My Story II

It has been a month since my last post… this is going to be a long one... much to tell. I've been busy and working on some projects, it was just difficult for me to find the time. I’ve been updating folks in Facebook … it is sooo much easier to post items there…if you want to stay updated in the future it would be best for you to find me at this link http://profile.to/stevecooksey/ on Facebook.

I had a “physical” a couple of weeks ago. It was what my doctor calls my “once a decade whether I need it or not Check Up”. :) Which leads me to my first point….SCHEDULE REGULAR CHECK UPS! Had I done this… I may have avoided all of my troubles…

Last week I received the results of my blood lab work. Before I made the results public, I wanted to obtain the same information from my blood reports while I was in the hospital in Feb. ’09, about 7 months earlier.

Why? You know…so I would have something to compare it to. Despite the fact that for 3 days I was a human pin cushion AND despite the high priced cost of the 3 day hospital stay….apparently the information was not recorded. The only note that was made on the reports was “cholesterol high”.

Let’s see….hmmm….I was obese, just diagnosed diabetic with high blood pressure… to me, writing “cholesterol high” really didn’t add any new information to the equation… I think “cholesterol high” given the circumstances…was a given.

The historical information was important to me on several fronts but most important to me, I wanted to be able to say definitively, “I was here, I did XYZ and now I am here… TADA!”

Unfortunately…all I can say is… “I am here….TADA!” :)

Doctor Visit / Lab Work

I was nervous and anxious heading into the visit... I had been off all meds and insulin for about 6 months...and I have drastically changed my LIFESTYLE. I had changed from a slothful, sedentary garbage disposal to an exercising, nutritious eating…person.

IMPORTANT – PLEASE read and pass this info on to known diabetics…please!

When I discharged from the hospital I stumbled about for a couple of weeks on the ADA/FDA Food Pyramid ( giving this to diabetics should be criminal, it is immoral and unethical ). My doctor referred me to the Low Glycemic Diet, in a nutshell, the diet suggests swapping higher carb foods for lower carb foods. I adhered to this diet for several weeks and saw good results as my blood sugars came down. BUT I thought…if swapping for lower was “good” …wouldn’t swapping for even lower carbs be better? …. The answer was…YES!!!

After about a month I was completely weaned off of insulin and all medications. So I thought…I was doing AWESOME!!!! WHY did I think I was doing awesome?….because everything given to me by the “medical community” said that normal fasting overnight blood sugar range is 70 – 120 and I was consistently in the 100-115 range… so I was “NORMAL” ….right?

Short answer…wrong…I’ll explain.

For months I was doing “my thing”, I was eating lean meats, veggies, nuts, beans, whole grain cereal, occasional whole grain pasta and occasional rice etc etc. Life was good. I check my blood sugar every couple of weeks, I was always in the 100-115 range.

Then in my ever continuing quest to find more and more information….I find a webpage that says this:

Normal Fasting Blood Sugar range is 70-100, a leading doctor specializing in diabetes treatment suggests a targeting blood sugar of 85, which is the average fasting blood sugar level for non-diabetics.

To make a long story short…. I confirmed this information. Oh no…it wasn’t easy…

The American Diabetes Assoc. …to put it bluntly, they really tick me off for many reasons. For one, I’ve already mentioned their food pyramid. It lists grains, breads, rice, cereal, pasta ….as the BASE!!!!...recommending 6-11 servings…TRUST ME…other than sugar…these are the LAST THINGS YOU SHOULD EAT!!!

Secondly, I had to dig and dig to find what they say the normal range is….further more… I could not find an average fasting blood sugar level for non-diabetics… DON”T YOU THINK THAT WOULD BE A NICE GOAL!!!! DON”T YOU THINK THAT IS PERTINENT INFORMATION AND SHOULD BE READILY AVAILABLE!!!

Click here to find their priorities…it’s healthcare reform petitions and donations oh...and the recipe of the day....it's sandwich.... http://www.diabetes.org

Back to the story, so now I find that I need to lower my target. The only way to do that is to lower carbs… I searched and researched looking for the perfect diet for me… I kept coming back to the Primal Blueprint by Mark Sisson. He’s the owner of the website where I found “Tabata Sprints” information originally and much much more. Going "Primal" is sooo much more than a diet, it truly is a lifestyle change in every sense of the word.

To be honest, I had been transitioning and dabbling in going “primal” since sometime in June/July but I did not commit fully to it until Aug 1^st. Why? Because...much of the Primal Blueprint makes sense to everyone, things like "eat more veggies" and "avoid processed foods" etc. However, not all of the tenets of Primal living are as obvious or mainstream....but when I learned what my blood sugar level should be....I felt like I had to give Primal living a shot.

So why did I not share that information with everyone? Honestly, until I received my lab work reports back...I did not feel comfortable sharing the information fully.

I’ve been told that there is NO Evidence of Obesity nor Diabetes in my Lab Work!
(I’m still diabetic… you just can’t tell that from my labs)

Results from my visit/blood work.

Weight: 165 lbs (clothed with cell phone, wallet etc) --- LOST 70 lbs!

Blood Pressure: 112 / 67 (lowest ever in the doc’s office!!!!)

EKG: Perfect – yeah! :)

Blood Sugar = 85 ( remember my target!! I am truly normal!!! )

Cholesterol = 182 (below 200 is highest rating of “Desirable”)

Triglycerides = 61 ( below 150 is highest rating of “Normal”!)

HDL = 65 ( above 60 is highest rating of “protective”)

LDL = 105 (100 and below is optimum, I am “near optimum”)

*** Summary: I attribute my “good report” just 7 months from being an obese, sedentary garbage disposal .....to the pillars of fitness.

1) Exercise: I perform what I consider a rigorous daily exercise 45-60 minutes a day, six days a week.

2) Meal Plan: Primal Blueprint – which is essentially a low carb/low processed food diet, eating meats, fish, nuts and vegetables.

** If you want additional information...just let me know. :)

TTFN…do you speak Pooh?

Steve

Connecting with My Primal Self?

P90X - Kenpo X workout for Saturday – Day 61/90

I have Kenpo X tomorrow, a lot of punching and kicking going on. I get to act like Bruce Lee and George Foreman. :)

Many P90X’ers love Kenpo X, as I do. But like with anything, if you look hard enough you will find people who say that “Kenpo X is easy” or “Kenpo X isn’t that difficult”… I sweat profusely each time I do it so I find those comments difficult to understand.

Why? Tony Horton (fitness guru, P90X creator and DVD Instructor) mentions this statement at least once in all of his DVD’s…”intensity is the key, you have to bring it”…but that is true for ALL EXERCISES. The term, “no pain, no gain” is based on “bringing intensity”, pushing yourself to do more reps and / or use heavier weights. You can choose the toughest workout and if you slack off in reps or in weight, you can say “it’s easy” or “not that tough”.

When I do Kenpo X, I intensify the workout as much as possible but I do that for each workout. When Kenpo X starts, I will typically do extra reps and take less breaks early…but before it’s over, I am hitting the pause button. I don’t think I’ve ever completed a workout without having to hit the pause button a couple of times.

Point is : No matter what you do…”bring it” and intensify as needed.

Max is happy, can you tell? He knows it is "walk time".

Lastly, for example : Last night I was taking Max for a walk and as he gets older…his pace is slowing and he likes to spend more time “smelling” than walking. Where we walk there are benches and I alternated doing push ups and chair dips at each bench. It gave me a little extra calorie burn and gave Max the time he needed to enjoy himself. I made it a win/win.

Tabata Sprints Update

I started slowly on Monday with one partial Tabata Sprint. But Tuesday, Thursday and tonight (Friday) I did two full Tabata Sprints and I have to tell you…I really enjoy them. Yes, they are tough but it feels so good to run at 100% and it took less than 30 minutes including warm up and cool down. Who knows…maybe I am “connecting with my primal self”.

Can’t wait for some of the comments to come in on that statement. Ok guys…I gave you slow pitch over the plate…hit a home run with it. :)

Cooksey Cough

P90X Update

I just realized this, today marks another P90X Milestone...I am half way home to completing the 90 day workouts. The days and weeks are flying by now. After this week I will have a Recovery Week to look forward to, which is somewhat easier than the standard push or pull workout weeks.

YES! the workouts are still tough and I still sweat...er....perspire as much as I did orginally. As noted early on, the workouts should not get any easier. As you become stronger you will be able to do more reps or lift more weight...and that is what you should do to receive the full benefits of the workouts.

---

Steve's Fat Pics

In a recent post, I had requested "fat pictures" of Steve...that's me. Well, the number of pictures I received was underwelming. Luckily I was able to dig a couple out myself...that's one way to put it. As you can clearly see...I've come a long way. :)

---

The Cooksey Cough?

Over the last several years, as I gained weight…I also had an increasingly troublesome problem with a cough. In fact, about 18 months ago, the oxygen level in my blood was so low, a doctor told me that if my blood oxygen level went any lower, I’d have to be hospitalized.

I was told then that I was Asthmatic…but to keep from being labeled as having Asthma, the doctor did me a favor and called it …

...“Episodic Asthmatic Attacks”

My condition eventually improved but not before taking a narcotic cough suppressant whose street name was "Liquid Gold", yes, you read that correctly, it was such a strong narcotic...it had a street name. I was also prescribed steroids, antihistamines and antibiotics. As I said, I was finally able to overcome my bout with pneumonia or walking pneumonia or was it bronchitis…no wait it was Episodic Asthmatic Attacks…they never really knew what my affliction was…

….what about calling it …. fat guy that needed to lose weight???

You see…since I lost weight by eating properly and exercising…my cough has disappeared, vanished without a trace. I guess I need to add that to my resume of health improvements.

Man beats Diabetes, High Cholesterol, Hypertension and “Episodic Asthmatic Attacks” by exercising and eating nutritionally! :)

I should probably “knock on wood”, while I have them beaten at the moment, I will have to be resolute and continue this fight for the rest of my life. This is a life long war…battles have been won and lost on both sides thus far.

Take care all,

Steve

Cooksey's A Quitter???

First…I know what some of you are saying…”Cooksey hasn’t posted in like 36 hrs …he must be running out of material”.

Folks, “that isn’t happening”. Just been busy over the weekend and the first of this week. I have much more to say…you may not want to read it… but there is much more to say my friends!

So here we go!

----

Honey I Shrunk Myself!

First Rule they tell you with Beachbody, the company behind P90X, (ok, it may not be THE first), do not watch the scale. Follow the meal plan, follow the workout schedule and don’t worry about your weight.

That is what Steve is doing from now on. I am not watching the scale any more… (we’ll see).

The reason I bring this up…I have reached a new low of 171.5 pounds!

I weigh in every morning and I’ve been in the 172-176 range …until today. I am not going to worry about it, I am going to follow both the workout plan and the nutrition plan and let the pounds fall as they may.

* For the record, I have not run / jogged in 9 days.

---

Steve’s A Quitter??

The day I was diagnosed as being Diabetic (Feb ’09) and I was told that I would likely be on insulin for the rest of my life, I was in the hospital. At that moment…

I did decide to fight for my “freedom”, freedom from the shackles of measuring and injecting insulin FOUR TIMES A DAY and freedom from having to take pills for cholesterol and hypertension.

My relatives are from the mountains of NC where fatback, cornbread, biscuits and gravy were daily staples and I had seen too many of my relatives go down the same road I was on…it was a slow ride down….and I wasn’t going down without a fight. Having said all that, the day after I came home from the hospital…I was wavering.

I can only assume I was wavering due to another fight that was going on at the same time…I was fighting depression. I remember thinking that I could learn to deal with taking shots FOUR TIMES A DAY, “it wasn’t that bad” and I could continue eating like I had been…maybe a little better but basically the same. Yes, I could just take the medications and insulin and life may not be that bad…I could learn to deal with it.

I was considering “giving up” and not becoming more fit. But all is not quite as it seems. At this point in time, I didn’t know if any of my efforts would help my situation. In other words, for all I knew, I’d be on insulin all my life, regardless of my efforts! If that were the case, why should I try to improve my condition? My mind was trying to cope with the “reality” as I perceived it to be.

Unlike some people that I have spoken to since my hospital stay…

I decided:

-NOT to settle for taking diabetes drugs just so I could eat a lot of simple carbohydrates.
-NOT to settle for taking more pills just so I could continue being a couch potato.

So why do I tell you all this?

So you will know the depth of my depression AND how close I was to “giving up”.

Obviously, I decided to fight for my fitness, not give up and at least at the moment, I am medication and insulin FREE! But I must stay vigilant, for I never know what tomorrow may bring.

Spring Forward to TODAY, Tuesday 07/07/09…today, it is difficult to describe how great I feel. Another reason I went back through some of the “old stuff” is so….

YOU WILL KNOW HOW THANKFUL I AM TO BE WHERE I AM TODAY!

Sunday - I played basketball and I felt GREAT! I am lighter, stronger and generally more fit. Words just can’t describe how I feel…ok that’s enough but it does feel great.

BTW, I know some of you are saying…but didn’t you get hurt….YES, but my injury was not related to my fitness level. I could have had the same injury if I’d been my old sluglike self and I was rebounding for my 10 year old nephew.

Monday & Tuesday – Worked out with P90X and FELT GREAT! (I know it’s redundant but what can I say???)

Let’s see what Wednesday brings….shall we?


Steve

Max's High Fiber Diet....no he didn't eat my weed salad.

Max went High Fiber …could be trouble?

Last night I ended up running 6 miles and when I got closer to home I became concerned. Typically Max starts barking and jumping up and down when he sees me coming. Last night there was no bark, no problem it happens some times. Usually the only time he doesn't bark...if he has done something bad....

I open the door, he’s doesn’t even jump up to greet me…now I know he's done something he thinks is bad.

In Max’s world that can be something like taking a pillow off the bed or it can be taking the trash can and spreading the contents all over the house.

I look over to my left and see Max laying on the floor. He's doing his equivalent of, “Hey dad, just laying here…nothing much going on.” Or it could be the old, “If I lay here quietly, maybe he won’t notice.” approach.

I say, "hello Max"...he doesn't budge. This isn't a good sign, he's really thinking he did something bad. I'm thinking a trash can's contents will soon be visible and I'll have to clean it up....late at night after running 6 miles...I am NOT a happy camper.

I look at Max and ask him again...softly, "Max what did you do?"....he doesn't flinch. This can't be good.

I walk into the kitchen and I see it….Max REALLY cheated on his diet! I had bought this loaf of bread yesterday and I had eaten one….(1) piece of bread….Max ate practically the entire loaf….at least it was whole wheat.

For humans, 25g of dietary fiber is plenty…max had 40g in one sitting.

From a "mess" standpoint I was relieved but I have heard of dogs being diagnosed with Diabetes so I was concerned about him eating an entire loaf of bread. It is now evening the day after and Max seems to be doing fine.

P90X

I feel like a kid who receives a cone of ice cream everyday and each day it is a different flavor. When asked what his favorite flavor is…he answers "this one".

By design, each of the P90X workouts are different and while I may not always enjoying them while I am performing the workouts, afterwards I really do like them all.

You know the old saying, no pain no gain….if you do these workouts with intensity, you will be sore. So, when you wake up sore in the morning…you know you are making progress.

Today I had Chest/Shoulders/Triceps…if you “bring” the intensity…you will get a serious workout and I did….so I should be sore tomorrow. :) Speaking of tomorrow I have Plyometrics, there is a lot of cardio work with squats, lunges and actual jumping in the workout. To vary the intensity, you can perform most of these with or without weights.

Cya,

Steve

Goal Update - End of Week 5

Goals Update : End of week 5 *8 weeks left!*

1. BMI = Normal : done (wt 172)
   
   
2. 32” jeans : done (I can wear 30"....)
   
   
3. 30 Push Ups : completed 23 (up from 21 last week, getting closer...)
   
   
4. Beat sons in Basketball : no update
   
   
5. 7 Minute Mile – no update - I attempted my test yesterday, in the neighborhood. I had not run all week so I was going to continue on after my test and jog 6 miles. I don’t think I warmed up enough as both knees caused me some problems so I slowed to a jog and finished the 6 miles.
   
   I may have been too ambitious on this goal. I know how to train to run a 7 minute mile (I ran track in high school) and to train properly I would need to run ¼ and ½ sprints as well as 1 mile and 2 mile runs…I don’t like the idea of running ¼ and ½ mile sprints in July/August…..
   
   Another reason I don’t want to run the sprints, the goal was to accomplish a 7 minute mile after completing the P90X, it was not to run a 7 min. mile by any means necessary. So I am only going to utilize the P90X workouts and we’ll see what happens. As a personal challenge, in the fall, I may see if I can run a 7 minute mile, IF I don’t accomplish it by the end of August with P90X.

Weight Moving

I was moving some of my weights around yesterday. I picked up two 20 lb dumb bells and I realized something …this is how much weight I’ve lost since discharging from the hospital. (212 – 172 = 40 lbs).

Just to see what it was like, I walked around the house carrying the weights for 10 mins.…that’s a lot of weight to carry around and it’s a hell-u-va lot of fat to be carrying around.

Try this, determine how much over weight you are then pick up and carry that much weight around for 5 -10 minutes, if you have some stairs you can climb that would be even better. Then sit the weight down and walk around for a few minutes.

1) While you are carrying it, you’ll realize how much extra work it takes for your body to carry that weight around.

2) After you sit the weight down …you’ll get a sense for how much easier it will be on your body when you lose the weight.

Steve

Mishmash of Stuff ---sounds like a good stew...

It’s Sunday so this also marks the end of another P90X week!!!

*Five weeks down and with eight to go!

If you knew me in Jan ‘09, would you have thought that in June you’d be reading a health/fitness blog written by me? (I have to laugh at the thought of that.) I was like Mikey in the old cereal commercial…”hey, give it to Mikey, he’ll eat anything”.

*** I CAN NOT FIND ANY PICS OF ME when I was obese…if you have ANY PICS please let me know. For some reason, I'm not quite sure why but I wasn’t posing for many pics when I was 230+ pounds. This reminds me,

....there was a Mexican restaurant that had great food but I stopped going there unless others insisted. They had these full length exterior windows and as I walked in from the parking lot…I could see myself in the reflection and I would be disgusted at what I saw….not so disgusted as to not stuff myself on high fat food however.

This was the same restaurant where I ordered and ate two lunches. It’s along story…I ordered them for “the table" but no one else wanted the 2^nd lunch….you know, waste not want not. Wait...that’s not an excuse…I WAS A GLUTON! Said it! Experts say that realizaton is the first step to recovery. :)

FYI – I thought I would “sprinkle” some marketing insights in my posts, you know… so you receive a balanced diet of data/input….my single largest page view day was June 24^th. The page’s title>>> “XXX- maX’s p90X piX”.

Not that this is a real shocker…but it beat the next highest by @ 50%. The page with the 2^nd highest number of page views had a title of “Totally Nude Before and After Pics”…LOL!....hhmmmm I guess sex does sell…. And all this time, I thought it was the great literary value that was “pulling in” the readers. :)

So…I am thinking about changing the focus of the blog to “nutrition and fitness for the Porn industry”. …just kidding!! I called the porn industry association, unfortunately they weren’t interested.

---

Here is a pic I left out from the P90X Day 30 pics. I didn't want to scare people away but today I said, "what the heck". As you can see I was sucking in my stomach here and attempting to pump up what little muscles I have.

---

Completed Kenpo X yesterday, it is a cardio workout that utilizes boxing/martial arts moves so there is kicking and punching mixed into this low impact workout. The only set that I don’t do are the jumping jacks, I can do them but it puts stress on my knees. Given my history of knee issues, I substitute another activity when these come up.

That is important to remember, there will likely be exercises that you will not be able to do (not matter what your workout is) …but that is ok, you can substitute exercises that you can do.

Regardless of your workout, if you walk, if you jog, P90X....regardless...

DO YOUR BEST AND FORGET THE REST

Peace out!

Steve

My Quest Continues - P90X

WARNING: PICTURES YOU ARE ABOUT TO SEE BELOW MAY SCAR YOU FOR LIFE (or not), IT MAY BE DAYS BEFORE YOU WILL BE ABLE TO DIGEST AND PROCESS SOLID FOODS.

I have been “working out” since 2/18/09, in those earlier days “working out” consisted of walking around while carrying 8 lb dumb bells doing curls, military presses etc. More recently, I have been using 20 lb dumb bells, doing push ups and running 6-8 miles per day. So, I thought I was in decent shape….as it turned out, I wasn’t as fit as I thought I was. After (3) months of working out 5-7 days a week I had reached what I feel, is a good weight for me, 180 lbs. I still have fat that I need to turn into muscle and towards that end, I started using P90X. It is a fitness system (with nutrition and workouts) that you often see on late night infomercials. 

Before I go further, I need to insert this paragraph. Perry (ex co-worker) was upset because I had not mentioned his name thus far in the blog. He felt that he had played a critical role in my improved fitness and deserved at least a mentioning. To be honest, he’s absolutely correct. He had been pushing me to diet and get fit for years, especially in the last year and he has been great at helping to keep me motivated. Perry was the first to mention P90X to me and at the time I said “no” because I thought it would be too much of an increase in intensity for me. His advice did help me get fit because I’d pick up pointers from watching the infomercials and implement them into my workouts. I felt that I was in decent shape and ready for the real deal, thanks Perry!!!!

 Ok, enough about Perry and how great he is, blah blah blah. LOL! 

Yesterday was day one – all I can say is WOW! it was intense BUT, you can do the workouts at your own pace. For example, the day 1 routine’s video is about 55 minutes long, my session took over 1 ½ hrs and it pushed me pretty hard. The session was divided into two sections Chest/Back and Abs. Both sections pushed me but the ab section…I could barely complete half the repetitions…but that is ok. The goal is to establish a base line and strive to improve.

As part of the “process” I needed to create “BEFORE PICS” – you have been warned, viewing these pictures may scar you for life, it may be weeks before you can digest solid food. The P90X program lasts for 90 days so I will post the 30-60-90 day pics here as well.

Enjoy the pics....I know you will!  J