The most significant differences between those who smoked marijuana and those who never or no longer did was that current smokers’ insulin levels were reduced by 16 percent and their insulin resistance (a condition in which the body has trouble absorbing glucose from the bloodstream) was reduced by 17 percent.The Atlantic’s Lindsay Abrams, reporting on the results of a recent study on the health effects of marijuana. In addition, regular pot smokers were skinnier than those who abstained, “even after adjusting for factors like age, sex, tobacco and alcohol use, and physical activity levels,” and had higher levels of HDL (“good cholesterol”). source
Gov. Chris Christie reveals he underwent weight-loss surgery
TODAY.com: New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has revealed that he secretly underwent lap-band stomach surgery just over two months ago to lose weight for the sake of his family.
Christie, 50, told Matt Lauer in a phone conversation that he had the surgery on Feb. 16, just before the President’s Day holiday weekend. He said he resumed his very tough work schedule that Tuesday, and has not had any complications.
Photo: New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie during an appearance on NBC News’ Meet The Press
That he went back to work so quickly after getting that kind of surgery is surprising.
EDIT: As pointed out to us, lap-band surgery is minimally invasive, which is why he was back to work so quickly.
Disabled war vet Arthur Boorman was in so much pain that he was told by doctors that he’d never be able to walk again without assistance. Then he started using a yoga program put together by former wrestling star Diamond Dallas Page … and this happened. A great watch.
stefanosings said: I really don’t see a decline here at all… Looks like aging to me, and as far as the weight goes, maybe it affected him there a little bit, but he doesn’t look unhealthy. Picture #1 is the one I think most doctors would worry about.
» SFB says: Jobs is suffering from pancreatic cancer (and even had a liver transplant), and significant weight loss is a side effect of the cancer, which is a difficult-to-cure variety. The fact that he’s lived this long puts him in an extreme minority of pancreatic cancer patients. Which is why the photos show such extreme weight loss. So yes, while he got older, the real issue is that he lost a lot of weight — and it wasn’t because he was eating healthier. Read up on his health issues here. — Ernie @ SFB
(EDIT: This response was not intended as a criticism of the blogger, but more as a jumping-off point to explain his health situation. Apologies if taken as such.)
We have transitioned from jobs that primarily involved doing physical activity on our feet to ones where most of us make our living while sitting.Pennington Biomedical Research Center researcher Timothy Church • Describing why we use far fewer calories at work now than we did 30 years ago. To put it simply, we sit around a lot, a fact which anyone could tell you by the mere fact that they too sit around at their computers all day. Could someone create … like a Wii version of Excel or something like that? So we might have to exercise while adding things to a spreadsheet or blogging or cutting out a photo in Photoshop? Or could you turn our computers into treadmills that only power on while we’re running on them? Seems like all this technology at our disposable makes us lazy and fat or something. source (via • follow)
» Not a changed man: In explaining his reasoning, the “Red State” director had this to say about the Southwest incident: ”At that moment, I was like, you know what? I’ll lose the weight, but I’m not putting on thinner clothes. Because why? What’s the difference? I’m still the same person I was 65 pounds heavier.” Yep, still a fat dude at heart.
» A good alternative: If you’re a fat person who can’t make sense of confusing traditional weight-loss programs, the FDA panel’s recommendation of looser standards for lap-band surgery could be a godsend for people would otherwise need to be chained to a wall to prevent them from eating in large quantities. Like us *chews laptop*.
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