Today I went back to see Duke's nutritionist for the second time; she was just as helpful as last time and patiently answered a lot of my questions about portion sizes, what constitutes a "good" meal, etc. We also went over my food log to talk about the meals that I've been eating since visiting her the first time. I think just writing down everything I ate, knowing that someone other than me was going to read it, was a motivating factor in eating better. Accountability or whatever.
Essentially what I've changed about my diet is eating a good breakfast and planning more efficiently for lunch. I always had the idea that lunch was some sort of sandwich or something, fruit, and something crunchy. But actually it doesn't matter what the individual items are as long as they have the necessary nutritional value. For example, eating a CLIF bar, then some cheese, and an apple is a perfectly balanced lunch, even if it's not really the norm for lunches. And not that I'd want to eat that all the time, but it's nice to know.
Even though I don't have another appointment with the nutritionist scheduled, I'm going to continue with writing down what I eat to see how that helps keep me in check. Things I noticed in the past two weeks:
-I eat breakfast, have a morning snack, then lunch around 1, but then nothing until dinner at 7. Keeping track helped me realize that some sort of afternoon snack would prevent me from being starving when I get home, unable to wait for Keegan to get home from work to eat dinner
-I stay longer at work and get more accomplished; when 4:30 rolls around I'm not getting ready to leave because I'm hungry and tired and just want to lay around. I leave closer to 6 most days now and I'm not dying when I get home
-Easier to stay focused in general
-No crazy binge-snacking (ie eating half a box of cereal or Cheez-its)
-I make more conscious eating decisions; for example, the weekend after my first meeting with Nancy I bought some flavored Triscuits and I still have the same box. They're really tasty but have more fiber and I eat them with cheese or craisins or something so I'm not just eating a lot of nothing.
-I sleep better
-I pay less attention to total calorie consumption and more on what individual things I'm eating at each meal/snack
-I'm not hungry for random junk after dinner
Anyway, I think today I'll weigh myself and then see how/if my weight changes between now and two weeks from now to see how my weight is influenced by these new eating habits.
Friday, July 30, 2010
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
July pleasure reading, part 2
A few days ago I requested Ender's Game through Duke's library, and although I haven't heard anything from them about when that will be there, I did check out The Host by Stephenie Meyer. I saw that Orson Scott Card had complimented this book so I checked it out.
This book was very different from the Twilight series, and I'm happy about that. This book is her novel "for adults" and essentially it's about this alien population that takes over the planet by being implanted into human bodies. I know that sounds pretty stupid, but I also didn't even know what this book was about when I started reading it. After these "souls" are implanted, they retain all the human's memories and everything, but the reason they came to Earth is because they felt that humans were barbaric and basically couldn't be trusted to run their own lives. This story was told from the perspective of the soul and the human it took over, because the human refused to be taken over completely. This soul/human searches out other native humans to live with to help protect the "native" human way. In the story the soul comes to realize that they shouldn't have wiped out the human race because not all humans are vicious, cruel, war-mongering types.
Anyway, the story line was creative and it kept me interested but it's not like the story really made me think or reflect or whatever it is good books should cause their readers to do.
I also checked out the works of Jane Austen on Thursday when I checked out The Host. I've only ever read Pride and Prejudice (which I should read again because it's been 6 years) and I loved it. So I want to check out some more of Austen's work. I know the book contained Pride and Prejudice, Emma, Sense and Sensibility, Persuasion, and Mansfield Park, but it may also have contained Northanger Abbey. My next books are going to be Jane Austen books, and I guess Ender's Game whenever I hear from the library :-)
This book was very different from the Twilight series, and I'm happy about that. This book is her novel "for adults" and essentially it's about this alien population that takes over the planet by being implanted into human bodies. I know that sounds pretty stupid, but I also didn't even know what this book was about when I started reading it. After these "souls" are implanted, they retain all the human's memories and everything, but the reason they came to Earth is because they felt that humans were barbaric and basically couldn't be trusted to run their own lives. This story was told from the perspective of the soul and the human it took over, because the human refused to be taken over completely. This soul/human searches out other native humans to live with to help protect the "native" human way. In the story the soul comes to realize that they shouldn't have wiped out the human race because not all humans are vicious, cruel, war-mongering types.
Anyway, the story line was creative and it kept me interested but it's not like the story really made me think or reflect or whatever it is good books should cause their readers to do.
I also checked out the works of Jane Austen on Thursday when I checked out The Host. I've only ever read Pride and Prejudice (which I should read again because it's been 6 years) and I loved it. So I want to check out some more of Austen's work. I know the book contained Pride and Prejudice, Emma, Sense and Sensibility, Persuasion, and Mansfield Park, but it may also have contained Northanger Abbey. My next books are going to be Jane Austen books, and I guess Ender's Game whenever I hear from the library :-)
Monday, July 26, 2010
Arizona immigration law
Reading on the news sites today I came across this article. I particularly like this quote:
"Everyone is selling up the little they have and leaving," said Villasenor, 31, who is headed for Pennsylvania. "We have no alternative. They have us cornered."
You are ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS, what do you expect? To not be affected by this law? Maybe try entering this country through the proper channels if you want to avoid this situation.
Also, when reading this article I was interested by this statement:
"Opponents say the law will lead to racial profiling and trample on the rights of the hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants in Arizona."
What exactly are the rights of people in countries illegally? I would think that you understand when you decide to sneak into a country ILLEGALLY that there is a significant risk that you will be subjected to whatever punishment is associated with that crime if you are caught.
I do not understand the drama associated with this law. A law like this was bound to be passed at some point or another, especially given our completely ineffectual president. A state's gotta do what a state's gotta do.
"Everyone is selling up the little they have and leaving," said Villasenor, 31, who is headed for Pennsylvania. "We have no alternative. They have us cornered."
You are ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS, what do you expect? To not be affected by this law? Maybe try entering this country through the proper channels if you want to avoid this situation.
Also, when reading this article I was interested by this statement:
"Opponents say the law will lead to racial profiling and trample on the rights of the hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants in Arizona."
What exactly are the rights of people in countries illegally? I would think that you understand when you decide to sneak into a country ILLEGALLY that there is a significant risk that you will be subjected to whatever punishment is associated with that crime if you are caught.
I do not understand the drama associated with this law. A law like this was bound to be passed at some point or another, especially given our completely ineffectual president. A state's gotta do what a state's gotta do.
Friday, July 23, 2010
Things I always want to say (but shouldn't)
Today I was just getting to the top of that hill near the student health center and one of the entrance to the gardens when this woman puffing on her cigarette cuts in front of me while talking on her cell and, I swear, if she were walking any slower she would have been going backward. I realize that it's her right to smoke and everything, but a little bit of consideration, please.
So anyway, I'm semi-out of breath from walking at a quick pace through the gardens and up that hill and even more irritated by my fresh air being tainted by this person. And she was not a slight woman, so I had to wait for the right opening to be able to get around her bulk at all. There were so many things I wanted to say to her, but I held my tongue and just thought about all the things that I really want to say to people sometimes.
To large people smoking: You're still fat, and now you have lung cancer.
To perfectly fit people who use the handicap parking permits of their relatives/friends/whoever: A mental handicap (i.e being a dumbass) does not qualify you for special parking.
To people who hit those little handicap door opener buttons when their hands are completely free: How lazy can you possibly be? Is the energy you spend pulling open that door really going to strain you?
To Croc-wearers: Oh my god, did you even look at them before you bought them?
To non-farmer/construction drivers of gigantic F350 trucks: Compensating much?
To large people who supersize their meals in fast food restaurants (or even eat at fast food restaurants at all): Are you sure you want to be doing that?
To young people who bitch about the "unfairness" of there being rich people: Get a damn job. See how you feel about the government taxing the "rich" (i.e. anyone making more than the poverty line, including graduate students) when you're the one losing significant portions of the paycheck you worked hard to earn. Of course, generally those who bitch about the "injustice" are not the ones that actually work for anything...
Well now I look like I need some sort of anger management program. But I feel better :-)
So anyway, I'm semi-out of breath from walking at a quick pace through the gardens and up that hill and even more irritated by my fresh air being tainted by this person. And she was not a slight woman, so I had to wait for the right opening to be able to get around her bulk at all. There were so many things I wanted to say to her, but I held my tongue and just thought about all the things that I really want to say to people sometimes.
To large people smoking: You're still fat, and now you have lung cancer.
To perfectly fit people who use the handicap parking permits of their relatives/friends/whoever: A mental handicap (i.e being a dumbass) does not qualify you for special parking.
To people who hit those little handicap door opener buttons when their hands are completely free: How lazy can you possibly be? Is the energy you spend pulling open that door really going to strain you?
To Croc-wearers: Oh my god, did you even look at them before you bought them?
To non-farmer/construction drivers of gigantic F350 trucks: Compensating much?
To large people who supersize their meals in fast food restaurants (or even eat at fast food restaurants at all): Are you sure you want to be doing that?
To young people who bitch about the "unfairness" of there being rich people: Get a damn job. See how you feel about the government taxing the "rich" (i.e. anyone making more than the poverty line, including graduate students) when you're the one losing significant portions of the paycheck you worked hard to earn. Of course, generally those who bitch about the "injustice" are not the ones that actually work for anything...
Well now I look like I need some sort of anger management program. But I feel better :-)
Sunday, July 18, 2010
July pleasure reading
I've just now started using Duke's library to check out books for pleasure reading. I have (no joke) 15 books checked out right now, but they're all for research purposes. Last week I put a request in for a book and I was able to pick it up on Thursday. It's called Committed: A Skeptic Makes Peace with Marriage by Elizabeth Gilbert. She's the author of Eat, Pray, Love, which I read earlier this year. This book wasn't like her first book; it was autobiographical, but not in the same sense as EPL. In EPL she's just gotten divorced and decides to take a year to travel to learn more about who she is, and at the end of her year of travels she meets a new man and falls in love. In the years between EPL and Committed they had agreed never to get married, but because he is not an American citizen they're not able to live together in the US. He's eventually denied entry into the US and they're forced to get married so he's able to enter the country again. It takes about 10 months for everything to get straightened out, so they pass this time sort of roaming Southeast Asia, waiting for his fiance visa to be granted.
This book was pretty interesting just because she spent most of the book describing more the history of marriage than stories about her own life. She did write about how on their travels she would speak with local people and learn more about how marriage is perceived around the world to help her try to figure out why she's so wary of the whole institution. It did actually give me a lot to think about with regards to my own marriage, and I think it's good to reflect periodically.
One of the best things that she talks about in the book is the way that she describes how marriages fail when you begin to look outside of your relationship for things you should be looking for inside your relationship, when you find yourself confiding in other friends things that you used to share with only your spouse (here she references work by Shirley P. Glass). I think this is sneaky and I can see how it would happen easily. While Keegan is the only person that I share everything with, sometimes I miss when I had a several close friends that I felt I could talk to about anything. There's nothing I can't talk about with Keegan so I have no need to confide with a friend about anything, but I still think it is nice to confide in friends about at least a small number of the things you also confide in your spouse. I think there's something almost stressful about making your spouse your ONLY friend -- plus, sadly, there may come a time when your spouse is no longer around. I know with the prospect of Keegan working in another office I'm a little intimidated about what would happen if I had an emergency and I really needed someone to be there for me. I love the folks in my lab, but I don't really get the feeling that if my car broke down, I had to go to the doctor/hospital, or a close relative died that I would be able to rely on them for anything. Maybe this is a cynical view, but although we hang out together sometimes, I'm not sure if there is a line between being friends and being coworkers. Then again, I'll spend five years of my life surrounded by these people, and I'm not sure you can spend that long with anyone and not end up their friend :-)
There was a quote in her book that I found interesting; when she asked her friend why she wanted to get married and she said that a wedding "will unequivocally prove to everyone, especially to myself, that I am precious enough to have been selected by somebody forever". Isn't this sort of the wrong reason to get married? I think that is true with all people who get married though, at least to some extent, they let the whole world know that they are loved enough to be loved forever by one person. But isn't that a bit selfish/prideful? Should it really matter to us if "everyone" knows that we are loved?
She also dedicated a section of the book to looking at the relationship between infatuation and love. She writes, "Infatuation is not quite the same thing as love; it's more like love's shady second cousin who's always borrowing money and can't hold down a job". This is so true, just looking back on my previous relationships that were sort of whirlwind in nature -- it's easy to get wrapped up in the superficial things and then sort of gloss over the rather dark details of a person.
It was also interesting to see her perspective on how religion/Christianity shaped marriage, essentially that Christianity initially tried to stomp out marriage but that in more modern times the faithful have taken the view that Christianity is the only pathway to a loving and stable marriage. She has some citations for that claim and I found this highly interesting as well. Another interesting topic she brought up was something called the "subversive" family, in that a family unit is something that no government can control. Try as they may, a government cannot monitor what is said/done in the home and the conversations that go on between family members/couples behind closed doors cannot be censured or controlled in any way. I think this was also related to her point/citations about religion, that although many religious institutions seek to control private life there's really nothing they can do to control an independent family.
All-in-all an interesting read. Since I read it in 3 days, I might re-read it before I turn it in, just to go over the finer details again :-)
This book was pretty interesting just because she spent most of the book describing more the history of marriage than stories about her own life. She did write about how on their travels she would speak with local people and learn more about how marriage is perceived around the world to help her try to figure out why she's so wary of the whole institution. It did actually give me a lot to think about with regards to my own marriage, and I think it's good to reflect periodically.
One of the best things that she talks about in the book is the way that she describes how marriages fail when you begin to look outside of your relationship for things you should be looking for inside your relationship, when you find yourself confiding in other friends things that you used to share with only your spouse (here she references work by Shirley P. Glass). I think this is sneaky and I can see how it would happen easily. While Keegan is the only person that I share everything with, sometimes I miss when I had a several close friends that I felt I could talk to about anything. There's nothing I can't talk about with Keegan so I have no need to confide with a friend about anything, but I still think it is nice to confide in friends about at least a small number of the things you also confide in your spouse. I think there's something almost stressful about making your spouse your ONLY friend -- plus, sadly, there may come a time when your spouse is no longer around. I know with the prospect of Keegan working in another office I'm a little intimidated about what would happen if I had an emergency and I really needed someone to be there for me. I love the folks in my lab, but I don't really get the feeling that if my car broke down, I had to go to the doctor/hospital, or a close relative died that I would be able to rely on them for anything. Maybe this is a cynical view, but although we hang out together sometimes, I'm not sure if there is a line between being friends and being coworkers. Then again, I'll spend five years of my life surrounded by these people, and I'm not sure you can spend that long with anyone and not end up their friend :-)
There was a quote in her book that I found interesting; when she asked her friend why she wanted to get married and she said that a wedding "will unequivocally prove to everyone, especially to myself, that I am precious enough to have been selected by somebody forever". Isn't this sort of the wrong reason to get married? I think that is true with all people who get married though, at least to some extent, they let the whole world know that they are loved enough to be loved forever by one person. But isn't that a bit selfish/prideful? Should it really matter to us if "everyone" knows that we are loved?
She also dedicated a section of the book to looking at the relationship between infatuation and love. She writes, "Infatuation is not quite the same thing as love; it's more like love's shady second cousin who's always borrowing money and can't hold down a job". This is so true, just looking back on my previous relationships that were sort of whirlwind in nature -- it's easy to get wrapped up in the superficial things and then sort of gloss over the rather dark details of a person.
It was also interesting to see her perspective on how religion/Christianity shaped marriage, essentially that Christianity initially tried to stomp out marriage but that in more modern times the faithful have taken the view that Christianity is the only pathway to a loving and stable marriage. She has some citations for that claim and I found this highly interesting as well. Another interesting topic she brought up was something called the "subversive" family, in that a family unit is something that no government can control. Try as they may, a government cannot monitor what is said/done in the home and the conversations that go on between family members/couples behind closed doors cannot be censured or controlled in any way. I think this was also related to her point/citations about religion, that although many religious institutions seek to control private life there's really nothing they can do to control an independent family.
All-in-all an interesting read. Since I read it in 3 days, I might re-read it before I turn it in, just to go over the finer details again :-)
June pleasure reading
On our trip I read Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire as well as a bunch of National Geographics. It was a crazy month and even though I did get to read HP for fun, that was nothing new, I just took it with me so I'd have something to occupy my time in the car that didn't involve paying a lot of attention to what I was doing. :-)
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