Hitting close to home

Earlier this week, a cousin of mine returned home to heaven to be with her mother. My cousin Jennifer was taken from the world way too early, or so it seems. We were never really that close, but she is only a year older than me, she was too young to go. 

God has a plan for all of us, I don't care what others may say about it, I believe it 100%. A close friend of hers put together a FaceBook page for friends and family to share pictures, comments, and support for one another as a tribute to Jennifer. I am amazed at the overwhelming number of people she touched throughout her life. Within a day or two, there was nearly 400 people on the page, commenting, and sharing memories and photos. 

Jennifer's mother passed away several years ago unexpectedly. My mother-in-law was diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer late last year. Situations like this remind you how delicate our lives are. 

When my wife and I adopted our first child, we made a promise to each other. We agreed to look at each day as though it was our last. You will NEVER have this day again, your child will NEVER be this young again. Time passes to quickly, live in the now!

I was talking to my grandma just yesterday about my grandpa. He died over 20 years ago, I was 9 I believe when he died and you'd think I would have lots of memories of him but I don't. The one memory I have of him, is me sitting on his lap, and him rubbing his face on mine with his 5 o'clock stubble scratching my skin. Grandma tells me that she constantly begged him to stop doing that, if he did, what would my memory of him be? 

Over the last few years we have taken multiple vacations. Not because we are "loaded", but because right now, my focus is on making memories with my 3 sweet little boys. Each night before bed, we have rituals that never change. Water and vitamins, story time on Parker's bed, family prayer, and then I take the time to ask each boy what his favorite part of the day was. If I am taken tomorrow, I want to know that my boys remember me for something. What if I don't wake up tomorrow? What if we get in a terrible car accident and one of my boys leaves us? What memories will I have of him? I know this sounds morbid, but what if? 

Too many people get to old age and look back and have numerous regrets. I make a conscious effort every single day to live life to its fullest. I don't want to look back and regret anything. 

Some people don't know that I am a "stay-at-home-dad". Whenever I say that to anyone, they almost cringe! "how could a man take care of kids?" I walked away from two successful businesses to stay home with my boys when our twins came home from their 12 week stint at Intermountain Medical Center. We were not about to have a daycare raise our kids, not to mention the cost of daycare. I am one of the fortunate ones that "gets" to stay home with my kids. Now this does't mean that I sit at home and pick my nose all day. I get more "work" done that I would if I worked two 40hr per week jobs, all while taking care of my boys. 

Getting back on topic; take each day, one day at a time. If today sucks, make the best of it! Laugh! Give your kids a hug and kiss before bedtime. You never know maybe you won't get another tomorrow. 

"Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, Today is a gift, that's why they call it Present"

www.weddingvideoinsaltlakecity.com

Wheat Cuts Off Blood Flow To Frontal Cortex

As far back as 1954, reports of the full or partial resolution of schizophrenia following a gluten free diet began to surface in the medical literature. We covered this remarkable pattern of associations in a previous article titled, "60 Years of Research Links Gluten Grains to Schizophrenia." While the explanation for this intriguing connection has remained focused on the disruption of the gut-brain axis and the presence in wheat of a wide range of pharmacologically active and mostly opioid receptor modulating polypeptides, a new and possibly more disturbing explanation is beginning to surface: wheat consumption cuts off blood flow to the brain.

Starting with a 1997 case study published in the Journal of Internal Medicine involving a 33-year-old patient, with pre-existing diagnosis of 'schizophrenic' disorder, who first came to medical attention for severe diarrhea and weight loss (classical symptoms of gluten intolerance), brain scan technology determined that cerebral hypoperfusion (decreased blood flow to the brain) was occurring within the patient's frontal cortex.[i] A gluten free diet resulted not only in the normalization of intestinal damage and autoantibodies, but the return of blood flow to the frontal cortex, and the resolution of schizophrenic symptoms.

Then, in 2004, a follow up study was performed to verify if the 1997 case study was just a fluke, or perhaps a widespread effect of untreated celiac disease. Published in the American Journal of Medicine, researchers from the Institute of Internal Medicine, Catholic University, Rome, Italy, compared 15 untreated celiac patients without neurological or psychiatric disorders other than anxiety or depression, with 15 celiac patients who were on a gluten-free diet for almost 1 year, and 24 healthy volunteers of similar sex and age. All subjects underwent cerebral single photon emission computed tomography examination.

The results were remarkable, with dramatically increased incidence of impaired brain blood flow in untreated celiac patients, reported as follows:

"Of the 15 untreated celiac patients, 11 (73%) had at least one hypoperfused brain region, compared with only 1 (7%) of the 15 celiac patients on a gluten-free diet and none of the controls (P = 0.01). Cerebral perfusion was significantly lower (P <0.05) in untreated celiac patients, compared with healthy controls, in 7 of 26 brain regions. No significant differences in cerebral perfusion were found between celiac patients on a gluten-free diet and healthy controls."

They concluded: "There is evidence of regional cerebral blood flow alteration in untreated celiac patients."

www.greenmedinfo.com

Taking the road less traveled

I woke up this morning and thought I would get on the scale, against the suggestion of my trainer. I was surprised to see the number 2 pounds lower than 2 days ago. According to my recent weight loss, if I can keep it up I will be down 100 pounds in just 4 months. Now of course, I don't expect it to happen that way because at some time I expect to plateau.

That being said, I am very excited to be consistently losing weight, and doing it the healthy way!

When I was in high school I was about 180 pounds, with a high percentage of muscle, which only increased with my physically demanding jobs for the years to come. After damaging my back several times, I couldn't take it anymore. 10 years later, one desk job after another, up 100 pounds from where I started. I now sit looking in the mirror watching the changes overcome me, one day at a time.

For years I have watched my weight increase, my food cravings get worse, without any end in sight I put a stop to it.

As a society, we are trained incorrectly about food consumption, or at least I interpreted it wrong. For decades I have eaten when I was hungry, and when I would eat, I would eat quickly, and finish only when I was full. I was brought up to have 3 meals a day. My plate consisted of 50% meat, 25% carbohydrate, and 25% veggies. That was w
hen I was at home, but for most of my adult life, I have worked jobs that require me to travel, so I was always eating fast food. It never affected me until I got a desk job, and didn't think it was necessary to change my food intake.

It wasn't until recently that I realized how terrible food is for you as a whole. In this day and age, it is so much more difficult to find good food than it has ever been in the history of the world. With fast food on every street corner, and us being the "here and now" generation you have to have self control beyond belief to steer clear of the local McDonald's.

Recently, there was a high school teacher in the news.  John Cisna of Ankeny Ohio was inspired to conduct his own experiment after watching the documentary Super Size Me. To his surprise, and everyone else's he lost 37 pounds over a 3 month period eating only food from McDonald's.

The thing is, the overweight population in our country is not entirely our fault. But we can make a difference. When we came to earth, we were given agency. We can choose what we do and don't do, we can choose to eat that Big Mac, or we can choose the fruit cup.

If you are looking to lose weight, and I am sure some of you out there are, you can do it. You can control your future. The time is NOW. Take that first step, one day at a time.

I promise you, there are days that I find it difficult to do the same thing I always do, some days I feel like I NEED a Mountain Dew, or a french fry. Don't let food control you, you are better than that. If you fall off the wagon, get back up. Tomorrow is a new day, start over again.

The key to quitting anything is to always be quitting. You are never safe from temptation, but it does get easier over time.

Cucumber sandwich - what a treat!

My life saving journey continued. For about 12 months now, my wife and I have eaten a very well rounded diet with lots of fruits and veggies in an effort to become more healthy, and to lose a few pounds. On January 14th we walked into the gym for the first time in a long time determined to slim down, and become even more healthy.

In mid 2012 I decided to give up my Mountain Dew addiction for good. It was extremely difficult, but I can say proudly now that I have not taken a single sip of the stuff since I put down the bottle. The sad thing is, most people who drink a soft drink daily, whether it be Mountain Dew, Coke, Pepsi, or Dr Pepper, lots of people have an addiction without knowing about it. Some know they have an addiction, but they can't kick it, or won't.

I hopped on the scale in 2012 and said no more. The scale stared back at me with a number that I simply would not accept as my weight. We went through and systematically threw out everything in our fridge, cupboards, storage, anywhere that we stored food. Anything that was not 100% whole, fresh product got tossed. I didn't want to be a victim anymore. I was taking control of my life.

What do we eat? Fruit and veggie shakes. 24oz per meal, pure fruits and veggies of course we get our proteins from other sources, but for breakfast and lunch, our main course is a delicious shake/smoothie. For about a year, we have been drinking these smoothies religiously, and each have lost some weight, but nothing significant. Until we started going to the gym.

We are both determined to get the weight off, and keep it off for good. This is not a "crash diet" or something that I can see myself "burning out" on.

I never thought that I would love going to the gym so much. I feel invigorated. When I wake up in the morning, I want to go to the gym. I love the feeling that I get when I leave there. I have been working with a trainer so that I get pushed farther than I might push myself, but also to help
keep me from pushing myself too far. I have lost 6.7lbs so far, and I am loving it. I can't see it just yet, but I can feel it. I can feel my muscles tightening, I can feel myself standing taller. I can see my skin getting clearer, and my energy levels increasing. I am able to lift more weight, run farther, and faster than I was even two weeks ago. The other day, someone posted a cucumber sandwich on Facebook, where you use a cucumber cut in half the long way instead of bread. It looked so good that I had to try it, I loved it so much that I went out and got a bunch of cucumbers to make more.

Both of my parents' fathers died of cirrhosis of the liver at an early age. Neither had ever had a drink. There seemed to be no cause. My father was recently diagnosed with the same ailment. I am determined to stick around for my little boys. Each day when I wake up, I know that everything I do today will be for them. As I am sitting there on a machine at the gym struggling through my last two reps, I remember why I am doing this. Why am I putting my body through this burn? Through this pain? I am doing it for the greater good, to be healthy, to minimize my risk of dying from disease.

I have had people look at me and laugh at me when I tell them that I am drinking fruit and veggie shakes for breakfast and lunch. I have been told that I am crazy. I am not dieting, this is for permanent change. Too many of us live to eat. It is time for me to eat to live.

Now that we have added in exercise 6 days a week, I feel much better overall. Today was my 1 day off this week, and I feel guilty for not going. I can't wait to walk through those doors tomorrow.

I appreciate all of you who read my blogs. I will do my best to write more.

When is it appropriate to ask someone for their seat?

Tonight, we were invited out by some good friends for dinner at Chick Fil A in Utah County. I have been to Chick Fil A multiple times in the Salt Lake Valley and it is generally fairly busy during dinner time, but there are always seats available. Tonight in AF, the place was out of control. If they weren't way over capacity I would be very surprised. There was a constant line of people waiting to place their orders, and when you got your order, there was standing room only.

We happened to get there at the perfect moment as a family was leaving, the booth had just enough for our little family of 5, and our friends along with their two little munchkins. The 4 of us adults were sitting there gabbing, like adults do from time to time, while the kids played on the playground with the other 30 kids. As many kids do when they go out to eat at a place like this, they would play for a minute, come back for a bite and a drink, and go back to playing. No harm right? Pretty normal?

In my peripheral, I see an older lady, about my parents' age with a fur coat on, she looked as though someone owed her something. Behind her were two of what seemed to be daughters, her husband, and a couple kids. The older lady reaches down to grab a chair that was sitting vacant for the moment, I looked up at her as "are these seats taken?" come demanding out of her mouth. "Yes, those are our kids' chairs". For the next 15 minutes, they hovered right next to our table, periodically muttering statements like "I guess we could just take our food and go".

They were standing there, waiting for us to gather our things and go so they would have a seat. It's not my fault that the place was packed. I got the memo to get there before 6, I guess she didn't. As


As I write this, it is coming out like I am a huge jerk for not allowing them to have our seats. Comments??

Crash diets actually work!

I thought that would get your attention! Most of us have tried at least one "crash diet" and failed miserably, only to end up packing on a couple more pounds than we started with. The thing about any diet, is that it was designed to work. The thing that doesn't work with crash diets is YOU.

All diets are designed to help you lose weight temporarily. Anyone can lose 10 pounds by changing their eating habits for a few days, or even a month. The trick is maintaining your diet change once you have completed the length of the "diet". The thing that most people don't do when they are dieting is follow through. That is where we all fail.

In order for any weight loss system to work, you have to change your food intake, physical activity, and even your mind set permanently. Crash diets are great tools to give you a kick start to losing weight. Being able to see the scale drop by a few pounds is always motivational! The sad part is when your steam runs out, and you crave that diet coke or snickers candy bar you can't say no.

As humans, we are raised to eat three meals a day. We are trained to eat when we are hungry, and eat enough to hold us over until the next meal in 3-5 hours. The truth is by waiting until you are hungry, your body has already gone into starvation mode, your metabolism slows down so you can store fat. Then when you eat, you eat more than you need to and when you are done, you feel "full" which is usually a sick feeling.

Most health conscious people eat 5+ small meals a day. First thing in the morning is the most important, it sets the pace for the rest of the day. For breakfast I usually have a 24oz smoothie made up of raw pineapple, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, and spinach. For snack, about half an hour after my morning smoothie I go with a hard boiled egg, cheese stick, peanut butter with celery, or yogurt, etc. Half way between breakfast and lunch, I have another smoothie, and another snack. Then for lunch, I have another smoothie and another snack. By eating small snack sized meals throughout the day, I am able to keep my stomach satisfied, so I won't binge eat. By the time dinner comes around, I have eaten enough calories throughout the day to keep me going without feeling hungry. For dinner, I can generally eat whatever my heart desires, obviously within reason. Most of the time, we eat chicken breast with veggies. This sort of thing can be prepared in a variety of ways which is nice. No butter necessary, just a little seasoning is all I need.

I know that I am in no way perfect, but I was for so long addicted to Mountain Dew, and McDonalds. I speak from experience, it can be done. My father-in-law has lost 65 pounds over the last year or so, and people ask him all the time what he did to lose weight. His answer, eat right and exercise.

If you take a look at the food guide pyramid, remove the top section, then remove the bottom section. You are left with the "weight loss trapezoid". A friend recently shared this on Facebook, and it really stuck.

I have many people around me who want to lose weight, they all wonder why they are unable to lose weight. The thing is, it's not their fault. We are trained to eat when we are hungry from birth, we are trained to eat 3 meals a day. We are told that we need bread, milk, and starchy foods to survive. The truth is our meals should consist of 80% raw fruits and veggies. Most of us don't get nearly enough fiber in our diets, we don't eat enough fruit or veggies.

I am not preaching because I think I am perfect. I am writing this because I have finally figured out what I have been doing wrong for so long. My wife and I made a conscious choice about a year ago that we needed to eat healthier so we could be around for our kids. We have not added any exercise until just recently. Now, we are going to the gym 6 days a week, with a personal trainer helping us along the way. It is time to lose for life.

If you are serious about losing weight, start somewhere! Take it one day at a time, you CAN do it!

Wipe the seat please

So today I went to the gym for the second time, I am new to the gym scene and thus far, it is quite enjoyable. It is going to take a little getting used to all the "gym etiquette" that to so many is second nature. Yesterday, I went right to the 30 minute workout area to get my full body workout. To those not familiar with the layout of PF, this area has a series of machines that you use in a circuit. There is a light that changes from green to red. Green means start your workout at the machine you are on, stop when the red light goes on and move to the next machine. I really like this setup, I feel like I can get a pretty good workout in 30 minutes.

As I got off the first machine and went to the second, each person in front of me got up and grabbed a paper towel, doused it with cleanser and wiped down their machine before moving on. After each wipe, the paper towels went in the trash. Being new to the gym atmosphere, I wanted to abide by the etiquette so I followed suit, thinking every step of the way "there has to be a better way to do this".

Day 2 at the gym was today, instead of doing the 30 minute workout I opted for some treadmill time to burn some fat for 30 minutes. I didn't mind it, it felt natural. But, when I was all done I noticed that I was the sweatiest one in the place. Note to self, bring a gym bag next time so I can shower when done.

I started using My Fitness Pal again to track my food intake, and exercise. Next on my list is to get a fitness band to bring everything together. Any suggestions?