Finally, I'm Allergic to Fruits!

Yesterday, I had a fresh pineapple and I think I had an allergic reaction, but I can't be quite sure.

I forgot to dip the pineapple in salt water before I ate it. I recalled (right after my throat became itchy) that my mom had warned me to dip fresh pineapple in salt before I ate it when I was a child.

There's not much about it online. Some people say it's the citric acid and some people say it's the bromelain (an enzyme that breaks down protein) that is causing the itch. Other people say it's a form of an allergic reaction.

I'm allergic to fruit? That would be awesome! I would finally have an excuse to eat nothing but meat (because why would I risk eating any other fruits? Maybe I would even ban vegetables to be safe...). But alas, I don't think it's an allergy because I've had pineapple before and it was OK (as long as I salt it).




Now I have half a thing of pineapple still in the fridge. I guess I should grab some salt in one hand and the pineapple with the other. Maybe I will attack it with a vengeance. Wish me luck

Funny

How McDonald's Ruined My Non-Diet

First off, I'm not on a diet. I may be on a see-food diet (I see food and I eat it.... that was lame, sorry). But I'm not on any strict dietary practice. I eat whatever the heck I want. Mostly I try to avoid fried and greasy foods but that's mostly because they don't agree with my body and make me quite ill.

So anyhow, the story is that today (after dinner) my brother offered to buy me McDonald's. Naturally, I said "yes". Maybe I said "hells yeeah". Let's not make this into some kind of inquisition now, shall we?

Right now, all I can feel is my heavy, heavy gut sitting on my bulging tummy that's making a soothing gurgling noise like an old reliable automobile. Oh, and my heart is about to stop altogether.

Today I had one medium "coffee" milkshake. And an Angus Burger (the bacon and cheese one). One of these:

I wondered what kind of caloric binge I went on. So I Googled it, because that's how I find out anything in life these days (gone are the days of the arduous trips to the scholarly library with a side of extra caloric burning). Anyway, I found this site from McDonald's where you drop in your menu items from a list and (which I admit is kinda fun).

You know what? go try it out. I had a medium coffee milkshake and a bacon & cheese angus burger. Go ahead. Go try it out. I'll wait here... I already know the answer.

Did you do it?

I had just consumed, in less than 15 minutes or so, a whopping 1490 Calories!!! That's insane. That's like a whole day's worth of calories right there. I had an alarming 61g of fat... which is 94% of my daily allowance should I assume I eat 2000 today (I'm way over 2000 today btw).

I guess there's only two options now. Throw up or work it out. Since I hate to waste food, I'll work out more.............. tomorrow :D

Vancouver Water Safe... for now...

I don't remember when I first heard that fluoride was bad for your health. But it's not something we talk about often in Vancouver, at least not for our younger generation.

But once upon a time, Vancouver was close to fluoridate its water supplies (like the rest of Canada). Then I started to read on why some people are for and against it.

Mostly, the "for" people are saying that it's good for preventing cavities (which has been proven). But then the "against" people are saying that's not the debate. The debate is that it's a toxin that's more poisonous than lead.

Lead? That's scary.

I guess it's also scary to know that fluoride is a poisonous by-product of manufacturing plants. And that many scientists (like the one in this anti-fluoride video shows).

The video says that some countries fluoridate (mostly US, Canada... except Vancouver for now, and Australia). But other countries like most of Europe doesn't fluoridate.

So what does this have to do with us? I'm just considering throwing out my toothpastes... but are there any that's not fluoridated?

Also what happens when I travel in Canada? I thought the water was safe and good for drinking, but I might have to budget in for bottled (distilled water) instead now.

I just don't like the fact that our politicians are the ones to decide if our population should be "treated" or not. I think it's not something that I trust them to do (they are not scientists, they are not researchers on the subject of fluoride, dentistry or more importantly toxicology).

It makes me feel like we don't have control over these basic matters of personal health anymore and that our government is like "Big Brother" of 1984. I don't know why they would need to fluorinate the water when our toothpastes and most products like that already contain the product!

Also, why add it to DRINKING water??? I know that I for one I just drink water and I don't gargle it in my mouth for the fluoride to kill all the caries! Isn't that what mouthwash (another controversial product) is for?

I'm just glad I live in Vancouver right now. But this really does restrict ones movement within the country doesn't it? And I didn't even mention all the strange re-licensing for cars and things that it involves!

Parents Against Bullying Makes Sense

I think bullying is horrible and I'm all for anti-bullying movements in schools. But it seems like people naturally think that all forms of bullying come from other children. This is simply NOT TRUE.

Today on the Skytrain, I observed this young man with his child (a toddler around 4 or 5) getting on the Skytrain in front of me. When the train got closer, I saw this man KICK the child towards the door. I wasn't sure if what I saw was correct or if I had some weird perspective that made me see it wrong. There was definitely leg movement up and it hit the child (albeit not that hard). Maybe it's the same kick/nudge I use for my dog when he's on leash and his brain goes stupid and he crosses in front. But I do that to my dog to warn him that he could get stepped on, it's never that hard and he's a dog... not a child.

Well whatever it was, they headed back towards the seat beside me but behind. It was in that little cubby place at the end of the train.

I look over a bit (just to memorize his face, incase I had to open a can of whoop-ass on him). And I saw him texting. He was speaking nicely to his son to sit down and becareful. At that time, my defenses start to decline, and my urge to kill was nil.

Then suddenly I heard this hissing voice yelling (like someone yelling hatefully) toward the child. I look over and the dad is clearly annoyed that the son is trying to vie for his attention as he was focused on his iPhone and god forbid, he actually took care of the child.

What the hell was that? I asked myself. This child was like no more than 4 years old. Obviously kids are annoying. From what I understand, children are suppose to be annoying. They are annoying until they move out of your house. I've never heard any parents use that kind of voice towards a child, especially not one at that age.

Now I don't want to get all judgmental on him. Maybe he was really really close to getting 3 stars on Angry Birds, maybe his wife just left him and he's emotionally unstable. But what I saw was a bit scary and reminded me of a lot like the parent was a bully. And I can't help but judge him as a BULLYING PARENT.

Am I being overly sensitive? No.

Should I, in hindsight, have kicked the dad's ass in? Yes.

But really, what are your takes on this???

Too Many Posts Not Enough Memory

I have this problem with blogging that I've been experiencing for a while now. It seems that whenever I'm not at the computer, I get a good idea about something I should blog about. But by the time I get to actually logging into Blogger and getting my password correct (after a few tries), I've completely forgotten about what it is I wanted to blog about.

Now I know my sucky memory isn't something new. I've had it for a few years now (namely after I finished school and I've relegated my brain to the back of my mind). But Blogging sure didn't require anything from my brain, or so I thought.

I am beginning to think that maybe I should find a way to use it more. But I have to admit that I hate to just sit down in one place and read. I  was never very good at that. Whenever I had lots to study, I'd always bring it on a stationary bike or make flashcards that I can memorize while I'm doing something else that was a bit more active.

I wonder if anyone has any good suggestions on how to improve my memory or at least improve it enough so I have topics to blog about when I come back at it.

And did everyone enjoy the manatee video from yesterday? It was possibly the most musically appreciative thing I've seen in a while.

Manatee Mondays

Enjoy