Health and feeling down

Confession time - I feel like I have failed in the 12WBT already, and it's only Week 4. 

Why?  Well, let's be honest, I've put on weight.  Not much, about 500g and I have no one to blame but myself.  My nutrition hasn't been terrible, but I haven't been keeping enough track of it.  In terms of exercise, injuring my ribs really through a spanner in that.  After two weeks, I'm only just now feeling like exercise is possible, sit-ups still being out of the question.  Then, in another 2 weeks I have my tonsillectomy, and have been told by the surgeon to not exercise for two weeks afterwards.  I'm getting back in that "all or nothing" mindset.  As in - I won't be able to exercise after my surgery, so why bother exercising for the next two weeks? 

In other health news, I've started seeing a chiropractor. (She is actually my old chiropractor - I used to see in her as a child in the mid 90s).  I've been meaning on seeing one for a while, and, (I feel embarrassed writing this), the reason I hurt my ribs was because I had a friend walk on my back in an attempt to get it back in alignment.  My back actually felt better, but ended up with a cracked rib in the process!  Not the outcome I was hoping for. 

I've also been officially diagnosed with idiopathic hypersomnalence.  I am going to write a much longer post about this, but essentially this means I always feel tired, no matter how much sleep I get.  And I've basically felt this way for 10 years. There is no cure, just medication, but I need to wait a month to get the medication as special approval is needed for the specialist to write a prescription.  (Not sure how I feel about taking medication that is so strong that it can't be prescribed without approval, but hopefully it will work)!

 

Australian Tax Forum - Why a fat tax isn't the answer to obesity

Denmark has become the first country to introduce a "fat tax" - an extra tax on food with a saturated fat content above 2.3%.  You can read more about it in The Washington Post, and there are plenty of other newspaper articles about it at the moment.  This comes at a time when Australia is having a national Tax Forum, following on from the tax review ("Australia's Future Tax System" - aka The Henry Review) that was released last year.  Personally, I think it is another case of more talk no action, but we'll see.

My PhD is in tax, so I could write a lot about the Forum, but this isn't a tax blog.  However, since my blog is about trying to lose weight/getting healthier, the "fat tax" is something I did want to talk about.

With the tax being introduced in Denmark, and the current Tax Forum underway, there have been some calls to introduce such a tax in Australia, in order to combat our obesity rates.  Personally, I don't think such a tax should be introduced - there are a number of reasons, but just a quick disclaimer - these are just 'thoughts' I have had, obviously they would be researched a lot further if I was writing an academic paper rather than a blog post!

• It's another tax: Okay, so this is an obvious point, but the Henry Review identified 125 taxes that currently exist in Australia.  The last thing we need is another one.  Also, we already have a tax on "processed food" in the form of the GST.  I have previously written an academic paper looking at whether the GST should be on ALL food rather than processed food (my argument being that having exemptions makes the tax system more complicated).  Similar complications would arise if we introduced a fat tax.  What food do we put it on.  Denmark has used saturated fat content, but why is is 2.3% the magic number?
• Is saturated fat making us fat?  Obviously, it isn't healthy to eat a diet high in saturated fat.  But you could eat a diet low in saturated fat and still be overweight/obese.  Some people argue that sugar is the enemy.  Should the tax be on high sugared food?  You put on weight when your calories are too high, regardless of how you get them. 
• Exercise: There is no way for the tax to account for the fact that some people may eat these foods and then burn off the calories by exercising or highly physical jobs. 
• Won't change behaviour: There has been research (some of it is mentioned in the Washington Post article I linked), that a fat tax would have to be much higher than the Denmark tax to change behaviour.  In Denmark, a price of a hamburger will rise $0.40.  That's not much.  I know in the US there are arguments that low-socio-economic groups eat high fat foods (in the form of fast food)because they are cheaper, but this isn't the case in Australia.  Fast food isn't cheap. Yes, it's cheaper to go to McDonalds than a 5-star restaurant, but it is still cheaper to cook for yourself.    
• Use of funds: If a fat tax was introduced, where will the funds go?  Into general revenue.  It wouldn't be set aside for weight loss programs, to encourage people to exercise, the health system, etc.   At the end of the day, it really is a penalty tax, with no clear evidence to show that such a penalty will change behaviour.

US Trip Part 4 - Star Trek Convention

Yes, it's been over a month since I got back and I'm still posting about my trip.  I think one of my goals next trip will be to post everyday!

One of the main reasons I went to the US was to go to Creation Entertainment's Las Vegas Star Trek Convention.  There are Star Trek Conventions all over the US (and the world) each year, but the one in Vegas is by far the biggest.

I am a Trekkie, but had never been to a convention before (in Australia or overseas) so I didn't know quite what to expect.  Star Trek fans can have a reputation for being ... obsessive?  eccentric?  just plain weird?  But in reality, we are just normal people who enjoy the show.  Yes, a lot of people (including myself) were in costume, but it isn't like we wear them on a day to day basis.

In my Star Trek uniform

Being the biggest convention, (and also the 45th) anniversary of Star Trek, there were a done of guests.  I'm so glad I attended this year because it was Leonard Nimoy's last Vegas convention (and his last convention ever was the one scheduled two weeks later in Chicago). 

With Leonard Nimoy



With William Shatner & Patrick Stewart



With the actors that played Klingons - in full costume & makeup

All the guests were fabulous and really do seem to appreciate the fans. Apart from getting to see the various actors / have photos / autographs etc, the highlight for me was definitely the costume competition - the effort some people put into their costumes (and their sewing skills) are incredible.

Winner of the costume competition



Good news ... (sort of).

In good news, I got my x-rays back today and no cracked ribs.  Hurray!  I added the "sort of" to my post title because despite this, I'm still in pain.  Sit-ups are a good way to torture me at the moment!  Even sitting up from lying in bed causes agony.  Feeling slightly better today and hopefully this will continue!

Could my mind and body please join forces?

It seems an appropriate time to make this post, since a few days ago I made a post about what is health, and my collage combined elements of physical and mental health. 

It seems I can never get the two (body and mind) healthy at the same time.  When this 12WBT started, my mind wasn't in the right place, even though my body was fine (for the most part - I have some ongoing health issues).  Now, I'm in the right mindset, and I'm injured. 

The Friday night before my birthday (23rd) I had a bit of an accident and hurt my ribs.  I thought they were just bruised, although I joked at the time "I feel like I have a cracked rib".... well turns out it wasn't a joke.  They felt ok for a few days, a bit tender, but they have since been getting progressively worse.  I had actually been keeping up with the exercise this week, so it's possible that made things worse.  Anyway, I went to my doctor Saturday morning (I didn't think it was severe enough to warrant a trip to hospital), and she wants me to get an x-ray tomorrow morning (today is a public holiday) or go to the hospital if the pain gets worse.  The problem is, whether they are cracked or bruised, the treatment is the same - rest, painkillers, and icing the area. 

So I left with a prescription for painkillers and feeling frustrated and impatient - I only have three weeks until my tonsillectomy and I know I want be able to exercise for a little while after that, so I wanted to make the most of the time up until then.

I know the main part of losing weight is nutrition, but when I can't exercise, rather than being extra diligent on my nutrition, I tend to slip a bit, thinking "well, I can't exericse, I won't be losing the weight I want anyway".

Hopefully the x-ray tomorrow will be all clear, and my ribs will start to feel better sooner rather than later!