Health Center Blog

Stanley Kamel was found dead Tuesday, April 8, 2008. Who is Stanley Kamel you ask? Sadly, I had no idea who he was either until I did a bio check on him (Google...). He was Dr. Kroger on one of my favorite shows, Monk, and was featured as minor characters on many other shows such as Three's Company, ER, and Star Trek, but more importantly on Days of Our Lives, which started his television career and ended his Broadway days, as Eric Peters. This may be late news and I apologize, but when I found out how he died it ran fear through my veins. At the young age of 65, the cause of death was a heart attack.

I'm not a doctor or nurse or plan to be either of them in the near future, but I do know that heart attacks are caused mostly due to smoking, drug abuse, high LDL or 'bad cholesterol' and low HDL or 'good cholesterol', high blood pressure, and as a reoccurring heart attack or stroke. Other risk factors are at an older age, 40 for men and 50 for women, which don't apply to us...hopefully.

I am sharing this to all of you to think about and take care of your own health. I'm not saying Stanley wasn't taking care of his body well, he was just unlucky. You guys shouldn't put yourselves at that risk at this young of an age, assuming of course no old people are reading this but if you are this applies to you too. I hope, no, I encourage, no, I order you people to get checked by your doctor and get your blood pressure and cholesterol tested. Since there are no symptoms of showing that you're at risk of a heart attack or stroke, besides the occasional 'heart burn' feeling, it's important to get checked. (I am assuming of course that none of you abuse drugs or smoke. If any of you guys do those two things previously stated, then that's all on you. I honestly don't care much for those who do those things, but that's another story topic. Just don't do those things...)

Also, even if you run everyday, are in shape, and eat only healthy foods, that doesn't mean you aren't at risk. It could be genetic. I myself had and have high blood pressure even when I was running in track and eating healthy during those halcyon days. =/ I still try, being the keyword, to do those things, but I can't really get rid of it. Stupid genetics. That being said, I shall ask again for you guys to get tested and/or stop doing anything abusive to your body and your health. It would take 15 minutes at the most, unless you're 18 because I still go to the pediatric center =). Seriously though, keep track of your health.

My regards and best wishes go to Stanley Kamel's family and those who were close to him.
You were awesome. Hats off to you.

CLICK ON THE PIC TO SEE FULL SIZE.

Ok so as not to overwhelm you I felt it was necessary to break this post into a few sections as we have a lot to say about it. Above I have showed the first two pages of chapter 1 and have highlighted some points of interest. If you want to see the rest of the exurb, you can go on Amazon.com as I did and do the whole search inside the book thing. Before I can even say anything about this book, can we please 1st define what the word skinny really means.

Websters defines skinny as:

¹skin·ny  Pronunciation: \ˈski-nē

\ Function: adjective

Inflected Form(s): skin·ni·er; skin·ni·est Date: 1573 

1: resembling skin : membranous 2 a: lacking sufficient flesh : very thin : emaciated b: lacking usual or desirable bulk, quantity, qualities, or significance

Ok I don't know about you, but none of these descriptions look appealing. What's with the whole fat=unhealthy and thin=healthy...can we please see the research on that "science". But I can live with the fact that they use the word skinny , but what I can't live with is the message it sends to women. I'm just baffled byt the fact that in the course of only two pages they have called the reader a fat pig 3 times. I'm just a little confused  on a what a fat pig is. If I am a size 2 and eat poorly does that make me a fat pig? What if I am a size 16 and eat healthy...am I still a fat pig? I think we need to start questioning the real message that most women will here when they read this book. Although I respect Rory's love for animal rights activism, I'm just not sure how affective it is under the guise of a weight loss book...and more than that, I just don't buy it.

Re-growing a Finger Tip 

This story about a man's finger tip being grown back is incredible, had it been the first of April rather than the first of May I think I for one might have dismissed it as an April Fool.  You can get the story by clicking the link above.

Ok, so this past week a friend of mine texted me letting me know that Rory Freedman would be at UCLA to talk about her book Skinny B****. As you may have noticed, we here at EAC refuse to use such offensive language as it is a downgrade to women everywhere. It's 2008 decades after the women's right movement...can we please move on from calling each other these name?? (besides the point). Well anywho, as you can imagine we were excited at the chance to confront Rory on the book's harsh language and tone towards women. I preceded to ask:

Tiffabee: With all the negative views on body image and women do you think that you message about fat may cloud the view of veganism. Do you think that your book contributes to negative body image?

Rory: No we don’t want to tell women to forget about their body image issues. We don't want to rob peter to pay paul. Women are obsessed with being thin, the book doesn't scream body image or feminism.
We think everyone that has read the book will see that that message is clear.

She then reads the P.S. section in the last pages of the book in which they "confess" that their book is not really about getting skinny but rather eating healthy.

I'm not sure that she answered my question. I'm just confused how you can tell me how awful it is if I'm fat (more on this in Part II) and then tell me that your book is not really about getting thin, but rather veganism. Yea, sure...OK.

Wow! I never expected my last post to raise such attention. Thanks to all of you who have stopped by to read the post and perhaps leave a comment.

In reading through the comments, I had a couple realizations.

First, if you don't know me very well (in person or through extensive reading of my blog), it becomes very easy to take my post out of the context of the way I process things. Meaning, when we have a little to no relationship, it's much more difficult for you to get into my head and read it from that perspective to understand where my heart is. My apologies to those with whom I may have caused any misunderstanding.

Secondly, as writers (which all of us bloggers are), we walk a very fine line between being real and authentic by sharing our thought processes, struggles, and reflections and editing our words as carefully as possible to minimize unintended interpretations and misunderstandings. I try very hard to be a good (and careful) steward of my words while remaining true to myself and what I'm currently thinking about. Sometimes I am successful; sometimes not so much. But please know my intent is always to balance those two sides.

Reading a blog post (at least one of mine) is like stopping in and hearing what I am thinking about in a specific moment. The content of my post is a snapshot of the inner-workings of my brain. It may or may not be reflective of something that consumes the majority of my time or that I have reached a definitive conclusion about. That's one reason I love the ability to post questions and ideas and hear your thoughts in the comments. I greatly appreciate the discussion, and whether or not we agree, I am always provoked to deeper thoughts as a result.

All of that said, I would like to clarify a few points. Excuse the list; it's how I think best.

I am NOT saying:

• Food is a sin. Eating food is a sin. Enjoying food is a sin. Being overweight is a sin.
• This core issue to my weight struggle (sin) is the same or this solution (using a spiritual and a physical approach) will work for everyone.
• I walk around in constant shame and self-loathing, unhappy with who I am.

What I AM trying to say:

• For me, my current struggle with weight is not simply an issue of poor eating and exercise habits. If that were so, then a simple change in habits would correct the issue. For me, that root of the issue is what needs to change. And that root is being selfish and self-serving: I do what I want, when I want, solely because I want to, with total disregard for the possible side and future effects. That root issue is what I'm naming sin; not the poor eating or the being overweight.
• I am whole person. For example, a problem with discipline affects my entire being. I can't relegate it to only one aspect of my life. If I am undisciplined in eating, and continue in that pattern, eventually that lack of discipline will show up in another area of my life. The reverse is also true. A friend of mine just shared with me tonight that as she has found more discipline in exercise, the act of being disciplined is also trickling over into other areas of her life.

Again, I appreciate all of the discussion and only wish we could be doing this over a cup of coffee, face to face. The trouble with printed words is that we can't hear the inflections in each other's voices or see the expressions on each other's faces as we talk about what we're learning and thinking.

I'm excited about this journey and know that ultimately the process (regardless of its outcome) is drawing me closer to God. If I lose weight or not, that's not really the goal anymore.

For those of you still curious, I'll post my little plan tomorrow.

Just went to the doctor. My case is  50-50. I am already starting to suffer from cough, sore throat, blocked nose and headaches. The only good thing is that I am getting medicine to prevent my illness from getting worse. The bad thing is with my sore throat and coughs, my presentations are at stake here.

Worse of all, tomorrow I am involved in a presentation for Microecons.

x.x

The doctor prescribed muscle relaxants for my headache. And my first reaction was " what?!"

Apparently, people can tell I am stressed up over my poly life. Well poly is fun and lively, but it is actually disguising the fact that we have a lot of projects, tutorials, lectures, presentations and on-the-spot-presentations to do.

I already took my medicine and I am going to take a nap now x.x

I really want to sleep well again x.x

Since the 1980s, Monsanto has become the world leader in genetic modification of seeds and has won 674 biotechnology patents, more than any other company. Farmers who buy Monsanto’s Roundup Ready seeds are required to sign an agreement promising not to save the seed produced after each harvest for re-planting, or to sell the seed to other farmers. This means that farmers must buy new seed every year.

Monsanto puts pressure on farmers, farmers’ co-ops, seed dealers, and anyone else it suspects may have infringed its patents of genetically modified seeds. To do this, Monsanto relies on a shadowy army of private investigators and agents. They secretly videotape and photograph farmers, store owners, and co-ops. They infiltrate community meetings. They gather information from informants about farming activities.

Some Monsanto agents pretend to be surveyors. Others confront farmers on their land and try to pressure them to sign papers giving Monsanto access to their private records. Farmers call them the “seed police” and use words such as “Gestapo” and “Mafia” to describe their tactics.
source
pt1 of 10

So April flew by without warning me and I'm still processing that May is already upon me. In 40 minutes.

May is a very special 31 days of the year and it's taken me the blink of April to realize it. May is the 5th month of the year, which basically says, "hey! get your year together. you only have 7 months left." It's the month of birthdays. LOTS of birthdays, including those of my beloved Alaska, roommate, and an embarrassing high school infatuation. In this month we celebrate our mothers, we celebrate some type of Memorial, we celebrate an entire dia de mayo for another culture.

The past couple of years, I've remembered May as being the heaven and hell of AP Tests and prom, so this year I want to cherish it and cherish what I have remaining of my freshman year. Because I'm a fan of to-do lists, I've made one for this month:

_go to Farmer's Market at least once (which should be tomorrow)
_hike Poly Canyon at night to go stargazing
_wear NO makeup (yes, I agreed to No Makeup May) and gain appreciation for the cosmetic industry
_beach it. and tan.
_curl up with a good book.
_have a picnic!
_meet strangers and start some new friendships.

Hopefully my unhealthiness going into May won't be a constant. But seriously, who gets sick in the springtime? I don't think I've ever gotten sick after February in my life. I'm kinda bitter about that...especially when head colds seem to get worse as I age. But with an architecture trip to beautiful San Francisco to see sweet buildings and sweet friends, all should be well. I'm still trying to raise support for summer project (57% raised so far), I'm still waking up at 7 am for speech on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and I'm still in shock that I'm only a freshman for 44 more days.

C'est la vie,
Chappie

Read a stupid complaint on Beauty Britain, as flagged by Digg.

My take on this one:

Bold balds are the best, from Yul Brynner, to Vin Diesel via Patrick Stewart ;)

My bum is so sore from doing deep squats* today. But in the process of building strong legs, I've discovered that squats are also good for a shapely gluteus maximus, aka ass. So my pain is all be worth it.

On a side note, I don't know why there aren't more women doing squats? Ladies, if you're worried about getting bulgy legs, don't worry, unless you're squatting more than your body weight, I don't think you need to worry about that. Squatting w/ light weights is good for shapely legs and derriere.

I'm definitely more of an ass-man. (maybe too much info, LOL.) ;-)

* deep squat is where you go as deep as you can before raising back up. touch your ass to your heels if you can. Normal squats go just low enough for the quads to be parallel to the floor, which is good already, but deep squats really hit the hamstring and glutes. So if you want a nice ass, go deep, just be careful that the knees are not over extended, or you might hurt yourself. Oh, and use lighter weights than normal for deep squats. Happy lifting.