Pain, Pain, Go Away!

Japan, of all places, has given the world a band called Totalfat. I don't know the story behind their name, but one of their songs ("Place to Try") should be encouraging to someone fighting the well-meaning meddling of people trying to get them to eat lessfat. Even if you don't speak Japanese, the song should encourage you to eat morefat. English translation from naruto.wikia.com: I'm almost at the end My legs are ready to give, but I can't give up yet Now is the time to go Together we will pave, the path towards our dreams They call me, beckon me closer It's not crazy Fight and fight, try and try for you Forever I will always be there Don't give up, not yet The future is waiting for us There's nothing to fear so let's get moving This is a place to try Today is ending and we're heading for tomorrow Take my hand and never let go Let's sing loudly We are the ones for the future

I'm still in the middle of insulating my parents' attic. I've spent so much time at my parents' house that my father thinks I live there. It's a slog, but I'll say one thing for it: it's a grueling workout, and after doing it Tuesday and Saturday, along with yoga on Monday and karate on Friday, I felt wonderful Saturday. It's like the exercise does something renewing, anti-depressing, like I'd spent a day in the sun. Then came Sunday. My neck hurt, even after six aspirin. It was time to start working smarter on the attic, not just harder. The hardest part of insulating the attic is getting the second layer of insulation going crosswise over the first layer. Another problem is that the attic's trusses are 24" apart, not the usual 16," which is about how wide the insulation is. Lying in bed (where Madonna says she gets her best ideas), I wondered if I could lay down insulation between the joists and then lay down a solid layer on top,

I've often imagined I'd hate being a landlord or owning a vacation home. I know myself well. I'm in the middle of insulating my parents' attic. It's not like a spacious TV attic full of cherry antiques, it's a big, dark, low, dusty area made of trusses, each with a big wooden W in the middle. Wires run the length of the house. The yoga classes, where we build strength through striking odd poses, have paid off for this project. So has my sinus infection from a few years back. While I was lying in bed last night coughing up a lung from the dust I inhaled while putting down insulation, I remembered someone telling me that congestion is worse at night because the mucus settles in your throat when you lie down. With that in mind, I propped myself up on pillows and returned to normal. Last Saturday, I ran errands while my nephew hauled the insulation up to the attic and fixed the fan and screens. He hasn't been back. A bunch of contractors came to the house t

A fellow commentor (Exceptionally Brash) looked up food deserts in her city, and it piqued my curiosity about food deserts in my hometown of Denver. The gray areas are "urban neighborhoods and rural towns without ready access to fresh, healthy, and affordable food." The cartographers of the project evidently didn't think about taking the bus to the grocery store or that people who move to places without public transportation nearby know that they're going to need a car. Nor do they consider that some supermarkets deliver groceries. See the L-shaped desert in the lower left corner? I see the vertical part of it every day from a bus that runs from early morning until past midnight. The area is mostly retail and industrial, along with a major highway, a river, an animal shelter, and a golf course--perfect places for a grocery store, right? Nevertheless, there are two supermarkets, several convenience stores, a bunch of modest-looking restaurants and a WalMart tha

A piece of toast, creamed spinach, a poached egg, and what have you got? Egg on spinach. But take a big spoonful of hollandaise and mask that egg and you have oeufs pochés florentine. -Julia Child After a number of failed attempts over the years to make hollandaise sauce, I finally looked up Julia Child on Youtube and copied her method. Result: instead of bits of cooked egg, the eggs, butter and lemon juice turned into smooth, creamy, delicious hollandaise sauce. If you want Eggs Florentine or Eggs Benedict, there's an excellent low carb, grain-free bread recipe in The Fat Fast Cookbook by Dana Carpender. Toast a piece of bread (I broil mine for three minutes on each side 4" from the flame), serve with creamed spinach, smoked salmon, ham or bacon (I broil the bacon along with the bread), and you have a breakfast worthy of a gourmet.

They say it isn't easy getting old. Neither is being the child of someone who is. Back in November, someone walked into a branch of US Bank, where my parents have an account, and opened a credit card in my father's name. After dealing with some confused and unhelpful employees, we got the credit card canceled. Last week, a better US Bank employee cancelled and reversed several charges made by a well-known scam company, and the other day, Mom got another call from Lifelock saying that someone was taking money from her US Bank account. Enough. As much trouble as it was, on Saturday I took Mom to my credit union, where they're buggo on security, to open a new checking account. I knew it would be a hassle to change all the bill pay info and direct deposits, but just getting there and opening an account was a lot of trouble. Good thing I decided to start at 9 AM. I put Mom's wheelchair in the trunk of her car. It wouldn't start. I moved the wheelchair to my car, d

I've cooked a lot of meat, but I've never made any meat dish that smelled so good from the moment I started putting it together. The fragrance of the soy sauce, wine, cinnamon and orange said this dish was going to be a winner. The only thing I'd do differently is cook it longer. (I live in the Denver area, where everything takes a little longer to cook because of the altitude.) This dish takes awhile to make and takes some planning since it has to marinade for six hours or overnight. But if you make a double-batch as I did, you'll have many easy meals for your effort. Braised Pork Belly with Cauli-Rice. The recipe is by Australian chef Cheong Liew and appears in the book Fat: An Appreciation of a Misunderstood Ingredient  by Jennifer McLagan. You can see it here . ETA: I used Splenda instead of brown sugar, and only half the amount called for. I turned out just right for my taste.

I often hear the term "balanced diet" used to attack low-carb eating. "You're cutting out entire food groups!" some people cry, as if their own recommendations didn't curtail or cut out other entire groups like red meat and fat. "Good health = balanced diet, and that means some carbs," said Paul Nuki of the NHS Choices web site after he called low-carb proponents "quacks." To be clear, a low-carb diet isn't a no-carb diet. Even Atkins induction call for two small green salads a day; it's just starchy foods such as potatoes, sugary fruit and grains that are limited so much that many of us don't bother with them. It might also clarify things to know where the idea of a balanced diet came from. Early in the 20th century, the disease pellagra was the scourge of the American South. Poor Asians from India to Japan suffered from beriberi. Rickets was rampant in parts of the United States. What do pellagra, beriberi, and rickets

I love Mexican food, but the tortillas, beans, rice and corn chips are too carby. Green chili (or chili verde) doesn't have to be, and if you simplify the steps in 500 Paleo Recipes, it doesn't have to be hard or time consuming to make. I started with 12 oz (by weight) of thawed medium chilies, two pounds of chopped pork, and a few other ingredients... ...and had green chili 90 minutes later.

Do we need any more proof that fitness trainers in a fancy studio don't necessarily know what they're talking about? Click screen shots to enlarge. Disgusting endorphins... and Thomas Edison invents the volcano.

It tastes just like the San Francisco treat! Shred and steam some cauliflower, fry with a few other ingredients, and you have a side dish much better than a game show consolation prize. (I cheated a bit and used store-bought chicken bullion.) It's almost all vegetables and nuts, but I can't quit eating it. How would Dr. Food Reward account for that? Oh yes--it tastes good. Since there's only five net grams of carb in one-third of the pan, only the strictest low-carbers will have to watch it. Recipe from 500 Paleo Recipes by Dana Carpender. Serve with eggs or meat for a meal.

It might be hokey to count your blessings, but counting your blessings got to be a cliche because it helps make you happy. I just turned 45 and instead of mourning the loss of my youth, I have much to be grateful for. I have better judgment than I did even a few years ago. Yes, I have more life experience, but mostly I credit hanging around critical-thinking low-carbers who inspired thinking and self-study. Simply remaining alive and calling it experience is like dumping puzzle pieces out of a box without putting them together. I feel better than I did in my 20s. Carbs weren't a good fuel for me; I was nutritionally deficient as well. On low-carb plus supplements, I reversed a boat load of health problems: weight gain, wonky blood sugar, fatigue, dental problems, GERD, acne, allergies, constant sinus congestion, and others. I'm better looking than I was at 26. Without wheat or dairy proteins, my acne finally cleared up after over 30 years. And I finally lost my baby fat.

I got the idea from a coworker: Fry-days. Someone in the office got a burger, whose smell inspired someone else to get a burger, and so on. I didn't get a burger (I was already out to lunch), but the story inspired me to make this: Pastured hot dogs, napa cabbage and mushrooms fried in real lard. It's delicious and it only took a few minutes to make, which is perfect since I'm leaving for karate practice in 15 minutes.

A New Zealand school principal lifted rules against tree climbing, skateboards and a contact game called bullrush and saw decreases in bullying, vandalism and injuries. From The Independent,   Principal Bruce McLachlan did away with the standard playtime rules as part of a university study conducted by Auckland University of Technology and Otago University looking at ways to encourage active play among children.  The study, which ended last year, found pupils were so occupied with the activities that the school did not need its timeout area anymore, or as many teachers patrolling the playground, according to TVNZ .  Teachers also reported higher concentration levels from their students in the classroom. Mr McLachlan said: "The kids were motivated, busy and engaged. In my experience, the time children get into trouble is when they are not busy, motivated and engaged. It's during that time they bully other kids, graffiti or wreck things around the school."  &quo

I'm not one of those people for whom comfort is everything in clothes. But there comes a time when economy or sheer weight of clothing forces change for societies and individuals. Think of wigs, lace, blush and stockings giving way to simple suits around 1800. Women enjoyed a similar liberation around that time and around 1920. So did my parents this weekend. My father has always dressed in jeans and a western shirt. Trouble is, he's elderly and needs help getting dressed, and jeans are hard to pull on another person. So are suspenders. Being no youngster herself, it took my mother an hour to help him get dressed Saturday morning. She said "enough!" In the interest of easy dressing, I bought Dad some basketball pants. Since western shirts don't go with basketball pants, I also got some t-shirts. I thought it was going to be a battle to get Dad to change his style, but he actually likes the new clothes. He's always like convenience, and being able to dress h

I knew my exercise program was failing when I got depressed from, well, lack of exercise. I'd been lifting weights and doing lindy hop (an athletic American partner dance from the late 1920s). But after ten years, six of which I lifted weights three times a week, I was bored with weightlifting. Even though Slow Burn doesn't demand much time, I wasn't making enough time for it. And there are so few men in Denver's lindy hop scene that I only got a few dances a night. When you subtract the people who only dance with their date or stand around in a huddle with their friends, the ratio of women to men is probably three or four to one. Why not crossfit--it's all the rage, it's a tough workout and there are several places to do it close to home or work. Mostly, I don't need to throw up from working out. Google "crossfit vomit" (without quotes) and you'll get 95,100 results. I also don't need the snooty attitude I've heard so much about. I&

Quite by accident, I came across an article proposing fortification of rice to prevent nutrient deficiencies. I'm not against fortifying rice, since it could greatly improve the health of people for whom it's a staple. But the fact that rice needs to be fortified belies that idea that rice, or grains in general, are nutritious enough to be a dietary staple. It hasn't done much good for people who depend on it: [A] concern [with fortification] may relate to the possibility of over-consumption of rice given the potential benefits of additional vitamins and minerals. As a public health intervention, the use of a vehicle would imply not encouraging the population to consume greater amounts of the ’fortified’ rice. Higher consumption of white rice is associated with a significantly increased risk of type 2 diabetes, especially in Asian (Chinese and Japanese) populations. Micronutrient deficiencies of public health significance are all widespread in most high rice consuming co

I've found myself frequently depressed over the past several weeks. It helped to think of it as my brain being depressed and that everyone gets sad sometimes and it passes. Thinking this way helped me start looking for causes and solutions. I haven't been dancing as much over the past few months: it's too discouraging when there are two or three followers for every lead. So much for Denver being "Menver," a term used by men who evidently look for women under the seat cushions. (Maybe I exaggerate, but Denver County is half women according to the last census and we leave the house a lot more according to my observations.) I've decided to quit being like the proverbial drunk who looks for his keys under a street light just because he can see there. I'm giving up dancing to resume martial arts because I need the physical exertion. (You didn't think it was to meet men, did you?) I noticed going to a difficult yoga class (with a bunch of women) impro

Need another reason to give up proton pump inhibitors? Four years ago, I gave up PPIs and cured my GERD with a low-carb diet. I saved hundreds of dollars a year (even figuring in the cost of groceries ), dropped 20 pounds, got rid of aches and pains, improved my HDL cholesterol level, had more energy, and stopped getting cavities. Statistically, I lowered my risk of bone fracture. In case you need another reason to go low-carb and throw away the pills, PPI use is associated with acute kidney injury . Since this study is an association, it could be that PPI use doesn't case kidney injury, but that something else is causing both. It could be that a high-carb diet raises blood sugars to diabetic levels (while also causing GERD) and that high blood sugar causes kidney injury. We know that diabetics are prone to kidney disease. Wouldn't that be a rich irony--that it's too much carbohydrate and not protein that damages your kidneys? If that's the case, there's a double

The previous shoe-buying excursion was a flop. The mary janes that felt fine on in the store rubbed my left foot almost raw and I had to make a long trip out to the suburbs to return the other pair I ordered at the store. While I waited to have my tire repaired this afternoon, I walked to a different shoe store and bought these and a few other pairs: Rebecca Black Net from Beautifeel. Image from Dardanos.com. Sensing a live one, three salesmen gathered round and brought out every size 38 Beautifeel shoe in stock. It reminded me of The Great Happiness Space. The shoes cost some serious coin, but I've had Beautifeel shoes before and I wear them for years in comfort. These will probably cost me around $1 per wearing; the shoes from Dillards cost me $60 for one wearing, minus whatever I can get from a consignment store for them. If you like Beautifeel, it might be time to stock up since they're changing the lasts to be more narrow and pointed and less comfortable, just l

In writing about good skin in my last post, I should have remembered that taking vitamins and avoiding most dairy helps me, too. I started avoiding dairy after reading The Paleo Answer by Loren Cordain and noticed that indulgence in cheese or half-and-half led to acne and a few other problems. Avoiding it from there on has been a no-brainer. Taking GNC's Hair, Skin and Nail vitamins helps me avoid nosebleeds and improves my skin, too. Since I also have to take iron, which is an antagonist of zinc (a key nutrient in the vitamins), I've found it most effective to take the vitamins with breakfast and the iron with dinner. Being on vacation has made it easier to experiment. At the beginning of my vacation a few weeks ago, I was afraid I was going to fritter my time away playing video games. I did a lot of gaming, but also got my house in order. My dying computer and printer, software from the 90s, floppy disks, clothes and shoes I don't wear anymore, music I don't listen