Still in perfect health....just a bit sick

If you are just joining us, I'd encourage to go back and read the first posting for to fully understand what it is that I did, and why, and how specifically.  I lost 35 pounds in 2 months and then another 10 without trying at all.  For the rest of you, here's the latest.

The doctors told me that I am in perfect health, just not today.

I guess it's the season and I decided, unwillingly, to participate in the annual winter flu.  I feel sick, but at least I look good.  :-)  I've had this flu bug for going on a week and with a fever the whole time.  Not fun...at all.  Ok, enough of that.  In other news....  Let's talk heart rate.

I was running around the restaurant the other day.  We were crazy busy, which is common.  But on this day we had far too few of us working.  The restaurant is very spacious.  It causes me to run all over the place.  Nothing is all that close.

As I ran back to the kitchen, I was forced to stand and wait for a meal that was being remade for a customer.  There I was, needing to get back to running around but the chef asked me to wait a moment for the food since he was putting the food on the plate as we spoke.  So I waited.  I wasn't upset and probably welcomed the short break. In truth, I was there for about 2 minutes, which was an eternity at that moment.

I could feel my heart pounding hard, as it should given the degree at which it was being required to work.  I was wondering how fast it was beating.  I measured my heart rate as I stood there.  I measured it and I was at 122 BPM.  Not bad considering how hard and fast I was moving while carrying the heaviest plates ever made fill with 20 ounces of short ribs and a pile of mashed potatoes, and forget the veggies...they're light. :-)  I mentioned my heart rate to my boss, Mauricio, who also knew that it was crazy busy.  Mauricio is a wonderful boss. Always helpful and genuinely concerned about us.  Mauricio encouraged me to measure it again.  I thought sure, why not.
  

I knew that I measured it correctly.  It's pretty easy to do.  Take your pulse for 15 seconds.  Whatever number you get, multiply that by 4.  You can also do the same for 6 seconds and multiply by 10. But I seem to use the first method as it's easier to see 15 seconds on my particular watch.  I got 32.  32x4=122. 122 BPM

Anyway, I checked it again with Mauricio.  It had only been about a minute or so since I had just checked it.  As I started to check it, I noticed that my heart had begun to calm down considerably.  My heart wasn't beating as hard as before and I could feel the difference.  At the end of the test, I had my new number.  My rate had dropped to 74.  I thought that seemed pretty good.  I knew that it was good to have a quick recovery time but didn't really know if that was great, good, fair, or poor.

I went to some websites that talk about such things to see how I did.  Although 2 minutes is the standard period of time for such tests, one thing became clear.  That was a pretty darn good recovery rate.

I remember some years back (when I was fat) hiking in the mountains.  I remember that my heart was beating some hard and I could not catch my breath.  It was enough to literally force me to lay down on the dirt and pine needles at the edge of the path.  I could not believe how hard it was beating but what was unnerving was that it wouldn't slow down, for a very long, and unsettling, amount of time.  I wondered what was going to happen next.  Would I live?  Why wasn't I calming down?  Perhaps it was because I was fat and out of shape.

When comparing the 2 scenarios, I am very thankful for where I am now.  The weight loss has helped my health immeasurably.   

Weight loss is the catalyst of total life improvement

It really is about a decision to improve.

If you've just joined us, I'd heartily recommend reading from the first posting.  Kind of like a book. But in a nutshell, I lost over 30 pounds in 60 days consuming nothing but homemade soup broth. I lost a total of 45 pounds, and have kept it off for over a year now.

But it really started with a decision to improve.  

The truth is that I had hit rock bottom, or worse, if there was worse...I am thankful to have been saved from whatever worse was.

I had lost my job, but not just a job.  It was my passion! I was so tremendously and horribly broken by that.  And that made me lose my passion. Or at least I let it do that.  I was in horrible health, financially broke, socially bankrupt, emotionally drained, and very depressed.  A depression that was so dark and so deep it is uncomfortable to even mention here.  Those words are heavy on me and difficult to write.  In truth, it's a miracle that I’m alive

My sweet wife was the one who recommended that I see a doctor to address some of my health issues and as you know, I’ve fixed the health issues but it was all the rest that was still a mess. 

I fixed my weight and health issues, which had seemed so formidable.  So, I should be able to improve in these other areas as well.  If it is possible, and there is a way, with determination, I should be able to improve.  I have the determination, still working on the rest.

SO I USED THE WEIGHT LOSS TO BE A CATALYST FOR FUTURE IMPROVEMENT.

That is an important statement and really expands this blog about weight loss to include what I have been doing to make strides in other areas as well.  To think that the weight loss would give me such a sense of accomplishment that I would be able to say, what other areas need fixing and what's the best and quickest way to accomplish that?  

For me the weight loss came first. Maybe for some, improvement in another area encourages them to seek body and health improvement.  It's really not just about weight loss.  That's a catalyst to total life improvement. 

For me the weight loss came first.

From that came good health.

From that came a clearer picture of who I am.

Now, I continue to strive to improve in these other areas. 

I now have motivation.  I do now know that it is possible to change oneself.

My guess is that anyone could do just that.  It takes desire.  And commitment, And determination.  But it didn’t require lots of money, nor did it take lots of time…well, at least for the weight loss. The nice thing about the weight loss was that it was quick.  Bamm! In 2 months I was 30 pounds lighter. 

However, not all areas where improvement is needed are solved with a quick fix.  And not all of them go as smoothly.  In hindsight, the weight loss was the easy part.  

I'll write some more about specific challenges and what I've been doing to improve in these other areas.