March 31, 2008

At work some of the people here cook frozen dinners like Lean Cuisine for lunch. Then the stinky smell permeates the office and makes me feel like puking. It smells like burning chemicals. I haven't look at the ingredients in one of those entrees in a while, but I think you would be better off eating fries and chicken wings than chemicals masquerading as food. It's nasty.

Posted by megabeth at 11:43 AM | Comments (4)

March 28, 2008

In my opinion, the building block of health is a good diet. Every time I'd go to the doctor about something, they would write me a prescription. And those medications are good for a temporary situation (like an infection), but if you go to the doc and describe a list of less concrete symptoms, they'll give you a script and send you on your way. Not one doctor that I know asks first, "What do you eat?" The best way to go about treating mystery or chronic illnesses is to take a complete blood profile and ask the patient to keep an eating diary for at least a week. Then the patient returns and the diary is analyzed, and suggestions are made on eliminating foods that cause problems. After dietary changes are made, the patient returns for another complete blood profile.

Most people would rather take a drug than make dietary changes, though. I have had to spend a lot of time in the grocery store lately reading labels. I knew I'd have to invest a lot of time up front to learn what I am allowed to eat. But I am willing to do this because I want to feel healthier. There were a few surprises I found at the store:

• Kretschmer Wheat Germ - Good for you, right? The plain flavor is, but the 'honey crunch' flavor has NO honey in it. It's corn syrup.
• Cheez-it crackers - Sugar included. Snack foods tend to contain sugar even if they are salty by nature. Best to stick to plain potato chips and nuts.
• Grocery store sushi - if it has a sauce on it, then it usually contains corn syrup. Stick to plain maki like california, tuna.
• Sugar free ice cream - contains maltitol syrup and other sugar alcohols, which aren't especially good for you and cause gastic distress in many.
• Yogurt - The only yogurts (besides plain) that I eat are Activia Light and Dannon Light. Both contain artifical sweeteners, which aren't great, but I can't give up all of my food pleasures.
• Cereal - 98% of all cereal has too much sugar in it. Those "Smart Start" boxes by Kellogg's? Hahahaha. You might as well be eating Fruity Pebbles because it has less sugar. Granola cereals? Should be called "Sugar with a little bit of oats in it." I have been trying some cereals in the health food section; add some agave nectar if I want to sweeten them. Hot cereals are a good choice if you buy the plain oatmeal and NOT the little flavored oatmeal baggies, even the ones that say 'reduced sugar'.
• Need to sin? Dark chocolate. The darker the better.
• Peanut butter: GIF, Jiffy, etc - full of sugar. "Reduced fat" peanut butter should say, "Plus 35 different chemicals and more sugar!" on the label. Only choice here is natural peanut butter, which contains peanuts and salt.
• Kidney beans: This shocked me. Most kidney beans on the shelf contain sugar or corn syrup. I looked through all the cans and found one brand that doesn't (I think it was Bush).
• Dried fruit: I want this to be my new 'candy'. However, it is candy. The majority of dried fruit contains added sugar, especially pineapple and all berries. The only ones I found au natural are apricots, bananas and raisins. Whole Foods carries a few more dried fruit in their bulk section that don't have added sugar. I bought cherries there, and discovered that the added sugar makes them taste good. Oh well.
• Energy bars: Carefully read through the ingredients to find sugar or corn syrup listed. Many of them do. Clif Bars and Luna Bars are good because they contain brown rice syrup or cane juice as the sweetener. I also like Bumble Bar.
• Salad dressing: I'm using balsalmic vinegar and olive oil on my salads because it tastes better. Processed dressings usually contain various preservative chemicals and of course, CORN SYRUP.
• Frozen dinners: I avoid this aisle like the plague. Some women at work eat these things for lunch and once heated in the microwave, they smell like funky chemicals. Ugh. Nasty.

Hanging out in the grocery store reading labels was a huge eye-opener. The American diet is full of processed foods and sweeteners - no wonder we have an obesity problem and have made drug companies rich. There isn't enough time in the day to ensure that everything that goes in my mouth is a whole food. However, a lot of food manufacturers are responding to demand for healthier food products, so it isn't entirely impossible to eat on the run and still maintain a healthy diet.

Posted by megabeth at 09:04 AM | Comments (7)

Last year I had some serious neck and shoulder pain that caused me to miss a bunch of work and see a ton of medical professionals trying to figure out the cause of the problem. After two months of intense pain, things got better enough to function as a normal person, but even since then I have still been in some level of pain. The cause I determined is sitting in a chair all day at a desk. My pain would subside over the weekend, then gradually increase until Friday evening. It became a predictable cycle.

Being in graduate school for four years was probably the instigator of every health problem I've had since starting school. If I had known that stress would cause so many health issues I would have never pursued another degree. But once I was in the middle of it and having had suffered a lot already, I decided quitting would just add to the pain of knowing that I suffered for nothing.

My mother had systemic lupus after a period of intense stress in her life, and such autoimmune diseases have proven to be inheritable. By testing my limits in grad school, I have discovered that I may be carrying some link between stress and autoimmune symptoms. I definitely toed the line a few times. One of my roommates from college put herself through a period of intense stress in her career, and she developed alopecia. They determined it was a symptom of autoimmune illness (runs in her family also), but could not figure out how to cure it. My OB/GYN said something that I'll always remember (She's my favorite doctor): Once you reach the point of no return, you can't go back to where you were before. My mother had a severe case of lupus and I admire her for the strength she put forth in putting it into remission. She figured out that prescription drugs weren't going to help her, so she started taking a regimen of expensive supplements and changing her diet. But she still lives with the threat of symptoms returning if she puts herself under too much stress.

After being ramped up with stress for four years, I don't know how to think/feel/behave any other way. I am having to slowly retrain myself to react differently. The physical therapist who is helping me currently noticed that my adrenal cortex is in a state of exhaustion. It will take some time to reverse the damage, but I am working on this through a daily habit of taking some time out before bed to relax and meditate.

As I've mentioned many times, I have greatly reduced my intake of sugar in my diet. (Last year I eliminated caffeine.) This has helped to stabilize my moods - I used to have periods of irratibility which are now mostly gone - and reduced the level of pain I feel in my neck and shoulders. I feel really good now and it is showing when I ride strong on my bike.

It seems like everything I'm doing to improve my overall well-being is falling into place.

Posted by megabeth at 07:53 AM | Comments (0)

March 21, 2008

Good article about investing during a recession. It is very hard not to follow investor sentiment and I am trying to do exactly the opposite. There is a lot of cash waiting on the sidelines and I think that sometime in the upcoming 6 to 9 months, the market will experience an upturn. What I am unclear on is what sectors will benefit the most. The financial sector could be where the biggest winnings will occur, but I am too risk-averse to venture there.

Posted by megabeth at 11:57 AM | Comments (0)

It's been over two weeks since I decided to reduce the amount of refined sugar that I consume. It hasn't been easy, but was much easier than I thought it would be. I didn't need to be committed to a rehab center and I did not go crazy and start hurting people. ;) I lost three pounds. Not that I need to lose weight - instead I will be looking for ways to maintain weight. The old way was to eat a chocolate milkshake before bed and the new way will probably be a fruit smoothie with protein powder before bed.

The struggle I have now is being hungry but not wanting any of the foods that I am allowed to eat. My old habit would have been to eat some candy in order to raise my blood sugar to trick my body into thinking that it wasn't hungry anymore. Now I have to peruse the selections of fruit and dried fruit, peanut butter and crackers, nuts or chips, and sometimes I don't want any of that. I hope this is just a phase.

Posted by megabeth at 08:44 AM | Comments (0)

March 20, 2008

In Germany, gas prices are over $8/gallon.

When I went to college in New Orleans, it was there I learned that a population-dense infrastructure lowers the cost of living. I routinely used public transit, taxicabs, bicycling and walking to get around about a 5 to 6 square mile radius. I carried groceries home from the store in a backpack. I rode the bus to job interviews. At the time, this was not called "environmentalism". It was called: "being poor".

For a few years after college, I lived about 10-12 miles from work. This was too far because traffic on the major route downtown is bad during rush hour. I chose to shift my hours and left home at 6:45 am, which is fine sometimes, but rather inflexible. As a result I bought a house about half the distance from work (5-6 miles depending on route - if I bike it, I have to avoid major thoroughfares which extends it to 7 miles) and I still think it is too far. This opinion of mine was probably birthed in New Orleans. Some people think that a 30 mile commute is no big deal.

There are a lot of people blaming Bush for the quickly rising gas prices. The recent run-up from $100 to $115 a barrel was pure speculation. You can blame the cause of increased investor interest in commodities in general on the Bush administration (or the Fed) for creating an environment in which stocks are unpopular, thus investors fled to other types on investment. But I think that urban planning plays some part in economic sentiment. Granted, prices of goods are going to increase due to higher transportation costs. If an urban area is properly planned, then commuting costs become less of an issue.

In Birmingham, there seems to be an equal level of demand for older homes that are convenient to the city center (10-20 minute commute) and newer homes in the far outskirts of the metro area (45 to 60 minute commute). As gas prices increase, I'll be interested to see if demand shifts. If I had to commute more than 20 minutes one way (which is already way too long), I'd rather be hung upside down and beaten. Life is too short to spend it in a car.

Posted by megabeth at 04:26 PM | Comments (0)

March 19, 2008

I'm not saying this out of jealousy because I want to get married. I'm saying this because my rear end is hurting from the giant pain in it. Here is what's required of me:

-$250 dress I will wear once.
-$35 shoes I will wear once.
-$100+ for hair makeup and nails day of wedding.
-1/2 day vacation I am forced to take because of a luncheon. I get three weeks a year. Three weeks. That is all.
-One Friday evening and entire Saturday for the wedding.
-One saturday night for a shower.
-One saturday afternoon for a shower.
-One sunday afternoon for a tea.
-One entire saturday from noon until midnight for a marathon bachelorette event including, of course, another two showers.
-buy a bunch of cute little 'outfits' for the showers.
-buy gifts for each shower/tea thingy.

I don't have any issues with giving gifts. But I would never make someone take vacation from work for me for a social event I am having. I would find that to be a selfish act.

Out of all the sacrifices I am having to make, being forced to take 1/2 day vacation is the largest and most painful. Much more painful than buying a dress I will wear once. Four hours away from work is about ten times more valuable than three hundred dollars.

The American wedding tradition is just about the most irrational thing in the history of the world. Plenty of people get married. Several times. This is not an honor that requires you to have fourteen different parties.

The thing that makes me barf is when the bride says "Thank you for being a part of my very special day." In other words, "Thank you for quietly tolerating my bridezilla behavior, I am only doing this because my friends did it to me when they got married."

My friends and I threw a baby shower last weekend. One baby shower, not ten of them. It was low key. There were no baby decorations, tacky paper invitations or caterers, and there was no dress code. I wore flip flops! Nobody had to go out and buy a little outfit to wear because she was so concerned that other people might make negative comments on her clothes. We brought home cooked food and everyone ate and talked and the guest of honor opened gifts. All that matters in my opinion is fellowship. But I guess that Hallmark and the wedding industry would have to strongly disagree with my anti-consumer attitude. Also the cultural offspring of Amy Vanderbilt would have major objections because they don't have anything else to do with themselves, except make excuses to go shopping.

Posted by megabeth at 03:59 PM | Comments (9)

March 18, 2008

One thing I forgot to mention about my race is that I won a little prime (aka prize) during my race from The Sweet Project: The Sweet Kit. I love the smell of lavender so the lotions are wonderful. It's fun to win girly primes at a cycling race. And it's nice when people donate nice products to be given away as race primes! I love hand-made products.

Posted by megabeth at 03:21 PM | Comments (0)

March 17, 2008

I will admit: I do like watching disasters unfold. I haven't seen one this bad since the 2001 market bubble.

Posted by megabeth at 12:54 PM | Comments (0)

I took my first win in a criterium this weekend. It was fun. I didn't plan on winning and did not think I could win, either. I decided that this year I would stop caring about results and just try to have fun instead. I was still nervous when the race started, but not as much as I used to be last season.

There were some women in the race who I think are much stronger than I am. But I was in the right place at the right time for the final sprint. So part of winning has to do with luck. But also I was having a good day, feeling physically strong and my head was in the right place. I didn't know I had won until I came back around and asked someone. I had been concentrating so much on my sprint that I had tuned everything else out, including my competitors' positions. It's nice to be able to say that I have won a race.

Here's a photo of the final sprint.

Posted by megabeth at 11:26 AM | Comments (2)

March 13, 2008

It's interesting how a person rationalizes things after making a decision to ensure it was the right one. I had a dream last night that I found a house to buy that had this wonderful, big backyard with lots of sunlight for a garden. And today I reviewed the comps for the area where I live and I feel very optimistic. If I can sell the house for $X, representing a reasonable but slightly optimistic price, then I would be freeing up enough equity to buy another house with a 15 year mortgage AND have a lower monthly payment than I do now. Assuming current rates, though. If they go up, it will be more difficult to sell. The more I think about it, despite that the real estate market is depressed, the best time to change houses is when rates are very low. It is a very good time to buy and sell especially for those who are not trying to bite off more than they can chew - I don't care what the pundits are saying. In this city, at least, where employment is stable and that does not experience the wild upswings and downswings like other cities.

Or I'm just rationalizing my silly decision.

Posted by megabeth at 03:38 PM | Comments (4)

March 12, 2008

I found a good website that provides recipes for desserts using substitutes for refined sugar. I love making dessert at home and can't give up my creme brulee or bread pudding entirely. I'm going to give some of these recipes a shot.

The two deleterious effects of eating refined sugar that I am particularly concerned with are that it depresses the immune system and jerks blood insulin levels up and down, which in the long term can cause type 2 diabetes, and in the short term, causes moodiness and cravings.

Did you know that honey is considered to be a refined sugar? It has more calories per tablespoon than white sugar as well.

The more I read about refined sugar, the easier it is to stay away from it. I still have cravings and have been using sugarless gum as a crutch. It's impossible to completely avoid eating sugar as it is an ingredient in the majority of processed foods (as sugar or corn syrup), but I'm doing well with limiting my intake of sweets.

My homemade energy bars have white sugar in them, so the next recipe change I will make is to substitute molasses for sugar.

Posted by megabeth at 01:59 PM | Comments (1)

March 11, 2008

Today's market events show why the entire world thinks they are dependent on the U.S. economy. There have been some arguments that the foreign markets are not necessarily dependent on the U.S., but facts aside, they believe that they are. One bit of positive news from the Fed results in over 10% increases in China, Malaysia and Taiwan today.

I have been wanting to buy some new ETFs as I sold my India fund shares when it went $3 below my initial purchase price. I still made money on it because I received two years' worth of hefty dividend payouts (and paid 10% less taxes on the gains). Still, the absolute fear of losing any more money, after being burned on past trades, keep me from taking any action. When your emotions get in the way, you cannot invest successfully. I am too pissed off about (a) losing money and (b) missed opportunities to be good at this. I'm about to buy a dad-gum S&P 500 index fund and forget about this silly hobby.

Posted by megabeth at 03:50 PM | Comments (0)

March 10, 2008

It is going to be easy to stick to a low sugar diet on the weekend. My office offers many sweet temptations and my kitchen does not. I went to a wedding shower on Saturday and there was a room dedicated specifically to dessert. I ate one petit four and then griped about not being allowed to eat any Skittles, because there was a huge jar with about five lbs of Skittles on the table in front of me, and people kept opening the jar, allowing a fruity whiff of candy to cross my nose. So I left that room.

I like topping off my meals with something sweet, so last night after dinner I made berry-banana smoothies with plain yogurt and frozen berries.

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Getting my house ready to sell has taken more priority than cycling at the moment. It is going to take six to eight weeks to get everything done. And then I probably have a 20% or less chance of finding a buyer. This is the worst time possible to list a house for sale, but it's also the best time to buy one. So I suppose it would be better to get the hard part done first. The more I think about selling and moving, the more it feels like the right decision. I've not once said in the five years of living in this house, that I "loved" this house or the neighborhood. Not that there's anything terribly wrong with either one, but they weren't the right fit for me.

I also haven't had a smidgen of a doubt about listing the house FSBO. I have yet to see any real estate agent, anywhere or at any time, represent the needs of the buyer/seller first before her own needs, which is about making money as fast as possible. I won't get started with ranting about real estate agents. They are real people, with families and homes, and they aren't necessarily being intentionally dishonest or trying to rip anyone off, but the inherent nature of the process by which real estate agents and agencies operate does not have the homeowner in its best interest. The only time I'd use an agent is at the point of complete and total desperation when I just want the house sold at any cost. It's possible, but hopefully I will never be there.

Posted by megabeth at 08:45 AM | Comments (2)

March 07, 2008

I am typing this while chowing down on some cantaloupe and strawberries. I am craving sweets because we had a breakfast this morning at work and I spotted chocolate milk. Also a guy just brought a bag of Starburst to the break room. But I am being good and eating my fruit.

If I keep holding myself accountable in a public forum, I will have to behave.

Posted by megabeth at 09:57 AM | Comments (1)

March 06, 2008

And you wonder why the airlines are struggling. American Airlines flies five passengers from Chicaco to London.

Posted by megabeth at 11:09 AM | Comments (1)

I am going to work on reducing the amount of refined sugars in my diet. It is not going to be easy because I use snacking on junk food as a coping mechanism at work. Ideally what I'd like to do is spend two weeks in a padded room at a rehab center, with someone controlling every bite of food that is given to me. After the first couple of weeks of screaming all night for candy and throwing myself against the wall, I can probably handle this dietary change.

Last year I ended my caffeine habit and it was very rough for a little while. I don't drink caffienated beverages anymore, not even iced tea. A diet Coke would give me a headache for the rest of the day.

If I die from not having my sugar fixes every day, it was a nice life and I'm glad you read my blog.

** End of first day: So far, no cravings. Yet. I haven't had any sweets today.

Posted by megabeth at 09:31 AM | Comments (3)

March 04, 2008

I've decided to (try to) sell my house this spring due to several various reasons. I know it's a bad time to sell, but it's a good time to buy. I figure it wouldn't be terrible to take the hit first, then get the benefit later. There's no guarantee I'll be able to sell it at a price that is acceptable and in that case the world won't end and I'll continue to own the house.

This decision has resulted in a minor crisis because I can't decide what to do next. I'm channeling my 'gut', which says to (a) move closer to work, even though I'm not too far from it now, and (b) try to find something that costs less than what I sell my house for, and (c) something that is mostly updated as my current house wore me plumb out on renovation work. I also considered scaling WAY down, but can't think of a good way to do this and live close to work as well as allowing some space between myself and my neighbors. The idea was that I could pay off the purchase entirely and not have a mortgage. Well, the only people my age who don't have a mortgage received a special gift from their parents. So it isn't realistic. Instead I will try to get a 15 year loan this time so I can pay it off faster.

Anyhow, this means I'll spend less time on my bike while getting the house ready. I'm still kind of in denial about this decision so it hasn't set it that I am going to be spending most of my free time for two months painting, cleaning, and updating.

Posted by megabeth at 04:57 PM | Comments (4)

March 03, 2008

I've been at training camp this weekend. The weather was spring-like and wonderful. I like training camp because everyone on the team spends some down time with each other.

I rode about 140 miles in two days. I like this particular camp locale (Mentone) because it is hilly and we get to climb up the mountain a few times. For the last 30 miles, I was very tired. What's funny to me, though, is that as I become more tired, I would feel a bit more insane. This insanity drove me to want to ride even harder. I guess it is similar to feeling frenzied.

When we got back home I picked up my little pooh bear (Ruby) at my parents house. My mom asked us why we can't just go out for a nice leisurely ride instead of brutalizing ourselves. I don't know why. Maybe because people are competitive with each other. I like testing my limits.

Posted by megabeth at 04:24 PM | Comments (1)