Hydroxypropylmethylcellulose - a savior for fast food addicts?

OK, all together now, lets say "hydroxypropylmethylcellulose." Too hard. Well that doesn't matter. This 28-letter word could be the light at the end of the tunnel for fast food addicts. As many of you know, I gave up fast food for Lent, which means no more until Easter.

I've fallen off the wagon more than once, which shows the depth of my addiction to the drive-thru lifestyle. I've often been chagrined with thoughts of a lifetime - probably noticeably shortened - without ever throwing off the shackles of greasy cheeseburgers and french fries. But if I, and many like me, can cut back on such a diet, there might be a way to lessen the effects of the high-fat foods when we do partake.

That is where hydroxypropylmethylcellulose comes into play. Multiple stories and studies have shown that this cellulose dietary fiber can actually ameliorate the effect of high-fat and even high-carb foods. Studies on animals and humans have shown that test subjects on such diets developed insulin resistance, which can lead to Type 2 diabetes. But those who ate the same diet with hydroxypropylmethylcellulose — sometimes spelled with two words, hydroxypropyl methylcellulose — did not become insulin resistant.

Yeah!

Sure, you still have to deal with potential side effects like high cholesterol and increased sodium intake. But every little bit would help, right?

Fast food first aid? My wife's not buying it - literally

Last night (Wednesday) I pulled a stupid stunt and took the wrong insulin. I am diabetic and I take two kinds of insulin every day and the dosages are wildly different. So, long story short, I accidentally took 10 times the amount of insulin I should have! Needless to say, such a mistake could be very damaging, even potentially fatal (not to sound like a drama queen or anything). My wife Terri, who is always calm in a storm, sprung into action and called poison control. 

As my blood sugar dropped 160 points, Terri checked it every 15 minutes, gave me apple juice - any kind of sugar in liquid form helps right away - and also I was lucky enough that there were brownies in the refrigerator. :-) I also suggested that fast food, which as many of you know I've "given up" for Lent and is the subject of this blog, would help. All those good french fries and their carbs would help the situation, I argued. But Terri knows better. Not only did she not want to leave my side, the look on her face told me that I did not need all the sodium and fat a nice fast food meal would provide.

So even in the doldrums of low blood sugar, I was trying to sneak that food back into my life. The addiction remains, although the longer I stay away, hopefully the weaker its hold on me will become. I've fallen more than once in the past three weeks, but I've still eaten far less fast food than I would have under normal circumstances, so I look at that as a victory. Small victory, but one nonetheless.

Anyone else out there giving up something for Lent? How are you doing?

Is Dairy Queen fast food?

My family joined the ranks of the minivan crowd this weekend. I was unsure, but it's great, lots of room and looks nice too.

To celebrate, we hit Dairy Queen. It never even occurred to me, or to my wife and kids - or else they kept their mouth shut for fear their ice cream itch might not get scratched - that DQ would count as fast food. But of course it does. So, again dear friends, I have fallen. But I choose to look at it this way: I have eaten a lot less fast food the past three weeks than I would have normally has I not given it up for Lent. So I'm still on the plus side of the equation. And that Midnight Truffle Blizzard was sure good.

P.S. My son Tyler deserves a big shout-out. He gave up pop (soda) of any kind for Lent and has done better at that than I have done at fast food.

Good job T, love ya.

'Pinetop' and McDonald's

Bluesman Joe Willie 'Pinetop' Perkins recently passed away. The man was 97 and played with greats such as Muddy Waters.

The interesting aspect of his life, as it pertains to this blog, is that Pinetop, who became the oldest person to win a Grammy award at the age of 94, ate McDonald's fast food every day, as Bloomberg News reported on Tuesday.

So here I am, trying to give up fast food for Lent, and this talented man ate it every day and nearly lived to be 100.

Ah, but I am aware that not everyone's body or system reacts the same. Pinetop also smoked since he was 9 and drank a lot too, it seems. Maybe he would have lived to 110 had he cut out those habits :-)

God Bless Pinetop, but I don't think that diet, no matter how much I wish it would, would work for me. Plus, one of the reasons I'm trying to deny myself fast food is for budgetary purposes. It is a lot cheaper to pack my lunch.

But, my hat's off to Pinetop. His life was far from perfect, but he beat the system.

Hope Springs eternal

Happy Spring everyone.

I haven't posted in several days, but I'm back for a quick update. I fell off the wagon last week in my Lenton pledge to give up fast food , but have spent some time working on watching my carbs, staying away from fast food and checking my blood sugar regularly. I gotta say, I'm craving a Big Mac and fries right now, but am going to try and placate myself with a mozzarella string cheese and a piece of fruit - a cross between a plum and an apricot, I've never heard of such a beast.

Anyway, back to work Monday morning with a healthy lunch packed. I'm going to experiment with a Full Bar, which you eat a half an hour before a meal and it is supposed to curb appetite, but not with any appetite suppressant.

Talk to you soon

Standing eight count

Has it really been just a week since Lent started and I vowed to give up fast food? Feels like eons. Well, it's been a hard week to give up my drug of choice (french fries and cheeseburgers are drugs, right?) Good friend and all-around character John Keith passed away; I toiled in the sports writing field with him for about seven years and never tired of his stories about life on the road in the good old days with people like Barry Switzer, Jackie Sherrill and Dave Bliss. (We had a few good old days ourselves with My Brother's Place happy hour and other venues.)

My son, who faces kidney surgery, has battled a kidney infection and 104 degree temperature and my parents, who've been in town from Pennsylvania since December waiting for the surgery - which has been scheduled and rescheduled five times - finally had to give up and head back to the great Commonwealth. (Actually that's a good new-bad news type of thing ;-) - love ya mom ) But none of that is an excuse for what happened to me today, Wednesday.

I discovered that I did not have a spoon for the blueberry yogurt in my lunch and, to make up for that bitter piece of injustice, I had a cheeseburger from one of our fine, fast food establishments. Yes, I stumbled after one week.

But I still have five weeks to go and I know I'll have more successes than failures during that time period. I may fall again, but then again, maybe I won't.

Just ask boxing writer extraordinaire Felix Chavez: many a fighter has gotten knocked down in the early rounds, only to come up off the canvas with time to impress the judges or even land just the right blow.

"Don't call it a comeback. I been here for years."
— LL Cool J 'Mama Said Knock You Out'

Oh come on! Bacon-wrapped hot dogs?

OK, Wienerschnitzel has just announced its new Bacon-Wrapped Hot Dog line. Come on, a man swearing off fast food for Lent can only take so much!

Sure, I know many of you disdain fast food, but for those of you who share the vice with me, doesn't it seem like every time you make a commitment to stop or cut back, some juicy deal or new item comes along. For example, about a decade ago, I got all worked up to lose weight. The very day I debuted my new attitude toward food, I drove by a McDonald's, and I saw a sign for 99-cent Big Macs. I looked up at the sky and cried out, "Oh, come on. Was this necessary?"  Needless to say I failed the test miserably. 

So, I have the battle scars. I'll just grit my teeth - or sew the damn things shut - and keep on driving past the drive-thrus.  St. Augustine allegedly said, "Lord, make me chaste, but not yet." Well, I think I've used up all my "not yet" time, so bacon-wrapped hot dogs, you won't win this round!