Blog

Short blog posts, journal entries, and random thoughts. Topics include a mix of personal and the world at large. 

For the sake of others

A coworker on mine recently got diagnosed as pre-diabetic. The condition is serious enough that he is now taking three separate medications for it. What he needs to avoid is the full type 2 diabetes: a lifetime of blood-glucose monitoring and kidney dialysis, if it gets bad enough.

Other than the meds, the prescription is simple, really. The coworker just have to eat right, exercise, and get enough sleep. Of course, what is easy on paper is really not when it comes time to move. It’s a drastic change for those who are used to a life of eating with impunity and not much exercising. The struggle is real when you’re trying to eat a salad while the people around you are eating cheeseburgers. Whichever pharmaceutical company figures out how to compress diet/sleep/exercise into a one singular pill is going to make all the money in the world.

Until then, my coworker is going to have to do the hard slog. So far, not so good. Just last week he went to the campus dinning hall to eat lunch, which is buffet style. Naturally then he stuffed himself to the gills, ruining his afternoon of productivity. It’s kind of disappointing to see a diagnosis of pre-diabetic isn’t enough of a wake up call for him. Especially considering he has a young daughter (and a wife, in Borat voice). Surely he wants to be healthy and functional for her sake.

The answer is of course yes - on paper. Wanting to be healthy and actually doing the steps to get there can be mutually exclusive. You’d think having a daughter to live for would be enough of an impetus, but we’ve yet to see the consistent change with our coworker. Hopefully it won’t take crossing over to full diabetes for him to actually get on with it.

Hitting in the park.

Can't I eat first?

This past Saturday I went to the farmers market at the Ferry Building plaza for lunch. Of the multitudes of food options there, I chose a place serving Korean food. The chicken rice bowl I got came with a compostable spoon. And upon the first scoop into the deliciousness, said spoon snapped right in half. It’s so eco-friendly that I can’t even use it! Right to the compost bin it goes.

I went back to the food tent to get a pair of wooden chopsticks. You certainly can’t beat 5,000 years of Asian culture.

I’m all for saving and preserving this planet. But these compostable eating utensils are pretty horrible. Certain boba drink places actually give you two paper straws, because the first one would disintegrate about halfway through the drink. I guess it’s still worth it to save one plastic straw from the landfills, though I do think there is much room for improvement.

The spoon that broke before I can even use it once was the last straw. Horrible pun intended.

I am however a big fan of compostable bowls and plates. In San Francisco we have to separate our garage, so it’s super easy to dump compostable containers right along with the food scraps. Good news is I’ve yet to encounter one of those where it’s so fragile that it breaks down before you’re finished eating. I guess we have take-out culture to thank for that: the bowl or dish would have to withstand a car ride as well, however lengthy.

But we’ve got to work on those utensils!

Private study.

Be thankful for the food

One of my worst habits is I eat food too quickly - especially when I am hungry or the food is extra delicious. Both my father and brother wolfs down food with much speed too so I guess it runs in the family. I've no doubt it contributes to my chronic stomach acid problems (it remains disappointing that I can't drink coffee), and more importantly I am not taking the time to savor the plate. 

Sure saves a lot of time, though. 

A mechanism I've gotten into to combat the ingestion haste is to be thankful for the food before commence eating. Not dissimilar to what Christians do in saying grace before a meal, when I give thanks for the food, I give myself a reminder what a blessing it is to have the opportunity to eat the particular meal - no matter how extravagant (or not) it is. In that mindset of gratitude, I find myself deliberately slowing down to enjoy each bite, and it's been highly beneficial. 

In concurrence I also acknowledge having the good fortune to not have to rush through a meal: there are no deadlines or work pressures that would otherwise require me to eat fast to return to what I am doing. For sure there are others that don't have such luxury. 

Lastly, when I eat slowly, I also end up eating less - those satiation signals after 20 minutes or whatever, which isn't so bad now that I'm on this side of the 30 divide.