Was doing some research on Metabolism and how to measure certain things like your Metabolic Rate. This article has the formula for determining your Resting Metabolic Rate which is key to understand with regard to overall daily caloric intake. In general, I think this is very important to understand for many reasons.
With all of the debates around Healthcare reform in Washington, D.C. and very little action emerging from the hill, it would appear as if others are beginning to take matters into their own hands. In doing so, a break from traditional practices is emerging pulling from various sources new and unique ideas towards including indivuals as part of the solution and less as part of the problem.
Taking a page from the likes of Facebook and others, WebMD looks to tap into not just the scientific elements of medicine, but also the experiential elements based on its estimated 60 million monthly users providing valuable information based on real-world ailments first hand.
There are some however, who are not waiting for politics to provide the solutions. This group is looking to reduce the costs of health care one challenge at a time. More importantly by providing all of us the methods to take back our health from an industry that seems in complete disarray. In this arena anything is possible. One of the key elements highlighted in the incoming President, Brack Obama's health care plan is to focus on modernizing the U.S. Health Care System to lower costs & improve quality of care. The idea is simple; Health information technology investment aimed at reducing unnecessary spending that results from preventable errors and inefficient paper billing systems. In his administration's plan, they are predicting that this will contribute in cutting the typical family's heal care costs by $2,500 (US). This term "modernization of health care" is not solely part of his heath care policy, but also it is documented in his Administration's Technology policy paper. This is exciting news for the Technologist. One area of focus is that of migrating the management of medical information from a paper-based process model to that of an electrical one. This could prove to be a boom in many areas of Technology and as with any surge in a new technology field, getting in early is key. Historically, pharmacies have been the public's exposure to controlling their medical services. In reality, this was nothing more than acting as a messenger for the physician by delivering a paper prescription to a pharmacy then picking up their prescription. The evolution commenced with the expansion of pharmacy services as more and more traditionally retail stores opened their own pharmacies. Now these traditional pharmacies are fighting back by going electronic. First by establishing networks across their pharmacies providing a convenience of picking up prescriptions from any one of their stores. CVS has recently raised the bar and positioned themselves inline with the incoming Administration's goal of moving towards the electronic management of medical information.
During the recent U.S. Presidential Race there were several recurring issues that were hot topics on the plate of every candidate. At the forefront was the issue of health care in the United States. Debates raged around the issues of privatization over national health care, insurance and pharmaceutical costs to an already struggling system.
CVS now allows the patient to manage their prescriptions on-line to include access to historical prescriptions which could be made readily accessible for the patient to provide to their physicians. On top of this, additional services have been made available to include information for the patient on Diet & Nutrition, basic Medical information and the ability to look up medication in their Drug Information Center.
If you haven't noticed by now a trend is emerging. A trend that started with the likes of WebMD years ago. Actually treating individuals with respect and providing information to them to allow each person to take responsibility for their own Health Care. CVS and others are now taking this from the simple WebMD Informational approach to that of actual practical usage. At the end of the day in any instance it all revolves around the management of Health Care data.
What might appear to be an interesting retail battle shaping up for your personal health care management needs might actually be nothing more than a marketing exercise for a much larger player. One that has years of experience in the management of information and data. That 800 pound gorilla in the room also known asGoogle.
Currently running in BETA, Google has introduced Google Health. According to the website, Google Health claims to put you in charge of puts you in charge of your health information. safely, secure, and free.
Google is also reaching out, looking for partners to assist in developing the means for individuals to access not simply prescription information but all medical records for management in one location. Giving the individual a power that continues to elude the medical industry to this day.
Naturally, the two most protective areas of anyone's life are: finances and medical information. Google Health is an undertaking that would have never made it this far without an extensive set of policies designed to address the protection of this sensitive information. It is far too extensive to go through here so if you are interested in understanding how your information will be protected you can review Google Health's Privacy and Policy page.
The main navigation menu for Google Health provides you with a quick jump to any information type that you wish to manage.
But wait.... There's more!
It is one thing to have all of your medical information conveniently located in one place. But another to actually do something with that data. Information is only truly as valuable as the functions you can perform with it. This is where it begins to get "Fun." Through APIs and security Google offers the opportunity for 3rd party services to interact with your profile information. As a test and for example, I created a profile with the fitness site LIVESTRONG.COM. From this site I can manage meals, workouts and track almost anything I choose on a daily basis in the day-to-day active lifestyle I am attempting to develop. At the same time they also offer a convenient iPhone application which I can use to track meals when out and about, not to mention actual workout information in real-time. Yes, more information relating to my personal health.
It is at this point where you gain the benefit through linking the information in LIVESTRONG with that of Google Health to again give you a centralized set of data to provide you with more control of your own health.
At the end of the day, that is what it is all about. Taking back control of our lives. For far too long we have all relied on the medical industry to tell us what we should do, what medication we need to take (despite the rumored kick-backs some physicians get for pimping products.) More importantly, we as responsible individuals need to become more informed on general health issues so that we may be able to focus on preventative medicine rather than become victims of an expensive health care system that appears more focused on operating as a business than as providers of a valuable service to humanity.
It is refreshing to know that this issue is finally getting the attention it deserves and my hopes are that the efforts of CVS and Google spawn a new era in a healthier society. For more information on what the more extensive Google Health program offers head over to Google Health and take the tour.
This begins the opposite installment of my end of year blogging adventure. I went on in my previous post about 2008 so I won't go and re-hash any of that. No, this is about setting those bars and goals for the upcomg year. We all do it year after year. Maintaining the focus to stay committed to those goals is the hard part. I only hope to lay before me a reasonable path that is not one aimed directly up a mountain. There is so much to do and so little time it seems an almost impossible task just to figure out where to start. I have decided to begin from the inside out and that means a more focused attempt at re-structuring my lifestyle to promote health. I realize that this is pretty much the foundation to anything else one chooses to tackle in the way of either self-improvement or personal achievements in life. So that is where I will begin. I am toying around with the idea of dealing with the psychological effort in a way similar to that of anyone running a business; by creating a "contract" with myself. I was thinking of making it sort of a "living" document that is structured like a task list. I would of course start with the category of Health and then determine what the terms of achieving that goal are. Then for the year ahead I would target each goal and begin to pick them off. Depending on how that goes, I may add a term of possibly personal growth or career growth. All of that would, of course, have to be balanced with family. Oh boy, here I go as my thoughts begin to roll the list begins to grow, which of course introduces stress and makes one begin to think about giving up because the mountain is too high. That's it, I'm stopping now. I don't want this to get too out of control before I even figure out how to structure it so that it may be controlled. Good luck in your goals for 2009, I know I will need it.
So I have decided that I have pretty much squandered the opportunity to workout over the last 6 months of not working. Not so much because I have not wanted to, but more because I really didn't feel like it. The stresses of looking for a job plus adapting to being a stay-at-home dad were really dragging me down. Honestly, I believe I found my stress abatement program to include a lot of food that is highly questionable, chocolate chip cookies being one of them.
Then things began to change. I found a job, and have been enjoying my kids beyond belief. So that pretty much means I can look inwards and focus on myself. This also means a renewed commitment to focusing on my own health. First things first, I needed to feel how out of shape I really was. I "felt" heavy, tight and generally out of shape, but decided that I had to know. For me, the only way to do that is to put myself in measurable situation; Running.
With a background in the Marines that involved running at least 3 times a week, it is the only way I can clearly gauge how bad off I am. Sure I am older, but the feeling is still the same. So at 6:15 this morning, I set off with my Nike+ on a pre-mapped loop route as close to 3 miles as I could get (2.81 mi).
The first mile sucked. Completely sucked. I was feeling the tightness in my legs that was seriously giving me problems and yes, I stopped and walked more than a few times. But in my ears I was always brought back to the reality of my past as I run to my Marine Corps Cadence tracks. I know, I know, I'm a bit off that way, but you know, it motivated me back in the day and it still does today.
In the end I finished the last mile without stopping and I could feel my muscles had finally warmed up a bit. I was feeling good. I rounded the end of the street in stride. Final time was 37 minutes 22 seconds which really sucks considering my average in the Corps was 24 minutes. So there is some definite room for improvement.
I know I need to do it consistently so I need to stay motivated. I also know this is just one part of the overall plan. The other side to this story will involve exercising the pig in me out of my system. That's right, Diet. Not Diet as with a focus on losing weight, but Diet as in focusing on my intake vs. my expenditure on the calorie front. I found a really cool tool for that which I will let you in on later.
When you stop runnin' you die. ~ Pebo Bryson
For those of you keeping track, I have joined many of you out here in cyber-land working towards the goal of a healthier lifestyle. For me that means once again attacking my goal of getting below the 200lb. mark. Now some history. I have always been a "Big Boned" person (LOL! I love that phrase). That is not to say that I am obese or have ever been what one would consider terribly out of shape, but I have carried with me some additional weight that helped me out in the winter and provided padding when I played football. I graduated High School at a whopping 197lbs, so I was not a small dude. From there it was directly into the Marines where being part of Uncle Sam's Misguided Children (USMC) quickly demonstrated that if I got off my ass and applied myself on a regular basis, I wouldn't have to settle for being slightly larger than what I should have been. I graduated boot camp at a svelte 177lbs. To be honest, I never want to get that way again. I though I looked a bit anorexic. Sure I was healthy and could run 5 miles and kill in 5 seconds or less, but it was really unmaintainable. After all 3 months in Marine Corps Basic Training is almost 24x7 blood/sweat and tears. For the next 8 years I maintained a weight that I felt worked for me between 185 and 190 with reasonable eating lifestyle combined with regular Marine Corps physical fitness. All hell broke loose when I got out of the Marines. Of course, like most who exit the Military you kind of rebel. You swear off haircuts and working out or running as a sign of freedom from military oppression. In retrospect, I often think "What the hell was I thinking!" My weight over the next 3 years ballooned up to 253lbs even though I was playing Club football in Japan (American Football, not the other kind of football.) In 2001, I realized that I needed to do something. I was about to get married and didn't want to look like Mr. Goodyear at the ceremony. I reached for the latest information on Dietary programs.... Atkins. I bought the books, read alot and learned much about how various foods affect the body. Not to mention how sugars affect the body since thier mass production and introduction into modern day society. Following Atkins made me realize that I have a vicious reaction to Carbohydrates. Living in Japan you would think that most of what you put in your mouth is quite healthy and it was, problem for me though, was the fact that almost everything healthy in Japan comes with Rice. Oh boy I love Japanese rice. Mr. Omori (Omori = Extra Helping or Super-size me.) By simply cutting out Rice as much as I could, I quickly dropped down to about 215lbs. Hell, the first month I lost 12lbs. Now before I get blazed about how Atkins is extreme and bad for you, do your research first. Atkins is designed to get you to understand and manage your carb intake, not eliminate it. It is also not about eating meat 100% of the time. It was the first "Smart" approach to weight control I had been exposed to. I found my ideal carb load and managed to keep my weight under control and constant at around 215lbs. That has been the case now since. However, I still have not met my elusive 200lbs. barrier. For me it is my "Sound Barrier" of sorts. I have always thought my ideal weight should be 185lbs. and am determined to get there. But I don't want to do Atkins again. I have found my carb load and it works for me. Enter Dr. Mehmet C. Oz, M.D. and Michael F. Roizen, M.D.. I first ran across them watching an episode of Oprah. You see, I am a Discovery Channel freak. I love to learn about everything and how it works. Here was this doctor standing on stage, holding a human brain explaining which part controls appetite. Not just for food, but for sex and almost everything else we crave. He then introduces the audience to the Omentum. What the hell is that? Well in short, It is attached to your stomach and is where you body stores the majority of fat. What? What about these love handles? Nope..... the Omentum. I had to know more. For Christmas, I got the book by these two doctors called YOU: On A Diet. I just picked it up this past weekend to give it a once over, after all, I had read volumes on weight loss and thought I had a pretty good grasp on things. I have not been able to put that damn book down yet! The title is VERY misleading. their approach is simple. Understand how your body works from your appetite (Brain) and the chemicals and organs that control it, through your digestive tract (how your body processes food), through your liver into your arteries and more. They simply dumb down medical terminology in a way for everyone to understand what our bodies do and how they are more than capable of controlling your weight as long as you control what you put in your face. Give your body what it needs to function optimally and it will do the work for you. Of course that is not to say that 30 minutes of exercise a day still has to happen, but knowing that walnuts are a good source of Omega 3 Fatty acids and how that chemical affects your body in a good way, helps you begin to manage or take back your life from foods with nasty hidden ingredients that your body reacts in negative ways to. I am not a food Nazi, a Vegan or someone who is obsessed with his weight. I am just fascinated by this book because it helps me understand what my body is designed to do and how I am actually stopping it from doing what it needs to keep me at my genetically determined healthy weight. I like this book, A LOT. Even if you are not on a diet or trying to shed pounds, I HIGHLY recommend it to everyone to simply understand how your body works. It is a good, informative, easy read. From managing your cholesterol, your insulin levels, or looking for foods that throughout centuries have proven vital to our ancestors survival, I think it would help more than hinder or confuse. They are not selling you a fad or telling you that it is easy to lose weight by doing nothing. It is not about weight, it is about your total bodies health. Weight control is just a side effect of it. Oh, this morning..... down to 217.5lbs. not far now, off to eat my apple now, bon appetite!
Well, hopefully the worst is over. Yesterday (Friday) Tyler was released from the hospital. I wanted to say that he came home, but that is hard to say when you are almost 7000 miles away from home. All of his blood work came back negative and he got the o.k. to be released.
He still has a wet cough, but the Doctor said that is normal and that we should just be careful when taking him around town. We have decided to limit his exposure outside for a while until his checkup on Wednesday. If all is good then we will be able to head home on Friday as planned.For now, it is an exercise in scheduling things around who is going to stay behind and watch Tyler. For now, I am on duty while the Mrs. and Mina headed out to the local Japanese baby store to pick up some supplies. I would have loved to have gone, because it is a unique experience to go to one of these stores. They are like Babies 'R Us, but done Japan style. There are many cool baby gadgets that are unique to Japan that do not exist in the states. But that is for another blog. For now, I have to get his medicine ready as well as his lunch.
I was the last man standing in this trip of illness. Notice I said "was." It appears as if I fell victim to the Novo-virus which is part of the reason why I have not been on-line for the past day or so. It was not a good feeling I can tell you. The stomach was just not in the right place. And I paid the price overnight. Mina was crashed, Tyler was still recuperating in the hospital and the Mrs. was with him. It was a long uncomfortable 24 hours compounded by the fact that I thought my back had gone out as well. If you go back through my earlier blogs here you know that I have a problem with my disk in the L5 vertebrae. Depending on my weight, stress and what not, it can get inflamed and pinch against my sciatic nerve. A truly debilitating form of pain, for which there is really no cure other than surgery to fuse the spine or replace the disk, both of which were not recommended last year by te specialist I went to see as my problem was note that bad. It usually starts with a "twinge" I feel as if striking a guitar chord. Pain slowly sets on until I can hardly get up to walk around. Fortunately, this time it was a different feeling after waking up. It was higher up in my back and in the dead center, not to the left or right as it usually is. I also know that when this feeling comes on I need to start stretching my hamstrings immediately. I began the regime of stretching and being VERY aware of my movements and heavy lifting. Long story short, the pain has gone, stiffness is still there so stretching continues and as for the stomach, well thank goodness it is only a 24hr bug. I am back to normal, if anything about this trip can be considered normal. Tonight though (Saturday night) I will be going to my favorite Gym here in Tokyo to soak in their 3 hot baths, partake in the Sauna and steam room to help relieve some of the stress and tension that may be the cause for this latest adventure in my back.
The day ended with a trip back to the hospital to drop of some things for the Mrs. and to check in on Tyler. The one thing that sucked, was that on the Pediatric in-patient floor you could not take anyone under the age of 14 in to the room area so Mina and I had to meet the Mrs. in the elevator lobby. I know this sounds wierd, but he loves it. I basically take his feet in my hands and squeeze them as if I am milking a cow. When I did that he turned his head to me and began to coo and smile. Then got a bit excited. The doctor was very surprised and pleasantly optimistic about his condition. But nonetheless it was not a good feeling to see him like that. So for the next 5 minutes or so, I got him to smile and forget his condition for a bit. Then the Doctor finished the mist session and had to then clear his sinuses of all of the mucus with a vacuum tube. This was the really hard part. He wasn't happy about that at all. I am glad Mina wasn't there, she is quite the over protective big sister. When the doctor finished, I tried to make him smile again, but he just kept looking at me as if he was begging me to get him out of there. I had to go. Went back out, said the goodbyes to the Mrs. who will be standing vigil over him while I took Mina back to the Hotel. She is doing better, although I couldn't give her any dinner as she was still throwing up. So a bit of medicated water and her anti-biotics for her ears were administered. Gave her a bath and put her to bed by 7:45. She crashed hard. I am not far behind and we will have to see how tomorrow turns out.
Mina, obviously confused with everything going on in the past few days was visibly happy to see her. I then took my turn to go in and see the 'lil guy. The thing about Japanese Hospitals is that they are not big on the whole private room thing. To get one costs some Yen. We got one. But to get to it, I had to walk past that ward, and that was both depressing and reminded me of my time in the same hospital with Meningitis. I was in a room with 6 other men who were seriously ill. This was different, much more depressing as they were all kids.Nothing sinks the soul more than seeing rooms full of sick children. I just tried not to look too much and made my way to Tyler's room. When I got there, the doctor as in the picture, was administering medication through myst directly to his nose/mouth. He was a bit lethargic, but then I told the doctor that I wanted to see if he responded to my usual way of getting him to smile.
