[sigh]I hope I'm just being really paranoid...[/sigh]

[GreyGeek]

Re: [sigh]I hope I'm just being really paranoid...[/sigh]

mmm... I spend 10-12 hours a day setting in my recliner and browsing the web and learning stuff. For exercise I paddle my legs up and down while my 10 lb poodle, Daisy, lays between my legs, sleeping. I never hear from her unless she needs a drink or has to whizpoo. Then she starts tapping my knee with her paw.

I'm 6'6" and 245lbs in my birthday suit, my bp is 120/80 to 110/70. My resting pulse is 55 bpm. About 8 years ago I rode my bike to work for a year, before I got hit by a truck, which injured my foot, resulting in a recommendation from my doc to wear sandals. During that year I dropped from 258 to 228, and replaced a lot of fat with muscle. I was going to quite using the bike anyway because the seat gave me a lot of discomfort. I have a bicycle machine, a WII exercise board and a treadmill. I don't use the bicycle because I can't find a seat that doesn't make my prostate act up. Because of BPH I've had the green laser surgery, sort of a roto-rooter, which made urination and emptying the bladder a LOT easier, as long as I don't spend much time on banana seats. I don't use the treadmill because I was born without pads on the bottom of my feet and a severe case of hammer toes. Despite two corrective surgeries they continue to make walking painful. I always wear Columbia Riptide sandals, no matter where I go or what I do, because the strap doesn't compress my toes against the sole of the sandal like a shoe does. My wife and I used to have a gym membership and swam a lot, but quit because the place wasn't maintained in a sanitary condition. Mold was everywhere and I didn't like breathing in spores, which made it smell like a mummy's tomb.

My wife and I walk a mile a day when the high temps stay below 80 and above 40.

[GreyGeek]

Re: [sigh]I hope I'm just being really paranoid...[/sigh]

Are we not on a spaceship now? Does anyone know where we are going and when we will get there?

We are, but, religion aside, no one knows where we are going so we can't know when we will get there.

However, certain resources are approaching exhaustion. Fortunately, the Sun recycles water and gives us about 95,000 cubic miles per year of fresh water, but even then, between the time a drop of rain falls on the Great Lakes and ends up getting flushed out into the Atlantic Ocean it has passed through 6 sanitation plants and has become too salty to drink. We have maximized our use of water and there remains no extra amount that could be used by new arrivals on this planet. So we all will have to cut back on our use so that others can have a drink. This alone is proof enough that births should, from now on, be strictly controlled and prospective parents be required to take training in child rearing after they've proven they can financial afford to support all the children they are licensed to have.

We are farming all the land that is good for farming, but exhausting it of trace minerals and beneficial bacteria, even though we use more chemical fertilizer than ever. We have emptied most of our rivers of natural fish and the farm fish seem more susceptible to viruses and parasites. What is now being caught of off Georges Banks off of Newfoundland would have been used for bait fish 50 years ago. KFC is consuming all the anchovies fished from Peru's waters and along with Estrogen and anti-biotics they feed chickens from the egg to finishing weight in 1/3rd the time a range chicken would take. Unfortunately the estrogen is giving adolescent boys what are called "bitch tits", mounds that would make Pamela Anderson envious. Similar mixes are being fed to cattle with similar results. Our kids, especially the boys, are getting too much estrogen in their diet. The secondary recovery oil being pumped out of the Saudi oil fields is now more than 30% water, so those fields are only a few years from exhaustion. There is not enough Lithium in the world to convert all the cars running on the streets of America into electric vehicles. When I started college in 1961 the world population was at 3 Billion. Now they say it is 7.5 Billion but I think they are playing with the figures for political reason. I suspect it is closer to 8 or 8.5 Billion. Regardless, there are ALREADY too many people on this planet for the resources available. War is the usual remedy. By the looks of things we seem to be on target for another one.

Other than that everything is hunky dory.

[Qqmike]

Re: [sigh]I hope I'm just being really paranoid...[/sigh]

I'll chime in with health/aging with my unsolicited opinion ...

GreenLight laser for BPH, a good choice.
Bicycle riding = "The truck driver's syndrome"! Pounding of the prostate = prostatitis. (Actually, too much driving in a car or sitting can trigger it.)

Formula for health after age 50 or so (or sooner!) ... w/o details (e.g., considerations for various diseases, etc.) ...

-- Water: drink it. (Urine should be clear to light yellow).
-- Walking: do it. (30 minutes a day or more, briskly). Do some simply stretching, and maybe light lifting exercises (at home is fine).
-- Sleep: get it, even if you have to nap.
-- Breathing: do it. Deep, slow breathing, relaxation now and then during the day.
-- People: get some interaction with such; make sure it is good interaction.
-- Veggies and fruits: eat them. Load up on high anti-oxidant, low-glycemic ones. Research this for yourself. (Preferably low-pesticide veggies/fruits, but this can be tricky; organic foods generally seem to be expensive; wash non-organic ones very well or peel them even though you lose some fiber in the peeling.)
-- Nuts, flax seed: in moderation; not more than an ounce of nuts a day (they are fattening); prefer raw walnuts; Brazil for selenium. (Maybe 1-2 TBS flax seed a day, say in cereal.) Nuts DO contain fat (albeit "good fat," but no fat is good for diabetes, for example).
-- Fish: eat some if you like it, 3-6 ounces a week; especially high omega-3's (wild caught salmon, sardines, herring, mackerel).
-- Meat, including chicken: little or none. (They have saturated fat that is not good for heart or diabetes, and animal proteins that our kidneys have a hard time with.) Watch your B12 (make sure you get some if you don't eat meat.)
-- Fats: Reduce/eliminate animal fats, including milk and cheese. Limited nuts, flax seed, and fish.
-- Sugar: avoid added sugars. (Sugars in veggies, fruits is OK.)
-- Don't over-eat.
-- Take a standard multi-vitamin/mineral supplement daily. Do NOT over-dose on certain vitamins/minerals. Safe: Centrum Silver (or its generics at Walgreen's or Wal-Mart.) Vitamin D3 seems beneficial and safe. (Yes, I do realize this gives just RDA and all that issue.)


=> Pretty simple, imo.

[Detonate]

Re: [sigh]I hope I'm just being really paranoid...[/sigh]

That's a good diet. It's close to mine. I have to make some allowances for my type diabetes, so I don't eat a lot of fruit. Too much sugar. I do eat 1/2 of a banana daily. Things I don't eat are any product made from white flour, I only eat whole grain products. I never eat anything that grows underground. No potatoes, beets, carrots, turnips. No rice or pasta. I check the glycemic index of every thing I eat. I eat more protein than you. I only eat fresh or fresh frozen veggies. Canned veggies always are loaded with too much salt. We have a great garden this year and I am really enjoying the fresh vegetables from that.

[Qqmike]

Re: [sigh]I hope I'm just being really paranoid...[/sigh]

Let's see, on glycemic index, as an example, whole wheat bread is about as bad as white bread UNLESS the WW is stone ground (in which case there is but a marginal but helpful benefit) . That's a good reason to skip right to rye or pumpernickel breads (and spend a week getting used to them!).

On protein, I do get it from nuts, brown rice, and beans (plus the omega-3 fish now and then).

Canned veggies -- yes, way too much salt unless you can find the No Salt added varieties (which are becoming more available).

Diabetes: T1 and T2 differ, of course. For T2, there is mounting evidence that a vegetarian/vegan diet can "reverse" it in some (many?) cases or great;ly improve the A1C as well as fasting glucose. Long story, but if anyone is interested, search for books, web sites, and PBS series on Neal Barnard MD. Such diets have benefits for T1 also (and general health--heart, kidneys, weight loss, blood pressure, etc.), but may be counter-intuitive because of existing ADA diet guidelines.


By the way, I cheat.
I stick to that outline 90+% of the time (so at least 9 out of 10 days), but then toss in very controlled occurrences of green chile cheeseburgers (made with more veggies and bun than meat), carne adovada burritos (pork marinated in red chile, wrapped in WW tortilla), an occasional hot dog (ALL natural and choice beef cuts -- no fillers or parts -- and NO chemicals by the way), some pizza. Btw, veggie people can order pretty good pizza by holding the cheese, order extra pizza sauce (no charge for that), and order all veggie toppings. Had heard of such but never tried it until recently, and it's PDG (Pretty D* Good tm), say from your fav pizza joint or Papa John's. Life is too short to spend it trying to live forever!

[Detonate]

Re: [sigh]I hope I'm just being really paranoid...[/sigh]

I actually like rye bread. I eat the whole grain mainly because i need the fiber. I don't eat a lot of it. I do have some diverticulii and I also take a fiber supplement every day. Last colonoscopy was unremarkable. Gotta keep things moving.

[GreyGeek]

Re: [sigh]I hope I'm just being really paranoid...[/sigh]

I do too, Detonate.

Have you ever tried Ezekiel bread? I love its texture.