A Measured Life: Day 5

Day 4 Wrap Up

Steps:     7629  (I ran in the rain)
Net Calorie Deficit (548)
Calorie Variance from plan:  58+  (I was hungry and ate a taco for dinner in addition to my Szezhuan asparagus and brown rice AND I replaced FOOD with WINE).  

-----------------------------------------------------
 When we budget our money, we have to make choices among items made available to us.  There is no shortage of our being bombarded with 'stuff' that we need/want to have.  If we do not have a budget, we will buy-a-way at the expense of good money stewardship.  To not tempt the ever-willing-to-be-seduced brain keep your feet and eyes out of the shopping malls (on and off line!).

Likewise with our food choices.  Yesterday, by the end of the day, I was tired and hungry.  I elected to replace food calories with the empty calories of  wine. It was a nice treat.  I have not eaten one Oreo in 5 days, and they are sitting on my counter.  So my willpower has been good.  I made a conscious choice for last evening to drink and eat that taco.   

Nevertheless, this is my second day waking up draggy and tired.  Eating less and exercising more is certainly being experienced in this body. The good thing about bodies is that they adapt to the exercise load placed on them.  The bad thing about bodies is that they to the less desirable state.  But I am also feeling the positive effects of my efforts to include losing 1/2 lb.

I also feel that writing about what I'm doing is helpful in keeping me on track.  I'm used to writing publicly (though my audience is quite small here).  You might also consider writing.  You can easily create a blog that is a private blog.  It will give you structure and space, and no body but you (or invited readers) would have access.  When you are ready you can go public.  Writing is a great discipline.

My last time that I was truly conscious about my eating was when I did the Eat Right for Your Blood Type Diet.  I've mentioned it here in this space.  I realized many benefits from that eating plan. 
  1. I was never hungry. 
  2. I introduced into my diet many food types that I never would have tried otherwise that I have enjoyed.  I eliminated dairy and wheat, and brought in Rice Milk, Soy Milk, buckwheat, quinoa soba noodles and other foods.  Increased consumption of fruit/vegetables.
  3. My sinus allergies abated considerably to the point of disappearing. 
  4. Digestion was hugely improved (never had I enjoyed such great digestion)
  5. I lost weight.
With my renewed commitment to eating healthfully, I am bringing some vegetable protein into my diet to amp up my protein intake.  I chose Spirtu-Tein.  I purchased it at Puritan's Pride on-line.  They seemed to have the best price:  $28.79 for 2.4 lbs v. $32.99 for 1.2 lbs at other places.  That's a huge difference (more than 1/2 price unless they have their website information incorrect).  Plus the shipping was free.  It does pay to shop around.

I also sprung for a Blendtec blender.  I bought a refurbished blender, so it was a good savings, but $280 was a steep price for a blender.  But I cook alot, and I use my just as expensive food processor on a weekly basis.  Good tools are worth the money.

Finally, I'm introducing probiotics into my diet.  No other supplements, though there are many to go around, other than a multi-vitamin.


Other changes:  black coffee. I used to use cream and sugar.  By going black, I save 70 calories per cup.  (And I have 2 cups).  I'm quite sure that I poured in more than a tbs!

1 tsp of sugar is 15 calories x 2 = 30 calories per cup of coffee. 
1 tbs pf  cream is 40 calories

Time to work! 

A measured life: Day 4

Here I am on Day 4 of my countfest of calories, steps, water etc.

Measured Steps:  4528--far short of 10,000. Wah!!!  I didn't have my phone (which counts the steps on me) all day, so I'm confident that I got 5k with unrecorded steps counting for something.   For 30 minutes, I was engaged in nothing but "trail stepping" (a/k/a exercise).  I was cardiovascularly engaged, so I'm not going to worry about steps so long as I get a 30 minute session in. I'll forgo the binky and a blankie and stop Wahhing over this.

When something is measured it concretizes (makes it concrete) the units that we are measuring and allows us to understand these units:  simply put, measuring takes the idea of something and makes it objective.  Until I had a view of what 10k steps were, it seemed an achievable goal.  From considering the goal to actually implementing the goal, it is not the right goal for me at this time.  Rather, a more appropriate goal is to do my 30 minutes and get habituated to that goal.

Is that goal change being a weeny?  No.  Rather, it is my being realistic.  Setting goals that are not reasonably achievable is fighting a shadow monkey (yourself).  Being a weeny is opting out of exercise altogether.  I am making a considered decision.  Once I habituate exercise, I'll revisit that goal.  (Otherwise conflated to the following:  crawl before you walk; walk before you run.

Measured Calories:  I have gone 4 days with staying within my daily calorie goals.  However the composition of those calories is another story. Below is a pie chart on my macronutrient breakdown (protein, carbs and fat) goal v. actual. 





I'm still working on my goal configuration, and it is likely that my actual pie chart may be the correct composition.  Carbs are pretty much maligned these days.  Like many, I'm confused by so much conflicting information regarding macronutrient composition.  Foods that provide nutrition to a body fall in and out of favor:

  •  Whole grains:  Good!  now Bad!  
  • Beans:  Good!  now Bad!
  • Saturated Fat:  Bad!  Now Good!
  • Fruits:  Good! Now Bad!

I feel that the problem with many of these so-called nutrition "studies" is that they are not well-controlled.  There are so many variables that I hold many of these suspect.    My goal is to simply undertake my personal study (which I'm sharing here), and gage my body's reaction  to my inputs.  Am I gaining weight?  Am I losing weight?  Am I properly processing my inputs (that alimentary thing again!).  For the moment, I'm counting as 'success' that I've stayed under my caloric intake, and I'm not eating processed foods.  Processed foods have never been a big part of our food life.

If you are looking for some help in getting started on your measured life, I found a helpful website for you.  It is also under the menu tab under health (as I slowly customize this blog template).  It is called "Free Weight Loss Calculators".

Remember that which is not measured cannot be improved.  Get your head around these individualized metrics:
  • current weight
  • desired weight:  number and time line
  • body fat % 
  • daily calorie needs to support your metabolism
  • macronutrient goals 
  • exercise activities (frequency and duration per week) current and desired
  • calorie profile needed to reach your target weight.
My personal feeling is that any diet that profiles your caloric intake below what it takes to support your bodily functions is dangerous to your health.  Better to take longer to reach weight loss goals than risk your health.

I have a body fat scale, and it does tell me some sad information:  my body fat is north of 35%. There are a number of different ways to measure body fat (body fat scales, calibers, submersion).  I'll not go into them here.  Special K had a great commercial years ago:  You can't pinch an inch on me.  Curious as to whether or not you have too much body fat.  Use the body fat calibers that you were born with--your thumb and index finger-- and pinch away on your midsection.  The average person's thumb is one inch at the last joint.

Your Body fat% is helpful essential to know -- and excess body fat leads to all manner of unpleasant things.  The American Council on Exercise has this table that you can view here.


Now here is the kicker:  See that 32% and higher = obese?  I would never consider myself obese, and if you were to look at me you would never consider me obese.  However, by this measure, I am obese.  I make this point because it is an important one:  numbers do not lie (but you can lie with numbers!), and if you don't know your numbers you may not be fully conscious of your health circumstances.  What we see/visualize v. what we measure can be quite different.  (e.g. I walk enough steps; I don't eat too many calories; I have a balanced diet.).  To support any of those statements that too often we ascribe to as fact, we have to verify.  You are your own best auditor.  Conduct your health audit.  Write it down.  Set some goals.  Execute on your goals.  Embrace your success. 

I've not made a body fat % goal other than I do not plan to stay at my current level.

I think I'll go get that binkie and blankie and have a little Whahhhhh!!!! time. [I say that in jest.  Facts should be used as objective, evidential matter from which we make considered judgments.  Attaching fear, shame, excitement, pride to any of these numbers is not the goal. Rather we want to know our baseline metrics to properly set reasonable objectives. Reasonable objectives (1) are attainable and (2) can be measured.  Objectives also benefit from a time line.  Pen to paper time.

-------------------------------------------
Daily taily

Steps:     7629
Net Calorie Deficit (548) 
Calorie Variance from plan:  58+  (I was hungry and ate a taco for dinner)

Almond Bran


How cute is this package?  The shipping box is just as cute and creative, but I was too lazy to take a picture of it.  This bag houses some almond bran that I bought.  A few years ago, I wanted to buy some almond bran.  Surely with the health craze of brans and the beneficial aspects of almonds that someone surely had figured out that there was a use for the bran discarded from blanched whole and slivered almonds.  That was not the case.

I emailed someone, somewhere about it.  Never got a response, but my message to the Universe was answered.   Anyway, I did another search and here we are with a sole supplier:  Nuts.com.  You can find almond bran on their website by clicking here.  Read about almond bran benefits here.  I bought 2 bags and took a picture for you.

My personal food slogan is was that a life without carbohydrates is not worth living.  Muffins in the mouth glom onto the body as muffins at the arms, back and waist.  I guess I don't really like muffins so much that I wish to transform into one.  Oh wait...I have.  I've never had to worry about my weight, but now that I'm older, lack of judicious eating choices, never a problem before, have now become problematic.  It is fixable.

And while my muffinicity is high compared to where I used to be, it is not high compared to most.  However, I now realize how easy the body adapts to higher and higher weights.  While my 15-20 lbs may not seem like much compared to 50-75 lbs, it is just a matter of time (given no change to activity and/or nutrition) that this might be the case.

The Harvard School of Public Health has a great website.  It is full of facts that will scare the bejeebers out of those, such as myself, that have become complacent about exercise and weight management.  Click on the link and you will be transported to an article that all of us should read and put it on the fridge.  Specifically, it says the following (emphasis added is mine):

If your weight is in the healthy range and isn’t more than 10 pounds over what you weighed when you turned 21, focus on maintaining that weight by watching what you eat and exercising.

The good news is.... Encouragingly, for women who had never used hormone replacement therapy, losing weight after menopause—and keeping it off—cut their risk of post-menopausal breast cancer in half.

I'm not in that 'if' range.  Rather, I'm 20 lbs heavier than what I weighed in my mid-20's.  I'm 13 pounds heavier than what I weighed in my early 40's.  But in my early 40's, I was in the best shape of my life.  (Weights, stretch, trail running, mountain biking).  I was stronger and cardiovascularly fitter than I ever had been.  For so long into my mid forties, I never changed sizes.  Magically (and unfortunately), that has recently changed in the last 24 months.

Remember, I'm building consciousness around my health circumstances (channeling Jose Ortega y Gasset).  And being the geek that I am, I'm going to plow through literature and make an attempt to integrate what makes sense.  I also know to listen to my body.  The array of nutrition information out there is amazing--good amazing and bad amazing.  Whole grains are good.  Whole grains are bad.  Fat is good.  Fat is bad.  Dairy is good.  Dairy is bad.  Alcohol (in moderation) is good.  Alcohol is bad.  You get the picture.

What is a body to do?  I guess ultimately we have to listen to our body.  My personal theory is that it is an alimentary question.  Simply put:

The proof is in the poo.  If what you eat is digested well by your body and eliminated easily, then you are eating something that is good for your body.

With this long-held (but poorly practiced) belief in hand, I did a search and found this helpful website:  Hemorrhoid Information Center.  It is about digestive health, not hemorrhoids specifically.  I found this page which gives the Bristol Stool Chart and some other helpful information.  I guess the Bristol Stool Chart is the bikini-body pin up for our stool health.  Some marketing genius has coffee mug that you can get.  I wouldn't recommend it as an office mug. 

How often does a doctor ask you about your stools?  Rarely.  I'm unclear as to why, given the medical evidence regarding the optimal functioning of the alimentary system and  importance of stool consistency and the makeup of flora in the bowels as to why stool testing isn't a recommended test during physicals.  Riddle me that Batman.

Back to the beginning.  Almond bran (There is also almond flour and the like.  I've not used any of it.  But as an intrepid cook, I will down the road) at 5g serving has 3g of fiber and 17.5 calories along with all of this (from the website)

The total antioxidant capacity of Almond Bran is more than 13 times greater than that of almonds alone because removing the skins from the almond concentrates their antioxidant potential.  Together with its dietary fiber, essential minerals and phytosterols Almond Bran is CONCENTRATED NUTRITION.   
See how this high potency supplement compares to whole almonds:
Almond Bran contains:
            Less than half the fat
            Nearly four times the dietary fiber
            Three times the calcium
            Nearly 4 times the phytosterols
            20 times the amount of stigmasterol
            7 times the amount of campesterol

Source:  http://www.nut-trition.com/10_things.html

Plus, it is also a pre-biotic -- giving the good bacteria stuff to eat.  And if you feed your gut the wrong stuff, the wrong type of bacteria thrive causing all manner of issues.  But that is not for today.  Like a good stool, I'll let my thoughts on this fully form and give you well-considered output.

I'm going to go make some oatmeal until I become convinced that it really is bad for me.  I'll be adding dried apricots, 5g of almond bran and I will enjoy it with Almond Milk.  (Unsweetened, Vanilla).

Down with muffinicity.





A Measured Life: Average Daily Mobility

The only true means of my remaining engaged in something is to measure it.  When I was doing my heart rate training, I created a very excellent Excel spreadsheet to carefully monitor my time in zones etc.  For the two years that I did this, I was in the best shape of my life.  I was 42 when I stopped.  I sprained my back water skiing.  I had strong legs, strong arms, but a weak back.  Plus, it had been almost 10 years since I had water skied according to my in-house historian (husbando).  Geez, I wouldn't have thought it had been that long.  A reminder of how quickly time flies.

My almost 8 month recovery from that injury proved to be a break in a regimen that caused me to fall off the wagon.  Despite half-hearted attempts to get back on, clearly I wasn't committed enough to do that.  In this space, I will chronicle my crawl back onto the wagon.

My SIL was telling me about her Fitbit to guide her in how she was reaching (or not) 10,000 steps per day.  You can find information about Fitbit here.  As I have a smartphone and a Runtastic application that I love (but use too little), I looked for a pedometer for my phone. Runtastic had an application.  For $1.99 I downloaded their Pro version.

As I woke up this morning, I had the thought that I would chronicle for you a series of "A Measured Life" to bring to you some perspective on what can be gained by measuring certain aspects of your life.  (Currently I have a timer running on my Pomodoro, and I will not take more than 25 minutes to write about this.  I only have 14 minutes more to go.....

As I'm in the mode of being conscious of my circumstances, one of those circumstances is a health circumstance and a time management circumstance. To marry these two I elected to do a 25 minute Pomodoro for housework incorporating a pedometer measurement.  What a great way to kill two birds with one stone.  (Such a violent metaphor.)


Results:  In my 25 minute housework session which involved a couple of trips upstairs, one trip outside to empty compost, and standing folding laundry I took this many steps:  694 or 7% of recommended steps. 

You can add another bird to the stone carnage by considering the money that you would save by cleaning your own home.  Sure, I understand as much as anyone about the preciousness of time.  However, if you are spending time going to the gym, or worse, if you are foregoing exercise altogether, there is a real benefit in increasing your mobility in doing your housework.

Now, personally do not think that 10,000 steps is anything but a measure of overall mobility during the day. But remember that I'm talking about being conscious of a circumstance, that particular circumstance is how mobile (measured in steps) am I AND how can I develop a gage of calibrating my mobility?  In this small 25 minute segment, I realize that I have far to go.  But that housework is a contributor.  I will also calibrate this with my outdoor exercise which I will undertake.

The Pomodoro has gone off, and I must be on my way.  My challenge to you is to measure your daily mobility and set a goal to reach 10,000 steps.  I'm taking that challenge too.  I'll report this week.

P. S. 7:43 p.m.  I managed just 7410 steps.  I might have had another 200 unrecorded steps, as I didn't have my phone on the entire time.  I'm tired.  Honor your body!  I'll work up to my 10K steps.  For now, 7,500 steps is going to be the minimum until I train my body a bit more.  (And this is a surprise.)    I currently have 173 calories to go after I eat my dinner.  I'm going to have a second glass of wine. 

May Commitments

I've been working on restructuring my life.  AT 53.5 years of age, I consciously hit the reset button at the New Year on my personal life.  Restructuring is something that I can do quite well for businesses -- it comes quite naturally to me to look at any business system and tell in a short order of time what makes sense or not, root out the evil and apply a fix to it.  I'm not sure where this gift comes from, but it is the single greatest value that I have as a professional. 

Unfortunately, this gift is not something that I have leveraged in my personal life. Our personal life is a system as complicated as a business operation -- and of penultimate importance to our well being.  I think my business gift is a gift because of my level of focus and attention that I can apply to other 'stuff' without consideration for my own personal 'stuff'.  Naturally that does not lead to a very balanced personal life and personal stuff languishes.

I chalk this dissonance between work system capability and personal system capability up to being organizationally challenged.  That's not an excuse, it is the reason.  And all impediments to our well being can be overcome by commitment and recognizing our circumstances.  Now there are circumstances that we can change, and there are circumstances we cannot change.  Part of our being wise souls is recognizing what we can change and we cannot change.  It is as damaging to our forward progress (and useless psychic and physcial energy expenditure) to try to change circumstances that are not within our power to change as it is to fail to change circumstances that are within our power to change. 

It's useful to reflect a moment on circumstances.  I find JOyG's writing to be full of phrases, sentences and paragraphs that are quote-worthy--much like his fellow Spanish philosopher, George Santayana. 

"Man reaches his full capacity when he acquires complete consciousness of his circumstances. Through them he communicates with the universe". (p.41)

"I am myself plus my circumstance, and if I do not save it, I cannot save myself." (p. 45)

Meditations on Quixote by Jose Ortega y Gasset

I like the notion of acquiring complete consciousness of "circumstances" as it requires some reflection on circumstances.  In order to reflect, one must have a clear view of the matter at hand.  Clear views generally require a model.  I'm working on this model, but part of it is centered around the following: financial, health (mental/physical), work, spiritual, community and relationships.  Everyone's model is different, but for the most part in my world, these are the key items.

It is the amalgamation of these circumstances that comprise our personal systems.  Smoothly functioning, integrated systems are the best. They are efficient and don't waste energy or time, and yield a product of consistent quality time after time.  Accordingly, the   important notion of "I am myself plus my circumstance, and if I do not save it, I cannot save myself" is central to understanding the importance of conducting a little navel-gazing on the systems we have built in our lives.

I am operating in creative destruction mode as I my personal systems are a random collection of 'stuff' with no real coherence or long-term consistently.  (As I write that it sounds harsh, and I may be engaging in a bit of hyperbole to make a point.)  I'm still in planning mode, but I'll share some of what I'm doing in this space.  Part of this process is simply integrating 'stuff' that I already have had sound thinking about and success in.  However, the thinking and success have not been part of a more cohesive plan executed consistently.

What does any of what I wrote mean?  It means this.  I know how to be fit.  I know how to exercise and do it successfully.  I've just never maintained it over a long period of time (greater than 2 years).  I know how to manage my weight.  I understand what healthy eating and cooking is, and I've successfully done these things (but not for more than 2 years). I attribute my lack of long-term success is having a lack of (1) systems to support my goal and (2) commitment to maintain my goal.

In business, good systems/process allow average people to do consistently good work.  Often I see systems bastardized to work around less than average people, or see really poor systems function due to heroic efforts by really smart people. Both manifest a system that is essentially nuts. They both fail over time.

Accordingly, I want to develop a workable system that will work like a well designed business process:  clear outcomes and a clear framework for achieving those outcomes.  In this space, I'll write about my process and how I will integrate the things that I've used successfully to build a personal system that makes life more manageable and enjoyable.

For the moment, I'm embarking on a single-minded task to commit to identify the components of 'my circumstance'.  Specifically, I plan to
  1. reach my full capacity of complete consciousness of my circumstances; 
  2. take inventory of where I am on those circumstances and where I want to be (with mindfulness about what can be changed and what cannot be changed.); 
  3. articulate goals for my circumstances;
  4. develop a plan to reach those goals with time milestones and particular objectives; and
  5. periodic review and assessment.
  6. Begin work on one circumstance, health, for the month of May.
My health circumstance is that I'm sedentary, don't eat well and can lose some weight.  I cannot change the health circumstance that I am 53.  Many experience temporary or permanent health circumstances that they may have no control over.  My post is not to make broad declarations on what is controllable or not other than stating that 
  • lifestyle diseases are controllable and 
  • failing to control our lifestyle has consequences.
My health circumstance is a lifestyle issue, and if it goes unchecked by me, there are almost-certain consequences.  This present health circumstance , then, is one about which I am fully conscious of AND I'm fully in control.  And yes, if I cannot change my health circumstance, I am lost (or I will simply face consequences that are real and not so pleasant). Therefore, along with all my other navel gazing, my single health commitment is to lose 10 5 lbs by the end of May through a combination of diet/exercise
    • consistently exercising at least 30 minutes, 3 x a week for the month.  (I know that doesn't sound like much, but it is more than my currently performance)
    • eating mindfully and healthfully with an eye toward measurement (Note 1).  I'm not a proponent of dieting, but I am a proponent of mindfulness in the quantity and quality of the food that I put in my body.  I'm moving from being a proponent to being a better practitioner
Bill the Cat looks pretty svelte.  I'll let him be my guide.

Note 1:   I changed the 10 to 5 to 'get real'.   While I'm pretty confident that my current eating habits when changed (and I can thank the cleanse from the colonoscopy for reprogramming my thinking) will yield some remarkable results, I thought I'd temper expectations. With that purgative, I have lost a great deal of my 'cravings', and I'll write more on that later. Further, I went on the Blood Type Diet some years ago and lost 8 lbs in one week.  That was far too quick a weight loss, and it is a standard warning for Type A's moving from the Standard American Diet (SAD).  As a Blood Type A, it was a very hard diet to manage with a family. I'm ready to commit to integrating a good bit of those choices into my current eating plan.


Note 2:  I'm using the Android App, "MyNetDiary" to monitor my intake.  It is a jewel of a program that really makes measuring your meal plan (also known as counting calories) easy.  It has a beautiful interface, uses a barcode scanner to make it a cinch to enter/find your favorite foods, and record customer intakes.  Even has an easy to use "water" mode to tap each time you drink 8 glasses.  It supports custom planning for calories and calorie composition (carbs, proteins, fats).  As any who has recorded his/her intake it is surprising how quickly one reaches limits on calories OR on overshooting composition levels.

Sorbet Template

I shamelessly grabbed this photo of Lemonade Iced Tea Sorbet which you can view here. I began Blogging on October 1, 2006.  This is my second blog, my first blog was The Perplexed Investor (TPI)  I no longer write in that space (it's on permanent hiatus), I keep the site up.

I still have some much 'housekeeping' to do on this new template, but it is a fresh new look.  In my first blogging efforts, I spent far too many hours learning CSS to be able to understand blogging script and make customizations as I saw fit. Over the years I have had to zig and zag to a few different looks to keep up with the changes in Blogger. Looking at the current template which is made to respond to multi-devices, I'm not quite sure what to do just. 

I don't write so much anymore.  With a market-themed blog, TPI, there was quite a bit to write about.  Unfortunately, my life is not that interesting--but I realize that is something that I have control over.  Over the last 10 months, I've been immersed is some large professional projects.  Time and energy was spent on those projects and let to an infertile period for blog feeding.  Super interesting work, but nothing to write about!

My colonoscopy changed everything! I have a vigorous curiosity about exploring 'stuff'.  Having to undergo this procedure and learning more about all things alimentary has led me to unexplored territory.  As is my nature, when I'm exploring, I share in the space.  It helps me organize my thoughts and creates a place to organize my writing/thoughts for future reference.

Now with a new blog theme and architecture, I'll trying to populate this space with some useful 'stuff'.  Specifically, I have been mesmerized with the role of the gut in health, and the role of bacteria in gut health.  Frankly, it is not something that I have ever thought about before, but fits with my 'flow' thesis that has been incubating in my head.  I'll write more about that later.  Fair warning, some of this gut talk may fall into the TMI category, and I'll try to walk a tasteful line.

New Theme @5#$#!$^!$%^#$%

Every now and again over the years there is a change made and my blog is missing some key component.  It has happened again, I have defaulted to a Blogger template if for no other reason than to avoid having to troubleshoot what happened.

So, when I have more time, I will hunt for a new theme. 

Colonoscopy Part 2 - My Experience


Please see my post here on some reasons to get off your behind and take care of your behind. There is plenty around the internet to describe individual experiences with colonoscopies.  I'm adding to that body of work only to share with you some things I wished I had known in advance to discuss with my doctor PRIOR to having my colonoscopy.  While my typical approach to 'stuff' is to do a reasonable amount of research to ensure that I have a full understanding of whatever it is that I'm embarking upon, I had not planned on scheduling a colonoscopy at the time of my doctor's visit. But given that I had blow past the recommended screening age, I was scheduled before leaving the office.  And scheduled for Monday no less.  Accordingly, I was not prepared (by my standards) to understand the backdrop of the procedure and the prep. 


Colonoscopy: Part 1 -- My considerations for getting off my behind on behalf of my behind

I will be 54 this year, 4 years beyond the recommended colonoscopy initial screening age of 50.  I've been putting it off for a number of reasons.  None of them particularly good.

As part of my overall life 're-grouping' which I'll chalk up to my 2/3 life crisis (having long ago gone through mid life!), I'm catching up on things that I've put off because I didn't give them the proper priority in my life.  Not so much a crisis as it is a consolidation of focus and energy.  It helps too that I spoke to a friend of mine whose ex husband died last year of colon cancer.

I write this post to provide some information for consideration to those, like me, who might be on the fence about the necessity of colo-rectal screening procedures, specifically a colonoscopy.  If you are behind in looking after your behind, then consider the graph below, from the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention.  The data is combined for 2010, and displays the incidence rate (how many new cases) for that year..   Visit the website here to explore on your own to see great granularity for males, females and race profiles.



Men Folk on the Dirt Bike Pilgrimage

The men folk have made their Spring pilgrimage to the West Virginia lands to ride dirt bikes.  Mark's last foray on the trails earned him rotator cuff surgery.  There are few fortunate accidents, but that was seemingly one of them.  The fresh injury (from a trip over the handle bars in a deeper than suspected water hazard with the hand caught on the handle bar) when assessed revealed a much older injury.  That old injury had been a plague causing some limited mobility and increasing pain with age.

Now, all fixed up, he is pain free.  And he is fully healed from that dreadful deer-Ducati intersect.  Hopefully the trip will yield only fun.

With Macy (Am Bulldog mix) gone, our pack dynamics (from 3 to 2) changed markedly.  Macy was always in the middle of everything (prior to her health decline).  First down the steps, out the door, in the door, and constantly cruising for food -- hers, theirs and the cat's!  She was also constantly barking at any cars going down the road.  Even though we live on a road that ends in a cul-de-sac, there is a remarkable amount of activity -- all of which she alerted us to with her blood-curdling 'beagle-bark/howl.'  A reminder that all of Macy's bad habits were a result of our lack of training--a mistake we will not make again.  Ella and Daisy (English Setters) are doing more together outside. 

Macy and Daisy were ball dogs.  Macy and Daisy would race to get the ball.  Sometimes Daisy ended up with it, but mostly she stood on point until the ball was released and chased Macy.  It was great fun to watch.  Daisy will actually take a ball and play with her herself:  tossing it up or out, and then chasing it.  It is very funny to watch.  I've tossed the ball to Daisey a few times, but her interest in it what clearly as the secondary chaser to Macy.  Now, she is content to run through the woods when I take my walk, with Ella in hot pursuit.  Such a different environment.

Yesterday was a beautiful day.  I set out a blanket on the deck and sorted through mail. The amount of mass in the recycle box tells me this:  I am subsidizing the junk mail. I'm talking exponential amounts: 100:1 in weight--junk mail to non-junk mail.  (I should do a scientific study--but I had 2 boxes of junk compared to a file folder of stuff that I needed.  If the post office would simply raise the rates to marketers/soliciters, it would improve their finances and hopefully reduce the amount of crap in my box.

Sigh.




Spring.....finally

Spring finally seems to have arrived.  Yesterday, April Fool's day, my son celebrated his 23rd birthday.  My husband is the memory of our family.  However, I do remember with great clarity the birth of both of my children.

They were both April babies, my daughter celebrating her 26th birthday on the 27th of this month.  It was a great time to be pregnant in Virginia--missing the hatefully hot/humid summer months.  I was an August baby, and I think of what my mother must have gone through being pregnant at that time.

I have marveled at a couple of three things that have caught my eye in the last couple of weeks.

Thing 1:  New born calves.  The main road (a country back road) that we travel has several farms of various sizes.  One smaller farm has a few head of cows.  They live the type of life an animal is supposed to live before being dispatched permanently to feed us:  grazing in their lush field in a herd.  Week before last, I spotted about a half-dozen brown mounds in the grass:  newly born calves!  They were lying in the sun while the balance of the herd grazed about 20 yards away.  Yesterday as I passed by, there was a cow lying down amongst them.  They were are there sides in Snoozeville, she was sitting with her legs folded underneath her calmly chewing her cud. 

Thing 2:  Spring Gobblers and hens:  Also in the aforementioned, non-cow-populated fields (and even on the side of the interstated) are an abundance of turkey activity.  Specifically, gobblers puffing and fanning for the hens.  I first spied it on the interstate.  Yes, the interstate.  I was driving west on 64 East and something caught my eye on the edge of the woods:  a gobbler fanning.  Spectacular.  Since that time, I've been watchful.  That vigilance paid off in about four other sightings.  Did you know?  Spring Gobbler season begins soon.  As I understand it from my hunter friends, it is to cull the impotent gobblers who tenaciously guard the hens that they've rounded up.  Not sure that it matters so much because it is notoriously hard to bag a turkey (at least so says my hunter friends!)

Thing 3:  A very large predatory hawk (I've yet to identify as I didn't have my distance glasses on) has been flying around.  I was inside when I saw its large foreboding shadow darken the yard outside the window.  I didn't go out and look.  However, I laid uncorrected eyesight on him/her.  It's either a red-shouldered hawk or a red-tailed hawk.  I remember a pair of kittens that we had that would run under the car whenever there was a shadow. Shadows from above can mean nothing good if you are small and can be carried away.


Best to keep eyes on the road. However, this watchfulness has helped me avoid potential wildlife-car encounters.

Today we have a beautiful day.  I am immersed in Spring cleaning mode which means getting things off my desk, doing my taxes and all of the other long-foregone things that need to get caught up.  I tend to immerse myself in my client work.  Good for my clients, not-so-good for my own paperwork.

I continue to use my Pomodoro technique to keep focused and productive.  A curious mind can lead one down many roads when sometimes it is best to stay on the main road!