Steve, Rebooted

My sinuses have been mostly clear the past few days. I haven’t been nearly as congested nor do I have to clear my nasal passages nearly as much as I have had to for the past few weeks.

My workout went well last night. I am feeling the soreness, but it’s a good sore. I’m not experiencing any acute pain and people have been commenting that I look thinner in the face, etc. The only thing I need to do is start doing some high-intensity interval training for cardio. Note that “high intensity” is a relative thing. What may be intense for me may or may not be intense for the next person.

Fitness is a journey, and everyone is at a different place in their journey. The key is to keep increasing the intensity at a pace and manner which your body can realistically handle. Do what you can, not what you can’t.

Until next time…

I haven’t needed to take Claritin or any other medication to be able to function the last two days. This is encouraging. I’m still congested at times, and my throat is mildly sore throughout the day, but I think whatever it is is working itself out of me. My weight has maintained at 255, down from 267 from when I first started back in June. I have to be more strict with my eating and start amping up the cardio a bit.

I’ve also managed to get some better quality sleep the past two nights…finally!

I went back to the gym for a quick workout today. I kept it short but intense, and surprisingly I didn’t seem to lose much — if any — strength at all with being sick and taking last week off. I did weight-assisted pullups and dumbbell bench presses with pretty much the same weight as the week before. I felt strong throughout the lifts, and felt good after the workout.

My nose is still congested, and I feel as if water is constantly in my nasal cavity, much like the feeling you get when water goes up your nose while swimming. This is really becoming annoying and frustrating; I just want to be better and put this stuff behind me so I can proceed full steam ahead with my goals.

The manager at the gym told me I looked a bit thinner, and I can see it in my face (usually the first place I lose the weight). I also went down a belt notch, which is a good indicator of some progress.

So, I’ve been battling this sinus infection that just won’t go away. Last weekend, I went on a cruise that was planned months ago. I had been on antibiotics and thought I was ok. We went to the beach last Saturday (in Nassau, Bahamas, while we were on the cruise) and the weather was great. Beautiful bright sun, hot, water was crystal blue and the waves were gentle and rolling and you could just stay in one spot for an hour and let the water lull you into a tropical paradise.

By the time we got back to the ship in the afternoon, my throat was starting to get really sore and I was not feeling very well at all. It progressed into my ears, where I was all plugged up and had a hard time hearing. Sure felt like an ear infection to me. The remaining two days on the trip I was quite sick, and stayed out of the sun, opting instead to take refuge in the room resting and in the cool, dark environment of the video arcade on the ship (they had a great racing game).

By Monday morning on our flight home, I was a mess. Every bone and muscle in my body ached, and I felt as if I was run over by a truck. I was ok on the flight home, until we had to stay in a holding pattern while they cleared us to land. It was at this time that I felt my ears totally blow up, and it was not a pleasant experience. Luckily, the lady next to me gave me a piece of gum, which helped.

I called in sick the morning of our flight while waiting on the bus to be taken to the airport, and called and scheduled a doctor’s appointment for the next morning. I went to the doctor and discussed with him why I wasn’t feeling any better. While I was on the cruise, I attended a detox seminar and met this really cool personal trainer (more about him in a future post) and bought a detox program from him. Detox is something I’ve known about for a while, and decided that since I’m trying to get healthy, this was the time to do it. I brought all the supplements I’ve been taking and the detox stuff and information to my doctor. Much to my surprise, he was very supportive of it, and said that he didn’t have a problem with me doing it.

For the ear infection, he gave me yet another prescription of the 5-day antibiotics (Z-Pack, as they are colloquially called), and I finished the last pill yesterday. I’m going to wait a few days before I commence with the detox program, but hopefully whatever is lingering in my body is on its way out and I will be able to enjoy greater health rather than dealing with this frustrating sinus thing that I’ve been dealing with for the past month and a half or so. I put my exercise program on hold this past week, to focus on rest while I wasn’t working. I’m eager to get back in the gym and see how I feel. Hopefully I didn’t lose too much progress. We’ll see…

The sinus infection worsened, and now I have a nasty ear infection and really bad head cold. I’m still alive, but have temporarily put my exercise regimen on hold until I feel a little better and get back some of my strength. I’m still eating cleanly and haven’t gained back any weight, so I should be ok.

I’m still battling whatever this sinus infection or whatever it is. I’m on some anti-fungal medication, and it seems to be helping but the issue still lingers. My doctor ordered blood work to see if my blood is running “sweet” (his term) which if it is, could mean that I have type 2 diabetes. Even if the results come back and indicate this, it’s ok because adult onset diabetes can be 100% reversed through a nutrition and exercise program that promotes a favorable shift in body composition to increase lean body mass and reduce body fat.

It is interesting that all these things are happening to me now, as I have already committed to a program that will allow for fat loss, increase lean muscle tissue and hopefully normalize critical health numbers (i.e., blood pressure, cholesterol, blood glucose levels, etc.).

My workouts are coming along nicely and I’ll report later tonight after my workout.

Like most people, I ate way too much over the Fourth of July holiday weekend. All is not lost, however. The occasional binge is ok, and there is even evidence that supports it may be healthy physiologically to temporarily have an influx of excess calories. This is not an excuse for an all-weekend bender, however. The key is to not beat yourself up if you “overeat” but get right back on the horse and resume your clean eating plan. I did just that on Monday after the holiday.

I have some good news! I have lost about seven pounds since I committed to my fitness & nutrition program about a month ago.

I started out at about 267 and weighed in at 260.5 last night. My goal is to get down to about 220 by Dec. 15th.

I’m currently reading the following books:

Strength For Life by Shawn Phillips

Shawn is Bill Phillips’ brother. Bill of course is of Body For Life fame and the creator of EAS, which became to be the largest and most successful sports supplement company in the 90s. Strength For Life picks up where Body For Life leaves off, and offers some good information on setting goals and how to get and stay motivated. The site for the book is located at: www.mystrengthforlife.com

The Body Fat Solution by Tom Venuto

Tom is a lifetime natural bodybuilder and has published many articles and sites on how to achieve fat loss, not just weight loss. Check out his site at www.thebodyfatsolution.com

Great workout this afternoon. I hit large muscle groups with some bodyweight squats, weight-assisted pullups, dumbbell bench presses, and did a few quick sets of DB bicep curls and DB shoulder presses to get a nice pump.

Got it all done in about 30 minutes. Keep your workouts short, intense, and always go for quality over quantity.