How Leptin and Insulin Signal Satiety  Source for Graphic: Wiki.Brown.edu ____________________ I have been stamping my feet and complaining for the last six weeks because of having to wear a CPAP mask ( Continuous Positive Airway Pressure , a therapy designed for people who stop breathing during sleep, and, therefore, wake up several times during the night. Sleep-deprived people can experience serious medical problems, such as heart disease, high blood pressure, and obesity, among other ailments). I grumble every single night. My better half must be sick of my constant kvetching... But for the first time since I can remember, I’m getting good sleep and waking up energetic and exercising regularly. About four weeks into the CPAP therapy, I also noticed something else: my appetite has started to regulate itself, which has been a total surprise to me because I have always had an out-sized appetite. I never really knew the difference between hunger and sati...

Background: * “Soy-whey-protein-diet” by Peggy Greb _________________________      My doctor told me to stop having intimate dinners for four. Unless there are three other people. – Orson Welles ______________________ In late July, I woke up in the middle of the night with the worst acid reflux that I have ever experienced in my life – so bad that I could barely breathe. If you have ever experienced acid reflux, you know how unpleasant and scary it can be. Well, multiply this event by 10. I was on vacation and had (ahem) eaten some things I had should not have eaten so close to bedtime – at least without taking my Zantac 75. But I got cocky. You think I would have learned by now, but evidently not. Sooooo... When I returned from my vacay, I decided to (once again) start taking better care of myself and watch what I eat and, most importantly, when I eat it. Now I don’t want to rebrand this site back into a “diet” blog – I do have varied interes...

At every crossroads on the path that leads to the future, tradition has placed 10,000 men to guard the past. – Maurice Maeterlinck I’m experiencing an identity crisis – nothing serious, just stuck at a crossroads, particularly about this blog. Sometimes I want to rebrand (again), but to what? While “Life is a Brand” and its matching domain name are not exactly exciting, the search engines seem to like it, at least to the extent that they haven’t sent this blog to the cyberspace version of Siberia. I have some great candidate domains, but their themes seem too confining – for example, WhyIWrite.com . At the moment, it has its own site, but once one has discussed why one writes, what is left? How many times can I discuss my process for writing? More important, “Who cares”? Bleh. Meanwhile, the “Why I Write” blog is essentially inactive – not good for ranking on the search engines, borne out by its current search engine location (Cyber Siberia). For rebranding ...

Anyone who knows me well is aware of my love for food. At one point, I would eat anything that wasn't nailed down. Unfortunately, I looked like someone who was hoovering her food indiscriminately. Something had to be done--and fast. More alarming than just the way I looked, I felt like crap, and it was becoming obvious that my health was beginning to decline: insulin resistance, higher blood pressure, acid indigestion, achy feet and legs, breathlessness when doing simple walking or light tasks, low energy, intolerance to heat, etc. One day, I had a serious talk with myself, and I posed this question: how can I go on yet another restrictive diet, when dieting obviously doesn't work well for me, at least in the long run? Yet, how could I not? My health was at risk. It was showdown time. So, on January 3, 2011, after three and a half months of counting calories (an obsessive activity, I must say) on my own and keeping a food diary, I decided to rejoin Weight Watcher...