Look Me In The Eye

My wife bought this book and kept saying that she thought I'd like it. I dutifully took it and put it into my shelf to read later. Literally. I have an entire bookshelf of books to get to. And worse, I usually only get to read for a short time before going to bed at night, so at most I get a chapter done a night. Not a fast reader, I guess (part of this could also be attributed to the fact that I'm spending much of my after-work hours riding bike, at the gym, or working on a journal/blog/novel first draft...priorities, I suppose).

Anyway I finished a book and surveyed the shelves for what topic I should tackle next. My book on workouts that develop muscles? Essays on computer science? Starting your own business?...then I saw the book my wife gave me, Look Me In The Eye by John Elder Robison.

I was hooked by the second chapter. The book is about the life of the Aspergian brother of the author of the book Running With Scissors. Apparently he had one chapter about his brother John and had so much feedback from other Aspies that he urged his brother to try his hand at writing, and the result was this book.

I was in love with it. He described so many traits that slammed home in my own life. His inability to relate to people. His fondness for mechanical things. Inability to relate to what people were saying, his "eccentricities." Sensitivities. His compulsion to assign his own name for people or he'd forget who they were (his brother was for many years named "Varmint"). His rational, logical view of death of people he didn't know that neurotypicals find appalling. I totally understood his description because that was me. If a child of a friend's friend passed away in an accident, I don't react. It doesn't make sense to me, since people die every day. Thousands of people. We can't grieve for them all. I don't know that person, so I'm not sad. I'm glad that it didn't happen to my family or my immediate friends.

Neurotypicals apparently find this to be cold and irrational. It's perfectly rational.

Every chapter I read ended with me thinking, "Oh. My. God. This is me."

I didn't grow up with a mother in a mental hospital. I didn't have an alcoholic father. I did rather well academically and went on to college. But his mental issues were things I could relate to for the most part.

More to the point I finally found someone with whom I could relate. I often refer to Asperger wiring screwing with my viewpoint on things compared to other people because having this perspective is very lonely. It's hard for Normals to understand what it's like to be lonely but having an extreme aversion to relating to other people. It's not unlike having bariatric surgery and wanting that peanut butter brownie in the window with every tastebud on your tongue only to know that doing so could make you extremely, extremely ill. Not just an upset tummy. All out hours of agony ill culminating in sweats, palpitations and a toilet visit from the depths of Hades. See "Dumping Syndrome". Only this would be for social occasions and relating to people, not just food with sugar in it.

I haven't finished the book yet. Normally I finish before posting about it. But I was just too excited halfway through the book. Plus I discovered that he has a blog. I added it to the sidebar of this blog. He has his own website as well and a twitter account.

I think the best way to sum this up was summed up in my statement to my wife the first night I started reading the book; "How could you possibly have read this book and still not understand me better? This book is me." I learned that I'm not alone out here. There are others who have to cope with issues that I have to cope with (although it was a bit distressing to read the entry on his blog that points out there's a rather high incidence of suicide among people with Asperger's).

If you know someone with Asperger's this book can offer some insight to what it's like to be trapped in my head. If you don't know anyone with Aspergers,...well, it's still a great book telling you about a man with mental wiring that makes listening to neurotypicals a challenge in itself. Plus he worked with KISS. How can you not love a guy that made guitars that spit fire and smoke before it was a familiar spectacle on the performance stage?

Truly...I can't begin to describe how nice it is while reading this book to feel as if there are like-minded individuals in a world of neurotypicals. No matter how much we love our family there exists some things that they just can't relate to and they struggle to accept in us. This book highlights some of these issues, and maybe can help them understand a little better.

Urine Trouble if it's Dark

I don't know who first told me this or where I read it, but after the surgery I was firmly afraid that I was not getting enough water.

There were warnings about drinking throughout the day, keeping hydrated, and generally making sure I was drinking water; not juices, not carbonated drinks, but water.

It was worse now that I wasn't eating as much as I used to. You have no idea how much of your water actually comes from the foods you eat, and when you overeat you get even more fluids indirectly from your diet.

The fear was in the darkness of urine. If the urine was a dark yellow, the story went, it meant I was dehydrated.

There were times it was dark. I'd drink until it was running nearly clear. There were times when I was drinking and I wasn't even thirsty, just to make sure I was keeping hydrated.

I just finished reading Don't Swallow Your Gum! by Dr. Aaron E. Carroll and Dr. Rachel C. Vreeman, and it dispells a lot of myths and lies about health and how the body works. Among them: how much water your body needs.

It's "common knowledge" that you should drink eight glasses of water a day. The problem is that is wrong. Back in 1945 the Food and Nutrition Board of National Research Council said that adults should get 2.5 liters (which translates into roughly 8 glasses of water) a day and that most of it comes from prepared foods.

That in itself would be fine except that people like things in trite, easy to remember tidbits. That advice somehow had the "food" part chopped out: thus the "8 glasses of water" myth.

The body apparently works to regulate fluids on its own quite well. Ever heard that when you're thirsty, you're dehydrated already? Well, the book addressed that too. Apparently your body, when it senses that it needs to retain water, releases a hormone called vasopressin, signaling the kidneys to retain water. This regulates automatically how often you feel the urge to go number one. So feeling thirsty doesn't mean that you're dehydrated.

But the most important...or at least, relevant...question addressed was on page 24. "Your Urine Should Be Almost Clear."

The book states this is a half-truth. To quote:
The color of the urine depends on its osmolality, which is the technical term for how much stuff is dissolved in the liquid. When there is more stuff dissolved in a given volume of urine, the urine is more concentrated, and therefore it looks darker. However, the osmolality of normal urine can be very different from person to person. One specialist in fluid regulation tested teh urine of sixty-nine healthy young adults and measured the average volume and concentrations of their urine. For this group, all of whom were considered well hydrated and healthy, the average volume of urine was 1.5 liters per day and the average concentration was 600 mosmol/kg H2O. At this average concentration, urine is moderately yellow in color, which could be interpreted as "dark" compared to the recommended "clear" or "pale yellow" you may think of as your goal. This concentration is, in fact, well within the normal range. Most of the time, normal urine from a healthy, well-hydrated person may be very yellow.

So urine color being yellow or "darker" doesn't mean you're dehydrated. I was worrying over nothing! Live and learn...

The Writing Show Speaks!

The winners of The Writing Show's Halloween Short Story Contest have been announced. Go check it out!

Did I win? Well, no, and yes. I heard back from Paula B. and let's just say I'm greatly encouraged by the results :-) I'm not Scott or Ron. I'll leave it at that.

I've not heard the announcement podcast yet since it hasn't transferred to my iPod yet and I'm sure the stories will be following in a podcast near Halloween. I'm really looking forward to hearing them. My congratulations go to both the winners and the honorable mentions, and my sincere thank you to Paula and the judges!

Diet Myths that Keep Us Fat

I just wrapped up reading the book Diet Myths That Keep Us Fat (and the 101 truths that will save your waistline-and maybe even your life) by Nancy Snyderman, MD. If you've heard her name before, it's probably because she's the medical correspondent for NBC news. She's a doctor, a correspondent, a TV personality...so I suppose that qualifies her as being an authority, certainly moreso than the numerous names that are slapped onto books without any verifiable backgrounds for the majority of us to find.

Nancy apparently has a real love of commas...I don't know why that stuck out to me, but it did. I thought she totally overused commas.

As for the content, though, it was a good summary of a number of the little floating bits of information and misinformation floating around out there. It reviews carbs. It review fats. It reviews pills and supplements and sugars found in foods and all sorts of wonderful things. It also has plenty of "truths" written in colored boxes that review things like, "You can lose more weight in cold weather" (sure!), "Belly fat has been linked to dementia" (yuppers), and "Muscle doesn't weigh more than fat" (a pound is a pound, dude...)

There was one item that I was skeptical of. On page 158 there is a blink bit about certain OTC painkillers helping muscle development in workouts. Being someone who has been having trouble seeing any results in my workouts, I thought this might be worth following up on...only to find that every hit of the keywords "advil muscle growth" is coming up with the opposite information. They inhibit growth! Yikes! I don't see any information in the back of the books, the notes, about where she would be citing information from what study. She has plenty of citations, just not for that "truth" I was looking for. I don't think after doing some quick Googling that it's a good idea to try taking the painkillers for a boost in results.

Otherwise it's a good book. Quick read, just took me a few nights to get through. I did skip the section on Nancy Snyderman's own dieting plan, though. Just stick to checking out her take on the 10 myths and see how many misconceptions she clears up for you!

Food Choices: Eat This, Not That!

I've been reading an interesting book about food choices. It's actually a small series of books, called Eat This, Not That!. The latest one is Eat This, Not That! The Best (And Worst) Foods In America!: The No-Diet Weight-Loss Solution. The title is a mouthful and has a few too many rah-rah exclamation points for my taste, but it's a fascinating read. The book reviews foods from major restaurants and supermarkets to and illustrates just how bad things get without customers thinking about their choices, then offers alternatives to order (or purchase) instead.

Some examples: Worst "Healthy" Sandwich? Blimpie Special Vegetarian (12"). 1,186 calories, 60 g fat, 19 g saturated, 3,523 mg sodium and 131 carbohydrates.You'd be better off eating 2 Big Macs.

Worst Fast-Food Breakfast: McDonald's Deluxe Breakfast (large size biscuit) with syrup and margarine. 1,370 calories, 64.5 g fat, 21.5 g saturated, 2,340 mg sodium and 161 g carbs. The calories are more than 4 McD's cheeseburgers (300 a piece). They recommend instead the McMuffin (300 calories, 12 g fat, 5 saturated, 820 mg sodium, and 30 g carbs).

Want a real slap in the head? Worst Italian Entree: Romano's Macaroni Grill Spaghetti and Meatballs with meat sauce. 1,810 calories, 118 g fat (54 saturated), 4,900 mg sodium, 109 g carbohydrates. It's almost 3 times the recommended intake of sodium for the day combined into one meal! I mean, if your average intake is supposed to be 2300 mg of sodium and 2300 calories (rough average), this entree is way too much...but how many people would think they're taking such a hit in health from have spaghetti and meatballs?

Even appetizers aren't safe. Well, I guess it shouldn't be a surprise if you do any research on them. Worst Starter: Uno Chicago Grill Pizza Skins, Full Order. 2,400 calories. 155 g fat, 45 saturated. 3,600 mg sodium. I mean...you do share them, right? Yeah, right. I'm sure you're not having too many of them...instead, they recommend the Thai Vegetable Pot Stickers, at 400 calories, 20 g fat (2 saturated), 1,080 mg sodium, 46 g carbs instead.

The book also harshly slams restaurants for pulling an Applebees; they highlight the places that won't tell you what they're feeding you by hiding nutrition information. When I was dieting pre-surgery in January, I started going through online nutrition information and downloading lists for my iPod so I could make decent choices in places like Red Lobster (by the way, stay away from the admiral's feast...the book put that one into perspective relatively quickly. But on the other hand, Red Lobster also had a lot of healthy choices you can make. Tread carefully.)

Applebees was among the restaurants that won't make the information available, and it was a restaurant that we often went to, as in once or twice a month at least. I emailed their customer service, and they simply said they couldn't provide the information (Um, let's be real...you wouldn't provide it. Don't tiptoe around it) because they can't guarantee ingredients and there were variations from restaurant to restaurant location.

So...are you telling me that if I go to a different Applebees, your food is significantly different in each location, so I can't rely on any consistency in your dishes??

I was so pissed that I stopped going there, and would spread the word whenever the opportunity arose that they are consumer-unfriendly. Red Lobster provides it. Olive Garden provides it. Applebees,...well, I'm going to Red Lobster or Panera.

Oops. Side rant. Anyway, the book harshes on restaurants that pull this by giving them an "F" on a restaurant summary chapter. The only information they could pull from places like these were calorie counts, due to a law that was passed in New York about providing this minimum bit of information (Funny...you can't provide consistent nutrition information unless it passed into NYC, eh? Do I sound a little irked at this?)

I got curious because the book harshed on a lot of wraps in different restaurants; I didn't think my wraps for my average meals were all that bad. So I looked at some of the information labels for what I have been putting in lately.

Tortilla. Azteca. 120 calories, 2.5 g fat, .5 saturated, 0 chol, 300 mg sodium, 22 g carb, no sugar, 3 g protein.

Add a slice of reduced fat colby-jack cheese from Sargento. 50 calories, 4 g fat, 2.5 saturated, 10 mg chol, 120 mg sodium, 0 carb, 0 sugar, 5 g protein.

Add some thin-sliced honey ham. From the label of one brand I use, 2 oz is 80 calories, 2.5 g fat, 1 g saturated, 30 mg chol, 710 mg sodium, 4 g carbs, 4 g sugar, 10 grams protein.

I normally use probably half a serving, so the count I'm using is closer to 40 calories, 1.5 g fat, 15 mg chol, 355 mg sodium, 2 g carbs, 2 g sugar, 5 grams protein, and that's the story I'm sticking to.

Then a slice of 2% cheese from Kraft. Off the label: 45 calories, 3 g fat, 1.5 saturated, 10 mg cholesterol, 250 mg sodium, 1 g carb, 1 g sugar, 4 gram protein.

Then mushrooms to add filler from Green Giant: I use probably 1/4 cup, and the information on the label is for 1/2 a cup. So I'll write the estimated 1/4 cup information here. 12 calories, 0 fat, 0 chol, 220 sodium, 2 g carb, .5 sugar, 1 g protein.

So some math would estimate that my wraps are in the neighborhood of 267 calories, 11 g fat, 5 saturated, 35 mg cholesterol, 1,245 mg sodium, 27 g carbohydrates, 3.5 g sugar, and 18 g protein, plus some sodium for the mustard I add on.

I don't think that's too bad. In most restaurants the wraps come out horrible...for example, ETNT says in the vocab guide that a wrap weighs in at 600 calories on average, with the average tortilla being 300 calories. Applebee's Chicken Fajita Rollup weighs in at 1,450 calories, listed as the worst wrap in the "Worst Healthy Foods in America" chapter. The honor of worst wrap in the Worst Sandwiches in America list also went to Applebee's with the Applebee's Oriental Chicken Rollup at 1,550 calories.

Unless my estimate are really really off, my wraps aren't that bad. Three a day comes to 801 calories, give or take for variation (swiss cheese instead of the colby-jack, for example). the only thing I add on top of this are my peanuts and peanut butter, which I'm gradually moving to more peanuts than PB; they early on showed promise in anecdotally reducing some dizziness I felt when going to the gym or riding bike, so I added them in during the course of the day.

But here's the kicker; choices you make in your diet mean paying attention to labels, and things you'd think would be no-brainers take more brains than you'd think. I came to the conclusion that my numbers probably aren't too far off from restaurants simply because they must be made differently. What cemented that idea?

I have a jar of peanuts that I've been refilling from a Sam's Club ginormo pack of peanuts or mixed nuts. The jar is from Target, their "Market Pantry" brand of dry roasted peanuts. I figure...how hard is it? Peanuts, some salt, right? Well, I happened to look at the label. In order: dry roasted peanuts, salt, sugar, maltodextrin, monosodium glutamate (um...isn't that MSG?), torula yeast, paprika and other spices, natural flavors (they're PEANUTS! What did you ADD?!), hydrolized soy proteins, onion and garlic powder.

Wha...?!

I picked up the ginormo pack of peanuts from Sam's, which happened to be Planter's Extra Large Virginia Peanuts. Listed: peanuts, sea salt, peanut and/or cottonseed oil.

Two of the same products; peanuts. Two very different labels.

I recommend this book not just because it has great information, but because it made me think. Books that make you think make an impact, a difference, and for that reason I very much recommend it to other people in hopes that they, too, will be driven to think and take action or maybe alter some of their habits or perspectives.