The elephant on my chest

I woke up this morning with a big weight on my chest; something heavy like an elephant. Each expiration was heavy and prolonged. I opened my eyes thinking I was going to need to use my rescue inhaler, and that was when I remembered #4 was sleeping on my chest.

When he woke up at 4 a.m. he decided he no longer wanted the bottle of breast milk. He no longer was soothed just lying next to his daddy. What he wanted, I presumed, was his mommy. Yet she wouldn't be home another four hours at the least.

The warmth of my chest must have reminded him of his mother's warmth, and he fell asleep in a heartbeat. I rolled him to where he was lying beside me, and he stayed asleep. In a way this brought about a good feeling. It was a good feeling because daddy should be able to get some good sleep -- an hour at least.

So now it's 7 a.m. and the entire team is up except for the oldest. With his own hideout in the basement, he rarely has a need to come upstairs except for when he's hungry or has to use the restroom.

Number four is rolling around the floor with a bright smile upon his face. For some reason he decided he didn't want to sleep any more. I set him back upon my chest before I brought him out here, yet instead of closing his eyes he decided to play with my nose. So I knew it was time to get up.

Number two popped up as soon as she saw the light and took over the job of entertaining #1. In this way she is a big help, allowing dad to take a break and write this frivolous post. Number three decided she wanted to join the fun, and from behind the closed door I heard a muffled, "Daddy, I'm up!"

When I entered her room I found all the blankets and her pillow on the floor. That's her new entertainment, her first job of late of the day.

So our first experience with the wife working night shift went rather well with #4. When #3 was a baby she didn't tolerate it so well. Daddy tired of attempts to put her in bed, or even his bed, usually opted to sleep in the recliner all night with #3 by his side.

Yet #4 wasn't that way at all. Yes there was the need for a bottle or a snuggling every couple hours, yet only once did daddy have to get up to rock the boy. I'll never know why he's so mellow. Is it genetics, that he's a boy, or because he's #4 and has his siblings to push him around and mellow him out.

Or perhaps this humble RT is getting good at being a parent. Well, I'll hold off personal judgement. I've learned it's best not to jump to conclusions. These little animals, all four of them (well, 2 not so little any more), keep your humble RT busy, and for some reason have this uncanny ability to suck his energy dry.

Yet through heavy eyes he takes his break, with a background of soft chatting of the middle two, and the happy beat of children's songs every time #4 bounces in his little Fisher Price bouncy seat -- a smile cheek to cheek, and a happy giggle.

So it is only 7:30 now on a chilly Saturday morning in January, the years will move by quickly and the #1 through #4 will grow up. So the humble RT and dad has to quit writing now so he can spend quality time with them all while they are still under the roof of the humble RT.

The six pack deception

I could call it a lie, yet I think deception is a better word. While I do endorse the Body For Life program and any other program that encourages and teaches people to get in shape, I don't endorse the "deception" that if you complete the 12 week course you'll have a perfect body with a six pack.

If you google Body For Life, if you look at the pictures in the book, if you watch commercials or read articles about other weight loss programs, you'll see that all of them (or most anyway) use people who have six pack figures. The idea here is to convince you that this is what you will end up with.

Actually, the bottom line is to get you to buy their product. The nice thing about the BFL program is that you don't HAVE to buy anything. They want you to, but you don't HAVE to. And I don't. I do the program, and I buy not one thing from the company. I didn't even buy the book.

If you read the BFL book by Bill Phillips you'll get a good feeling for how to lose weight. I would say that 90% of the book is 100% true. The problem is that when you finish the book you also think you will have that six pack. The truth is: that is not true for most of us.

You will lose weight if you do the program. You will lose weight anytime you limit your intake. Likewise, you will gain muscle when you do the program. You will gain muscle any time you lift weights.

However, to end the 12 week program with a six pack (according to John Hussman), you have to start the program with less than 24% body fat. Oh, hold on, there's more. To end up with "THAT" perfect body, you will have to:

1. Start with less than 24% body fat
2. Not really take free days where you eat whatever you want
3. Have to do more than one 12 week session if you are greater than 24% body fat
4. Do more than 20 minutes of cardio three days a week
5. Maybe even do more weight lifting than what is in the book

I would imagine there are some exceptions. Some people have good genetics that might allow them to achieve the perfect body quicker. Some people also have youth on their side.

Yet most of us don't have the time nor energy to dedicate more than what is mentioned in the book. The whole idea of the BFL book is to show us a program that allows us busy people to achieve a healthy body in 45 minutes or less each day, in 12 weeks or less.

Again, I would endorse any program you do to get healthy. However, I would highly recommend you not spend any money. I would recommend you purchase no products other than the equipment you need to get in shape, such as a treadmill, stationary bike, regular bike, weight equipment, etc.

You can get a six pack if you put your mind and soul into it. However, a more realistic goal is to get healthy and stay that way.

Free days

Today was a perfect example of what I wrote yesterday: that you have to tweak your workout to fit your life. With the power out for several hours today I was unable to sleep. Of course you know in today's high tech world you need electricity to power a good sleep. You have to plug yourself in.

So by the time I fell back to sleep time didn't allow for a workout. No sweat, because the BFL program allows for a free day. Ideally you're "supposed" to workout Monday through Saturday and take your free day on Sunday, however with a life, I find it better to tweak my free day in to two different days.

A free day involves two things:

1. No exercise
2. No diet (eat whatever you want)

Usually there is one day during the course of the week where you simply do not have time to work out, like today for example. However, there are often days when the kids have school programs or an ice cream social or a birthday party or reunion or Christmas or Thanksgiving or something along those lines.

So if one of those things are coming up I'll schedule that day to be my free day from eating. So, as you can see, I try to take my free day from eating and exercising all in one. Yet quite often I find it better to split it up. One day is free from exercise, and another day free from diet.

Some people might frown on this, yet it works for my life great. This is especially important because I normally work days Monday and Tuesday, so I do my Monday workout on Sunday and take Monday off from working out. This way I have quality time with the family after work Monday and before bed.

However, I like to take my free diet day on the weekends when something is going on, like football day during the NFL season.

So you see, it's better to tweak your workout program than to not do one at all. When it comes to keeping your body in shape there are no excuses...

• even if you have asthma
• even if you're married with children
• even if you work too much
• even if....

Tweak your exercise to fit your life

I would imagine "most" adults have, at one time or another, at least thought about working in some fashion or another. I would also imagine most adults have at least glanced at some material, a book perhaps, about some kind of workout program.

If you have, then you've seen the perfect bodies. You've read the stories about people who stuck to the diet to a tee and ended up with six packs. Yet then you do the program, and you stick to it the best you can, and then you learn that you don't have a six pack. You feel better and look better, yet you don't have a six pack.

The reason is that those people who stick to the program to a tee probably don't work night shift, and they probably don't have kids and a wife that come as a priority, and they definitely don't have little kids or a pregnant wife. They might, but chances are they don't.

That's something I like to keep in mind as I go through my bodyforlife routine every day. I have to remind myself I'm not going to get that "ideal" body. As a matter of fact, I don't want that ideal body either. All I want is to feel good, to breathe good, and to live long.

With kids and a wife and a job and the "need" to entertain my family and myself to limit the stress load I have no choice but to alter the workout. For example, on days I work nights I have to remind myself it's okay to eat every 2-3 hours for 24 straight hours. Sure, six meals a day are recommended, yet you have a life and they don't.

Today is a perfect example. I worked last night and I'm tired and extremely burned out. Oh, and plus I have a cold. But I only had a few hours of awake time before I had to go to work. So I limited my workout to 30 minutes. I just did half my workout. I recorded it here at daily mile if you're interested.

I did spend some time at work recording what I did and ate, yet if history is a guide, chances are I'll keep that up a few weeks and quit that too.

If you read the BFL book by Bill Phillips, or listen to Bob and listen to Bob and Jillian from The Biggest Loser on NBC you'll here them say, from time to time, that if you want to succeed at any workout program, if you want a six pack, if you want to reach your goals or near perfect bod, you "MUST" keep track of your workouts and what you put in your body.

I think seeing the numbers helps you to stay motivated. Oh, and you must keep track of your weight and your fat percentages too. However, to be honest, all that stuff takes time. I think that some people spend so much time trying to record data that they lose interest in the workout itself, and fail.

Plus people in the same boat as me, you only get a set slot of time per day to do this stuff. What you do with that time really counts. So, instead of keeping stats, I workout. Then I gloat to myself how awesome my workout was, take a shower, and enjoy my wife and kids.

You see, following any program to a tee is nice, but not essential to success. Tweak your program if you must. I do this and I've succeeded. You'll have to tweak any program to fit your lifestyle and personality if you truly want to succeed.

That's my opinion anyway.

The 2011 exercise routine

I started doing the Body-For-Life program again. I actually started it as my 2010 resolution, and I lost 20 pounds doing this program while also participating in a Biggest Loser competition at work. By summer 2010 I was 188 pounds and feeling great.

Yet then I had strabismus surgery and had to quit. Then I had another minor surgery, and had to quit again. So as of today I'm 201 pounds. To be honest that's actually pretty good, especially considering I've been lifting weights on a regular basis the best I can. I didn't want to quit completely because I didn't want to lose every thing I gained.

Of course I should also mention here that I lost those 20 pounds last spring when my wife was pregnant. I had to do that because the time we had a child before that (in 2008) I gained weight with my wife. By the time Helana was born I was up to 210 pounds and was winded all the time mainly due to being out of shape (asthma under good control).

So now my goal this year is to get back into shape and stay there. Repeat: I want to get in shape and stay there. This year I think I can obtain that goal because I see no scheduled vacations in until next summer, and no holidays, and no planned surgeries.

I've been doing the BFL on and off since July of 2001. I actually lost 30 pounds doing this so I looked great for my wedding in 2002. Of course then we went on a cruise and had KK, and I gained it all back and some.

Then I did it again, and got down close to 170 pounds. That's significant, considering my starting weight was 215. Yet we had Helana and most recently Myles in August 2010. Myles didn't cause me to gain weight because I did the BFL while he was in the oven, yet as soon as he popped out it was very stressful around the house, and the weight came back -- although not all of it.

Like I said, I have continued to work out as best I can. In fact, at one point I was down to 188. Yet when you're married with children, your family comes first. Many workouts had to be put on hold.

Yet here I am again at 201 again. This is a roller coaster I plan to end right now. I definitely don't want to get up to 210 where I started. I can tell when I start to gain weight, because I get winded. My asthma starts to get worse.

The goal this time is to get all the way down to 170. I know I can do it. It just takes motivation.
The hardest part is the first two weeks. I know that from experience. Once those two weeks are up it's all down hill from there.

Another thing I'd like to note is I do the BFL completely on my own. I don't use any supplements, and I don't keep track of anything.

I know that's not recommended, yet I suck at record keeping stuff. I like to just eat things that are "relatively" good every 2-3 hours and work out once a day, trying to push to my limits.

I have a very supportive wife who hopefully will do this with me again this time. Either way, she cooks healthy food just for me that fits into the BFL mode quite well (although sometimes we cheat a little).

Likewise, I do not participate in the competition. I should, but I don't.

I also know that if you're 5'8" and 200 pounds you won't have a six pack when you are done. So, to make yourself look like the pics on the main page of BFL and the BFL book, you'll probably have to be under 20% body fat when you start. This means you'll have to do the BFL 12 week program 2-3 times in a row.

I'm realistic: there will be no six pack for me. The goal is to reach a healthy weight and stay their and to have good asthma control.

So my goal this time around is to stick with this WAY past the first 12 week cycle. However, I'm realistic. Having kids and working as a full time RT provides stress. So I'm realistic to the fact that I'll probably get pulled away for a week or two from time to time. They key, though, is to get back in to the routine as soon as you can, and not let the weeks off be a set back.

I also work night shifts once a week. This is a challenge not addressed in the BFL book nor anywhere on this site that I can see. When I work nights I basically eat every 2-3 hours while I'm awake, even if this amounts to more than 6 meals in a day. It works -- trust me.

Look, my asthma was so bad when I was a kid I wasn't even allowed to participate in gym class, and now I run 3-4 miles 3-4 times a week during the summer. This is a result of modern asthma wisdom and modern asthma medicines (Advair and Singulair).

For motivation and support I thought about starting a blog on the BFL website, yet then I decided why bother with that when I already have this space created with friends already attached.

I've noticed that many lung bloggers have a secondary focus on their blogs about some exercise routine they participate in. Mostly it's running or jogging or simply walking.

So here we go. I encourage you to join me -- us.

A kid a cure for asthma

I think a good cure for asthma is to have a baby. I'm serious. Ever since my 4th child was born 5 months ago my asthma has been perfect, and I have rarely used my Ventolin. Interesting hey?

The reason, I think, is because I haven't been able to involve myself in any projects. I haven't been able to finish my remodeling project in the basement. And Lord knows those little projects rummage up the dust.

I suppose another cure for asthma is snow. With snow all the outdoor allergens are covered up. Plus with snow and little kids, you don't get outside much. So even if you have exercise induced asthma (an allergy to the cold of sorts), you don't get out much.

So in that sense, babies and kids and snow are good for asthma. The problem with kids falls more along the lines of mental stimulation. Yes it's true that we parents yearn for an adult to talk with, or a day away -- or something like Calgon to take us away.

This goes along the lines of what I've written about before, that allergy avoidance is key to good asthma control, it's very hard to do. HEPA filters are expensive. Reading dusty books is fun. And nobody else is going to clean YOUR basement.

However, since my little one has been born, my basement hasn't seen the light of my eyes except when I've been working out. The mess down there has gone untouched. And, quite frankly, that is good for my asthma.

It's bad for my mental well being per se, yet very good for my asthma.

So, I suppose I'm implying if you need a good excuse to stay away from your asthma triggers, have a kid.

happy thanksgiving

i think my 7 yo daughter summed up this thanksgiving better than anyone, so i'm going to allow her to write my post today;

She wrote; 'i am happy. i love thanksgiving. even though i had two grandmas die in past week, we are still going to have a lot of people at our house. i love thanksgiving. even if you can't hear, even if you can't see, you can still be thankful. i am happy. i love thanksgiving. i am thankful for my family.'

That's a summary of what she wrote in her diary today, and i had her permission to write that here.