problem solving
Problem solving is considered one of the most complex of all intellectual functions. It is seen as a higher-order cognitive process that requires modulation and control.
So I have a small problem at the moment… my root cause analysis of the situation concluded that I over-indulged during my birthday trip… yay. However, if left unchecked, I will look like a beached whale in my bikini this Christmas… boo… besides Sod's Law dictates dat na facebook dem go use to expose me…
So I’m on a diet… The Food Doctor’s Diet… I’ve lost 3 kg in 3 weeks. Not bad but I’m not quite where I want to be yet. The process involves following some simple rules:
- No sugar – I miss cakes
- No caffeine – I miss drinking tea & coffee… especially at this time of the year… I need it to help combat the cold… mehnn I couldn’t feel my feet last night… seriously, it was like they were encased in ice despite the fact that they were supposedly insulated within a pair of thick socks, a 15 tog duvet and a pretty solid bedspread… I was that cold!
- Eat fat to loose fat – I no sabi dat logic sha but wetin concern me… if it works I'm down!
- Eat 5 times a day – yes o…5 times!… 3 main meals (each two palm/hand size portions) and 2 snacks (each just a palm/hand size portion)…
- No smoking – I don't anyhow
- No stress – Wish someone would tell my boss that
- No simple carbs - I've waved bye bye to white bread, white rice and pasta
- No starchy carbohydrates for dinner (I can only have that for breakfast and lunch) – this means that I cannot look forward to dishes like jollof rice in the evenings :-(
- Increase intake of complex carbohydrates – but I broke my Jack La Lanne juicer as I was cleaning it – I had to stop and ask myself… ‘Shubby Doo how does one break the rotating spring casing while trying to re-assemble it?’… how I did it I don’t know… what I do know is if I was to use it now I’d electrocute myself… I’m bummed out by it because it was the only way to make sure that I got my daily intake of fruit and veg…it’s now a struggle because as a child I was never any good at eating my greens… to be honest I wasn't good at eating full stop…hence the childhood name bone-ga-fish…
- Exercise at least 3 times a week for 20 minutes minimum – so I’m doing my pilates workout (that includes cardio!) every evening. The definition is slowly coming back to my body; I’m toning up and my muscles are leaner ;-)
- Pareto Principle – if I'm good 80% of the time, the other 20% doesn't matter!
I’ve applied a simple formula to a small problem (admittedly to do with my vanity) but I’m very sure that I’ll end up with the right result.
These last few weeks I’ve been overwhelmed by the number of bigger problems out there in the world.
Two weeks ago - I sat, flabbergasted, as I watched the documentary on the practice in Akwa Ibom, Nigeria… a classic case of how a perspective on a phenomenon has created one… I mean how the fuck does a community continue its barbaric practice of branding its children as child witches and then torture and kill them?!… in this day and age?! haba…
Last week - I was utterly confused as to why those retards entered Mumbai, India… solely for the purpose of reeking havoc at the taj mahal hotel, oberoi trident hotel, caman hotel, nariman place and café leopoid… I keep checking the news and still opacity… so I’m asking WTF for?!
Over the w/e - I was monitoring the religious/ ethnic violent riots in Jos, Nigeria… a result of the contested elections… all the time knowing that the deaths were preventable and absolutely senseless!
Today is World AIDS Day – but I still cannot fathom why people choose to have unsafe sex…people should fucking double bag IMO!
Ever heard of the joke ‘why is a maths book so sad?… well it’s because it contains so many problems’… but isn't maths supposed to be ‘the’ universal language of the world?… correction…of the universe as we know it… one that needs no translation to be completely understood… Especially in relation to the examples given above; I mean why can’t the foundations of mathematics be used to teach people that the axioms that they hold true are massively flawed. Simply because each is a starting point from which nothing else logically follows… *sighs*
Generally, I live my life holding steadfast to a lesson I learnt in church many years ago… ‘if you’re not part of the solution you are part of the problem’… but like Shakespeare pointed out in Hamlet… ‘ay, there's the rub’… what is the solution?… I remember this textbook I had in university… Stroud's Engineering Mathematics… we called it our engineering bible just because it had a detailed worked solution to everything.
Good Shepherd, why can’t there be a finite answer for each and every one of the world’s problems?…only one right non-elusive answer no matter the method of derivation.
34 comments:
i love this post. it does get frustrating to consider the world's issues and not have a ready answer
WS
Wow! I'm second. (I hope).
Good luck with your diet. I hope you lose enough weight before Christmas. You didn't have to rub it in that you'll be lazing on a nice tropical beach in the sun on Christmas day while the rest of us will be battling the cold here in London.
ok, me & maths - we r not in d same zip code. thank God 4 calculators, daz what i can say!
weight losee: 3kg in 3 weeks! damn! i've done all dat u listed, save 4 d palm-size meals (WTF) but i ain't loosing weight d way i want. it's frustrating!
Jos situation is insane! Akwa-Ibom, am speechless. D india one, makes no sense.
Kai, my brain is in a mumbo-jumbo about some of the issues you have raised at the end of this post. Wow, today is World AIDS day, thanks for the awareness. Nevertheless, I would like to highlight the things that cracked me up:
"...but I broke my Jack La Lanne juicer as I was cleaning it – I had to stop and ask myself… ‘Shubby Doo how does one break the rotating spring casing while trying to re-assemble it?’" LOL.
Pareto Principle - if I'm good 80% of the time, the other 20% doesn't matter!
I mean why can’t the foundations of mathematics be used to teach people that the axioms that they hold true are massively flawed. Simply because each is a starting point from which nothing else logically follows…
LOLLLL...
Ahh....
The familiar sounds of the oppressed.
Loosing weight is painful business.
I still have 3kg more to loose but i have decided that the pain is simply not worth the effort.
Lol.
It's sad how bad things are all over the world.I wish we could fix them just as easily..
Hopefully with this year's Christmas we'll sit down, cheering over the season and maybe some of the world's ill will be drowned in our joy.
Pilates?
That's cool.
Me? I just take hour long walks every other day.
Empties my body and fills my mind.
"I mean why can’t the foundations of mathematics be used to teach people that the axioms that they hold true are massively flawed. Simply because each is a starting point from which nothing else logically follows…"
I'm afraid my little mind quite faltered at that.
enjoyed reading this post and with regards to Aids, all should wrap it up and get tested!!
good on you with the diet
we need to see the before and after pictures lol
the killings going on in the world right now are senseless
maybe its a sign that we are living in the end times
Good luck with the diet o! I wont taunt you with the fact that i just baked the perfect sponge cake last night, which i am now going to proceed to devour slice by slice all by myself (the beauty of living alone, eh?)
I'm too much of a caffeine junkie to give up tea and coffee, i therefore salute your iron resolve. We've just completed our end of year fast at church (i know most churches do this in December not novemeber, don't ask!) and it's amazing how much weight i lost! My thighs of thunder actually slimmed down to almost half their size (i exagerate a bit). Amazing! So now i'm telling myself i really DO have the will power to lose weight...that said, i'm not exactly overweight, i just dont like the way my clothes are sitting these days.
Gosh...I do realise i'm rambling by the way...but vis a vis the recent events going on around the world, i'm reminded of a song we used to sing way back when, in the days my mother used to drag us to Cele church. The song went 'aiye yi ti wo s'egbe kan...'. We kids used to find it hilarious, but sadly, that seems to be the case these days. God help us all
~Eat fat to lose fat? Um...okay, like you said...me I no sabi that one but if it works who are we to complain lol
~My dear..I don't know why people have unsafe sex either...I just can't fathom the reasoning behind it...
~That Akwa Ibom witches thing nearly ruined my Thanksgiving...I was so annoyed...
~Anyway back to the diet, good luck with that...I'm sure you'll be fine!
I like the way you weaved in the mathematical/engineering side of you in this post. I think it's amazing when a woman can go from talking about cognitive processes and modulation in one vein, to talking about low-carb diets on the other hand. Love it.
I have a few pounds that were tryna be stubborn, but pilates, swimming, running and biking are finally working out for me. Eating 5 small meals like your doing is also a great idea...
The Jos riots are really sad and unnecessary...do we ever learn? I just read about the child withces as well, it blows my mind that some 'pastors' are thriving off of pushing that ideology. Lmao on your comment on World Aids Day...
"if you’re not part of the solution you are part of the problem"-so true. I grew up hearing those words...
Gosh my comment is becoming a post on its own...
@wordsmith – thanks & welcome…frustrating is an understatement…but I guess these are just sad realities of life.
@kayshawn – lol…thanks… u can keep London & all hopes for a white xmas o!…me, I’m running away from the cold!
@FFF – I’m sure you’re doing this for your wedding so I’ll try and send you the exact diet tips by e-mail…make sure you do at least 3 sessions (20mins of cardio a week)…also recommend dat you throw in some body conditioning (toning) exercises as well…variety is key
p.s
will try to remember to let you in on a secret detox recipe… 2 be taken 2ice (on consecutive days)…i.e. two days before, as well as the day before the wedding…it is one gets rid of that bloated feeling;-)
@jaycee – pele jare…didn’t mean to do that…I’m ranting bcos these things happening in the world seem like mumbo jumbo to me 2…
p.s
so you’re laughing about my juicer abi?…lol…I still haven’t thrown it away o! will do 2nite
pp.s
do remember the 80:20 rule…I find it comes in very useful in all walks of life!
@carlang – Amen o!... I studied diminishing returns so you giving up with only 3 kg 2 go, i completely understand…ehya you’re at that stage where the effort required has risen exponentially abi?…keep going if u can and I’m sure u will get there :-)
‘I just take hour long walks every other day.
Empties my body and fills my mind’
Nobody says it better than you carlang =)
@doug – you ke?…small mind…I no gree…it’s just my livid self not really getting what they mean to achieve in the end…
I mean they evoke fear, kill people and then what?…what common sense system do they propose to change to compared with what there is now?…it has to be one that will make the many (& not just the few) better off by improving the quality of their lives…if that does not exist then the ideology is flawed…history has taught us that much…
for the people who manipulate others into killing to gain power…for those who willingly take so many innocent lives for their warped causes…for the guys who think ‘if I piss straight after sex I won’t catch AIDS’… there is nothing self evident about the necessity of these acts IMO cos they are dead end ideas based on only selfishness…I deplore such ideologies…
p.s
my axiom analogy is to do with an ideology
@shonavixen – my sista thank you jare…you sure said it right…my bad for 4getting to add the ‘get tested’ regularly bit :-)
@Miss DM – only you would want to see the b4 and after pics…lol
@UCS – madame if I catch you…kai…I woke up this morning and read your comment…my stomach hasn’t stopped churning since…see me see trouble o! please was it a Victoria sponge cake?...actually don’t answer that…just know that I’m coming to sit in your house pem pem in January…
@ the mo, I’m craving for a pineapple turnover, bakewell tart and a walnut cake all at the same time…to be honest what would hit the spot is a nice artic roll for dessert after the lunch i just had…hmmm
lol @ thunder thighs…I remember an episode of a different world when someone was called ‘miss thunder thighs and bootylicious’…I’m slim sha but I no say dat one be my name 2!
@lolia – I think it applies to things like skimmed milk…the book says there is no point to eating things with no nutritional value…I guess full fat milk it is then ;-)
@NDQ – I love your regime but I’ve never been into biking/spinning… isn’t pilates great?!…I figured that wouldn’t be disciplined enough for yoga and chose pilates instead…no regrets so far…my core is strengthening up very nicely… very nicely indeed
p.s
wrt to the diet – as each person is different it has to be the palm/hand size of the person dieting used as portions…
pp.s
oh and it’s technically 6 meals (and not 5) – I’m supposed to snack before bedtime but I had to tell myself ‘shubdy doo…relax…e don do’…lol
the akwa-ibom thing: no words.
the mumbai thing: i actually know someone who knows someone who was in the second hotel. scary ish.
the math thing: over my head. and to be honest, i didnt really try.
ps, pls share those anti-bloating tips with all of us oh!
so you partied like a rockstar for your bday and now you are on a diet?
Ah!
Like you, I wish there was a simple solution to the world's issues. There probably is, you know. We just overlook it.
How now?
Great post.. I like the way it began, very academic and intellectual...
And why are you doing this to me? I have this feeling of being watched... and you already know I like to be the watcher...
@shubby - Lol!Ok pele dear. I apologise. No pain no gain. You try sha! How long do you have to do it for(..or is this a 'lifestyle change')?
Shubby doo, I think counting calories will also be a fun way to mix it up. This way, u won’t get bored of your diet. It is easy to get sidetracked, If u stick to a strict regime.
I am 121 pounds – 55kg. I eat 7 times a day but in small portions. I will admit, the only exercise I do is walking and that’s because I work in the city and I have to take the bus home. Once I am home... my car is always there, even for throwing away the garbage in my complex.
In the morning I have skim milk with boiled egg – at 8am
10am – a banana and 5 carrots with a cup of water
12pm – different fruits and vegetables. On a cold day, I have a cup of soup
2 pm – sunflower seeds and almonds – just a handful and another cup of water
4pm – yogurt
6pm – Eba, Amala, Ayamahe with rice, Beans and Dodo... any solid good Nigerian meal
9pm – Protein mix. Or Ice cream
I am to have 1650 calories to maintain my weight. Sometimes I indulge in a slice or two of Tiramisu cake, that’s if I have not reached my 1650 limit.
I realized I can eat my carbs as long as I eat early and i don’t fall asleep immediately.
*****
I am suprised u just heard about the child witches. I wrote a story about it febuary.. See here
http://allied-genesis.blogspot.com/2008/02/my-journey.html
I hear the no sugar no carbs in your diet works all the time, well at least it's been purported by B. Spears and Sasha Fierce, but I assume it shd work. lol @ no jollof rice for dinner, yeah that wd make me depressed too, and giving up tea/coffee, nooooooo!
My heart aches for just that one alone, ah dieting *sighs*
Best of luck chica!
@geisha.song - there wasn't really much maths here so you didn't miss much
detox - it involves lemons...very vile but it works...i'll send u an e-mail so the medical professionals don't tell me off
@SSD – lol…I did. i dey o!
@jaja - lol...somebody needs to keep an eye on u!
@UCS - from january it will be a lifestyle thing...i've been on it for about 3 years but last time i was in nigeria for xmas i lost 5kg and nearly dropped a dress size...just like that...so for most of this year i haven't followed it...if i did i would have had to change my wardrobe and i didn't have the money to do such a thing...but like most things that catch up with u in the end, all the good food went to my hips, bum and thighs!...slowly but surely it is coming off
@allied - thanks for the link...i've commented at yours.
will try your version this w/e...it's not too different from mine really...
-u have one extra meal..thus eat more often
-i would normally compliment pulses with a portion of fruit (or veg)...
-your lunch is much lighter but your dinner is much heavier...
i'm not usually allowed simple carbs at all but I’ll see how it goes
@Avartsy - I heard no carb results in a mild form of halitosis… dieting will not spoil my kissing game o…lol
thanks for stopping by…been to yours and I like it
Great post.
I think everybody had said everything that needs to be said.
Personally, I learnt that between Pilates and Pareto, all the world's problems would be solved.
This is a very interesting post.
Did you call that list of things a simple formula to a small problem?
And I think this is a nice one "if you’re not part of the solution you are part of the problem"
Wish you well with the weight loss. Regarding world events, I have resigned myself into believing the world is no worse today than it has ever been. We just happen to hear more about the evil and pain.
We know all these things but the problem is not that we do not understand but that we have refused to understand.
hey babe... are you still interested in singing? if you are jus record and send it in ok. thanx. and let me know ok..
My dear, r u still able to keep to your diet?
@NIMMO – thanks…
LMAO @ your statement about pareto and pilates...not sure how one plots a straight line between those 2 points and arrives a solution about the world’s problems but it sure is helping to solve mine sha ;-)
@rita - lol...it isn't really that complicated
@naapali - but since we hear more about it is fair to reason that more people should do more to stop it.
@emeka amakeze - refusing to understand is just an excuse...as it serves to absolve the mindless of their responsibility to think for themselves and encourages them to continually look to others to interpret things for them…it is no surprise that people then form divisive opinions based on the flawed reasoning… *sigh*…
I’m not surprised that world is in such a mess today…I’m praying sha…for unity thru understanding… for thoughtfulness based on love…I’m praying to God it will change for the better…soon
@geisha.song – thanks. i've sent you and e-mail
@standall – thanks 4 asking…I am managing o!
hey i didnt get it!
geisha.xoxo@gmail.com
Each time I try to loose weight I seem to gain more...now I am just comfortable with my size....ok minus my tummy....and my cheeks...and maybe the thighs...and....
my problems make me eat...the world's problems make me eat...I eat when i realise people in zimbabwe are starving....
so fat I will remain...a tight size 12...
How was ur holiday? break any bones doing any of them funny oyibo stuff u planned to do???
missed ya...
The 'noble but, torturous' journey to weight loss.
@rethots – lol…really?…not sure that my quest for vanity can be considered noble o!
@afrobabe - ain't nothing wrong with a size 12…
my bday was great, thanks. all bones unbroken and accounted for…lol
p.s
oyibo stuff ke?…don't let me find you and slap u back 2 where u've been hiding o!…missed u 2 ;-)
just to make sure I stay balanced with all the 'oyibo' stuff i've done, I’ll will be off later next week to do all the stuff that lagosians do in las gidi for xmas and new year…yippee!!!
@geisha.song - i know you've got it now sha…don't laugh…nywayz i'll link back to your '12 days of Christmas’ event… when it is my turn
good luck with ur diet! i just bought the Kelloggs Special K that guarantees the loss of 3kg in 2weeks..hmm..
we can only keep praying for the problems of the world to cease..
how r u anywayz?
No idea....
it's a tight size 12...so tight its more of a 14...
@afro - abeg nothing do you jare
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