1.07.2010

165 - Other Things That Happened Yesterday

Well, aside from my mini-meltdown, I did want to talk about one other thing that happened yesterday...

I made an appointment with an orthodontist to see about getting Invisalign. (Yea! Another resolution on its way to being fulfilled!) Because my dental plan is a DMO (Dental Maintenance Organization), I have to use a doctor who is in-network in order to get benefits, so the doctor I chose is a little further away than I would have liked, but it's not a horrible drive. So I see him Tuesday and he'll make a mold of my mouth and we'll chat. Then once they determine if Invisalign will work for me, they'll see if my benefits will cover half the cost. This is where it gets tricky... as it turns out, my insurance company doesn't cover Invisalign... why it matters to them whether I choose metal braces or Invisalign I have no clue... Anyway, I talked to the receptionist, because if there's no co-pay then I was going to go to a dentist nearer to my house. She said they just code for 'braces' but they don't specify which kind. Awesome. We're stickin' it to THE MAN. And she seems nice. Dentists (and dental specialists... perhaps especially specialists) terrify me, so it's always good to have a friendly face around.

I keep getting these emails from the Jillian Michael's marketing machine (my fault, I signed up... I should have realized how tenacious she was since I watch The Biggest Loser now). This one was interesting:

Your BMR is the number of calories your body burns in a day when operating at absolute minimum capacity. Basically, imagine sitting on the couch all day. (Is this a little too easy for you to imagine? Don't worry — we'll fix that!) Your BMR, then, is the number of calories your body burns just to maintain your heartbeat, digestion, respiration, tissue repair and other organ functions. That's it.

BMR is influenced by a number of factors, including age, weight, height, gender, environmental temperature, and diet and exercise habits. Because of these varying factors, it's hard to pin down your BMR to the precise calorie, but we can get pretty close. Here are some formulas for figuring out your BMR. Get out your calculator and plug your numbers into whichever formula applies to you.
MALE: 66 + (6.3 × body weight in pounds) + (12.9 × height in inches) − (6.8 × age in years)
FEMALE: 655 + (4.3 × weight in pounds) + (4.7 × height in inches) − (4.7 × age in years)
Your basal metabolic rate accounts for only about 75 percent of your total daily caloric expenditure.
Then she tells you to go to her website for details, but you have to pay to join, so that's where she lost me. I'm sure I can find it elsewhere on the internet for gratis, and since that's the way I prefer things, I shall do just that. So I calculated my BMR and it was 1,238 (I'm assuming that 655 was a typo and it was meant to be 65). I don't know what it means yet, because it would seem that if I ate 1,200 calories a day I would be slowly losing weight since my body supposedly burns 1,238 calories just to exist. Over a course of 10 weeks I should lose a pound, and that would equate to 5 pounds a year. More than that because I expend a little energy throughout the day. Instead I go the other way... so obviously something is wrong with that thought process... but at least I know my BMR now, lol.

Just took a phone call from mom. They must really think they raised a helpless child... It's going to freeze tonight, and the temps are going to stay at freezing or below for a couple of days... around here that's atypical so we freak out, and since we put our water pipes in the attic, it can cause problems. Mostly I think that if you keep the rest of your house warm, the heat will rise to the attic, and you're fine. Outside, you cover the faucets. That's it. At night I let the faucets drip because I've been told to do it, I'm not sure it really makes a difference, but better safe than sorry. So anyhoo... mom calls me and asks if I need dad to come over and do anything to prepare for the weather tonight. ...sigh... I put the faucet covers on a couple of months ago. Job done. I appreciate that they are willing to help... and I don't mean to sound ungrateful... but really...

Speaking of cold weather, a friend sent me this and it's a perfect expression of Winter:

' WINTER '
by Abigail Elizabeth McIntyre

Crap....It's Cold
The End

11 comments:

  1. Yeah I get the Jillian emails too! I am not joining though...
    Invisalign sounds great! I hope it all works out for you:)
    We are at 17 right here and it snowed. I am worried about my hubs driving home later tonight (he gets off at 10:00)
    So make sure you let your faucets drip like you mentioned and keep at least 1/2 tank of gas in the car! Ooooh better yet, have some cocoa and snuggle up on the couch with a movie

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  2. The formula is interesting. I wonder who sits down and figures these things out? Possibly someone who did in fact just sit around doing nothing?

    I love that note at the end. Very funny.
    Personally I'm done with this winter business. It's lost its appeal.

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  3. LM - 17 degrees... Eek! If I think there's ice I'll probably call in. When it snowed a couple of months ago I went home early, but then it never froze so I felt like an ass... typical!

    I like that last suggestion best of all... warm blanket, hot cocoa... cat.

    TSH - LOL, it's probalby total bullshit... I mean, how would they know, everyone is so different.

    P.S. I went outside to doublecheck the faucets... good thing, one of the covers had been taken off. Thing that REALLY pissed me off was that whoever used it last (probably the foundation repair people) broke the knob off, so now I have a spigot with no way to turn it on or off... luckily it's off... but how the hell do I fix THAT??? AND no one told me. I hate when people act like cowards... it probably wasn't their fault, but it's something I need to friggin' know.

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  4. Here's an easy way to calculate your BMR, and more info:

    http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/

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  5. I'm just gonna keep commenting, this is hilarious -

    http://blog.laurellkhamilton.org/index.php/site/comments/bilingual_or_why_men_and_woman_cant_seem_to_talk_to_each_other/

    And potentially eye-opening if it's true.

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  6. I wish I had invisilgn rather than the regular old braces but then it's over now anyway. I also get Jillian emails and sometimes they scare me. I don't bother calculating anything like BMI or BMR, it gets in the way of my ho ho eating. How cool to have parents who want to help with cold weather plumbing issues. Mine always called me to come over and take care of theirs.

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  7. Jen - I agree, my parents are awesome, but mom says things like that all the time... 'you didn't leave the candle burning when you left the house did you?'... 'you aren't planning to wander down that dark alley in a hooker outfit at 3 am are you?' Just sometimes makes me wonder if she thinks I have any sense at all!

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  8. I signed up for the Jillian Michaels thing too! And they she asked me to pay. Sigh. Also where she lost me.

    I hope you don't freeze tonight! ;)

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  9. Yeah, what's THAT about? Doesn't she make enough money? Sheesh!

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  10. Vise grips on the faucet spigot should turn it on and off. Vise grips are mighty handy for lots of things, such as pulling nails out of stuff, plucking nose hairs, or squishing bugs.

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