And inevitably...
Sunday, February 26, 2012
The Obvious Life Lesson
So, now that I am a "real" runner, in the sense that I'm REALLY
running REALLY far and I REALLY don't like doing that, my diet has inevitably
changed. I would say, I'm a pretty healthy anyways. My biggest problem with
food is I, in general, just eat too much. Love food. But now that what I eats
makes a tremendous impact on how I run, I really have to be vigilant on what,
and how much, I stuff down my throat and into my gullet.
So, then number one thing learned?
Alcohol is not your friend.
Okay, I am not a big drinker BUT there may be a few select times when I go
out and consume, let's say, more than the official doctor recommended amount.
For the past few months I really haven't had much more than a few glasses of
red wine every now and then UNTIL my friend tricked me (she did not trick me)
into going out to a bar and I had........some strong
stuff........and........well again, it was not the Daily Recommended Dosage.
What happened in the next 24 hours following the consumption of A LOT of sugar
infused vodka drinks were the following.
And inevitably...
Why did I think I could possibly run anywhere, other than the nearest church to PRAY for myself, let alone run 16 miles? Sad white girl problems....
Anyways... did you know that thanks to the generous donations of family and friends, my donations to the International Multiple Sclerosis Federation is now at 82% of the goal? 82%! That's AHMAYZING!. Thank you to everyone who donated and to anyone still interested, you can go HERE to do so.
And inevitably...
Saturday, February 18, 2012
Oh right...I have a blog
So lately, life has me feeling like this:
Who has time to blog when on top of actual adult things you have to do, you find things like this on the internet and spend precious time laughing your head off?
But let me rally and gather the last of my strength to bring you some interesting, yes INTERESTING my friends, information on diabetes.
There are 3 kinds of diabetes: Type 1, Type 2 and Gestational. Type 2 is usually brought on by old age or bad diet and gestational only happens when pregnant (what's up with that? Like growing a human being inside your stomach isn't complicated enough, now some women can't eat chocolate while doing it?! Lame). For the purposes of this blog, I will focus on Type 1 which is classified as an auto-immune disease.
Type 1 diabetes is when the pancreas shuts down and insulin production is compromised or completely non-existent. Without insulin, the body cannot break down sugar and turn glucose in energy to be stored in muscle tissue, fat cells, and liver cells. Basically, without insulin, your body has no way to transform food into actual fuel the body needs to keep going. Those with Type 1 diabetes generally have very high blood sugar as a result.
Symptoms of Type 1 Diabetes include blurry vision, excess thirst, fatigue, frequent urination, hunger and weight loss. Go too long without insulin and your body can shut down and go into a coma, which left untreated, can result in serious permanent damage to vital organs or even death. So....insulin is important, to say the least.
Treatments for Type 1 diabetes include a strict regimen of eating a very carefully calculated diet, exercise, multiple daily insulin injections and frequently testing your blood sugar several times a day. This is also known as the No Fun Allowed Life Program. Well, maybe not no fun. But seriously, a strict diet and exercise program alone is enough to give me the sads, and then I have to start injecting myself with needles DAILY?! Rough stuff.
I have a friend with Type 1 Diabetes (which I shall from here on out refer to a s TOD aka Type One Diabetes. See how creative my laziness gets?) and she has an insulin pump. Basically, this insulin pump is a small machine, the size of a cell phone, which carries insulin in it. A tube attached to the pump connects into the blood stream via a small incision in the stomach. The pump can be programed to inject insulin into the body as needed, so rather than sticking a bunch of needles into her skin every day, she can just press a few buttons and the insulin goes right in through the little tube. It SOUNDS cool, and every time she uses it she reminds me of some awesome human-machine hybrid, but imagine if after EVERY time you ate ANYTHING you had to add up the sugar value of the food your consuming, calculate it into glucose, and determine how much insulin you need to pump into your body. And remember, your life depends on this. So...now we're adding math to this nightmare? Gross.
TOD is a chronic condition and there is no cure. Plus, like almost all immune diseases, scientists and doctors don't really know what triggers TOD, so there is little to no preventative measures someone can take to reduce their risk. Most people with TOD are diagnosed between childhood and their early twenties and once you have it, you have it for life.
So that's my succinct and probably not very informative post about TOD. I am sure you have many more questions, so I direct you to the much more informed and accurate American Diabetes Association homepage (though I doubt their cartooning skills are as amazing as mine. Also, no cats on their website, to I win on that very important level). Don't blame my short post on me, blame it on my participation in 800 million other things. If overcommitment was an autoimmune disease, I would be on life-support by now because I clearly don't know when to say when.
Also....PLEASE DONATE TO MY FUNDRAISING PAGE AND HELP ME RAISE £700 (roughly $1000 American Dollars) FOR THE MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION DONATE HERE! We are already 33% of the way there people. Now let's make it 100%! DONATE HERE!!
Donate and turn sad cat...
Who has time to blog when on top of actual adult things you have to do, you find things like this on the internet and spend precious time laughing your head off?
But let me rally and gather the last of my strength to bring you some interesting, yes INTERESTING my friends, information on diabetes.
There are 3 kinds of diabetes: Type 1, Type 2 and Gestational. Type 2 is usually brought on by old age or bad diet and gestational only happens when pregnant (what's up with that? Like growing a human being inside your stomach isn't complicated enough, now some women can't eat chocolate while doing it?! Lame). For the purposes of this blog, I will focus on Type 1 which is classified as an auto-immune disease.
Type 1 diabetes is when the pancreas shuts down and insulin production is compromised or completely non-existent. Without insulin, the body cannot break down sugar and turn glucose in energy to be stored in muscle tissue, fat cells, and liver cells. Basically, without insulin, your body has no way to transform food into actual fuel the body needs to keep going. Those with Type 1 diabetes generally have very high blood sugar as a result.
Symptoms of Type 1 Diabetes include blurry vision, excess thirst, fatigue, frequent urination, hunger and weight loss. Go too long without insulin and your body can shut down and go into a coma, which left untreated, can result in serious permanent damage to vital organs or even death. So....insulin is important, to say the least.
Treatments for Type 1 diabetes include a strict regimen of eating a very carefully calculated diet, exercise, multiple daily insulin injections and frequently testing your blood sugar several times a day. This is also known as the No Fun Allowed Life Program. Well, maybe not no fun. But seriously, a strict diet and exercise program alone is enough to give me the sads, and then I have to start injecting myself with needles DAILY?! Rough stuff.
I have a friend with Type 1 Diabetes (which I shall from here on out refer to a s TOD aka Type One Diabetes. See how creative my laziness gets?) and she has an insulin pump. Basically, this insulin pump is a small machine, the size of a cell phone, which carries insulin in it. A tube attached to the pump connects into the blood stream via a small incision in the stomach. The pump can be programed to inject insulin into the body as needed, so rather than sticking a bunch of needles into her skin every day, she can just press a few buttons and the insulin goes right in through the little tube. It SOUNDS cool, and every time she uses it she reminds me of some awesome human-machine hybrid, but imagine if after EVERY time you ate ANYTHING you had to add up the sugar value of the food your consuming, calculate it into glucose, and determine how much insulin you need to pump into your body. And remember, your life depends on this. So...now we're adding math to this nightmare? Gross.
TOD is a chronic condition and there is no cure. Plus, like almost all immune diseases, scientists and doctors don't really know what triggers TOD, so there is little to no preventative measures someone can take to reduce their risk. Most people with TOD are diagnosed between childhood and their early twenties and once you have it, you have it for life.
So that's my succinct and probably not very informative post about TOD. I am sure you have many more questions, so I direct you to the much more informed and accurate American Diabetes Association homepage (though I doubt their cartooning skills are as amazing as mine. Also, no cats on their website, to I win on that very important level). Don't blame my short post on me, blame it on my participation in 800 million other things. If overcommitment was an autoimmune disease, I would be on life-support by now because I clearly don't know when to say when.
Also....PLEASE DONATE TO MY FUNDRAISING PAGE AND HELP ME RAISE £700 (roughly $1000 American Dollars) FOR THE MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION DONATE HERE! We are already 33% of the way there people. Now let's make it 100%! DONATE HERE!!
Donate and turn sad cat...
...into HAPPY CAT!
Happy / insane cat. Just donate, okay? DONATE LIKE A CHAMP! CLICK HERE!!!
I am really becoming a crazy cat lady, and this is impressive since I don't actually have a cat in my house, just millions of cats running through my brain.
Sunday, February 5, 2012
Realities of Running on Ice and Snow
The good news is, I didn't break a hip!
Also.... Please donate HERE to help me reach my goal of raising $1000 for the Multiple Sclerosis International Federation. I RAN ON ICE AND SNOW FOR THIS PROJECT! I may need post-traumatic stress counseling... but I can already hear my father telling me to "Deal With It"...so, yeah.
Also.... Please donate HERE to help me reach my goal of raising $1000 for the Multiple Sclerosis International Federation. I RAN ON ICE AND SNOW FOR THIS PROJECT! I may need post-traumatic stress counseling... but I can already hear my father telling me to "Deal With It"...so, yeah.
Friday, February 3, 2012
HAPPY ROMAN SNOW DAY
Today is an epic day in Rome my friends....
2012 Apocalypse here we come!
Also..... be sure to donate to the Multiple Sclerosis International Federation HERE and help me reach my goal of raising $1000 or £700 by March 18. We're already 19% of the way there!
2012 Apocalypse here we come!
Also..... be sure to donate to the Multiple Sclerosis International Federation HERE and help me reach my goal of raising $1000 or £700 by March 18. We're already 19% of the way there!
Thursday, February 2, 2012
It's the effort that counts, right?
So, normally it is a bit of an effort to get myself to run. However, this week is particularly challenging for some reason. On Tuesday I was the slowest person on the planet. Ever. My running experience went something like this: (note: images may not be 100% accurate)
"I am running!"
"Like the wind!"
"Ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww"
"Dutch Power: GO!"
"Is she wearing a sports bra? ANY bra?!"
"NNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGGG!"
"?!?"
"All by myself....."
And then today, it looks like this outside:
So....I'm inside telling myself I'm avoiding catching a monster cold rather than just putting on my big girl running shoes and going outside. And did you notice how this post has NOTHING to do with autoimmune diseases? Yes, I am becoming a lazy narcissist. Hopefully next week shall be more productive.
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