Author: Todd

Toddhttps://17stones.wordpress.comI believe in service and citizenship. Recycling is our mandatory imperative and I am not above a little pomposity ;)
Todd's avatar

Decades

I seem to operate in 10-year intervals.

2000 the hike
2010 the first real focus on health
2020 this time with feeling

Well, I’m older now and have some work ahead of me. This will include updating my knowledge of nutrition, refocusing on eating well and moving. Of course. I re-read this blog today. There is some good stuff here 🙂 One thing I noticed was the high number of posts early with fewer as time went on. One of the key elements to help with a lot of things in life is to journal. It acts a bit like a contract with yourself. It is also a way to really think about how things are going, reflect and document progress / setbacks. Growth mindset.

Health Update
Weirdly, I seem to max out around 245-250 pounds. If you review the blog, you can see that the real work lasted about six months. The spell was broken as a result of the best pizza in the world. But that is another story. After that, things returned to the way they were before. Which translates to not a lot of exercise and eating as if the world was ending.
I moved about five years ago and the home owners association is pretty big. We have several pools and more importantly tennis courts. Me and my wife never played before but turned this into an excuse to get outside and have some fun. That has been the extent of my focus on health recently.
That said, I’ve done a little more on food choice over the last few months.

Apr-07Sep-09Aug-18Feb-20
Total Cholesterol216240236157
LDL Cholesterol11614516082
HDL Cholesterol29353343
Triglycerides354302262219
Blood test results

It’s worth noting that the most recent results are pretty damn good. However, there are a few things I need to zero in on: triglycerides and blood sugar.

Health is not only about weight (see most of the results of the test above), but it remains important. I am currently 17.5 Stones (245lbs). I’ll be back with posts and stats updates. Mostly for me, but if you are here – thanks!

Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants. And move. And journal.

Welcome to 2019

So the last real update was just over 8 years ago. Since then, things have reverted back for where I started in the summer of 2010. 17 Stones. The objective remains to get healthy. Some of the measures will remain weight and body mass etc. I will also include heart info, blood tests and exercise info like I have in the past, but some will be easier to get via my Apple Watch etc.

To Do:

  1. Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.
  2. Move.

2015 Edition

Well, it’s time to get going again. Funny how two years can pass that quickly, but here we are in December and no updates to the site. Also, no real changes to health as well. I just re-read the first few posts and am having some deju vu.

Aside

Back with a new look

This site has been dormant for the last 3 years, nearly to the day. Time to pick it up again – need to make up ground and get back on track.

I updated the theme (had been using monochrome by mono-lab) and will be looking for other ways to update the site. During the time away, I’ve spent a lot of time with WordPress self-hosted sites. So this should be fun on many levels.

Week 22: Progress Report

This has been a very flat few weeks and motivation levels have been low. I have not hit the gym in about two weeks nor have I been active at home. At the same time, my eating has been a bit more liberal than it has been in a while.

Week 22 Weight

To Do:

  1. Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.
  2. Move.

Next Milestone – Weight=180, target date = 05-DEC-2010

Basketball

After doing the weight portion of my workouts, I’ve been spending time on the basketball court for my cardio component. Right now, it is a lot more fun than the treadmills. A few things I do:

  • Start with a series of laps around the court – dribbling of course.
  • Dribbling drills – forward, backward, pivoting.
  • Body circles – passing the ball to myself around my waist as I move around.
  • Shooting – left and right-handed.
  • The new thing I did today was to be on one end of the court and throw the ball to about mid-court. I then ran down the ball and finished with a layup. Good for running, better than a normal layup and was fun!

Right now, I have visions of getting into an old-man, out-of-bball-shape league. Would also like to consider getting into a similar soccer (indoor) league. Need to get some skills acquired again and build up some stamina.

court_diagram

Next Summer: How am I doing?

Just re-reading my last post and noted the following:

Re-celebrate the wins and think about the misses as you get yourself back on the tracks.

Now, keep in mind that I have only been doing this for about 4 months. Seemingly sage advice for such a n00b. I want to make a note for Next Summer to check in and make sure I am still “on the tracks.”

Timing

I think I mentioned it in already, but as I think about where I am today, it bears repeating. A few things have to be in place to really get a great start to a lifestyle change.

  1. Your mind is bought into the need for change. The ‘bit’ is flipped. As I mentioned in my first posting, for me this just happened. Intellectually, I knew I had to do something about my overall health and weight. However, there was not enough internal buy-in to do anything about it. But on that early July day as I looked down into an incredible valley at Rocky Mountain National Park and realized that it would be foolhardy for me to attempt a big hike, my bit flipped.
  2. As with any change, be prepared for a difficult transition. At the very beginning, it is not too bad. You are excited about making the change and will follow whatever plan you created. It becomes challenging when you are into it for a few weeks and the luster has worn off of the change. The food starts to seem a bit bland, the workouts are tough. This is where you need to remind yourself why you started down this path (see item #1). To me, this is where the power of journaling/blogging comes into play. You can review the progress you have made. Re-celebrate the wins and think about the misses as you get yourself back on the tracks.
  3. One other key element is having time to focus on what you are doing at the beginning. It is so important to not be in the middle of chaos while trying to make big changes in your life. This is not an excuse to push this off because you are busy, rather a caution to put a little thought into when you will have time to focus on you and your goals.

I bring this up again as I consider what’s happening around me right now. Work continues, of course at breakneck speed; school events seem never-ending and weekends are now consumed with sporting and other extracurricular activities. I just joined a gym and am making an effort to get there 4 times per week. Monday and Tuesday, I went early, before work. Wednesday was a rest day and I was going to go in this morning. However, that did not happen (hello snooze bar). My secondary plan was to go in the evening. I had to run a few errands getting ready for the weekend. And then a few more and finally was ready to go. at 9:30p. My wife made the comment that I picked a less than ideal time to join the gym with everything else in high gear. I thought about what she said and replied that this is just part of making the lifestyle change. Life is busy, things pop up and we need to ebb and flow to accomplish the things we believe are important. Then, stepping off my soapbox, I considered all the time I invested upfront in educating myself about the road I was now travelling upon and reached the same conclusion I did awhile ago…timing is everything.

Cactus Pear, Green

I was looking for fruit at the store the other day and ran across these guys. I am a fan of pears and thought I would give them a shot. I picked out two that I thought looked ripe.

Green Cactus Pear

I was not really sure where to start with these. I had heard you need to be super careful and wear gloves while handling. However, at the store, I simply picked them up, inspected them and placed them in the bag – no issues. So, I assumed that by the time they got to the store, the pricks had already been removed.

I decided to peel the fruit like I would peel an apple. This worked fairly well, and I discovered that the inside was riddled with seeds (see left). Now, I am a fan of eating seeds. I eat apple, orange and pear seeds as a normal course of eating those fruits. These, however, seemed very hard. Super hard. So rather than risk dental issues, I tried to eat around them. This ended up being a time-consuming, frustrating process. The fruit has a great taste, but is not fun to eat.

I did some research and learned that some people do in fact eat these seeds. When I eat the second, I will give it a shot. Hoping this turns out to be a better experience.

Information – courtesy of  Specialty Produce:

Seasons/Availability
Cactus Pears are available September through April.

Description/Taste
Actually a berry, Green Cactus pears are produced from yellow, red or purple flowers that grow on the prickly pear cactus. Egg-shaped, this fruit is a ocher yellow or chartreuse inside and out. Encased in a prickly firm shell, it has a seedy pulp that offers a watermelon-like flavor and aroma when ripe.

Nutritional Value
Low in calories, one Cactus pear fruit contains about 45 calories. Rich in fiber and low in sodium, this fruit offers a good source of vitamin C and potassium.

Applications
Note: Care needs to be taken when handling cactus pears. Hold with tongs or rubber gloves to prevent penetration of prickly fibers into fingers; gently rinse under cool running water. Cut off ends, slice open end to end and gently peel away the skin of the cactus pear by slipping the tip of a knife under the skin. Scoop out pulp and seeds with a spoon; slice as desired. Best chilled, Green Cactus pear fruit is a perfect addition to fruit or chicken salad. Add the pureed fruit to punch, cocktails and sparkling wine. Make a delicate tasting marmalade or jam to serve atop bagels, muffins, or breakfast breads. Serve as an edible garnish to dress up sandwiches and salads. To store, refrigerate ripe fruit up to a week.

Geography/History
Native to the Americas, Green Cactus pears has long been used to promote healing, specifically for inflammatory skin disorders, eye inflammation, intestinal tract dysentery, urinary tract inflammation, burns, and joint and muscle inflammation. Growing in all of the deserts of the American Southwest, the prickly pear cactus has been a Native American staple food for centuries as both its pads and fruit are edible.

Working out

Completed workout number two today. Did lower body yesterday and upper body today. Added 30m of shooting baskets on the court as well. I did both of these in the wee hours of the morning and will need to continue to do this as my nights seem consumed with other “work”. While this worked out pretty well, I am a little tired – I tend to stay up late. Too late.

I am planning on hitting the gym 4 times per week. I will also try to get there for basketball and racquetball. So far, there do not appear to be many lines waiting for machines or courts.