Good News!

Only my head is fat.

I was reading a post in my reader - How I Eat - by well-known food author and personality David Lebovitz, and saw a link to the CDC BMI Calculator (BMI - Body Mass Index)

I've figured my BMI before, but it's been a while. I remember doing it about 10 years ago on my mom's computer and getting the results that I was "morbidly obese". Yikes. I was concerned, but my mom reassured me (which mothers do so well) that I wasn't all that fat and that she was sure there were other variables to take into consideration, such as body frame, muscularity, etc. Still, when I have seen BMI calculators since that time, I avoided them.  I didn't need the reminder that I was fat - the little tag on my pants told me I was every time I put them on.

I went ahead and plugged in my height - 5'11" - and weight - 185lbs - and it told me this:

Your BMI is 25.8, indicating your weight is in the Overweight category for adults of your height. For your height, a normal weight range would be from 133 to 179 pounds.

Overweight? Six lousy pounds and that makes me fat? Good grief, if I was 133 lbs. I'd have to move somewhere there was no wind, far away from the Texas Panhandle.  Remembering what my momma had told me, and hoping for different/better results,  I found another BMI Calculator. It gave me the same number but also added this:

People falling in this BMI range are considered overweight and would benefit from finding healthy ways to lower their weight, such as diet and exercise. Individuals who fall in this range are at increased risk for a variety of illnesses. If your BMI is 27-29.99 your risk of health problems becomes higher. In a recent study an increased rate of blood pressure, diabetes and heart disease was recorded at 27.3 for women and 27.8 for men. It may be a good idea to check your Waist Circumference and compare it with the recommended limits.

So, that's what I did, going to the Body Fat Calculator. As a male, all I had to supply was my waist measurement. Women have to input their wrist, hips and forearm measurements. I'm not sure why that it's so simple for men. I found it odd that women have to input so much more to quantify their body fat, but I went on. I don't think I have any sort of tape other than a retractable one, but I did know my pants size - 32 - so I used that. After hitting the Calculate Body Fat button, I got this:

You have a Body Fat Percentage of 12.55%.

Hmmm...that didn't sound so bad. Maybe not good, but not bad. I remember the chart from using the calculator at mom's that I was something like 30% fat back then.  My pants size back then was larger too, probably a 40. I clicked on the Body Fat Chart and found this:

Body Fat Percentage Categories
Classification    Women (% fat)    Men (% fat)

Essential Fat   10-12%                 2-4%
Athletes          14-20%                 6-13%
Fitness            21-24%                14-17%
Acceptable      25-31%                18-25%
Obese             32%+                   25%+

Wow. I fall within the "Athlete" category, never mind that I'm far from being one these days. I understood the results, though and was pleased that while I'm technically overweight, I'm by no means FAT.

Of course, there's also the need to factor in that there are days I'm a few pounds more than I was today and that on other days I'm a few pounds less. Water weighs 8.3 lbs/gallon and my weight can go up when I'm fully hydrated, down when I need to drink. I drink a lot of water because I know that doing so helps me control my weight and blood sugar.

Yep, water weighs a lot and that's why I shake the heads of broccoli at the grocery store before putting them in the sack. I don't want to pay $1.99/lb. for excess water.

If I was broccoli, I'd cost $368.15. Any bidders? You gotta take the 23 lbs. of fat with me, though.

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Edit to add: I bought some broccoli at the store earlier; it was .99 cents/lb. on sale.  I'd be willing to cut MY price by half, too.

The Story of My Life

My love life, that is.

Testing

This is just a test.  Do not attempt to adjust the dial. 

Just joking...I'll explain later.

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I did not know there was a Blogger page to see the most recently updated blogs.
















I made the post, then kept checking.  I wasn't for sure if I'd get an update without clearing my cache, but it turned out I didn't need to do that;  all I did was keep reloading the page.  Hundreds of entries appeared and I had to use the search feature on my browser to find this post.

I found the link while reading about a conservative blog being closed by Blogger. (which is owned by Google) I'm not sure there's a concerted effort by Google to shut down anything conservative (although I DO think they're in bed with this progressive govt.) but rather the blog was probably marked as spam by readers who were offended by the posts on the blog. 

Who knows?  Either way it's a bad thing; if Google IS censoring a conservative viewpoint, then it should alarm everybody, no matter what their political affiliation.  If the shut down is due to reader complaints, it's not any better - I'd hate to have my blog deleted due to something totally out of my control, with absolutely no recourse or having anyone hear my case. (Google offers no "live support" for Blogger)

I've read several articles lately about how it's much better to have your own domain if you want to host your blog.  I've read some say how to get your own space, then use Blogger as your template.  Seems to me as though that would almost be as dependent upon Blogger as having a free blog w/ their service.

I don't know;  I'm not sure if it's worth the yearly cost of hosting or the fee for buying a domain name and the hassle of renewing it.  Still, it's something I'm thinking of checking into but I'm not convinced that with what little I do with this free service that I would suddenly do more with something I've paid for. I don't know enough about anything to make people want to read what I write and I'm sure that even if I did, I couldn't make a living being a professional blogger.

Still, the idea of being at the mercy of Google/Blogger has me a little uneasy. It's given me a lot to think about.

Stay tuned, will let you know.

matrilineal

matrilineal \ma-truh-LIN-ee-uhl\ , adjective:
Inheriting or determining descent through the female line.

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Appropriate for Mother's Day,huh?

Friday Night TV

I can't believe it!  I get several dozen channels but sometimes there's nothing on that I want to watch.  I'll admit that I'm a little picky about my programs - I don't watch Survivor, Dancing With the Stars or anything like those.  I don't care for many of the popular sitcoms, I don't like talk shows or any politically slanted (either way) discussions.  I get my news off the 'net.

That said, this is a fantastic TV night.  Fantastic that there are some great shows on, but it's causing me a problem with trying to see several programs.  Friday night is Supernatural, a show I try to not miss. I watch the reruns that come on early in the morning. The problem is that Whale Wars: Viking Shores is on at the same time. The good thing is that Whale Wars is coming on again later tonight, so I'll watch it then.

On right now is a two hour episode of Deadliest Catch, another show I love.  Since it's an extra-long episode, it will conflict with Supernatural.   Thank goodness it too repeats later. There are also some great movies on tonight,several I've been wanting to see. One is a Mel Gibson flick, Edge of Darkness. I'll have to miss it, but I'm sure it will be on again. I'd also like to watch Avatar all the way through, but it has been on quite a bit here lately, so I bet they'll air it again, probably several times this weekend. Caddyshack, a movie I've seen at least a dozen times, is coming on in a little bit. I wouldn't mind watching it again, but I would rather watch my other shows. If the other shows weren't coming on, I'd be satisfied with watching reruns of other favorites such as King of the Hill, American Dad!, Lockup,  Storage Wars, Frozen Planet, or Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.

Great TV night!  Gotta go, Supernatural is coming on in 30 minutes!

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Edit to add: I just found out that it's "Sweeps Week". No wonder there are so many good programs and movies on.

Foolish Facebook Feuding

I belong to a lot of Facebook groups and fan pages;  ones about TV shows, movies, politicians, celebs and several Amarillo media outlet pages.  With the recent backlash over North Carolina’s marriage vote followed by President Obama's endorsement of same-sex marriage, the pages have seen activity such as I've not witnessed before since I became active on Facebook.

For the record - I'm not "for" gay marriage...but I'm not against it, either.  It really should be a non-issue, as I take the libertarian stance that govt. has no place in marriage.  I'm on record as saying gay marriage won't be the downfall of this great nation, but the continued loss of our freedoms will be.  The only "problem" I have with same-sex marriage is one of semantics, namely that marriage has been defined as between a man and a woman.  If gays want to "marry", then there should be a different word to describe it, such as "civil union".

That's not the point of this rant, though;  reading through a thousand or more posts from both sides of the issue I've been offended by many of those arguing for and also by many against it.  The anti folks are the most obnoxious - but not by much.  Most use the Bible verses to argue their case and they have a point...but many are not being very compassionate when they state their case.  Personally, I consider myself a Christian, albeit not a very good one, but the judgment isn't mine to pass out.  I can send no one to Heaven, cannot sentence anyone to Hell.  There have been a few against it that have had that compassion, though...voices of reason in an unreasonable crowd.

The pro people are almost as bad, bringing up the argument that the Christians pick and choose what they want to follow from Biblical teaching.  They're right, but they are so full of rage it's hard to give sympathy to their views.  The hatred between the two groups is frightening.  I almost feel as though I'm caught in the crossfire.

What annoys me the most is the President's change of heart over the issue.  He's been on record as being against it, but just as soon as N. Carolina passes the ban, he changed his mind.  He may have agonized over it, who knows?  I'm not against his new-found stance, but I think he has seen a poll or study that showed he was losing the (for example) 18-24 vote and needed to sway them back into the fold.  I don't need to see statistics to know that it's the older generation that holds the anti viewpoint and that the younger generations have little or no problem with gay marriage.  I think the President is doing what he does best and that's being a consummate politician. (and that's what I hate the most about politicians, especially the ones that are good at being one)

What's also troublesome is that there are many other issues for the President with which he should concern himself;  our dwindling civil rights and vanishing privacy, several wars, the economy and many others.   We have our service people dying and the drums of war are beating even louder...people are out of work and we're putting ourselves into debt that our children's children's children won't even begin to pay off...and Big Brother is here, Orwell's 1984 a few years late here in 2012.  I may seem callous, but same sex marriage should be far down the list of his concerns.   Something that affects perhaps 3-4% of the population shouldn't take precedent over the things that affect us all.

Anyway...I shouldn't sit on the fence about this.  If it were up to me, I'd let gays legally join together using any word to describe it but "marriage".  I'm still against the govt. being involved with whatever one wants to call it, though, but since it is, then allow any two people a license.  Let the churches decide if they want to perform a ceremony.

Sure, let them legally join together.  Let them have the same tax and other advantages that heterosexual couples have. As some comic once said, they deserve the right to be as miserable as the rest of us.