It's not particularly warm here this weekend. OK, in truth, it is September and I did just experience the hottest summer in memory, so a daytime decline from 37C to 24C seems very painful. But we wake to 18C, a sad reminder of the trajectory we're on. I should say that it's gorgeously sunny - the kind of weather most people drop their jaws at - and it is expected to warm up again next week. The air show, which I mention annually (and which I'm fortunate enough to see perfectly from my third floor terrace), is silver perfection against an azure backdrop. I'll get to see it 3 days in a row from the comfort of my home. I love the air show.
There is no sewing or knitting going on here at the moment. Actually, this is the least crafty I've been in 6 years. But I view my new work venture as a creative undertaking and I am most definitely applying my skills to it. Instead, what I do (when I'm not working) is read. Reading used to be my salve - particularly fiction. (I was an English Lit major, after all.) A few years ago, at the blog advent, I went from reading multiple novels a week to reading online only. And, for some reason I do not comprehend, fiction ceased to interest me at all. Truly, I could hash out ANY book with you 10 years ago. These days, I don't even know who the fiction writers are. I still have not returned to it (though I'm sure I will one day, when I have a bit of time to savour). Right now everything about my life is applied. I read to figure out how to do something, to make something, to vet something, to classify. So my genetic test results have kept me happily engaged, as do the blogs. I've also been reading a number of books with a health-meets-culture/philosophy/historical perspective.
I highly recommend 2 television shows that you should watch if you want to be riveted and entertained but also educated:
Michael Mosley's Make Me Series (particularly Live Forever) and The Truth About Exercise. I LOVE this guy. He's so relatable and the pacing is great. His interest in health is well-entrenched. Not only is he a doctor-turned-television presenter, but his father died of a heart attack at a very young age and, as a result, Mosley has been exceedingly intent on detangling his own health predispositions since then. He openly discusses, in one of these series, that he's skinny-fat and prediabetic (despite gym exercising, which does nothing to improve anything for him). He and his smartie team of scientists test him out a zillion ways and apply theories to his health-care regime. They analyze his blood and predict that he's not in the best positioned to gain positive results from the kind of exercise programs we're all encouraged to undertake - largely because his genes predispose him to gaining very little aerobic benefit. He then devises and tests a high-intensity (but very short) fitness regime, the results of which are fascinating. I pretty well love everything this guy has ever appeared in - prob because I find him so intelligent (and he's a questioner, just like me!) - but also because his interests are mine. These shows aired originally on BBC in UK. I think they may be avail on the internet now. I saw them on TVO or PBS.
Redesign My Brain with Todd Sampson (a Canadian-Australian). It took me a while to get into this because I have a very low tolerance for scary things on TV - and this guy uses neuroplastic techniques (on top of a very robust genetic profile and previous elite athletic accomplishments) to do some crazy-ass shit. 2 of the 3 episodes involve heights. It is MIND-BLOWING what this guy can accomplish in a few months. Sure, he won the genetic lottery on all the fronts, but you will be amazed nonetheless. If he can do these things with relatively minimal, but intensive, training over a few months, what things could you be doing (if slightly less spectacle-focused)??
Both of these series have that Kristin-approved well-funded-scientist-meets-challenge format. If you've seen these shows I'd love to know your thoughts! If you haven't, take some of this long weekend to curl up on the couch with popcorn and a glass of wine (or nuts and a green juice). Your choice. :-)
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I love the Michael Mosley series! BBC does a great line of doctor/scientist-led shows about diet, exercise and health. I love them all! I remember being particularly fascinated by one about why people get fat - I think the three groups were "always thinking about food" (Me), "body doesn't release enough whatever to tell them they are full" (my husband), and... maybe emotional eaters? I can't remember the third. They had different strategies for each category of person to try. It was really interesting!
ReplyDeleteOMG - I'm totally an emotional eater! Together, we've got it all covered :-) MM has now got this new book and theory for blood sugar controlling diet re: diabetes reversal (type 2, not type 1!) He's very intense about it but I cannot even begin to believe it's tolerable. See what I mean: https://thebloodsugardiet.com/ Not for the emotional eaters among us.
ReplyDeleteI"m immediately not a fan of anything involving a fast! Like, I think my fat group was supposed to do that 2 day a week fast thing, and I cannot even imagine it. I think about food tons through the day, and if I"m hungry, I'm hangry. Can't be at work like that! (I mean, I'm frequently hungry at work, because I"m frequently hungry, and it's not like teachers can just snack anytime... but shaky hands and short temper is not a good look!)
ReplyDeleteFYI, my Dad has had his type 2 diabetes under total control through diet and exercise for a decade, through lots of everything except processed carbs.
I'm still going to watch all his programs though! The intensive workout idea was pretty fascinating, eh?
OK, this comment is so interesting! For starters, strangely, many of the guys at my work do that 5:2 thing. They don't even know it's Michael Mosley (or they do, but they don't know about his shows). I do not get how they can say, so calmly, "Oh, can't have that, it's my fast day?!?!?" You know that time I only drank juice for, like, 24 hours (and I prob drank 800 calories of juice) and I wanted to hurt people. It was like my body shut down without fat and protein. Fasting is never something I'm going to do. I can tell that it is wrong for someone with a) a nervous system like mine and b) blood sugar fluctuations like mine. I do not believe we need to go to such extremes to get blood sugar under control, but I'm not a doctor (or a tv show presenter)!
ReplyDeleteAnd, on the topic of the intensive workout - that kind of blew my mind. FYI, I don't like the idea of that at all, either. It seems inelegant to me. One should do exercise for a block of time because it's a gear. Even if I could accomplish everything in 2 minutes, I love to spend time doing my yoga and walking. Where's the meditation in his method? (NOte: I realize that there can be meditation in every method but 2 minutes makes it tough to find.)
No comment on the reading or the viewing, and I'm not a fan of air shows (too hard on my nerves -- the noise!) but I share your sadness at the waning of summer. We may yet have a glorious few weeks of sun in mid-September, even into October, as we often do, but rain settled in last week and temps haven't gone above 20 degrees. It has to be admitted that they're not likely to now, with the earth shifting a bit further away from the sun's heat with each day now and the days getting noticeably shorter. This is exciting in its own way, of course, the "new year" sense of September, but I always feel a bit older, a bit sad, at the loss of another summer. . . .
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry if I've traumatized you about the reading! Since writing this post, the weather has gone batshit crazy hot. Even I'm starting to fear global warming. Never have I used the AC as much as this summer. Not sure if I've become wussy or if 40C with the humidex warrants it :-)
DeleteI tried that 5:2 diet for a couple of months, and it was agony. I couldn't do it, and when I don't eat enough I get shaky and dizzy, so it probably wasn't the best idea for me anyway. I actually have been thinking about getting my thyroid tested. I know that every fat girl out there claims to have a thyroid problem, but I figure it's worth a try. With my last pregnancy, I lost about 25 pounds during the pregnancy (and not all of it from morning sickness), and I felt so energetic as soon as the baby was born (I mean, I was tired from lack of sleep, obviously, but I felt great), and as soon as I quit breastfeeding (I couldn't produce enough to sustain a mouse), all the weight came back, my energy levels plunged, and I just felt (and still feel)...crappy. Plus, based on the checklist on webmd and the mayo clinic website, I have all but like 1 of the symptoms for it. Who knows, maybe it will help prevent the diabetes that I'm currently working my way towards in spite of my workout regimen and diet.
ReplyDeleteI cannot believe you lasted 2 months?!?! A day would throw me over the edge (but I do have to watch my blood sugar really carefully by eating frequently). I totally recommend thyroid testing but I suggest you go to a naturopath (depending on how they're regulated in your neck of the woods). Subclinical thyroid issues are prevalent and allopathic docs don't concern themselves with this - so a doc might tell you you're fine but a naturopath can work with you to ensure that a taxed thyroid continues to be fine. Being a mum of young kids is SO taxing. Wouldn't surprise me if you've got very tired adrenals...
DeleteLove the Michael Mosely series. Did the 5:2 and found it really good and easy overall. I'm all three types of eaters... I'm surprised I'm not the side of a house! But I didn't lose any more than 3 kg after weeks and weeks and then I forgot after we came back from holidays. None the less, I like his stuff.
ReplyDeleteTodd Sampson is absolutely amazing in the Redesign My Brain. The rock climbing thing.. I also have a big thing with heights and I could nearly not watch it... I'm not saying any more because it is truly amazing. What's my brain doing all day??? Thinking of food no doubt!
I'm amazed you could do that diet for more than 5 minutes, much less that you liked it?! :-) I guess it shows that there are some people who work very well with this plan (not that I didn't already suspect that).
DeleteAnd isn't that Redesign My Brain thing outrageous?! I could not watch it the first 5 times I tried. Finally my husband told me to ignore it (he fast forwarded some parts that freaked me out) and I became absorbed by the amazingness of it all.