Based on the number of visits and comments on each post in my blog site, the most popular post is the one about Rachael Ray which I wrote about one year ago. Today after reviewing that post, I was shocked and also embarrassed. Grammatical mistakes are everywhere and the style is a complete mess. All sentences with parallel structures were not balanced, articles were left out in a lot of places, and the tense was not consistent throughout the post. More important, there was no clear logic within the paragraph and between the paragraphs.

I am not sure how I could write such a poor post, but I can assure you that I have read and re-read that post before posting it. In fact, I might be proud of myself for making several parallel structures and using a few high level words.

Therefore, I felt ashamed when I saw more than 2000 people have read that post and three people have even made nice comments on it. They are very kind not commenting on my writings.

After more than one year of blog writing, my English has improved quite significantly. In addition, I am reading grammar and style books these days. They also clarified my many misunderstanding in writing. Accordingly, I have made substantial revisions in case more people will read that post. I guess all of my previous posts should be revised too.

Thank you, my fellow netters. Your kindness is the best support for me to continue my writing practice.

I like exotic foods. One of my favorite is salted red-yolk duck eggs. Except for the red yolks, making salted eggs is simple. After washing fresh duck eggs, you then put them in clean, salt-saturated water (one safe choice is the cooled boiled water). Wait for a few weeks so that salt can permeate the eggs thoroughly. Then you boil the eggs before serving them. They taste delicious.

But how come egg yolks have a red color? The answer lies in the duck’s diet. We know that a lot of foods have carotenoids such as beta carotene. If ducks eat foods that have a high concentration of carotenoids, they will lay eggs with yellow yolks. Similarly, if ducks eat foods that have red pigments, their egg yolks will become red.
(more…)

Several years ago, I regularly commuted from my hometown to the college by the inter-city bus. The bus drivers were always the same two middle-aged Shanghainese guys. Both of them were typical Shanghainese (not stereotyping): gaunt and shrewd. The bus drivers were also talkative, but mostly speaking to their fellow Shanghainese who either were working in my hometown or came for business. Apparently, they looked down upon the rest of commuters because most of us were from small rural towns.

It was drizzling that day. As a student who always purchased advance tickets, I sat in the front passenger row just behind the driver seat. One driver was busy collecting tickets and shuffling passengers, and the other was cleaning up the front window. While wiping the windows, the latter might recognized me as a regular student commuter and somehow had some respects to me. With a big smile, he started to explain to me what he was doing. He told me that by spraying some diluted detergent on the window and wiping it with the tower, fog would not form in the window. This was his idea, he asserted proudly. He continued to tell me all sorts of tricks he learned or discovered during more than ten years of driving, which I had no faintest idea. Obviously the conversion impressed me so much that even today I can still recall it vividly. His proud speech, his exaggerated demonstration, and his pseudo-scientific knowledge looked funny then and now.
(more…)

Addiction was traditionally restricted to substance abuse. Since the 1980s, researchers realized that the definition of addiction should be expanded to include behavioral addiction. For example, there are many people addicted to gambling, pornography, sex, and since the 1990s, computer use and the internet. Nevertheless, addiction is usually associated with negative things.

Is it possible that people are addicted to positive things? How about workaholic? Or even exercise?
(more…)

It has been two years since Iris Chang committed suicide in November 9, 2004. Many people tried to understand why she did that, but nobody can give a satisfactory answer. It seems to me that Iris is predisposed to depression and she might have set herself up when she started working on those arresting topics. Nevertheless, the death of Iris is a loss for all Chinese. Except for her untimely death, Iris lived a fruitful life and was a role model inspiring many Chinese Americans.

In memory of Iris Chang, I have thought a lot about depression recently. How can we treat depression? Medication is one choice, but only for those clinically diagnosed depressed people. For many mild cases and those who are always in blue mood, they need some other advice.
(more…)

Tonight when I was doing some research on procrastination, I came across Steven Pavalina’s blog (stevenpavalina.com). It is a fascinating site full of informative articles. In one of Steven’s best articles, he proposed one interesting regime to success: 30 days trial for anything. I sincerely agree with that.

I am a fan of self-experiment. During the past month, I put myself on a tough test: can I lose 20 lb of weight simply by exercise and calorie restriction? Happily, the answer is yes. I lost 20 lb within a month, an unprecedented achievement that deserves applause. This is an example of achieving success in 30 days.

(more…)

I was not obese when I started my weight loss program 40 days ago, though I did look chubby. My weight is 178 lb and the body mass index (BMI) is 28.5. Losing 20 lb is desirable and is highly recommended by my wife. So after many years of being curbsome and clumsy, I finally made up my mind to do something about my weight.

There are a lot of fancy weight loss programs over the Internet. None of them, however, appears scientific enough. The only research based recommendations are those guidelines from agencies such as American Heart Association (AHA) or National Institute Health (NIH). In the Clinical Guidelines on the Identification, Evaluation, and Treatment of Overweight and Obesity in Adults from NIH, it recommends to adopt a low calorie intake and exercise 30-40 minutes every day to lose weight. It also suggests that gradually losing 10% weight in 6 months or losing 1-2 lb per week is safe and achievable. Therefore, to lose 20 lb, I have to work hard for about 10-12 weeks.
(more…)

Today, my weight loss plan reached a milestone. I have lost 20 lb, in just one month!

I have been anticipating this moment for years. When I stepped on the scale after exercise this noon, the hand pointed to the exact weight I have set one month ago. I stood there, speechless. All my sweat, tiredness, and constant hunger are now paid off. My extra fat is finally gone for good.

During the past month, except for two Saturdays, I ran every day, first 2 miles for 30 minutes, and now 3 miles for 30 minutes, from 12min/mile to 8.30min/mile. Occasionally I did some moderate activities such as playing badminton to rest my knee and feet. I strove to maintain my daily exercise schedule manically.

I have gradually adjusted my diet to 1000-1200 calorie per day. I reduced my fat intake by eliminating whole eggs and most of meat products. I ate no more than 80% of my satiation during dinners, and no snacks during the night except for occasional fruits. In early days I took anti-acid drugs to relieve the stomach ache, but I never took any specialized diets or foods to suppress my appetite. Now I have adapted to the low calorie diet and don’t feel constantly hungry any more.

Vigorous exercise and low energy intake every day did sometimes make me feel a little bit tired. This physical feeling, however, did not affect my mental capability. In fact, I am feeling more focused and more self-confident. I believe I can stick on my plan, and now I did it.

My weight loss program is just one of self-experiments. Happily, it is a great success. I plan to do another experiment, that is, how to overcome procrastination. I will figure out a simple and scientific based treatment this week. Meanwhile, let me keep on running. I am confident that I can lose 5-10 more pounds before Christmas. Till then, I will be a brand new man.

There is a heated debate in my forum about free radicals. The discussion itself is certainly very interesting. Because I am engaging vigorous physical exercise these days to lose my weight, one question comes to my mind: will exercise generate too much free radicals that will damage my muscles?

During exercise, muscle cells work very hard. Contracting actins and myosins needs a lot of ATP, which in turn requires a heavy load of respiration in cell mitochondria. Naturally, free radicals (mainly reactive oxidative species such H2O2, O-) will be generated in the respiration process (oxidative phosphorylation). Animal studies and in vitro experiments have sorted out these mechanisms, and human studies have shown that lipid perioxidation increases during exhaustive exercise. My personal experience is that even after exercise, my body is still hot. Thermogenesis is the by product of cell respiration. A higher body temperature means higher oxidation in cell mitochondria.

(more…)

This morning, I ran 5.3 miles in 50 minutes. It was a tiring but exciting exercise.

After warming up, I started out at 12 min/mile and quickly moved up to 10min/mile, and then to 9 min/mile. It was a relatively high speed which is my goal for this week. However, I felt very relaxed at this high speed and decided to run a little bit faster. I speeded up to 8.30 min/mile. Except for occasional bouts, I never ran continuously at this speed. My legs was striding mechanically, my breath was fast and shallow, and my heart was pounding in my chest. But I still felt quite comfortable. I kept running, minute by minute, till I finished 0.80 miles when I thought I should slow down. For the rest one mile, I ran at a speed of 9.30 to 10 min/miles. Within only 30 minutes including warming up and cooling down, I have already run 3.2 miles.

But I didn’t feel enough. I restarted the running program and ran additional 2 miles for 20 more minutes. What a great achievement!
(more…)