Feel Great!

"You're mine, bitch."

2010-02-02T21:36:00.014-05:00

"By sixth grade it was clear that John wasn't swallowing his best lines at school either. At one point he came up to bat at a game watched by school administrators. He looked at the pitcher. 'You're mine, bitch,' he said. Because of incidents like this, I was told that my son had a bad attitude."

--Benjamin H. Cheever, "The Father Lode", Runner's World magazine, March 2010

This anecdote in Runner's World struck a chord with me immediately upon reading it. In part because it engendered a "first instinct" response, followed by a more thoughtful response, looking at it from the vantage of a parent. It struck me enough that I posted it as my Facebook status, in the guise of a "How would you respond as a parent?" game.

It continued to resonate as I pondered it further, as I realized it hits on a lot of subjects that speak to the heart of who I am as a person: competitiveness, respect...and macho swagger. ;-) And yes, I am going to tackle this subject from a male-dominated perspective, because that is where I live. That is not to say, however, that this is a club that is closed to women.

So first, competitiveness. What a double-edged word in our society. Some see it as the best of who we are, some the worst. In truth, it can be both. But I love it, in ways that can be hard to articulate. Men are drawn to sports for a reason. It speaks to some warrior instinct that resides somewhere within us. For me, it is a "socially acceptable" way to channel primal drives that might otherwise erupt in polite company. I hope most would agree that in "real life", I am a kind, caring, compassionate, pleasant sort of guy. This is what I strive for, at least. But if I succeed in this, it is in part because I have an outlet for the ruthless, vicious, take-no-prisoners, show-no-mercy bastard that also resides within. That outlet is competitive sports.

What a guilty pleasure it can be to step onto the race course or the tennis court (my two arenas) and change into a completely different person. And I do. Before the competition and after the competition, by competitors can be my best friends. But in the heat of the battle, they are my mortal enemy. For I now have one and only goal, and that is to win. And they are in my way. Those of you who have not seen me compete probably would not recognize me. Is that really nice, sweet Joe screaming, "You. Cannot. Miss. That. Shot!" at the top of his lungs? I curse my opponents under my breath. I throw things. I glare. Yes, I have broken at least one racquet. Hurt my hand pretty bad throwing punches at the fence once, too.

This is because I want to win. Now, not at any cost. I would not cheat, and I would not be cruel. But if skill and tenacity do not carry the day, then perhaps it is time to pull some gamesmanship, or psychological posturing, from the toolbox. You think that athletic competitions are all physical? Please. As Yogi Berra used to say, "90% of it is half mental". So we circle each other, and we poke each other with sticks, and throw body-checks, looking for weakness. Physical weakness, mental weakness, whatever, makes no difference. There are a million ways to do it.

And though it may sound silly or cruel, there is another layer to it. We are actually making each other better and stronger. If you knock me down, I have to figure out how to get back up. I also have to figure out how not to get knocked down again. We are like rocks banging against each other in a tumbler, except instead of coming out smoother, we come out sharper.

And yet another layer. The trash-talking athlete is the passionate athlete, as opposed to the apathetic one. Sports wouldn't mean what they do in our culture if it wasn't for the archetype of the competitor who "digs deep" and "gives his all". This is also the athlete who wants to win, whatever it takes. That is another one of the beautiful things about sports: the simplicity of the result. Either you win, or you don't. You can have all the excuses you want, but the result is what it is. And once the game is over, whether I am the vanquisher or the vanquished, we are friends again. I shake your hand, and clap you on the back, and tell you, "Great job!" And I mean it.

Admittedly, it can be a fine line between competitive fire and boorishness, even during the heat of battle. But that too is part of the fun. You are dancing on the edge, and you know it. Can you keep your balance? It tells something about you when you can, and it tells something about you when you can't. Did I cross the line during a state championship match, when I berated the spectators for cheering my opponent in the middle of a point? Maybe I did and maybe I didn't, but don't you understand? I was in a desperate position. I was losing! And maybe, if I could find something to get angry about, it would rile me up enough to win. (It didn't.)

And there are so many variables to factor in. Context: the difference between a Little League game and a sandlot game. Timing: the difference between throwing your racquet during a match, and refusing to shake my hand after a match. Degree: When is swagger confidence, and when is it arrogance? But it is all part of the dance.

But back to our original story. It probably doesn't surprise you to know that my first thought upon reading about the sixth-grader was along the lines of, "Rock on!" But then I caught myself. As a parent, what would I say if that were my child? Was that behavior appropriate? And you know, based on the information in the article, the answer is not so cut-and-dried. It says it was a game "watched by school administrators". Well, that could have been a sandlot game for all we know. And did he know the pitcher? Were they friends? If I was playing with my friends, not only might such a comment be appropriate, it would practically be required. Boys, in the end, truly will be boys.

But given the implied context, I probably would have done a little macho posturing of my own. After the game, I probably would have grabbed him by the scruff of the shirt, and said, "Listen. I don't ever want to hear you telling someone they're your 'bitch'. Any little punk can say that."

"Instead, you prove it."

On the DL

2010-01-26T07:49:00.007-05:00

So yes, obviously I am finding it untenable to post the longer articles each week like I originally planned. My schedule is just too tight! So instead, I am going to try to compose shorter articles going forward. Who knows, I might even get more readers that way. :-}

I am dealing with a fitness-related situation right now that is, for obvious reasons, at the forefront of my mind. So I am going to talk a little bit about that today. No, the title does not mean that I am "on the down low". Unfortunately, I am on the disabled list! The world of fitness is not all sunshine and violins. Injuries are one of the pitfalls. I do not post this to discourage anyone from exercising, as injuries can be avoided. Here is what I can tell you about my current injury, how I think it was caused, and how I think it could have been avoided.

It seems this injury had its genesis several months ago. After doing military (over the head) presses one day, I wound up with some major soreness/stiffness a day or two later. It seemed to be in my neck, but the longer I lived with it, the more I realized that I really couldn't tell where it was coming from. Was I feeling it in my neck, because a tight shoulder was pulling on my neck, or vice versa? Sometimes I felt it more in my shoulder, and even my chest, and even my left arm. It eventually felt like everything was pulling on everything. Anyway, it gradually subsided after a day or two. I chalked it up to probably using too much weight, and did not think much more about it. I told myself I would "be more careful".

But to my unending frustration and annoyance, the pain kept returning. I tried to be more thoughtful about how much weight I was using. It kept returning. I tried to be very careful about my form. It kept returning. I tried tweaking the exercises I was doing, even eliminating the over-the-head lifts that some experts now discourage. It kept returning. I tried experimenting with the overall intensity of my workouts. It kept returning. Even worse, I realized that each time the pain returned, it seemed to be more severe, and last longer, than the previous time.

Things came to a head two weeks ago. After lifting on Friday, I was suddenly felled on Monday by almost unbearable pain. Due to my amateur racing "career", I am not unfamiliar with pain, but this was agonizing. On a scale from one to ten, it was at least an eight. It stayed that way for a couple of days before oh-so-gradually starting to subside.

However, it stubbornly refused to go away. It probably hovered around a six most of the time, maybe going as low as one or two at other times, and spiking back up to that original eight at times too. As before, it moved around: sometimes it seemed to be centered in my neck, other times my chest, other times my shoulder, other times my back, other times my arm. But it was always there, and it was not pleasant.

When it became clear that it was not going to go away on its own, I went to the doctor, where I was diagnosed with a pulled muscle. Also known as a muscle strain, this is where the muscle has either overstretched, or actually become torn. In addition to pain, stiffness, and a sensitivity to cold, muscle twitching and spasms
are also symptoms. Somewhat amusingly, my doctor said he could actually see the muscle "spasming", due to my low body fat. He said that the original injury had probably occurred on that day months ago, but that it had probably never been allowed to heal fully, causing the constant chain of re-injury. He prescribed an anti-inflammatory, a muscle relaxant, and a seriously-reduced workout routine. Though the pain seems to be gradually easing, it still lingers on.

So what have I learned from this debacle? As I have aged, I have become much more reasoned in my approach to exercise. I have started doing things that I never had the patience for when I was younger, such as stretching, and yoga, and gradual increases in intensity, and careful form. But there is one area that I have continued to give short shrift to, and I believe this is what bit me in the butt: I am not conscientious about warming up. Indeed, sometimes I skip it entirely. I have a tight schedule, so I often find myself anxious to "jump right in" to my workout. Besides, I'm fit, so I can get away with it, right?

Well obviously, wrong, so no more. I will not make this mistake again. Specifically, before lifting weights, the expert recommendation is to do some light cardio. It does not have to be much: even five minutes is probably sufficient to warm up the muscles. So head out the door, or hop on that exercise bike, or that treadmill, or run in place, or skip rope, or do jumping jacks. I also wish I had gone to the doctor sooner.

Trust me. For now, back to my heating pad. :-\

Obbs Tackles!

2009-12-20T12:10:00.015-05:00

Hello! I hope everyone is having an awesome holiday season! My apologies for missing my scheduled post last week, but life once again intervened.

I have decided to cover a different subject this week than originally planned. I would like to look at the things that make it difficult for us to achieve our health and fitness goals, or as referred to in one of my favorite movies "O Brother Where Art Thou?", "obbs tackles"! (That is how he pronounced it, anyway.) I am going to try to list some of the most common pitfalls, along with strategies to overcome them. It is hard to accurately rate the most common obstacles, and there tends to be some overlap as well, but I will do my best to provide useful information.

Not enough time

I think most everyone would agree that a lack of time is the most common obstacle in today's busy world. However, every single person in the world has the same 24 hours per day, and seven days per week, to work with. So first, we have to agree that it is not really a lack of time that is the problem, but time allocation.

Now, I can already hear some of you screaming that you have time commitments. Yeah, I get it. And it is true, some may have more commitments than others. But how many of those commitments are truly mandatory, and how many are things that you have merely prioritized over health and fitness?

So one question becomes: what is more important than health and fitness? Obviously, each person has to answer this for themselves, but give it some thought. Is career more important? Family? Spiritual life? Leisure time? While these things are all important, I would suggest that if you do not take care of your health now, you may find yourself unable to take care of any of these important realms later. So for myself, I definitely felt the need to give my health a very high priority. My good health is precious and I do not want to squander it!

And it is generally not an either/or proposition anyway. Owning my own business places more demands on my time than most jobs would. But I generally find time to honor those commitments, and take care of my health, and take care of the other realms of my life as well. It is necessary to develop some organization skills, but these are easy enough to learn. And it takes some decisions on what is really important. Most importantly, it takes thoughtfulness and mindfulness. Wandering through life without much of plan is generally going to cause you suffering, in my opinion. When you are not paying attention, it also becomes easy to ignore your problems. Until they blow up!

The first step is knowing where your time goes. Do you, really? How much time do you spend on trivial activities that do not add to the quality of your life? I am not suggesting that you do not need "down time", but how much do you need, and how much are you spending? Like many other realms, a lot of folks squander more of their time than they really realize. It is all about being aware.

The second step is scheduling activities. Without going into a whole organizational course here, the tools I have found to be most useful are a calendar (I use Google Calendar), some form of to-do list (I use Backpack), and some form of checklists (I use Google Tasks). The calendar is for tasks that have to be done at a specific time, the to-do list is for items that are not tied to a time, but can be worked on during calendar "free time", and checklists are tasks that need to be repeated on a certain time interval, such as daily, weekly, or monthly.

For more organizational strategies, I cannot recommend Getting Things Done highly enough. After I began implementing this system almost ten years ago, it literally changed my life.

Limiting attitudes

I could probably write a whole article, if not a book, on this topic. Really what we are talking about here is a positive, motivated, can-do attitude. I am no psychologist, but I do know that the right attitude is probably the single most important element of reaching goals, and has much to do with happiness.

I think the best single suggestion I can give here is to concentrate on truly living in the moment. The past cannot be changed, and it need not limit what you can do in the present (unless you choose in your mind to let it). The future holds no guarantees, neither good nor bad. The only moment we have control over right now is "right now". Just because we made mistakes in the past does not mean that we cannot make better choices "right now". Just because we are fearful of what the future may hold does not mean we cannot make better choices "right now". Focus on action, "right now". As the Chinese say, "talk don't cook rice". They might have added, "Neither does worry."

Lack of clear goals

Again, another topic that could fill a book. You have probably heard before of the importance of written goals, and it has been proven time and time again. So just do it!

You may have heard before about important components of a goal: it should be specific, attainable, measurable, and have a deadline. "I want to lose weight" is not specific. "I want to lose fifty pounds" does not have a deadline, so it will never get done. "I want to lose fifty pounds in two months" is not attainable (at least not by sustainable, healthy means!) "I want to get in shape" is not measurable. But the following goal--"I want to lose fifty pounds in six months"--meets all of the criteria.

In my opinion, another important part of goal setting is the "why". Why do you want to lose fifty pounds in six months? Write those reasons down too, because to me, that is what is going to keep you on track. I want to lose fifty pounds because I want to reduce my risk of diabetes, and other chronic diseases. I want to look and feel better. I want to have more energy to play with my kids. I want to feel better about the choices I make. I do not want to feel embarrassed at the beach. I want to fit into my "skinny jeans". I want to run a 5K, or 10K or half marathon, or marathon, or play tennis like I used to. Whatever. Choose your "whys", write them down, and review them any time you feel your resolve slipping. Or even better, before then, daily.

An "all or nothing" mindset

I guess this one overlaps with "attitude", but do not let this one derail you. "I blew my diet, so I might as well give up." "I missed a workout, so I might as well give up." "I smoked a cigarette or drank too much, so I might as well give up."

Sitting here reading these sentences on the computer, your rational mind probably recognizes them as ridiculous, but how often do we fall into this mode of thinking when we are "in the trenches"? Just remember, 100%, 75%, 50%, or even 1% are all better than zero percent when it comes to sticking with our plans. And we can always improve.

It is a moldy cliché I will admit, but if you fall off that horse, just climb right back on. It happens to all of us. It is possible to achieve most any goal...with the exception of the one you give up on. The power is yours. And another part of this equation is the danger of attempting too much too soon. Think marathon, not sprint.

Lack of money

Sorry, but I think I have to put this one more in the category of "excuses". It need not cost a lot of money to lead a healthy lifestyle. Losing weight is all about behaviors. Exercising can quite easily be done for free (walking, running, body-weight exercises, etc.) Eliminating deadly vices will obviously save you money. Then there is food. For folks in dire financial straits, even Dave Ramsey recommends "rice and beans, beans and rice". Well, as long as the rice is whole-grain, that is not a bad start! (Throw in some inexpensive fruits, vegetables and nuts.)

Peer pressure

I hate this one, but sadly, it is common. The way to deal with it is obvious: ignore it! But you may have folks who will discourage you in subtle (or not subtle!) ways, by encouraging the unhealthy status quo. Do not let them.

Lack of momentum

I have talked about this one before. Again, the solution is simple. Just be aware that the first step is the hardest...so just take it and be done with it!

In conclusion...

So, to sum up our main points:

Carve out the time you need to live a healthy lifestyle.

Believe that you can do it, just like others do!

Write down goals that are specific, attainable, measurable, and have a deadline.

Don't forget the "whys".

Don't fall into the all-or-nothing mentality. Some is always better than none!

Living a healthy lifestyle need not break the bank.

Break out of your ruts. Stand up, take a step, repeat! (Credit to Scott Smith for this mantra.)

So what are your obstacles in living a healthy lifestyle? Tell us in the comments! Until next week, take good care, and make it happen!

A weighty matter...

2009-12-05T20:49:00.026-05:00

Hello! I hope everyone had an awesome week! Here in the beautiful South, we just received our first snowfall of the season. Of course, since this is the South, it is already gone. Oh well.

The past four articles covered four of the five cornerstones of a healthy lifestyle: not smoking, drinking alcohol only in moderation, exercising daily, and eating a whole-foods plant-based diet. The fifth and final cornerstone is a little different. Unlike the others, it is not exactly a behavior. It is more like the result of most of the other behaviors.

Thou shalt maintain a healthy weight!

So the very first thing we want to establish is: what is a healthy weight, anyway? There are two guidelines to use.

First, one should maintain a BMI of below 25. BMI is short for Body Mass Index. It is an index of weight adjusted for height. For the nerds out there, it is defined as the square of your height in meters, divided by your weight in kilograms. For the non-nerds, there are many BMI calculators available online, such as this one.

"It's not fat, it's muscle."

One criticism of the BMI is that it does not take body composition into account. For example, a professional bodybuilder could be considered overweight by the BMI charts, since a measurement of weight only does not differentiate between fat and muscle. However, BMI works just fine for the wide majority of people. You have to be really muscular, tough guy, for it to lose relevance.

However, those who do have a truly unusual amount of muscle may wish to have their actual body fat percentage measured, since this may show that they are at a healthy weight in spite of their BMI. The easiest way for most folks would be to use a scale that measures body fat percentage. This is a reasonably accurate method.

The problem with this is that it is very difficult to find any kind of consensus on what an ideal body fat percentage would be. Women are expected to have a higher percentage than men, and older people are expected to have a higher percentage than younger people.

One chart listing ideal body fat percentages based on age and gender can be found here. However, competitive athletes in fields such as bodybuilding and running can be found with body fat percentages as low as 5%, as this page shows.

Too skinny, Minnie?

You may ask why I do not talk about the importance of insuring that your BMI is not too low. The reason is that this may not be very important at all.

First of all, it is obviously not much of a problem for the average American, with two-thirds of us overweight. The second reason is a little more complicated.

It is true that those of a BMI below a certain point tend to have a higher morbidity rate, just like those whose BMI is above 25. But this does not necessarily mean that a low BMI leads to poor health; indeed, it seems more likely that poor health can often lead to a low BMI. Therefore, a low BMI MAY not be unhealthy in and of itself. However, the BMI charts are still a good guideline, and you should consult with your doctor if you have any questions.

Waist not, want not

There is another important guideline to keep in mind in regards to weight, other than BMI. Experts agree that adipose (abdominal) fat is the most dangerous kind to have. With that in mind, they recommend that men strive for a waist circumference less than 40 inches, and women less than 35. So even if your BMI is in the healthy range, you want to make sure that your waist measurement also falls in this healthy range.

Weight loss? It's a science!

Weight loss is obviously a complex subject (so if you are not interested in this topic, you can skip ahead to the "Quantity or Quality?" section and it won't hurt my feelings). However, most of the cornerstones of a healthy lifestyle that we have already mentioned are going to aid in maintaining a healthy weight: not drinking too much alcohol, exercising daily, and eating a plant-based diet are all going to help. With that in mind, the rest of weight loss is simply a matter of calories in and calories out. If your burn more calories than you consume, you will lose weight, period.

Determining the correct amount of calories to eat per day takes a few steps. The first step is to calculate your BMR. Not to be confused with BMI, BMR stands for Basal Metabolic Rate. This is the minimum number of calories your body burns each day, based on your current weight. Please note that I said "minimum". This means that this number is based on no activity whatsoever. In other words, if you were in a coma and did not move all day, this is roughly the number of calories you would burn. Here is an online BMR calculator.

You should NEVER eat below your BMR. This is one of the most common mistakes dieters make. This is a starvation diet. This is not a wise path to sustainable weight loss for many reasons. This will result in muscle loss, which will permanently slow down your metabolism (at least, until you go to the gym and struggle to slowly build that muscle back). Losing weight too fast can also cause loose, unsightly skin. It is also the most common cause of "yo yo" dieting. A starvation dieter can lose a lot of weight, but when they stop starving themselves, it all comes back and then some.

The wise way to lose weight is to eat the number of calories that will sustain your goal weight. Now, this probably needs a little explanation, so let's look at an example.

Case study

Let's say that you are a man, age 40, 5"10", 200 lbs. This would give you a BMI of 28.7, which is overweight. So let's say you decide you want to weigh 170, which would bring your BMI down to a healthy 24.4.

Your current BMR is 1,929 calories. Remember that is the minimum number of calories you should eat per day. But notice that I did not say that you want to eat the minimum number of calories. I said you should eat the number of calories that will sustain your goal weight.

So the next step is to calculate what your BMR will be at 170 lbs. It will be lower, since you will have less body mass to maintain. And indeed, your BMR at 170 lbs. will be 1,743 calories.

So you should eat 1,743 calories? No! Why? Because you're not in a coma! Remember, the BMR is based on that level of activity, so the final step is to multiply the BMR by some number to take activity into account. The most accepted method for determining that number is called the Harris Benedict Equation:

If you are sedentary (little or no exercise): 1.2

If you are lightly active (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/week): 1.375

If you are moderately active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/week): 1.55

If you are very active (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days a week): 1.725

If you are extra active (very hard exercise/sports & physical job or 2x training): 1.9

So, if we assume that you have followed my previous advice, you are probably at least in the moderately active category, so your multiplier is 1.55. Simply multiply the BMR by the multiplier to get the number of calories you should eat per day. In this example, that number would be 2,702.

Start eating that number of calories immediately, and you should eventually get down to your goal weight! That's right: you are not on a diet. You are permanently changing how you eat. This is how you will eat now, and this is how you will eat at your goal weight. Guess what, you don't have to starve! All you have to do is start eating like a 170 lb. person, instead of eating like a 200 lb. person. It really is just that simple! You don't need fad diets.

Now, don't expect to set any land speed records on weight loss. You will probably only lose a pound or two a week. Maybe a little more at first, and a little less later on. But that is perfect. That is the path to sustained, healthy weight loss. You probably put this weight on over years, so don't expect to take it off in days. Most folks who follow a plan like this are pleasantly surprised at how much they can eat! In many cases, it is not that much of a change from the number of calories they were eating before. You would be amazed at the difference a couple hundred calories can make, when it is every day. Just as with exercise, consistency is the key!

What if I have a lot of weight to lose?

Let us look at one more example like the one above, but one that entails a higher amount of weight loss. I want to go over this because there is a complication that can come up. I am going to do all the calculations myself again, but feel free to "play along" if you want to try your own hand at the calculations.

Let's say this time, we are a woman, age 30, 5'5", 275 lbs. First calculation is current BMI, which is 45.8 (obese).

Next, we want to choose a goal weight in the healthy range. We can determine this by typing different weights into the BMI calculator, using trial and error, to find a healthy weight. Doing this, we find that a weight of 145 would result in a healthy BMI of 24.1, based on our height. So that is our goal.

Next, we want to calculate our current BMR. This comes out to be 2,016. Next, we want to calculate our BMR at our goal weight. This turns out to be 1,451.

Next, we want to calculate the daily calorie intake to maintain our goal weight, based on the Harris Benedict Equation. This time, let's say that we are only lightly active, so we use the 1.375 multiplier. This results in a daily calorie goal of 1,995.

If you have been reading very carefully, you may see the complication. The daily calorie goal of 1,995 is less than our current BMR of 2,016! And remember, I said that you should never eat below your BMR. So in this case, you will either have to temporarily eat a few more calories until your weight is down a little bit, or (even better) increase your activity level.

I know this method involves some calculations, but they only have to be done once. If you are unclear on any step of this process, do not hesitate to leave a comment. I will help!

Quantity, or quality?

I do want to make one final comment, though. I already spoke to this in the article on nutrition.

The thing is that I believe that if you eat the right kind of foods, you will probably eat the right amount of food, almost automatically. I believe that it is difficult to be overweight if you are eating mostly fruits and vegetables, and not eating processed foods and carbs, nor high-fat meats and dairy, nor drinking much soda and beer.

If you eat nutrient-dense foods instead of calorie-dense foods, and eat frequently until you are satisfied, you may find that no calorie counting is needed. It is amazing how the body can regulate itself, if you just give it what it was built to have. I think the prime cause of overeating is that the body is starving, not for food, but for nutrients.

In conclusion...

To review our main points:

1. One should maintain a BMI below 25.

2. Men should maintain a waist size below 40; women below 35.

3. The most important way to maintain weight is to eat the proper amount of calories.

4. To determine the correct number of calories, one must first calculate one's current BMR and goal BMR. One can then calculate a daily caloric intake using these numbers and the Harris Benedict Equation.

5. Cardiovascular exercise and resistance training can help, in that one can eat more calories if one is burning more calories.

6. Eating the proper kinds of food almost "automates" this process.

So that's it!

Our five-part lifestyle makeover is complete! To review the "Five Commandments":

1. Thou shalt not use tobacco!

2. Thou shalt drink alcohol only in moderation!

3. Thou shalt exercise regularly, preferably daily!

4. Thou shalt eat a whole-foods, plant-based diet!

5. Thou shalt maintain a healthy BMI and waist circumference!

So now what? I would love to hear your ideas for future articles! In the meantime, I think next week I will talk a little more about dietary supplements. This is a point of much contention and confusion. Together, hopefully we can look at the facts and cut through the crap.

Until then, take good care, and make it happen!

You are what you eat!

2009-11-29T13:19:00.015-05:00

Hello! How are you? Awesome, I hope!

We have previously covered three of the five most important components of a healthy lifestyle: not using tobacco, not drinking more than 1-2 alcoholic drinks per day, and exercising at least 30 minutes per day. Today we cover component #4.

Thou shalt eat a nutritious whole-foods, plant-based diet!

I think that most folks think that experts are "confused" about what constitutes a healthy diet. This is because they hear many articles in the lay press that seem confusing and contradictory. The reasons for this are probably too complex to cover in today's article (perhaps a future one), but in my opinion the true experts are not confused, at least on the main points. Scientific study after scientific study consistently show the staggering health benefits of a whole-foods, plant-based diet in preventing premature death, as well as a dizzying array of chronic diseases. Not a fad diet, not a "low carb" diet, but a simple, natural diet. Here are but a few links to some Internet articles on this topic:

http://www.naturalnews.com/005070_cancer_health_plant-based_diet.html

http://www.thechinastudy.com/about.html

http://nutrition.stanford.edu/documents/Plant_based.pdf

http://www.cancerproject.org/media/news/070612

So what IS this diet?

As the name would suggest, the most important component of this diet is a preponderance of vegetables and fruits, unprocessed and in their natural state. At the very least, one should eat at least five servings per day. Nine is even better. In addition to vegetables and fruits, other components of a nutritious diet include whole grains, legumes/beans, and nuts/seeds.

Make no mistake, this is not a "low carb" diet! Indeed, most of one's calories would be coming from carbs. Since carbs promote energy, which promotes exercise, this is exactly as it should be, in my opinion. But we are talking about "good" carbs, from vegetables and whole grains.

And yes, nuts and seeds often contain quite a bit of fat, but it is heart-healthy unsaturated fat, as opposed to the artery-clogging saturated fats found in animal products.

What should I NOT eat?

There are some calorie-dense, nutrient-poor foods that are not consistent with a healthy diet. These include:

Processed carbs, such as white bread, cookies, donuts, and cakes.

Processed, man-made foods in general. If man made it, don't eat it!

Whole-fat dairy products, including ice cream.

Sodas, including diet sodas.

So called "fast food", such as McDonald's.

So called "junk food", such as chips.

Added sugar, including artificial sweeteners.

Added salt.

What about meat, poultry, and fish?

Here's the thing: in my opinion, and the opinion of many top researchers, a vegan diet containing no animal products is the absolute healthiest. With the exception of vitamin B12, there is not a single nutrient in animal products that cannot be obtained (and in higher quality!) from plants. There is also growing evidence that animal products promote cancer and diabetes. Too radical? Try it for a month, maybe you will find it easier than you think! But if you do choose to consume animal products, you should try to make the healthiest choices within that limitation. These would include:

Choosing mostly fish and poultry, as opposed to red meat.

Choosing lean red meat over fatty red meat.

Choosing non-fat dairy over whole-fat or reduced-fat.

Choosing egg whites over eggs.

Minimizing all of these as much as possible.

How much should I eat? How often?

Calorie needs vary for each individual. We may go into this in more detail in a future article. Contributing factors include weight, basal metabolic rate, activity level, and goals (e.g. weight loss vs. weight maintenance). But believe it or not, if you are eating only the highest-nutrient foods, I feel that the quantities will take care of themselves. Put another way, I think it is very difficult to be overweight if you are eating mostly fruits and vegetables.

As to how often you should eat, the answer is "often". Welcome news, huh? The most common recommendation seems to be six meals per day. Personally, I eat eight.

"But I can't possibly eat that often!" you say. But I will bet that you already do. You may think you only eat three meals per day, but if you stop to think about it, I will bet that many of you realize that you also snack throughout the day. There are many reasons to eat often. It provides "steady" energy, wards off post-meal sluggishness, and helps to keep blood glucose levels stable. It keeps your metabolism running around the clock. And it helps head off eating binges.

What do I drink?

The first answer can hardly be a surprise: water. No, I am not going to tell you that you have to drink some arbitrarily large amount, like eight glasses per day. But many folks probably do not drink enough, and even mild dehydration can affect how you feel. Most of the time when I get a headache, I realize I have not been drinking enough. A good rule of thumb is that you want to drink enough to produce clear urine. (Sorry, no nice way to say it!)

One caution: if you decide you need to increase your water intake, do so gradually. This will allow your body time to adapt. Otherwise, do not be surprised if you seem to be in the rest room every fifteen minutes!

What other beverages are recommended? Tea is great, particularly green tea, but black tea is no slouch either. Black coffee is also fine. (I also indulge in a soy cappuccino fairly regularly.) As we have previously discussed, one or two alcoholic drinks are also okay, red wine in particular.

I also enjoy fruit juice in moderation, though I suppose that is a bit controversial. I do NOT drink store-bought juice, but only fresh-squeezed juice that I make myself. And I limit myself to one serving per day. It is a bit controversial because I am not consuming the fruit "in its natural state"; instead, I am "processing" it. This also makes it more calorie-dense. However, there is some data that suggests that some nutrients are only available in juice; that if the foods are eaten in their natural state, these nutrients stay "locked up" in the fiber and are not available for use in the body. So I do not recommend fruit juice in place of whole fruit, but I think it is a reasonable addendum. Besides, I really, really like it. :-)

What should I NOT drink?

Avoid soda, even diet ones, as the long-term safety of artificial sweeteners has not been established. Besides, remember, we are eating a whole foods diet. We want foods from the fields, not from the lab!

So not surprisingly, I am also recommending against any sort of energy drinks, meal replacement drinks, protein drinks, and the like. I MAY reluctantly allow a sports drink, but only if you are perspiring enough over a long enough period of time to justify it.

But wouldn't you rather have a banana? :-)

And what about supplements?

Ah yes, supplements. If you have been paying attention so far, you can probably guess what I think of man-made, lab-created supplement pills and powders.

The supplement industry is a $61,000,000,000.00 industry. Yes, I always like to type out all of the zeroes, because I think we get numb to what numbers like "61 billion dollars" really mean. Not surprisingly, a good chunk of this money is spent in marketing, to create a demand for these products that nobody really needs. Here are some sobering facts about dietary supplements:

The supplement industry is unregulated. No, seriously! They call it the Food and Drug Administration for a reason. Food is regulated, drugs are regulated, supplements are not. Even though they are often marketed almost like drugs!

This means that consumers have no assurance that a supplement is effective. Or even that it contains what it says it does. Or even that it is SAFE.

There is no evidence that isolating a micronutrient in a pill provides the same benefit as obtaining the same micronutrient from food. Furthermore, there is evidence that "mega-dosing" can be harmful.

There is no evidence that taking supplements will make up for an otherwise-unhealthy diet.

Sorry folks, but there is no magic bullet. If you must take a supplement, take vitamin B12, and make sure it has been tested by the USP (it will say so on the label). You may ask why I make this exception. The short answer is that vitamin B12 is not available except from animal sources, due to damage we have done to our soil. The USP is an independent lab that supplement manufacturers can voluntarily submit to. The USP will then test that the supplement contains what it claims to. Keep in mind that they are not testing for efficacy or safety, but B12 is safe in the proper amount.

In conclusion...

To summarize our main points:

Without questions, the healthiest diet is a whole foods, plant-based diet. The health benefits are nothing short of staggering.

The most important component of this diet is at least five servings of vegetables and fruits per day. Nine or more servings is even better.

Other components of this healthy diet include whole grains, legumes/beans, and nuts/seeds.

Meat should be eaten minimally, if at all. With the exception of vitamin B12, there is no nutrient in meat that cannot be obtained from plants. Unsaturated fats are far superior to the saturated fats found in animal products.

Processed foods should be avoided. If man made it, don't eat it! The verdict is still out on the long-term safety of artificial sweeteners.

Added sugar and whole-fat dairy products should be avoided.

Believe it or not, if you eat food of a high nutritional quality, the quantity has a way of taking care of itself.

Eating frequent, small meals is best for energy, blood sugar level, and metabolism.

Water, coffee and tea are the best beverages. Alcohol only in moderation. Freshly-squeezed fruit juice can also be enjoyed in moderation. Steer clear of sodas, even diet ones.

Supplements are not regulated, not effective, and often not even safe.

That is all until next time, when we cover the fifth and final component of a healthy lifestyle. Rest assured, it is a weighty issue! Until then, take care, and MAKE IT HAPPEN!

Tardy!

2009-11-22T18:40:00.001-05:00

Due to computer problems and other complications, this week's article is late! If possible, I will post it later in the week. If not, I will post next Saturday as regularly scheduled. My apologies!

Let's get physical!

2009-11-14T21:49:00.048-05:00

Hello! How are you? Awesome, I hope. I hope everyone has had a great week!

So far, we have looked at the first two components of a healthy lifestyle: not using tobacco, and consuming alcohol only in moderation. This week, we are focusing on the third component, and it is one of my favorites.

The Third Commandment: Thou shalt exercise 30 minutes on most days!

I am here to tell you that I love to exercise! Working up a good sweat just makes me feel more alive and is my favorite way to start the day. Now, I can hear some of you all the way from here yelling, "Not me!" To that I can only say, you must be doing it wrong! But seriously, there are so many fun, creative ways to get exercise. And what if I told you that a quite minimal effort is all that is required to produce some pretty awesome results? It is true, I promise.

Why bother?

There are so many benefits associated with regular exercise, I hardly know where to start. Regular exercise:

Improves your mood

Combats chronic disease

Helps you manage your weight

Boosts your energy

Promotes better sleep

Promotes a better sex life (ahem)

Prevents (or helps manage) high blood pressure

Improves cholesterol, both by raising your "good" cholesterol, and lowering "bad" triglycerides

Prevents diabetes, osteoporosis and certain types of cancer

Can be loads and loads of fun!

Not convinced? Then how about sixty more benefits? Yet only 22% of Americans consistently get a minimal amount of moderate exercise. Let's see if we can change that!

Just 30 minutes. Or 20. Or even ONE!

So let us talk a little bit about the amount of time required for exercising. This seems to be one of the obstacles that prevent folks from exercising like they should. How does one hour per week sound? There are 168 hours in a week, so could you commit to investing much less than 1% of your time to drastically improve your health and your life long-term?

Because yes, that will do nicely. If you spend twenty minutes per day, three days per week, engaging in vigorous exercise (such as running), you will reap the lion's share of the benefit of regular exercise.

But what's that you say, you are not in great shape, so you are not too sure how excited you can get about vigorous exercise, or if you can even do it? That is perfectly okay! Moderate exercise, such as brisk walking, can do the trick too. No, you do not have to work out like they do on "The Biggest Loser", that is a TV show.

But there is a trade-off: if your exercise intensity is only moderate, then the recommendation duration is thirty minutes per day "most days" of the week (usually interpreted to mean weekdays). To be honest, all days is even better. Yes, there is a "dose dependent" relationship between the amount of exercise you do and the benefits you receive. In other words, this means that doing even more than the minimum recommended amount of exercise provides even greater protective benefits to your health. So sixty minutes is better than thirty, and ninety is better than sixty.

So it's all or nothing, then?

No, nothing could be further from the truth. The truth is, any amount of exercise you do is going to provide some benefit, so anything is much better than nothing. One minute is better than zero minutes, so if the thought of more than that overwhelms you, then start there. Start anywhere. But do start.

As in many things, starting is often the most difficult part. Once you get going, do not be surprised if momentum kicks in and carries you right along!

The bottom line is that there are many important factors in an exercise program, but the most important factor, far and away, is consistency. Whatever you need to do to get yourself out there most days is what you need to do.

Doing ten minutes a day, even though that is less than the minimum recommendation, is still better if you do it most every day, year in and year out. It's better than doing an hour a day for a month, then quitting and doing no exercise at all the next month. So do not hesitate to make small, sustainable changes. Take baby steps.

But with that said, aim toward that minimum recommendation. It is a very realistic goal, and is not that tough to do. Most of us spend more than 30 minutes a day watching TV. To help insure that you carve out the time to exercise, schedule it on your calendar just like it was an appointment with someone important. It is, so keep that appointment! The two worst excuses for not exercising are "I don't have time" and "I don't have the energy". I promise you, if you exercise you will have more energy, which will give you more time. It really does work that way, I swear!

But I HATE exercising!

Really? Are you sure? Because there are lots of fun ways to get exercise! Take a nice walk in the park! Ride your bike on the greenway! Go out with a buddy and knock around a tennis ball, or a volleyball, or throw a Frisbee! Play with the kids! Dance! The important part is to move. If you get bored, then try something else.

When the weather is crappy, have a plan. Either brave the elements (which can be fun in its own way), or move indoors. Find an indoor track. Or use a treadmill or exercise bike. Yes, they can be a bit monotonous, but watching TV or listening to music can make it much less so. And there are all sorts of other exercise machines designed to help you work up a sweat: stair-steppers, elliptical trainers...the list goes on. You can even walk or jog in place, or do jumping jacks. Take a fun class at the Y. Exercise along with a DVD, tape, or TV show. Skip rope. Punch a punching bag.

With a little thought and planning, one can incorporate lots of exercise into one's everyday activities as well. Take the stairs. Park at the end of the lot. Pace when you are on the telephone. Go to a co-worker's office instead of sending an email. Walk to the store. It all adds up, and it all counts. One can buy a very inexpensive pedometer to keep track of how many steps you take in a day. 10,000 is a great goal.

If it gets your heart beating and your sweat beading, then you are on the right track. Resistance training (weight lifting), stretching/flexibility exercises, and core exercises are also great components of an exercise program, which will be discussed in more detail in future articles. (If I forget, remind me!) Here are some more great ideas for workout routines.

Fine, but I STILL hate exercising!

You are one tough nut! If you really find it that hard to get excited about the actual act of exercise, then try why not try focusing on the many benefits of exercise?

You will look better. You will feel better. You will have more energy. Your risk of premature death and disease will be greatly reduced. If you could get all that from a pill, would you find a way to choke it down? Well, it does, it just takes twenty or thirty minutes to get this particular pill down. Fitness guru Jack LaLanne even admits that he is not crazy about exercise. Even though he still works out two hours, every single day without fail, as a young whippersnapper of 95. What keeps him doing it? "I love the results," he says.

Here are some other ideas for "exercise haters".

There is just no other way to say it: the human body was built to be in motion, not in a chair or on a couch. When you rest, you rust!

LET'S ROLL!

To summarize the main points about exercise:

1) The benefits of regular exercise are almost too many to name.

2) Consistency is key. An easier, sustainable exercise program is far better than an overly ambitious one that ends up abandoned.

2) Though even more is better, one gets the lion's share of benefit from a very doable length and intensity of exercise. As little as an hour per week!

3) Anything is better than nothing.

4) Just get off the couch, get started, and see how far you end up going!

So that is three of the cornerstones of a healthy lifestyle, only two to go! Next week, we will look at #4. Hint: you will not find it at McDonald's.

Do you have an exercise question, comment, story, strategy or statement? Do you need motivation to get started? Strategies to keep you going? Help tackling obstacles? Then leave a comment! I will personally answer it!

Until next week, take good care of yourself, and make it happen!

Don't drink, don't smoke, what do you do?

2009-11-07T09:58:00.014-05:00

Hello! Last week, we looked at the first of five components of a healthy lifestyle: not smoking. This week, we are going to look at the second component.

The Second Commandment: Thou shalt drink alcohol only in moderation!

Okay, so I know that I have been a big buzzkill the last few weeks. Such is the lot of the fitness zealot. But this week, I have some good news: there is some evidence that moderate alcohol consumption can be good for your health! Yay! We will talk more about that in a moment, but first we must deal with the main thrust of today's article: over-consumption of alcohol is definitely not consistent with a healthy lifestyle.

Another big killer

We learned last week that smoking is the #1 preventable cause of death. Over-consumption of alcohol is #3, and kills 100,000 Americans each year. Last week we listed some well-known people whose lives were cut short by smoking, and I felt like this really helped drive the point home. So this week I have compiled a short list of celebrities killed at least in part by alcohol. As you can see, alcohol claims many very young victims.

Brian Jones, musician (Rolling Stones), 25
Gram Parsons, musician, 26
Jimi Hendrix, musician, 27
Bix Beiderbecke, musician, 28
Hank Williams, musician, 29
Andy Gibb, musician, 30
Steve Clark, musician (Def Leppard), 30
John Bonham, musician (Led Zeppelin), 32
Keith Moon, musician (The Who), 32
Ira Hayes, war hero, 32
Keith Whitley, musician, 33
Bon Scott, musician (AC/DC), 33
Charlie Parker, musician, 34
Stuart Adamson, musician (Big Country), 43
Billie Holiday, singer, 44
O. Henry, writer, 47
Richard Burton, actor, 58
Truman Capote, writer, 59

There are many musicians on that list, for some reason. On a personal note, my grandfather died at the age of 69 as a result of alcoholism. Overuse of alcohol causes a higher risk of premature death from all causes, which can be attributed to many possible factors:

Cancer of the pancreas, mouth, pharynx, larynx, esophagus and liver, as well as breast cancer

Pancreatitis, especially in people with high levels of triglycerides in their blood

Sudden death in people with cardiovascular disease

Heart muscle damage (alcoholic cardiomyopathy) leading to heart failure

Stroke

High blood pressure

Cirrhosis of the liver

Injuries due to impaired motor skills

Suicide

Alcohol is also involved in 32% of traffic fatalities. Of course, not all of these victims were the drinker. Overuse can also cause miscarriage, or fetal alcohol syndrome in an unborn child, including impaired growth and nervous system development. It is also a "major ager", and has a particularly noticeable effect on the skin, even leading to rosacea in some cases.

How much is enough?

A somewhat tacky joke: what do martinis have in common with breasts? One is not enough, but three is too many! Ha ha ha. But that is actually not far from the truth.

Moderate alcohol consumption is defined by health experts as no more than one drink per day for women. Men can probably get by with two if they are younger than 65. A drink is defined as 12 ounces of beer, 5 ounces of wine, or 1.5 ounces of spirits.

I don't drink. Should I start, for my health?

Here is the good news that I promised you earlier: there is evidence that moderate (can't stress that word enough) alcohol consumption leads to decreased premature mortality from all causes, particularly heart disease. Moderate drinkers seem to do better in this regard than even teetotalers. Red wine in particular is associated with better health, due to its high concentration of the antioxidant resveratrol.

Still, if you do not drink now, I would not encourage you to start, for two reasons. One, there is some evidence that even in very small amounts, alcohol consumption increases the risk of some forms of cancer. But the big reason is the danger of alcoholism.

I enjoy alcohol now. But if I had known when I started what I know now about the damage alcohol can do to a person's life, I never would have taken that first drink. It is just not worth the risk.

How to cut down or quit

Here are some Internet resources that may be helpful if you are interested in cutting down on your drinking, or quitting entirely (which is what you should do if you cannot contain your alcohol consumption to healthy levels!):

How to Cut Down on Your Drinking (PDF)

Alcoholics Anonymous

My story

Last week, I confessed my own past struggles with tobacco. This week, I must disclose honestly that I used to be a very heavy drinker. Do you detect a pattern here?

In my early twenties, consumption of a half for even a full case of beer in a day was not unusual. After that period, my alcohol consumption varied somewhat and did decline sharply overall, but was still quite high. I became a little concerned over the past few years when I realized how high my alcohol consumption really was.

I would find myself at the end of the day thinking that I had not drunk that much, only to add up the drinks in my head and realize that I had indeed had seven or nine drinks over the course of the day. It was a sobering realization (pun intended). I was also somewhat ignorant as to how much alcohol consumption was considered healthy, until I discussed it with my doctor.

About a year ago, I made a concerted effort to limit my alcohol intake. I was actually quite nervous about it at first! Strangely, I found that drinking hot tea was a big help. It served as a very serviceable substitute for end-of-the-day relaxation. Waiting until evening to start drinking was also helpful.

I was very surprised to find that I suddenly felt much better! I did not realize until I cut back that I was actually suffering from mild hangovers a good bit of the time! It took a month or two for the new habit to really "lock in", where I was consistently drinking 0-2 drinks per day, but I got there.

I also gradually changed my drink of choice from beer to wine. On a typical night, I now drink a glass or two of Cabernet Sauvignon with dinner, or afterward. On extremely rare occasions, I do have a third. Never more than that. Rarely, I will have Scotch or Irish whiskey instead of wine. Only on the rarest occasions will I have a beer, and this would usually be when I am out.

Cutting down has been a huge positive for me. I feel much better as a result, both physically and mentally. But it has really opened my eyes to how pervasive is the effect of alcohol on our society and culture.

In conclusion

One can safely enjoy moderate alcohol intake as part of a healthy lifestyle!

One should drink no more than 1-2 alcoholic drinks per day, to maximize health and minimize the risk of chronic disease and/or premature death.

Red wine is the best choice, due to its high level of the antioxidant resveratrol.

If one finds oneself unable to limit one's drinking, one should seek help to abstain altogether.

I should hope it would go without saying, but illegal drugs in any amount are not part of a healthy lifestyle.

Next week, we will look at step two in our Lifestyle Makeover! Until then, take good care of yourself. Make it happen!

Let's kick some (cigarette) BUTTS!

2009-10-31T10:59:00.042-04:00

Happy Hallowe'en! Last week, we learned that we can reduce our risk of chronic disease (and resulting premature deaths) by a whopping 80% through lifestyle changes alone. I promised that this week, we would begin to learn about the five simple changes necessary to bring about these huge benefits. We will discuss the first of these changes this week.

The First Commandment: Thou shalt not use tobacco!

This is the first of the five cornerstones of a healthy lifestyle. So, if you do not smoke, trust me: you do not want to start. It is horribly addictive, as any smoker (past or present) can tell you. If you do smoke (or use tobacco in any other form), quitting is absolutely the best thing you can do for your health, without question.

With that said, yes, I truly understand how difficult it can be to quit. I smoked cigarettes for fifteen years myself, off and on, and at times quite heavily. So I can clearly tell you from my own experience that: 1) Quitting smoking, while not effortless, is absolutely doable. 2) You will be amazed at the transformation becoming a non-smoker makes in your life.

The good news is that most Americans do not smoke: 76%. The bad news is that, in spite of how much we know about how cigarettes kill, 24% of Americans still do smoke. There are still 1,220,000,000 smokers worldwide. And there are still kids picking up the habit. So let us take a clear, sober look at the reasons to quit.

How does smoking hurt thee? Let me count the ways...

Current smokers, if you do not do anything else for me, I ask you to please read this section carefully, and really take time to think about this information. I say this as someone who has been there. Do not hide from the truth, and do not hide from the facts. That is one of the ways this habit perpetuates itself. When we smoke, we know it is bad for us, but we try not to think about just how bad it is. Forcing ourselves to think about how bad it is serves as a huge motivator to quit, and therefore makes quitting much easier. Smoking is not kind of, sort of dangerous. It is deadly, and you are playing Russian roulette with your life every day that you continue to smoke. And make no mistake: it is not a quick, painless death, either.

In spite of the fact that most Americans do not smoke, smoking is still the #1 preventable cause of death in this country.

Smoking kills 400,000 Americans each year, 18% of all deaths. Think about that! Almost one out of EVERY FIVE deaths is a result of smoking! Even though most of us don't smoke! I am no math whiz, but does that not mean that almost all smokers are killed by the habit? 1,100 Americans die from smoking each day, over twenty for each state. Another way to look at this would be to say that in your state, someone dies from smoking almost every single hour, day in and day out.

Smoking killed 71,000,000 people during the twentieth century, more than were killed from World War II.

When you smoke, you are inhaling over two hundred known poisons.

Children of smoking parents are more likely to smoke than children with non-smoking parents. (My parents and grandparents smoked.)

One study found the combined price paid by smokers, their families and society for smoking is about $41 per pack of cigarettes (includes cost of cigarettes, taxes, insurance, medical care and lost earnings because of smoking-related disabilities).

To help us really understand that this habit kills real people, I thought it might help to think of famous people who have died as a result of smoking. I was floored by the number of lives cut short, found from a quick Internet search. Here is but a small sample:

Bill Hicks, 32
Carrie Hamilton (Carol Burnett's daughter), 38
Nat King Cole, 45
Enrico Caruso, 48
Jim Varney, 50
Rod Serling, 50
Wayne McLaren (the "Marlboro Man"), 51
Carl Wilson, 51
Eddie Kendricks, 52
Spike Jones, 53
Eddie Rabbitt, 56
Humphrey Bogart, 57
Wolfman Jack, 57
Patrick Swayze, 57
George Harrison, 58
Dick York (from "Bewitched"), 61 (below)
Morton Downey Jr., 67
Peter Jennings, 67
R.J. Reynolds, 68
R.J. Reynolds Jr., 58
R.J. Reynolds III, 60
(Not surprisingly, another member of the Reynolds family, Patrick, is an anti-smoking activist.)

I stand behind this list, although it can be admittedly difficult in some cases to determine what directly caused death. There are many who would consider the deaths of Michael Landon and Robert Palmer (just to name a couple) to be linked to smoking. There are also those who attribute the premature deaths of Andy Kaufman and Dana Reeve to second-hand smoke. (I will admit that Bill Hicks may have had a number of deadly habits.)

Then why don't all smokers quit?

Quitting is tough, but there is more to it than that. Let's be honest: it is an easy habit to rationalize.

"I'm stressed, it relaxes me." But so can hot tea, or coffee, or sitting on the porch, or deep breathing, or meditating. Besides, smoking is not really relaxing in and of itself; it is just easy to associate it with relaxation since it usually involves "taking a break".

"Quitting will cause me to gain weight." I believe studies are mixed in that regard, but let's be clear: gaining weight is much less dangerous to your health than smoking. Personally, I believe any weight gain related to quitting is usually temporary. I put on about ten pounds myself, but it came back off within a few months.

"I don't smoke that much, or I do not inhale, or I smoke cigars, or I dip." Not to put too fine a point on it, there is no safe amount of tobacco, and there is no safe form of tobacco.

"My (Uncle Larry/Aunt Bertha/Cousin Lurch) smoked five packs of cigarettes a day, and lived to be 100." (George Burns gets mentioned here too, though hardly anyone asks if Gracie's heart disease could have been caused by second-hand smoke.) Sure, 2% of us have "great genes", and can live a long and healthy life in spite of awful lifestyle choices. Another 2% of us have awful genes, and are very likely to die prematurely even if we live the life of an altar boy. Then there is the other 95% of us, where it is more or less up to us. So, if you want to follow Uncle Larry's plan, I can only quote Clint Eastwood in reply, "You've got to ask yourself one question: Do I feel lucky? Well, do ya?"

"It is so pleasurable." But really, it is not. Did you enjoy your first cigarette? The only thing that makes it seem pleasurable is the fact that you are addicted, and smoking feeds the addiction. Break the addiction, and you remove pleasure from the equation. Besides, let us think about the other "pleasures" of smoking. Death. Shortness of breath. Dizziness. Bronchitis. Emphysema. Stroke. Heart attack. Aneurysm. Cancer. Premature wrinkles. Smelly homes. Burnt clothing and furniture. Bad breath. Stained fingers and teeth. Pleasure? You can keep it.

Help me, Rhonda!

The good news is that there are more resources available to help one quit smoking than ever before. I quit cold turkey with no aids, though not on my first attempt. But I found myself extremely motivated to quit. Quite frankly, I was angry at being chained to tobacco. It appears, though, that relying on willpower alone does not give you the greatest chance of being successful (though quitting cold turkey is the way to go). But luckily, you do not have to white-knuckle your way through on your own. The best strategy seems to be one that combines counseling elements with prescription stop-smoking medication. Here are some links to some other helpful resources and information:

Dr. Oz

"You Can Quit Smoking" Consumer Guide

Wikipedia

Whatcha gonna do for me?

More great news: the benefits from being a non-smoker happen very quickly! The first few days are the toughest, but then it gets much easier. The immediate effects of smoking cessation include:

Within 20 minutes blood pressure returns to its normal level

After 8 hours oxygen levels return to normal

After 24 hours carbon monoxide levels in the lungs return to those of a non-smoker and the mucus begins to clear

After 48 hours nicotine leaves the body and taste buds are improved

After 72 hours breathing becomes easier

After 2–12 weeks, circulation improves

After 5 years, the risk of heart attack falls to about half that of a smoker

After 10 years, the chance of lung cancer is almost the same as a non-smoker

You have also saved yourself a lot of money, and the aggravation of being in places where you cannot easily smoke. Being a non-smoker will undoubtedly make other positive lifestyle changes, such as exercise, much easier.

In conclusion...

The negative effects of tobacco use can hardly be overstated.

Quitting tobacco is the absolute best thing a user can do for their health, greatly reducing their risk of death, disease, and disability. If you smoke, make quitting your first focus.

Though quitting can be tough at first, it quickly gets easier. Also, there are many resources that will help.

Quitting will make it much less likely that your kids (and other loved ones, for that matter) will smoke.

By quitting, you will no longer be exposing others to your second-hand smoke.

With time, the ill effects from smoking can be almost completely reversed.

It has similarities to recovering from alcoholism, in that after you quit, you should not have even one drag. That is a good way to end up right back as a smoker. Nicotine is as addictive as heroin for many people.

DO NOT GIVE UP! You can do this thing! Most smokers, including me, were not successful the first time they tried to quit. That does NOT mean that you cannot be successful in the end. I am living proof!

So, what do you think? Are you a former smoker with stop-smoking tips of your own? Are you a current smoker looking for help and support to quit? Leave a comment!

I leave you with a quote from Barb Tarbox (her real name!) She was a Canadian model and lifelong smoker. After being diagnosed with lung cancer, which ended up killing her at age 42, she became an anti-smoking activist. I also provide this link to photos of the end of her life. I cannot get these images out of my head, and I hope that you cannot either.

You are all so much above this. You're intelligent. You're energetic. You have the world before you in the palms of your hands. Any dream you have is possible. But if you walk the path I walked, this is the path you will walk. And I don't want any of you ever to walk this walk.

Next week, we will look at step two in our Lifestyle Makeover! Until then, take good care of yourself. Make it happen!

"It's getting better all the time...

2009-10-24T15:07:00.003-04:00

...It can't get much worse!"--Lennon/McCartney

Hello, and welcome to our second installment! I have decided to make every effort to update this blog once per week. I would really like to become a regular part of your routine, so I want to do my part to make that happen by updating on a predictable timetable.

I welcome your comments and feedback! Please tell me what you think about this blog! Love it? Hate it? Are the posts just right, too long, too short, too boring, brilliant..what? Tell me. No fair I get to talk all the time, I love to listen.

You can now subscribe to this blog using a RSS feed reader using the link at upper right. Feed readers (such as the one I use, Google Reader) are a great way to stay up-to-date on new content from sites and blogs you enjoy in one convenient location. I subscribe to several fitness feeds, local feeds such as "The Sunsphere Is Not a Wigshop", and entertainment feeds like "PostSecret" and "People of Walmart".

Shoot the messenger if you must, but please hear the message

I have struggled a bit to write this week's post. It is not that I do not know what I want to say, it is just that I want to be very careful how I say it. Today's message contains a lot of scary and depressing statistics. I always try to preach a positive message, as I feel that most everyone responds better to positive messages.

Still, I feel that the things I say in today's post are things that must be said. As Dr. Phil is so fond of saying, "You cannot change what you do not acknowledge." And the take-away message is positive, for nothing is so positive as our ability and willingness to change our lives for the better.

I cheerfully admit up front that the mission of this blog (and increasingly, my life) is to try to encourage folks to adopt healthy lifestyles. Not that I get any particular benefit from that. I just care about my fellow humans, and I want as many of you as possible to survive and thrive in good health for as long as possible. So if I annoy you at all with my preaching, just know that my absolute only motive is that I want to help.

I am not here to "make" anyone do anything. But I do hope that I can at least direct some attention toward what I do consider to be a crisis in this country (and I do not use the world "crisis" lightly). And if folks decide they want to change, then I would be happy to help them in any way I can.

And just because I enjoy participating in triathlons, and my wife is a marathon runner, does not mean that I am telling you that you have to take it to that extreme. You do not. I just hope you incorporate consistent activity into your life, and make good food choices.

Why are we doing this to ourselves?

If I want to encourage people to change their lives, I first have to try to figure out why so many folks are living unhealthy lifestyles. Since I do not live in an ivory tower, I do not have to look much further than my own life. I am not some perfect example of making good, healthy choices, as discussed in last week's article. Living an overall healthy lifestyle is really a fairly recent occurrence for me. It took me quite some time to put most of the pieces together.

So when I ask myself why I did not start making healthier choices sooner, I think one of the main reasons was that I did not have concrete information staring me in the face, showing me the harm I was really doing to myself, and how much I was negatively impacting my chances of continued good health. I think I also had a mindset along the lines of, "Yeah, sure, I know a healthy lifestyle is good, but it probably does not matter all that much." I mean, you have to die of something, right?

So yes, today I want to get your attention, and to do that, I may scare you a little bit. But if that helps you to make a course correction, then "it's all good". Because, although the statistics I am about to share with you will hopefully show you how truly dismal American health is, and how it continues to get worse by leaps and bounds, the take-home message is that you have more power than you probably think to change this course. So let's take a clear, sober, attentive look at the current state of our health as a country.

Today may be grim...

There are so many negative health statistics to look at that one almost does not know where to start. The obesity epidemic may be an obvious starting place.

There is no other way to say it: we are now a nation of fat people. People of a healthy weight are a minority in this country. Though it may be easy to shrug our shoulders and say, "That's just the way it is," here's the thing: it was not always so.

As recently as 1960, healthy-weight Americans were a majority: 55.2%. But today, that number is less than a third. That is around the same number of Americans who are obese; that is, seriously overweight. There are so many reasons, which I will probably examine in a future post, but the bottom line is that most of us eat "junk" and/or lead inactive, sedentary lives. But let me be clear that this is not just the fault of individuals. We have created a society that perpetuates these unhealthy habits.

If some of us shrug off the danger that we are creating for ourselves, I am betting that it will be harder to shrug off the dangers facing our kids. Currently, 18% of teenagers are overweight (making it much more likely that they will be overweight as adults). 15% of pre-teens. Eleven percent of children ages two though five.

Type 2 diabetes used to be called "adult-onset diabetes", but you will not hear that term these days, as more and more kids get it. We are setting these poor kids up to literally start having heart attacks at age 25. We have got to help our kids do better. One of the best ways we can do that is to lead by our own examples.

Not surprisingly, diabetes rates have soared in response to more and more unhealthy lifestyles. I do not think most people know how serious the current situation is in America in regards to diabetes. It is being called an "epidemic" by many experts, yet it gets none of the same attention as, for example, the swine flu. Diabetes rates have roughly tripled in this country since 1980. Please, stop to think about that for a moment. Tripled.

And make no mistake, diabetes is a very ugly disease. It can kill you. But before it kills you, it can also destroy your quality of life. Blindness. Limb amputations. Kidney disease. Heart disease. This is not fun stuff. Diabetes is the sixth-leading cause of death in the US. And 21,000,000 Americans have it. That is the entire population of my hometown of Knoxville...times 210. Or almost three New York Cities. And rates continue to climb by about 5% every year.

I know that nobody likes bad news. I know that some folks are not going to want to read this information, and I apologize. But I am hoping that one way to motivate folks to change is to really shine the light of attention on the consequences of what we are really doing to ourselves. It is easy to ignore, but I think it is crucial that we really take the time to stop and think.

...but we can make a brighter future

Though the news above is bad, I do have some great news that I would like to shout from the rooftops. Current scientific research shows, over and over, that ninety percent of diabetes could be eliminated. NINE ZERO. We could virtually wipe it out. Two million sufferers instead of twenty-one million. If that was in a pill, would you take it? Honestly, the modest lifestyle changes required are not much tougher than taking a pill, really. And the payoff is huge.

Of course, diabetes is just one of many chronic diseases that shorten lifespans and reduce quality of life for younger and younger persons. Cardiovascular disease. Heart disease. Heart attacks. Strokes. Alzheimer's Disease. Cancer. Too bad there is not some way to eliminate 90% of those diseases. Then we would really be cooking with gas! But there is not. I hate to tell you the horrible news that lifestyle changes will not result in a 90% decrease of other chronic diseases. I know this is devastating news that will no doubt disappoint you bitterly.

Current scientific research has shown over and over that lifestyle changes would only reduce the risk of all chronic diseases as a whole by only...

...80%. :-)

I just do not think that this information has made its way to most people. That making some--and again, I stress--moderate changes in lifestyle would virtually eliminate chronic disease from American life. Talk about health care reform! We would live longer lives. But more importantly, we would live better lives, free from the suffering of chronic disease until the very ends of our lives.

Main points

So, to review the main points I hope you take from this article:

We have to pay attention to problems before we can change them.

Two-thirds of us are overweight.

Our children are also getting fatter, and are therefore more vulnerable to chronic diseases such as diabetes.

Diabetes rates have tripled since 1980.

Diabetes risk can be lowered by 90% through lifestyle changes alone.

The risk or ALL chronic disease can be lowered by 80%.

Okay, but how do we do it?

So you say, okay Joe, you have talked me into it. For those kinds of benefits, I am ready to consider lifestyle changes. But what specifically do I have to do? There are five easy steps. The first step is...the subject of next week's article!

Until then, take good care of yourself. Make it happen!

Pleased to meet you!

2009-10-17T17:00:00.011-04:00

Hello! Welcome to my blog! Obviously, it has been some time since I have posted. I have now decided to act on something that I have been thinking about for a long time. I have always been interested in health, fitness, diet, and exercise, but that interest has grown over the past several months. Therefore, I have decided to re-purpose my blog along those lines. Hopefully, this will be the first of at least semi-regular entries.

First, let me tell you a little about me and my background in relation to this subject. As stated, I have always been interested in fitness, but that interest has manifested itself in different ways, and in different degrees, over the course of my life. The earliest serious interest in this regard was an interest in cycling that began in my teens. In part, this was a matter of necessity (read: transportation). As I headed into my twenties, this interest grew to the point I found myself riding not just to get around, but to improve my physical condition. I also participated in some organized rides and races. The pinnacle of this interest was a metric century (100 kilometers/62 miles) I rode in at the age of 21, which included a brutal eleven-mile climb up to Look Rock Tower in the Smoky Mountains. Reaching the pinnacle is still one of my proudest athletic moments.

There was a brief period in my mid-twenties where I really got bitten by the fitness bug. Unfortunately, I had started smoking at the age of twelve, and this was a habit I struggled with for the next fifteen years. But there was a period in the early nineties where I was in the midst of one of my successful non-smoking periods. This really fueled a desire to strive for optimal fitness. This rekindled my cycling activity, and I started to do some short-distance running on the local track as well. I was lifting weights consistently at this point too, something I had also first tried in my early twenties. I was really surprised by how much I enjoyed lifting weights, as I was never the "musclehead" type (perhaps owing partly to my lanky frame).

During this period was also the first time I ever got interested in nutrition. I guess it just went along with all of the other healthy things I was trying to do. Though my knowledge was limited in those days, I do remember switching to skim milk, and snacking on fruit.

Alas, I did not stick with it, and gradually slid back into less healthy habits. It took me until 1994 or 1995 to finally kick the cigarette habit for good, but I was finally successful. However, I continued to smoke the occasional cigar for several years, rationalizing it on the basis of it not being a "habit" (as if only habits can harm you, I guess). I also became less active, and much less careful in my eating habits. I was also drinking plenty of beer.

These bad habits were at their zenith right around the time I turned thirty. I guess I have been blessed with a relatively high metabolism, but my bad choices started to catch up with me. I found myself weighing close to 200 pounds. This may not sound bad based on my six-foot frame, but it was. I have a very small, slender frame, so at 200, I was fat. I remember becoming winded easily, and being extremely uncomfortable when I stooped to tie my shoes. In pictures (such as the one above, age 33), my fat gut was unmistakable.

I became so uncomfortable that I launched a modest effort to get in shape. Appropriately, I had modest results. I got down to around 185 mainly by trying not to pig out quite so much. I still was not very careful about my food choices, though. I was also exercising, but it was sporadic. I might run once or twice a week...or not. I might play tennis once a week. That was about it. Every once in awhile, I would try to get back into the weightlifting habit, but it never seemed to stick. And I was still drinking plenty of beer.

Still, I managed to convince myself that I was in pretty good shape. Sadly, it is not so hard to do in this country. Frankly, most of us have forgotten what "fit" means. And especially if you looked at my face or limbs, I did not look fat. But I had a nice little paunch of abdominal fat, which I now know is the most dangerous kind.

Even at 185, I was considered slightly overweight by the BMI charts. And though my small frame and loose clothes may have helped me hide it, my body fat percentage was 22%, which is also considered overweight. Ugh. Still, when I mentioned wanting to lose weight, most looked at me askance and said, "Why?"

Not surprisingly, as recently as two years ago, my cholesterol was 344, 144 points above the recommended 200. HDL ("good" cholesterol) was 48, 11 points below target. LDL ("lousy" cholesterol) was 218, well over twice the target. Triglycerides were 176, 26 points above target. Then my blood glucose started rising, to six points above the target of 100. My brother has diabetes, so this is definitely not good.

I need to do something, but sadly, I felt like I did not know exactly how to go about it. I was running at this point, sometimes as much as ten miles at a shot, so I tried to tell myself that I "should" be healthy, "what more can I do". But I was not exercising consistently, and I was eating (and drinking) pretty much whatever I wanted.

My wife, Jill, was also overweight, even more so than I was. Amusingly, it was only in helping her that I helped myself. In researching, I thought that Nutrisystem might help her, and decided it could not do me any harm either. So, we started the Nutrisystem plan in November of 2008.

We both had quick results. The momentum we gained as our weight improved encouraged other healthy changes as well. First, I finally managed to convince myself that consistency was the missing piece in my running. I started running most days, even if only a couple of miles. Next, I started lifting weights again. This time, I kept at it. Yes, occasionally "life events" got in the way and I might miss a workout (or even a few workouts), but I always managed to pick it back up again when smoother waters returned.

As I became concerned about the risk of repetitive stress injury from all the running, I decided to branch out into cycling (again) and swimming. I had completed a triathlon a few years ago, and have now decided to focus my future racing energies into triathlons. I believe the multi-disciplinary "cross training" approach to be the wisest course for a "masters" athlete.

Within a few months, I lost forty pounds. I had brought my weight down from 185 to 145, well within the "normal weight" range. Even better, I am proud to report that I got my body fat percentage down to 11%! I never thought I would be able to achieve that. That is not just within the healthy range for a man my age, but it is at the lower end. To me, this is consistent with my small frame, not to mention my racing goals. My blood chemistry also shaped up. Only my overall cholesterol is still "borderline high" at 206, but it continues to trend downward. Jill is also normal weight now. I believe she lost 75 pounds, and actually won a local "body transformation" contest!

We are no longer on the Nutrisystem program, but I credit the program for encouraging me to really dig into and understand the "nuts and bolts" of good nutrition. Jill and I are now doing our best to follow a "Mediterranean-style" diet. We eat mostly fruits and vegetables, high-quality complex carbohydrates, and unsaturated fats in moderation. We eat almost no red meat, nor "bad" carbohydrates such as added sugars or simple carbohydrates, nor processed foods. I also finally gave up beer; now, I confine myself to one or two glasses of Cabernet Sauvignon per evening. An occasional Scotch is also allowed. For her part, Jill cut out alcohol altogether.

So you may think our successes are why I am interested in blogging about fitness now. When I tell you that I have decided to pursue a Certified Personal Trainer certification from the American College of Sports Medicine, you may think our successes are the reason for that as well. And you would be partly correct! I feel so much better and am so much healthier now that I want to share this great feeling with everyone! I want to share what I have learned on this journey. But here's the thing: how great it feels to be healthier is not the only thing that I have learned.

An unexpected secondary result of this journey is that I have learned much about the sad state of affairs that is American health. I mean, I knew we were not the healthiest folks in the world, but I had no idea how dire things really are. I suspect I am not the only one.

The thing that really got my attention is that the situation is very fixable. This is great news! But the sad truth is that fixing it, we are not. BUT THERE IS HOPE! This is what I plan to talk about next time. I am not yet sure if I will try to do this weekly or monthly, as that depends upon many factors; most importantly, your interest and my time!

In the meantime, I would love to hear any and all comments, questions, feedback...you name it! My ideal vision for this blog is a conversation between the readers and me, not just a one-sided, boring lecture. I want to give you information, and hopefully motivation, that is relevant to you and that you can use in the real world! If I can help someone get to where they want to be health-wise...well, that would be just the greatest thing in the world. God knows there are those who have, and continue to, help me! I do not pretend to have all the answers, and there is always more than one path to any goal. But if I can shine some light on your path to help you make the right turns that work best for you, then that would be awesome. So please, communicate with me and help me to make this blog as good as it can be.

Until next time, take good care of yourself. MAKE IT HAPPEN!

Day Whatever: Climbing Back On

2008-10-15T04:54:00.002-04:00

Okay folks, don't expect daily updates going forward. I don't have that much interesting to say at this point.

Since my crash, I have been "off the wagon". Saturday after tennis, I laid down with the wife for a nap...which ended up lasting 90 minutes. From there I just could not get excited about getting up in the middle of the night. It being the weekend may have had a little to do with it, I dunno. Sunday I managed to get up early...but then went back to sleep with my wife around 7. Monday, I made a half-hearted attempt to get back on schedule--set my clock for 3:30 AM, but I wasn't feeling it, and didn't get up.

Finally tonight, I'm back to "core sleep". The wife and I actually went to bed early last night, as neither of us could keep our eyes open at 10. Due to the early bedtime, I set my clock for 2:30. I actually woke up before it went off, and felt awake and ready to get up, so I did. I am feeling a little headachy at the moment. I am not sure if that is from lack of sleep, or the beers I drank last night.

I'm actually shooting for something today which was one of the enticements of polyphasic sleep for me in the first place: I plan to do an early-morning workout. I am hoping that will raise my energy and clear the fog as well.

I will continue to update as interesting things occur.

Onward!

Day 9: crash.

2008-10-11T05:27:00.002-04:00

Obviously, yesterday did not start out great, and it did not get any better. By the time my wife left for work at 8, I was fairly miserable. My head felt like it was in a vise. Being as how there is only so much discomfort that I am willing to endure, I threw in the towel. I went back to bed, and did not set an alarm.

Particularly at first, I was on a sleep rollercoaster. Jerking in and out of sleep, with vivid, hallucination-like dreams. Even without an alarm, I did wake up within about 45 minutes, just like I've been trained. But I stayed in bed, and went back to sleep. Eventually, I woke up around 12:30 PM, so I got an additional 4.5 hours of sleep. I felt great then, and had a very productive day. I didn't take any additional naps, natch.

So maybe I am just not cut out for this polyphasic sleep thing, who knows. When the sleep deprivation gets tough, Joe gets going. But it seems to eventually reach a point where it just doesn't feel healthy, you know? Perhaps I should try to find the nerve to push through these moments, but I dunno.

I'm still not ready to give up my extra hours of productivity every day, though, so I'm trying to get right back on the horse. Had core sleep this morning from 12 to 4:30 AM.

So I'm not as sure today, and it's more of a question.

Onward?

Day 8: ugh.

2008-10-10T05:03:00.002-04:00

They say the Everyman schedule gets rough after a week. Apparently, they are right.

First of all, I think this is the first time I have had to take a nap earlier than scheduled because I just could not stay awake. Forget 11 AM, it was all I could do to make it till 10. Heck, I was ready to crawl in bed after my wife left for work at 8.

It was an, um...interesting nap as well. I felt like I was on the borderline of hallucinating. I kept waking up with a start after thinking I'd heard something. Or even seen something, even though I was wearing a sleep mask. It was like my brain was having a hard time distinguishing the real world from the dream world. Fun. I wonder if that weird, gradually-waking-up feeling from yesterday was the start of this. The good news is, maybe this is my body and brain adapting to polyphasic sleep? The whole idea is to enter REM sleep very quickly, so maybe this is what's happening.

More good news is that I did feel great after this nap. I was very energetic, and got tons done. Ironically after the early nap, I was worried that I was too keyed up to take my next nap, even though I took it on time. I also had a lot going on, so I was feeling a bit rushed to take this nap, which I figured did not bode well. Due to feeling a time crunch, I used the Nap26 program again, instead of the Easy2Sleep/alarm clock combo. Much to my surprise, I had a great nap! Went to sleep quickly, slept well, and awoke refreshed. Wow!

But later that evening, I started to feel like I was in trouble. Rather than starting to feel tired right around 11, which has been a pretty consistent pattern, it started to hit much earlier, like around 8. Worse, it wasn't that "yawny" kind of tired; it was that brain-dead, I'm very tired kind of feeling. I pushed through it, though, thinking that changing the timing of my core sleep would be more likely to screw me up than changing a nap.

But my head was on the pillow at 11:00 and one second, I'm here to tell you. Since I was so tired, and in an attempt to make sure I got my full 4.5 hours, I set my Shake Awake for 3:45 AM. After last night's "throw it in the floor and try to go back to sleep" experience, I also set an audible alarm for 4. I commented to my wife that if there was a night I was going to oversleep, this was it.

But I didn't. I awoke promptly at 3:45. I had slept soundly, too--no 12:45 wakeup this time. But oh, did I feel yucky. Knowing that I had the backup alarm, I stayed in bed and tried to gather myself together. I did not fall back to sleep, and finally stumbled out to the living room at 4.

This is the worst I have felt in the wee hours. It's not so much tiredness as it is that I feel very headachy, not something I'm prone to. After 90 minutes awake, I suppose I feel a little better, but still pretty yucky. We'll see how the rest of the day goes. So with more reluctance than usual, I say:

Onward!

Day 7: Strange Day. Indeed?

2008-10-09T04:35:00.005-04:00

Yeah, today was an odd one.

I once again took naps exactly as scheduled, 11 AM and 5 PM. I experienced a weird sleep pattern during both naps that is going to be difficult to describe. The best I can do is to say it was like I was gradually falling off to sleep, but then the whole thing went into reverse, and I gradually came back into a more conscious state. It may not sound unusual, but it felt unusual. Normally when I wake up, I wake up all at once. But it wasn't exactly waking up anyway, as I don't think I was quite asleep. And I wasn't wide awake after the experience, as I was still in a very relaxed state. Has anyone else noticed anything like this? I am confident it must be related to my new sleep schedule, and specifically related to the fact that I have been doing this for awhile, since I have not noted this phenomenon previously.

The 11 AM nap was not very restful. I'm not sure if I ever made it all the way to sleep or not. Not surprisingly, I got quite sleepy before the 5 PM nap. Felt pretty yucky, too--the weather was rainy today, and I was struggling with some weird kind of abdominal pain/tenderness. This pain lasted all day, and it hasn't completely gone away even now, though I think it has improved, at least.

But the 5 PM nap was great, and I awoke feeling energized, in spite of once again experiencing that "gradual awakening" phenomenon. I felt great the rest of the night.

The wife and I laid down for the night around 11:15. I decided to go back to pajamas, since I had started feeling a bit chilly in my skivvies. Since it was a bit past 11, and to allow a few minutes to fall asleep, I set my alarm for 4. The first weird thing is, just like last night, I woke up around 12:45. I carefully checked the clock this time to make sure I was reading it right. This would be around the time that the Easy2Sleep program would end, so I wonder if that is what is causing me to wake up. I was able to quickly return to sleep, however.

The next weird thing happened at 4. I always wondered why everyone did not own vibrating alarm clocks, since I could not imagine sleeping through one. This particular model is also difficult to figure out how to turn off in a half-asleep state. But the tired mind does not overcomplicate things when it comes to problem-solving: apparently, when the clock went off, I removed it from under my pillow and put it on the floor! But fortunately, it apparently "woke me up enough", as I found myself lying there in bed right afterwards, with the thought in my mind, "Don't I remember the clock going off?" I glanced at my watch, and noted sure enough that it was 4:05. So I'm very fortunate that I didn't seriously oversleep, and I will be inclined to set a backup alarm in the future.

At the moment, I feel just fine. The wee morning hours are starting to feel very familiar. It's funny the things you don't consider, though--I had to WD-40 the doors in our home yesterday, in an attempt to ameliorate their late-night squeakiness!

And I'm a week in! Near as I can figure, my average daily sleep for the week is pretty much identical to the amount of sleep I'm scheduling now: 5.5 hours. It's funny how that works out, in spite of the fact that I started off with a very different plan. So I've gained 17.5 hours of "life" already, over my previous 8-hour-a-day schedule! Cool!

Onward!

Day 6: Settling In

2008-10-08T04:11:00.002-04:00

Another fairly uneventful day. This may be the first day that I took all naps at the pre-planned times. I'm not sure if I slept during the 11 AM nap, but I slept well during the 5 PM nap. I continue to feel fine.

It took longer than normal to fall asleep at 11 PM; I think it was nearly 30 minutes. This was at least in part due to the fact that my wife did not go to bed promptly at 11. I also ate awfully close to bedtime.

I also once again lost sleep in the middle of the night due to her restlessness; the couch is starting to look good again. I swear I think she's doing it on purpose in an attempt to have the bed to herself! I'm not sure when she woke me up. I glanced quickly at the clock and thought it said 12-something, but at another point it was 2-something, so I'm not sure if I misread the clock the first time, or if she woke me up twice. I felt okay when the clock went off at 3:30, but reset it for 4 and laid back down due to the lost sleep. I wonder if I should have set it for 4:30--we'll see how I feel throughout the day. If needed, I may either nap early, or throw in an extra one.

Oh, and my "Shake Awake" vibrating alarm clock came in the mail today. Works like a charm: compact, easy-to-use, battery-powered, and easy to set. It woke me up instantly.

Onward!

Day 5: Boring Is Good

2008-10-07T05:26:00.002-04:00

I'm not sure how long I'm going to be able to blog about this, at least daily, as it is getting fairly routine at this point. So not much to talk about, but this means things are going well, in spite of the fact that I'm now sleeping less than six hours per day vs. eight-plus. But they may yet get "interesting" again, as I've heard this schedule takes a month to fully adapt to, and that some of the worst sleep dep takes around a week to kick in. And I still have a desire to try to "improve" the schedule to one of the more "radical" ones as time goes on. But I don't want to rush things, as I'm definitely not completely "settled in" to this current schedule. Once that happens, I may take the next step and switch to the "standard" Everyman schedule. This would mean 90 minutes less of core sleep per night, but one or two additional naps.

My naps are at kind of a strange place at the moment, though. I'm pretty sure I'm falling asleep, and I'm waking up feeling refreshed. However, I'm not entirely certain that I'm falling asleep. I'm not 100% aware of being asleep, and I'm not recalling any dreams. The only thing that makes me think I'm falling asleep is that I am "actively listening" to the Easy2Sleep audio program as instructed, and I'm finding at the end of the nap that I don't seem to remember "hearing" it for awhile. So either I'm falling asleep, or my attention is drifting away from the audio...or lack of sleep is doing strange things to my brain. This also means that I think today is the first day that I have successfully fallen asleep for all of my naps, so progress is being made. I'm also kind of having the feeling that the naps are lasting longer than they are, which I've heard from other polyphasers is a good sign. This seems to indicate that I am moving more quickly into the REM stage of sleep, which is why polyphasers need less sleep.

So far, I would have to declare this experiment a resounding success, in spite of the early problems. I have gained an extra 2-3 hours of active time per day, with little if any downside at the moment. I think napping is a good thing for me, as it ameliorates my tendency to grind through work without taking breaks. Even if I never transition to one of the more radical schedules, though I still plan to try, this schedule feels like it would be easy to maintain, and it's giving me some of the benefits I was going for.

For the record, since I do seem to keep moving things around a bit, naps today were at 12 PM and 5:30 PM, and core sleep was 12-4:30 AM. I think I ate a little too heavily before the noon nap, and that may have hampered that nap a bit. Also, I have gone back to taking my core sleep with my wife. She has not been disturbing my sleep with her flailing (lol), and I have not been disturbing her by arising in the wee hours. I took the 5:30 nap with her as well. I had originally planned that nap for 6, and was then going to move it to 7 due to my wife not being home then, but was feeling very tired at 5:30 so decided to git 'er done. I was an hour late getting to bed for core sleep, mainly due to some sad news I received about an old schoolmate (he's very ill), but was able to drop off to sleep quickly in spite of being troubled over that. If I've gotten nothing else out of this experience, I've learned that the Easy2Sleep/Nap26 program is awesome.

The plan for today is to take naps at 11 AM and 5 PM, and core sleep from 11:00 PM to 3:30 AM. This is the schedule I want to try to stick with going forward, as well. Once I feel solidly adjusted to that, I may try to switch to core sleep from 11 PM-2 AM, with naps at 6 AM, 11 AM, 3 PM, and 7 PM. The step after that, I think, would be the same schedule with one less nap. So still 11-2 for core, with naps at 7:15 AM, 12:30 PM, and 5:45 PM. 7:15 is a crappy time for a nap, though, so I may have to tweak that one a bit. I'd probably have to push it a little later.

Onward!

Day 4: Getting the hang of it?

2008-10-06T04:25:00.002-04:00

Or maybe this new, less-radical schedule is just easier. Or maybe it will hit me in a week. I had a great day today. I went and played tennis with a friend at 10 AM, and got home around 2. I was trying to get some stuff done, though, and didn't lay down for my nap till 3, later than planned. Had a good nap, though again I think it ran a little long. I felt only the slightest bit groggy upon awakening, but this cleared quickly.

Since the first nap got pushed late, I pushed my second nap till 7 PM. This one was a bust, though--didn't fall asleep. Honestly, I didn't feel like I needed a nap anyway.

Laid down at 11 like clockwork. Tried sleeping with the wife again, and it worked out this time. Clock went off at 3:30. Very groggy this time upon awakening, but again, it quickly passed. As of 4:30 AM, I feel great!

Onward!

Day 3: The calm after the storm

2008-10-05T05:44:00.003-04:00

There is obviously not as much to talk about now, since I'm no longer taking six naps a day.

As previously suggested, I took an unscheduled, no-pressure nap at 3 PM. I tried a different technique this time. Rather than using the Nap26 audio program, I used the "Easy2Sleep" program (by the same folks) in conjunction with an alarm. Easy2Sleep is the same as the Nap26 program, just longer. It runs for over an hour, and is intended for monophasers going to bed at night. I set an alarm for 3:45, the idea being that I would allow the average 15 minutes to go to sleep, and then I'd get a 30-minute nap. This made the nap much more enjoyable than previous naps since I felt less pressure. But 45 minutes was probably too long, as I did feel kind of groggy upon awakening. I reckon I'll try 35 or 40 minutes next time.

I then laid down with the wife at 11 PM. So much for the psychological need to go to bed with her--she was moving around so much, similar to one of our nap experiences, that I got up after 30 sleepless minutes and moved to the couch anyway. Due to the later-than-planned bedtime, I set my alarm for 4 AM rather than 3:30. I woke up easily and currently feel fine. This is more like what I hoped polyphasic sleep would be--I feel like I have already "stolen" a couple of quiet hours to get things done here in the wee hours, and I don't feel like a zombie.

I'm supposed to play tennis with a friend in the morning, so it may be noon or later before I can try a nap. And that will be right after exercise, so we'll see how that goes.

Onward!

Day 2: ...and in conclusion...

2008-10-04T12:56:00.002-04:00

Oh come on, I'm impulsive. I started polyphasing the day after I first heard about it. You did not really expect me to stick with it, did you?

But seriously folks, I am kidding, at least to an extent. But it is true that I am a good ways off the wagon at this point.

After my not-quite-planned four hours of "core sleep" early Friday morning, I had planned naps at 11 AM, 3 PM, 7 PM, and 11:30 PM. I had planned to go to a football game Friday evening, hence the odd timing of the 11:30 nap. I then planned to shoot for three hours of core sleep, 3-6 AM. However, it crossed my mind that if the naps went well, I might try to do without the core sleep and head back in the direction of my initial goal, the Uberman schedule.

I felt pretty zombified all morning. Though I had a long to-do list prepared, I just didn't feel like I had the mental energy to do anything. (Fortunately, nothing on there was particularly time-sensitive.)

The 11 AM nap was a complete bust. I did not fall asleep at all. After the first run-through of the Nap26 program, I had no problem deciding to run it through again, since I had gotten zero sleep. I got zero sleep the second round too, so I gave up. If I can't fall asleep in 52 minutes, I'm not falling asleep. The quiet rest was at least somewhat restorative, I suppose, and the weather was once again beautiful. So I wasn't feeling miserable, but I wasn't feeling energized either. Keep coming back to that "zombie" word.

The 3 PM nap, though, was the best nap yet. Not sure how long it took me to go to sleep, but I definitely did, and feel better upon awakening. Woke up no problem just with the Nap26 "voice". I did quite a few things differently for this nap, so I felt like I was figuring out some things that "worked'. I had eaten a good meal before this nap (but not too close), and had enjoyed a tall glass of milk as well. I cranked the AC for this nap, even tough it wasn't particularly warm outside, and cranked the bedroom fan up as well. I stripped down to skivvies for this nap, as opposed to sleeping in either street clothes or pajamas as I had been previously. I also slightly decreased the volume of the audio program, and used two pillows for my head instead of one. All of these changes seemed to be positive, so I was quite optimistic about the next nap. Still felt like a zombie, though.

Partly because of this, and partly because my wife had a rough day at work, we decided not to go to the football game after all. Therefore, I took my next nap at 8 instead of 7. I was hoping that this would make me sleepier for the nap, and I also wanted to avoid getting used to a 7:00 nap, since I think 7 AM is a lousy time for a nap due to my wife's work schedule. Prior to this I had been spending most of my time trying to stay busy at the computer (though as stated, not with much success at doing anything productive). However, after the relative success of the 3:00 nap, I felt confident to try something I hadn't done so far: sit on the couch and watch TV with the wife. I was afraid that such "relaxing" would make it harder to stay awake, and this was true to an extent, but wasn't too bad. I kept catching myself trying to lay my head back, but was successful in my efforts to not let myself get too comfortable.

Pushing my next nap back to 8 PM meant it was mostly dark for this nap, so I thought that would help. Also, due to past difficulties when the wife napped with me, I asked her to skip this one, and she agreed. However, this meant she had the TV on in the next room. I had also had food before this nap (though I don't think I had milk this time), and I stuck with all the other "improvements" that had worked before.

Still, this nap wasn't quite as good as the 3 PM nap, but I guess it was okay. I was once again successful in falling asleep, but I think it took longer this time. I think I could just hear the TV over the Nap26 audio program, but I don't know if this was much of a factor or not. However, the period after this nap was probably the best I'd felt since I started this whole thing. I was able to enjoy some more relaxed time with my wife, and had even less difficulty remaining alert than I had before the nap. So I guess even small amounts of sleep help.

So it might sound like I was doing fine, but I think emotions (for want of a better word) were starting to come into play. I was getting really freakin' tired of this whole experience. I was tired of being tired. I was tired of thinking about being tired. I was tired of the stress of each nap, wondering if it was going to be successful or not. And I was tired of not feeling productive. I wasn't a happy person, folks, and I'm only willing to sacrifice my happiness for so long.

The final straw was when my wife prepared to go to bed around 11:30. The thought of once again sending her off to bed while I stayed out in the living room by myself...just made me sad. I wanted to go with her, not just because I wanted some sleep, but because I wanted to enjoy that ritual of bedtime together with her.

So I went, and I did not set an alarm. I had it in my mind, though, that I was likely to wake up after a few hours, so I still might be able to consider this "core sleep" and proceed from it somehow. And indeed I did wake up in the middle of the night. But I think the lack of a concrete plan, coupled with the mental fatigue (more than the physical fatigue) of the past few days, conspired against my arising. So, I slept through till the morning.

And I don't even really regret it. Though I did awaken with the back soreness/stiffness that was actually one of my motivating factors to try something other than monophasic sleep, it sure did feel good to get out from under that nasty sleep dep. I feel great right now, and productive again. But where does this leave me in my polyphasic journey?

I haven't given up on it, but I do think I jumped into this too quickly (especially thinking I was going to do Uberman right off the bat!) Some things that I had read since starting already had me worried that I wasn't ready to do it. The main thing I have to do is get better at napping, and I think the time to do this is while being on a fairly "normal" sleep schedule.

I don't know if I'm sure how to get better at napping, though. I guess I'm hoping it's mostly a "practice makes perfect" kind of thing. I'm also wondering if I need to tweak my napping "strategy". I read somewhere recently that it takes the "average" person 15 minutes to fall asleep, and I think this is about where I'm at. I wonder if, at least until I can get that time down, if I shouldn't create a playlist for napping with two tracks: one being 10-15 minutes of relaxing music, and then the Nap26 program. This would take some of the pressure off of feeling like if you don't fall asleep immediately, then you're not going to get a nap of the planned duration.

I also feel like I need to wait until I get my vibrating alarm clock before I attempt any of the more "radical" schedules again. That just seems like a necessary tool since I'm living with someone who's not a polyphaser.

I've also learned that I'm going to have to schedule either core sleep or a nap around 11, so that I can go off to bed with my wife. Obviously, this is important to me psychologically. I don't think I'm going to feel like I need to stay in bed with her, but I do feel like I need to go to bed with her.

So where does that leave me for right now? I'm still thinking I could do one of "easier" schedules, especially since I've "rebooted". I may try some "no pressure" naps today if I find myself feeling drowsy (no more than one or two). Looking at PD's book, the 4.5-hour Everyman sounds very doable. Since less of your sleep is from naps, and there are fewer naps as well, I think that will relieve me from my "nap pressure" while I work out the kinks. That, and it seems like the timing of naps is not quite as critical with these schedules, so if I laid down and couldn't go to sleep, I'm hoping it would be easier to just try again later. Uberman is still my ultimate goal, but this plan sounds like something I can do while I'm improving my napping. Uberman, or anything to close to it, is not. Having a sleep schedule where you get only three hours sleep per day is one thing; having a sleep schedule like that, and then not even getting the three hours, is not doable for this old man.

So, I plan to go to bed with my wife tonight around 11. It being Saturday, I don't have to be quite as concerned about waking her up in the middle of the night, so I think I'll set an alarm for 3:30, and get up. This sounds very doable since out from under the crushing tiredness I've felt the previous two days. And I doubt it will even bother her that much--I visualize quickly turning off the alarm, going out the living room, and her falling right back to sleep. If I'm understanding the scheduling principles correctly, I believe this would put the best time for my naps at 11 AM and 5 PM.

So that's where I'm at, hanging on to this thing by my fingernails. But I really am optimistic that last night's "reboot" will allow me to proceed from here.

Humbled...but still, onward.

Day 1: Not Yet an Übermensch

2008-10-03T06:22:00.005-04:00

Okay, transitioning to a sleep schedule like this is really, really hard. Especially for an old man like me.

I did not even plan to start yesterday, and laid down Wednesday night at 11:30 PM for a monophasic night of sleep. I awoke at 4:30 AM and felt fairly awake, so I decided to stay up, and call that "core sleep". I planned to start my Uberman nap schedule, with naps at 9 AM, 1 PM, 5 PM, 9 PM, 1 AM, and 5 AM. I figured I might not sleep during the early naps since I was starting with five hours sleep "in the bank". However, I was committed to attempting each nap on schedule, and staying in bed the entire time. I figured I'd sleep when I needed to. And I actually was a little tired with only five hours sleep for the night, so who knows.

The 9 AM nap was fine, but I don't think I slept. Got up and felt pretty good, though, if a little dazed. Noticed an interesting phenomenon, perhaps a side effect of the binaural beats: I saw stuff with my eyes closed, and not the kind of stuff I'm used to seeing. Mostly largish, swirling, dark green blobs. The color was unusually vivid. Interesting.

The 1 PM nap was probably the best one. I didn't sleep for most of it, but I think I may have dozed off for a minute at least. No vivid dreams or anything like that, though, like I hear about some folks having. Felt great upon arising--it was a beautiful day outside, so that probably helped. Still feeling the slightest bit dazed and confused, but nothing too taxing.

My wife was home for the 5 PM nap, so she took it with me. It wasn't as relaxing as the 1 PM nap, and I'm pretty sure I didn't sleep. One of our dogs was doing some loud scratching towards the end, which didn't help.

And then the 9 PM nap. I was hoping this would be my breakthrough nap, where I finally slept for most of it. This seemed likely, since it was getting close to normal sleep time anyway. But this was not to be. In fact, this was the worst nap of the day. Again, my wife chose to join me. I'm not sure why, since she generally goes to sleep for the night before 11. Unfortunately, she tossed and turned for the entire time. I have to admit I was fairly annoyed by the end of the nap. The dog was also uncooperative once again.

After this was where things got ugly. First, I went online around 10 to do some more reading about polyphasic sleep. This did not give me the boost of confidence that I would have liked, as here I was staring down my first "all nighter" in years. I experienced some severe episodes of "sleep dep" back in the day, so I know all too well how agonizing it can be. The reading I was doing was only serving to remind me. Hallucinations? I'm too damned old for that! I was also worried about how the overnight naps were going to work. Many polyphasic neophytes oversleep those middle-of-the-night naps, and this seems to be the primary cause of failure. Not to mention that it prolongs the sleep-deprived misery of the adaptation period. How am I going to set an alarm that will wake me up from what's likely to be a dead sleep, but without waking my wife up? I go online and win a bed-shaker alarm clock on eBay. That's all well and good, but what am I going to use tonight?

By 11:30, I was really feeling like shit. Tired and cranky. My wife offered me a Scotch, which in retrospect I should have turned down. It did not sit well in my stomach, compounding an already unpleasant situation. I felt like I should eat something, but frankly, this would have required too much energy.

Uncharacteristically, it was around 11:45 before my wife sauntered off to bed, and so my First Long Night began. I was very tired, and the clock was sure moving slowly, but I managed to find enough work to keep me busy. This was somewhat challenging, as I barely felt like I still had two brain cells clanging together. I had made the decision to push my next nap forward to 1:30 AM. I was trying to schedule for a social engagement I hoped to attend Friday night, and I figured the 30-minute adjustment wouldn't really make a difference, since I hadn't really had a true nap yet anyway!

By 1:30, I felt so ready for sleep. My original plan was to quietly crawl back into bed and nap with my wife, but I decided this was probably impractical, at least in the early stages where I was likely to have difficulty rousing myself from slumber. So I curled up on the couch. Since I knew this was probably going to be a tough nap to wake up from, in addition to relying on Nap26 to wake me up, I set my cell phone alarm for 2:15 and placed it on a stool near my head.

I also formulated a backup plan. Since I had already realized that my 40-year-old self was probably going to have one hell of a time jumping straight into an Uberman schedule (especially since it was becoming clear that my body had not yet "learned how to nap" by falling asleep quickly), I set an alarm clock for 6 AM. My thinking was if I could just not will myself to get up after my nap, that I could count this as "core sleep", and pursue some kind of Everyman schedule for awhile until I became better at napping. (There are variations of Everyman that allow anywhere from 1.5 hours to 4.5 hours of core sleep.) The Uberman is definitely my ultimate goal, though, as it seems to provide the most of the benefits I am looking for.

Annoyingly, it still took me quite some time to fall asleep, but I finally did and this was clearly the best doze of the day. However, I still felt like I spent more of the nap period awake than asleep. So at the end of the nap period, I decided to "call an audible"--I decided to restart the Nap26 audio program and lie back down. I was hoping to get a "true" nap in since I knew the night was probably going to be miserable otherwise. This may have been a bad call, though, since I actually felt decent at the end of the first nap period. That, and the fact that once you convince yourself that it's okay to not get up at the scheduled time...well, it's easy to stay convinced.

The second nap period was indeed a wonderful nap. Too wonderful, as sure enough, I was unable to pull out of it. That's where the half-asleep mind does you in, as I'm not really sure what happened. I know that when I finally did wake up, my cell phone ringer was off. Either I failed to turn it on before napping, or (more likely) I turned it off in my sleep. But I did wake up on my own before my alarm went off, at 5:30 AM. Felt horrible upon first awakening; indeed, I'm somewhat surprised I managed to get off the couch. But I quickly started to feel better.

So my new plan is to do an Everyman schedule for awhile, while weaning myself from core sleep as quickly as I can. My understanding is that doing it gradually, as logical as that may sound, actually makes it harder in the long run, as it lengthens the adaptation process. Remember, it's not until after that process that you really start feeling good. During it, there's no getting around it--you're sleep deprived.

So due to my social engagement tonight, I am going to shoot for naps today at 11 AM, 3 PM, 7 PM, and 11 PM. One nice thing about the Everyman schedule is that you have a little more leeway in moving your nap times. Hopefully, I'm not overdoing with that first 5.5-hour gap between sleeps. Then, I'm going to shoot for three hours of core sleep tomorrow, 3 AM-6 AM. Once I see how all of that goes (particularly the daytime naps), I'll formulate a plan for the next day. I'm not sure how valid a plan this "seat of the pants" scheduling is, but it's the best this old man can do right now.

Amusingly, I did finish up Day 1 sleeping almost exactly the total amount of time Uberman calls for, due to the failed naps. Can I count that as a victory? I got three hours sleep between the period of 4:30 yesterday morning and 4:30 today. Four hours total.

More good news, I suppose, is that I feel fairly decent at the moment (7:40 AM). Hungry, slightly headachy, and a little bit dazed. But I'm not miserable, and I feel like I have three or four brain cells clanging together now.

Onward.

Experiments in Polyphasic Sleep, Introduction

2008-10-02T10:09:00.005-04:00

"Experiments in Polyphasic Sleep." As Dave Barry would say, wouldn't that make a great name for a band? I'm guessing most of you don't even know what polyphasic sleep is. I didn't know myself until last night, yet today I find myself deciding to experiment with something that most folks would call radical. Feel free to consult Wikipedia for more information on what polyphasic sleep is. But for those of you who do not like clicking on links, my fifty-cent definition of polyphasic sleep is as follows: sleeping several times per day instead of just once (which is called "monophasic" sleep).

Interestingly, this is not the first time I have done polyphasic sleep. Ten or fifteen years ago, I did it for a couple years, though by necessity, and not knowing it had a name. Then, I was in a tight financial spot and working two jobs, one of which was the overnight shift. So I was a "biphasic" sleeper, sleeping 9 AM-11 AM and 7 PM-10 PM. (There were also some power naps between midnight and 6 AM, but I'm not supposed to talk about those.) I would probably not be as keen to try polyphasic now if it wasn't for my experience then. In spite of the fact that this schedule sounds punishing, I didn't find it to be all that bad. I wasn't getting a lot of sleep, and was not able to sleep for eight hours straight like "normal" people. But, and I think this is one of the keys, I never had to wait all that long for it to be time to sleep again. (Yes, this makes the title of this blog somewhat inappropriate, but I have always loved that poem. Besides, "To Sleep, Perchance to Dream" sounded trite.) I always had less than eight hours till I got to sleep again, vs. you monophasers who may find yourself sixteen hours away from beddy-bye. I think that psychological boost is what made it work for me then. "Yeah, I'm tired, but I get to sleep soon." Later, when I had a chance to arrange my work schedule so that my jobs were "back to back" and not overnight, I did so, but I found this schedule to be much more arduous. I was working 8 AM to midnight, five days per week. I got to sleep almost eight hours, at night, like a "normal person". But I was in sleep debt, so I would wake up in the morning still tired, and knowing I wouldn't get to sleep for 16 hours. Ugh!

Fast forward till now. I stumbled across a blog that talked about power napping, and particularly a product called Nap26. Nap26 is an audio product that uses binaural beats to aid in power napping. I have never been much of a napper, but I'm always interested in tweaking my productivity, and I have noted an afternoon lull in my energy. So, I decided to try Nap26. I ordered it this past Monday.

On Tuesday, I was feeling drowsy in the late afternoon, and when my wife came home, so was she. So, we decided to try a power nap, even though my Nap26 CD hadn't arrived yet. So we closed the blinds, set the alarm for 30 minutes, and had at it. I did feel that I had more energy that evening as a result, though I was just a bit groggy after the nap, in spite of the short duration. (Research I have come across since then indicated that this was probably due to the nap being too late in the day.)

Yesterday (Wednesday), my CD came, and I was obviously anxious to use it. I was also feeling very tired. Though this time it was early evening before I had a chance to nap, I decided to do it anyway.

The Nap26 product is awesome. I downloaded it to my iPod, as you do have to use headphones to get the binaural effect. Lying there listening to the "waterfall", with the binaural beats ebbing and flowing just at the "surface" of my consciousness, was a luxurious and relaxing experience. Being a Type A personality, I often have trouble "letting go", but these sounds sure helped. Ironically, I'm not sure that I ever actually went to sleep during this first attempt, but one of the tenets of power napping is that you lie there relaxed with your eyes closed for the duration of the scheduled nap, regardless. At any rate, after the nap, I was refreshed practically to the extent of euphoria. I felt deliciously wonderful all evening.

This motivated me to do more research on power napping, which eventually led me to some articles on polyphasic sleeping. This immediately got my attention, due to my past experiences. The more I read, the more excited I became, and the more I wanted to try changing my sleep schedule. My reasons are several.

I guess the most exciting potential benefit is more time. I have decided to attempt the Uberman sleep schedule. This schedule calls for six 30-minute naps per day. Sounds yummy, right? But that's all the sleep you get. This means you are awake for 21 hours per day, or roughly five hours longer than most folks. An extra day and a half per week to do stuff I want? Where do I sign up? I know some folks may have trouble finding stuff to do for 16 hours a day, and end up watching TV or something, but I have never been one of those people. On the contrary, I have always found myself with more things I want to do then I have time to do. The more I think about some of the things I could do with all of that extra time, the more excited I get. And on a more philosophical (for want of a better word) level, we only have so many hours on this Earth. I'd like to make the most of mine.

Another reason is that, radical as it is, there is something about this kind of schedule that just seems right to me. Isn't it kind of what babies do naturally, until it's trained out of them? I have always been slow to get moving in the morning, and only then with the help of lots of caffeine. Of late, I also find myself awakening stiff and sore. So when I read one author's account of the "joys" of monophasic sleep, it resonated with me. Particularly the lines "prying yourself out of a coma" and "being reborn as Frankenstein's monster". You mean waking up maybe doesn't have to be that way? Over the course of my life, I learned that I feel much better if I eat several small meals throughout the day, instead of a few big ones. So might that same concept apply to sleep? Makes sense to me.

Another reason is that I am looking forward to the peace and solitude of the overnight hours. That was one thing I always enjoyed about working the overnight shift. It's a great, relaxed time to do certain kinds of work, particularly the types that call for lots of creativity and brainstorming. And there's a magic to the dawn hours, but it's just not quite the same to me if it's not after the long night. The part that got old was having to stay up all night, but that should be much different now.

I am also hoping this schedule will diminish my reliance on caffeine in the morning...though I'm sure those of you reading are thinking I'm going to need coffee by the bucketful to get by on three hours sleep per day! My wife has agreed to switch our coffee over to decaf. I'm also thinking I'll have less need of a "nightcap" at the end of a long day.

I'm also just curious! I like trying new things. It's fun--I feel like I'm playing mad scientist with myself. And I love the idea of "being ahead of the game", so to speak. This sounds like one of the ultimate "lifehacks".

But what of drawbacks? A few have occurred to me, and others who have tried this.

#1: Not surprisingly, there is an adaption phase. During this phase...well, I keep hearing the word "zombie" used. However, Steve Pavlina's approach of taking extra naps as needed during the adaption phase sounds workable. But still, even he admits that he once "stared at the wall for 90 minutes". Good times, good times...

#2: The effect on family. I am married. My wife, being sane, does not plan to join me on this journey. This obviously raises several issues. There are certain things I will not be able to do at night, since I can't disturb her. I'll also have to be careful not to disturb her getting up and down from my naps. I am also concerned that she will not like sleeping alone for most of the night, though I'm hopeful that she'll find that she sleeps better. She often complains about me hogging the real estate.

#3: The schedule is not very flexible. Missing a nap, or taking it at the wrong time, can apparently cause the whole playhouse to come crashing down. And you can't really do anything that takes longer than four hours. This may prove to be the biggest drawback. It sounds workable, but we'll see.

#4: Boredom. But as stated above, I don't think this will be a problem. The only concern is will I be able to stay occupied in the middle of the night, when options are more limited? I think scheduling will help me there, having a "daytime" to-do list and a separate "nighttime" one. Besides, there's always online poker, right?

#5: It takes discipline. Um...we'll see.

#6: Social drawbacks. You're "out of sync" with the rest of the world, in a way. And most people think you're kind of nuts. Well, I'm used to that. I do remember feeling out of sync at times when I worked nights, but the difference here is that I will be awake for a lot of the daylight hours, so I think I'll be fine.

So here I go, off on another crazy adventure! It's a little bit scary I'll admit, as I seem a little old to be reinventing my day-to-day living to this extent. But that's also part of the fun. Wish me luck! I plan to blog regularly about my progress, or lack thereof. This is one of the things I'll have time to do now!

Superstars

2008-01-03T15:13:00.000-05:00

Dear wife and I, a/k/a Mr. and Mrs. Clean, are going to be on the TV show "Style" today. It's on WBIR, channel 10, today (Thursday) at 4 PM. You know you want to watch! ;-)

Well, I don't know if...

2008-01-02T13:02:00.001-05:00

Well, I don't know if I have anything to say yet, but I am doing my first post using Jott.com. Which allows me to blog on my cellphone with my voice, cool. listen

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