Tag: health

Stop your long commute

The Informed Reader – WSJ.com : The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Commuter

The number of people who travel 90 minutes to work — deemed an “extreme commute” by the Census Bureau—has doubled since 1990, reaching 3.5 million.

I can tell you from personal experience that my commute stress level has gone from below average to nearly nonexistent since I stopped driving and started Metroing to work.  I had a 25 minute drive, very pleasant as DC Metro area commutes go.  Now I have a three block walk, 25 minute Metro ride, and then 2 minute walk to work.  I’ve only been at this new job since March 26th, and I’m reading my third book.

Currently, actually, I’m reading Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community, by Robert Putnam, quoted in the above article.  I’m still trudging through the 150 pages at the front of the book where he reels off statistics, but I expect to get to the good parts soon. 

As an aside, if you ask anyone who knows me, you will find that any amount of statistics that I find excessive is REALLY EXCESSIVE.  I enjoyed Bill James’ Baseball Abstract in my early teens.  This is, for those who don’t know, the book where you can find out who the backup third basemen for the Pirates was in 1967, and what he hit on Tuesdays against left-handers in his home ballpark.

The point here is that these commutes are ridiculous.  As usual, I don’t know what the solution is.  Better public transportation would certainly be helpful.  I mean, I’ve taken my commute, which used to be a total waste of time, and turned it into nearly leisure time.  Not everyone has the flexibility to be able to move near work, or the willingness to live in a “transitional” neighborhood in the city to be near public transportation.  But there has to be some middle ground.

If we ban it, it will go away

WIStv.com Columbia, SC: AMA asks for movies showing smokers to get “R” rating

The [American Medical Association alliance] says their research shows that smoking in movies recruits close to 400,000 adolescent smokers each year, eventually killing over a third of them.

Okay, I’m totally on board with trying to keep kids from smoking.  And frankly, I think we’re well on our way – with more and more places banning smoking in bars, I think we’ll soon reach the tipping point where we really start to make progress towards getting rid of cigarettes completely.

But R ratings for showing people smoking?  Why don’t we just take children from their parents at birth and raise them in sanitized cocoons where they’re only exposed to purified air and educational material until they turn 18.  Obviously human beings are inherently incapable of raising children, so we should just outlaw that.  While we’re at it, people eat too much fatty foods.  Let’s ban eating.  You can get your nutrients from an IV in the hospital.  It’s safer there anyway.  Otherwise you might go out and drive somewhere in your SUV and talk on your cell phone or adjust your iPod and crash into a farmer’s market.

I’m sure most of you have seen the movie Demolition Man, where Stallone goes to “cryoprison” where they freeze him for 70 years and he wakes up in a place where kissing and salt are illegal, because exchanging body fluids and eating salt can be bad for you.  This is funny because it’s so ridiculous.

It’s not looking so ridiculous any more.  They start with fois gras and trans fats.  Eventually they’ll get to something you care about.

I want in on this

Coke & Nestle Sued Over Enviga’s Bogus Calorie Burning Claims – Consumerist

Enviga, the so-called “calorie burning soda” has landed Coke and Nestle in some hot water, as the The Center for Science In The Public Interest has filed suit against both for false advertising claims

I’ve written about Enviga a few times.  I don’t like it.  I don’t like their claims.  I don’t like their carcinogen sweeteners.  I don’t like the taste.

But I do like a lawsuit for false advertising.  That’s always fun.

199.6

199.6 was my weight today, in pounds (That’s 90.5 kg, for those of you who use that crazy system), after the gym, with shoes on.  Today is the first day since I don’t even know when that I was under 200 pounds fully clothed.  I suspect it may have more to do with two weeks off from the gym and losing muscle rather than losing fat, but I choose not to dwell on that.

Genetic eating habits

I always thought I was weird because, no matter what, I want lunch at 11:30.  People always yell at me at work because I want lunch early (partly that may be because I get in at 7-730, and many of them get in after 10).  But I found out yesterday that my sister is exactly the same way.  Even if I eat breakfast at 8, a snack at 9, and another snack at 10, I’m still hungry.  And it’s not that I eat bad snacks, because my sister is the same way, and she’s a health nut.  So while I may sometimes eat bad snacks, that is not the root of my problem. It’s comforting to know that it’s not me being weird, it’s something genetic.  I don’t get hungry like that in the afternoon and evening.  It’s just the morning.  I wonder if that’s related to the fact that I’m more of a morning person, and generally more productive in the morning.  It probably is.

Good try, DC

D.C. Moves to Become Pioneer In Forcing ‘Green’ Construction – washingtonpost.com

The era of “green buildings” would include devices such as low-flow shower heads and recycled materials and would require designing passageways that encourage walking, choosing drought-tolerant plants and improving air quality by reducing the need for artificial heating and cooling.

I’m very much on board with getting companies to build greener.  And this not only promotes recycling, but health, too, with better air quality and getting people to walk.  My one problem here is that they’re forcing companies to do it.  I’d rather see them give incentives first, and if not enough companies do it, then think about legislating it.  For example, if you give tax breaks for meeting some or all of these standards, something to offset the increased cost, then you’ll likely get more support from the business community.

As it is, they’re kind of salty because they think it will raise costs by 11%, instead of the 2-4% that supporters claim.  But DC is pioneering this sort of program in a large city.  Maybe the next city to try it will go a different route.

Mommies have known this for years

Natural-born painkiller found in human saliva – health – 13 November 2006 – New Scientist Link via Kurzweil AI Saliva from humans has yielded a natural painkiller up to six times more powerful than morphine, researchers say.

See? And you thought that it was just a placebo and a mother’s love when she offered to kiss your boo-boos and make them better. She was actually just trying to apply a substance that “works in nerve cells of the spine by stopping the usual destruction of natural pain-killing opiates there” to make your pain go away.

What do you want, a cookie?

Accidental Hedonist – Labels and Standards

In essence, what they’re saying is that food companies don’t get a bonus credit for leaving out an excess of salt, sugar or fat, because it’s something they should be doing anyway.

I love this post. It reminds me of the Chris Rock skit about the guy bragging that he’s never been to jail, that he takes care of his kids. Rock, appropriately, responds, ‘You’re not supposed to go to jail.” If you haven’t seen the skit, you should. It’s probably on YouTube or something.

What we’re looking for is “good faith” healthy food.  That is, not something that’s had just enough fat or salt or whatever removed to meet some minimum guideline.  Stuff that’s labeled “healthy” should actually have healthy ingredients.  It should have a reasonable amount of sugar (natural sugar, not the cancer-y stuff), minimal fat and sodium, maybe some protein, some whole wheat flour . . .

While it’s nice that it’s getting easier every day to find stuff labeled “organic” at the grocery store, there’s more to it than that.  And most people, myself included, aren’t going to go research the company they’re buying from and make sure the labels really mean what they imply.

I don’t know what the solution is, but I hope someone does.