Shanghai-ed

Next year, in October, we're planning a trip to Shanghai, China.  I've read a lot of interesting and fun things about the "paradise of adventure".  What was once a small fishing village called "Hudu" (derived from the name of a small, wooden fishing trap) is now a bustling and modern metropolis.

Shanghai is China's largest and richest city and has a blend of Western and Eastern cultures.  I think it'll offer an awesome experience for us.  Right now, I'm learning Simplified Chinese (pinyin) and I'm hoping that once I'm through with my lessons that I'll be able to understand at least 65% of written and spoken Chinese.  I'm also hoping to interest Amy and Ava in learning the language, at least enough to get around in Shanghai.

I know that in the past that I've always said "I'm going to do this." or "I'm going to do that." and never follow through.  I want this to be different.  So, what I'm going to do is make a calendar and list of things that need to get done before the trip.  I'll hang up pictures around the apartment to remind us of what we're planning on doing.  I'll have weekly sessions with the family to see where we're at with our plans to get to China (you know, how much money have we saved, what's the status of our passports, how do you say "Where's the bathroom?" in Chinese, etc) to keep us on track and excited for the adventure.

So, I guess I need to make a checklist of steps we need to take in order to get to China and, as the event looms closer in 2017, figure out the exact dates that we'll be visiting there.  I'll keep this blog updated so you'll know where we're at in the process of getting to Shanghai.

Here's some links to sites about Shanghai, if you're interested:

1. Fodor's Travel
2. CNN's 20 Reasons to Visit Shanghai in 2012 (a little outdated, but mostly relevant)
3. (YouTube) A Day in Shanghai
4. Lonely Planet: Shanghai

The Mother of Modern Computing: Grace Hopper

I'll leave it up to you to find out who Grace Hopper is, if you don't know already.  However, she's often credited with being the Mother of Modern Computing.  She coined the term "bug" with regards to programming (a moth was in the computer and it caused several problems.  She taped the moth in her journal.  The first instance of "debugging" a computer, hee hee).

Anyway, she was on David Letterman!  OMG, she's so sharp!  And funny!  I wish I could've met her.

About that diet I'm on...

I mentioned in a previous post that I'm on a very calorie-restricted diet.  For those that know me, they may or may not know that I am a Type II diabetic.  This means I have to watch my blood sugar and take insulin shots when necessary.

For the past two years, I've been watching a series of studies coming out of the UK that basically show that a sustained calorie-restricted diet for eight weeks can successfully "reset" the pancreas in Type II diabetics so that they are less insulin resistant and their pancreatic beta cells start producing insulin again. This sounds very promising to me.  The studies indicate that even after the participants started eating normally again, any symptoms of their diabetes were gone.  90% of the participants were even able to completely stop all diabetic medication!

So, you may be wondering how many calories are allowed on this "diet".  800 per day.  Doesn't seem like a lot, I know.  But, it's only for eight weeks, not forever.  What I'm doing is simple:  Every three hours, I'm drinking a nutritional shake.  These shakes are low-carb (the 800 calorie per day diet is a low carb one.  You can't eat refined sugars, fruits, and some veggies on this diet) and each one is 160 calories, with 20% of the daily recommended values for vitamins.  If you do the math, you see that I drink five shakes per day.  I drink one shake at 5:00 a.m., 8:00 a.m., 11:00 a.m., 2:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m.  Nothing else after 5:00 p.m. until the next morning when I wake up.  I drink water and unsweetened green tea during the day, to stave off cravings.

One thing to keep in mind is that I'm not doing this diet for weight loss (I've already lost 10 pounds since I started) but I want to see if it can help me to get back to "square one", with regards to my pancreas.  I've lost almost 100 pounds over the past few years, simply by watching the amount of calories that I eat on a daily basis and allowing myself a "free day".  I've lost the weight slowly, which is fine for me.  I didn't gain all that weight overnight; I won't lose it overnight.  But, the prospect of effectively "curing" (don't know if that's the right word, or not.  Once a diabetic, always a diabetic right?) my condition, or at least ameliorating it to some degree, is very appealing to me.

So, it has been interesting so far.  When I started on Monday, 1/25, I felt terrible.  I was hungry all day, my head was hurting.  It was rough.  I had a bad migraine that night that I'm sure was brought on by the stress of only drinking liquid shakes all day, and only 800 calorie intake.  The next day, I felt a little better.  No headaches, still hungry, but bearable.  On the third day, I felt awesome!  Seriously, I had so much energy and it seemed by brain was firing on all cylinders!  I was more focused and clear-headed than I had been in a long time.  And, surprisingly, I wasn't hungry.  It's like, the cravings went away.  Since then, I've noticed an abundance in energy with the side effect of my brain not wanting to shut down when I want to sleep (see prior post).

I'm gong to research what it is that's making me feel so great while running on 800 calories per day.  Maybe eliminating a lot of the bad foods that I was eating, including processed foods, has had a hand in my euphoric state of mind?  Who knows?

Anyway, so far, so good.  I feel better than I have in a long time.  I hope that I can maintain this attitude and dietary regimen for another seven weeks.  It seems very doable right now.  I think I can do this and I'm very excited t see what happens.

EDIT: Here's a link to the Newcastle Study

Can't sleep? Eat.

Good morning!  It's a brisk 52 degrees here in sunny Florida.  I know a lot of native Floridians are probably bundled up this morning like it's 30 degrees.  I'm actually enjoying the cooler temperatures, though.

I've been on a calorie-restricted diet this past week (aren't all diets calorie-restricted?).  Well, I should say a VERY calorie-restricted diet.  Up until last night, everything was going to plan.  However, I've noticed that in this almost-fasting state, my brain is firing on all cylinders, almost constantly.  It's as if I've miraculously gotten this fantastic energy boost... and it's all going to my brain.  The downside of this is that my brain won't seem to shut down when it's time for bed.  So, last night, I went to sleep at my usual time.  However, my brain wouldn't shut up.  Thought after constant thought.  Finally, after laying there for a while with sleep no closer than when I first got in the bed, I got up.  I figured that maybe my brain was running at full speed because my whole body was clear of all the junk food that I had been eating before I started the diet.

Seriously, since day three of this almost-fasting diet, I have had tons of energy and a marked increase in brain function.  I seem to be able to focus a lot easier, and distractions don't distract me for as long as they once did.  The only problem with this increased cerebral activity, though, is that my brain doesn't seem to ever want to shut down.  For instance, on day four of the diet, I wanted a nap.  I was tired and wanted to take about an hour nap.  I laid in the bed and went to sleep.  Seventeen minutes later, I woke up.  I was fully refreshed and thought I'd been asleep much longer.  I was so surprised to see that I had only slept about fifteen minutes (took about two to go to sleep)!

So, I'm thinking that the reason I couldn't sleep last night was because my brain is on a kick because of the diet.  Maybe it thinks I don't need as much sleep, or maybe it just wasn't ready to go to sleep.  I don't know, but I was frustrated.  So, my solution was to get up and raid the kitchen.  Now, I wasn't even hungry, but I figured that my brain would only stop if I felt "full".  So, I ate two cans of cream of mushroom soup, two sticks of string-cheese, a pickled egg, and a tablespoon of tuna.  That was a lot of food at one time, not too carb-loaded either.  But, it did the trick.  I felt full and lethargic and my brain said "Okay.  Let's get back in the bed and try this again."  It took me about 10 minutes to fall asleep and I slept until the Sun came up this morning.  I woke up before the alarm went off, feeling refreshed.

I'm curious now, though, about why my brain is acting like this.  You'd think with being on such a restricted diet that I'd feel sluggish with no energy at all.  But, it's the exact opposite.  I gotta research this more to see what's happening.  I really don't want to repeat last night just to try and get some sleep.

I like this list.

Going against the grain.

One thing I noticed last year was that I was spending a large amount of time on social media and news sites. Invariably, I'd end up frustrated because of something I read in the news that was happening or because of someone on Facebook or some other social media site spouting racist, bigoted, misogynistic, etc. rhetoric. It's getting close to election year and, of course, politics will bring out the worst in people. People that I assumed were smart were spouting some pretty ignorant and hateful stuff. I ended up blocking a lot of people, especially a few people that claimed to be Christian, but then went out of their way to show how UN-Christian they could be. With everything else going on around the planet, and only bad things being reported in the news, I decided to take a break from it all.
So, I have stopped going to news sites. I've stopped browsing Facebook. And, you know what? I actually feel better. I have more time to do things. Productive things. I guess I could be accused of sticking my head in the sand, when it comes to local, national, or world news. I just don't care anymore. Things are happening that are outside my control, and I am not going to get worked up over it, anymore (although, I did tell my wife if Trump becomes President, we're moving to another country). And Facebook? Yeah, it's a great way to connect with your family and friends that are long distance. I may eventually go back to Facebook. But, it's also a big time-waster. I had a lot of "friends" on Facebook that I'd never even met face-to-face. I just added people that asked me to be friends. Before long, my wall was filled with all kinds of things (what people had for breakfast, lunch, supper, etc) that I didn't really care about. Also, as I mentioned before, people sounding off and looking like intolerant bullies about whatever. Basically, I was getting tired of all the negativity. It overshadowed the good stuff. I was blocking people left and right. I unfriended a couple of folks that were my friends because of their hateful speech and attitude. I just couldn't take it anymore, and didn't want to be associated with someone like that.
I've read that being exposed to negative things has a huge impact a person's psyche. I agree. Since I've stopped paying attention to the world of things that I have no control over, I feel better. Since I've stopped being exposed to the negative people in my social network, I feel better. I don't know. Life is just too short to be worrying about things that I can't control or people that bring me down.
So, my point is, I feel better without these modern day "tools". I miss Facebook, I do. I do not miss the news sites. Maybe soon I'll step back into the pool of Facebook and test the waters. Until I think I'm ready, though, I'll continue to go against the grain and not use it.

OMG! I want this. No, I NEED this!

Just found out about a new device that can help stop migraines!  It's called Cefaly, and it's a headband that you wear when you're having a migraine.
Cefaly migraine headband.

It costs $349 dollars, and you have to have a prescription to get it.  It's also FDA approved.  I wonder if insurance will cover it?

I've suffered with migraines for so long and since I started working here at NASA Kennedy Space Center, it seems that my migraines have become more frequent.  I'm almost at my wits end, they're happening so often.

I've got to try this.