Sunday 17 July 2016

Dementia - Making the most life while we can.

Dementia - Making the most of life while we are here.

There's a happy point to all this, but first some background...
My parents have always been hard working people. Dad had a demanding job in the finance sector and Mum had various part-time jobs on top of being a full-time mother - always there for me before and after school. As most parents do they hoped to give me a life full of love, support, and success but always worried about whether it was ever enough.

It was always enough, more than enough, and I have led a great life so far thanks to them.

Fast forward to present day and an invisible eraser has been at work, taking Dad slowly away, blurring the edges of the man I respect and love. Unfortunately, it seems to be getting exponentially worse and his reluctance to do anything to counter the issue is not helping. Things are obviously hard for Mum as she cares for him on a daily basis.

It is hard to watch, and unbelievably hard to try and contemplate the impermanence of life, when the subject is your once 'indestructible' parents. I try to see the positive in life so when I went to visit and Dad would tell me the same things as the previous week, I would smile on the way home and think that I'd never be short of conversation because he would never remember what was said previously.

No matter how positive a spin I put on it, when you're sat discussing wills and Power of Attorney with the solicitors it all hits home. The reason I started making this book was because of some of the things Mum said, "I wish we could have done more" and "I'm sorry we had you so late, you should't have to be dealing with this" along with the daily reports that Dad is forgetting things more often than not. Even to a point recently where he could not recognise me in a picture.

No matter how much I explain to them that I'm happy, life is good and how I wouldn't have changed a thing about childhood none of it seemed to be hitting home. So I began to write a journal using one they bought me for Christmas which had been hand-made in Turkey. I split it down into sections to tell some of the moments in my life which I could remember, the positive lessons I had learnt and some pictures taken along the way. It starts with a section dedicated to before they had me so they can fill it in themselves; how they met, what life was like while they were courting and so forth. Hopefully that walk down memory lane will serve up some happy thoughts and reminders of why some 40 years later they are still together too.

I thought that maybe jogging Dad's memory in a positive way would bring him into a happier place, and hopefully they will also read it and see that I appreciate every moment in life especially all that they have done for me. I know I can never stop them worrying but to think that at least may make them smile.

For anyone with relatives suffering from any form of Dementia I hope you manage to find some solace along the way. Don't be afraid to talk about it, you may be surprised at the amount of help and support there is. Most of all I wish you happiness.

Namaste
x


Me and dad 2001












Me and dad 2016











Sunday 10 July 2016

Fat 2 Fit @ 40 - Milestone 1 (Week 4)


Milestone 1 (Week 4)

Rather than weekly updates telling you I have been doing the same thing seemed somewhat boring for the readers so here's a summary! This stage of the process for me was all about loosing the fat and getting into a routine. One of my biggest challenges was fitting it all in one day, the only way to do this was to get up earlier, so 5am starts became the norm. It's not forever though, I have detailed the timings of my day at the bottom of this post along with my cheat day!

Statistics:

I'm not sure of my fat % at the start as I realised at week 2 that I had the scales setup incorrectly, fortunately the picture speaks a thousand words. At week 4 I am 24% body fat and 12st 13lb.

Tip:

The biggest change I found was swapping cardio and Freeletics around so that I was doing Freeletics in a morning to make use of the afterburn effect during the day.

Eating:

Eating 6 meals a day certainly kept hunger at bay somewhat and also gave rise to more energy. I kept my macros at 20% carbs, 50% protein, 30% fat roughly and did this by planning food every day and tracking it closely on the shealth app.

Exercise:

30 mins cardio per day at 80% of max heart rate for the first two weeks rising to 1 hour cardio per day at 120bpm in the last two which for me is in zone 2 (fat burning zone). Freeletics days per week were, 7, 5, 4 and 4. Plus two hours walking the dogs.

Schedule:

This is how a day pans out for me in the most intricate detail I can think. My alarm is a smart alarm on the phone so I wake up anywhere between 4:45am and 5:15 am. The meals which are shown as 0 minute intervals are just to highlight that I have a meal. They only involve putting broccoli in the microwave for 2 minutes and taking back to the desk. I drink water constantly through the day, approximately 3 liters plus whatever I get from green tea.

05:15 - 05:30 > Wake up, Soaked oats and hemp, glass of water, get dressed.
05:30 - 06:30 > Walk dogs
06:30 - 07:10 > Stretching (trying to do splits) & Freeletics
07:10 - 07:30 > Shower & Dress for work
07:30 - 07:50 > Meal 1: Omelette (1 yolk, 3 whites)
07:50 - 08:00 > Wash pots & clean kitchen tops.
08:00 - 08:30 > Hoovering, Dusting, Ironing.
08:30 - 08:45 > Meditation
08:45 - 09:00 > Potter around, make a brew, read a book, phone my mum.
09:00 - 10:00 > Work (Writing Software)
10:00 - 10:00 > Meal 2: Chicken & Broccoli
10:00 - 13:00 > Work
13:00 - 13:45 > Break & Meal 3: Tuna, sweet potato.
13:45 - 16:00 > Work
16:00 - 16:00 > Meal 4: Chicken & Broccoli
16:00 - 17:10 > Work & plan following day.
17:10 - 18:20 > Stretching & Cardio (Exercise bike, 120bpm HRZ 2)
18:20 - 18:45 > Shower, change.
18:45 - 19:00 > Meal 5: Chicken & Broccoli, rest.
19:00 - 20:00 > Walk dogs
20:00 - 21:30 > R&R + work on personal projects if needed.
21:30 - 22:00 > Meal 6: 40g Caesein & relax, no work, no checking emails, no watching depressing things like the news.
22:00 - 05:15 > Sleep!

That's pretty much it, I think that if I had put that schedule infront of me a few months ago I would have said there is no way I could do it. However the constant eating and the exercise does give me more energy and also better sleep. I don't do Freeletics every day so the 06:30 - 07:15 becomes free and admittedly I curl up on the sofa with the boys and read a book or watch some TV.

The weekends are no different, other than I don't usually work, so theres gardening to do and cleaning, cars to wash and places to see.

As I mention before though, as manic as this may sound to some readers, this is only for a pre-determined length of time and although it'll be ingrained into my daily life I won't be needing to do so much cardio in the future for a start, nor will I be needing to eat so little and often or so plainly. Right now it's all about putting the maximum amount of effort and sacrifice in to get to where I need to be, and it's working.

One last bit of information, cheat day!

Cheat day

So at 7lb loss and after 4 weeks I took a cheat day. I still did Freeletics around lunchtime and I still had Omelette and oats for breakfast and then ate 4 pancakes with honey and lemon which left me feeling bloated. At lunch we went to down and I had an Alabama Slammer, bottle of beer, full rack of ribs, coleslaw, two portions of french fries (ate my girlfriends too) pork belly, Giotto cake, large cappuccino, 20 rum balls, 3/4 pack haribo sour mix. We then went back and later on I finished off by eating a thai green curry and a glass of red wine. I felt tired and bloated but nourished. I would definitely do it again but not the sweet stuff.