Found Not Lost

One of my nieces came up to me last weekend to ask what I have been doing to lose weight. I told her I don’t really do anything that can be labeled as a ‘diet’ per se. I simply try to eat sensibly. I love to eat and I love to eat calorie rich foods. But I try not to eat them everyday and when I do I try not to eat too much of them.

She was wondering if I was using any type of diet pills and I told her no. As much as possible I try to avoid supplements and simply try to make wiser decisions about what I eat. I wouldn’t recommend anyone to take diet pills but if you are determined, at least do some research about what you’re going to be putting into your body and realize that no pill is going to solve your weight problems without changing your lifestyle. There are diet pill reviews all over the internet. Read them then read both sides of the argument before making a decision.

I have been hearing more and more about Zenni opticals lately. They have even been featured on Fox News where they investigated the credibility of their claim to be able to sell stylish and quality prescription eyeglasses from $8 a pair. The verdict, darn right, they do!

How do they do that? For one, they manufacture their frames and lenses then sell them directly to you, the consumer thus eliminating the middleman. They offer a huge selection of frames, single vision lens, sunsensor (potochromic) lens, tinted sunglasses, bifocal lens and progressive lenses at highly discounted prices. All you have to do is go to your optometrist, get your prescription and send it to ZenniOpticals.com with your order and you will receive your finely crafted eyeglasses in a few days.

One of the issues mentioned in the Fox News report is that some optometrists do not normally give out the distance between your pupils which is necessary to craft your eyeglasses correctly. There is a workaround that problem though, which is to measure the distance yourself. The only drawback is when the measurement is not accurate, you may have slight problems with your glasses. The problem is more common in very young children though. Most adults seem to have no problem taking this measurement themselves.

The Clark Howard show, a consumer advocate program on radio, recently ran their own test of eyeglasses from Zenni Opticals too. Read here about The Clark Howard Show testimonials to see how they liked their glasses.

This is an example of a Zenni Optical eyeglasses

I have high blood pressure (hypertension) and I take medication for it. It took us (my doctors and I) a few months to settle on the right medication for me and it seems like my condition is finally starting to stabilize. Did you notice how I said doctors above? That’s because in the course of finding the right treatment for me, I had to change physicians to find one who has a plan that I could live with and agree with. It also took me a while to figure out that I have the option of changing doctors. Even longer to ask the right questions regarding my health. I think I am not alone in wrongly thinking that I need to listen to doctors and not question them.

I finally found a doctor that I can really talk to, and ask questions of. If you have hypertension, I think there are a few basic questions that you should always ask your doctor:

1. What’s my blood pressure and what does it mean? If you don’t know what systolic and diastolic means, don’t just take the numbers given to you, ask your doctor to explain to you what they mean.
2. Ask what range your blood pressure falls on. Is it too high, too low? What is the normal range?
3. What’s the ideal range I should be in? This will be your goal, so make sure you ask.
4. Can I fix my condition without drugs? What lifestyle changes should I make?
5. If I have to take drugs? What’s available? What do you recommend?
6. Do I have to stick with your recommendation or can you prescribe one that fits within the limits of my insurance? Ask this so you won’t end up paying for a designer drug that your doctor gets commission for and is not covered by your prescription insurance.

Finally, always go for your check ups to monitor your progress. Sometimes even the most informed decisions you and your doctor make about your medication need to be adjusted.

By now even the most uninformed of us has heard of the controversy regarding stem cell research. You may be against some of the methods of harvesting stem cells, but it’s hard to dispute the science behind the research.

According to Cryo-Cel, a Cord blood bank that has been in operation since 1992, umbilical cord stem cells have been found to treat 70 diseases including anemia, lymphoma, diabets and cerebral palsy. Treating Diseases with Stem Cells is only one of the reasons cited in the website why you should consider banking your babies cord blood at birth. Cryo-cell is not just a blood bank though, they are pioneering stem cell research while constantly searching noncontroversial solutions to preserving stem cells.

The Value of Cord Blood, according to the Cryo-Cell website include:

(1) Cord blood is easier to extract than bone marrow, saving many from the painful procedure of bone marrow extraction.
(2) The body absorbs cord blood stem cells better than those from bone marrow.
(3) About 30,000 people a year in the United States are diagnosed with a disease that can be treated with cord blood stem cells
(4) A number of disease respond favorable to treatment using stem cells

Cord blood banking is one of those events that you hope you won’t ever need, but it is good to know that it is there when you need it. Do a little research and you will find testimonials of how people have been helped by this procedure. Look into it and judge for yourself if this truly is a valuable service.

I have never had any really gross skin problems while I was a teen. So it’s really aggravating me now that I’m older, I’m getting acne! It started out innocuously enough being just one or two pimples on my chin. Then it started moving up to my nose. Then back down to the chin, but now they’ve had a baby. There’s three of them now. Before you know it they started popping out of my cheeks too! Dammit!

So at 40 something, I am combating my skin with acne cream. Well that, and I’m finally making a more regimented effort to keep up with my skin care ritual. So now every night and every morning I make sure to cleanse my face thoroughly, tone and moisturize. Where I used to be haphazard about the brand of cosmetics I use, I try to be more selective now, opting for those with less harmful chemicals. Is this another sign of getting old or have I just been too lax in my hygiene and now need to catch up?