My Wacky Athletic Pursuits

20130606

At 5' 2" and 54 years old, I weighed 205 lbs. recently. I'll lose weight to 125 lbs., run a marathon, join RC Machado BJJ, grapple for a belt, then fight MMA.

Then I'll ride in PBR, then compete in Olympic-style weightlifting.   

Here's what I wrote in my last site.

 

Health: Patient Heal Thyself

 

An extreme indicator of success in this area will be joining the Air Force Reserves. I'll basically talk about my efforts to improve my health.

20070518 Well, that was a complete bust. I'd start running and dieting and then, get plantar fasciitis. It would stay for a long time and the treatment from the HMO podiatrist didn't work. So, I started an HSA account and went to Ideal Feet. I paid $400 for shoe inserts but mostly for the warranty. It's working--I can run about a mile, my feet hurt, I use the trainer inserts, and the pain goes away completely is one day. So, I'm gonna' try to get back to running 5 miles in the morning, 5 at lunch, and 5 in the evening. See ya'.

20070728 I'm at about a mile and a half, every other day. The inserts are still working.

20080104 I've had obstructive sleep apnea for a long time. When I sleep, my soft pallet at the back of my throat, falls into my airways and causes me to snore and blocks my airway so that my sleep is bad, I get far too little oxygen, and my life is worse thereafter.

The PCPs and ENTs pressured me hard to use the CPAP, so I went to Texas Diagnostics who checked me, said that I had OSA, and tried to get me to sleep with a CPAP. I struggled for three hours then pulled it off and went to sleep. They told the PCP that it worked. I told her and the ENT that it didn't. I looked on the Internet and found a dental device that is supposed to treat OSA. The dentist performed two tricks to fool me into buying his his device. The first was to firmly push his fingers into my ears and ask me to open and close my mouth. This caused a pop and a pain that he said proved I had TMJ. Then he put an amplifying device to my jaw and asked me to open and close my mouth again. The amplifier made audible sounds which he said was further proof. As we went forward with the treatment he kept wanting more money and the device wasn't working. I stopped paying and looked again.

This time I wanted to know more about exactly what was wrong and what treatment addressed that specific problem. That's when I found that my soft pallet falls into my airway. I then found that the Pillar treatment specifically addresses that by installing cords that pull the soft pallet forward. I had three installed. My wife said I had a 60% improvement. Today I had two more installed. I'll get back with how it goes. In order to afford all of this I've started using the Health Savings Account (HSA), supplemented occasionally with the Flexible Spending Account (FSA). The HMO that I used to use never approved of anything useful. The inserts from Ideal Feet work very well. The ENTs and PCPs insist on the CPAP that I already tried and it didn't work. The Pillar procedure has worked some and we'll see if it works completely.

My wife and I had been trying Overeaters Anonymous to lose weight. The people were great, the plan sounds good, but the meetings interfered with Survivor, and that's a no-no. Now, we've seen Volumetrics diet in Consumers Reports and have sent for the book.

20080621 Well, after waiting the three months as I was told to, nothing happened--no improvement. I went back for a follow up and the nurse examined me quickly, I told her there had been no improvement, she said there was nothing she could do about it and that there's no way to see what's wrong or how to fix it. I called and asked for my money back but the office manager said they don't give money back. I'm writing to the Texas Medical Board.

20080704 I've found the Empowered Patient series on CNN.com.

20080729 The Texas Medical Board responded; they said they're looking into it and will get back with me.

Also, I intend to sign up for Alan Mohler's Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu for $140 per month. The intention is to get a lot of exercise, lose a lot of weight and compete in the World Extreme Cagefighting (http://www.wec.tv/index.cfm). The idea is that this will give me better motivation since I'm personally interested in achieving this goal. My weight category will be Bantamweight - 135 lbs. to 125 lbs.

20080730 Today I weighed 190 pounds. My worst weight was 205.

20080802 I signed up for the classes. 

20080905 Today I weighed 180 pounds; that's a weight loss of 10 pounds per month, at this rate it'll take me six months to reach 120 lbs.. I've got to beat the weekends, they add so much weight.

I want to invent the Jet Fighter League. It will be for fighters smaller than 120 pounds. The Jet Fighter challenger will fight against a bigger guy who has a lot of protective gear so that any move the fighter wants to use is available, however, the larger guy is getting paid to win. His identity will be kept private. The fighter can win by submission, knockout, or points (points are given for poking the eye protectors and kicking the groin protector). If asked, I'll say the name of the league mostly came from my son's name and Jet Li since he's a small fighter. Really, it's for my son. The letters can stand for the Jesus Extreme Training League. I want the competition to serve as a proof that the training that the fighters receive for self-defense works. Also, I'll hire small fighters from various disciplines to teach. It should center on teaching a philosophy more than memorizing moves.

20080922 Received a copy of the Texas Medical Board's letter that they're investigating the complaint and will inform me of the progress around 90 days from the date of the letter (July 25). I put the letter upstairs.

20081013 Well, I passed 170 lbs. today. Still, a little less than 10 pounds per month. I was going to shoot for 120 lbs. but then I saw that my 12 yo. son at 5' 0" is 120 lbs. maybe I'll shoot for 130. We'll see.

The Texas Medical Board report should arrive about October 25.

20081101 Well. it didn't. I'll write to them to see what happened.

Today I passed 160 lbs. I think the Air Force thing is out. My wife really doesn't like it, so I'll try something else. I've found the Ultimate Combat Experience in Salt Lake City, Utah. Their lightest weight class is 125.9 lbs. First, I'll achieve that, then I'll work on the other aspects. Maybe there will be something like that spring up in Dallas.

20090114 Well, we went on vacation to the Philippines for 3 weeks and I went back to 170 lbs. I've worked back to 163 lbs. I've got a flu that slows me down. My contract with Mohler Jiu Jitsu is about over. The training wasn't intense enough. I'll try Collins Martial Arts when I get $110 in my account.

20090122 I'm in Collin's Martial Arts. Yesterday I passed 160 lbs.

20090318 Yesterday I passed 150 lbs. Jet attends Collin's Martial Arts with me. The Texas Medical Board said to ask for a status update in a month. I run about 3.5 miles each day (usually) in about 45 minutes. That's about 3 14-minute miles.

20090402 The Texas Medical Board sent me a letter saying that the Investigations Department is finished and they're giving the case to their Legal Department. They didn't say whether the charge was against the doctor or me. The letter is dated march 27, 2009. The file number is 08-5348.

I've decided to loose the last 25 pounds in 25 days. I've got from April Fool's Day to May 1, then I'll be 125 pounds and my new goal will be to stay there.

20090412 Man, that was a bust! I was getting close to 140 lbs. when BAM! my portfolio at TTU failed. Then we went on a weekend road trip, and it all combined to put me back at 150 lbs. Well, I'll get back on it tomorrow. I'll start a new diary of the MATC problem under Love Justice. 

20090528 Jet and I competed at the NAGA competition on May 9 in Garland, Texas. Jet won a silver medal and I lost. Here's the report of the event. Here's the photo of Jet (third photo). To see Jet's name in the results go to the report page, click on the Kid's Results tab, and look down the list of winners for Kids NO-GI Novice 115 to 129.9 lbs., 2nd Place. Here's the video of both of us.

20090608 I passed 140 lbs. this weekend by running to the Senior Center, working on the weights, and running back. Hopefully, the pool will be open Tuesday when I do it again. Over the weekend I almost went back to 150. Now I'll shoot for 135 lbs. That will be good enough for the tournament in August, but it looks like we'll be leaving for our vacation on that same day.

20090630 I signed up for the Dallas Runners Club Independence Day 5K Run that will take place on July 4 at White Rock Lake. I'm waiting for the Europa Grappling Competition on August 15 at the Dallas Convention Center. Instead of entering the "old man" category called Executive (even though we're not), I'll enter the Open category at 139 lbs. so that I'll be better matched by weight and experience, though not by age. I'll need $170 before then. I'm running 5 miles per day at a route in my area. The Senior Center pool was closed too often to rely on it. Also, I do three arm exercises with a 7 lb. weight in each hand for 100 repetitions, 3 times per day. I want work up to 4 times per day, then increase the weights to 10 lbs. each.

20090704 I finished the 5K. It was much easier than I thought. It was well organized and it should be reasonable to pay the $20 per year for unlimited runs versus $10 per run. I think my goal will be to increase the distances rather than run the same distance faster. Also, I finally reached 135 lbs. The Wii Fit said that I was in the Normal range for the first time. Just 10 lbs. to go then I'll have to work on some kind of maintenance routine. Here is the running result. Look at 5K: Male 50-54, 6th place.

20090725 Kita and I ran a 5K with the Plano Pacers for Children's Charities today. Here's the photo, here's the results. Kita won her class at Female 20-24. I, however, am at the bottom at 154th place. I'll try a 15K now. I've signed up for the Bath House 15K run on August 9.

20090802 Jet and I passed our white-belt tests on Friday. I'm really proud of Jet, I think he's one of the few, if not the only, 13-year-olds to accomplish this at Collin's Martial Arts.

20090809 I ran the Bath House 15K today. About the 5K area I cramped up in my right calf muscle, but I hobbled along and got a fifth-place medal in the 50-year-old Male category. See it here.

20091110 The Sunday before last I ran the DRC Half (marathon). I did ok. I was 125th in the 50-year-old Male category. Look at the bottom of the list and see what the 70-year-olds did. Yiminey! My next goal is to get my son to run with me until we run the 5K, 15K, half, and then full marathon by this time next year. Don't tell him.