New Rule: always marinade a steak overnight. It makes it so soft and tender and the flavors were magnificent. The soy sauce and balsamic made it sweet but the seasoning and garlic made it savory. So good. The side dishes were steamed broccoli and baked sweet potato.
I did better with eating a proper serving size (despite what the poor photo may portray) and everything about the food combination was delicious.
After dinner it was time to take the kitties to the vet. They were due for their updated vaccines. It’s an ordeal. Maya (who hides under the bed at all times) acts like she’s being murdered when I take her to the vet.
Both kitties did well. Fat Kitty has lost a pound since his last annual visit. He’s 15.2 pounds. Maya is 9 pounds. The only thing Fat Kitty likes about going to the vet is time to explore all the nooks and crannies.
I was conflicted about which vaccines to get the kitties. They are 100% indoor cats except for the once a year I take them to the vet. It seems like a traumatizing experience for them and I asked the vet if it was necessary for them to continue with vaccines since they are indoors only. I read conflicting opinions on this subject and a lot of times I felt like the veterinarians are trying to up-sell me. Most of the time it’s the same feeling I get at an auto shop. Last night the vet I saw was honest and said most aren’t necessary for indoor cats but rabies and distemper were good ones. I got those taken care of and luckily they are both for 3 years. Trauma over.
Poor babies! Back home they bolted out of their carriers and hid. I started reading the new book I got at the library, ironically about vaccines. “The Panic Virus: A True Story of Medicine, Science and Fear” by Seth Mnookin.
It’s a good book! I read 100 pages last night before bed because I was having a hard time putting the book down. It’s really interesting: “In 1998 Andrew Wakefield, a British gastroenterologist with a history of self-promotion published a paper with a shocking allegation: the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine might cause autism. The media seized hold of the story and launched one of the most devastating health scares ever.” Wakefield was later revealed to be a profiteer in league with class-action lawyers, he would eventually lose his medical license but the damage was done: celebrities like Oprah and Jenny McCarthy promoted it as medical fact, despite the fact that there was no link in childhood vaccines and autism. Yet the myth lives on…
The book is so interesting and he goes through history talking about the start of vaccinations, the trials and errors, Jonas Salk and more recent vaccine scandals. I’ve always been curious about diseases, Third-World countries devastated by things like Ebola and such. At one point in my life I tried to get a job at the CDC but really…who wants to live in Atlanta? I mean with all the zombies there taking over the city…
The Walking Dead
Killer at Large
Recently I tried to watch the documentary “Killer at Large: Why Obesity is America’s Biggest Threat.” I wanted to like the documentary. Supersize me was a fun but shocking movie. I’ve heard good things about Food Inc (haven’t seen it yet). Killer at Large had to be good too.
I was really disappointed. Not in the content of the movie but in the quality of the production. I’ve tried three separate times now to finish watching the movie but the music that is played THE WHOLE TIME is overpowering and distracting to the point where it’s hard to hear what is being said by the experts! Poor editing! Who made this movie? I’ve given up trying to finish the DVD but the topic is still something really important to me.
“We’re getting fatter and it’s killing us – worse yet, it’s killing our children.”
The most shocking scene was when an obese 12 year old girl got liposuction. I was horrified watching it. Where are her parents? Why aren’t they teaching her healthy eating habits, helping her learn how to eat RIGHT and why in god’s name are they giving in to whatever food whims their daughter wants? That’s just bad parenting. Parents: stop eating junk food, stop serving your kids junk food, teach them portion control and exercise more–as a family!
The other downside of the movie is how heavily they tried to tie in terrorism, 9/11 and all that stuff with obesity. I just don’t see the correlation.
The movie claims obesity (and its related diseases) cost taxpayers $117 billion dollars in 2002 and are estimated to kill more than 100,000 Americans a year. Where are we headed? A world where the majority of the population has to take insulin shots. A world where the life expectancy of children is lower than their parents’. That’s exactly where we’re headed, according to the documentary.
The movie estimate that 44-45% percent of school-aged children will be insulin-dependent diabetics within 10 years at current rates and that we, as a nation, are 5 billion pounds overweight.
As for Brooke, the 12 year old that got liposuction? She gained back the 35 pounds of fat sucked out of her and went to Mexico with her parents to get another weight loss surgery.
Sad.
QUESTION: Have you seen the documentary? What did you think?
Kristie
Today while in the mail room at work (jr. high) I noticed a flyer for a little girl with lots of medical bills. I glanced at it and thought how blessed I am to have healthy kids. Later today I received an email about the same little girl from my daughters cheer group, but the email had an additional document about her medical problems. Her parents are raising money to pay for bariatric bypass. The flyer states”Courtney’s obesity related health conditions are progressing so rapidly. Her serious health conditions are:
Fatty liver disease, which can lead to liver failure
Insulin resistance, which often leads to diabetes
Sleep related hypoxia (lack of oxygen), which can damage her heart”
My heart hurts for all the obese children I see everyday at school. However I am in shock “Courtney is a wonderfully talented young lady and deserves a chance to lead the same life that other teenage girls have. ” Yes, she does. They are having a huge benefit with briskets, raflling hunting trips and spa packages. I am so sad that her parents think this is the answerer.
Lisa Eirene
Wow…I am speechless. Do you know the parents? Are they overweight or obese as well? Maybe they are blind to the fact that they are killing their daughter with food and enabling.
That is just so so sad. I see so many little kids who are clearly overweight. I don’t know if it’s because I am much more AWARE of it now, or if it’s getting worse but it seems like there are more kids with weight issues than when I was a kid.
Kristie
I don’t know the family, I wish I could talk to them. I would like to know if the whole family has weight issues. And tell them about how I lost weight with a healthy diet and exercise. Tell them about blogs like yours for inspiration. There are so many people out there that just don’t know how to live healthy and they are passing it on to their children. Judging by the picture on the flyer, this girl is not that big, I’d guess 250 lbs. (she reminds me of my fat pictures in my 20’s). Soo sad.
Carbzilla
The whole thing is so sad. All day on Superbowl Sunday, Discovery Fit & Health (?? They keep changing the name of this network for reasons I don’t understand) had shows on like The 650 lb Virgin, the 1000 lb Father….I caught a couple, and the denial and enabling that’s going on is unbelievable. ALL of them end up getting gastric bypass, and then I guess you have to tune back in to see the results. I feel so lucky that I’m within 15 lbs of my goal. I can’t even imagine living within a situation that got so out of control. I watch these shows to remind myself of the possibilities of not monitoring my eating. (I haven’t quite scared myself back into the gym yet)
There are so many things that are out of our control that you’d think that humans would take care of the stuff that is but we’re funny creatures sometimes.
I think I’ve seen this movie – I know it was in our Netflix instant queue, but, honestly, I’ve seen so many that they all kinda blur together. I hope they remind you to be proud of your accomplishments! 🙂
Lisa Eirene
I feel the same way when I watch “Heavy.” The family members of these people are just awful. No one is healthy, no one is supportive. I just feel sad for them. Losing weight is hard and if you don’t have support it’s near IMPOSSIBLE. I’m lucky that every step of the way I had people encouraging me and cheering me on in my weight loss. Not sure if I could have done it without that.
Beth @ Beth's Journey to Thin
I’ve never heard of this documentary before – I have to check it out.
My main comment on this post is, stop what you’re doing right now, and go get Food, Inc!! It’s a must see!
Lisa Eirene
Food Inc is in my Netflix queue. I’ll move it up!
Lisa
The only positive I can get out of these sad situations is that at least more attention is being paid to the subject. I haven’t watched “Killer at Large” but I would like to see “Food, Inc.”
One interesting thing sort of related to the connection to terrorism…when Sarah Palin came out against Michelle Obama’s campaign against childhood obesity the people who most sharply disagreed with Palin were not the liberal/democrat set that you might expect. It was the very conservative military brass. They spoke out against her because the are having difficulty filling their ranks when so many potential recruits do not meet the military weight guidelines. I’m a liberal peacenik and even I find that to be very scary.
Anyway, this was a great, thoughtful post.
Lisa Eirene
That fact is pretty shocking about our military…it used to be that you had to be in decent shape in order to be accepted but now they take anyone I think…
Lori
Are you spying on me? I just watched this documentary last night LOL!
It was very sad, especially Brooke the lipo girl. Listening to her talk made me want to cry.
I agree on the music during part of this – bad sound mixing!
However, there was some very interesting stuff in there about marketing to children that was totally appalling.
I don’t think they were tying in to 9/11 specifically, but the point was made that we get more worked up about this than something that is very insidious and killing more people every day than terrorism does.
Lisa Eirene
That’s too funny that you were watching it! I’m glad it wasn’t just me about the music…I started to wonder “Am I that OLD? That I’m complaining about the music being too loud?” LOL
The Brooke lipo thing bothered me a lot. I wanted to cry too. It was just so sad. Not working for the weight loss and just magically having it sucked out of your body doesn’t change your habits…It’s just a sad thing to teach a child.
Bethany @Bridezilla Bakes
You read 100 pages before bed?! THAT’s a book I have to read!
I haven’t seen either Food, Inc. or Killer at large — but I did watch Supersize me while eating a tub of brownie batter. True story. That was definitely a different time in my life…
Lisa Eirene
LOL!!! I think I was eating a large movie popcorn when I watched Supersize me. Ha!
Jennifer (She's a Fit Chick)
I have not heard of this documentary but I need to see it!! Those stats do not surprise me at all.
steena
I haven’t seen the documentary, but thanks for your review & warning. That would annoy me to with the poor production. You’re right, I think people really need to take more responsibility for this kind of thing. There’s no magic pill, or even a magic wand. What it all comes down to is taking responsibilty for one’s self. That’s all. Just use common sense.
I tried to tell my doctor to fix my knees so I can run, otherwise I’m going to become obese, hehehe, she didn’t believe me. Darn it all.
Lisa Eirene
We were lacking onion for sure.
Lisa Eirene
I’ll try that tomorrow at my doctor appointment. 😉
DefineDiana
The problem with people needing to teach their children to eat healthfully is that I think an overwhelming amount of Americans don’t know how to eat healthy themselves. How are they suppose to pass on a knowledge they don’t have down to their children?
I see it every day, I have a coworker that thinks the way for her to lose weight is to not eat anything all day long (except when she breaks and goes to get a Slurpee and Reeces Pieces for lunch…not kidding) and exercising 3 hours at night!?!?! That is so unhealthy, and she has a son, what do you think she is teaching him about food? Probably not much.
It’s really scary thing and I have no idea what can be done for Americans as a whole to stop this but I choose to learn about nutrition and eating healthfully for myself so I can pass on my knowledge to my future children.
Lisa Eirene
So true. When I was obese I thought I was making healthy food choices. I looked at calories and fat on the back of a boxed meal (right there that should tell you it’s not healthy) but then I’d eat 3 servings of it…completely unaware.
I had a coworker who would eat out at lunch every day. Places like Chipotle and other downtown restaurants. She thought she was being healthy getting a taco salad. I didn’t have the heart to tell her she was probably eating 1300 calories of taco salad.
Leah
This has been in my Netflix queue forever. I may remove it now. Hmm…
Bryan Young
Can I suggest you watch Killer at Large on DVD? The audio issues are only on the Netflix version.
Something they did with the encoding caused that problem, I assure you it wasn’t us….
Lisa Eirene
Thanks for commenting Bryan. I will give the movie another chance, this time on DVD. It was a topic that is really important to me and I was disappointed that I couldn’t enjoy the movie.
Leona Smith
One of the main reason of obesity is worrying. Americans worry a lot. Many admit to worrying all the time. Chronic tension is caused by worrying, and all its avatars, anxiety, fear, guilt, remorse, dread. Excessive interior heat results from the friction caused by it hurrying and worrying, while excess weight – which can manifest as obesity, is the result of habitual overeating.