OK, so a year without pop seems like a good idea right now. Here are the ground rules.
1) No liquids of any kind where the primary ingredient is high-fructose corn syrup.
2) No diet versions of these liquids.
3) No diet caffeine free versions of these liquids.
4) No drinks where sugar is added but is not carbonated (e.g. "fruit" drinks) but to pass off as healthy they twist a a sliver of lime over a vat and call it "<1% fruit juice". (these normally violate rule #1 as well).
Rules of allowable drinks
1) any caffeinated beverage not listed above (including tea and coffee)
2) Any alcoholic beverage that doesn't violate rules above
3) Water
4) milk and dairy products
5) desserts
Thursday, December 28, 2006
Year without Pop
After reading this article, I thought about what's been happening to my body lately - and came to the conclusion that the answer was "nothing". Over 2006, I ramped up my exercise and biking to the point last year where it literally broke me in half, but I remain at exactly 225 lbs. 6 months after being told by a doctor to cease most forms of exercise, I checked the scale again, and found it pegged right at 225.
So, exercise and a steady diet are not the keys to weight loss, despite what all those doctors say. Even after nudging my food choices to the healthier edge of the spectrum, I found my scale unchanged.
After the birth of my fourth kid (in just over 4 years), and after stepping on a scale and seeing it move in to a brand new number (228), I figure there's a need to step on the gas on my futile attempts at self-improvement, a endless cycle of depression and pain.
So, after giving it a hard thought for over 20 minutes, I decided that I'll give up pop in all its forms, for an entire year. I know what you're thinking. It's either a) "Good God you're nuts! In this day and age, nobody can survive that long without sugar and caffeine" or b) "Good God you're an idiot. How did you expect to ever lose weight when you jammed your face with empty calories all day long?".
I'll attempt to answer you with actions, while also documenting any possible side-effects that may come with this new resolution.
Can man survive without watered down carbonated high-fructose corn syrup? What's the quality of life during this? Can reducing pop make you lose weight? Armed with Wal-mart branded "headache" pills, I intend to give you the answer.
Just for the record, my last pop was a Dr. Pepper, bought this morning from McDonalds.
So, exercise and a steady diet are not the keys to weight loss, despite what all those doctors say. Even after nudging my food choices to the healthier edge of the spectrum, I found my scale unchanged.
After the birth of my fourth kid (in just over 4 years), and after stepping on a scale and seeing it move in to a brand new number (228), I figure there's a need to step on the gas on my futile attempts at self-improvement, a endless cycle of depression and pain.
So, after giving it a hard thought for over 20 minutes, I decided that I'll give up pop in all its forms, for an entire year. I know what you're thinking. It's either a) "Good God you're nuts! In this day and age, nobody can survive that long without sugar and caffeine" or b) "Good God you're an idiot. How did you expect to ever lose weight when you jammed your face with empty calories all day long?".
I'll attempt to answer you with actions, while also documenting any possible side-effects that may come with this new resolution.
Can man survive without watered down carbonated high-fructose corn syrup? What's the quality of life during this? Can reducing pop make you lose weight? Armed with Wal-mart branded "headache" pills, I intend to give you the answer.
Just for the record, my last pop was a Dr. Pepper, bought this morning from McDonalds.
Thursday, November 16, 2006
Two and a half weeks later...
I had surgery on Halloween, spent two weeks recuperating in a busy house with 3 small kids, and finally was able to return to work on Tuesday.
Physically, I still can't feel the back of my left leg, my left foot has mostly stopped tingling, and I walk very slowly with a slight limp.
My incision in my back is a bit itchy, but mostly healed up. My back is still stiff but it doesn't cause the same amount of pain as before.
Mentally, I'd say that life is not getting any better. I haven't been at 100% physically since June, and the strain is starting to get to me. Both neurosurgeons I talked to said that recovery would be slow, but I always hoped that because I had it diagnosed early that recovery would be faster. The nurse seemed surprised that I was nearly off painkillers this soon. But I still can't do the things I need or want to do. Sitting down for more than 20-30 minutes makes my back really stiff. Standing makes it better, but then my feet start to hurt after awhile...
I took one last night just to wind down after a long day and to help me to ignore the residual pain that I hadn't noticed during the day. Even though I'm down from as many as as many as 6 pills a day (right after the surgery), I can't help thinking this is how addicts get started.
Hard to concentrate on work, hard to make things work, hard to just pay attention to things that I need to remember...
Physically, I still can't feel the back of my left leg, my left foot has mostly stopped tingling, and I walk very slowly with a slight limp.
My incision in my back is a bit itchy, but mostly healed up. My back is still stiff but it doesn't cause the same amount of pain as before.
Mentally, I'd say that life is not getting any better. I haven't been at 100% physically since June, and the strain is starting to get to me. Both neurosurgeons I talked to said that recovery would be slow, but I always hoped that because I had it diagnosed early that recovery would be faster. The nurse seemed surprised that I was nearly off painkillers this soon. But I still can't do the things I need or want to do. Sitting down for more than 20-30 minutes makes my back really stiff. Standing makes it better, but then my feet start to hurt after awhile...
I took one last night just to wind down after a long day and to help me to ignore the residual pain that I hadn't noticed during the day. Even though I'm down from as many as as many as 6 pills a day (right after the surgery), I can't help thinking this is how addicts get started.
Hard to concentrate on work, hard to make things work, hard to just pay attention to things that I need to remember...
Tuesday, October 31, 2006
Surgery
this will be short. Surgery went fine. Dr said that a he was impressed by the size of the disk he had to remove, but it all went well. I am back at home and lying on my side on the c0uch. They gave me a some extra potent hydrocodone after surgery, but like all painkillers it makes me sleepy. My back is stiff as hell. There is a bit of pain if I move weird, but for the most part, if I lay still there is no pain at all.
Halloween is an unusual time to be anywhere. When I woke up. one of the nurses had brought in her two sons to show off their costumes - one was batman, the other was a cowboy. Batman had a gun. When one of the nurses asked him about it, he said it was his laser gun. Gotta love kids.
Halloween is an unusual time to be anywhere. When I woke up. one of the nurses had brought in her two sons to show off their costumes - one was batman, the other was a cowboy. Batman had a gun. When one of the nurses asked him about it, he said it was his laser gun. Gotta love kids.
Monday, October 30, 2006
Halloween
Last weekend was nice - good weather allowed me to take the kids to the park and played quite a bit with them on Saturday.
We carved pumpkins (well, they watched for the first 5 minutes but quickly got bored). Hope the pumpkins last to Halloween. We'll see.
We tried on Halloween costumes yesterday. Danny wants to be a doctor - again, and Fiona will be whatever costume we get her (she doesn't know what she wants to be). My mom found a leftover Fairy costume of my sisters. It's a bit big for her (being an Adult small), but that means instead of being a half-length skanky costume (as it's intended), it's a full length frilly costume that barely fits her - we will be keeping several safety pin manufacturers in business this weekend.
Here's last year's costumes - Fiona was Dora, Danny was a Doctor. Aidan was a lion. Aidan didn't last very long in that costume. He went to bed early so we don't have a picture of him in his lion costume.
One word of caution. Fiona is a blonde. Dora the Explorer has black hair. So, I bought some Black spray-on hair coloring for her "Dora costume". It was water-soluble, so by the end of the night, she was no longer Dora the Explorer, but Dora the Coal-Miner... I don't know what's in her mouth. Black Licorice? I know it's something candy related, but it doesn't look normal, whatever it is
We carved pumpkins (well, they watched for the first 5 minutes but quickly got bored). Hope the pumpkins last to Halloween. We'll see.
We tried on Halloween costumes yesterday. Danny wants to be a doctor - again, and Fiona will be whatever costume we get her (she doesn't know what she wants to be). My mom found a leftover Fairy costume of my sisters. It's a bit big for her (being an Adult small), but that means instead of being a half-length skanky costume (as it's intended), it's a full length frilly costume that barely fits her - we will be keeping several safety pin manufacturers in business this weekend.
Here's last year's costumes - Fiona was Dora, Danny was a Doctor. Aidan was a lion. Aidan didn't last very long in that costume. He went to bed early so we don't have a picture of him in his lion costume.
One word of caution. Fiona is a blonde. Dora the Explorer has black hair. So, I bought some Black spray-on hair coloring for her "Dora costume". It was water-soluble, so by the end of the night, she was no longer Dora the Explorer, but Dora the Coal-Miner... I don't know what's in her mouth. Black Licorice? I know it's something candy related, but it doesn't look normal, whatever it is
T-1 Day
Well, it's one day away from surgery. Within 24 hours, I will hopefully be recuperating from my back surgery.
I am a bit anxious, but not about the surgery - I don't want to wait any more to be able to feel my leg and walk normally.
I got a call from the Siouxland Surgery Center that asked me all the normal pre-op questions. If I'm on any medications, if I"m allergic to anything, if I have high blood pressure, any diseases, smoke, drink, etc. Then she said that she has a bed arranged for me to spend the night, and the room has a DVD player. She confirmed that I would likely be using that room overnight, unless something really weird happens.
Last night, I found that I was able to support almost all my weight on my left foot - tiptoes. I suppose I am either re-learning how to walk again after losing a nerve, or the rest of my calf muscle got stronger...
I am a bit anxious, but not about the surgery - I don't want to wait any more to be able to feel my leg and walk normally.
I got a call from the Siouxland Surgery Center that asked me all the normal pre-op questions. If I'm on any medications, if I"m allergic to anything, if I have high blood pressure, any diseases, smoke, drink, etc. Then she said that she has a bed arranged for me to spend the night, and the room has a DVD player. She confirmed that I would likely be using that room overnight, unless something really weird happens.
Last night, I found that I was able to support almost all my weight on my left foot - tiptoes. I suppose I am either re-learning how to walk again after losing a nerve, or the rest of my calf muscle got stronger...
Thursday, October 19, 2006
And surgery
My pain in my leg settled into a dull pressure, and although I can make my leg hurt again if I want to, it takes some effort, and normally, I don't try to do so.
I saw a new neurosurgeon closer to home, Dr. Thorir Ragnarsson. I had to drive to Yankton to see him, but even with the snow, it wasn't a big problem. He asked me what I did. He then told me that he probably wasn't going to tell me anything I didn't know already.
He poked, prodded, and looked me over, and then explained to me his conclusions. I have a textbook case of an L5-S1 ruptured disk. It's pushing on my L5 nerve pretty good, which is why my leg is numb in certain spots. So, I asked him a few questions:
1) WIll I recover? Most likely. Some people lose their sensation.
2) Why does my lower leg work at all? - The nerve is still sending out some impulses, but not all of them are getting through.
3) What about a nuclear implant? - They're available in Europe, but they're hard to come by in the USA, because they're not approved by the FDA yet. Plus, with the low incidence of recurrance, it's normally not worth the risk to inject goop near your spinal cord.
He said that surgery was my best bet, and then surprised me by saying he was available tomorrow. It wasn't an emergency, but the way my nerve was compressed, I wasn't getting any better by waiting - and any time wasted would lessen my chances of a complete recovery.
He showed me my MRI and CT scan, and showed how the disk is completely covering up the nerve, and how the CT scan looks worse than the MRI.
But I needed some time to talk it over with Rhonda, work, and figure things out. Before I left, I signed a sheet of paper saying that all possible side-effects had been discussed, including infection, spinal fluid leakage, anesthetic related problems, Deep Vein Thrombosis, and Death. I certainly don't remember the doctor telling me I could die, but I'll just assume that's likely only if I don't follow the pre-op instructions exactly.
I went back to work, and called the nurse, also named Rhonda, and scheduled surgery for Thursday, October 26th at 1:00.
After surgery, I will be out for 2 weeks. During that time, I can't sit for more than 20 minutes at a time. I can't bend, stretch, or twist. I can lay down, or I can stand up. Sounds like exciting times for me are in store.
I saw a new neurosurgeon closer to home, Dr. Thorir Ragnarsson. I had to drive to Yankton to see him, but even with the snow, it wasn't a big problem. He asked me what I did. He then told me that he probably wasn't going to tell me anything I didn't know already.
He poked, prodded, and looked me over, and then explained to me his conclusions. I have a textbook case of an L5-S1 ruptured disk. It's pushing on my L5 nerve pretty good, which is why my leg is numb in certain spots. So, I asked him a few questions:
1) WIll I recover? Most likely. Some people lose their sensation.
2) Why does my lower leg work at all? - The nerve is still sending out some impulses, but not all of them are getting through.
3) What about a nuclear implant? - They're available in Europe, but they're hard to come by in the USA, because they're not approved by the FDA yet. Plus, with the low incidence of recurrance, it's normally not worth the risk to inject goop near your spinal cord.
He said that surgery was my best bet, and then surprised me by saying he was available tomorrow. It wasn't an emergency, but the way my nerve was compressed, I wasn't getting any better by waiting - and any time wasted would lessen my chances of a complete recovery.
He showed me my MRI and CT scan, and showed how the disk is completely covering up the nerve, and how the CT scan looks worse than the MRI.
But I needed some time to talk it over with Rhonda, work, and figure things out. Before I left, I signed a sheet of paper saying that all possible side-effects had been discussed, including infection, spinal fluid leakage, anesthetic related problems, Deep Vein Thrombosis, and Death. I certainly don't remember the doctor telling me I could die, but I'll just assume that's likely only if I don't follow the pre-op instructions exactly.
I went back to work, and called the nurse, also named Rhonda, and scheduled surgery for Thursday, October 26th at 1:00.
After surgery, I will be out for 2 weeks. During that time, I can't sit for more than 20 minutes at a time. I can't bend, stretch, or twist. I can lay down, or I can stand up. Sounds like exciting times for me are in store.
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