My Diet, Health and Fitness

Well, this has been one heck of a summer! If you’re wondering where I’ve been, the answer is - I’ve been playing Cherry Ames. Specifically Chris (yes, the one referenced in the domain name) sustained a serious back injury. He has been bedridden for several months now, and we’ve been doing everything we can to get him to some level of functionality. He has herniated discs in his lumbar region which are impinging on his sciatic nerve and thecal sack (the bundle of nerves at the base of your spine), which translated into English means any movement - sitting upright, standing, walking - makes him feel like he’s being stabbed with knives. Sort of like the old school little mermaid story by Hans Christian Anderson (I wonder if she had sciatica?). It’s looking more and more like his only option will be surgical, so we will be heading in to the doctor in October for that evaluation.

Oddly enough, I haven’t gained any weight (no, really!) and Chris has lost quite a bit, though I’d have to say that’s as much muscle mass as anything else. And of course, he’s eating better - when you have to eat what someone else brings you, it means no extra salt, no sugar, etc. We’ve broken away from all of the white flour, white sugar, potatoes, etc because I was very concerned about the potential for diabetes; I won’t say it’s been cheap or easy, but it has definitely been an improvement.

Before this happened, I’d have to say I knew nothing about dealing with a back injury. Now I give joint compressions (a friend who’s an occupational therapist taught me how to do them), I know the difference between moist and dry heat, and I supervise as he does his exercises, trying to push those discs back into place. The amount of pain he’s in is like something out of an old horror movie. Hopefully, though, we will get him to a point where he’s functional again - soon.

One thing that a lot of people are learning is that not all body fat is created equal. Being a bit flabby in the arms doesn’t have the same long term health problems that belly fat can predict. A recent article on Physorg titled “Not all fat created equal” now contend that subcutaneous fat can improve your health in some areas! I guess that makes me feel a bit better - I don’t have that “hard belly fat” that is such a problem. Although being heavy is never a good thing, it’s interesting to read that some types of fat can actually be beneficial!

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If you haven’t heard about the Wii Fit videogame, then let me be the one to lay it out for you. After all these years of sitting blissfully motionless on the couch, this new offering by Nintendo attempts to get us off our butts and on to Nintendo’s Wii Fit balance board controller. This new controller is laid on the floor, and determines your position by how you move on it. It certainly looks interesting, although I don’t really see the need to buy a video game system just to work out!

And now Westin Hotels is getting in to the act. They have signed a deal with Nintendo to place this new exercise system in ten hotels initially, and if it’s successful moving to a nationwide roll out.  Of course, they won’t be using the same Wii console you have in your living room; the Nintendo Wii Travel system will include a hard drive, several games including Big Brain Academy, and an automatic update  and networking feature to make it easier for the hotel to manage the entire system.

Although it certainly is a great PR move and a headline grabber (I’m blogging about it, aren’t I?), I’m not sure that any video game system, however well designed, takes the place of a more traditional workout when it comes to weight loss. This article on Wired points out that the system as a whole is great for balance type exercises but that the author didn’t really lose any significant amount of weight. Of course, if you’re just looking for a way to stretch out and get your blood flowing, then this might be just the ticket - which is probably why Westin Hotels was interested in the first place.

Well, I went out today to look at a new fitness club opening up. I used to belong to Bally’s, but they closed the branch in my area and the nearest one is a half hour drive, so you can imagine how often I’ve been goin. Yeah, I haven’t; hell I can’t AFFORD to go, the gas alone is too expensive!

So when this new club opened up only a couple miles away, my fella and I hopped in the car for a look around. It’s actually very nice; not even five minutes away and opening at 5am so I could pop in for a workout before work.. or afternoons, even evenings. Plenty of machines, free weights and so forth, and the monthly fee is really reasonable.

For the three of us (my fella and I, and a friend) it’s going to run us $31 a month. That’s not even a dinner out, and I’m in favor of it. I may even splurge and get a trainer once every week or two - they run between $15 and $20 a session, again not too expensive. I think the main thing here is I need to get serious about working out regularly, and hopefully this will give me the incentive to do it.

I found this article about “obesity discrimination” on Digg, and it gave me food for thought.

“In an overwhelmingly overweight nation that worships thinness, many describe prejudice against the obese as one of the last socially acceptable biases. Advocates for the plus-sized, particularly activists in the “fat acceptance” movement, want obesity to become a category legally protected against discrimination, like religion, race, age and…”

On the one hand, it’s hard to be overweight in social situations. You have to worry about things like, will I fit between those clothing racks or should I go around? Will I be able to fit in the seats at this show, or should I skip it? And of course, if you get to a certain size, people look at you. I know! Even now that I’m getting slimmer (and I still have a long way to go) I am all to familiar with stares and whispered comments.

But - a protected class? I just don’t know. Do I want it to be easier to be heavy? Sure, but maybe in the long run it would simply remove one more incentive to lose the weight. It isn’t easy to lose a large amount of weight - in fact it’s a Herculean task. And I have been really worried about the idea of companies not providing health care to overweight employees. But I just have a hard time picturing myself walking with a picket sign or marching on Washington for “obese rights”.

What do you think? Should obesity be considered a disability? Should the rights of the obese be protected by legislation?

read more | digg story

Well, I just got back from Hawaii - what, I didn’t tell you I was going? Shame on me! At any rate, I got back feeling so much better than I have for weeks. The question is - why? I’ve identified a few factors that I think led to me feeling more "fit", and now I’m trying to integrate them into my daily routine.

#1 - Early to bed, early to rise.

With so many activities jam packed into every day, I never slept past 7am and was in bed and snoring by 11pm. Not something I normally accomplish here at home! It’s true that getting enough rest will help overall fitness and well-being, and I don’t have to be on vacation to schedule my day more effectively.

#2 - Eating like a king in the morning and a pauper at night.

Each day we started out with a trip to the breakfast buffet - fresh fruit, eggs, bread pudding and so forth. I normally NEVER eat breakfast at home and end the day with a big meal, but on vacation the exact opposite was true - I woke up famished, and slowly through the course of the day I ate less until I finished the day with a light dinner of fish and veggies. I usually ate my last meal at 7pm which left me with three or four hours before bed to digest it.

#3 - Get out there and exercise!

I spent almost every day walking on one of the many tours they have on Oahu. Not a day went by that I spent less than an hour on my feet and in some notable cases, I ended up covering four or more miles. Was I tired and footsore? Sure, but then again I felt better after a few hours of exercise than I have all spring. Since I got home, I’ve been getting up and getting out for exercise every day and seem to have kept that great "strong" feeling.

#4 - Morning Sunshine!

At home I spent much of every day indoors where the light of the sun never reached. But on vacation all that good exercise was outdoors where I got plenty of sun (wearing sunscreen, of course!). I’m trying to get outside for an hour every day - concurrent with my exercise.

#5 - Hydration is key

By dinner time I was not as hungry and made sure to drink water with my meal (as outlined in one of my earlier posts) but throughout the day I carried water with me to help stay hydrated in the warm tropical sunshine as I walked. It was never easier to stay hydrated (and the water there tastes great!)

The fact is that I can do most of these things right here at home - but sometimes it takes a vacation to get focused and really examine your behavior. I’ve learned a lot and although I haven’t lost much weight the last two weeks, my waist size is definitely decreasing. I may have to change my blog and remove the "weight" tally to be replaced by a "waist" tally since I feel that’s a more accurate representation of my overall health and fitness. What do you think?