Fighting Fatigue

The other day, I happened across the Dr. Oz show and they were discussing how to fight fatigue and increase energy. I didn't have time to watch it right then so I recorded it and watched it this morning.

Dr. Oz had a doctor on who discussed how she researched and learned about the best ways to fight fatigue and fix your whole body/system and "get your energy back."

Dr. Jennifer Landa discussed four critical steps that can help you get your energy back right away (my own paraphrased transcript of show. See a video of this Dr. Oz show here):

1. Recognize the connection between gluten and iron. If you are sensitive to gluten ("25% of us may be sensitive to gluten") the gluten attacks the intestinal cells causing inflammation; causing us not to be able to absorb nutrients like iron which can lead to anemia. When you eat you should feel more energized. If you're gluten sensitive, you feel more tired after eating.

Fatigue Fighting Solution: Cut the gluten (do as much as you can to reduce foods with gluten) and add Vitamin C (citrus, peppers, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, etc) which will help you absorb iron.

2. Increase your Iodine. "Iodine is the building block of thyroid health." "Research shows that 1/3 of the population is not getting enough iodine." Why? As people try to reduce and/or cut salt out of their diet, they no longer get the iodine that has been added to the salt. One way to know if you are deficient in iodine is exhaustion. In addition to that, trouble losing weight and losing your hair - especially the outer third of your eyebrows (!) are thyroid symptoms. This is what really got my attention because I've noticed over the years that my eyebrows have gotten shorter. Now, I have no idea if I really have a iodine deficiency or thyroid problem but I do know that I've been using sea salt for the last few years and never even thought about it not having added iodine like table salt.

Fatigue Fighting Solution: Get more iodine in your diet. Seaweed has a lot of iodine but the easiest way is to make sure you are buying iodized salt. They now have sea salt with added iodine - make sure it says "iodine" on the label. Dr. Oz specified "we're not telling you to add more salt to your diet, we're simply swapping out the kind of salt that you're eating."

3. Recharge Your Liver. The liver is the powerhouse of metabolism in the body. It breaks down everything that we eat and turns it into energy. It also gets rid of toxins in the body. If you have too many toxins in your body it slows down the functions of the liver and makes you sluggish.

Fatigue Fighting Solution: Drink Dandelion Tea twice a day. It helps the liver work more efficiently so you have more energy.

4. Boost Testosterone. For women who have a tenth the amount of testosterone as men, testosterone is critical for our energy, our emotions, helps with "foggy brain" and helps get fat off while maintaining muscle. Stress (cortisol) lowers testosterone levels. To bring testosterone up, you need to figure out how to lower stress and cortisol levels.

Fatigue Fighting Solution: Pranayama Yoga Breathing. Sit on knees or Indian style. Belly breathing - block one nostril with thumb while breathing in and out. Then block other nostril with fingers while breathing in and out. Take nice, deep belly breaths. Do this for 5 minutes a day (twice a day is even better). If you have to, Dr. Oz recommends going to the bathroom where no one will bother you.

Following this, Dr. Oz and Dr. Landa discussed Monk Fruit (Lo Han Guo) - a fruit used as sweetener for centuries in Southeast Asia. Traditional Chinese medicine has been using this to treat diabetes and obesity for centuries. It has a very low glycemic index and stimulates insulin secretion. You can get it in packet form (orange), drops, and even scoopable forms for baking and recipes.

I am always so tired, no matter how much I sleep that I wonder if (hope?) some of these things could really help. I suppose they can't make it any worse so you really haven't got anything to lose.

I'd love to know your thoughts and/or if you try any or all of these Fatigue fighting Solutions...

Military Memories

Veteran's Day is tomorrow...

I have so many memories, good and bad, of my time in the Air Force. Below is one of the ways I set some of those memories to paper...

Coming Home

Dog tags chanting in the wind -

M-60s pointing at the wire

Tents placed in rows -

uniforms and civies hung side by side

Favorite shows watched again and again -

painting a picture of endless possibilities

M*A*S*H and China Beach -

someone else's ideas; a dream made real

Doing something important -

something to be proud of

Set apart from others -

by location and sense of duty

A wish to serve -

to go where others won't

Sunsets over sand dunes -

foreign tongues and customs

The sense of deja vu -

finally coming home...

Children's Shows

One of my pet peeves (even before I had Bubba around) is people letting their kids watch TV/movies that are not really age appropriate. I realize every kid is different and every parent is different but it seems as if the only way to know if something is appropriate for your child is to watch it for yourself first. I know these days, if you want your child to see something in the movie theater, watching it yourself first can get kind of expensive. However, it would seem as if the extra money spent by the parent seeing the film first is a small price to pay when you consider the possible nightmares for a small child who sees something they shouldn't. I know for me, once I see something I can't get the picture/scene out of my mind - even years after the fact.

For example, when I went to see Disney's "The Lion King" (way back when) there were quite a few kids including some very young ones in the audience. At one point there is a lot of fire and hyenas are attacking a lion. It's quite a scary scene. Needless to say, there was a lot of crying going on in the theater. How many of those kids had dreams about fire or scary hyenas after seeing that? And if the parent hasn't seen the movie before they can't very well prepare their kid for certain scenes or even know when to cover their eyes/ears. Don't get me wrong, I love "The Lion King." I'm just not sure it's right for very young kids.

I was really surprised when I read that Angelina Jolie took all six of her kids to see the last Harry Potter movie. The oldest is nine years old and the two youngest are only three years old. Harry Potter is rated PG-13 for "intense action violence and frightening images." I can only imagine what kids that young might think of some of the images they saw on the screen. It seems to me as if they wouldn't even know what to make of those images and thus might be even more confused, uncertain, and/or scared. That doesn't even take into account the partial nudity and/or other age inappropriate scenes/themes.

We've tried to limit TV for Bubba. Just within the last month or so have we let him start watching the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (one or two episodes a day max). Recently we watched an episode ("Donald and the Beanstalk") that really surprised me. The episode starts with Donald telling Mickey he "accidentally" traded his Boo-Boo chicken to the giant for magic beans "that don't do anything." First, I'm not sure how you accidentally trade something - especially your friend/pet. Second, whatever happened to "buyer beware"? Anyway, at one point Donald throws the beans and they grow into giant beanstalks. At which point, doesn't that mean Donald has used the beans? It's not as if he can give the beans back since they don't exist anymore - he has used them up.

So, Mickey and the friends decide to help Donald steal Boo-Boo chicken back. They go up to the giant's house and take the chicken. To top it off they then trick the giant so they can get away from him with "his" chicken. What is that teaching kids? If Mickey thinks it's OK to steal, why not them? The show could have taken the opportunity to teach young kids some kind of mediation-type thing or how about just being honest and telling the giant that Donald regretted trading the chicken and would like him back? There were many ways to resolve the issue without teaching kids it's OK to steal something if/when you want it back.

I won't even get started on the problems I see with both Minnie and Daisy flirting and batting their eyelashes when they want something. It's a kid's show! Any question why little girls are growing up way too fast!?

What do you think? Do/did you let your kids watch TV/movies even if you hadn't seen them before? How old were they before you stopped monitoring what they watched? (and yes, I realize I probably need to loosen up...I've been told that before...many, many times.)

Royal Wedding

The crowds, the church, the uniform, the dress, the vows, the kiss, the second kiss...What a Day!

First off, I have an awesome husband! He knew how much I wanted to watch the royal wedding live, so he woke up at 0240 to make sure I was awake and downstairs to get set up for my TV watching.

A lot of people have said they don't understand what the big deal is with this wedding or why people would want to watch it. Personally, I have been looking forward to it since they released the date.

I remember watching Diana's wedding when I was 9 and thinking it was magical. That was the beginning of my interest in all things royal. I don't really remember ever wanting to be a princess or even playing princess, but I do remember being interested in everything about Diana. To this day, I'm always interested in seeing pictures or reading about Europe's royals. Luckily, my mother subscribes to Bunte magazine so I get lots of pictures and articles (and an excuse to practice my German).

I have been so excited - last night I could hardly get to sleep. This morning, I was so excited I didn't know what to do with myself. So I made English Breakfast tea and baked scones. They actually turned out pretty good. My husband took some to the office and reported back they are a hit!

I always thought scones were hard to make. Luckily I found a pretty easy recipe on Allrecipes.com which only took about 20 minutes (plus 16 minutes of baking). The only thing I might have changed would be to add more chocolate chips and cut them smaller.

The whole morning was amazing. It really was magical. It seems a little silly to call it magical or even to have such feelings for people I will never meet and will only see on TV or in pictures...However, I would not have missed it and am so glad I got up early to watch it live.

I loved Kate's dress. As soon as I saw it, I was reminded of Grace Kelly. What a beautiful dress - so perfectly regal, stylish and simply perfect. Her veil was so sheer - almost as if it was made of fairy fabric (or "delicate as spiderwebs" as my mother said). Her perfect posture only made her seem that much more regal - a true princess (or Duchess, as the case may be).

I also really liked her sister Pippa's dress. It would have been a beautiful wedding dress itself. As soon as I saw her I thought of how confident Kate must be to let her sister wear such an incredible dress. Most brides want to make sure they won't be upstaged by their Maid of Honor or Bridesmaids - Kate obviously has the confidence to let her sister shine and look beautiful. It helps that Kate herself was so radiant and gorgeous...

There were so many little moments that seemed to make the day so special. Prince William waiting to look at Kate and Prince Harry looking back and saying something to William; Prince William's face when he finally sees her; their intimate smiles at different times throughout the wedding; William and Kate leaving the church and riding in the open carriage; and finally, the kiss. Waiting for them to come out onto the balcony seemed to take forever. The second kiss was worth the wait - what a wonderful display of their love for each other. Wow.

I could keep going...I wish I had some kind of memento but I keep thinking of it being relegated to some drawer or box. I'm sure they will come out with some kind of special edition magazine or journal with stories and pictures of today. Maybe I'll get one for Mother's Day!?

Honoring the Fallen

On last weekend's episode of Army Wives one of the characters died in combat in Afghanistan. It turned out to be a very emotional episode and included several different tributes to the fallen soldier - including a tribute from his platoon still in Afghanistan.

At the end of the episode the one thing I was surprised about is that they didn't use some events from real life in the episode. I'm specifically referring to a certain church from a certain state that feels called to protest at funerals of our service members. I am so very glad that the writers/producers of Army Wives decided not to give the church more legitimacy (if that's the right word) and/or publicity by featuring something similar in the show.

A few weeks ago, an Airman (A1C Zachary Cuddleback) from this area was shot outside the Frankfurt Airport in Germany. The certain church I mentioned decided they would come out to IL to protest at his funeral. Instead of them making the news and being in the forefront, hundreds of people from around the area lined the streets and blocked the protesters. The Wing Commander from Ramstein AB wrote an article  about what he saw when he escorted A1C Cuddleback's body home for the funeral. Driving around town the next few days, one could still see several signs honoring A1C Cuddleback and his family. I wish we had heard about it beforehand, as I would have been honored to have participated. 

My only question is, and I hate for it to sound like an unpatriotic criticism, was A1C Cuddleback the first person in 10 years of war to die from this are? If not, were the other people honored in the same way? I for one have not heard of anything like what was done for the Cuddleback family. I think it was amazing and beautiful that the community honored a fallen Airman in that fashion...I just hope we haven't gotten so immune to the war and its toll on our service members that others are allowed to just slip by unrecognized. 

Do shows like Army Wives help us remember or do they add to the steady stream of reports and/or images that help to create "caring fatigue" bringing us to a point where we're just too tired to care anymore...?

Sarah Palin's Alaska

When you say the name Sarah Palin it seems as if you are just asking for some kind of debate. I first heard of Sarah Palin while reading an article about her in the February 2008 Vogue. I remember thinking how cool she sounded and that she seemed to be someone to look up to - someone that women could really look to and try to learn from.

Over three years later and I still feel the same way. She has made mistakes in the last few years but she still seems to be the same person underneath.

When I heard about her reality TV show "Sarah Palin's Alaska" I knew I wanted to see it. I haven't seen all the episodes yet but as expected, I've enjoyed it. Her life seems so different from anything I could even imagine. I think it's amazing and wonderful how different life is in Alaska.

Back in 1994, I spent three weeks at Eilson AFB in Alaska. I loved it and enjoyed pretty much every minute I spent there...looking back, I wish I had gotten out more and really explored the state (of course I say that about pretty much every place I have ever lived and/or visited). I remember driving somewhere and having to wait as a moose crossed the road. We were so impressed with the size and majesty of the animal and how close it was. I guess if we had grown up in Alaska we would have eyed it as a walking slab of steak or a stack of moose burgers...

From what I have seen and heard, not many people were impressed with the TLC show and some have even poked fun at Sarah Palin for becoming a "reality-Star." I'm glad she did the show - seeing Alaska through her eyes was really interesting and I enjoyed getting to know her better. I'm not sure she should ever lead our country but she is definitely an interesting person and worth listening to.

SeaQuest Season 2

Lately, I've been watching the second season of SeaQuest and I think I can see why it lost a lot of its followers...

While season one was about discovering the secrets of the ocean, the second season seems to have much more of the typical sci-fi ideas: telepathy, aliens, time travel, life sucking plants, aliens, giant ice age crocodiles, aliens, 1200 year old "spirits", etc.

As I mentioned previously, one of the things I loved about SeaQuest was the idea of exploring the oceans. Now the crew of the SeaQuest seems to spend more time on shore leave than they do on the sub. Maybe the producers thought people wanted to see more of the characters out of uniform...maybe they thought there were only so many shows that could be done centered around the ocean...who knows?

One of the things they kept from the first season to the second was the "Sea Facts." During the credits, at the end of each episode, someone from the cast would do a short spot on some interesting sea fact: sharks, the difference between sea lions and seals, penguins, threat of pollution, etc. I still think its a pretty cool idea to use that time (the credits) to try and educate people (at least a little bit).

I hadn't realized the man who did the sea facts during the first season, Bob Ballard, is the same man who discovered the Titanic. He also found the Yorktown, Bismark and even JFK's PT-109 among many others. I thought he was just one of the scientists at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. I guess that goes to show what you can find out with a little digging...

SeaQuest

During my sophomore year in high school I, like most others, took Biology. I can’t remember my teacher’s name, but I remember how much I liked her. One of the reasons I liked her so much is because I loved biology. She made it interesting and made me want to learn more about it.

I especially loved learning about the ocean. I remember learning about red tides and how many of the things found in the ocean are older than most things found on land. My favorite outing when I was younger was going to the Boston Aquarium and the Science Museum.

I recently rediscovered SeaQuest DSV. Just hearing the tagline “Beneath the surface lies the future” gives me chills because of the way it fuels my imagination.

For as long as I can remember, I’ve loved science fiction. Shows like Star Trek, Stargate and more recently BSG and Firefly. All of these series fuel the imagination and make one look further than our regular every day lives.

One of the great things about SeaQuest is that while it’s sci fi, it's premise seems possible and attainable. The world’s population is growing by leaps and bounds. At some point we are going to outgrow the available landmass. What will we do? Where will we live?

SeaQuest shows what might or could happen if we started to populate earth’s oceans. Oceans cover about 70% of the earth’s surface. If we could figure out a way to live down there, literally a whole new world would be open to us. Not only that, but if we can find out more about our present and our future by learning from our past, what more can we learn by studying our oceans?

There is so much out there…it makes me wonder what kind of research is currently being done concerning our oceans. How much money are we spending, and is it enough? I imagine it’s hard to find money for such research when most people probably think money should be spent on cancer research or ways to fuel the world or even in the competing arena of space…

As much as I probably sound like a geek going on about science fiction and how much I love science, I don’t really care. I think it’s good to have something out there that makes you think beyond the present. Something that makes you wonder if there is more to life than just what we know. Something that drives you to study the past, through studying the stars, the oceans, or the earth, in order to learn more about how to improve our present or to make life better in the future…As they say on SeaQuest, beneath the surface lies the future…

China Beach

My wonderful husband went out and bought me a cool machine the other day and now for the past couple days I have been dubbing China Beach episodes from VCR tapes onto DVDs. It's not been easy...going through the tapes (over and over) to try to dub them in order. Some episodes are pretty messed up, but there is enough there to get the story and/or the gist of it. It's been nice to watch them again - it's been years and years since the last time.

Watching China Beach again brings back memories I had of the time when I first watched it. I was still in High School when it first came out (1988) and I can remember wanting to be McMurphy. I can remember wanting the camaraderie, the friendships that seemed to be forming before my eyes as I watched. I can remember wondering why my father, who went through the same things, didn't seem to have any friends from those days - but that's something to explore on another day.

By the time the third season started, in the fall of 1989, I was a senior and already thinking about the career and friends I would have following the Air Force Academy. I watched China Beach and dreamed about serving my country and making a difference in the world. Then in 1992, I had medical leave from USAFA and stayed with my father in MA for a year. China Beach was in re-runs on Lifetime. Again, I spent time watching China Beach and dreaming of returning the Air Force Academy and the career and friends I would have after graduation.

Fast forward to 1998 and I am getting ready for my first deployment. I was heading out to the United Arab Emirates for 60 days, only 60 days - I wanted to stay longer and I wasn't even there yet. Finally, I was getting to go somewhere and do something. I was going to make a difference. I was going to have new experiences and meet new people - people that would share these experiences and become lifelong friends.

Some of those things I dreamt of actually happened, some didn't. All I can say in the end is that China Beach had a lasting impact. I have never forgotten it, and imagine it is something I will continue to think of, and watch, long into the future...I just wish they would come out with the series on DVD (I am missing one episode from both season three and season four).

During my first deployment, I wrote the following:

Coming Home

Dog tags chanting in the wind –
M-60s pointing at the wire

Tents placed in rows –
uniforms and civies hung side by side

Favorite shows watched again and again –
painting a picture of endless possibilities

M*A*S*H and China Beach –
someone else’s ideas; a dream made real

Doing something important –
something to be proud of

Set apart from others –
by location and sense of duty

A wish to serve –
to go where others won’t

Sunsets over sand dunes –
foreign tongues and customs

The sense of déjà vu –
finally coming home . . .

Creek Fever

I don't watch scary movies because I don't want those images stuck in my head. I have a hard enough time with images stuck in my head from when I was a kid and watching scary movies was cool.

So, if I know that I can't ever get stuff out of my head once I have seen it, why is it that I keep watching sappy, unrealistic TV like Dawson's Creek? Sometimes, especially lately, I wonder if the reason I am so hard on my own life is because I somehow expect it to live up to the fantasy life I have seen on so many TV shows and movies.

It seems as if all my life I have wanted some ideal. At times, it's just me wanting to be perfect - for my real life to be a reflection of the life I feel I should be leading. Other times, it's my personal life. I want my family to be close and loving - people I know I can turn to no matter what, who will accept me and love me, no matter what. I want my friends to be the kind of friends who know everything about me and still love me. People who accept me for who I am but will also push me to do more and to be better.

In real (not reel) life, I feel like a stranger in my own family and most of my friendships seem to last only a few years and then somehow drift away.

Why do I watch Dawson's Creek when I know those images won't leave my head? When I know that, at least for a while, I turn into this strange kind of introspective geek who examines everything: events, what people say or didn't say, what I said or didn't say, every look, etc...if only I had the vocabulary of the "Creek Kids," then I could pretend I was one of them for a while...I definitely have the self-absorbed-life-revolves-around-me vibe going. At least for a little while.

Having moved around so much in the last 20 years, it's easy to see why I don't have the kind of life-long-lived-around-the-bend kind of friendships they show on Dawson's Creek. For better or for worse, I have a few friends that are friends no matter how long it has been since we last spoke. The kind of people who care about me enough to pick up where we left off 4 months ago, 2 years ago, or in some cases, 10 years ago or more. Those are the friends who really matter. The ones I wanted in my life back then, and want in my life today.

So, why am I hung up on the others? The ones who meant a lot at one point and are no longer part of my life for one reason or another? Maybe they were just meant to be in my life for that one season. They were there when I needed them, or I was there when they needed me, and then we both moved on. I can see how that makes sense, yet I still can't let it go. I feel as if it's some kind of judgement on me because they don't want to be in my life anymore. It's a struggle to just let it be and move on.

Maybe it's because I wonder if by fixing whatever went wrong in those relationships, then I can learn how to "fix" whatever is wrong with my familial relationships. If I knew how to fix whatever I did, maybe it would work to make my family love me more, want to be with me, want to share their lives with me, and would make them care enough to be part of my life...And again, I ask myself why I can't just let it be?

I have made a new family with Tom. And I am blessed with the love of a few wonderful friends. That should be more than enough. Most days it is. It's just when I catch "Creek" Fever and get too introspective that I let myself wander down this road. I just need to remind myself that I watch Dawson's Creek because it reminds me of friends who have wandered in and out of my life.

Whatever else it does or doesn't do, Dawson's Creek makes me remember my friends, old and new, and those who have moved on to other things. I am blessed whether they are still part of my life or not because for at least that one period of time, when I needed them most, they were there. So, I'll continue to pull out my DVDs and have a Dawson's Creek marathon every now and then. I'll get all angsty and introspective. And I'll remember my friends and count my blessings.