<p>That’s terrific, ML! Light up accessories are needed for you and CBB!</p>
<p>ML, it sounds like your trainer is a keeper. It is those CrossFit nazis that don’t pay attention to their trainees technique and abilities that get the bad rap. </p>
<p>Sabaray, thank you! Good luck to your hubby. He deserves a pat on the back for getting started. Many never do! May his journey be successful. I think Mr will be delighted if his story inspires someone to get going. He (and I) both managed to maintain healthy weight for more than 2 years now. The going was slow in the beginning, but as we both look back at where we were compared to where we are now, we don’t want to go back. We don’t diet or exercise ourselves to death, it is just that healthier eating and physical activity have become integral parts of our lifestyles. Last night, Mr was itching to do something after we went for sushi. I did not mind that he pedaled his recumbent bike for 40 minutes (and I did a bit of free weights - for a fraction of that time. 
).</p>
<p>Abasket, you are right, numbers don’t matter as much as health and well being. You have certainly helped my health and well being by your focus on these threads for healthy eating and movement. Abasket rocks!</p>
<p>Yes, kudos to abasket and sabaray! I might have been inspired by what I have described in the earliest today’s post, but I think that CC threads are a big part of my motivation to keep doing the right thing. :)</p>
<p>Idad gave me inspiration. Don’t know why but I’ve never done this before but today I went to the Sleeping Bear Dunes area. They just opened a new portion of the bike path they are building. It was hilly! Too hilly for me, I had a lot of trouble I won’t lie. I’m a flat path rail trail rider. Need to improve if I want to tackle this path again, and I’m not sure I do. Went 13 miles on the bike path. Went into Glen Arbor, a village in the area had lunch and poked around the shops. Went to Cherry Republic <a href=“http://www.cherryrepublic.com”>http://www.cherryrepublic.com</a> and got some pie and cookies for later. Yum! Then I returned to the dune climb and ran 3 miles. </p>
<p>Tired. Don’t know why I haven’t done this before, had a really nice day. It was a beautiful Northern Michigan day. I only live an hour and a quarter away so the ride was nice. Sometimes I’m waiting for people to do things with when I should just go! </p>
<p>My avatar is my bike and beautiful Lake Michigan :)</p>
<p>That sounds terrific, deb! I am very envious. </p>
<p>I was very thin in college and then again after my children were born. The first time, it was because of an eating disorder. The second time, it was because I was very ill. I am now getting close to that weight again, but it’s not because of starvation or GI issues (for the most part) thank goodness. I wear different sizes in every brand - even within brands, it depends on the cut or the rise as to what size fits best. I might wear a J Crew size 6 in some things but then need a 10 in other items. I don’t worry about those kinds of numbers. As to why the small sizes are left on the rack - I suspect more of them are manufactured to begin with than the larger sizes. Even when items are just being put out, there are usually far more in the size 2 to 8 than the 10 to 16 (if those sizes are even available). Increasingly I see clothing in the larger sizes as being advertised as online only. Just a guess. </p>
<p>Those were very interesting articles, BB. I will be curious to see what my labs come back at. </p>
<p>Deb922- that’s a beautiful area. My D went to boarding school at Interlochen and loved going up there.</p>
<p>Yay CBB for a 5 lb party. And MOWC for a 1 lb party on crutches! And, to Deb for biking and hiking the sand dunes. That is some hard exercise.</p>
<p>I took advantage of the postcard weather to get in my weekly hike. I went for a change of pace from climbing mountains – a flat hike to Black Pond and Franconia Falls – 9 miles.</p>
<p>Listened to an NPR podcast on type 2 diabetes. Had two of the leading names – Kelly Brownell and some big diabetes center director. In the entire half hour segment, on how to prevent type 2 diabetes, they never uttered the word “carbohydrates”, even though type 2 diabetes is a fundamentally a disease of insulin resistance and broken carbohydrate metabolism. They did say to lose weight by cutting back on soda and meat. Maybe if the leading experts would stop BSing people, it would help. Sheesh. Maybe there wouldn’t be 29 million type 2 diabetics in the US if there were accurate information about the causes. How, can experts discuss type 2 diabetes without ever saying the word “carbohydrate”?</p>
<p>Deb, I know that area and they cherry place - I’m envious of your day there!!! Great idea to just GO!!! </p>
<p>Even though I can be feisty, overall my nature is to try and be positive - sometimes to a fault! I NEED the glass half full!!! I have had to take the physical steps -literally - to get where I am in terms if diet, exercise, wellness- but much of the motivation, tips, steps and " I can do it" mentality came mostly from this thread. I think that’s why I. So passionate about trying to help others - and why I get frustrated sometimes on the WLFD thread where I often see folks “give up” or “give in”.</p>
<p>Lets face it - WE ALL ROCK!!! :)</p>
<p>I hate the size deflation. I’m wearing 2 sizes smaller than what I wore in high school. I weigh about five pounds more.</p>
<p>Congrats to CBBlinker on the five pounds and to MOWC, who lost a pound while injured!</p>
<p>The Garmin says 9.48 miles for me today. I averaged 2.1 mph, including the time I spent sitting on the rocks at Franconia Falls, soaking up the sun and munching on some almonds. I’ve come a long way since I wrote done, “Walk a mile without getting winded” as one of my fitness goals. Max heart rate today: 71% of my max.</p>
<p>The UCAN SuperStarch continues to work well as hiking fuel. I mix it up in thermos bottles. Half a packet 30 minutes before I start hiking and then another half packet every 2 hours. Zero problems drinking or digesting the stuff. I prefer the vanilla, but the chocolate is OK.</p>
<p>Good morning, and kudos to all the party pounders!
(I, by contrast, am up 3…because I’ve been a slug this week as I’ve had to quickly edit a book at nights for my writers group…long sedentary hours!)</p>
<p>Deb922 sounds like a beautiful day! I’ve lived in the state for 11 years now and haven’t gotten up there…which is riddiculous when I think about it.</p>
<p>MomWC, funny your d went to interlochen…we seriously discussed mcson transferring for his jr and sr years. He’d been a late bloomer to composition and to his principal instrument but around then started garnering awards etc. and became determined to get into a program at Umich SOM for which the odds were long. But he really loved his G/T school, so instead he started beefing up his skill set by being dual enrolled at a local university and getting some private production/comp instruction, etc.</p>
<p>And he did manage to get himself in 
Given how much he enjoyed his undergrad at UMich and how involved he became in other fine arts disciplines there, I realize now that Interlochen would have been more useful for him in terms of his following his passion. But his math and science teachers in HS had also influenced us a lot at the time as he was gifted in that regard too so it seemed risky to abandon his accelerated academic path if it turned out he decided to switch gears. If I had a do-over though, I think I’d have sent him to interlochen from the get go.</p>
<p>Back when we’d lived in Canada, he’d alway intended to go to a performing arts HS here my BIL taught.</p>
<p>Hindsight is always 20/20, isn’t it </p>
<p>Another muggy day here, but in happier news, our contractor will start installing our new HVAC system today. Doubt we will have A/C this weekend, but the end of our “luxury sauna” appears to be approaching. It’s been like living at the lake…damp…but without the benefit of a lake to cool off in! </p>
<p>kmc, I’ve no doubt your weight will go down once you get back on the hill. </p>
<p>My dad, a terrible diabetic, did very well restricting his carbs once he was diagnosed. Key word there: once. Holidays and special occasions were still tough for him. Having seen the serious issues that Type II can create in a relatively young “older” person, I have no desire to go through that. I’m starting to wonder if there will be anything safe for me to eat before long! </p>
<p>ML, congrats on your 9 pound party! My D joined a cross fit gym, she and her bf work out there. She seems to be enjoying it. </p>
<p>We have tickets for a couple of concerts this summer at Interlochen. Going to see Joshua Bell with the World Youth Symphony, pretty excited. The venue is great too, we enjoy going there. </p>
<p>So glad summer is finally here and able to get out. Feeling bad though for MOWC, this injury stinks! </p>
<p>Thanks, all, but remember I gained 4 pounds and now have lost one of those. Hopefully, I can keep it in check.</p>
<p>kmcmom- we had concerns about Interlochen academics, too, before she went, but interestingly it turned out to be absolutely top notch (and she came from a top private school in Dallas) and she got 5s on all her AP tests.</p>
<p>3 weeks done on the crutches. Fingers crossed that I’m healing.</p>
<p>I’m a big believer in always taking celebrations when and where you can get them – so party on MOWC, in honor of hitting the 3 week mark on crutches. </p>
<p>Pretty amazing that carbs weren’t mentioned at all, idad – especially since the current protocol for managing Type I diabetes includes counting carbs. When D was at Yale getting her MPH, Kelly Brownell was there, at the Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity. At one point she (D) had thoughts of trying to get a job there. but that didn’t work out. Plus, she wasn’t all that impressed with Brownell after hearing him speak several times, considering how renowned he is.</p>
<p>Back on the treadmill this morning – run/walk for 4.39 miles. </p>
<p>As a side note, I just discovered my Amazon Prime membership now includes tons of free music! Oh yeah, time to load up on more tunes to help me get through my workouts.</p>
<p>2.9 miles, 7 x 400 speed work, the rest warm up & cool down jog.</p>
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<p>They mentioned carbs and blood sugar in the second segment – on Type 1 diabetes with different experts. Pretty cool segment actually, These guys are developing an insulin pump that constantly monitors blood sugar and injects insulin (to lower blood sugar) or glucagon (to raise blood sugar). So, it works pretty much like the pancreas.</p>
<hr>
<p>The funny thing is that the type 2 diabetes segment had Brownell and the other expert dancing all around the issue. For example, they present diabetes as being caused by obesity, but then pointed out that 20% of all type 2 diabetics are thin. They were asked why some native american populations have sky high diabetes rates while others (like the Alaskan Inuit) have very low rates. They said “genetics”, never offering differences in diet as a potential contributor (the Inuit diet is quintessentially and notoriously low-carb).</p>
<p>We are still years away from an artificial pancreas. If VCs were not chasing the next texting app, we would see one sooner, but investing in medical devices and biotech is not a cool thing to do. </p>
<p>MOfWC, congrats on the 3 weeks! </p>
<p>The developers were calling this contraption a “bionic pancreas”, but it really sounded more like a smart insulin pump. The big advance was the ability to administer either insulin or glucagon based on near- real-time monitoring of blood sugar The testing has shown the ability to very tightly control blood sugar levels in type 1 diabetics. Their target is to have this thing on the market by 2017.</p>
<p>It’s kind of confusing that Type 1 Diabetes and Type 2 Diabetes have the same name as they are completely different diseases. Type 1 is sudden onset, caused by genetic predisposition and some kind of unknown autoimmune response that kills the pancreas beta cells. Type 2 is a lifestyle driven disease caused by insulin resistance that develops progressively over a long time. Type 2 is the more interesting one from a lifestyle/fitness standpoint, because the things that contribute to progressive insulin resistance leading to type 2 diabetes are also contributing factors to obesity, heart disease, etc. It’s probably not accurate to say that obesity causes type 2 diabetes or heart disease, but rather the same things that cause type 2 diabetes and heart disease ALSO cause obesity. The obesity is just another symptom.</p>
<p>Brownell and the other expert were giving the generic advice to stay thin and exercise to prevent type 2 diabetes, but how does the generic advice explain the 20% of type 2 diabetics who are thin? I just thought the whole segment was a great example of how poorly served we are by the public health experts in areas of diet and fitness. The simple, effective advice for anyone looking to prevent Type 2 diabetes would be “lay off the carbs a little bit…” Since the disease is, by definition, a problem controlling blood sugar after eating carbs, the experts have to do some real loop-de-loops and barrel-rolls to avoid giving the obvious specific advice… Instead, we get “stay thin and exercise”…</p>