Health and Wellness

Daily Dose of Diet – Popcorn

Diet and Exercise, Health and Wellness, Kid Talk /

TW’s least favorite scent in the world is burnt popcorn. Michelle’s favorite scent is popcorn. When Michelle is here, our house smells like cat litter (we have too many darn cats) and stinky dog (we have one who is old and deaf and blind and incontinent but otherwise too healthy to go wherever dogs who are done here go) and popcorn.

Michelle eats popcorn twice a day. It’s her food of choice, which is good since she has two moms who rarely cook. That’s how you know Michelle is living here, the scent of popcorn. When she lived with her dad for nine months in 2003-2004, there was a serious lack of popcorn scent and I was sad. She came back… popcorn scent… life was good. She’s been gone for NINE LONG WEEKS and we’ve made popcorn just twice. I miss popcorn. It masks the scent of the animals and reminds me of Michelle. Oops, I got off track, didn’t I?

Folks trying to lose weight often like popcorn almost as much as Michelle. It’s low calorie and if you don’t smother it in butter or oil or salt like at the movie theater then it’s a pretty healthy choice. And it can be a real lifesaver for folks trying to lose weight who are salty snack addicts like I am. It can also be a lifesaver for people using the WLC because that program is a firm believer in the National Academy of Science recommendations that 45-65% of all calories should come from carbs.

Popcorn is good.

Which is why I said “Ugh, not again!” when I saw this article come across my aggregator. UGH, NOT AGAIN!

Last year when we ran the story about the possibilty of popcorn causing lung cancer in factory workers people zoomed in on the “popcorn” and the “lung cancer” bits and totally missed the “factory workers” part. I had teenagers and dieters in a panic. You’d have thought we were facing a national disaster!

So do me a favor please – if you hear family, friends or coworkers talking about how popcorn can cause cancer, set them straight. It MIGHT cause lung cancer in POPCORN FACTORY WORKERS and if they don’t work in a popcorn factory then they’re pretty safe. If they do, then I’d encourage them to talk to their health care professional and possibly a job placement service.

Thanks, in advance, for any help you can provide me in preventing full scale panic among our people!

, , , ,

Daily Dose of Diet – Popcorn Read More »

Daily Dose of Health – Vacations

Health and Wellness, Travel Log /

They say vacations are good and we should all take them whenever possible, but we don’t. I personally hate vacations but love days off. Vacations make me think of tired kids, struggling to find a restaurant where everyone can find something to eat (but not too much to eat ala the Shoney’s buffet on our last “vacation”) and the dread of returning to all of the work that will be waiting when we return. I am one of these driven personalities and that’s fine by me.

Leisure sickness, ha there are worse kinds of sicknesses so I’ll happily take this one as long as I don’t take some yukky tasting banana flavored penicillin or prednisone for it. I’ll avoid vacations as often as possible and when I can’t avoid them any longer I’ll make sure to take plenty of advil and cough drops (and all of these things too) and survive to work another day.

At least I don’t worry about how to survive a plane crash and stuff like that. I leave those sorts of worries to TW, she’s good at them.

, , ,

Daily Dose of Health – Vacations Read More »

Daily Dose of Success – Blogathon

Health and Wellness /

I do believe Blogathon 2005 was a success! It looks like the final stats are:

  • 219 Participants
  • 1799 Sponsors
  • $55648.47 Total Pledged
  • Kerry (aka Webgrits) and her crew raised $660 for CCFA
  • Rickie Beth raised $140 for Planned Parenthood
  • Danielle raised $60 for GLSEN
  • Chris & Crew raised $340 for Elton John’s AIDS Foundation
  • Annissa raised $2056 for PFLAGThey are still accepting pledges, through Tuesday, so it isn’t too late! Click one of the links to bloggers I supported or head straight over to Blogathon and find your own cause to support.

    Way to go super blogathoning bloggers! And way to go, Rickie Beth! The Bloggerwocky! is terrific!

    , , , , PFLAG,

    • Daily Dose of Success – Blogathon Read More »

    Daily Dose of Health – Blogathon

    GLBT, Health and Wellness /

    Chris is blogging for Elton John’s Aids Foundation and seems pretty lonely on her section of the Blogosphere! Stop by and offer your support, financial or moral – both are encouraged!

    Speaking of lonely, is there a lonelier disease than AIDS? If there is, I can’t think of it. Just imagine. Sigh.

    When I was surfing through the Blogathon Campaigns I didn’t see many people blogging for AIDS charities and it made me sad (and a little surprised – I thought I’d see more).

    I have spent a lot of time talking to people on AIDS message boards over the years. Sometimes as a volunteer and sometimes as a paid moderator and their stories of loneliness and fear are heartwrenching, to say the least. And then there are the people who don’t have a clue about what HIV/AIDS is, how it can be contracted and who is actually at risk (which is anyone, not just gay men!).

    Elton John’s Aids Foundation is working to raise money to help increase education and awareness and care for those with the disease. It’s a worthy cause and a cause that has touched you, whether you know it or not.

    Stop by and encourage Chris as she blogs today (and tonight). Sponsor her if you can or just say hello! She’s doing a good thing, make sure you let her know you support her.

    , , , ,

    Daily Dose of Health – Blogathon Read More »

    Daily Dose of Women & Children – Blogathon

    Health and Wellness, Love or Sex, Money Talks, News and Politics /

    Rickie Beth is blogging for Planned Parenthood on JadeDaisy so I thought I’d offer my support here by talking about why I think PP is important.

    Too many think “abortion” as soon as you mention Planned Parenthood and while they are a pro-choice organization and they do offer abortion services, they are much more than that.

    They are vocal in support of choice and have played a vital role in protecting women’s right to choose. Planned Parenthood offers a huge amount of health information for women about women’s health. Their support to young girls and young women who are in search of accurate health information is so important. Their low cost health clinics are vital to the welfare of women all across the country. I can’t count the number of times a woman has said she can’t afford to visit her doctor but she CAN afford to visit Planned Parenthood!

    Stand up for women and for women’s health and support Planned Parenthood! And, stop by and thank Rickie Beth for her blogging on behalf of Planned Parenthood. Sponsor her if you can and if you can’t, then do offer a comment to her as she blogs.

    , , ,

    Daily Dose of Women & Children – Blogathon Read More »

    Daily Dose of Health – Blogathon

    Health and Wellness /

    As I’ve mentioned before, TW has Ulcerative Colitis. In support of Webgrits and her blogging efforts on behalf of CCFA I’m going to talk a bit about that. Click the links, go support Kelly while she and her brother blog for the cause!

    Ulcerative Colitis is an auto-immune disease and it stinks! A lot. TW takes a wide range of medicines and none of them work all that well, in fact their side effects are as bad as the disease and are often worse! The finding of medications that would help has been really rough. The first drug, Asacol actually put her in the hospital almost immediately after diagnosis, for ten days. It was not fun.

    Now she’s doing ok on Imuran but it works to suppress the immune system. This means that anytime one of the kids (remember, we have a lot of kids) gets sick, TW is at risk for getting REALLY sick. Anytime someone comes to work sick, she’s at risk for getting REALLY sick. She has trouble sleeping and sometimes she has trouble staying FOCUSED.

    Eating is a problem, and considering I already have problems with eating, this is a real issue. We were told upon diagnosis that there isn’t really a list of foods to avoid but have since made some food discoveries of our own. Peanut butter is not good, which is bad since TW loves Reese’s Peanut Butter cups (when they are in season). Cole slaw is also out, which is troubling because it’s one of our favorites. Greens in general are bad, again troubling since we are vegetarians. And meat is really not good but that’s ok, lol. I could go on but you’re getting the picture, aren’t you?

    If you have UC (or Crohn’s) and are looking for an online support group, WebMD recently added a Crohn’s & Colitis message board that has some very knowledgeable members who are always happy to offer feedback and support.

    Now that you know a bit about UC and how it troubles our lives, head over to Webgrits and offer your support during Blogathon! And pledge if you can!

    , , ,

    Daily Dose of Health – Blogathon Read More »

    Daily Dose of Anger – Starved

    Diet and Exercise, Health and Wellness, Pet Peeves, Sights & Sounds /

    I was seeing posts about this “new TV show about eating disorders” mentioned on message boards I was reading and wrote a note to remind myself to check out Starved. I’m glad I waited til after I was officially finished working. Had I looked earlier, it would have ruined what has been “Nancy White Day” around here and made it very difficult for me to keep on working. I’m just that ticked off about this.

    * The picture on the network page was enough to trouble me. Not funny.
    * Watch the preview clip. A man obsessing over the scale, an anorexic man, maybe the fact that he’s a man is supposed to take the edge off since most people don’t associate anorexia with men? Whatever, not funny.
    * Then, we see him eating chocolate cake out of the trash, confessing to his support group and we see a woman in his support group say “If you were a dog, I’d kick you in the face.” Not funny (and where are the PETA people???)

    There is NOTHING funny about this, nothing funny about eating disorders. Imagine all of the people out there who are hiding their eating disorders, it is a well hidden illness, having to sit through this show while their family members laugh. All of those people suffering in silence because they are afraid to tell people who love them. Those people won’t be laughing and they won’t find it any easier to tell once the first episode is over.

    I don’t generally encourage people to boycott television shows or write to networks but today I am. Join the NEDA and tell these people what you think.

    , , ,
    ,

    Daily Dose of Anger – Starved Read More »

    Daily Dose of Health – Scarlet Fever

    1 Comment / Health and Wellness, Kid Talk /

    Last week I was reading some message boards, (imagine that), and I ran across a really nice mommy asking questions about Scarlet Fever and I decided right then, I needed to post about this.

    What is the first thing you think of when you hear the phrase “Scarlet Fever”? Do you think about all of those books set in the 1800’s where people died from Scarlet Fever? Do you think of Helen Keller? Do you think of that relative who often says “I had Scarlet Fever when I was a kid and almost died”? (My ex, the dirtbag, is notorious for spitting out this little tidbit). If you’re a mom and a doctor mentions Scarlet Fever while examining your young child who is obviously very sick – high fevers, horrid rashes and icky looking throat, then I bet you think of one of those things.

    Being the mom you are today, you’d head for the leading source of reliable health information on the web – WebMD and you’d search for information about Scarlet Fever, wouldn’t you? And what would you find out? You’d find out it is strep throat with a rash. Huh? How can that be? Tons of people died from that! What about Helen Keller? What about Denise’s dirtbag ex? How can it just be strep throat with a rash? There must be something that WebMD (and my doctor) isn’t telling me, right?

    Wrong. Scarlet Fever IS strep w/ a rash. It’s also something that really does need to be treated and not allowed to run its course or it could develop into a more serious issue. That’s what we all need to wrap our brains around. Scarlet Fever, treated, is not serious. Scarlet Fever untreated, is.

    Doctors need to explain that part to mommies when they mention Scarlet Fever. WebMD should do a better job of acknowledging that we’ve read those books, we know Helen Keller’s history and we all have a relative like my dirtbag and address our fears up front so we don’t have to worry and fret that somebody is not telling us the whole story!

    Now do you know what’s sort of funny here? I planned this blog piece more than a week ago. This morning, I mentioned on a message board that it was one of the things on my To Do List for the day. And guess what happened – Michelle was diagnosed at the ER in NJ today with Scarlet Fever. I’m not kidding you!

    She called me yesterday from Great Adventure to ask me if I was sure she wasn’t allergic to something because she had a horrible rash and Benadryl was not helping. I said she wasn’t, that I knew of, and asked her all of the normal rash questions. (And I considered having her take a photo of her rash and email it to me; I will admit this though my co-workers will spit out their coffee when they read this). I suggested she stick with the Benadryl, grab some anti-itch lotion on the way home and watch it for another day. Apparently this morning she woke with a 104 temp and felt like death warmed over so her sister took her to the ER (no sign of her dirtbag father).

    Yep, strep w/a rash. Life is funny. And luckily, I’ve already done the research so I’m not fretting and thinking about all of those folks who died back in the day, or Helen Keller or my dirtbag ex – well I am, but I know those are unreasonable fears that all moms have.

    , , ,

    Daily Dose of Health – Scarlet Fever Read More »

    Daily Dose of Health – or Lack Of Health?

    Health and Wellness /

    I’m sick. I’ve been sick for a few days now. I don’t like it. I’m done with it. Really, really done with it.

    It started with what I thought was a sinus headache. Moved to a migraine with that nasty symptom that sends you to the bathroom. Which of course means I stopped eating. From there I found myself with a fever and a very queasy stomach and exhaustion. I was sure the queasy stuff was from lack of food so I have been forcing myself to eat. Not a good idea. And TW got in the Denise hasn’t eaten mode and that means she fixed a pan of hash brown casserole. I love it but this was not the best of days for it. I’m also slightly dehydrated and have not had my normal Quad Venti Caramel Macchiato and have only had two cups of Gazebo in 24 hours.

    I really, really am done with this.

    Just for fun, click those underlined links to my symptoms and see if you can figure out what illness I have, courtesy of WebMD.

    , ,

    Daily Dose of Health – or Lack Of Health? Read More »

    Daily Dose of Sex

    Health and Wellness, Love or Sex /

    Women’s Sex Satisfaction Linked to Submission, according to this article from WebMD. I believe that what the title should really say is “Women’s Sex Dissatisfaction Linked to Submission” based on the article and the study “results”. I’m not sure what led WebMD to title it this way but then again, I’m not sure what these people were thinking when they created the parameters for this study.

    There are so many problems here that I don’t even know where to begin – maybe I should just say, thank goodness it is a U of M study and not a UF study. I would hate to think that I’m living in a town of people who thought this was an accurate or even informative study.

    If you’re looking for some interesting articles and studies about women and sex, try these instead – at least they make sense!

  • Secrets of the Sexually Satisfied Woman
  • Women’s Sex Lives, Up Close and Very Personal
  • Becoming a Multi-Orgasmic Woman,

    • Daily Dose of Sex Read More »