the diarrhea diet

I was recently reading about a new "miracle" diet pill that basically forces the body to have diarrhea all the time. I don't know about you, but I what I ant to know is what is the point of losing weight, if you're stuck in a bathroom stall and nobody can see it? Honestly, I think this stuff is ridiculous, and a perfect example of what is wrong with our image-obsessed society. Rather than trying to lose weight via miracle diet pills or whatever is being hailed this week as the quickest fat burner, why the heck can't people just take a walk? Why can't people try and eat a little healthier?

I've heard all the excuses..."I don't know how to cook something healthy. I don't have any time to exercise. I drink diet soda." When all it really takes is some moderation and light exercise. Now I understand that some individuals may be predisposed to retaining weight, due to genetics or even environmental factors. But that doesn't mean that they have to totally give up on the idea of eating healthy. And there's no reason why anyone should have to opt for some mega-vitamin dietary supplement to get their intake of popular "super-foods".

I'm a guy. I'm not supposed to be the one who cooks in my family, if you believe in traditional gender stereotypes. But I do. I cook more than my wife, and (for the most part) I think I do pretty good at it. So I see it as my responsibility to provide something healthy for my family to eat. It beats depending on a bunch of flavor-of-the-week dietary supplements to take care of potential weight problems.

weighing one's options

We've been living without a bathroom scale for some time now. And honestly, we don't really miss it. The only times we do is when I'm looking to ship a big package in the mail, and my small postal scale can't handle it. I used to use our bathroom scale to weigh heavier packages by weighing myself with the box, then without, and computing the difference.

One of the reasons that we got rid of our bathroom scale in the first place was that we were tired of assessing our self-image based on a number. My wife has struggled in the past with fluctuating weight gain and loss, and a scale would only intensify her anguish. Instead, we do our best to exercise as regularly as possible, and determine weight changes based on the fit of our clothing.

The other reason why we ditched our scale was because we didn't have room for it, and didn't really like the way that it looked. That may seem petty, but when you strive for a certain decor, the last thing you want is a bug ugly scale sitting in the corner of the bathroom that looks like it fell out of a time machine from the late eighties. The only "nice" looking bathroom scales at the time were expensive, and we couldn't see ourselves spending more than $20 for one. These days, you can find them in nearly any color, shape, and style from specialty shops like Scales Etc. but you're still going to pay more than $20 for it. Of course, the technology has changed quite a bit and many scales now provide more than just weight information. Some can even equate body fat and water percentages. And they do look better.

Knowing one's weight can be useful as long as you don't get obsessed about it. I just don't like the idea of living by a number on a scale.

weight for the holidays

One of the other things that I am not looking forward to this holiday season is the binging and drinking that will likely boost my belly another ten pounds. As much as I enjoy eating, and eating with guests and family even more so, I hate feeling like I have to stuff myself during the holidays. Everyone always cooks far too much food, and everyone wants you to try what they made. Then there are the sweets and the alcohol that don't help.

For one year, I managed to eat a normal meal at Christmas, and that was when we were trying to be vegetarians. For this year, now that we're back in the South, I'm sure that there will be at least one deep fried item to help stack the weight on, and clog my arteries with crispy goodness. By new year's day, I should probably add a detoxification session and thorough colon cleanse to my list of resolutions to get my digestive tract back to normal.

Fortunately, we have decided to stay home for the holidays, instead of traveling to see all of our family. Sure, it won't be as cheery and we'll miss seeing everyone, but it will assist us in our attempt to keep the holidays more low key, and the friends and neighbors that we do decide to eat with aren't as likely to produce such a spread of food as my family would be.

Winter just sucks, because there isn't as much that you can do to exercise outdoors because it is so cold, and yet there are all of these holidays where you do an exorbitant amount of eating and drinking. Why can't most of these holidays occur during the warmer months?

the gym substitute

I've been trying to get back in shape lately, but with little success. My first step was to get my own weights and a bench press, but I have found that I only get temporary results. I'm not sure if I'm not lifting often enough, or if I just need to be pushing myself more with additional weight resistance. When you live in a small town, it can be difficult to get an all-round exercise program put together. It takes so much time just to hit one type of exercise that trying to fit in multiple forms is time prohibitive and expensive. We don't have an all-in-one gym anywhere nearby where I could lift weights, run the treadmills and also play some racquetball in one setting. As a result, I'm just going to have to get more creative.

For cardio work, I'm going to have to start doing more walking and running. The hills near my home offer quite a bit of resistance, so that should also help. For my weight training, I'm just going to have to keep plugging away at what I have, perhaps doing more repetitions. I debated working out more often (every day?), but they say that it can actually be bad for you if you stretch your muscles out too frequently.

On the bright side, we live near the mountains and there are many wonderful trails and lakes where I can also find ways to exercise - hiking, biking, rowing, etc. The weather is absolutely gorgeous this tie of year, but the cold weather makes breathing more strenuous. I guess I should feel lucky that I have to get my exercise in the form of outdoor activities, rather than sitting in a sweaty gym. But it isn't going to be easy to find the time to fit all of these activities into my schedule.

diet pills for kids

The latest controversy stemming form the pharmaceutical industry has to do with diet pills for children. Personally, I find it repulsive that we've put ourselves into this situation, but I am not surprised. After all, our kids are only going to eat as good as their role models do, and as role models for eating we should be ashamed of ourselves. The American population is a fat population.

I believe that our eating habits are warped. We're not the only country to price itself in its food, but we are one of the few that has no respect for eating as an experience. In most other countries, eating is a respected traditional experience that is allowed as much time as it takes to do so comfortably. I believe that our "fast food" approach to living is what is killing us off. And I'm not just referring to the food.

We've got synthetic alternatives to everything healthy and natural. From vitamin supplements to fake tans to liposuction, it seems like every new exploding industry is an attempt to substitute lazy man-made health for a healthy active lifestyle. I am guilty myself. I don't get the exercise that I should, and I don't take as much time as I should to sit down and appreciate every meal. Instead, I'm forced to sit and contemplate whee I have to be next, what kind of deadline I am facing, or why I don't have time to properly chew that food flowing into my belly.

It's really sad, and I wouldn't be surprised if over time we find that our country is comparatively challenged in its life expectancy.

need more movement

Lately, I've been feeling a bit lethargic, and I know that I need to get out more often. It's difficult when the weather is so warm, though. I know of several neighbors who manage to get out for early morning walks, but I am in no way a morning person so that is not an option.

I did move a bunch of free weights with me the last time we relocated, but I sold off the weight bench. It's funny because we paid for movers to move all of our belongings, and if was going to keep anything from the weight set, I should have kept the weight bench and ditched the weights. After all, the moving companies charge more for weight than they do for actual volume.

So I've been looking for a new weight bench, and I'm quickly discovering that it is akin to looking for a new printer. It's almost cheaper to buy a new set (or a new printer that comes with new ink) than to buy just the bench (or just ink refills). I checked out WalMart and they've got a decent bench for about $55. I was hoping to pay close to $35 for a real basic bench, though. What can I say? I'm cheap. I don't have any sports equipment stores near my home, so my other option is to check out exercise equipment that is for sale online.

There are a few stores like the one I linked to above (Everything Fitness) that fortunately offer free shipping on orders over $19, which is promising. Of course, when you start shopping for these types of things online you are sometimes overwhelmed by the choices. I really just wanted a basic bench with a leg lift and rests for a dumb-bell. A comfy adjustable back support would be nice, as well.

There are some products that are more expensive, and I can't really see why. I always thought that when it came to weight benches, you would pay more for the larger more complicated systems, but I am guessing that brand names must come into play to a certain extent, too. For example, if you take a look at the BodyCraft F602 at the above linked site, this is a high end bench, but it doesn't look like it comes with anything to rest your bench press bar on.

Has anyone had any experience with those flexi-weight systems? You know the ones with rubber stretching apparatus instead of actual weights? Those look neat, but I was always afraid that they might "snap" in the middle of a bench press and I'd go flying across the room somehow.

tools for a calorie arsonist

It's not everyday that I rave about a fitness site, as most of them are pretty cheesy and they charge you for information that is freely available in many places on the net. (They are also generally geared towards women.) However, one site that I recently ran across has got me excited. The service is free, and only requires a simply sign-up to get into the "members" section. They offer a free calorie counter and guidelines on starting and maintaining your very own personal fitness program. Honestly, I don't know if I will get that involved, but there are two tools that I wanted to point out that I am playing around with right now, and they are super-cool. You don't have to sign-up or sign-in to use them, either.

The first is a calorie, carb and nutrition search tool that you can access by clicking on the "Search Foods" tab. You simply pick the type of food in question and it gives you the info you need.

The other tool that I was even more excited to see provides you with calorie burning details for different types of exercise. It too me a second or two to figure out how it works. Click on the "Calories Used" tab, then select a type of exercise from the list. Then enter the amount of time you plan on performing that exercise in the lower right hand corner, and it will estimate how many calories you will burn. I thought it was neat that they even had things like backpacking and skateboarding listed.

Since I spend so much of my time sitting at a desk, I haven't been getting out as often as I would like to exercise. using these tools can give me an idea of my calorie intake, and help me to select certain types of exercise that i have time for that will burn the amount of calories that I need to in the limited time that I have.