The "For Good" part of "Lose Weight for Good!"

On Sept. 7th 2012 I got into my Kayak at Montauk, NY. 8.5 days later I returned to Montauk a different person after battling the elements to paddle the 270 mile circumference of Long Island to raise money for the American Diabetes Association. This blog chronicles that trip. Please look around, join my Tour De Cure cycle team and/or donate to the cause.

Paddle Photos

https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/113409955885103457509/albums/5792116861547229681/5792116862053110818

One simple secret that will change your destiny...if you let it.

My best buddy and video marketing guru Steven Washer devoted his video newsletter to me this week. He used my trip to motivate his students 
with the MOST important lesson I learned on my paddle. 

Check out his video and see what that lesson is. . .

12 Things I learned while kayaking over 270 miles in 8 and a half days.

1. The course you set does not have to be the course you take. - Keep paddling!
2. Have a ONE singular objective, make it important, never lose sight of it. - Keep paddling!
3. Be open to alternatives and leave no opportunity unexplored - Keep paddling!
4. You can figure the tide but not the weather – Plan well the things you can and be ready for the things you can't - Keep paddling!
5. Sometimes the wind is gonna be against you - Keep paddling!
6. Don't panic when the sea tries to swallow you, it makes things worse - Keep paddling!
7. When you think you have given all you’ve' got, you have an untapped reserve - Keep paddling!
8. Break down the long stretches by creating a series of waypoints - Keep paddling!
9. When something breaks, you don't have to fix it perfect, all you need is seaworthy - Keep paddling!
10. Until you visit the edges of your comfort zone, you have no idea where those edges are - Keep paddling!
11. Get in the boat, even when you don't want to. Nothing is gonna happen until you get in the boat and then . . . Keep paddling!
12. It is utterly amazing what you can accomplish when you Keep paddling!

It was a rough start, no doubt about it.

09/05/12

I woke the morning of Sept. 5 to see the expected downpour. Although I had planned to be paddling today, the weather would keep me landlocked. Although I did not yet know it, my journey of self discovery had already begun. Patience. By that evening Karen and I had taken my Jeep loaded with two kayaks, dry clothes for 14 days at sea, an assortment of marine electronics and a month's supply of apples, homemade powerbars and canned beans to Montauk.

Montauk is basically an isolated fishing and surfing outpost jutting over 100 miles into the Atlantic ocean, due east of New York City. Montauk is the type of place they make movies about. In fact, Quint, the gristly shark hunter from Jaws is reputed to be based on the real life Montauk shark hunter Frank Mundus. While some of Montauk has become quite trendy and sheik, much of it seems to be in 1970's a time warp. As I stood surveying the sea conditions from the second floor deck of the motel / bar that was my home for the evening, it felt as if it were 1972.

Although it appeared the weather was clearing, I thought I would check the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) website. Since my iPad had no service, I was forced to pick up the vintage AT&T issued desk style phone and call to see this place had wireless internet. They did and the weather looked good for the morning. Good, that is, except for the fact that Hurricane Lesliewas creating monster surf and dangerous rip currents as far North as Montauk, NY. Funny, I was planning to take my very small boat into those very big waves the next morning. The next call I made was to my safety boat. The news was not good. After careful consideration, the captain and I decided that it was too risky for him to follow me in that surf. Undaunted, I thought it might be a good time to go to sleep. Tomorrow was going to be a long day. What I didn't know then was just how long.

09/06/12

The alarm went off at 4:30am. I was already awake. Karen and I collected our things and set off in the Jeep for the Montauk lighthouse. The lighthouse was commissioned by George Washington himself in 1792. Oddly, it was my relative Ezra L'HommeDieu that surveyed the site for Washington. The two of them actually stood together here over 200 years ago. This part of the reason I chose Montauk for start for my epic adventure. Not only is it the beginning and the end of Long Island but, this place, this island, has been home to my ancestors since about 1652. I figured if I was gonna be claimed by the sea, this was as good a place as any.

When we arrived at Montauk, Karen and I could hear the violent surf as it crashed on the cliffs below. I put the Jeep in four-wheel-low and proceeded down the narrow sand road which lead to the beach on the “protected” side of the point. While it usually calm on this side, today the waves were crashing in. I had put in from this beach many times before as part of a yearly 18 mile kayak expedition to Block Island, RI. That trip was also a fundraiser for an organization called “Paddle for Humanity” (P4H.org). This year, however, all of my physical and fundraising energy was going into this trip. This was going to be my crowning kayaking achievement. A 270+ mile circumnavigation of Long Island and I was doing it to benefit the American Diabetes Association. Why the American Diabetes Association?

Go back about 12 years and I was quite literally a different person. I was about double my current size weighing in at over 400 pounds. I was sick and tired all of the time. I had all I could do to finish a day of work. Then, a visit to my doctor's office changed my life forever. I was there for yet another respiratory infection. One of the hidden problems with being that heavy is that you get sick a lot. On this particular visit I was just expecting to get some antibiotics instead, I got an injection of reality. “You’re pre-diabetic.” my doctor said. You might not think that's a big deal but, it hit me right between the eyes. In my mind, “pre-diabetic” was another way of saying “diabetic.” It was the first time I realized that my weight . . . no, my lifestyle was killing me.

By then I had already been a physical therapist for over a decade. I had seen what diabetes does to people. It takes their sight, it takes their legs, it gives them pain. It literally takes your life long before it kills you. The thought of being blind, legless and dependent on other people scared the crap out of me. If you think “pre-diabetes” is no big deal, think again. All of a sudden I felt so mortal, so vulnerable, so responsible, so guilty. How did I allow this to happen? I felt like Ebenezer Scrooge.

All at once the ghosts of my past were swirling around me and the ghosts of my future didn't look too friendly. Then, it occurred to me that I could change this. Just like Scrooge on Christmas morning, I could change the course of my future by changing my present.

While the whole story of my weight loss is an epic journey in itself, this story is about the epic journey ahead of me. An epic journey I chose to do as a celebration of 10 years of weight loss success. A journey I chose so that I may inspire others to make their own journey. An epic adventure to show that ordinary people can do extraordinary things and finally, as a personal quest to explore the boundaries of my own comfort zone. For it is there, at that edge, that real personal growth happens.

As I was about to find out, there was no orientation to this school. No “easing in.” It was the first day, and the massive waves had a full lesson plan. Karen and I set up my 17' 7” foot long, 51 pound kayak with food, water, electronics and safety gear. I got in, kissed her good bye and headed out to sea. I was about to be schooled.

The first two waves were easy. Up and over. As I watched the third wave mount and then crest in front of me, I knew this one would be different. Instead of going over a cresting wave, kayaks tend to go through them. As the water washed over the deck and over me, I lost my hat and all my carefully secured gear was now trailing along the side of the boat held only by safety lines. I frantically tried to re-secure my gear before the next wave. Every moment spent not paddling is complete chaos. No control. No stability. Arrange, paddle, arrange, paddle. That was the pattern. I finally got everything secured but could only read my GPS if I stretched my body into a precarious and unstable position. With no GPS guidance, the navigational plan became “keep Long Island on the right.”

The next wave seemed to be higher than the kayak was long. That made it about twenty feet. Twenty feet or not all I knew is that I needed to paddle hard. I climbed the wave like a mountain and crashed down the other side. No turning back now, too dangerous. The only option was to paddle past Montauk point and hope the waves calmed down outside of the influence of the outgoing tide. They did, a little. They were still pretty bad.

As I turned West, I was greeted by the appearance of a dorsal fin cutting through the water. Montauk is famous for sharks. This year, as it would happen, there have been more great white shark sightings in the waters from New Jersey to New England than any other year since they have been keeping track of that sort of thing. I had no idea if this was a great white or a dolphin and I didn't care. All I wanted to do is pass it without encountering the big animal to which it was attached. Luckily this is exactly how it was to play out. I passed the fin and the fin moved on apparently oblivious to me. For the next three hours all I did was continuously paddle, try to stay upright and guess my location. It was the worst of conditions but I was fine. That is, of course, until the seasickness. Did I mention that I get sea sick?

Part of exploring the edges of your comfort zone is to venture into areas that you know are going to make you sick or scared or, in this case, both. The South side of Montauk are sheer cliffs and the narrow coastline is littered with boulders the size of mid-sized cars. Landing there in this surf would be suicide. The sound of the surf hitting those boulders sounded to me like the sound of bones crushing and it was deafeningly loud. Between that and the dorsal fin, I was scared. Now it was time for sick. After three solid hours of going up and down and up and down, my stomach rebelled. This went on for about an hour. Now, bleary eyed and shaking it was time for a new plan. Clearly, paddling on like this for another six hours would not be an option. I started to survey the beach for a “safe” place to land.

As I looked toward the beach, I was trying to find a place where the surf lessened. Generally, you can find a place where the bottom contour causes enough turbulence as to attenuate the waves making them less violent. I thought I saw such a place. I turned the boat North, hoped for the best and paddled into the breaking waves.

I had practiced a surf entry as part of my training. Under any circumstances, a surf entry in a boat this long would be a challenge but, today making a graceful landing would be a miracle. Luckily I wasn't trying for graceful. I just wanted to rest. As I got close to the back side of the breakers, I held my ground and waited. I was waiting for a small set. Surfers do just the opposite but today, I was not looking for a thrill ride. I picked a set and paddled my butt off. As the wave caught the almost 18' long hull of my boat, I felt good. I had this. That was until the next wave came. It must have been huge. It flipped me like a flapjack.

Next thing I remember I was holding my breath for what seemed like an eternity. I finally extracted myself from the boat and made an effort to get to the beach. The rip current had other plans for me. Out to sea again. That ocean that I loved so much was trying to swallow me whole. I did the only thing I could do. I relaxed, waited for the current to lessen and then made another run at the beach. This time I made it. Unfortunately, the boat was still struggling. Back into the surf I went. I retrieved the boat and did an equipment inventory. Apples and powerbars were all over the beach and my GPS was gone. Crap. After about a half hour of walking the beach, I found it. All of a sudden I realized that I was having a good day. I was alive, safe, my boat was seaworthy and I was no longer lost. I called Karen, reported my position as per the GPS and promptly fell sound asleep.

I woke up shivering. I was cold and wet. Not feeling my best. Luckily, Karen was smart enough to plug the Latitude and Longitude into the Jeep's GPS. She found me on a deserted little patch of beach in Amagansett. I was so happy to see her. We put the heat on in the truck and talked about the plan.

The problem was that I had no plan. Well, I had no reasonable plan. The only option, I thought, was to put back into the ocean and go another six hours or more in that rough sea. The main issue was paddling back out through that surf. It wasn't happening. I needed a plan “B.” Giving up was not an option and Karen knew it. Even though she was thinking it, wishing for it, she didn't even bring it up. She was there to support me and that is exactly what she did.

“OK,” I said, “What's the most important thing here? To get from Montauk to the next planned stop. That's it. If we drive directly North, we can put into Peconic Bay and I can paddle through the Shinnecock Canal. I should be there by dinner.” Then Karen said, “Isn't that a long way? Don't you have to wind around East Hampton and Shelter Island?” She was right it was more mileage but no dangerous surf. It would make for a long day but at least I would make it to the next stop. It was a good plan. So off we went.

We found a place to put in and I set off West again. With the tides with me, I made Shinnecock canal by 6:00PM. The locks were open and the tide was with me. I made the bay by 6:30PM. Twelve hours at sea and I made it. A very long day. I was so tired, I could barely eat. I was actually sick from exhaustion. Karen could not imagine how day two would even be possible. As she worried about my situation, I fell asleep. Of course there would be a day two. Quitting was not an option. I planned the first day to be the worst day. It exceed my expectations.

Day 9 Video Blog

Day 9 starts sunrise off Orient Point

Day 8 Video Blog

Leaving from Mattituck

Finished day 8

 

Darn! I could have finished TODAY!! 

Day 7 Video Blog

Day 7 starts in Port Jefferson

Day 7 finishes in Matituck

Day 6 Video Blog

Day 6 begins - Windy again! The boats at anchor are rocking in this cove! 

Stopped to rest in Oyster Bay. 

Almost to Port Jefferson and my Droid DIES! 

This is the last picture I got. 

This is the lighthouse at Old Field Point. 

Day 5 Video Blog

The wind was in my face ALL DAY at 20 MPH! 

 Governors Island - a former Army Base and then Coast Guard Station Governors Island is now a park and is open every Saturday, Sunday and Holiday Monday (Memorial Day and Labor Day) from May 26-September 30.

Nolan Park on Governors Island

Nolan Park on Governors Island

Brooklyn Bridge

Manhattan

Manhattan

Manhattan

Long Island City

59th Street Bridge

 Under the Whitestone Bridge

My Sweetheart, My Shore support, My Karen

Day 4 Video Blog

Day 4 Begins! 

Day 4 Almost Done! 10 more miles to go. 

Long Island Paddle Day 3

Day three done! Hanging at Robert Moses State Park

Very windy on the top of fire island lighthouse!

Can't hear a darned thing I say. 

News 12 Feature

Cutchogue man kayaks around LI to raise funds for diabetes

(09/07/12) WESTHAMPTON - A Cutchogue man who dropped more than 200 pounds is kayaking around Long Island to inspire others who are struggling with their weight.

Dr. Russ L'HommeDieu cut through the water in Westhampton today on the second day of his trip, which began in Montauk. His goal is to kayak 275 miles around Long Island in hopes of raising awareness and funds for the American Diabetes Association.

L'HommeDieu says he had pre-diabetes and weighed 410 pounds 10 years ago. The physical therapy doctor says he lost more than 200 pounds a decade ago and has since kept the weight off.

L'HommeDieu expects to wind things up in Montauk on Sept. 15.

Day 2 Video Blog

Day 2 Launch

Day 2 Finished! 

Day 1 "No plan ever survives a meetinng with the enemy"

I'm safe now by a narrow margin. High seas (12 to 20 feet), I was given a bath by a huge breaker right after lauch. It took my hat and rearranged my electroics and supplies on deck. It was too rough to stop and reorganize. Also had a brief shark encouter (actually a UDF unidentified dorsal fin right next to the kayak. I got c6, very c6. Had a near drownig from a botched beach landing in rough seas. Did I mention the rough seas? Fished through surf for jetisoned equipment. Then portaged to bay to finish. Over 12 hours. No more ocean. The ocean and I are not currently on speaking terms.

Leaving Montauk early in the AM on the outgoing tide

Rough seas and foul weather delay start of my journey.

Stormy Weather . . .

Well, this is exciting. I was going to leave Montauk tomorrow morning. The plan was to take a very small boat into a very big ocean. The problem is the weather. The rain is not a big deal. Of course, lightning is no fun. The real issue is the wind. In the ocean "a Southwest wind 14 to 20 mph" is a real problem when you are attempting to paddle West along the Southern coast of  Long Island for 40 miles. Catch my drift. I'm crazy not stupid. 

This is the NOAA weather forecast for Wednesday

• 09/05/12Scattered showers and thunderstorms before 10am, then showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm between 10am and 4pm, then scattered showers and thunderstorms after 4pm. Patchy fog before 8am. Otherwise, cloudy, with a high near 77. Breezy, with a southwest wind 14 to 20 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.
• 09/0512 NightA chance of showers and thunderstorms before 2am, then a slight chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 69. Southwest wind 8 to 13 mph becoming light west after midnight. Chance of precipitation is 50%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
So, I could leave on Thursday . . . 

• 
  09/06/12A slight chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly sunny, with a high near 80. North wind around 6 mph becoming southwest in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
• 09/06/12NightPartly cloudy, with a low around 69.

Yeah, that looks better. North wind at 6 would be quite nice.
Now, for my other problem. . .
Leslie!
This on Leslie from http://www.weather.com

The season's 12th named storm, "Leslie" may become a hurricane in the open waters of the Atlantic Ocean.  Let's address the two main questions with Leslie's future as best as we can.

Projected Path

1.  Bermuda Threat?

Leslie passed north of the Leeward Islands over the weekend and is now moving very slowly between those islands and Bermuda.

To elaborate, steering currents in the upper levels of the atmosphere have relaxed to the point that Leslie may stall or creep only very slowly toward the north in the direction of Bermuda the next several days.

Leslie will also be experiencing varying degrees of wind shear over the next few days, which could limit its ability to intensify in the short term.

Wind shear is forecast to relax during the second half of the week and Leslie may be a hurricane by the time it approaches Bermuda this weekend. How much impact Leslie has on Bermuda will depend on the exact track and intensity of the system this coming weekend.

Leslie's East Coast Future?

2.  East Coast/Canadian Maritime Threat?

It's still too soon to completely write-off the possibility of Leslie directly impacting the Northeast U.S. coast.  

To diagnose whether a tropical cyclone poses a U.S. threat, we look to the aforementioned upper-level wind flow, or "steering pattern."

Generally speaking, for a tropical cyclone north of the Caribbean Sea, you need strong upper-level high pressure expansive in a west-to-east manner across the Atlantic that would force the cyclone toward the west, instead of curling out into open waters toward the northwest, then north. 

In this case, instead of an upper-level ridge, the polar jet stream will cut across the northern tier of states, extending into the North Atlantic Ocean late in the week.

If this flow regime pans out as currently forecast...this would seal off the Northeast U.S. coast from Leslie, turning the cyclone toward the northeast or east and away from the Eastern Seaboard.

Regardless...due to Leslie's initial stalled state and slow movement, it will generate high surf and rip currents along parts of the East Coast throughout the week ahead.

(MORE: Rip current safety) 

Check back with The Weather Channel and weather.com for the latest on Leslie.

It don't look good . . .

First Video Blog

The Official Paddle Schedule

Each of the below links goes to a Google map for that day's proposed route.
For detailed departure times, estimated arrival times and tide/current data, CLICK HERE 
Day 1 Map -  09/05/12 Montauk to Shinnecock Inlet 40.1 Miles
Day 2 Map -  09/06/12 Shinnecock Inlet to Smith Point Park 25.5 Miles
Day 3 Map -  09/07/12 Smith Point Park to Captree / Jones Beach 31.21 Miles
Day 4 Map -  09/08/12 Captree / Jones Beach to Rockaway Inlet 30.03 Miles
Day 5 Map -  09/09/12 Roackaway Inlet to Sands Point 35.21 Miles
Day 6 Map -  09/10/12 Sands Point to Port Jefferson 36.27 Miles
Day 7 Map -  09/11/12 Port Jefferson to Mattituck 28.01 Miles
Day 8 Map -  09/12/12 Mattituck to Orient 22.29 Miles
Day 9 Map -  09/13/12 Orient to Lake Montauk 16.40 Miles
Day 10 Map - 09/14/12 Lake Montauk to Montauk Point 4.14 Miles

200-Pound Weight Loss Leads to Epic Adventure (Copied from Everydayhealth.com)

A former 400-pound pre-diabetic man marks a decade since he lost half his body weight by attempting to kayak the circumference of Long Island, New York.

By Stephanie Sy, Senior Editor and Correspondent www.everydayhealth.com

Russ L'HommeDieu, a 45-year-old physical therapist and wellness coach, was so heavy twelve years ago that he couldn't be weighed at his doctor's office. "The scale only went up to 350 pounds," he recalls. Weighing more than 400 pounds, Russ was pre-diabetic with elevated glucose levels that suggested if he didn't change his lifestyle fast, he would become one of the 26 million Americans with diabetes. 

The day he received the pre-diabetes diagnosis, Russ started making changes in his diet, but it was another day ten years ago that set off the extraordinary weight loss and life change that he's never looked back from.

"My son wanted a kayak for his birthday," Russ says. "I said, 'no, because you're not going into the bay alone, and I'm not getting into one of those things.' I saw the disappointment on his face, and I started to think how many other things am I keeping him from." 

So, Russ got an extra large kayak for himself and started paddling.

In two years, Russ lost about two-hundred pounds, but more significantly, he managed to maintain the dramatic weight loss for the last decade by sticking with healthy eating habits and, of course, continuing to kayak every day.

To celebrate the milestone, Russ is planning to kayak the 275-mile circumference of Long Island, N.Y., on September 8. The journey will take ten days and you can follow his progress on www.longislandpaddle.com.
See the Video Here: http://bcove.me/25llhrpr
See original story at 
http://www.everydayhealth.com/diabetes/200-pound-weight-loss-leads-to-epic-adventure.aspx

A Life In Training

It's a dreary Saturday morning. The wind is blowing and the rain is coming down in buckets. Where am I? In a kayak, of course. In a kayak and loving it. I am one of those strange ducks that actually enjoys being outside in this kind of weather . . . for a while. Loving it was how the paddle started. Then, after about an hour and a half, I wanted to be home. Unfortunately, kayaking in the middle of the bay does not lend itself well to simply packing it in and going home. According to my GPS, I wasn't due to be back on shore for another 30 minutes so I decided to make the best of it and think about what I was going to blog about this week.
My thoughts drifted to the paddle I was holding. My paddle is a high performance wing paddle and I bought it from a kayak racer in Rhode Island. When I got to his house to buy the paddle, I asked to use the bathroom. Rhode Island is a long drive and I do drink a lot of water. While I was washing up, I noticed that he had written: “When you are NOT training, someone else is!” on his mirror. True as that was, I knew that I need to train in order to beat the 270 mile circumference of this island and the island does not need to train to beat me.
Then I began to think about what the term "training" really meant. According to "the Free Dictionary," training is the process of bringing a person to an agreed standard. It is a process. It involves commitment and consistency. It requires that you do something, anything. I believe that training can be physical, mental and spiritual. I believe the purpose of training is to beat the person you were yesterday. And I believe the process of continuous improvement is noble and beautiful.
Then it came to me. My blog post would be a celebration of all that I have overcome through training!
I beat my obesity by training!
I beat Diabetes by training!
I beat poor self esteem by training!
I beat joint pain by training!
I beat being unable run by training!
I beat being old before my time by training!
I beat being too tired to play with my kids by training!
I beat being ashamed by training!
I beat my limiting beliefs by training!
I beat this storm by training!
I beat negativity by training!
I beat the judgments of others by training!
I beat food addictions by training! 
. . . and the list goes on. What have you beat by training? What would you like to beat?

The Official Long Island Paddle Route

Each of the below links goes to a Google map for that day's proposed route. Each pin in the map is a navigational waypoint. It is not a stop.
Day 1 Map - Montauk to Shinnecock Inlet 40.1 Miles
Day 2 Map - Shinnecock Inlet to Smith Point Park 25.5 Miles
Day 3 Map - Smith Point Park to Captree / Jones Beach 31.21 Miles
Day 4 Map - Captree / Jones Beach to Rockaway Inlet 30.03 Miles
Day 5 Map - Roackaway Inlet to Sands Point 35.21 Miles
Day 6 Map - Sands Point to Port Jefferson 36.27 Miles
Day 7 Map - Port Jefferson to Mattituck 28.01 Miles
Day 8 Map - Mattituck to Orient 22.29 Miles
Day 9 Map - Orient to Lake Montauk 16.40 Miles
Day 10 Map - Lake Montauk to Montauk Point 4.14 Miles

Tide and Current Predictions for Long Island Paddle

A lot of people have asked about the legendary currents that I will be encountering along the trip. Click here to see the tide and current table that I have been working on.  http://tidesandcurrentslongislandpaddle.blogspot.com/

Control Your Future by Controlling Your NOW!

Dorland’s Medical Dictionary defines obesity as “an increase in body weight beyond the limitation of skeletal and physical requirements as the result of excessive accumulation of body fat[i].” The truth is, obese or not, nothing about an “accumulation of body fat” makes life easier and stealing the ease from our life qualifies excess body fat as a dis-ease. This disease is particularly nasty because not only does put your health at risk; it is particularly difficult to treat.

            While I don’t believe that fear is the best motivator, the process of becoming aware can be scary. Becoming aware of how serious a threat this is, and of its complexity, and of how it could attack you will help you discover its weak points. As a good general, athlete, or chess player would tell you, the only way to gain victory over a difficult opponent is to attack their weak spots.

            Two thousand-five hundred years ago, Chinese general Sun Tzu said, “If you know the enemy and know yourself, your victory will not stand in doubt”[ii] In the post that follows, I will help you to help you first know your enemy and then I will help you to know yourself.

            According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC), obesity is second only to smoking as a leading cause of preventable death in the United States. [iii]The key word in that sentence is “preventable,” for you absolutely can change your future by changing your present. By examining and ultimately changing any one of your current thoughts about how the way you eat and move, your life will get better. No matter what your scale says, even a small amount of weight loss could improve your life and maybe even make it longer. Research shows that small weight losses of less than 10 percent of a person’s body weight can improve all the heath complications that go along with being chubby.

            One of the most common and dangerous of these complications is type 2 diabetes. So common, in fact, is the link between the two diseases that the organization Shape Up America! coined the term Diabesity^® as part of an initiative to raise awareness of the growing prevalence of obesity and diabetes being joined at the hip. The key message of their campaign is that for most overweight people, type 2 diabetes can be controlled, cured, and prevented through weight loss and physical activity.

            One study showed that a mere 2.2-pound weight loss in a person who is diabetic could add three to four months to his life! A 22-pound weight loss reduced the risk of premature death from diabetes by an amazing 35 percent.[iv]

            Maybe the old adage: “Life is short, so eat dessert first” needs to be amended to read: “Life is shorter when you eat too much dessert”

The Tarnishing of the Golden Years

            While living to a ripe old age is good, aging gracefully is much better. Life is not a contest to see who can live the longest. What good is it to live eighty or a hundred years if the last thirty are miserable? Think of the time and effort you put in now as investments in your wellness retirement portfolio. Just as small amounts of money saved over a lifetime allow you the financial security to enjoy old age, small changes in the way you think about your health and weight will compound and grow, allowing you truly to enjoy the fruits of your life’s labors. It might seem impossible, but that the Twinkie you are about to wolf down could seriously influence your ability to hop on a plane when you are 80. If you are holding a Twinkie right now, think about how much more fun it would be to spend your eightieth birthday lying on a beach Costa Rica instead lying in a bed at a nursing home. One simple change is to know when you are and are not really hungry. If you are no longer hungry, don’t keep eating. Food that you don’t really need is actually worth more to your future when it is in the trash. Even if you are in the middle of chewing food that you know is not right for you, it’s not too late. It is not actually a crime to throw out food and you can even spit it out.          

            According to You: On a Diet, by Michael F. Roizen, M.D., and Mehmet C. Oz, M.D. (Free Press, 2006), diabetes causes your body to age one and a half years for every year that actually passes.[v]  Therefore, if you are diagnosed with diabetes when you are 40, by the time you are 45, your body will actually be 48. That means by the time you retire at 65, your body will already be ready for that nursing home. Add that to the likelihood that you will be blind and missing a limb or two by that time and you can begin to understand why my diagnosis of diabetes was such a strong motivator for me to lose weight and why I am now doing this paddle for the diabetes association. 

            At only 34 years old, I had the medical history of a 60-year-old. All it took for me to become a man who can now go running with my 18-year-old son was the awareness that I could become better. Thanks to a single spark of awareness, I can now even borrow his pants if I need to.

            As you gain weight, your risk for health problems grows by leaps and bounds. Those extra pounds have been linked to, and, in many cases, are directly responsible for, a whole host of nasty problems. Diseases like osteoarthritis, hypertension, acid reflux, urinary incontinence, gallbladder disease, depression, diabetes, hyper-insulinemia, asthma, sleep apnea, congestive heart failure, anemia, coronary-artery disease, menstrual irregularity, infertility, cancer, psychological dysfunction, sexual dysfunction, and social discrimination have been attributed to an excess accumulation of body fat. The good news is that changing how you think about your weight and health can eliminate them.

            Being a parent, the quality of my children’s lives is even more important than my own. When I learned that because of the combined affect of obesity and diabetes scientists are predicting that our children will have a shorter life expectancy than we do[vi], it made me a little sick. You need to be aware also that the lifestyle you lead creates an atmosphere that permeates the lives of those around you. Like secondhand smoke, they can’t help but to breathe in some of your lifestyle. Research shows that obesity runs in families. I remember once my doctor asked me if obesity ran in my family. I said, “Doc, nobody runs in my family.” It would have been funny if it weren’t true.

            While I was heavy, both my kids were chubby and sluggish. Now, both my son and daughter are thin, fit, and healthy and they have no concept of what it is like to be “on a diet.” They have absorbed my beliefs about staying active and eating well. Knowing that even my smallest lifestyle changes have improved the future lives of my kids certainly helps me keep going. Protecting the ones you love from having to go through the struggles you now face would be a wonderful gift.

            Did you know that your losing weight could even improve the life of your pets? I remember one time that I recommended a client, Patrick, start a walking program. He told me, “I just don’t like to walk.” I mentioned it a few more times, but this belief made him very resistant to go out and take even a short walk. After weeks of disappointing weight loss, he had a breakthrough and lost weight. As we talked, he told me that he started walking his dog. “I don’t know,” he said. “It’s just not the same as going for a walk alone. I love my dog and this gives me time to spend time with him. I think of it as training time for him. He loves it and when I get home from work he can’t wait to get going.”

            Simply by changing one thought about taking a walk, Pat not only got moving more, but because he went for his walk the moment he got home from work, he avoided heading to the kitchen for his traditional after work snack. As a result, he not only started to move more, he broke one of his problem food habits, which caused him to eat less and he lost weight.  Transforming one thought about walking (that it was “training for his dog” rather than for himself) set off a cascade of other positive changes in Pat’s life, including the change of having a happier and healthier pet.

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[i] http://mercksource.org/pp/us/cns/cns_hl_dorlands_split.jspzQzpgzEzzSzppdocszSzuszSzcommonzSzdorlandszSzdorlandzSzsixzSz000074081zPzhtm Downloaded:8/8/2012 1:59:28 PM

[ii] Tzu, Sun (2009). The Art of War. London, UK: Ailax Merchandise (UK) .

[iii] Flegal K, Graubard B, Williamson D, Gail M. Excess Deaths Associated with

Underweight, Overweight, and Obesity. JAMA 2005; 293:1861-1867 (Confirmed by phone: CDC, Media Relations, Karen Hunter (404) 639-3286

[iv] Lean MEJ, Powrie JK, Anderson AS, et al. Obesity, weight loss and prognosis in type 2 diabetes. Diabetic Med. 1990; 7:228-233

[v] Oz, Mehmet, and Michael Roizen. You: On a Diet: The Owner's Manual for Waist Management. New York: Free Press, 2006.

[vi] Olshansky SJ, Passaro DJ, Hershow RC, Layden J, Carnes BA, Brody J, Hayflick L, Butler RN, Allison DB, and Ludwig DS, “A Potential Decline in Life Expectancy in the United States in the 21st Century,” New England Journal of Medicine, 352:11, pp. 1138-1145