First Steps . . .

Though it took me decades of struggling, I finally did accept that there are no quick fixes.  Over the years I tried most every fad diet that came along.  Like many Americans who go this route, I rode the weight roller coaster, down one year and back up the next.
I used to joke that I had lost a thousand pounds in my lifetime.  Though that was an exaggeration, I joked about it because deep inside I knew I was on the wrong track.  I had indeed lost hundreds of pounds over the years, using diets that had one catchy name or another - The Atkins Diet, Protein Power, The Russian Air Force Diet, The Drinking Man's Diet, The Grapefruit Juice Diet, The Hollywood Diet, The One Good Meal Diet, etc.  I lost weight on all of these diets.  Unfortunately it came back as quickly as it left.  They didn't solve my weight problem, and probably did more harm than good.
Finally, I realized that what doctors and nutritionists had been saying all along about diet was worth listening to.  There are no quick fixes.  The only lasting approach is to take the longterm view, which means fundamental shifts in habits and thinking for most people.
My goal is natural balance - homeostasis.  God designed our bodies with the ability to establish physiological stability.  Our bodies were designed to bounce back, to recover, from all kinds of stresses and trauma.  Unfortunately, much of the common sense "natural balance" lifestyle that our recent agrarian ancestors embraced has given way to the view that disease somehow comes from outside ourselves.  We have come to think that every medical problem has a quick fix.  Have a problem?  Take a pill.
We have come to think, for example, that successful cancer treatment involves complete eradication of all cancer cells.  Thus cancer treatment involves myriad drugs, surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, while paying little or no attention to why the cancer occurred in the first place.  We don't seem to ask how it got started, how a specific cancer is fueled, or how we might establish the kind of natural balance that would give us the best chance to fight it off, live through treatment, and prevent it from coming back in the future.
Don't get me wrong.  I'm not opposed to modern Western medicine.  I'm just a both-and guy who seems to live in an increasingly either-or world.  God designed our bodies to work, and we know that God doesn't make junk.  As a result, when talking about health goals we need to think first and foremost of natural balance - of getting our bodies and minds what they need: good whole foods, exercise, sunlight, meaningful relationships, community activities...
That may seem off the point of "First Steps", but in truth accepting homeostasis as your goal is the first step to health.  Achieving complete homeostasis is probably impossible in our culture, but we can begin the quest, figure out exactly what that means for us, and learn and grow in that pursuit.
Now, breaking that down further into workable steps, we come to tools.  It is impossible to begin any journey toward health without knowing where you've at.  I've found that we delude ourselves into thinking that we're eating better than we really are.
A few years ago I hit a lengthy plateau.  I had dropped from 315 to 270 but couldn't break through that barrier.  I was exercising almost daily at a health club and was "watching my diet", or so I thought.  Even though I was putting in at least an hour of aggressive aerobic exercise and doing some resistance training everyday, I wasn't losing a pound - or an inch.  My personal trainer at the time, Kelli Huston at 24HourFitness in Southlake, suggested that I try something called a BodyBugg.  The idea was that I'd wear a device that would monitor my calorie burn and that would interface with a computer program that would also track my diet.  The notion seemed daunting, especially logging everything I ate, but I was desperate so decided to give it a try.
First of all, I found out that tracking my diet and exercise wasn't all that difficult.  The BodyBugg program was easy to use and to adjust to the foods that I ate.  The second thing I found out was that I was eating nearly twice as many calories as I thought I was eating.  Keeping track in my head sounded reasonable to me, but in reality I was just fooling myself.  The 2500 calories a day I thought I was eating was really more like 4500 calories a day.  No surprise that I was stuck at 270 lbs.  With the aid of this BodyBugg tool I was able to make adjustments without starving myself.  It helped me make better choices, and once I did that the pounds started flowing off.
I'm a big believer in the BodyBugg, but I have since switched to a similar and less expensive approach known as FitDay.  I use the FitDay PC software, which for $29.95 provides detailed health planning, tracks all of my exercise, completely tracks my food intake and helps me stay on track.  http://www.fitday.com/Pc/PcHome.html?gcid=14
I've found that when I use FitDay I lose weight and feel better, and when I don't use it I gain weight and feel worse. Even after all these years I fool myself. This morning I had a shake for breakfast.  In my mind I added up what I put into the shake, and came up with 500 calories.  I then put the contents of the shake in FitDay and saw that my supposed 500 calories was actually 727 calories.
There is no way you can know what to change until you know where you're at.  If you can afford it, the best thing is to get a personal trainer (like Kelli) and buy a BodyBugg.  But, if you're on a strict budget like I am these days, invest $29.95 in FitDay2 PC software and resolve to give it an honest try.  You can input where your at with weight and fitness right now, can set goals, and can use it as a powerful tool to support you and monitor your progress.
It's easy to use!  It's a solid first step!  Give it a try - you'll never regret it.

Forever Young?

My quest for health began 12 years ago, New Year's 1998, when I was so huge I couldn't find decent clothes to wear to a party.  My efforts were renewed along the way, with various health wakeup calls...high arterial calcification, high LDL cholesterol, rising blood pressure...
In these years I've gone from 315 pounds to 190 pounds, from a size 56L jacket to a 42L jacket, from 18"  to 15 1/2" dress shirts, from 2XL or 3XL to M or L shirts and sweaters, and from a 48 inch to an honest 36 inch waist.  My LDL cholesterol has fallen to near 100, while my HDL cholesterol has risen to near 70.  My blood pressure which was as high on a daily basis as 140/85 now averages 110/65, and my waking heart rate has dropped from 65 to a consistent 40.
Getting to where I am and setting realistic and sound goals for the future has involved continual change and adjustment.  Many things I considered "health facts" a decade ago I now know to be false.  In fact, the only real constant has been change - learning how to best take care of my one and only body and brain.
There have been many fundamental paradigm shifts along the way.  Perhaps most fundamental has been my dietary changes, essentially switching from eating what I "liked" and was "hungry for" until I was "full", to eating what and how much I've determined that my body wants me to eat.
Much of the dietary transition could have been predicted, as I am now a vegetarian.  That is, from being a guy who was known by his friends for eating "slab-o-beef" on a daily basis, from 24 ounce bone-in cowboy rib-eye's cooked in butter to someone who now grows his own sprouts, wheatgrass and buckwheat lettuce and who grinds his own fresh organic grains.  I've been a raw food vegan for a period of time along the way, but have now settled into a comfortable balanced view.  Perhaps half of my calories still come from raw fruits, nuts, seeds and vegetables, but I'm not religious about it.  I have even eaten some poultry from reliable sources, and also sometimes eat egg and dairy products.
It's not about being fanatical, just about being healthy.  We all have to figure out what works for us.
I've learned a lot these years, about diet, exercise, nutrition and natural cures, and I've decided that I'd like to share some of it with those who might like a similar pursuit.
In this blog I'll explain how and why to grow your own sprouts and wheatgrass, among other things.  I'll get into the what's and why's of supplementation too.  I'm convinced that there is a lot of misinformation out there.  And, I'll talk about exercise, and my passion - which is cycling.
No, we can't stay young forever, but that doesn't mean that we have to throw in the towel before our time.  One person I admire, pastor Erwin McManus of Mosaic in Los Angeles says that we may not be able to choose how or when we die, but we can choose how we live.  Health is just one aspect of "stewardship", but without health we have little time or energy for anything else.
I hope you'll participate in this blog.  Let me know your thoughts, comments, questions, and we can learn together.
"May you build a ladder to the stars, climb on every rung, and may you stay forever young..."