Pills not always the answer

A new report from the Mayo Clinic came out yesterday that said that 70% of Americans are now on at least one prescription drug and that nearly half of us are taking at least 2.  These are shocking numbers because all of these pills are not making us better and I know this from personal experience and not because I read it on the internet.  4 years ago my doctor gave me a prescription for a drug called Propranelol to help calm what he thought was an essential tremor.  This is not  life threatening and the drug seemed to help, until it didn't.  For several years I was suffering from a progressive degeneration of my cognitive abilities.  In other words it was becoming harder to think clearly and remain focused.  I was also getting stiffer and having difficulty with my balance.  My doctor told my wife that I was just getting older and there was nothing to worry about.  She also asked if it was possible that I was suffering from side effects from all the medications he had me taking.  A little more than a year ago we went to see a Neurologist who told me I had Parkinsons disease and that the Propanelol if taken long term would begin to attack my cognitive functions. (That's your ability to think)  The Neurologist told me to stop the Propanelol immediately and I did.  When I stopped taking this drug it was like walking out of a thick fog.  My mind became clearer almost instantly and people all around me were noticing a marked difference in my demeanor.  This improvement was very exciting but it didn't happen because of my primary care physician.  He put me on this drug that hurt me, and totally missed the Parkinsons disease.

The medical industry is trying to sell us on the notion that another pill will fix whatever is wrong with you but it's just not true.  If I had just continued to trust my doctor I could be in much worse shape right now, and possibly dead but we got a second and then a third opinion.  We kept searching until we began to get some answers that made sense.  Keep asking questions and don't just trust drugs.  While there are many lifesaving drugs being used today, there is also a profit motive that is killing us.  Doctors are actually making more money for prescribing certain drugs for the manufacturers.  Often they are not paying attention to the side effects you may be experiencing.  It will pay off well for you to ask questions until you get answers.

Large chain admits to misleading consumers

Not all protein is created equal.  Years ago  the Atkins diet was the rage here in America because it allowed you to eat as much meat as you wanted.  You could load up your breakfast plate with bacon, sausage, and eggs as long as you didn't eat toast, potatoes, or grits.  I loved this diet.  I love crispy bacon and will go ape on a good steak off the grill.  I even lost some weight but finally gave it up when my doctor became alarmed at my rising cholesterol.  Apparently consuming large quantities isn't good for your health, as my recent heart attack can attest to. (3 months ago)

I stopped consuming meat almost completely 5 months ago and have lost 30 pounds and 6 inches off my waist.  So I was really shocked to hear the news yesterday about Taco Bell.  It seems that the general public is starting to balk at buying their meat heavy food so they came up with a new marketing idea.  Instead of using the words beef, or chicken they are going to start selling it under a new "power protein" portion of their menu.  They aren't making it any healthier, just using different words.  It will still be the same artery clogging, fat building, heart stopping, unhealthy food it has always been.  They must think that the average american is just stupid.  I'm hoping that they are wrong, and you can count on me and thousands of others to continue to bring you the truth about what we are eating.

Mood eating

We are taught at a very early age to think about what we want, and that must change.  If we all keep eating just what we want it will all be filled with fat, sugar, carbs, and cholesterol.  Years ago Burger King told us that you could have it your way and we believed them.  We all started to approach meal time by asking ourself what kind of food we were in the mood for.  So many choices, so little time.  Do you want a burger and fries, Italian, or Mexican.  We have been having it our way for years now and it is killing us.

I only put gasoline in my car.  I don't mix it with dirt, sand or sugar because that would destroy my engine.  So why do we consume the very things that are destroying the one engine we have.  We only get one engine (body) per person, per lifetime.  Are you taking care of yours, or are you a mood eater.  Why do people eat more ice cream when they get depressed?  Is comfort food really comforting or destroying those who needed comfort?  Wouldn't it be better if you just got a hug or talked to a friend.

It's high time we recognize the lies that fill the commercials we watch over and over.  They don't really "do it all for you", they do it for your money and for themselves.

I'm torn

I'm torn.  I really believe in the opportunity that comes to us in this nation.  I believe that we have great freedom and many have died to protect our liberty but I'm torn when I see fast food killing people all around me.  Our nation has become addicted to all the things that make us unhealthy and cause extreme obesity.  I spent many years watching my waist get larger, my sugar levels getting higher, my cholesterol increasing, and my blood pressure going up.  Then 3 months ago I came close to death with a heart attack that put me into quadruple bypass heart surgery.  So now when I see fast food commercials on TV I can't help wondering if Corporate America knows what they are doing to our nation.  If we shut down the fast food industry today it would save our nation billions of dollars we are spending on health care right now, but at the same time I don't want the government trying to tell us what we can or can't eat.  This is why they put warning labels on cigarettes and we no longer see commercials that tell us that smoking is cool.  Maybe if we put a warning label on a Big Mac or Whopper we can save some lives.  It's something to think about.

Get back up

It's Monday morning and I'm stuck with the realization that I probably ate some stuff that wasn't good for me at a birthday party I went to yesterday.  It used to be that when that would happen I wouldn't test my blood sugar level the next morning because I didn't want to see what I knew what would be a high reading.  Often a one meal failure would turn into 2 or 3 or a week or more.  But this morning I checked my sugar level and it was up, and my weight was up a pound, but it will all go back down because now when I fall I just get back up and get on track again.  I'll be at the club later today for 1.5 to 2 hours and I am finding that regular exercise helps moderate the large swings I used to experience in my sugar levels.  It seems that the longer I go on this healthy lifestyle the better my body is getting at processing the sugars that I do still occasionally consume.  So if you fell off the wagon recently just get back up and get back on.  You can do it.

Have some fun

Yesterday my wife Cindi and I went on a 6 mile bicycle ride over the noon hour.  Now that might not sound like much of a feat but I am 58 years old and went through quadruple bypass heart surgery just a few months ago.  So it felt good to finish the ride and it is good exercise.  I generally go to the club every day to work out but I find that it is really good to break up the routine from time to time.  It's fun to ride a bike, particularly with my wife.  She's like a little kid all over again riding for the first time and that makes it fun for me as well.  Exercise is a vital part of regaining my health but it can get boring if you just do the same thing every day.  We are going on vacation next month so I'm sure that there will be lot's of long walks on the beach and maybe some hikes in the mountains.  We are always on the lookout for a fun physical activity.  Getting healthy can go a long way toward strengthening your marriage if you will share the experience.

Slow Down

"Take your time,"  my dad used to tell me.  As a kid I was often impatient and in a hurry.  He knew with all the rushing around I tended to be sloppy and often made more mistakes.  I heard a carpenter say once that the key to building quality products was to "measure twice, and cut once."  I want to say, "take your time", to my grown children sometimes when I'm riding in a car and they are driving.  They can drive as though they're carrying transplant organs in a cooler to a dying loved one.  My wife, Cindi, has shown me how important this is with food preparation because when you grill hamburgers too quickly they end up like charcoal briquettes on the outside but need a tourniquet to stem the flow of blood inside!  If you take your time you will do a better job at food preparation.

Being in a hurry often causes us to buy less healthy foods as well.  It takes longer to prepare something from scratch than it does to just heat up a can of mash, or to microwave a dinner.  If we are going to improve our health as a nation we are going to have to cook more like our grandmothers did. When we make our meals more of an event then we will take the time to make healthier choices at the grocery store.  We need to get much more intentional about what we eat.  We need to lose our focus on convenience, and gain a focus on consuming fresher, healthier food.  Then we will enjoy it more and live much longer.

James Gandolfini died this week of a heart attack.  He was Tony Soprano to many of us, and he was a great actor, but he was only 51 and much to young to die.  This kind of senseless early death is just one of the reasons I am challenging you to eat healthier.  Our food choices are killing us and I am on a crusade to change that.  Join me in this crusade.

Change that works

I really enjoy variety and adventure, don't you.  I think that's why most people never succeed in losing wweight on a diet.  At their core they are boring.  No one wants to eat the same thing day after day, no matter how healthy it is.  This past January Cindi and I watched a doccumentary called "Forks over Knives" that was about how we treat heart disease in America.  I would recommend watching this yourself if this subject moves you in any way.  I have had three members of my immediate family struck by heart disease already so I wanted to watch it.  It's about a well known doctor from the Cleveland Clinic who is treating patients with heart disease by changing their diet and eating a primarily plant based diet.  The idea of giving up meat, dairey, and processed foods seemed like a draconian undertaking, but it was well worth trying if it could help me lose weight, lower my blood sugar, cholesteral, and blood pressure.  I am glad to report that I have lost nearly 30 pounds, and 4 inches off my waist since starting, and of course I spend time at the club 5 days a week exercising as well.

The good news about changing our eating habits is that it isn't boring.  Cindi is always coming up with new recipes to try and generally they turn out very well.  My tastebuds feel very well compensated at mealtime.  And here is the real kicker.  I don't miss meat, and that is something I never would have believed.  The other night she made a new dish that combined wheat noodles and chick peas that was just incredible.  This started out as a diet we were trying but it has become a new lifestyle that we are living.  All of my vitals are improving as well.  My weight, cholesteral, blood sugar, and blood pressure levels are all dropping.  Our health is improving and so is life.  So there it is.  We are living proof that a plant based diet will give you a much healthier life than a Big Mac.

Black bean burger's

If you are looking for a good recipe for an old fashioned hamburger that is still healthy, try this one.

http://www.forksoverknives.com/wp-content/uploads/Black-Bean-Burgers1.pdf

From time to time I will post healthy recipes on this blog...Dan

Not a disease

I saw on the news this morning that the American Medical Association has just now classified obesity as a disease.  There is truth and a lie built together in one statement.  I think it's obvious to anyone with eyes in their head that Americans, as a group are incredibly overweight.  Never before in our history have so many pounds hung over so many belts.  We don't need to test our percentage of body fat to know that we consume way more than we need.  I spent many years carrying 265 lbs on my 5 foot 10 inch frame and no one had to tell me that I was overweight.

Today I weigh 177 lbs and work out at the club 5 days a week.  I'm 58 years old and am spending the second half of my life focused on getting strong and healthy.  I didn't have a disease, I just had flawed thinking.  I told myself that it was not that bad to eat the way I did.  I told myself that I had gotten enough exercise when I was younger, and that I should enjoy my recliner and remote control.  When I got out of college I quit moving and kept eating.  There is no pill a doctor can prescribe to cure stinking thinking.  Habits do matter, and we, here in America, are letting our bad habits kill us.

Happy meals will only create unhappiness if eaten often enough, so change your thinking and live a healthy life.

Food from a window

I once weighed 265 lbs, but today I tipped the scale at 177.  My waist grew to 42 inches and now it's 34.  Over these past 2 years I was diagnosed with Parkinsons disease, and had quadruple by-pass heart surgery.  I was a slow learner, but I think I am finally learning some important things about how to eat healthy.  Here is an important lesson to learn.  You'll probably never get healthy if you don't cook.  The only way to know the actual ingredients that are in anything is to make it yourself.  Too often we are wondering if there is any sugar in something, or how much butter but if you cooked it yourself you would know already.

I know that this is radical.  The idea of actually preparing our own food is not very popular here in America today.  Our highways are filled with restaurants, and fast (very unhealthy) food.  Our grocery stores have much more prepackaged, preprocessed, and frozen food than actual fresh food.  We learned years ago the importance of spending most of your time in the outer isles at the grocery store.  Instead of buying something made by someone else, why not take the time to use fresh ingredients and a little time to put together a meal yourself?  Make a promise to yourself to no longer eat food that gets handed to you through a window.  Now go live a healthy life.

Excuses

The longer I work out the healthier I get.  My weight has finally dropped significantly after being stuck on the north side of 205 lbs for years.  I once weighed 265.  It seemed like I would never get below 200 until I finally put a healthy diet together with consistent exercise.  For years I would excuse a lack in the one because of improvement in the other.  When I was getting in good workouts I could allow myself more liberal eating habits, and when I ate healthy I could workout less.

It wasn't until I really put those two things together that my weight began to really drop.  Today I weigh 177 most mornings, and I check every morning at 6:30 am.  I had to come to the point where I finally quit making excuses for myself.

I went to a funeral last week.  It was a person I have known for nearly 15 years who had been unhealthy for a long, long time.  They found it very difficult to get serious about losing weight and getting healthy.  I have met people who very overweight but still eat at McDonalds while complaining about their inability to lose the extra pounds.  It's like someone with diabetes who still drinks coke and eats desserts, but just takes a bigger dose of insulin.  That is a good recipe for early decline in your physical condition.  Eventually it can become too late to change anything.

So if you are reading this blog today it's probably not too late.  So change your diet, and begin to exercise.  Lose weight, get healthy and enjoy your life.

Maybe you need a dog?

I read recently that older people live a healthier life if they own a dog.  It seems that our bodies operate better and longer when we aren't alone.  Apparently God had it right when He said that "it is not good that man is alone."  If you don't have a spouse then apparently you can get a good dog.  The point is don't live your life alone and isolated.  Isolation makes us weird and we don't even know it.  I used to sell insurance in rural Nebraska and I've met my share of old bachelor farmers, and have experienced first hand just how cranky they can be.   There is a good reason that someone coined the phrase "grumpy old men."   I've walked into farm houses that had newspapers and magazines stacked a foot high on every flat surface in sight, along with a weeks worth of pots and pans in the sink.  None of these guys had a wife anywhere around, and had no idea that they were strange.  We all need someone to share our life with if we want to live a healthy well adjusted life.  It's actually not good for me to get my way all the time.  It's actually good for me not to always control the TV remote all.  So begin to look for ways to share your life, reduce your stress, have some fun, and live a long life.

Fight for your health

You will have to fight for your health.  I was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease about 17 months ago but not without a fight.  I don't mean fighting the disease (we are doing that), but we had to fight to find out what was wrong with me.  Several years ago my wife started to notice some things in my health that distressed her.  As a result she started going to my doctor's visits with me so that she could ask the doctor questions.  He calmly assured her that there was nothing really wrong with me and that I was just getting a little older.  I am only 58 now, and am convinced that old doesn't start for at least another 20 years.  After all I was working hard with my business, at the church, and on the farm.  We owned 160 acres of land, borded horses, and still were riding every week.

Her persistance finally paid off when my doctor told her that if she was really concerned she should make me an appointment with a neurologist and get a second opinion.  That was just his way of poo- pooing my wife, because he was asleep at the switch.  The day of that first office visit with the neurologist was the day I found out that I had Parkinson's.  Thank God she kept pressing because finding out what was really going on in my body has saved my life.

There have been many other battles since then but we keep fighting.  I am fighting Parkinson's and the impact of heart surgery.  Every day that I get up and go to the gym I am fighting back.  So no matter what shape you are in right now I just want you to know that you'll have to fight for your health, and by the way, we got another doctor who is paying attention!

The Truth About Me

I was fat and unhealthy. There I said it.  It is easier to hear if you are saying it to yourself, and sometimes we need a crisis before we start telling ourselves the truth.  For me that crisis came several months ago when I learned that my older brother had had a heart attack and they put a stint in his heart to save his life.  I went up to New Jersey to be with him for part 2 which was another surgical procedure to insert stint #2 into his heart.  The surgery went smoothly and he is doing well today, but that day I began to tell myself the truth about my own condition. I was in danger and I knew it.  Two other people in my immediate family had died of a heart attack and now my brother was facing this same situation.

We tell ourselves so many lies.  I'm just big boned.  I have slow metabolism.  I'm not that fat.  I'm just a little overweight.  I'm just getting a little older.  These are all things that we tell ourselves so that we can justify sitting on the couch for a few more years.  I'll quit smoking someday,  or I'll start working out later.  I'm going to have just one more slice of that dessert, after all I don't get the chance to taste that very often.

I was tipping the scale at about 210 lbs when I took that trip and today I weighed in at 177 lbs. I went through bypass surgery 10 weeks ago and spent 8 days in the hospital, which temporarily stalled my quest to get down to a healthy weight, but today I am down 33 lbs since I told myself the truth that I was fat and in danger.  Why not tell yourself the truth today, and then do something about it.  Don't wait for a crisis.

Why commercial advertising lies to us

There are so many commercials today that promise you an easy way to lose all of those extra pounds.  They promise that you can have six pack abs in just 4 weeks.  Buy these meals, and you'll lose weight fast. The quick weight loss diet. Guaranteed weight loss. You've heard them all before.  They are all lies that we want to believe because we know in our hearts that we are carrying too much weight and that it is making us very unhealthy. I heard this morning that obesity is quickly overtaking heart disease as the number one health crisis in America. I have been moderately overweight for almost all of my adult life and as a result I had quadruple bypass heart surgery 10 weeks ago.

After all the new diet books I have purchased over the years I am sure of only a few key facts. The reason advertisers lie is because they want you to send them your money.  They don't care about you at all, only about your wallet.  The second thing I know is that there is no easy way to lose weight but gaining weight is sure easy.  The third thing I'm sure of is it takes a combination of healthy eating and exercise to loose weight.  This is the truth and I won't make any money if you believe it. Now go live a healthy life.

You Get What You Pay For

"You get what you pay for" is a statement that I've heard all of my life but I am beginning to see this truth more clearly since my open heart surgery 10 weeks ago.  Joining a club and exercising for 2 hours 5 days a week is not an easy path to walk.  Giving up meat, dairy, and processed foods sometimes makes me think I've fallen off the deep end.  I even read the labels on food at the grocery store now.  Eating healthy food is not an inexpensive process.  I've never spent this much money buying books about healthy living, but I know that I have a lot to learn, and I'm on a quest to reclaim my health while there is still time. Here is what I learned while I was laying in the hospital recovering from open heart by-pass surgery.  Poor health is a lot more expensive than good health.  I would rather spend the money to buy new running shoes than paying doctor's bills.

So break out your wallet and buy a new bicycle, or a membership to the health club.  Spend some money on workout gear, and tofu.  After all you will eventually get what you pay for.  Join me on the journey and I welcome your feedback.

Passionate about your health?

If you don't get passionate about your health you will eventually lose it.  I know because it happened too me.

Fat and sugar is what they put in food that makes it taste so good.
That stuff tastes like cardboard.
Real men don't eat quiche or tofu.
I just love a good steak.
Yes, i would like fries and an apple pie with my order.

These are all things that we have either said or heard that reveal something very alarming, and that is that many of us just aren't very passionate about our health.  10 weeks ago I had a heart attack and quadruple bypass surgery.  I am very passionate about reclaiming my health now.  There's nothing like a brush with death to get you to appreciated life. One thing has become abundantly clear recently is that if you don't get passionate about your health you'll lose it.  You'll gain a few pounds every year, and watch a little more television every month.  Your cholesterol will inch up gradually, and your doctor will warn you about your blood pressure.

Or you can get passionate about your health and keep it for a lot longer.  I hope that you will join me in this conversation about healthy living.

Embrace Change

Sometimes I look in the mirror and ask the question, what's happening to me? Life is changing so rapidly since the heart attack just 10 weeks ago.  It was the week of March 16th when I had a heart attack and Dr. Luu opened up my chest so that they could perform quadruple bypass surgery. So much has changed in my life since then that sometimes I feel like my head is going to just spin around in circles. I had already changed my diet, in fact, I haven't eaten meat now in over 4 months. I am now putting almond milk on my cereal and today I ate a noodle bowl with vegetables and tofu. I have discovered that real men can actually eat tofu, and I think I like the stuff. I am in the gym 5 days a week for 1.5-2 hours, lifting more weight and running farther than I have in years.  I just got in from riding a bicycle for a little more than 2 miles this afternoon with my wife, and having her by my side has made it so much easier to endure all of this change.  I didn't know that I ever resisted change.  I thought that I was open to new information and idea's, but I was wrong because I was just trying to keep life the same.  Now I realize what I gained by holding on to the status quo.  I went from 180 lbs in college up to 260 lbs at my peak.  I went from a 30 inch waist to a 44 inch waist gradually over about a 30 year period.  Holding on to the status quo took me to the door of death from a heart attack.  So when I think about all the change going on I think about the most important change of all.  I am getting healthy. I hope you will decide to embrace change and join me on this healthier path of life.