The Ho Connection

To all of you who googled Ho and came to my blog, I want to say you have very dirty minds, this entry is about my doctors and cholesterol (get your thoughts out of the gutter). I was originally thinking of calling the blog the Ho Train, but I thought that could be even worse. I have been told that my blog just talks about things going on around the world and that I should write a little more about my life, so for those critics, here you go (and as an added bonus, my parents are coming to visit us in Shanghai in a couple of weeks, and all my loyal readers will get to follow me and my family on these adventures).

Yesterday was my first visit to a doctor in Shanghai (nothing serious, just catching up on my asthma prescriptions). As some of you know I have lost over 50lbs while over here in China, so I also wanted to get a checkup on my cholesterol (see if it is any better then when I left). I made an appointment with Dr. Warren Ho, who is the twin brother of our kids pediatrician Dr. Wayne Ho, needless to say we love our Ho's in Shanghai.(okay so maybe that is not appropriate). I got my results for the cholesterol test yesterday evening and my HDL came in at 42 while my LDL is 142 (total cholesterol, including triglycerides is 198). First Dr. Ho (love saying that by the way) said that I am a little high for being 26, but that there are no red flags yet. This is consistent with the American Heart Association, they basically say a HDL of less then 40 is at risk (I am close here), and an LDL between 130 and 159 is borderline high (yikes). They do note that a cholesterol of under 200 is what we should be aiming at, which is where I am at. Basically I just have to take measures to raise my HDL while lowering my LDL, I have about another 20 to 30lbs to lose before I meet my goal (I know losing 80lbs in China would be huge, but its the wake up call that I needed). I will most likely get my cholesterol checked again once I have gotten to my target weight and see if anything has happened (that not including continuing to eat better, sorry DSD you are out of the picture for now). So I believe my cholesterol dropped a bit, but no significant change, oh well Renee and I are learning a lot over here about God, life, and our eating habits, so I think things will continue to get better in this arena.

IN: Fast food. Well I have an obligation to share the facts whether you or I like it or not. Yes, even though people continue to want to be more healthy, the fast food industry is booming and they still have huge growth potential (look at developing countries like countries in the South Pacific, Africa, India, and China where the major chains are just beginning). In the US it is seen with new fast food chains blowing up all over the place, so you can't even deny the growth in the US. Back in the late '90's when McDonalds was showing quarterly losses and other chains were shutting down certain operations, people thought the tide was turning, but years later the chains have proven that they are able to entice people all over the world and continue to dominate. Fact is, people never stopped going to fast food, they just started going more frequently. Sorry to all you health nuts, doesn't make me happy either (not that I can't say a $1 double cheeseburger doesn't hit the spot every once in a while), but the fast foods have found a way into our hearts (literally).

OUT: Being a Christian means being a Republican. This probably needs 50 entries to explain, but I am opening the book that will probably continue in the future. I just finished reading an article on CNN.com that led me to this discussion, keeping it brief, the article dumbfounds me. I understand that Republicans are pro life and against gay marriages (basically the two issues that draw Christians to vote Republican), but what about the social and economic platforms that many Democrats support that are consistent with the Bible. I don't want to go on too much of a diatribe, but its wrong to say that just because you are a Christian means you have to be a Republican. Fact is, the article above shows why this is a huge modern day problem, doesn't appear to be a strong "Christian" candidate for any "Evangelicals" to support, in fact Barak Obama probably has the strongest marital and family out of all the candidates (notwithstanding his admitted drug use, but I seem to remember Bush dabbling in a little bit of the nose candy in the past, or at least he never denied it). So what does that mean, well don't just vote for a party because you fall into a category, i.e. Black = Democrat, Christian = Republican (aren't there black Christians? they must just be confused), Hippie = Green Party, Old = Bad Driver. So do a little research on your own, see where they stand on the issues, where they have voted in the past, get informed (I don't mean watching MSNBC or FOX News, cause they don't inform you, they just fight over who is better and nothing good ever gets said). So to all you "Evangelicals" I just want to say, feel free to vote for who you want in 2008 (note I am a Christian and am confused as to why I defaulted myself to always voting Republican in the past).