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Calm the F down already...

If a girl can't get something off her chest on her own blog, where can she say what's really on her mind? It's not like many people read this anyway...

It's flu season, and here in Canada the world and its ill-informed uncle are up in arms about the H1N1 vaccine. Having to listen to people cite nonsense, pseudoscience, and Jenny McCarthy during the course of a regular day is bad enough. Add in a healthy dose of fear mongering by mainstream and off-beat media alike, and you have yourself one massive misinformation clusterf*ck.

You know, it's always struck me as ironic that you don't need an advanced degree to raise children, but you do to become a respected healthcare professional. I have but a mere honours degree in the area, and do not profess to be any sort of an expert. But the large teams of people who develop, test, and assess the efficacy and risk of vaccines have basically never left academia. They have spent the majority of their adult lives bettering themselves through education. And yet we (actually, you), the unwashed masses, would apparently rather listen to the star of Dumb and Dumber than trust actual scientists to do their jobs.

Now, knowing what little I do about viruses and epidemiology, I feel I can safely say this: H1N1 is not going to kill us all. It's likely to kill very few of us. But it IS going to make many of those of us who have not been vaccinated extremely, utterly miserable for at least a week. Oddly enough, flu victims tend not to be very productive, and also tend to unecessarily clot our emergency rooms. For those of you smelling a Zombie virus conspiracy behind our Government's interest in getting as many Canadians vaccinated as possible, consider this your Occam's razor: sick people cost money. We are teetering on the edge of the Niagara Falls of a financial sh*t creek. One false move, i.e., tens of thousands of people not showing up for work, and we can say goodbye to economic recovery before next Christmas. The viability of the universal FREE healthcare system that we're so proud of north of the 49th depends heavily on low-cost preventative medicine. It's cheaper to prevent the flu than to treat it.

I don't care if you don't want to get vaccinated, or don't want your kids to get vaccinated. It's your choice. It's not a mandatory program. But please, for the love of the few things I actually find sacred in this world (the scientific method and rational thought), please make it a properly informed choice and not a gut reaction based on nonsense, pandering, and ill-conceived conspiracy theories about modern medicine or "big Pharma". Keep your crazy to yourself, shut up, and just start stocking up on chicken soup. Oh, and cover your mouth when you cough.

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Cost, ignorance, factors in Canadians' diets

Cost a factor in Canadians' Diets

A new survey of just over 1600 Canadians indicates that the seemingly prohibitive cost of healthy foods is a significant barrier to healthy eating in Canadian households. Respondants also identified "time" and "inconvenience" as roadblocks in their quest for a healthier lifestyle. Saedigh.com calls a big fat BULLSHIT on the factuality of these beliefs, but doesn't entirely blame the respondants for their ignorance. With courses in home economics (am I even still allowed to call it that?) no longer required learning in our schools, is it any wonder that there are increasing numbers of people who don't know how to shop for groceries or prepare a balanced meal on a budget?

By shopping the "edges" of the grocery store (i.e., fresh produce, protein, and dairy), avoiding the salt-laden aisles of prepackaged foods, and choosing items produced locally and in-season, you can quickly cut the fat out of both your diet and your grocery bill. In the time it takes you to wait for your Pizza Guy (I believe Pizza Pizza's gaurantee time is now 40 min), you can prepare a healthy, balanced meal for the same cost or less. You just need to know how to do it... and that is where we are failing our children. The generation whose life expectancy is projected to be less than our own; the generation who will be accompanying their parents to the ER with shared complaints of tightness in the chest, shooting arm pains, and trouble breathing despite a 30 year age difference.

And I know...if I'm not part of the solution...yadda yadda yadda. And so, to avoid being part of the problem, here is one of my and Capt Mike's favourite recipes that takes less than 30 minutes to prepare , costs about $15.00 to feed 4, kid-friendly, high in fibre, and low in fat.

Chili Tacos
2 Tbsp chili powder
1/2 tsp ground cumin
Cooking spray (olive oil variety)
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 lb lean ground turkey
8 oz can plain tomato sauce
16 oz can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
8 taco shells
Light sour cream, chopped green onions, and favourite salsa to garnish

1. Coat non-stick skillet with cooking spray. Over medium heat, toast chili and cumin until fragrant.
2. Add onion and garlic, cook until tender.
3. Add turkey, and cook until well done (about 10 minutes).
4. Stir in beans and tomato sauce, and simmer until heated through.
5. Stuff tacos, garnish, and serve with your favourite green salad or raw veggies.

I can usually eat 2 of these babies, with a salad on the side. Capt Mike can put away more, but there is always more than enough filling for 8 shells plus leftovers that are great for making a taco salad for lunch the next day.

Chow down, Canada. And stop making excuses.

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Winning small battles

It is ragweed season in Trenton. For the past week and a half, I have been suffering through daytime sneezing, nighttime congestion, and twenty-four x seven general itchiness. It seems that modern science has been too pre-occupied with its quest to bring boners to the old to develop a completely effective, non-sedating anti-histamine.

Ragweed is possibly the worst thing about living in Trenton. (If you've ever been here, you'd know that's saying a lot.) Trentonians practically farm ragweed. It grows everywhere. Thick carpets of it blanket most of the lawns in our neighbourhood (those lawns not tended regularly by retirees). It sprouts tenaciously through every sidewalk crack. It fills in every pothole. A waist-high bush of it grows between the curbstones on the way to the dog park. There is no escaping it once I leave our property.

Capt Mike diligently plugged every sprout in our backyard early in the season. Our yard is devoid of ragweed. It's got lots of other "weeds", but nothing that makes me sneeze. (I try to do my part for the dwindling bee population...and I hate gardening.) But pollen knows no bounds, and eventually it finds its way into my home, carried on the coat of a hapless puppy, or wafting on the breeze through an open window. (Note to Capt Mike: Please, even though you think it's only for a few minutes, don't leave the bathroom windows open at this time of year...that's what the fan is for.) And so, to combat the microscopic invaders, we purchased the new vacuum, a Dyson stowaway canister (I caved, but not enough to join The Ball Bandwagon), and an air purifier that was on sale for 50% off for good measure.

The Dyson is truly worth the hype. It leaves no mote behind. The sight of it so terrifies Dexter and Zeppelin that their dander practically jumps off of them and directly into the cyclone chamber. Unlike my futile sweeping efforts, after one pass with Dyson, not a single stray hair can be found anywhere in the house. He is my anti-puppy.

The air purifier has yet to really prove its mettle, but casual observation would suggest a slight decrease in the dust build up so far. It does provide a nice cool breeze, and is virtually silent on its lowest setting, so at the very least, it's a decent tower fan.

All that to say, however, that though I and my electronic comrades may be winning small battles, the war on pollen might be a lost cause. I never thought I'd say so after the non-summer we've had this year, but I am really looking forward to that first frost.

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Lipstick on a pork rind

A new study based on an n of 22 people followed for only one month is likely to cause a great deal of confusion to the increasingly large N of people looking for a miracle cure for obesity.

The new study, published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, coins the term "the eco-Atkins" diet. It claims that a calorie-restricted vegetarian diet high in plant fat and protein and low in refined carbohydrates reduces cholesterol levels and leads to weight loss. I know. That's pretty ground-breaking stuff. Decreasing the number of calories you eat, and cutting out animal-based fats, means becoming leaner and healthier? But isn't that what most dieticians have been telling us for quite some time? Just without the catchy nickname I am sure will appear in an infomercial near you within the next few weeks.

I am not alone in my skepticism of the effective of asking fast food - addicted North Americans to embrace a meatless and healthier diet simply by dressing up vegetarianism as the newest magic bullet weightloss fad. Dean Ornish, President of the Preventive Medicine Research Institute, likens it to "putting lipstick on a pork rind".

I realise that some people believe that to sell health to a continent of people raised on television and Kraft Dinner requires marketing. I, however, believe more lasting results could be seen through education and infrastructure. Public service announcements and flashy spokescharacters just aren't cutting it, particularly since they resort to passive media to convey their message. If the medium is the message, why are we relying on television and the internet to make our children more active?

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The Birds and the bees

A new study from StatsCan indicates that the number of teens (15- to 19-year-olds) reporting having sex is on the decline, particularly amond teen girls. Notice how I emphasized that word "reporting"? That's because unlike most of the major news media, I do not believe that the rise in popularity of chaste popstars like The Jonas Brothers is the reason is the cause for this decrease. Sure, teens might not be talking about having sex, but that doesn't mean they're not having any.

Teenagers are horny. They're built that way. If you think your teenaged son or daughter doesn't think about it several dozen times each day, you are either incredibly naive or raising a eunuch. If they're not having sex already, it's likely because the opportunity just hasn't presented itself yet. (Trust me. I didn't go on a date until I was 21 years old, and it wasn't because I was waiting for "the one"--I was just that big of a dork in high school.)

Your teenager probably isn't going to talk to you about what he or she gets up to when not under your watchful eye. They're probably also not going to talk to you about how they define "sex". A lot of them follow the Bill Clinton school of thought there. These are topics they probably aren't going to bring up with nosey government statisticians, either.

So, Canada, what am I driving at here exactly? Basically, just like you don't believe your teenager when they tell you Sally's mom will be chaperoning the party, don't believe the government when they tell you your teenager isn't having sex. Don't take it as a sign that you can postpone having "the talk". Don't start thinking that it's time to take the condom machines out of the school bathrooms. And don't think you raised your son or daughter better than that. Because some day your kid is going to have sex, even if it's not until they're 21, and they're going to need to know what to do and how to do it safely.

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Lucky 13

Today was my thirteenth weigh-in with Weight Watchers, and I have reached my penultimate goal: achieving the weight I was when I graduated from high school. I have lost 20 lbs, and have reduced my BMI from 25.8 to 22.6. I have lost more than 10% of my body weight, which translates to a reduced risk of health problems as I age. I have decreased my body fat, lost 3 inches from my abdomen, and increased my strength and endurance: I can now run 5 km in 30 min, 2.4 km in 13:50 min, and lift 65% of my body weight in the assisted chin and dip.

Most importantly, I've learned how to apply my knowledge about exercise and nutrition to my everyday life. I knew how to eat properly and how much exercise I should be getting before, but now I am a lot more conscious about what I put into my body, and how much. I have also become better at setting goals for physical activity and pushing myself to meet them. I have improved my quality of life and my outlook, without sacrificing a lot of the things I enjoy. It is a cliché because it's true: all things in moderation.

My ultimate, and on-going, goal is to maintain this healthy perspective. It will be difficult: we have a move coming up, which is always stressful, and next year I will be in school and spending a lot of time commuting each day. So, I am planning ahead. I've scouted out a gym in Belleville that also has a branch in Kingston, so I have no excuse not to fit in some form of PT regardless of where I am. I've collected a large number of healthy, tasty, tried, and trusted recipes that Capt Mike can prepare in my absence if I can't get home in time to make dinner. I will pack a healthy breakfast, lunch, and snacks for myself to take to school each day. And I will continue to give myself credit where credit is due.

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Mark your calendars

Sunday, October 19th, I am going to run my first half-marathon. Yeah, it's a long way off, but I figure if I didn't register today and make the commitment to do it, it would be way to easy to wake up that morning and hit my snooze button.

So, I've got plenty of time to train, and will not start following a program per se for a little while, but I have been trying to increase my running volume over the past month or so. My goal before I leave Quantico is to do the 16 km loop around the base, and I am definitely more than halfway there. And, since I am carting around a lot less of myself these days, 14 lbs less, running is a bit easier. My step is springier. I feel like I look a little more convincing as one who runs (I still can't call myself a runner).

Now I just have to remind Sarah Caloccia that she promised to run this thing with me. ;-)

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Some stuff

A few things that have happened in the past few weeks:

Capt Mike, Dexter, Zeppelin, and I enjoyed a day at the beach. We were even able to sit on a patio in the sunshine (while wearing our North Face fleeces). Can't do that in Ontario in February.

My new lifestyle plan is going quite well. In fact, I need to get most of my pants and skirts re-tailored. I also feel quite a bit better, mentally and physically. I don't mind looking at myself in the mirror, and I feel a little more solid when I'm running and working out. Those are both pretty good things. I've also noticed my digestion has improved (I know you were all very curious about that...).

Capt Mike and I went out for a lovely Valentine's Day meal at The Grille at Morrison House, in Alexandria. We were the youngest couple there by at least 25 years... in fact, we looked so out of place that we got carded. Sadly, knowing that Capt Mike was doing the driving, I had left my ID at home. Being almost 30 (gasp), I didn't think it would be a problem, but they insisted, and poor Capt Mike had to drink his complimentary glass of champagne alone. However, a very nice, though drunk, older gentleman took a shine to us as we were waiting for our table, and he used his connection with the bartender to get me a glass of pinot noir served in a tumbler, so it looked like cran-grape juice to any nosey inspectors who might have seen us.

I've been accepted to St. Lawrence College. I had applied there for three programs, but if I accept their offer, I will be enrolling in their Culinary program in the fall. I am still waiting for a response from Queen's for the MPA and BEd programs though before I make my final choice. I have, however, informed the NRC that I will be taking a year's leave of absence for personal/education reasons starting next September. They're supportive of it, so that's one less thing to worry about.

And so, life goes on. I just need to find more time to practice my guitar and blog. :-)

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I'm coming out

Hello, my name is Saedigh, and on Tuesday, January 29th, I joined Weight Watchers. There, I've outed myself. I am not sure why I wrestled with the decision to blog about it, or why I felt sort of embarassed about admitting it, but there you go.

For the past few years, I have noticed that my weight has increased gradually, culminating in a 13-lb difference between what I weighed when I graduated from University, to what I weigh now. This has been the result of several ups and downs, but the overall trend has been up. It's been subtle, but it's definitely been up. So, I've decided to do something about it.

I chose Weight Watchers because I like their overall message of learning to eat responsibly and making wise choices. I am using their Points system, and although it's only been three days, I have learned something: I was eating healthy, well-balanced meals, but my portion sizes were slightly larger than they should have been. This was, for the most part, counteracted by my high level of activity (after 3 days, the number of "activity points" I have accumulated is more than half the number of "weekly points" I am allotted above my daily total), but not entirely. Thus, over the course of 6.5 years, I have gotten slightly larger.

It's actually a pretty neat little system they have set up. Every day, I am alloted 22 points, and every week I have 35 points "banked" should I need them. And, every activity I do also gives me points that I can "swap" for food, if I need to. Their web site has an extremely user-friendly calculator that lets you use the information on food labels to calculate points, as well as a list of different foods and activities and their corresponding point values. For example, 45 minutes at high-intesity on the elliptical will earn me 6 points; a homemade barbecued hamburger, sans bun, is 6 points (I plugged the recipe into their calculator to get that result). So far, I have not tapped into my 35-point weekly reserve, and like I said, have been racking up the activity points (18 in 3 days). Supposedly, by following this program, I could expect to start losing 1-2 lbs per week after the first 3 weeks. Of course, the success depends on my honesty when inputting my consumption and activity levels into the daily tracker (also on their web site). So far, I have been very faithful, even saving the label from the chocolate bar I ate yesterday when I was famished before my guitar lesson, and plugging the nutritional values into the calculator when I got home. On-going success depends on my ability not to fall back into "portion distortion" once I've achieved my goal.

My only complaint about the system is that it doesn't appear to account for a difference between fat and lean body mass or waist circumference, both of which have been repeatedly proven to have an impact on overall health. I can understand it's not easy to calculate one's body fat percentage reliably at home, but I think measuring waist circumference would also be a helpful added measure to incorporate into their method.

So, why am I telling you this? Because I figured it's a good way to keep me honest, and to develop a support network should I need it. Also, I think it could be helpful to others, whether they know me or not.

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Chubby Cheeks

A recent study published by the International Journal of Obesity states that the number of overweight babies (0 to 6 months) has doubled between 1980 and 2006. To me, this highlights a serious problem: people have become so fat and lazy that it necessitates the publication of such a journal. And you know that by "international" they really mean "North American". One could possibly generalize to the Western Hemisphere, but who are we kidding? In other parts of the world, the ability to grow fat is still somewhat of a luxury.

I am not sure what to do about fat babies; in fact, I would be hesitant to promote any sort of intervention in wee ones, both for their own health and for the sanity of their parents. But I do have a solution for fat school-aged children: get them the hell outside.

It's the middle of summer holidays here in Pembroke, and every playground I pass as I walk Dexter stands empty. The aboveground pools in local back yards are devoid of splashing and laughter. I know that Pembroke has a reputation for being a bit of a retirement community, but this is ridiculous. There's not a child in sight, unless you are willing to look into livingroom windows (which I do not recommend, as it could be seriously misconstrued). Instead of running around with waterguns and climbing trees, you will find them curled up inside on the couch, playing video games and watching TV.

Society, your children are fat because you let them be fat. Hell, you encourage it. You buy them the latest gadgets to keep them glued to the TV. You refuse to let them play in the backyard unsupervised (heaven forbid they show any initiative and want to go to a playground), but are too busy yourself to go out and watch them. You chauffeur them even a short distance because it saves your time. You screw up their food instakes by insisting that they follow your bizarre flavour-of-the-month diets along with you. You lobby your schoolboards for higher test scores at the expense of gym classes and outdoor recess.

Of course, I can say all this with zero authority because I am not a parent.* How could I possibly know the struggle it takes to balance budgets and nutrition at the same time? There are probably a lot of things about parenting that I have yet to learn, but I do know one fundamental truth: the cost of setting aside 20 minutes every day to engage in some sort of rigourous physical activity with your child is relatively small compared with the costs of a lifetime supply of artificial insulin, a heart transplant, a liver transplant, dialysis, or a seeing-eye dog, all of which are the end results of complications resulting from obesity. Now get the hell outside and play with your kids.

*However, as a taxpayer contributing to the universal healthcare system your children are destined to overburden, I have the right to an opinion.

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