Monthly Archives: January 2003

Physique transformation

Posted on by

This is day 5 on Physique Transformation.

Physique transformation is a website/diet/nutritional database which is free for a 5 day trial.

I already did that. It said I was eating exactly what I was supposed to on BFL, 40% protein, 40% carbs, and 20% fat. Since I haven't been losing weight for a while, and then started losing fat, I went looking for something different.

The PT site said that I needed to eat more calories. And I've been doing that. I will tell you it's hard. I've been feeling stuffed all the time. And I'm only eating 1730 calories this week. Next week I go up to 1930. And so on for a total of 7 weeks of “conditioning.”

There's a database so that you can (which you have to) enter every food you eat. It grades you on how well you are doing based on what they thought you needed to be doing. Well, I've been getting As so far. But for tomorrow I wanted something fun to eat. I couldn't afford a egg and cheese croissant from Burger King. Too much fat. But when I took that out, I don't have enough fat. I have a C because I need more fat. Can you believe it?

Well, I couldn't believe it either so I went back to look at it. Turns out I had a C because I forgot to put my multivitamin in.

It's a good way to track what you are eating.

It remains to be seen whether it is a good way to lose weight, at least for me. We won't know that until the 7 weeks of conditioning are over.

The fat burning comes after that. They say you will lose 2 lbs a week. But several people on the support list bely that. I don't want to stay on this forever, or even 19 weeks, if it isn't going to work. But I am trying to give it a fighting chance.

Let's hope it works.

Do this one thing to lose weight

Posted on by

According to an Italian study, the one thing you need to do to lose weight is fall in love. I vaguely recall that I lost weight at that point. I had to have my wedding dress made smaller after only two months.

I am waiting for the study that shows why men gain weight after they get married though. That would be interesting.

Fire

Posted on by

I've been looking up stuff on fire because I am writing a novel where the second half of the book involves a fire cult.

I learned that eucalyptus, sage, and spruce are highly flammable. In CA they're trying to get rid of those plants because of the wildfires.

Came home from lunch with my dad today to find my neighbor’s house had caught fire. They have the same floor plan we do and the windows were busted out of her master bedroom. The interior was a big black hole with firefighters pitching stuff out it.

She works and her son is in school, so no one was home. I hope he goes to an afterschool program and doesn't come home to find his house burnt. At least, not by himself.

We live just down the road from a small rural community. Last Sunday we saw a fire there. They lost one volunteer fireman. He was 30.

Fire is a scary thing.

Dielli

Cell phones blind drivers

Posted on by

Okay, I'll admit it. I talk when I am driving. In fact, I get in the car and the first thing I think to do is pick up my phone and call someone.

I'm probably also someone who would say I don’t feel that talking on the phone impairs my driving. I will certainly have to reconsider after reading about this study.

I'm one of the reasons that “sometimes you have to do the silly study that shows the obvious.”

Stupid Job description: programmer?

Posted on by

I actually read about this on another site, but I thought it was interesting enough to go to the source. Angie , who is apparently a programmer, has added her “brain lint” to the internet. This particular article is about stupid job descriptions which HR people put up.

This particular ad, a real one she says though she thoughtfully deleted the name of the stupid company, has the qualifications for about five programmers and several other people included. In addition, it lists familiarity and skills with stuff no programmer in their right mind would have. I think the HR people meant “ability to use Word and PowerPoint” but that's not a programmer skill.

Though I'm not a programmer, despite my husband's best efforts to convince me I should become one, I thought this was crazy/funny/sad.

BTW, they didn't want a programmer. Even though they listed multiple languages as well as HTMl, Pearlscript, etc. They wanted a Webmaster.

I wonder who the company ended up hiring for this job.

Because I have lost a lot of old sites, they no longer exist, I wanted to quote the qualifications section. But please, the original is much better, fleshed out, and descriptive. It elucidates the reasons why the qualifications are ridiculous.

Recently viewed at an employment web site:

*3-5 years of Web based application design and administration experience (preferably with Webmaster or similar certification),
*Expert Level Java / HTML / XML / XSL / PearlScript / CGI / JavaScript development,
*Familiarity with XML standards/technologies (including Web Services), XML Schemas, DTDs, and XML/XSL development tools (editors/parsers),
*Reasonable ASP / Vbscript / Php development experience,
*Familiarity with J2EE/EJB, component development, OO development (RUP methodology), 3/N tier Web application architectures, Web *Application Servers (WebSphere, WebLogic, Jboss, iPlanet, etc.),
*Familiarity with Unix platforms (Linux/HP-UX, AIX, Solaris),
*Familiarity with ODA standards and compliance,
*Good experience with Web content management, trouble shooting, site administration and related tools, Web site trend/traffic monitoring/analysis,
*Familiarity with security standards/issues (PKI, SSL, HTTPs, etc.), backend database interfacing (JDBC, ODBC, ASP), interfacing with *Queues and mail providers (JMS, SMTP, MIME), front-end database reporting tools (Cristal Reports, etc.),
*Good experience with SQL databases (Oracle, DB2, MySQL, SQL Server, Access, etc.), Web Servers (IIS, Apache, TomCat, etc.), NT/*W2000 platforms, networking with TCP/IP, MS Office automation tools (Word, Excel, Access, Outlook, Power Point),
*Good experience with Web development/administration/maintenance tools, such as PhotoShop, FrontPage, DreamWeaver,
*Good understanding and application of state of-the-art Web design/development products/tools/best practices,
*Business requirement specification, Modeling and Web Application Architecture,
*Highly developed analytical, problem solving and decision making,
*Should be conversant with Change / Problem / Issue Management,
*Quality Assurance Testing of Web applications,
*Web End-to-end Testing Tools and Techniques
*Effective Presentation Techniques
*Documentation,
*Oral and Written Communication

Beware getting naked: if there's a cell phone around

Posted on by

According to the news there is already an issue in Hong Kong in gyms where people's cell phones are being used to take pictures which are subsequently posted to the internet.

This is especially interesting since the article ends with the comment that the Chinese are less concerned about privacy issues than Americans, for example.

I haven't heard of cell phones being banned from gym locker rooms over here, but I would certainly understand. I wouldn't want naked pictures of me on the internet. At least not till I've lost all my weight! 😉

Who are you?

Posted on by

“Embrace your uniqueness.? Time is much too short to be living someone else's life.”?? – Kobi Yamada

Found this quote on darkblue today. It isn't what I have been thinking about, but it is related. And I just had to throw it in here.

I'm 40. (Yeah, for some of you that is old. Oh well. Not for me.) In my life I have been me, but sometimes I haven't liked me. I have hidden my mind by not speaking up. I have hidden my body by overeating and/or wearing baggy clothes. I have hidden my personality by hanging around different kinds of people.

I like who I am now. I wear sexy clothes and while I am not sure that I am comfortable with them, I do know I look good in them. I know I'm smart. I know I'm friendly and a good friend.

Basically, I've come to accept my faults (stubborn, talk too much, have zits) and my strengths ( good conversationalist, great boobs, smart).

I wonder why it took me so long to accept who I am.

I look at the angst on these entries and I just want to say, “It'll be okay. Eventually you will be someone who can handle this.” But, you know, some of that stuff no one should have to handle. Some of that stuff won't even matter to the writer in another week.

I think that time is relative. The older you are, the shorter time gets relative to you. A year, when you are 10 is one tenth of your life. When you are 40, it's the equivalent of a third of a year to a 10 year old. Plus, you know how time works and you've seen it change your life and perspective. So a year is even less time.

So, who are you? And, don't wait so long to learn to like yourself!

New is Scary

Posted on by

I think that new stuff is always scary.

I am taking it on faith that Physique Transformation will work. But I have always had problems with low protein/high carb and, for me, a 35/55 ratio is exactly that.

I started today and I am not sure how it is going to go. I was nauseous already this morning, after having a Myoplex lite cinnamon bar with my multivitamin. But I'm not sleepy, which is good.

I printed out today and tomorrow's menus so that I will know what I am supposed to be eating. It is a bit overwhelming trying to remember a new way of eating all at once. I am doing what I can to diminish the feeling of being overwhelmed.

My husband tried to get me to go on the mailing list. He figured that would help, too. I am sure it would. But I don't remember my yahoo name. Have to get another one or find where I wrote that down.

I am going to lift this afternoon. But no cardio for the next seven weeks. That feels weird.

The basic idea is that when you are dieting, you lower your metabolic rate. Since I have been at 1200-1500 calories for the last ten months, they are assuming my metabolism has slowed down to cope with my low caloric intake. To speed up your metabolism, you have to feed your body more food.

This week I have to eat 1740 calories a day. Then it goes up 200 calories a week for the next seven weeks. That tells my body there is plenty of food and I am not starving.

Then they start a daily calorie rotation. This is the fat-burning stage. They say that you lose about 2 pounds a week for 12 weeks in this stage. That will get me a little under where I had really planned to be, if I lose at the expected rate. However, then you go off and have to stabilize your weight. I figure being a little under will give me the leeway to stabilize.

Assuming this works, by the end of May I will be wearing a bikini to the beach.

Smallpox

Posted on by

I don't know if this is a topic of conversation around your dinner table, but I've been talking about it a lot recently.

When smallpox hits a previously uninfected population, the death rate can go as high as 95%. This was what it hit in South America after the Spanish landed there, based on some in-depth archaeological and historical research I did in college 20 years ago. I'm assuming that hasn't changed.

When the smallpox vaccine is given they expect like 1 in 40,000 to die. (I read that somewhere.)
CBS says it's 1 in 15 million.
AMNews says it is more than 1 in 1 million.
VaccinationNews says 1 in 1/2 mill.
Somebody's website that looks historical says that more people die in a smallpox outbreak after vaccination than before.
This site says smallpox outbreaks were wiped out when vaccines were used. –Which is true, because there has been NO smallpox in the world in 25 years.
Journal of Young Investigators has a really good article and overview, although they seem to be leaning against the vaccine.

I don't know about you, but if someone is throwing smallpox around, or is potentially doing it, then I am going to take the risk and get my kids vaccinated, as soon as it becomes available. I'll just have to pray they aren't allergic.

If you were born after 1972 you probably have not been vaccinated. That's when they quit doing it routinely in the US. My little sister did not get the vaccine because she had increased susceptibility to some illnesses, including smallpox, because of something she got in the nursery when she was born. But most people born before 1972 have been innoculated.

Go to this CDC website to read about smallpox: types, history, etc.

Kids afraid of the dark b/c blind

Posted on by

I found a study on Reuter's health that freaked me out. The study talks about night blindness in kids and how some kids' eyes don't adjust to the dark, they are just blind.

I do not have this and neither do my kids. I thought it was fascinating, though, because I have trouble seeing in the dark for quite a long time after the lights go out. My husband thinks it's funny that “Miss 20-20” can't see in the dark. I, of course, do not. I'm not quite as freaked out as the little kids in this study, most of the time, but it is not fun.

Bye Bye BFL

Posted on by

After 44 weeks on BFL and having lost a final count of 42 pounds and 27 inches, I am bailing. I've been losing muscle, not fat, in the last few weeks and nothing I could do would change it.

So I am going to start a new program on Monday. Monday I start SEVEN weeks of eating like a pig as a conditioning phase of physique transformation's program.

Okay, I don't really get to eat like a pig. But the thing I find really disturbing is that my husband only has a four week conditioning phase. Since he wants to lose ten pounds, he'll be through with this stuff after nine weeks. I'll have just started fat burning then. I hope this works. It works for lots of people. I hope it works for me.

What it means for me goal wise is that I will not meet my birthday goal of being able to wear my first date dress comfortably. It will be 21 weeks from now, maybe longer, when I am finished. Which is, I think, the middle of June. However, the good thing is that it will still be bikini weather.

Since right now I am regressing, not progressing, this is going to be very different for me. They recommend NOT doing cardio for the conditioning phase. That means I won't be able to ride my bike for two months!!! I've come to love riding my bike. I'm thinking after two months I will have lost all the ability I've gained on it in the last ten months and will have to start over. However, if you do cardio in conditioning, you have to double it during fat burning. I don't want to be riding my bike twice a day for the 12 weeks of fat-burning. So I guess I will do without for a while.

Dating

Posted on by

Tonight I learned something I didn't know. My husband said he and his friends didn't even talk to a girl who wore any kind of ring at all on her third finger of her left hand because they figured she was taken and didn't want to poach.– When I wore a ring, that is the only finger I ever wore it on. So I thought that was interesting. Did a lot of guys pass me by, because of my ring?– Girls. leave the ring at home, if it won't fit on another finger. Do you want someone picking you up who thinks you're engaged?

Guys, my husband has learned how to tease. You don't pick on your girlfriend like you pick on your guy friends. What you do is make positive jokes. She says she's hot, you say you know she is. She says she doesn't feel good, you touch her skin and say you don't know, you think she feels great. She asks if she looks all right, you say no, you look gorgeous. Let me tell you, this is a much better approach with your lady than the normal goofy guy cut downs. And from personal experience, the better I feel about me, the better I feel about him.

BFL: Day 52

Posted on by

I don't normally weigh on Wednesdays, but I didn't weigh on Saturday. So, I weighed.

According to the scale I have gained fat and lost muscle. Again. I have lost a minimum of three pounds of muscle in the last eight weeks. This is not a good thing.

I am doing everything in BFL as well as I know how. And, believe me, I have had other people look at my stuff to see if I had it wrong. But as far as anyone can tell, I am still on-target with the program. I am just off-target with the weight loss.

I am looking at physique transformationas a possible alternative. I am now in the “analysis” phase, so I have no idea how I will like it when it comes time to actually do it.

Right now it looks like it is NOT a program you stay with all your life. I really wanted something which, in the fat loss stage, was just a little more extreme than in the maintenance phase. BFL was great for me in that regard. I have come to look forward to my weight workouts and my cardio. Even the hard days.

However, there have been several signs that BFL is no longer working. First, not losing fat every week. Then, losing muscle. Also, much more troubling to me but not as obvious, I have been having trouble with my brain-speech connections again.

I call this “losing words.” At one point in the past (a year or so ago) I was unable to tell you a word that I wanted to use about twenty times a day. These words could be simple, like couch, or complex, like teleological. There seemed to be no rhyme or reason to the disappearance. Once you said the word, I could recognize it and say it, but I could not find it in my own brain. For a person who loves language, who has several degrees in English, and who teaches it, I can think of little scarier than this.

My sleep apnea has gotten better and I believe that was part of the problem. But it wasn't all of the problem. And whatever was the rest of the problem is cropping up again. Yesterday I lost seven words.

Since, aside from sleeping better, the only thing I was doing differently was BFL, I believe that BFL was helping with my language problems. However, it is not helping any longer. –I am still dreaming, so I know the sleep apnea hasn't gotten worse again.– For me that means I need to do something else.

What the something else is I do not know. But I am more willing to try a “strenuous” option now that it is obvious I am losing words again than when I was just not making any progress with my weight.

Teaching or Brainwashing? Against the War

Posted on by

Plastic carried a story about California school children being REQUIRED to attend an assembly, in lieu of normal school activities, held by antiwar protestors.

“Anti-war activists and pacifists spoke to between 5,000 and 10,000 students in sessions that replaced the normal class schedule for 30 schools in Oakland, California,” writes ms_sue_collins. “One speaker brought a bottle of sludge that he said represented the water that Iraqi children must drink because the U.S. bombed treatment plants; another brought a box of medical supplies that she she said she had tried but failed to take to Iraq a few years ago; and a storyteller read 'peace stories' to elementary school children. Mary Prophet, one of the organizers, said that the teach-in was held before the anti-war demonstrations in order to 'develop an awareness' so that the kids and their parents 'could join us at the march.' Dan Siegel, the school board member who proposed the event, received unanimous support for the event from the school board. San Francisco's board of education has approved its own day of 'discussion.'”

Too much stuff

Posted on by

Have you noticed that Americans (maybe all Westerners) have too much stuff?

I called a girlfriend today whose husband got transferred last week. One day's notice. So he's up north and she's down south trying to get their house in order to sell. She has decided that as a single parent with three kids in extracurricular activities that she cannot afford the time for a garage sale. So she is getting stuff together and every time someone calls and says “We're going to have a truck in your area” she says “sure, come get my stuff.”

Now I know that in December I took three carloads of stuff to Goodwill type places. Three carloads. But a lot of the stuff was from my mom's attic. (With the new prices still attached.) However, I took one carload just after Christmas that was all mine. Then January 3 I took another carload. And as soon as I got back from that I started another pile. Part of my stuff is I'm getting too small for my clothes and my boys are growing out of theirs faster than they wear them out. (Which is amazing, because one is just the size less than the other so they both wear the clothes before they're outgrown.)

My girlfriend is trying to get rid of all the stuff it's not worth it to her to move.

I'm just trying to de-clutter my house. People give us stuff, which I am glad of, but then we don't need it or use it and I hate it just sitting there. So, it's off to somewhere to give it away again.

But if I can go with a trunk load of stuff that often, doesn't that say that we have way more stuff than anyone needs? And there are people with more things than we have.

Then there are the people who clean out all the time. An acquaintance says that each time her kids get a new toy they have to get rid of an equal number of old ones. So, come their birthdays if they get twenty new toys, they have to get rid of twenty old ones. I wonder if she lets them junk the new ones they don't like? They don't throw them away. They take them to Goodwill etc.

Jurassic Park disease

Posted on by

You probably know someone with this disease. Remember the guy in JP who walked by the computers and screwed them up? That's the disease I am talking about. Apparently, I have it.

My kids laugh because I can't do something on the computer that they find easy. I know how to do it. It's just that when I do it, it doesn't work. I will sit there and do the same thing over and over again and the outcome I am looking for just doesn't happen. Then I call them or my husband in and while they stand at my shoulder I do the exact same thing one more time so that they can tell me what I am messing up. When they are standing there it works perfectly.

What is up with that? The computers hate me? Unbeknownst to the rest of the world there is already AI and they talk to each other and they've decided that I need to be tortured? I don't even scream at computers. Why would they hate me?

It is very frustrating. Has anyone else out there had any experience with this disease?

Keeping in touch

Posted on by

A friend from NC just called me, as I got on line. She said that when they got home from their Christmas tours (They go see both families in other states.), they had a pile of cards waiting for them. One card said, “The angel that was with us has ascended.” and was signed by the husband and son of a family they had been friends with. She hadn't even known her friend was sick and she had died. Then another card, just a few down in the pile, mentioned that the friend was being treated for severe depression. … Anyway, my friend decided that she needed to get in touch with all her old friends. Since we are such a mobile society in the US that is taking her a while. So she called me tonight.

It is hard to keep in touch with people who live far away. But you still love them. Thankfully, most of my friends know that I want to know when they are in trouble and they tell me so I can pray. Of course, it could be because when I'm in trouble I call and say “Pray for this and this and this.”

Another friend called me last week, about the time I was thinking about calling her except that I was out running errands, and left me a message on the phone. I resolve to call her tomorrow. –Hold me accountable here.

I never got my new year's letter out because some of the addresses weren't working. I think I will try and send them individually. Even if they are now late.

So, keep in touch with your old friends. You never know what is going on in their life unless you ask.