Yogurt buying obsession

A Friday confessional:

I have this yogurt buying obsession as detailed by the picture below.

See, I don't buy yogurt that often really but when it is on sale, like a 5/$5 or sometimes the yogurt will be half price due to it expiring that day or the next, I find myself buying a lot of them. I think I bought like 10 or 11 within the past two days. Who can pass up $.49 yogurt?

Seen in the picture is basically 19 days worth of yogurt if I ate one a day. That's always my intention, but for some reason, I just don't necessarily get there. Some of these yogurts have actually expired or about to expire. Four of the yogurts were from when my mom and her husband visited (he decided to buy 6 yogurts the day before they were leaving and only ate 2). I've learned from past history that with yogurt, unlike milk,it can go past the expiration date and still be okay.

The thing is that I do like yogurt, so I don't know what my problem is in leaving it there for months at a time to think about eating. Yogurt does not hold some negative value either, so it just seems weird why I do this. I do not seem to do this with too many other items of food I buy. It almost seems similar to hoarding. :-/

Thoughts? Rationales? Similar experiences?

Obsessed

After I watched Intervention on Monday, I watched the following show, Obsessed, a new docuseries from the creators of Intervention. From the website:

A&E's true-life docuseries Obsessed examines the lives of everyday people imprisoned by unmanageable, repetitive behaviors and sometimes debilitating fear. Whether it is Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Panic Disorder, Social Anxiety Disorder, General Anxiety Disorder, Hoarding or a variety of phobias, the unscripted series gives viewers a chance to see first-hand how an obsession can radically affect a person's life. By using cognitive behavioral therapy, each subject is taught how to understand the thought process which contributes to his or her symptoms and is coached on how to change these thought patterns, manage their anxiety and avoid the resulting debilitating compulsions. The show explores the stories of sufferers as well as the adverse effects their disorders have on their friends and family.

I normally don't quote as much as I did there, but I thought this show really captured all these elements so nicely, at least in this episode I watched. I'll try to give a brief synopsis of the two characters. (Brevity is not my forte)

Case 1: Nidia is in her late 20s, has been married for eight years, and suffers from OCD, manifesting in the form of excessive hand washing and showering due to fears of germs, "cleanliness," and fecal matter. She rarely goes out of her house, avoids foods with fiber, like vegetables, and has daily rituals. The most pronounced and dangerous are her shower rituals which take anywhere from 1-3 hours, always after a bowel movement. She has literally scraped the insides of herself through use of instruments in order to feel "clean" enough. On several occasions, she has had to go to the ER due to severe blood loss.

Case 2: Rick is in his late 40s, is married, has one daughter, is working on a novel, and in general very "mathematical" and obsessed with numbers. He has several compulsions, like spinning in only one direction, adding up numbers on a license plate, however, his excessive exercise has hindered him the most. Rick's exercise habits started as a way to become healthier. He felt the more he did, meaning multiple times a day, the healthier he would become. Because his root fear was in aging and death, he felt like if he could control X and Y, he would obtain the outcome of Z that he wanted. Along with the exercise, he takes 40+ pills/supplements a day in the name of "health." He has not missed a workout since 1997.

Both of these individuals sought treatment, realizing how much they and their loved ones were suffering. With Nidia, her marriage was at a "rocky" point due to her OCD. Although her husband loved her and tried to be supportive, he felt frustrated in not being able to help her. Nidia's OCD was affecting the life both of them had envisioned and wanted together.

With Rick, he was missing out on spending time with his family and not being as productive as he wanted with his writing.

The treatment for both of them was exposure therapy, a type of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy with the purpose of reducing anxiety by exposing the individuals to their specific fears gradually. Although exposure therapy has been successful, especially for those suffering from OCD, it is not for everyone either.

Both Nidia and Rick received 12 weeks of exposure therapy. The hope was for them to not only face their fears, but also to "sit" with their feelings, gradually reducing the anxiety. Though both had difficulties, Nidia had more success with hers. She learned to overcome her fear of germs through picnic and nature outings.She learned to lessen her shower rituals and feel okay about not being "clean" enough. In the end, her marriage stayed intact, and she was no longer imprisoned by her OCD.

For Rick, he was successful in eliminating his spinning and reducing the number of times he exercised to a point. He and his therapist disagreed on the criteria of "excessive," but Rick truly felt like he had accomplished quite a bit in a short period of time. He found he had more time to spend with his family, however, his wife still felt like he had somewhat of a problem.

Personally, I found myself relating to both of these individuals. With Nidia, the thought she deserved to be in pain was heartbreaking to hear, yet so familiar. With Rick, his ambivalence of wanting to reduce his exercise but not give it up completely was familiar as well. Something else he said was that feared dealing with his issues, because he was afraid of finding out who he was. That deeply struck a chord with me.

Besides these relatable factors, what I liked most about this episode was how it showed the crippling effects of living with OCD and obsessive thoughts. I think people tend to forget it isn't just about performing a compulsive behavior repetitively, but rather that there is far more to it--that these individuals are severely suffering.. I'm sure a lot of us can certainly empathize or sympathize, but I'm not sure how much of the general audience can. This reminds me a lot of the people who tell victims of eating disorders to "Just eat," "just stop purging," "just don't exercise," etc. Unfortunately, if we could completely, and our brains worked with wondrous off/on switches, well, we'd all be cured then!

Any thoughts on this show? Do you think there is still misinformation out there on illnesses like OCD or other anxiety disorders?

Fountain of youth?

So anyone care to guess how old this man is? Really, take a guess.
This physician, named Jeffrey Life is 69 years old! Do you call this fit or obsessed with youth?

Dr. Life is the chief medical officer at Cenegenics Medical Institute, a clinic in Las Vegas that specializes in "age management." In order to achieve a body like this, Dr. Life and patients like him have changed their diets drastically, exercised more, injected themselves daily with low dose human growth hormone and have given themselves weekly testosterone injections.

And for what? Well, they say it isn't about appearance but to live a longer, healthier life. And the expense of this "hormone therapy" is more than $1,000/month!

The proponents of this anti-ageing theory--good nutrition, supplements,, and
balance of hormones, say that this allows them to stay biologically younger. They claim that their cholesterol, lipids, libido, energy level, immune system, and memory all improve by this regimen.

However, this hormone therapy is not without its critics. Some physicians feel that there is a risk of diabetes and cancer while others feel quite the opposite. In recent years, HGH has been studied in various capacities. (pubmed)

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This whole obsession with youth isn't really that new. There is cosmetic surgery which has steadily increased in years with nearly 11 million performed in 2006. Breast augmentation topped the list, followed by nose jobs, and
liposuction. Teen bariatric surgery has also tripled in recent years, according to this article. Though age is still controversial, there have been teenagers as young as 12 who underwent the procedure.

Then, there is the Calorie Restriction Society, individuals who feel that by reducing their calories, they will live longer and be healthier. This too has its controversies, though there have been a few animal studies demonstrating calorie restriction with longer life. It's still uncertain in humans, but this group is willing to be those guinea pigs despite the fact that one of their gurus still died at around 79 years of age which is not an astonishing feat. By the way, I recently saw a recipe book for living like a Cronie, that's their term. The book's recipe had like no real food in it--just mostly veggies seasoned in a variety of ways with occasional meat thrown in.

So where does this put us? Really obsessed and spending so much money! Where and when does it end? We are only teaching our youth that we need to be beautiful, thin, and young-looking at any cost.

Question: What's your opinion about the process of aging? Should we be trying to manipulate ourselves to eternalize youth? Would you subject yourself to hormone therapy at the possibility of staying youthful?

Other article: HGH and youth

Do you keep streaks?

The New York Times has an interesting article about a "30-year running streaker." Dr. Harvey Simon, a 66-year old internal medicine physician in Boston, MA, has been running for 30 years consecutively, each and every day. Apparently, Dr. Simon is one one of 30 other streakers, according to the US Running Streak Association. (yes, this is an actual organization!)

In this Wall Street Journal article written by Dr. Simon's journalist daughter, she says:

The streak is too much a part of him. I worry about that sometimes. He's proud of his streak, and I think his running longevity -- the fact that he's prevailed against injury, weather and all the rest -- has strengthened his spirit. He's a born optimist, but the streak has made him even more confident, even more resilient. What will happen when it ends?

On one level, I know that's a ridiculous question. The streak does not define my dad. He still practices and teaches medicine; he still writes and edits. He and my mom take art history courses, study music, volunteer, travel. But still, I worry.

In running -- in streaking, in particular -- my dad has found an outlet to express personality traits that might otherwise stay submerged. He's a humble and reserved man, but his streak is such a goofy accomplishment that he's given himself license to celebrate it.

I think the majority of us would say this man's (and the 30 others in the running streak association) running is based on obsession and lunacy. Yes, they all run for different reasons--communing with God, placing order in their life, problem solving, etc. That is all good and well. However, they also run through wretched and medically unsafe conditions, like in thunderstorms and blizzards, running while holding a catheter!, running through chest pain which turned out to be a heart attack, running with broken toes and other various compromising injuries. The sole reason: to keep the streak alive.

One thing I find incredibly ironic in this article is that this physician has written several books on health and fitness, expressing the importance of moderate exercise. I guess this becomes a "do as I say, not as I do example."

Eight or ten years ago, I would have thought this was an amazing thing. There is no doubt that my relationship with exercise is skewed, and I admit, I still think ultrarunning would be a cool thing to do one day. However, I do understand the mechanisms of the body physically and take rest days. Two is about my maximum before I go completely crazy, but still, I rest anyway. The guilt remains, sometimes denial is added in there too, but it is a step I continue to do, reminding myself it is a good thing.

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It's interesting when I think about this whole concept of keeping a streak alive in whatever avenue of life. Most of the time, the idea of a "streak" is about winning. And in many cases, it is certainly seen this way. For instance, for some people an incentive to abstain in self-destructive behaviors like purging and/or drinking, is to hold onto their streak. It provides not only a sense of accomplishment but a purpose of some sorts. Therefore, there is a feeling of winning over the battle of an eating disorder and/or alcoholism.

However, on the flip token, people can also use streaks in self-destructive ways, like in the continuance to starve or exercise obsessively. That, we all know, can lead to many health problems and possible eventual death.

The thing is streaks eventually end whether by personal choice or another occurrence, and then we have to decide what to do or become after those streaks. For some, holding onto those streaks means a lot, and it is difficult to let go of them. For others, it's not as big of a deal, and it's easy to start over or do something completely different. Then, there are those who may break a streak, and have difficulty in deciding what next?

So my question is: do you keep streaks in certain aspects of your life? Do they matter? Do you find them helpful, harmful, or just another added expectation?