Nutrition 101

Finally, I have 1 nice thing to say about Kaiser. Well actually I have 2. First, they treat their employees really well: pension, generous 401k match, excellent vacation time, you name it.

It’s great to work for Kaiser, but sucks to be a patient. Thank God for my blog and for social media. If you have a grievance, it’s no use screaming your head off to someone on the phone who isn’t paying attention to begin with. Tell the world the issue and someone who’s tasked with trolling the interweb for the company’s name will contact you and try to play peacemaker. Can’t say that’s solved any of my issues, but at least complaints have been filed and are “being discussed.” Yeah, whatever that means. Keep counting your money, Kaiser, and distribute the wealth among your employees while patients suffer from your gross incompetence!

The main nice thing I wanted to say about Kaiser is that I finally got some quality health care! Granted, I had to be proactive and make the appointment myself, nevertheless the Registered Dietitian I saw was so helpful, giving me one full hour of good counsel. She confirmed my nutritional death sentence, but advised me to take it one step at a time as it looks like I am already overwhelmed. “How about for 2 weeks, you pick one thing out of the list you’re going to give up. Then something else after 2 weeks and we’ll just take it slow.”

She continued, “A glass of wine isn’t going to derail your plan. But make it count. If you’re going to have wine or sugar, make sure it’s something you’re going to savor. Make it your favorite glass of wine or your favorite dessert. Then stop because you should be satisfied.”

So here is the nutritional death sentence.

I need a BMI of 19-20 which means I have to get to 91-95 pounds.

No dairy.

No soy.

No sugar.

No caffeine.

No alcohol.

No aspartame which can be found in gum.

No wheat.

No gluten.

—–

The limited things I can eat:

Fresh fruit and vegetables

Oatmeal

Quinoa

Sweet potatoes or yams

Avocado

Nuts

Nutbutter

Flaxseed

Rice cake

Eggs

Cinnamon

Organic Tomato Bisque soup from the SF Soup Co. (but limit soup to 1 cup a day or no more than 2500 mg of sodium a day)

I keep telling myself this isn’t forever. I can do this! The dietitian also has the same disorder I have, PCOS, so she had expert advice and resources for me to research. This is crazy time-consuming. I spend about an hour of every day researching vitamins, herbs, supplements, food products, books, resources, healers, and going to acupuncture. I need another vacation!

That’s All Well and Good

Time for a lifestyle, fitness, health status update.

I started seeing a new acupuncturist today. I found her after doing some research; she was awarded best SF acupuncturist by the San Francisco A-List. I also gravitated toward her undergraduate background: BA in environmental studies from UCSC with an emphasis on biology and writing. Oh yeah! Great minds think alike. I’m excited. We established key metrics and have a plan in place.

She was was pretty impressed with what I’ve done so far to get on track:

  • Stopped taking medication: wellbutrin, ambien, no more botox.
  • Eliminated sugar from my diet.
  • Eliminated caffeine from my diet.
  • Curtailed alcohol consumption.

I feel like I’ve done so much, but I have more homework. Here were her recommendations:

  • Acupuncture 1-2x week.
  • Chinese herbs.
  • Try Juice Plus, PreNatal, PreNatal fish oil.
  • Avoid wheat, soy, dairy. Try almond milk, rice milk, or coconut milk.
  • Eat cooked, warm food and drink.

I see a nutritionist on Monday and will share her recommendations as well.

The All Fat-Consuming Skinny Girl

The facts:

I eat the following every work day: a) either a small plate of eggs and sausage or a large cup of oatmeal that I dump about half a cup of brown sugar in, b) either a bag of Fritos or Dorritos or a small can of Pringles, c) either Nutter Butters, Ferrero Rocher, See’s Candies or a small tub of ice-cream. In addition, I have whatever I’m craving that day for lunch and whatever Dean happens to make for dinner.

I do not engage in any form of physical activity whatsoever. Instead of walking to work (which isn’t far), I take buses and cable cars and use that time to check emails before getting into the office.

I currently weigh close to what I did on the day I graduated from high school back in 1993 which was 78 pounds. I’m 4’10″.

All that said, the point is that my body naturally became healthy the unhealthier I became. When I tried to lose weight, by running and working out and dieting and eating healthy, I couldn’t. But when I stopped trying, that’s when I became skinny. Is this explainable? Does this phenomenon make any sense?

A friend of mine told me that he started seeing a nutritionist recently because even though he swims all the time (trains daily and competes), he cannot shed a single pound. He said, in fact, he’s gained weight despite all his training. And no, it is not muscle because the guy is seriously pudgy. When he told me this, I wanted to blurt out, “Stop being active!” But I don’t have as good enough a friendship with him and didn’t want to hurt his feelings.

This year, I am committed to getting my body naturally healthy to conceive a child. I started by cutting out soda from my diet. That was the easy part. Pretty impressive, though, for someone who used to drink a Diet Coke a day.

Next up: eating healthy. That means:

No sugar – since sugar seems to play a role in my Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) disorder

Consuming organic – since so much of what we eat has hormones that can really screw with your system

No alcohol – this will be a toughie

No caffeine – this will be easy

I’ve been told that being underweight may be prohibiting us from getting pregnant, or at least play a role in our difficulty. God, we both have a shitload of fertility issues. Here’s my concern: if I start eating healthy and cut out all the cookies and ice-cream and chips that I’m used to eating every single day, then I am going to be 70 pounds before you know it!

Ironically, women who have PCOS tend to be obese. Even my doctor said, “Well, looks like you are the rare skinny person who has PCOS.”

How am I the rare anomaly on 2 fronts.

1) I’ve gone against the grain when it comes to my hormonal disorder. I should be fat, yet I’m skinny.

2) I am the most disgusting eater (often asking waiters “What is the most caloric thing on your menu?”), yet I’m skinny.

Any health experts or nutritionists want to help me understand?

Alcohol Binge

Did anyone read the article in the WSJ last week on the unhealthy concentration of bacteria on cell phones? It reminded me of my high school biology class and testing the amount of fecal coliform bacteria we found around the classroom (writing instruments, backpacks, the stools we were sitting on). Anyhow our findings back in the ’90s by a bunch of teenagers were pretty disgusting. The current research by real scientists discussed in the WSJ was even worse.

1 unit of coliform bacteria per 100ml is the limit in drinking water. From a randomly-selected test of cell phones taken from a Chicago office, the research indicated levels between 2,700 -4,200 units. Yuck! These levels lead to diarrhea, pink eye, and all sorts of maladies.

You know what I did this weekend? I thoroughly swabbed with rubbing alcohol our cell phones, keyboards, door knobs, handles…anything that normally doesn’t get cleaned but is touched often. Alcohol is proven to be 100% effective. Note that Apple and Blackberry on their user manuals strictly prohibit liquids (including alcohol) on their products. If you’d rather follow instructions and get sick, follow the rules. I, however, will be on an alcohol binge.

The Drunk Double Major

The first time I got drunk was my third year of college. Pretty good considering I’d started drinking even before my teens, playing spin the bottle with sugary wine coolers—Seagram’s Tahitian Sunset—kiddie alcohol.

But by the time I finished freshman year of college, I’d built up a fierce tolerance to mixed drinks and straight alcohol. So much so that the bragging rights came spewing. “I can drink you under the table,” I’d challenge to anyone who’d listen. I meant it, too. Bright-eyed and mentally-capable, I could spend the night drinking, then split open a textbook on molecular science for an hour of late night reading. I considered that light reading, lighter than a Shakespeare comedy. The periodic table I got, iambic pentameter—not so much.

All that changed the night we walked up toward the Berkeley hills to a fraternity party. Friends from the dorm days had rushed, joined, and were now part of a good group of guys who welcomed old and new friends into their home. They threw festive parties with bars setup in rooms all over the house with hip hop echoing from boom boxes and more alcohol changing hands than a week of transactions at your local BevMo.

It was Goldschlager night. The drinking games had already commenced by the time we arrived. I muscled my way into the action and warmed up with a shot. The volume of alcohol I consumed always caused concern, which I dismissed. “I don’t get drunk.” Wuh? “I said, I don’t get drunk!”

The guys must have thought, who is this Napoleonette?

The night deteriorated into a frenzy of shots. I found it laughable how much more I could stock away in my 100 pound frame than these burly men. I felt invincible and proud. Gawd, I just don’t get drunk do I? I must have had exactly 10 shots give or take a couple.

Back at home, in my jammies, I fluffed up my pillow and lay down for a restful sleep.

My eyes opened immediately. Why is everything spinning? I felt sick sitting in bed. I ran to the bathroom where I spent the rest of the night, cheek pressed against the cool toilet seat. Please God, make it stop. I promise I won’t ever drink again. The mental bragging rights came crumbling as I spewed obscenities in-between puke.

Until now I thought it was the alcohol, but really hubris had been the problem all along. That’s a sobering insight learned 15 years later. I should have stayed focused on Shakespeare and Greek tragedies instead of mucking around with those damn chemical reactions.

Fashion Friday: Sleep

Heather Graham’s beauty secret is that she tries to get 11-12 hours of sleep a night. I guess actresses can afford that kind of luxury!

I don’t function well on too much sleep. An abundance of rest actually makes me more tired. I am most productive with seven hours of solid shut-eye. But I have struggled with sleep my whole life which is why I take Ambien here and there!

Here are some behaviors to practice for good sleep.

•             Exercise regularly

•             Set a regular bedtime and waking time, even on the weekends

•             Eliminate caffeine at least 6 hours before bed

•             Avoid alcohol 4 to 6 hours before sleep

•             Beware of large, late meals

•             Create a relaxing bedtime routine

•             Practice relaxation techniques

•             Create a comfortable environment that is conducive to sleep by eliminating uncomfortable bedding, wearing loose clothing, keeping the bedroom temperature slightly cool, and eliminating any bothersome noise or light.

Source: realage.com

2011 Holy Week Countdown

Notre Dame des Victoires - Virtual Tourist website

It’s Palm Sunday and the one week countdown to Easter. It’s also the beginning of our Italian honeymoon when we arrive in Venice on Holy Saturday. I can’t think of anything more lovely than celebrating Easter mass at St. Mark’s Basilica and drinking wine on the piazza. The day after Easter is also a national holiday—La Pasquetta or Little Easter—so it’ll be one big weekend of happiness. Or two full weeks of bliss for us!

I’ve surprisingly enjoyed giving up alcohol for Lent. At first, it was painful as it should be for anyone who is quasi-addicted, but the restriction actually benefitted my life more than it took away. Here are my top reasons for why I’m going to miss this five-week stint of sobriety.

1. People can’t bully you into drinking by buying you another drink, opening another bottle of wine, or pouring you more even though you don’t want more. “Sorry, I told you I gave up alcohol for Lent.”
2. I’ve learned which restaurants and bars have good non-alcoholic options.
3. I have more energy.
4. I could stay up late and wake up early.
5. I slept well.
6. I didn’t wake up with headaches.
7. I can now sincerely empathize with people who don’t drink. I don’t think empathize is the right word, but I definitely know where they’re coming from and it’s not a bad place to be.
8. I lost weight—which I can’t imagine is related to giving up alcohol since I wolfishly binged on sugar, but I definitely lost weight. Form your own conclusions.
9. I saved a shitload of money.
10. Every time I wanted to have a drink, I thought about God and my religion—which is the whole point of Lent.