After a somewhat discouraging week of poor decisions, I got my act together and put in a successful week. After recovering from the long weekend, Tuesday through Friday was a good week of eating, getting back to my regular diet.
In the pool this week, I felt strong and was able to cut through the 0.5 mile swim with some vigor. It was nice to have all the "swimming muscles" back so I could swim all 18 laps with some intensity. This week, I might up the distance another 9 laps one day and try for a 0.75 mile swim. On Saturday, I got a nice bike ride in on an abnormally beautiful winter day in Oregon. The temperature had a small bite to it on the bike, but my body heat kept me warm on the 16 mile round-trip ride. The weather was DRY, and with the recent rain, the roads were CLEAN! With the road tires on my mountain bike, I almost like the winter ride better than the summer, because the rain keeps the debris off the side of the road. In the summer, you're practically riding on gravel. Maybe I'll adopt a street on part of my ride and sweep it up in the summers! :) I'm excited to get some rides into school perhaps this week. Maybe Wednesday.
With the combination of my diet and good workouts, I lost 3.8 pounds this week, dropping my weight to 295.6! I'm happy with the losses, I'm always afraid of losing too much weight too fast and gaining it back just as quick. Hopefully I'm developing healthy habits that will take it off and keep it off! My next mini-goals: to get into the 280s by the end of February, and maybe around 275 by our first baseball games in March (a MUST in order to fit into my uniform)!
Well, along with my healthy exercise and diet choices, I decided that 2010 would be a year of health at the doctor's as well. If you've ever slept in the same zip code as me, you know I'm a snorer. A bad one. Beyond that, my mom and wife both told me that I probably have apnea because I hold my breath at times in the night. For as long as I've known myself, I've always had sleep disorders. Beyond the heavy snoring and breathing, I often am restless at night, and have insomnia sessions that keep me up too late. Furthermore, as all my roommates I've ever lived with experienced, I can have full conversations (usually very funny conversations) and not remember them when I wake up.
So, one thing I did was check with a sleep specialist, and tonight (Sunday night) I go to the lab to spend the night and monitor my sleep. The doctor said I'm a likely candidate for apnea among other potential disorders, and I'm kind of excited for this experience. In speaking with people about apnea, I hear that if you can get a sleep machine or something to help aid your sleep, your life changes significantly. You wake up with better energy and refreshed. Being an athlete my whole life, I've always attributed the "tiredness" to my activity throughout the week. I figured that if I'm working hard, I'm going to be tired. It seemed logical. But I'm anxious to see if some treatment will help me. If I've been living my whole life with these sleep disorders, and been functioning on a deprived amount of energy unbeknownst to me, I might be able to experience a new kind of life with some help. The prospect of having more energy throughout the day for the rest of my life to accomplish all the goals I have is exciting. That would be an amazing blessing.
So, next week, I'll be able to share my experience sleeping at the clinic, but not the results until after Monday, Feb. 1.
Until then, God bless your journey!
To Health and Wealth!
Aloha,
Isaac
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Thursday, January 21, 2010
The Week 2 Blues...
Well, it's been a while since I've last posted, and I feel bad for not staying updated.
Last weekend, Anna and I took advantage of my three-day weekend and went up to visit some friends in Seattle. While the week leading up to the trip was a good week for me, the weekend wasn't great (as for my diet). We had a great time, and got a LOT of sleep, which was nice for my body after putting it through two weeks of shock after not working out in like 8 months. The time spent with friends and in Seattle was AWESOME, but the diet, not so much.
For one, we forgot our beloved Nopalea when we went up. Two, I ate and drank things that I have been able to avoid such as drinking soda, alcohol, ice cream, eating out (fried stuff), and not eating regularly. My body was used to having 5 small meals a day, and by 3pm on a normal school day, I typically have 3 meals in and a snack just before workouts. On Saturday, after a bowl of cereal in the morning, we didn't eat again until 4:30...my body was tired, achy, and of course, I overate and ate poorly because I was so hungry.
Nonetheless, I lost exactly 1 pound last week. I guess that's a victory after the bad weekend. The awesome thing was that I broke the 300 pound barrier when I weighed myself on Monday! 299.4! Well, I know this week will be a better week. Although, I found that I've fallen trap to the "body building" rather than the "body reducing" part of the weights workouts. Even some football kids that I haven't seen a ton of lately said that I was looking "swo"...of course that just motivates me to keep lifting hard (I know, it's sad when I let 16 year olds inflate my ego).
Regardless of how heavy I lift, I need to up my cardio, and keep eating right to cut more fat down. A swim tonight, bike ride Saturday, and maybe another bike ride on Sunday will help finish this week strong. I'm going to blog again on Sunday to get me back on track...sorry to all my loyal readers out there! :)
To Health and Wealth!
Aloha,
Isaac
Last weekend, Anna and I took advantage of my three-day weekend and went up to visit some friends in Seattle. While the week leading up to the trip was a good week for me, the weekend wasn't great (as for my diet). We had a great time, and got a LOT of sleep, which was nice for my body after putting it through two weeks of shock after not working out in like 8 months. The time spent with friends and in Seattle was AWESOME, but the diet, not so much.
For one, we forgot our beloved Nopalea when we went up. Two, I ate and drank things that I have been able to avoid such as drinking soda, alcohol, ice cream, eating out (fried stuff), and not eating regularly. My body was used to having 5 small meals a day, and by 3pm on a normal school day, I typically have 3 meals in and a snack just before workouts. On Saturday, after a bowl of cereal in the morning, we didn't eat again until 4:30...my body was tired, achy, and of course, I overate and ate poorly because I was so hungry.
Nonetheless, I lost exactly 1 pound last week. I guess that's a victory after the bad weekend. The awesome thing was that I broke the 300 pound barrier when I weighed myself on Monday! 299.4! Well, I know this week will be a better week. Although, I found that I've fallen trap to the "body building" rather than the "body reducing" part of the weights workouts. Even some football kids that I haven't seen a ton of lately said that I was looking "swo"...of course that just motivates me to keep lifting hard (I know, it's sad when I let 16 year olds inflate my ego).
Regardless of how heavy I lift, I need to up my cardio, and keep eating right to cut more fat down. A swim tonight, bike ride Saturday, and maybe another bike ride on Sunday will help finish this week strong. I'm going to blog again on Sunday to get me back on track...sorry to all my loyal readers out there! :)
To Health and Wealth!
Aloha,
Isaac
Monday, January 11, 2010
Week 1
Well, I weighed in on Sunday (my designated weigh-in day) at 300.4...which means I'm down 3.6 pounds from last week. I feel really, really good about it because I feel like I've been doing things right.
In theory, I was hoping to ease my way into my workouts, but did some things I probably wasn't expecting to. I got two great days of cardio in, with half-mile swims, and three solid lifts in. One way that is challenging for me is to be able to check my pride aside and stick to a low weight, high rep workout. It's so hard and tempting to lift heavy and hard. My whole life, the time spent in the weight room was centered around competition. Now, it's difficult to break out of that mindset that I've worked so hard on developing. However, I did manage to complete one of my lifts this week as a circuit, where I stayed light on the weights and was constantly moving. I guess if I do at least one of those a week, I can consider that a start.
As for my diet, I think I found a great routine that works well for now. It's amazing how easy it is to eat right if you plan it out. I'm learning to value my health more than my desires and cravings. I even exercised some discipline and ate the same lunch all week and was okay with it. I made smaller portioned sized lunches on Sunday for the whole week, a chicken and veggie stir fry on a bed of wild, brown, and white rice mix. I'm eating 5 smaller portioned meals, and I'm using my school schedule to help me remember when to eat. Anna and I also planned our healthy choiced and properly portioned dinners for the week, and it was fun! We're finding the go-to meals that we can eat every week, and mixing in change-ups for variety. On Saturday, we enjoyed a meal out at one of our favorites, Momiji's. I withheld from eating too much and found that I still enjoyed it thoroughly. It's these small victories that I have to find and celebrate if I hope to break old habits. After this week, my only anxiety is when baseball starts...where am I going to find the time to make sure these meals are planned out right? I fear this will be my first stumbling block in the near future. But as I'm learning, nothing that a little planning and prep can't do...
As for the Nopalea, I feel great! For one, my knee has been performing stellar. Today I back squatted 315 for a few reps for the first time in a really, REALLY long time, and I did it WITHOUT MY KNEE BRACE, which is a first since my knee injury! Not only that, but it was completed with significantly less pain than in the past. Beyond my knee pain and mobility, I really feel my recovery times are shorter than I can remember. You all know how horrible that first week back in the weight room is...hurts to breathe sometimes, and you dread the next workout. Last week, I was excited and ready to go back to the weight room. This week was by far the best first week back in my life, and I have to honestly think that some of that has to do with the Nopalea consumption!
This week, I need to find a way to incorporate another day of cardio in. I really need a good tune-up of my bike and a test ride so I can start to ride to school again. It's a great way to not only save on gas, but also to squeeze in a couple 30-35 minute bike rides in the day.
Until I complain about next weeks challenges,
To Health and Wealth!
Aloha,
Isaac
In theory, I was hoping to ease my way into my workouts, but did some things I probably wasn't expecting to. I got two great days of cardio in, with half-mile swims, and three solid lifts in. One way that is challenging for me is to be able to check my pride aside and stick to a low weight, high rep workout. It's so hard and tempting to lift heavy and hard. My whole life, the time spent in the weight room was centered around competition. Now, it's difficult to break out of that mindset that I've worked so hard on developing. However, I did manage to complete one of my lifts this week as a circuit, where I stayed light on the weights and was constantly moving. I guess if I do at least one of those a week, I can consider that a start.
As for my diet, I think I found a great routine that works well for now. It's amazing how easy it is to eat right if you plan it out. I'm learning to value my health more than my desires and cravings. I even exercised some discipline and ate the same lunch all week and was okay with it. I made smaller portioned sized lunches on Sunday for the whole week, a chicken and veggie stir fry on a bed of wild, brown, and white rice mix. I'm eating 5 smaller portioned meals, and I'm using my school schedule to help me remember when to eat. Anna and I also planned our healthy choiced and properly portioned dinners for the week, and it was fun! We're finding the go-to meals that we can eat every week, and mixing in change-ups for variety. On Saturday, we enjoyed a meal out at one of our favorites, Momiji's. I withheld from eating too much and found that I still enjoyed it thoroughly. It's these small victories that I have to find and celebrate if I hope to break old habits. After this week, my only anxiety is when baseball starts...where am I going to find the time to make sure these meals are planned out right? I fear this will be my first stumbling block in the near future. But as I'm learning, nothing that a little planning and prep can't do...
As for the Nopalea, I feel great! For one, my knee has been performing stellar. Today I back squatted 315 for a few reps for the first time in a really, REALLY long time, and I did it WITHOUT MY KNEE BRACE, which is a first since my knee injury! Not only that, but it was completed with significantly less pain than in the past. Beyond my knee pain and mobility, I really feel my recovery times are shorter than I can remember. You all know how horrible that first week back in the weight room is...hurts to breathe sometimes, and you dread the next workout. Last week, I was excited and ready to go back to the weight room. This week was by far the best first week back in my life, and I have to honestly think that some of that has to do with the Nopalea consumption!
This week, I need to find a way to incorporate another day of cardio in. I really need a good tune-up of my bike and a test ride so I can start to ride to school again. It's a great way to not only save on gas, but also to squeeze in a couple 30-35 minute bike rides in the day.
Until I complain about next weeks challenges,
To Health and Wealth!
Aloha,
Isaac
Sunday, January 3, 2010
In the beginning...
Well, here we are at the start of my journey. I am including for you a few pictures. First, the product...Nopalea. Sounds Hawaiian, but it's not. It got its name from the nopal cactus of the Sonoran Desert, and that cactus, the opuntia, contains betalains, which are what makes this drink different from any other anti-oxidant. If you're interested in trying the product, let me know, and I'll send you a bottle for free.
The next photo is of my messed up knee, the source of many of my health problems. At first, it was scoped, then cut open. The short scar underneath the long one is a puncture the doctor needed to create so he could reach into my knee joint and pull some of the cartilage that was lodged in my knee and was preventing my range of motion. My surgery was done 6 weeks after my injury. During that time, I engaged in aggressive rehab, all while my kneecap was dislocated, and I had cartilage stuck in my knee joint. No wonder rehab wasn't going so well! For the full story on my knee, check out the blog, "The Backstory, Part Deux."
And finally, the last image, my starting weight. Here I am, on palindrome day, 01/02/2010, weighing in at a whopping 304 pounds! If I were to reach my goal of losing 15% of my body weight, I should be somewhere between 255 and 260 by the end of the year. That'll be a good weight for me. I can make 260 look sexy...
Looking at this picture, I think if I cut off one of my big toes, I'd lose a quick 5 pounds right off the bat...
Aloha,
Isaac
Saturday, January 2, 2010
First Snow Session...
Okay, I promise all my blogs won't be as long as the first two...they were the BACKSTORY, so it takes a little bit of real estate to explain the history behind my decision to blog.
I just wanted to let everyone know, yesterday I went snowboarding for the first time without a knee brace, loaded up on the Nopalea, and today I have the least amount of pain in my knee and body that I've ever experienced on a day after snowboarding. This product is LEGIT! No knee brace, and no knee pain. Even the bruise on my butt from landing on ICE is down a lot from yesterday. I landed on the same spot of ICE, on the same place on my butt, two runs in a row. I didn't try that jump again after the second time, and actually needed to take a break to stretch it out for a while.
Today, we went to Costco where I loaded up on my chicken breasts and muscle milk. Today, I'm starting to make changes for the rest of my life.
To health and wealth!
Aloha,
Isaac
I just wanted to let everyone know, yesterday I went snowboarding for the first time without a knee brace, loaded up on the Nopalea, and today I have the least amount of pain in my knee and body that I've ever experienced on a day after snowboarding. This product is LEGIT! No knee brace, and no knee pain. Even the bruise on my butt from landing on ICE is down a lot from yesterday. I landed on the same spot of ICE, on the same place on my butt, two runs in a row. I didn't try that jump again after the second time, and actually needed to take a break to stretch it out for a while.
Today, we went to Costco where I loaded up on my chicken breasts and muscle milk. Today, I'm starting to make changes for the rest of my life.
To health and wealth!
Aloha,
Isaac
The Backstory, Part Deux
I experienced some painful injuries during my football career. My senior year in high school, I dislocated my ankle and broke my fibula. Even though it took two surgeries to correct that injury, the emotional damage of missing just about all of your senior year of football was definitely worse. Fortunately, I was still able to play college football, where I experienced my second season-ending injury. Ironically, my best friend and roommate fell on me during a game, and landed into my knee from the side. As it buckled, my patella dislocated, and I needed a surgical process called a lateral retinacular release to correct the injury. While things like ACL injuries are well-known among knee injuries, the dislocated patella presented some lifelong problems that other knee injuries don’t present. What happened is a majority of the cartilage behind my knee cap was torn off. Part of my knee cap is now in a direct bone-to-bone contact with my knee joint (grating) causing major discomfort and local inflammation. Our team doctor, a well-respected orthopedic surgeon in our community, suggested my football career was over, and that I’d be a candidate for osteoarthritis early in my life. I will never forget that day our team trainer consoled my mom and I while breaking us the bad news. I will also never forget that day my coach and I sat in his office and cried. Obviously, as competitive and rebellious as I am, I was on a mission to play more football, regardless of what the doctors said. After receiving a medical red-shirt for that season, and about 8 months of rehab, I had two more seasons to play. Fast forward, and I was able to enjoy the last two years of my career being a two-year all-conference lineman, and a two-year offensive captain for my team. The joy of playing the game came at a cost that I figured I’d have to live with the rest of my life…pain and discomfort.
I’ve tried many products to help with my knee pain. My dad has always been into body building, and with his infatuation with lifting weights, came his interest in supplements. I was introduced to glucosamine and chondroiton immediately after getting hurt. Never really did anything for me. And just so you know, I’m one of those who hates going to the doctors or taking medication. In fact in all three of my full anesthetic surgeries, I never took one prescribed high-powered pain pill post-operation. I just don’t like medication and pain killers. Things like vicodin made me feel worse, so I never took them. I can’t tell the difference when I take ibuprofen or not, so I just never took it. Besides, I heard and read of how people get addicted to pain killers, and the negative affects of long-term use of NSAIDs like ibuprofen. The only thing I did to help my knee pain is I would usually wear a knee brace for mental support, and it made it easier to participate in basketball or snowboarding, or weight lifting. I also came to terms that usually the 24-48 hours post-activity would be spent off my feet, because my knee would hurt too much to do anything. I got to a point where I accepted my knee pain, and accepted my poor physical fitness level. I accepted being over-weight, and made myself believe that it’s impossible with my knee’s condition to maintain a regular physical exercise regimen and a healthy lifestyle.
Recently, I was married, and with every monumental event in life I tend re-evaluate my priorities in life. Now, I have to live for my family and not just myself, my outlook on life and health has changed. I’m learning to realize that I’m no longer the 20 year old kid with an active lifestyle, able to consume nearly 10,000 calories a day. (I seriously ate about 10,000 calories a day when I was playing college football…maybe one day I’ll blog about my midnight “snack” when Jack-in-the-Box opened by our house…) I’m not a college lineman anymore, and to keep my weight near 300 pounds is not only unnecessary, but also unhealthy. The longer I wait, the harder it’ll be to get it off. And if I don’t get it off, I’d be limiting the time I have to spend with my wife and my future family that we plan on having.
With my history, the biggest and most obvious speed bump in my road to health and wellness is my knee. Not only the discomfort while I exercise, and slow recovery afterwards, but also the mental crutch that I’ve used it as an excuse to not keep up my health and wellness. The easy thing to do when I hit the wall is to say, “You know, my knee really hurts.” And it was a good enough of an excuse to stop.
Last year, I’ve been introduced to a product called Nopalea, an all-natural anti-oxidant and ANTI-INFLAMMATORY drink. I’ve been using Nopalea for about 3 months now, and my knee pain and discomfort has reduced dramatically. At football practices, I feel capable to run around and demonstrate drills without pain, something I hadn’t experienced before. Since I started drinking Nopalea, something as simple as going up and down the stairs is a lot easier for me, and it’s anti-inflammatory properties decrease recovery time after working out. Not only in my knee pain, but my overall body pain and recovery.
This year, I’m going to use Nopalea as my “crutch-crusher” both physically and mentally. I believe in this product so much that I know it can help me get by my knee pain and give me the confidence and mental fortitude required to make a weight loss commitment.
My wife and mother-in-law both love watching Biggest Loser, and as I look at the contestants, they’re motivated by two things…health and wealth. The obvious motivation is the money, but their real motivation is the process learn to appreciate their health and body. Most of them are wanting a life change for the sake of living a longer, healthier life. If they end up winning the money in the process, it’s a bonus! This year, I’m blogging this journey with the same two motivating factors; health and wealth. My wife and I recently decided that this Nopalea product is not only our ticket to health in our future, but also wealth. We decided to take on this business adventure and see if we can make it work so that we can replace her income with this at-home business. Obviously, the motivation behind that is so she can be at home when we start having children and raising our family. That time is the wealth we speak of, the freedom to have time with our children, and for us to do what we want to do together. So, I officially dedicate this blog to health and to wealth in 2010. My health. My goal is to lose 15% of my body weight this year. During that time, I hope to transform not only my body, but my mind, and my lifestyle. I’ve lost 30-40 pounds in 2 or 3 months before, and 6 months later the weight would be back on. This time, I want the weight off for good. My wealth. My goal is to use this blog as an influence for others to try Nopalea and consider joining us in sharing the health benefits of this amazing product.
A blog for my weight loss, and business growth.
Thus, to health and wealth in 2010!!!
Aloha,
Isaac
I’ve tried many products to help with my knee pain. My dad has always been into body building, and with his infatuation with lifting weights, came his interest in supplements. I was introduced to glucosamine and chondroiton immediately after getting hurt. Never really did anything for me. And just so you know, I’m one of those who hates going to the doctors or taking medication. In fact in all three of my full anesthetic surgeries, I never took one prescribed high-powered pain pill post-operation. I just don’t like medication and pain killers. Things like vicodin made me feel worse, so I never took them. I can’t tell the difference when I take ibuprofen or not, so I just never took it. Besides, I heard and read of how people get addicted to pain killers, and the negative affects of long-term use of NSAIDs like ibuprofen. The only thing I did to help my knee pain is I would usually wear a knee brace for mental support, and it made it easier to participate in basketball or snowboarding, or weight lifting. I also came to terms that usually the 24-48 hours post-activity would be spent off my feet, because my knee would hurt too much to do anything. I got to a point where I accepted my knee pain, and accepted my poor physical fitness level. I accepted being over-weight, and made myself believe that it’s impossible with my knee’s condition to maintain a regular physical exercise regimen and a healthy lifestyle.
Recently, I was married, and with every monumental event in life I tend re-evaluate my priorities in life. Now, I have to live for my family and not just myself, my outlook on life and health has changed. I’m learning to realize that I’m no longer the 20 year old kid with an active lifestyle, able to consume nearly 10,000 calories a day. (I seriously ate about 10,000 calories a day when I was playing college football…maybe one day I’ll blog about my midnight “snack” when Jack-in-the-Box opened by our house…) I’m not a college lineman anymore, and to keep my weight near 300 pounds is not only unnecessary, but also unhealthy. The longer I wait, the harder it’ll be to get it off. And if I don’t get it off, I’d be limiting the time I have to spend with my wife and my future family that we plan on having.
With my history, the biggest and most obvious speed bump in my road to health and wellness is my knee. Not only the discomfort while I exercise, and slow recovery afterwards, but also the mental crutch that I’ve used it as an excuse to not keep up my health and wellness. The easy thing to do when I hit the wall is to say, “You know, my knee really hurts.” And it was a good enough of an excuse to stop.
Last year, I’ve been introduced to a product called Nopalea, an all-natural anti-oxidant and ANTI-INFLAMMATORY drink. I’ve been using Nopalea for about 3 months now, and my knee pain and discomfort has reduced dramatically. At football practices, I feel capable to run around and demonstrate drills without pain, something I hadn’t experienced before. Since I started drinking Nopalea, something as simple as going up and down the stairs is a lot easier for me, and it’s anti-inflammatory properties decrease recovery time after working out. Not only in my knee pain, but my overall body pain and recovery.
This year, I’m going to use Nopalea as my “crutch-crusher” both physically and mentally. I believe in this product so much that I know it can help me get by my knee pain and give me the confidence and mental fortitude required to make a weight loss commitment.
My wife and mother-in-law both love watching Biggest Loser, and as I look at the contestants, they’re motivated by two things…health and wealth. The obvious motivation is the money, but their real motivation is the process learn to appreciate their health and body. Most of them are wanting a life change for the sake of living a longer, healthier life. If they end up winning the money in the process, it’s a bonus! This year, I’m blogging this journey with the same two motivating factors; health and wealth. My wife and I recently decided that this Nopalea product is not only our ticket to health in our future, but also wealth. We decided to take on this business adventure and see if we can make it work so that we can replace her income with this at-home business. Obviously, the motivation behind that is so she can be at home when we start having children and raising our family. That time is the wealth we speak of, the freedom to have time with our children, and for us to do what we want to do together. So, I officially dedicate this blog to health and to wealth in 2010. My health. My goal is to lose 15% of my body weight this year. During that time, I hope to transform not only my body, but my mind, and my lifestyle. I’ve lost 30-40 pounds in 2 or 3 months before, and 6 months later the weight would be back on. This time, I want the weight off for good. My wealth. My goal is to use this blog as an influence for others to try Nopalea and consider joining us in sharing the health benefits of this amazing product.
A blog for my weight loss, and business growth.
Thus, to health and wealth in 2010!!!
Aloha,
Isaac
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