Why Do I Have A Belly Button?

I have a deep belly button.  A really deep belly button.  It’s so deep that I’ve actually used it for storage on a number of occasions.  As I was sitting around picking lint out of my cavern of a belly button last night (gross – I know), I started to wonder why my belly button was so deep.  I also started wondering why some people have those adorable little outie belly buttons when I am stuck with a big gaping hole in my mid-section.  Am I a genetic mutant, or did the doctor do a number on me when he was chopping off my umbilical cord?

In an effort to understand a part of my body that I really know nothing about, I thought I’d do a little internet research and put together a little grade-school report on the belly button.  So here it is, for your enjoyment, my belly button report.

About The Belly Button

The belly button was invented in 1852 by an ambitious young man named Eli Whitney.  Oh wait, that was the cotton gin – my bad!  The belly button is actually the body’s first scar and it is due to the removal of the umbilical cord after birth.  Typically after the placenta has been expelled, two clamps are placed on the umbilical cord several inches away from the baby and the cord is cut between the clamps.  The umbilical cord that remains attached to the baby eventually withers and falls off, leaving a scar, which we call the belly button.

For some people, like me, this scar is concave and it recedes into the body, creating an “innie”.  For others, the scar tissue pushes out from the body giving these people an “outie”.  Most sources claim that 90% of people have innie belly buttons, which puts the outies in a small 10% minority.

Belly Button Myths

Myth #1: Outie Belly Buttons Are A Genetic Mutation

Some theorize that because there are so many innie’s, that outie belly buttons are a genetic mutation.  This type of theorizing is often done to taunt those with the unique outie belly buttons.  So far there is no scientific proof that the type of belly button you have is at all linked to genetics.

Myth #2: The Doctor Can Influence Innie vs. Outie

Another theory holds that the way the doctor handles the umbilical cord can influence whether the baby will have an innie or an outie.  This doesn’t really hold water either though because the umbilical clamps are almost always placed several inches away from the baby – too far to effect the development of the scar tissue.

Myth #3: The Old Quarter Trick

There is an old wives tale that claims the magical powers of quarters over belly buttons.  The story goes that if you tape a quarter over a baby’s outie belly button, it will eventually push itself in.  I have absolutely no idea if this is true or not.  There are many women who claim this to be true, but it certainly sounds like a stretch to me.

Myth #4: The Belly Button Hernia

Another idea about how outie belly buttons came to be is that they are a result of an abdominal hernia.  In rare cases when an infant’s abdominal walls collapse due to weakness, called a hernia, the baby’s belly button could push out instead of becoming concave.  Most doctors believe that the chances of this effecting the direction of the belly button long term are minimal though, so this myth might be busted too.

Belly Button Fun Facts

• Some people call belly buttons “tummy buttons”
• The most common color of belly button lint is blue
• All mammals have belly buttons
• Belly buttons attract more lint from below than above
• Greek Christian monks used to “naval-gaze” to maximize divine enlightenment
• You can buy Belly Button Dusters, which will clean your belly button for you
• If Adam and Eve were the first humans and were created by God, it’s likely that they were the only people to have ever walked the earth without belly buttons

Informal Poll – Which do you prefer – outies or innies?

 

 

 

Weight Loss Update: January Edition

Alright show of hands: who made a new years resolution?  Keep them up – now keep your hand up if you made a new year’s resolution to lose some weight.  If your hand is raised right now, you probably don’t need to take things so literally when you’re reading blogs, but more importantly, you share one of my 2011 resolutions.  That’s right, I made a goal this year to get in shape and get rid of the flab.  Since I’m trying to be as honest as I possibly can on this blog, I thought it would be a good idea to do a check-in post every now and then.

So three weeks into January, how am I doing?  Well there are a few things that will contribute to me getting in shape, here’s a rundown of how I’m handling the big 3: Diet, Working Out and Weight Loss.

Diet

In 2010, my diet was pretty hit or miss.  I’d go on streaks where I’d eat fairly healthy, but these good streaks would be interrupted by weekly fast food trips, carb-loading sessions and regular indulgence in alcoholic beverages.  Now I’m not saying that I didn’t enjoy myself, but anyone with an iota of common sense should be able to tell that my 2010 plan was not going to help me drop a few pant sizes.

The good news is that I’m doing a lot better so far.  I’ve completely cut out fast food, which has been surprisingly easy due to the plethora of healthy dining options near my work.  I’m also trying to eat fewer carbs, which means fewer breads and pastas and more wraps, soups and salads.  Thus far, I’ve really been enjoying expanding my food palette and it has certainly helped that I have a husband who loves to cook.  While I haven’t completely cut out the alcoholic beverages, I am only drinking on the weekends, which is a pretty big step up from my 2010 routine.  Basically, I’m replacing the delicious Bacardi Razz & Diet Cokes that were a staple in my diet with a lot of taste-free water.

Diet Grade: B+

Working Out

I’m a little embarrassed to say that I am not, nor have I ever been what you would consider a “gym rat”.  I don’t enjoy spending time on the eliptical, I’m not a runner and I get bored lifting weights after about 5 minutes.  I’m also what you would call “kind of lazy”.  So basically, I’m your average couch potato with little interest in the gym.  Here’s the thing – I know I need to work out and I know that I need to find something that I can stick with.

So this year I’m taking a little bit different approach. I’m still trying to make time to go to the gym, but instead of just putting in the time on the elliptical, I’m mixing it up.  I’m doing Zumba classes, I’m trying pilates and I’m even doing a little bit of running.  So far it seems to be working.  Instead of getting burned out on the gym quickly, I’m finding that I actually look forward to working out on most days.  I’ve been hitting the gym 4-5 times per week and I have no intention of slowing down.

Working Out Grade: B+

Weight Loss

As the proverbial saying goes, the proof is in the pudding and I guess in my case it would be more like the proof is in the weight lost.  I’ve been eating pretty well and I’ve been working out and the good news is that I’ve lost some weight.  It hasn’t been much – only a couple of pounds so far, but it’s a step in the right direction.  There’s a reason that I put weight loss after my diet and working out.  I feel like if I can get those two things right, the rest will just fall into place and eventually the weight will drop off.

We’ll have to see if that’s the case, but right now I’m treating this like a marathon, not a sprint and that means taking things one day, one decision at a time.  I’ll keep you posted on my progress.  What about you – how are your new year’s resolutions coming?

In The Face Of Temptation

As you may or may not know, one of my New Year’s Resolutions, along with about 100 million other Americans, is to lose some weight this year.  Unfortunately this is a resolution that has been on my list for about 5 years now and for various reasons, I’ve never really fully committed myself to acheiving it.  Well this year, I swear it’s going to be different and fortunately I have a very supportive spouse who shares my weight-loss goal.  It just so happens that Mike and I were talking about our weight loss goals last night as we were watching the MTV show I Used To Be Fat.

For those who have not seen the show, here are the nuts and bolts.  It’s a reality TV show that chronicles a summer in the life of an overweight teen as they workout, diet and lose weight.  On the episodes that we’ve seen, most of the teens lose between 60 and 90 pounds over the course of 3-4 months, which is pretty amazing.  As far as reality shows go, I think this is actually one of the better ones.  It shows the teens losing a lot of weight, but it also shows all the down and dirty work that it takes to get there.  These kids are working out hard every day, they are keeping their diets in check and they are building their character and self esteem. Very inspirational and very cool.

What Mike and I latched onto last night was the big countdown calendar that each teen puts in their room.  Every day, the teen rips down a page and the timeline decreases.  What I like about this is that it’s a visual reminder of your end goal and it also helps remind you to take things one day at a time.  We thought this would be a great idea for our house as we took on our weight loss challenge.  So with high hopes, I headed to Target over lunch today with a very short shopping list:

1. Hangable notepad for countdown
2. Cat litter
3. Lunch

Out of the three items on my list, you would have thought that finding the right notepad would have been the most difficult.  I hate to tell you this, but you would be wrong.  I had some big-time struggles with lunch today, particularly with deciding between a healthy lunch and something a little more tasty.  My original intention was to grab a Lean Cuisine or a fresh salad, but when I walked in the door at 12:15, the smell of freshly fried chicken strips hit me square in the face.  I literally could not help myself – it was like the smell of juicy, fried chicken was calling to me, pulling me towards it.

Without even thinking, I found myself standing directly in front of the deliciously fried chicken strips and french fries.  I literally stood there, staring at the food for I don’t know how long.  I can remember two distinct thoughts going through my mind.  “Just leave.  Leave now and go get your Lean Cuisine – you’ll feel better later.”.  The second thought was “My God.  That fried chicken smells amazing.  I want to shove it all in my mouth.”  I’m not entirely sure, but I may have been drooling a little bit and probably looked slightly slow.  I think I also had a somewhat disgusting vision of rolling around in a pool of fried chicken, but that might be TMI for you.  (Sorry if it is! :))

I’m not exactly clear about how long I stood there staring at the fried goodness, but eventually the guy behind the food counter finally jolted me out of my trance when he asked if I was ok.  At that point, I just backed away and half-ran to the pet section of the store.  I’m sure the food guy thought I was a little nuts, but I feel great.  I ended up grabbing a Lean Cuisine – the Tortilla Crusted Fish, which is amazing,  and a Diet Dr. Pepper and it was a completely satisfying lunch.

So today, I had a victory.  It may have been a minor one, but it was a victory nonetheless.  And when it comes down to it, most successes don’t happen overnight.  It’s taking things one step at a time and experiencing hundreds of small victories that will get you to your end goal.  With weight loss it might be choosing to go to the gym instead of watching TV on the couch.  Or it might be choosing to eat a Lean Cuisine for lunch instead of a box of fried chicken. 🙂  Whatever the choice is, each choice that I make in the right direction will help get me to where I want to be.

So here’s to me, my Lean Cuisine and my weight loss countdown calendar.  If you have any other ideas about how to stay motivated and drop those pounds, let me know!

Do You Remember?

I have to admit that as I wrote that post title, I started singing “Do You Remember the Time” by Michael Jackson, which is not at all what this post is about, but is a really good song.  This post is about the power of memory though.

I had a really interesting conversation with a few of my co-workers yesterday about how much we remember and what we remember.  It just so happens that one of my co-workers has a pretty amazing memory for numbers and can pretty much look at any spreadsheet and remember most of what’s on it.  She can also remember almost every meal she’s had for the past 6 months and every outfit she’s worn.  She can probably tell you the same things about her best friends as well.  She also has a pretty amazing talent for remembering general events of most days.

In contrast, I cannot remember what I wore last Tuesday and I cannot remember what I ate for lunch yesterday.  I have a terrible memory for things that happen in my daily life.  I also have a hard time remembering things about people I meet, like what they do, who they are married to and what their names are.  On the other hand, I have a pretty great historical and linguistic memory and I also have a knack for picking up and storing completely useless information.  So in a nutshell, I can tell you the entire historical progression that led us to WW1, but sadly I cannot tell you what I did for lunch two days ago.  What makes my head different from my co-workers?

As we were talking yesterday, I recalled an interview that Leslie Stahl did on 60 Minutes with people who have superior autobiographical memories or “endless memories” (useless information becomes useful! :)).  People with this talent or condition are incredibly rare – they’ve only identified 6 individuals in the entire world that remember things like the people in these videos.  Personally, I think that my co-worker might have a lesser form of this, but the videos are pretty amazing.  Check them out (there are 2 videos):

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504803_162-20026088-10391709.html

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7166315n&tag=contentMain;contentBody

Pretty amazing, huh?  If you got to the end of the second video, you’ll see that Leslie Stahl says, “I find it pretty disturbing that I can remember so few of the days in my life”.  As I try and go back through my life and my days, I can remember the big events pretty clearly, but I have a hard time recalling any normal, typical day.  Would you want to have an endless memory?  Would you want to be able to play every single day back in your head like a movie?  It’s not neccessarily an easy answer – you take the good memories with the bad and I would guess that adhering to the adage “forgive and forget” is a lot more difficult for people with endless memories.

In the end, I’m not sure I would want to be “blessed” with the gift of an endless memory.  Sure, it’s annoying that I can’t remember the name of the guy I just met or if I wore the same shirt twice in one week.  But that’s part of who I am.  My mind works differently than anyone elses in this world, and I’m alright with that.  What do you think?

Life is but a Dance

If you read my previous post on New Year’s resolutions, you’ll know that one of my goals this year is to dance more.  Now I am not, nor have I ever been considered a good dancer.  In fact, my family and friends generally compare me to Elaine from Seinfeld:

Despite the fact that my dancing skills are more than a little lacking, I still love to dance. I love to dance at weddings, I love to dance at parties and even though I’m not really much of a night-clubber, I have been known to throw a few moves around at the occasional bar or club. The music just moves me and I can’t control myself! My goal this year is to not only to continue dancing at weddings and parties, but to dance more in my every day life and here’s why:

1. Dancing is good for your health

It is a well-known fact that getting up off the couch and moving your body is essential for maintaining a healthy body.  Dancing requires you to move every part of your body and it can be an awesome cardo workout if you do it right.  We know that cardio workouts burn calories, which helps us maintain our weight and heart health.  All around, there isn’t really a downside to dancing healthwise.

2. Dancing makes you feel good

Technically speaking, moving your body helps produce endorphins, which are what make you feel happy.  Speaking from an un-technical perspective, moving your body while listening to a great song just lifts your mood.  You don’t have to think about it, you just move your body.  It’s relaxing and uplifting at the same time.

3. Dancing is inclusive

One of my favorite things about dancing is that it is not an exclusive activity.  Everybody can dance.  Not everybody can dance well (me, me me!), but everybody can dance.  Weddings are the perfect place to see this in action.  At a good wedding, you will see people of all ages out on the dance floor shaking their groove thing.  From your 80-year old grandma to your 2 year old niece, everyone just cuts loose and dances.

4. Dance needs no time or place

While there are definitely places and times that it’s probably not appropriate to dance (see church and funerals), you can pretty much cut loose any time of day anywhere you want.  You can strap on your iPod and jam out on the Subway, you can blast your speakers and have a dance party in your car, or you can dance while you’re doing the dishes.  In my opinion, almost any time is a good time for dancing.

5. Dancing is fun

Dancing is fun.  Really fun.  You don’t have to think about it, it puts a smile on your face and it brings people together.  It’s so fun in fact that it’s like a secret workout.  When you are enjoying yourself, time flies by.  When I go to Zumba, I get a great workout, but I don’t feel like I was really working out because I had so much fun.

So as you can see, I think I’ve made a pretty good case for including more dance in my life.  We already bought the game Just Dance 2 for Wii, which I’ve been playing pretty much non-stop.  I’m going to commit to going to two Zumba classes every week and I think I’ll be shutting off the TV and turning on my iPod a whole lot more when I’m home.  And now, for your viewing pleasure, here’s a video of your’s truly dancing with my nieces.  Enjoy!