Monthly Archives: June 2009

Your Computer Will Kill You!

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Together In Electric Dreams!It is fairly safe to say that computers are not, inherently, conducive to healthy living.  Sitting in the same position for hours on end staring at a screen that is only a few feet from your face is not really the kind of activity that contributes to a robust and healthy lifestyle .   While there are tools available for your computer that can assist you with your health and fitness goals (like, oh, a certain web site I could name), generally speaking extended daily computer use is considered to be a very bad thing.

What you may not be aware of, though, is that the computer sitting on your desk might actually be dangerous.  I’m not talking about the kind of danger to your long term health that is the result of inactivity, and I’m not even talking about the potential of developing conditions like Carpal Tunnel Syndrome due to the repetitive motion of using a mouse.  No, my friends, I’m talking about the threat of real bodily harm that could send you to the emergency room.

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ShrinkGeek vs. The EA SPORTS 30 Day Challenge : Week 2

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EA Sports ActiveI’ve made it past the first big milestone in the my experiment with the EA SPORTS Active 30 Day Challenge by completing 10 workouts.  As a reward I got a new trophy and an “attaboy” video from Bob Green in which he explained that they were going to be increasing the difficulty of my workouts from this point on.  I’m much more comfortable with how the program works and I’m learning the proper way to move to maximize the benefit I’m getting from my workouts.

I don’t want to give the impression that I’ve become a total EA SPORTS Active fanboy I thought I’d take some time this week to share my thoughts on ways I think the game could be improved.

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Captain Kangaroo was a bloody genius

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I grew up watching Bob Keeshan play Captain Kangaroo. I don’t remember the show vividly to be completely honest. I believe I had moved on to bigger and better things by the time I started forming real memories. My memories of the show are more impressions than anything else. I found a quote from Keeshan this morning, though, that indicates he may have at least somewhat influenced the person who I became as an adult.

The responsibility of parents is to raise children who do not need parents.

When my son is an adult I want him to not need me anymore.  I want him to call me or shoot me an email every once in a while to let me know what is going on in his life, hell maybe even every day if he feels like it, but I want him to lead his life on his own.  I want him to face the challenges life throws at him on his own two feet, and when life knocks him on his ass I want him to get back up again on his own.  If he can’t I want him to know he can always call on me to help but I want that to be the aboslute last thing he would do – not the first.  Not because I will make him feel like shit about it, but becuase he doesn’t WANT to get help from anyone else to solve his problems.

I have, in the last few weeks, seen two very different examples of how bad it is for adults to rely on their parents to get them through life and I can’t have that for Alex.

User Queries : Dealing With Loose Skin

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Question Mark

One of the things I am having to deal with already in my weight loss effort is loose skin on my inner thighs, lower abdomen, and pelvic regions. I have looked around on Google and gotten a LOT of conflicting information that focused mainly around BMI and lean tissue vs body fat content.  I am not sure what to trust short of going to a dermatologist or Cosmetic Surgeon for a consultation and asking, “What do I do?”

– Anonymous Reader

Well, anonymous, let me state right off the bat here that if you want a definitive answer to this question you SHOULD go see a medical professional for a consultation.  I’m not a doctor, nor is anyone here at ShrinkGeek, and all of what I’m about to offer is simply a healthy mix of some internet research peppered with my personal opinion.  I don’t have the fancy letters after my name to prove that anything you’re about to read is true, nor do I have the malpractice insurance behind me if it turns out I’m completely wrong.

Now that I’ve gotten all those messy disclaimer things out of the way to cover my posterior let me state that I have, indeed, done a bit of research into this subject.  I, too, have wrestled with the loose skin question and have often said that I may end up needing to have surgery to remove it as well.  I have even gone so far as to have consulted a plastic surgeon about my predicament, and as such I’m happy to pass on what I have learned to you.

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Tropical Themed Expansion Announced For EA SPORTS Active

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EA Sports ActiveWe here at ShrinkGeek are clearly not the only folks excited about the latest fitness game for the Nintendo Wii, EA SPORTS Active. Nintendo announced on Monday that the game sold more than 600,000 units in the first two weeks of being on the market.

With numbers like that it shouldn’t be much of a surprise to learn that Nintendo is already planning to roll out the first expansion for the game in time for the holiday shopping season.

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ShrinkGeek vs. The EA SPORTS Active 30 Day Challenge : Week 1

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EA Sports ActiveIn addition to the game itself, EA SPORTS Active comes with two additional accessories – A leg strap and a resistance band.  My first half an hour or so with the game was spent reading the instructions on how to use these two contraptions.  The resistance band has two canvas hand grips that will need to be attached to it but the process is fairly straightforward.  The leg strap, however, was a bit more convoluted.  I don’t feel it was difficult to figure out at all, but finding the right placement on your leg so that it’s comfortable AND doesn’t slide is a bit tricky (at least it was for me).

Once I proved I was more intelligent than some rubber and velcro I fired up the game itself.  EA SPORTS Active does not use the default Mii avatars that are standard in the Nintendo Wii so when you’re setting up your profile you’ll need to create a new one.  I don’t consdier this a bad thing, personally.  One of the features I do not like about the Nintendo Wii in general is the overly cartoonish facet of the Mii’s and how they dominate many of the games from Nintendo itself.   Call it a psychological hang up if you will, but the Mii’s make me feel like I’m playing a game designed for children and it just doesn’t work for me in Wii Fit.

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BBC Study Shows American Health Continues To Decline

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Picard FacepalmI recently had the chance to catch Wall-E for the first time with Krystalle thanks to the magic of Netflix-On-Demand through the XBox 360.  It was an absolutely delightful film, but I walked away from it slighly troubled by one aspect of the film – The state of humanity thanks to technology.  I don’t want to give away too much of the plot, but let’s just say that the advances in technology as depicted in the movie are not quite so beneficial to the overall health of mankind.  Wall-E was a very clear warning sign about the dangers of living a pleasure-based disposable lifestyle.

Unfortunately it appears in some ways as though the predictions made in the movie have the potential for coming true.

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