Health and Fitness, May, 2016

[Harriet]

a recommendation for this little mushroom that has been popping up (ha - a pun) in grocery stores here, the brown Beech Mushroom. It is the third favorite in Japan, has a pleasant taste, somewhere between our bella and Japan's shitake to me. It's pleasant in omelets and so pretty put into stir-fry for me, but HRH won't touch mushrooms because "it's a fungus!". Oh well - he's lived a sheltered life.

editing : The package I got from Whole Foods looked like this one.

But the important thing is, even though many mushrooms are super healthy for us, this is the one that tested best as far as lowering triglicerides and causing less plaque deposits to form in arteries. We totally need that. Btw, Dr. Andrew Weil says he would never bother eating any mushroom raw - it will be indigestible and won't release nutrients, plus there could be small amounts of toxins that probably won't hurt you, but are best cooked away. I was interested to read that he likes my favorite for taste, shitake, best because of cancer fighting properties.

Next book I want to read is by Dr. Michael Greger. I've enjoyed him on youtube. He's Director of Public Health for the Humane Society of the U.S., a comedian, physician, and really fascinating speaker. Likes charts. He wrote, How Not to Die (December), which I just haven't gotten to yet, being absorbed by the End of... series by Fuhrman, which requires re-reading to "get" it all.

[Harmony]

DH won't eat mushrooms either. I like them, marginally, and will eat them. I gently guide my mind away from the thought they are a fungus and the picture I have of how they are grown and in what they are grown.... but I sure will look for the little brown beech one you mentioned.

[Lady Maverick]

A friend has been using & praising an android app called "S Health" which tracks steps, blood pressure, water, sleep, weight, food, etc. I was happy for her but didn't have any interest in trying it because I like the apps I'm using. As I was setting up my new phone I noticed that S Health was already installed on it. On a lark I started using it to compare to what I am already using. I'm pleasantly surprised how much I like this app! It is very close in steps with my Fitbit One (less than 100 steps apart). I've used the app BPM Heart rate and it was very close to our BP machine. I really like the layout & amount of information this app gives. I don't know if I will switch totally to it until I test it out more. Just sharing this information if anyone is looking for a free app to track healthy efforts.

[Harmony]

Harriet, I'd never have noticed that bag if I didn't see it here. It looks more like a bag of key limes or some sort of nuts! I'm more used to the green cardboard pint with the mushrooms inside shrink wrapped.

I've been logging my weight but not keeping track of food items. Need to get back on track. Not that I'm eating badly, just haven't been marking my squares. It's ok except I have nothing to look back on.

Today doing the clothes purge I am sure without a doubt that I am down into the next size. Everything I tossed away was the bigger size.

[Nancy]

Mowing was my exercise today.

[Harriet]

Previous stuff I'm just now remembering to comment:

Kathryn, never thought of the habit of early morning daily weigh, which I've been doing for weigh longer than I'd like to admit I've needed it leading to the wise habit of getting dressed early for the day, but of course it would.

Twins' Mom (I think - can't find the exact post so maybe someone else) mentioned she was more motivated by actions to take, rather than actions NOT to take to have better health. I had jotted down (and only now remembered to post) this quote from a video seminar by Joel Fuhrman about that :

"Take charge. It feels like you are doing something to control your destiny rather than letting things happen to you."

Harmony, great declutter and health report in one ...

Today doing the clothes purge I am sure without a doubt that I am down into the next size. Everything I tossed away was the bigger size.

btw, Harmony, I've been feeling badly about my irritation with your dr over the numbers. It is true that lowering cholesterol is associated with health benefits, so I'm sure she's trying to be correct. I just want drs to appreciate us when we are accomplishing positive things, and doing it the way everyone agrees is best, with lifestyle change. If a dr would say, "oh, good" to someone whose various numbers are better after the dr's prescriptions, shouldn't the same dr be waving her/his arms and doing the happy puppy dance for a patient who makes improvements through healthy habits?

[Nancy]

I walked for today's exercise. Gardening is my yoga for stress reduction.
The evening stroll was great we saw two deer.

[Harmony]

Thanks, Harriet. It is hard to get established with a gp doctor down here. They are all booked solid. I have thought about switching. I like this dr. except I think she's a little critical. I realize doctors have a very busy life and handle all sorts of stress and time constraints; I couldn't do what they do. But along the way, I think they often lose a bit of compassion, or at least the ability to realize real life is Hard sometimes and the best efforts sometimes go unrewarded.

My dr. is a young lady, blond, very petite. She has no idea what's in store for her when she hits menopause... or maybe she will just medicate it all away. After a while, when addressing one of my "problems" she does tend to ignore it. This cholesterol and weight thing, she just won't let go of it.

And speaking of weight, I've been stuck in the same weight within a pound for a couple months. Last evening I came across this N Y T imes article about The Bi ggest L osers and why almost all of them gain the weight back once the show is over... and just how BAD their metabolism is. They did a study and this page shows the results of one season.

I am no longer a fan of this show (I used to watch it all the time) and for that matter Ex treme Weight L oss series, either. I'd been watching reruns of that also. I have decided to give myself a "break" and not beat myself up over my plateau here. It is probably my body just catching up and hopefully I will begin to lose weight once again when it is ready. Until then I'll just keep doing what I'm doing which is just fine. I've settled into a routine that is pretty healthy food-wise, and I don't want to set myself up for a gain back up.

Here's a link to the study, it's very interesting.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/02/healt ... .html?_r=1
This link does have a log-in but if you hit the x a couple times it lets you bypass it.

[Harriet]

Thanks for the link, Harmony, it worked the first time. I wouldn't be surprised to hear a lot of health gurus speaking about this soon because it seems to be big news.

The only one out there who sends me anything who has responded to this article is Teresa Tapp. She did an emailing to a list that I am on, late Wednesday. She had been a critic once before of Biggest Loser, saying that no one should be pressed so hard during exercise that they would vomit, and that workout methods that caused that kind of physical reaction were "soul sucking".

This time, though, she says she was surprised that the metabolisms never increased again for some of the people. She said she did not expect to hear that news. To summarize her email, her best guess is that it relates to using extreme calorie restriction at the same time as excessive exercise, which she says would not happen in other settings, and "isn't practical or even possible at home". So she says she hopes the article won't "create concern that no one can lose weight and improve their metabolism." She says she's seen many people "lose weight without losing metabolic function", trim up and stay that way.

I'm kind of interested in any response from Dr. Neal Barnard from George Washington Univ, if he gives one. He was the dr who increased metabolism in chronically overweight people, in a study in which he transitioned them onto a vegetarian diet and proved that their metabolisms sped up dramatically. He wrote about it in his 2013 book 21 day Kickstart: Boost Metabolism. So far, he has not blogged since May 4, so maybe he is formulating what he wants to say.

[Harriet]

Today Show had Bob Harper on to talk about it this morning, and have him basically say the contestants were not vigilant enough. His manner was kind, but he was only talking about thinking you can go back to eating junk food, which no one has accused these contestants of doing at all. The show didn't address the metabolism thing as something the person had happen to them without it being their own fault. He suggested intermittent fasting but the program (not he) called it "new", which is inaccurate, and didn't tell that IF means a lot of different things, not just Harper's suggestion to skip breakfasts.