Don't Worry, Be Dead

[By Crabby]

Oh No! Bad Things Happening in A Foreign Language!

Having just written a post defending the Power of Negative Thinking, I was quite (perversely) happy to come across this recent study suggesting that anxious older women actually live longer than mellow ones.

Nervous Nellies of the world, rejoice!

If you're an older woman and have a somewhat anxious disposition, maybe now you can go ahead and ignore those youngsters when they say: "Chill, granny. Don't worry, be happy!" Go ahead and panic over every new little ache and pain and scurry off to the doctor if you want. ("Ouch, my foot hurts--maybe it's toenail cancer!") Apparently all that worry-wartishness actually has a protective effect.

However, for guys it was different. Anxious older fellas tended to croak earlier than non-anxious ones. Sorry, guys.

The finding about the older women seemed kind of unlikely, but it was actually based on a 15 year study of 1,000 seniors and didn't look to be obviously half-assed. Still, I won't be surprised if another one contradicts it next week.

As a middle aged person with Worrywartish Tendencies, I'm hoping it's good news for me even if I don't entirely trust it. But at least it's an nice break from that constant tiresome message that carefree types are always better off and so all us cautious folks should forever strive to lighten up.

Heh heh heh heh heh.

Note: I don't mean to minimize the completely debilitating kind of clinical anxiety that makes leading a normal life difficult. If you've got that kind, you should think about getting help. I'm talking more about the "Quirky Character in a Woody Allen Movie" kind of anxiety.

So what do you guys think, does this study make any sense at all? Or does it sound like the kind soon to be followed by "whoops, we took a new look at the data we were totally f*cking wrong the first time?"

And do any of you have Worrywartish tendencies or is it just me?

Beets Me

[By Crabby]

When I'm stressed, sometimes my blood pressure becomes a bit problematic.

No, not the "you must rush out and take care of that immediately" kind of bad, but the "ehr, better keep an eye on that" sort of number.

I have a blood pressure monitor at home that I'm very good about checking it when I know everything's mellow and it's going to show me a nice acceptable number. Oddly enough, I avoid using the monitor when I'm all wound up and I suspect it's going to tell me something I don't like.

I already eat pretty healthy, watch my salt, exercise religiously (except on road trips), and do every freakin' thing you're supposed to do. (Okay, I could be better about scheduling deep breathing/relaxation time, but I at least do a little of it.) And I'm reluctant to start on medication for as long as I can avoid it. So I'm always on the lookout for natural ways to lower my blood pressure.

And guess what, here's a new one: "Beet Juice Lowers Blood Pressure!" Just two cups a day.

Um, two whole cups of beet juice a day?

Ewwwwwwwwwwwwww.

Normally, a sweet taste in a vegetable is a good thing. Yams? Onions? Roasted Eggplant? All quite likable. But there's something about beety sweetness that I find totally disgusting.

If I had to drink two cups of beet juice a day I'd barf.

Is it just me, or does anyone else share an extreme hatred of beets, or have some other healthy vegetable you just can't stomach?

I'm also curious if anyone is on blood pressure meds and what those are like. I'm already up to my eyeballs in healthy vegetables, and will even drink beet juice if it will actually help, but I'm a little pessimistic. None of the other lifestyle things that are supposed to lower blood pressure have made a noticeable difference.

Or maybe all the healthy things I'm doing are really helping, and my blood pressure would be totally off the charts if I wasn't doing any of them.

I can't really complain about being unlucky in the blood pressure department, as all my other numbers have always been good. I know lots of you struggle with cholesterol or blood sugar or other unfair "bad" numbers despite your best efforts to be healthy. (Kinda frustrating, or do you take it in stride?)

Note: I'm definitely going in for a physical as soon as I get my new health insurance policy, so I can see what the doctor says. (When I go to my ob/gyn and my blood pressure comes out a little highish she doesn't seem too concerned--but then it's not really her department. And I'm thinking doctors who wield speculums are probably used to seeing patients who are not entirely comfortable and relaxed).

But for those of you who know something about the pros and cons of blood pressure drugs: Should I Fear The Pills? Anyone have any cautionary tales/words of encouragement? Or should I just suck it up and drink my beets?

This Just in...Live 14 More Years!

[By Crabby]

This study is the sort we love here at Cranky Fitness: Doing these four things helps people live longer. Fourteen years longer, on average.

What's so great about this research? Well the four good health habits are very likely things you're already doing, or at least trying hard to do. So here's some additional motivation to keep on track. And while the study talks about length of life, rather than quality of life, you can bet you're getting both with these four:

1. Not smoking;
2. Eating at least 5 servings of fruit/vegetables a day;
3. Drinking in moderation; and of course,
4. Exercising.

Not smoking was the biggest life-extender; fruits and veggies were next. Interestingly, exercising and moderate drinking were tied. (This does NOT mean you should substitute Pina Coladas for push-ups--but if you enjoy a glass of wine with dinner, it's another reason to say "cheers!")

Another great thing about this study is that it's not one of those that extols the benefits of healthy living and then comes up with some wimpy little number at the end. You know the kind--you get all excited because you're doing something healthy, then you get to the final paragraph and it says you're 3% less likely to die of some disease that you hadn't even thought to worry about in the first place.

No, this one isn't wimpy. Fourteen years, on average. (Just think how much more whining I'll be able to fit in!)

Note: this is just a little mini-post, tossed out hastily because we'd prefer you to see the study first here on Cranky Fitness. We'd like you to associate us with good health, good news, fine wines, and longevity. Please return to our regularly scheduled programming and check out Mary's post below for actual thoughtful analysis and humor.

Dissin' Weight Watchers

[Written by Crabby]

Over at Elastic Waist, Weetabix and Sarah were recently having a spirited gripe session about Weight Watchers. What set them off was a new ad campaign in which Weight Watchers is pretending not to be a "diet." (South Beach is apparently doing the same thing too).

But the discussion went beyond just the ad campaign to the program itself, and they both had some strong feelings about it.

Here's a choice quote from Weetabix:

"I can't deal with some old lady making a squinchy face if I only lose 0.2 pounds in a week, and tell me that I must be retaining water. I don't ever want to feel like I have to explain to someone that I just forgot to change out of jeans or didn't go to the bathroom before coming to weigh in. I am afraid of any mindset where I feel compelled to make excuses for not pooping!"

The whole post is amusing and there are a lot of great observations, both pro and con, made in the comments section.

Are any of you on Weight Watchers? (She said disingenuously, knowing full well from your blogs that a bunch of you are). I've never been on it myself, but I've known some people who have had great success with it. (But for the record, I would tend to agree that an ad campaign claiming Weight Watchers is "not a diet" sounds like total horsesh*t) .

This is one of those posts that's a question rather an opinion: What do you all think of Weight Watchers? What's great or awful about it?

Chocolate Versus Vanilla

[Posted by Crabby]

Do you have an opinion about the best flavor ever? Even if you don't, it's worth a click to check out the heated debate over at Puntabulous. The fabulous Bossy of I am Bossy trades licks with just-as-fabulous Puntabulous host, Craig. Poor Craig manages to put up a really good fight, even though he's forced to defend Vanilla. (No, not Vanilla the runner, who can probably fend for himself--even if he does sometimes wear a skirt).

Crabby had to vote for chocolate of course, and not just because she was sucking up to Bossy (being a sycophantic fan of her fine blog). If somehow forced to pick only one flavor for the rest of her life, Crabby would have to go with chocolate. But look above you at the cupcake banner--Crabby has nearly equal love for Ebony and Ivory when it comes to sugary goodness! (And yeah, this is a blog about healthy living and good nutrition--what's your point?)

In fact, one thing that bothers her about her cupcakes above is the fact that she would never bake (ha!) buy a "chocolate" or a "vanilla" cupcake if a mixture of the two were available. Vanilla cupcake with chocolate frosting; chocolate cupcake with vanilla frosting: these are what Crabby eats because the two flavors in combination are greatly superior to either flavor in isolation. Duh!

Can't we all just get along?

And in other Blog News, go visit Dr. J's CalorieLab column and you can win a hundred dollars! (Note: some personal humiliation may be involved--but a hundred bucks is a hundred bucks!) Actually, you should go there anyway, because Dr. J has written some excellent columns, which will surprise no one who has gotten to know him through his comments at Cranky Fitness.

And finally, Kelly at Fitness Fixation, the most awesome fitness blog on earth, alerted Crabby to the fact that they now have Jeans that Come in Ass Cup Sizes! Sized, you know, like bras--but for your butt. (Warning: caution is advised for those who may offended by pictures of posterior cleavage. Come to think of it, you probably want to skip this post in Crabby's archives, too.)

And have a great weekend!


***Totally Embarrassing Addendum: Crabby was just skimming through the original Puntabulous post, and a comment caught her eye. It mentioned both "ebony and ivory" and "can't we all just get along." Problem is, the comment appears above Crabby's own comment, which means Crabby must have (a) seen it and (b) stolen both references for later use without (c) having had any clue she was doing so. Aaargh!

Crabby lives in fear of inadvertent plagiarism, as she has a tiny crab brain which apparently stores "memories of stuff other people wrote" in the same compartment as "stuff she just thought of." Crabby hereby apologizes to Dara as well as anyone else she has swiped stuff from without realizing it.

"Fun-Sized" Posts and Lemony Tea

[Posted by Crabby.]

This week, we're introducing even more Shiny Newness at Cranky Fitness. First there was the news that Mary may be blogging here sometimes, allowing Crabby to sleep in until noon and surf the internet all day adding a fresh new voice and perspective to the blog. So what's next? Well, now Crabby is pleased to announce another new blog addition: the Fun-Size Post!

What's a Fun-Sized Post? Well, this is, for example. Sometimes little snippets of health news come to the Crab's attention, or she has stray complaints or observations, or she has some little announcement she wants to make about the blog. Crabby used to either (a) save these to fill up a Random Round-up type post, or (b) stretch them out into a full post even though there was really nothing interesting to say about it or (c) forget whatever it was entirely.

Now, a new option! Crabby will just throw these things out there whenever she feels like it.

Like... um... now!

So here's a random health snippet that caught Crabby's eye but she almost forgot about:

More News About Tea!

So according to a new study, a lot of the antioxidants in green tea that we're always hearing about aren't actually being absorbed by our bodies. (Which is frustrating for those of us who plan to live forever and conquer all health problems simply by drinking a beverage experts claim is good for us). In fact, less than 20% of the catechins (the Good Guys) survive the digestive process.

Well, turns out, adding lemon or vitamin C helps spare those antioxidants! With the addition of citrus, the mighty (but unstable) catechins are much better at surviving the perils of your digestive system.

And what about milk? Well, dairy and soy milk both helped preserve antioxidants too, though the scientists seemed to be distrustful of these additives for complicated reasons. (You may want to read the article to try to sort that out). Previous research has sent decidedly mixed messages about the whole adding-milk-to-tea thing. Plus, sometimes they study black tea and sometimes green, further complicating things.

Crabby just wishes researchers would hurry up and figure this all out because damn it, she likes milk in her tea!