Swimsuit review: Junonia

I ordered a new swimsuit from Junonia, and being the first time I ordered from them, I ordered a 4X. It fit fine everywhere except the bust (it squished the rack of doom something awful). So I called to return it and make sure it was available in a 6X in the color I wanted (turquoise, this one). Well, they only had the turquoise one in black in a 6X, so I ended up ordering this one instead. It was $20 more, and I had to pay return shipping on the one I returned to exchange, but it was so worth it.
I returned the turquoise one last week, and the black and hot pink one came today. I can tell you right now that I'll never order another swimsuit from anyone else ever again. When it comes to swimsuits, Junonia has all of my business forever, or as long as they're making swimsuits in my size. This is the first time I've ever had a swimsuit that the bra part of it actually fit the rack of doom and gave it support. The suit is easy to get in and out of, and it actually looks pretty good on me (I think I look good in it, which is saying something for me, I don't usually think that about swimsuits). The only thing that could be improved is that it's just a bit long in the torso for me, but I'm willing to deal with that for the way the rest of the suit fits so well.
I hated to spend that amount of money on a swimsuit, but now that I have the suit and have tried it on and compared it to every other less expensive swimsuit I've ever owned, it's well worth the $109.95 plus shipping that I paid for it (DH thinks so too, he likes the way I look in it).
If you're looking for a swimsuit, and have a rack of doom and are fat to boot, Junonia is the place to go. I can't recommend them enough (and no, I'm not getting anything from them for saying this).

Carpal tunnel surgery results

Well, I had my carpal tunnel surgery on February 5th, stitches came out 10 days later, and my hand is still numb. Doctor says it could take as long as 6 months for the numbness to go away, and I could still end up with some numbness all the time. I've never seen carpal tunnel surgery done where mine was done on my hand. I have an incision that's 1.5" long and starts at the heel of my hand, just above my wrist, and runs into the palm of my hand (I always thought it was done more in the wrist than in the hand). My hand is still sore on either side of the incision whenever I put any pressure on it, and when I was making some of the new curtains for the living room this weekend, it felt like it was burning under the incision (I think from the pressure of using the iron to press the hems/casings on the curtains).
I only did 4 panels, I still have 12 more to go. My hand is going to be killing me if I don't take it easy. I think what I may have to do is plan on pressing and sewing 2 panels a day, and doing them every other day in order to give my hand a chance to rest. It's not the sewing that bothered me so much, it was the ironing that did me in, putting enough pressure on the iron to get the wrinkles out of the fabric and making sure the hems and casings were pressed in crisply.
I did see the neurologist last week, and she wants to do another EMG in September to see how that nerve is healing (and she wants to check the ulnar nerve in my left arm, I told her I had damage to it from 15 years ago that nothing had ever been done about). So yay, I get to have two EMGs done in September.
I'm going to do what she said, and keep wearing my wrist brace at night and when I'm driving long distances (more than 30 miles or so). The doctor who did the surgery said I didn't need to wear it anymore, but he's an orthopedist, not a neurologist, so I'm going to go by what the neurologist says.

Muve Gruve to help fight "obesity"

This doesn't surprise me at all, but I think it's probably going to be a waste of $835,000. And I'm sorry, but that name is just too cutesy (barf!).

Muve, a company created by Dr. James Levine of Mayo Clinic in Rochester, is moving ahead with more research funded by a $835,000 federal grant.
The goal? Strengthen the company's battle against the U.S. obesity epidemic. More that 72 million U.S. adults are considered obese.
"People who are overweight and obese need real support, real solutions," said Muve COO Jim Meyer, who wrote the application for the grant with Dr. Levine about 1 1/2 years ago. "We try to make it simple and to make meaningful. This research will help with that."

I can give you some hints on the real support and real solutions we fat people need, and none of them are tied to weight loss (but they are tied to improvement in health). How about making access to fresh/frozen fruits and veggies easier/cheaper for everyone? How about making safe places for everyone to get out and play/walk/bike? How about making sure everyone has enough income and time to prepare meals from scratch instead of having to rely on processed foods? Oh, those won't make fat people thinner, they'll just make them healthier, and healthier isn't the real goal here, is it?

The Gruve is a small iPod-like electronic device worn by people to track their daily calorie burn using activity sensors backed up by Dr. Levine's research. Going through the Muve process, individuals set a daily calorie usage goal to hit a targeted weight loss and health standard.

Yep, here we go again with the calories in/out bullshit = weightloss = health. EPIC FAIL, people, need I say more?

The first phases of the research will focus on the Gruve's performance as an anti-obesity tool, Meyer said. The later phases will explore additional versions of Gruve, possibly targeted at different age groups.

How long is this research going to last and how long is the follow-up going to be on the people who use this contraption to lose weight? What do you want to bet it's not going to be near long enough to find out that people who lost weight using this also started gaining weight back even though they kept using it the way they were instructed?

"We are thinking about doing a product for adolescents that we're loosely calling a Gruve Jr.," Meyer said. "And on other end of the spectrum, we want to research the possibility of a Gruve Sr."

I don't even want to think what the branding on these will look like.

Levine and others formed Muve in 2007 to create the Gruve using a system developed at Mayo Clinic based on the theory that small but steady movement can combat weight loss caused by the modern sedentary lifestyle.
Mayo Clinic and Dr. Levine have a financial interest in technology licensed to Muve. Mayo also holds an equity position in the company.

Follow the money, folks, they want in on the billions of dollars spent on weight loss products and WLS just isn't cutting it anymore (pun fully intended).

While Muve does sell to directly to consumers through its Web site, the majority of its sales are done now through corporate programs, with companies buying or partially funding the purchase of Gruves for employees.

Gee, think they want to get insurance companies to pay for these things too? Another way to get more money for something that doesn't really work long-term.

Overall, Meyer says that he believes the society's position on obesity is reaching the point that it was at with smoking 20 years, 25 years ago.
"People are started to get that obesity is hurting everybody."

Um, no, my fat isn't hurting my kids or my grandkids or the next-door neighbor or the guy sitting next to me at the bar like second-hand smoke does, thank you very much. My fat isn't causing disease (it can be correlated, but that is NOT causation).
I'm sorry, but fat is not the next "health war" that needs to be fought. If you want to fight a health war, fight for affordable access to health care for everyone.