#320: Making a Difference, One Step at a Time

This is the text of a letter I'm sending out today... Pennsy

I hope you will consider sponsoring me on June 4, 2011, when I am participating in the American Diabetes Association’s signature fundraising walk, Step Out: Walk to Fight Diabetes. Working together, we can make more of a difference than any of us can imagine.

When they told me I had cancer, I was terrified. “What are we going to do? How can I afford to stop working? Who is there out there who can help us to get through this?”

All through our battle, we were inspired and encouraged by the loving people who offered their prayers, company, and financial help. A situation that seemed hopeless at first, turned into a chance for us to realize just how much we can help one another when we join together. Today I’m cancer free and getting back on my feet. With God’s help, and the generosity of the people who helped us, I am living a miracle. It’s hard for me to believe that a year ago, I could barely walk at all.

Beating cancer was hard, but I’m asking you to join me to help raise dollars for the fight against another killer that affects my family. Some of you may know that Mrs. P has what Kentuckians call “the sugar”. But living with diabetes is anything but sweet. People with diabetes have increased risk of heart attack and stroke. Diabetes is a leading cause of kidney failure, nervous system disease, and nontraumatic lower-limb amputation. How widespread a threat is diabetes? According to the web site of the American Diabetes Association:

·         25.8 million Americans, 8.3% of the population have diabetes.

·         In 2010, 1.9 million new cases of diabetes in people aged 20 and older were diagnosed.

·         26.9% of all Americans aged 65 or older have diabetes.

·         In 2007, diabetes was listed as the underlying cause on 71,382 death certificates, and was listed as a contributing factor on an additional 160,022. In that single year, diabetes contributed to 231,404 deaths in our country.

The situation seems too big for any of us to do anything about, doesn’t it? Well that’s how cancer felt to my family and me. But people who cared shared the work and helped to save my life.

Please work together with me to help stop diabetes from taking any more of the people we love.There’s not much any one of us can do, but together, we can make a difference in more lives than we will ever know. Just click the “Support My Walk” badge to go to my personal Step Out page where you can learn more about diabetes, the Step Out event, and make a contribution.

Peace,

Pennsy

And if you want to walk with me and a couple thousand of my closest friends, go to the Step Out web site where you can register and get started!

"Sugar" That Isn't So Sweet

In the language of the Bluegrass, people with Diabetes have "got the sugar". We recently learned that Mrs P has joined their ranks. It isn't as sweet as it sounds.

Diabetes is the fifth-deadliest disease in the United States. Since 1987 the death rate due to diabetes has increased by 45 percent, while the death rates due to heart disease, stroke, and cancer have declined...

There are 20.8 million children and adults in the United States, or 7% of the population, who have diabetes. While an estimated 14.6 million have been diagnosed, unfortunately, 6.2 million people (or nearly one-third) are unaware that they have the disease. The Dangerous Toll of Diabetes

You know someone living with diabetes. I do too. You know what this disease costs them and you know what it takes from them.

Based on death certificate data, diabetes contributed to 224,092 deaths in 2002. Studies indicate that diabetes in generally under-reported on death certificates, particularly in the cases of older persons with multiples chronic conditions such as heart disease and hypertension. Because of this, the toll of diabetes is believed to be much higher than officially reported. Dangerous Toll ...

We can do something together that will help. One week from today, on May 31, I will be walking with the folks at Step Out: Walk to Fight Diabetes. That is my goal - slow and steady. Please join me with your feet or with your pledge.

I want to raise $600. Thanks to Team Pennsy sponsors Paul, Debbie, Mark, Cathy, and Bev we're almost halfway there.

Please click the thermometer or the American Diabetes Association logo on this page and add your support to theirs. You can pledge using ADA's secure web site. You'll be doing a good thing AND I'll hoot your name on the next Team Pennsy video from the historic Keeneland race track.

Click. Pledge. Help.

Peace,
Pennsy

Time for a Day Off

I’m taking tomorrow off, but first, I have some business to attend to.

Shameless Plug

Hey, please check out the link to Step Out, the American Diabetes Association walk here in Lexington. I will walk it, may even run some of it. Diabetes has come to the house of Pennsy and I would like to see a stop put to all this nonsense. So cough up a pledge, pardner. Do it and the Fat Man will hoot your name during his historic first public walk. Maybe Mrs P can video the moment and we can figure out how to post it.

Weight Report

My weight did not change last week, still 366, but my body fat percentage is down from 33.1 to 32.8. Not much of a change, but the readings are consistent, and I am still building muscle, especially in my upper body. I hope I reach the tipping point soon and start another big fat burn. The plateau is not a fun place to hang out.

Injury Report

The ankles are improving a little after my big run on Sunday. I’ve learned that Achilles' Tendon pain is pretty common when treadmill runners go out into the real world. I have not run or trod the mill since then, but have been doing bike, steps, and elliptical to keep up my cardio conditioning. I wore elastic compression braces on my ankles today and was pain free. I am doing calf presses every time I encounter a staircase to strengthen the muscles around the Achilles. I really don’t want to see this turn into a chronic thing.

The shoulder (left) just plain hurts. I jerked it somehow during an errant Ball Slam yesterday and the Gremlin is having a field day in there. Other than rest, there’s not much for me to do with it at this point. I’m hoping a couple days off from upper body resistance training will give it a chance to heal.

Fashion Report

I bought some pants that fit yesterday! They are actually a little tighter than I would prefer, but they won’t be for long. They’re pretty ugly, but again, I won’t be this size for very long either. Just passing through the neighborhood of fat-guy pants, on my way to those groovy styles with waists below the half-century mark.

Best Laid Plans

I was going to try to repeat Sunday’s run this weekend, but I may go for something less ambitious. A mile at a reasonable pace will probably do me more good than another pokey 5K that leaves me lame for a week.

I’m also going to start moving from machines to free-weights. There are few movements the machines allow that can’t be done more effectively with dumbbells or barbells. Free weights have the added advantage of working more than one muscle group at a time. While your arms are working to execute a shoulder press, the rest of you is working to keep from tipping over. Having to control the weight with 360º of possible directions is more work than controlling weight that can only move in two. so I’ll start translating some exercises from the machine floor to the free weight floor.

I’m going to try the following program.

• Day one (Monday) - upper body, and moderate cardio (run or cross train)
• Day two - bands, and moderate cardio
• Day three - lower body, and moderate cardio
• Day four - rest.
• Day five - Bands and a long, easy run,
• Day six - long, heavy lifting, and
• Day seven - intense run (pace or endurance)

I’m going to avoid the treadmill for a while. My ankles need to learn how to cope with Mother Earth again, so I’ll try to do the bulk of my running outside.

I’m also realizing that my reluctance to track food is probably more denial than avoidance. Sooner or later, I’m going to have to get more serious about nutrition if I want to replace those last pounds of fat with muscle. If I find myself stuck in a plateau that just won’t give, I’m going to have to break down and do it. For now, I’m just trying to avoid junk and binges. “Those last few pounds” are still buried a long way down.

Peace,
Pennsy

PS>>Hey, don't forget Mother's day! (The cats want me to take them shopping tomorrow night.) Maybe we'll just pile Molly the Dog, Mo, Buddy, Kizmet, Maggie, Sniffy, and Dennis the Nervous Fish into the Honda and go out to IHoP on Sunday. Kizzie loves international cuisine. (Molly just loves farting in the car.)

Pax,
p