With a title like How I Manage My Health, you might wonder how broad I'm going here. Not very. I will keep this post confined to the physical, nutritional and how to engage with the medical community.
I want to give you a sense of how I'm managing my physical health by the following:
Exercise:
- I exercise 6 days per week for about 30-45 minutes in each session
- I work with weights, I run, I do core strengthening work, and I do yoga. These routines are alternated on opposite days. For example, Monday is running and core work, Tuesday is Yoga, Wednesday is wieght training, etc.
- All of my training, with the exception of yoga, is based on high intensity intervals
- I rest on Sunday because the Lord rested on Sunday. What's good for him is good for me.
- I train alone (no people, no videos, no classes). My friend Rob Banhagel says I'm into the Zen of training. He's right!
Nutrition
- I eat organic. I do this for a couple of reasons; it's good for me and I don't trust large corporations like Monsanto who are responsible for much of what's killing our population.
- My diet is higher in protein and fat (the good variety). The carbs are not eliminated, but are lower and usually come from fruits and vegatables.
- I drink 1-2 glasses of red wine daily with food.
- I eat 1-2 ounces of dark chocolate (minimum of 72% Cacao and organic).
- I use high quality whey protein shakes as a meal replacement. Usually, the shakes are for post-workout meals.
Now for interacting with the doctor community. As someone with Type 1 diabetes, I have been on a drug (insulin) for 25 years. I've kind-of made a promise to not use any other types of drugs if at all possible. I guess I believe that an all natural approach along with diet and exercise can reduce the chances, significantly, of the need for the pharma candy. So far I have been blessed in this area.
Three years ago, my endocrinologist at the Ohio State University recommended I go on a statin to lower my LDL cholesterol. In the diabetic world physicians like that number to be 100 or lower. My LDL was at 126, my total cholesterol was 187. I'm fortunate to be working with a medical team that acts more like a consultant than a parent, so we went through the dance of them recommending and me telling them I wasn't ready to start taking a statin. I just didn't give up on finding an alternative. In the late Autumn of 2011 I started do high intensity interval training and it made the difference because in April of 2012 my LDL dropped to 101 from 126.
The main point of my story is to, please, be the manager of your health. No doctor, no goverment, no organization was designed to do it for you. This is a "you" opportunity or problem. Another thing to remember is to have a clear understanding of timing and urgency when interacting with the medical community. Not all conditions are equal.
I wrote this post to let you know how I'm living out what I write and to let you know that Epic Living isn't just a title or phrase.