Evil, thy name is snooze button

The lobby of my building has a radio station piped through 24/7. I don’t listen to the radio at home (I’d rather listen to my iTunes) so that’s the only place that I get exposed to it. Anyway, early Friday morning, I’m waiting for the elevator after a dumpster visit during the big clean when they start talking about the perils of snooze alarm addiction.  Essentially, while sleeping a little longer may actually beneficial to your health, the excessive use of the snooze button to do that is detrimental, leading to an increase in high blood pressure and other ailments that come from a lack of quality sleep. 

I love my snooze button. I’m clearly not alone — the I Need Rehab For My Snooze Button Addiction Facebook group has almost 6,000 members. (As an aside, “clock sniping” as used in the description of that group is THE perfect term for what a snooze button addict does.) You can hit the snooze button on my alarm clock forever and it will never stop coming back on. I’ve been known to do that for several hours before finally getting up (I think my record was four hours — that’s 27 snooze button hits, which even I acknowledge is ridiculous) and I’ve actually deliberately set my alarm early to account for the snooze-buttoning I know I’ll do.

Those little nine-minute microsleeps are wonderful, almost intoxicating, which should be a dead giveaway that they aren’t good in the long run. Mind you, unless I’m dead tired, I sleep fitfully anyway: I wake up when I change position or when something starts to ache too much or when the cat decides to join me. So I guess my entire night’s sleep consists of microsleeps. No wonder I’m always tired.

Left to my own devices, with no alarms, nothing to *have* to wake up by a certain time for, and no phone calls waking me up in the middle, I awaken naturally after about nine hours sleep. But that seems like such a huge chunk out of a 24-hour day, and I guess I’m ever hopeful that I’ll actually manage to be able to function on a significantly smaller amount of sleep. It’s been a vain hope. And that’s where the snooze button becomes my enabler. Or rather lately it’s been my TV that is my enabler — since I’ve been sleeping in the living room, I’ve been setting my TV to channel 998 (which, because the building’s security channel doesn’t work properly with digital cable — does anyone’s? — is blank and black and thus non-intrusive) and using the timer settings on the digital cable box to turn to specific channels at 1/2 hour or hour intervals. So, longer snoozes but still snoozing for a couple of hours each day. All the more reason to get my bedroom decluttered so I can start sleeping there again — I deliberately have no computer or TV in there. (See, I was sensible at one point.)

Hardcore Energize Bullet

Yesterday, during the tail-end of my massive cleaning session, my energy really started flagging. I didn’t have any 5-Hour Energy left 😦 and the local convenience store didn’t have any left so I picked up an iSatori Hardcore Energize Bullet instead.  It’s bright blue, like Blueberry Kool-Aid, and comes in a fat, test tube-shaped (or cheap dildo-shaped, depending on how you look at it) container. It tastes better than 5-Hour Energy (less tart) .

Energy Fiend describes the taste as:

This tastes very similar to blue Kool-Aid, but leaves a strong aftertaste due to the acesulfame-potassium and sucralose used to sweeten it. This bullet is meant to be slammed back fast! It has a syrupy texture which isn’t surprising since there is a lot of stuff that gets packed into this 2.9oz shot.

I got no artificial sweetener aftertaste, unlike with 5-Hour Energy, and it isn’t at all syrupy. It has the same consistency as 5-Hour Energy — or Kool-Aid for that matter. I swear, it’s like we tried different products. Maybe the formulation changed since the review.

It seemed to do a pretty good job of keeping me awake and alert. The effects of it, unfortunately, seem to last a very long time. I took it at 02:00 yesterday and could not get to sleep properly until over 24 hours later. 5-Hour Energy’s effects definitely don’t last nearly as long and degrade well — even when I was still feeling lingering alertness, it didn’t prevent me from being able to fall asleep; Hardcore Energize Bullet did. I expect that’s from the massive amounts of caffeine — each shot contains the equivalent caffeine (300 mg) of 2.6 liters of Pepsi or 3 regular NoDoz tablets or almost 4 Red Bulls. (5-Hour Energy doesn’t disclose how much caffeine it contains but rather just states that it is the equivalent to a cup of premium brewed coffee. Energy Fiend estimates it at 60 to 100 mg, which is 1/5 to 1/3 of what is in Hardcore Energize Bullet.)  Still, despite the massive caffeine and the extremely extended wakefulness, there wasn’t a jittery sugar/caffeine crash later on that you’d get from 2.6 liters of Pepsi. That’s definitely something that both 5-Hour Energy and Hardcore Energize Bullet (and probably many other similar energy shots) share. Definitely a better choice than mainlining Pepsi to stay awake.

I also should have paid more attention to the ingredients of the Hardcore Energize Bullet — the last time I tried ginseng, I had an allergic reaction to it and I think that’s the cause of the tongue swelling I experienced yesterday. Once the Hardcore Energize Bullet started to leave my system, the swelling started to subside and by the time I woke up this morning, the swelling was gone. (Mind you, I woke up with a terrible head cold and cough instead, but that’s a whole ‘nother story of misery.)

In short, I’m still very much a 5-Hour Energy girl.

(Haha just noticed that someone has written a review remarking on the slightly obscene shape of the container.  LOL)

Coping with chronic back pain

My first serious bout with back pain happened in the early 90s and was caused by a combination of bad ergonomics at work and the fact that I’m a klutz and fell frequently, injuring both my knees and my spine repeatedly. I was off work for a week with terrible muscle spasms. They eventually went away but after that, my back was never quite the same. I remember startling my mother when I ended up on my knees beside her chair while getting up from the dinner table — my back would spasm when I changed positions, knocking my legs out from under me. A few minutes stretching my lower back would allow me to get up again. It became a fact of life, just something to cope with. It was inconvenient, but not painful. It didn’t affect my ability to walk or stand for long distances.

By the late 90s, though, I was starting to have more and more muscle spasms, to my upper and lower back. I can’t count the number of times I ended up on my back on the floor of my cubicle after walking to work or packing boxes during release season because the spasms made it impossible to stand. A coworker coerced me into going to his chiropractor. I highly recommend chiropractic care for neck and upper back pain, but it did very little for the lower back pain. Or, rather, it had a very temporary effect on the lower back pain that only lasted until I got to the bus after leaving the doctor’s office. By 1999, I couldn’t walk the length of the local mall without stopping to sit down and stretch out my lower back. Lack of sustained walking, my primary fitness activity, resulted in heavy weight gain, which put further stress on my back — it was a fierce catch-22. The various drugs I took after my PE in December 1999/January 2000 caused additional issues that further limited my ability to walk long distances. Everything just snowballed from there and, to my horror, I’ve been content to let it.

Spoon nails redux

As I wrote on December 31, I think some of my weird fingernail problems are a result of anemia causing a disorder called koilonychia. The nails that are concave (right thumbnail in particular) look very much like other images of koilonychia that I’ve seen.

The Wikipedia page for anemia mentions that 15mg of supplemental iron is sometimes enough to treat anemia so I’ve been experimenting by consistently taking my supplements, which includes a multi-vitamin that contains 10mg of iron. I started taking the supplements on December 30, the day before I made the earlier post on the subject. The results were visible, if only slightly, very quickly.

First, how do fingernails grow? From MedicineNet.com:

A fingernail is produced by living skin cells in the finger. A fingernail consists of several parts including the nail plate (the visible part of the nail), the nail bed (the skin beneath the nail plate), the cuticle (the tissue that overlaps the plate and rims the base of the nail), the nail folds (the skin folds that frame and support the nail on three sides), the lunula (the whitish half-moon at the base of the nail) and the matrix (the hidden part of the nail unit under the cuticle).

Fingernails grow from the matrix. The nails are composed largely of keratin, a hardened protein (that is also in skin and hair). As new cells grow in the matrix, the older cells are pushed out, compacted and take on the familiar flattened, hardened form of the fingernail.

(Also see How do fingernails grow? from Cool Quiz.)

By January 1 (after three days of taking my supplements), I could could feel a marked raise in the material that was coming out of the matrix on my right thumbnail, something that hadn’t happened for weeks. That raised area is now about a quarter of the way down the nail bed, showing a definite difference and improvement in the shape of the nail over what is already there. It’s still a little too soon to tell what the ultimate effect will be but it certainly looks as if supplementing is helping. It obviously won’t be scientifically conclusive if anemia was the cuplrit, as iron isn’t the only supplement — I’m also taking salmon oil, flax seed, calcium, glucosamine, evening primrose, a B complex, and some other vitamins — but, given the symptoms and treatment of Koilonychia versus my own results, I believe that the iron deficiency was a primary culprit. If you’re suffering from the same problems, it’s worth a try.

Koilonychia

One of the finger nails that I’m having particular trouble growing is the thumbnail on my right hand. Some of the other nails have ridges and the like but those could be explained away by peeling off layers of nail during prior nail biting episodes — it’s never even so you’re left with lengthwise ridges until the nail grows in (and up) again. The right thumbnail, though, is concave and the nail is too soft to grow out properly. The other thumbnail has a very slight dent in it and a bit of a hillock that I’ve essentially been filing down.

I have insomnia today (it’s now 9am and I still haven’t been to bed) so I decided to have a quick Google to see what I could find.

What I found was a nail disorder called Koilonychia, which is usually linked to chronic iron deficiency anemia. That’s interesting to me because I’ve had trouble with iron levels for years. When I was sick in 2000, I had to take supplements for months just to bring my iron level up to the very low end of normal. I even had iron deficiency issues when I was a kid. (I could have sworn I’d blogged about it before but I’ll be darned if I can find where.) I should take supplements, but I admit that I’ve been scared by horror stories of iron supplements gone bad. Still, given that iron deficiency would explain some of the fatigue and other weird problems I’ve been having, I should make a concerted effort to at least start taking my multivitamin every day.

Fat and malnourished is not how you want your life to go. You have to neglect and mistreat yourself pretty badly to accomplish that. Next thing you know, I’ll be developing scurvy or beriberi.

Sensa Weight-loss System

The “On TV Today” section of the Shopping Channel’s home page lists some of the products they were selling today. One of today’s hot items was Sensa, a weight loss system that urges you to “Use your sense of taste and smell to help you lose weight”. I had to look.

The claims are that Sensa, with “patent-pending Tastant Technology”, makes your food smell and taste better so that your brain thinks it’s full. From the information on TSC’s pages:

“By enhancing flavor (sensory input), Sensa Tastants help to enable the brain-stomach connection and trigger the “feel full” signal. Essentially, Sensa works to assist you with your weight loss goals by eliminating the restrictions and drawbacks of dieting. With Sensa, you can eat all the foods that satisfy your senses. Because there are no food restrictions, you don’t have to deal with any intense food cravings or feelings of starvation.”

“When you first start on the Sensa program, the Tastants do all the work. Over time, you will begin to intuitively understand portion control and develop healthier eating habits, without having to give up any of your favorite foods.”

“You won’t feel jittery or anxious, there are no sugar, calories or MSG added, and less than 1mg of sodium.”

Riiight. According to the TSC site, the sprinkles in the shakers contain maltodextrin (a starch sweetener that is in some artificial sweeteners, including Splenda), tricalcium phosphate (an anti-caking agent?), silica (yummy indigestible powder, which presumably serves as filler), natural and artificial flavors (um, it isn’t supposed to have a flavour), FD&C Yellow 5 (why, if the product is white?), and carmine (a red food dye made from insects — not sure how that figures into white sprinkles either). The label also says it “contains Soy and milk ingredients”. Unless they’re hiding ingredients, one presumes that the maltodextrin is the Holy Grail, the ingredient that is supposed to lessen your appetite. Weird, that, especially since maltodextrin apparently frequently includes MSG.

It all sets my Spidey senses tingling. In general, I have problems with appetite suppressant products, not just because I don’t overeat when I’m hungry and not helped by having my appetite suppressed but because appetite suppressants, if they work for you, just become another crutch to lean on. They don’t teach you how to eat properly or how to take care of yourself well, and they don’t help you resolve the mental and emotional reasons for your obesity. Morbid obesity doesn’t happen just because people can’t control their hunger.

The Me Project: Day 4 – Decide

Hair driving me nuts. Finally had to put it back in the hair band, which defeats the purpose of the new haircut. Having an emotional roller coaster of a day, all over the map. That was reflected in the fact that I pretty much slipped back into old eating habits. Didn’t eat quite as much as I probably would ordinarily, but it was all the wrong stuff — chocolate, Pringles, Pizza Pockets — and I feel ill for having eaten it. It’s certainly not helping the mood swings.

Need a break from my computer. Spending too much time online: surfing, reading, arguing, buying. Losing huge amounts of time and energy to it all, not to mention money that I don’t really have.

Musique du jour:

$&*%#ing Tokio Hotel. Get out of my head. 😉

Word of the day:

verkakte

which mean crappy or screwed up in Yiddish. Kind of fits how I am feeling about myself today. Other less rude Jewish words can be found in The Yiddish Handbook: 40 Words You Should Know.

The Me Project: Day 3

Still stuck on this weird semi night shift sleep pattern. Today’s goal was to actually stay awake long enough to go to bed at a proper time (10 or 11pm). That didn’t happen — ended up taking a nap before I went out today, but that might have been a good thing as I might actually make it to 10pm.

Got my hair cut today. It’s similar to what I had before, spiky at the back with a bang/fringe at the front. We left the front longer so that I can push it back if I want, but she parted it on the wrong side and I’ve spent the rest of the day trying to keep the hair from blocking both eyes. I like it, but I really need to colour it. Not sure I’m a happy medium brown, though — I miss my old dark brown, and I miss my 80s streaks. (Streaks and highlights are hard to maintain when you’re also covering grey, unless you can afford to go to a salon regularly.) Started talking wistfully about having perms and my favourite hair stylist tells me perms are coming back. Then she mentions beehives and we go off on a tangent about Amy Winehouse and the perils of being rich and famous. We decided that lottery winnings would be wasted on us as we’d blow the money chartering a private jet to Paris for lunch or to Italy for a weekend shopping trip, slumming it in $3000 a night hotels, rather than helping the less fortunate. We were being silly about it in the extreme, but I actually wish I could afford to take frequent long weekend trips away — I love hotels but I’m not particularly happy away from home for very long periods of time. I know. It’s seems like a waste, all that money on airfare for a couple of days, but if the only other option is to go nowhere at all and you can afford it, then why not? Mind you, I hate travelling alone so I’d need a companion.

Bought new headphones, as well, so that I can least use my portable CD player for walks until I find my MP3 player. Was going to buy groceries but my back was killing me so I came home instead. Will get them tomorrow instead. Besides, I still haven’t cleaned the fridge and it’s been giving me the evil eye. Brought Subway home for supper. Not a good choice all things considered, but it sure tasted good.

Musique du jour:

Still all Tokio Hotel, all the time…with the odd bit of Cyndi Lauper, Katy Perry, and Live thrown in like a palate-cleansing sorbet. Danced in the dark, with only the iTunes visualizer for light, to “Into the Nightlife”.

Word of the Day:

astroturfing

Defined in Wikipedia as “a form of propaganda whose techniques usually consist of a few people attempting to give the impression that mass numbers of enthusiasts advocate some specific cause.”

Comes to mind after watching a documentary about how to write a romance novel. Amazon’s book pages and message boards are fertile grounds for several examples of ongoing astroturfing campaigns by several authors (including Robert Stanek, who is often held up as a classic example of astroturfing in the world of science fiction and fantasy and whose efforts I came across personally several years ago). David Louis Edelman offers a good post about ethical self-promotion for authors.

The Apron, revisited

As I wrote before, one of my biggest worries about losing weight is being left with empty folds of skin all over the place, especially from the dreaded apron of fat or panniculus. I wouldn’t hesitate to have surgery to remove any excess skin, you understand, but I would much prefer to not have to risk surgery or spend that kind of money if there’s anything I can do to prevent it in the first place. (Yes, I know…the best prevention would have been not gaining weight in the first place but that’s obviously not a place I can go back to.)

Janice Elizabeth Small, the weight loss coach I mentioned in that earlier post, has a number of sites, including Think Slim and her Q&A blog, http://www.dietingstop.com/blog. I”m trying to keep things as simple for myself right now so I’m avoiding reading too much about weight loss right now — experience tells me that if I start delving too deeply, I get overwhelmed and discouraged and that’s the one thing I can’t afford to have happen right now — but the Q&A blog in particular has a number of interesting posts related to obesity and the issues of loose skin.

The article I’d mentioned in that previous post is How to Avoid Loose Skin Problems After Weight Loss. Other interesting posts from Janice include:

15 Simple Metabolism Boosting Secrets, which suggests that you

1 Eat little and often
2. Eat breakfast
3. Eat enough
4. Eat Lean Protein
5. Eat Fibre
6. Spice up your food
7. Drink Coffee
8. Drink Green Tea
9. Get active
10. Walk it off
11. Build those muscles
12. Go hot or cold
13. Drink Iced Water
14. Watch the alcohol
15. Take up yoga

(Read the full post on her blog for explanations of why each of those tips helps boost your metabolism.)

The Me Project: Day 2 begins

Have to stop this waking up at 1:30 am rut I seem to be stuck in. It gets my internal clock all messed up.

Was going to go for a little walk this morning, but hate to walk without music and can’t find my MP3 player. Then realized I still haven’t cleaned my fridge or kitchen cupboards so that can be my workout for the day.

As I wrote before, one of my biggest worries about losing weight is being left with empty folds of skin all over the place, especially from the dreaded apron of fat or panniculus. I wouldn’t hesitate to have surgery to remove any excess skin, you understand, but I would much prefer to not have to risk surgery or spend that kind of money if there’s anything I can do to prevent it in the first place. (Yes, I know…the best prevention would have been not gaining weight in the first place but that’s obviously not a place I can go back to.)

I’m trying to keep things as simple for myself right now so I’m avoiding reading too much about weight loss right now — experience tells me that if I start delving too deeply, I get overwhelmed and discouraged and that’s the one thing I can’t afford to have happen right now. I might as well start out as I mean to go on, though, and reread those articles I’d mentioned in that post. Additionally, Janice Elizabeth Small, the weight loss coach I mentioned in that earlier post, has a post called 15 Simple Metabolism Boosting Secrets that suggests some things you can do to boost your metabolism and make weight loss a little bit easier.

Off topic: A couple of days ago, I changed the theme on this blog. I’m not as fond of this theme as I was of ChaoticSoul but this one at least has next post and previous post links on each post, which is the reason for the switch. I’m annoyed that you can’t customize WordPress blogs a great deal unless you install a copy of WordPress on your own site, but that’s the price you pay for a free blog.

Musique du jour:

Who am I kidding? I’ve been listening to Tokio Hotel’s “Durch Den Monsun” on autorepeat for about five hours now. Crazy, I know. But it’s occupying that part of my brain that wants to go have a nap. I’m nearing saturation point on it, though.

Word of the day:

Faff
The Urban Dictionary defines it well: “To muck about, wasting time doing something not necessary.” As in “I’ve been faffing about so much that I’ve accomplished nothing in the last two years.”