Ξ February 25th, 2008 | → Comments Off | ∇ Fitness, Health |
Life is proceeding along at it’s alloted pace. I’ve been working, working out, sleeping, and socializing when possible.
Fitness is going fairly good. I am still working on getting back to where I was prior to being ill. I’ve lots a few lbs on the bench press and I am stalled on rows but overall I am progressing. Diet is horrible. I am back to eating junk food, mostly because I am too tired to cook anything or prepare unch for myself. Working, while I am enjoying it, is tiring, and I don’t generally feel like doing much after I’ve gotten home and worked out.
I really would like to eat a lot better than I am, since I know it will affect my health negatively, and I spent so much time last summer working on improving what I eat. On the plus side, I am not getting fat, on the negative side, my cholesterol must be through the roof.
Two things I need to stop eating, simply because I get nauseous when I eat them; sugar and diet cola. The easiest way to get nauseous and/or a headache - drink diet cola or eat anyhing with sugar. Of course, diet cola is basicallythe only thing I drink… and I LOVE sugar. It is one of those cases where stupidity trumps clear body signals that say, “Don’t eat/drink this you stupid GIT!”.
Stable at 206lbs and 15% body fat. Is good. Would like to get down to 12%, but I don’t see that happening as long as I am eating like I am.
Poor Katt is having a really rough time with fibromyalgia symptoms. It is hard to see her struggle with the fatigue and pain that comes from her fibromyagia. I love her so much and I wish with all my heart that she was pain free and healthy. I want to be healthy, emotionally and physically, so I can be there for her when she needs me.
The hard part about working outside the house is that I’m not able to be at home during the day. I wish the web business was able to support us, but it just isn’t any longer. The web sites have become less of a priority for me, but I am still working as hard as I can to update them as often as we have new content.
I do like to work, that is for sure. For now I am getting enough work, and I have been offered full time work… I want to make sure I make the right choice, for a few reasons. I want to work in a place I enjoy (not a problem, as the jobs I have outside the house are all great), and I also need to make sure I make enough to pay the bills. I need to earn enough to meet a certain threshold.
Life is full of difficult choices.
Ξ January 22nd, 2008 | → Comments Off | ∇ Health |
I’ve come down with teh sicknezz that has been going around the last few months. My first sign was the lovely trip to the porcelain palace last week, and a slow decline in health over the rest of the week. I woke up today with a nasty head cold.
The tendon itis/osis in my right elbow is also partiularly bad. Fun Fun.
Other than that, I am watching with great fascination as the financial markets of the world weeble and wobble. Â It will be interesting to see just how big a recession the US has, and potentiall Canada as well.
Ξ January 1st, 2008 | → Comments Off | ∇ Fitness, General, Health |
Other than being chronically tired from lack of sleep, I am looking forward to 2008. Now, the measurement of time being arbitrary (it is a human construct after all), the new year really doesn’t mean anything, but it is still nice to spend some time to reflect on the past and look forward to the future.
2008 will be the year of paying off debt. Within 5 months two of our student loans will be paid off, leaving two more to pay off in the next few years. This is really exciting to me. Money became very tight in the latter half of 2007, so I started working outside the home for the first time in almost 7 years. Student loans have really been a burden for us for the last 10 years and it will be nice to have to worry a bit less about them.
I hope to catch up on some sleep, too.
2008 should be an interesting year politically across the world. Global finance will also be something to keep an eye on.
I’m hoping to have some new experiences in 2008. Some of my goals are to maintain my fitness, start martial arts again, maybe travel if we can afford it. I would also like to become a bit more involved in our communities. Both the girl and I get lonely and we miss interacting with people. Our social life is the weakest aspect of our lives, so it could definitely use some work.
Perhaps most of all, I want to continue to build on my anti-grumping strategy. Strangely enough, many people perceive me to be radiate tranquility, which is nice to hear, but I’d certainly like to make the inner tranquility reflect the outer.
I am without my computer yet again. I’ve sent it in for the fourth time for repair; this time the battery has lost the ability to hold a charge since it was in for service the last time, the machine doe snot keep time any longer, and the DVD player works intermittently. Given the fact that I my computer is a real necessity, it is very difficult to be without it. I do have an extended warranty, so if it continues to break down and give me problems, the machine will either be fixed or replaced.
The holiday season is over now, and the tree and decorations are ready to come down. Soon, I’ll forget about the holiday season and will be looking forward to spring and the new growth, and the warmth of summer.
I want to spend some time focusing on what I really want from life. I have pretty much everything I ever imaged or wanted when I was growing up. I have a wonderful partner that I absolutely adore, a home, pets, friends, I make enough money to live comfortably, and I have lots of opportunities available to me. It doesn’t make sense to me to exist so I can pay off a mortgage or buy a new TV. There has to be something more for me. I am feeling somewhat directionless in my life. I have made changes in my life recently for financial stability that I am really enjoying on a professional level. I didn’t realize how much I missed working with people. But still… what am I working towards in my life. Security and safety perhaps…
I don’t know.
Lots of thinking to do.
Ξ October 1st, 2007 | → Comments Off | ∇ Health |
I woke up on the wrong side of the bed today. I haven’t had a day where I’ve felt so depressed and angry since… last fall & winter. I am pretty sure it’s the whole seasonal ‘defective’ disorder. I’m defective only during certain seasons of the year. The lack of sunshine really seems to throw me for a loop. The hardest part for me, aside from feeling depressed, is the emotional volatility. Normally I am very level and mellow, but when I get the S.A.D. going on, the emotions go wild and they get hard to manage.
Exercise usually helps quite a bit to manage any seasonal depression I get, but when I feel like this it is really hard to get motivated to go to the gym. Â It can get into a vicious circle;Â knowing I can get relief if I work out, but feeling too down to get out of the house, and the more I worry about it, the harder it gets.
Since I recovered from my back injury and finished the roof I have been struggling to get back into a routine at the gym. I’ve managed 2-3 times a week over the last few weeks, which isn’t bad, but most of it was swimming, which isn’t too strenuous for me. My diet has also struggled, since I am an emotional eater and eating is one of the ways I comfort myself.
There are a few things I know I can do to feel better, like eating properly and exercising, and aso getting out and being around people as often as I am able. I also like to try to get outside as often as I can. Lately that has meant going fishing when the weather is good enough.  I went fishing for a little bit today, but I didn’t really enjoy it because of my already bad mood. I am hoping the weather is good enough, and that I will feel well enough, for it tomorrow.
Ξ August 28th, 2007 | → Comments Off | ∇ General, Health |
I am having post vasectomy complications. My right testicle is very sore and is getting progressively worse day to day. I’ve got some inflammation that is extremely tender, which I think is epidydymitis. I hope it isn’t that, since the options for dealing with the pain are not pleasant. I tell you, when it gets aprticularly bad it feels like a needle is being stuck through my testicle, into my stomach, and through my back. It’s nasty. I have an appointment next week to get it looked at.
In other news, I saw the lunar eclipse last night. I stayed awake until 3am to see it. It was cool, but anticlimactic.
Still no plans on having any parties at the Retreat for the forseeable future. We’re still renting the space to those who want to use it, but the B&B is closed and the parties are on hold.
We’re still pondering moving in spring. It will depend on a number of things, but income and property value in particular. I like it here, but it is expensive, and the house needs a fair bit of work still if we plan to be here long term. I don’t particuarly relish the idea of putting a new roof on. It will be needed next year, but I’ll be damned if I’ll pay someone to do it when I can do it myself for a fraction of the cost. The shop roofing experience was good in the sense that I know I can do it.
The main things I need to get done on the house: rewire 9 or 10 electrical outlets, new roof, and new water pipes. I will likely be having the fence done on the east side of the house this summer, and the south/alley fence replaced as well. The next door neighbor is willing to go half&half so it becomes much more affordable. We are so tight though that I would rather not put any money out at all, but when someone offers to pay for half your fence, it is stupid not to do it.
And with that, I am off to try to get less tight.
A year ago today we finished our trip across Canada. Can a year have passed so quickly already? Obviously it did, but the time seems to have flown by. We’ve been in our house now for 10 months too. Wow. I really had a blast on our trip and sometimes I miss being on the road. We might still have been on the road if it hadn’t been so darn expensive to travel. I am glad we settled down though. I like having a house - and a yard for the dogs. I like having my king size bed to sleep in rather than the sofa in the RV. I am a real home body so it is really nice to have a -home- again.
Now the update…
We took a time off of running parties in our dungeon this month. Katt’s health has been poor for the last 6 weeks or so and we decided that some time to ourselves was in order while she was going through the initial stages of diagnosis. We are waiting for speicalists appointments still. It takes a while. The two different ideas that are being bandied about are an autoimmune issue which may resolve itself over time, or alternatively fibromyalgia, which is a chronic condition. Until she sees a specialist we can;t say for sure what is going on. We are hoping it is autoimmune and that it will go away on it’s own, but we are prepared if it happens to be something else.
Starting September we’ll be throwing parties as normal. We don’t really make anything from the parties, we break even, but the spin offs from people seeing the space and later wanting to rent the space for private use is a real benefit to us. It will be awesome to have people here and using the space again.
A major development for me - I am now a reviewer at Janes Guide! I’ve been friendly with the folks over at Janes Guide since I first entered the adult internet business in 2000 and am really stoked to be a part of such a well respected site and working with people I have a lot of respect for. *does a happy dance*
We had planned on breeding Luna, our newest female pug, but we decided not to in the end. The risk of complications with squishy faces dogs giving birth is quite high, and we didn’t want to risk anything bad happening to Luna; we love her too much! So as soon as she finished her heat we’re going to have her spayed.
The shop roof doesn’t leak. We had 3 days of rain this week and the roof was water tight. It’s gratifying to know that I did a good job on it. If we stay here more than another few years I will have to re roof the house. In the meantime I am going to put moss killer on the roof and take the moss off once it dies. That should extend the life of the roof.
We have been throwing ideas around as to what we plan on doing for the next 2 years and 2 months. The original plan was to live in this house until Oct 2009 and decide whether we’d stay here or sell and move somewhere else. Depending on what happens with Katt’s health and our finances we have though of potentially moving earlier. We’ll stay here as long as we can afford to financially, emotionally, and health wise. Hopefully for at least another 2 years and 2 months! I like living in Chilliwack. Our neighbors are great, we’re close to our friends and family, and we’re so close to nature. I also really love our leisure centre. It is the best one I’ve been to in any city across the country.
I’d better be off to bed. Need my gnarly sleep and all.
Ξ August 13th, 2007 | → Comments Off | ∇ Health |
My back is feeling a fair bit better the last few days. I still have to be careful that I don’t twist the wrong way or lift anything that is too heavy, but I can generally get around without too much discomfort. I am going to try to get back to the gym tomorrow and stick to low weight and see how it goes. I’ll avoid the muscles that got hurt so I don’t tweak them again, but I can still work arms and chest etc on the machines.
It will be great to get back in the gym; I love to work out.
Ξ August 6th, 2007 | → Comments Off | ∇ Fitness, Health |
I hurt my back in the gym today. I was doing squats at a weight I’ve done before with n problem at all, and wen I was down in the squat my back popped and cracked and spasmed and I just barely got the weights back up. Once I stood up I was in an amazing amount of pain; it was all I could do to make it to the bench 10 feet away.
I rested for a little bit and then made my way downstairs to the change room. I managed to get undressed by working through the pain, and I managed to get my swim trunks on and I hobbled into the hot tub. The hot tub helped a fair bit.
Getting dressed was a real SOB. I couldn’t tie up my shoes. Driving… not much better… I could barely lift my leg into the truck.
I’m obviously home now. I took robaxacet and we’ll see how that does. I am still in a lot of discomfort. I have no bulging discs, so I am sure it is just a muscle pull… something only time and rest will fix.
Still… damn… bad timing…
Ξ July 31st, 2007 | → Comments Off | ∇ Health |
I am going to talk a little about one of my pet peeves today; Colon Cleanses.
One of the myths out there is that our colons contain impacted feces, sometimes 20 pounds or more, which can only be removed by a specific kind of colon cleanse. In these cleanses they direct you to take their pills, and go on a liquid only diet for up to a week. These pills contain various ingredients, the primary one being black psyllium. When people take these pills and drink all the fluid that they are directed to, they poop out copious amounts of black stuff that they assume is feces.
Myth #1 - We don’t have impacted feces in our body.
What they are excreting is not feces! It is psyllium. Psyllium expands when you add water to it, up to 5 times the original volume or more than it’s dry weight.
Anyone that has had a colonoscopy can tell you exactly what the inside of your colon looks like. It is nice and pretty and pink! As someone who has had a colonoscopy, they make you take this really gross liquid called calmag that cleanes out your pipes, and I can tell you that 99.99% of what came out was WATER.
Ask any GI doctor and you’ll get the same answer.
Next… 4 days without nutrients is unhealthy. Your brain needs carbohydrates to function, and in as little as 24 hours your brian function can become impaired and your body will start producing keytones as a secondary fuel source if there are no carbs present. This is not healthy, and also a reason why the atkins diet can be very dangerous. Your brain can starve!
Some links:
http://skeptico.blogs.com/skeptico/2005/06/detox_diets_don.html
http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=54697
http://patrifriedman.com/writing/journal/expat/975ketosis.html
http://www.health24.com/dietnfood/Weight_Centre/15-51-2961-2965,34225.asp
I get sad when I see people investing time and money and risking their health on these snake oil remedies. The best way to keep your body healthy, is to eat healthy and exercise. No snake oil product will allow you to eat crappy food and then magically undo the effects with a 4 day cleanse. It’s bullshit.
If you don’t believe me, do your own research. Ask your family doctor, read studies, get an educated opinion! Don’t rely on the information the companies give you that produce these cleanses. Obviously they will tell you that their products work and lie through their teeth to get your money. It is an unregulated industry, and they can make whatever claims they like without backing them up.
Wolfe’s rule #576 - Don’t go blindly into the night. Ask questions!
Ξ July 29th, 2007 | → Comments Off | ∇ Fitness, Health |
I am damned tired!
Other than being tired though, I feel pretty healthy. Katt has been dealing with unknown health problems over the last month or so. We originally thought it was her thyroid, and it still may be, but the tests done so far are inconclusive. She had tests done to see if she had an infection or anemia, and neither was an issue. It’s been a challenging few weeks for her. She has a Dr’s appt tomorrow for follow up so hopefully some new avenues will be explored. It sucks for her to feel so crappy.
My nutrition and exercise has been going really well. I’ve been going 5 days a week which is my goal and I am definitely seeing progress. I really can’t explain why I’m so tired. I did go for about 3 nights with 6 hours sleep, but I’ve never had an issue with shorting myself on a few days rest. I have always been able to catch up.
We had our monthy party here last night, which was a lot of fun, and by midnight I was nauseous and ready to collapse. It was/is really wierd to feel so depleted. I can’t imagine that I am not eating enough; I eat a lot and it is nutritionally dense food. I’m exercising so I should have more energy, not less. I think it is most likely an issue of lack of sleep, so I am going to try to get a full night sleep tonight and see how that works.
Oh yes, I did read the new Harry Potter. It was good, but it left me feeling like something was missing and that the ending wasn’t quite complete somehow. No spoilers for you, but it is sad that the story is over.
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