Success Warrior: The Blog That Embraces ADHD

Now, About That Before Picture

So, I'm back on my computer.  How cool is that!  That means that I have access to all my files again.  Huzzah!

<rant>

First, though, let me get this off my mind. 

I rarely venture into the news stories anymore since most of the articles are either propaganda or complete bullshit put forward by incompetent news "journalists".

"Gee, SW, don't sugarcoat it.  How do you really feel?"

So, I have no idea why I ventured into the news stories yesterday.  Completely lost my brain.  I should know better and just stick with the blogs and newsletters that I trust, but I thought, "What the hell?  Let's see what's new," and then I came across this gem, which reminded me why I don't venture into the news realm.

Adding Fish Oil to Low Fat/High Carb Diet May Improve Cholesterol

The title was a dead give-away but I thought I would just go check it out in case my assumption was wrong.  It wasn't.  I'm not going to bore you with the whole article but I'm going to just cut right to this beautiful nugget:

"At the study's start, all participants had similar post-meal blood fat responses. But by the end of the three-month trial, those on the high-fat/monounsaturated fat-rich diet or the low-fat, high complex carbohydrate diet with fish oil had better responses."

So, you could eat a healthy diet, which includes fats and no grains and be fine or you can eat the shitty diet that the doctors recommend which will actually make you sick and then to fix that, you can supplement said shitty diet with fat to make up for the low fat part that the ass-hat doctors have you on.  

Do you think that with all the PHDs scattered amongst the researchers that they even remotely get the irony of adding fat to a low fat diet so that people can be healthier?

If they ever figure that part out and then take their patients off of grain, they are going to be absolutely amazed.  Here's the headline for the miracle that will happen when these people no longer have Type II Diabetes:

Adding Fish Oil and Eliminating Grains from a Low Fat/High Carb Diet May Reverse Diabetes

Jeezus!

</rant>

 Alrighty then, let's do a quick recap.

I'm changing lots of things over the next 11 weeks as far as my fitness goes and decided to take a before picture just out of curiosity. 

How quick was that?  Look back a couple of posts if you want the long version.

Here's the pic (Sorry about the full-frontal nudity):

 
Have you ever noticed how pale people are in their before pictures?  Then in the after picture, they are tanned, shaved, have their hair combed, their teeth brushed, and new shorts on.  It really makes for a striking before/after scene.  I can't promise the same results.

 
I'm already tan, my teeth are brushed, and I'm not going to shave my chest for an after photo.  It's true that I haven't combed my hair for this before photo and that I will likely have to comb my hair for the after. 

I really don't know what's going to happen over the next couple of months and I suppose that it's quite possible that my after picture will look very much like this one.  If that's the case, I'll wear different shorts to show that they are different.

I did another fairly easy workout today.  I'm still on Recovery Month so I haven't been pushing hard.  I am going to start the loping part of the plan on Wednesday and I'm going to play disk golf on Thursday (both in my VFFs, of course).

I'm still doing the low carb thing until Friday night when I'll switch to a Paleo + Dairy type of diet.  I don't really do much dairy but I throw cheese on some things.  I read an interesting article today (that I have lost or I would share it with you) that stated that Paleo diet is probably best for health but Paleo + Dairy is probably better for strength training.  I still don't think I'm adding enough dairy to make it worthwhile.  How much cheese is on a taco?

By "taco," I mean, "Mexican Lettuce Wrap."

That's what I'm having for dinner tonight, as a matter of fact.

I read a blog post (and this one I could find to share with you) about beginning a new fitness program.  Tara is a been there, done that, bought a smaller t-shirt person who has so much compassion for people starting out that it is palpable.  If you are just starting a fitness program or are thinking about starting a fitness program, read that blog post then head over to her blog to see how someone loses 80 pounds (and counting).  Right now, my favorites posts that she has done are "I am an athlete" and the one about the hoodies.  Great reading.

I can't tell you how much I'm ready to get started on my 10 week plan.  In reality, I suppose I have started an 11 week plan but I won't feel like I have really started until I'm following the resistance part of the program.  One week from today though so it's getting close. 

Next week, I am starting an extra karate session too.  Sheesh!

It should be an interesting 10 weeks.

Stay tuned.

***

Follow me on Twitter to get updates on when new posts show up on this blog (plus get random thoughts on the life of Success Warrior) and feel free to "friend" me on Facebook.

Success Warrior is an Independent BeachBody Coach for BeachBody.com, a company that offers fitness programs, supplements, and equipment that have absolutely changed my life. 

Have you heard of P90X?  That's BeachBody.  They also have Insanity, Turbo Jam, TurboFire, RevAbs, Brazil Butt Lift, and many more.  They have some of the best exercise programs on the market.  These aren't just DVDs but are complete programs to transform your body.  They also have the hugely popular, and what they call "the most important meal of the day", Shakeology.  Go HERE to learn the most inexpensive way to get Shakeology.

They have equipment and supplements in addition to Shakeology and popular exercise programs.  Visit BeachBody.com and click on the "Shop" link to see everything they offer. 

There is also a business side to all this fitness that you can take advantage of.  Whether you're looking to just make a couple hundred extra dollars in fun money or are looking to take complete financial control of your life, BeachBody can help you get there.  If you have a desire to be more fit and would love to help other people do the same while making some money at it, visit BeachBody.com and click on the "Coach" link.  Team up with me and I'll help you reach your goals, in fitness and finance.

I Ordered Toe Socks

There.  I said it.

<rant>

This morning, the doctor's office called me to remind me of my appointment tomorrow and also remind me not to eat anything after dinner tonight and not to drink anything after 6am tomorrow morning.

Roger that.

Later this morning, someone else from the doctor's office called to remind me that I'm meeting with the physical therapist tomorrow.

Roger that.

This afternoon, someone besides the first two people called to tell me that my insurance company had declined authorization of the procedure so my appointment was cancelled.

Lovely.

Of course, I immediately called my wife because she's The Fixer.

I was declined for two reasons.

1.  The doctor's office doesn't have the test results from my MRI.  If you haven't been following this blog long, you might want to check out the back story   to fully appreciate this rant (and long time readers might want to glance at it as a refresher). 

The short version goes something like this:  When I initially tried to make an appointment with this doctor, they said that I wasn't allowed to until they got the test results from my primary physician.  I had to put my wife on that job too but she made it happen and I was able to make an appointment.  I've been there twice now and this would have been my third visit.

All of that to say, they have the damn test results or at least they did at one point.  My primary doctor has my test results.  My neurosurgeon has a copy of the test results.  I have a copy of my test results.  *You* could probably google "Success Warrior + MRI test results" and get them, for hell's sake.

2.  The second reason that they are denying it is because the first treatment wasn't at least 50% effective. 

Hellooooooo? 

The reason that I'm letting the doctors stab me in the neck again is because the first time didn't work.  That's the point.  This is a different procedure that is supposed to do what the first procedure didn't do. 

But apparently my insurance company knows more about neuroscience than my plethora of doctors.

So, if they don't authorize this treatment and things don't change for the better by magic, I'll be taking my handfuls of pills until my liver craps out on me.  I wonder if the insurance company covers that.

</rant>

On a super cool note, I received a phone call today that made my day.  When I was a cop, there was this kid that was kind of taken under the whole department's wing.  We let him hang out at the PD and took him for rides in the cars.  Well, he grew up, lost his brain, and has decided to become a cop.  He found me on the Internets (Thanks Al Gore!) and asked for some help preparing for the physical test he's going to have to take to be accepted into the police academy.

So, I worked up a plan for him and he started it a little over a week ago.  He's supposed to email me, at the very least, every Sunday to let me know how things are going so I can tweak the plan and keep him on track.  Sunday came and went and I didn't hear from him.  Monday, I sent him an email reminding him that he's supposed to keep me in the loop (part of my job in these situations is being the kick in the ass guy to make sure people are moving forward).  Still nothing.

Today, he called to tell me that his email won't send for some reason (Damn you Al Gore!) so he was calling with the update.

He lost 6 pounds in the first week, says he feels better in general, and said that he's sleeping better too.  Bonus!

Here's the thing about Utah's police test.  It's designed for lean people.  Our job here is to make him stronger and faster than he currently is but much smaller.  Every single one of the tests is easier, the lighter you are and the smaller your gut is.  Stronger can't come at the price of bigger muscles, just stronger muscles.

We have under 3 months to turn him into a lean, mean, PT machine.

His phone call was the bright spot in the middle of all the other phone calls.  He's doing great.  I made it clear that I would design a plan for him but it was up to him to do the work.  It sounds like he's doing the work and that's great.

So, back to the toe socks. 

I warned you guys that I was going to be buying them so don't act shocked.  Remember, I have the cold weather Vibrams, the VFF Flow.  Also remember that while they do keep my feet warm, they don't keep my ankles warm.  So, I bought one pair of Injinji Toesox  to see how they would perform being worn inside my VFFs.  I'll keep you updated, of course.  I'm really hoping that they are comfortable so that I can wear my VFFs in the cold.

Yes, I know Rick.  I'm a puss when it comes to the cold.  I have accepted it.

Update: You knew this was going to happen.  My appointment for tomorrow is back on.  My wife just called me to let me know.  I told her that I fully expected that outcome with her on the case.  She said it wasn't really that difficult this time.  Whatever.

So, I'll be making some dinner soon and that will be my last meal until dinner tomorrow night.

Think of me and wish me well while you are eating breakfast tomorrow.

***

Follow me on Twitter to get updates on when new posts show up on this blog (plus get random thoughts on the life of Success Warrior) and feel free to "friend" me on Facebook.

Success Warrior is an Independent BeachBody Coach for BeachBody.com, a company that offers fitness programs, supplements, and equipment that have absolutely changed my life. 

Have you heard of P90X?  That's BeachBody.  They also have Insanity, Turbo Jam, TurboFire, RevAbs, Brazil Butt Lift, and many more.  They have some of the best exercise programs on the market.  These aren't just DVDs but are complete programs to transform your body.  They also have the hugely popular, and what they call "the most important meal of the day", Shakeology.  Go HERE to learn the most inexpensive way to get Shakeology.

They have equipment and supplements in addition to Shakeology and popular exercise programs.  Visit BeachBody.com and click on the "Shop" link to see everything they offer. 

There is also a business side to all this fitness that you can take advantage of.  Whether you're looking to just make a couple hundred extra dollars in fun money or are looking to take complete financial control of your life, BeachBody can help you get there.  If you have a desire to be more fit and would love to help other people do the same while making some money at it, visit BeachBody.com and click on the "Coach" link.  Team up with me and I'll help you reach your goals, in fitness and finance.

What a Pain in the Neck!

I've been a blogging slacker lately so let's do a little catch up, shall we?

Several weeks ago, something went wrong with my body.  The muscles on the left side of my spine tightened up for some reason and got to the point where I went to the doctor.  I wasn't quite to the point of moving my whole body instead of just my neck, like Dr. Evil, but I could see that it was headed that way.  This isn't the first time that I've been in for some muscle problems and the doctor hooked me up wit the usual cocktail: anti-inflammatory, muscle relaxer, and a pain reliever.  I went to my massage therapist a couple of times and things seemed to be going right back to normal, as they had always done.

Then something went dreadfully wrong with the front of my body.  The abs on the left side of my body tightened up and hurt all the way down to the point where my doctor and I are now a lot more intimate as he checked for a *cough* hernia.  No hernia.  Time to stop all activity and see if rest fixed the problem.  If not, I was going to have to go in for an ultrasound to see if I had torn something in my abs.

Not working out and not doing karate is hard on me.  I imagine that it's hard on me as it is for a lot of people to actually get motivated to go and do them.  On top of that, I'm the instructor in both cases so I have to stand there and watch everyone else do what I want to do.  That said, there is something very motivating for a guy to avoid doing things that hurt his you-know-whats.

That seemed to be going away so one Monday, I decided to try some light upper body work with some 15 pounds dumbbells.  No ab problems (or anything lower) but the pain in the left side of my back came back with a vengeance.  Serious, serious.  Worse than original.

All of that is the back story to get into the real story.

I went back to my doctor.

Let me point out right here that before I moved here, I had a great doctor.  Loved this guy.  Knew my activity level and was familiar with my migraines (which have quit since I stopped doing the cop thing - stress induced, ya think?).  Since moving out here, I have gone to several different doctors looking for one that I could build up a new rapport with and have switched doctors with every new problem that has come up over over the last 6 years.

Then we got a new doctor out here and I like this guy.  This is my new go-to guy to keep my body up and running through the punishment that I'm going to mete out upon it.  In fact, the company that he works for was threatening to move him and I stepped in to fight that (the doctor didn't want to be moved either) and now he's going to be staying for a while.

So, while this rant may be a bit lengthy, I want to it to be clear that I am very happy with my doctor.

So, I went back to my doctor.  We talk.  He does a bit of poking and prodding.  We talk about pain management because I can't sleep because of the pain.  He decides that I better go in for an MRI to check my spine.  He wants to check where the pain is, obviously, but also wants to look at my neck and then we decide to just do the whole spine (C, T, and L) so that we have a base to work from for the future, even if there isn't a problem in the Cervical or Lumbar region.

He hooks me up with the referral and I call for an appointment and 2 days later, I'm doing a 90 minute meditation in the tube.  I know it freaks a lot of people out but at one point, when the machine wasn't running, I fell asleep.

I schedule an appointment with my doctor on the way back because I'm going to be heading out of town for a week and just want to make sure everything is set.

Up to this point, everything is going like clockwork and I'm feeling good about the steps we're taking.  Then it all seemed to fall apart.

I met with my doctor.  He hadn't gotten the results back on the MRI yet but expected them in the next day or two.  He would call me when he got them and we could discuss the next step.  We talked about what I could and could not do and I went on my trip.

He didn't call me that week.

When I got back, I was extremely busy for a few days catching up on things and I was actually starting to feel a little better so I didn't feel rushed as far as my back went.  On Thursday though, I called to find out why I hadn't heard from the doctor.  He still didn't have the results from the hospital on the MRI.  They were going to send a new request for the results and he would call me when he had them.  Fine.

Halfway through the next week, I still hadn't heard from him.  I called the doctor's office.  They still didn't have the results from the hospital.  What?

So, I did what I always do in these situations.

I told my wife.

If you're screwing around with this family or its finances in any way, you do not want to receive "the call" from my wife.  If you're dicking around with the health of anyone in this family, you *definitely* do not want that call.  Whereas, I've been told several times that people are intimidated by me in person, I don't carry that off on the phone but my wife more than makes up for that.  She has the ability to do telephonic attitude adjustments that puts my physical abilities to shame.  We make a good team.

She called the hospital.  15 minutes later, my doctor has the results on his fax machine.

I call him the next day so that he's had time to review the report.  He's with a patient but he calls me back pretty quickly.

There is a bulged disc in my back where I'm complaining the most about but there is a worse one that is impinging the nerves in my neck and that's probably the pain that is radiating up into my neck, out over my shoulder, and down the left side of my spine.  Good thing we did the extra check instead of just focusing on the Thoracic region.

I need to see a neurosurgeon to talk about options.  He tells me that I can come pick up a new prescription (because the pain med I was on makes my stomach queasy), pick up a referral to a neurosurgeon, and a get a copy of the MRI report from the hospital (remember this fact for later in the story).  Give him about 15 minutes and then pick it up.

I was doing something with Trey so I wait an hour and go up.  I get the prescription and the copy of the MRI report (remember to remember this) but the M.A. has not done up the referral yet.  The office will call me when it's done.

No one calls me that day.

The next day, I just go up to the office.  Remember, I'm the in-person guy.  The office is only a mile from my house so it's not inconvenient to just stop in.  They can't find the referral.  I just stand there waiting as they hunt all over the office until they find it.  I take my referral and go home to make my appointment.

The number to call for the appointment is wrong.  No apparent fault on my doctor's office for this because the answering machine that I get tells me that if I'm trying to get the neuroscience division, I should call a different number, and the voice gives me the number. 

I call the new number.  No one answers.  My call will be taken in the order that it was received.  I here this message several times, every few minutes, until I'm finally just switched over to voice mail.  I leave my name and number so they can call me back so I can make an appointment.  You know what happens next right.

They don't call.

I have to go to work.  You know what I did to fix the problem, right?

I told my wife.

She calls me at work to tell me that she has run into a roadblock.  The neurosurgeon won't make an appointment until they have a copy of the MRI report.  She called my doctor's office and they said they haven't received the MRI report yet (you remember, right?) from the hospital.  She called the hospital and they said they faxed the report and have confirmation that the report was sent.

I tell my wife that I know that it was sent because I picked up a photocopy of the damn report from my doctor's office.  I tell her where my copy is and her new plan is take my copy up to the doctor's office and have them fax it to the neurosurgeon (and watch them do it to make sure that it's done).  She calls the doctor's office to tell them her plan and wonder of wonders, they have found the MRI report and they have faxed it to the neurosurgeon.

This, of course, was resolved at 4:55 pm on Friday night so there is nothing else that can be done at this point.

And, that's where we are now.

Monday, I will be calling the neurosurgeon to make sure that they actually got the report and find out how long I can expect to wait before I give up on them calling me to make my appointment so I can have my wife call them and fix it all again.

***

I am an Independent BeachBody Coach for BeachBody.com, a company that offers fitness programs, supplements, and equipment that have absolutely changed my life. 

Have you heard of P90X?  That's BeachBody.  They also have Insanity, Turbo Jam, RevAbs, Brazil Butt Lift, and many more.  They have some of the best exercise programs on the market.  These aren't just DVDs but are complete programs to transform your body.  They also have the hugely popular, and what they call "the most important meal of the day", Shakeology.  Go HEREto learn the most inexpensive way to get Shakeology.

They have equipment and supplements in addition to Shakeology and popular exercise programs.  Visit BeachBody.com and click on the "Shop" link to see everything they offer. 

There is also a business side to all this fitness that you can take advantage of.  Whether you're looking to just make a couple hundred extra dollars in fun money or are looking to take complete financial control of your life, BeachBody can help you get there.  If you have a desire to be more fit and would love to help other people do the same while making some money at it, visit BeachBody.com and click on the "Coach" link.  Team up with me and I'll help you reach your goals, in fitness and finance.

Feel free to "friend" me on Facebook.