Something crazy happened with my hits today; I checked my referrer log for answers.  Looked like somebody went through everyone of my posts looking for something.

Then I saw this query from Ask Jeeves:

I am a kid age 11 that has high cholesterol and i need a diet plan where can i find one?

Wow.  That’s pretty heavy stuff.  The following is for that person:

Dear 11-year-old friend:

First, I hope you are talking with your doctor about your health.  If you don’t think you’re getting everything you need from your doctor, I hope you will tell him/her right to her face that you need them to be clear and give you more guidance.

Secondly, I’m not a dietician.  I think your doctor should be sending you to one and right away.  If you can’t get to a dietician, I think I would talk with your school counselor and ask them if there are resources in the school system who can help you.

Thirdly, I do have some resources I can suggest, but they aren’t plans.  They are cookbooks which do have lots of tasty recipes and a few plans in them, along with some other guidance resources like lists of good foods:

The American Diabetes Association/The American Dietetic Association Family Cookbook

American Heart Association Low-Fat, Low-Cholesterol Cookbook

I have tried many of the recipes in each of these books; they are very good and many are simple enough for a person your age.  My daughter is ten years old and can help with many of these dishes; I’m sure she could make some of them without too much help.

Please make sure you get exercise every day.  Don’t eat too much sugar, flour or foods with transfatty acids in them (read the labels on all foods and watch for anything with “hydrogenated” or “hydrogenation”); the less you eat of foods made of this stuff, the better for your body.

I know it will be hard for you since all the cool foods out there contain this stuff – but they are very bad for you.  I don’t let my kids have too much of them so don’t think you are the only kid who has to deal with this hassle.

If you have a prescription, make sure you take it every day, as long as your doctor says you need to.  That's very, very important.

Eat lots of fruits, plenty of vegetables (skip the potatoes and go for anything green), oatmeal and lean protein (like grilled chicken meat with all the skin cut off).  These are the right kind of building blocks for the adult body you are assembling.  Remember that in the next 4  to 6 years you will almost double in size; the kind of new adult body you build will be up to you.  Build yourself a really healthy, smart one.

Okay?  Good luck to you.  I am sending good thoughts for your health your way.

9:28:42 PM    comment []

Yeesh.  I've been interviewed twice today by a reporter in regards to the Dean campaign.

I feel icky all over now.

7:08:05 PM    comment []

Want an undemanding, straightforward piece of wholesome family entertainment?  This is it.  The whole family sat here on the couch, didn’t budge an inch for the entire movie.

Who’d have thought a six-year-old, ten-year-old and a couple of forty-somethings could be completely engrossed by a movie about a marching band?  Color me shocked – it was really very good. 

And I won’t be one bit surprised when my son asks to take up the drums!

2:52:40 PM    comment []

Imagine an enormous sigh of relief here.

The in-laws left this morning, returning to Florida.

Love ‘em, but this next year is going to be pretty rocky if we get on the topic of politics at all.  My father-in-law is a hardcore rightist, the kind of guy who thinks he’s on top of things because he reads a couple of local newspapers and watches the news on television.  If you know me at all, you can imagine how much I’ve held back while the in-laws were visiting.

Grrrr…

It was enough that my mother-in-law was sick with what I think was the flu while they were here; she was miserable last evening with chills and a cough.  I lit a fire to stoke up the heat in the house and plied her with tea and cold medicines last night.  Fortunately she looked and sounded a lot better this morning.  I’m hoping the kids don’t come down with the same crud just as they return to school. 

Between biting my tongue and nursing my mother-in-law, I’ve been on my best behavior for far too long.  Better watch out as I get my groove back!

11:00:09 AM    comment []