This evening, my wife asked me if I was still interested in practicing Qigong. A new XX Qigong group led by her friend will start in two weeks. This would be a good opportunity to calm myself down and maybe start a new life, as claimed in almost any Qigong advertisement.

I always have some fancies about mysterious Chinese Qigong although I never attended any Qigong group. I arrogantly believe that most Qigong masters don’t have a thorough understanding of Qigong as I do. Qigong is a way of meditation and to recollect oneself in both physical and spiritual ways. Mythical components of Qigong should be taken out.

Anyway, I decided to let the opportunity slip away again, but for another reason. I have, in fact, already been practicing a modern Qigong—running.
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This evening, I watched Rachael Ray’s 30 minutes meal again. I am a Rachael fan. Her cooking style is casual and her presentation is always entertaining. I like her show.

During the show, Rachael was cooking a French sandwich– croque Madame for a late night supper. Basically it is a toasted bread with ham, cheese and one big fried egg. She also made some salad using some exotic dressing. The foods are very easy to make and look delicious.

However, since I am dieting now, I can’t help counting calories for every food I see. It seems to me that Rachael’s croque Madame has a very high energy density.

My calculation is based on the recipe from the Foodnetwork and nutrition values from the USDA database.
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The investigation of O157 outbreak due to contaminated bagged spinach finally came to a breakthrough. FDA has quietly canceled the warning of E. Coli infection in the bagged spinach last week. Health investigators have found a strain of E. Coli in the cattle manure from a California ranch matched with the pathogen from the tainted spinach. The bacteria has the same genetic characteristics as the one contaminated the spinach. In fact, this discovery is “unprecedented”, so claimed in the NYT. Usually in food borne outbreaks, you always have suspects, but are never able to pinpoint where the bacteria come from.

Most important, there is no new case any more. Life, it seems, returns to normal.
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Some people are born lean, while some unlucky people are deemed to be fat. This is a simple truth. Your genes determine your fate. In this case, the life long struggle of shedding extra body weight is your unfortunate reality.

But there is no need to feel depressed. Think about it, more than two thirds of the whole population are suffering the same fate as you do. In fact, evolutionally, it is us who have the advantage of surviving the frequent famine just 200 hundred years ago. During the period of starvation, our stored fat saved us. It is lucky that those evolutionally disadvantageous thin people can ever survive. Sadly, the wheel has turned. It is now those lean people are evolutionally advantageous in this affluent society, while we heavy people slide down to a hellish state.
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As in the previous post, BMR accounts for 70% of total energy expenditure. Thus, changes in BMR can significantly affect the amount of weight we will get or lose during weight management programs.

Many factors influence the basal metabolic rate (BMR). BMR increases with the increase of weight (mainly due to more fat free mass in heavy people), decrease with age (2% drop per decade), and higher in male, lower in female. Body temperature, activity level, and drugs can also change BMR. But most important, the genetic makeup probably accounts for the most difference of BMR between persons.

From the weight change point of view, the most important factors are fat free mass, the dietary factors, and physical activity. They are modifiable and often the weapons of weight loss programs.
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Losing weight doesn’t need magic—just keeping the energy balance equation in mind: energy intake=energy expenditure. When energy intake is less than energy expenditure, you will gradually lose weight by principle of physics.

Estimating energy intake is straightforward. As I have demonstrated in the Oct. 2 post, you carefully record what you eat during the day and you will know exactly how much your energy intake is. However, estimating energy expenditure is tricky. It takes common sense and some physiology knowledge.

Total energy expenditure has three components: basal metabolic rate (BMR), thermic effect of feeding, and physical activity. Briefly, BMR is the energy expenditure when you lie in the bed doing nothing; thermic effect of feeding is the mysterious energy expenditure when you eat foods; and for physical activity, we all know what it is.
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Three weeks ago, I decided to lose weight. There is no obvious reason, as I am always thinking about reshaping my hefty body. I purchased the membership at the U recreation center and did some light exercise that day. I felt good.

I skipped the rest of week, a common phenomenon when initiating a grand plan. Nevertheless, on the next Monday, I got out of my comfy chair and walked into the gym. I walked and ran on the treadmill for half an hour, totaling 2.2 miles.

At the same day, I started counting my calories (see Oct, 2 post). I discovered that my regular energy intake was actually much lower than the reference predicted by all sorts of formula. Those predictions are just nonsense. If I am gaining weight, my energy intake must be greater than my energy expenditure. That is a simple truth.
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Counting calories is fun, but not many people know how. As a semi-professional, I was always wondering how much I am eating everyday. Last night, I decided to give it a try. I used USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference (release 19) for my nutrients computation (http://www.ars.usda.gov/Services/docs.htm?docid=5720).
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When I began attending Chinese church gatherings several years ago, I noticed that many senior female members worn a small scarf on their heads. I didn’t know what that headgear was for but dared not ask them. That would be a quite silly question.

It was till I read Corinthians 1 when I understood the custom. They just followed the holy script.

But any woman who prays or prophesies with her head unveiled brings shame upon her head, for it is one and the same thing as if she had had her head shaved.
Corinthians 1, 11:5

According to Paul, the logic behind this custom is this: God is the head of man, and man is the head of woman. So woman should respect her husband by covering her head, thus indirectly worshipping the God.

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Recently, Chinese surgeons made a significant contribution to the plastic surgery. They successfully transplanted a penis for a man who injured his penis during an accident. However, after 14 days, the team regretfully reported that they had to cut the penis off because of patient’s psychological problems.

According to the report, the man complained that his quality of life was suffered greatly after the accident. He wanted to urinate in a standing position and have a satisfactory sex life.

Now he had what he had asked for— a new and young penis with which he can urinate in a standing position, and possibly have sex in the near future (God forbids). Why did he want to take aback what he had requested?

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