DH has an interesting opportunity. He participated in the St. Louis Baby Tooth Survey that happened in the 1950s and 60s. Thousands of children (or their parents) sent their baby teeth to researchers who discovered that they were absorbing alarming amounts of carcinogenic strontium-90.
Above ground nuclear weapons testing caused fallout in cow pastures which showed up in milk which showed up in baby teeth (and presumably children's bones since strontium-90 is absorbed by the body like calcium).
The results of the Baby Tooth Survey were instrumental in convincing President Kennedy and others to implement the Partial Test Ban Treaty with the Soviet Union that limited nuclear weapons tests to underground.
A decade or so ago, about 100,000 of these teeth were found at Tyson Research Center a bit west of here. I've been there, so I imagine that they were found in one of the WWII bunkers that were used to store gunpowder back when this was the site of a powder plant.
DH had a tooth in that collection. A Harvard researcher has developed a project where they're going to look for the impact of heavy metals on cognitive function in later life. So, today, I'll help him with the health survey. Of course, he's on his own for the cognitive test portion, since it won't help the research if I assist!
Exercise +70, 790/1600 minutes for August
Last edited by gardenerjoy; 08-16-2022 at 09:10 AM.
I'm behind already! I had hoped, but not actively planned, to be out of the house by now. I will be at my studio by 11:30 vs 9:30. Oh well. Today I want to complete the "newly re-painted animals for Klaus' fence". I still have lots of wooden animal cutouts that need priming before I can re-paint them, as well as spraying a protective outdoor sealant, Varathane, on the surface of re-painted cutouts. Klaus gave these to me in December. Yikes. And I seem to have given him a lifetime guarantee to keep these things in good shape. We made them in 2012. They've been redone 2x. This is #3.
Also on the omg-just-get-these-done-already list a set of 6 onion soup bowls plus one spare. My friend threw the bowls on the potter's wheel and I am drawing on them for the client/very patient person. He asked me to draw 1930's Paris. He sent some images of waiters in the streets of Paris competing in some kind of holding-trays-while-running competition. I have been at a complete standstill for months and months. Procrastination and its driver Perfectionism has me in its a tight grip on this project. I need to just make decisions and check it off my list already.
Besides working tonight, these projects are my focus today. Please ask me about my progress on them. I need your help to keep focused there.
We are enjoying a string of gorgeous days, and I'm appreciating every single one! I asked DH if he wanted to walk with me this morning and he said he prefers if we go in the evenings ... he has a hard time getting going in the morning (this is true). I said I will go any evening but it seems that weather and other plans play too much a factor in a regular evening walk. So I went out alone and listened to the near end of Dead Wake. Today we have a concert that starts at 4 - The Stadium Tour Mφtley Crόe & Def Leppard, Poison and Joan Jett and the Blackhearts. Supposed to be seven hours. Can't remember if I explained it but this was my effort at this month's Date Night where I plan something for us. DH is the fan, I'm only a Joan Jett fan. I asked DH to pick the tickets, though, so we spent what he thought was a decent price/seats he wanted. We're in the rafters and I'm thankful for that. I didn't want to spend a lot on this
Made a vegan lasagna for a big lunch (no dinner planned, though I'm going to bring in some bagged nuts in the bottom of my small crossbody bag. Lasagna is baking now. I bought some Mykonos liquid vegan mozzarella last week or so and tested out just pouring some out onto a bit of sauce on a pan and baking that (i don't know how it'd work in say, baked ziti with it going all through it...) and the little rows of baked mozz look pretty good. I will pull them off and plop on the top of the finished loaf pan lasagna when it's done. I think that was a success, but the test will be in the tasting.
Last night we went to see Where the Crawdads Sing. I'd put that off for a few weeks as it just didn't call me much. It was ok. I did say to DH not that I need realism all the time but there needed to be SOME swatting of bugs and scratching bug bites in the years in that marsh.
I am waiting for my hired proctor to meet me at the public library. I will take my exam here. Over the Covid time this library was redone. It is BEAUTIFUL. I am so happy. I truly believe that public schools and libraries on on the front lines of the war in support of the most vulnerable in our society.
I reopened my kitchen last night and sabotaged my weight loss. I claimed it was because I was "stressed from my exam." Note to self, extra food did not help. So when I get home tonight I will close the kitchen at 5:30 and do a yoga no matter how beat I am.
I had made reservations for a New York hotel for Thanksgiving with the boys and myself. i have cancelled the plans. Everything is seems too expensive - especially as I look toward retirement. Also, we really enjoy hanging out with some relatives in LA. I'll put the money to my GG diploma.
Joy: I am going to use your info on the nuke ban treaty in my class. Very interesting. Make sure to let us know if you get followup reports.
nationalparker: LOL - no bugs in the marsh. Also, grooming is also a bit far fetched as are beautiful teeth. I liked the book though so I just let it go.
onebyone: I would love pics of your finished Parisian drawings.
Wednesday - Woodstock Festival closes with Jimi Hendrix / Band of Gypsys (1969)
Diet Coaches/Buddies - At the supermarket, there were exactly two of us as customers wearing masks. I felt as if I was wearing a hijab at a Mormon Tabernacle, LOL. On the other hand, the bananas were excellent: some ready to eat now, some ready in two days, some ready in 5 days. Life is good if one can buy a range of ripeness in bananas in one shopping trip. It was the day of buying olive oil. The 1.5 liter jugs were $9.99. The 3.0 liter can was $22.99. Felt like I'd saved a fortune by spotting that.
Eating was on plan with no daytime snacks, CREDIT moi. Dinner on the patio of grilled salmon wearing a long-sleeved shirt over my polo. Am annoyed at the reminder of the changing of the seasons. Finished off the last of the cantaloupe - the best one we've ever had. Do appreciate that the farmers can get a cantaloupe to us at all - much more that it can taste so good.
Onebyone - What a fun challenge - to draw 1930's Paris. You do seem to have dedicated and patient clients.
Joy (gardenerjoy) - Such an amazing story about your DH's participation in the baby tooth survey. Unbelievable that they found him so many years later.
maryann - Hope that your proctored diamond test went well. Ouch for the cancelled NY trip. My papers are filled with stories of cancelled flights. Flying doesn't seem that attractive right now.
nationalparker That Stadium Tour sounds like quite a show. You and your DH should have been there for the Jimi Hendrix closing to Woodstock.
curlyjax - Kudos for "I did NOT eat over it." Sounds hard to manage you dad's life from afar.
MommaMeli - Sending supporting thoughts.
Readers -
Quote:
Chapter 6Stage 3 - The Challenging Situations Plan
Confidently Follow Your Plan on Weekends
Weekends tend to be the downfall of many dieters. During the week, when they are focused on other tasks, they may not notice their hunger that much. But on the weekend, when dieters are less distracted, they may not only feel hungrier, but also have easier access to food if they are home and near the refrigerator.
Judith S. Beck, Ph.D., The Complete Beck Diet for Life (Green book), Pg 138.
Successful day yesterday. I went to the gym after work and did my weights and about 30 minutes of the treadmill. I stayed OP and did not overeat. I was hungry at night so I did have some frozen fruit-defrosted it and mixed with Ό cup ricotta, and that was enough to satisfy. Frozen cherries are so sweet! I was exhausted after the workout and didn’t get anything else done except a phone call to a former coworker. I figured I would sleep like a baby after that but no luck. Today I have got to get more picking up done and move things around as DD is coming home next Monday for a week or so, and I’ve stored some things in her room which she won’t like Gardenerjoy- that is so cool about your husband’s tooth! Onebyone- looking forward to hearing about how the projects are doing!
DH's cognitive testing went very well. He was above average on all but one test -- and it wouldn't have been a test that he did well even when he was younger. It was a little like that old card game, Concentration, where you had to keep track of matching pairs of pictures.
For comparison, they showed the results for an average 20-year-old, average 45-year-old, and average 65-year-old. I was intrigued that humans improve with age on some tests, since there seems to be a narrative that we lose cognitive ability as we age. Apparently, we only lose abilities in tests that require speed or short-term memory. There's a lot more to cognition than that!
Anyway, I was glad that he did well, since I talked him into it. As he was taking the tests, I started worrying about how depressing it might be if he did badly.
The history and health surveys were interesting, too. You could tell that they're trying to tease out alternate explanations for any findings. They don't want to blame heavy metals if it turns out that the correlation is higher with the number of times that you went to a museum in childhood or how many hours a day that you read, now.
Our streak of just gorgeous days continues. It was only in the upper 70s and we have had the house open, enjoying the fresh air. I was able to pick up The Duke movie at my library, barely a week after putting it on hold and I thought it was "on order". On paper, I ate well today with plenty of veg including that delish cole slaw without mayo (but with olive oil, lemon, garlic, cumin mixed dressing), roasted broccoli, but made thin crust homemade pizzas for us (small for me and larger for DH, still leftover from each) and felt full, and so I feel as if I ate way too much. I can't keep this failure thinking and then make choices that do lead to weight gain. I know it will fluctuate and I have to not be all angst when it does go up. If I'm in this longterm, keep on the healthy veg increase and moderation.
I was going to drive to meet a friend of a friend driving north of me on Saturday to exchange a few boxes to/from my sister - he will be back in her Colorado town in a few days, but now he'll come to my house on Friday with his wife and then take the interstate west from here. That saves me a $$ in gas and time. I am thinking of doing up a snack bag for the rest of their trip from Trader Joe's goodies, assembling it tomorrow. That is very kind of them. It helps them as they're not sure when they're leaving his mom's in Michigan, but still, it helps me as well. I will check with my sister on the snack idea. He seems like he'd welcome it.
Thursday- James Meredith became 1st African-American to graduate from Ole Miss (1963)
Diet Coaches/Buddies - Excitement was picking up the (6 yo) DGD from her rock-climbing summer camp. Watched her zip up a rock wall like a monkey - tethered, of course, on a auto-belaying winch to lower her slowly when done or if she slipped. Just amazing to watch. She'd reach high over her head for the next grip; lift a leg far away for the next step. She consented to give us a tour of the place, carefully showing us the level 5.14 difficulty wall, "The hardest." I watched a nine-year-old boy make a similar climb wearing a mask! "You just feel around for your next grip," he explained with a touch of pride.
Eating was on plan with no daytime snacks, CREDIT moi. Dinner of grilled chicken, sauteed spinach, baked sweet potato, and green salad was consumed inside both because we were rushed and because it was a tad chilly. We're such wimps as the temperature drops, LOL.
Joy (gardenerjoy) - Congrats to your DH for acing his intelligence tests. So interesting that they want to be sure there are no other factors such as going to museums. I'd fail any test similar to the Concentration game; my DGD beats me readily when we play.
nationalparker Your movie, The Duke, looks like a winner. I was impressed to learn that it's based on a true story. Neat to save a trip because your friend will pick up the boxes for your sister.
curlyjax - That was a nice workout day. Wish you well with getting sleep.
MommaMeli - Sending supportive thoughts.
Readers -
Quote:
Chapter 6Stage 3 - The Challenging Situations Plan
Confidently Follow Your Plan on Weekends
On the weekend, dieters also often have more unstructured time that allows them to think about eating, and they may have a greater desire to procrastinate doing a needed task and instead wander into the kitchen for food.
Judith S. Beck, Ph.D., The Complete Beck Diet for Life (Green book), Pg 138.
Tonight, is the second night in a row of Zoom calls, both disruptive of our usual supper plans. Last night, I ate late and ended up taking more than I really needed. Tonight, I'll try eating early -- which will risk being hungry after the call. I'm going to make an effort to distract away any late hunger, because my body doesn't respond particularly well to late-night eating. A piece of fruit is about the only thing that works well at that time of day. Unfortunately, I don't have anything in the house except bananas. So, if I really think I need something before bed, I'll have half of a banana. Thanks for helping me work that out!
Friday - Aviator Orville Wright born (1871, Dayton, Ohio)
Diet Coaches/Buddies - For the second straight day, excitement was picking up the (6 yo) DGD from rock climbing camp. (The camp ends at 2 pm so it's a big inconvenience for either of her parents to pick her up that early.) We watched kids swinging from this pad to that pad on a long rope. Turns out to be hard for those kids who can't hold their own weight for the full five seconds of travel. I watched a kid, about 9 years-old, only slightly overweight who just couldn't do it. He repeatedly had to leave the game in embarrassment. Not clear to me how he was doing any climbing since pulling up one's weight is key. The DGD and her buddy spent the last five minutes pestering their favorite counselor. She's pretty good at isolating an adult and sucking down attention.
We then visited a farmers' market where we'd been before when they had no farmers. This time they had one neat farmer who was working a quarter acre in a nearby town with his wife. We bought two gorgeous heirloom tomatoes and, just because the guy was so much fun, a garlic with its handle fully intact. DW proudly carried it about by its handle til we left. Watched a lady purchase veggies using Senior Farmers' Market Coupons - a program of the state to get veggies to senior citizens of low income living in subsidized housing. The farmer said that he gets fully reimbursed by the state. An odd win-win program by a government agency: Three Cheers!
Eating was on plan with no daytime snacks, CREDIT moi. Dinner on the patio being slightly annoyed that we can tell that it's getting darker earlier.
Joy (gardenerjoy) - Yay for the power and ease of Zoom calls; Ouch for the disruption of Zoom calls. Kudos for working out you fruit dilemma. Oddly, I don't think of bananas as fruit; they're just what I put on my morning cereal, LOL.
MommaMeli - Continue to send supportive thoughts to you and your family.
Readers -
Quote:
Chapter 6Stage 3 - The Challenging Situations Plan
To consistently be successful on weekends, make the following special preparations:
Create a Weekend Mindset
Do you view weekends as a break from work and a break from dieting? If your goal is permanent weight loss, weekends can't be considered a vacation from dieting.
Judith S. Beck, Ph.D., The Complete Beck Diet for Life (Green book), Pg 138.
I dipped back into the 170s briefly yesterday which was so exciting, its been months. Today i’m back at 180, but its still the lowest its been in quite some time. I definitely feel motivated to keep going. I went to the gym yesterday to do weights and the treadmill and stayed OP pretty much. I’m definitely wiped out after I do all that; I come home and collapse for the rest of the night. Today’s challenge will be we’re going out for a retirement party celebration at 3:00, which is a very late lunch or very early dinner. So I’m going to have to eat enough before that to not be starving at 3, but not over full either, and then not eat too much at the party. Bill- that rock climbing camp sounds fun. I actually give out those farmers market coupons at work, they are indeed a great thing, and available to all low income seniors. There's also a program where people can use their food stamp benefits at farmers markets and basically get extra money for food. Win win for all. Gardenerjoy-I’m working on distracting away late hunger too.A half banana is an excellent idea.
I ate nothing after my Zoom call last night -- yay! That was definitely the best plan. Chess videos made a good distraction.
Today's challenge is that I didn't sleep well after a night-time meeting (which is one reason that I avoid them, most of the time). Here's my reminder that food doesn't fix tired. I designed my to-do list today to be filled with short, easy tasks to accommodate low energy.
Diet Coaches/Buddies - Eating was on plan with no daytime snacks, CREDIT moi. Dinner on the patio of gazpacho felt like summer was still here. The gazpacho was made with a MONSTER cuke - the one that magically hid behind a single leaf through several harvestings of its siblings. But it had small seeds and was pleasantly sweet. My intuition is to avoid large cukes, but this one was a winner. Evening snack was half a grapefruit. That used to be my standard. I'd forgotten how delightfully it puckers up the mouth.
Excitement was ordering a new blade and gasket for our ancient Osterizer blender. It sits in a place of honor on a kitchen counter - partially because it's too heavy to pleasantly lift up and down from some storage place. I knew that I could get parts because I had ordered a replacement square container some years ago to replace the original plastic one that finally gave up the ghost. The ordering was easy; we'll see what quality of item arrives. My concern was that it was less expensive than I had expected.
Joy (gardenerjoy) - Yay for chess videos for distraction and for getting the neurons firing. Good news that you demonstrated that you can avoid eating after Zooming.
curlyjax - Yay for a scale dip for encouragement. I hate, Hate, HATE parties at 3 pm where I have to figure out lunch or dinner.
MommaMeli - Continue to think of you and family.
Readers -
Quote:
Chapter 6Stage 3 - The Challenging Situations Plan
To consistently be successful on weekends, make the following special preparations:
Create a Weekend Mindset
The most successful dieters and maintainers follow their diets consistently, no matter what day of the week it is.
Judith S. Beck, Ph.D., The Complete Beck Diet for Life (Green book), Pg 138.
I have missed this forum. It was a much too busy week. I was exhausted and slept 12 Hours last night up here in Tahoe. Highlights of the week:
1. I passed my written diamond exam with a 77%. That makes my average 76% A pass! I am now certified in Diamonds. I start my colored stones essential class on the first Tuesday of September.
2. My third period freshman class has officially been dubbed "100 Minions with a case of Mountain Dew." The good news is there seems to be no evil mastermind just VERY immature kids . This makes sense because these kids haven't been in a normal school since they were in 6th grade. I have two overt autistic kids with whom I am rapidly falling in love. The boy is super smart and very sweet. I have put him with some rowdier boys in the group to kind of mask his blurting. I think it is working.
3. I spoke at a Thursday AA meeting in downtown. The group is frequented by homeless and drug users from the river bottoms with little sobriety. It can get pretty chaotic. The meeting however was excellent in its diversity. From the stories of homeless and prison, I remembered to be grateful for 34 years of sobriety.
4. DS came home from Michigan last night. So great to have him. He is looking well and sounding happy.
For Food, I am focusing ( as curleyjax is) on adding the right things rather than dieting. I have started Greger's daily dozen app again and am checking boxes. I am committing this week to beginning exercise again. I have been unusually tired at the beginning of this year. Still it is not an excuse to not exercise.
BBE: Rock Climbing is a sport I am not interested in. The heights part is too much. Joy: Glad DH passed the exam. nationalparker: I also need to work on the mental mindset of not being over critical of a good day, not a perfect day.
morning everyone
Wednesday - Woodstock Festival closes with Jimi Hendrix / Band of Gypsys (1969)
