Diet

Historically, diet has been my weak link in self-care. I eat like shit. I admit it. And as part of my rebuilding plans, I want to get better at it.

My problem isn’t a lack of willpower — it’s largely, that I am so pressed for time that usually the first thing that gets cut is meal prep. And that’s got to stop sometime. Maybe when life settles down? I’d like to start making the shift this month.

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My Health Strategy

empty gym

There was a time in my life when I could bang out 96 push-ups in two minutes, 120 situps in another two, and peel off a 2-mile run in 10:30. I miss being in that kind of shape. Realistically, I know it’s going to be difficult (if not impossible) to turn the clock back 20 years and be in the same physical shape I was in while stationed at Fort Bragg. But I want to get healthier and get back to racing again.

This year, I started riding again — more than I have since about 2007, and started logging all my data with Strava and a Garmin. My main thrust was trying to commute to work once a week — the route is mostly flat, and about 23-25 miles one-way (depending on the trail closure). Over the course of the summer, I got faster and faster at it, and enjoyed myself more and more as I could see serious progress happening in my Strava data. Even riding that once per week, I noticed not only my times improving (and setting several PRs per ride), but I noticed that I was dropping weight — my face was getting thinner, my pants were more loose, and the little beer belly I’d built up over the last decade was melting away. When I rode the Powderhorn 24 in August as part of a team, I felt super-strong and was happily cranking out the miles. Things have been on the upswing.

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Sick

There is no deeper hell than a cold in the middle of summer. And I’ve got a bad ‘un. This morning a co-worker asked if I felt better today, I said, “About the same, really.” “Oh,” she said. “Well you sound much worse!” Awesome. If there were re-sale value for used Kleenex, I’d be a … Read more

Detoxifying

So one of the things that I’ve always had problems with is eating healthy meals. I have a horrible, horrible sweet tooth and to make matters worse, I’m addicted to caffeine. This is compounded by a job that frequently sees me hitting up the vending machines for a “quick lunch” to get me through the … Read more

Health Addendum

Okay, so results of the MRI are in: I have some degradation of my C6-C7 disc in my neck. This does not come as much of a surprise to me. My upper back problems are strictly muscular in nature. The one big surprise was the WMH (white matter hyperintensity) on the front of my brain. … Read more