I feel like I'm not exactly a slacker in the exercise department. I get out for a run every two or three days. I can run 5 miles in under an 11 min/mile pace (under 10 min/mile if I'm racing). That said, I'll admit I run because I'm lazy and full of excuses.
I've figured out, at least for me, there aren't any barriers to running. It's raining? I've got a Gortex rain jacket and I've been caught in the cold rain before on a run and I didn't melt. It's hot? I've got a water bottle to carry with me and I know that I've run in sunny, 90-degree weather and, again, I didn't melt. It's snowing? I've got warm clothes and I know I warm up within five minutes if the temp is at least in the teens. I'm in Sheboygan? Well, they have roads to run on there too. With running, there's no starting up the car, driving to the gym, no legitimate reason why I can't run - anywhere, anytime. Okay - there's one reason why I won't run outside and it's the gale-force winds we get here in the wintertime - it's like cartoon-character running trying to run into it. It must be quite humorous to watch. But...I have a treadmill, so even that isn't an excuse to totally skip the run.
Now I find out, that's not enough. Seems that I'm "unstable" (that would be physically, although I also wonder about mental instability at times!) and it's causing pain when I run over longer distances. I have to cross-train and do ankle-strengthening exercises. Good lord, don't these people know I'm not a real athlete and I'm basically lazy at heart? Don't give me any barriers - even low ones, or I'll be sitting on the couch eating bon-bons.
I know the running is good for me. I have high-blood pressure, heart disease, and now cancer in my immediate family. And I'll fess up that I do enjoy it once I'm actually out the door and committed to going. So for now, I'm off to physical therapy twice a week and trying to do my exercises at home. I even signed up for a beginners' Pilates class once a week. No bon-bons yet - - but those doctors better not push it!
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Buying Organic
A couple of people have queried me about what I learned from "A Field Guide to Buying Organic," so I thought I'd share my impressions.
The one thing they stress in this book is that the answer to the question "Is organic worth it?" is "It depends on you." The authors talk about three main motivators for people to buy organic - their own health, the health of the environment, and a set of beliefs or ideals that take into account the health of society as a whole. You get to decide which of these motivators applies to you and then base your buying decisions on the facts. For example, with the grains we buy, there is very little pesticide residue difference between conventional and organic flours after processing. However, conventional grain farming is a huge contaminant of ground water. So while the health effects might be negligible, you might choose to buy organic because of the large environmental impact.
Surprises for me... Dairy was a big surprise for me. There's very little pesticide residue in conventional low-fat milk and milk-products. All the gunk we want to avoid seems to settle in the fat. In whole milk, 82 of the 89 residues found were metabolites of DDT. DDT has been banned in this country for years and years, but it still exists in the environment and organic dairy products can't avoid it either. Conventional dairies can't sell milk tainted with antibiotics even if they use them on the cows. Hormone use is practically limited to larger dairies. What really matters with dairy products is the size of the dairy. So if you live in Wisconsin with 19,000 smaller dairies, your milk is probably pretty darn good. If you live in California with only 2,500 huge dairies, you'll probably want to drink organic. Not necessary because it's organic, but because it will typically come from a smaller dairy. I won't describe the problems that occur with large dairies - if you're interested, read the book. So I'll be buying conventional products low-fat. If I need higher fat things like butter, I'll buy organic or what they called "artisan" - as in artisan cheeses. Another good point they make is that the smaller, niche companies, are really trying to get a good product - think the difference between a gourmet cheese at Wegmans and Kraft cheddar - the niche companies are going to feed their cows to get the best tasting cheese.
Another surprise - just because it's organic doesn't mean it doesn't have stuff sprayed all over it. Organic has to be protected from pests, shipped, stored, preserved just like conventional food stuffs. In many instances, the same spray or method they use for conventional is allowed in/on the organic counterpart. No one pays for wormy apples.
Things that don't have pesticide residue over their organic counterparts that surprised me - grain products, coffee, teas. However, the book made a great case for buying organic or free trade versions of these products due to the environmental and societal impacts of conventional farming methods.
Hmmm...what else. Processed foods. Just look at the label and use common sense. If the organic version lists oats as the first ingredient in oatmeal cookies and the conventional one lists it as ingredient #6 after things you can't pronounce, which do you think is better for you? And it's not because it's organic. ;-)
Beef, chicken, pork - all I can say is YUCK. If I didn't enjoy the taste of meat so much, I'd swear off the stuff. Conventional/organic - doesn't matter - Yuck, yuck, and yuck. My grandfather grew up on a farm with chickens - he REFUSED to eat chicken the entire time I knew him. I totally understand why now. I'm going to look for meat from small farms - like my sister-in-law's side yard or a place here in Lima called Seven Bridges.
Produce - some things have lots of residue, others don't. I drew my personal limit at no more than 20 detected and made my list. But...here's a big but...they did say the health benefits of eating conventional produce with pesticide residue far outweigh giving up the produce because you can't afford or find organic.
Buy stuff in glass when possible - our plastics leech, although the FDA says it's at "safe" levels. Yeah, right.
There's lots more in the book - these are just my highlights. The book's only $14, although the 2007 reprint of it is only $7. Not sure why. Enjoy!
The one thing they stress in this book is that the answer to the question "Is organic worth it?" is "It depends on you." The authors talk about three main motivators for people to buy organic - their own health, the health of the environment, and a set of beliefs or ideals that take into account the health of society as a whole. You get to decide which of these motivators applies to you and then base your buying decisions on the facts. For example, with the grains we buy, there is very little pesticide residue difference between conventional and organic flours after processing. However, conventional grain farming is a huge contaminant of ground water. So while the health effects might be negligible, you might choose to buy organic because of the large environmental impact.
Surprises for me... Dairy was a big surprise for me. There's very little pesticide residue in conventional low-fat milk and milk-products. All the gunk we want to avoid seems to settle in the fat. In whole milk, 82 of the 89 residues found were metabolites of DDT. DDT has been banned in this country for years and years, but it still exists in the environment and organic dairy products can't avoid it either. Conventional dairies can't sell milk tainted with antibiotics even if they use them on the cows. Hormone use is practically limited to larger dairies. What really matters with dairy products is the size of the dairy. So if you live in Wisconsin with 19,000 smaller dairies, your milk is probably pretty darn good. If you live in California with only 2,500 huge dairies, you'll probably want to drink organic. Not necessary because it's organic, but because it will typically come from a smaller dairy. I won't describe the problems that occur with large dairies - if you're interested, read the book. So I'll be buying conventional products low-fat. If I need higher fat things like butter, I'll buy organic or what they called "artisan" - as in artisan cheeses. Another good point they make is that the smaller, niche companies, are really trying to get a good product - think the difference between a gourmet cheese at Wegmans and Kraft cheddar - the niche companies are going to feed their cows to get the best tasting cheese.
Another surprise - just because it's organic doesn't mean it doesn't have stuff sprayed all over it. Organic has to be protected from pests, shipped, stored, preserved just like conventional food stuffs. In many instances, the same spray or method they use for conventional is allowed in/on the organic counterpart. No one pays for wormy apples.
Things that don't have pesticide residue over their organic counterparts that surprised me - grain products, coffee, teas. However, the book made a great case for buying organic or free trade versions of these products due to the environmental and societal impacts of conventional farming methods.
Hmmm...what else. Processed foods. Just look at the label and use common sense. If the organic version lists oats as the first ingredient in oatmeal cookies and the conventional one lists it as ingredient #6 after things you can't pronounce, which do you think is better for you? And it's not because it's organic. ;-)
Beef, chicken, pork - all I can say is YUCK. If I didn't enjoy the taste of meat so much, I'd swear off the stuff. Conventional/organic - doesn't matter - Yuck, yuck, and yuck. My grandfather grew up on a farm with chickens - he REFUSED to eat chicken the entire time I knew him. I totally understand why now. I'm going to look for meat from small farms - like my sister-in-law's side yard or a place here in Lima called Seven Bridges.
Produce - some things have lots of residue, others don't. I drew my personal limit at no more than 20 detected and made my list. But...here's a big but...they did say the health benefits of eating conventional produce with pesticide residue far outweigh giving up the produce because you can't afford or find organic.
Buy stuff in glass when possible - our plastics leech, although the FDA says it's at "safe" levels. Yeah, right.
There's lots more in the book - these are just my highlights. The book's only $14, although the 2007 reprint of it is only $7. Not sure why. Enjoy!
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Organic Food
Well, I just finished reading "A Field Guide to Buying Organic" by Luddene Perry and Dan Schultz. Since Jimmy got sick, Kate and I have been on a mission for healthy food. 38-year old healthy men just don't get cancer. Something had to have caused it! We're poisoning ourselves with our food. We can fix this! Well, we couldn't fix it, and 38-year old men do get cancer. Some of them die. Reason - unknown. Hopefully someday, they'll figure this one out.
Anyway, I guess it was time to really examine my panicked attempt at healthy eating, which I forced upon my family. January 1st seems as good a time as any. Mom very generously gave me this book for Christmas, so luck came together with reason, and I cracked open the book.
It was a great book - a fair shake to both conventional and organic foods - loaded with LOTS of facts and data. You know how I love facts and data! Organic food is, in many instances, more expensive than regular food. So I've been making choices about what foods I buy organic and which I buy conventional. Well, I certainly had it all backwards. Just about everything I've been buying organic, I could've purchased conventional, and vice versa! Mark's going to read it next and then we're going to sit down and decide what's important to us to buy organic. We'll be buying conventional milk and eggs again, but staying with our coffee and teas. Not because they are organic - but because we prefer the taste and they display the Fair Trade symbol. I feel I'm able to make informed food choices now, instead of the panicked, fear-based ones I've been operating under the past year and a half.
One thing we'll try to continue - we bought part of a beef cow. Raised in my sister-in-law's side yard. The meat has been delicious. Much better than anything we've purchased at the supermarket.
Anyway, I guess it was time to really examine my panicked attempt at healthy eating, which I forced upon my family. January 1st seems as good a time as any. Mom very generously gave me this book for Christmas, so luck came together with reason, and I cracked open the book.
It was a great book - a fair shake to both conventional and organic foods - loaded with LOTS of facts and data. You know how I love facts and data! Organic food is, in many instances, more expensive than regular food. So I've been making choices about what foods I buy organic and which I buy conventional. Well, I certainly had it all backwards. Just about everything I've been buying organic, I could've purchased conventional, and vice versa! Mark's going to read it next and then we're going to sit down and decide what's important to us to buy organic. We'll be buying conventional milk and eggs again, but staying with our coffee and teas. Not because they are organic - but because we prefer the taste and they display the Fair Trade symbol. I feel I'm able to make informed food choices now, instead of the panicked, fear-based ones I've been operating under the past year and a half.
One thing we'll try to continue - we bought part of a beef cow. Raised in my sister-in-law's side yard. The meat has been delicious. Much better than anything we've purchased at the supermarket.
Monday, January 21, 2008
Evelyn
My Grandmother Swayne had a younger sister, Evelyn. For a long time, I didn't know much about her. On the wall in one of the bedrooms upstairs, there was a large, oval-framed photo of my grandmother and her younger sister on their farm. They looked to be about school-age. They stood there in the photo together looking ready to face the world.
As a young child, I never really questioned where Evelyn was. We spent many Sunday afternoons at my grandmother's older sister Helen's house. There was a great-uncle who would show up for a Sunday BBQ every once in a while. I guess I just thought, eventually, Evelyn would show up.
The summer I was 11, I finished up school and headed down to Grandma's house for my annual "vacation to Grandma and Grandpa's house." About two days into this particular trip, I broke out in a rash that covered my entire body and I became feverish. It was on this day that I found out where Evelyn was. When she was 6 and my grandmother 9, she died of Scarlett Fever. I also learned on this day that you never get over the death of a sibling.
When my grandmother died, I was holding her hand and telling her who was there to greet her. I know she found great comfort in knowing she'd be seeing Evelyn again after almost 69 years. Gram lived a long life — got married, had children, her children had children. She was loved and had happiness in her life. But she never stopped missing her little sister.
I hope Jimmy is getting to know Evelyn now. He and Grandma can introduce me to her when I arrive.
Oh - and thankfully, it was the German Measles; not Scarlett Fever as my grandmother had so feared.
As a young child, I never really questioned where Evelyn was. We spent many Sunday afternoons at my grandmother's older sister Helen's house. There was a great-uncle who would show up for a Sunday BBQ every once in a while. I guess I just thought, eventually, Evelyn would show up.
The summer I was 11, I finished up school and headed down to Grandma's house for my annual "vacation to Grandma and Grandpa's house." About two days into this particular trip, I broke out in a rash that covered my entire body and I became feverish. It was on this day that I found out where Evelyn was. When she was 6 and my grandmother 9, she died of Scarlett Fever. I also learned on this day that you never get over the death of a sibling.
When my grandmother died, I was holding her hand and telling her who was there to greet her. I know she found great comfort in knowing she'd be seeing Evelyn again after almost 69 years. Gram lived a long life — got married, had children, her children had children. She was loved and had happiness in her life. But she never stopped missing her little sister.
I hope Jimmy is getting to know Evelyn now. He and Grandma can introduce me to her when I arrive.
Oh - and thankfully, it was the German Measles; not Scarlett Fever as my grandmother had so feared.
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Two more fun photos
Here are two more photos from my wedding that show how much fun we had. Jim and Kate got married in June; Mark and I got married in September. It was a party year in 1995 and Mark and I certainly threw a party!
I'll miss that Jim won't be in pictures going forward. The party just won't be quite as fun without him, the smiles won't be so carefree.
Tuesday, January 08, 2008
Mark loved him too.
I found this picture of Mark and Jim at our wedding. Mark really loved Jim - he obviously had a way with his brother-in-laws, as Kate's brothers adored him too. I can't count the times Mark would do something with Jim or talk with him on the phone and he'd turn to me and say "I really like your brother." I'd smile and say "Me too." You can see in this picture why Jim was just so much fun to be around.
Sunday, January 06, 2008
Sadness and jealousy
Christmas was difficult this year. There were a lot of tears, some shed in solitude, others shed in the presence of family. There was happiness, but it was tempered by a pervasive sadness. I expected this. What I didn't expect was that the saddest, most difficult day wouldn't be Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, or any of the days spent with my family. The most difficult, saddest day was New Year's Day...the day we celebrated with Mark and his family. We arrived at Mark's mom's house a little late due to our pitiful oven, so everyone was already there. As soon as I walked in the door, it hit me - took my breathe away, suffocated me, overwhelmed my head and heart - I don't get to walk in the door to see my brother anymore - ever; Mark does, he still has his sisters. Sadness and jealously, they walk hand-in-hand through my heart. I scoped out a chair in the corner, tried to smile and be happy for them. I made it through the celebration and hope I wasn't a wet blanket on their day. Even as I'm jealous, I'm glad Mark has his big sisters to watch out for him. People would say I got stronger for making it through that day, that next time it won't be so bad. I say they're full of shit. I don't want to get stronger. I'm strong enough, thank you. It won't ever be less sad being without Jimmy. I WANT MY BROTHER BACK!
Friday, January 04, 2008
A few thank yous...
I want to say thank you to a few wonderful family members whose Christmas gifts to me this year said "Your brother was proud of you for running. We're proud of you too. Keep it up!"
To my husband and his mom - who went in together and bought me the ultimate runner's gadget...a GPS monitor watch. Like Jimmy, I LOVE gadgets and technology. We couldn't wait to tell each other about a cool thing we found or bought. I wish I could tell Jim all about this. I know he'd have to have one too...only he'd get one with just a few more features, so he could say his was slightly better than mine. ;-) This new watch will keep me honest and motivated to keep moving! Mileage on my run list is now GPS calculated.
To my sister-in-law, niece and nephew - who bought me the coziest, fleece-lined jacket and pants. The jacket has a zipper pocket for my MP3 player. The sleeves have long cuffs that go down over most of your fingers; there's a cut out in the cuff for your thumb; and under the cuff is a little flap to tuck your fingers in when you first start out and are cold. It's very useful on those days when you only need gloves for the first 5 minutes and then have to carry them the rest of the way, hoping you don't drop one! It's been in the single digits when I ran the past two times, so this outfit has already gotten lots of use.
To my mom and dad - who bought me a second set of fleece-lined pants, so I don't have any excuses about skipping a second run on a particular week because the pants Kate gave me are in the laundry and it's cold out (like today)! They also gave me a fleece headband and gloves to layer up.
Now if I could just get my left foot to give me a break and heal up. It's not much fun limping through a run...
To my husband and his mom - who went in together and bought me the ultimate runner's gadget...a GPS monitor watch. Like Jimmy, I LOVE gadgets and technology. We couldn't wait to tell each other about a cool thing we found or bought. I wish I could tell Jim all about this. I know he'd have to have one too...only he'd get one with just a few more features, so he could say his was slightly better than mine. ;-) This new watch will keep me honest and motivated to keep moving! Mileage on my run list is now GPS calculated.
To my sister-in-law, niece and nephew - who bought me the coziest, fleece-lined jacket and pants. The jacket has a zipper pocket for my MP3 player. The sleeves have long cuffs that go down over most of your fingers; there's a cut out in the cuff for your thumb; and under the cuff is a little flap to tuck your fingers in when you first start out and are cold. It's very useful on those days when you only need gloves for the first 5 minutes and then have to carry them the rest of the way, hoping you don't drop one! It's been in the single digits when I ran the past two times, so this outfit has already gotten lots of use.
To my mom and dad - who bought me a second set of fleece-lined pants, so I don't have any excuses about skipping a second run on a particular week because the pants Kate gave me are in the laundry and it's cold out (like today)! They also gave me a fleece headband and gloves to layer up.
Now if I could just get my left foot to give me a break and heal up. It's not much fun limping through a run...
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