Freedom House (108 West Creek Road) 10:30 AM Presentation and Book Signing --- Open to the Public! For more information, call 830-377-6537 or email info@texasfreedomhouse.com Happy 4th of July! Best, Jenni (Source: Recovery Support)

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The blog days of summer

Cranky Fitness — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 04:00:00 +0100

[By Merry]The weekend is almost here ...Huh.I know why you're here.Everybody else took the week off and you're stuck at work trying to look busy, so you're reading a blog.Tsk. What would the boss say?Oh wait, he's one of the ones who took off for vacation. Well then, he's in no position to talk.Okay, if you're going to be stuck at work, then the least I can do is try to distract you.Where to go if you're looking for a vicarious vacationMaui camI like this cam of a beach in Maui... I can almost hear the waves lapping against the shore... sigh...Lion camI have to confess, I'm not ordinarily a great fan of Zoo cams. There's usually not a lot happening. This one, on the other hand, is weirdly addictive... at least when it's daytime in Norway. This camera shows a mama lion and several seriously cute lion cubs. If the link is dark, maybe it's not daytime in Norway. Or the server is overloaded. It's popular.In case you are a wild fan of zoo cams:Penguin cam Panda CamUseful fitness information(don't look so surprised, we do sometimes link to seriously useful stuff... once in a while, anyway)From Hellasound:Your first marathon: predicting race times and preparation Useful device of the week:A cell phone that keeps track of the number of steps you take and also monitors your blood sugar level.Favorite videos of the week:Exercise AND animal video of the week:Cats on a treadmillWinner of the Fiction, but Could Be Reality video:Silly humor of the week:Why Germany lost the warSadly, this is an entirely work appropriate pictureAnd finally, the quote of the week:"One of the symptoms of an approaching nervous breakdown is the belief that one's work is terribly important." - Bertrand RussellTake the rest of the day off. Tell the boss I said it was okay. Oh wait, that's right, he's on vacation. Well then, go for it!Have a great Fourth of July, everyone! (Source: Cranky Fitness)

Ways to help our young children with body woes

Advice for Parents — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 04:00:00 +0100

Last week I received the following comment on one of my blogs:I am reading all of this in great fear. My beautiful 8 year old daughter is beginning to see herself as "fat", she only wants to sit and eat. I have not wanted to face the fact she may be started down the road of an eating disorder. But I think I may have to acknowledge this. Are there resources for a child this young? Thank you for having the courage to tell your story.This question prompted me to do a bit of research on the web. I was reminded of a number of phenomenal resources for moms worried about how their very young daughters and sons feel about their bodies.There is a wonderful book out there that helps us with this task, Full Mouse, Empty Mouse: A Tale of Food and Feelings by Dina Zeckhausen (available through Gurze at http://www.gurze.com/productdetails.cfm?PC=1535 –there is also a curriculum for teachers and parents of children in grades k-3 titled “Love Your Body Week” http://www.gurze.com/productdetails.cfm?PC=1260. Full Mouse, Empty Mouse can open a valuable dialog with all children, especially in today’s thin-addicted culture. The final pages of the book contain a “Note to Parents” that provides excellent suggestions. Best thing, though, are the discussion questions that follow that can help guide us through our talk with our child. In addition to writing this terrific resource, Dr. Dina Zeckhausen is the founder and executive director of The Eating Disorders Information Network (http://www.myedin.org/Home.html). This site provides a wealth of information for parents, especially for parents of young girls. I would check out their M.O.D. Squad (M.oms O.f D.aughters) pages, especially their seven principals. Another wonderful resource for moms of young daughters is The Body Positive (http://www.thebodypositive.org/) ) lots of great information there. Let us not forget fathers in this equation. Thankfully there is an organization devoted just to dads: Dads and Daughters created by Joe Kelly (http://www.dadsanddaughters.org/home/index.html) New Moon Magazine is another terrific resource (https://www.newmoon.org/specialoffer/?source=GOOGLE) and speaking of media, we must educate ourselves to the messages we and our children are bombarded with daily. A great place to begin that education is with Dr. Peter DeBenedittis’ article “Seven Progressive Steps to Protect Children from the Harmful Effects of Media” at http://medialiteracy.net/pdfs/7_Steps_Parenting_Around_Media.pdf I could go on and on but this list of resources can help us get started on the path of helping our young children feel good about themselves. The first step though if we are ever concerned about specific behaviors in our children, especially unexplained weight gain or loss is to have them evaluated by a physician who is savvy in the arena of eating problems—not an easy thing to find but worth the search. Ill-placed comments from ill-informed doctors can trigger the path we are hoping to avoid. Parenting is tough. Teaching ourselves how to do a “good enough” job at it takes time we may feel we just do not have. As a parent what I’ve found in the area of positive body image is if I don’t put the time in now to learn what I need to learn, I’ll be putting the time in later when my child may be in crisis and I am attempting to “catch up.” When it comes to positive self-esteem and learning how to focus on health not weight, it is never too early to start. Blessings until next time, Doris (Source: Advice for Parents)

Dripping and cursing

Cranky Fitness — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 04:00:00 +0100

[By Crabby]No, This is Not CrabbyIs there anyone out there who actually likes to exercise in hot humid weather?If so, you may want to excuse yourself, because this is going to be one whiny-assed post.It's not entirely my fault--I've lived most of my life in coastal Northern California. I'm accustomed to mild summers tempered by cool evenings. Except during occasional "heat waves," early summer mornings tend to dawn crisp, fresh and lovely.Most importantly, I grew up learning that "wet" goes with "cold." Not with "hot.""Hot" and "wet?" That's crazy talk! Or pornography. Certainly not weather.And even though I've spent a few random years on the East coast, I seem to forget, like mothers who get amnesia about labor pains. Now that I'm back east again, I'm suffering from a recurrence of an disorder common to California natives: Pleasant Weather Entitlement Syndrome.So when the weather gets hot and humid, it feels not just uncomfortable, but like something is profoundly wrong.Somebody must have screwed up. Something is broken. I want my money back! People simply shouldn't be expected to put up with something as ridiculous and gross as summer humidity, it's outrageous! (Last summer I spent a couple months in Washington D.C. and there'd be times I'd walk out of an air-conditioned building and just start laughing out loud).Here in Provincetown, Massachusetts, the weather is heavenly compared to the Southeast. It hasn't even gotten hot here yet. Not only is P-town located in a northerly location, but if you were to peruse a map looking for a place where refreshing sea breezes would likely be found (and you were not willing to live on a raft in the ocean), it's kinda hard to beat:Water Everywhere!(Photo via flickr)And yet I can still find something to gripe about.Sure, it generally is very pleasant in summer--we just happened to have a few warm muggy days recently.And....Aacckkk! California girl melts down.I innocently went for a morning run-- and came back drippy and red-faced and exhausted and miserable. What the heck? What just happened???!!!! Oh, my goodness, it's... it's... humidity!So I'm wondering: how the hell do you folks who live somewhere with real heat and humidity exercise outdoors? How is it even possible?Sure I've read the general hot-weather exercise advice you tend to get and it sort of boils down to the obvious:1. Acclimate slowly; your body, once trained, learns to sweat more quickly and copiously.(Note: This is great when it comes to exercising! Not so great when you're just trying to get from your car to an important meeting and your well-trained body decides that your dry-clean-only outfit needs immediate drenchification).2. Drink plenty of fluids.3. Dress in cool, loose, light-colored clothing.Probably Not Advisable[Photo credit: Iain Farrell]4. Avoid midday sun.5. Wear Evil Sunscreen.6. Don't go outside in the first place!So I'm clearly not the expert here--have you folks had any experiences with hot humid weather? Any advice? (Source: Cranky Fitness)

Give back to the track, jack!

Cranky Fitness — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 04:00:00 +0100

[By Merry]The Nike World Campus in OregonWant to make yourself feel good? Sure you do.Got any old running shoes that you really should get rid of? Yeah, that's what I thought.Okay, here's the deal. You can recycle your old shoes.Reuse-A-Shoe is a program sponsored by Nike. Worn-out athletic shoes of any brand are collectedand recycled into material used in sports surfaces like basketball courts, tennis courts, athletic fields, running tracks and playgrounds for young people around the world.Not just any shoesFor some reason, they wouldn't accept these...They have to be athletic shoes. Specifically, they will recycle:Athletic shoes only (any brand)No shoes containing metalNo cleats or dress shoesNo wet or damp shoes Sounds great! Where do I drop them off?They've put together a website of places to drop off old shoes in the U.S. And another for places to drop off old shoes in Europe or Australia. Sadly, they need to realize how great Canadians are at recycling. At least Nike's trying. I'll give them credit for that.Just don't try to donate used gym clothesIs this something that everyone who's anyone has known about for years? Are you all sitting back and yawning, thinking to yourself "That Merry! She really needs to get out more -- everybody knows about this!" If so, are there any other really cool recycling programs I should know about? I know you can recycle old cell phones by donating them to women's shelters and places like that. Any others that I've missed? (Source: Cranky Fitness)

Give-away winners, and more coming up

Cranky Fitness — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 04:00:00 +0100

So sorry we couldn't give razors to everyone, especially after those awesome comments. But keep trying! There will be another give-away contest this next coming Friday July 4th (which we'll run a little longer because of the holiday), and you will NOT need to be a U.S. resident to win. So the random number generator hath spoken, and the winners of the Schick Quattro Razor Are:JillLynnSassy StephanieLaura Brandon, andBrendaCongratulations!Please email us at: Crabby McSlacker @ gmail.com (no spaces) by midnight EST on Wednesday July 2 with your mailing address, and we'll forward the list to the Schick folks. (You may want to include a real name for mailing purposes, although we're sure Sassy Stephanie's postal carrier would appreciate her blog alias). Also you may want to make sure your email address is reply-able in case of any questions/confusion).Note: If there are unclaimed razors we'll go back and choose additional names, so please keep obsessively checking Cranky Fitness to pump up our page views find out what's happening with the give-aways and health and fitness news. (Source: Cranky Fitness)

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Reader recipe: sweet potato chili

Cranky Fitness — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 04:00:00 +0100

[Posted by Crabby]This recipe features the humble Sweet Potato.You would think sweet potatoes were the junk food of the vegetable world, wouldn't you? "Sweet" plus "potato" sure sounds like something that should be naughty. An uninformed person might think: Why eat a naughty vegetable when you could use those calories for other important nutritional needs?(Cartoon courtesy of nataliedee.com)But guess what: that's all wrong. Sweet potatoes are really nutritious! They're so good for you, in fact, that the CSPI (Center for Science in the Public Interest) named the sweet potato the most nutritious vegetable of all the vegetables in the world!Note: if this claim seems a bit over-the-top, it may be 'cause this Healthy Vegetable Pageant was held back in 1991. We've been introduced to about a billion "superfoods" since then, and I was too lazy to discover the current rankings. Perhaps the Sweet Potato has been demoted to Miss Congeniality by now (since she seems so sweet and all).Screw you brussel sprouts, I'm still WAY more popular.(Photo by Angie Doyle)But even without the crown: sweet potatoes are full of really great healthy stuff.So here is an awesome recipe sent in by Megan R, who blogs at Praying Horse. (She blogs about weight loss and emotional eating and has lost 135 lbs!) The chili sounds delicious to me, since I love sweet and spicy things together. As soon as I get my lazy ass in the kitchen and get around to cutting up some veggies I'm definitely gonna give this a try!Sweet Potato Chili1 tbsp olive oil1 medium red onion, diced1 tsp chili powder2 cups vegetable broth1 large sweet potato, peeled and cut into 3/4 inch cubes2 zucchinis, diced3 tomatoes, diced or 1 can tomato bits2 cups cooked pinto beans or 1 can6 cloves garlic, minced (I like garlic)1/4 tsp cumin1/4 tsp dried oregano1/4 tsp cayenneChopped fresh cilantroHeat olive oil in heavy pan over medium high heat. Add red onion and saute until golden brown, about 5 minutes. Add the chili powder and stir for 1 minute. Add 1 cup of the broth and the sweet potato. Cover pan and reduce heat. Simmer until sweet potato is almost tender, about 10 minutes.Add tomatoes with the juice and the pinto beans along with the garlic and spices. Add the zucchinis and the rest of the broth. Add pepper.Simmer uncovered until the chili thickens and the sweet potato is very tender. Add cilantro to the bowl when serving.Thanks Megan!IMPORTANT NOTE: We're starting to run low on Reader Recipes... Got a tasty easy healthy one? Please email to Crabby McSlacker @ gmail . com (all one word). (Source: Cranky Fitness)

The fight for insurance coverage for eds

Life After Recovery — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 04:00:00 +0100

Dear Friends,The crisis in insurance coverage for eating disorders has been escalating for years. The good news is that most recent lawsuits have been decided in favor of patients, forcing insurers to pay for treatment. The bad news is that, too often, the lawsuits are decided too late to save those patients. Whatever our own stage of recovery, we should all be aware of this issue. Here is an excellent op-ed from today's Los Angeles Times. One of the authors is Dr. David Herzog, whom some of you may remember from my book. He treated Caroline Knapp. Starved for adequate care Insurance companies too often deny needed treatment to eating-disorder patients -- sometimes with tragic consequences. By David Herzog, Nancy Matsumoto and Marcia Herrin June 28, 2008 Anorexia nervosa struck Janell Smith, a teacher's assistant, when she was 23. The active young woman loved by her family and friends began to disappear, overtaken by a tyrannical inner voice that told her she was too fat to deserve to eat. Swallowing even one spoonful of food became a monumental act of will; just seeing calorie-rich mayonnaise on a sandwich was enough to send her into a panic. For three years, the disease assaulted her body, mind and spirit, shrinking her to a low of 63 pounds on a 5-foot-3 frame, while the effects of extreme starvation on Smith's brain made her incapable of thinking rationally. In January 2003, she was hospitalized at Laguna Beach's South Coast Medical Center, at first in the psychiatric ward. But Smith's plummeting weight landed her for a time in the medical unit of the hospital to be tube fed. Then, in early March, Smith's parents, Mary and Brian Smith, were informed by her insurance company, Magellan Health Services, that she would be discharged in three days, despite the dissenting view of her caregivers. The company was cutting off coverage for her hospitalization. Janell Smith was still far too sick to be admitted to any outpatient treatment program, and her mental condition was known to be fragile. Still, she was forced to return to her condo in San Diego, where, a week later, she committed suicide by overdosing on a mix of alcohol and pills. She died on March 12, 2003, 26 years old, another casualty of a disease that has the highest successful suicide rate of any mental illness. After their daughter's death, Mary and Brian Smith sued Magellan and its subsidiaries for wrongful death and acting in bad faith. Facets of the suit have wended their way through the state court system up to the California Supreme Court, but the case will finally be heard before a jury in Los Angeles starting Monday. The case highlights the issue of "medical necessity" that lies at the core of so many eating disorder-related health insurance battles, and that will be central to any health insurance reform. How does an insurance company decide who is sick enough to warrant treatment or hospitalization? Whom do we hold accountable for decisions about which treatments are "medically necessary" and which aren't? Answers are hard to come by because insurers deny or severely limit coverage for an eating disorder -- as with all mental illnesses -- based on a medical assessment process that is neither uniform throughout the industry nor transparent. So far, attempts to change this system have been successful only in a piecemeal fashion. The suicide of Anna Westin, 21, in 2000 after her insurer denied coverage for her anorexia led to a lawsuit against Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota. The suit, which was settled out of court, resulted in the company's redesign of its medical assessment procedure and, in turn, expanded access to care for members with eating disorders and other mental diseases. Earlier this month, Aetna settled a class-action suit over coverage for eating disorders, agreeing to pay $250,000 in reimbursements to as many as 100 New Jersey policyholders whose claims were denied. The American Psychiatric Assn. has issued clear guidelines for the care of patients with eating disorders (including when to hospitalize and discharge them). Insurance companies, however, are not compelled to follow these guidelines and seldom do. Nor are they required to heed -- or even listen to -- a patient's own doctor. Instead, they use the catchall term "medical necessity" to differentiate those who merit coverage from those who don't, without defining the term. With insurers ducking behind this meaningless lingo, patients and their exhausted families can only mount appeals, face mediation or sue. But corporate stonewalling, quibbling over claim-filing technicalities and other bureaucratic minutiae often simply wear them down. Smith's parents lost their daughter to an insidious disease that is much better understood than it once was. But the gap between what doctors and researchers now know about anorexia's deadly risks and how it gets treated in the real world of the health insurance system was, in Smith's case, too wide. Narrowing that gap will require bringing healthcare professionals, insurers, lawmakers and consumers together to hash out medically safe and ethical guidelines for the care of the mentally ill, as well as a system to keep abreast of research. Unless that happens, those who can pay for treatment out of their own pockets after their insurance company cuts them off will get the care they need, although it may bankrupt them. Those who can't afford such treatment, such as the Smiths, will be out of luck.David Herzog is a professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and directs the Harris Center for Advocacy in Eating Disorders at Massachusetts General Hospital. Nancy Matsumoto and Marcia Herrin are the coauthors of "The Parent's Guide to Eating Disorders." (Source: Life After Recovery)

Stupid boy

Recovery Support — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 04:00:00 +0100

If you live in Nashville, I hope you attend the benefit for the Eating Disorders Coalition of Tennessee (EDCT) on June 30th at 3rd and Lindsley (see details below). I will be singing one song! One of the organizers of the benefit is my good friend, Brittany MacNealy. Recently, she shared her interpretation of the hit song, "Stupid Boy" (Berg/Bryant/Buxton), with me. I wanted to share it with you below. Best, Jenni------ Many people have heard Keith Urban's hit single "Stupid Boy". What you might not know is that eating disorder survivor and EDCT Celebrity Spokesperson Sarah Buxton co-wrote the song. Because of the title of the song, one would think it was a male bashing tune. But if you really listen to the message, it is not. Whether the "Stupid Boy" in the song is in fact a boy or a girl, disorder, illness, addiction, disease, whatever…. The message the song delivers is that it is unworthy of ones time, energy and life. As I listen to the song, I can see the 'Stupid Boy' was the eating disorder I overcame. The eating disorder "stole her every dream an' crushed her plans. She never even knew she had a choice. That's what happens when the only voice, She hears is tellin her she can't: Stupid boy: you stupid boy. So what made you think you could take her life, An' just push it, push it around? I guess you built yourself up so high, You had to take her an' break her down." Like Sarah and her co-writers Dave Berg and Deanna Bryant wrote at the end of the tune "It took her a while to figure it out she could run, But once she did, she was long gone, long gone",I am now long gone from my own "stupid boy" after I learned to run. --- Brittany MacNealy Check out more music by these AMAZING songwriters at: www.myspace.com/davebergmusic www.myspace.com/deannabryant www.myspace.com/sarahbuxton -- Here are the details about the event: Monday, June 30th, 2008 Nashville, TN Songwriters in the Round with Sarah Buxton, Rivers Rutherford, and Dave Berg with special guests, Dylan Altman, Matt Warren, Jenni Schaefer and Caroline Mitchell Lusk 3rd and Lindsley 6:30 PM - 11 PM $10 at the door For more information, contact Brittany MacNealy at bmacnealy@edct.net or (615) 831-9838. (Source: Recovery Support)

Give-aways and gorilla legs

Cranky Fitness — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 04:00:00 +0100

[By Crabby] Cranky Fitness is always looking for new ideas to steal from other blogs mix things up a little. And we can't help noticing that there are some other bloggers that are far ahead of us in the give-away department. As we understand it, our pal MizFit actually goes out and finds cool things that readers might like, things that bear some relation to the subject of her blog, (fitness), and then she obtains these items and gives them away to readers! Isn't that cool? But that sounds like way too much work. We usually wait until someone offers us something to give away, which doesn't happen all that often. If we were motivated and proactive enough to contact folks who had cool heath-related products, we'd be begging them for advertising revenue, not free samples. On the other hand, sometimes people contact us and offer up stuff to review. Most times we say no, because the blog might get even more boring if we took up every single review opportunity that came along. (And honestly, we were getting a lot of laxative offers for a while. Perhaps they think the reason we're so Cranky here at Cranky Fitness is because we're constipated? We're not, I swear.) But anyway, the last two email offers we got I thought I'd experiment with a new approach. I said: well, we might not review it, but can we give the stuff away to our readers? And they said yes! So if this approach continues to work, we might start giving stuff away on Fridays if there's anything on hand. Unless otherwise noted, a Random Number Generator will be used to choose among people who enter by commenting. Next week, I believe we may have one or more exercise dvd's (still working on the details) but this week... we got razors! Five of these! Another blog-pal Stephanie, who also frequently gives things away, says these razors are great. Do razors have anything to do with health and fitness? Well, gosh, no they don't. But they're free so let's talk about them, shall we? Each razor has FOUR RAZOR BLADES on it! Because God knows you can't get a close enough shave with just three. (I'm wondering, however, how long this razor-blade escalation will continue. It used to be one, then two, then three, now four... what do you think: Five? Seven? Will there one day be a new Schick Century Razor with 100 razor blades?) And why do so many of us women even remove our leg hair in the first place? It seems silly and sexist that only one gender is allowed to have leg hair. Alas, I tried go "natural" back in college, being a feminist and all. This approach works great if you are blond or have nice soft sparse downy hair. I don't. Seriously. I couldn't pretend I didn't care that I grow long dense thick fur rather than leg hair so I ended that experiment. (But now I tend to get waxed, so don't need to hog the razors for myself). Unfortunately, though, they only want U.S. winners, which on this blog is inconvenient. We love our Canadians and other international readers! (A Canadian ended up winning the Lipton Bike, by the way, which made us quite happy). However, for U.S. residents, this means you have a really good chance of winning one of these babies. Will we even get 5 non-Canadian comments? So if you have any observations about hair removal, or you would like to win a nifty razor, please leave a comment and check back Monday. Note: Another good place to check for health related give-aways is Healthbolt, which is a fun place to hang out anyway. They've been doing round-ups of free stuff, often on Sundays. (Source: Cranky Fitness)

Does food = mood?

Cranky Fitness — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 04:00:00 +0100

[By Merry]Visualize Whirled PeasThey say that you are what you eat. My shape could be described as resembling a big mac (hold the pickles and lettuce).Food can make you happy. Can food also make you cranky? A lot of people who are overweight can attest that food can make you (in the short-term) happy. They have developed their full figures because of relying on comfort food (i.e. food that is high in fat) to make them feel better when times are hard.Just out of curiosity -- why does no one ever try comfort carrots? High on the glycemic index (but not on the glycemic load), carrots are also full of fiber. Plus if you're stressed you can crunch on them and get some of your aggression out. How often have you seen a cranky rabbit?Rabbit angst... not a pretty sight...And obviously eating a lot of sugary foods can make you hyper, just as -- so some people say -- eating all the Thanksgiving turkey can make you sleepy. (According to some experts, all that tryptophan in the turkey can make you sleepy. And all this time you thought it was Aunt Marge's habit of pulling out the grandchild photographs that was making you nod off after the T-day dinner.)Can it work the other way? Can food actually promote anger?Some of Britain's most challenging young prisoners are to be given food supplements in a study aimed at curbing violent behavior.Just think! We could promote world peace (or at least whirled peas) by making sure everyone gets decent meals.Somehow that sounds waaaay too simple. Yes, if no one ever had to worry about putting food on the table, or making sure their table isn't foreclosed on, then I suppose there would be less anger in the world.Does food = mood?In some circumstances this makes sense, but all the time? I'm not sure. I can see food being used for all kinds of cranky and indeed lethal behavior. (The Twinkie Defense springs to mind.) What do you think? (Source: Cranky Fitness)

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Easily embarrassed

Cranky Fitness — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 04:00:00 +0100

[By Crabby]So, would you like to see the hilarious photo of the guy running in some big race who crapped his running shorts in front of thousands of horrified/amused spectators?Click here!Oh sorry, did that link not work?Must be technical difficulties. Or, more accurately, psychological ones.I feel profoundly uncomfortable about the growing internet trend of posting and publicizing pictures and videos of ordinary people who did something accidental and humiliating.Wrong place, wrong time, caught on camera--and now some poor soul has to cope with the fact that their image is all over the world wide web. Someone leaked bodily fluids or fell in an embarrassing way or fell victim to a prank or an accident and perhaps did not conduct himself or herself with grace.What if that person were me? How would I feel?Probably pretty close to suicidal. (I am, however, neurotic).Are these photos and videos obtained and distributed with the permission of the person being made fun of? Well, I don't know. What's your guess? And if I don't know, should I just assume "they must be ok with it because everyone else is posting it too?"Of course there are plenty of times when I don't mind laughing right along with everyone else:Stuck-up celebrities who carefully manipulate their image and do everything they can to be photographed constantly so they can sell that image? Well, when they get caught doing something stupid, I don't feel so bad.Or idiots who film themselves doing reckless stunts and then wipe out in spectacular or humorous ways? I have no problem with those sorts of videos either.But an ordinary person minding his or her own business who is not asking for trouble? I think we should leave 'em alone. I don't care how "funny" it was; I care that this was an actual person and I don't want to play a part in hurting them.I'll admit, I'm someone who is easily embarrassed. I get vicariously embarrassed for others and I cringe right along with them. In fact, I don't even like fictional characters to humiliate themselves. I'll fast-forward through a movie when the drunk person starts to get up to make the speech at the black-tie dinner or whatever. I'm weird, I know.Does anyone else have any thoughts about this? Am I just being too sensitive? (Source: Cranky Fitness)

Mosquitoes? yikes! deet vs alternatives

Cranky Fitness — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 04:00:00 +0100

[By Crabby]Photo by trebol-aI Have Nothing Against Most BugsI generally have a "no-kill" policy when it comes to insects. When I'm outside and they annoy me, I shoo them away or go inside. When they manage to get inside, I try to relocate them to the great outdoors. (Or sometimes I'm too lazy and I just leave them, knowing that Someone Else will probably come by and kill them later--but at least I'm not the personal agent of their destruction).But mosquitoes? Whole different story! I hate mosquitoes. No gentle shooing, no Insect Relocation program. It's all kill, kill, kill, buh-bye.Yet for someone who hates mosquitoes, I do practically nothing to keep them away from me. I spent most of my life in areas where they're not a huge problem, only an occasional nuisance, so it's taken me a while to "get it."But now I live somewhere they like to hang out, and I finally understand: Sometimes one really, truly needs to spray on some sort of foul substance to keep from being eaten alive.But it's so icky! It's worse than even than evil sunscreen.Is DEET the answer? Wait, what was the question?I've always heard DEET was the only thing that really worked. And despite years of experts reassuring me that there was nothing to worry about unless one was particularly chemically sensitive (nope--just emotionally) I've never really trusted the stuff.It burns through synthetic fabrics and plastics, right? How scary is that?Well, Scientific American recently ran an article on DEET that mentioned annoying side effects like skin irritation, numb or burning lips, nausea, headaches, dizziness and difficulty concentrating, blah blah blah... but then went on to say something about "diffuse brain cell death," and that managed to get my attention.Brain cell death? Um, no thanks. I'd like to hang on to the precious few brain cells I have. Or if I'm gonna kill them, I'd at least like to use something more fun, like tequila. I'm not wasting brain cells on DEET.But thankfully, the article also challenged the "DEET is the only effective insect-killer" notion I'd heard so often. They said that in recent years, the alternatives have gotten much better. They recommended two in particular: picaridin and oil of lemon eucalyptus. To quote:"Picaridin, long used to repel mosquitoes in other parts of the world, is now available in the U.S. under the Cutter Advanced brand name. Oil of lemon eucalyptus, which is derived from eucalyptus leaves and is the only plant-based active ingredient for insect repellents approved by the CDC, is available in several different forms, including Repel Lemon Eucalyptus, OFF! Botanicals, and Fight Bite Plant-Based Insect Repellent."Cool! Oil of lemon eucalyptus sounds kinda pleasant, doesn't it? Almost like something you'd pay to be dunked in at the spa. Or the manicurist..."But Madge, Mosquito Repellent???""Relax, You're Soaking In It."Other Botanical Alternatives:The Scientific American article mentions a couple other places to get safer mosquito repellent recommendations, (here too), but Google had different ideas.Google thought we should all be using Catnip to repel mosquitoes.Turns out, previous research suggested catnip oil might have promise, but alas, even people who sell catnip for a living said: Nope; it doesn't work very well.Plus, it can actually attract pests.Photo by donnjmckYeah, those too, but they specifically mention bees and fire ants.Anyway, does anyone else dislike both mosquitoes and the methods used to repel them? Any thoughts or suggestions? Anyone tried the Picaridin or the Oil of lemon eucalyptus? (Source: Cranky Fitness)

Fat is not fair

Cranky Fitness — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 04:00:00 +0100

[by Crabby]It is not a scientific secret that genetics play a role in weight gain and obesity.People have different metabolisms. There are people who eat tons of food and never exercise, yet they are skinny. There are other people who eat healthy foods in reasonable portions, exercise for hours, and will still probably always be "overweight."Yet because so much hard work and sacrifice is involved in weight loss, there is a tendency among people who are successful to act as though everyone gets the exact same deal. "I gave up my hot fudge sundaes and started running, and look at me! If you're still overweight, it's because you must be eating crap and sitting on your ass all day."Well, some of you know from experience that it's just not true.And sure, plenty of people are overweight because they eat way too much and exercise too little. But there are also plenty of others who get a raw deal in the genetic lottery--maybe growing up, you did the same stuff everyone around you was doing, but instead of getting heavy, you got obese. Or maybe you've struggled your whole life to keep from being obese, going to great lengths to be merely overweight. Or perhaps you've swung back and forth, losing and gaining, messing with your already unfriendly metabolism and through the best of intentions making things worse.It's not fair.What's It Like To Have the Deck Stacked Against You?Are you one of those unlucky people? I'm not myself, but I believe that among readers of health and weight loss blogs, there are quite a few. People who are motivated enough to visit blogs and even start their own, and research all the right things to do and try and try and try... but still find the pounds fall off very, very slowly. And sometimes not at all.I read what some of you folks are eating and what you're doing for exercise, and Holey Moley! It's a lot more demanding than what I have to do to maintain my weight. I would get so exhausted by the daily battle of "bad cookie/good carrot/how many steps on the pedometer today" that I think I'd want to pull my hair out.I have a pretty "normal" metabolism. If I start eating like an average American and exercising like an average American, even for a few months, I gain weight. I would be overweight now if I hadn't woken up (twice) and reformed my ways when I started to get too self-indulgent. But, unlike some of you, if I eat 90% healthy, count calories for a while, and get a bunch of exercise, I can lose the weight again fairly easily and keep it off.It makes me wonder what my attitudes would be like if I weren't so lucky. What if I were suddenly "blessed" with a hundred or so extra pounds and a stubborn metabolism? How would I handle it?The Optimistic ScenarioHere's what I hope I would do:1. Learn how to reject all the appearance-related garbage we're exposed to daily. I hope I'd learn to love my large thighs and unshedable belly fat even while being constantly told my every magazine, billboard, tv show and casual conversation that I should hate everything about myself.2. Concentrate more on health goals--getting stronger, fueling my body with nutritious healthy food, building endurance, doing enough cardio to reduce my risk for heart disease and cancer and diabetes, etc. Define progress according to these goals, not a number on the scale.3. Try to be grateful for all the other ways in which I was still lucky, by looking beyond my immediate situation. I hope I'd remind myself that I could be living in a poverty-stricken nation; I could be in the midst of a war; I could be maimed or disfigured or dying of a painful disease or the victim of any number of unjust fates.4. Surround myself with supportive, non-judgmental, healthy friends who would understand me and encourage my efforts to be strong and healthy and happy.5. Seek balance in life and see myself as a whole person with many talents and goals, and not just as number on a scale or a clothing size.But honestly? I am not a particularly evolved, mature, self-confident person.The Darker Scenario:Here is how I fear I might deal with the situation instead:1. Learn to hate my body, and by extension, myself.2. Get so focused on calories and portion sizes and "good" and "bad" foods that I'd no longer be able to enjoy eating as a simple pleasurable activity. And with food and exercise so emotionally charged, I fear I'd veer between frantic determination to lose weight versus giving up entirely and bingeing.3. Become more self-absorbed (if possible) and depressed.4. Withdraw from social situations out of fear of rejection.5. Start judging my sense of self worth by how my clothes fit rather than who I was as a person.Yikes, what a downer, I should have gone in the other order!So does anyone with a "good" metabolism wonder how they'd fare if they weren't so lucky? Or does anyone who's unlucky have any stories from the trenches or advice for those struggling against unfair odds? (Source: Cranky Fitness)

Random friday: beverages, blow-ups and bar graphs

Cranky Fitness — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 04:00:00 +0100

[Posted by Crabby]Hmm, Which One is Crabby?Yes, it's been a while since a Random Friday, but don't worry--it's still just as dopey as ever. Merry is taking some well-deserved time off, thereby lowering the standards of the blog. Pray for her speedy return!Let's start with a little bit of science, shall we?Gay Brains:A brain scan study of gay and hetero brains found surprising differences--with gay men and straight women sharing some characteristics that differed from straight men and lesbians. These were "in the area of the brain responsible for emotion, mood and anxiety." The brains of straight guys and lesbians "were slightly asymmetric with the right hemisphere slightly larger than the left," while gay male and straight female brains were not. And the amygdala (the "fight-or-flight" area) was wired in a similar fashion in gay men/heterosexual women vs gay gals/straight men.(Note to self: learn better bar-fighting skills and how best to avoid crying at sad movies. Or at least find out why I was apparently issued the wrong model of brain at birth. Consider visiting Healthbolt to take the "what sex is your brain" test).More Good News on the Beverage Front:At least if you enjoy coffee and/or red wine.For java junkies, especially the gals: A new coffee study found that women who drank two to three cups of coffee a day had an 18% reduction in death from all causes compared to non-coffee-drinkers. But what about 4-5 cups a day, that can't be good, right? Well ha ha ha! The women who drank that much had a 26% reduction in risk. (However, the risk reduction in men was small enough it could have been due to chance).And as for the health benefits of red wine? Well, as you may recall, previous research had shown that an ingredient in red wine, resveratrol, extended longevity in mice. But these studies were done with high doses, which is a problematic if you're trying to generalize to humans, given the obvious inadvisability of guzzling several cases of merlot every night. However, this new research was done with much lower doses, implying that even modest amounts of resveratrol can "can elicit many of the same benefits as a reduced-calorie diet," including "a robust intervention in the retardation of cardiac aging."Cheers!Losing Your Cool:Do you have kids on sports teams? Does it ever drive you crazy to go to their games and watch obnoxious parents behave like complete assh*les and spoil everything? Well, you may want to visit Juicebox Mom at Just Here for the Snacks and print off some copies of her handy and humorous guide: Parents--How to Behave on the Sidelines.And speaking of Complete Obnoxiousness, this awesome video has been around the net for a while (and there is now a musical version). But for those who haven't seen the vintage Bill O'Reilly meltdown, it is worth watching a World-Class Prick Professional performing at the peak of his powers.(And O'Reilly has plenty of company, if you want to see a compilation of similar on-camera temper tantrums).How Much is Too Much?Here at Cranky Fitness we can't really be accused of "overdoing it" when it comes to rigorous exercise. Nor are we overzealous when it comes to nutrition or personal development or anything else that requires sustained effort. However, some of you out there are quite dedicated and motivated! You may sometimes run into the problem of Doing Too Much.Are you overdoing it on your exercise routine? Charlotte over at The Great Fitness Experiment has an insightful post on over-training, (and a great follow-up too) that could be a valuable intervention for anyone easily seduced by a "More is Better" approach to fitness. Sometimes more is NOT better.And similarly, Semi-Charmed Wife asks a lot of good questions about the constant quest for self-improvement and whether it's always healthy. (She doesn't presume to have the answers, either, which is refreshing).Random Internet Wanderings:Did you know that the Lolcat people have spawned yet another user-generated humor site that can assist you in avoiding work for hours? Well, it's true, damn it. It's especially suited for people obsessed with popular song lyrics and charts and graphs and such.plenty more at the graphjam site.And another cool thing? There are cartoons on the web! Who knew?Comic courtesy of xkcdHave a great Friday, folks! (Source: Cranky Fitness)

Silly device du jour: shiftless bicycles

Cranky Fitness — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 04:00:00 +0100

[By Merry]You need a shiftless bike like a fish needs a ... oh, never mind...Silly exercise device du jour: One of those automatic bicycles that shifts gears for you.Depending on the gear ratios on a bicycle, you can shift into an often bewildering variety of gears. These bicycles are designed to simplify the process by determining when to shift without consulting you on the matter. (You can override the automatic function, but in that case why buy the bicycle?)I can't speak for the Crab, but my feeling is that you really need to learn to shift for yourself. This device earns short shrift here in my corner of Cranky Fitness land. (Not that I ever give anything long shrift, in fact I've certainly never even seen a long shrift, but that's the way the expression goes.)I'm trying to think of a situation where this would be a good idea.I can see it can help people who're completely unused to bicycling get used to bicycling, and that's a good thing. My sister, for example, got one of these after not having been on a bike for 20 years. It's a start, like training wheels before you learn to balance. If you feel overwhelmed with trying to keep upright, not wobble to far into the road, and keep pedaling at the same time, it might help to have one less factor to try to deal with. This bicycle might work for taking short trips on fairly level and isolated bike paths , but I wouldn't want to ride it on the road. It's like learning to balance . You need to learn to shift for yourself.Some examples of when this bicycle would be a bad idea:* Sometimes you need to be in a gear for a certain reason. If you're trying to warm up, you want to spin in low gears, whereas if you need to get the hell through an intersection before the moron in the red sedan mows you down, you'll want to be practiced enough to shift into a high gear so you can fly.* I wouldn't use one if your objective is to get into shape. When you're trying to get fit, it's helpful to do a lot of warming up in very low gears. Spinning, they used to call it, in the days before stationary bicycle classes were the rage. If you pedal in a gear that's lower than necessary, you end up doing a lot more pedaling and covering a lot less distance, but you get your blood pumping and muscles warmed up without putting any strain on your knees. (If you start out cycling in a high gear, you can put more strain on your knees.)* Sometimes you'll round a corner and see a steep hill up ahead . Not to lose momentum, you'll shift down into a better gear a little before you need to. This self-shifting bicycle doesn't come equipped with eyes; it can't see ahead. You'll find yourself losing momentum while the bicycle takes the time to think "hmmmn... getting steeper here, maybe I should shift."* Also sometimes the terrain is rollers, a situation where you are going up and down over very small hills (like stretched out bumps, really) . If you've got a rhythm going, your body is in a routine, a comfortable cycle of motion that by repetition becomes something you don't have to think about. If your bicycle detects a change in the level of the terrain and decides to shift for you, you're thrown off your rhythm and have to re-condition yourself, get back into the groove. That's a pain.Okay, yes, I can see a few reasons why you'd want this bicycle. But I can see a whole lot more reasons why you'd be better off with a bicycle that lets you do the thinking/planning/shifting.Obligatory note: I have read a few positive reviews of auto-shift bicycles. Seems to me that the reviews were written from the perspective of someone who wanted to get around town occasionally and wasn't interested in using bicycling as a way of getting into shape or of seeing the countryside. I'm including the links to these reviews below.Popular Mechanics thought this bike was the bee's knees.Crave wrote it was for the "easily daunted" cyclist.I'd be interested in some more reviews from people who've tried these bicycles. Am I being too critical? Too dismissive? Cranky minds want to know!p.s. Ending on a positive note, I have to say these Monkey Lights are really cool. You can generate all kinds of neat patterns on your bicycle wheels while you ride.It's fun. Kind of like putting a baseball card in your spokes when you were a kid, only you can justify the expense of these because it's a safety issue. Yeah, that's it.(Why do adults have to rationalize the urge to have something just because it's fun? Or at least, why do I?) (Source: Cranky Fitness)

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Allowing others to “make” us feel responsible

Advice for Parents — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 04:00:00 +0100

Not too long ago, in the psychological community, the first step in treating someone suffering with an eating disorder was to attempt to perform a “parentectomy.” It is now generally understood that when parents are educated to the ways in which they can help, they can be the most valuable first line of defense in their child’s healing process. The world of psychology has come a long way in seeing the value of parent involvement in the treatment of eating disorders.A mother heard me speak at our local high school and, in a comment to my previous blog, shared that she left the talk feeling “…very responsible for my daughter’s illness and it really hurt!” I try to begin each of my presentations with the announcement that parents do not cause eating disorders—these are complex illnesses and a myriad of factors are involved in their development. I must have neglected to make this statement on this occasion. I do know, however, that if we do not take the time to look inward and examine the ways that we have bought into our culture’s toxic messages about food, weight and looks that we may well be contributing to the continuation of the illness once it has developed. A few days ago I was hiking with a woman, whom I’ll call Sue. I’ve gotten to know her only through occasional sharing of the same hillside. On this particular morning, I met her as she was descending the mountain and she elected to continue her hike by joining me on my assent. Within minutes she revealed that her motivation to continue to hike came from the fact that she’d gained two pounds and needed to work off the weight. This is the same woman who has expressed concern for a young relative living with her who suffers with bulimia. It was apparent that Sue was completely unaware that her need to keep track of her own weight and then engage in some sort of compensatory behavior (two rigorous hikes, back-to-back) to work off any gained weight was different from her relative’s bulimic behaviors only by degrees and method of purging. On the “For Parents” page of our web site, AndreasVoice.org, I state:We may ask, “Then whose fault is [the illness], if not my child’s?” Assigning blame is so very seductive … it makes things somehow more tidy and manageable and far more comprehensible. It, again, wastes valuable time and energy. . . time and energy that should be focused on the healing of our children. As parents we all make mistakes but there are factors over which we have no control: the combination of genes our children inherit, their specific temperaments and how they interpret events around them, the messages they receive from peers and the culture at large, and so on and so on. We may not cause our child's eating disorder, but we can be one of the contributing factors toward its development through our attitudes, lifestyle and inadvertent comments.Without realizing it and with no malice intended, Sue may be supporting her relative’s bulimic behaviors. In our book, Andrea’s Voice: Silenced by Bulimia, I talk about my journey through guilt. Initially, I felt completely responsible for our younger daughter Andrea’s illness—even though while she was still alive she assured me it was not my fault. At one point in the book I am once again decrying my poor parenting skills to our older daughter, Jocelyn. Her response was an eye-opener for me.After commenting for the hundredth time about how I seemed capable of only remembering the bad things I did as a mother, Jocelyn switched gears. She reminded me, “You know how you’re always going on and on about the behaviors you modeled for Annie, Mom? How much they hurt her?” “Yes.” Half a dozen examples skipped through my mind. “Well, what are you modeling for me, right now?” This question forced me to look at the purpose “guilt” was serving for me. This feeling allowed a convenient hiding place: I could avoid looking honestly at my actions by feeling guilty about their perceived affects. This became an ingenious way of avoiding the hard work of changing behaviors that inadvertently supported our culture’s drive for thinness by wasting time on lamenting. Is the message I bring to parents difficult to hear? Yes. Is it radical given today’s standards and expectations around food, weight, and feelings of self? Yes. Does it need to be heard? I think yes but I have also learned that we cannot hear what we cannot hear. I have come to realize that no one has the power to make me feel anything: happiness, anger, guilt, sadness. These all come from within me. My reactions are based on my life experiences—my biography. My job is to recognize the feelings and from whence they’ve come, allow myself to experience them fully and then let them go. I have also come to know that the more intense my reaction, the more carefully I must look within to discover what is going on for me to cause such an intense response. My reaction has nothing to do with the other person—I am responsible for how I feel. I will not abdicate that responsibility. And with that, I send you… Blessings until next time, Doris (Source: Advice for Parents)

And the gym membership goes to...

Cranky Fitness — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 04:00:00 +0100

Congratulations Zoe, it's yours!Please email Crabby at crabby mcslacker @ gmail .com (all one word) with your mailing address and we'll have the 24 hour fitness people send you your 90 day gift certificate.And if it turns out there's anything funky about it, please let us know. We will use our considerable imaginary power and influence to publicize this fact to the entire blogosphere our 12 readers. (We don't want to be giving out prizes that are a pain in the ass). But assuming it's good for what they told us it was and they don't harass you excessively to continue after it expires... have fun at the gym this summer! (Source: Cranky Fitness)

Whole wheat whining; plus... plug for panko?

Cranky Fitness — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 04:00:00 +0100

You Know You ShouldNutritionists out there are always nagging us all to eat more whole grains because they're so good for you. But if you don't spend hours making things from scratch, you may have tried to buy packaged whole grain products at your local grocery store.Seems easy enough, right? Because the grocery store shelves are bursting with products screaming "Now in Whole Wheat!" or "Made With 100% Whole Grain!"So you grab a loaf of bread or a box of cereal or a frozen pizza and you take it home. Sometimes it tastes wonderful. Other times, it tastes...Well, maybe a little too grainy.But at least you tried. You either make yourself learn to like it, or you abandon the experiment and go back to the refined grain version.Faked OutHas this ever happened to you? You're at the grocery store and you discover that some refined flour product you used to buy is now available in 100% whole grain. Hooray! So you take it home and try it and it's not too bad!But then one day you happen to look more closely at the package...and discover something suspicious on the ingredients label.Hmm. How come the first or second ingredient is "wheat flour?""Wheat flour" may sound "wheaty" and everything, but didn't you read somewhere that it's just a euphemism for good old refined white flour?White flour?? You told me it was Whole Wheat!!!So how could those lying scumbag scheming evil corporate toads product marketing specialists get away with calling a product "100% Whole Grain" when it's not?Because... they just said it was "made with 100% whole grain."Gotcha!There could be just a little bit of whole grain and a lot of other things in there too, like the refined white flour you're trying to avoid. Or...... insect parts! And hey, by the same reasoning, shouldn't these "made with 100% whole wheat" products also have to say: "Made with 100% Insect Parts?" I'd be willing to bet that the insect parts you're eating in processed foods are generally 100% insect. But oddly enough, I've never seen that particular product label.That Same Old SongIf you are long-time reader this rant may sound strangely familiar. Yep, I wrote the exact same thing (back when no one reading the blog yet) and I was recommending "white whole wheat," which sounds fake but is really actually a whole grain (winter wheat).And yet again, the reason for all this whining about fake whole grain products is that it explains my excitement when I find one that appears to be (a) real and (b) very tasty.So those of you who like Crispy Crunchy things, check out Ian's Whole Wheat Panko Crumbs!Note: of course as soon as I discovered these, they became temporarily unavailable on Ian's site through Amazon. (They currently only seem to ship their non-whole wheat ones, so this picture is of the Canadian version). However, the Ian's people have assured me you can find their whole wheat panko crumbs at a Whole Foods near you.All in Search of Crispy ChickenThe reason I found out about these in the first place was because the awesome Elastic Waist blogger Anne had a great post on her fond recollection of Shake 'n Bake chicken.She was all excited because she found a healthier, tastier recipe for crunchy not-fried chicken at Family, Friends, and Food. But... their recipe called for panko bread crumbs, which I've never tried cooking with before. And I thought--do I really want to find yet one more yummy refined grain product to wish I could eat more of when there are already so many, like cupcakes?But then I googled "whole wheat panko crumbs" to see if there was such a thing, and there was, at Ian's. So I begged a sample off them, made the Chicken Recipe and...It was really good! Crunchy and only slightly more grainy than it probably would be using regular panko crumbs. (Note: I did tweak the recipe a bit to make it better match the spices I had available, so I can't vouch for the exact combination. And if you want to try it too, don't be scared of the exotic ingredient "EVOO." For those in the know, which I wasn't, it's just extra virgin olive oil).Summary: Great bread crumbs, great chicken recipe. Want more!Does anyone else struggle with the Whole Grain Thing? (Source: Cranky Fitness)

Do something nice for yourself today

Recovery Support — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 04:00:00 +0100

Today I am taking a private yoga/meditation lesson from my friend, Waller McInnes. I can’t wait to relax and connect with my body in a healthy way. What are you doing for yourself today? Here is a post that I love from Waller’s blog:I spent so many years abusing my body, trying to look perfect, to work out more than anyone I knew, to look good for everyone on the outside, in fear they may get to know my insides. I am so extremely grateful for getting able to experience my life from the inside out. I get to choose who I am around, and how much of me they get to know. I get to explore nourishing my body and exercising my mind. I get to dance and laugh and pray and sing and yell and feel radiant and alive each and every day. I get to listen to no one but me tell me how I need to look, what I need to eat, where I need to live or who I am. I get to feel my radiance from so deep within, and listen to my heart. I get to have fun making mistakes, to laugh at myself and enjoy the process. I get to empower other women to live radiant lives because I am a woman of strength, I have been through hell and I ain’t going back! --- Waller McInnes To read the poem, “A Woman of Strength,” visit Waller’s blog! (Source: Recovery Support)

Vacation, who needs it?

Cranky Fitness — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 04:00:00 +0100

[Posted by Crabby]Photo: art.comHaving just gotten back from a brief New England excursion (which was quite fun but left me feeling very guilty for abandoning the internet for a few days) I got to thinking about vacations generally. I'm a McSlacker so I take way more than my fair share--but I can see I'm going to have to step it up even more to bring up the national average.Because a vacation poll from a couple of months ago said that fewer Americans than ever are planning to take summer vacations in 2008--only a third!The New York Times was talking about the depressing phenomenon of "shrinking vacation syndrome" a couple of years ago. A typical quote, by a AAA spokesman: "The idea of somebody going away for two weeks is really becoming a thing of the past. It’s kind of sad, really, that people can’t seem to leave their jobs anymore."Another vacation survey from a year ago found that a more than half of the employees polled did not use all of their vacation.There seem to be two issues here: the inability to take much time off work, and the expense and difficulty of traveling anywhere when such precious time is actually secured. We'll just mix these two entirely different problems together because it's easier to pretend it's all one issue. But anyway, the net result is:Hardly anyone seems to be able to "get away from it all" anymore.It is the official position of Cranky Fitness that This Is Just Wrong! (And not only because we were just pimping reviewing a book about vacation destinations in order to get a free copy introduce you to a valuable resource).This "shrinking vacation" thing sucks for many reasons, but one of them is actually related to the supposed topic of this blog:It is apparently unhealthy not to take vacations!For example, researchers looking at the Framingham heart study data found that women who took a vacation every six years or less were almost eight times more likely to develop heart problems than those who took at least two vacations a year. (And they controlled for other factors like obesity, diabetes, smoking and income). And another study of men at high risk for heart disease also found that those who failed to take annual vacations were more likely to die of a heart attack.So quick, go to your boss and demand that you be released immediately! If your boss says no, simply lie down on the floor and have a heart attack. That'll show 'em.Or maybe not. Time spent away from work but hooked up to machines in the Intensive Care Unit might not be quite as relaxing as a week at the beach.But even if you can manage to take a vacation without threatening cardiac arrest, it may not even help you recuperate if you don't take the right kind.A survey of managers found that a quarter of them returned from vacation more stressed than when they left, with a third having spent at least part of their break checking in with the office, often every day. And according to Dov Eden, an organizational psychologist who has studied the issue, "those who are electronically hooked up to their office, even if they are lying on the Riviera, are less likely to receive the real benefits of a vacation and more likely to burn out."Another earlier study looked at "health-related vacation outcome." Despite the dry language, the conclusions were kinda interesting:"Recuperation" was facilitated by:Free time for one's self;Warmer (and sunnier) vacation locations;Exercise during vacation;Good sleep; andMaking new acquaintancesExhaustion was increased by:Vacation-related health problems, andA greater time-zone difference to home.The only tips I have for less stressful vacations are either pretty obvious or possibly not too practical. But what the hell:Don't go somewhere to impress others; go somewhere you're excited about. It could be camping in your local park or something more exotic. But the further away it is, the more time you need to allow to enjoy it without stress. Those "if it's Tuesday it must be Belgium" vacations are seldom relaxing.And along those lines, don't schedule every single minute with activities. Chill, dude.Don't have kids. Or if it's too late for that, figure out how to get at least some time away from them.Do lots of fun vacation-related exercise--hiking, swimming, biking etc, but leave your ambitious workout plans at home.Ditch your loved ones. Don't feel like you and your spouse/friend/family have to do the same thing all the time--constant compromise can be frustrating. If Beloved Husband wants to tour the dusty old Train Museum or spend all day on a boat drinking beer "fishing," and you'd rather shop the boutiques, split up for God's sake. You can catch up at dinner.Find a tour group. On the other hand, are you single and can't round up a friend with the same schedule or interests? Don't let that keep you at home. Tours have gotten a lot less "touristy" these days and are no longer just for the blue-hair set. The internet is your friend--here's one random company, but a few minutes with google will turn up lots of options.If you can't stay off your office email, stay somewhere without internet access. Even if it means (sniff) no Cranky Fitness for the duration.Get some sleep. Arrange to have any noisy or obnoxious hotel neighbors arrested or intimidated by local thugs. Failing that, at least complain to hotel management with the hopes that they may do something about it or get you another room.Come back home a day or two early. Don't wait until the last minute before you have to go back to work. Nothing will erase a relaxing vacation faster than stack of unopened mail, a mountain of chores, a pile of stinky laundry two stories high and no time to deal with any of it.You tell me! (You guys are much better at this stuff).(And by the way, thanks to all those who stopped by while I was out of town, and my apologies for not logging on to the internet almost the entire time! But I read some list that said I shouldn't).So are any of you going to be able to escape for a vacation this summer? Or do you have any thoughts about vacationing generally? (Source: Cranky Fitness)

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Celebrate pet your peeve day!

Cranky Fitness — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 04:00:00 +0100

[By Merry]There's a reason Crabby doesn't usually let me post on Mondays.I loathe Mondays. If I'd been involved in the design of the weekdays, Monday would have been left off the list altogether.Then I thought, well maybe a lot of people have things that annoy them, and maybe it would be a liberating feeling to create a day specifically for people to voice their own pet peeves.Celebrate Pet Your Peeve Day!What annoys you? Today I'm especially irked at people who make left turns. For some reason they feel impelled to initiate the left turn by veering to the right and then yanking the steering wheel until they're practically diagonal across the lane. No way annnnybody's going anywhere until they can make their turn.I was going to put together a list of things that annoy me, but then I did a little research. Frankly, I've been outclassed: this site lists hundreds of annoyances: http://www.getannoyed.com/ (This is one seriously annoyed person, let me tell you.)Excuse me? Merry, what does this have to do with fitness?Hey, it's important to be aware of how peeved people can get. Remember the man who had a 'gym rage' incident in a Spin class? His neighbor would not stop being loud and obnoxious, so the man picked him up off of the bike and threw him against the wall. Kinda cranky. The surprising part is this: Man involved in Gym rage acquitted. (Apparently the jury didn't believe the victim's injuries were caused by being slammed against a wall. Maybe they were, maybe not, but at the least I would have thought some anger management classes would have been indicated at this point.)There are a lot of people concerned with gym annoyances. You need to be prepared, or else you might have a close encounter with a wall yourself.What's the most annoying gym habit?In a poll of the most annoying gym habits, overcrowding was the clear winner.A strong runner up in my opinion would be hygiene. The comments from gym owners on Trying Fiction's blog were enough to gross me out.Also, not that this is a problem I will probably encounter, having your exercise class canceled because some rich celebrity can't be bothered to workout at home ranks up pretty high in the peeve category.How can I be sure that I'm not part of the problem?As always, our own Crabby McSlacker has the answer: how not to make an ass of yourself at the gym.Need more help? Newsweek compiled a list of 9 most obnoxious habits of Gym Rats.And Stephanie at Back in Skinny Jeans lists 7 most annoying Gym personalities, in case you want to check further.My SummaryPersonally, I think all you need to do is to be aware, don't stare, try not to scare, and learn to share. Simple, eh?One more annoyance -- I know how peeved Crabby feels about performance art, so I thought I'd include an example.I have to confess that I kinda liked this one. Public Displays of Musical Affection put on a 'spontaneous' performance in Union Square in San Francisco.What peeve do you need to pet today? (Source: Cranky Fitness)

Join us in nashville!

Recovery Support — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 04:00:00 +0100

I am excited about participating in an upcoming event on Monday, June 30th, with the Eating Disorders Coalition of Tennessee (EDCT)! The EDCT is holding a benefit at 3rd and Lindsley in Nashville, TN. At the benefit, I will speak briefly, sing a song, and sign books. Proceeds from the book signing benefit the EDCT. I hope to see you there! Here are the details:Monday, June 30th, 2008 Nashville, TN Songwriters in the Round with Sarah Buxton, Rivers Rutherford, and Dave Berg with special guests, Dylan Altman, Matt Warren, Jenni Schaefer and Caroline Mitchell Lusk 3rd and Lindsley 6:30 PM - 11 PM $10 at the door For more information, contact Brittany MacNealy at bmacnealy@edct.net or (615) 831-9838. (Source: Recovery Support)

24 hour fitness membership giveaway

Cranky Fitness — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 04:00:00 +0100

This one is pretty cool, because it appears to be a no-strings-attached gift certificate for 90 days at a 24-Hour Fitness gym.If there turn out to be Secret Strings? Let us know! We don't want to be giving away Stringy Things. But the offer looks very legitimate.As Far as We Know, This String is NOT Attached.But what if there's no 24-Hour Fitness near you? Well, this baby is transferable. If you have a needy friend or relative who lives near a 24-Hour fitness, you could look like a Hero.And suppose you're already a 24-Hour Fitness member? You can still enter. They'd prefer a newbie won, but I asked and technically you can be an existing member and extend your membership 90 days. So let your conscience be your guide--we won't ask if you're already a member.One caveat: United States only, sorry.OK, actually there's another caveat: Please don't claim the prize if you don't want the certificate yourself and can't think of anyone you know to give it to. This could be a very nice thing for someone so we don't want it to go to waste. It's summer; it's hot; a nice cool gym to work out in could mean the difference between keeping good habits going and sliding into sloth. If you win and decide you don't want it, let us know and we'll find someone else to use it.So what do you need to do to win? Well, it's pretty easy.Instructions:1. Just leave a comment explaining why a 90 day free gym membership might be helpful to you. You can be sincere and convincing, or smart-assed and amusing, either is good. (Note: this is a not a huge blog, and we're doing this mostly over a sleepy summer weekend, so you're chances are pretty darn good.)2. Be prepared to CHECK BACK AT CRANKY FITNESS THIS COMING WEDNESDAY the 18th.3. We will pick a winner, probably at random. On the other hand, if you write a comment that totally cracks us up or that makes it obvious that you would really really appreciate the 3 month membership, we may try to figure out some way of giving you extra credit in the form of additional entries.4. If you are the winner, email us at Crabby McSlacker @ gmail . com (all one word) within a day or so (lets say by midnight, Friday the 20th, East Coast time) to get further instructions. After that, we may assume you didn't want it that bad and give it to another finalist.5. You can also go to www.12millionlives.com where 24 Fitness is looking for inspirational stories. If you don't win the 3 month membership, you can console yourself with a 7-day free pass (with inevitable "restrictions," so read the fine print).5. And don't forget to check over at MizFit's site too, 'cause she's always giving cool stuff away.Good luck! (Source: Cranky Fitness)

Reader recipe--commodity cookies

Cranky Fitness — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 04:00:00 +0100

[Posted by Crabby]This recipe was sent in by one of our favorite Cranky Fitness commenters, Mary Anne in Kentucky. It's perfect for those of us who love cookies, but don't like to go to a lot of fuss to make them. And the main ingredient is oats! Oats are good enough for you that in my Unwritten Rule book, they cancel out the little bit of sugar involved. And who can argue with peanut butter and cocoa? Certainly not the Crab. Yum!Thanks Mary Anne!Commodity Cookiesby Mary Anne in KentuckyI call these Commodity Cookies because when I was eating them in the high school lunchroom decades ago all the ingredients were available from the Commodities to the Schools program.Commodity cookies1/2 c. oil1/2 c. milk (I substitute water due to years of milk allergy; my high school's recipe used dried milk plus water)1/3 c. sugar1/3 c. cocoaBoil for 1 minute; Yes really--one minute only. No candy thermometers, no Soft Ball Stage nonsense, just 60 seconds.Add:1/3 c. peanut butter (preferably without sugar, unless you figure out how to reduce the 1/3 c. sugar; commodity peanut butter had nothing in it but ground peanuts.)3 c. oatsRoll into balls.Eat. No, not all at once.See how disgustingly healthy it is? Do the math: all the other ingredients together are less than the amount of oatmeal. Yet it's sweet and chocolaty and has a little protein. It keeps for a week at room temperature (perhaps more--that's as long as I ever managed to keep any around); it freezes without any loss of flavor or texture. (Source: Cranky Fitness)

Swamped? try the okefenokee diet

Cranky Fitness — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 04:00:00 +0100

[By Merry]I originally wanted to title this post The Okefenokee Approach to Life, or, What To Do When Feeling Swamped, but Blogger gets cranky about long titles like that one. Besides, putting the word 'diet' in a title is like calorie porn; people tend to take a second look. In all honesty, this post is mostly about lifestyle choices rather than food choices.The Okefenokee was the biggest swamp I could think of. In addition to feeling swamped and stuck in the mud and unable to see the forest for the trees, the image also conjures up pictures of alligators waiting for the opportunity to bite my leg off. All in all, a useful metaphor for a stressed-out life.Sure, I can take care of your stress, noooo problem...Oil & water? Angelina & Jennifer? Stress & advice? When I'm stressed, the last thing I want to deal with is good advice. I'm too cranky to concentrate on improving things, even the situation. I cannot process the information. It's gotten to the point when I've feeling swamped just from reading lists that give advice on how to not be swamped.Shape Up America devoted an entire post to long detailed lists of advice on how to improve every aspect of your life. I'm sure that took quite a lot of time and research to collect all those links, but I found simply reading the list of links to be exhausting. I couldn't face actually clicking on the links and trying them out. When I'm stressed, any solutions need to be very, very simple.Work less, stress less, end up homeless?A new favorite blog I've found is Unclutterer. It's big on simplicity, which is great. I can't always apply the advice to my life, but I love the ideas.I enjoyed their review of Timothy Feriss' book "The 4-Hour Workweek." Now, clearly this is something any stressed person could benefit from. My life would be So Much Simpler if I didn't have to go to work each day. (Also I'd be back living in my mother's house and scrounging for pennies , but that's another story.) Great concept . I don't see it translating into reality any time soon, but there's no law that says I can't dream about doing this... later.The point is to be selective about the things you do have in order to live a quality life.Well, sheesh! That's obvious.I mean, everybody knows that.Even I know that.Except for times when I'm stuck in the mud and can't see the forest for the alligators, then I tend to forget the obvious and concentrate on the stressors.Putting the Me into happy mediumIt's not always the amount of stuff that I have to do that stresses me out, it's the ratio of Hafta to Wanna. Taking a few minutes for myself, like the Happiness Project's eight tips for making yourself happier in the next hour, restores the sense of proportion to the workload. Doesn't reduce the amount of work I have to do, but makes it easier to deal with, delegate, or rationalize it away.The Okefenokee Diet: A Minimalist ApproachMy prescription for living a less-stressed-but-still-employed life is as follows: when swamped, either push back, cut back, or have a Me attack.Go for minimalist veggies, i.e. I eat food that I can grab on my way out the door: bananas, pre-washed carrots, even dried fruit or a can of V-8.Instead of a glass of wine at the end of the day to relax, use the time to start planning what I want out of my life. Figure out a way to have a four-hour work week...Instead of comfort food, I want to do something for myself once a day. Something either fun or self-fulfilling.Set limits on how much crap I will take in one day. Most stressful is having several people pile things on my back. One manager I can train deal with, three or four bossy bosses... no. This is the tricky part. If you bitch too loud, you'll end up on the street. If you bitch too little, you can get overloaded, stress out, and end up in a room with padded walls. Quote du jour"I have learned that you shouldn't go through life with a catcher's mitt on both hands; you need to be able to throw some things back." -Maya AngelouAnd if any gators have a problem with that, well... baby needs a new pair of shoes...How do you juggle stress and a healthy diet without dropping one or the other?Or perhaps I should ask instead, do you juggle stress and a healthy diet? (Source: Cranky Fitness)

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Coming attractions

Cranky Fitness — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 04:00:00 +0100

[By Crabby]As you can tell by the reappearance of the suitcase picture, The Crab is once again heading off for a few days. But don't worry--through the miracle of Future Post Publishing and the even greater miracle of Merry, the intrepid Cranky Fitness Co-blogger, there will be plenty of stuff coming up!A Special Guest post in a few minutes;An awesome post by Merry tomorrow;And on Friday, both a Tasty Reader Recipe and a Cranky Fitness Give-away contest with a Cool Prize!Stay tuned! Am heading off this morning (with the Lobster and Lobster's Mom) for a quick New England tour and some Hanging Out in Boston. I'll see you all Monday or Tuesday.(And in the meantime I'll try to get internet while I'm gone, because I have no life outside the blog I love to find out what you're all up to!) (Source: Cranky Fitness)

A special book review

Cranky Fitness — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 04:00:00 +0100

[Posted by Crabby]For those of you who are not regulars here, "The Lobster" is my long-suffering life partner. (And soon-to-be spouse, once we figure out which state we reside in). So why is The Lobster reviewing a book, especially one that has pretty much nothing to do with health and fitness?Well, recently Cranky Fitness was offered a review copy of something called "Dream Destinations." Intrigued by the prospect of a book of pretty pictures, but feeling lazy about actually writing a review, I was just about to delete the email when... a Sneaky Thought occurred to me. Was there a way to get all the pretty pictures and plant Future Vacation Ideas without having to do any actual work? "Hey honey," I said, in an innocent tone of voice...And Voila, a free book arrived!So now here is a review of...Dream DestinationsBy The LobsterOccasionally, Crabby gets new products to review. In the past, she’s received stuff like flavored teas and energy bars. Given my love of "free stuff," I find this grass roots marketing kind of cool.When the folks at LIFE books contacted her asking if she’d like to review their new book "LIFE’s Dream Destinations: 100 of the World’s Best Vacations" she immediately turned to me. You see, anything to do with geography is, well, not exactly her core competency. We’ve done a great deal of traveling in our almost 18 years together, lately concentrating on driving destinations in our trusty camper van. Crabby’s interest in maps is generally focused on font size, ie, is the font size big enough to indicate a town that has a) a gym and b) an Asian-fusion restaurant? I cannot tell you how many times she has been disappointed on both fronts, especially in the vast middle section of the country.So with my new assignment, I settled into a comfy chair to read "Dream Destinations." The pictures are predictably fabulous, given that’s what the good folks at LIFE do best. I was completely prepared to make fun of their list, ready for $5000 a night lodges in the Masai Mara or destinations that require some combination of plane and yak to reach them. And, there were a few examples of that, including listing London as a family destination ("honey would you like dessert or to go to college?") and touting a romantic getaway at the Kennedy Cottages, where Jack and Jackie honeymooned near Santa Barbara, for a mere $2995 per night. However, much of their list was affordable and accessible. Or at least it was before gas was over $4 a gallon and airlines started charging by the pound.Here are my observations:Some of our very favorite places on earth made the list, which added immense credibility to the book. (Yes, we are extraordinarily fortunate). They are totally right about:Cinque Terre, a series of 5 gorgeous towns on the northern coast of Italy; Peggy’s Cove in Nova Scotia (in fact that whole dang province);Banff and Lake Louise in the Canadian Rockies;Napa Valley (of course, we’re from Northern California);The Yucatan Peninsula;The Snowdonia area of Wales, including the town of Betws-y-Coed (which, of course, to us became Betsy the Coed.)I have a new list of places on my MUST SEE list including:The Glastonbury Festival, held in a small town in Somerset, England rumored to be the burial site of the Holy Grail that also hosts a Woodstock-like festival. I love the combo.The Tongariro Northern Circuit in New Zealand, home to a world class trek that ends at the Grand Chateau, a hotel that pampers the tired and weary.Wildflower Hall, a luxury hotel and spa in the Kunlun Mountains of east-central Asia, a stunning place at 8,350 feet which is neither affordable nor accessible but will stay on the lottery list.Lake Wanaka, back in New Zealand, surrounded by snow covered mountains, vineyards and, yes, sheep.There are, unfortunately, some "oh puleeaase" moments. Are these really "Dream Destinations?"Wisconsin Dells: The canyon and rivers were nice but Wisconsin Dells is right up there with Pigeon Forge, Tennessee as the pinnacle of tackiness. In the Dells, you can’t find the river for the putt-putt golf and other money sucking adventures. (However, if you are looking for pancakes in either place, you have hit the motherlode).Montana Dude Ranch... in winter: Illustrated by a picture of unhappy campers huddled around a campfire, obviously freezing their butts off. I love the outdoors but Dude, those people looked miserable.Mount Vernon: Just a question... why does George and Martha’s bed looked slept in? Lost Atlantis: There are enough nut-balls wandering around looking for it, do we need to encourage more of them?The final verdict on the book? I enjoyed re-living some of our great vacations and seeing amazing shots of places I’m pretty sure I’ll never see. And, given the price of travel these days, the $29.95 price is a pretty good short term escape seeing how you’d only get about 7 gallons of gas and are probably unlikely to see anything as cool within 140 miles of your house.Now the Crab will pop back in to ask: Does anyone have "dream destinations" that you'd love to visit some day? What would be on your short list? (Source: Cranky Fitness)

Screaming lobsters living the car-free life

Cranky Fitness — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 04:00:00 +0100

[By Merry]What would you do if you woke up one day and there weren't any cars?Oregon is in general quite bicycle friendly, and Portland even more so. To prove it, the city is putting on a street party, taking back the street from cars. It's a Car-Free day, shutting down part of North Portland for a day.On June 22nd, a circular route of traffic-free streets in North Portland will link four parks: Arbor Lodge, Peninsula, Unthank, and Overlook. The resulting 6-mile loop will be available for pedestrians, cyclists, rollerbladers, skaters, etc. (While streets will be closed to automotive through traffic, a soft-closure will assure that neighboring residents have access to and from their homes.)If you wanted to ride your bicycle (or walk, skate, skip or jump) outside but were afraid to do so, something like this sounds perfect. Utopian, maybe, but fun -- and practical too. Walkable neighborhoods help you keep fit and also help you keep in touch with people around you. If we all got out of our cars and walked or biked or hung out out on the front porch, it would create a community. Especially in newer areas of town, people don't use the front door. You get in and out of the house via the car via the garage. Neighbors? Don't meet 'em. Rarely even see 'em.It's a crazy idea, but it just might work... or not ...Two things come to mind:If you want to get people to adopt a car-free existence, even part time, you have to provide a safe environment for them to experience it in. This event seems designed to create just such an environment.No matter how this shindig is arranged, it is going to seriously piss off some people.Am I pissing people off by writing another 'walk in your neighborhood' post? I'll have to check the temperature as the post goes on.Some possible reasons why you would need a carI mean, I'm not a totally unreasonable woman. I can see that some people absolutely need cars, especially if:you have a long commute and don't have public transportyou have to drive kids, maybe even your own, to soccer practice here and dance recitals thereyou live in Wyoming, or the Northwest Territories, or the Australian Outback, anywhere that involves long stretches of nothing very much interspersed with the occasional mammal.It's a long way to Tipperary... or anywhere else, franklyHow am I doing so far? Are you miffed yet? Okay, then I'll go on ...Some possible solutionsCan't help people who have to travel long distances because they live in Wyoming or the Northwest Territories or the Australian Outback. However, these areas are sparsely populated, at least compared to the concentrations of humanity found in the cities and suburbs. Concentrating on the highly populated areas would make a huge difference to the high demand for gasoline.People who have to haul children from point A to point B? Seems to me the best way to solve this would be to restructure the community so that A and B are within walking distance of each other . Planned communities, like Orenco Station, are designed so that you can get to most of the places you need to go without using a car. Likewise the older communities have parks, schools, and local shopping areas within walking distance. It's the neighborhoods in-between that are the worst designed and sadly also the most numerous.People who drive long hours to commute to their jobs? If a convenient commuter train or lightrail were available, a lot of people would use it. Especially with the cost of gas increasing so radically. Solutions like these are expensive in the short term -- but so is the cost of gas. (Public transport costs also go up when fuel prices increase but -- this is the catch -- not as much.)Getting a bit warm in here, is it? Well, maybe I'll just go a little bit further...Screaming lobstersStephanie from Back in Skinny Jeans wrote a post about the high cost of gas. One commenter pointed out that a lot of people in Europe have always had high gas prices. I think that's the point. It's not the fact that gas prices are high, it's the fact that they've suddenly increased a whole hell of a lot that's upsetting people.(Crabby? Don't read these next two paragraphs, okay?)Supposedly, the best way to cook a lobster is to place it in tepid water and slowly increase the temperature so gradually that the lobster doesn't realize how hot the temperature is getting. (I say supposedly because all the sources I could find that did any research into invertebrate physiology said that lobsters do not register pain. Just to be on the safe side, I've vowed to strike lobsters from my diet. If you're interested, here's the R.S.P.C.A.'s view on how to cook lobsters.)The other generally used method of cooking a lobster is to plunge it into boiling water. It's quick and it's supposed to be painful. The lobsters are reputed to 'scream.' Some people say that since lobsters don't have vocal cords, they're not actually screaming; still, it's a useful metaphor for what's happening with gas prices in this neck of the woods. We're screaming lobsters around here.Hmmmn... nobody's throwing stones at the blog yet. Maybe it's safe to go a little bit further...The first thing to changeEventually we'll learn to ease up on our car-dependency. Maybe. Or else the thought of tearing up whole neighborhoods will scare people into buying hybrids and electric bicycles.Suburbs and cities can be changed. But the first thing to change is the mindset that everyone needs a car all the time. Try one day without a car, to see how it feels. Test out bicycling, jogging, yada, in an environment where it feels safe and you're more likely to survive enjoy the experience and maybe repeat it.That's why I like the idea of this car-free day. It will be kind of cool to see how this works out.Cyclists take over I-5!On the other hand, if you hear of riots breaking out in North Portland later this month, you'll know why.Don't blame Crabby; this is all my faultIf you are sitting there steaming, glaring at the computer screen, and snarling "Merry, you fool!" please bear in mind:1 - These are my thoughts, don't snarl at Crabby2 - I was wrong once. I could be wrong twice. Something's got to change, that's all. Anything that nudges us towards self-propelled transportation sounds pretty good right about now.I'm going to go hide behind Crabby now.Portland's version of a traffic jam... fender to fender traffic. (Source: Cranky Fitness)

Fun in the sun?

Cranky Fitness — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 04:00:00 +0100

[By Crabby]I hate sunscreen. Anyone else?I hate the sticky ickyness of it. I hate when it runs in my eyes. I always get too much of it on my clothes, and not enough of it on my skin. I hate having to put it on for a morning run, then, after showering, having to put it on all over again.Of course there's been some research about the anti-cancer properties of Vitamin D, and some folks are recommending a little bit of sun exposure without sunscreen. But no one seems to be saying this is license to skip the sunscreen entirely.Nope, Not A Smart Move(Photo credit: genosfear)Does anyone else old enough to remember "tanning," as an intentional activity, guilt free? It made going to the beach and taking a nap feel like an accomplishment! You got "credit" for flopping down on a towel in the sand and absorbing rays, because you were improving your appearance which would make you more popular. How cool was that?Sigh.Then we found out we weren't supposed to tan on purpose.I know some people still do. If you are one of those people who goes without sunscreen or burns your skin on purpose, can I pass on a message from a good friend of mine who did that too when she was younger? She has melanoma now. She says: "Don't."Off course we keep hearing that theoretically there is a pill on the way, but I've been hearing this for ages now. Could we hurry up with the sunscreen pills, please scientists? That and the jet-packs we were all supposed to be flying around in by now?Like many people, I make myself wear the sunscreen even though I hate it. The brand I use is supposed to quite effective. I use a spray version for my legs 'cause I'm lazy, and a lotion for the rest of me that tries to be somewhat less oily and gooky. At least it calls itself "dry touch." Still feels slimy to me, but somewhat less so than the others.This is a popular and well-reviewed sunscreen. I won't chase down all the links, but part of the reason I've come to use it is that health magazines and dermatologists seem to recommend it pretty often. For example, in this compilation of product review sources, my brand comes in at #1.But according to the Environmental Working Group, which has put together a database of cosmetic ingredients and their safety, I might as well be smearing rat poison all over me instead.They say my sunscreen is NOT recommended because it contains ingredients linked to:CancerDevelopmental/reproductive toxicityAllergies/immunotoxicityNeurotoxicityEndocrine disruptionPersistence and bioaccumulationOrgan system toxicityA few minor things like skin irritation, andBiochemical or cellular level changes.That is a scary list.How seriously should I take this, does anyone know? Is the Environmental Working Group mainly an advocacy group, or is it a bunch of serious, well-respected scientists that we should be paying way more attention to?Because, damn, it they're right, I should probably switch from my easily available, everybody-recommends-it brand of sunscreen to one of the obscure brands that makes their "safe and effective" list. Even though my local drugstores don't stock them and they're probably slimy.Here's where my distrust of advocacy groups and "stuff you read on the internet" collides with a similar distrust of our governmental regulatory process. The quaint notion I used to have that "if something were really dangerous they wouldn't let companies just sell it in the stores" has, alas, been tested too often. Now I believe: hell yeah, they will, if it's good for business.So throw in some anxiety, wishful thinking, laziness, and frustration, and you end up with me not knowing What The Hell to Think.If anyone has any thoughts or info on this, please help! (Source: Cranky Fitness)

Musings triggered by mosquitoes

Advice for Parents — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 04:00:00 +0100

When Guillain-Barré Syndrome hit our daughter Jocelyn last year we had to cancel our flight to Florida and our first-ever cruise. While going through paperwork a few weeks ago, I came across the cancelled flight information. The refund had to be used by June 4th or it would be lost. Thus we found ourselves in Raleigh, North Carolina last week for a quick get-away to an especially green and lush part of the country that we’d never before seen.We began our second evening sitting outside on our B&B's expansive wrap-around veranda. Relaxing and reading was interrupted by the sudden appearance of a slew (a flock, a herd, a gaggle, a LOT) of mosquitoes. Settled back inside, we noticed a DVD player in our room. The innkeepers had a shelf with a small selection of films, some very old. There were only a few we hadn’t yet seen. We chose the one that looked the most innocuous and non-violent: The Bachelor. Actor Chris O’Donnell, the protagonist, must marry before his 30th birthday—a few days away—in order to inherit millions of dollars from his patriarchal (read: controlling and selfish) dead grandfather. This was truly, at best, a C-grade movie and very sophomoric, yet one scenario stuck with me. Chris O’Donnell is standing in a church facing a congregation of brides (a flock, a herd, a gaggle, a LOT!) The sea of white is urging Chris to enumerate his criteria in order to weed out those who won’t even be considered. From the balcony a fat woman (and that is a word of description not of derision) shouts something to the effect, “We know you want someone skinny—give us a number…” She was asking for the weight over which candidates would not even be considered. I was curious as to how the screen writers would have Chris respond, especially since he’d originally maintained that his decision would be more about personality than looks (a claim the balcony woman was probably tired of hearing). After hedging a bit he conceded, “I guess … 150…” This movie was made in 1999. I wondered what the number given today would be…much less I’d imagine, a notion supported by Jean Kilbourne’s powerful video, Killing Us Softly 3. This documentary illustrates the abuse and manipulation of women’s self esteem by mass media. It was also produced in 1999. It is shocking to see how much thinner today’s models are when compared to just under a decade ago. In the Spring 2008 Renfrew Connections publication, Adrienne Ressler, Renfrew’s National Training Director, writes about body image. She offers some suggestions on how we can “get on the road to being as good to [our]selves as [we] probably are to others in [our] lives.” For the “woman in the balcony” inside each of us I share a portion of Adrienne’s tip number six:Keep yourself surrounded by people who love and appreciate who you are—not because you have met certain conditions to be worthy of their approval or love. At the same time, reduce your interactions with family members or acquaintances who are negative or critical of you. ...Here’s to surrounding ourselves with people who love and appreciate who we are, unconditionally! Blessings until next time, Doris (Source: Advice for Parents)

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They say its your birthday

Cranky Fitness — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 04:00:00 +0100

[By Crabby]This is not a real post--as you can see, it's being posted on a Sunday, when no one is around to read it.Whose birthday is it today? Well, mine. But June 8th is also the birthday of a few other folks. Those of us who aren't dead yet will attempt to celebrate/bemoan our advancing years in whatever way works best. So enjoy, Kayne West, Joan Rivers, Jerry Stiller, Robert Preston, Keenan Ivory Wayans, Boz Scaggs, Barbara Bush, Frank Lloyd Wright, and Nancy Sinatra. Oh and best wishes also to the retired Belgian tennis player and some guy who apparently invented the World Wide Web.The fact that no one is reading this is no problem, because I am probably not actually on Some Guy's World Wide Web anyway. Instead, I am off enjoying a Perfect Birthday Celebration. What happens on a perfect birthday? Well, everyone has their own ideas but here is mine:A little bit of exercise, but only the fun kind like the rock walk.A massage.A couple of things to unwrap.Dinner out with loved ones at a favorite restaurant that has excellent food but is Not Too Fancy.Perhaps a gratuitous dessert containing chocolate.Ahhhh.... I guess another year ain't so bad.Does anyone else have favorite Birthday treats? (Source: Cranky Fitness)

Neda has a new website!

Recovery Support — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 04:00:00 +0100

If you haven’t already, I highly encourage you to check out the National Eating Disorders Association’s new website! And be sure to check out the “Stories of Hope” page. I am honored to have a story on that page. I am also honored that NEDA just named me to their Ambassador Council. You can read the press release about that in NEDA’s “Press Room.” Please help spread the word about the new website. NEDA is an amazing organization, and I want everyone to know about it! (Source: Recovery Support)

Take me to the closet, bub

Cranky Fitness — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 04:00:00 +0100

If you listen to music while you run (or any other time, but let's pretend this is a fitness post) you have probably encountered this phenomenon:The song lyrics are difficult to hear, and sometimes the words you "hear" in fact sound quite silly. But you rack your brain for alternatives and it still really sounds like those are the actual words! Later you discover what the real lyrics are, and of course your goofy version was totally wrong.Cranky Fitness does not pretend to be the first to discover the humor in "mondegreens," or misheard song lyrics. Google the phrase and you will find bazillions of hilarious examples.However, does anyone else find it irritating that most of these collections are based on the premise that the listener actually thought the silly lyrics were the real ones?Isn't it funny enough that the Creedence Clearwater lyrics "There's a Bad Moon on the Rise" sound so much like "There's a Bathroom on the Right" that you could almost swear that's what they were singing? Do sensible adults really have to pretend that they believed a song that hit Number 2 on the Billboard charts was written about the location of a restroom facility?Or that Jimmy Hendrix was asking his listeners, back in 1966, to "Excuse me while I kiss this guy?"Seems more likely that people heard funny words and thought: "Doesn't it almost kinda sound like they're saying ______? Wouldn't it be funny if those were the actual lyrics?" Yet it remains a tradition that we act as though we once were certain the goofy lyrics were authentic.(So I'll concede the "when I was seven years old I thought..." sort of stories are a lot more credible. I thought lots of silly things myself when I was a kid. But even some of these sound a little fake sometimes).But let's put aside the question of whether these mishearings are truly misunderstandings. Some of the collections you come across from various sources (like here or here) really are quite amusing.For example, do you remember any of these classic lyrics?Madonna's: "Like a virgin, touched for the thirty-first time."(very first time);Eurythmics: "It’s all right, babies come in bags"(Baby's comin' back);Robert Palmer's: "Might as well face it you're a dick with a glove"(addicted to love);Cher's: "Gypsies, Chimpanzees"(Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves);Maria Muldaur's: "Midnight after you're wasted"(Midnight At the Oasis);Joni Mitchell's : "A gay pair of guys put up a parking lot"(They paved paradise and put up a parking lot);Or the Eagle's : "I'm looking for a lover who won't blow my brother, she's so hard to find."(my cover, not brother)(Note: the "corrected" lyrics in parentheses may not be entirely right either, as I didn't bother to look 'em all up).Alas, an effort to turn this into a more intellectual scholarly discussion of misheard song lyrics turned up nothing the least bit researchy. Well, except this totally incomprehensible study. (Seriously, I have no idea what the hell that was supposed to be about).So what are some of my mishearings? Unfortunately, most of mine aren't that funny, or else they are entirely too common. For example, the Bee-Gees song "Bald-headed woman" came on at the gym the other day, but tons of us hear it that way, not as "More than a woman." Likewise, I'm not the only one who hears the Savage Garden tune "I Want You" as referencing a poultry-flavored soft drink, Chicken-Cherry Cola. I couldn't even figure out what the heck the real lyrics were.I do have a tune on my iPod in which a woman enthusiastically implores her man to "Take Me To The Closet, Bub." However, she doesn't sound nearly sultry enough to be suggesting a furtive sexual encounter surrounded by coats and umbrellas, so I suspected those weren't the real lyrics. Yet even trying really hard to make sense of the words, it took weeks to finally hear them as "Take Me to The Clouds Above."And there's a line in a song called "Poison" in which the singer is talking about how tempting having sex with her lover is:"Your mouth, so hot; your ware, uncut;"Your skin, so wet; black lace, on sweat"I guessed I was probably hearing that wrong--would she really comment on the fact that her boyfriend had an uncircumcised penis? And would she use the rather old-fashioned sounding "ware" as a euphemism? But it kept sounding like that's exactly what she was saying. I finally had to look it up online to find out that "your ware, uncut," was actually "your web, I'm caught."Dang, I shouldn't have looked. I liked the uncircumcised version better.So obviously I'm not very good at funny mishearings--I'm hoping you all can do much better--either ones you misheard yourselves, or other funny ones you've come across.In the meantime, here's an amusing video, and you don't even have to like Pearl Jam to enjoy it. (Source: Cranky Fitness)

Neanderthal fitness

Cranky Fitness — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 04:00:00 +0100

"Anybody wanna wrestle?"I don't know if I'm turning into a luddite or suffering from The Call of the Wild.I expended roughly 200 calories the other day because I mowed the lawn with a push reel mower. (No, not the old ones from 30 years ago that were heavy as a tank -- those really were the epitome of Cranky Fitness. The new ones are so light even I can push one around.) Using a push reel mower instead of a gas-powered one made me feel good, almost as good as I feel when I bicycle to work instead of driving the gas guzzler.It's surprising how virtuous it feels to be unplugged. Why is that? Am I hankering back to the Olde Days when everyone had to do everything by hand? I can almost hear the ghost of my grandmother telling me I'm crazy. (When my grandmother was young, they traveled in horse-drawn buggies. "Oh," I said, "that must have been fun." She shook her head. "Very bumpy.")I appreciate the technological stuff like smoothly paved roads and the ability to buy food I can't grow in this climate, and yes, especially the fact that I can communicate electronically with friends I've never met and who live on the other side of the world. I get all that. It's cool.So why does it feel so good to not use technology? Barbecues might not be very healthy, but food cooked over an open fire smells better and tastes than the microwaved version. We've evolved technologically, but emotionally we're not that far removed from the stone-knives-and-bearskins crowd."To better leverage our products, we need to kick mastodon ass ..."The 'Caveman diet' is popular right now. I'm not passing judgment on this diet yea or nay, but I think one reason it is popular is that people have an urge to get 'back to basics.' Can the urge to exercise unplugged can be traced back to a yearning for an equivalent exercise program?There really isn't an appealing equivalent for Neanderthal fitness -- at least, not one that fits in with the demands of modern life. I tried to picture merging the Stone Age with the Information Age, and all I could think of was:0800: Crawl out of cave, discover how to make fire, brew coffee0900: Work with Ugh on synergistic leveraging strategies1200: Check out blogs0100: Try to look busy and productive0500: Chase mastodon, bring home for Mrs. N to roastNo, that doesn't sound like much fun.But it's summer! The outdoors is calling!Great outdoors, on line 1...Maybe what I'm suffering from is spring fever. Dr. J. wrote a post about the need to experience nature. He quotes E.O. Wilson, an American biologist, researcher, and naturalist postulated, among many environmentalist views, as saying that “humans have an innate, biologically determined need for nature.” By combining exercise with being outdoors, I fulfill a couple of basic needs.Do you prefer exercising outdoors if you have the chance? Or do the comforts of technology, cable TV and an iPod win out over mosquitoes, sunburn, and fresh air?“To stand at the edge of the sea, to sense the ebb and flow of the tides, to feel the breath of a mist moving over a great salt marsh, to watch the flight of shore birds that have swept up and down the surf lines of the continents for untold thousands of year, to see the running of the old eels and the young shad to the sea, is to have knowledge of things that are as nearly eternal as any earthly life can be.” - Rachel Carson (Source: Cranky Fitness)