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Just for fun, Travel and food, Uncategorized

Busy sightseeing day in Paris

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We started the day at our favorite museum, Musee d’Orsay. I got a cute picture of Jonathan and Li “lounging” and one of the beautiful clock on one side of the building overlooking the Seine. The building used to be a train station.

We then walked over to Conciergerie, the former palace of kings that was transformed into a prison and later held Queen Antoinette before she was tried and executed. On the way we took a few pictures along the Seine.

From the Conciergerie we made the short walk to Saint Chapelle – one of my favorite chapels. The stained glass is absolutely incredible. This chapel was built to house the Crown of Thorns. Whether it ever did is unknown. This is my third time and I’m still amazed by its beauty when I walk in.

From there it was another short walk to Cathedral at Notre Dame. This cathedral is also breathtaking, but in a different way than Saint Chapelle.

Our last stop of the day was to a museum of Medieval Art, named the Cluny Museum. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Flu and food update: I didn’t feel great this morning, but quiche for lunch helped and I look forward to a good dinner. I figure I am close to 100% now!

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Starting a new year off in Paris

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We decided on a relatively last minute trip to Paris to ring in the new year. The main reason was to take Jonathan’s youngest daughter, Li, to Paris for her first trip, and to celebrate her upcoming graduation from college in the spring.

We left Huntington Beach yesterday afternoon and arrived in Paris around noon local time (3:00 am Pacific Time). We managed to make it to the apartment we rented and to a restaurant for lunch before crashing for a few hours. Jonathan and I made it to a late dinner while Li caught up on some much needed sleep. I made Jonathan join a crowd gathered on the Place de Charles de Gaulle bridge to watch the fireworks. It was soooo cold, but worth it. Here’s a few pictures from the evening.

Dinner at Atlas (and yes, the stupid picture is not rotated correctly):

Hanging out at the bridge for the fireworks:

While 2016 brought many great experiences, I am very excited for all that 2017 has in store. Happy New Year!

Diet and Dementia, Uncategorized

Exciting drug trial happening, but I’ll stick to my ketogenic diet

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If you watched 60 Minutes tonight, you saw a special called “The Alzheimer’s Laboratory.”  A drug trial is underway in Medillin, Colombia, to determine whether a drug produced by Genentech can prevent or destroy the buildup of amyloid plaque in the brain, widely believed to cause Alzheimer’s. Here’s a  Wall Street Journal article   from last year last discussing the same trial:  http://www.wsj.com/articles/in-battle-against-alzheimers-heres-ground-zero-1430127182

This trial is different from others, as participants will receive the drug prior to showing any Alzheimer’s symptoms. Prior drug trials involved participants who already had the disease, and it is believed they were too far advanced for the drug to make a difference. If this trial is successful, the drug will slow or prevent accumulation of amyloid protein in the brain.

I truly hope the drug being tested works to breakdown or prevent the formation of amyloid protein. It will be a major breakthrough in Alzheimer’s prevention. Regardless, I will continue to encourage everyone I know to follow a ketogenic diet as it, too, is designed to prevent the buildup of amyloid protein in the brain.

If you are reading this blog and haven’t read “Grain Brain” by Dr. David Perlmutter, go buy it now. He will explain how proteins become deformed through a process called glycation – the bonding of sugar molecules to proteins, fats and amino acids – resulting in the creation of advanced glycation end products (AGEs). AGEs cause protein fibers to become misshapen and inflexible. While glycation is a product of our normal metabolism, too much is a bad thing and sugar makes it worse. High levels of glycation are associated with cognitive decline, kidney disease, diabetes, vascular disease and the aging process. According to Dr. Perlmutter, the best way to keep AGEs from forming is to reduce the availability of sugar in the first place.

As I said at the beginning, I’m rooting for the drug trial to work. However, it will be at least 2020 before we know, and I refuse to rely on a possible drug treatment when a natural and healthy way to prevent Alzheimer’s is completely within my control. It’s been almost 2 years since I started a ketogenic diet and I have only one regret – that I didn’t start sooner.

Just for fun, Uncategorized

Athletic hall of fame and meeting Max Lugavere

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So it’s been a while since my last post, and a lot has happened!

My college basketball team at Sterling College was inducted into our athletic Hall of Fame, so my husband and I made the long trek to Sterling, Kansas for the festivities. I had so much fun reconnecting with teammates – I was a little nervous because I had not done a good job of keeping in touch with them but after the first hug it was like we had just seen each other last week! The sad part was not having our head coach there. He died suddenly just weeks before. He was the most loving, respectful coach I could ask for and his death left a very big hole in the hearts of everyone on the team and in the Sterling community.

The college had a banquet planned on Friday night, followed by a parade on Saturday (where we were literally sitting on hay bales being pulled by a very large flatbed truck – pictures below to prove it), followed by a very nice reception and being honored at the football game that afternoon. Thanks to my husband, I have some great photos to share!

With the plaque (sorry, I cannot get the picture to show up correctly).

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Riding the hay bales during the parade!!

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My team in front of the banner with our assistant Coach goofing off!!

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In other exciting news, I got to meet Max Lugavere, a young filmmaker who is making a new documentary about diet and dementia, Breadhead.  Max could not have been nicer. He spoke on the topic of diet and dementia for the company I run, ElderCounsel, at our annual Symposium. The room was packed, and the feedback was incredible. And yes, I do have a bit of a crush (with my husband’s permission)! Look for big things from Max, and please support his fundraising efforts for Breadhead!

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My friends at work (in Marketing, of course) thought they would be cute and create this version of the picture:

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Despite all of the fun things, I have been riding my bike.  Yesterday we rode Glendora Mountain Road and Glendora Ridge Road, and it was a gorgeous day! We normally don’t stop and take pictures, but I had to yesterday…

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Oh and one more quick fun thing. We attended a fundraiser for Boystown last weekend and I was able to get a picture with my favorite news anchor from KTLA in Los Angeles, Chris Schauble! And we came home with 2 paddle boards from the silent auction (still sitting in the garage). But we will get to them…

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I think that’s it for now. I could write for days about the election but I’m going to pass on that topic. At least for now…

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Using a ketogenic diet to treat cancer in dogs

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I have a new charity to support! Keto Pet Sanctuary rescues dogs with terminal cancer. They have a 53-acre plot of land outside of Austin, TX, where they use ground-breaking therapy to treat dogs that others have given up on.

How do they treat them? With a ketogenic diet, among other treatments like hyperbaric oxygen therapy and metabolic conditioning. Thanks to Keto Pet Sanctuary, these dogs are given a fighting chance.  But what about cats? I’ll have to research that one!

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Neuroplasticity: Mind blowing (pun intended)

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I’ve been learning about neuroplasticity this week and it truly has blown my mind and given me great hope for ways to treat diseases and disorders in the future. Our brain is so much more complex and adaptable than any of the smartest people in the world realized. Thankfully there’s a lot of really smart people alive today who are digging in to the research and learning how we can retrain our brain to help us cope with or cure just about any impairment we were born with or later acquired.

I couldn’t begin to do this topic justice, so instead I’m going to suggest that you watch this TedTalk by Don Vaughn, and if the topic grabs you as it did me, there’s a lot more out there on neuroplasticity.  Learning it will be good for your brain, too!

 

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Better late than never – last epic ride, Alpe d’Huez and balcony road

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We had our last ride of the trip Wednesday. I had lousy internet service so it was impossible to post anything, so this one is a little late!

Our last ride was a trip up Alpe d’Huez followed by a beautiful ride along a balcony road. The total mileage was just over 60 miles, with nearly 6000 feet of climbing. It was a long day in the saddle, but the views were definitely worth it!

Balcony road

Balcony road no people

We arrived home late Friday afternoon and immediately went to bed! Saturday morning we got up and rode Mt. Baldy – our “favorite” mountain ride in California to see how we would feel. We both set PRs going up so I would say it was a good day!

I’ll post more about the overall trip and more pics at a later time. There is so much to share and I want to do it  justice!

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Epic ride up Mt. Ventoux

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It was sooo much better this year! I got a good night’s sleep, had a good breakfast, and the weather could not have been better. And to make it even sweeter, everyone in our group felt good today and made it up Ventoux without any problems.

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We felt so good we continued on into Sault, and finished with a ride along a beautiful balcony road, Gorge de Lenesque. The pictures here, http://www.ventoux-sud.com/en/discover-our-natural-sites/the-nesque-canyon-a-preserved-natural-site/, show it best.

I’m super tired so this is a short post!

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Resting up for the Giant of Provence

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Today we spent A LOT of time in the car driving from the Pyrenees to Provence so it was definitely a rest day. Yesterday was an unplanned rest day, as we had to drive in to Pau to find a FedEx office to ship some bike boxes, and that turned into an all day affair. The good news is we’ve had 2 days to rest up for the toughest climb yet – Mont Ventoux, the Giant of Provence, http://www.veloventoux.com/?c=montVentoux.

I managed to climb it last year in spite of an upset stomach and bad weather.  I’m hoping for a better ride this year!

 

The reward for making it to the top will be the mountains of delicious hard candy they sell at the summit. Certainly not ketogenic, but I will splurge a little on it…it’s just too good not to!

So this is a short post so I can get some sleep to meet The Giant tomorrow morning. Bon nuit!

Just for fun, Uncategorized

Short but steep

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Thursday brought another epic ride. Jonathan and Mike rode the Col d’ Aspin, and Jeanne and I met up with them in an adorable town called St. Lary-Soulon to ride up to the Lac de Cap-de-Long.

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We met a few “obstacles” at the top of the Col d’ Aspin who were not the least bit interested in moving for cars or cyclists!

Traffic jam cows

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And the view from the summit:

Aspin summit

Lac de Cap-de-Long http://www.lacsdespyrenees.com/lac-191-Barrage%20de%20Cap%20de%20Long.html, is a beautiful lake set high in a national park in the Pyrenees. In miles it was short – only 14 miles – but we climbed nearly 5,000 feet. And the steepest part was closest to the top, of course! The scenery was once again incredible all the way up but I could only take pictures from the top (due to excessive heavy breathing and using most of my strength to turn the pedals over).

The first one was a congratulatory selfie, of course. The clouds had rolled in so it’s hard to see the lake behind me, but the road is the dam going across the lake.

cap du lac du long sefie

The clouds soon cleared and I was able to get better pictures, including one with Mike and Jeanne.

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20160804_180411 20160804_180405 M J and V top of Cap du loc du Long

We were cold up there – it was just over 7,000 feet –  and thankfully there was a restaurant with hot coffee and whiskey at the top! And an adorable dog guarding the place.

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Friday will be our last day in the Pyrenees, then a long drive out to Provence on Saturday. Sunday I’ll be facing my old “friend” who nearly killed me last year,  Mt. Ventoux, the Giant of Provence, http://www.veloventoux.com/?c=montVentoux. Can’t wait. Sort of.