"Eh, long time no talk!" A phrase common to da locals of Hawai'i Nei, when you don't see or talk to someone for a long period time. That is us. You and me, and all of the people who read my blog.
Well, baseball is here, and life is crazy again. Ever since February 22, life has been busy!!! No excuse for not writing my blog though...because in place of spending some time here, I've also been to a Nike Coaches clinic for football, and golfed on a Sunday or two in some amazing March Oregon weather. Of course, I say that amidst a cold, rainy day, but that's Oregon springtime for ya!
So, excuses aside, let's get down to business! I'm currently at 286.7! So in the last 3 weeks, I broke the 290 mark, and now have my eyes on the 270s! I'll let you know when I get down below 284 because that would be my 20 pound weight loss! That would require a celebration, like Pizza Hut or something. Ha!
One thing that has helped me a TON, especially now during the baseball season, is an iPhone app called "Lose It". If you're an iPhoner and are trying to lose weight, it's a GREAT app. You can input your activity for the day, what you eat, and what your weight loss goals are, and they help hold you accountable to it. It takes a little bit of time to input some of your regular diet foods, but once you get rolling, it's easy! There is a large data base of foods from the supermarket and from popular fast food joints (which basically shows you how disgusting fast food is and keeps you from going there).
On the Nopalea front, I have to admit that at times I feel like I'm drinking it to just drink it. I've become so accustomed to feeling good while drinking it, that I have to admit that I forgot how good it is to me and my knee. However, last weekend, I spent Friday and Saturday night in Portland at the Nike Coaches clinic. I've been going for the last 5 years, and it's been awesome. I've been able to hear from coaching classics such as Tressel and Carrol, and some of the upcoming young guns like Kiffin and Sarkisian. Anyways, I forgot to take some Nopalea with me, and on Sunday afternoon, as I lifted weights, I felt HORRIBLE! My knee hurt, my shoulder hurt, and it literally dawned on me mid rep of a unilateral incline bench press that I hadn't had any Nopalea since Thursday. Started to drink it again on Monday, and by today, I felt great again!
Business wise, I'm starting to get excited. My mom is getting involved, and is helping spread the Nopalea benefits around Hawaii. We're really excited about the opportunities in the future. Also, I'm starting to see the business grow. TriVita (Nopalea's parent company) has an awesome program to help your business called the Get2It program. If you personally acquire 2 customers, you qualify to be given (or purchase) 3 more customers! Your business has the potential to grow exponentially!
Remember, if you have any questions about this awesome product, let me know. It is not only a product that can change your health and your life, but it also has the potential to be a business for you that can provide real income, real fast!
To Health and Wealth!
Aloha,
Isaac
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Monday, February 15, 2010
Hits and Misses...But Mostly Misses!
I sat in the back seat of the four-door truck while Scott and his wife carried on a conversation in the front seat. "Sure, no big deal," I thought to myself, "I've been to Wendy's plenty of times before, and I've been to Wendy's in this truck many times before, AND I've been there with Scott and his wife before many times too, none of this is unfamiliar to me, so why is it so uncomfortable?" Deep down inside, there was a heavyweight bout ready to rumble. In the red corner, the once heavyweight champion of my gut, the Craving. In the blue corner, the newcomer to the circuit, who doesn't have a lot of experience, but is a new fan favorite, the Diet. In 2010, the Diet is stepping into the ring undefeated, but the Craving has been working hard just waiting for his next chance to get his belt back from the rookie.
As Scott pulled his truck towards the drive-thru, my mouth watered thinking about smashing a chicken sandwich in the middle of a double stack, and washing it down with a frosty. Of course, Wendy's has a great salad menu, but really, how am I going to go through and get a freakin' salad at Wendy's? While I'm contemplating my order, my guilt gave me third option...the door! I seriously glanced at the door handle and wondered how funny it would be to just open the door, jump, tumble to my feet, and start sprinting in the opposite direction. Ding, ding! Round 1, and the Craving looks hungry to take down the Diet. The Diet, looking a little unsure in the ring, blinks just in time to catch the Craving's hard-brought haymaker right upside the temple. It wasn't even a fight. The one-swing king Craving takes his championship belt back from the Diet and hoists his hands high in victory. "I'll have a Chicken Sandwich, no mayo..." (because I'm watching my weight) "...a Double Stack, no onions, and a Small Frosty."
Well, that's my colorful recollection of my first fast-food trip in the 2010 calendar year. And since that day, I've eaten fast food 4 more times...it opened the flood gates! And yes, smash the chicken sandwich between the Double Stack, we call it a "Red-headed Step-Sister" in reference to Wendy, and it's more delicious than it sounds...a little something some high schoolers taught me...
So, in order for me to explain my fast food breakdown of late, I feel I should explain what I've been experiencing, and what I've been learning from it. It's been a crazy couple weeks...and I apologize for not keeping up to date with my blog. There is no excuse, I wish I made the time to keep up with it, not only for my loyal readers (which are growing!), but also for the sake of the accountability that it provides for me. I guess I learned a few things the last couple of weeks amidst my busy life.
The first is that when I am stressed, one of the first ways that I react is by eating. My whole life, I've excelled at throwing down food, and surprisingly enough, it's one thing that I'm comfortable doing when I'm stressed. It's like I find unmatched pleasure by engorging in delectible delights, particularly pizza, fast food, and steak. These are the three things that seem to find their way down my throat when I'm attacked by the busy bug. So there's two things I learned about this. One, if I find myself amidst crazy times, still have the discipline to make the time to eat correctly, and plan for the day...pack healthy snacks or lunches so I don't HAVE to make my way through a drive-thru. Two; JUST SAY NO! Not just to the fast food, but I've been a YES! man for as long as I know it...I can't courage up to say no to people I like, and I love to have my hand in a little bit of everything. Now, not only as a married man, but also as an over-weight, hungry man, I need to learn how to say NO to people who ask of my time so that I don't get so busy that I find myself in the situations where I make bad food choices, and can't get into the gym.
So, I've been helping with Leadership at South, and we had our "Winter dance" on Saturday, Feb. 6. I also help with off-season football workouts, keep score at home basketball games, and volunteered to not only play the bass at two services of Church on Sunday, but also to cook some of my almost famous teriyaki beef for a Superbowl Party for some Saxon Football boosters. See how many chances I have to practice saying no?
So, Tuesday night, there was a basketball game...Wednesday night we did a butt-load of grocery shopping, because it was the only chance we had to do so (primarily so I had what I needed for the Superbowl party on Sunday). Thursday night I had worship band rehearsal, Friday after school I had a football meeting from 2:45 to 4, dance decorating from 4 to 7, and then a basketball game at 7. Saturday, I had to prep the beef (and thankfully my awesome wife was able to help) in the morning, and then run around town getting last minute decorations, raffle prizes, etc., just before I met kids at school at 1 to decorate more for the dance. I stayed there until the DJ showed up at 6, just in time for me to rush home, change, pick up the wifey, and hustle back to the dance. Got home at 2am Saturday night, after cleaning up and having something to eat at Shari's (for the first time since noon) with my wife and another (awesome) chaperone couple, Muli and Susie, just so I could wake up and be at Church by 7:30am for a last minute rehearsal before 9am and 10:45 services. It was the absolute first time I played the bass in about 7 months, so I was a little nervous about it, which doesn't help when you're exhausted and running on fumes.
After service, I ran to school and helped get some of the A/V stuff ready for the party, ran home and barbequed 100 teriyaki beef skewers (thank God for the beautiful weather on Superbowl Sunday), and got back to the party just in time. Got to sit around and enjoy the party for a bit, but was exhausted. I had been on the go non-stop from the time I woke up for school on Tuesday morning until Sunday night after the Superbowl. It was an absolute crazy week, and NOTHING about it was helpful for my health. And I ate fast food. It was a horrible week of diet and exercise, and I was exhausted. I didn't even bother weighing myself, until Tuesday, and I was surprised that I was at 290.8. I bet if I weighed myself on Sunday I would've been at least 5 pounds more than that. But it's encouraging, I'm almost to the 280s! Just about 10-15 more pounds to get to my baseball season goal of 270something!
Well, the good news is on Tuesday, February 9, 2010, I brought home my own personal CPAP machine, and have been sleeping with it since. When I don't rip it off my face in the middle of the night (which I don't realize I do until the next morning), it's great sleep! I'm still taking time getting used to sleeping with it on my face every night, but once I do, I'll be getting a better quality sleep every night, and a better quality life to go with it!
Well, this week has been busy in anticipation of baseball starting next week. I'm nervous for my weight loss plan when baseball starts. It's going to require some dedication with some early mornings in the gym, and some creative cardio plans. I'll probably need to watch The Natural, Major League, Field of Dreams, The Sandlot, and Fever Pitch this week to help get in the baseball mood. Fever Pitch only makes the list because Fallon is a Geometry-teaching Red Sox fan...my kind of guy!! Anyways, I'll fill you in with a more normal (and shorter) blog next Sunday.
Until then, to HEALTH and WEALTH!
Aloha,
Isaac
As Scott pulled his truck towards the drive-thru, my mouth watered thinking about smashing a chicken sandwich in the middle of a double stack, and washing it down with a frosty. Of course, Wendy's has a great salad menu, but really, how am I going to go through and get a freakin' salad at Wendy's? While I'm contemplating my order, my guilt gave me third option...the door! I seriously glanced at the door handle and wondered how funny it would be to just open the door, jump, tumble to my feet, and start sprinting in the opposite direction. Ding, ding! Round 1, and the Craving looks hungry to take down the Diet. The Diet, looking a little unsure in the ring, blinks just in time to catch the Craving's hard-brought haymaker right upside the temple. It wasn't even a fight. The one-swing king Craving takes his championship belt back from the Diet and hoists his hands high in victory. "I'll have a Chicken Sandwich, no mayo..." (because I'm watching my weight) "...a Double Stack, no onions, and a Small Frosty."
Well, that's my colorful recollection of my first fast-food trip in the 2010 calendar year. And since that day, I've eaten fast food 4 more times...it opened the flood gates! And yes, smash the chicken sandwich between the Double Stack, we call it a "Red-headed Step-Sister" in reference to Wendy, and it's more delicious than it sounds...a little something some high schoolers taught me...
So, in order for me to explain my fast food breakdown of late, I feel I should explain what I've been experiencing, and what I've been learning from it. It's been a crazy couple weeks...and I apologize for not keeping up to date with my blog. There is no excuse, I wish I made the time to keep up with it, not only for my loyal readers (which are growing!), but also for the sake of the accountability that it provides for me. I guess I learned a few things the last couple of weeks amidst my busy life.
The first is that when I am stressed, one of the first ways that I react is by eating. My whole life, I've excelled at throwing down food, and surprisingly enough, it's one thing that I'm comfortable doing when I'm stressed. It's like I find unmatched pleasure by engorging in delectible delights, particularly pizza, fast food, and steak. These are the three things that seem to find their way down my throat when I'm attacked by the busy bug. So there's two things I learned about this. One, if I find myself amidst crazy times, still have the discipline to make the time to eat correctly, and plan for the day...pack healthy snacks or lunches so I don't HAVE to make my way through a drive-thru. Two; JUST SAY NO! Not just to the fast food, but I've been a YES! man for as long as I know it...I can't courage up to say no to people I like, and I love to have my hand in a little bit of everything. Now, not only as a married man, but also as an over-weight, hungry man, I need to learn how to say NO to people who ask of my time so that I don't get so busy that I find myself in the situations where I make bad food choices, and can't get into the gym.
So, I've been helping with Leadership at South, and we had our "Winter dance" on Saturday, Feb. 6. I also help with off-season football workouts, keep score at home basketball games, and volunteered to not only play the bass at two services of Church on Sunday, but also to cook some of my almost famous teriyaki beef for a Superbowl Party for some Saxon Football boosters. See how many chances I have to practice saying no?
So, Tuesday night, there was a basketball game...Wednesday night we did a butt-load of grocery shopping, because it was the only chance we had to do so (primarily so I had what I needed for the Superbowl party on Sunday). Thursday night I had worship band rehearsal, Friday after school I had a football meeting from 2:45 to 4, dance decorating from 4 to 7, and then a basketball game at 7. Saturday, I had to prep the beef (and thankfully my awesome wife was able to help) in the morning, and then run around town getting last minute decorations, raffle prizes, etc., just before I met kids at school at 1 to decorate more for the dance. I stayed there until the DJ showed up at 6, just in time for me to rush home, change, pick up the wifey, and hustle back to the dance. Got home at 2am Saturday night, after cleaning up and having something to eat at Shari's (for the first time since noon) with my wife and another (awesome) chaperone couple, Muli and Susie, just so I could wake up and be at Church by 7:30am for a last minute rehearsal before 9am and 10:45 services. It was the absolute first time I played the bass in about 7 months, so I was a little nervous about it, which doesn't help when you're exhausted and running on fumes.
After service, I ran to school and helped get some of the A/V stuff ready for the party, ran home and barbequed 100 teriyaki beef skewers (thank God for the beautiful weather on Superbowl Sunday), and got back to the party just in time. Got to sit around and enjoy the party for a bit, but was exhausted. I had been on the go non-stop from the time I woke up for school on Tuesday morning until Sunday night after the Superbowl. It was an absolute crazy week, and NOTHING about it was helpful for my health. And I ate fast food. It was a horrible week of diet and exercise, and I was exhausted. I didn't even bother weighing myself, until Tuesday, and I was surprised that I was at 290.8. I bet if I weighed myself on Sunday I would've been at least 5 pounds more than that. But it's encouraging, I'm almost to the 280s! Just about 10-15 more pounds to get to my baseball season goal of 270something!
Well, the good news is on Tuesday, February 9, 2010, I brought home my own personal CPAP machine, and have been sleeping with it since. When I don't rip it off my face in the middle of the night (which I don't realize I do until the next morning), it's great sleep! I'm still taking time getting used to sleeping with it on my face every night, but once I do, I'll be getting a better quality sleep every night, and a better quality life to go with it!
Well, this week has been busy in anticipation of baseball starting next week. I'm nervous for my weight loss plan when baseball starts. It's going to require some dedication with some early mornings in the gym, and some creative cardio plans. I'll probably need to watch The Natural, Major League, Field of Dreams, The Sandlot, and Fever Pitch this week to help get in the baseball mood. Fever Pitch only makes the list because Fallon is a Geometry-teaching Red Sox fan...my kind of guy!! Anyways, I'll fill you in with a more normal (and shorter) blog next Sunday.
Until then, to HEALTH and WEALTH!
Aloha,
Isaac
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
a new life...
So last night I slept at the sleep clinic with the CPAP machine, and it was amazing!
First of all, falling asleep wasn't all that bad. The application of the "mask" was not that uncomfortable. At first, getting used to having a continuous stream of air being pushed into your nose was slightly uncomfortable, but it's amazing how fast your body adjusts! I actually had a pretty easy time falling asleep, and the air pressure helped me to focus on my breathing and slow down my thought process. I think a lot of times when I have a hard time sleeping, I let my brain race about so many different things. With the CPAP therapy, I was able to clear my mind and just focus on breathing, and my breaths were deep.
Well, I recall having to adjust a few times in the middle of the night, but the technician overseeing my therapy said that I slept well. At first, I started with a pressure level of 5. Over the course of the night, I started to snore occasionally, and the technician finally leveled me off at 9. I guess at a level 9 I had a pretty steady, consistant breathing pattern. The doctor said that I should expect to feel better immediately, and in fact, today was amazing!
I have to admit, I had a harder time waking up and getting out of bed, which is typical because I had experienced a deeper sleep than usual, and it took longer to awake. However, once I was up, I was alert like no other! My senses were like on overdrive, and I could actually feel myself think and process better. My first thought was, "Well this can explain a lot...what might I have been able to achieve had I known that this is what life is supposed to be like!?" I told the technician last night that had I been more educated about this, I might have done this study 10 years ago! I seriously want to become an advocate for helping people identify their sleep disorders. Your quality of life does not have to be the way it is, with proper treatment for sleep disorders, we can all appreciate life as it is intended!
From 6:15 until now, I had no urgings to want to nap today. On most regular days like today, I could easily fall asleep for 30 minutes or so by 2pm. Today, there was no way that I was going to fall asleep. I was too alert and too awake to be able to nap.
The technician (who is now my buddy), said that my oxygen levels were at 95-98% last night...up 22 percentage points higher than last week! My brain was able to actually REST for a whole night...without having to be on guard to wake my body up because of obstructed airways. It was by far the best sleep of my life as I know it, and it was done in a strange bed, with wires connected to my body, with a mask on my face for the first time, and with someone watching me sleep all night long. I can't wait to experience the quality of life this experience will bring to me once I get use the CPAP on a regular basis!
Well, I thought I'd just share that small tidbit of information from my experience last night...look for my normal blog next week Sunday or Monday!
A shout out to my first two official "followers" of my blog...Jake and Conrad! Thanks!
First of all, falling asleep wasn't all that bad. The application of the "mask" was not that uncomfortable. At first, getting used to having a continuous stream of air being pushed into your nose was slightly uncomfortable, but it's amazing how fast your body adjusts! I actually had a pretty easy time falling asleep, and the air pressure helped me to focus on my breathing and slow down my thought process. I think a lot of times when I have a hard time sleeping, I let my brain race about so many different things. With the CPAP therapy, I was able to clear my mind and just focus on breathing, and my breaths were deep.
Well, I recall having to adjust a few times in the middle of the night, but the technician overseeing my therapy said that I slept well. At first, I started with a pressure level of 5. Over the course of the night, I started to snore occasionally, and the technician finally leveled me off at 9. I guess at a level 9 I had a pretty steady, consistant breathing pattern. The doctor said that I should expect to feel better immediately, and in fact, today was amazing!
I have to admit, I had a harder time waking up and getting out of bed, which is typical because I had experienced a deeper sleep than usual, and it took longer to awake. However, once I was up, I was alert like no other! My senses were like on overdrive, and I could actually feel myself think and process better. My first thought was, "Well this can explain a lot...what might I have been able to achieve had I known that this is what life is supposed to be like!?" I told the technician last night that had I been more educated about this, I might have done this study 10 years ago! I seriously want to become an advocate for helping people identify their sleep disorders. Your quality of life does not have to be the way it is, with proper treatment for sleep disorders, we can all appreciate life as it is intended!
From 6:15 until now, I had no urgings to want to nap today. On most regular days like today, I could easily fall asleep for 30 minutes or so by 2pm. Today, there was no way that I was going to fall asleep. I was too alert and too awake to be able to nap.
The technician (who is now my buddy), said that my oxygen levels were at 95-98% last night...up 22 percentage points higher than last week! My brain was able to actually REST for a whole night...without having to be on guard to wake my body up because of obstructed airways. It was by far the best sleep of my life as I know it, and it was done in a strange bed, with wires connected to my body, with a mask on my face for the first time, and with someone watching me sleep all night long. I can't wait to experience the quality of life this experience will bring to me once I get use the CPAP on a regular basis!
Well, I thought I'd just share that small tidbit of information from my experience last night...look for my normal blog next week Sunday or Monday!
A shout out to my first two official "followers" of my blog...Jake and Conrad! Thanks!
Monday, February 1, 2010
Week 4 and maybe snore no more???
Well, this week I didn't eat as well as I could have. I had a muffin at lunchtime on top of my lunch one day, AND had a lot of Subway sandwiches (we had a platter ordered for a football meeting) for lunch on Friday and then ate pizza for dinner after that...not the best week of eating in relationship to what I've been doing. However, I guess my workout regime picked up the slack. I got my swims in for the week, and one bike ride, and I even met my goal of swimming 0.75 miles on one of them! It actually felt pretty good.
The result: -2, down to 293.4. So I've officially lost over 10 pounds now...and hopefully I'll see the 280s soon! Maybe the 270s by the time our first league baseball games at the end of March.
Today, I went to my follow-up check-up with my sleep doctor from the overnight study I did last week Sunday. He confirmed that I do have sleep apnea, and we looked over some statistics that helps him decide how bad of a case it is. He found that I had a "restricted airway" that required my body to adjust/wake-up 23 times PER HOUR over the course of the 6 hour study. That's pretty crazy to think about. As my brother noted, that means I'm "waking up" in some shape or form every 2-3 minutes...my brain never gets to rest for more than 2-3 minutes without having to alert my body to move or wake to keep breathing! It's not easy being my brain!
The second statistic we looked at was my oxygen level. The doctor said that someone my age should expect to have an oxygen level of 95% or higher overnight. My level was at 76%...a slight deficit in oxygen.
With these two factors together, the doctor said that I am a candidate for a CPAP machine to help regulate my breathing and oxygen levels. If you don't know what it is, it is a Continuous Positive Air Pressure machine, which means it puts a pressure into my airways so that when I inhale slightly, the pressure keeps my airways open. This will hopefully fix my snoring/restricted breathing, which would then not only supply me with enough oxygen overnight, but also allow my brain to rest and actually go to sleep, instead of always being on alert to keep me alive at night.
So, tomorrow night (Tuesday) I get to go back into the lab, and spend another night there. This time, I get to wear the CPAP and let them adjust the amounts of air I get. I'll let you know how it goes sometime later this week!
Until then, to HEALTH and WEALTH in 2010!!!
Aloha,
Isaac
The result: -2, down to 293.4. So I've officially lost over 10 pounds now...and hopefully I'll see the 280s soon! Maybe the 270s by the time our first league baseball games at the end of March.
Today, I went to my follow-up check-up with my sleep doctor from the overnight study I did last week Sunday. He confirmed that I do have sleep apnea, and we looked over some statistics that helps him decide how bad of a case it is. He found that I had a "restricted airway" that required my body to adjust/wake-up 23 times PER HOUR over the course of the 6 hour study. That's pretty crazy to think about. As my brother noted, that means I'm "waking up" in some shape or form every 2-3 minutes...my brain never gets to rest for more than 2-3 minutes without having to alert my body to move or wake to keep breathing! It's not easy being my brain!
The second statistic we looked at was my oxygen level. The doctor said that someone my age should expect to have an oxygen level of 95% or higher overnight. My level was at 76%...a slight deficit in oxygen.
With these two factors together, the doctor said that I am a candidate for a CPAP machine to help regulate my breathing and oxygen levels. If you don't know what it is, it is a Continuous Positive Air Pressure machine, which means it puts a pressure into my airways so that when I inhale slightly, the pressure keeps my airways open. This will hopefully fix my snoring/restricted breathing, which would then not only supply me with enough oxygen overnight, but also allow my brain to rest and actually go to sleep, instead of always being on alert to keep me alive at night.
So, tomorrow night (Tuesday) I get to go back into the lab, and spend another night there. This time, I get to wear the CPAP and let them adjust the amounts of air I get. I'll let you know how it goes sometime later this week!
Until then, to HEALTH and WEALTH in 2010!!!
Aloha,
Isaac
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Week 3: Back on Track
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
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
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
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