Dennis Hall – KK7X

I told a friend on Facebook today to hang in there that God has a reason. She is going through a tough time as so many of us are.

It made me think about my own situation. With my advancing years, Atrial Fibrillation, chronic back pain and a young child at home I can relate. God has led me to raise a child at my age, participate in endurance sports and just do my best to survive. I don’t question his plan but sometimes I do chuckle and ask him what he is up to. I have always been a whatever kind of person. I do my best not to let things bother me or get upset. I know from experience that it is not healthy.

I spend my years in Junior and Senior High school suffering at the hands of an abusive Step-Father. While the experience forever changed my life in many ways, good and bad, I learned from the experience.

I know when the time comes there is a place for me where there will be no worries, pain or Atrial Fibrillation. I am not afraid of that time when it comes but I will admit, growing old and dependent scares me.

I have changed my routine this year to include swimming and running. I signed up for the Race the River Triathlon in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho at the end of July.

I attended a “swimming for dummy’s” class at the beginning of the year. No, that was not really the name of the class. Last week I started a new class to help improve my stroke and to prepare for the swim leg of my first Triathlon. I chose a Sprint Triathlon for my first effort. 1/2 Mile swim, 11 mile bicycle and 5 K (3.1) mile run. The swimming is going well and the running, well let’s just say that is my weak point but I am working on it. Even if I have to walk a large part of it I will finish.

I was out riding last Sunday and putting in a great effort. I was averaging almost 18 MPH when I met up with a Yellow Jacket. Finding out I am allergic after getting stung last year I stopped at the first available bench and just took it easy. I have my Eppi pen in hand just in case. No major reaction but still a moderate reaction. Leg swelling and my energy level has been way down since then. My Dr. said I have quite a bit of inflammation continuing from the sting. I should mention my Dr. is a Naturpath/Acupuncturist. He treated me yesterday including cupping and there was evidence of the inflammation.

I have been suffering from back pain for years but the last 6 months have seen a large increase in the pain.
More on that in a later Blog.

I had a great spin class yesterday.  I really pushed hard cranking up the resistance as high as I could handle.  They only problem I had is that I could not hear Stuart, the class instructor.  He could not get his headset to work.  So here I am in the back of the room, on my favorite and just had to follow along with what everyone else was doing.  I have enough experience with spinning to have a strong sense of what was going on.  I was able to catch a word or two so it was no big deal.  Stuart was substituting for Angela who had just taught another fitness class and was really tired.  She did however sit in the class and took it easy.

I am happy to report that I am down another pound this morning.  I made sure I had a good breakfast yesterday with good protein.  I am sure that was a factor in my ability to push hard in spin class.  Today is a day off but will be attending my next class tomorrow (Saturday) morning at 0745 at the Kroc Center.  Come on down but come early.  The bikes fill up fast on Saturday. 

At 63 it is hard to get my mind around the idea of eating more to lose weight.  Of course it has to be all of the right foods in balance.  One thing that I was lacking in my diet was a good morning breakfast with protein.  What I was doing was telling my body, after 9 or 10 hours of not eating that I was not going to feed it right away.  It was rebelling by going into starvation mode and conserving my fat stores.  Instead of burning fat it was burning muscle, after all I was not giving my muscles the protein they needed. 

I have been using Livestrong to keep track of my calories.  This has been working against me because of the old way of thinking that less is better.  Some days I have been at or under 1,000 calories.  Certainly not enough calories to support an hour spin class which explains why I start feeling the effort after only 30 minutes.  I will continue to use Livestrong as it is a great way to keep track of what I am eating and the nutritional value in my food.  I have adjusted my calorie goal upward to a more realistic goal of 1,800 – 2,000 calories.

So many years we have had it pounded into our very being to “Eat less and exercise more”.  Well guess what, it just does not work.  When you think about the concept the principle of eating less and increasing your exercise is illogical.  How can you possibly do intensive cardio and not feed your body enough good food to support the effort.  I just does not work.  I am a living example of that.  Last year I rode over 1,500 miles on my bicycle while losing maybe 5 pounds at the most.  But I was lacking in protein, a good balanced breakfast and essential oils. Post ride I was eating all the wrong things because I was so hungry from the effort.  As stated previously, I was starving my body causing it conserve my fat stores.  So during all this effort I was building muscle but losing it at the same time setting up a vicious circle. 

As of today I am down about 10 pounds from my high.  I am not starving or in fact, hungry sometimes so I have to remind myself to eat.   First thing in the morning when I rise I have something small to let my body know it is time to go to work.  You must keep the body in a continual digestive mode.  This means eating (small meals) at least 4 times per day. 

By the way I used to do the diet shakes.  Do you know what they did?  Made me so hungry an hour later I wanted to eat anything and everything.  Have you ever looked at the ingredients’? Take the time to look.  Talk about poison for your body.  They are full of hunger triggers.

I am once again participating in BikeMS Trail of the Coeur d’Alene’s this year.  The event isn’t until September but I can use your support now.  My goal once again this year is to raise $1,500.  Every dollar raised goes towards MS research and support.  Please make a donation today and encourage your friends to do the same.

I just had something new with my cereal this morning.  Almond milk and it is quite good.  While I am not sensitive to cows milk, dairy is one of the things that I am to AVOID.  I enjoyed it with 1/2 cup Raisin Bran and about a half teaspoon of sugar.  I could have left the sugar off and it would have been just fine.  In fact, it was a bit too sweet.

I was able to get to the Kroc Center four times last week.  Spin class three of those four days.  Friday we did “hills” during spin class and I was able to keep up with no problems.  While I try not to compare myself to others in the class, I am able to hold my own.  On most days I am the oldest in the class.

From Livestrong:

“Almond milk has been used since the Middle Ages as a non-dairy alternative to milk. Since cow milk could spoil quickly, it was often turned into butter and cheese, while almond milk was used for baking. Nowadays, almond milk comes in organic original and flavored, original, vanilla and chocolate flavors to use for baking or drinking alone.
Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/334788-how-healthy-is-almond-milk/#ixzz1BDFvWx9E”

I had my second visit with my Nutritionist yesterday and found out a few interesting details. Over the years I have been eating fairly well but lacking balance in my diet. My new eating plan is based largely on my Blood Type which is O Negative.   I am not calling this a diet because, diets don’t work.  She does not even want me counting calories, she feels it is counter-productive.  I have quite a bit of material that was given me yesterday. This includes foods to avoid for type O. What types of foods promote weight loss and energy. It is all a bit overwhelming at this early stage but I am optimistic. We discussed the fact that my body is conserving fat rather than burning it during my workouts. I will be increasing my workouts from 3 days a week to 5 days a week soon. Once Spring arrives I will be back riding most days, weather permitting to allow me to meet my minimum goal of 2,000 miles this year. I just figure that each day is the first day of the rest of my life. Please comment and let me know if I should continue my Blog. God Bless.

I will ride a minimum of 2,000 miles this year on the trails of North Idaho and Eastern Washington.

Those who know me are aware that I have struggled with weight issues all of my life.  Despite being very active riding my bicycle, losing weight has been a struggle.  I am optimistic that is going to change.  I had my first appointment with a super Nutritionist last week and we concluded that the many up and down battles has caused my body to go into defensive mode  and burn more muscle than fat.  This is not good for someone who likes to ride long distances of 25 miles or more a day.  One interesting fact is that normally someone, such as myself, who exercises on a regular basis has high HDL.  Despite my routine mine remains in the mid 30′s and has for years.  My Nutritionist does not sell any products such as high priced vitamins and herbs.  She offers common sense advice based on metabolism and body type.  For someone who has tried every diet in the book I am optimistic that my time has come for change.