Sunday, January 15, 2012

Another Weigh-in & Scary Mortality Data

Weigh-in Success

Another week, another weigh-in. This week I'm at 246.6. Note that I bought a digital scale to replace the crappy Ikea analogue one; while I don't expect the difference in how it weighs to be huge it likely had a slight impact of around 1-1.5 pounds in apparent weight loss. Either way, I am still on the downward path, and I'm loving the progress. Clothes are already starting to fit a little better.

I also want to brag a little bit on how I handle these last couple of days. Friday night Libby and I ate out dinner, and I budgeted for it throughout the day (and, in turn, I did not exceed my calorie budget). I also had a day-long event with ridiculous amounts of meats and alcohol around me; in the end I allotted myself to 3-4 drinks in a 12 hour period and normal quantities of food. I think I deserve a gold star, especially because those who supplied food were amazing cooks (there was a whole suckling pig!).

Scary Stats Time

As I've mentioned in the past, I work in a hospital. I have been in health care for nearly four years, and my previous employer was a health care research and consulting company. Not only has this shaped my opinion of not being all that scared of Obama-care (read the bill; there is actually some good stuff in there), but it has also developed a consistent focus on health care policy issues.

The first group of stats that came out last week originates from the Centers for Disease Control but were reported to me from my previous employer. Ten of the top 15 causes of death in the U.S are now at least partly preventable disease (including the top four). Diet choices directly impact heart disease, likelihood of getting cancer, stroke susceptibility, etc.

The second study I came across (also from my previous employer) is completely in line with my near-obsession with personality profile and books like Now, Discover Your Strengths. An individual's personality appears to drive what type of eater s/he is. The cool thing is the more we understand how personalities tie to eating habits the better the treatments can be created to help those of us who have problems controlling our eating habits.

Finally, and most depressingly, bacon and sausage are being tied to pancreatic cancer. Noooooo!!!!!!!

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