Health and the Laws of Thermodynamics

Yes, this sounds too heady. I've been thinking about the Laws of thermodynamics for a while now. Well, abstractly since my Chemistry-major days at CU-Boulder. But these past couple weeks in a very personal way.

The first law states that a body in motion tends to stay in motion while a body at rest tends to stay at rest. Also known as the law of inertia. Applying that to the present day situation, a person who stays in motion, tends to stay in motion. A person who lounges too much, tends to keep lounging. Of course, you know I'm talking about exercise. The more you do, the more you benefit. The more you lounge around and sit, well, the more you want to lounge around and sit.

A couple weeks ago I downloaded an free app, MapMyFitness. I've been recording my Pilates reformer classes, Bikram (hot) yoga classes, general Hatha yoga classes, and mountain hiking. One cool factor is that the app has GPS reckoning and maps our hikes plus records how many miles, how long we hiked, and estimates calories burned. Of all those forms of exercise, guess which one burns the most calories per minute? Not what I thought. It's hot yoga at a whomping 673 calories per hour. General Hatha yoga is 471. But alas, the Pilates reformer class only burns 236. Hiking with a light pack is about 475. (the app doesn't account for changes in altitude. Yet. I am certain I burn more calories on steeper hike.)

Not that I care so much about calories as the mere counting gets crazy-making if one is concerned about weight. I still find that eating 0-5 (eat when hungry, stop when comfortable) works easily, as does eating the amount of food equal to the size of my fist 3 or 4 times a day.

The Hot Yoga is more super powerful than I thought. As it feels so good and soothes brain chemicals. meaning stress and anxiety, too.

In tracking my exercise over the past month or so I've discovered that if I reach 4 hours in a week, I have more energy. On my skimpy weeks of only 2 or so hours, I have less energy and want to lounge around more. Notice I'm not doing "killer" aerobics or running. I'm doing "doable" and accessible and relatively inexpensive exercise. My knee that was scoped over 20 years ago thanks me.

The second law of thermodynamics states that a system in order tends to go to disorder. Meaning that if your house is clean today, it won't be within a week. Everything and everybody needs maintenance to stay in good working order. After thinking about this a while, I've added a new category to my "to-do" list - the "maintenance" category. Get the car serviced, delete old emails, get hair cut, clean out closets.

I've also noticed that an "older" person needs more maintenance that a younger person to stay "in order." Not only more exercise, but also more attention to health matters, to eating healthier food, to getting plenty of high-quality sleep, to having more fun. To maintaining relationships with family and keeping current with friends. I don't mean taking the lazy way out and using Facebook. I mean phone calls in which one actually talks to a live person. Add to that parties, activities, and old-fashioned socializing.

The maintenance could include face "inject-able" scheduling, new forms of pampering like massages and classes, new hobbies and puzzles for brain sharpening. My list seems endless when some days are filled with scheduling and doing maintenance. Weeks without scheduled maintenance make me feel as if I'm in 30's and 40's.

We were taught in Physics 101 that the Laws of Thermodynamics were immutable and constant. What they didn't teach us was that these very laws have great impact on our lifelong health and well being.

Have fun being well.

Lucy Beale Partridge

A Sweet Break Up with Whole Foods.

Whole Foods just moved into my very suburban neighborhood. It's small. The big store is downtown Salt Lake, about 25 minutes away. I once lived across the street from Wild Oats in Denver, which later became Whole Foods. It was paradise to walk across the street for all-natural meat, vitamins, and a quick salad bar lunch. The local joke was that every employee had to be highly tattooed, pierced, and under thirty.

Things have changed. I once had a personal sense of romance shopping there. I assumed the products are healthier, the bulk foods sections well maintained, and the employees highly knowledgeable about wellness and nutrition. My assumptions have no basic in reality any longer.

Our neighborhood store doesn't carry many of the products I like. What no fresh ground cashew butter? The answer from the sparse staff is always, try the downtown store. What, no chocolate-covered espresso beans? Try the downtown store.

Last August I found the most delectable Chauo dark chocolate-coated honeycomb candy in BULK at Whole Foods in Sedona, Arizona. They don't stock it in Draper, Utah. In fact, they don't stock it in Utah. In fact, they can't order it for me. With a shrug, the store buyer suggested I phone the Seattle store. I followed up with an email to someone who monitors the website and never received a reply. Oh, well. Next time I get to Sedona I'll fill up the car with this heavenly candy and pray the air conditioner holds on the 10-hour drive home. Or I'll learn to make it myself. So there!

What's interesting about my quest is that it's not for healthy food. It's for CANDY. Which I'm not really supposed to eat except in small amounts occasionally. There's a point to this. Virtually all of the processed foods at Whole Foods that contain more than three ingredients contain sugar. It may be labeled as "evaporated cane juice", or cane sugar, or sugar. But it's still sugar.

Yes, they've figured out that sugar sells. Mary Poppins is so right. A spoonful of sugar can work wonders. It sure does for processed food sales.

I spent an entire year (2013-2014) not eating sugar. In anything. No barbecue sauce, homemade salad dressings only, no store-bought spaghetti sauce. Although spaghetti is a problem because of the wheat in the pasta. Instead, use spaghetti squash. I ate no processed foods. NO, I didn't lose weight. Instead I lost allergies. I still love sugar, obviously.

The other problem with staying faithful to Whole Foods is the competition. The nearby Costco and home-grown Harmon's offer healthy meats, eggs, butter, vegetables, and fruit, plus Harmon's has a fabulous bulk section. And the folks there are super helpful. What the competition doesn't have is Whole Foods superb and appetizing collection of take-home items.

I still shop there. But I'm no longer feeling the romance.

Writing Lucy's Letter

Welcome back to Lucy's Letter. You may have received my letter as an email newsletter before the days of blogs. You may have attended one of my workshops on Body, Mind & Wellness, been with me at a Mannatech event, or learned how to be Naturally Thin. Or you may not know me at all.

I'm continuing to write to you in blog form. This past weekend, I was at a sewing retreat with the Utah chapter of the American Sewing Guild. After we each introduced ourselves, one of the participants later asked me if I was the same Lucy Beale. She had received my email newsletters for years, printed them out, and kept them in a 3-ring binder for reference. She'd attended a talk I gave at Orrin Hatch's Annual Women's Conference years ago.

My emotions flew through amazement, incredulity, thankfulness, gratification, and satisfaction. Also sadness that I had discontinued writing the newsletter. Some of you found it valuable. I loved writing it. So it's back.

Here's my update: I've written 12 books on wellness and weight loss. Many of them are cookbooks: Terrific Diabetic Meals, Low-Carb Meals, Anti-Inflammation Cookbook, Glycemic Index Cookbook, Glycemic Index Snacks, Feeding Your Family on a Budget. You can view all of my books at Lucy's Books. (This is a link to Amazon.)

I'm still learning about and researching health. So much has changed in our levels of knowledge, while plenty has stayed the same.

I still do a couple Pilates sessions weekly. I add in a weekly hike or snowshoeing adventure with Pat in the Wasatch mountains close to our home in Utah. I do Body Rolling to successfully manage/heal some plantar fasciitis in my right foot. I also use the Ma Roller for ultimate relaxation and rest. The Body Rolling system has added a routine to renovate the face -I'm using the Yamuna Body Rolling Save Your Face Kit . The first person to see a difference was my husband, then the gals at the Pilates studio. Then my hair stylist. Fewer wrinkles. No more need for Botox. Tighter skin. What more could a gal ask for?

After a year-long allergy treatment with LDA - low-dose-allergens, I am quite pleased. My skin no longer itches, I can wear makeup without itching - yes, even mascara but only if it's Tarte Cosmetics Gifted Amazonian Clay Smart Mascara 0.24 oz. I concoct my own face oil for a moisturizer - argan oil, with drops of lavender, sandalwood, sea buckthorne berry, and clary sage oils. I add a bit of  DR. HAUSCHKA Translucent Bronzing Tint, 1 Fluid Ounce if I want some color.

I'm no longer allergic to basic foods, although I need to avoid wheat and dairy. I still love sugar and chocolate. Stayed off sugar for over a year. Oh, but I did eat chocolate. I found a couple of really good 100% gourmet bars. And ate them slowly. Very slowly as they are so intense. If I needed a bit of a sweet chocolate taste, I added boiling water to unsweetened chocolate pieces with a stevia tablet. It's OK, but not enrapturing.

My husband had patiently - rather, mostly patiently - endured my weird diet. But I do feel better and that makes him content. I mean, he still makes homemade ice cream. I just don't eat it. And I still bake up my special brownies for his office from time to time. And again, don't eat them. But I might take a taste.

The biggest news in wellness for me this year is discovering that I have the 677T homozygous MTHFR mutation. This didn't mean anything to me either when my doctor suggested the blood test. Since that time, I've been taking the dietary supplements of methyl folate along with methyl B12 - I have tons more energy, am more emotionally balanced, have surprisingly clearer vision, In fact, with all that additional energy, I am writing this blog, traveling more, renewed my interest in sewing (avidly), writing a second blog on sewing at www.lucybeale.com, and have more energy to keep up with my husband who has infinite stamina. His kids used to call him the "camel."

Much of our family has the mutation so many have been tested an are on the supplements with varying degrees of enhanced health.

In this blog, I'll be posting new info on wellness, and weight loss, just as before. If you're curious, I seem to have shrunk an inch to 5"7". My weight still ranges between 127 and 130. With size inflation, I wear a size 2 or 4. Which is silly to me. I add color to my roots and no longer streak my hair, so it's brown.

I am so excited to be writing to you again. Please send your comments to me at: lucybeale@gmail.com.

Losing the Anxiety

I've had a rough up-and-down ride for a couple months on methyl folate. I was so cranky, irritable, and off-center. I couldn't find my core, my place of stillness. I felt manic. And I couldn't figure out how to make it better. I kept reducing the amount of methyl folate I was taking. and the amount of methyl B12. But I was still uncomfortable. My attention span was marginal.

I tried using niacin, thinking that the methyl folate was creating SAMe. It didn't work.

And then, one day as we were driving along, my husband said, "What if it isn't the methyl folate that's making you uncomfortable? What if it's something else?" He'd asked the magic question.

For years, I'd been taking 2 tablets of 5 mg NADH every morning and it really stabilized my moods. After starting on the MTHF, one of my alternative health practitioners suggested that I cut back to just one. Could this be the cause of my discomfort?

The next day I upped the amount to 2 tablets and the anxiety stopped. Stillness returned. I could focus. Odd noises no longer upset me. My husband became a loving person again. I could get things done. The mania stopped.

I don't know why NADH works for me. But it sure does.

Taking Methyl Folate for MTHFR C667T mutation

Three and one-half months have passed. I've been methylating and having amazing results. I take a nutritional supplement, Methyl CpG,with breakfast. I has 2000 mcg of methyl folate and 1000 mcg methyl B12. in the evening I take Thorne Basic B which contains 400 mcg methyl folate and 200 mcg methyl B12 plus additional B vitamins. If I start feeling that deep exhaustion, I'll add about 1250 mcg methyl B12 lozenge. I break up a 5000 mcg tab into 4 pieces and let one peice dissolve under my tongue.

It took a week or so figure out how much to take. My doc gave me a sample of the prescription drug, Deplin 15. I took one a day, I was flying my the end of day 3. I was looney. Playing bridge with some friends, I just couldn't focus. Too much Deplin was weird. Everyone noticed. But I didn't do anything extreme or peculiar. The next day I cut back to the Methyl CpG and seemed to find a balance.

My doc told me I didn't need much. She was so right.

In the past 14 weeks, here are the results I've seen:

• Not feeling the deep exhaustion.
• Seldom take naps, whereas before methylation supplementation I was taking 2-3 hour naps 2-4 days a week. I may still nap at times, but only 20-30 minutes 1-2 days a week.
• My vision has dramatically improved. At the eye doctor's, I can read two lines lower than I did last year. I find this amazing.
• Not as anxious. One day I missed taking my morning supplement and began to feel that old familiar body agitation and anxiety. But fortunately, within 20 minutes of taking methyl folate, I was back to my MTHFR-adjusted self.
• Stayed awake and active with dinner guests until 11 pm. I only yawned once and didn't feel drained, anxious, and eager for them to say their goodbyes.
• I approach day-to-day chores with calm and clarity. 
• I no longer feel overwhelmed by too much to do.
• I am setting up more social activities for us than before. I now have the energy and interest to go out 3-5 nights a week. Before methylation 2 nights a week was max. My husband loves to socialize and to go places, so he's more content. And I'm finding that I love it.
• My hair is growing faster, so are my fingernails.
• Had white bumps on upper arms for years - like whitheads - they're gone.
• More muscle tone and stamina.

As I read back through my journal, my body took a while - between 2-3 months to adjust. plus my brain and being have taken a while to adjust to methylation. I had ups and downs, doubt and reassurances. But today, I'm quite pleased. And joyous.

The MTHFR mutation - methylation deficiency

What? A genetic mutation could affect my personal health and well being? Not only that but I received a double dose, meaning the mutation at my MTHFR gene is homozygous, I received one copy from my mother and one from my father. This inherited error means that I have "methylation deficiency". After hours of research and googling, I have learned that thwarts many of my metabolic processes and explains many of my odd body things - I get weird if the dentist gives me laughing gas. I have moments of seeming depressed or maniac, but I'm not really. I'm often tired such that I eagerly nap for a couple hours a day even though I sleep soundly at night. I have a plethora of odd allergies to foods, inhalants, chemicals, dogs and cats and more. It explains why there are at least 3 alcoholics out of 7 members in my family of origin. and why my mother had extreme anemia, yet the B12 she took (cyanocobalamine) didn't give her more energy. But had she been given methylcobalamin, she may have been healthy and energetic.

The mutation explains why my son who also has 2 mutated genes (homozygous)- one from his dad and one from me  - was born with learning disabilities and ADHD. 

Now my challenge is to do what it akes to methylate myself.

I forgot I love to sew

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I’m on my way to San Francisco. The plane is on the runway, the flight crew is in a small city 100 miles north of here. They couldn’t land in the Salt Lake fog. We wait. We change gates. Our 8:35 am departure stretches to noon.

Seen on Market Street, San Francisco

I’m thrilled to be attedning an art class while visiting the city of crusty sourdough bread, great seafood, palm trees, trolleys, a certain laid-back hippie-style ambience, fabulous chocolate bars, and the best fabric store in the world: Britex. Four floors of silks, wools, cottons, and linens. My grown-up sense of being patient gives way to little girl fretting. I calculate how many hours I’ll have left to shop given the location of our flight crew.

I sewed and tailored most of my clothes most of my life. Then about 15 years ago I grew disinterested and over time forgot that I love to sew. Today, my vintage 1977 sewing machine is newly oiled, awaiting gorgeous fabrics for stitching. Patrick bought me an IRON for our anniversary. Stupid, in a guy I-love-you sort of way, but smart. We saw it at the January home show and it’s the perfect sewing steam iron.

Oh, gosh. My blood sugar levels start to dip and my hunger is high. Lest I enter planet hypoglycemia, I pull out some all-natural beef jerky and an apple. Yoga meditation breaths soothe my spirit. As does a largish square of dark chocolate.

We take off. We land. I almost run the mile from my hotel to Union Square and Britex. It smells just as I remember. My eyes well up. I truly had forgotten how much I love to sew.

In the narrow, high-ceiling first floor, bolts of solids, plaids, and printed woolens are stacked up to ceiling, accessed by library-type pull ladders. The tables in the center are piled with rolls of luscious silks from Italy, France, the Orient.

I forget how to start. Then along comes Pat, a country and western singer on weekends, who knows exactly how to help. In the solid silk section we find apricot, pink purple, marigold, and rose crepe-backed satin for blouses and tops. A heavy black silk with lycra for slacks. She knows how many yards I need of each. I find 4-ply navy silk charmeuse for a dress. A silk metallic bronze with black brocade for a sash to dress up simple slacks and top for an evening out. I purchase an entire roll of black crepe-backed silk for harem pants, tops, a skirt, and whatever else I may think up. Then we find paneled silk pieces printed in teals, greens, bronzes that are perfect for scarves. I shop until I slowly fade to blubbering. I leave empty handed. Britex ships.

silks and first blouse sewn

I attend art class for two days. Then, on my last day, I’m drawn back to Britex. On the remnant floor I find marigold wool double knit for a winter outfit and crisp linen for summer T’s. The vast notions floor outfits my upcoming sewing safaris: pins, pincushions, snippers, buttons, trims, tape measure.

In San Francisco, I ate Crab Louis salads, palm trees delighted my eyes, the chocolate was amazing. The folks in my art classes exuded the flavor of laid-back California days. But none of the sights spoke so directly to my heart and the fiber of my being as my moments at Britex. I love to sew.

This entry was posted in art class, Britex, home and hearth, personal growth, sewing and taggedBritex Fabrics, San Francisco, sewing, sewing project on February 8, 2013.