Badges? We don’t need no stinking badges!

The line above was made famous from the moving “Blazing Saddles”. Still a funny movie after all these years.

I bought a FitBit a few years ago. About two years this month actually. With all the tracking out does, one part of there “gamification “ is where it’s give you badges for accomplishments. It does it in s not off a neat way by comparing countries to your walking distance, among other things.

It’s interesting to see but it’s not like I set out to walk the length of them Serengeti or anything. So it really doesn’t motivate me, only just provides me with a mild bit of “huh, that’s interesting” and nothing more.

Speaking of my FitBit Ionic, then battery sucks by more. $250 and all I get is about a day and a bit after 2 years?( starting at 4 days originally). Not really impressed. I’ll consider an Apple Watch next.

You are ‘dehydrated’

When it comes to hydration, everyone immediately thinks of water. Seems a natural thing to do yet are we missing something?

See, when you sweat, it’ isn’t just water is it? So why does it seem that the average person only replenishes with water? Why has marketing seem to tell us that Gatorade(or any other electrolyte drink) is only a sports drink? That seems misleading.

As I get older, you start to pay more attention to your health. The young never do as they full of life and energy and the typical “I’m in good shape, nothing to worry here”. There is some justification of the immortal feeling of youth but that does seem to fade rather quickly for most people doesn’t it?

A few weeks ago I was just sweeping and moping my apartment. Nothing that anyone would consider ‘intense’ as far as physical requirements yet I was sweating quite a bit. So then I got this idea in my head, I should look into electrolytes more. I bought a case of PowerAde and drank that as my ‘water’ replacement( typically only drink water and coffee any ways). A week later I found that when I was doing any work, I was not sweating anywhere near as I was before.

This lead me to thinking, I wonder if my heart rate increase was simply my body trying to get my ‘hydration’ to my body parts but was seriously lacking the required nutrients, so it had to flow faster to get them eager amounts to the areas? This idea does seem to hold true, at least from my perspective.

So then I got to thinking, I should just make my own electrolyte drink! I googled around and found the simplest recipe ever.

Ingredients
• 1 ½-2 cups water
• Juice of ½ lemon(2-3 tsp)
• 1/8 to 1/4 tsp real sea salt Himalayan salt, or Celtic sea salt
• 2 tsp raw honey local if possible

Instructions
• Everything into a jar with a lid and shake well to combine. This recipe fits perfect in a pint mason jar.
• Store in the fridge up to a week.

It turned out pretty good. So I had these 1 Gallon jugs around, I scaled it up from individual tiny containers to one big one.

Large(1 Gallon)

– Water 16 cups / 4 Litres
– Lemon Juice 16 teaspoons/ 5 Tablespoons
– Salt 1 teaspoons /
– Raw Honey 16 teaspoons /5 Tablespoons

It is a simple drink, as natural as you can get and healthy. It also gives your body what it needs way more than just regular water. So enjoy the tip!

Update:

My friend just reminded me that when you are in the hospital, they generally give you a ‘saline drip’…..which is just salt…..which is part of the ‘electrolytes’ we need! Funny that eh?

What’s the deal with these new nose gadgets Chinese policemen are wearing?

Sadly, this will be a regular thing.

South Korea’s Health Insurer Sues Tobacco Makers Over Costs

Well, if you’ll pardon the pun, this is a breath of fresh air!

South Korea’s national health insurance body sued three cigarette makers for at least 53.7 billion won ($52 million) as compensation for health-care costs linked to smoking-related diseases.

Read the whole article here

Samsung’s cancer-stricken workers are focus of fresh debate in South Korea | Ars Technica

Is any one else getting a bit jaded when companies refuse to accept responsibility for their actions?

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2014/04/samsungs-cancer-stricken-workers-are-focus-of-new-debate-in-south-korea/

Weight Loss Program

A guy calls a company and orders their 5-day, 5lbs weight loss program.

The next day, there’s a knock on the door and there stands before him a voluptuous, athletic, 19 year old babe dressed in nothing but a pair of Nike running shoes and a sign around her neck..

She introduces herself as a representative of the weight loss company. The sign reads, “If you can catch me, you can have me.”

Without a second thought, he takes off after her. A few miles later puffing and puffing, he finally gives up. The same girl shows up for the next four days and the same thing happens. On the fifth day, he weighs himself and is delighted to find he has lost 5lbs as promised.

He calls the company and orders their 5-day/10lbs program. The next day there’s a knock at the door and there stands the most stunning, beautiful, sexy woman he has ever seen in his life. She is wearing nothing but Reebok running shoes and a sign around her neck that reads, “If you catch me you can have me”.

Well, he’s out the door after her like a shot. This girl is in excellent shape and he does his best, but no such luck. So for the next four days, the same routine happens with him gradually getting in better and better shape.

Much to his delight on the fifth day when he weighs himself, he discovers that he has lost another 10lbs as promised. He decides to go for broke and calls the company to order the 7-day/25 lbs program.

“Are you sure?” asks the representative on the phone. “This is our most rigorous program.” “Absolutely,” he replies, “I haven’t felt this good in years.”

The next day there’s a knock at the door; and when he opens it he finds a huge muscular guy standing there wearing nothing but pink running shoes and a sign around his neck that reads, “If I catch you, you are mine.”

He lost 33 lbs that week…

Fat: It’s Not What Makes You Fat

https://familysurvivalprotocol.wordpress.com/2013/12/05/fat-its-not-what-makes-you-fat/

Finally!! Someone put some sense into common myths!

Family Survival Protocol - Microcosm News

 

Guest Article by Mark Hyman, MD

If you’re feeling completely confused about whether you should cut fat from your diet, you are not alone. But here’s the bottom line: fat does not make you fat or sick. So, why do so many people believe that fat is bad for you and causes heart attacks?

View original post 377 more words

Ten things the mainstream media didn’t tell you about the Seralini GM corn study

Just curious, can anyone disapprove thesesp statements?

http://www.naturalnews.com/z041930_GMO_rat_study_GM_corn_Seralini.html

Giving #Korean Medicine a try (Update)

I cooked and ate some bad meat two days ago.  First time ever doing that and I think the Pork Cutlet I had after that didn’t help(greasy?).  Suffice to say my Sunday night didn’t end till 4 am and a rather watery regurgitation of the day’s intake.  I felt tons better and was finally able to get to sleep.  Next day I felt ok but still not quite right.  Didn’t eat too much but no reoccurrence of food coming out the wrong end.  Today I still don’t feel quite up to par so I decided to give some Korean Medicine a try.

First, I had to explain what I had done to the pharmacist.  That wasn’t too hard, I knew the word for ‘eating’ and Sunday, all I needed was ‘bad meat’.  A quick google translate and I was able to say “일요일 나쁜 고기 먹어요”.  Literally “Sunday bad meat eat”.  He asked if I had diarrhea and I said no, just a sore stomach.  This is what he gave me:

Korean Medicine

He said that I need to take two pills from each box, 3 times per day and drink this liquid.  I just drank the liquid and it’s not horribly unpleasant.  Not something I would drink casually but could have tasted worse :)  Pills have been taken as well now.  So we’ll see how this turns out in a day or so.  I’ll update as things progress.

Oh, and the total cost for this stuff….about $5.  Who needs to spend taxes on national coverage…this stuff is cheap!

Update:

Ok, it’s been 2 days since I started with the medicine.  It all finished yesterday.  I am feeling tons better, if slightly constipated but I just need to drink more water :)  Aren’t you glad you checked this update? ;)

Seeing a doctor in Korea

I rarely see a doctor. Not because I have anything against them or some weird aversion to the medical profession. I generally don’t get sick. Sure I am a little overweight , and being Korea has helped that due to all the extra walking one has to do to get around I have been slowly loosing weight but also gaining some muscle. So technically I am loosing weight be gaining mass :) just to clarify the difference. Your weight is what changes when you go to the moon but your mass stays the same.

Last month something happened to my knees. It is like I over worked them. I figured a few days of rest and it’ll be fine but therein lies the dilemma of being in Korea. There is much more walking, stairs to climb for exercise but what do you do when its your legs that need the rest? Unfortunately I do not have the luxury of sitting around for 3 – 4 days and do nothing. So the healing becomes a significantly slower process with the possibility of doing more damage without really helping at all.

While at a movie two nights ago, I was about halfway through I was getting some pretty severe pain in my right knee. To the point that I was considering leaving the film. If I could have just stretched out the leg I would have been fine but the seat in front of me only afforded me limited flexibility.

So I went to see a doctor. I have always been partial to alternative healing and I knew of a place near a Korean friend of mine that did acupuncture. My friend offered to help with the Korean. While they did speak English, they were better at explaining things in Korean and my friend explained in English.

The treatment went as follows:

First, I should mention that the bed, while somewhat stiff, was heated. Very comfy but only to a point.

The doctor placed four rubber suction cups at various locations around my knee. These cups had lines attached to them and had sponge on their insides. The machine applied both a vacuum and an electrical stimulus to the knee area. There was also an infrared lamp over the exposed knee as well. It was rather unique to experience such a treatment.

After about 15mins of the suction/electrical shock that varied in patterns my knee was feeling pretty good but we weren’t done yet. The assistant places a towel wrapped hot pack in my knee and leaves then the doctor returns in about 5 mins or so.

NOW they brought out the acupuncture needles.

He put 5 of them around my knee then attached alligator clips with wires to them. More electrical shocks to the muscles it seems. 15 more minutes with this. Feels a little more intense but not painful.

The assistant comes in and removes everything and informs me there is one more step! I am wondering how much more work can be done?! She tells me it will hurt a little but not to be concerned. I shrug, certainly won’t hurt more than what I have experienced from the pain in my knee a few days ago.

The doctor comes back and has a couple of weird things I’ve never seen. One of them looks like a hand pump and a little add-on looks like a suction cup type of device with some gauze in it. There is another hand device but I can’t quite make out what it does. The staff is very good at not making it obvious. The doctor swabs an area just left of my knee and takes the other hand-held thing and pricks my skin about 8 times in rapid fire strikes. Ok so that kinda stung. I watch the doctor place the ‘suction cup thingy’ over he area and then attach the hand pump, he pumped it a few times and then left for about 5mins. My leg bled slowly into it and the gauze was soaking up some of it. I just kinda watched with a bit of morbid fascination and was amazed that ‘leeching’ was still practiced on a daily basis.

The doctor came back, removed the suction cup thingy cleaned up my skin a bit and left the assistant to finish. I asked her what was the purpose of that and she it was too hard to explain in English(her English was pretty good).

Then they let me go. Since this procedure was covered (and by that they mean mostly) by the Government, it only cost be KRW8400(about $8.40).

My knee did feel better and there is supposed to be a follow-up for the next three days bit I have plans already so I’ll do it next week.

I was told that this is only a symptom of a larger issue which is not necessarily related to my weight. Who knows but I’ll be keeping an eye on things.