Last post from my 20 ' s

Good Morning Team Captains!

I hope that all of you are well on this relaxing Sunday morning.  It has been a bit since my last post.  The Team Jake has had some wonderful accomplishments and a few hiccups.  Overall my team is still very successful.  How is your team doing?  Is your Captain doing all that can be done?  If not, it's not too late to begin. 

Since I last write, I have hit my 100 lbs milestone weight loss.  I began last fall at 385 lbs.  Now I'm at 285 and still dropping.  This has had the added benefit of being able to fit into very expensive clothes I purchased 5+ years ago.  I bought a blue coat back then that never fit but I wanted it anyways because I knew one day I could wear it.  Sadly, I won't be able to wear it long.  It's now looking baggy.  I think this is a problem I can deal with.

Overall, my health is great and I feel great.  Not bad as I'm turning 30 tomorrow.  I'm currently in Provincetown, MA celebrating this event.  This will likely be my last post from my 20s.  This celebration is actually two fold...I'm turning 30 and because last year on my birthday I woke with the inability to speak, leading to my diagnosis of MS.

Friends let's celebrate together.  What is working for you?  What are you struggling with?  Let's learn together. Let's share together. Let us win together!!!Good Morning Team Captains!

I hope that all of you are well on this relaxing Sunday morning.  It has been a bit since my last post.  The Team Jake has had some wonderful accomplishments and a few hiccups.  Overall my team is still very successful.  How is your team doing?  Is your Captain doing all that can be done?  If not, it's not too late to begin. 

Since I last write, I have hit my 100 lbs milestone weight loss.  I began last fall at 385 lbs.  Now I'm at 285 and still dropping.  This has had the added benefit of being able to fit into very expensive clothes I purchased 5+ years ago.  I bought a blue coat back then that never fit but I wanted it anyways because I knew one day I could wear it.  Sadly, I won't be able to wear it long.  It's now looking baggy.  I think this is a problem I can deal with.

Overall, my health is great and I feel great.  Not bad as I'm turning 30 tomorrow.  I'm currently in Provincetown, MA celebrating this event.  This will likely be my last post from my 20s.  This celebration is actually two fold...I'm turning 30 and because last year on my birthday I woke with the inability to speak, leading to my diagnosis of MS.

Friends let's celebrate together.  What is working for you?  What are you struggling with?  Let's learn together. Let's share together. Let us win together!!!

Recipe - Scrambled Eggs and Turkey Bacon

Good Morning Team Captains!

I hope that you are all wonderful on this fine winter day.  It's a new week...do you have any specific goals for this week?  Is there anything that didn't go so "hot" last week that you are going to try again?

As I've stated in the past, my goal with this blog is to present new and positive information based on restaurants, products, recipes, and behaviors.  Thus far,  I've done several of these.  This, however, is my first recipe.

Anyone whom has attempted a healthy lifestyle through dietary changes know that there are many times where your hunger is insatiable.   This likely has to do with one of two reasons.  Lack of protein or boredom.  This recipe helps with the first...

...Today's recipe is how I make my scrambled eggs.

Ingredients:

1 large egg
1 cup of egg whites
3 slices trader joes uncured nitrate free turkey bacon
2 tbsp  diced onion
1 tbsp Herb De Prevance
1 tbsp olive oil


I make this breakfast every time I have a day off of work.  I know on my days off I'm usually busy running errands and completing tasks and I refuse to let my hunger get in the way of eating well.  This meal accounts of 428 calories and 45 grams of protein.  I am always satisfied until lunch after this meal.

Are there any specific meals that you love to make that fulfill all of your hunger needs and are very well balanced.  If you have any questions please let me know.

We will learn from each other!  We will succeed together!  We will win together!

Neurology Appointment - Successful Day!

Good Afternoon Team Captains!

Today I had my quarterly Neurology appointment.  Walking into the appointment I planned to speak to the doctor about the following list:

1. Exhaustion and dizziness at the gym.

2. Excessive Yawning after the gym.

3. Extending my new MS medication choice for another three months.

4. Putting me on LDN at the moment.

5. My repetitive bad steroid reaction.

6. The greatness of Ritalin helping me get through the day.

7. Lastly, when my yearly MRI will take place.

Actual Appointment Results

1.  As far as exhaustion and dizziness goes...he said exactly what I already knew, which is that; with MS raising your core body temperature can have an effect like exhaustion, dizziness, and instability.  He said I'm fine to continue doing what I'm doing but to know my limits as not to pass out again.

2. Excessive Yawning after the gym.  Once again likely from raising body temp but it is likely benign so not to worry about it.

3.  He was fine with me pushing out starting a new Disease Modifying Drug for another three month since I'm doing so well right now.

4. He is fine with putting me on LDN (Low Dose Naltrexone) but wants me to look into pricing before making the commitment.  He said he has seen mixed results but if it's cheap enough he's fine with me starting that treatment.

5.  Steroid Reaction...well he agreed that I shouldn't be put on steroids again as I'm obviously very sensitive to it.  The doctor stated that he doesn't believe that I'm allergic to that class of drugs just highly sensitive to it.  He said fortunately there are other choices for any future exacerbation.

6.  He feels the same as I, that the Ritalin is having the desired effect on my cognitive function.  Lets get a cheer for limited fatigue.  

7.  As far as my yearly MRI...He said we will start scheduling that when we meet in April.

8.  One last item came up during our conversation.  I dropped another 10 pounds! 

Success!!! 

Overall, this Neurologist appointment went well.  I am happy and he is happy!  This all makes Team Jake very happy.

What good news have you had in your recent Doctors visits?  Lets celebrate all the wins in our lives!

Healthy Me: Soon to be - Part Two

Good evening team captains!

I hope that all of you are having a great time reaching for the stars trying to better yourselves!  I stated two days ago that I would complete part two of Healthy Me: Soon to be.  Here it is.  It's better late then never.

This post would not be complete without acknowledging that I was able to run a 5k yesterday and a follow-up 5k today.  It is my goal to do these 5-7 days per week until the 5k Road Race that I am running on April 5^th, 2014.  This single achievement is evidence of my aspiration to feel better, live better, and be better.  All it takes is incremental steps…

As I stated in my first post, I became most committed to making changes this past August.  After months of feeling terrible and living a stagnant life I knew I needed a change.  With my diagnosis of MS, now months behind me, I went into action trying to find physical and mental outlets.  My first task became organizing a team for a MS Society Walk in October.  This was very successful; nine of Team Jake teammates walked after having raised more than $1500.00.

Though this was an important step for me in my goals of feeling better it wasn’t where I ended.  I hiked more mountains and trails this past fall than I likely had my entire 29 prior years.

While improving my activity levels I also began watching my food consumption.  I followed a weight watchers diet for about three months.  This was boring to me as it was so regimented.  By November, 2013 I was off Weight Watchers but instead making smart food decisions.  I eliminated as many starch and flour based carbs as possible.  If I didn’t have to eat bread then I wasn’t going to.

As this progressed I became slightly more militant.  I started following the philosophy that if it comes in a bag or a box at the grocery store you probably don’t want it.  Obviously, this wasn’t easy.  I am still not 100% with this but I make every effort I can.

My final dietary change came at the end of December.  Up until this point every document I read on the subject of Multiple Sclerosis pointed to diet change up to and including a Paleolithic diet.  The Paleo diet seemed too structured and without any glory for me.  While researching alternative ways to cut out bad things I found even more damning evidence against dairy and beef.  There I had my answer…With the overwhelming evidence that Dairy and Beef are bad for inflammation within the brain of MS patients I was done.  I gave up beef and dairy.  This was the single hardest change I’ve made.  This was also the single greatest change I have made.  I feel so much better already in just the month I’ve been without it.

Lastly, I made a vow of becoming even more active and physically fit.  For one month now I’ve been going to the gym three to four times per week.  I focus on cardio for 30-50 minutes each time and the rest weight training.  I have no idea if I’ve lost weight.  I refuse to jump on a scale.  In fact, my father and I, shot our scale over 100 times (I know…guns…but we are from Maine after all).

I don’t know precisely how much weight I’ve lost.  Honestly, I don’t care.  At the end of the day I feel so much better!  This is worth more than anything else.  As this blog progresses I will let you know in greater detail the things I do for myself and the things my teammates do for me.  Until then…Captains gear up…Its an all hands on deck game tonight.