• We went to Ohio over the weekend to attend a friend’s funeral.  41 is much too young to die.
• I’ve never laughed so much at a funeral.  You know you are saying goodbye to a special person when she arranges a cardboard cutout of herself for pictures, insists on having her picture put on a stick for people to hold in the air, and wants people to sing karaoke…
• Apparently, I have no idea how to NOT be tired. I’m tired all the time. And not just a little tired, but lay my head down on the table during lunch tired. I can’t sit on the couch without taking a nap and have fallen asleep 3 times over the past week with a computer on my lap.
• This is an insanely long post.  But if you can make it to the end, it’ll be worth it.  I promise.
• Jacob went to bed last night at 7pm and had an hour or two nap this morning from 11am-1pm.  Evidently I’ve passed my sleepiness on.
• I haven’t been away from the kids at all in 2 weeks.  Wait, I take that back.  I did get to go to a funeral and a botched dental implant appointment.
• We leave for Virginia Beach in 5 days.  I feel like I’m forgetting something…
• Dave and I leave for Prague in about 3 weeks.  I’ve done nothing for that trip.  Wait, I take that back.  I have a plane ticket and my passport is good so I guess that’s something.
• I should really shave my legs before I go to the beach.  But not before then.
• Heat and I don’t get along.  It totally, TOTALLY wipes me out.  And when I say heat, I mean anything over 78 degrees.  Which is why sitting in the sun for 2 hours during swim lessons has been especially fun in the upper 80s…
• Considering getting a person to clean the house so that I can have more time to sleep and complain and blog and not exercise.
• I should really exercise.  Maybe even today!
• For dinner last night, I had 3/4 bag of Cool Ranch Doritos and some chocolate ice cream straight from the carton.  I added some peanuts to the carton for some extra protein.
• Considering restarting the Couch to 5k program again with Heather.  She started yesterday.  I’m already behind.
• I’m feeling fairly bumpish and loggish.
• After talking to my dad over the weekend, I decided I really need to get in for a physical.  I have a history of diabetes on both sides of the family, my dad is on cholesterol meds, and I found out that one of my sisters and one of my brothers have a problem with their triglycerides.
• I had an elevated triglyceride reading when I was pregnant with Emma, but they said that pregnancy can skew the results.  They said to come back 6 months after Emma was born.  I didn’t.  Now I wish I had.
• I wish I could sit down with a bag of grapes the way I can sit down with a bag of chips.
• I should read listen to more music and watch less TV.
• There’s a lot of things I “should” do.
• Your turn!  If you made it this far, congratulations!  Tell me something random about yourself and I’ll enter you for a $25 gift certificate to anywhere you want.  If I can get it, I’ll get it for you!
• I’ll close the comments at noon 2pm EST on Thursday.  That gives you 2 days to tell me something about yourself.  And if you should happen to tell your friends about this, that’d  be cool.
• One extra entry each for Tweeting this, Subscribing to me, and answering this question: How old are my kids? Leave a comment for each additional entry.
• Don’t tell anyone there’s a contest!  Why ruin the surprise??
• I know.  I need help.

Feed a Cold, Starve a Fever
It’s a good idea to feed a cold but a bad idea to starve a fever, since your body needs nutrition at all times for healing. When your temperature goes up, so does your metabolism—which means your body requires calories more than ever to carry out basic functions like breathing and pumping blood. Not eating will only make it harder for your body to fight off the illness.

Please click here for the full article.

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Ever thought to yourself what will I get on Valentine’s Day? Well the person who lays claim to this sloth cricket got more than they bargained for because she showed up smuggling a couple medicine balls filled with tartar sauce. If you pan in closely you can see the chocolate remains from the 17 pounds of Peanut butter M&M’s she gorilla blapped down her cholesterol chasm before she doused herself in a bottle of Chantilly.

Keep the pics coming folks we love it..

SHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAVVVVVVEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!

-GRIZZ

First let’s have a discussion of what cholesterol is and how it affects the body. When you begin to learn how you can become healthier and loss weight through exercise and diet, you will be able to lower you cholesterol and it will become important to check your body’s levels of a fat called triglyceride. You will find that cholesterol and triglyceride are both lipids in your body that will help your body to survive. However if you don’t try to maintain healthy levels of fats in your body, you will be at risk for a heart attack and stroke. At unhealthy levels there are also many other diseases that can attack your body such as diabetes, Kidney problems as well as liver problems.

There are many people who will check with their doctor about their cholesterol levels so that they are able to stay healthy and so the heart can tick stronger than ever. But there are many more that thinks just because they do not hear anything back from the Doctor then everything is OK. This is not always the case as offices can get very busy and phone calls can be forgotten. You will want to inquire about your triglyceride levels because you doctor may not inform you of your personal level.

Triglycerides are tested as part of your cholesterol test and it will be the fourth number that happens to follow the good and bad cholesterol levels and your total cholesterol levels. Unfortunately, medical research has only recently been started on the effects of triglycerides in the blood stream. Usually, there are levels of triglycerides and the levels of bad cholesterol, as well as the good cholesterols. So it is apparent that lower levels of triglycerides are better for your body.

However, it is not yet apparent if triglycerides are contributing to the problems of high LDL cholesterol or if high levels are a symptom of high LDL cholesterol. They are still trying to study this type of problem, but there are doctors who aren’t quite sure on how to recommend treatment for the triglyceride levels. Most of the time, lowering high LDL cholesterol and raising low HDL cholesterol brings triglyceride levels back into a normal range with no additional work. Most of the time this is accomplished through weight loss and exercise although it may require medication in the most extreme cases.

You will find that there are some special cases where there are higher levels of triglycerides that are being treated in patients. You will find that a normal reading of triglyceride is lower than 150. You will also find that anything above the 150 is considered to be high and if you are over 500, then the levels are extremely high and it could be dangerous to your health. Most patients that are being treated for high triglyceride also suffer from syndrome X. The syndrome X is a genetic default that will cause you to have high LDL cholesterol, low HDL cholesterol, also hypertension. You may also have abnormal blood clotting and issues with insulin. This is the reason why patients with the syndrome X are at high risk for heart attack.

Now how does exercise help to control these levels? It is a known fact in many circles that exercise burns the fat that is in your body. And what comprises the fat in your body is broken down into the different lipids. There by through exercise you will begin to help the body to break down these lipids in the body to levels that are healthy for you. Also by having a leaner muscle mass it will also help the body to do a better job of breaking down the lipid levels to a more manageable level. Your high triglyceride levels can be easily treated if you lose some weight and exercise. You may also need to get on some medication, although, a diet could be just as helpful. By learning better nutrition you can also help your body to control the levels of your cholesterol and to maintain your weight.

It is important that you keep a good weight loss program and always keep a check on your cholesterol levels. You can do that by talking to your doctor. You will go to your doctor for a simple blood tests and it will measure the lipids in your blood so that you can stay heart-healthy. You will want to also talk to your doctor about changing habits in your diet and exercise routines so that you can life healthy and happy with your ideal weight.

About The Author
Randall Drake is an accomplished writer of many different types of articles ranging from dieting techniques to weight training. Very successful himself he also reaches out to the community to help them in their own attempts in maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Randall invites you to visit his website at: Randy’s Weight Loss Secrets and explore his products today.

3 taking metformin to tolerance (which is bizzarely uncommon practice) is far better  before if necessary adding sulphonylureas/ glitazones/ insulin which promote fattening and other problems,  with little nett benefit..

4. starting on  metformin preventatively ie even well before diabetes presented  can reduce the incidence of new diabetes, pancreatic burnout by up to 80%.

Yet preventative metformin- with zero serious adverse effects  and halving of mortality in appropriate use- is still  irrationally vociferously  objected to; this can only be because of the Disease Industry driving force, to avoid prevention at all cost since only disease pays: effective prevention with natural supplements  like metformin and appropriate parenteral HRT would deplete surgeries and hospitals of serious chronic degenerative illnesses. The BARI study showed clearly that by the time vascular disease presents in diabetics, surgery has no better outcome than medical therapy.All four major diabetes prevention programs (in China then USA then India then Greece) confirmed the major benefit (even against cancer) of adding metformin early if the patient cannot implement permanent effective diet and exercise.

So why are “Authorities” still not endorsing preventative metformin in the resistant overweight at all ages? Why are those who should know better still  attacking us preventative physicians for practicing evidence-based medicine ie using appropriate metformin in a lifethreateing situation- progressive or persistent overweight ie BMI above 25kg/sqm?

One hopes that this Quebec analysis pushes authorities to enforce that metformin built up slowly from eg 250mg/d  to tolerance -ideally with blood level control-  is the only firstline chronic drug   therapy of type 2 diabetes, even where the new patient has first to be temporarily stabilized with  insulin.

When I first met with Ali, it was an emergency situation. At 26, my cholesterol was over 280 points, my triglycerides were out of control, and I was 40 pounds overweight. I had stomach problems, migraines, and a variety of other issues. I had seen doctor after doctor, but none could give me an explanation or relief.

Ali almost immediately recognized a pattern in my symptoms and suggested I try cutting gluten out of my diet for 2 weeks. Since I eat out for pretty much every meal every day, it was hard at first. But then I started to feel better, and I realized I had a lot of food options. After 3 months I had gone completely gluten-free, and I never felt better. I dropped 4 dress sizes and 96 points from my cholesterol with just that and some exercise. Now I don’t even go near anything with gluten and I feel great. I’m an entirely new person who looks forward to eating, buying clothes, and living a healthy life – all thanks to Ali!

~ C.O., Philadelphia, PA

Unlike her friends, Marielle chose not to have an elaborate Sweet Sixteen party.  Here in NYC, parents seem to go over the top with these ridiculous parties which resemble mini weddings.  It is not unheard of for costs to go way over $30,000!!!

I was able to have one of our local bakeries make a terrific zebra cake filled with Strawberry Shortcake in just 24 hours!  Talk about customer service.  I shared Marielle’s transplant story with them and they went above and beyond what I could have ever hoped for!

Meet Coconut.  I caved in and surprised Marielle with a 9 week old Maltese puppy.  Isn’t she adorable?  Marielle had been harassing me, but her transplant doctors said she had to wait until 6 months post kidney transplant.  Ok, so I jumped the gun and got the puppy a mere 3 weeks early.

My friend, Jennifer (Jaybird Designs) sent Coconut the cutest collar and sweater.  Love them!  Thanks so much Jennifer!

In addition to her new puppy, we also got Marielle a cute zebra dog carrier.  Oh and the other big gift — a spa day for her and 5 of her bestest friends at Pilo Arts.  Marielle and friends will enjoy facials, body massages, body scrubs, pedicures and manicures in 2 weeks from now!

For a week, my home smelled like a florist!  Marielle’s aunts and grandparents showered her with flowers and other great gifts for her birthday.

Mother’s Day Miracle

My friend, Tara, celebrated her 1st Mother’s Day this year.  And boy, did she get the best present ever.  Her son, Colton, received a liver transplant that day!  What more could any mother want more than the health of their children?!  Wishing Colton a lifetime of health and happiness!

Reformed theology blogger Tim Challies had a post up about a funny CLEAN comedian named Brian Regan. This is really funny stuff.

Brian Regan goes to the doctor:

Brian Regan calls UPS for a pick-up:

Brian Regan goes to the grocery store:

Brian Regan goes to the emergency room, part 1 of 2:

Brian Regan goes to the emergency room, part 2 of 2:

I’ve driven myself to the emergency room for food poisoning, and was dismissed after 45 minutes. They told me stop breathing shallow and stop throwing up! So I did that. Then they sent me home.

One more: Brian Regan goes to the airport:

And for those who don’t get YouTube through their company’s proxy server, here is something funny from Frank J. of IMAO.us, on term limits. Inventing ridiculous things is what I find the most humorous.

Excerpt:

This whole Sanford mess reminds me of the main problem with politics: Politician. Apparently, normal people don’t want to go into politics, so we mainly gets weirdos. Fred Thompson used the Sanford incident to argue for term limits, the idea being if we have to have politicians, at least let’s not keep them around too long.

Here’s my idea: Kidnapping.

Happy Friday!

People over the age of 60 are more likely to take risks with “use by” dates than younger people, according to new research by the Food Standards Agency.

Eating food beyond its “use by” date increases the risk of food poisoning from the listeria food bug, which can be life-threatening for this age group, the agency notes.

The Food Standards Agency is an independent government department set up by an Act of Parliament in 2000 to protect the public’s health and consumer interests in relation to food.

According to a news release, the number of cases of people taken ill with listeria rose 20 percent in 2007 and has more than doubled since 2000,with the increase occurring predominantly among people over 60.

Research shows that less than half of this age group recognizes “use by” dates as an important indicator of whether food is safe or not, and they could be putting themselves at risk of serious illness.

Research found:

• Less than half (42 percent) of older people questioned in the survey correctly identified the “use by” date as an important indicator of whether a food is safe.
• Older respondents were more likely to eat food past its “use by” date. For example, 40 percent would eat dairy products up to three days past the“use by” date.
• Only a third of people (34 percent) over 65 would never eat dairy past its “use by” date.
• Less than half (39 percent) of people over 65 checked their fridge temperature at least every six months. Setting the right fridge temperature (between 0°C and 5°C) is important to control the growth of listeria in food.