Monthly Archives: July 2009

Health Kick 2009, Part 3 of 3: Holistic Health

I’ve been on a health kick lately. Okay, Missy and I have been on a health kick lately. I was trying not to be one of those half-couples that always refers to themselves as a “we” and not an “I” but the truth of the matter is we’re working on this together which means we’re both getting much better results. This health kick has three components: Jillian Michaels’ 30 Day Shred, Bikram Yoga, and my holistic healer guy Byron Jacobson.

So all that exercising I’ve been talking about doesn’t mean squat if I don’t eat better, right? Garbage in, garbage out, whatnot. I think I’ve already mentioned that my eating habits are way better since Missy came into my life, for a few reasons. She likes to cook, so we eat at home. She knows how to cook healthier stuff, so we eat healthier stuff.

She’s been seeing this guy I’ve come to refer to as the “holistic healer guy” on a recommendation from another friend of ours who saw great results for some chronic issues through working with him. His name’s Byron Jacobson and his office is in St Louis Park, MN. Based on what Byron told Missy, she’s made some changes to her diet and has experienced relief from some chronic issues of her own.

I’ve been thinking about making an appointment with Byron ever since Missy’s first visit. I would like to eat more healthfully and I was hoping that Byron would help guide me towards what is and isn’t more healthful for my body specifically. What sold me on Byron is his statement that you should always be working to optimize your health and not solely reacting to the problems you experience. I finally pulled the trigger on that visit this month.
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Health Kick 2009, Part 2 of 3: Bikram Yoga

I’ve been on a health kick lately. Okay, Missy and I have been on a health kick lately. I was trying not to be one of those half-couples that always refers to themselves as a “we” and not an “I” but the truth of the matter is we’re working on this together which means we’re both getting much better results. This health kick has three components: Jillian Michaels’ 30 Day Shred, Bikram Yoga, and my holistic healer guy Byron Jacobson.

A friend of Missy’s recently completed her certification as a bikram yoga instructor. She was allowed to invite friends to participate in her first class at the Uptown Minneapolis studio for free. Missy agreed to go and I agreed to go with Missy.

We received instructions to hydrate like hell, bring at least one big bottle of water, finish eating 2-3 hours before class, bring a yoga mat and a towel, and to wear just a sports bra and some shorts. We knew it was going to be hot and it was going to last 90 minutes.

Bikram yoga is a very specific practice. The room is 105° and 50% humidity. You begin with a breathing exercise, progress through a series of 26 hatha yoga poses (called asanas) performed twice each in a specific order, and end with another breathing exercise. There is a script that the instructor follows. There are specific requirements for the design of the room and the studio. So you’re not doing bikram yoga unless the instructor is certified and the studio authorized by Bikram Choudhury himself.

The aha moment I had after the first class was that I had focused on nothing but the task at hand for the whole 90 minutes. That never happens to me these days.
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Health Kick 2009, Part 1 of 3: Jillian Michaels’ 30 Day Shred

I’ve been on a health kick lately. Okay, Missy and I have been on a health kick lately. I was trying not to be one of those half-couples that always refers to themselves as a “we” and not an “I” but the truth of the matter is we’re working on this together which means we’re both getting much better results. This health kick has three components: Jillian Michaels’ 30 Day Shred, Bikram Yoga, and my holistic healer guy Byron Jacobson.

It started a couple months ago when, on a whim, I picked up Jillian Michaels’ 30 Day Shred on DVD. Coming off the long-lasting Minnesota winter and late-coming spring, we were tired of doing The Firm. I try not to watch stupid tv shows like The Biggest Loser, so I didn’t know anything about Jillian Michaels.

The 30 Day Shred workout is a circuit workout. You do three circuits consisting of three minutes of strength, two minutes of cardio, and one minute of abs. With warm up and cool down, the whole thing takes about 23 minutes. You start at Level 1 and you progress up to Level 3, presumably doing each level for ten days, but you can go on and move up a level or stay where you are depending on how good you feel.

We said what the hell, how hard can this be? We figured we’d start at Level 1 on Day 1 and when we find it’s sooo easy, we’ll skip ahead.

Wrong. Totally wrong. We got our asses kicked.
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“The Wire” Creator David Simon on Bill Moyers Journal

The executive producer of HBO’s critically-acclaimed show THE WIRE, David Simon talks with Bill Moyers about inner-city crime and politics, storytelling and the future of journalism today. After a dozen years covering crime for the BALTIMORE SUN, David Simon left journalism to write books and tell stories for NBC and HBO, including his Peabody-winning cop show THE WIRE, which looked at the drug wars and the gritty underbelly of the inner-city.

Many of my friends have been talking about what a phenomenal show this is for the way it realistically portrays a variety of issues including race and sexuality. Having not actually watched any of it yet I’m lacking some context, but this is still a great listen.

Link

What does the “public” in “public option” really mean?

A carefully constructed “public option” to private insurance would provide an antidote to the market consolidation that has propelled premium increases and administrative inefficiencies, shrunk coverage and degraded quality. However, it can only succeed if it:

  • Provides all Americans access to the largest risk pool possible. Universal access to Medicare provides the best option.
  • Includes new regulation of private insurers to level the playing field with the new public option–namely guaranteed issue, community rating, and a guaranteed base benefit.

The option to join Medicare, regardless of age, would be beneficial to Americans because by almost every measure, Medicare is cheaper and more effective than private plans, according to government and academic research. For example, Medicare spends 2% of revenue on overhead; private insurers typically spend 25% to 27% for overhead and profit.

Medicare also comes with established relationships with health care providers which, though undercut by low reimbursement rates and a prescription drug program hamstrung by drug manufacturers, provide a solid base for expansion. Competition with a low-overhead health insurance alternative provided by Medicare will force private insurers to prove that they can be cost-effective while offering similarly comprehensive coverage. Leveling the playing field between private insurers and the public option by requiring all players to guarantee access at a fair price would significantly reduce costs and increase access to health care.

So that ability to bargain — which is why Medicare Part D is ridiculous, because there’s no bargaining allowed — is the critical factor. And it should be noted, in case you weren’t sure, that under the current proposal you could still keep your private health insurance if you wanted to. While I personally think it wouldn’t be a bad thing for health insurance companies to go away entirely, this plan wouldn’t result in that.

I, for one, think it would be a good thing to take the burden responsibility for health care off of companies. You know how you get that “total compensation” report every year and it’s always way more than your actual salary? A big chunk of that is your health insurance. Wouldn’t you rather have that money in your pocket, even if it went back out the door to pay the government for your health care instead (I’m okay with that, too)?

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Bonus Link: Wikipedia – Health care reform in the United States