Stop Being Fat!!! Eat MORE?

Sorta. I found the wonders of protein shakes. I've been trying to get my body out of "storage" mode for the longest time - it's a result of eating one primary meal, usually at the end of each day.

I'd been skeptical of shakes ever since my Slim-Fast days. Those are good for nutrition, but as satisfying as a glass of NesQuik(Why did they change the name?). I've found a reasonably good-tasting shake, mostly whey and soy protein. Mix it with water in blender, and it gets the consistency of a fast-food "milk"shake. Tastes pretty OK, too.

Here's the best part. Sooooo satisfying. If I get the munchies during the day, make a shake. If I'm still hungry after one of those (one shake fills two 16 oz. tumblers and is FILLING) I'll eat whatever I'm craving. I'm getting muscles. Not like bodybuilding muscles or anything grandiose, but the odd crease and bulge where before there were none. I've had more energy. I'm clearer-headed.

By going for two of these wonderful things a day, I get lotsa vitamins, protein, aminos and good stuff, I don't eat just, and I make sure I keep my metabolism up a bit.

Love it. Picture to come when I gets me a haircut :)

New Horizons

I'm sure you've heard of the launch of the New Horizons probe. It's the first ship launched specifically to study Pluto and the outlying Kuiper Belt. I love it! Ever since I was a kid, I've looked up into the sky, and tried to imagine what it might be like on the surface of another planet or moon, looking back at the speck of light that is Earth.

Even better, Clyde Tombaugh's widow, Patsy Tombaugh, is alive to see the momentous occasion, as is Venetia Burney Phair, who, at 11 years old, had the honor of naming the "planet" after the Roman god of the underworld.

I can only imagine what it must be like for them, to see this day arrive at last. I only hope my daughter gets to see some day as important.

2005

Starting from the inauguration at the beginning of the year, 2005 was certainly a year that kept us on our toes. Starting the year with the aftermath of "the" tsunami, this has been a big year for disasters.

Of course there's nature. Tsunami, Earthquakes, big big hurricanes, and LOTS of them!

Have to mention the current president. The world frequently says of America "The second biggest mistake Americans made was electing Bush. The biggest was electing him a second time". It seems an administration based on a do-what-you-feel-like attitude. Replace the head of FEMA, who had years of experience actually managing emergency situation, with a guy with no emergency management experience, AND was asked to resign his former job as a judge of arabian horses. On June 5th, cut the budget that was intended for use to repair the damaged levee system in New Orleans. Send our armed forces overseas. What's the worst that could happen?

Once the veil is ripped away, don't apologize. Not for a while anyway, and definitely not sincerely. After that, nominate someone for the Supreme Court who has never been a judge. To heck with what people really think.

The pope died. A genuinely good man. I won't speak ill of him as I have a huge amount of respect for John Paul II.

Michael Jackson was found not guilty. Then he fled the country. It was a victory after all. I do feel bad for the guy. I don't know him, but he seems to have huge issues he should be dealing with rather than acting like a child.

Lots of republicans are corrupt. Blatantly. Who knew?

I've come to realize the error of my ways regarding religion. I've met many people who honestly believe in what they practice. Humble people, who are willing to give more of themselves than they have to give. It doesn't seem that way in the media. The more vocal religious figures are out for publicity, and money. Their views propagate their individual agendas, not spirituality.

That being said, I'm getting back to the dumbing down of society. Evolution is being debated. Not by people who understand it, mind you, that would lend validity to any arguments. People who believe the bible has to be the literal truth, sort of an all-or-nothing view. If the world and allt he creatures weren't created in 7 24-hour days, there is no God. How messed up is that? That doesn't sound like faith(I hear tell that you need it to get into heaven). Besides, evolution isn't being promoted to discourage spirituality, it's wondering at the dynamic nature of life, whatever the original source may be. It's based on the best scientific evidence we have, so it warrants teaching in science class.

Kentucky voted to teach evolution as a "flawed theory" and include intellegent design as a viable alternative. Georgia put stickers on science books, saying "evolution is a theory, not a fact" and so on. That was already being taught. You know, the theory of evolution as is listed in every danged science book. Also, in science class, they teach you what a theory is. Dumbasses.

The catholic church doesn't even want intellegent design taught in science classes. They admit it's not science, it's religion, and should be taught in such a setting. Who knew in 2005, the Catholic Church would start making sense to me?

There may be a tenth planet, which may wind up being our ninth, if Pluto's status is taken away.

Of course, there are people saying there are soooooo many signs of the end of the world. Lots of hurricanes, which happen every so many years, earthquakes, which happen all the time, war, famine, drought. All signs of being on Earth.

We have a very brief window in which eyes are open. Let's take advantage, and take steps forward as a race(humans). We are aware of suffering, we know we have to be more active in government, and we know we have to prepare. We have a chance to advance greatly, if we all work together, and I'm very hopeful humanity will take the lesson of 2005 to heart, and make things better.

STOP BEING FAT!! Vol. 2

Not a lot to post. I'm trying, slowly to make myself lighter. This week, especially, I've noticed most of the persistent pain in my body is gone. I have a little stiffness in my ankles still, as the tissue needs to be stretched. I've been noticing a pleasant warmth in my tummy - feels like my midsection is melting. If that's the case or not, it's encouraging.

That's really it. Progress is still being made, albeit slowly.

The Work Frontier, and some things that bug me.

I have a new job. I like it. I get paid well.

That being said, some things really piss me off. I was scared as hell to let a certain coke-sniffing, drunk-driving texas oil man take the helm of this vehicle we know as the US. I voted against him, twice, to no avail. Yet every time I express disgust, some moron tells me I voted for him.

Don't get me wrong, I love my country, and as certain disasters have shown, the strength lies not in the power of the officials but of the people. We have been told forever we're the best, we're the best, we got everything, we're awesome. Before 2001, I always thought if real disaster ever struck, people wouldn't know what to do. Apparently, we still care about other people, and that in itself is heartening. The fact that I am technically still free to express my views is a big part of why I like this big ol' country.

It's like seeing some spoiled rich get get a nice corvette from daddy, while still in high school, and watching as he drives it across the street from a parking lot into a tree across the road with sufficient velocity to total it(the car , don't worry, the tree is fine.) . For those of you who did not go to school with me, I refer to an actual incedent.

My heart goes out to those stricken by Katrina. I give blood on a regular basis, as I'm one of those universal donors you hear so much about, and I give money. I feel awful that I'm not able to give more of myself.

Still not feeling better about religion. Love the concept, but it's like the saying goes "Christianity would be great if it weren't for all the christians.". If Jesus ever comes back, there's gonna be a thousand religious freaks out there, handing him pamphlets, telling him he's going to hell for wearing a sheet like that and growing his hair long.

Photos me stopping being fat, if you need proof.

This is me this morning. Look at me! No diet books or anything! This is me, a lifetime ago. Fat as heck, and failing to grow substantial facial hair.

STOP BEING FAT!!! Vol. 1

Hey, I'm trying to lose weight, and generally be healthy, and I do NOT want to subscribe to any diet "plans" or the Atkins eating-disorder. I've been using good sense for about a week and it's already paying off.

Here's what I'm doing -

Eating earlier. Our bodies tend to store food later in the day.
Drinking water. 2 gallons a day, baby! Frequently, thirst signals are misinterpreted as the munchies.
Excersise. Duh.
Cutting down on processed sugar. This creates insulin which causes more fat to get stored in our bodies. Drinking only water helps in the respect, as I'm saving so much sugar and calories from not drinking soda.

When researching what diets work and what don't, I found you can't cut out types of food entirely. IT doesn't work, you miss out on vital nutrients which multivitiamins can't always replace, and never as well, and you wind up with an insane craving for that type of food.

People get attracted to Atkins because it sounds simple. Eat a lot of fatty foods, not so much grains, fruits, veggies. Despite that, Atkins has just as high a failure rate because it's "too restrictive." Not to mention you need carbohydrates. If you excersise without eating carbs, you don't gain muscle, in fact your ody cannibalizes it. Muscle in turn, burns fat while you are sedentary. Good stuff to have. When the body utilizes it's own stores of carbs exclusively, as it you're not getting them from food, your cells break down, and release toxins called ketones. Atkins folks say this is normal and good. Of course they say that, they're selling you something. They can't be that great if they're toxins, and cause kidney stones and gout. Not to mention carbs trigger the release of serotonin, a brain chemical vital for sleep. This is why Atkins people are cranky all the time (again, from what I've seen). You have pretty much live your life based on what you eat, which qualifies it as an eating disorder.

I have found a great tip for anyone who wants to lose weight, but their willpower fades as the diet goes on: Tyrosine. Either in supplements or from food (fish and chicken are good, mozzerella is better and you get get light versions of the cheese). This is a building block of the brain chemical dopamine, which creates and maintains mental alerness and vigilance. Since I found that out, and made changes to adjust, my willpower has gone up exponentially.

My pants that were tight a week ago fit fine now, even a smidge loose. My girlfriend gave me a hug today and mentioned I felt thinner. I haven't mentioned the dieting a whole lot to her.

Hopefully, I can document the changes in my body and what I'm doing, so others can have a reference not only on what works and what doesn't, but realistic timeframes as well. We all have common sense that'll tell us if we gorge ourselves with cake constantly we'll probably get fat. We know how to eat and what to do, I'm just trying to show that it works.

Religion/Politics/Harry Potter

We have a babbling moron in power. I had never been so afraid to be an American than during the 2000 elections, when I realized there were actually people taking Bush seriously. I could not fathom how such a blubbering moron could have such a following. One day it hit me: Religion. Christianity in specific.

Certain people are already mad without even learning what this is about. I can't say it's Christianity in specific, because it's not. Jesus had the right ideas. Good guy. What I don't like is what Christians, in general, do. They listen to the head of their church to figure out what's right and wrong. From what I've seen this is the biggest attraction to organized religion in general. "I'm so uncertain about the afterlife. After all, when I die and leave this world, whatever's next lasts for eternity.", one would think, and later,"Wait a minute - this guy at East First Babtist Church[apologies if that's an actual place] will tell me how to live and what to think, and can tell me for sure that I'm getting into heaven. Yay."

Before I proceed, I need to say something - If I talk about a group of people, you are in that group and what I say doesn't apply to you, GET OVER YOURSELF, You're apparently not that special. Just kidding on that last one. When referring to any group, I will be talking about the general behaviours I have witnessed. I may fall short, as I can't possibly observe everything all the time, and I certainly expect there to be variations withing every single group. You know whether what I'm saying does or doesn't apply to you.

Going on: I have noticed, with spiritual leaders vying for ratings (really! not enough worshippers in a place, it can't sustain itself) church leaders are increasingly feeding on the human instinct of conflict. That's what makes it easier to blame groups, so long as they're not of our church, how dare we find fault within, for societal woes.

I don't understand the gay-marriage constitutional amendment. I'm not gay myself, but at the same time, shouldn't marriage be recognized by two people who love one another? Wasn't the constitution designed to protect our rights, not take them away? People will argue that there can be no procreation in a gay marriage, but straight people go into marriages infirtile, or get "fixed" later. It's percieved as a threat, to what I don't know.

I heard some zealot call a radio station morning show recently, about the new Harry Potter book. I have read all the books and have never tried to practice magic as in the books. There are no references to Satan in the books at all. There have certainly been children's books before that feature magic. So why the fuss about Harry Potter? The books are selling better than any books in history, including the BIBLE, and may soon top the all-time charts over the erroneous King James Bible

Erroneous? Surely you jest, the book is perfect in every way. Nope. See all those italicized words? Those are mistranslations or guesses at best. The best example being "Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live" when it should have been "poisoner". When translating the use of herbs and plants for healing was looked at as evil, and those people were called witches, but also poisoners for using the plants. They picked the wrong word, and hundreds of people were tortured and burned alive. The Bible ain't perfect.

Since Jesus was such a peaceful, wise man, it amazes me that his followers can be such angry numnuts out to condemn everything that's not them. What happens to me after this world is a whole lot bigger than these people can comprehend, and what happens to my soul isn't up to any of these people. Besides, who wants an eternity with them?

Working and trying to live

I was recently diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis. This makes things on the job very difficult, not only in terms of physical movement, but the fatigue and depression that are constant, even when I'm not in a heckuva lotta pain.

Time actually spent at work compounds the problem. I work more than 8 hours a day, 7 days a week. Sometimes I do indeed havew a day off, but the 8 hour thing is an average. 1/3 of my life for all pratical purposes. I hate sleeping, that takes up even more of my time. Time when I can actually enjoy things is precious, and having commitments to that much of my time makes me wonder quite frequently if I'm going to get ahead enough to relax and not feel guilty about it, before the next wave of pain hits, and I can't walk again.

I push myself in the workplace. I've noticed that when I actually try and take care of my own health, my boss takes that as slacking off. I don't mean shirking my duties at work, I mean not wantint to work 11 hour days 6 days a week. I mean not putting in an extra day when there's nothing to do simply because I'm salaried, and my boss feels she ows me. (no longer my boss, in case you're wondering.)

I tend to push myself well beyond my limits, so it doesn't look like I'm goofing off. This comes from people, when hearing of my condition, shrug it off and say things like "Same thing happens to me all the time, I just have to push through it."

I have a high threshold for pain. How do I know? I pierced my own nipple - slowly and without numbing it. I ripped out my own wisdom tooth - with a hammer and a finishing nail. I know pain. If I'm in bed because I say I can't walk, I mean the act of bending, even twitching my leg causes more pain in an instant than either the piercing or tooth removal. I don't get painkillers from the doctor, as they tend to "mask the symptoms" and bar the way to effective treatment. I've been going through this since I was 18, and at this point, relief is all I care about.

Back to the work subject, I've been working an overnight shift without a day or two off a month so far. The job is entirely physical, and though I am actually in better shape than when I was 18 (I'm 30, now), I do have to say I get worn out from time to time. It seems I get home, try and nap, eat dinner and get ready for work again. It ain't right, I tell ya.

Welcome.

This is my first post, and not really linked to on any of my pages now, so if you found it, wow. Pat yourself on the back, and GET OUT OF THE HOUSE. You clearly have too much time on your hands. If you're reading this way way after it's been posted, you may still have too much time on your hands, but now there are too many variables in the mix for me to make a sound judgement about you. That being said...


HELLO WORLD!

I may as well rant about something while I'm creating a post. Instant lottery tickets. Anyhwere I go into a store's customer service area, I'm stuck behind the old fart who thinks he has a "system" for playing the lottery. Yeah, if you had a system, you'd still need to play. If you wanna get tickets, make sure you keep it your business, don't make people wait. They'll only think less of you. Trust me.