Chinese Diet and Exercise

Visiting China it became apparent that Chinese are generally thinner than Americans. I don't mean that all Chinese are thin. I saw many overweight Chinese, but I seldom saw obese Chinese.

There are two main reasons for this general observation in my opinion. First, the Chinese generally eat lower energy density foods than Americans. Rice and noodles are staples of the Chinese diet. Vegetables also generally dominate over meat in their dishes. So Chinese foods typically have fewer calories per gram than a Standard American diet. Second, the Chinese generally move more than Americans. There are many cities in China with populations greater than New York City, so a common mode of transportation in these high density populated areas is by foot.

Despite these differences, I don't view China as a healthy mecca. In fact I viewed my visit to China as unhealthy. Setting aside the poor air quality in heavily populated Chinese cities, I think the two advantages listed above are slowly evaporating. The high rate of development in China is the reason. It appears to me that the standard of living is improving in China and many Chinese are enjoying a lifestyle approaching the American standard. The American diet of fast food and meat three times per day is becoming more common in China. The Chinese love to eat meat, and the more that they can afford, the more vegetables are pushed aside. In three visits, I have yet to meat a Chinese vegetarian, pun intended. The other paradigm shift in Chinese culture is that many Chinese are working long hours in an office setting to achieve these higher standards of living. They can afford cars to commute and have little time during the day for moving their body.

I think it is only a matter of a generation or two before Chinese diet and exercise commonly resembles those of Americans, and so will they. Here are some videos from my last trip related to this topic:

China Is Not A Third World Country

Last month I had the opportunity to travel to China again. I stayed in Wuhan for three weeks on company business.  My company is launching a couple of new products in China, one for global consumption, the other for local consumption. Launching a new product is challenging enough, but doing it in a foreign country amplifies the typical problems that arise when starting something new.

Traveling to China multiple times has changed my opinion of this country. My prior view of China was solely based on the media and the fact that China is a communist country. I envisioned a place with unhappy, poor people who have no freedom. In fact, a coworker refused to go because he said he would not travel to a third world country. According to Wikipedia, China is a second world country, whereas the US, UK and "their allies" are first world countries. Based on my experiences China is not going to be a second world country for much longer.

Initially, I had some negative feelings about launching products in China as opposed to the USA. Yes, the cost of labor is lower than the USA, but what I have discovered is that the Chinese are consumers just like us (US). Most Chinese have jobs. They buys homes like we do. They buy transportation like we do, more and more cars. They buy clothes, entertainment and food like we do. They all buy cell phones, many of them are Iphones. China is a huge developing market, to be taken advantage of from a business perspective. As I said earlier, one of the product launches is global. This means the product will be manufactured in China and the USA. The other product is local which means that it will be made, sold and consumed in China. It is sad to see the USA job market shrinking, but I believe that the rate of decline will eventually stabilize just as the rate of growth in China will stabilize. In the near future, being a global company will mean having a sustainable footprint in every country to supply to every market.

The current development rate in China has to be seen to be believed. Yellow cranes perched on top of buildings rising to the sky can be seen in every direction. All of these buildings are 20-30 story buildings. Most buildings appear to be half constructed, or completed but still vacant. There are so many buildings under construction or vacant that I wonder if the government is supporting these projects just for the purpose of employment and no real finished purpose. It is that mind-blowing. Cars, buses, trucks and taxis fill multi-lane highways. The roads and highways are lined with landscaping, sometimes 3 or 4 lines deep. There are so many trees and bushes visible on a commute that one could wonder if the government isn't just a giant nursery supplier. At the same time, China is like an old house under remodel. There are many parts of China that do make one think of a third world. These parts of China are waiting to be torn down to make more room for more construction.

Even my views on communism are less certain. Communism and capitalism appear to cohabitate in China just like democracy and capitalism in the USA. The Chinese pay taxes and pay for insurance. Sound familar? There's no doubt that China has challenges. Air pollution is obvious in densely populated areas. China appears to be addressing this problem by tightening the regulations on air pollution. Beijing is now reporting on PM 2.5: particulates in the air measuring less than 2.5 microns. Also, media restrictions should be loosened. Steps towards free speech appear to be happening as China has their own forms of Youtube, Facebook and blogging that criticizes the government. I even heard discussions about the possible end of the one child policy.

This post ends with a few videos from my trip:

Wuhan China 2013

I'm planning another trip to Wuhan China in 2013, employee style. My Handy cam is going with me, but no vids will be/can be uploaded until I get back to the states (something about communism). For now, here are a few vids from my last trip that I never posted until now.

Kelly's 8 New Year's Resolutions

Hello, 2013! I've discovered through this blog (really, an online diary as readers of this blog are few and far in between) that sharing bits and pieces of my life makes me more accountable, and helps me understand me better. So, I'll share my thoughts on how I would like to improve myseft throughout the next 12 months.

One - Let my loved ones know that I love them through my words and actions.
Maybe this is easy for some people, but my introverted personality has caused less joy than I care for over the years. I listed this as number one for good reason. It's important to me.

Two - Don't take things personally.
I am my biggest critic. So, when I get negative feedback from the outside, it gets amplified on the inside. I have to stop that. I'm not sure how successful I'll be, but I do have the beginnings of a plan. I will avoid known sources of negativity. For example, I will no longer visit and comment on blogs that I know which have opinions opposite of mine. It's a waste of time, every time. If the source of negativity is unavoidable, then I will pause and take a few moments to reflect on my strengths and the flaws of the outside source.

Three - Procrastinate less.
I'm really not sure about this one. Sometimes, a little procrastination is good. I can't think of any examples right now. It's a gut feel. Having said that, I do get a good feeling of accomplishment when I complete tasks, so it seems like a good thing to stay on task.

Four - Be more social.
This one is a minor reflection of number one, my introverted personality. It appears to be an accepted belief that friendships make life better. I've had lots of friendships over my life, but most of those relationships have a lifespan of 1-2 years. I don't have anything against people, I'm just more comfortable doing my own thing. So, I probably don't do a good job nourishing those relationships. And sometimes, I can be an a-hole. I realize this. We'll see.

Five - Eat better.
This one was a big improvment in 2012, but I want to stay on a forward path. I managed to lower my total blood cholesterol from about 230 mg/dL to about 160 mg/dL, and I credit this change to my diet change. I reduced if not eliminated sources of meat and dairy. I increased my intake of fruits and vegetables. It's been a transition and I am getting to the point where I consider myself a vegan. There were other factor improvements also. I dropped another 15 pounds on top of 2011 weight loss. My blood pressure decreased to below normal, usually in the 110s over 70s. 2013 goals include total cholesterol below 150 and LDL below 100. I would also like to lose another 5-10 pounds and see my diastolic blood pressure consistently in the 60s.

Six - Exercise better.
For me this means continuing to run without injury. I came back from injury in the middle of 2012, finally recovering from an 18 month abdominal pull. I have to run. It's my outlet. It's my meditation. It allows my mind to settle. I credit most of my health improvements to eating better, not running, but I will say that my resting pulse is decreasing probably due to consistent movement. I'm currently in the low to mid 50s. I'd like to see it get below 50 bpm.

Seven - Sleep better.
So far, I really have this one screwed up in 2013. Being on the holiday for the past week has been great. I've been super lazy, but i'm sleeping in so much that I'm having trouble going to sleep at night. Immediate correction is needed. Eight hours per night minimum is the goal. But then again, given my current restless state, perhaps 10 hours maximum is also appropriate.

Eight - Save more money
This one gets listed last because it's the hardest one to change. There are so many things to spend money on, things that seem pretty essential. Far and away, my biggest monthly expense is feeding a family of 5. I once read in a Ramsey book that food should be 5-10% of your monthly income. I don't know how he arrived at his figure, but I'm double to triple that number. Second is putting a roof over my families' head. Then there are things that are not essential, but nearly so, like braces and allergy shots. Anyhow, if I can get a COLA this year, part of it will pad my 401K.

Continuous Improvement

Are you thinking about New Year's Resolutions? Dr. Greger has some good ideas:

You Choose

Hey, nobody is perfect, so don't we all have room for improvement? Don't we all have the choice to make the world a better place by the little decisions that we make every day? The creator of the video below thinks so and apparently believes in cosmic karma.

 

Meatless Mondays

The Who, What, How, Why and Where of Meatless Mondays:

Scream and Shout

"I wanna scream and shout and let it all out, you are now rockin with Will.I.Am and Britney Bitch!"

Amend Obama Care to Lower Health Care Costs

Introduction

The 2012 elections showed that our country is almost equally divided on the role of government versus personal responsibility. Central to this tug o war has been Obama care (Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act), the biggest overhaul of the US health care system since Medicare and Medicaid in 1965. Obama care's primary aim is to reduce health care costs by increasing the number of insured Americans. It will increase coverage by including mandates, subsidies and tax credits to both employers and individuals over the next 8 years.

My criticism of Obama care is that it doesn’t address the demand for health care. Increasing the supply of health insurance is only half the problem. US health care costs totaled $2.6 trillion dollars in 2010. The CDC estimates that about 75% of those costs can be attributed to chronic diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, strokes and cancer. That's $2 trillion dollars spent annually on treating chronic diseases. In our current health care model, individuals expect that as they grow older they will have to rely on medicine, surgery or other invasive treatments against chronic diseases. Imagine the outcome on health care costs if Americans took greater personal responsibility for their own health by implementing healthier lifestyles such as not smoking, not being overweight, being physically active and eating more fruits and veggies and less meat. Imagine that these changes could reduce the occurrence of chronic diseases by 50%, a savings in health care costs of $1 trillion dollars.

I propose that Obama care is amended to provide tax credits to individuals who achieve target goals for good health markers such as low BMI scores (ratio of weight in Kg over square of height in m^2), low cholesterol scores, low blood pressure and nicotine/drug testing. Tax credits will financially motivate Americans as they age to prevent chronic diseases by making better lifestyle choices, and the huge savings in health care costs will outweigh the cost of the tax credits.

EPIC

An argument against this proposal that I want to address is the family tree. It goes like this, “My parents and grandparents had chronic diseases. Making better lifestyle choices isn’t going to help me. It’s in my genes.” There’s likely some truth in this argument, but how much effect can a healthy lifestyle really have on preventing chronic diseases? A recent TEDx presentation addressed this question. One of the primary references was a journal article which was coauthored by doctors from the CDC and the German Institute of Human Nutrition. The article reported findings from the EPIC study (European Prospective Investigation Into Cancer and Nutrition) about the role of lifestyle choices on chronic diseases.

The EPIC study tracked 4 healthy lifestyle factors and 4 chronic disease responses of over 23,000 German men and women between 35-65 years of age from 1998 to 2006. Each participant was either ranked as healthy (1 point) or not healthy (0 point) for each of these lifestyle factors:

4 Lifestyle Factors

· 1 point = never smoking

· 1 point = BMI < 30 (ratio of weight in Kg over square of height in m^2)

· 1 point = physical activity > 3.5 hours per week

· 1 point = healthier diet above median of the population

Less than 5% of participants had 0 lifestyle points, about 35% had 2 points and nearly 10% had 4 points.

About half of the participants never smoked and one third had more than 3.5 hours of weekly physical activity. More than 80% of the participants had BMI scores <30.

The healthy diet factor was the most ambiguous. Participants reported on a food frequency questionnaire the number of grams intake daily for fruits and veggies, whole grain bread and meat. The mean and standard deviation of each food categories’ gram intake was determined so that each participant was given a z score = [value - mean]/standard deviation. The three z scores were combined in such a way that eating more fruits and veggies and whole grain increased the z score and eating less meat increased the z score. Median scores (intake grams) were not reported, so it was not specific what kind of diet was considered healthy, other than a diet dominated by fruits, veggies and whole grains.

Other potential confounding factors were taken into account. The data set was adjusted for age, sex, education and occupational status. Data was also collected on the following variables, but were determined not necessary for adjustment: marital status, number of adults and children living in the household and alcohol consumption.

4 Chronic Disease Responses

· Diabetes

· Heart Attack

· Stroke

· Cancer

Risks for chronic diseases were calculated relative to the baseline of participants who had 0 healthy factors. Participants who had:

· 1 healthy factor reduced their risk of chronic disease by 49%

· 2 healthy factors reduced their risk of chronic disease by 63%

· 3 healthy factors reduced their risk of chronic disease by 72%

· 4 healthy factors reduced their risk of chronic disease by 78%

However, not all chronic diseases responded the same way to healthy factors. Diabetes was the most preventable chronic disease while cancer was the least preventable chronic disease. Participants who had 4 healthy factors:

· reduced their risk of diabetes by 93%

· reduced their risk of heart attack by 81%

· reduced their risk of stroke by 50%

· reduced their risk of cancer by 36%

Similarly, not all healthy factors had the same effects on reducing the risks of chronic diseases. Not being overweight (BMI < 30) had the greatest effect while a healthy diet had the least effect.

· BMI < 30 reduced overall risks by 57% (greatest effect on diabetes)

· Never smoking reduced overall risks by 33% (greatest effect on heart attacks)

· Physical activity > 3.5 hrs/wk reduced overall risks by 24%

· Healthy diet reduced overall risks by 21%

I think the results of these relative health factor risk rankings should be viewed with skepticism. The two greatest measured effects, BMI and smoking, were easily determined and the most accurate. Physical activity and healthy diet were estimated by the participants. If I were asked about those two health factors during the last 8 years of my life, the physical activity would be a rough estimate and healthy diet would be a guess. Even if the participant kept a food journal for 8 years, it's doubtful that they could accurately estimate the grams of each food group, and it's very unlikely that their diet didn't vary over 8 years. This skepticism is also fueled by the result from the combination of physical activity and healthy diet. Participants who had just those 2 healthy factors reduced their risk of chronic disease by 66%, up from 21% and 24% for each of these health factors separately.

Comparisons to Other Studies

The risk reductions of chronic diseases have been observed in other studies with similar health factors and similar results:

· Nurses Health Study (84,000 participants) reduced risk of heart disease by 83%, reduced risk of stroke by 79% and diabetes by 91%.

· Women's Health Study (36,000 participants) reduced risk of stroke by 55%.

· Health Professional's Follow-Up Study (43,000 participants) reduced risk of heart disease by 87% and reduced risk of stroke by 69%.

· Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study (16,000 participants) reduced risk of heart disease by 35%.

Conclusion

The EPIC study showed that adapting just 1 healthy lifestyle will reduce the risk of chronic disease by 50%. This is low hanging fruit. Adapting 4 healthy lifestyle factors reduced risk by nearly 80%. The challenge to achieve these results and drastically cut health care costs is to persuade Americans to make these changes. Americans have become too reliant on advanced treatments. There needs to be a paradigm shift towards simple preventions. Obama care could be that paradigm shift if tax credits for good health markers like low BMI, low blood cholesterol, low blood pressure and no smoking/drugs were added to encourage the reduction of health care demand while widening the pool of insurance supply.

How much should the tax credit be? Given the total costs of chronic diseases at $2 trillion and that there are roughly 100 million Americans with chronic disease, America is spending on average $20,000 per patient. Take 10% or $2000 to apply to tax credits. Even in the unlikely scenario that every American taxpayer (about 200 million) was motivated and achieved good health, that’s $400 billion dollars, much less than the $2 trillion dollars spent on health care today. And the positive impact on improving the nation’s health through prevention instead of treatment is priceless.

Our Neighbor Eats a Vegan Diet

Victoria and I walked over to the neighbor's yard to share fruits and vegetables with em.

Music City Half Marathon

Chip Time: 1:33:44
AG: 4/40
Overall: 22/509
Pace: 7:10/mile
Course Conditions: Shelby Bottoms Greenway (mostly flat for Tennesee)
Weather Conditions: Cool and Cloudy (upper 40s, lower 50s)

It's been a few years since I've run a half marathon due to nagging injuries, so I was looking forward to running the Music City Half Marathon today in Nashville, TN. The weather cooperated for running. It was a little chilly to be honest, or at least it felt that way after setting record breaking temperatures this summer. But a few light layers, long sleaves and a pair of gloves, and I was good to go.

The good news is that there were no bad surprises. I ran pretty much how I expected to run. And I'm still uninjured. The bad news is that there were no good surprises. It's a good feeling when you discover you can take it to your next level.
My pace was even throughout the race. I relied heavily on my Garmin to run consistently which is something that I normally don't do. Typically, I run by feel. My pace varied from 6:30 to 7:30, but it was usually between 7:00-7:10

.

Etch A Sketch Candidate

Joe Cross's "Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead"

The documentary "Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead" is about an overweight guy named Joe Cross from Australia who goes on a 60 day juice fast under the supervision of Dr. Joel Fuhrman.

The idea of Dr. Fuhrman's approach is to consume lots and lots of fruits and vegetables that are full of micronutrients (vitamins and minerals) and few macronutrients (fat, proteins and carbohydrates). The idea is to consume so many fruits and vegetables that it's easeier to juice them than it is to eat them.

Joe was very successful. He lost 82 pounds in 2 months and quit taking prescription drugs for his autoimmune disease called chronic urticaria.

The most interesting aspect of the documentary to me was the ripple effect. Joe met an extremely obese truck driver named Phil Staples. After some time passed Phil asked Joe for help, and Joe helped him. And so Joe's journey turned into Phil's journey. Phil was successful too, losing "six bowling balls" in 60 days and getting off his meds. And his ripple started community fasting, as well as his brother who suffered a heart attack.

There were some funny zingers in the documentary. Joe asked a guy how long he thought he would live. The guy rubbed his belly and replied, "I don't know, but I hope God has ribs in heaven." Phil was talking to his brother who was also obese about just trying 1 week of juice fasting. His brother responded, "I would try to juice a steak, that's my problem."

There were also some tear jerker moments near the end of the movie. Both Joe and Phil lived more balanced lifestyles after losing the weight. Watching both of them run while INXS's "New Sensation" played in the background brought tears to my eyes. And when Phil started his journey, Joe gave him a goal to fit into a yellow T-shirt that clearly wouldn't fit him without big changes. At the end of the movie, Phil was running in that yellow T-shirt. Awesome!

The full movie can be viewed on Hulu: http://www.hulu.com/watch/289122/

or watch this trailer on Youtube:



If you want to try the "Mean Green" juice from the documentary, then check this out:

Baby Steps

A coworker recently became motivated to lose his belly. This meat and dairy loving guy showed me his lunch today: salad, yogurt and grapes. He typically gives me grief for obstaining from meat, so I had to give a little back. When he showed me his salad I replied, "That's not a salad, that's a bowl of shredded cheddar cheese with lettuce flavoring."

He said, "I'm trying." He's right, baby steps.

It reminds me of the small steps that I have taken in the last 12 months:

• September 2011: added more carbs back into my previous low carb diet via starches thanks to a wake up call from Anthony Colpo.
• December 2011: added more fruit back into my diet and removed more meat from my diet when my cholesterol was consistently higher than 220 mg/dL.
• March 2012: added even more fruit to my diet (morning green smoothies and all fruit for lunch) and removed almost all meat/dairy from my diet after watching a lot of raw vegan Youtube videos.
• April 2012: removed diet soda completely from my diet, mainly to eliminate bad flatulance (and it worked).
• May 2012: stopped using shampoo in my hair (only rinse with water).
• June 2012: started running about 5-6 days per week after 4 month rest period.
• July 2012: started drinking orange juice daily after my China trip.
• August 2012: started eating mono meal fruit lunches for easy digestion.

Grow Veggies in Cheap Raised Beds

A few months ago, I shared a view of this summer's garden in my backyard. Being the cheap guy that I am, I started the garden by just digging up a plot of land with a shovel with the intention to plant some starters. But, I didn't get very far. Our house is in built on the side of a hill as are most homes in Tennessee. The soil is rocky and proved challenging to shovel "dirt". So I created a couple of raised beds, 4'x8'. I spent more money than I cared to on the materials.

I should have known that Youtube would provide a better, cheaper solution than what I dreamed up. I particularly love the ingenuity of the raised beds in the video below. These kids from Berkley are very creative, and quite generous as they give their food away to those who are more needy.

If you want a more in depth tour of their farm, Urban Adamah, then check out the second video below by John of GrowingYourGreens.com. John's Youtube channel provides a wealth of information on how to grow fruits and veggies in raised beds, or what he refers to as square foot gardening.

"Why Are You Even Living Here?"

Larry David not curbing your enthusiasm to vote.
 

Register to vote at Ourtime.org if you're not.

Or why are you even living here?

Some Folks Just Don't Act Their Age

Veggie Tacos

These veggie tacos are a simple, but pleasing meal. They consisted of:

• corn tortillas
• homemade refried beans (soaked pinto beans, garlic, onion, olive oil - cooked)
• jasmine rice
• homemade guacamole (avocado, lemon juice)
• homemade salsa (garden tomatoes, green onion, celantro, garlic)

Lunch in China

There are a few more videos that I will post from my trip to Wuhan, China in June. This is a quick one from the canteen at our factory. Meals are provided to the workers as a part of their compensation. I ate all of my lunches at the canteen, and sometimes dinner depending on how long our day was at work. I must say that the food was delicious. We ate well. Not much calorie restriction occurred.

A few observations about my food experiences:

• All of our meals were served family style. Everyone used their chopsticks to pick at the food from common plates and into their bowls. Luckily, I'm not a germ-o-phobe.
• Rice is most definitely the staple food in China. No doubt.
• Soda was not commonly served, but orange juice could be found at every meal.
• At least in Wuhan, they like their food spicy. Plenty of red peppers could be found in most dishes.
• If you are a visiting American, your food is "Americanized". This means that you are served an unusually large portion of meat with your meals. As I looked around at other tables, the Chinese workers had just a little bit of meat, as if it were a flavoring for the rice and vegetables. As I am trying to transition to a whole plant based diet, I only sampled dishes with meat in order to be polite to my hosts. But I would have much rather preferred to eat the un-Americanized food that the Chinese folks were eating.
• When Chinese eat meat, it seems that any meat will do. One Chinese worker told me that they will eat anything that has legs, except for the dining table. The Chinese are not vegetarians, but maybe not too far from it. Having said that, I think as the Chinese middle class grows, more Chinese will be able to afford to eat more meat.
• Watermelon is a common desert.

There are pros and cons to visiting China. The food was a huge pro for me.

Check out the video below from one of our lunches.

Yellow Crane Tower

Across the Yangtze river from my hotel in Wuhan there was one of the four great towers of China, The Yellow Crane Tower. It was only a 3 km walk, most of which was across the first Wuhan bridge over the Yangtze river. The mile long bridge was built in 1957 after the Chinese civil war. It was built as a memorial to the success of the new democratic revolution.



The current Yellow Crane tower was built in 1981. It was first built in 223 AD, but was destroyed and rebuilt several times by wars and fires.