Saturday November 7th, 2009 - Vegan Kids

Oh man. I am in pain. I rode a virtual trail called "Oh Mama" twice. The first time was serous enough, but I thought I could push another couple miles of 30% inclines and then I thought I could give it another 15 minutes and then I was too close to stop. Overall 1 1/2 hours of torture. It felt good until I got off to walk. The back of my thighs felt like they were going to cramp at any second. I guess I overworked the gracilis and semimembranosus muscles (hamstrings). The rest of my thighs and calves feel fine. I'm trying to stretch between sentences. I'm supposed to go bowling tonight. Not only is my right wrist sore as a mad dog, now I don't think I can walk. I hope they give me a 200 handicap LOL. This week I rode the virtual bike 5 times for 360 minutes. Not bad. I can't wait until I can resume my normal exercise routine. On beautiful warm days like today, I would like nothing more than a nice 40 mile ride to and from Denver. Not to mention my upper body. I lust for free weights.

My friend, Lisa (same friend as last night), has asked about vegan kids. My kids eat meat and dairy, so I haven't really thought about it. Kids can be vegans, but they are growing and it becomes imperative that their diets and supplements are measured continuously. They absolutely need tons of protein and calcium. And, as a parent, you have to overcome the normal resistance to anything green. You can almost substitute soy products for dairy, so that's easy to slide by, but garden burgers are not even close to a cheese burger hot off the grill.

The hardest part for vegan kids has to be psychological. Kids don't like to be different. Pizza, hamburgers, ice cream, anything with dairy in it. It would be difficult to attend the typical birthday party. It's possible if the kids are into the political side of vegan. If they are militant about the treatment of animals, they can handle being vegan. Maybe that's where I would start. Educate the kids on the beef, poultry, and fish industries. If they're not completely grossed out, then they must never get grossed out by anything. Once you have their attention, I would introduce vegan.

Another strong argument for vegan is "climate change." The kids get hit with this reality everyday. Being vegan is being "green." In 2006, the UN reported that the meat industry produces more greenhouse gases than all the SUVs, cars, trucks, planes, and ships in the world combined. Kids can't buy electric cars, but they can make an individual contribution by going vegan.

The actual vegan diet can be kid friendly. Just work around the meat and dairy issue by feeding them things that every kid likes. Here's a sneaky way to get the vegetable and fruit servings in. Have them drink smoothies like Jamba Juice or Naked Juices, or Odwalla. One of my biggest problems around the house is that my health food tastes great and my carnivore teenagers eat all of it. Juice, protein bars, granola, nuts, fruit, and even soy milk disappears. If they like V-8 you're all good. They will need to take vitamins and supplements. At least for me, the best way to get enough protein is through soy protein powder. I get a double hit by mixing my powder with Odwalla "Superfood" smoothy. It's nutritionally superior to anything you eat and it tastes great. My boys like the juices and smoothies, but they think the addition of my powder looks gross. Good, I don't want to share my soy mix anyway.

There is a wealth of vegan education on the net. Try it for a week; try it for a month. It's so easy to remember what you can and can't eat. If it has a face, don't eat it. Kids usually don't like oysters and other faceless sea creatures, so you're probably safe. If you can make it a month, you can make it permanent. If they get cravings, just take a bite and savor it. No one is going to revoke your vegan membership card. I may have been apprehensive about vegan kids when I started thinking about this, but the more I think about it, it makes sense. Maybe it's not about being different. Maybe it's about being really cool.

November 6th, 2009 - Vegan for life... a longer life

I was just chatting with a high school friend, Lisa (happy birthday again), and thinking about the whole vegan thing. I became vegan to lose weight. Then, I discovered that abstaining from meat and dairy makes you feel "clean." And then there is the whole antibiotics and hormones and living conditions of our "food." We grow animal products; we hardly ever raise them. I do miss some meats like hot wings, hot links, filet mignon, and smoked salmon, but not enough to eat them. I've heard that eventually vegans can't eat meat without getting sick. I'll leave that for others to find out. I like to say that abstaining from meat and dairy is the easy part of being vegan. The hard part is qualifying and quantifying the food you put in your mouth. It's all an education, but the reward is substantial. Did you know that vegans have a longer life span? Seriously, I've read anywhere from 7 to 14 years. That's an extra 7 to 14 years that I would like to spend with my grand children... when I have them.

I went to the gym again today. I rode the virtual bike around this chase game. It's like a video game, but you have to peddle hard to catch the "dragons." After 45 minutes, I thought I would try a track called the "buster." It has 24% inclines and big drops. It's up and down and up and down... you get the picture. I thought maybe I could handle a mile or so, but then I went the distance. 12 miles of pouring sweat. It felt good. I'm going to do it again tomorrow. I can't wait to get back on my road bike, but I can tell my wrist needs at least a few weeks more healing time.

Thursday November 5th, 2009 - Strict diet time

I was 322 pounds this morning. I rode the virtual bike for 40 mins, 10 miles, black diamond difficulty, many 26% climbs, 143 heart, 14.7/25.6 miles/hour, and I beat the pace rider by five minutes. Ate a bean and salsa burrito for breakfast (not horrible, but not great). Time to clamp down and lose 22 pounds before Christmas.

New structured routine-
*Increase workouts to 5 days a week minimum.
*Eat vegan as usual.
*Continue with vitamins and supplements (flaxseed oil, Mega Men's Sport packets and alternate with Maximum Greens packets, and Burn 60 on heavy workout days).
*Breakfast - Eat granola with high nut, seed, fruit content with soy milk, and banana.
*11am - drink green machine slush with soy protein mix (30 grams Protein)
*2pm - " " "
*Dinner - rate dinner 1 to 5 on content and calories. Salad, greens, veggie, carbs.
*8pm - Drink protein drink or eat protein bar.
*Snacks - raw fruit and nuts.

This will meet the Vegan Recommended foods servings:
3 cups grains
2 1/2 cups nuts/soy/beans
2 cups vegetables
1 cup fruit
2 table spoons fat from oil
(calcium, protein, b-12 (monthly shots), and all other vitamins covered with suppliments)

"That'll do pig" (Babe)

Monday November 2nd, 2009 - Black Diamond

I got my wires crossed and went to the hand surgeon a day early. My appt is tomorrow morning. This is the first time I've lost my appt card, but at least I didn't miss the appointment. I made it to the gym again today and rode on "Monkey Pass." It's an 11 mile black diamond (difficult) course on the virtual bike. I'm going to try to get some riding in everyday even if its just 20 minutes. Today was 40 minutes and I barely beat the pace rider. Usually I beat him by 4-5 minutes, but this course was the hardest I've been on. I still averaged 15.4 miles per hour with a max of 25.8. I have better rides if I'm still a bit sore.

I'm bipolar. My dad was bipolar and his mom was bipolar ect... They both committed suicide at age 50. There is a long history of suicides in my family. Scary, but I have much better meds and treatment than they had. I am not suicidal. It's such a waste. I recently read an article about the challenges of being a bipolar parent. I've had to "deprogram" a few times, but I didn't really connect the dots with general parenting. Sometimes, I operate on emotion and I get myself in trouble with my boys. It's like sticking your foot in your mouth and not being able to get it out. It's like I can see it happening, but I can't control it. Most of the time I think I'm a pretty good father, but there are times I wish I could get back. I never really attributed it to my bipolar disorder, but it makes a lot of sense. It's not a cop out. It's a realization that might help me manage my sudden stress onset. Sometimes it better just to walk away for a while. Yet another example of being mentally and physically healthy. It's all about the whole picture.

NFL Sunday November 1st, 2009 - Virtual bike

I went to the gym and rode on the virtual bike and the treadmill for 90 minutes during the Green Bay Packers and Minnesota game. There wasn't too many people there so I got to exercise right in front of the game on TV. I borrowed their wireless earphones. The workout felt good, but I wasn't very enthusiastic when I left my house. Sometimes you just have to force yourself. Tomorrow the surgeon will re-xray my wrist to see if I need another cast or if the wrap is cool for a few weeks. I hope my hand feels better soon because I'm really missing my bike. I forgot to weigh myself this morning.

Friday October 29th, 2009 - Awards Results

I got to bed late last night and I forgot to post the results from the Guggenheim Art Awards. We didn't win, but we got a standing ovation when our work (my dad's) was shown as a nominee. Like Cheri said, "It's film fetish." I think someone else wrote that, but I like it. My dad's work just continues to get accolades. It's a very exciting time! Again, he's missing out. RIP.

The other nominees for the "Solo Exhibition of the Year, Gallery" were an exhibition of Picasso (!!!), Cindy Sherman (who's a very well known conceptual photographer who actually was up at Buffalo and apparently knew paul when she was a student), and Piero Manzoni (an italian conceptual artist). This was out of a pool of thousands of world wide exhibitions! Huge honor, but Manzoni won the award. We are working on some very exciting projects right now including a permanent film installation at the Hishorn Museum in Wash DC (the Hishorn is the contemporary art museum for the Smithsonian). Out of the many current screenings one stands out. Eco Umberto has chosen two of our films (Sears Catalogue and Word Movie) to be shown during his lecture at the Louvre in Paris on the 13th of November. How cool is that?!!! The louvre!

Today was consumed with business and I didn't make it to the gym. The snow is already melting so I'm sure the gym will be open tomorrow. Night!

Wednesday October 28th, 2009 - Art Awards

The Art Awards at the Guggenheim NYC are tomorrow night. I'm completely giddy with excitement. If you didn't already know, I'm the executor of my late father's Estate (Paul Sharits) which means that I manage his growing film and art career. Of course, that means I have very good friends in the art business that try to keep me on track. My art dealer in NYC, Greene Naftali Gallery, held an exhibition last Spring that included a four projector 16mm film installation of "Shutter Interface." The tasteful and professional exhibition of my father's art and the film work won international acclaim and was nominated for "Solo Exhibition of the Year, Gallery." He is already well known in the art and film community, but this award may elevate his work even more. We already screen films in every major museum in the world like the Whitney, Albright Knox, Burchfield Penny, MoMa, the Louvre, Pompidou, and the list goes on, but this may... I don't know, but it would be real cool. His work is genius and I wish he was here to see all of these accolades. http://www.guggenheim.org/new-york/support-us/individual-support/fundraising-events/the-first-annual-art-awards

Today, we got snowed in. They already closed the schools for tomorrow. We have about 18 inches now and the winter storm warning is on until 6pm tomorrow. The gym is closed due to snow, so I thought I would go for a long walk, but it was too slick. Maybe the slush will freeze and make it easier to walk tomorrow.

October 27th, 2009 - Stranded

My car is in the shop and I felt like I was stranded today, but I really had nowhere to go except for the gym. All I did was work around the house and puppy sit. My cousin has the most aggressive little dog. She's worse than a baby. She chews on everything all the time including our dog Tatum who is the best behaved dog on the planet. I don't know how Tatum puts up with it. Someday she's going to snap and bite that little @$#%. I jest; "Lelanie" can also be the cutest little puppy... when she's asleep!

I should have taken the dogs for a walk, but I wasn't sure if Lelanie would just take off on me. Tonight there is a winter storm warning for Jefferson County Colorado until Thursday 6pm. We should get 8-12 inches tonight. This is the normal start of the snow season. Just before Halloween. We shall see if going to the gym is a good idea tomorrow. However, walking through snow is good exercise. Try something everyday!

October 26th, 2009 - Study Time

So I have a winter to study up on 14er mountain climbing. Fortunately, this being Colorado, there are ample resources to prepare me for a summer of hiking in the Rockies. I also need to beef up my hiking equipment. I'll need a real backpack with camping gear and the works. Cheri's only requirement, aside from the obvious, is that I buy a "personal locator beacon." We were just listening to an NPR (National Public Radio) story about people abusing these GPS emergency locators, but I would only use it if one of us got so injured we absolutely could not continue. I'm not too concerned with training for the road bike tours because I ride a lot anyway, but I will need to take shorter hiking trips this winter to get used to the equipment, cold weather, and to train to go beyond my current limitations. The weather can be unpredictable at elevations higher than 14,000 feet. Prep for the worst.

Today I did make it to the gym, but I was kind of disappointed about how much my gimp wrist is going to hold me back. Basically, all I can do for now is the virtual bike (stationary). Today I rode for 45 minutes. Using the moderate incline mode, I rode 12.5 miles. I really wish you could glide for a little bit on the virtual bike, but nooo, you have to keep peddling or you stop. My car is in the shop tomorrow, so I can't make it to the gym. Hey, maybe I could ride my bike. LOL

Sunday October 25th, 2009 - Sore Toes

For the most part, I wasn't too sore from yesterday's hike except for my toes. I need to wear my stiffer hiking boots next time. They would have helped with the snow. I think I'll get a pair of those snow/ice spikes for my boots. I want to make hiking a regular routine even through the winter. Next Spring I want to climb my first 14er. Those are serious hiking trips up mountains here in Colorado with an elevation of 14,000 feet or higher. I believe there are about 54 peaks. I would like to climb them all. Maybe I can do 5 next summer and then like 10 a year after that.

This past summer went great. I made exercise goals and met them. For summer 2010, in addition to the 14er's, I'm going to road bike from the Bear Creek Reservoir to South Platte to Denver to Cherry Creek Reservoir to C-470 through Chatfield Reservoir around Northbound C-470 back to Bear Creek Reservoir. It's a 80 mile loop. I would also like to ride from Bear Creek to S Platte to Colorado Springs. It's 85 miles. My 34 mile ride from Morrison to Denver has become an easy routine. I think these goals are quite achievable. I would also like try some more mountain bike downhills (maybe I can get some wrist protectors :-). Today I weighed in at 320 so we are on our way again.

Saturday October 24th, 2009 - Bouncing Back

Okay. I was probably a little too hard on myself. Losing lots of weight is hard, but you do need to stay on track. I swear you can struggle for a month to lose 10 pounds and gain it back in 10 days. Your body does actually go into survival mode. After significant weight loss, say 20 pounds, your body retains as many calories as possible. If given a little more time, your body will build it's defense with a few extra pounds. Personally I don't really mind staying the same weight for a month or so, but it drives me crazy to gain weight. Today, I took the first step towards more weight loss.

I was going to go to the gym and work myself silly, but I still have to accommodate my injured wrist. Instead of the gym, I convinced my wife and two of my boys to go hiking. We went about two hours into the Rocky Mountains to get to our trail head. It was beautiful weather and we proceeded to hike to the summit and back. It took 3 1/2 hours. It was difficult enough to wear all of us out. It felt great. My calorie consumption was down and my hydration and protein consumption was up. I'm sure tomorrow morning's weigh-in will be more rewarding. Now I need some good sleep. Well, maybe a shower first.

Friday October 23rd, 2009 - Set Back

This morning, Saturday the 24th, I weighed in at 321. That's up from a week ago when I weighed in at 313. Three things happened; I hurt my hand, I ate whatever I wanted as long as it was free of dairy and meat, and I got lazy. My hand still hurts, but mostly in the wrist now, so I can't ride outside until they take new x-rays in 1 1/2 weeks. I've added protein supplements to my diet which also adds significant calories. I could say that the week was so busy I didn't have time to workout, but I'm sure I could have found some time if I had been more motivated and used better time management. The protein, lack of calorie control, and absence of exercise has certainly allowed myself to gain some weight. Of course, it's quick weight and maybe partly due to water weight gain, but still I have to catch myself now and work it off.

I haven't really lost much weight since the end of August. I knew I was plateauing and I hoped I could start losing again, but I have to be happy to have made it through with relative stability. This weeks weight is not really a concern. Getting back into losing 10 pounds a month is a concern. I have to take it day by day like I was this past summer. If I can reach 300 pounds or a little less this year, I will have realized a 60 pound weight loss since April. I have to remember that I was 456 in November of 2007. I need to gain back my Obesity Warrior attitude. From today on I will return to the weight loss routine.

Wednesday October 21st 2009 - "12-21-2012"

Monday was a working day and Monday Night Football with the San Diego Chargers and the Denver Broncos. The Broncos played and won one of the most entertaining games I've seen. Of course, if SD had won my perception may have been different. But, the Broncos did win and they remain undefeated this season. 6-0 ! Yeah! And, I lost my Fantasy Football match by about 100 points. Who knew Tom Brady was going to lead New England to a 59 to 0 game?

I didn't go to the gym on Monday or Tuesday because I wanted to talk to the orthopedic surgeon about my hand first. On Tuesday, I met with him. They took that ER cast off and told me that I had deep tissue contusions (bruises) and, due to the bruising pattern on my wrist, a possible fractured scaphoid bone. Apparently they can't tell for sure until it starts to heal. In two weeks I have to go back for some more X-Rays. Until then I have to immobilize it with a splint and ace bandage. I can take it off for showers and every once in a while he wanted me to move it around without lifting or squeezing anything.

Wednesday was museum day and I didn't get to workout. I should be fine for a workout tomorrow. I'll probably spend most of my time on the stationary bike. I don't want to lose any of the muscle I've built up to this point.

On the 13th of November Sony Pictures is releasing their new movie "2012." It appears to be a disaster movie. The Mayan calendar ends on 12-21-2012 and many other cultures also believe that this may be the end of time. Sure. I have the Mayan serpent eating it's own tail tattoo on my arm because, at least to me, it symbolizes the cycle of life. One end; one beginning. Others would say my tattoo is a direct symbol of the 12-21-2012 end. I have one friend who believes some great "life changing" event will happen then. Something like the Internet. If that's the case, I can't wait. I also read somewhere that there is a celestial alignment that only occurs every 25,000 years or so. Either way, I'm going to see the movie.

Sunday October 17th, 2009 - No more pain pills

On Friday we got home from the ER around 2 am. I slept in on Saturday and I needed a few pain pills which basically wasted the day. Now that the swelling is down I can feel a little more pain and new bruises have appeared on my temple, arm, and both legs. I really hate the way pain pills make me feel so I just took some Tylenol today.

I'm curious about how much of a workout I can handle with the gimp arm. I wanted to go this morning, but I didn't feel well. Some of the general crash stiffness has set in, but my legs really are not that sore. I should be able to do all the weight machines that don't require my right hand grip. I can use the free weights to keep my left arm on track and make the most out of the virtual bike (stationary bike). I will probably try to hit the gym at least a little everyday until I can ride my bike or swim.

Friday the 16th, 2009 - Colorado Trail and a broken wrist

Yesterday, Friday, I went with Jeff on an epic mountain bike/hiking trip on the Colorado trail. Cheri had to drive us into the mountains towards Deckers. The trail head was about 1/4 mile south of the river junction where the North Platte and South Platte converge and then head east down to Denver. We started up the trail around 2:30pm. At first I thought the trail would go up a bit and then follow the river. My son said it wasn't a bad trail. Later, we would find out he had only been on a small part of the trail on the other side. The trail ended up being an expert mountain biking and an expert hiking trail. It was only 18 miles so I thought, what the hell, at the worst we could walk some of it.

After two hours we reached the first summit. We had biked and hiked continuous steep trails and switchbacks. The elevation at the base was 6,000 feet. The summit was just over 8,000 feet. The weather was absolutely perfect and the views were straight from post cardville. We had brought eight 28 ounce bottles of water and gatorade, a few bags of nuts, five protein bars, and layers of clothing in our backpacks. I really didn't think we would need all of that, but I was wrong and we were prepared.

On the second summit (markedly higher than the first) Jeff started to get altitude sick. He got a headache, nausea, fatigue, and very winded. The air was thin and we had been taxing our physical limits just to get up there. I told him to buckle up because there was simply no turning back. We were already at least 5 miles from any other people and on steep rocking terrain.

After a break we started down the backside of the mountain. The trail was narrow and very challenging, but we were able to ride some of it. We would come to these rocky inclines where we had to hike and carry our bikes. At this point we were about seven miles into the trail and I hit a rock. The trail was fairly steep and the ground and rocks were loose. In order to control your decent you pretty much needed to keep your brakes full on. I came up and over a small hill and jumped one rock only to hit the second large rock. It happened pretty fast, but I remember flying over my bike and hitting the rocks with my helmet first and rolling from my belly to my back. When I stopped my bike was on top of me and I was kissing dirt. My helmet and my backpack saved me. I did a quick inventory and found that I wasn't really hurt and my bike was in one piece. When I got back on the bike I realized my thumb was broken and my wrist hurt. Nonetheless, I started to ride to catch up to Jeff. It was very painful to brake with my right hand. We rode several more miles before the trail got nasty and my hand hurt too much to keep riding. From that point on we had to walk our bikes up and down insane obstacles. At one point, we had to carry our bikes down a long series of boulders that ranged from two to three feet drops. By now it was dark.

Our only light was from my son's cell phone. We hiked in the dark with our bikes for about five miles. Finally, when I was to about to call it a night and camp, we reached the Waterton Canyon trail and we knew we were maybe a mile from the dirt road. We made it to the care taker's house and called Cheri (other than being a flash light, our cell phones were useless). This was a gated trail so Cheri had to call the sheriff. When they reached us around 11:30pm, we were still relatively warm, dry, hydrated, and just starting to get hungry. When we told the Sergent where we had come from, her mouth dropped and she was amazed. Even she said that was an insanely difficult trail. If I hadn't been in such good shape, I never would have made it. My 18 year old was completely spent. Other than my hand and some blisters, I was okay.

When they dropped us off at Cheri's van, I realized my head hurt pretty bad, so the sheriff escorted us to the emergency room. They gave my head a CAT scan and x-rayed my hand. If I had a concussion it was mild. My thumb and wrist were bruised, swollen, and fractured. They put a partial cast on my hand and sent me home with pain pills. Now that the swelling has gone down it hurts more. On Monday or Tuesday after all the swelling has gone down, they will re-examine it and put a full cast on it. When we finally got home it was 2am.

My workouts will have to be adjusted, but I can still ride the virtual bike and work on some of the weight machines. Other than the hand and a sore neck, I'm not much more sore than I am after a long road bike ride. If I can get my butt out of bed early enough, I'll try to hit the gym before the football games. I weighed 313 this morning. Finally, more progress.