Blog blog blah blah

Ok, so I decided to start a blog. I'm long-winded and fear that I'll clutter up the boards with my verbose postings. I've always found writing about nothing to be very theraputic for me. This blog is going to be very self-centered and a place for me to explore my own thoughts and theories. I don't know how much value it will have for anyone else to read but it will have great value for me. Read on at your own risk and you are welcome to do so, but just remember this is my place to be selfish and self-centered. Respond if you wish. Get bored and wander off if you like! I'm not like this in my life but feel I need a mechanism to encourage me to think about and take time for my own inner thoughts. Kind of a path to self-realization I suppose. A mental taking stock if you will.....

Yesterday kind of ended up in the crapper for me. I went to Cora's anyway with my sister and daughter. I had sausages, ham and poached eggs. It came with grilled potatoes. So I ate some of those, first potatoes in a long time. I also had a side order of hollandaise sauce, I was trying to mimic my fav eggs benedict without the muffin. The sauce was made from a mix so I have NO idea what the carb count was. I was on a potato high and didn't care. I ate about half the sauce. That filled me up so much I didn't get hungry until after 8 last night. I started out fine with my cold duck, celery sticks and cauliflower dipped in 0 carb dressing. Then I had a peice of coconut bread. Then I had a hard boiled egg. The carb counts of the foods wasn't too bad, but the portions were too high. Just too much food.

I find the best form of inspiration for me is to find more information to affirm my decision. Last night I spent nearly two hours online watching lecture given to Berkley medical students by Gary Taubes. Once I got over how much he looks like Meryl Streep, I could pay more attention to what he was saying.

I really need to get Taubes' book. I need Malcolm Kendricks' book as well. I find watching their lectures or presentations are great, but I need it in print to slow down the information load. I need more time to absorb it. I do feel that I have a better understanding of the mechanism of how high insulin equals high body fat. Unfortunately the only way I can monitor insulin at home is to track blood sugar. Higher blood sugar means higher insulin. That doesn't really give me an accurate measure of insulin though because of Type II diabetes I will produce much more insulin to maintain lower blood sugar. The science for this is overwhelming. I'm beginning to wonder if I shouldn't go back on the metformin. It won't cause my bg to go lower than normal, but will increase the sensitivity of my cells to the insulin which I'm obviously over-producing. Evidence of that is the continued resistance to weight loss. I remain convinced that lower body weight can have a positive effect on insulin production.

I really found Taubes' observation of malutrition and obesity very interesting. Especially the way it can account for extremely thin children with obese moms in parts of the world where there is extreme poverty and food shortages. Hmmm....definetly food for thought. I'd also like to find out more about the role of estrogen in weight gain.

Today I'm going to try and eat better. I'm also not going to spend a lot of time worrying about the impending global shortage of staple foods. Although dwindling stockpiles of wheat and rice along with lower crop yields and crop failures usually due to abnormal weather events is going to have a big impact on all of our futures. Soil exhaustion is not to be dismissed. The high costs of those staple items will certainly shape our future. I hate to say "I told ya so" but it didn't take a brainiac to figure out that if more and more of the world's maize production is diverted into biofuel production it HAD to have an effect on the food supply. As more and more farmers in the developing world convert to growing maize for fuel and it's higher profits instead of food or other crops for food it HAS to have a ripple effect on food supply. At least we get to drive around a bit longer in our part of the world. You just can't take a hunk of the world's food out of it's mouth and not have that stomach a little emptier. Ok. I promised myself I wouldn't think about this too much.

Things to be happy about today:
Blood sugars are remaining in normal range.
I'm continuing to feel well.
Joanne is continuing to improve and is doing well on the new meds.
I CAN control my health through diet, I have a lot of information at my fingertips and I have the time and inclination to find it.
I can see patches of bare ground in the backyards and I swear those drifts are shrinking! Spring may find us!
My father is feeling a lot better.