Health for life

The Disease Management Care Blog is proud of its native ability to resist the highly tailored "microtargeting" of advertisers. It can confidently say this because it uses its own independently formed perences to take advantage of on-line sales, movie placements, Twitter prompts, cable TV commercials and internet radio ads. Its not its fault that it attracts certain targeting and rejects the DMCB spouses assertion that theres no discernible difference between Chopin and Smirnoff.

Smart DMCB readers undoubtedly feel just as secure about their native immunity to outside influencers. But that doesnt mean they wont be impressed by just how industrialized microtargeting has become when they look at this Feb 27 C-SPAN Washington Journal on Targeted Political Ads. The same decades-old science that matches a particular product to a certain profile for automobiles, accessories and aspirin is now being used as never before in the 2012 political campaigns.

The DMCB thinks there may be a silver lining here.  As this gets better every day, microtargeting is undoubtedly destined to be adopted by the disease and population health management industry. Over and beyond its ability to use details from insurance claims and electronic health records, microtargeting can also vacuum up and digest data on the magazines we subscribe to, the cable shows we watch, the credit charges we amass, the computer "cookies" we accumulate or the social media we embrace to triangulate on consumers health profiles.

For example.... the analytics modeling could fit a known behavior (like having a lot of flat screens in the home tuned to reruns of the gluttonous Man vs. Food ) with certain conditions (like undiagnosed diabetes). It could also be used to link key health consumer attitudes (like wanting to sign up for your PCPs newly minted patient centered medical home) with a certain behaviors (such as being unable to resist viewing online images of cute puppies). Or what about leveraging the most obvious association: possessing high native intelligence and reading this blog.

Silliness aside, to the DMCBs knowledge, tapping into our public, demographic and on-line footprints for "health care microtargeting" hasnt been really commercialized - yet. It searched the published medical literature and didnt find much that was useful (though given its academic pedigree, that shouldnt be surprising), but, thanks to Google, it did find this blog post (as if wed expect otherwise) by "Sirensong. She points out that geeks are on it, so the DMCB suspects its just a matter of time.

If any readers are aware of anything more to this, please share.

Image from Wikipedia

Hi,

I take lots of supplements every day. I have even made a chart of them so when I go to the doctors office I dont have to spend ten minutes reciting what I take while the nurse writes it down.

I have said that, in order to say this: If the supplements matter.... why would the food not matter?

If we truly believe that ingesting a pill prescribed by our doctors, or a supplement recommended by them, will have a beneficial effect on our physical well being... why does it not follow that the food we eat affects our physical well being, also? After all they are going to the same place: our bodies.

What we put in our bodies matters. What we eat, drink, take, and swallow will eventually do something, either good or detrimental, to our body in both small and large ways. Water quenches our thirst, while sweet beverages only seem to coat the tongue. Food nourishes us, or irritates us.

What I consume will affect my body in some way. Why must my desire be for food that I know will do me harm? Why do I not have a craving for fresh raw veggies instead of frozen yogurt or mac and cheese?

I must admit that I have, on occasion, craved a salad or some raw veggies -- especially when I have not had any for a while. After my body feels stuffed and bloated and out of sorts from eating processed food for a period of time, then I do actually crave the light healthy satisfying feeling of fresh raw salad.

Sometimes I wonder why I need to be reminded of these things so often. Why do I seem to wake up every day in a rut? Is it the fog of addiction? Or is it simply the fog of being human?

What is discipline and how do you do it? Why do you do it?  What keeps you doing it?

Asking questions is a way of thinking. Im not looking for "answers" like on a test. I am attempting to wake me up from my most recent stupor.

I logged into my blog tonight with the thoughts about supplements and food on my mind but when I pushed the "view blog" button, it seemed to randomly choose to take me to an old post which I read as if it were from some other author. What a reminder. What a slice of my own life it was. It was the entry for "Day 53" and it was reshing to me.

I dont know what it is like to be someone else. I envy the people I read about or see on a TV program who always eat right and always exercise right. Or are they not telling us something? I envy those who have successfully lowered their weight and no longer struggle, because they have really incorporated a new lifestyle of eating right and exercising into their daily activities.

Someone who does the same healthy routine every day.

I do have a routine but it feels like it is born of habit rather more than purpose, yet I do have a purpose. But is it not the "habits" that define a lifestyle and bring us to our purpose?

Im glad to have the habit of recording my personal statistics every day. I check my weight. I test my blood sugar. I take my blood pressure. I examine my ankles for swelling. I look to see how much pain I have in my neck and head or in my low back. I have a simple system of recording this information daily. I take my supplements and then the day begins.

I also have the exercise habit going pretty well, now. I really do aquatic exercise three times a week for at least 30 minutes and often for 40 minutes and if some holiday is going to interfere I make the adjustments needed to get there the three times I believe is good for me. I like the exercise. I like the water. I crave it.

So I do have those two things going for me currently. I just need to get back on the proper food band wagon again. I got off it with the "7 day" program I tried. For the first six days I ate properly (veggies and protein) and on the seventh day I ate two high carb meals. That was it for me. I have had a really hard time getting back to the Six Day Program and have been seeking to include carbs nearly every day. Wow. Strong Addiction!!

Well... I do have a salad in the fridge at this very moment. I have eaten two salads today. Tomorrow is the day before Thanksgiving and I want to eat right. Thanksgiving is going to be whatever is at my friends house that Ive been invited to. I am bringing the dressing. It is the only time in the year that I make it, and I want it to be special. I dont want to waste a high carb day on carbs that I dont really like, but crave when I see them, anyway.

What a system. The plan at the moment is that the day after Thanksgiving I go right back to the raw veggies and protein. After having read another one of my posts, and thinking about the condition of my body after having done a higher amount of protein than normal and not liking the results, I have decided to cut back some on the protein and increase the veggies. I think 80/20 will be a better ratio for me.

When focusing on this stuff, I need to be reminded of all the things I am thankful for and that this matters but it is not the "Main Thing"

God is the Main Thing. Keep the Main Thing, the Main Thing.

Happy Thanksgiving,

Marcia

A question, a question. All my kingdom (and sweet potatoes) for a question.

From Wiki user Lupin

Q: Do you give a whit about maintaining a healthy diet on Thanksgiving?

A: I do not. I tend to view Turkey Day like the Super Bowl, Christmas, and my birthday: 24 free hours to eat whatever I like, regardless of the consequences. I’ll go back to wholesomeness the day after.

Readers, what about you? Do you keep the healthy food faith on T-giving? Why or why not? Let’s debate.

Want to ask the interweb a question? Post one in the comment section, or write to Cheaphealthygood@gmail.com. Then, tune in next Tuesday for an answer/several answers from the good people of the World Wide Net.