BSG & food

[thistlechaser]

BSG: Still loving the series! I'm four eps into season two.

Yesterday's ep, Fragged, was the second time BSG disturbed me in the same way. Fragged was the ep where there was a small group of characters on Kobol trying to survive while waiting to be rescued, the unskilled/stupid officer in charge of them. The chief disagreed strongly with what the officer was ordering them to do (attack the Cylons with their little group), and told the officer that to his face in private, but when the doctor openly questioned the order the chief backed up the stupid officer... Putting the military culture? hierarchy? ahead of reason and sense. This was the second ep that did exactly that.

That sort of behavior is one of the reasons that I have issues with a military group. No matter how much better the lower ranked people know the situation, no matter how much smarter they are, how much more experienced they are, they have to listen to the higher ranking guy. Yeah, the higher ranking guy should listen to the lower, but he doesn't have to... It was so very disturbing to see these characters I like acting that way. (Though I know it's correct for them to do so.)

It's so nice to have a series where I love almost every single character. (The only one I don't is that horrible Tigh woman, but as I'm assuming we're supposed to hate her, I don't suppose she really counts.)

RL/food: It's depressing how much food makes me feel better. I've been having a bad couple days, not sleeping more than a couple hours a night, stressed at work and on darned FFXI (grr, games should not be adding to my stress!). I just couldn't handle today. Nope, brain wouldn't focus, emotions wouldn't stay stable, I just wanted to go home and cry and curl up in bed. Then I noticed we had some mini candybars at the front desk. I snitched a handful and mmmmmmmmm wow. I feel 95% better! I had a large (though shorter lived) mood improvement after having a "real" breakfast (not just a packet of oatmeal) this morning, too.

Food shouldn't make you feel better (I mean, unless you're hungry). I know it's built into us through evolution that eating = good, but that's so useless now! Bah. Now I have to rely on my laughable willpower not to go get more chocolate to feel better again.

It's like a drug, I tell you! ;)

Comments

[xvolph.livejournal.com]

Food does play a role in emotional health and balance. Certain types of food, such as chocolate, do trigger reactions in the pleasure centers of the brain, and this causes a release of endorphins.

Supposedly exercise can have a similar effect. I admit, I'm bad about this one.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

I was surprised to hear that red meat has the same effect as chocolate on the pleasure centers of the brain. Again, makes sense in evolutionary terms, but still seems odd nowadays...

[tersa.livejournal.com]

xvolph already spoke to the mood-altering affects of chocolate, but also, sugar might have a similar effect because it would spike your blood sugar levels quickly.

I had a large (though shorter lived) mood improvement after having a "real" breakfast (not just a packet of oatmeal) this morning, too.

This almost as much as the chocolate/sugar reaction makes me think that it's not entirely the comfort food that could be the issue, but everything else you eat that's causing (or contributing to) the bad moods, stress, and sleep issues, like what you eat, when you eat it, and in what balance/proportions.

Aren't you pre-diabetic? It becomes even doubly important then.

But that's just my off the cuff assessment...

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Aren't you pre-diabetic?

"Pre-pre-diabetic" was how my doctor put it, and I've been slipping on eating right. Not sugar so much (other than today...) but skipping meals and going too long between eating. Last night I ate dinner at 3:30 (and ate next to nothing), so I was amazingly hungry this morning and had gone too long without eating anything.

So yeah.

[kamalloy.livejournal.com]

Ah, Ellen Tigh. I believe that's the episode that made me start calling her "Lady Macbeth in space."

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Ha ha ha yes. God, she's so horrible.

[voidmagus.livejournal.com]

I like the Lady Macbeth moniker. Mrs Tigh is really much more a tragic character than just bad. But you'll see more of that in coming episodes. Poor confused priorities lady.

Also Thistle, as for your dislike of the chain of command...There are some flaws in such a design. On the whole, it works very well - smarter people with more experience tend to be in the higher ranks. The NCOs (non-commissioned officers, a la the Chief) have to take orders from officers, and often the officers are just hotshot pilots. This is the same in the actual military, and why pilots are rarely in command of anyone (except other pilots). But people die in battle, and the chain of command shifts. I had friends in vietnam in a similar situation, and they handled it in a very similar way to how BSG handles it.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I know that in general it works, but it's the times that it doesn't work that bug me.

I had friends in vietnam in a similar situation, and they handled it in a very similar way to how BSG handles it.

Fragging? Yeah, I wikied it after the ep and was surprised to see that it wasn't all that uncommon.

[firebyrd.livejournal.com]

That's the problem with food. A recovering alcoholic can just not drink. It's not easy, but s/he can survive that way. Same with a smoker, or drug addict, or whatever. We cannot survive without food, though, which is why it's so easy to fall off the wagon as far as healthy eating goes. It drives me nuts. :(

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Exactly. If we could just take a pill once a day instead of eating, that'd be fine with me. It'd be much much much easier to eat nothing than to have to eat reasonable stuff/amounts. :/

[veloxe.livejournal.com]

I'm horribly addicted to food. And it's the "bad" foods as well. Cheese burgers, Bacon (sometimes on Cheese burgers), Pizza, Nachos, Hot Dogs, Fried Chicken, Canadian Bacon (otherwise known as Peameal Bacon). If it could cause me to have a heard attack at 30, I'll eat it. Thank god I was born with super metabolism so I never actually gain weight (asides from muscle gain apparently). If I did, I'd probably be huge by now >.>

[voidmagus.livejournal.com]

Hurrrraaaay for bacon!

Personally, I just lack the organs that would let me digest fat. So I can eat all the bacon, etc I want without an increase in cholesterol or gaining weight.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Wow, that's handy!

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Thank god I was born with super metabolism so I never actually gain weight

I hate you. :D

[veloxe.livejournal.com]

I get that alot :P

Actually, I went down to the cafe today and there was a short...larger women there and she was eating like vegetables and all those good things for you (clearly trying to eat well basically) and then I walked by. Tall, stick man, with like a double bacon cheeseburger and fries drentched in gravy. Death glare ensued. >.>

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

*laughs* I can imagine. :D