Jim's Place

My latest article for the Pituitary Network Association newsletter

Spring 2003

Prior to the pituitary disorder, I would frequently have my friends over for barbecues and pool parties. But in recent times, I just didn't have the energy to support much of a social life. However, I had become somewhat famous for throwing a great New Year's party! Even though I had been fighting constant sinus infections and colds for the last couple of months, I was excited about having all my friends over to party with me at my condo. It had been a rough year and I couldn't think of anything better than celebrating the new year and leaving 2002 behind. As usual, I adorned my place with tons of lights, lots of New Year's decorations and plenty of party favors. My friends complimented me on how festive my condo looked, but they seemed perplexed that my Rocketwing was sitting in my living room, as it had been for the last three years. That's the bright red racing bike that I had bought in 2000, but hadn't been able to ride due to illness and being much too heavy. I guess at 300 pounds, it was hard to believe that there was still an athlete somewhere inside...

 

Son of a gun!

 I just got back my recent lab results and was shocked how out of whack my hormone levels are! As many of you know, I was diagnosed with pituitary failure which requires me to take all the hormones your body would normally produce on its own.

Well... My thyroid levels are extremely low. My TSH was 35 and for those of you who know what this means (normal is about 1-5) that's an extremely out-of-whack result! Levels this low will cause severe fatigue, muscle weakness, sleep problems.

My testosterone was also extremely low which would also cause fatigue, muscle weakness, lethargy and promote the body storing fat. It also causes a feeling of malaise and even elevated blood pressure.

Factor in the recent determination that my cortisol medication is way too high and it explains a lot of the difficulties I've experienced in recent months. So today I started on corrected dosages and I'm really jazzed because I know from many years of going through this that this is a breakthrough that will help me do better in my BFL program - and life in general...

Just wanted to share what I think is great news!   

Perfection? Fugedaboutit!!!

 As you know, Bill Philips preaches “Progress not Perfection” and I’ve seen discussions where some people aren’t real comfortable with that approach. Certainly, it is unrealistic to expect perfection but not a bad idea to pursue it. And when you mess up occasionally it is a good idea to focus on the progress you have made rather than beat yourself up because you weren’t perfect. But then again, aiming to ‘just make progress’ doesn’t carry much passion or fire behind it and if there is one thing you MUST have to succeed in Body-for-Life it’s PASSION! So the last few days I’ve asked myself what is the best perspective in this area for me?

Well, instead of demanding perfection or just settling for a little progress, I’m committing to EXCELLENCE!!! Yeah! That seems like a much better approach! So what I’ve been doing after each workout or meal is evaluating how I did not in terms of perfection but excellence…

“Wow Jim! That was an excellent workout! You really hit your highpoints!”   

“Way to go on your meals today. You didn’t do perfect but you still did excellent!”   

“You haven’t been perfect on your challenge. But not only have you made progress, you’ve made excellent progress!”   

OK gang, you get the idea. The point I was making is that it is so important to keep your fire and passion going. Many people just don’t get excited about the idea of ‘making progress’ but if you’re waiting until you achieve perfection to get excited about your BFL program, it could be a long frustrating wait… Whether you use the term EXCELLENCE or something else to assess your daily achievements find someway to stay excited about every day you live the BFL way…

Anything less...

...than your best is simply not enough!!!   

I'm on week 3 of this challenge and despite a few bumps in the road it's going pretty dern well thank you! I'm down 2 inches in the stomach and feel pretty excited! However, as I've encountered in previous challenges there are times when I'm tempted to go into 'cruise' mode...going through the motions with perhaps less passion than when I started...

The tendency is to think "Hey, I can take it a little easier and still make progress" or if you haven't seen the results you expected you start telling yourself "Well, it doesn't look like I'm going to achieve my goals so it won't make much difference if I back off a little bit..."

But I know from past experience that anything less than your best effort is simply not enough! Once you tell yourself that you don't have to give it 100%, the question you ask yourself changes from "What's the best thing I can do to make progress?" to "How much can I get away with and still have decent results?".

You would think that backing off of your effort by a small amount would only affect your results by a small amount. But from what I've seen, it causes you to lose focus and momentum and before you know it your program is either on a severe downward slide or you've abandoned it. Remember...Regardless of your progress or lack thereof EVERY workout DOES make a difference! EVERY meal choice DOES make a difference! Don't lose your passion! Don't lose your fire! You'll never regret doing your best...

Just wanted to share my experience to see if it might help others. I would also like to hear your feedback and your experiences with this topic.

Check out the Rocket Grill!

I bought a new indoor grilling appliance the other day at Target and it works great! It's even better than my George Foreman grill for most grilling. You place the food in a parchment-paper pouch, drop it in the slot and set the timer. When it dings, the food has nice grill marks and is usually juicier than when I use the GF grill. The pouch has a little pocket at the bottom so that the fat drains into it. The best part is there is no cleanup! Just drop the pouch in the trash!

It works great for both fresh and frozen meats as well as sandwiches and vegetables. I made an EFL Turkey Reuben sandwich the other day and it came out better than using my electric griddle and was much quicker.

Now the one drawback is that you have to buy the pouches made for the Rocket Grill. I decided to buy several boxes just in case I have a hard time finding them in a year or so.

Anyway, it's on sale at Target for $49.99 (usually $79.99). Here's the link to Sunbeam's website. Check it out. I think it's a big asset for my BFL program.

Rocket grill 

Hello from Hollywood!

I'm sitting here in my room at the Hollywood Hotel, which is actually the Ramada Inn - Hollywood. So, why is Jim in Hollywood? Is he trying to be a star or something? Well, not exactly...

I went to see one of the top pituitary disorders specialists in the world in nearby Beverly Hills. I drove the 140 miles up from where I live in San Diego and decided to get a hotel instead of driving back. The appointment left me feeling really jazzed!

As many of you know, I've been having a bit of a challenge with my medical condition - pituitary failure - for the last several years. Frankly, it's been one hell of a roller coaster mainly because my doctors in San Diego just didn't know how to effectively treat my condition. But after today, I feel that I've finally got a doctor and treatment plan that will WORK!!! Ironically, the doctor is concerned about my BFL program. He doesn't think my body can handle anything more than casual exercise. However, I told him I just can't give it up! Sheesh! I've got a ton of weight to lose! He said that my dosage of cortisol medication (hydrocortisone) was way too high and that it was the key reason I had ballooned up in the last years. Tomorrow, I start a slow and lengthy process of withdrawal which will take a year or so...

Anyway, this is REALLY GOOD NEWS and I wanted to share it with my BFL buddies first. Man! If (or should I say when?!) I get this chronic illness stuff under control I'm going to be a madman (I mean that in a good way!) in gym and on the bike!

Thanks for all your support and like I always tell Udenia - 2008 is MY year!!!