February and March featured several intense weeks of work and school. Then I went to my old stomping grounds of Phoenix where I spent a great week visiting with friends and former clients. The weather was tremendous: about 85 degrees everyday with clear skies and very low humidity. The spring is always beautiful in Phoenix.
A nice surprise occurred at the start of my vacation when I met Arizona Cardinals all pro wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald. He was very friendly. We spoke for a few minutes before taking the picture below.
In regards to fitness-related information, I have a few notes to share:
- I finally finished the page on this site titled "The Purpose of H-A." I came up with the idea for this page because I want anyone is who kind enough to spend time reading my work to know what I am about and what I am trying to do. It is different from the "About Sean" page in that the About page is just an objective description of my education, experience, and accomplishments. The purpose page tells you why you should or shouldn't spend time following me. Please check it out.
- Recently, I changed my diet from the standard paleo diet (meat, fish, eggs, vegetables, nuts, and fruit) by eliminating nuts and fruit. I consider meat, fish, eggs, and vegetables to be the most nutritious foods we can eat, so why not eat only them? Thus far I have found it easier to manage carbohydrate consumption and am less hungry in general due to the satiety of those foods.
- During my vacation, I went with my friend to a doctor. My friend has been sick for a few months with pathologies that extend to several different organ systems. The doctor we met with was professional and impressive: he had read my friend's file before the meeting. He listened and only asked questions for the first 15 minutes while she told the story of her health. He asked about all of her tests (with various organs). He then questioned her for a while about various symptoms, likely looking to identify a possible underlying disease or two. He was very thorough...except when it came to diet. This is how that conversation went:
My Friend: Yes.
Then he moved on to the next question. That was it. He did not ask what she was eating or how she used to eat. All he asked was that one question phrased in a very leading manner. For all he knows, my friend eats Yodels and Twinkies all day, every day, washed down by Diet Coke. In my experience as a personal trainer, I find that people generally are not perceptive when it comes to judging how they eat. Clients have told me that they eat low carb diets, then go on Fit Day or another online food journal, only to find out that they are eating 150 or 200 grams of carbs per day. This is not to say that my friend does or doesn't eat well...all I'm saying is that this doctor, who happens to be a gastroenterologist, dismissed all diet-related possibilities by my friend just saying "yes"! I'm not completely surprised because doctors receive little to no nutrition training in many medical schools. However, call me crazy, but I think a guy who works with the digestive system for a living should be a little more inquisitive when it comes to the food that passes through it and can alter its structure.
Anyway, I wish you all a great spring and look forward to being back on track with posting new thoughts and information on H-A every week.
4 comments:
Wow! I find that very suprising maybe because I have such a good gastroenterologist. He's the one that put me on the "cave man diet". Diet is such a major contributing factor in how diseases will manifest themselves. At this point if your friend is having such problems she should become her own detective, do as much research as possible and try different things. Having such intestinal and stomach issues myself, the best thing I did was experiment by eliminating certain things from my diet for multiple weeks and assesing any progress as far as how I felt. Good luck to your friend!
Hi Meredith,
You should be thankful for your gastroenterologist. I bet he figured out the paleo diet's effectiveness from studying on his own time outside or after medical school, and if he's putting in that kind of time and effort, then that's a guy you want looking after you.
Thanks for the advice and feedback. I think my friend has some emotional attachments to foods that are endangering her health, but I'm looking through studies myself to see if there's solid evidence that will motivate her to make changes.
Sounds like a very nice vacation. Too bad about your friend, though. I hope she finds solutions to her problems soon.
The new page is nicely written. You are on a very admirable mission and I can attest that you are getting it accomplished.
Floriana,
Thank you. People should know what I'm about if they are spending time on H-A.
In regards to my friend, I'm optimistic. She's had a rough year, but all we need is one person to find some underlying causes. She is working with a lot of intelligent medical professionals, so I believe something good will turn out.
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