Starting Off Slower!

Monday, April 01, 2013

Well, I'm back! Again! I needed to take a break back in June of 2012. Then I lost my job, got another one in October. However; the biggest problem is that I have not been able to work out. In fact, my ability to just walk is a major problem. This has been a big disappointment. Up until last June,2012, I was very active and had enjoyed a great deal of freedom of movement. Now it is a major task to just get out of the chair or out of bed. I can't ride my stationary bike like I use to at 20 to 40 miles at a clip. I'm lucky if I can get 10 to 15 minutes on the bike.

From June of 2012 til now, I have had major muscle pulls with my right thigh and hip and my lower back on the left side. I have pain on that right hip constantly and my left knee.

This makes me walk like I'm a 100 years old, slow and unsteady. have no idea why this happened. I have not had the courage to see my doctor thus far. Please do not lecture, I know I need to see him just in my own time. I suspect that I am having arthritis
in my right hip and it has knocked of my body mechanics of my left side. My thigh bone is going to the left and my shin bone is going to the right. There is no cartilage to hold them together.

Since last June I have not gained weight but I have not lost any weight. Good but I still need to lose another 100 lbs. I started to do some exercises but very limited and mostly sitting down.
Weights are nothing but 10 lbs, a Bull worker for the chest and Bands to work the rest of me. Have decided to try things and if they seem to work will continue them but still looking for a way to build up my cardio.

Just gonna start over and make adjustments as I go along. Start off slow and build up. Open to suggestions and ideas, so feel free to give me one or two.

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You're Gonna do What?

Monday, November 26, 2012

You're Gonna do What?
This is what my wife said when I told her I was getting serious about becoming a Vegan. Now you have to understand I have moved from being a full time meat eater to eating mostly veggies, fish, eggs and some dairy. That was last July, I had been laid off from work and it seemed like a nice challenge. But my overall plan had been to move into it slowly. The reason for the slow move has to do with the fact that I hate to waste food. Right now there is too much in our freezer and pantry for me to go strict Vegan.

With that in mind I started to collect Vegan recipes. For what ever reason I like to collect recipes, it helps me to curb my eating and I learn a lot about the diet before I get into it full blast! The interest makes it really nice to see a wide variety of authors and recipes that provide tips and tricks by different authors.

One of my favorite sites is Chocolate-Covered Katie, she does healthy desserts. But I love her section on-- All Things Oatmeal. It is different and really easy to do.

chocolatecoveredkatie.com/chocolate-
covered-recipes/all-things-oatmeal/

Another one is--Oh She Glows, she gives recipes and training tips.

ohsheglows.com/categories/fitness/fi
tness-gadgets/

Holy Cow! Vegan Recipes---Mainly because of her Indian cooking style.

www.holycowvegan.net/

Getting back to my point as with any diet, I think if you search and plan instead of rushing into it, success will come easier to the dieter. Besides, I just can't bring my self to throwing out a lot of food just to start something new. Even with giving a lot to the food banks, I just need to weed out the stuff in the pantry and just looking to develop my Vegan Pantry food list.

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"Why Women Can't Do Pull Ups"

Sunday, November 25, 2012

Why Women Can't Do Pull Ups" is an article that I ran across in the New York Times in October.

well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/10/25/wh
y-women-cant-do-pull-ups/

I was about to skip over it, thinking that I wouldn't learn anything new. For the most part I knew that most women couldn't do pull ups, for that matter most men can't either. But I did wonder why it was being presented again. It turned out to be a good article and provided somethings I knew but had no real proof.

When I was in high school we had those fitness contests in the late fall to see how many push ups you could do, number of pull ups, shuttle run, broad jump, 300 yard dash and rope climb. I had a buddy name Paul, he stood about 5'4", he was built like a gymnast, with extremely large arms.
He could do 75 push ups and 15 pull ups. I never came close to those numbers. When we bench pressed as part of out workouts he seems to just increase his poundage a lot faster. I also noticed one other thing, most of all the body builders I saw in muscle building magazines were short. It sort of occurred to me that one reason why Paul seemed to be able to do so many more push ups and pull ups. It was just plain physics, I was 6'3" compared to Paul at 5"4" and he was only at 145 lbs, I was 215lbs. If you look at the arms and how they work in each of the exercises I mentioned, you would see that I had a long distance to complete it and weighed more than Paul. On the other hand, when we worked out throwing the shot put, the reverse was true for me. Having longer arms and more body strength in my legs helped me out throw him in the shot put, discuss and javelin.

They made a point in the article to show a group of women were asked to see how many pulls they could do, most of the women could not do any. The group was given time to work out for a number of weeks only to be disappointed that out of the group just one woman could do only one pull up. I think that a lot of this is that women are not given experience
to develop those muscles and use them. For that matter most males are not given that experience to develop those pull up muscles. When my son knew he was going into the Marines, he looked at all of the physical tests he would need to take and pass while in boot camp. The two that he worked on was the 3 mile run and Pull ups. To this day he still does pull ups--12 to 15 at a moments notice. I still can't and at 65+ I really don't care but at least I know why it is difficult to do pull ups.

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CPR Cough technique is Bogus--Do Not Use!

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

I got an email from a friend, he suffered a Heart Attach earlier this year. He sent me
the Article below. I assumed that his information was good and easy to use.
I thought it would be a useful article to share with friends. But I also wanted to know the source for this information. I did not do my due diligence and look for a source.
I apologize for spreading bad information.

I want to thank LOLAMOM2 for informing me about this bogus approach. Nice thing about
Spark People, we all look out for each other.

Please read this from the American Heart Association.

The American Heart Association does not endorse "cough CPR," a coughing procedure widely publicized on the Internet. As noted in the 2010 American Heart Association Guidelines for Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation and Emergency Cardiovascular Care, “cough CPR” is not useful for unresponsive victims and should not be taught to lay rescuers.

During a sudden arrhythmia (abnormal heart rhythm), it may be possible for a conscious, responsive person to cough forcefully and repetitively to maintain enough blood flow to the brain to remain conscious for a few seconds until the arrhythmia is treated. Blood flow is maintained by increased pressure in the chest that occurs during forceful coughs. This has been mislabeled "cough CPR," although it's not a form of traditional resuscitation.

Why isn't "cough CPR" appropriate in CPR training courses?
"Cough CPR" should not be taught in lay-rescuer CPR courses because it is generally not useful in the prehospital setting. In virtually all lay-rescuer CPR courses, the finding that signals an emergency is the victim's unresponsiveness. Unresponsive victims will not be able to perform "cough CPR."

Are there situations when "cough CPR" is appropriate?
“Cough” CPR may be considered in settings such as the cardiac catheterization laboratory where patients are conscious and constantly monitored (for example, with an ECG machine). A nurse or physician is also present who can instruct and coach the patients to cough forcefully every one to three seconds during the initial seconds of a sudden arrhythmia. However, as this is not effective in all patients, it should not delay definitive treatment.


AHA Recommendation

The best strategy is to be aware of the early warning signs for heart attack and cardiac arrest and respond to them by calling 9-1-1. If you're driving alone and you start having severe chest pain or discomfort that starts to spread into your arm and up into your jaw (the scenario presented in the Internet article), pull over and flag down another motorist for help or phone 9-1-1 on your mobile phone.





HOW TO SURVIVE A HEART ATTACK WHEN ALONE.

Let's say it's 6.15pm and you're going home (alone of course),
after an unusually hard day on the job. You're really tired, upset and frustrated. Suddenly you start experiencing severe pain in your
chest that starts to drag out into your arm and up into your jaw. You are only about five miles from the hospital nearest your home. Unfortunate
ly you don't know if you'll be able to make it that far. You have been trained in CPR, but the guy that taught the course did not tell you how to perform it on yourself..!!
Since many people are alone when they suffer a heart attack, without help, the person whose heart is beating improperly and who begins to feel faint, has only about 10 seconds left before losing consciousness.
However, these victims can help themselves by coughing repeatedly and very vigorously.
A deep breath should be taken before each cough, and the cough must be deep and prolonged, as when producing sputum from deep inside the chest.
A breath and a cough must be repeated about every two seconds without let-up until help arrives, or until the heart is felt to be beating normally again.
Deep breaths get oxygen into the lungs and coughing movements squeeze the heart and keep the blood circulating.
The squeezing pressure on the heart also helps it regain normal rhythm. In this way, heart attack victims can get to a hospital.*

A friend sent this to me. He suffered a heart attack at work and co-workers said that it was nothing, but he passed out at his desk. The EMTs got him to the hospital and he had 90% blockage in 2 major areas. Since then he has stopped smoking (3 packer a day), changed his diet and started to walk. Oh yeah, he is underweight, skinny guys have heart attacks too!
He has become very pro health smart since the heart attack. Thought, it was good to share with friends. Sorry, he gave no source but if he does I'll pass it on.
--

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I am now legal!

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Yesterday, I became a full blooded, card carrying, grouchy Senior Citizen. I turned 65. What does it mean ? Well, I'm not sure it means anything other than I'm 65. It does give me perspective about the time I have lived. I think, that the time has been the most exciting period to have been living in and some of its saddest moments. It helps to give breath and depth of understanding history and a appreciation of events.

I have a chess game on my computer and I try to play a game before I start work. If I do well I know that I'll have a good day. Of course it is not hard, I play against a Chimp. On the other hand Cassie, a 7 year old does make me work for my win. I find chess relaxing and gives me time to think. Plain thinking and reflecting is something we seem to have lost as a society.


At the time, I thought the Hippy movement of the 60'e was a positive movement. In hind sight, I feel we are reaping the rewards of a generation that cares about nothing other than themselves. IF I HAVE MINE TO HECK WITH YOU! No empathy for others or helping others. This is very sad to me. We are better than that. We need to be better. I can't change the world but I have control over me. I do what I can.

It saddens me as a former teacher to see learning at the bottom of the barrel. I went to a high school where you learned for the the pure joy of learning. I see very little evidence that people want to learn something to just learn it. You only learn things because it will make you money.
As they say money can't buy you love but many realize it only too late.

So, now that I'm 65, I want to be in the best shape I can be going forward. For no other reason than, I can do it! I plan to continue to work, move (yeah at a slower pace ) play chess, reflect and think on my own. Not bad goals for a 65 year old !

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