I have been to my clinic...

"Monique Y. Mudama" wrote in message
...
On 2005-02-25, Howard Berkowitz penned:

If emotional and schedule factors get me back into regular exercise, I
can
say, from experience, I replace fat with loss and muscle mass. If I had
gastric bypass, my concern would be that I could not easily get the
protein
I need for muscle growth, and also the carbohydrates I need to keep my
sugar
reasonable during intense exercise. Yes, there are some potentially
reversible bariatric surgeries, but I think there's a better long-term
situation. I work at home and have a decent home gym; it's a matter of
emotional health and discipline to use it.

Not to be insensitive, but I don't see why bypass is even an option for
you.
It sounds like you know exactly what you need to do to get your body into
shape, but it's just hard to work up the motivation (believe me, I
sympathize!)

And men of any age have more muscle mass than women so they burn
the fat faster. It's a function of testosterone. One of the few reasons I
have
sometimes wished I was a man!

"Monique Y. Mudama" wrote in message
...
On 2005-02-25, CATherine penned:

A new hire can get ins after the 3month probation period. But I am a 12
year
veteran. I can get it only during Open Enrolment in November; which goes
into effect for the following January. I guess it takes that long to
process
the paperwork. I have gotten the "catalogs" for the two plans my company
carries; Kaiser and Cigna. I will spend the next few months trying to
study
them. I know little about insurance or how it works. I want to make the
best
choice for my needs as well as my limited budget. I have to consider
co-pays
and premiums.

I believe that Kaiser is typically an HMO

I just want to say that I used Kaiser Permanente until they were literally
run out of North Carolina. They are HORRIBLE if you actually get sick.
You have to fight tooth and nail for a referral to a specialist, and they
were at that time the ONLY HMO with no feedback system in place.
Every phone call ended up in a runaround that had to be intentional.
I now pay for my own insurance, a full plan--not something everyone
can do, but after my experience with Kaiser, I am williing to spend
the money on good care in which I am not at the mercy of
bureaucrats and neither is my doctor.

On 2005-02-25, Howard Berkowitz penned:

Malpractice insurance, and the associated extra costs of "defensive
medicine", are indeed part of the US healthcare economic situation. They
are, by no means, the only parts.

[snip good stuff]

Thanks, Howard. Those were some interesting points.

--
monique, who spoils Oscar unmercifully

pictures: http://www.bounceswoosh.org/rpca

On 2005-02-28, Mary penned:

"Monique Y. Mudama" wrote in message
...

I'd imagine your stomach would eventually stretch if you kept eating
too much food. At least, the amount of food I can eat depends on how
large my typical meal is.


Did you see Catnipped's video? If she has been overweight all her
life, she certainly is not now. Lori, what is your secret?


Yes, I did. To put what I meant to say another way:

CatNipped may have gotten surgery, but she also exerted a lot of self control
to reap the benefits of the surgery. If she hadn't had the self control to
stick to the portions appropriate for her new stomach size, I suspect her
stomach would have grown larger again and she wouldn't have had the great
results she did have.

--
monique, who spoils Oscar unmercifully

pictures: http://www.bounceswoosh.org/rpca

"Monique Y. Mudama" wrote in message
...
On 2005-02-28, Mary penned:

"Monique Y. Mudama" wrote in message
...

I'd imagine your stomach would eventually stretch if you kept eating
too much food. At least, the amount of food I can eat depends on how
large my typical meal is.


Did you see Catnipped's video? If she has been overweight all her
life, she certainly is not now. Lori, what is your secret?


Yes, I did. To put what I meant to say another way:

CatNipped may have gotten surgery, but she also exerted a lot of self
control
to reap the benefits of the surgery. If she hadn't had the self control
to
stick to the portions appropriate for her new stomach size, I suspect her
stomach would have grown larger again and she wouldn't have had the great
results she did have.


I wasn't arguing, just complimenting her. My husband's sister had the
surgery
and gained most of the weight back over a seven-year period.

In article , "Monique Y.
Mudama" wrote:

On 2005-02-25, Howard Berkowitz penned:

If emotional and schedule factors get me back into regular exercise, I
can
say, from experience, I replace fat with loss and muscle mass. If I had
gastric bypass, my concern would be that I could not easily get the
protein
I need for muscle growth, and also the carbohydrates I need to keep my
sugar
reasonable during intense exercise. Yes, there are some potentially
reversible bariatric surgeries, but I think there's a better long-term
situation. I work at home and have a decent home gym; it's a matter of
emotional health and discipline to use it.

Not to be insensitive, but I don't see why bypass is even an option for
you.
It sounds like you know exactly what you need to do to get your body into
shape, but it's just hard to work up the motivation (believe me, I
sympathize!) ... Is it that your medications change the equation and make
it
harder to take the right steps?


Oh, don't worry about insensitivity -- I like my endocrinologist very
much, but when he suggested this, I told him I didn't see it as a viable
option. Yes, I am all too aware of exercise physiology -- especially
when I used to have a personal trainer who was a physiologist. It's one
thing to have a trainer that goes into jockspeak, but for me, it really
stings when I get it biochemically! :-)

The problem is a combination of things: weight gain effects from
medication, motivation/depression, and portion control. The latter, of
course, becomes less of an issue if I burn more calories.

Ironically, or maybe not so much so, the busier I am, the more likely I
am to work out. I've started seeing...hmmm....how to describe him -- a
very medically oriented psychiatrist. This is a new university clinic
where they deal with emotional and physical issues concurrently.

In the short term, we are trying to just get some activating "reflexes".
The idea of exercising at all is more important, right now, than the
quality of the workout. So, whenever I take a pill, I try to do at least
a set or two of a movement I like -- bench presses, lat pulldowns, bicep
curls. I keep these low weight so I don't overtrain, and, when I do
manage to motivate a serious workout, I do appropriate body part splits.

One thing I've learned about my exercise patterns is that if I don't do
weight training, there's no chance I will do more classic aerobic
exercise. That doesn't, of course, preclude doing the weights at a
circuit training rather than optimal strength or muscle hypertrophy pace.

After getting off a very successful conference call with my current
client, a past client just emailed me asking for some time on another
project. Getting the finances back also help get the diet working -- I
have to be extremely careful with any carbs unless I'm closely
monitoring my blood sugar and exercise. Meats and fresh vegetables
drive up the budget.

Tonight, however, amidst possible feline envy, I plan to steam some cod
over cucumbers, sauced with black beans, ginger and green onions.

In article 1109611793.abe96d7354b2b4d53484d8ccfa515810@teran ews,
"Mary" wrote:

"Monique Y. Mudama" wrote in message
...
On 2005-02-25, Howard Berkowitz penned:

If emotional and schedule factors get me back into regular exercise,
I
can
say, from experience, I replace fat with loss and muscle mass. If I
had
gastric bypass, my concern would be that I could not easily get the
protein
I need for muscle growth, and also the carbohydrates I need to keep
my
sugar
reasonable during intense exercise. Yes, there are some potentially
reversible bariatric surgeries, but I think there's a better
long-term
situation. I work at home and have a decent home gym; it's a matter
of
emotional health and discipline to use it.

Not to be insensitive, but I don't see why bypass is even an option for
you.
It sounds like you know exactly what you need to do to get your body
into
shape, but it's just hard to work up the motivation (believe me, I
sympathize!)

And men of any age have more muscle mass than women so they burn
the fat faster. It's a function of testosterone. One of the few reasons I
have
sometimes wished I was a man!



If it's any consolation, testosterone (well, to be precise,
dehydrotestosterone) causes male pattern baldness. I may discuss some
androgen supplements with my endocrinologist, to see if it would be
useful in weight loss. There's a gel preparation that seems to be lower
in side effects than the other forms of anabolic steroids, which I
flatly would not take.

One of my key blood pressure drugs is oral minoxidil, which, taken
orally -- and it is a potent drug with side effects to watch closely --
is far more effective in growing hair than Rogaine. I now have grown
back to an area that I can sometimes get away with explaining as "That's
not a bald spot. That's a solar energy panel for a luuuuve machine."