cha-cha-cha-cha-changes

Some fairly big changes are happening in my and Finn's life right now. I don't even know how to type it all out because the concept of communicating about these changes was something for which I never thought I would have to prepare. Finn's Dad and I have come to an agreement that we would separate (we have already) and divorce. We have been focusing on making a good custody plan for Finn so this horribly painful transition time is not so painful for him.
For family and friends that are discovering this info for the first time in a blog...I am sorry. We tried to communicate this to as many people in person as possible.  I have waited some time to say anything publicly because I honored a request to do so.

I met my doctor's weight loss goal for me this past weekend.  I have lost 20 lbs so far on the Fast Diet. I celebrated a bit too much Saturday and Sunday upon seeing this milestone, and am getting back on track now ;) I emailed my doctor and he gave me the go ahead to go after my weight loss goal..only 15 lbs to go!

Because of all the current changes in our lives, I have put the film projects on hiatus until I find a paying, out of the house job. I am going as far as getting my bartender's license now. I have been taking the online bev server's class this week. I had two more interviews last week...still no word. Wish me luck!

just keep swimming

Big personal changes coming...I will have to update that later.

I have been on the fasting diet for a little over three weeks.  I have lost a total of 16 lbs.  I am sure the fact that I have added exercise doesn't hurt.  I have been running twice a week and biking or swimming or playing disc golf at least once a week. I am also still restricting sugar and carb calories to keep my body feeling the best it can :)

I have been looking seriously for a job for two months...just kinda looking for like 10 months.  Still no job.  The local dream job was just given away to some lucky bastard...who isn't me. :((  I can usually just let stuff roll off my back, but this one hurt.  I went through three interviews and was one of two top candidates and they picked the other person because I moved around too much in my past and have a gap in my work history.

This gap would be called being a stay-at-home parent.  Why do the parents who consciously decide to stay home with their children in their formative years get penalized for doing so in our community?  It is frustrating. Do they want people to have children just so others can raise them for you? No empathy or transition support? Just a big F you to those who choose to be stay-at-home parents.  Thanks America

I am still at work on the Vernon Hershberger doc, which may end up being about more than just Vernon's story.     http://www.vernonhershberger.com/
The ever increasing presence of corporate agriculture is oppressive in this country. It would be interesting to focus on some of the other important stories that are being touched by this issue. My co-filmmaker/writer, David Gumpert blogs on this subject here
http://thecompletepatient.com/article/2013/june/3/here%E2%80%99s-why-datcp-and-wi-dept-justice-are-so-pissed-you-would-be-too-if-%E2%80%9C-fix%E2%80%9D

Also still working on the Marilyn McIntyre feature with Mary Jo :)

Moving along

I have been doing the fast diet since May 10th.  That was my first fasting day.  I have been completing a fasting day then two "normal diet" days.Today is a fasting day.

I think I mentioned this before, but I have also decided to give up all processed sugar.  **This is not part of the official diet to give up sugar on the normal days** I decided to do this at the same time as an experiment.  And the experiment has produced the exact result I was wondering.  My overall body feels SO MUCH better without refined sugars.  REALLY
I ate 1/2 an apple yesterday and it tasted like a piece of cake, I kid you not.  I felt so naughty for tasting something so sweet.

I didn't believe Dr. Mosley in the PBS series or in his book when he said the fasting days would get easier.  He was right.  And I have found, even after a week, that I have more energy, not less as I guessed.  And I am no doctor, but it seems like my metabolism is faster.  My skin looks better.  And the best part...
I have lost 7 lbs since starting a week ago!!

Participating in this diet has made me a lot more aware of my eating habits and I feel more in tune with my body and what and when it needs it already. I am fully understanding how much I was eating out of habit and boredom and anything but hunger.  Now I only eat when hungry and stop as soon as I don't feel hungry anymore.
   
The Vernon Hershberger trial begins next week.  I am still negotiating getting a feed to record the court room proceedings.  Only News3 is being allowed into the room itself.  They will not sell me a copy of the week's proceedings and cannot assure that the feed recording will work.  I have also made contact with the on site tech dude and he says if the NEWS3 feed doesn't work out, he could probably finagle something up.
And to top it off I will be doing this all by myself because my camera man got a job for next week.  Adventures in film making.  I am going into the trenches.

I have received permission from Vernon to make the film and have already made a partner in David Gumpert.  David is a blogger and author and has been following Hershbergers story for several years.  He wanted to make a doc but didn't have the film background.  I am excited for this to get started and meet all these interesting people.

Mary Jo has been working on the script this week for our feature film project together.

And so it begins

I had my doctor's appointment on April 30th. Luckily my doctor, Dr. Kutz (with Meriter in Madison) is the best doctor ever and he decided he wanted to play along with my experiment with "the fast diet" by Dr. Michael Mosley and Mimi Spencer.

I finally got into the clinic this past Thursday, May9th to get my beginning stats done. The results of the blood tests are below.

The Good: My blood sugar, kidney function and electrolytes returned normal.  My thyroid function returned normal.  My liver function test were normal.  Triglycerides was 120 and the normal range is less than 1My IGF levels were normal.  IGF-1 is a measure of cell turnover and therefore of cancer risk. It may also be a marker for aging.  This 5:2 diet is supposed to drop the levels of IGF-1 and contribute to cell repair and elongate your life.

Now the bad and the ugly: 
My Cholesterol was 221 (Normal range 0-199)
My LDL (bad cholesterol) was 148 (Normal range 60-129)
My HDL (good cholesterol) was 49 (Normal range more than 50)

Dr. Kutz obviously recommended that I work on improving the above LDLs.  Luckily, this 5:2 diet is supposed to help correct all those things!

Why did Dr. Mosley start all this? Well, he read an article in New Scientist magazine by Dr. Mark Mattson of the National Institute on Aging in Baltimore. Along with co-author Edward Calabrese, Dr. Mattson introduced the idea of "a little poison is good for you". This is a colorful way of describing the theory of Hormesis, the idea that when a human, or any creature, is exposed to a stress or toxin it can toughen them up and improve their system.

Dr. Mosley looks at vegetables through the prism of hormesis: Many veggies taste bitter.  This is because they contain chemicals that are potentially poisonous to humans.  But these chemicals are present in such low levels that our bodies treat the veggies as a small amount of toxin and activate a stress response and switch on genes that protect and repair your cells, like exercise, or in this case, fasting.

The two fasting days cannot be consecutive.  I figured I would start the diet with a fasting day.  I began on Friday, May 10th.  On fasting days, as a woman, I am allowed 500 calories. I had tea and water throughout the day, 1/2 an apple and 20 almonds for breakfast.  Then I had a small chicken breast (3-4 oz) with sweet potatoes.  I did feel hungry.  I was really hungry throughout the day.  Even before I went to bed I felt hungry.  But not overwhelming by any means.

Yesterday was a normal diet day.  I find myself eating A LOT less and wanting less food on the "free" days.  I cannot go crazy.  As a woman I should be consuming 1000-1200 calories (energy) a day on these days.  I was going to my Mom's for Mom Day lunch and ran out of time to eat breakfast.  I would say I ate probably somewhere between 900-1100 calories for the whole day. I have decided to not eat sugar as much as possible.  This is not necessarily a requirement of the diet, but sugar has a lot of calories and very little staying power or nutrition. So I have chosen to take it out of my diet for now.  An unplanned positive side affect from this.  I have had NO, that is right NO heart burn since Friday.  For me, that is like a miracle in itself.

I was not intending, in any way, to make Mom's day a fasting day.  But all of the sudden it was 2pm and I had not had anything to eat and only black coffee for breakfast.  I had 1/2 a bagel and peanut butter for breakfast.  Then had a salad for dinner and it look like this.

Today has been tougher, hunger wise, for some reason.  Even after eating dinner, I feel HUNGRY.

The results so far: I have lost 5 lbs in 3 days.  No heartburn. 

There are other things going on in my life besides this diet, believe it or not ;)  
I *just* started a new documentary project (my cousin Tyler will be the cinematographer). I will be following the Vernon Hershberger case in Sauk County here in WI. On June 2, 2010, representatives of the WI Dept of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer protection (DATCP) conducted a raid at the Vernon Hershberger farm.  DATCP agents intentionally destroyed nearly 300 gals of fresh milk by pouring blue dye into the bulk tan, claiming the milk was "adulterated and misbranded"- even though there was no logical, factual, or scientific basis for this conclusion. The DATCP agents also placed a holding order on all the fresh, wholesome food in coolers on the Hershberger farm, most of which belonged to members of the Hershberger's private buying club and his family. May 20-24th will be when the trial takes place. I look forward to seeing the conclusion of the trial.  Depending on the outcome of the jury trial, the results could have a tremendous impact on non-corporate and other such farmers with food clubs.

I also continue to work on the Marilyn McIntyre Cold Case feature film project with Director, Mary Jo Oathout.  We recently received an incredible amount of information about the trial and investigation leading up to the trial of Curtis Forbes.  So we have begun work on the film's script. Updates to follow.

Happy Mother's Day to all you mothers out there! My life has been made fuller, cooler, more fun, and more loved by my Finnman :)

eat less live longer?

I have decided, after researching for a couple weeks now (I think I was just buying more procrastination time under the guise of actual scientific/personal research if you ask me) to try The Fast Diet aka the 5:2 diet.
http://thefastdiet.co.uk/  I made an appointment with my medical doctor today.  I really want to see what a difference it makes in my overall health along with the weight loss.  The idea is that you fast (for women 500 calories) two non consecutive days out of the week and eat a reasonable and "normal" diet the other 5 days of the week.  I have only started the book and will begin the diet officially after the dr. appt.

I got the idea to do this from the documentary series by Dr. Michael Mosley.  They have been showing the 3 part series for the past two Wednesdays on PBS Wisconsin.  The first week focused on fasting diets, and more specifically, the 5:2 fasting diet (as well as some other fasting diets).
Last night was about exercise.  Mosley, via the doctors and scientists who have been studying this area for quite some time, discovered that each of us is genetically coded to either adapt and flourish greatly to physical exercise. Or on the other end of the spectrum, completing the same physical exertion, individuals that experience not as great of physical rewards for the same work.  For some,  you can exercise and exercise and lift weights...the whole shebang, and never be as ripped as the guy or gal next to you at the gym. You can thank your parents and your genes ;)  I think I may be on this end of the spectrum unfortunately.  They were not saying you cannot be fit, just not as fit as those who are genetically predisposed to be more muscular and thin.

Along with the diet I will begin moderate running and biking and TRX 3 times a week at first and will build up.  I am supposed to run a 5k at the end of this month so I am thinking I should probably get out there and run a few times before that  ;)

I have given myself the challenge to actually make some of the hundreds of recipes I pin on Pinterest.  Of course I always tweak them a little.  Today I made a bacon, cheese, roasted red pepper, garlic and onion strata (custardy egg dish).
The original recipe called for ham and asparagus, but I didn't have those around so I got creative.  It turned out pretty ok 

The crap weather is getting to me.  I want to move to Costa Rica.

Spring, we invite you!

I have taken the whole winter off of pretty much all physical activity.  It was cool for a bit, but the other day there was a sloth on the Ellen show, and I was identifying with the sloth a little too intimately.  My surgeon told me to take off at least until "spring" to fully heal my knee.  Well, it still feels like winter to me!  :)  No, I know it is time.  I keep setting a start goal day and it keeps getting moved another and another and another day.  I have no one to keep me accountable here.  Finn and Atticus don't care if I make my workout goal for the day.  And self accountability seems to have gone on strike.  I need inspiration.

I signed up to be a bike escort for the Madison Half Marathoners on May 26th.  I volunteered in the same capacity last year and really enjoyed it.  It was so hot that day, that is what I recall.  They canceled the full marathon as a matter of fact and now the Madison full marathon is run in November this year for the first year.

I registered Finn for 4K in February.  It will begin in September 2013.  He is going to love school.  I am excited for him and all the new experiences he is going to have at school.  And all the new friends.  I am also scared for him.  I remember, even from that young age, just how cruel some children could be with their words and actions.

I have been working on a film project with director, Mary Jo Oathout, off and on since last year.  Just this month she asked me to assistant direct the film.  I have never worked on a film in this role before so it is a real learning experience.  The script is still in development and I continue to work on research.  The film focuses on the true story of a 30 yr old cold case that took place in Columbus, WI.  I will keep you updated on the progress.

Here's to spring coming our way very, very soon.  I cannot remember the feeling of sunshine on my skin anymore.

token creek

This sunny and a bit warmer weather was appreciated, for sure! 
Finn and I and our dog, Atticus, went disc golfing with my Dad, Tom, twice this week out at Token Creek.

The baskets have been taken down so we pick a spot near where the baskets would normally lay.  Finn is getting pretty good.  He will be out shooting me pretty soon.  If you haven't tried disc golfing, you really should.  It is an awesome sport that can be enjoyed by all.

So I took Finn's 2012 pics this past weekend.

And of course last night, after asking for months, Finn agrees to let me cut his hair.

Off to swim lessons with his new hair!