Eagle Creek

Last weekend, I went on a 3-day backpacking trip with some friends. We endured rain, snow, difficult river crossings and a vicious mouse attack, but managed to have a good time nevertheless. Here are a few pictures:

Punchbowl falls

Tunnel falls

Basalt cliffs

Apparently mice like cheese!

Vaccines

I am a label reader. Whenever I'm thinking about buying food in a box, which is rare, I typically read the whole label to look for sinister ingredients. So when I got a booster vaccine for tetanus last week, naturally I asked for the product information.

Along with a nice dose of tetanus and diphtheria toxoids, my medial deltoid received 0.28 mg of aluminum, up to 0.3 micrograms of mercury, and up to 100 micrograms of "residual formaldehyde". I got the vaccine because I like being able to chew, but I wasn't able to lift my arm for several days. I don't know if that was due to an immune response to the tetanus and diphtheria (probably) or if it was caused by the aluminum, mercury and formaldehyde they injected into my arm.

We work with formaldehyde in my lab, and I can tell you it is not to be messed with. I had to take an entire training course just to use it, during which I learned that if there's enough of it to smell, it's toxic. 0.1 parts per million in the air is enough to cause a burning sensation in the mucous membranes. We always use it in the fume hood. Formaldehyde is a toxin, a carcinogen, and a teratogen (causes birth defects). So I'm sure you'll understand why I wasn't too happy about having 100 ug of it injected into my body.

I'm not criticizing the concept of vaccines, I just wish they'd make more of an effort to clean them up!

Exercise Didn't Keep Us From Getting Fat

One of the surprising things I noticed when I was poring over data from the NHANES survey (US CDC National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey) from 1975 to 2006 is that the number of inactive people has diminished in that same time period from 50% to 24%. This is shocking to most people. We have this romanticized idea that in the 1970s people were more active, as if everyone chopped wood and walked 15 miles to work in the morning. The reality is, there were office jobs, housewives and cars without the large numbers of runners and gym-goers we have today.

Granted, NHANES data are self-reported and should be taken with a grain of salt. However, Chris at Conditioning Research pointed me to a study looking at changes in energy expenditure from the 1980s to the present in North America and Europe. It doesn't suffer from the same biases because it's based on direct measurement rather than self-reporting. Here's the executive summary: we're expending slightly more energy than we used to, partly because we exercise more and partly because it takes more energy to move our heavier bodies around.

I'm certainly not blaming the obesity problem on an increase in physical activity, but I do think we can safely rule out inactivity as the reason we've gotten fatter. In my mind, this only leaves one major possible cause for the obesity epidemic: changes in diet. Don't get me wrong, I think exercise is good. It has numerous positive effects on physical and mental health. But it's not as powerful of a tool for fat loss and general health as diet.

Anecdotally, I do know several people who lose fat when they exercise regularly. I also know some who don't lose fat when they exercise. Exercise and a healthy diet converge on some of the same metabolic pathways, such as sensitivity to insulin. But diet changes are far more effective than exercise at correcting metabolic problems. The reason is simple: the problems a person corrects with a good diet are caused by a poor diet to begin with.

A lovely UTI.

My cystitis has turned into a lovely Urinary tract infection. Geez, its terrible. Normally cystopurin or oasis sorts it out, but today I had to go to the doctor. I couldn't handle it any more. On top of that, The red team is playing at home too and I was about to chop my lower body off. So I have cefalexin to take 4 times a day. I hope they work quickly!

today was our little slimming world jaunt. I put on a pound this week, no surprise there. I always do around this time. Doesn't seem to matter what I do, I always gain. So I am not recording it, or feeling bad about it because I have eaten bugger all all week and know I haven't 'really' put on a pound. Next week will show up the loss. Pisses me off though.

I haven't eaten anything all day as I feel so crud. better go and prepare some tea or something.

Yesterday, today

I wasn't feeling too hot yesterday for some reason. I got up and nearly trod on one of our new kittens because they are now under our bed... and moving around too!

We had to do a tesco run for really random things like Salad Cream and pegs, shake and vac and black trousers. The most unconnected shopping list that ever was.

I had a mother of a headache by the time we got home, and the air was really heavy and full of storm... not that we had one though. We went to TB's house to sort her computer out again and then came home. I really wanted to go to sleep but time got away from me. I went to work and bought a bottle of red on the way home and ordered a curry. Its not good really, because I can eat a curry, easily. As long as I make sure I chew those prawns, then it slips down a treat. Rice is no problem for me covered in sauce!

I was all on my own, eating curry and chilling on the sofa watching telly. It was great. DS was in a show so DH and his Mum had taken him to do that for the evening, and as I had to work I couldn't get back in time for it. It made a change to have the whole house to myself... well nearly. Sue was upstairs in bed as she is not well at the moment, but Laszlo was out truck driving. All calm and quiet.

I was really tired by the time DH, DS and Granny got home, and I just wanted to go to bed. So thats what I did. I crawled into bed with a copy of OK and had a good read.

I don't think I ate anything else yesterday apart from the bottle of wine, curry and few crackers and humous at lunch...

Nothing much to report really.

Ho hum.

More Weight Loss Blogs

Read about three more bloggers who have had success losing weight here. One of them, is Shauna, pictured here. She used to weigh 350 pounds and now weighs 175. She's written a book about her weight loss journey and her blog is at The Amazing Adventures of Diet Girl.

Gluten Sensitivity

I'd like to point out an interesting post from Peter at Hyperlipid. He discusses a paper that uses a novel technique to look for immune activation in the gut in response to wheat gluten. For the nerds: they challenged patient gut biopsies with gliadin fragments (gliadin is one of the proteins that make up gluten) and looked for expression of interleukin-15 (IL-15), a marker of activation of the innate immune system. The innate immune system is an old system (evolutionarily speaking) that predates the antibody-producing "adaptive immune system" and nonspecifically defends against pathogens.

Biopsies from 5 out of 6 patients showed an IL-15 response to at least one gliadin fragment. The implication is that the majority of people have an immune response to wheat, even if they don't have Celiac disease. The reason they aren't diagnosed as Celiac patients is they don't have circulating anti-gliadin antibodies (and they presumably don't yet have severe structural damage to their intestinal tract as judged by biopsy or endoscopy), but as the paper shows, people can react to gluten without producing antibodies via the innate immune system.

As someone who regularly does Western blots, I can say I'm not impressed by the quality of their data, but if this is confirmed more solidly and on a larger scale it would be HUGE. As you know if you've been following the blog, the small intestine has a lot of important functions: besides absorbing nutrients and secreting enzymes, it also plays an important role in regulating satiety and insulin secretion by the pancreas and overall insulin sensitivity. It's not an organ you want to damage.

I hate cystitis...

...well at least I think that's what it is. I just get this terrible pain when I get stressed, and lets face it, its been a touch stressful around here these last few weeks.

So I am taking that horrible cranberry flavour salt drink made by canesten... Oasis? I think that's it. It certainly does the job, but I have run out, so am feeling a bit miserable.

Today has been quite good. Food wise, I was hungry when I woke up but after drinking my Berroca I was full again and didn't think about food until about 11:30 when I had a banana.

I had to go out this evening after work, so I knew I would not get dinner until late so I made a slice of toast, bunged some tinned chopped tomato and grated cheese on top and had that for lunch at about 3:30. DS was eating humous after finishing his several slices, piles of tomato and cheese combination as he was still peckish and I dived in aswell with 2 finn crisps and a couple of scrapes of humous.

So today's cals have been higher than of late at 760. I feel hungry now and I am going to have a lasagne that I defrosted this afternoon. I made it myself from scratch, so I don't know how many cals it has... but I have realised that as long as I eat only when I am hungry, and stay away from the BAD junk, then it doesn't really matter what the calorie value is. I like writing what I ate down, because I think it could help someone else thinking about the band, or with a band who wonders when they are at their sweet spot, but I think keeping track of all the cals gets me down if I do it every day. Its good now and again, and I haven't logged cals for a week or so on the daily plate, and I feel liberated.

I think to be honest I am there... I feel good, eat little, don't crave snacks and am losing weight. Sounds like my sweet place to me!

Heat it up with Ginger

Today we celebrate the health and healing powers of ginger. Aromatic, pungent and spicy, ginger adds a special flavor and zest to main dishes and many fruit and vegetable dishes. Ginger has long been known to tame digestive discomfort and many post-weight loss surgery patients report that including ginger as an ingredient in their healthy diet helps reduce stomach distress.Ginger can be found in

If you are Fat and you haven't got a Lap Band then GET ONE!

BRUGGE - FEB, 2007

MAY 2008 36 pounds lighter

Oh man I LOOOOOOOVE the lap band.

Seriously, we have been through rough times me and my silicone friend, but I am just 'luvin it, luvin it, luvin it right now!

It is ONE YEAR to the day that my Lap Band Broke (See May 2007 posts).

I am also 11 pounds lighter than I was this time last year. I am in a seriously cool place. Trust me, it messes with your head having a lap band break on you, but OMG is it worth it. HELL YEAH!

I cannot believe that I am 15 stone something. That is totally awesome. I feel bright, energised and happy. I had my hair done today to celebrate the fact that my band IS working, and I feel young and vibrant and great.

I am wearing a pair of trousers and a top I bought last year before Sri Lanka, and obviously never got to wear them. Well this summer I fit into them perfectly. 3 weeks ago I couldn't do them up! Now they fit comfy... like they actually FIT! Wow. I feel so great about myself now, in a well deserved way, not an arrogant way. I just feel really pleased that something I did has finally gone right, and its making me feel a whole lot better.

THEN

NOW

RIGHT NOW!!

Today's food diary read thus:

1 banana

1 jacket potato (small) with curry sauce

2 chocolate yoghurts

That's all folk's!

California "Raw" Almonds

I bought about a pound of almonds yesterday for a backpacking trip I'll be doing this weekend. I like to soak raw almonds, then lightly toast them. It sweetens them and breaks down some of their anti-nutrients.

When I arrived at the grocery store, the only raw almonds they had were from California. I prefer to buy domestic products when I can, but in case you haven't heard, "raw" almonds from California are no longer raw. They are required to be sterilized using steam or antiseptic gases, despite their relative safety as a raw food.

The worst part is that they are not required to label them as pasteurized; they can still be labeled as raw. The Almond Board's argument is that there's no difference in quality and pasteurized almonds are safer. I find this highly offensive and deceptive. It flies in the face of common sense. If you walked up to someone in the street and asked them what the phrase "raw milk" means, would they say "oh yeah, that means pasteurized"? A raw seed can sprout. A pasteurized seed can't. Remember all those enzymes that break down anti-nutrients when you soak beans, grains and nuts? Denatured by heat.

I tried soaking them like I would regular raw almonds. I covered them in water overnight. In the morning, I noticed that the soaking water was milky and had an unpleasant smell. The outer layer of the almonds (the most cooked part) was falling apart into the water. They also didn't have the crisp texture of soaked raw almonds.

Tonight, I toasted them lightly. They definitely taste "off", and the texture isn't as good. There's no doubt about it, pasteurized California almonds are inferior. Despite my preference for domestic products, I'll be buying Spanish almonds the next time around. If enough of us do the same, we'll hit the Almond Board in the only place that counts: its wallet.

One of the most irritating things is that the new rule is designed to edge out small producers. I can't see any other reason for it. Raw almonds are a safe food. Far safer than lettuce. Should we pasteurize lettuce? Pasteurization requires specialized, expensive equipment that will be prohibitive for the little guys. I'm sure the bigger producers will generously offer to fill the production gap.

Wild Caught vs. Farm Raised Salmon

Hello Neighbors!You know I'm a big fan of salmon and eat it regularly. Normally I get my salmon from a big-box super center in large quantities to portion out, vacuum pack and freeze for later use. But I've often wondered where this salmon comes from and is it my healthiest option.George Mateljan over at The World's Healthiest Foods is featuring salmon this week and he offers insight to the farm

Daylight Robbery and the Judas Kiss

Today we found that the cheque Spelman had paid us bounced.

What a low life.

The guy came here, wasted another hour in my life with his inane chatter about bog all, which I only tolerated because he was going to finally cough up my husbands wages, then takes his stock back (several thousand pounds worth) then shakes my hand and gives me a kiss on the cheek "no hard feelings".

A week later the cheque has bounced and the bastard has all his stock back. He is supposed to be a millionaire. Money here there and everywhere. I have never clapped eyes on such a down and out millionaire in my life. He drives a poxy L reg car with rust and dents. He wears cheap shiny well worn Farah slacks and plastic shoes and a shirt - no tie. If he is a millionaire, then I am a monkey's fucking uncle.

I never liked the guy from the moment I met him. 10 minutes in his company and you just KNOW that the whole evening is going to governed by him and a waste of at least 5 hours talking about him and his and how great hes got it.

The guy holidays in Ibiza for god's sake. Tragic.

Food diary:
2 Finn Crisp slim crackers with garlic and herb cheese spread. I made myself 3, but couldn't eat the last one. I used to eat a box of these in an afternoon no trouble.

several cups of Coffee

Tonight's dinner is going to be... Roast beef, carrots, roast potato and creamed leeks. Horseradish naturally, but no Yorkshire pud for me... not worth the vomiting.
I will let ya know how much I get through!

Real Food VII: Lentils

Lentils are a healthy food that comes with a few caveats. They have more protein and less carbohydrate than any other legume besides soybeans and peanuts. In fact, the ratio of protein to digestible carbohydrate is almost 1:1. The carbohydrate in lentils is slow-digesting, giving them a relatively low glycemic load. They also contain a remarkable array of vitamins and minerals, particularly B vitamins. One cup delivers 90% of your RDA of folate, so between lentils and liver there's no need for those sketchy prenatal vitamins.

Lentils must be properly prepared to be digestible and nutritious! I can't emphasize this enough. We did not evolve eating legumes, so we have to take certain steps to be able to digest them adequately. As with all beans and grains, proper soaking is essential to neutralize their naturally occurring toxins and anti-nutrients. Anti-nutrients are substances that interfere with the absorption of nutrients. Soaking activates enzymes in the seeds themselves that degrade these substances. It also cuts down substantially on cooking time and reduces flatulence.

Phytic acid is an anti-nutrient that's abundant in beans, grains and nuts. It can dramatically reduce the absorption of important minerals such as iron, calcium, magnesium and zinc, leading to deficiencies over time. It may be one of the main reasons human stature decreased after the adoption of agriculture, and it probably continues to contribute to short stature and health problems around the world.

Lentils and other seeds also contain trypsin inhibitors. Trypsin is one of the digestive system's main protein-digesting enzymes, and seeds probably inhibit it as a defense against predators. Another class of toxins are the lectins. Certain lectins are able to bind to and damage the digestive tract, and even pass into the circulation and possibly wreak havoc. This is a short list of a few of the toxins found in beans and grains. Fortunately, all of these toxins can be reduced or eliminated by proper soaking. I like to soak all legumes for a full 24 hours, adding warm water halfway through. This increases the activity of the toxin-degrading enzymes.

Here's a method for preparing lentils that I've found to be effective. You will actually save time by doing it this way rather than cooking them without soaking, because they cook so much more quickly:

1. 24 hours before cooking, place dry lentils in a large bowl and cover with 2" of water or more.
2. After 12 hours or so, drain and cover the lentils with very warm water (not hot tap water).
3. Drain and rinse before cooking.
4. To cook, simply cover the soaked lentils with fresh water and boil until tender. I like to add a 2-inch piece of the seaweed kombu to increase mineral content and digestibility.

many thanks to *clarity* for the CC photo

Getting VERY excited

I think today was the day that I finally cracked my stupid psychological issue of thinking I am not losing weight...

I AM losing weight, physically I know this, but mentally I don't seem to be able to see it.

However, today I wore my new size 16 skirt and top and cardigan ALL DAY and went to slimmingworld and weighed in at 15 stone 6 pounds!! So this last week I have lost 4 pounds in total. That's so cool! I am getting there head-space wise.

It dawned on me that its 2 days until the anniversary of my band breakage.
This time last year I weighed 16 stone 3.

I am 11 pounds lower than I was this time last year! OMG!!! THAT'S SO EXCELLENT!

That's what has done it. I remember thinking that I would be pleased if, after regaining all the initial weight loss after the band break, I was 16 stone 3 by the anniversary of the band break.

Well people, I did a fucking hell of a lot better than that! 11 POUNDS! WOW MAN! That's so good.

I feel like a new person tonight, I really do. I am feeling positive about strutting my stuff on Holiday as I will be a lot less than I weighed last year. I felt ACE in Sri Lanka and really felt on cloud nine about my appearance and was in a kind of awestruck expectation of amazing weight loss results. I am now back there. I don't need to lose 4 pound a week... I don't need to lose 2 pound a week to be honest. 1 pound a week will mean that by next summer I will be BINT! I will be absolutely fit as.

I figure that I have about 3 to 3 and a half more stone to lose until I feel like a regular person. My ideal weight is 4 stone away, and I know that I might never reach that weight, because the last time I was 11 and a half stone I was 17. Since then, I have actually developed a bust, had a child and all kinds of excess fat and shit, so I guess its a little optimistic, but this band makes me wanna aim high now.

I feel FAN-FUCKING-TASTIC

Today's food, if any of you are interested...:

Salad and 1 Bulgarian meat thing that I can only describe as a sausage...

1 banana

that's it.

Love you guys!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Monday in the LivingAfterWLS Neighborhood

Hello Neighbors!I hope you had a fine weekend and were able to do some serious LIVING! Our weather here in Wyoming has turned quite lovely after such a long LONG winter. It was nice to enjoy lots of sunshine and outdoors this last weekend. Here is a look at a tiny corner of my perennial garden. In another few weeks the perennials will emerge carpeting the earth in green, I can hardly wait!Like

US Fructose Consumption Trends

As you may have noticed, I suspect fructose is involved in overweight and other health problems. It seems to have adverse effects on fat deposition in the liver and insulin sensitivity that could be related to its association with weight gain. I looked through USDA estimated per capita consumption of different sweeteners to get an idea of how fructose consumption has changed in the US in the time since adult obesity rates have doubled.

In 1970, we ate an estimated 72.5 lb/year of cane and beet sugar (sucrose) per person, which is 50% fructose and 50% glucose. We also ate 0.4 lb/year of corn syrup, which is most commonly 55% fructose, 45% glucose. Consumption of other unspecified sweeteners was 12.0 lb/year, for a total intake of 84.9 lb/year of added sweeteners.

In 2007, we ate an estimated 44.2 lb/year of sucrose, 40.1 lb/year of corn syrup, and 12.9 lb/year of other unspecified sweeteners, for a total added sweetener intake of 97.2 lb/year. Doing the math, and generously assuming that the "other" sweeteners are 100% honey (~50% fructose), here are the results:

• 1970: 42.5 lb/year of added fructose.

• 2007: 50.6 lb/year of added fructose.

At 19%, it's not a staggering increase, but it's definitely significant. I also think it's an underestimate, because it doesn't include fruit juice or total fruit consumption, both of which have increased. Other notable findings: grain intake has increased 41% between 1970 and 2005, due chiefly to rising consumption of processed wheat products. Added fats and oils have increased 63% in the same time period, with the increase coming exclusively from vegetable fats. The use of hydrogenated shortening has more than doubled.

What has caused the dramatic expansion of American waistlines in the last 30 years? No one knows for sure, but I think it's probably related to diet since the percentage of people who exercise has actually increased in the same time period. My money is on the wheat and sugar, with possible contributions from hydrogenated oil, polyunsaturated vegetable oils and chemical pollutants. The reason is that wheat and sugar seem to have devastating metabolic effects on populations throughout the world, such as the Pima.

8 Dress Sizes Lower!

3 T-Shirts and 2 Skirts

SIZE 16

ENOUGH SAID!

Seared Salmon and Tomato-Mozzarella Salad

We enjoyed a meal so delicious last night that I forgot it was healthy! I first made a Tomato-Mozzarella salad from tomato slices that had been drained on paper toweling and then seasoned with salt and pepper. These were arranged in a ring on the serving platter then drizzled with extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar, finally garnished with toasted pinenuts.For the Salmon:In a large

Lip Gloss for Weight Loss?

Over at Daily Diet Blog Mike Howard brings forward obesity researcher Betty Kovacs and Self Magazine editor Erin Hobday collaborated article on ridiculous weight loss methods. Now, I've tried some crazy things in my day including a self-made cling-wrap body suit (didn't work) and the infamous cabbage soup diet. But nothing nearly as crazy as some of these: take a look and enjoy!1. WEIGHT LOSS

Oh Joyous Day

I know that I shouldn't but I just couldn't resist it. I will probably live to regret it on Monday, but there we go. It feels great now!

I weighed myself this morning. I thought... what the hell and hopped on. 15 stone 7 it screamed out at me. I was shocked beyond belief. All I feel is proud and happy and so amazingly wonderful. 15 and a half stone???? OH MY!!!! This is like the best thing ever. I think I am actually believing in this band now, and cutting the crap out of my diet... i.e. wine and chocolate, sorts me out. It is simply those 2 things that cause me to feel shitty, guilty and to put on weight. They don't even make me that happy when I am eating them, so why do I (and 1000 of others who have the same problem...)?

Nothing feels as good as getting on those scales and hearing those pounds getting lower.

I really shouldn't have logged it today, but it felt so good I had to. I just hope that on Monday its not higher, because that makes me feel worse than anything. I had a bad experience last year that way just after having my band sorted... I lost about 9 pounds in a week do you remember? Well obviously I checked and checked and checked and the scales told the truth, but when I jumped on the following week it was higher again ad it really puts me backwards. Its like some kind of twisted mental game or something.

I have really taken on board Lapbandgirl's comment of the other week... Thanks Erica. I don't know why but this comment has REALLY helped me... like a word at the right time.
She said:

"...we shouldn't be eating by the clock, just when we're hungry. If you don't
feel like much dinner, don't eat it... but don't think you have to eat
something..."

Now we all know this is true right? However, until that moment I read that, I hadn't really GOT it. Why the Fuck do I eat if I am not hungry? Why??? Seriously? I honestly don't know. We get up and its breakfast so we have to have something to eat right... Then its lunch, so we better eat something. Then dinner.... etc.

(-what follows is a really weird post of my meanderings and righting the worlds wrongs so quit now if you don't want to be inanely bored)

Actually no. Just because I have a pencil in my pocket doesn't mean I have to sharpen it. I only sharpen it if I need to right? What happened to us? If you pardon the pun, why do we have the all consuming desire to keep the motor running?

Its taken me a about a week pondering this comment from Erika to really sort my shit out. I have been feeling guilty if I don't eat breakfast so I make sure I have lunch. So as I am puking the lunch up over the sink I am now worried that I am gonna drop dead from starvation. Was I actually hungry in the first place? The thought does not enter my mind.

So these last few days I have really taken stock of where I am at head space wise. I get up in the morning and the last thing I want to do is eat. I DO however want to drink. So that's what I do. Its half past 12 right now in the UK... about the time one starts thinking of ones guts... Why? I am not actually hungry... so I have to ignore this urge to stuff myself as that is all it is. Its not driven by hunger or need for physical sustenance. Its driven by the clock. I mean... what? Why do we do this?

*Shakes head with utter confusion*

So I am not going to eat by the clock. I am going to consider if I feel hungry before I eat anything. this is hard because obviously as wives/girlfriend's/mothers we have to feed our brood when they get hungry (which is oddly around the clock... so maybe we are making the same mistakes there... there really should be no time for lunch or dinner... it should be when you want it.) So to make it easier on us we call it lunch time or tea time or dinner time as it saves the poor woman having to slave her guts out in the kitchen endlessly when ever someone comes in and says "I'm hungry."

So Lunch, breakfast and dinner have become an institution that has been brought about by laziness in fact. Bare bones and all... if we really ate when we were hungry we would all eat at completely different times. You never see a rabbit stop whatever he is doing and sit down to some grass on the dot of 5pm do you?

To make it easier on ourselves we give ourselves times for these things... so we can plan our days around them. This is why it becomes such a bloody problem for some of us.

So is it possible to just eat when we want to...? Yes if we are all individually responsible for making our food. But for children this is not possible, and socially its not the best. Its really nice to sit down to a dinner and chat over it... but its not actually necessary is it. We could all sit around and chat at any time we wanted to... its just the fact that is a convenient time to do it when everyone is together.

Anyway, I have decided that if I am not hungry I will not eat. End of. So, thanks Lapbandgirl!

Lessons From the Pima Indians

At 38% and climbing in 2006, the Pima indians (Akimel O'odham) of Arizona have the highest rate of diabetes of any population in the world. They also have staggering rates of obesity (~70%) and hypertension.

Things were very different for them before 1539, when the Spanish first made contact. They lived on an agricultural diet of beans, corn and squash, with wild fish, game meat and plants. As with most native people, they were thin and healthy while on their traditional diet.

In 1859, the Pima were restricted to a small fraction of their original land along the Gila river, the Pima Reservation. In 1866, settlers began arriving in the region and diverting the Gila river upstream of the reservation for their own agriculture. In 1869, the river went dry for the first time. 1886 was the last year any water flowed to the Pima Reservation in the Gila river.

The Pima had no way to obtain water, and no way to grow crops. Their once productive subsistence economy ground to a halt. Famine ensued for 40 desperate years. The Pima cut down their extensive mesquite forests to sell for food and water. Eventually, after public outcry, uncle Sam stepped in.

The government provided the Pima with subsidized "food": white flour, sugar, partially hydrogenated lard, and canned goods. They promptly became diabetic and overweight, and have remained that way ever since.

The Pima are poster children for mainstream nutrition researchers in the US for several reasons. First of all, their pre-contact diet was probably fairly low in fat, and researchers love to point out that they now eat more fat (comparable to the average American diet). Another reason is that there's another group of Pima in Mexico who still live on a relatively traditional diet and are much healthier. They are genetically very similar, supporting the idea that it's the lifestyle of the American Pima that's causing their problems (no kidding, Sherlock? Can you picture a 5'5", 250 lb man running down a rabbit?). The third reason is that the Mexican Pima exercise more than the Arizona Pima and eat a bit less, supposedly supporting the "calories in, calories out" nonsense.

I definitely agree with the conclusion that their lifestyle is behind their problems; that's pretty obvious. I think most Pima know it too. If they got their water back, maybe things would be different for them. But there are huge holes in the other conclusions researchers draw from these studies.

The focus on macronutrients has them blinded to the fact that the modern Pima diet is pure crap. It's mostly processed food with a low nutrient density. It also contains the two biggest destroyers of indigenous health: white flour and sugar. There are numerous examples of cultures going from a high-fat diet to a lower-fat "reservation food" diet and suffering the same fate: the Inuit of Alaska, the Maasai and Samburu of Kenya, tribes in the Pacific Northwestern US and Canada, certain Aboriginal groups, and more. What do they all have in common? White flour, sugar and other processed food.

The exercise thing makes me laugh too. True, Mexican Pima exercise 2.5 times more than Arizona Pima, but the Arizona Pima still exercise way more than the average American! Women clock in at 3.1 hours a week, while men come in at a whopping 12.1 hours a week! I am a bike commuter and weight lifter, and even I don't exercise that much. So forgive me if I'm a little skeptical of the idea that they aren't exercising enough to keep the weight off.

The history of the Pima is a heart-wrenching story that has been repeated hundreds, perhaps thousands of times all over the world. Europeans bring in white flour, sugar and other processed food, it destroys a native populations' health, and then researchers act like they don't understand why it happened.

The Pima are canaries in the coal mine, and we can learn a lot from them. Their health problems resemble those of other poor Americans (and wealthier ones also, to a lesser extent). This is because they are both eating similar types of things. The problem is creeping into society at large, however, as we rely more and more on processed wheat, corn, soy and sugar, and less on wholesome food. Obesity in the US has doubled in the past 30 years, and childhood obesity has tripled. Diabetes is following suit. Life expectancy has begun to diminish in some (poor) parts of the country. Meanwhile, our diet is looking increasingly like Pima reservation food. It's time to learn a lesson from their tragedy.

Molded Rhubarb Rosemary Cucumber Salad Recipe

Elsie over at Simply Recipes presents a gorgeous spring jelled salad. This isn't your average pot-luck gelatin; it is stylish and sophisticated using spring fresh rhubarb, rosemary and cucumbers. Gelatin is a staple in may weight loss surgery diets but sometimes it can get a bit boring. This one, though a bit time-consuming to prepare, is sure to take the dull out of the everyday. Elsie's recipe

Another good one

Another good day. Am at home writing this when normally I would be at work, but have managed to change my late pupils to earlier in the day making an earlier night for me. Food wise its been a bit weird. I seem to have these odd few days where I cant eat much every now and then. In fact I think it was the same time as last week thinking about it. Anyway, today I have eaten 1 bite of toast and a slither of fried egg white. I was going to have 1 fried egg on 1 piece of toast for my lunch, but my band had other ideas, so all I got was a couple of teeny weeny measly mouthfuls which amounted to practically nothing. Then I went to work and en-route, during and on the way back, drank a carton of Tymbark Vega juice. Then when I got home DH had made Jacket potatoes, beans and salad for dinner. I managed 1 mouthful of salad, 1 mouthful of jacket potato and a few beans and then I was done. Since then I have had an orange juice. I am not actually hungry. I don't feel quite 'full' or satiated in any way, but I am most certainly not hungry. I might have a yogurt when I go to bed, but today's intake has been seriously low. I don't think I have even broken 300 cals to be honest.

Here are some beautiful pictures of Mary's kittens. They are 11 days old and terribly cute. A couple have just started to open their eyes and they are so teeny tiny!

The LivingAfterWLS Library

It's me again with my weekly Tuesday update. I find it hard to believe Tuesday is here again so soon! For the past several days and nights I've been face to face with my design computer writing code to finish the new and improved LivingAfterWLS Library - a project that has been back burnered several times since January. I am bound and determined to get it finished this week. Entering the content

Your Gut Talks to Your Brain

I've been reading through some papers on a gut-brain connection that regulates food intake and blood nutrient balance. I've learned some interesting things.

First of all, when fat hits your small intestine (especially long-chain fatty acids), it sends a message to the brainstem via the vagus nerve. This rapidly inhibits eating behavior.

The hypothalamus can also inhibit glucose production by the liver in response to fat in the bloodstream, by sending it signals via the vagus nerve.

A recent paper that got me interested in all this showed that when you put fatty acids on the upper small intestine, it sends a signal to the brain, which then sends a signal to the liver, increasing insulin sensitivity and decreasing glucose production.

The upper small intestine is not just a passive nutrient sponge. It's a very active player in the body's response to food, coordinating changes in food intake and nutrient disposal.

Another good day

Today has been good. Really good.
1st DH got the job at McDonalds. YAY. I can start to breathe again.
2nd My Dad is out of hospital and on the mend from his 'antibiotic resistant bacterial infection'... shall we just say MRSA??? Yep. thought so.
3rd I washed my car - by hand!
4th Terry 'The Scumbag' Spellman came over and coughed up £376.50 for the work DH had done for him last month. He wasn't going to but I 'out Jew-ed' him! DH was just gonna let it go and not bother... which I totally understand, but I was not going to let it go. I spent ages on the floor polishing all his gold and silver and arranging it in new ways and making it look good. It was in a complete and utter state when we got it. How dare he try and get away with giving us nothing. I made sure I made out an invoice for our services, and I got every penny I asked for as well I should. DH is really pleased and I am thrilled, because it means that we have actually saved ourselves this month. I mean the guy has damn near put us into bankruptcy. Its because of him we cant claim dole, or claim on our mortgage protection etc... So really he should pay more, but I was fair. I asked for what we spent out, and that's what I got. I had to work hard for it though. He now knows who has the balls of iron in this family though.
5th We got all the stuff we needed for a cool money plan we wanted to set up and sent that off. That should be started within the week, so that's cool.

And finally my diet today has again been really good.
Prozac and coffee for breakfast
clear chicken consomme with a little pasta floating in it for lunch
dinner was Pasta Puttanesca

I have had 3 big glasses of water and a half litre of orange juice too. Put all that together with washing the car and also walking down the village quickly to post the letters, I have had a good lot of exercise too.

Rock on.

food diary

Thought I might add a food diary... whenever you see this title post... if you dont want to be bored rigid with the contents of my stomach for the day... then dont read it. Its more for me to remember what I did than anything else.

Prozac
Berroca
Coffee
1 carton Tymbark Vega Juice
Coffee
Coffee
Chilli con Carne (2 Tbsp) + Rice (1.5 Tbsp)
3 glasses red wine... to finish it up!! HA HA

Fit Is IT Challenge

Hello Everyone!I hope you had a fine weekend and a lovely Mother’s Day. For us the day usually heralds spring but would you believe we woke up to snow this morning? I am reluctant to complain about our weather when so many other places are suffering terrible weather and unfortunate natural disaster. So I’ll simply put another log on the fire, count my blessings and send warm wishes to those

Giving myself the feel good factor

This time last month I was 16 stone 1
That's 5 pounds off in a month. Coooooool.

I am officially at my 6 month mark today. I have lost 32 pounds in 6 months.

I have to forget about the whole year that was wasted before this.

I should be feeling BLOODY FABULOUS right now. 32 pounds in 6 months??? UNBELIEVABLE Without dieting??? Its a MIRACLE.

But I am not feeling fabulous because of the wasted time I went through for 8 months putting all that fat back on again when it broke. How can I forget about it. this time last year I was feeling THE BUSINESS. I was full of confidence and self assured and all was right with the world. I had lost less than I have now at that time, but I felt better then than now.

the band break was a really disastrous thing to happen. It has made the process seem very very very slow... and actually...

I AM DOING BETTER THAN I WAS LAST TIME!

I am gonna try and think positively about it, and consider the second operation a completely different operation... maybe I can think of it like I had a better band put in, or an upgrade or something and then I might feel less annoyed at the whole breakage debacle.

I am feeling better just writing this actually. I am feeling really good at losing 32 pounds... 2 stone 4!! WOW in just 6 months without starving myself or having to combine different types of foods or cut out this or that. This is the most wonderful invention and I have to start believing in myself that I actually AM going to be slim... slimmer than I ever felt possible. I have to also believe that the band is NOT going to break. I am looking forward to May 21st with a feeling of dread. I am not superstitious, and I am not thinking that something will happen at all, but the thought that last year on the 21st May I was in such agonising pain and no one found out... makes me want to throw up. How did the leave me like that. I had x-rays and scans and all kinds and NO ONE SAID ANYTHING. They must have seen it as I saw it clear as a bloody bell and I'm no doctor. It makes me feel terrible.

But 32 pounds... when this thing is working its working like a wonder horse!

Dare I think about buying smaller clothes yet?? Everything is hanging off me... but I am so loathe to buy new stuff in case I cry like an idiot or something that it either fits or doesn't or whatever. God I feel like a complete emotional wreck today.

I repeat... I am 6 months out of my band upgrade (Hmm feels good)
I am 32 pounds lighter.

I feel GREAT.

Better post my 6 month photo I guess!!! check out my photo log later.

Getting smaller... slowly

Well the mega weight losses are a thing of the past now, but I am losing steadily. I lost 3 pounds this week... taking my weight to 15 stone 10 pounds. This is excellent. I am really really proud of myself. I just want another couple of good weeks so that I can be a bit slimmer for my holiday at the beginning of June. It will be a really nice feeling to be 15 and a half stone or something when I go away. I haven't been on a nice hot summer holiday weighing less than 16 stone since I was a teenager. It makes the heat so much more bearable, I remember that from last year in Sri Lanka. I cant imagine being 2 stone heavier than I was then... it would have been dreadful.

So total weightloss now is 2 stone 4 pounds since banding in February 2007 - or 32 pounds! YAY

food today so far... 1 berocca, and 1 carton of veggie juice to get my nutrients. tonight I am making chilli con carne with rice, so that will be nice. Off to work in a bit, not looking forward to that in this weather, but it brings home the bacon.

Talking of bacon... DH still hasn't heard if he got the job at McDonalds yet. I think he is secretly hoping that he wont, but on the other hand hoping that he will because we need the regular cash. That scumbag Terry Spellman really sold us down the river. If he had told us that he was not really in a position to do it, we could have claimed on our mortgage payments insurance when he was made redundant, but going self employed for that Shit head has meant we cannot even get dole money or any financial help whatsoever. I hope he fucking chokes on his money. The bastard hasn't even sent us the money he does owe us. I hope he goes bust. no one should treat people like that, especially my DH because he is so lovely and doesn't deserve it.

So now DH is carrying stock for his old company on a 10% commission deal and also another local supplier for 10% too... if he gets the job at McDonalds aswell, we will be laughing.

Bit of a come down for the poor guy, but beggars can't be choosers. We went out and got him a car yesterday... a fabulous bargain of a diesel saloon for £600 just like my old Rover I crashed. so I feel a bit awful driving around in my new MG whilst DH has no air con or any luxuries... but he says not to feel awful because its a nice family car and we need one decent car in the family anyway. There isn't any point getting a good car just to plow it around the country and run it into the ground, so he is happy, so I should be too.

will update later if i get any more news...

Diabetes and Your Small Intestine

In the last post, I introduced you to the remarkable antidiabetic effect of gastric bypass surgery. It rapidly reverses diabetes in 83% of patients, and it seems to be due to bypassing the upper small intestine specifically, rather than caloric restriction. This points to a special role of the upper small intestine in regulating food metabolism. I told you I was going to look into the mechanism of why this effect happens, and here's the short answer:

It's complicated and no one understands it completely.

Now for the long answer. Nutrient homeostasis is very important and we have sophisticated ways of coordinating it among different tissues. Part of the small intestine's job is telling the body that nutrients are on their way into the bloodstream. Two ways it conveys this signal are by secreting hormones into the bloodstream, and by sending signals to the brain and liver via parasympathetic nerves.

The small intestine secretes dozens of hormones, one category of which is called the incretins. Incretins by definition increase the secretion of insulin by the pancreas, among other things. They were discovered when researchers realized that oral glucose elicits more of an insulin response than intravenous glucose. The reason is that cells in the upper small intestine secrete incretins when they detect glucose.

There are two known major incretin hormones that are secreted by the small intestine, GIP and GLP-1. There was a recent study by the lab of Blanca Olivan which looked into the levels of incretins in patients who had undergone Roux-en-Y gastric bypass, a common type in which 95% of the stomach and part of the upper small intestine is bypassed.

Their results are very interesting! Compared to controls losing an equivalent amount of weight on a low-calorie diet, the bypass patients saw a HUGE increase in their oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) GLP-1 secretion (9.8 vs 112.5 pmol/L), a large increase in GIP secretion, and a corresponding increase in insulin secretion (575 vs 769 pmol/L). Two-hour OGTT blood glucose levels went from borderline diabetic to "normal", by American Diabetes Association standards. Fasting glucose and insulin dropped substantially. The bypass group gained considerable glucose control, better than the matched controls on a low-calorie diet.

It looks like part of the mechanism involves whipping the pancreas to produce more insulin in response to glucose. It also affected fasting insulin, although that could simply be due to calorie restriction because it went down in both groups. Interestingly, non-diabetic patients who get a Roux-en-Y bypass often get reactive hypoglycemia, where their pancreas overproduces insulin after a meal and they get dangerously low blood sugar. Dr Mary-Elizabeth Patti calls it "diabetes reversal in people who don't have diabetes". So the effect doesn't seem to be specific to people with diabetes.

There is some suggestion that the effect on incretins is due to bypassing the duodenum, which is part of the upper small intestine. Here's how the (very sophisticated) reasoning goes: when the duodenum doesn't get glucose dumped on it, that somehow increases release of incretins by the small intestine further along the line.

There's actually an antidiabetic drug that mimics GLP-1; it's called Byetta. There's another that inhibits the breakdown of GLP-1 called Januvia. A second effect of GLP-1 is to delay stomach emptying, which both drugs do. They have been effective for some diabetics.

Well this turned into a long post, so I'll follow up on the parasympathetic (nerve) signaling of the small intestine next time.

Fun Friday in the Neighborhood

Greetings Neighbors!Happy Friday to you all! I hope you enjoyed a good week of treating your body well and living your best life after surgical weight loss.Today is Fun Friday in the Neighborhood. That means a quiz game with fabulous prizes and better yet, a chance to get to know your Neighbors. This week I ask the question(s) - Five questions to answer with one-sentence each. Quick and easy yet

Halelujah - I can eat

Well a nights sleep seemed to settle the problem of the strangulating tightness of yesterday.
I was able to have my coffee this morning without incident, and a couple of thin bread sticks for lunch and I have managed to get a couple of pints of water down me too which I am VERY pleased about in this heat. Its 28 degrees in the garden... wonderful! Long may it continue.

Dinner tonight is Chicken casserole with new potatos and peas. Hopefully our burgeoning family will enjoy it. Goodness knows what it will be like when Alexandra arrives! 5 adults and a child in one house. Phew!

Clenbuterol Fat burning pills

Were you amidst the large number of citizenry who were impressed with the Fat Burning Pills weight loss claims which were developed by Ephedrine? A lot people laid claim spectacular effects, even although it often induced rest disturbances, and additional unasked side effects. A few still find them even though it comprised banished in the U.S. Additional favored humans have comprised able to discover Clenbuterol weight loss, although.

Clenbuterol weight loss follows important rules and produces these consequences in a very small amount of time, much as Ephedrine did. Ephedrine was a accessory that asked to be accepted by every couple of hrs as it promptly would allow for the system to get toleratant, but rarely would anyone accept it unendingly as of the side effects it acquired. Clenbuterol, on the other hand does not allow for your system of rules so fast. It stays in your body twenty-four hrs a day. It does have a decelerating effect on the body's beta-adrenergic receptor though; consequently it continues effective for a circumscribed add up of clock time, there fore considered to be among the Fat Burning Pills

It embodies most beneficial accepted applying a pyramid approach path. The convention itinerary taken with this accessory is to begin with one tablet carrying twenty mcgs (a few pills accept 40mcg) and easy increment the dose. After about a month it are step by step reduced to acquire off the drug and allow some time for downregulation before commencement the following regime.

A few accept been acknowledged to claim Clenbuterol a sex hormone, but this is not only misleading but entirely inappropriate. It's widely acknowledge to comprise used by bodybuilders and trainees alike. Muscle builder specifically favour this dose and talk highly of it. You may be dumbfounded at the amount of them who apply it faithfully to raise their coming into court for competitors.

Body Building world are adoring of the Clenbuterol as a Fat Burning Pills . There is admiration because it efficaciously additions the hurrying of which your body burns up adipose tissue and protein. Gram calorie that are taken in are burned up quickly, resulting in the add up diminishing measures of adipose tissue. You're then left with a leaner and more muscular appearing. However, the consumption of Clenbuterol from those who are not really knowledgeable it can be risky. If it is not taken in the correct dose, and over the correct amount of time, it could conduct to an extreme increase of heart rate amidst other things. This could result in hospitalization.

If Clenbuterol weight loss is something you are thinking about, research the information available to you or better yet, speak with human whohas used this medicine at a dose.

As it concerns carving agents for a musclebuilding appearance, there are commonly alone two words that come to mind: ECA and Clen. ECA is the at ease, legal solution because weight loss employed by many beginner and mediate musclemen when preparing for a show. Boosted musclemen (top level NPC and pro athletes) leave often apply ECA in conjunction with Clenbuterol as an unbelievably synergistic fat loss effect and therfore considered among Fat Burning Pills. Both are viable alternatives, but Clenbuterol should only comprise used once ECA is no longer adequate to accomplish coveted body fat levels.

The basic principle

Clen comprised originally designed for treatment of lung ailments, letting in asthma attack. Athletes soon ascertained that accepting it directed to greater muscles and lower body adipose tissue, just put. Scientifically, Clen makes the use of oxygen in the bloodstream more efficient. In real life terms for musclemen, this transforms to decreased muscle wasting, bigger body aggregate, and faster burning of stored body adipose tissue. Clen is a preferred amidst top amateurish bodybuilders, and the majority of professional bodybuilders to employ it to a few degree initiating to a demonstrate, typically stacked with ECA.

Risk & Reward

Clenbuterol comprises a very anabolic dose. It has positive effects are experienced almost immediately, which has in mind that the foundation because side consequences begin almost immediately as well. Short condition, the user may feel hot, nauseating, shaking, and apprehensive. The longest term fallouts of clen use primarily include heart cardiac arrhythmia, heart failure, and heart impairment. It makes the system move more fast-paced, and the heart comprises definitely part of the system. Clen had better never be accepted year-round. Musclemen should only believe clen for short-term use, to lose bodyfat immediately before a appearance.

Bottom Line

If you're new to musclebuilding or contending in a local NPC charge show, you are in all likelihood not in a position to be ready for Clenbuterol. ECA is definitely the chemical compound you had better be utilizing at this time. Because your competition bodyweight approaches 220 (240+ off-season) and you've peaked for 4 or more shows, it might be time to add Clen to your pre-season regime. Again I personally donot recommend anyone using this as due to risk of cardiac side effects. Till then we should keep looking for the best weight loss and Fat Burning Pills

The Miracle Diabetes Cure You Don't Know About

What would you say if I told you there's a cure for type II diabetes that's effective in 83% of people, extremely rapid, and requires no lifestyle changes? Would you think I was crazy? Well maybe I am, but the cure exists nevertheless.

All it requires is a little intestinal mutilation. It's called gastric bypass surgery. It's an anti-obesity surgery where the digestive tract is re-routed, bypassing 95% of the stomach as well as the duodenum and jejunum, which are parts of the upper small intestine.

The effect was first reported in 1995 by Dr. Walter Pories. Initially, researchers thought the cure was simply from caloric restriction due to a smaller stomach volume, but since then the story has become much more interesting. The key finding was published in 2004 by Dr. Francesco Rubino, who showed that bypassing the duodenum and jejunum but not the stomach of type II diabetic rats was enough to cure their diabetes. The effect wasn't due to caloric restriction, since both groups ate the same amount of food.

What this suggests is that there's some kind of feedback coming from the upper small intestine that affects glucose control and insulin sensitivity. What could be causing it? It just so happens there are some pretty good candidates: hormones called GLP-1 and ghrelin.

I'm going to dive into this and see if I can figure out what's going on.

Sorry for the cheesy post title, I'm practicing for my best-seller. Maybe I should add the word "secret"? How about this: "101 Secret Diabetes Cures THEY Don't Want You to Know About".

VERY VERY TIGHT

Does anyone have problems when the sun shines? I have been getting progressively tighter over the last 3 days, and am wondering if it has anything to do with the heat...? I cant think of any other reason why today I have had the sum total of:

1 60mg Prozac tablet
1/2 coffee followed by another 1/2 coffee an hour later
2 teaspoons of yogurt
1/2 glass water
1 teaspoon rice and 1 teaspoon of chicken

Its now 9:30pm and I can still feel something in my band. I am actually worried about drinking anything. I really am at a loss as to why my band is just SO tight today.
Yesterday it was really weird... I had a happy meal from McDonald's and I took it really really slowly and managed to eat the hamburger and chips. THIS IS A MIRACLE IN ITSELF... firstly because its like... bread! and second because it occured before 2pm! Food before this time is practically unheard of these days. Then later on at dinner time I couldn't even eat 1 bite of lasagne. Random

Today has been the MOST frustrating day on my band to date. To be honest, I think today is what I thought my life was going to be like every day after I had my operation. But that hasn't happened... until now. Its not as if I have been puking and puking and making myself sore or anything like that. there is no reason I can possibly think of other than its got a bit warmer and I have been feeling really hot these last few days, whereas I have been freezing for months. Ho Hum. I guess it can only help with the weight loss though hey!

I am getting into a really bad habit too. If I can't eat my dinner, I get DH to go get me some chocolate. Today that's not going to happen, because I cant even drink water let alone chocolates... but yesterday I had M&Ms and the day before it was minstrels (a personal favorite!). I have gotta stop that really.

Anyway, a good day in every other way. Our new lodger Sue moved in, and although it seems like she has taken over the house with plants, I hope to be able to streamline everything so that it goes back to being nice and clean looking again. Plants are wonderful, but they do seem to make the place look cluttered.

Night all.

Getting Back to Normal BMI

Danielk lost 15 pounds and this has moved him out of the overweight BMI position, back to the upper end of 'normal BMI'. See his success story here.

The beautiful photo here is by Wolfgang Staudt

Insulin Controls Your Fat

I'd like to point out a great post by Peter over at hyperlipid (keep in mind when you read it he has a sarcastic style). He dug up a bizarre paper published in 1998 in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism. In the study, they put 24 overweight subjects on a low-calorie diet composed almost entirely of meal replacement shakes and "nutrition bars". Half of the participants got the drug diazoxide, which reduces the secretion of insulin by the pancreas. The other half took a placebo.

The bottom line is that the diazoxide-treated group lost much more weight over time than the placebo group, and they continued to lose after the placebo group's weight had stabilized at around 8 weeks. Yes, these poor people drank meal replacement shakes and ate nutrition bars for 9 weeks.

This result makes a lot of sense. Insulin is the hormone that keeps your fat cells from releasing fat. It's also the hormone that tells them to grab fat and sugar out of the blood and store it. Overweight people tend to have elevated insulin. Low blood insulin is a signal to fat cells to release their contents into the bloodstream to be burned by other tissues. This is one of the reasons why I emphasize keeping insulin low. If you need some motivation, here it is. Here's how to normalize insulin without taking a toxic drug:

1. Avoid grains (especially wheat and its derivatives), and keep carbohydrate intake low for weight loss.
2. Avoid all sugar in any form except occasional fruit.
3. Exercise.
   
4. Intermittent fasting. A 24-hour fast once a week is a good way to start.

My Turn: 5 Day Pouch Test

Hello Neighbors!!Well, it's been a long time coming but I'm on my way to kicking butt on regain (again)! This winter some badly prescribed medicine (long story - I'll save it for another post) resulted in a ballooning gain for me. Seventeen whoppers to be exact all centrally located on my rear view and thunder thighs. Ok - a few may be on my upper arms too. sad-smiley-018.gifany whooooo...... I'm

Royally annoyed

Gained a pound this week. Can't say I am surprised as my diet has mostly consisted of chocolate and wine, but even though I have thrown up ever ounce of goodness I have consumed and followed it by crap, I still expected to lose.

So, feeling pretty darn shite, and that's about it really.

Does the pouch size change from morning to night?

Hello Everyone!Over in the LivingAfterWLS Neighborhood we have several great conversations going on right now. catsroomie, also known as Vivian, asked if our pouch size changes from morning to evening. Seems like many of us are familiar with this sensation - take a look at some of the conversation:It seems that my pouch is physically smaller in the mornings than the evenings - seems like it

5 NEW ARRIVALS

Mary the Mummy!

They started at 10 to 10 in the evening and she was all done by 2:30am. 5 beautiful bundles.

1.) All Black

2.) All black with white feet and little white patches on the back legs and white nose

3.) All black with white feet and big white patches on feet and white face

4.) White with black spots!

5.) All black and slightly smaller that number 1.

Will write more later...

Above: Number 2 at the top, Number 3 underneath it, Number 4 in the middle, Number 1 on the right and Number 5 on the left

Above: Number 1 on the Left, Number 2 on the right!

Above, a 5 minute old Number 4

Above: A brand new Number 5 with Number 3... after a nice 1 and a half hour break Mary delivered the last little nit nit.

Real Food VI: Liver

Liver was a highly regarded food among many hunter-gatherer and traditional agricultural societies. It's not surprising once you realize it's quite literally the most nutritious food in the world. It's because the liver is a storage depot, into which important nutrients are deposited in case of later need. A modest 4-oz serving of calf's liver contains 690% of your RDA of B12, 610% of preformed vitamin A, 215% of folate, 129% of B2, 24.5 g protein, and the list goes on. The nutrients found in liver are particularly important for development, but are also helpful for continued health in adulthood.

Preformed vitamin A is one of the nutrients Weston Price suggested was responsible for the glowing health of the cultures he studied in his book Nutrition and Physical Degeneration. It's an essential nutrient, but it's different from most vitamins (except D) because it acts like a hormone, entering cells and altering gene transcription. Thus, it has its hand in many important bodily processes.

"Vitamin A" from plant sources such as carrots is actually a group of vitamin A precursors called carotenes, which the body inefficiently converts to actual vitamin A. The efficiency of conversion varies around 10%, depending on the carotene and how much fat is ingested along with it. Nutrition labels in the US do not reflect this. When a nutrition label on a plant-based product says "30% vitamin A", you can assume you will get about 3% of your RDA from it. This doesn't apply to eggs, dairy and liver, which contain preformed vitamin A.

I'm not sure how this happened, but somewhere along the line we decided in the US that muscle is the only proper animal tissue to eat. We are missing out on the most nutritious parts of the animal, and our health is suffering.

I recommend purchasing organic calf's liver, 100% grass-fed if possible. Chicken livers are also nutritious but ruminant livers are the most concentrated in vitamins by far.

Here is a recipe for a liver pate. I recognize that many people don't like the taste of liver, which is why I chose this recipe because it is very mild.

Ingredients

• 1/2 to 1 lb calf's liver, chopped into 1-in strips
  
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 stick butter
• 1/2 onion
• 1-2 carrots (optional)
• Sage and/or rosemary (optional)
• Salt to taste
  

Recipe

1. Saute the onions and carrots in 1 tbsp butter until they're soft.
2. Add liver and herbs and cook until the liver is just done.
3. Crack the eggs right into the pan and stir them until they're cooked.
4. Turn off the heat, add the remaining butter.
5. Blend until smooth.

Enjoy!

Jane's 5 Day Pouch Test Advice: MUST READ!

Our highly motivational Neighbor Jane offered this advice regarding the 5 Day Pouch Test:Please allow me to suggest something that you can do if you haven't already. Go on up to your 5 Day Pouch Test button (upper left). Then on the next screen look to the upper right and you'll see "Tools". The tool you're looking for is the 5dpt journal. Print that up and use it! I suggest writing down the

Fun Friday in the Neighborhood

Greetings Neighbors!TGIF - and you know what that means here in the LivingAfterWLS Neighborhood! It's Fun Friday - our weekly quiz game to get acquainted with one another and have the chance to win fabulous prizes. This week's question is fast and fun: link here to play. Our good Neighbor Barbara S asks us to share our hometown in pictures. Marla is moderating the game. Winners will be announced

Why is fiber good for weight loss?

Fiber is very important for weight loss goals. It is digested slower, keeps us feeling fuller longer and releases its energy slower which keep our blood sugar levels even and helps us avoid cravings.

Fiber is found mainly in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts and seeds. Replace white rice, bread, and pasta with brown rice ,brown bread and whole-grain products.These products are less refined and have much more fiber in them .

Do it gradually. Drastically increasing the fiber content might not suit us. Increase daily intake of fiber gradually over several weeks. If we increase our fiber intake too quickly, we may suffer with stomach cramps and discomfort. Drink plenty of water if you eat fiber rich diet.

Apart from helping to lose weight, fiber rich diet plays a major role in cutting down cholesterol levels and prevents constipation.

Protein and Weight Loss

Protein aids weight loss

Protein increases metabolism
Protein helps in building muscle tissue. More muscles burn more fat and increases your metabolism. Increase your protein intake . It increases lean muscle mass which helps in long term weight loss .

Body has to burn more calories to process the protein
Calories from the protein rich foods are much harder for the body to breakdown and process.
In other words, the body has to work harder in order to extract calories from these foods which aids in weight loss.

Protein is a good appetite suppressant
Protein makes us feel full. You won't feel hungry for longer periods of time after eating protein rich food.