I won't go through the entire story, but there were two things about me that really came out during that doctor visit. The first was that I was not ready to die and I would be willing to do whatever it would take to be here for my daughter and to be in good enough physical shape to support her and allow myself to enjoy her growing up. The second thing was wrapped up in the doctor's survey.
I had no real medical history, which meant I had to fill out a questionnaire that spanned over several pages. Along with family medical history, there was a section about my personal habits. As the nurse was doing my preliminary screening and entering my information into the computer, she had a question about my soda consumption, "you drink an average of 4 sodas per day?"
I had a thought, "How big is a soda?", I asked quietly.
She paused, "say a 12oz can," she said.
I looked directly at her, "12".
She acted as if she hadn't heard me and actually shook her head like she had a bug flying near her ear, "how many?'
I cleared my throat, "I drink like 4 Big Gulps of Diet Pepsi everyday, so the number would be 12 cans of soda."
She kept her face neutral and professional and didn't comment further.
Dr. Mason had some thoughts when he came in. The key things for what we are talking about here were that I had to lose weight and I had to cut back on the soda consumption.
I told Dr. Mason that I had to stop drinking soda totally. If I tried to cut back I would be right back where I started in the next 2-3 weeks. For me the reality was that a dramatic overall change was going to need a chain reaction off another dramatic change that was more focused. I was 306 pounds, vomiting for reasons I couldn't understand and undergoing a battery of tests that would stretch out over the next two months.
If no one else would say it directly to me, I would say it to myself. I am an addict to foods that are slowly killing me. I live a life on junk and processed foods that suck the life out of me and add the pounds on at every turn. I eat nothing but crap and now due to a lifetime of conditioning, I crave foods that are loaded with fat, sugar, salt and chemicals.
Whatever medical jargon Dr. Mason wanted to use, it all boiled down to one thing: I had to get my shit together.
Fast forward to today. I have gotten things under some kind of control. My medical issues have improved, although I am still working on my cholesterol, and I have lost some weight. The reality is that I am still classified medically as obese and I have a way to go. My weight loss has stalled and I need to push it forward.
I appreciated the kind words of support given to me a couple weeks ago and have looked at the suggestions I have been given. I have decided to go to a vegetarian diet which in my case we will call flexitarian. So what does that mean?
There are three things that I felt I needed to achieve with a change in diet:
1. It needed to be safe and allow me to achieve my endurance goals. People have been eating vegetarian since we began as a species. There is a growing amount of science that is showing the consumption of animal products adds another level of exposure to diseases made popular by western dietary habits including heart disease, cancer and diabetes. a growing number of endurance athletes are competing at a top level on vegetarian and vegan diets.
2. I need a radical change. Let's call it the Diet Pepsi Principle. As I have tried to simply curve my diet and make adjustments, ultimately for me, I fall right back into the same habits that got me here in the first place. I have spent an entire lifetime living a poor lifestyle for my personal health. I need a diet that will force me to make choices each time I put something in my mouth because I have not been able to do that for myself in any kind of consistent fashion. I think it would be fair to say that a vegetarian diet is generally not supported by our society. Look at any 7-11 or Fast Food Restaurant to see what we support. A vegetarian diet will essentially force me into businesses that support the kind of foods that I want to eat. A vegetarian diet is also limiting enough that it forces me to be aware of what I am putting in my body every time I eat.
3. I need to have a combination of some flexibility and simplicity. It is not fair that I force my behaviors on my family any more than the time for my training. If my wife and daughter want to take on a vegetarian diet, I would welcome that, but if they want to leave their diet unchanged, I certainly respect that too. I also want to be able to live my life without anxiety over food. This is not a political choice for me, but a personal one for health. When I have complete control over my food, I will make choices for the best product I can get my hands on. If I am eating in a situation where I do not have complete control over my food, I will do the best I can with what I have and I will eat free of anxiety.
As I move forward, my plan is to continue to adjust and improve my diet to maximize the benefit for my body that I receive from my food.
 |
| 'Nuff Said |
Well, I have to say I have some responsibility here. After all, I joined you on many a trip down the dark path with Tommy's chili. I suppose I am doing some small part to make up for that with this Double Dipsea craziness.
ReplyDeleteStrangely, you and I have wound up in a similar place. I didn't have the scare you did or the problems with weight, but I recently established a relationship with a physician and he did a physical. Blood pressure was OK, but the cholesterol was borderline needing treatment. I went back and checked the 1 or 2 times I've had cholesterol drawn in the past, same thing. This is despite a 5 workout per week schedule. So while I don't have a family history to guide me because I'm adopted, I do seem to have a cholesterol issue, especially since I'm borderline even with a fair level of physical fitness.
So I also started thinking about diet. Mine wasn't too bad, but I was probably just behind you on diet sodas and I have some other bad habits. I also read some of the work by Dean Ornish and Esselstyn about how they had clinically proven diets that reduced cholesterol deposits in arteries. These were almost entirely vegetarian diets. It's really compelling data.
Now I wouldn't say I'm going full vegetarian, but I am making significant modifications. The big ones are:
1) Eliminating 90% of my soda consumption. I've done this by developing an interest in full leaf teas. I keep them at my desk at work and in my briefcase for when I travel. I really like this change. There are a lot of teas to experiment with and there is also data on their antioxidant/anti-inflammatory activity that's pretty compelling. Good for athletes stressing their limbs.
2) Trying to increase the amount of vegetables and fruits in my diet by replacing meals with whole grain cereals and salads. One thing that has worked out well is when I am in a hurry and hungry, I just look for a good grocery store or Whole Foods. They usually have salad bars where you can whip up a tasty salad and eat quickly. Whole Foods is especially good and they always have Red Quinoa, which is a great protein source.
Keep at it buddy, it's a big, difficult change and I respect you for it. Hopefully I'll see a lot less of you at the Double Dipsea!