Month: May 2008

Ten Years of Jared

It has come to my attention that it’s been 10 years since Jared Fogle lost 245 pounds eating Subway sandwiches. And surprisingly enough, it wasn’t a publicity stunt. He was a regular guy who was tired of being fat. In fact, Subway Corporate originally saw him “as an oddity, not an opportunity.”

Hey, man, congrats! I guess he’s joined me as a “literally a freak of nature.”

I’d like to take a few minutes to talk about some of the things Jared did right, and point out a few things he could have done better. For those of you just joining me, let me briefly present my diet credentials: my personal weight loss story; and some of my evolving ideas about diet and weight management.

Furthermore, it is worth mentioning that someone very special is going to be looking over this post very critically, a doctor who specializes in weight and age management here in Las Vegas.

So what did Jared do right?

He came to his own decision to lose weight. His mom, coach, or girlfriend did not cram down a diet on him. He wasn’t carrying anybody else’s baggage about body image, only his own conviction that something had to change. He, on his own, got tired of the fact that “My shoulders would hurt. My knees would hurt. My wrists would hurt. And that was not even when I was in motion.” There is unfortunately something true to the joke about how many psychiatrists it takes to change a light bulb — only one, but the light bulb has to want to change.

He was an adult when he began to diet. Not to discount the terrible problem we have with childhood obesity in this country, but it sure does seem like the vast majority of the people who say diets don’t work have somewhere in their story a sentence like “I went on my first diet when I was 13.” Or 11. Or 16. Many of these diets were enforced by well meaning parents who were honestly trying to help their kids not be little fatties (see previous point). These people may indeed be right about one thing: diets don’t work for them. On one hand, we could use some research on the long term effects of diet on adolescents. On the other hand, I fear for the kids in the test group.

He limited calories, but to a sustainable level. He went from eating “sometimes, 10,000 calories a day” to eating about 2000 calories a day. I think all of us can live on 2000 calories a day for quite a while, and if we do it sensibly we can do it without feeling hungry all the time. This was not a severe calorie restriction diet of under 1000 calories a day.

It was a diet he could keep doing day after day. He lived practically next door to the Subway. It didn’t involve strange foods that were hard to get or difficult and time consuming to prepare. If he went away, there would still be a Subway nearby. If not, he could figure out how to make a sandwich on his own. And really, if he got tired of the turkey sub, he could have had the ham, or the roast beef, or a salad.

It was a (relatively) balanced diet. There’s plenty of veggies on top of a sandwich from Subway, along with a reasonable portion of bread and enough protein to keep you going. Protein is really important on a diet.

He cut added sugar. He didn’t have the cookie with his sandwich, although he did have the baked potato chips. He stopped putting 10 packets of sugar in his morning coffee. He switched to diet soda. Frankly, just the changes in his beverage habits alone probably took 500 calories off his daily intake! Which would you rather have, 500 calories of soda or 500 calories of sandwich?

Once he was physically able to, he added an exercise component to his diet. Sure, it started with some walking. And then a lot of walking. It would not surprise me for his workout to have evolved a bit over the last 10 years.

He wasn’t obnoxious about it. The story goes that “former dorm mate of Fogle, Ryan Coleman, wrote an article about Fogle’s weight loss story after Coleman ran into Fogle and hardly recognized him because of the lost weight.” He wasn’t beating his chest over being on a diet. Heck, he was embarrassed to be that heavy and once said “I had no intention of anyone ever finding out what I had done.”

He didn’t give up. Sandwiches are not the first thing Jared tried, just the most successful thing. To the best of my knowledge — and I have not read his book — he has never discussed some of the strategies that failed. He does point out that some things work better for different people.

He didn’t go back to the way of eating and living that got him fat in the first place. Make no mistake, Jared doesn’t just eat subway sandwiches anymore. But he’s not eating 10,000 calories a day. He’s happy to be where he is, and happy to be helping other people too. I suspect that he still does watch what he eats and that he exercises. He can certainly afford a personal trainer to help with that now.

Nevertheless, there are some things he could have done better.

He skipped breakfast. Just adding a piece of fruit first thing in the morning would have stimulated his metabolism. Some experts recommend eating 5 healthy but snack-sized meals instead of 3 regular meals for just this reason.

He didn’t have a support group. Most people don’t have the inner strength to go it completely alone the way Jared did. Most of us need somebody rooting for us — or at the very least not actively working against us! Even if it’s just one trusted friend or your spouse or your doctor, somebody to help you and sometimes keep you accountable is a good thing.

Most of us would prefer more variety. Don’t get me wrong, Subway has a lot of different sandwiches, but it wouldn’t surprise me if Jared reached a point where he didn’t particularly ever want to see another sub again.

That’s it.  There have been some advances in weight loss and a bunch of research since Jared lost all that weight, but a lot of what he did is still something doable and worth doing.

Happy Memorial Day

Picture of the Washington Memorial courtesy of Royalty Free Clip Art.

Celebrate with the last living American Veteran of World War I The Great War. But if you are going to celebrate with the President, the Secret Service would like you to leave your dogtags (and anything you could conceivably use as a weapon) in the barracks.

In closing: Will work; why is oil so expensive, take one and take two (if you said “because we’re not digging up the ANWR” or “because of OPEC” you’d be wrong); MegaPenny project; Old Time Radio; that’s how you invoke Bobby Kennedy; job cuts aren’t just for the little people anymore; when the world’s richest man says we’re in a recession, you’d better listen; heathens don’t drive Fords; Interesting translations; and Stationmaster Tama is back in the news, with a prosh photo over at Cute Overload to boot. Yes, Tama-san is still a cat. Not enough Japan for you? Then stock up on sake and rice crackers; ABC is filming a game show called “I Survived a Japanese Game Show.”

Well, the Post Office has been stimulated

Soon after the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008 was passed, I received a notice in the mail from the IRS to let me know this had happened and was great news and I was likely to get a check.

Today I received a notice in the mail from the IRS to let me know that under the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008, I was entitled to a check, and it should arrive next week.

Next week — according to this notice in the mail from the IRS — I should receive a check in the mail from the IRS under the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008.

I am unsure how much this check will “stimulate” my personal economic outlook, but the money spent on paper, printing, and postage will probably have a greater effect on the economy than whatever I should do with the expected check. The check that the IRS will send me in the mail.  Under the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008.

In closing:  the real unemployment rate; how is it we can convict 297 illegal immigrants who worked at one plant and not come up with a single charge against the employer?; the Secret History of Star Wars; the real roots of the food crisis; Good Post on Bad Money; and finally students so busy the school has to add a 20 minute “lunch period”?  How about telling these kids that no, you can’t have 6 academic classes, you have to take a lunch period!  Attention Administrators:  YOU are the GROWN-UPS.  Act like it!

Sometimes I feel like the only sane person in the world.

Lawn Hors D’Oeuvres, or 2 Thoughts on 4 Shows

Thought One: Not Exactly Kitchen Stadium

I watch both Top Chef and Hell’s Kitchen. I’m new to Hell’s Kitchen this year, although I have watched Top Chef for several seasons now (and hello? was there some concerted effort to not have anybody from Las Vegas this season?). In case you are unfamiliar with the concept, these are cooking game shows. The prize in one is a position as Executive Chef at a Gordon Ramsay owned restaurant. The prize in the other is everything you need in an industrial kitchen, and a bunch of good press to get your new restaurant off the ground.

Now then, when you start with 14 contestants and end up with one winner, it is obvious that everyone else will not win. This part, everyone gets. The part that seems to elude some is that the losers will be looking for a job at the end of the season. Most of the Top Chef crew gets this. Only a couple contenders over at Hell’s Kitchen — including the one I expect to win handily — have the faintest clue.

This is not rocket science. Someday, a prospective employer will have watched this show, and in all likelihood will have already decided whether or not to hire these chefs. That decision will have a little to do with their kitchen performance, and a lot to do with the way they handled themselves on-camera but out of the kitchen. These shows are a multi-week job interview, but some people aren’t treating it that way.

Thought Two: Got Dead Body?

If I am ever so unfortunate as to be closely enough associated with a high-profile criminal case such that the Hollywood types think it’s a good idea to make an episode of a TV show about it, I sincerely hope that it’s CSI instead of Law and Order. Law and Order tends way too much towards “Internet Bad! Doctors Greedy! Non-Missionary Position Sex Bad!”

I also hope they can get Amy Poehler to play me.

She’s 5’2″, so she would have to wear flats.

In closing: here’s what John Edwards has been doing; Fafblog! is back, and with great stuff like this “interview” with Senator Clinton; What’s good for the gosling is good for the goose, so why aren’t faculty members lining up to pee in the cup?; Expert Ezra on Tom Daschle; Maybe Jim Crow oughta watch his back; look over there! it’s a gay, married red herring!; and sorry I’m not touching the “appeasers!” scandal, because Jill said what needed saying (and don’t forget Chris Mathews asking if his guest even knows what “appeasement” is).

Have a great weekend!

Death By Pregnancy

Welcome to my entry in the Mothers Day Blogswarm for Maternal Death. This event is a counter-protest against those who feel that abortion is nothing more than killing babies. The sad fact of the matter is that sometimes and in some parts of the world women die because they cannot get a pregnancy terminated.

And that brings me to my own chosen niche in this vast realm. I will be discussing ectopic pregnancy. Those of you in the audience who are medical professionals may protest that terminating an ectopic pregnancy is not an abortion (for reasons I will discuss below), but the fact is that in some nations, it is considered an abortion — an illegal abortion.

An ectopic pregnancy occurs when the fertilized egg does not make it all the way to the uterus — which is designed to accommodate a rapidly growing embryo as it turns ino a fetus and finally a baby. Instead, it implants elsewhere, usually in the Fallopian tubes. This structure is not designed to stretch and carry a pregnancy. This results in symptoms such as sharp, stabbing pain and vaginal bleeding. If left untreated, the Fallopian tube will eventually rupture, causing massive internal bleeding.

This always results in the death of the fetus, and can often cause the death of the mother as well. “Before the 19th century, the mortality rate (the death rate) from ectopic pregnancies exceeded 50%. By the end of the 19th century, the mortality rate dropped to five percent because of surgical intervention. With current advances in early detection, the mortality rate has improved to less than five in 10,000.” Here in the United States, where we have state-of-the-art medical treatment and emergency rooms that treat everyone who comes in the door regardless of their ability to pay, ectopic pregnancy kills roughly 40-50 women each year and is a leading cause of maternal death in the first trimester.

The bottom line is that in the 1 in 40-100 pregnancies that this occurs, “Ectopic pregnancies cannot continue to birth (term). The developing cells must be removed to save the mother’s life.” Nevertheless, should you be unfortunate enough to experience an ectopic pregnancy in places like El Salvadore, Nicaragua, or other nations with very strict prohibitions on abortion, you are likely to die. There are frankly no assurances from the so-called Pro-Life movement that their goals do not include such draconian laws. Frankly these are people who can rationalize that a fertilized ovum that has not yet implanted is somehow a baby.

Now then, to the “It’s a baby!” crowd, it is not. It will not become a baby. Before it can possibly do so, its growth will destroy the very structure which attaches it to its mother. In this process, it will die. There is no way to move it, to attach it elsewhere, no way for it to survive long enough to be viable. It has absolutely zero chance of becoming living, breathing human being.

There is another element of the so-called Pro-Life movement who will shrug and say “Well, she knew that sex had consequences” — that’s a soft version of “Let the slut die.” The problem is that this doesn’t just happen to “sluts”: this also happens to devoted wives, and to moms who have born, living children at home that they love very much. So much for being actually for living beings.

I leave you this morning with abortion laws in all 50 states, BitchPhD’s Mother’s Day Round-Up, a classic post from Maya’s Granny, and a couple more stops on the Blogswarm with The Crone Speaks and The 3 Rs.

Happy Mothers Day. Go hug a mom; she can always use another hug.

Pre-Parade Entertainment

Remember, the Mothers Day Blogswarm for Maternal Death is this Sunday. We’ve gotten some coverage in places like BlogHer, TMV, and Healthy Concerns, and we expect a good turnout.

As some food for thought before the event itself, please consider some of these stories:

First stop is Kansas, where prosecutors are going on a fishing expedition through confidential patient records to see if — if — a crime has even been committed. More to the point, they are trying to harass a doctor out of doing a procedure that is regrettably sometimes necessary. Oh, and a judge has called them on it.

In Missouri, lawmakers want women to submit to extensive *ahem* informational counseling and questioning before allowing an abortion. The question of whether a woman psychologically unfit to have an abortion should really be raising a child is left to your imagination. Thanks to Bitch PhD for this tidbit. Who the heck are these women who are allegedly being “forced” to have abortions against their wills? Are we talking about minors whose parents have made a valid medical decision on the behalf of their child?

A law currently on the Governor’s desk in Oklahoma would force women to have an ultrasound before getting an abortion. I bet the patient has to pay for this procedure too, raising the cost substantially. No word on whether this requirement could or would be waived in a medical emergency.

Don’t forget South Dakota.

Some within the so-called Pro-Life community — and I will continue to say so-called until they denounce the internal faction that believes it is acceptable to enforce their opinions with violence, vandalism, and murder — even want to limit access to birth control, falsely claiming it can “cause” an abortion. This shows a fundamental misunderstanding of the term “pregnancy” and shows their true colors as not pro-babies, but anti-sex.

Here’s a summary of abortion laws around the world.

Wikipedia’s article on Abortion in the United States points out that 2.8% are due to risks to maternal health, and another 3.3% are due to risks to fetal health. Also, 59.3% of abortions are in the first 8 weeks of pregnancy.

And then there are our sisters in Africa. Rape is a weapon of war there and elsewhere.

Speaking of war, there are our sisters in uniform, one in three of whom will be raped by fellow soldiers while serving our country. Sometimes the *ahem* alleged rapist even allegedly murders their pregnant victim rather than let her testify.

And then we have teenage girls that are pregnant and deathly afraid of what will happen when their parents find out. Sometimes it turns out ok. Sometimes it does not. Seven out of ten are already being abused by their boyfriends. Of those, some of them were deliberately impregnated as a form of control. What a lovely way to bring new life into the world.

And I haven’t even mentioned what I will be writing about.

As much as I hate to agree with Hillary Clinton on anything, in an ideal world abortion should be safe, legal, and rare. You prevent abortions not by making it hard to get one, but by preventing the unwanted pregnancy in the first place.

In closing: Ezra on retirement; an interesting observation about Guantánamo Bay; Hillary is 404; follow-up on Kelo; and the finalists for Bruce Schneier’s annual movie plot threat contest.

One Missed Shorties

The Smartest Thing You’ll Read on Illegal Employment and Immigration All Day: Alternet tells us the truth — with supporting statistics — that it isn’t “jobs Americans don’t want,” but “exploitable employees that unscrupulous employers do want”.

Speaking of Statistics: Here’s a guy who understands the employment and inflation stats and how they are manipulated. In short? the recession is here now.

Bill Moyers has the last word: At least, when it comes to Rev. Wright. Here’s the video, here’s the text.

Burma, shaved: A couple items on the aftermath of a huge cyclone in Myanmar Burma. The death toll is estimated at well over 20,000, getting supplies to survivors is difficult, and our own First Lady accuses the government of not warning people and leaving them to die (oh, the irony).

Obligatory crap about the primaries and related Democratic detritus: IHT cleverly tells us one of three things could happen today; a sad but true prediction; Hillary’s nuclear option, if it in fact exists, could nuke her; does she honestly think the 3.5 million newly registered voters want politics as usual?; if we can’t win we’ll change the rules; lessons learned; and the Edwardses are classy people.

Cinco de Mayo gave me gas: OPEC; Harry Reid; and stolen grease.

To get your war money, you have to give money to unemployed people: well, I guess if we have to take the combo meal, we may as well supersize it.

The Duhpartment of Research: the race gap in drug arrests (uh, sure, white people never do drugs, riiiiight); and a researcher finding more antibiotic resistant bacteria calls the trend “very worrisome.”

The One-Minute Manager has met his match: Ten Tips from Florinda.

And now for your dose of Shorties Japan-Filter: Giant Kites; it’s easier than working; nothing to crow about; and The Prince meets A Dog [Hisohito-sama wa ookite shiroi inu wo mimashita. Kirei-na inu deshita, ne.].

In Florida, they consider him a “wizard,” but in Vegas we would consider him a barely passable illusionist: Teacher fired for making a toothpick vanish up his sleeve.

You knew I would slip health care in someplace: Granny Bashers.

A Dyre Situation: Blogger food drive.

And finally: Goodbye to the Spindle.

A Message from a Voter

This is the first ever guest voice on ShortWoman. It is a letter which will be going out both to the Clinton campaign and to the Democratic Party. I will let the author introduce himself. Please enjoy.

Dear Senator Clinton:

I have been a lifelong Democrat. I spent my first Presidential election as a voter phoning polling turnout reports back to Dukakis campaign headquarters in Fort Worth, TX, so that we could maximize Democratic turnout in key precincts. I have donated and put my time in for all of my adult life. I have always voted a strict party line and, frankly, watching the lemming-like behavior of the Republicans with regard to the impeachment of President Clinton can say with certainty that I will never vote for a Republican for any office.

Those things said, I cannot and will not vote for Hillary Clinton for the Presidency of the United States. As a child I was promised that anyone could grow up to be President. For the last 20 years only 2 families have controlled the White House and your election would extend that to 24 or 28 years. That is the death of the ultimate promise of American opportunity.

I have been disenfranchised by national politics much of my adult life. I have watched as my party has become preoccupied with rancor and political expediency instead of real, meaningful service to the electorate. Your campaign this year has demonstrated that your concern is limited to only those states that serve your political expediency and have little regard for the electorate as whole. This is a failed strategy. And while it served to elect William Jefferson Clinton, it was unable to deliver despite the fitness of Al Gore or John Kerry for service.

I am a physician. I have watched as my own profession has failed to listen to my needs politically or even serve its own end. I have watched as my professional organizations have failed to lobby for meaningful things like Medicare funding caring instead to focus on distractions like tort reform. The answer, and you know this, is not some slipshod universal healthcare plan that involves mandates of private insurance. The answer here is one of real vision, a vision that you have had almost two decades to formulate and have failed to do so.

I have watched you pander to insurance companies, to big oil interests, to the political right, and to religious groups. In short, everyone except actual people who could actually vote for you.

Enough is enough, Senator Clinton. You refuse to endorse a 50 state strategy for your campaign and I refuse to support your campaign under any circumstances. If by some slim chance you become the nominee, I will not vote for you. I will not vote for your opponent either. Whether I withhold my vote or represent some small number of votes for a third party, I cannot say.

Senator, you have failed me as a Democrat and I will not allow you to continue to do so.

Thank you for your time,

Warren Magnus, DO

Hillary’s Fail Moment

I honestly thought I’d spend today talking about the McCain health plan. But frankly, lots of people have already said deeper things about it than I would have. Hey, it might have worked 5 or 10 years ago.

Instead, I offer two observations. First, breastfeeding of infants is at a multi-decade high. That’s a good thing! But is it because today’s savvy moms are trying to do the healthiest thing for their babies, or is it because it’s cheaper than formula?

Second, Hillary Clinton has had her supermarket-scanner tank-riding moment. Many thanks to State of the Day and AmericaBlog for pointing us to this hilarious (Hillarious?) video of our former First Lady, who went to a gas station for the first time in 2 decades, trying to get a cup of coffee. Bonus points? When she stops near the end to read the instructions printed prominently on the machine itself.