What can I do? I know I won’t be able to lose weight fast enough to fit in these clothes again before summer ends. It does stay warm enough in Denver that these can serve as my fall wardrobe. But not having enough clothes that fit? Big-time bummer.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Show notes:

Lost a bit this week. Yay!

Mother’s Day was a problem, but I had been good enough during the week to minimize the damage.

Hydroxycut is in the news, reminds me of phen-phen from a decade ago.

And it turns out that those of us who are obese might just be addicted to junk food.

2002 Study:
Reduction in Dopamine correlation with BMI,  Result: use over-eating to trigger the reward centers
http://www.cbc.ca/consumers/market/files/food/junkfood_addiction/dopamine.html
2008 Study
Very similar: ghrelin.
http://www.slate.com/blogs/blogs/humannature/archive/tags/junk+food/default.aspx
http://www.nature.com/oby/journal/v11/n4/full/oby200368a.html

Video entries are fun! I don’t promise I’ll do them every week, but I’ll sure try.

The International Diabetes Federation (IDF) Task Force on Epidemiology and Prevention has warned that recent research demonstrates that type 2 diabetes and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) are closely related…

The study is quick to point out that this is very preliminary, and requires a lot more testing and study. Of course, they easy link between the two is obesity: People who are over weight are prone to OSA, and those who eat enough sugar-rich foods to become over weight are on the track towards type 2 diabetes. I am assuming this study takes this into fact, but it is always dangerous to make assumptions.

The study also makes screening suggestions:

While people with OSA should be routinely screened for metabolic disease and type 2 diabetes as screening tests are inexpensive and easy to conduct, people with diabetes should be screened for OSA particularly when they present classical symptoms such as witnessed apneas, heavy snoring or daytime sleepiness and poor workplace performance.

I think that this is very responsible. And is directed right at medical insurance companies. Insurance companies are normally fast to pay for diabetes screening/treatment. But OSA is another matter. Sleep studies are expensive, as are CPAP machines and supplies. This study says up front that the insurance companies really should pay for these to avoid further complications. I think that is a very responsible tack to take.

As for me, I’m in trouble. I most definitely have OSA, and it went untreated for a long time. I am also pre-diabetic. The combination of the two could lead to big health problems in my future.

The idea behind the diet is pretty straight-forward: eat like people along the Mediterranean always have. That means a whole lot of whole-grain breads and pastas, fruits and veggies, and olive oil. Daily yogurt and cheese. Smaller portions of fish and skinless poultry. And very little of other types of meats, sweets, etc. It makes a lot of sense, and should be easy to follow. Especially for someone addicted to breads and pastas like me.

My problem is visualizing what I should eat frequently versus what I should try to avoid all together. Fortunately, I was able to track down an awesome  food pyramid tailored for the mediterranean diet (oldwayspt.org). There are actually two pyramids available for download/printing; one for adults (includes wine) and one for children (no wine). This makes a very easy-to-read guide to foods that are okay. Theoretically, that’ll make it much easier to create food plans. And to put lunches together.

My favorite part of this: since nuts are one of the Daily foods, it means I have (get) to eat a lot of peanut butter. YUMMY!

I have had a horrible, horrible cold all this past week. It’s been bugging me and annoying me all week, and made me miserable enough that I stayed home from work all week. For me, there’s always a toss-up between whether I will eat a lot while I am sick for comfort, or whether I’ll feel too bad to eat at all, and I end up losing a bunch of weight.

This time around, I split the difference. I ate more than I should have, most definitely. I didn’t track my points/food journal through most of the week, because I knew I was being bad. But what I was eating too much of was relatively not bad. Having an extra 3-Point WeightWatchers cookie dough sundae is much better than having a 27-point pint of Ben & Jerry’s cookie dough ice cream. Having a peanut butter and spreadable fruit sandwich adds a lot more nutrition than a bunch of peanut butter cookies. All in all, I thought the trade-offs were acceptable. And it shows in my weight. I oculdn’t have gone too far overboard since I didn’t gain any weight. And my body still ended up getting the nutrition that it needs.

I am 95% over this cold finally, so hopefully I’ll get back to losing weight in the upcoming week.