Thursday, April 30, 2009
Feeding
I started feeding today for the study. I will be provided with all of my food for 12 weeks. The first six weeks will be weight stabilization and the second six weeks will have a weight loss focus. I learned today that I am in the group that will eat high fiber, whole grains.
I pick up my food every morning at 8am in the center of campus. It is loaded up in coolers for me. Above is a picture of today's coolers and all the food inside. Everything inside the coolers is portioned and labeled.
My menu for today featured whole wheat blueberry pancakes with fresh blueberries (they definitely won me over with this meal), a California chicken salad, and whole wheat pasta with meatballs. The food was really good. I am permitted to add some seasonings if needed but it was all very flavorful. The salads for lunch and dinner contained a large bag of lettuce that was a very large protion. I was eating lettuce for over an hour at lunch!
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Tales of the Guinea Pig
Penn State is a research one institution, which means the university receives a lot of money to complete research on a variety of topics and the results are top notch and often cited and reported nationwide. I have always thought it would be fun to be a test subject in one of the studies (one that wouldn't have adverse effects mind you!). Calls for participants for current studies are regularly published in the Penn State Faculty/Staff Newswire but I haven't ever qualified for one before. Either I was too old or too young most of the time.
In February, I saw a call for participants in a study on body inflammation that would result in eating a daily snack that was provided as part of the study. I met all of the pre-qualifications so I signed up. I received a call from the researcher to answer some preliminary questions. The first question..."Do you like chocolate?". It was a study on the effects of dark chocolate on inflammation. I would have to eat dark chocolate every day for six weeks. Yuck!
A week or so later, there was a call for volunteers to participate in a whole grain study. I met the pre-qualifications for a second study! I signed up and went in for preliminary blood work and testing and found out that I definitely was qualified to participate in the study. Then I got sick and could not start the study because of the antibiotics I was taking. I thought I wouldn't be able to participate but we waited a couple weeks after I finished the antibiotics and I was able to start the study.
This week, I had to participate in two days of blood draws and testing. They measured my resting metabolic rate by having me breathe into a plastic mask for 15 minutes. I had to have a body scan that measured my body composition (bone mass, fat percentage, etc) and I had a test that measured my blood flow. I also had to collect all of my urine for 12 hours. I will get all of the results from the tests. I already received the results from the preliminary blood tests and have good numbers for everything except that I have borderline high blood sugar and my good cholesterol is low. It was very interesting to see all of the data.
I start feeding tomorrow and will keep you updated with regular posts.
In February, I saw a call for participants in a study on body inflammation that would result in eating a daily snack that was provided as part of the study. I met all of the pre-qualifications so I signed up. I received a call from the researcher to answer some preliminary questions. The first question..."Do you like chocolate?". It was a study on the effects of dark chocolate on inflammation. I would have to eat dark chocolate every day for six weeks. Yuck!
A week or so later, there was a call for volunteers to participate in a whole grain study. I met the pre-qualifications for a second study! I signed up and went in for preliminary blood work and testing and found out that I definitely was qualified to participate in the study. Then I got sick and could not start the study because of the antibiotics I was taking. I thought I wouldn't be able to participate but we waited a couple weeks after I finished the antibiotics and I was able to start the study.
This week, I had to participate in two days of blood draws and testing. They measured my resting metabolic rate by having me breathe into a plastic mask for 15 minutes. I had to have a body scan that measured my body composition (bone mass, fat percentage, etc) and I had a test that measured my blood flow. I also had to collect all of my urine for 12 hours. I will get all of the results from the tests. I already received the results from the preliminary blood tests and have good numbers for everything except that I have borderline high blood sugar and my good cholesterol is low. It was very interesting to see all of the data.
I start feeding tomorrow and will keep you updated with regular posts.
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