Salad fail!

My teeth hurt (or should I say my poor gums) for hours after trying to eat this!

The myth of healthy grilled chicken

"Think you're eating healthy when you order grilled, marinated chicken? Think again.
A common way to get marinade into meat is through needle injection. Hundreds of needles are used to pierce the meat, tearing up the connective tissue, to add solutions of salt, sugar, and fat. These injections not only increase flavor, but they also make the meat fall apart in our mouths."

"When in doubt, throw cheese and bacon in it
It's a standard joke in the world of chain restaurants. But it works. Along with enhancing melt and making food easy to eat, these layers are cheaper to produce than the central ingredient (such as meat or fish) they flavor. They’re also visually appealing, straightforward, and familiar.
Example: T.G.I. Friday’s Parmesan-Crusted Sicilian Quesadilla, is described on the menu as follows: “Packed with sautéed chicken, sausage, bruschettta marinara, [and] bacon and oozing with Monterey Jack cheese. We coat it with Parmesan and pan-fry it to a crispy, golden brown, then drizzle it with balsamic glaze."
These are just two of the eight listed examples contained in the article "8 ways the food industry can hijack your brain" I know that I have always relied on the grilled chicken dish as my failsafe when I am eating at a resturant that has what I would consider an "wls unfriendly" menu. I am now wondering just how much better, (if any) that choice has been in some cases!

read about the other 6 here!

Now for some truly healthy alternative
Chicken Thighs
Skimp on iron and zinc and your energy will flag. Cooking up some juicy chicken thighs or turkey drumsticks is the best way to get more of both. "Dark-meat poultry is significantly lower in fat than red meat yet has all the iron, zinc, and B vitamins that women need in their diets," says Seattle sports nutritionist Susan Kleiner, Ph.D., author of Power Eating.

Hummus
Complex carbohydrates, protein, and unsaturated fats—all the right elements to fuel activity—meet in one healthy little 70-calorie, 3-tablespoon package. Plus, hummus is often made with olive oil, which contains oleic acid—a fat that helps cripple the gene responsible for 20 to 30 percent of breast cancers, according to Northwestern University researchers.

Chocolate Milk
There's way more to milk than just calcium. In fact, it's a damn near perfect food, giving you a lot of valuable energy while keeping your calorie count low, says nutritionist Susan Kleiner, Ph.D. The chocolate kind is loaded with calcium, vitamins, and minerals just like the plain stuff, but new studies confirm that milk with a touch of cocoa is as powerful as commercial recovery drinks at replenishing and repairing muscles.

Low Fat Cottage Cheese
Despite its frumpy image, this diet staple packs 14 grams of protein per half-cup serving, along with 75 milligrams of calcium and 5 grams of carbohydrates. That protein is crucial to healing the microscopic muscle tears that occur during exercise, says Amy Jamieson-Petonic, R.D., health education manager at Cleveland's Fairview Hospital.

Salmon
Great for heart health, but here's an added twist: New studies are suggesting that monounsaturated fats and omega-3 fats might help lessen abdominal fat. It's too soon to understand the link, but "this could be particularly good for women working to tone their core," says nutritionist Susan Kleiner, Ph.D.

Ground Flaxseed
"Flaxseed is full of fibers called lignans that promote gut health," says nutritionist Susan Kleiner, Ph.D. Since flax lignans contain both soluble and insoluble fiber, they keep you regular. "When you're trying to do an endurance sport, it can be disruptive to have digestive problems," she notes. A daily dose of 1 to 2 tablespoons of ground flaxseed tossed in your cereal nets you fiber without fuss.

Avocados
The cholesterol-lowering monounsaturated fat in these green health bombs can help keep your body strong and pain free. University of Buffalo researchers found that competitive women runners who ate less than 20 percent fat were more likely to suffer injuries than those who consumed at least 31 percent. Peter J. Horvath, Ph.D., a professor at the university, speculates that the problem is linked to extreme low-fat diets, which weaken muscles and joints. "A few slices of avocado a day are a great way to boost fat for women who are fat shy," says Leslie Bonci, R.D., director of sports nutrition at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.

Guess where I am?

I can't believe it but here I am again, in pain this time, at the dentist. After a mere three hours yesterday, my temporary bridge came out. This while drinking soup and thinking I was being extra careful. In stark contrast to "nurse Jackie", I stupidly refused a prescription for pain medicine yesterday . Now that the two preped teeth are exposed to air, they HURT! A lot! This is unpleasant enough without the fact that I am having to miss work after paying over $2000.00 yesterday for over 12 hours of pain.

Mobile Blogging from here.

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPhone]

Take care of your teeth Boys and Girls!

Wednesday morning I had a dentist appointment to prep my for bridge placement. Why do I need a dental bridge?
Because I have a nasty habit of chewing Ricola cough drops. Strange, I know but it goes all the way back to when I was in college for my Biological Science degree and was taking all sorts of dissection classes. My skin reacted horribly to placing Vick's under my nose like some of the other students were doing so I tried cough drops and they worked. Because I am a type A person, I have the tendency to chew them when stressed to this day. Over the years I have gravitated to Ricola because I like their flavor (and strangely enough, their texture) the best.
Before I knew I was pregnant, I was chomping away one day at my second job (a horrible nursing home in Boulder, Co) when suddenly I felt a pop and the next thing I knew, I was spitting out a crown with my tooth in it! I had broken off the crown and tooth inside at the gum line. I went to the dentist that afternoon and was told that what remained of the tooth would have to be extracted before either an implant or a bridge could be done but if I didn't think I would be doing either right away, I should have it filled and wait for the extraction till I was ready to have either the bridge or implant done because the remaining teeth would shift. Stupid me told them to pull it then and there. I remember thinking, "Heck, I have dental insurance, I work 2 jobs and husband works, why shouldn't we be able to afford to do it right away."
While we were waiting for the extraction to heal so we could place the post for the implant that I wanted, I got knocked up. I was advised that I couldn't have any major dental work while pregnant or breastfeeding. So now, almost 4 years later, I am getting a bridge. You should never assume life isn't going to throw you a curve ball!
Now even with dental insurance this bridge is gonna cost me $2000.00. Yep. I said two thousand dollars! Because I was stupid and let them extract the stub of tooth that remained, the teeth have shifted. Luckily, this was the second to the last tooth (on the upper right hand side, if you must know) so you really couldn't even see that it was missing but because the teeth were shifting, food was starting to get caught between the two teeth in front of the space. I also want to be able to scuba dive, on our hopefully up coming beach vacation, and when I tried the masks, it was heck of awkward with my already small mouth and the gap only made it worse.
I have been planning this all year, so we have been depositing into our health care spending account for it. What I didn't plan was being in the dentist chair from 8:30 am till after 1:30pm that afternoon. They had to cut the porcelain crown off one of the "support" teeth for the bridge and prep the other "support" tooth by grinding it into the shape they wanted so it would "accept" a crown for the bridge. I had to be numbed 3 times. The last time I knew the Novocaine was wearing off but I kept thinking, "surely, they must be almost done. I can make it". I must have looked like I was going to rip the arms off of the dentist chair because the dental assistant (Bless her!) asked me to raise my left hand if I was feeling pain. I practically knocked the instrument tray over, I waved so hard. After that was over with and a temporary bridge was placed, I got the lecture about not chewing cough drops anymore (because I was honest and admitted how the original tooth and crown had broken off) and was told that was probably why I needed the 3 crowns I have in the first place (chewing hard candy and chewy candy is very bad for your teeth, I get it). I was also scheduled for the "rest" of the prep for exactly one week later and was told it would again take all morning. Then I got the additional joy of getting to pay my $400 copay! Lovely huh! I think my cough drop chewing habit is over now at least. The one positive I can come up with out of all of this, this might actually result in weight loss 1. from the not being able to eat anything of substance for days at a time after each appointment and 2. depending on brand and flavor, cough drops can be up to 20 calories each! For one bag (yes, I can chew one whole bag over the course of a bad day) it can be over 300 calories!
So long story short, take care of your teeth! Don't chew hard or sticky candy, even if it is sugar free!

Lilith's first trip to the Dentist

I meant to take photos but considering they had her laying on me in the chair, it was kind of impossible. Will was having his teeth cleaned in the next room while all of this was going on. She has 20 teeth and they are all good. I was counseled that her mouth is very small and that her baby teeth, while straight and evenly spaced, are close enough together that they can see major orthodontics in her future. They are telling me this with a, "Gee I hope this mother won't be shocked and upset by this news." face. What they don't know is that I had over 4 teeth pulled for my major orthodontics's and almost every single one of my baby teeth had to be extracted because they wouldn't come out on their own. Oh, yes, I saw the dentist a lot as a child! Luckily my dentist was a scuba diver and had all sorts of underwater photos and a "real" treasure chest filled with toys and goodies that you got to pick from after each visit. My orthodontist had an office that overlooked San Fransisco bay. He was also a sailor and had photos and sailing mobiles/wind chimes all over his office. Every time I hear the the song, "Sailing" by Christopher Cross, I remember being in the orthodontist chair and the lovely view. I also remember how my mother would always want to go to some fancy restaurant right after each appointment, and how I would always end up taking my dinner home in a doggie bag because I couldn't chew! Maybe this is where my love of clam chowder comes from. I remember ordering it frequently during those visits.
My poor husband is looking at having adult orthodontics started. You don't want to hear what the dentist said about the high, multiple doses of antibiotics he must have had as an infant that caused his adult teeth to be discolored as they were forming, or about how his mother had government jobs with government insurance most of his childhood but never seemed to take him to the dentist, much less to the orthodontist! I love my mother in law most days, really I do..and I have a bridge to sell you if you believe that.
Lilith did very well until she decided it was over. She had 90% of her cleaning done and announced, "I'm done." She meant it too. She went from holding her mouth open and even holding the suction and suctioning her own mouth to kicking me in my full bladder and trying to hit the hygienist with the suction. The poor hygienist raised and lowered the chair, blew air on her cheek and hand, made peek a boo with the mask all to no avail. She just kept repeating, "I'm done" till she was screaming it. Then she got to sit in a little chair and watch me have my cleaning. She was very patient and good for this, thank goodness. It is always bad when your 2 year old (and even worse when they look big enough to be a 3 or 4 year old) decides to throw a fit in public. I can't help but flash back to the days when I was single and thought I would never have children and would see some child having a public tantrum. I remember thinking, "Why don't they just leave, why would they bring a small child to a place like this, does this child always act like this, and why are they just ignoring what their child is doing???", etc. Keeping all of that in mind, I know people are thinking that about us during times like that. That doesn't help matters any. I must say that I was very grateful that she behaved as well as she did and for as long as she did. This doesn't mean that I am going to try to take her to any adult movies (Even though I would kill to see the new Star Trek movie), and push my luck however. Now we will see how she does in 6 months at her next scheduled cleaning!

No, I can't see Russia From my window.....

But I might soon see Volcanic ash from it.

Alaskans Brace for Redoubt Volcano Eruption
Friday , January 30, 2009

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Hardware stores and auto parts shops scored a post-holiday run of business this week as Anchorage-area residents stocked up on protective eyewear and masks ahead of a possible eruption of Mount Redoubt.
Monitoring earthquakes underneath the 10,200-foot Redoubt Volcano about 100 miles southwest of Anchorage, scientists from the Alaska Volcano Observatory warned that an eruption was imminent, sending experienced Alaskans shopping for protection against a dusty shower of volcanic ash that could descend on south-central Alaska.
"Every time this happens we do get a run on dust masks and goggles," said Phil Robinson, manager of an Alaska Industrial Hardware store in Anchorage. "That's the two main things for eye and respiratory protection."
[An official with the Alaska Volcano Observatory told FOX News that they were expecting an eruption within days. The level of seismic activity had dipped from Sunday's peak, but the AVO did not feel comfortable lowering the threat level.]
• Click here for more photos.
• WEBCAMS: Monitor Alaska's volcanoes live.
Customer Ron Cowan picked up gear at the store Thursday before heading off to an auto parts store for a spare air filter.
"I'm older now and I'm being a little more proactive than I was the last time," Cowan said.
When another Alaska volcano, Mount Spurr, blew in 1992, he waited too long.
"The shelves were cleared, so I thought I wouldn't wait until the last minute," Cowan said.
Unlike earthquakes, volcanoes often give off warning signs that usually give people time to prepare.
The observatory, a joint program between the U.S. Geological Survey, the University of Alaska Geophysical Institute and the state Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys, was formed in response to the 1986 eruption of Mount Augustine.
It has a variety of tools to predict eruptions. As magma moves beneath a volcano before an eruption, it often generates earthquakes, swells the surface of a mountain and increases the gases emitted.
The observatory samples gases, measures earthquake activity with seismometers and watches for deformities in the landscape.
On Nov. 5, geologists noted changed emissions and minor melting near the Redoubt summit and raised the threat level from green to yellow. It jumped to orange — the stage just before eruption — on Sunday in response to a sharp increase in earthquake activity below the volcano.
Alaska's volcanoes are not like Hawaii's. "Most of them don't put out the red river of lava," said the observatory's John Power.
Instead, they typically explode and shoot ash 30,000 to 50,000 feet high — more than nine miles — into the jet stream.
"It's a very abrasive kind of rock fragment," Power said. "It's not the kind of ash that you find at the base of your wood stove."
The particulate has jagged edges and has been used as an industrial abrasive. "They use this to polish all kinds of metals," he said.
Particulate can injure skin, eyes and breathing passages. The young, the elderly and people with respiratory problems are especially susceptible. Put enough ash under a windshield wiper and it will scratch glass.
It's also potentially deadly for anyone flying in a jet. "Think of flying an airliner into a sandblaster," Power said.
Redoubt blew on Dec. 15, 1989, and sent ash 150 miles away into the path of a KLM jet carrying 231 passengers. Its four engines flamed out.
As the crew tried to restart the engines, "smoke" and a strong odor of sulfur filled the cockpit and cabin, according to a USGS account.
The jet dropped more than 2 miles, from 27,900 feet to 13,300 feet, before the crew was able to restart all engines and land the plane safely at Anchorage. The plane required $80 million in repairs.
The observatory's first call after an eruption is now to the Federal Aviation Administration. The observatory's data collection has become far more advanced in 19 years, as has the alert system.
"Pilots are routinely trained to avoid ash and in what to do if they encounter an ash cloud," Power said. "That kind of thing was not routinely done in the 1980s."
The jet stream can carry ash for hundreds of miles. Ash from Kasatochi Volcano in the Aleutians last August blew all the way to Montana and threatened aircraft, Power said.
Particulate is mildly corrosive but can be blocked with masks and filters.
Power advises Alaskans to prepare as they would for a bad snowstorm: Keep flashlights, batteries and several days' worth of food in the house, limit driving and prepare to hunker down if the worst of an ash cloud hits.
Merely going indoors is a defense against ash. The American Red Cross recommends wearing long-sleeved shirts and long pants outside, plus goggles and glasses instead of contact lenses. If no dust mask is available, an effective respiratory filter is a damp cloth over nose and mouth.
But potential danger all depends on the wind. Mount Spurr erupted three times in 1992. When it blew that June, only climbers on Mount McKinley — about 150 miles north of Anchorage — were affected, Power said.
An August eruption dumped significant ash on Anchorage and a September blow sent ash about 40 miles north of Anchorage to Wasilla.
Dust mask customer Elizabeth Keating said Thursday that if the volcano erupts, she expects to stay inside. She bought masks for her school-age grandchildren to carry in their backpacks.
"I want to make sure they're carrying these in case they're en route," she said.

The next time you are craving ice cream....

My first job was at a Dolly Madison ice cream factory in Denver. We also made ice cream for Meadow Gold, Safeway, the Spaghetti Factory, Drumstick, Heath, and many others (it was all the same ice cream just different boxes and prices that consumers would end up paying). One of my many disgusting duties at that job was to take a pool net every morning and scoop out the giant vats of ice cream mix before we started production. I would routinely scoop out dead rats, cockroaches, etc. We also had an old fashioned "ice cream parlor" in the front of the factory that was open to the public. We rotated who had to make the deli sandwiches that they served. It was my day to make them when the health inspector was there. He was sitting at a table in the room while I was trying to make the sandwiches talking to the son in law of the owner about war stories. The factory was so infested with cockroaches that they were running all over the table that I was making the sandwiches on. I was desperately trying to keep the cockroaches out of the sandwiches as I was trying to wrap them and the inspector never said a word. This was in 1992.

Denver's landmark Dolly Madison stores close.
Publication: Ice Cream Reporter Date: Tuesday, March 20 2001
Ice cream lovers in the Denver area are mourning the closing of six of the eight remaining Dolly Madison ice cream stores. The Denver Post reported on February 24 that the 60-year-old chain at one point had 19 stores, but that competition from grocers and chain ice cream shops squeezed the company financially, forcing the closings. The Post notes that the stores, decorated with wood paneling, were "a throwback to a time when soda fountains were community gathering places and a cone cost a nickel."
The decision to close the stores came after the brands patriarch, Ed Tepper, died last week at age 89. The store in the East 48th Avenue Dolly Madison plant in Denver will remain open. So, too, will one other store, on West 38th Avenue, at least temporarily. Fans of the stores, old and young alike, have been flocking in to say good-bye to the stores, as well as to take advantage of their going-out-of-business 2-for-the-price-of-one sales.
The stores, renowned for their featured ice cream flavors like butter brickle, rum raisin, and tin roof sundae, still were selling milk and eggs along with the ice cream, just as they had since the 1930s. Ken Simon, one of the store owners, told The Post, "You look at this store and it's still 1950. It's a fun business. I'm just sorry to see it go."

Easy ways to cut 100 calories

Research has found that, on average, most people can stop their natural weight gain by adding 2,000 steps a day to their daily life or by eating 100 less calories. To lose weight, most people need to add more steps and eat less. Below is a list of foods and calories that could be cut from an average person's diet.

Food
Serving
Calories;
Toaster pastry with icing
1 pastry
200
Cheese crackers
12
150
Cinnamon roll
1 small roll
150
Catfish, baked or broiled
2 oz, boneless, cooked
123
Doughnut, raised or yeast
1/2 medium doughnut (approx 3-3/4" dia)
121
Avocado, raw
1/2 cup, cubes
121
Microwaved popcorn
1 bag
120
Chicken, breast, with or without bone, broiled, skin not eaten
2-1/2 oz, boneless, cooked, skinless
116
Crayfish, boiled or steamed
1 cup of tails
115
Cheese, natural, Cheddar or American type
1 slice (1 oz)
114
Bread, whole wheat, 100%
2 thin slices
113
Beef steak, broiled or baked, lean only eaten
2 oz, boneless, cooked, lean only
113
Wendy's Frosty Ice milk shake
1/3 small Frosty
112
Biscuit, baking powder or buttermilk type, commercially baked
1/2 of a Kentucky Fried Chicken biscuit
111
Beer
3/4 can or bottle (9 fl oz)
111
Cottage cheese
1/2 cup
110
Red kidney beans, dry, cooked, fat not added in cooking
1/2 cup
109
Smoked sausage, pork
1 oz, cooked
109
Raisins
1/4 cup
109
Lettuce, raw
1 very large head
109
Banana, raw
1 medium (7" to 7-7/8" long)
109
White potato, french fries, from frozen, deep fried
1/2 small fast food order
108
Beans, string, green, cooked, from canned, fat not added in cooking
4 cups, canned
108
Trout, baked or broiled
2 oz, boneless, cooked
107
Sunflower seeds, hulled, dry roasted
1/3 to 1/2 cup, with hulls (hulls not eaten of course)
107
Mango
1 cup of sliced mango
107
Grits, cooked, corn or hominy, quick, fat not added in cooking
3/4 cup, cooked
107
Bread, white
2 thin slices
107
Pretzels, hard
1 single serving bag (1 oz)
107
Cake, angel food, without icing
1/16 of a 10" diameter, 4-3/8" high tube cake
106
Gatorade type drinks
14 fl oz
105
Whiskey
1 jigger (1-1/2 fl oz)
105
Pork, cracklings, cooked
1/5 of a cup
105
Lettuce, salad with assorted vegetables including tomatoes and/or carrots, no dressing
8 cups
105
Shrimp, steamed or boiled
15 medium shrimp (shelled)
105
Crackers, saltine
8 crackers
104
Yogurt, plain, lowfat milk
2/3 cup
104
Broccoli, cooked, from fresh, fat not added in cooking
10 spears (about 5" long)
104
Spinach, cooked, from fresh, fat not added in cooking
2.5 cups
104
Tomatoes, red, ripe, raw, year round average
4 medium whole (2-3/5" dia)
103
Catfish, floured or breaded, fried
1.25 oz, boneless, cooked
103
Wine, table, dry
5 fl oz
103
Carrots, raw
24 baby carrots
103
M & M's Peanut Chocolate Candies
10 pieces
103
Milk, whole
5-1/2 fl oz
103
Jelly, all flavors
2 tablespoons
103
Rice, white, cooked, regular, fat not added in cooking
1/2 cup cooked
103
Fast foods, french toast sticks
1 piece
103
Chocolate candy
4 Hershey Kisses
103
Egg, cheese, and ham on English muffin
1/3 McDonald's Egg McMuffin
103
Yogurt, plain, nonfat milk
3/4 cup
102
Fast foods, chicken, breaded and fried, boneless pieces, plain
2 nuggets
102
Butter, NFS
1 tablespoon
102
Soft drink, cola-type
8 fl oz
102
Blueberries, raw
1-1/4 cups
102
Cheese, cream
2 tablespoons
101
Beer, lite
1 can or bottle (12 fl oz)
101
Egg, whole, boiled
1 jumbo
101
Ice cream
6 tablespoons
100
White potato, baked, peel eaten, fat not added in cooking
1 small (1-3/4" to 2-1/4" dia, raw)
100
Clam chowder, New England, prepared with milk
2/3 cup
100
Pineapple, cooked or canned, juice pack
2/3 cup, crushed, sliced, or chunks
100
Apple, raw
1 3" diameter apple
100
Instant Oatmeal
1 packet
100
Strawberries, raw
2 cups, sliced
100
Jambalaya with meat and rice
1/4 cup
100
Peanuts, dry roasted, without salt
17 peanuts
99
Chicken noodle soup
1-1/3 cup
99
Grapes, raw, NS as to type
28 seedless grapes
99
Pineapple, cooked or canned, in heavy syrup
1/2 cup, crushed, sliced, or chunks
99
Spinach, raw
15 cups
99
Mayonnaise, regular
1 tablespoon
99
Spaghetti, cooked, fat not added in cooking
1/2 cup, cooked
99
Beef jerky
2.5 Slim Jims
98
Salmon, baked or broiled
2 oz, boneless, cooked
98
Chewing gum, regular
7 sticks
98
Ranch style salad dressing
4 teaspoons
98
Bagel
1/2 large (3-1/2" to 3-3/4" diameter
98
Sugar, white, granulated or lump
6 teaspoons
98
Cake, chocolate, devil's food, or fudge, standard-type mix (eggs and water added to dry mix), with icing, coating, or filling
1/48 of a 2-layer, 8" or 9" diameter cake
97
Gumbo with rice (New Orleans type with shellfish, pork, and/or poultry, tomatoes, okra, rice)
1/2 cup
97
Croissant sandwich with bacon, egg, and cheese
1/4 Burger King sandwich
97
Potato chips
10 chips
97
Grape juice, unsweetened
5 fl oz
96
Orange juice
7 fl oz
96
Cookie, chocolate chip
2 medium (approx 2" dia)
96
Milk, skim or nonfat, 0.5% or less butterfat
9 fl oz
96
Hamburger, with tomato and/or catsup, on bun
1/3 to less than 1/2 of a McDonald's Hamburger
96
Honey
1.5 tablespoons
96
Grape-Nuts
1/4 cup
96
Macaroni or noodles with cheese
1/5 cup or about 3 tablespoons
95
Oysters, floured or breaded, fried
6 fried oysters
95
Oysters, raw
10 raw oysters
95
Hard candy
5 Starlight Mints
95
Peanut butter
1 tablespoon
95
Fish sandwich, on bun, with spread
1/4 McDonald's sandwich
95
Pecans
10 pecan halves
95
Cheeseburger, 1/4 lb meat, with mayonnaise or salad dressing and tomatoes, on bun
1/8 of a Burger King Whopper
94
Fast foods, taco
1/4 small
92
Pork bacon, smoked or cured, cooked
2 medium slices
92
Ham, sliced, extra lean, prepackaged or deli, luncheon meat
2-1/2 slices (2-1/2 oz)
92
Pancakes, plain
1 medium pancake (5" dia)
92
Corn flakes, NFS
1 cup
91
Vegetable oil, NFS
3/4 tablespoon
90
Bologna, NFS
1 medium slice (4-1/2" dia x 1/8" thick) (1 oz)
90
Brownie
1 brownie
80

can having weight loss surgery add years to your life not just life to your years?

Weight loss surgery extends lifespan
8/23/07 BATON ROUGE – Gastric bypass and other abdominal surgeries – means of helping severely obese individuals lose large amounts of weight – have gained in popularity as more people see their relatively immediate success in individuals wanting to lose 50, 60 or more pounds. Now, new evidence shows these surgeries may be extending or saving lives.Lars Sjöström, M.D., Ph.D., and Claude Bouchard, Ph.D., of the Pennington Biomedical Research Center, were members of an international research team that tracked more than 4,000 obese individuals for upwards of ten years. About half of the individuals underwent bariatric surgery (the general term for various forms of weight loss surgery), the other half received conventional treatments. The researchers have concluded that, “bariatric surgery for severe obesity appears to be associated with long-term weight loss and decreased overall mortality.”Those results are published in the August 23rd issue of The New England Journal of Medicine and, according to the researchers, is the first major report to confirm that weight loss of this magnitude decreases mortality. To the contrary, according to the researchers, some studies had reported in the past that weight loss was associated with increased mortality.“This was an interventional study,” said Bouchard, “meaning we enrolled obese patients into the study who had sought surgery and compared them to a similar group who were undergoing conventional treatment during the same time frame. Previous studies were based on much smaller sample sizes, with shorter follow-up periods and did not have the proper control group for comparison. What we learned is that an often controversial method - surgery - presents clear clinical evidence of being beneficial.”Bouchard said one scientific limitation is that ethically, it is not possible to randomly assign subjects into a surgery group or a non-surgery group. The study compared individuals who had made their treatment decisions individually, so the study examined self-selected groups rather than randomized groups, a situation that is not likely to change in studies of this type. Led by Lars Sjöström, professor at the University of Gothenburg Medical Center and an adjunct and visiting professor at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center, the researchers examined 4,047 obese subjects in a long-term study called the Swedish Obese Subjects (SOS) study. 2,010 underwent bariatric surgery in one of three forms: gastric bypass, vertical-banded gastroplasty or banding while 2,037 subjects received conventional weight loss treatments. The researchers then tracked the weight, behavior and health indicators of the subjects for an average of 11 years.The average 11-year weight loss of the non-surgery group was less than 2-percent, while the average weight loss among the three surgical groups ranged from 14 to 25-percent.During the study, researchers recorded 129 deaths in the non-surgery group and 101 in the surgery group, most commonly caused by myocardial infarction and cancer. This result indicates a 23-percent reduction in total mortality within the surgical groups. “We count these results as a milestone in our understanding of the benefits of bariatric surgery for obesity,” Bouchard said. “We are confident in the results and believe this will lead to an acceptance that bariatric surgery is a viable, life-saving option for severely obese patients.”

Want to keep your weight off....call your counselor once a week!

How to Keep Lost Weight off? Try regular, short phone calls
3/12/08 BATON ROUGE – We’ve all heard it’s easy to lose weight, but nearly impossible to keep those lost pounds off. One thing that might work is a regular, short phone call to a professional counselor. Researchers at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center (PBRC) conducted a weight-loss maintenance trial in which participants who had a brief, monthly personal contact intervention – most often a 10-15 minute personal phone conversation – regained less weight than participants who were in a Web-based intervention or self-directed program. PBRC joined Duke University Medical Center, Johns Hopkins and Kaiser Health as one of four sites to conduct the study, which appears in the March 12 issue of JAMA. Relatively short-term (4-6 months) behavioral interventions for adults can result in clinically significant weight loss, but regaining weight is common. “Given the difficulty of keeping lost weight off, there is a critical need for practical, affordable strategies that effectively maintain weight loss,” Phillip Brantley, Ph.D., said, “Despite the potential for health benefits of maintaining a lower weight after loss, there is little evidence, particularly from clinical trials, on how to accomplish this objective.” Brantley, chief of the Behavioral Medicine Laboratory at PBRC, is a principal investigator of the study. Led by Laura P. Svetkey, M.D., of Duke University Medical Center in Durham, N.C., the researchers have just completed the Weight Loss Maintenance (WLM) trial, a comparison of strategies for maintaining weight loss that consisted of two phases: a weight loss phase and a weight-loss maintenance phase. The researchers examined a large, diverse, adult population at high risk for cardiovascular disease by charting weight regain for 30 months following initial weight loss. The two-phases included 1,032 overweight or obese adults (38 percent African American, 63 percent women) with hypertension, dyslipidemia, or both who had lost at least 8.8 lbs. during a 6-month weight loss program (phase 1) and were randomized to a weight-loss maintenance intervention (phase 2). The researchers compared three types of weight maintenance interventions: monthly contact with a professional counselor, unlimited access to an internet–based intervention, or self-direction. Monthly personal contact consisted of a case management approach with person-to-person guidance and support. Participants had telephone contact with an interventionist for 5 to 15 minutes each month, except for every 4th month when they had a 45- to 60-minute individual face-to-face contact. The internet–based intervention included unlimited access to a Web site designed to support weight loss maintenance, with interactive features allowing participants to set personal goals and action plans for the next week and to graph personal data over time. Self-directed participants received minimal intervention. At the start of the study, participants, on average, weighed 213 lbs. The average weight loss in the first phase for all participants was 18.7 lbs. After the weight loss phase, all groups regained weight, but researchers saw a clear difference. The self-directed group gained an average of 12.1 lbs.; the interactive technology–based group an average of 11.5 lbs.; and in the personal-contact group, an average of 8.8 lbs. The average weight at 30 months remained lower in each group than average weight at entry into the study. “Although weight regain with the personal-contact intervention was statistically less than weight regain in the self-directed control group, the average loss was a modest 3.3 lbs.” Brantley said. However, the study researchers emphasized that even modest weight loss can improve cardiovascular risk factors. They stated that each kilogram (2.2 lbs.) of weight loss is associated with an average decrease in systolic blood pressure of 1.0 to 2.4 mm Hg and a reduction in incident diabetes of 16 percent. “At the end of the study, more than 45 percent of those in the personal-contact intervention were still maintaining at least 8.8 lbs. of weight loss, an amount with clear clinical benefits,” Brantley said.

Can you catch Obesity?

You aren't fat, it's just a tubby bug.....
The Obesity Virus? RESEARCHERS SUGGEST VIRAL INFECTION MAY CAUSE OBESITY
Nick Kolakowski
Could obesity be due, at least in part, to a viral infection? The idea may seem farfetched, but then so was the idea that peptic ulcers are caused by bacterial infection.
A group of researchers have implicated the adenovirus Ad36—one of a family of about 50 viruses that cause colds, upper respiratory infections, gastrointestinal problems, and eye inflammations—in the development of obesity in humans and other animals.
At least six pathogens are suspected of causing obesity in animals, including canine distemper virus, an avian retrovirus, Borna disease virus in rats, and the scrapie agent in mice and hamsters.1
In 1992, Nihil V. Dhurandhar, PhD, then at the University of Bombay, India, reported on the avian adenovirus SMAM-1, which caused excessive intra-abdominal fat deposition and paradoxically low serum cholesterol and triglyceride levels in chickens.2 Antibodies against SMAM-1 virus were found in 10 of 52 humans with obesity screened in Bombay. Those people with antibodies had a significantly higher body weight and body mass index (BMI).3
According to Richard Atkinson, emeritus professor of medicine and nutrition at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, animals infected with the Ad36 virus have a 50% to 100% gain in body fat. When Atkinson, Dhurandhar, and colleagues screened humans for specific Ad36 antibodies, they found that around 30% of the people with obesity had the antibodies, compared with 10% of the normal-weight people.
"We can't say that the virus caused obesity in all those people," Atkinson says. "It's still speculation, some say a gross speculation." Yet the research and its implications have led him to set up the Richmond, Va.–based Obetech Obesity Research Center, where people can pay for testing to see if their extra pounds are caused by pizza or pathogen.
ONGOING RESEARCH
Because of restrictions on human testing, Atkinson, Dhurandhar—now at Wayne State University in Detroit—and colleagues have limited research to mice and monkeys. Studies show that animals inoculated with the virus gain weight even as their food intake remains the same. Research also suggests that Ad36 is transmissible from animal to animal.
"Our animal experiments showed that the virus could be passed from one infected animal to its cage-mate within 12 hours of infection," Dhurandhar says. "Also, blood from the infected animal, injected in the veins of a fresh set of animals, transmitted the virus and obesity."
If a virus is involved at all in the development of obesity, no one is suggesting it is the sole cause. Obesity is the result of a number of factors, some genetically based and others that are environmental.
Other researchers think that the virus isn't much of a factor in the nation's expanding waistlines. Cardiologist Thomas Kottke, MD, of Regions Hospital Heart Center in St. Paul, Minn., says that trying to blame the obesity epidemic on a virus is avoiding reality. "It's like saying, `I don't need to quit smoking because by the time I get lung cancer there'll be a cure,'" he says. "And there's no cure, and it kills 85% of the time."
Instead, Kottke believes the answer to the obesity epidemic is right in front of us: people are consuming more calories than they're using. "We don't have to get off our butts to change the channel, the cost of food is at record lows, and there are cities all over that are impossible to walk in."
Other doctors and researchers give the idea of an obesity virus slightly more credibility. "It is a possibility that some people might be affected by a virus," says F. Xavier Pi-Sunyer, MD, director of the Obesity Research Center at St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital in New York City. "You've got to postulate that somehow [the virus] is getting into the brain and affecting the brain centers and somehow affecting appetite."
The possible role of Ad36 "is an interesting observation, but I would not give high priority to these problems," says Pi-Sunyer. "I think the main cause of our obesity problem is that we eat too much."
TESTING AND IMPLICATIONS
Atkinson thinks Obetech's test for Ad36 antibodies will be important for people suffering from overweight or obesity. "Obese people really suffer an immense amount of discrimination, they're told they're lazy and that it's a character flaw," he says. "If it's a virus, that puts a whole new spin on things. They'd feel a whole lot better."
"But the more important use of this test will be for skinny people," Atkinson continues. "If you're skinny and your test is positive, it means you have a good chance of becoming obese due to this virus. It's easier to prevent obesity than to change or reverse it." Atkinson's hope is that more people will eventually "want to know their obesity virus status."
In the long term, the identification of a virus responsible for some incidence of obesity may lead to more clinically relevant screening tests, perhaps a vaccine or antiviral therapy, and a greater acceptance of obesity as a disease.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Obesity Virus: More, Bigger Fat Cells
Common Virus Boosts Fat-Cell Production -- and Makes Fat Cells Fatter
By Daniel J. DeNoonWebMD Health News
Reviewed by Louise Chang, MD
Aug. 20, 2007 – Infection with a virus linked to human obesity ups fat-cell production and makes fat cells fatter.
"Infectobesity" is the term coined by Louisiana State University researcher Nikhil Dhurandhar, PhD, and colleagues to describe the phenomenon. Their research strongly links a common human virus -- adenovirus-36 or Ad-36 -- to human obesity.
Previous research showed that nearly 30% of obese people, but only 11% of lean people, have been infected with Ad-36. Monkeys experimentally infected with Ad-36 gain significant weight.
Now Dhurandhar's team finds evidence that Ad-36 has a direct effect on human fat cells. Infection of adult stem cells from human fat triggers their transition into pre-fat cells. And these virus-infected cells hold much more fat than normal pre-fat cells.
The end result: more, fatter fat cells.
Dhurandhar colleague Magdalena Pasarica, MD, PhD, presented the findings at the 234th national meeting of the American Chemical Society, held Aug. 19-23 in Boston.
"We're not saying that a virus is the only cause of obesity, but this study provides stronger evidence that some obesity cases may involve viral infections," Pasarica says in a news release. "We would ultimately like to identify the underlying factors that predispose some obese people to [the effects of] this virus and eventually find a way to treat it."
It's not entirely clear how the virus acts on fat stem cells. But Pasarica reported a major clue: One specific Ad-36 gene, called E4Orfl, is responsible for the virus's obesity-related effects.
The researchers are now trying to figure out why some people seem to become obese after Ad-36 infection while others don't.
There are some 50 adenovirus strains. Various strains cause some 5% of respiratory infections every year, ranging from mild colds to serious pneumonia. Some of these viruses also cause eye infections. Ad-36 was originally isolated from a German girl with diabetes; however, it has not been linked to any specific disease.
A vaccine, used by the military, can prevent some types of adenovirus infection. However, the adenovirus strains used in this vaccine are very different from the Ad-36 strain.
Dhurandhar first became interested in obesity-related viruses while working in India. There he investigated a peculiar phenomenon: Chickens infected with a deadly avian adenovirus became fatter, not thinner, before they died.
When Dhurandhar moved to the U.S. to pursue his studies, he found that agriculture authorities were not going to allow him to import the chicken virus. So he began looking for human adenovirus strains that might have the same effect. That led to the discovery of the obesity-related effects of Ad-36.
Interestingly, other researchers have implicated another human adenovirus -- Ad-37 -- in human obesity.
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A closer look at the blood tests conducted on over 2000 Australians has showed that more than 20% of the study participants had contracted Ad-36 viral infection , believed to play a major role in development of obesity.
Richard Emeritus, Professor of Medicine, University of Wisconsin has carried out the research. 'I believe obesity is a complex disease of many causes, one of which is viral infection,' said the professor. He further stated that the presence of the infection in obese people could account for the obesity epidemic. Previous studies had already established an association between exposure to the virus and obesity in animal models, more specifically, mice, chickens and marmosets. However, another similar study conducted by Nick Martin, a professor at the Queensland Institute of Medical Research failed to establish a definitive association between body mass index and Ad-36 infection. Ad-36, belongs to a class of viruses referred to as adenovirus. The virus is known to be associated with eye infections, diarrhea and common cold, in humans. More studies are clearly indicated to establish the link, if any between obesity and Ad-36 virus.
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PEOPLE can catch a bug which makes them obese, claim scientists.
The virus is picked up from a sneeze, a cough or dirty hands like a cold.
The new research supports earlier theories from studies on weight gain.

Weight off some people's minds ... claim by scientists
Evidence in tests on mice and chickens shows the bug could cause tubbies to pile on the pounds.
In one test a THIRD of obese people had the rare and highly contagious virus compared to just 11 PER CENT of thinner people.
US Professor Nikhil Dhurandhar said the virus, known as AD-36, goes to the lungs then whisks around the body.
It forces fat cells to multiply and also causes sore throats.
He said: “When this virus goes to fat tissue it replicates ... which may explain why people get fat when infected.”
Weight gain can last three months until the body has built up resistance to the bug.
But Prof Dhurandhar of Louisiana, US, tells BBC2’s Horizon tonight: “People could be fat for reasons other than viral infections, so it’s pointless for fat people to try to avoid infection.”
The programme also reveals research claiming dieters always feel hungry because humans have a “natural body weight” and they will always suffer hunger pangs
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Obesity 'Virus' Spreads Like Common Cold, Scientists Say
Monday , January 26, 2009

Obesity can be "caught" as easily as a common cold from other people's coughs, sneezes and dirty hands, scientists said Monday.
The condition has been linked to a highly-infectious virus which causes sniffles and sore throats.
Nikhil Dhurandhar, an associate professor at The Pennington Biomedical Research Center, in Baton Rouge, La., said the virus, known as AD-36, infects the lungs then whisks around the body, forcing fat cells to multiply and also causing sore throats.
"When this virus goes to fat tissue it replicates, making more copies of itself and in the process increases the number of new fat cells, which may explain why the fat tissue expands and why people get fat when they are infected with this virus," Dhurandhar said.
In one test, a third of obese people had the rare and highly contagious virus compared to just 11 percent of thinner people. Weight gain can last three months until the body has built up resistance to the bug.
New research supports earlier theories from studies on weight gain; evidence in tests on mice and chickens shows the bug could cause overweight people to gain weight.
"People could be fat for reasons other than viral infections, so it’s pointless for fat people to try to avoid infection," said Dhurandhar.
The study also reveals research claiming dieters always feel hungry because humans have a "natural body weight" and they will always suffer hunger pangs.

Lilith is sick

I don't know when I will get to finish my review of the My Fitness Coach for the Wii, maybe after Lilith goes to bed tonight (she was up three times last night twice with a fever of 101.4 even after a fever reducer). I am busy giving lots of fluids and hugs but I wanted to let you guys know why I hadn't finished my promised review yet.

Papa & Daddy and Babies in Alaska

This book was written by a couple that had their adopted babies in the NICU where I work. If you are curious about Alaska, NICU's, preterm babies, gay adoption, or about what my job is like, check this book out. order yours here!

It's been over two years and I don't miss my old friend!

I was the biggest Diet Coke addict in the world. My mother packed TAB in my lunch box when I was in grade school. To this day it sickens me when I see parents ordering soft drinks for their toddlers or worse putting it in baby bottles! To be fair, in the 70's, especially overseas, it was easier to find diet soft drinks than it was bottled water sometimes but it certainly hasn't been like that for a long time now. I really believe that part of our childhood obesity epidemic is directly related to soft drink consumption. Have you ever looked up the calories in regular soft drinks? Check out these soda pop facts since super -sizing has come on the scene:

One 12oz. can = 11 teaspoons of sugar & 140-150 calories

One 20 oz bottle = 18 teaspoons of sugar & 250 calories

And what about those self-serve Big, Bigger, Biggest Cups???

One 32oz. "BIG GULP" size cup (no ice) = 29 teaspoons of sugar and & 400 calories

One 44oz. size cup =40 teaspoons of sugar & 550 calories

One 64oz. "DOUBLE BIG GULP" size cup = 59 teaspoons sugar & 800 calories


I am ashamed to admit that for at least 10 years of my life, maybe more, I NEVER drank anything but Diet Coke. No water, no milk, no nothing. I carried one with me everywhere. I took a six pack of 16 oz bottles with me to work (on the bus sometimes) and drank them all during the course of my shift. I realized not to long ago that I haven't been in a convenience store since moving to Alaska over a year ago. I realize this is because I only purchased two things from them, fountain diet cokes and candy.
My surgeon said I had to give it up forever. I have read many books on weight loss surgery (I review many of them here )and most say to give them up for good as they actually stimulate hunger, dehydrate you, and deplete calcium. I also have heard the carbonation (any carbonation) is bad for the pouch. My husband and I both have had to start watching out for gulping air when we eat and drink, it makes both of us very sick, so I am sure the carbonation would feel pretty bad. I know that my addiction was so severe that I can't trust myself to try to even a Diet coke that has lost its fizziness because I would be hooked all over again. Do I miss them? I miss the ease of going through a drive thru and getting one on a hot day but I think of it this way, I shouldn't be in any drive thru's now anyway! Besides, I tried for years to get this surgery and I don't want to do one thing that might mess it up!

New findings are adding to the research suggesting that more than ever before, what and how much we drink may increase calorie intake and weight without our noticing.

The problem of increasing waistlines and obesity in the United States has escalated in the last 30 years. During this time, calorie consumption increased an average of 150 to 300 calories per day, with about half that increase coming from beverages. The variety of calorie-dense beverages and number of soft-drink servings per day both grew. Average soft drink portion size increased more than 50 percent from about 13 ounces to almost 20 ounces.

Several studies peg calories from beverages as one of the causes of increased numbers of overweight and obese people in the United States. Studies suggest that when people consume more calories from beverages, they don’t compensate by eating or drinking less.

One new study, for example, served 33 men and women the same lunch once a week for six weeks with only the beverage type or amount changing each week. Regardless of the type of beverage, people drank more when served 18 ounces than when served 12 ounces. When the amount of calorie-containing cola increased, women’s beverage calories increased by 10 percent and the men’s by 26 percent.

Participants ate the same amount of food independent of the higher amount of calories they drank, leading to an increase in the meal’s total calories. Yet after a higher-calorie meal containing sweetened soft drinks, participants reported no difference in hunger or satisfaction.

Short-term studies — generally one to three days — in which people decrease high-calorie soft drink consumption usually show a decreased total daily calorie consumption. Longer term studies ranging from six months to four years have found an association between drinking less calorie-containing soft drinks and weight loss.

Scientists offer several explanations as to why we may not notice calories from some beverages. A drink’s rapid passage through the mouth provides less time for signals to trigger the brain that you are eating. Compared to beverages, solid food seems to provide more of a feeling of fullness, which signals the brain to stop eating. Thick liquids (like smoothies and shakes) provide considerably more fullness signals than thin liquids, such as soft drinks, fruit drinks and sweetened tea and coffee.

As portion sizes of calorie-dense beverages increase, it is easier to gulp down larger amounts than to eat larger portions of solid foods. Finally, some researchers suggest that there may be a psychological component, too. Many of us consider beverages a separate category that does not “count” in the same way as solid food.

Lilith is an ultrasound tech!

if you thought todays douching commercials were scary..

I remember an actress telling her story, during an interview, of having an illegal abortion only to be rushed to the hospital by her boyfriend afterwards due to severe pain. She said that she tried to beg him not to make her go as she was sure they would both be arrested for getting the abortion but that he insisted he was taking her. At the hospital she was rushed into surgery and was told afterwards that the abortion "doctor" had filled her uterus with Lysol. She said that if her boyfriend had listened to her, she would have died not just lost her chance to every have any children. With abortion being a big controversy again, that story seems all the more frightening. I don't think women of my generation and certainly the ones younger than us realize just what some women and girls resorted when abortion was criminal. We have never had to worry about it or fight for a choice. I really don't think it matters weather you are against abortion or weather you feel its every womans right to have the opportunity to have a choice, I am sure no one wants to go back to the days of back alley abortions and women/girls dying or suffering needlessly from them.

How attitudes have changed towards smoking and sexism!

Gotta love that last ad! At least it makes me think gender roles as well as public health awareness levels have progressed, maybe not entirely to where we would like but at least they are better than when these ads were published.

it really feels like winter now

Husband and I are sick with a flu like virus. I guess it was bound to happen, working in health care, you get exposed and you may luck out every now and again but eventually you will catch something. Turns out, my last full time shift at my old hospital (I now only work for them on a PRN basis due to being put in situations like this one too many times), I ended up doing one on one duty with an big guy that was withdrawing from drugs and alcohol. He had been in a bar fight and had a rib puncture a lung. His patient history didn't say if he was homeless but I suspect he was as he was filthy and after swabbing out his mouth four times with hydrogen peroxide based mouthwash, the swabs were still coming out black. Yep it was pretty gross. I washed his hair and gave him a bed bath. I thought the evening was going to be okay as the nurse before me had kept him medicated regularly but then he woke up and proceeded to beat the heck out of me and four other staff members. We medicated him with everything we had ordered and even called the doc for more and it would only make him pass out for a few minutes them he would wake up fighting again. We ended up restraining him with wrist, ankle, and a chest restraint. We even had to put mitten restraints on his hand to keep him from trying to pull his chest tube. During this whole process, he coughed and sputtered on all of us. Do you recall what I said about his mouth? The doctor ordered him intubated and transferred to the ICU. The woman that intubated him actually vomited afterwards from the smell of his breath. I have never seen that happen before but none of use were surprised considering the condition of his mouth. I had to go to the ER that morning to have several x-rays of my right arm as he had pulled and twisted it pretty badly during the time we were trying to restrain him. So that is why I haven't been posting much in that last few weeks. First I was working both jobs and having one day off a week then I was beaten and got sick. I have so many products that I need to write reviews on, I promise I will get to them this week. I just need another day or two of antibiotics before I feel 100%. I also can't go back to work at the new job till I have been on antibiotics for 3 days since it is the nicu and those little babies don't have the immune systems to handle this. At least I didn't have the 3 days of 101+ fevers that husband did but then I couldn't take the Dayquil or NyQuil he has been (because of breastfeeding)either. I have been making do with Tylenol and hot decaf chai. It has been fun but atleast Lilith hasn't caught it.

Why don't we do it in our sleeves?

Sorry that I haven't been writing much these last few days but I have been doing some clinical training and orientation, which anyone in health care can tell you is as exciting as watching paint dry in most cases. Well, this video was a humorous relief to the many videos (not to mention computer testing, speakers, presentations, skills testing, and even math tests)we have been doing for 8+ hours a day (starting at 7:15 am. Did I mention that I have worked night shift for most of my career? It has been raining horribly everyday so I am driving, half asleep, in the dark (locals please steer clear of the Hello Kitty Mobile if you see it at 6am for your own safety) and trying to find the designated employee parking (which is usually a lovely hike {especially in the dark and in the rain}from where you actually need to be)at what ever building we happen to be scheduled at that day ( there have been 3 different ones so far). We have only been given a $3.00 food voucher each day so I am packing protein bars and buying part of a chai (they cost $5.10 for a large)with my voucher. No they haven't provided any drinks. I am not too surprised by this however as the one hospital that I have done orientation at that supplied breakfast, lunch and snacks (seriously good pre-wls food like doughnuts, punch, sodas, pizza, cookies, pie and brownies), was one of the worst to work for once you actually completed orientation. In fact they told you during orientation that 70-80% of us wouldn't last a year there. I lasted 3 but I only knew a handful of people that were still around by then. It did pay great however, but you earned it. I always got the feeling that might be what the entrance to hell might be like, this great fabulous, decadent buffet and if you partake of it, well, then you have sealed your fate so to speak. This health care Mecca (it is one of the largest employers in Alaska) doesn't strike me like that, thank goodness. I have 2 new protein shakes and a bar for review after I finish learning 5 computer applications and figure out how to sign up for benefits online!

The wls coaches radio show on Blogtalk radio

"The New You" Radio Show
with The WLS Coaches, Cher Ewing & Jeff Cadwell ~~~ WEDNESDAYS 8pm ET / 5pm PT

their website here!
I have been listening and participating in this online talk show for a few weeks now, when Lilith naps or plays by herself. I have learned a lot from it and found some of the guests to be very informative. I really recommend it. You can go to the blog talk radio website and listen to the archives to learn a little about it.
the blog talk radio new you show page here!
You can call in or chat live and ask questions of the hosts and the guests. It is a lot of fun. I hope to see there next Wednesday