Shisha lost 73 pounds

Transformation of the Day: Shisha lost 73 pounds. Our sista from Curacao tried crash diets and various ineffective methods to lose weight in the past, but nothing worked. When she cut out the junk food, cut carbs and exercised regularly, she got results. Check out what she shared with us. What inspired you when you too keep going? […]

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Weight Loss

Weight Loss Surgery Isn’t the Easy Way Out

Today Daniel shared this video with me of a popular gaming Youtuber, Boogie2988, who just announced he is finally going to undergo weight loss surgery. It’s beautifully honest and sincere, and watching it, I couldn’t help but feel such love and kinship for this man. He also does a really good job of explaining his reasons why surgery is the right choice for him.

VIDEO

After being a part of the weight loss and healthy living community over the years, I’ve observed what I think is an unfair bias against bariatric surgery. People can view those who decide to get surgery as lazy or reckless. People who have lost weight without surgery often like to let you know they did it “the hard way.” But I don’t think surgery should be viewed as the easy way out.

All of us who are or have been significantly overweight got that way because we have serious problems. Many of the problems are psychological, some are physical, but you don’t get to be 100+ pounds overweight just because you like chocolate a little too much. For people like us, In order to lose and maintain weight loss, you need to work through many, many issues. I was able to work through enough of my psychological problems with food to get to a place where I could physically lose and maintain a significant weight loss without bariatric surgery. Not everyone is able to do that. It isn’t because they don’t try hard enough, because they’re looking for a shortcut, or because they’re intrinsically weaker, they just have a problem that might require a different solution. Weight loss surgery allows them to address the physical nature of their addiction in the hope they will be able to correct the emotional side of it in time.

Surgery isn’t some magical cure where a wizard waves his wand over your body and your stomach shrinks and your mind is healed. Surgery simply physically forces someone into eating less for a period of time. It gives people an opportunity to lose an often large amount of weight, while they work on their relationship with food. People who get surgery need to eat a very restrictive diet and are often required to also address mental health issues. From the people who’ve undergone surgery that I’ve talked with and from the stories I’ve heard, I think it’s more than fair to say it’s still very hard work. But it gives people a chance to succeed when they have failed with more traditional methods. And in general, surgery can be successful in helping people lose at least a moderate amount of weight and cure comorbidities associated with obesity like diabetes and sleep apnea.

Surgery isn’t the first choice for anyone. The operating room is often at the end of a very long road. Many people who find success with surgery were lifelong dieters—people who have tried every diet imaginable but for whatever reason just couldn’t make it work. We live in an amazing time for medical technology and it would be foolish for people not to avail themselves of every option available to improve their health, or in many cases, save their life.

Weight Loss

Adding tobacco to cannabis doesn't affect the high, but impacts memory and heart

Adding tobacco to a cannabis joint doesn't improve the experience of being stoned, but it does reduce the memory impairment inherent to cannabis use, finds a new UCL study published in Psychological Medicine.

The study is the first to look at how cannabis and tobacco interact when mixed together in joints, which is how the majority of cannabis users in Europe consume the drug.

"There's a persistent myth that adding tobacco to cannabis will make you more stoned, but we found that actually, it does nothing to improve the subjective experience," said the study's lead author, Chandni Hindocha (UCL Clinical Psychopharmacology Unit).

The study participants were 24 healthy, non-dependent but experienced users of cannabis and tobacco. They each took part in four sessions, smoking joints that included: cannabis and tobacco, cannabis and a placebo, tobacco and a placebo, or just the placebo of both. Their episodic memory was tested by having to recall passages of prose, which they heard before and after smoking, and they completed a task to test spatial working memory. The study team measured their heart rate and blood pressure, and participants rated their mood and experiences.

Consistent with previous studies, cannabis impaired the participants' memory. Adding tobacco reduced this impairment, which the researchers say relates to prior findings that nicotine can improve concentration. Heart rate was highest when tobacco was combined with cannabis, while there was a moderate increase in blood pressure among participants who combined the drugs, which the researchers say could add to the cardiovascular risk of smoking cannabis.

"In a previous study, we found that the large majority of cannabis users in Europe smoke cannabis with tobacco. Tobacco's ability to reduce the memory-impairing effects of cannabis may be part of why people add it to their joints," Hindocha said. "Surprisingly little research has been done on how tobacco might alter the effects of cannabis. As cannabis gets legalised in more countries, it is essential that any changes in cannabis policy consider their interrelationship."

Senior author Professor Val Curran (UCL Clinical Psychopharmacology Unit) said: "There is a clear public health implication here, suggesting that smoking tobacco with cannabis does not improve the stoned feeling but is still worse for physical health."

Dr Tom Freeman (Senior fellow of the Society for the Study of Addiction), who was part of the research team while based at UCL, said: "We now know that tobacco can reduce some of the unpleasant effects of cannabis in the short term, by boosting memory and attention. These findings provide new insight into why people add tobacco to their joints, and are often addicted to tobacco after they quit cannabis."

Article: Acute memory and psychotomimetic effects of cannabis and tobacco both 'joint' and individually: a placebo-controlled trial, C. Hindocha, T. P. Freeman, J. X. Xia, N. D. C. Shaban and H. V. Curran, Psychological Medicine, doi: 10.1017/S0033291717001222, published 31 May 2017.

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Don’t Beat Yourself Up!

What are thousands of women all over the country doing today? Beating themselves up about eating and drinking too much over the holiday weekend. No, not everyone will feel this way after the parties are over and the coals have died on the grill. There are tons of people who will pat themselves on the back for making healthy […]

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Mini House Tour

Just a little iPhone tour of the new house! We had our final walk through and will officially close on the 16th. 

Split garages - one is a 2 car and one is a single. I call the big one cause I'm terrible at parking. 

Front door and my favorite spot - the 'mudroom' area with the built ins for jackets and shoes. Both of my children have an abundance of both thanks to an Oma who thinks they outgrow them monthly :)

Entry way.

To the right is Oliver office, lots of light!

Right past that is the laundry room, we also have enough room for our extra fridge {aka the chicken fridge!}.

Then we go past the stairs to the living room/kitchen.

Across from the laundry room is the 'dining' room which will be used for more of a family office/homework area.

Living Room - still need to get a mantle made.

Kitchen - absolutely love that we were able to get dark lowers and white uppers! Not a fan of the fixtures, but I'll wait until we move in to order any I just can't decide when I'm not living there and seeing it every day.

My kitchen gets lots of natural light and has the cutest little window seat to the right. Just need to find the perfect table!

Quartz counters - dark grey Blanco sink.

Master. Double the windows I have now which I love but going to be a small fortune to shade/curtain them all.

Masterbath. I was a bit worried about the dark grey flooring, but with the white cabinets I think it turned out great!

I am also pretty excited about a shower seat! We have the smallest little shower now and it's like upgrading to a king size bed for the first time LOL You'll never want to go back!

The house backs up to a greenbelt so our fence is not a privacy fence, Oliver is afraid everyone will see him naked so we need to get blinds asap. 

I'll continue with the upstairs another day!

Sources:

Paint: Sherwin Williams agreeable grey

Kitchen Counter: Quartz Lusso

Cabinet Colors Sherwin Williams Extra White and Mindful Grey

Backsplash : Interceramic Marble Mosaic {contemporary blend lantern}Bath

Flooring Napa Vintage Plank Tile 

Masterbath floor: Interceramic Habitat Smoke 12x12

Weight Loss

Leukoplakia: Symptoms, causes, and prevention

Leukoplakia is a condition that causes thick, plaque-like white patches on the tongue, gums, and lining of the mouth.

Mouth irritants and irritating activities, such as smoking, often cause leukoplakia. Typically, cases of white patches in the mouth are harmless and symptoms resolve on their own. However, if the condition is leukoplakia, it can be associated with oral cancer.

What is leukoplakia?

The World Health Organization (WHO) define leukoplakia as oral, white lesions of a questionable risk not related to any other non-serious conditions.

Leukoplakia is more of a clinical term than a specific condition, used to describe a wide range of white mouth sores.

Biopsy and testing are necessary to confirm true cases of leukoplakia.

The tests and terms that are used vary between different organizations.

Symptoms

Leukoplakia causes thick, raised, plaque-like white patches on the mucous membranes of the mouth.

Leukoplakia is a term used to describe white lesions on the tongue, gums, and mouth lining.

Patches may also appear transparent or gray and usually have at least one area with a clear margin. Cracking may also occur.

Although they can be bothersome depending on the type, leukoplakia patches are often painless.

Commonly affected regions include:

• inner lining of the cheeks
• gums
• bottom of the mouth under the tongue
• tongue

In some cases, leukoplakia patches also affect other regions of the body aside from the mouth. Of these areas, the genitals are most frequently affected.

When to see a doctor

Many cases of white patches in the mouth go away on their own without any specific treatment aside from oral hygiene or stopping irritating activities.

However, if the white patch is leukoplakia, a long-lasting mouth lesion, it can sometimes signal serious health complications that require medical treatment.

Although it is not a cause of cancer, leukoplakia is thought to raise the risk of oral cancer. Oral tumors often form within persistent or severe leukoplakia patches.

In many cases, ongoing leukoplakia has been found to be precancerous, a change in cells that occurs in the process of cancer development. Oral cancer develops over time and in stages. The most common oral cancer is squamous cell carcinoma.

According to WHO, more than 529,000 people throughout the world will be diagnosed with oral cancer each year. Most people who develop oral cancer are long-time smokers and over the age of 40.

People should see a doctor if they develop leukoplakia symptoms that include:

• white patches speckled with raised, red regions
• white lumps with dark or red patches
• patches with an irregular or non-consistent texture
• difficulty eating, swallowing, or moving the jaw
• sores that last for more than 2 weeks without healing
• changes to surrounding tissues in the mouth
• ear pain or popping during swallowing

Causes

Researchers are still sorting the specifics of how and why leukoplakia occurs.

Long-term tobacco use may cause leukoplakia.

Chronic irritation seems to play a major role in most cases. Ongoing damage to oral tissues appears to cause them to enlarge, thicken, and often develop a substance called keratin.

Keratin is a protein crucial to the health of the outer layer of the skin. Keratin provides the structure for skin cells and protects them from injury and stress. The protein is also key to wound healing.

Small, white patches in the mouth are extremely common in response to minor injury and are typically not a sign of leukoplakia.

As with most health conditions, there is no single or definitive cause for leukoplakia. Tobacco use of any kind is considered to be the largest influencing factor in developing the condition.

In general, anything that causes damage or stress to the tissues of the mouth may be a risk factor for leukoplakia.

Factors that have been suggested to play a role in the condition include:

• prolonged or excessive tobacco use
• human papillomavirus (HPV), the same virus known to cause cervical cancer
• conditions that weaken the immune system, such as HIV, chemotherapy, and organ surgery
• conditions that cause ulcers or are related to them
• severe or frequent burning of the mouth from hot liquids or foods
• excessive or prolonged use of abrasive oral products, such as teeth whiteners and polishing devices
• poorly fitting dentures, braces, bite plates, or retainers
• jagged or rough teeth surfaces
• excessive or prolonged use of steroid inhalers without rinsing the mouth afterwards
• poor oral hygiene
• cheek or tongue biting
• excessive alcohol use
• chewing certain nuts and leafs, such as betel leaf and areca nut

Leukoplakia is often mistaken for a yeast infection given their similar appearance.

A type of leukoplakia called hairy leukoplakia is common among people with weakened immune systems. The condition causes leukoplakia patches that have a fuzzy appearance. Hairy leukoplakia lesions are painless.

Hairy leukoplakia is considered an early warning sign of an excessively stressed or weakened immune system. It can be the first physical symptoms of HIV and AIDS. Hairy leukoplakia is also linked to mononucleosis, or the Epstein-Barr virus.

Diagnosis and treatment

A doctor will usually diagnose leukoplakia by ruling out all other potential causes. This often includes a physical exam and review of medical history.

If leukoplakia is suspected, biopsies will likely be performed to rule out cancer.

Commonly used biopsies to include:

• Oral brush biopsy: A small spinning brush collects cells from mouth patches for examination.
• Excisional biopsy: Patches are removed surgically for examination. An ear, nose, and throat (ENT) specialist often becomes involved in the treatment and monitoring of the case at this point.

If cancer is not uncovered, the first line of treatment recommended for most cases is to remove contributing factors, such as tobacco use. Good oral hygiene is also advised.

If the patches do not clear up on their own, they may be removed by a doctor, often with a with a scalpel.

Follow-up appointments are recommended frequently for ongoing cases and typically yearly for resolved cases. Leukoplakia recurrences are common.

When associated with conditions like HIV, antiviral medications may be prescribed.

If pre-cancerous or cancerous cells are discovered, additional testing measures will be necessary to determine the extent of the condition. Treatment is based on the type of cells present. Though it is difficult to accurately estimate, about 5 percent of oral leukoplakia cases are thought to lead to oral cancer.

Ways to prevent leukoplakia

Good oral hygiene and stopping activities that damage or stress the mouth lining are the easiest ways to manage and prevent leukoplakia.

Recommended ways to prevent leukoplakia and its complications include:

Routine examinations at the dentist and at home can promote good oral health.

• avoiding tobacco products of any kind
• avoiding inhaled or smoked products including cannabis, cloves, and resin
• reducing or stopping alcohol consumption
• routine self and physician exams
• routine dental exams and cleaning
• avoiding abrasive dental hygiene products, such as whiteners and rinses
• ensuring cavities are filed properly and not rough or uneven
• ensuring dental devices, such as dentures and braces, fit well without rough or exposed edges
• keeping mouth wounds clean
• waiting for hot drinks or foods to cool before drinking
• avoiding candies or chewing products that have rough edges or cause mouth irritation
• eating a healthful, balanced diet to avoid nutrient imbalances or deficiencies
• avoiding foods that cause allergic reactions
• practicing safe sex, including the use of a condom or dental dam during oral intercourse

Written by Jennifer Huizen

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Tierra lost 59 pounds

Transformation of the Day: Tierra lost 59 pounds. This mom of five battled baby weight, depression and anxiety. Since December, she has worked to release the pounds and improve her health by exercising and eating right. Check out her weight loss journey. I started gaining weight after I graduated from high school. I stopped being active and I […]

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