The argument....

Is it more responsible to use handkerchiefs or a kleenex-type tissue? And what about the disgust factor? It took me a while to get over the thought that using handkerchief was rubbing your face in a palmful of previously snorted germs. But now that I have been using them for years, I like them better. A lot better. I have a slightly runny nose for only a few hours most mornings, then it usually clears up. I could go through a great many boxes of tissue that way over a year. Instead, I have a stash of handkerchiefs ready for use that are softer yet more durable, and I can carry one in my purse without it disintegrating if I haven't needed to use if for a few weeks, unlike a small package of tissues. I can use 1 for a week with minimal, normal stuffiness, or 1 in an hour, if I'm sick. Then in the washbin it goes and I get a fresh, clean one. My nose doesn't get all red and scratchy and I don't have to put out the money to buy the increasingly expensive boxes that still manage to run out just when you REALLY need them. I originally switched because I thought it was more environmentally friendly, but according to this recent article, the effect might be minimal. But I'm a handkerchief user for life, now, no matter what!

V8 juice and sandwich rounds

These paleo sandwich rounds are great! They took me more than 3 minutes to make, but perhaps in time I will get quicker.

Also, finding something to sip on while out, when I'm tired of having water and didn't bring any tea, I found that V8 juice had the lowest carb and sugar content of anything in the convenience store. The next day I found an online recipe and made my own! Iadded finely chopped veg of whatever I had in the fridge, but still not 8 veggies....probably more like V6 ROFL! (celery, garlic, kale, tomato of course, carrot I believe, and parsley) Also, I tried filtering it, but I saw that I would have lost most of the mass of the concoction, so I changed plans and dumped it all back in the container and drank it like that. It's got some significant little crunchies to it, but it's just kind of a thicker version of store bought V8, really. Very filling and my creation has very little salt and no sugar except what occurs naturally in the fruit. I did add some lemon juice, extra Worcestershire, and a few spoonfuls of horseradish. I was going for a virgin Bloody Mary taste, and I got it! Along with the extra crunch! I was very glad in hindsight that I ran the food processor a LONG time. I will probably cook it a bit longer on the next batch, and maybe water it down next time I have some and see how that works out.

Having cooked meat and a big bowl of roasted veggie mix in the fridge is crucial to whipping up a quick meal. Liverwurst, cheese, and boiled and poached eggs also super convenient, along with a loaf of almond meal and ground flax seed bread. I am still motivated to keeping on track with this! I walked through Sam's Club the other day seeing so many delicious things I can't have and just kept saying in my head: "No....nope.......no can do........no, no, no......you look tasty but no......sorry, not right now.......oh yum, I might like you for my 1 free meal a week but not today......no.....nope......not gonna happen...." It was very good practice I think! Also turned down a free cup of ice cream. I mean, is it really worth it? I have so many clothes I want to fit into....and this bouncy belly I want to get rid of....so, no, it's not worth it. YEAH!

Goals

I need to either work hard enough to fit into my size 10 clothes, or get rid of them. SO.....workouts without fail and no carbs, no sugar. I will allow myself those treats for 1 meal a week. Now the wine will be the hardest problem hmmm LOL!

It's 12 weeks until Christmas exactly (oh dear, I better start prepping my mental defenses for all those treats NOW) which means optimal weight loss of 1/2 pound a week could possibly place me at 179. That would be nice, but not a new size. So this is a long haul trip and I need to anticipate that. BRING IT!

Another 12 weeks would put me at March 18, for another 6 pound goal, landing at 173. Then another 12 weeks is at June 10, making a goal of 167. The next 12 weeks is September 2, for 161 (almost a year from now!). The following 12 weeks is November 25, for 155, and the final 12 weeks is February 17, 2016, at 150. WHEW. That is a little intimidating, but I need to do it or give up. RIGHT!!

For my own reference at least for a little bit, I'm keeping track of some tasty, low carb, no sugar
recipes:

• Can of tuna, halfway drained. Added some mayo, chopped raw onion, chopped cooked broccoli from the fridge, and Old Bay seasoning. Yummy and filling. 
• Slice of low-carb bread (don't add the 2 teaspoons of sugar next time! it's too sweet!) topped with some cheese, toasted and melty mmm.

Additions....

I guess I need to update my profile. And take some better photos! Bienvenidos, Banshee!

Surprising results

I would like to see more studies done like this, I think this is important for people and animals. I am aghast we didn't do many, of any, of these types of studies a hundred years or so ago. Er, how long has science been around? ;)  Why do humans assume they know things that frankly is just hearsay or seems common sense or has been handed down? All those things do not mean something is an actual fact.

 

• Summary
• Introduction
• Results
• Discussion
• Exp. Proc.
• Data
• References
• Supp. Info.
• Related Info.
• Comments (0)

• Graphical Abstract

•  PDF 3.40 MB
• Export Citation
•  Permissions

Cell Metabolism, Volume 19, Issue 3, 418-430, 4 March 2014
Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
10.1016/j.cmet.2014.02.009

Authors

Samantha M. Solon-Biet,Aisling C. McMahon,J. William O. Ballard,Kari Ruohonen,Lindsay E. Wu,Victoria C. Cogger,Alessandra Warren,Xin Huang,Nicolas Pichaud,Richard G. Melvin,Rahul Gokarn,Mamdouh Khalil,Nigel Turner,Gregory J. Cooney,David A. Sinclair,David Raubenheimer,David G. Le Couteur,Stephen J. SimpsonSee Affiliations

• Highlights
• Food intake is regulated primarily by dietary protein and carbohydrate
• Low-protein, high-carbohydrate diets are associated with the longest lifespans
• Energy reduction from high-protein diets or dietary dilution does not extend life
• Diet influences hepatic mTOR via branched-chain amino acids andglucose

Summary

The fundamental questions of what represents a macronutritionally balanced diet and how this maintains health and longevity remain unanswered. Here, the Geometric Framework, a state-space nutritional modeling method, was used to measure interactive effects of dietary energy, protein, fat, and carbohydrate on food intake, cardiometabolic phenotype, and longevity in mice fed one of 25 diets ad libitum. Food intake was regulated primarily by protein and carbohydrate content. Longevity and health were optimized when protein was replaced with carbohydrate to limit compensatory feeding for protein and suppress protein intake. These consequences are associated with hepatic mammalian target of rapamycin(mTOR) activation and mitochondrial function and, in turn, related to circulating branched-chain amino acids and glucose. Calorie restriction achieved by high-protein diets or dietary dilution had no beneficial effects on lifespan. The results suggest that longevity can be extended in ad libitum-fed animals by manipulating the ratio of macronutrients to inhibit mTOR activation.

Chicken "porch"

I have learned that to save money on chicken crumbles, keep it dry! It needs to be easily accessible for the chickens to eat and me (or others) to fill it, and with the feeder I have, the crumbles will shake down into the lower tray only if it is hung up and swings a bit when the chickens peck in it. Also, keeping it higher than ground level means less debris is scattered into it when they scratch around, and also keeps it out of most of the flooding that invariably begins a few minutes after the start of a Tennessee signature torrential downpour. I call it a porch because on those really super rainy days, the chickens are lined up just inside, glumly staring out into the rain. Or maybe eagerly awaiting the worms that will follow, I don't really know! I should call it a veranda instead because I've always liked that word, but childhood conditioning is incredibly hard to break! Anyway, their old porch was crumbling into pieces and was only a temporary measure that ended up lasting for years. When I first got the chickens, I had no idea what I would ACTUALLY need and how things would go. But you go with flow, pay attention, and use a little ingenuity to repurpose things, and end up feasting on awesome eggs!

So to save myself some money, worry, and headache in preparation for the upcoming monsoon season (just a little Tennessee humor there! Of course it's not a real monsoon! But if feels like it) I have built an all new chicken porch in one day! I bought the 2 x 4s for the framing, and hit up my scrap wood bin for the sides, and scavenged the rest from the old porch. If I wasn't so whipped I might have painted it but yeah, that didn't happen. Perhaps this summer when I'm bored HAHAHAHAHAHA....

I'm still getting the hang of this blogging formatting hmmm....so big white here is Captain Crunch. she's the only full size chicken I have at present. I'm intending to get a few chicks this month, so she won't be so alone! She's also the youngest of this flock.

Below is Ivy, Bossa Nova, and Thorn, starting at noon going clockwise. Bossa Nova is the oldest, she's around 5 years old.

Digging Our Own Grave

If not, then digging the graves of our 100x great-grandchildren's grandchildren, or some descendants betwixt.

The problems stemming from tsunami damage to Fukushima Dachii reactor plant appear to be nonstop and growing regularly, and also consuming immense amounts of water while global droughts are becoming pandemic. Although one hopes they use undrinkable saltwater to cool all that nuclear fuel, I suspect they may not. Regardless, the water is undeniably unusable in ANY form once applied to spent or melting fuel rods. For many, many generations . Aside from the morality of generating material that is still going to be radioactive so many generations in the future I don't even want to do the math, we do not have the knowledge, capability, or apparently even the incentive to properly solve nuclear mishaps on this scale. All of which means, to a sane and responsible person, we should not be utilizing this technology.

SHUT THEM ALL DOWN NOW. 

I won this one

Today did about 2 miles, jogged all but a 2-minute warm-up and a few minutes near the end up at LONG, STEEP (yes both) hill. Total time was 28 minutes. Yippee I'm getting there!

Although perhaps I should change my animal spirit totem from wolf to TORTOISE :)

REBOOTING.....

Communication re-established, YAYYY! With positive result, triple YAYYY!!!  ;)

Wore out myself and Nibbles walking a paltry 2.25 miles yesterday ROFL

Delightful new breakfast:

• Soft scramble some eggs with salt & a little garlic powder
• Saute a few thin slices of onion, a garlic clove, handful of cherry tomatoes, then add ripped up spinach leaves. Salt it gently. 
• Scoop out some avocado, put it in a bowl
• Add the eggs and sauteed veggies. Top it with some diced up feta. Yum!

Intention is to jog today....time would be the main hindrance I believe. 

Welcome 2014

I hope this year gets better as the months roll on. Because so far in less than 30 days I've been clobbered with the breakup of a year-long technically nonexistent relationship (still quite painful for all its ambiguous character) and a mistake due to trusting a business and the postal service that at this point appears to be costing me one thousand dollars. Well! Let's not do things by halves, shall we? Still on the list of problems that won't be fixed in the foreseeable future: A fridge that freezes the refrigeration section, property tax raise coming to an additional $50 a month, a long string of money before my bathroom can be used for anything other than brushing teeth, a crumbling asphalt driveway, and a lovable mutt racking up $200 monthly not including shots, lab work, and annual exams. WAIT! There is one more ongoing issue - my son is smoking, failing high school, and apparently thinks school is spelled skool.

Am I being punished? What I did - was it in this life or a past life, I wonder?