links for 2008-06-05

links for 2008-06-04

  • “Scientists describe for the first time a set of genes, about 100 in all, that seem to predict how well a smoker will respond to two different types of quitting programs — nicotine replacement or bupropion (Zyban).”
  • “Here’s how it would work: after they cleared the dishes in all the cabins, people who took the Freegan option would get a chance to go to the galley and check out what’s left over and edible.”
    (tags: green travel food)

Weight-Loss Battle Plan #1: The Short List

Aaron and I like to go out to eat on weekends. It’s what we do. It wasn’t what we did once upon a time, when we were both poor college kids, but it’s what we do now.

Eating out wasn’t easy when we were on Atkins, almost five years ago, but we knew what we could eat and figured out how to adjust our dining to suit. Once we got into the groove of Atkins, there were very few places where we couldn’t finagle ourselves some meat and veggies without bread or starch.

Enter Weight Watchers.

This isn’t a more challenging plan overall; in fact, I appreciate being able to eat pretty much whatever I want in moderation. There are things to stay away from, as a general rule, but very few (if any) completely forbidden foods. It’s all about planning ahead.

In that vein, I decided to make a “short list” of restaurants and entrees that would work out well for my current diet. So, when Aaron gets up on Saturday morning and asks me where I want to eat, I can pull a name out of my arsenal of good choices, instead of playing the “I don’t know — where do YOU want to go” game until we’re both so hungry that I just give in to the siren song of the Chinese buffet.

Some places have online menus with nutritional information; for those places, I look online and decide on two or maybe three different menu items to choose from when I get there. For restaurants that don’t have their own nutrition facts online, but that are easily researchable, I take my digital camera (for lack of a cameraphone) and photograph my plate of food. That way, I can go back later and tally up what I ate (and compare it to my mental calculations of what I’d *thought* I ate).

So, without further ado, I present The Short List:
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links for 2008-06-03

Twists of Fate

It’s so easy to say things like, “I don’t know where I’d be today if it weren’t for [fill in the blank].”

It’s much more interesting to actually give it some thought.

Sometimes, I like to trace things backward and realize what an amazing combination of circumstance and decisions brought me to where I am today. The realization makes my life that much more amazing.
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