Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness

Hit the wall last evening after a long day at the hospital with my Father-in-law. Not all the tests are back but the Doctors are very sure it is rectal cancer.He may end up with a colostomy bag on his side if they can operate. This of course has been very overwhelming for everyone concerned. Both a physically and emotionally draining day. I tried to be as supportive as possible to everyone especially my wife. Did a lot of walking into and out of the hospital, to the vending machines to get everyone drinks, etc. I had to eat my lunch at the hospital and I was shocked at the total lack of healthy alternatives in what is suppose to be a place of healing. I was able to get a small salad, tea, and an apple but I'm sure nothing was organic. I will pack a lunch to take with me from now on.

Due to how tired I was after my long day at the hospital I may have to delay my start of hitting the weights another day or two. Bummer!

I have a Dentist appointment Monday afternoon. Besides the usual general check up and cleaning I am going to talk to him about having my mercury containing fillings replaced. Been reading a lot about the daily damage they do to the immune system. Need to plug all leak in the boat so my immune system can be fully functioning on my cancer and not draining dealing with mercery poisoning from my teeth!

I weighed in this morning and was at 288. I have lost a pound a day for about the past 5 days. No wonder I'm tired. I really haven't been doing anything much different but the weight just really melted away. I tend to hold weight for up to 6-8 weeks in a row and then drop all at once. So I try not to get discouraged when I hit those plateau and just hold my course. With my reduced metabolism due to my hormone depletion therapy ( little or no testosterone) it's very hard for me to lose. Most men on this treatment gain weight and the risk of heart attacks and strokes go up. Not for me. That is why it is essential for me to keep exercising, both cardio and reasonable weightlifting to keep up my metabolism and hold on to as much of my muscle mass as possible! I am determined to continue to slowly lose weight and get down to the low 200's, and then reassess then if I should lose more. This is also a psychological trip for me too. I was always very happy being a big and powerful man and to lose so much weight and strength is very different for me . I have had to make the emotional and cognitive changes in my mind that I rather be a much smaller but healthier man than being big and at higher risk of an early death. Seems like a no brainer but has been a difficult emotionally journey nevertheless. I guess I'm a hard learner! LOL

With all of the above it is essential that I keep a very close watch on my nutrition. One of the first things I had to learn when I became a vegan was even as a vegan there was still lots of junk food vegan products out these and I must eat as close to the vine as possible and avoid "processed vegan food". I also eat as much of my produce organic and avoid GMO fruit and vegetables like the plague! And little or no sugar as that is the main fuel of cancer cells! While I do take a lot of supplements that I have researched help fight my prostate cancer, none of it is any good unless I have my real food right. Otherwise I'm just throwing my money away on the supplements I take. Over the past two month or so I have been slowly incorporating more and more of the cancer fighting protocol as developed by Jeff Primack as found in two of his books Conquering Any Disease and Smoothie Formulas published by Press On Qi Productions. I am drinking more and more of the smoothies he developed and eating more and more of the foods he recommends.His nutritional methods appear to be the most solid I have read anywhere! Link to his website is http://www.qigong.com/default.aspx

My blood pressure was 116/68 this morning. I will be talking to my Doctor about reducing and eventually stopping my blood pressure meds fairly soon. Blood pressure meds are known to make you tired too. Also want all possible toxic substances out of my system even/especially medications that have so many side effects!

Persistent cough. So tied of this. I want to feel better and I want it now! Well that rant worked good! Not

Well, I spend the day in the ER. My GP stated me on antibiotics this past Tuesday and they weren't doing a thing. I called her office and she told me to go to the ER. I was dx with a sinusitis infection and laryngitis plus some bronchial obstructions. They gave me some I.V. steroids as an anti-inflammatory, and a much more stronger antibiotic than what I had been taking. Also had me do a lung treatment with a strange inhaler what looked like smock was coming out of the end I had in my mouth to relax my bronchial area. They x-rayed my throat and upper chest which I went along with but didn't like. I have had way too many X-rays, CT scans, bone scans, plus the 8 1/2 weeks of radiation therapy since February of last year. About 15 scans in all. That's way to much. All that radiation can cause cancer too. It just seem counter intuitive to fight my cancer by having treatment that increase the risk! That's modern medicine for you! I know I may need more CT, etc in the future as my Doctor's monitor my progress but I want to minimize them as much as possible in the future! They discharged me with oral anti-inflammatories, more antibiotics, codeine syrup, and albuterol breath inhaler. Load me up Docs! More junk I will have to fight to get out of my system when all of this settles down!

The only good news is that I was at 285 this morning but I have mixed feelings about this much weight loss at this time. May not be good while I am fighting an infection. I have been losing about a pound a day over the past 10 days or so. Not the way to lose in a healthy manner I think!

Strange and upsetting thing happened while I was talking to the ER Doc just before I was discharged. He asked me if I even seen the inflamed lymph nodes in my chest, that had been dx with prostate cancer several weeks ago. I told him no but I would like to see them. Well it looked like it was one instead of several but the size of it was about the size of a silver dollar! That's huge! While it of course somewhat upsetting I am glad I do know now. I can let this defeat me or spur me to fight even more! There is no question which way I'm going to go! I will fight!

I woke up this morning and felt much better. Maybe I've turned a corner on this throat thing. Little or no coughing and my voice sounds almost normal, but I was instructed to try not to talk very much for the next several days. After seeing the x-ray of my lymph node tumor in my chest yesterday, I'm taking up my nutrition another notch. I'm going to fight like hell! More green smoothies every day especially those developed by Jeff Primack as found in two of his books Conquering Any Disease and Smoothie Formulas that I wrote about in a recent entry. Just keep upping my game!

Woke up feeling great. Very good nights sleep. I'm on the mend. I'll hold off exercise for a day or two more to be sure I'm ready and not dig a hole by try to come back too soon. However I will try to walk a little bit more. Go by feel.My voice is still a little high but at least I don't sound like Mickey Mouse anymore. And my coughing is greatly reduced. I want to go with my wife to the hospital to spend the day with her Dad. We still haven't received the results from the biopsy they took this past Saturday. But his Doctor is very sure it is advanced colon cancer. I hate cancer and what it does to people and their loved ones!

Well, we received the worst news we were hoping would not come true. My 93 year old Father-in-law does have lower colon cancer and they do have to operate tomorrow morning. He will end up with a colostomy bag for the rest of his life. My wife is very upset and feels so bad for her Father. Quality of life for her Father is very important to her. With my own prostate cancer, she is feeling very overwhelmed. I can deal with anything that may happen to me but how it effects Rita, my sons and grandsons, and of course the rest of my family and friends is what tear me up inside. I've always been the one who takes care of others. To be a source of possible pain and worry for others about my health and life is a burden that almost overwhelms me at times. But I know I must stay strong and give them the assurance that I am doing everything in my power to win my fight. It is the fight of my life and the stakes can't be any higher! I pray for grace and healing in the name of all those I love. And please join me in praying for my Father-in-law and his family! And please play for Rita and all loved ones who have family members with cancer or other life threading diseases!

Well my 93 year old Father-in-law Lester come through his surgery in very good shape this morning. We spend the rest of the day watching over him in the ICU. He was sleeping 98% of the time. He was really out of it which should be expected. I have not really explained how much this man means to me. I met him about five years ago soon after Rita and I met and began dating. My wonderful wife had passed away about 12-15 months previously after I had taken care of her in our home the last 4 years of her life. Those 4 years had been the most important and meaningful years of our long and loving marriage. When I met Lester he was doing the exact thing for his very ill wife, little Nanny. He was taking such good care of her. I immediately felt a bond and very deep respect for the man. He had the same loving family values that I held so dearly for my late wife Linda and the rest of my family. I can say I love the man as if he was my grandfather, which he reminds me of so much my own grandfather. A hard working, down to earth man who never shied away from taking responsibility for the care, safety, and well-being of all his loved ones. Just last year Lester and I would take long walks together in many of the local parks in the central Ohio area. One of those walks was at a park called Clifton Gorge that has a three mile path up the side of the gorge and back down the other. There were a lot of steep climbs up and down the banks of the river that ran through it. It was a very difficult walk for me and I was 30 years his junior but he did it in fine style. Very impressive. On those long walks we talked about a lot of subjects but I loved listening to his adventures as the top Military Policeman in England during World War II. That is where he met his little Nanny, fell in love, married her, and brought her State side after the war. A real love story! They has a wonderful and long marriage together until her passing about 4 1/2 years ago. So I do deeply care for my Father-in-law. I pray every night for his recovery and for many more years he can be with and enrich the lives of his family. I look up to the man and his real personal courage in facing the adversities of his life. I draw a lot of strength from him in so many ways. Life is worth fighting for not only for one's own sake but for all that we love and love us!

I'm sorry to hear about your father-in-law, IronSmith, and will join you in sending some good thoughts his and his daughter's way - I know how tough it is to watch your big strong dad get sick.

Thank you for your kind thoughts. As I began my personal journey to try and regain my health and fight my cancer, I did not know that it would also a kind of vision quest. This is not just about the foods I eat or the exercise I do, but it is also a very profound process of emotional and spiritual grown. Is is a process of deepening my already intense feelings and love for my family and friends. It is very interesting to me how embracing the eating concept of veganism has also been an opening up of the profound philosophy of life that I didn't give much though about at the beginning of my journey. While I have always held many personal values that comfortably coincide with those values, it had been a real awaking of my sensibilities of how important all life in all of God's creatures is so vital to us all. As I expand my love to all my family and friends, I find that love expanding to the sacred nature of all living things. I was a child of the 60's but I don't think as sensitive and care person I believe I have always been, I still never grasped the immense nature of it all before.

Well, I feel very good today and I plan on slowly beginning my exercise program again today. I will ride my bike and do a light upper body weight workout. I'm so looking forward to getting back in the gym! I just need to proceed carefully. I still cough a little so I will not exert myself too much. I truly believe in finding the right balance between not making excuses to do nothing and doing just enough to stimulate a conditioning response without over training. This is especially important when dealing with both acute or chronic illness. First do no harm. But do something! Don't just give up!

I had a very profound experience last night. Rita and I went to watch my son play and sing with his band. They were totally assume. I can't talk but fortunate I can listen! They brought the house down. The owner of the bar got on stage and called Wrong Sauce the best band in Ohio at the present time. And he has a band of his own! He schedules them in his bar at least once a month and he says he will as long as they want any gigs. Anyways as I always do at some point during their gigs, I say a silent pray in my heart and say "Linda can you you hear our son play? Isn't he great!?" My late wife Linda was my sons biggest fan and loved his musical talent as much as I do. Anyways right after I finished my silent prayer, Larry Jr. introjected into the lyrics of the song he was singing "Mom can you hear me?" It was like an electric shock went through my body. Larry Jr had no idea that I was just asking the same prayerful question in my heart. Immediately after he finished that song, he told the audience that even though his Mother had passed away several years ago, he felt she was with him tonight. It was a very joyful moment for me and Rita shared the joy with me. Larry Jr. gave a loving shout out to both me and Rita at that point and said there is nothing like the love of ones family! I was at such peace the rest of the evening and during the hour ride home afterwards. And I'm feeling it right now. Life is so precious and we should all take the best care of ourselves and our loved ones as we are able.

As I wrote in a previous blog, this journey to regain my health is not just a physical journey, it has become a spiritual quest also. We need to heal on so many levels!

Rita's brother flew up from Florida yesterday. I picked him up at the airport and we went straight to the hospital so he could see his Father. He is going to stay with us for several days to help with all the care and arrangements that his Father may need as he recovers and adjusts to the major surgery he just received. My Father-in-law had been living in an independent apartment at a local nursing community up to now. But it is most likely he will need to move into a unit that offers much more assistance and supervision to help him learn how to do whatever self care he maybe able to learn in how to care for his colostomy bag and hygiene. Lester has been having a development of some dementia over the past few years so we need to maintain a reasonable level of expectations of how much he may learn to do himself balanced with how much assistance and supervision he may need. We all want him to keep as much independence as he is able but maintain his safety!

All of the above issues with Lester are stressful. As is the ongoing care of my Mother who is also in an Alzheimer's unit in a local nursing community. Stress reduction and management is so vital for both Rita and I right now. Stress can be very destructive to my cancer recovery and fight. The question all caretakers have to ask themselves is "Who takes care of the caretaker?" Of course I depend on the love and support of my family and friends but I must always be sure I am taking good care of myself. I can't be of much help to anyone unless I take good care of myself also! Life goes on!

Just watched a very interesting video by Chris Wark who had been dx with Stage three Colon cancer at the age of 26. He had surgery to have the tumor and over a third of his colon removed but he refused chemo afterwards. He choose to go a vegan/raw food diet and has done remarkable well some 7-8 years later. He Doctors told him he would die in a few years without the chemo. To see his video, an interview on Barbell Shrugged go to http://chrisbeatcancer.com/interview-barbell-shrugged/

As Chris warns, the language gets very salty at times so use your own discretion if you want to hear it all but it was very good! There is also lots of side talk between the other four guys talking in the interview but it's worth wadding through to hear Chris's story. Chris has his own website which you will be able to access when you link to his video. Enjoy!

Here I am awake at 4:00 AM. Couldn't sleep but feeling great. Good day yesterday and looking forward to the new day. My brother-in-law Wayne spend the day with his Father in ICU. Lester is making good progress and even sat up for two hours. He was in a lot of pain but this was a necessary step in his recovery. With Wayne here to help out, it freed my wife Rita to go into work and get several projects done at the University where she works. She had to take a lot of time off work this past week and she was relived to be able to catch up somewhat in her work. I stayed home and cleaned house, and cooked (made about a dozen veggie burgers from a recipe I found on this site that Robert had posted.) They turned out great and will become a new favorite go to meal in the future. I'm still pounding down my green smoothies too. And lots of big salads. I'm eating about 80% raw these days. I don't think I can go 100% raw all the time but I think I'm going to try every other day, or maybe just make a total commitment and go raw for 90 days and see how I feel. Just got to keep fine tuning my diet and making progress. It was real good to workout yesterday a little. Plan on riding my bike again today at a little higher resistance for 20 minutes. Then do some light box squats. Yesterday I tried on a new squat belt I had bought several months ago but was still too small for me to use up to now. Well, it fit great! The waist line is going down! I'm at 280 now and it continues to slowly melt off. I want to be down to at least 275 by my birthday at the end of the month. That would please me greatly! Rita and I are planning on going on a cruse in late November if things settle down around here. I would love to be in the 220-230's by then. I could be a lot more comfortable taking long walks during the cruse seeing the sights! We took a cruse at the same time of last year but I was a lot heaver and it did hold me back from doing everything I wanted that trip. No more. So I will keep on setting and reaching reasonable goals.

Went to Columbus today to have my nutritional IV treatment. Missed it last week due to being in the ER. Good to get back on track again. Stopped at Whole Foods and picked up some natural personal hygiene products. I want to get rid as many of the chemicals, toxins, additives, dyes, etc as I can when I shower, shave, wash up, etc. Looking for a good shower water filter to eliminate lead, chlorine, etc too. We inhale all of that stuff or absorb it as we shower. The more you know about this junk, the more you understand why it makes us sick! Trying to plug all the leaks in the toxic boat, that is keep the toxic substances out of my system the best I can. Eating vegan/organic/unprocessed/whole plant food is only one part of my total approach. Just keep kicking it up a notch!

20 minutes on my recumbent bike.
Light upper body dumbbell workout.
(Flat bench and incline bench DB Presses, Incline bench flys, Standing DB Presses, Side Lateral Raises, Bent over Lateral Raises, DB Curls, Lat machine triceps push downs, DB Rows - all for three sets with 12 - 8 reps)
Knee rehab. (TKEs w/ medium band, Standing toe raises, Shin raises - three sets of 20-15 reps)
Ab Bench -( three sets of 20-15 reps)