September 28, 2008
The Obesity Epidemic: Who's REALLY Responsible
I have written about this before, but I feel compelled to write about it again. Why? Because it's everywhere that I am. Everywhere that I walk, everywhere I go, almost everywhere I look. It's there. What is it? Obesity. Morbid obesity. Overweight adults, young adults, and now even teenagers and children all over North America. It truly is becoming an epidemic, as some articles have pointed out in the local and national media and online.
I've spouted off about this before. But this time I'm touting the whole perspective from two different places that are new to this supposed epidemic of obesity plaguing America's sidewalks, coffee shops, eateries, and fast food restaurants.
I recently read an online article wherein the statistic was thrown about that in 40 years America would be suffering from 100 percent obesity. Yes, 100 percent obesity. It would almost become a matter of being born obese, as obesity would be part of the genetic programming since it would become a genetic condition.
Now, I don't remember the validity behind this stark statement within the article, but it did catch my eye. And yet, at the same time, it made me wonder. You see, I don't think we're heading towards a 100 percent obesity epidemic. I think we're going to get close, very close to almost everyone in this country being overweight, obese, or morbidly obese.
But, I won't count myself in on that statistic no matter how far into the future I project myself. You see, I too have to watch what I eat. I was not blessed with a special meat suit that is able to consume whatever it wants and then magically burn it off while I'm sleeping. No.
I too have to ensure that what I put in this body I'm renting for a few decades is as healthy as I can stand, and contains just sufficient amounts of calories and nutrients that aren't going to make me enlarge into a size that I don't want to be, or isn't healthy for me to live in.
I also have to stay active, especially when I don't want to, which is most of the time. And I have to exercise. Again, which is something I don't want to do most of the time.
Many times I think of my Dad, who's still alive and almost 78-years-old. He still walks, at a very brisk pace during his every other day exercise routine, approximately 3 miles. In cold Canada to boot.
It's a struggle.
And hard work.
But it's doable.
For most anyone.
So, I just have to ask myself why the rest of the country, evidently, isn't thinking this way. Why have people become lazy as time has progressed in this so called modern society we're in now? Yes...l-a-z-y.
I recall when I was in high school, a long-ago 30 years past, that there were 500 students in the school and only 2, yes - two, were considered by today's standards to be obese or grossly overweight. And one of the persons was my good friend at the time. He was 5 foot 9 inches tall and weighed 250 pounds.
Now, I know what you're thinking. That's not large, that's not big.
Of course it's not. By today's standards it's the norm.
This is what we've become accustomed to seeing in many young teenagers across school campuses.
Never mind the city streets filled with adults and young people. Being that size is nothing today. It's all too common.
So, what I'm attempting to relay here is the visual fact that there is something going on with more and more people in households across North America, as those of us residing in one of the most modernized countries in the world are getting fatter, and fatter over time. And, this is not something to ignore.
Before I get email blasts and so forth, let me state that I know there can be medical reasons for someone getting large and larger as they grow older, such as genetic predisposition.
This is a valid reason for being large, and struggling with weight gain. But, from what I see and read, way too many people fall back on this genetic predisposition reasoning and, to me, therefore is used just as an excuse.
I know no one is asking me to accept this reasoning, certainly not the obese people in America, but it's an excuse that I find hard to accept most times. Why?
The only way I'll accept that someone who is now obese or morbidly overweight was predestined to be that size by genetics is if I see it in perhaps the last 3 or 4 generations in their family of ancestry. Then it can be easily seen during the last century that that family did have a gene makeup that made them more prone to heaviness or obesity. Outside of that, I'm hardcore, and not buying it, and instead view it as an excuse.
Why am I having such a narrow- and close-minded position on this? Well, to be real candid and espousing a position I haven't before, I'm stating that the reason the people who aren't predestined by their genetic makeup to be obese are actually obese is all a matter of personal choice.
Yes. They are personally responsible for getting large, and larger. They are personally choosing to become the size they are. Little by little. Decade by decade.
Remember me sharing that it's a struggle even for someone like me who is tall and slender to maintain the shape that I'm in? I believe that the vast majority of obese people aren't doing the same but rather are using whatever excuse they can to maintain their position that it's genes or some other factor behind their large size. And the large size of their behinds, too.
I know this is hardcore. I know this is something that is slanted and one-sided by most standards, but it's how I see things now.
What really put me over the edge on this subject was another article I found on the web posing the rhetorical explanation that credit cards were making people fat, because fast food chains in North America now offer payment via credit cards and debit cards.
The reasoning behind this article was that having this option, once one is in the grease hut, allows people the convenience of purchasing their greasy-encased and fat-laden food with plastic money, instead of paper money, like in the old days. And, it also supported this explanation with the point that if a potential customer's pockets were empty they are still going to the drive thru window for the triple-layered heart attack bacon cheeseburgers and then paying for the purchase with their credit cards or debit cards.
To a point, I agree with this article as at times I've found myself out of cash when I'm in one of those places buying a quick snack for my boys. But, no matter how cogent the reasoning within this article to explain another contributor to the North American obesity epidemic, it still missed the point of personal responsibility, accountability and culpability.
I ask: What about the person who pays for their food with a debit or credit card: aren't they making a choice, in the first place, to eat there? I know that's how *I* ended up in there with my boys -- I chose to go there.
Yes, it's now more convenient with the debit card processing on-site.
Yes, it's easier to get fast food junk food when the green isn't available in the pocket anymore, but isn't it still a choice to actually go thru the drive thru or pay inside the store for the triple cheeseburger with bacon and large fries and a Coke with plastic? Isn't that a personal choice?
I think one has to agree with this, and, ergo, rightfully so the question is begged: Where is the personalized and responsible acceptance of one's need to BUY this food in the first place?
But, then we're given an out from personal responsibility via the overt blaming of the fast food chains and the debit card and credit card companies and their placing these machines at the restaurant registers and thereby giving this as another payment option at the fast food restaurant.
"It's all their fault, and that's why we're getting fatter as a nation." Rrrrright.
Does this make as little sense to you as it does to me?
It's like saying that smokers smoke more and drinkers drink more because they have debit and credit card machines in the local stores. And kids eat more candy because candy is available in virtually every store in the nation.
Why not just outright blame the food stores and superstores for having TOO MUCH food on their shelves for us to choose from and buy and THAT'S why North American's are becoming obese?
Where's the taking responsibility for one's choice, in the FIRST place, for CHOOSING to eat the fast food, and drive up TO the drive thru lane, or walk INTO the fast-food restaurant?
Where's the admission of personal responsibility for making those choices which lead one to over time become obese or morbidly obese as time goes on as those choices are made over and over and over and over, on a personal basis?
And, then some person or organization writes an article on the web and states that the credit card companies are 'responsible'.
Yes, they contribute.
Yes, they make things more convenient.
But, they don't make the person get in their car and see the take-out fast-food chain restaurant on the corner of the block and drive up and park or go through the drive-thru lane and then take the card out of their wallet or purse and hand it over to the pimply-faced teenager behind the register who is thinking about the homework that needs to be completed tonight before he/she can go out on that hot date with that other pimply-faced hottie from high school.
Come on people; let's take responsibility on a DAILY basis for the choices we make. Let's make ourselves responsible for the condition our body is in. Let's read some of these articles and tell ourselves, "Geez, there's another article that wants me to believe that someone else is responsible for my obesity, beyond my immediate ancestors and something I truly had no choice in through birth in this gene-pool I'm a part of."
Let's understand that getting to an obese state is not fun. Being obese is not fun. Although it's now becoming the norm almost everywhere you look, it's still something that society is responsible for, but one we, as individuals can personally begin to change back to being the atypical condition it used to be when I was in high school a scant three decades ago.
But, this all starts right with the body that we're each living in. It's one's life, it's one's responsibility. NO one else's but yours.
Oh...and, don't get me started on those people who tried to sue that fast food chain because they didn't put a warning label on their 1420-calorie triple burgers with three slices of cheese and half a dozen strips of bacon telling people that if one continues to eat these artery chokers and heart squeezers, that they might get 'fat'.
Again...don't make me go there, and I'll save us both the trouble of reading more words on this rant I've been on with this article about the obesity epidemic in America. Enough already.
Written by Andre Best
President, Ultimate Results, Inc.
http://www.andrebest.com
'Learn About Life From Another Perspective'
(Author's permission is granted to share this full article with others. Just leave the signature line intact, please.)
(Happy 78th Birthday Dad, love you! And, keep walking. :-)
Posted by Andre Best at 8:50 PM | Comments (0)
September 20, 2007
Your Body: Are You Voiding The Warranty?
I'm sorry, but I just can't get past the entire issue of seeing people in the United States who seem to just be getting larger in size, overall. It's something that I can't understand. And perhaps my writing here will clearly show that perhaps my stance derives from naivete, or ignorance, or maybe clear misunderstanding about the entire issue of obesity in the United States.
Like most people in developed countries these days, I too have to pay attention to what I eat, what type of food I eat, and, how my exercise routine is going. If I don't do all this, I notice a slight change when my pants begin to feel too tight around my waist, which happens from time to time. Although I have kept the same weight for over 10 years now, I know when my 'size' begins to change/increase.
Because of this, I know that I have to pick up the efforts of my exercising routine, my eating habits, and/or my attitude about fitness in general and how that translates into my daily (non)activities with this meat sack I am carried around in.
So, I am aware that it is a constant chore for those of us who are not having to scramble for our next meal to have to watch what goes in our body versus how much is worked off and how much is useless excess that is stored in-situ in our fat deposits.
And, I know that having to watch what one eats and balance that with how much one exercises the body and keeps it in a state of fitness beyond simple stretching is an effort unto itself. However, that is where my awareness of what is needed to tackle this part of existence head-on ends.
Let me explain.
Every time I go to the gas station to put gasoline in my vehicle I am reminded of this issue, both as I pay attention to the putting gasoline in my vehicle process, and as I watch those around me as I wait for my vehicle's gas tank to fill up. And sometimes I see people that remind me of the entire issue and how perplexing it is to try to get a grasp of at times.
Again, let me clarify.
I have what is considered a sportier vehicle, and according to the owners manual I'm supposed to be putting premium gasoline in the vehicle to ensure that it stays in prime operating condition. Anything less than this jeopardizes the actual condition of the engine and the exhaust system overall. Gunk buildup, inferior operating results, knocking, pinging, rattling, increased emissions, and voiding of the vehicle's warranty are all possible outcomes of not adhering to the recommended fuel type being used in the vehicle.
Now, let me ask you, how many millions of people have vehicles that are similar to mine and they choose to take similar more intensive care of them as I do by adhering to the vehicle manufacturer's recommended fuel usage type? I'd bet millions of them do likewise.
But, how many of these same vehicle owners don't even give their own bodies the same type of care and consideration? Again, millions, I'd bet.
Specifically, how many of these vehicle owners take that nice sportier vehicle they just filled up with gas and immediately drive on over to the adjacent fast food drive-up window at the local neighborhood artery clogging outlet and order one of those 3/4 pound triple decker, double cheese, quadruple bacon monstrosities layered between sumptuous processed white bread buns? Millions, I'd venture to guess again.
It's kind of confusing isn't it, this behavior that is, right?
We are all making numerous decisions each and every day about what we put into the organic vehicle we have been blessed with for up to 90 years or so. But, what type of decisions are we making to best take care of this vehicular work of beauty that is carrying us to the next world as long as we are able to hang out in it? Again, as I'm seeing more and more every day, many of us are doing a pretty lousy job of taking care of this vehicle, this vessel, that we are temporarily housed in.
Overall, we're taking better care of the vehicles we BUY and then throw away only a few years later, than we do with the vehicle we were BLESSED with through birth on this physical plane.
It truly doesn't make sense to me.
Now, let me state again, that you're not going to go to dictionary.com and see my picture popping up when you ask for the definition of 'fitness'. Why not? Because I too know that it is troublesome at times to make proper decisions as to how to best take care of this vehicle we motor around in, by foot, every day.
But, it does come down to how much we are willing to continue to decide each and every single day, and moment, as to what is the best way to fuel this personal vehicle, and how to best maintain it.
Maybe someday we'll begin to realize that this is the vehicle we should be focusing on taking the utmost care of, not the metal man-made box we ride around in every day.
So, the next time you ride around in your own vehicle, or the bus, or carpool with other people, think about this subject. Look at the people in other vehicles. Think about what you see and about the discrepancy you mostly see surrounding the vehicles being driven, and the drivers of those vehicles.
Next time you go to the carwash, or drive by a car repair shop, remember how the owners of these cars are probably taking better care of their vehicle, and focusing more on that on average, then their own bodies.
Interesting observation, isn't it?
Now, what about you and your future vehicle maintenance plan? Are you at the top of the priority list, or is the moving metal box you use to ride your butt around in comfort at the top?
Don't worry, don't feel guilty if the prioritization is a little bit funky right now. Just be sure to re-prioritize, quickly, if necessary. And stick to THAT maintenance plan...or risk voiding your body's warranty.
Perhaps permanently.
And, remember, that vehicle you own most likely won't exist in 40 years, but you most likely will...if you choose wisely. Now.
Good luck.
Written by Andre Best
President, Ultimate Results, Inc.
http://www.andrebest.com
'Learn About Life From Another Perspective'
(Author's permission is granted to share this full article with others. Just leave the signature line intact, please.)
Posted by Andre Best at 5:58 PM | Comments (0)
November 21, 2006
Getting Down and Dirty About Washing Hands
With all the U.S. news recently focusing on the e-coli outbreak in prepared salads, one would think that this was a subject of great concern to many people. However, I beg to differ as I have witnessed evidence to the contrary.
The federal government determined that people died in this most recent national outbreak of disease because publicly purchased and consumed food had become tainted via water, or direct contact, with animal feces.
Apparently, the animal waste/wastewater had somehow gotten in contact with the live produce and then the produce made it into supermarkets and other food stores and, voila!, the outbreak time bomb started ticking.
Unfortunately, several people paid for this carelessness with their lives.
But I think that the appropriate federal agencies investigating this latest outbreak of e-coli tainted food, which resulted in several deaths and a couple of hundred sickenings, should not only be requiring that supermarket staff are not restocking the store shelves with suspect brands of lettuce. No.
Rather, I propose that the government should also visit many places of work and other public places containing restrooms and washroom facilities. I would go so far as to say that investigations should encompass even private homes, for that matter.
Why would I suggest this?
Well, over the last several years I've witnessed a disturbing trend that seems to be becoming more publicly acceptable and mainstream.
Specifically, I'm talking about every person, or in my gender's case at least men in particular, that I witness walking out of the restroom (or 'washroom' as I used to say when I lived in Canada) without washing their hands after, er, satisfying their 'call of nature'.
Remember the childhood rule most of us learned from our caregivers?
...It's not good to eat poop.
However, from the soapbox that I'm now standing on, I'm questioning how many more hapless souls who don't even eat salad are going to pay with their own life as a result of completely preventable human careless with regards to their very own poop on their very own hands.
Yes, I know...this is not a pretty subject; however, it is one that people, mainly adults, need a refresher course on.
And just what do people, both grown-ups and older children need to be reminded of?
Wash your hands after you use the bathroom.
Everytime.
All the time.
No exceptions.
Now, by 'washing hands' I'm not talking about a quick 1/2 second swinging of hands through running water and calling that washing hands. Oh no.
And I'm not talking about rubbing your hands together without soap under running water after you do your 'back-end' business either. Uh-uh.
What I'm talking about is everyone reading this article understanding that what comes out of the human body as solid waste can be deadly when (accidentally) consumed. Period.
So, what should be done when a person's hands, and other body parts used for cleaning, come into contact with that potentially deadly solid waste? Easy answer...
After finishing your business, for at least 15 seconds wash your hands vigorously and completely with water AND soap. Lots of both preferably.
People need to understand that the stuff coming out of the backend of the body, hopefully on a daily basis, is the same stuff that killed those few unfortunate souls who ate that animal poop tainted produce.
And since I want to have as many readers reading my articles for years to come, I would like you to heed my suggestion above so you stay healthy and don't suffer from this most unfortunate demise.
I know it's hard to remember with the busy lives we all live, to wash one's hands. After all, one can say to themself when they don't do so, "what's the harm?"
Well, even though there may not be apparent visible evidence at the moment on one's hands to support washing one's hands, please don't forget to do so. Every time you have a bowel movement. And at the very least, after doing your 'front-end' business, rinse your hands off.
One of my young boys is still struggling with remembering to wash his hands every time he goes to the bathroom. But I compensated for this by creating a simple statement so that he remembers to do so every time he needs to.
I tell him to 'wipe, flush, wash'. Simple.
Does it work every time? No, sometimes he still forgets. But it is something that I can fall back on and very easily and simply help him go over in his young mind where he fell off the action path.
"Did you wipe?"
"Yes."
"Did you flush?"
"Yes."
"Did you wash?"
"Oops."
As simple as it sounds, this is something I think would behoove grown-ups to run through their minds each and every time they run through their 'business' in the washroom.
Nuf said on this 'taboo' topic? Good.
But before I completely step off my soapbox...
Now, if only we can get bathroom designers to design public restrooms such that the restroom exit door pushes open outward thereby allowing one to exit without having to use their cleaned hands to grab onto that highly, HIGHLY contaminated door handle from all those hand washers who still have to put this lesson into use.
If you know any of these people, especially the males, do us both a favor and have them read this article.
The world, both inside and outside public restrooms/washrooms, will be cleaner and healthier for your efforts. And I, and my well trained sons, thank you for that.
But, hey, this is fodder for another article. So stay tuned.
Okay, now I'm stepping down...
Written by Andre Best
President, Ultimate Results, Inc.
http://www.andrebest.com
'Learn About Life From Another Perspective'
(Author's permission is granted to share this full article with others. Just leave the signature line intact, please.)
Posted by Andre Best at 5:31 AM | Comments (0)
June 28, 2006
Debunking Constipated Ideas About Constipation
Suffering from constipation is no fun. We've all been there. The discomfort, the worry, the relief. But constipation is something that one need not go through, nor worry about as long as one is taking proper steps to ensure that the root causes of it are not started in the first place.
I know that many of us do not want to talk about a topic like this, nor read about it. It's the type of hush-hush information that we all prefer no one else know that we're going through. Even our doctors. But that is something that is going to have to be gotten over if one is going to experience relief with this all-too-common malady we humans periodically suffer from.
I'm not a doctor, nor do I want to be, so let me state from the get-go that I'm not dispensing medical advice, nor anything intend to be misconstrued as medical advice. Go to your trained and degree'd doctor or specialist for that kind of stuff. So in this case, I'll just butt out of your business.
Sorry, I couldn't resist. ;-)
There. Now that we're beyond all that legalese, let's continue with this discussion.
~~~~
Let's face it, being constipated is not enjoyable. And the topic in general is not a pretty subject. But still it behooves one to make sure that they know what to do to prevent bouts of constipation in the first place. This is possible. I know this for a fact through personal experience and considerable reading and extensive learning about the subject of constipation in general.
But, to simplify this entire subject let me tell you a story about something that happened to me a fair number of years ago. Don't worry, I'm not going to share and describe something medically graphic here. (I like to keep my insightful articles family-friendly. ;-)
~~~~
About twenty years ago I owned a car that I bought from someone for about $450 Cdn. Needless to say, it was an old used car that needed serious repair. But any repairs, such as changing the chronic leak it had would have exceeded the cost I paid for the vehicle so I chose to continue to drive the car and just ignore the blue smoke coming out the tail pipe.
The car had such a bad oil leak that I always carried a supply of several quarts of oil in the back of the car so as to keep the oil level at normal levels. I think the car was losing about one quart every 100 miles, or so.
As the oil continued to drip out from beneath the engine, and the blue smoke continued to spew out the tail pipe, I continued pouring, literally, a quart of oil in the engine oil refill opening every week or two, as needed depending upon my driving distance during that time. I also thought that since the vehicle was getting a 'fresh' quart of oil on a constant basis that I didn't need to change the oil or the oil filter. Ever.
Why? Well, the way my inexperienced mind perceived the situation was to think that since older oil was leaking out and fresh oil was being inputted...why bother changing the oil at all? Right? After all, it was being changed every several weeks overall through my constant oil adding, wasn't it? Not.
Needless to say, after continuing this routine over a period of several months and several thousand miles the car, and the engine, had decided that they had had enough. One very, very cold Canadian winter night the car engine completely froze solid and seized up on me and I was stranded at a local nightclub with no way to get home. In fact, the car had to be junked because the engine was now useless.
And why was the engine now useless? Because I had continued to pour fresh oil in without thinking about getting rid of all the sludge that remained in the engine block from all the other prior used oil that had leaked out or burned blue. Eventually the sludge buildup inside the block was so great that the moving parts within the engine now couldn't function so, viola!, the engine seized up with all the crap that I had neglected to realize was still inside the engine's 'guts'. Big mistake.
~~~~
So why am I bringing up this incident from my long ago past? Well, to show you with a more easy to digest example that this is what is happening to one's insides when they choose to live their lives on a daily basis and treat their insides much like I did with that poor old car twenty years ago.
Our digestive system is very similar, albeit not quite as simple, as the innards of that unfortunate automobile. They need to be kept cleaned through digestion of high-fiber, nutrient rich contents. The contents need to be regularly, and entirely, changed out. And the system needs to kept in tip-top shape through regular maintenance.
But what do we do with our insides in reality? Well, let's see.
We continuously fill them with 'fresh' undigestible junk, for the most part, and wait for nature to do its part with the old stuff once it's been processed. But like that old car, nature decides every so often as a warning to us that this type of abuse can't continue, and that it is going to give us a warning about its continued ill-treatment through a painful bout of constipation.
These bouts of constipation are not solely just atypical episodes that occur during our days on this planet. Rather, they're a warning that things are not going right inside, if even for only a few days. They're an indication that better fluids and solids need to be put into the system, used, and eliminated properly.
Analagous with my car engine story above stop: the continuous adding oil routine; smelling the blue smoke spewing out the tailpipe; neglecting regular oil changes; and, thinking throughout that that's sufficient.
You see, these bouts of constipation are indications that something is not right in our insides to the extent that things could be so bad that the system is clogging up, like that old beater automobile did, and ready to seize up and give out altogether. How? Easy...
Can you say 'diverticulitis'?
Can you say 'colon cancer'?
Can you say 'celiac disease'?
Do you want to wait to find out that you need to take better care of your insides with this kind of warning shot? I know I don't.
~~~~
I remember, about ten years ago, I went to my doctor when I had a bout of constipation that was especially troubling. It was occuring for quite a long time so I questioned him about how often an elimination should be occurring. He actually told me that it's perfectly okay for a person to have a bowel movement only every four days or so.
"Yeah,...rrrrrrrright." (to quote my nine-year-old son).
Let's detail what I was told by this trained professional in the medical field, from another perspective.
How many meals does one consume during a four day period? 10? 12? Where are all those solids going if they're being ingested but not eliminated? Would you agree that if they're not being purged on a regular basis that they're just being kinda backlogged and stored in the digestive system waiting for their turn to be eliminated?
Well, add this to that scenario...
We all know that what comes out when we have an elimination is toxic and even deadly if improperly contacted. So do you think it's wise to have that stuff sitting around IN your body for several days at a time while it waits its turn to be purged?
I certainly don't. I want that toxic sludge outta me as fast as my body is able to process it.
I would hope you now do too. And that's why it's so important to make sure that your digestive system is working as best as it can on a regular and consistent basis.
And if you, like I once did, suffer from short and long periods of constipation then I would suggest that what might do you a world of good is to get some natural, non-laxative type help to assist your troubled system. And not just when you're experiencing constipation, but rather on a continuous basis as part of a regular maintenance and cleansing process and routine.
The one product that I found that has completely eliminated (sorry for the pun) my elimination problems for the past seven years is produced by a local company here in Phoenix. The product is called Experience and it's a mediterranean herbal product and has been in use by humans for over 100 years now.
Again, through my own testimony and six-year+ usage I can easily say that this product has worked wonders for me and my digestive system. Again, I'm not dispensing medical advice since I don't know your personal issues, rather, I'm just making a recommendation based on personal experience and the outcomes that I was able to achieve. Essentially, to steal a quote from the investment industry -- past outcomes do not guarantee similar future returns. So make your own call on what you think will work best for you, and if you're unsure consult your own doctor first.
And I will add that based on my own experience I certainly don't miss the discomfort, pain, and worry over constipation anymore. And no more visits to the doctor and being told that having a bowel movement every fours days is okay.
So, if you are constipated and suffer from chronic constipation or bouts of constipation I encourage you to visit this link (http://www.andrebest.com/experience) and find out for yourself what a natural product like this might be able to do for you.
Good luck.
Written by Andre Best
President, Ultimate Results, Inc.
http://www.andrebest.com
'Learn About Life From Another Perspective'
(Author's permission is granted to share this full article with others. Just leave the signature line intact, please.)
Posted by Andre Best at 12:29 PM | Comments (1)
February 21, 2006
My Lasik Story - After LASIK Surgery
As I mentioned in my previous article on this topic entitled 'My Lasik Story - Before LASIK Surgery', I went through about 30 years of vision issues that dramatically affected my life and my lifestyle.
I avoided certain activities in life because they were too impacted by my poor vision. Examples included physically-jarring activities like tackle football and ice hockey and other less intense activities like swimming. These I avoided like the plague because I was admonished by my parents enough times as a youth for breaking 'another set of glasses' during my early years of wearing glasses while rough-housing with my two older brothers. And, no, I didn't discriminate against my older sister so she was fair game too, though not as often, because, er, she was 'a girl'.
But, after growing tired of the 'masking-tape-on-the-bridge-and-temples' look that so negatively affected me during my early would-be dating years, I soon realized that I had better do what I could to make the most of my absolute dependence on wearing glasses, preferably without the masking tape as an added fashion statement.
So, I discovered and began wearing contact lenses during my early twenties.
But, as I mentioned in my earlier article on this topic I, after twenty years of contact lenses wearing, started to undergo changes within my eyes that were out of my control. Physical changes that would prohibit my being able to wear contacts except for only several hours each day.
Well, this didn't bode well for me since due to my severe myopia and astigmatism I would get headaches whenever I would wear glasses for extended periods of time.
And after having my opthamologist tell me about the severe case of giant papillary conjunctivitis that was occurring in my eyes and that it would take several months and maybe several years to remedy, if at all, I knew something drastic needed to occur.
And that is when the possibility of LASIK surgery entered the picture. Although my opthamologist had discussed this potential solution over the years he did not fully endorse it for me. Apparently I was not the optimal client for this type of surgery at the time and with the actual procedural requirements and limitations with this evolving medical technology.
But over the years the surgical techniques had improved sufficiently enough that he felt I could undergo sufficient correction with new technologies that were constantly being announced and so I took the plunge in the fall of 2004 to consider and schedule my very own LASIK procedure.
And I am sure glad that I did that.
As of this writing, just over one year after my LASIK surgery in January 2005 I can say that there have been significant changes in aspects of my life that I never imagined, or could see. No pun intended.
You see, the first thing that happened after my surgery was the immense sense of freedom I felt because my world was no longer limited to the nearest and clearest eight-inches in front of my eyes. It now spanned the entire world, or at least as far as I could see.
As you can imagine I was actually able to function in life without the fear of not being able to see if my glasses broke or I ripped one of my contacts and didn't have a spare set to wear. Instead, I could now see 24/7/365. I could see during the day, the night, far, near, and even see the stars clearer than before while needing glasses or contacts.
Now I'm not saying that after my surgery that I felt so free that I went out and started bungee-jumping and skydiving. No. Rather, I was able to function in life in a manner and with a freedom that I had not experienced since I was about ten-years-old, about the time I started needing to wear corrective lenses.
But, I also noticed something that I have never seen nor heard anyone else who has gone through LASIK surgery correction mention. And this 'something' for me was the fact that I no longer felt like I was hiding something from those who saw me.
You see, after my surgery I had the epiphany, after no longer needing to wear contacts, that I was carrying around a large amount of guilt because I was actually hiding the fact that I needed to wear corrective lenses all the time. And after my surgery, I realized that I didn't want others to know this fact and by the simple fact that all most people in my life knew me for was as a man who 'didn't need glasses' because that is what they saw when they looked at me. That is, a man without glasses or needing to wear them.
And the only way I became aware of this 'shame' and 'guilt' was after the surgery because I truly DID no longer need corrective lenses to see. And although I still looked the same to everyone else, now I truly didn't need to wear glasses or worry that someone would find out that I was 'hiding' the fact that I did need glasses to see.
Yes, I know, this is kinda 'out there' but it is something that I never figured or knew I was carrying around with me every day. And it certainly wasn't something that I expected to experience from having such a relatively simple 'cosmetic surgery' type of procedure. After all, it wasn't touted to have the mental benefit that I found myself experiencing.
So there, now you have it, and if you're considering LASIK surgery you too might undergo this 'transparent' change that truly will change your life, and perhaps even lift a little bit of unbeknownst to you self-induced burden off your shoulders.
But, LASIK surgery is not without its own inherent risks that require SERIOUS consideration and detailing.
Let me explain...
~~~~
You see, the Lasik surgery I underwent was not without problems.
Don't, don't, DON'T believe the television commercials and those newspaper ads you see of smiling people having the time of their lives now with family and friends and during those fantastic vacations scuba-diving, waterskiing, and snorkeling. LASIK surgery is just that...surgery. And all surgery has risks. Especially this type of surgery.
And when it comes to LASIK surgery, which is literally cutting into your eyeballs, well, mess this up and you don't get a second chance to get it right.
You see, LASIK surgery is occurring on a very very small portion of your eye and the correction actually occurs on such a microscopic scale that it can only be correctly done by a specially designed computer. And with this type of needed precision the procedure can get messed up, in untrained or with the wrong surgical hands.
Even I experienced what I can only classify as 'double-vision' for several months after my LASIK procedure. I went back to the surgeon several times complaining of this and he didn't know what it was because this double vision I experienced was only occurring during daylight hours. Nighttime vision was virtually perfect.
He was never able to tell me what was causing it and even rejected my suggestion that it was a 'central island'. But all I can speculate was occurring was that my eyes were not used to seeing 20/40 after being 20/900 and 20/750 for almost the last 15 years and they were taking their own roundabout time to adjust.
But fortunately for me now all I have is minor blurriness during the day and my vision is corrected to 20/20 with slight prescription sunglasses which work perfectly here in sunny Arizona.
Of course, I've read absolute horror stories on other websites which are valid and true and DO occur due to surgical mistakes and equipment malfunctions. So, again, don't believe that things CAN'T go wrong or that they won't happen 'to me'.
Essentially, my biggest tip: DO YOUR HOMEWORK.
Research the bejeabers (is that a word? ;-) out of the subject of laser vision correction. Find out what CAN go wrong and determine if you still want to take the risk. Get at least THREE opinions and analyses from corrective LASIK eye surgery clinics. And DON'T go with the bargain basement clinics offering the Thursday discount or the 'buy one get one free' special. Your eyes are much too precious to risk them that way.
Why do I say this? Because, I can tell you that when I was seeing double images ALL THE TIME and there was no correction for it, that was scary to me. VERY scary. The thought of having to see that way for the rest of my life was too much to consider.
But, I was one of the more fortunate ones in that the problem took care of itself after a couple of months. Others aren't so lucky as you can read elsewhere on the web.
So, ask yourself - "Is it worth it - the risk that is?" but DON'T tell yourself "Nah, it won't happen to me. Other people have the problems - not me."
Research www.asklasikdocs.com and www.mylasikstory.com to start.
And then realize if the risk is worth the benefits to you. For me, it was worth it. But if I were somehow writing to you today having to see through uncorrectable double vision, my answer would be different.
And, also, do realize that even if everything does work in your favor with the procedure that some documents on the web state that ANY messing around with LASIK has an effect on the cornea and increases a person's risk for glaucoma in later years. So don't think that even with a good 20/20 outcome that you've undergone a risk-free LASIK procedure. You haven't.
So, bottom line...
They're your eyes.
It's your decision.
Make it a good one 'cause you probably won't get a second chance with LASIK surgery gone bad.
Thank you kindly.
Written by Andre Best
President, Ultimate Results, Inc.
http://www.andrebest.com
'Learn About Life From Another Perspective'
(Author's permission is granted to share this full article with others. Just leave the signature line intact, please.)
Posted by Andre Best at 4:42 PM | Comments (14)
February 6, 2006
What's So Bad About Trans Fats and Partially Hydrogenated Oils?
I was grocery shopping last night at the nearby supermarket and again I was reminded of some of the pretty subtle consumerism that's going on and that we, the consumers, are not supposed to be aware of.
In this case it's all about the subject of these so-called 'trans-fats' that are now touted as not being included in virtually every product manufactured and sold on store shelves. You've no doubt seen these products - ''0 grams trans-fats'' they state on the package.
Now, let's back up a bit and detail exactly what this is all about and why it's of any concern to anyone, including the food manufacturers.
~~~~
'Trans-fats' are a simpler way of stating that the product has trans-saturated fat in it. Now what, pray-tell, is trans-saturated fat? Good question.
Very simply, and because I'm not a health expert by design, trans-saturated fats are the bad fats that, when consumed, lead to higher LDL fat in the bloodstream. And LDL cholesterol fat is the type of fat that one does not want to have too much of in their blood. Why? Well a couple of minor reasons, namely...heart attacks...and, strokes.
Enough said on that? Good.
Now, the reason why LDL cholesterol fat is so bad is essentially because it is the type of fat that doesn't get readily absorbed in the body. Instead this type of 'bad fat' floats around the body via the blood and when it sees fit to, it plants itself somewhere inside the blood vessel. And sometimes this 'sticking around' of the LDL fat is what causes the above health conditions since too much fat sticking to the wall of any part of a blood vessel, as you know, leads to a narrowing of the blood vessel and, ergo, heart attacks and strokes. Not good.
Now, again, let me remind you that I am nowhere near considered a health expert. The description I gave you above is my very 'dumbed-down' (okay scratch that description and replace it with 'simplified') version of what this medical stuff is all about. If you want to have a more detailed explanation ask your general practitioner or go to WebMD.com, or do some Googling on 'trans-fats'.
Now, continuing...
~~~~
So, I hope we can both agree that trans fats are bad for the human body. In this case, your body, my dear reader.
And I trust that we'd agree that it's a good idea to limit this type of fat with the food we intake on a daily basis, right?
Well, now the food manufacturers would have us believe that they're on our side and only looking out for us, the consumers of their products.
But, I happen to think regarding their new '0 grams of trans-fats' that this is all - in four simple and family-friendly words: 'A bunch of bull!'
You see, for almost a century food manufacturers have been using a food manufacturing process that involves changing an oil, through a process called 'hydrogenation', into a different type of oil called 'partially hydrogenated oil'.
Very simplistically, what this process does is it adds another hydrogen atom to the carbon chain in the oil molecule. Essentially, an artificial molecule, a 'hydrogenated' molecule is created.
But here's the real issue, in my opinion, around food manufacturers utilizing this process.
These hydrogenated molecules cannot be absorbed by the body because they're artificial. And normally something artificial that's consumed would be purged or eliminated out of the body. But, unfortunately, not with this stuff - these hydrogenated oils.
I'll explain...
You see, because of the artificiality of these oil molecules, combined with the fact that they're essentially fat molecules, causes them to stay in the body and not get used by the body. Instead, they get stored in the body's fat deposits, along with all the other fat molecules.
Now, picture yourself consuming a lot of partially hydrogenated oil through eating food containing this oil, this artificially processed, partially modified, fatty oil. And picture a lot of this artificially fatty oil being stored in the body, in the body's storage areas - the fat deposits - because the oil molecules can't be absorbed or used.
Would you not agree that this is not a good scenario for us?
Would you think it plausible that perhaps some of this artificially modified oil compound, that is stored in the body's fat deposits, is not a good thing and potentially could lead to certain diseases - like cancer?
I do.
And many others do too.
Again, I'll explain.
~~~~
I worked with this man in the mid-1990's who had survived bowel cancer. I learned a whole lot from his experience and in fact this was the first time I had ever heard about 'partially-hydrogenated oils'.
He once told me that the first thing he cut out of his diet after recovering from his cancer was 'partially hydrogenated oils.' I asked why and he told me what I described to you several paragraphs above.
When he told me about these oils and what happens in the body with this stuff it really struck a chord with me. It made total sense.
Essentially, we're eating a chemical that the body can't use, but instead keeps IN the body and stores in the fat. It's hard to argue that this is something to be preferred inside anyone's carcass.
~~~~
Now, why do we even have to be discussing this topic, that is, why do manufacturers use this type of manufactured oil in the first place?
Easy answer...money.
Remember my 'A bunch of bull!' statement from earlier? Well, the reason why I said that was because food manufacturers are now removing trans-saturated fats a.k.a. trans fats a.k.a. partially-hydrogenated oils from their food products. Why? Because the U.S. Surgeon General said in 2005 that trans-fats are bad for today's diets.
So, the food manufacturers are removing the oil because they're responding to a health statement from the U.S. Surgeon General, right? Right. Seriously, that's a correct statement.
But let's get to the real crux of the matter which is, why was partially hydrogenated oil used in the first place in food products?
Again, easy answer...
Money.
You see, this type of oil allows a product to have a longer shelf life. Essentially, it stays consumable for far longer because of this preservative-type oil in it.
...And a longer shelf life means less food spoilage since it's more likely to be bought before spoilage.
...And less spoilage before purchase means that food manufacturer actually sells the product before needing to throw it away due to spoilage.
...And more sold food and less waste means more money in the food manufacturers pockets.
Again, it's all about economics.
Oh sure, there may have been an admirable reason to have this type of trans-fatty oil in certain products earlier during the 20th century when refrigeration still wasn't a readily available option in the vast majority of kitchens. Heck, I still remember my parents storing bread in the bread box, and me and my siblings having to check every sandwich before we ate it to make sure there wasn't any 'green' on it (and I'm not talking money). But those times are long gone.
How can I be so sure? Well, let's do a quick rundown of what categories of products TODAY still contain partially-hydrogenated oils:
- bread
- pastries
- yogurt
- ice cream
- cereals
- soups
- pasta
- candy
- frozen pies
- frozen meals
- frozen popsicles
Essentially, these are the big categories that contain hydrogenated oils. There are thousands more smaller categories.
Now, let me ask you - is it necessary that we have artificially manufactured oil in ice cream? In yogurt? In frozen uncooked french fries?
Where's the economic need in that in today's society? I'll tell you where...nowhere.
The only reason food manufacturers use partially-hydrogenated oils, which are harmful to us, the consumer, is so that their products stay fresher longer and they make more money through product sales.
And now we're supposed to believe the advertising for all these redone products to '0 grams trans-fats' is because the food manufacturers have our health in mind.
And again...'bull' I say.
Food companies are only making this switch because the U.S. Surgeon General said trans fats should be consumed in limited amounts and now they want to be seen as being responsive and caring for your and my health and so that we'll then by more of their products because they're trans-fat free. Sneaky, eh?
~~~~
So what is the salient point of me and my long diatribe about trans-fats and partially-hydrogenated oils?
Well, I would hope that through my sharing about this topic that you, my fellow human being, is more educated about what is going on down at your local supermarket, wholesale food superstore, and corner grocery store.
After all, it is your body. And now that you know what's going on and how easy it is to find out which products contain partially-hydrogenated oils a.k.a trans fats oils, the big question becomes...
What are YOU going to eat?
Written by Andre Best
President, Ultimate Results, Inc.
http://www.andrebest.com
'Learn About Life From Another Perspective'
(Author's permission is granted to share this full article with others. Just leave the signature line intact, please.)
Posted by Andre Best at 12:58 PM | Comments (8)
January 23, 2006
My Lasik Story - Before LASIK Surgery
It now is about one year since I had my Lasik Treatment through a local surgeon. And I must say that during the past year I am continually reminded of the watershed day that I actually changed my vision, permanently.
But let me start at the beginning and backtrack somewhat into what my world was like before having Lasik performed on both eyes.
~~~~
I started needing and wearing glasses when I was twelve-years-old. That was during the mid 1970's so as you can (now) imagine through recalling the fashion industry back then, that wasn't a pretty sight. Especially for a pre-pubescent boy.
Needless to say, I didn't exactly have to beat off the girls with a stick to keep them from approaching me.
My glasses fulfilled that purpose all too well.
Okay, off my soapbox.
I continued to wear spectacles for the next three decades, exactly. And through that time my vision worsened from just a simple 'sharpening of the words on the distant blackboard at the front of the classroom' to an outright correction for a severely debilitating case of extreme myopia.
In simple laymen's (and laywomen's) terms - I had became very, very nearsighted as I grew up, and my eyeballs stretched to heretofore unseen limits along with my tall slender body therein causing my complete dependency on spectacles to function in the physical world.
At the end of it all, somewhere in my late twenties, my vision had stabilized at around 20/900 in my left eye and 20/750 in my right eye, with both eyes having a modicum of astigmatisum. But at the end of it all I had the ubiquitous 'coke-bottle bottom' glasses and needed this amount of correction to function throughout my days.
I hadn't discovered contacts until I was in my early twenties, but when I wasn't wearing them I had to use my glasses to help me to see. No matter where I was during my waking hours I needed some sort of visual correction to help me see the world like 'normally-sighted' people did.
~~~~
Okay, so let me give you some example of how bad my actual condition was.
- The only place I didn't wear glasses or contacts to correct my vision was during my hours sleeping. Fortunately, my dreams were always perfectly corrected; otherwise that would've been an extreme bummer.
- I had an actual distance of clarity that extended, literally, only about eight, yes - 8, inches in front of my face. If I ever tried to read a book without wearing glasses or contacts I looked like one of those nerds one sees in the Hollywood movies who has to move the book back and forth in front of his/her face to read each line; akin to the old fashioned manual typewriters that always had to be pulled back to the beginning of each line.
- I could not walk properly without glasses on as I had no depth perception. If I tried to walk up stairs I would trip as I couldn't properly judge how far the next higher step was from me. I, fortunately, never tried walking down a set of stairs without visual correction in place. That would've been plain stupid in my case. Besides, I had other stupid things I could do that weren't potentially physically damaging to this 200lb carcass I'm housed in.
- As a literal example let me give you this written picture. Imagine a humongous drawing of a person's face on a building wall that was several hundred feet, say, 800 hundred feet, off in the distance. Now, you have 20/20 vision - perfect vision - so you can see the drawing perfectly clearly and are able to decipher that the drawing is of a woman. I, however, cannot even begin to figure out what the drawing consists of until I walk almost right up to it. And even then I'm still not able to see it clearly because it is so huge, but I can tell that it is a picture of a face. And maybe if I squint enough I can tell that it is a woman's face.
Anyway, I trust you have a good picture of what the world of a person dependent upon corrective lenses is like.
Now, let me share with you what happened as I grew older.
~~~~
As I stated before, my vision continued to worsen until I was in my late twenties. But when I was in my early twenties I started, out of vanity, to wear soft contact lenses. I could never wear hard contact lenses as they made my eyes feel like I had a toenail stuck in them. Not good.
Continuing...I wore contact lenses for the next twenty years and everything was seeming to go alright with them in lieu of wearing glasses. About ten years ago I discovered disposable contact lenses that I would wear for two weeks and then throw away.
But what happened to my relationship with contacts was that over the years I went from being able to wear them 18 hours a day to only being able to wear them for 8 hours. And even then those eight hours were filled with considerable discomfort - burning, itching, watering, and unclear vision.
Over a period of several months I continued to visit my opthomologist and my contact lenses dispenser in an effort to figure out what was going on. After trying different lenses, prescription drops, and abstaining from wearing contacts for a number of weeks, they finally figured out I had what was called Giant Papillary Conjunctivitis. In other words, the underside of my eyelids were infected and resisting accepting me wearing anything on my eyeballs.
Essentially, every time I blinked my eyelids were scraping across my contacts and over a period of twenty years they stopped liking doing that. So what they did was build up hundreds of small bumps and callouses so as to irritate me every time I blinked while wearing my contact lenses. That, in effect, was what was causing my severe physical irritation and discomfort during my wearing of contact lenses.
And I was told that it wouldn't go away until I stopped wearing contact lenses for a certain period of time, perhaps up to several years.
Well, to say the least, this didn't bode well with me. Here I was with incredibly poor vision and I'm told that I have to rely on only wearing glasses to function in daily life. Well, what I found out during those several weeks of wearing glasses during that contact lenses problem-solving period was that the smallest mis-alignment of my coke-bottle-bottom glasses would cause minor sinus headaches and discomfort.
Essentially, I really was in a no-win type of situation. I could continue wearing contacts with discomfort all while wearing them during the workday. Or I could wear only glasses all day long with discomfort all the time.
There had to be another solution.
There was. And I was about to discover it.
Continue reading to: My Lasik Story - After LASIK Surgery
Written by Andre Best
President, Ultimate Results, Inc.
http://www.andrebest.com
'Learn About Life From Another Perspective'
(Author's permission is granted to share this full article with others. Just leave the signature line intact, please.)
Posted by Andre Best at 6:02 AM | Comments (0)