Today Boston is a little healthier than it was yesterday

The City of Boston is following New York's lead in banning trans fats throughout the city. Trans fats were initially used for baking as they have a higher boiling point and a longer shelf life. These fats have long been connected to a heightened risk of cardio vascular disease and diabetes, and they are also responsible for raising bad LDL cholesterol and lowering the good HDL cholesterol.

According to today's article on Boston.com, "Studies estimate that having as few as 40 calories of trans fat a day can boost the risk of a heart attack by 23 percent. A fast-food meal of chicken nuggets and french fries, if prepared with artificial trans fat, can easily contain more than 100 calories of the substance." It doesn't take much to be at risk.

I applaud Boston and New York, and I predict that within the next decade, trans fats will be banned in most civilized countries. It is so important to carefully consider what we put into our bodies. We can't rely on the FDA to protect our health.

I'm so glad that my healthy journey has lead me to a heightened awareness regarding my overall health. When I lost weight in the past, I didn't care what chemicals or processed foods I consumed as long as they were low in fat and calories. That is not the right way to get healthy, and as I shared with Alison recently, shopping at a natural foods market, buying locally grown produce and meats, and having a heightened conscience about not only what I'm putting in my body but the cost of my food on the environment, makes me feel like a better person. I feel like I'm caring about the bigger picture, beyond ME, and looking at the total impact of the choices I make daily.

I'm sure my Dad thinks I'm turning into a hippy for saying that - LOL - but that's how I feel! :)

Today I'm picking up a breadmaker I found on Craigslist for $10. I'm going to buy some type of shelving for my kitchen or in the hallway by the kitchen (My Mom will be jumping up and down for joy, as she's been hounding me about this since I moved in!), so that I have a place for my new breadmaker, the coffee maker that we only use when we have company, the crockpot, the food I buy in bulk, and all the other kitchen items that are currently in the guest bedroom.

I am looking forward to reorganizing the guest bedroom today, and the next step of that process will be to paint all the furniture in it white. I may or may not tackle that piece of the project today. The furniture in it is still new, but I'm not wild about the color, and I'd like the room to have a more beach/vacation feel to it, so I think white will be a good step in that direction. I am not wild about the carpet in that room either, but that will be a project for another day. I think I would like to replace it with a light colored hard woodflooring to go with the beach theme.

I am so glad it's the weekend! Today is my day for project work (and apple picking!!) and tomorrow is my day to get caught up on work. I guess that doesn't sound fun for the weekend, but I will be sure to fit fun in. We went to see a movie last night, and that was fun, we're going apple picking today, and tonight we're going to have a BBQ, so that will be fun, and tomorrow I'm sure we'll do something fun too.

Oh yes, health updates: my CT scan came back fine, but my knee xray came back funky. It's not broken, but it's injured - there is degenerative something going on, and it's filled with fluid. I'm supposed to baby it and see if it gets better in the next few days, and if not, see an orthopedist. My MD thinks that if I hadn't gone biking and hiking and up and down the stairs so much, it would probably be better by now. I hope that's the case, because I don't want knee problems forever!