Friday, August 24, 2012

Too Much Time on my Hands Leads to Self-Experimentation

I am still self experimenting. I went on a 100km ride two weeks ago to see if I could go on my cycling trip which was a 286km ride to Algonquin Park. The ride went well. We tackled many hills and it down poured on us. Muscle wise, I was perfect. No aches or pains. However, after the ride stopped, I had a chest pain. That night I couldn't sleep. I had to use my inhaler (which is a steroid combo with a broncho-dilator) twice. My chest tightened and I struggled a bit getting in that air. I could breathe, but it was this sensation that I have this cement bag on my chest. I was trying to take in deep breathes, but no success. I called up my beloved to tell him the bad news. I just didn't want to be a burden and  hospitals are just not around when you are camping in the bush.


This was at my 50km mark. The weather was perfect! Too bad, so sad! 
Another way I know that I am going through a symptom is the inability to complete a yawn. I yawn, but can't make it. Anyhow, there is no congestion in my lungs. My airflow is normal according to a pulmonary function test I did at the hospital. My brother-in-law suggests that it may be anxiety and others have as well. They thought that is may be stress due to my dad passing away and me being the main caretaker of my mother. It may well be. All I know is that at times, it is hard to get that air in. I will be doing a methacolene test at the hospital which induces my lungs to have an attack. It is one of the ways to prove that I have indeed asthma since I do not seem to exhibit typical symptoms. My asthma specialist thought it was strange that I didn't experience symptoms during my ride, but after the fact. That ride was an experiment. This test will be an interesting one. I will let you know. I am suppose to be off the puffers for a couple of weeks. Then they pump the stuff into my airways and see how I fair.

In the meantime, I am still doing my diet experiment. I have been mostly paleo. My energy levels are stable. I get less asthma like symptoms so far. That could be also a placebo effect. What I do notice is when I do cheat on sugar, I get some of the symptoms. The reason is that to get the sugar out of your system and then re-introduce it, has its adverse effects. You are more likely to notice it then you would if you continually have sugar in your diet. I had some medjool dates yesterday. Seem healthy enough, right? Natural. No added sugar. No preservatives. Here is the thing. The natural occurring sugar is Fructose. It is still sugar. Your body reacts to it like it does with glucose. When broken down, it becomes glucose. Robb Wolf who I have mentioned before in my paleo blog site, refers to fructose is that "aunt" that looks innocent enough. The liver works harder to break down fructose than when it  receives straight glucose. Anyhow, at any rate, my innocent dates were evil. You live, you learn.

Here is a blog on Fructose by Amy Kabal who is a dietitian:

Fructose Effects on the Body

Here is another experiment of mine. Pure coffee. I bought a bag of coffee beans that are from Costa Rica. I learned from the Bullet-Proof executive that consuming coffee in its highest quality form has some benefits.

 Bullet Proof Executive- Coffee enhancing health

According,   Dr. Mercola and his associate   this form of caffeine binds with those receptors that are known to be addiction receptors (i.e. addiction to sugar).  Secondly, it helps to restore brain cells and heighten your energy levels. The trick is to be buy coffee beans that are grown in high altitudes where mold is non existent. Some coffee are processed with the mold. Avoid sun dried and aim for water processed. I got a coffee grinder and I selected some beans to have them roasted at the Green Beanery. Again, I will let you know how that works.

Perhaps all of this self experimentation amounts to one thing:  "Too much time on my hands."  I have been blessed with it. So why not use it?

Until next time,

Helga

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

My Morning Coffee with "History of God"

I am reading "History of God" by Karen Armstrong. The book is a historical account on the formation of the three major monotheist religions:  Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. She not only gives a historical backdrop, but she also intermingles her account with "people's experience" of God from a cultural context. It is a "heady" read and I am still mulling through this large paperback, but I find it very interesting.

I thought it was interesting that the writings of the text were heavily influenced by either their political and cultural surroundings. I also thought it was interesting that these religions started out with pure and simple principles of communal harmony and equality for all (including women). But once the politics came in and the texts fell into the hands of generations later, God became something to Fear, Women became  marginalized and God also became something like a Ruler rather than the essence of existence.  Again, since this is a sensitive topic to a lot of believers, I am not by any means putting down these religions since I do see the strength and beauty of spiritual communities. I just find these historical patterns very intriguing. 

We have been very successful with manipulating the natural world for our purposes. When we do that, most of the beauty of what is natural is somehow lost. I am not putting down Science either. I am also a big lover of science with its analysis and breakthroughs. Knowledge is power as in the old adage. However, it is how it is used and twisted is what is disconcerting and unfortunate. Religion has its political and cultural roots that have kept people in check for a many millennia. These roots  do not invalidate people's connection with God. The essence is still there. The troubling part is how this powerful relationship has been used and still being used today. We can look to examples in history and even today where fierce-less rulers will align themselves with religion to get public buy in. You can  question a human, but no one can question God (except for the Atheists). 

So where am I going with this?  Come on now, this is one of my all time favourite topics. If we could cut away all this build up and fat that we accumulated over the centuries and stick to the essence of what God may be to anyone (regardless of what religious backbone), religion would not be such a sensitive topic. Some of our backs wouldn't be up if we talked about science and its explanation of natural phenomenon. There wouldn't such an extreme effort to blot the concept of God from our daily lives.  Who knows?  Or, perhaps we would find something else to argue about?

Thursday, August 2, 2012

An Old Lesson Revisited

I want to write about an epiphany I had two weeks ago. It was a lesson I had learned before, but I guess ignored. Let me tell you a story about my initial lesson  and it goes like this:

I joined a running club with YMCA in 2002 roughly.  I had a coach and a group to run with. Everyone was running at different paces and different levels. I was one of the slowest runners. I think simply because I believed I couldn't do it. My coach gave me a training schedule and I guess I was frusturated at times on my runs. I had a running partner  who was slightly faster than I, but I think held herself back because of me. So although I enjoyed being with the group and having a training schedule, I was jealous of the faster runners. I also did not think that my coach was there for me.

 I trained for my first marathon and I wanted to go big. So I signed up for the New York marathon. Got in on the first try. The New York Marathon is a lottery system where you register, but not guaranteed a spot. My coach and another member also signed up for the marathon and got in. However, I was resolved to do it on my own. I didn't want to run with them because I knew I was slower and I was just fed up running with the group. I bought a plane ticket. Flew on my own, and had a hotel room at the Sheraton in Manhattan.

On race day, we all ran like champions from the start line. The streets were lined with crowds of people cheering for us. New York is great about that. The streets are always full of people from the Start and all way to the Finish line. That is one of the reasons why I love the city. I felt like a superstar. So I made the number one mistake and ran at full tilt for the first 10km. Then I ran out of gas. It was a hot day on November 2, 2003. The temperature was about 30 degrees Celsius and in the 90s Fahrenheit.  So I made a number two mistake. I drank too much gatorade. You are suppose to pace yourself with your drinking (drink little sips) and gel yourself up every hour which I didn't do. I felt sick. I started to zigzag as I ran. A  man stopped me and told me that it wasn't worth it. I responded deliriously, "I want my medal !"  Then he got a cop to escort me off the course and to the First Aid station.

 I sat on a bed and threw up my gatorade on the pavement. They were starting to load people up from the First Aid station on the bus to the Finish Line. I was determined to finish and not go home empty handed. Then I looked out to the runners. All of a sudden, I see my coach, my other running member and couple of other runners running slowly.  I escaped from the First Aid Station to join them. They were glad to see me and were suffering as well from the heat. So they dragged me to the finish line which we completed in about 6 hours.

Just a funny note to add, when we reached the finish line, one of our group members proposed to his girlfriend as I had to vomit in the corner. I was also unable to eat the usual victory dinner of "going all out".  But I was in good company.


My coach and I after our victory dinner with our medals
November 2003


My lesson is that I can't do it on my own. I am self sufficient enough and independent enough, but I still need people in my life for support all the way. In turn, I need to be there for other people as well. Because it really isn't about you. It struck me that all these years I have been taking courses, reading books, and taking trips to better myself. But how can I be better all by myself? Where is self expression if it isn't expressed through others?  I thought I would share this with you because I think it is important to note this.

We as human beings did not make it as individuals. We survived through our communities. Every successful person can speak of other people that have helped them make their dreams realized.


So today, do at least one thing to help us as the human family  move a bit forward.


Helga