F*$# Cancer - I will not be a statistic page 2

[Karma]

Great news this morning! I have been accepted into the USAT Level II Triathlon Coaching Program. In October I get to spend 4 days at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs learning from the best and practicing my coaching skills with an elite group of coaches and mentors. Only 20 coaches per year are selected to particiapte in the program so it's pretty huge for me to have been selected. That's even more incentive to get a lot more fit in the next 6 weeks so I don't stick out like a sore thumb amongst the fittest of the fit at the OTC. Went 100% PRIMAL on September 1st and there's no turning back. I'm going to give it 6 good solid weeks of "by the book" primal living before I re-evaluate my progress and decide if I want to continue down that path in the long term.

[OneHotMama]

Congratulations Karma! That's very exciting.

I am sorry about your mom's cancer. My mom and my daughter both had cancer and it sucks. It's hard to watch the ones you love suffer so much.

[Karma]

Long time since my last entry. Mom is doing well on Chemo but she is getting very tired. I got her to step up the supplementation with some very high quality nutriceuticals my wife gets through her nutrition consulting business. It should at least reduce free radical damage from the drugs.

My weight loss and fat loss took a turn for the worse last week but I'm back on track. I went away for 4 days with my childhood friends for some serious "man" time. We went through countless beers and rounds of ammunition while camping in the sierras southwest of Lake Tahoe. By default (beers), I went back on Gluten for a few days and really noticed how bloated I felt afterwards. That and the tortillas, pasta and breads they guys all brought killed me. I felt ill for two days when I got home and was up 4 pounds and 2%BF in 4 days according to my scale. I am going with the theory that I am dehydrated from drinking all week and the 20% RH in the air all week too. Coupled with the bloat from the gluten binge, what was I supposed to expect? Hey, I only see these guys once a year, I can binge for a few days. Call it my 20%, just all in one week!

Just before going away on my trip I had a consult with my knee surgeon and he basically told me I was being a pussy and needed to get into the weight room and seriously build strength in my atrophied leg or my knee cap will never track properly. So last night was my first trip to the weight room in I don't know how long. I almost forgot how to lift its been so long. Started out with the smith machine in front of a mirror and could immediatly see I was compensating heavily and my hip was tracking way off center during squats under load. It's going to be a hard road to travel but I have to do it, I'm not done for. My running career may be on it's sunset voyage, but my cycling and XC skiing appear to be on their way up!

My rollerskis arrived this week but so did triple digit temperatures. The heat is supposed to break this afternoon so I plan to go out on Friday to give them a test run.

Still trying to make this work.

[Karma]

Week 6 is in the books. No stellar weight loss or fat % reduction to speak of. I do however feel a bit better. And the 4 pounds I was up last week from my party session with the boys is already gone. I'm sure it was the gluten that did it. I have seen it do that to me before. I finally got off my ass and started pushing my knee rehabilitation a lot harder. I have seen some tangible results in the past few days but the knee is still "clicking" (knee cap not tracking quite right yet due to imbalance in different quad muscles). That rollerski sesion last week, combined with my first heavy lifting set really was a bit too much. I will do one or the other on opposite days going forward. I had to take 3 days off just so I could walk right.

This Wednesday my gym is bringing in the water tank truck for a submersion body fat test. I have decided to do it. My tanita scale is just all over the place. One day it's 23% BF and the next day its 26%. Too dependant on hydration levels to be very useful. TZhe gym has the dunk tank guy coming every 3 months so I will use that measurement for my tracking purposes.

I have pretty much decided that the Primal way is overall the right way but I have had to scale back my expectations. I don't have a ton of recomposition to do or a huge weight loss goal (12-15 pounds) so seeing big results in a short time is not going to happen for me. I came into the PB lifestyle with a quick results arttitude and have re-shaped it into a more long-term approach. For me its not about 30 days, its more about 6 months. Small measurable results over time will be fine. I just need to keep plugging away.

Mom had to stay overnight in the hospital last week to have her lung drained again. Doctors are thinking of injecting chemo drugs directly into her drain tube for maximum effect at the site of the cancer. Her chemo is in round 3 of 6 before a re-evaluation and possible more rounds. She really started losing her hair this week but she has found a support group that is being really great to her. I worry about dad though. He has nobody to talk to locally about what he is going through. He bottles so much of his emotions up inside. That stress can't be good for him either, he's also had two kinds of cancer himself in the past 10 years.

Three weeks until I go back to the doctor for another blood test to see if my cholesterol and tyroid markers are good. I'm not worried about the Thyroid so much, I've been doing fine on the replacement hormones for years now. I'm worried that if my cholesterol does not drop that the MD will want to put me on meds. We had an agreement that I would try non-prescription methods first (red rice yeast & diet). I hope that's working!

Cheers,

Dave

[Karma]

Week #7 done.

Got back to lifting heavy things this week. Currently doing a lot of twisting, pulling, pushing and core work for now. I am a bit surprised that I am such a weakling, but my knee surgery in late July really set me back a ton. I want to put that episode behind me. Going for rollerski #2 this morning after breakfast. Shooting for about 7 miles this time. It perfectly targets my weak quad that has shrunk following surgery.

I coach a team of triathletes and they are in for a suprise next season. I just bought a 100' polydacron 1 1/2" rope for some serious tug of war in training. (40 athletes should make this FUN). I am also developing a strength program that uses no wieghts for the team next season.

Yesterday I ordered new business cards for the coaching business my wife and I are launching in a few weeks. That's going to be a fun venture. I already have three clients who have called me to ask about coaching for next year. The next few weeks we are getting all of the web site details nailed down. I have a 14 year old designing my web site, pretty funny, but the kid is good at it and only charges me $10/hr. He's my next project because I see him slipping down the slope to obesity if he doesn't leave the computer and go play outside. I'm going to offer his mom a deal for his web services in exchange for me taking the kid outside to get him active and having fun.

I'm getting really excited about going to the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs in two weeks. I sure hope I can pass the muster and the tests to gain the certificatrion I'm after. It will really help my business because there are not really very many level II USAT coaches out there.

Mom's cancer therapy is going according to plan. Her hair is now completely gone but her spirit is still high. She is a little loopy from the chemo drugs, repeating things she just told me a few minutes ago, but that was expected according to the doctors.

Body Fat dunk test was this week. My Tanita scale was reading 23-27% depending on my hydration levels and I wanted a more accurate baseline. It turns out that my dunk test came out at 20.1%. That made me happy, but does show I need to drop some serious fat. My goal is to be at 17% by January (the next time the truck comes to the club).

Started really paying attention to my supplimentation this week, making sure to get my EPA/DHA, multi, Red rice yeast and joint relief support in every day. Two more weeks and I go for the blood test to see what changes in my cholesterol might have occurred over the past few months. Keeping fingers crossed.

Cheers,

Dave

[cillakat]

Body Fat dunk test was this week. My Tanita scale was reading 23-27% depending on my hydration levels

Just out of curiosity, have you tried using the scale at the same time every morning upon waking, right after going to the bathroom? I'm finding incredibly precise results using this method. I literally get the same number every time except when it creeps downward slightly as fat loss occurs.

It may or may not be 'accurate', but it sure as heck has been 'precise'.


K

[Karma]

Yup, every time is at the same point in the morning. The difference is biggest before and after a shower. When your feet are wet, the nubers change by 2-4%. I've been using the tanita as a trend alalysis tool rather than gospel and that works for me. I don't weigh myself every day, just once a week. I prefer to use the mirror as my guage for success rather than the scale.

[cillakat]

Yup, every time is at the same point in the morning. The difference is biggest before and after a shower.

Then it's not the same! lol


K

[Karma]

Long time to not write my thoughts. Things have been humming right along.

First of all, Mom. She has been through 6 rounds of Chemotherapy and her cancer markers are down but have not gone away. For the first time in her treatment, she did not have a week to week reduction in numbers and she is beginning to feel the peripheral neuropothy (numbness) in her feet and fingers, a sign that the chemo drugs are beginning to kill off nerve cells and they can't continue to up the dose. Her energy levels are low but her attitude is still pretty good. I try to visit about every two weeks.

How's primal going? Pretty fracking good! I went to the body fat dunk tank for a re-test and I dropped 10.05 pounds. 9.95 pounds of it was FAT. My tummy circumferance is down 10CM and my clothes fit very loose. I need to go get a new belt, I just hit the last hole about a week ago. I plateued for a couple of weeks and so I dropped dairy and the weight loss picked right back up. I am down a total of 16 pounds since October. I got a weight vest and have been gradually upping the weight and using it for my strength and mov-nat training. My dog is loving my short run and interval workouts, we have a route we run a few times a week in the open space near the house where he gets to run off leash. We always come home with him smiling and his tounge hanging out to the floor. I really got into the body weight strength stuff and developed a strength program of very easy to do exercises along with a bunch of agility workouts too. I'm feeling myself getting stronger and leaner every week.

And the business? Not formally launched yet, need to pay the extorsion fee of $800 for an LLC in the State of CA. Highway robbery if you ask me, no wonder nobody wants to start a business here! I did pick up two clients who are happy to pay cash for now. Liability concerns prevent me from working with anyone else right now. Once we have the business set up legally and have the insurance in place I will get the web site and promotional materials set up too. Its a very exciting time! *** I PASSED MY TEST !!! ****The trip to Colorado Springs to the Olympic Training Center was super cool. Working alongside so many top notch professional coaches was amazing. I passed all the on-site practical exams and submitted a 36 page manifesto as my written test (11 questions, essay answer). Last week I got my certificate in the mail confirming that I had passed the written test and am now one of only 214 level II USA Triathlon coaches in the USA. Probably one of the few primal ones for sure. tomorrow the season kicks off for the Team in training triathlon team I am coaching this season. We have 34 athletes so far, its going to be a really great season. I get to test out a lot of new coaching and primal training on a bunch of Guinea Pigs (the athletes).

[Grizz]

Karma,

Cillakat is correct. Get you and your family on 5,000 to 10,000 IU Daily ASAP and then get your blood level tested for optimal in 3 months.
Vitamin D3 deficiency leads to severe immune system degradation, making yourselves open to cancers and a wide array of other disease.

Vitamin D 'triggers and arms' the immune system
Vitamin D is crucial to the fending off of infections, claims new research.
Richard Alleyne
By Richard Alleyne, Science Correspondent 6:00PM GMT 07 Mar 2010

Comment

The so-called sunshine vitamin, which can be obtained from food or manufactured by human skin exposed to the sun, plays a key role in boosting the immune system, researchers believe.

In particular it triggers and arms the body's T cells, the cells in the body that seek out and destroy any invading bacteria and viruses.

Scientists at the University of Copenhagen have discovered that Vitamin D is crucial to activating our immune defences and that without sufficient intake of the vitamin, the killer cells of the immune system – T cells – will not be able to react to and fight off serious infections in the body.

For T cells to detect and kill foreign pathogens such as clumps of bacteria or viruses, the cells must first be ‘triggered’ into action and "transform" from inactive and harmless immune cells into killer cells that are primed to seek out and destroy all traces of invaders.

The researchers found that the T cells rely on vitamin D in order activate and they would remain dormant, ‘naïve’ to the possibility of threat if vitamin D is lacking in the blood.

Professor Carsten Geisler from the Department of International Health, Immunology and Microbiology, said: "When a T cell is exposed to a foreign pathogen, it extends a signalling device or ‘antenna’ known as a vitamin D receptor, with which it searches for vitamin D.
"This means that the T cell must have vitamin D or activation of the cell will cease. If the T cells cannot find enough vitamin D in the blood, they won’t even begin to mobilise. ”

The discovery, the scientists believe, provides much needed information about the immune system and will help them regulate the immune response.
This is important not only in fighting disease but also in dealing with anti-immune reactions of the body and the rejection of transplanted organs.

Active T cells multiply at an explosive rate and can create an inflammatory environment with serious consequences for the body.

After organ transplants, T cells can attack the donor organ as a ‘foreign invader’. In autoimmune diseases, like arthritis or Crohns Disease, T cells mistake fragments of the body’s own cells for foreign invaders, leading to the body launching an attack upon itself.

For the research team, identifying the role of vitamin D in the activation of T cells has been a major breakthrough.

“Scientists have known for a long time that vitamin D is important for calcium absorption and the vitamin has also been implicated in diseases such as cancer and multiple sclerosis, but what we didn’t realise is how crucial vitamin D is for actually activating the immune system – which we know now, ” said the researchers.

The findings, continues Professor Geisler, “could help us to contain infectious diseases and global epidemics.

They will be of particular use when developing new vaccines, which work precisely on the basis of both training our immune systems to react and suppressing the body’s natural defences in situations where this is important – as is the case with organ transplants and autoimmune disease.”

Most Vitamin D is produced as a natural by-product of the skin’s exposure to sunlight. It can also be found in fish liver oil, eggs and fatty fish such as salmon, herring and mackerel or taken as a dietary supplement.

The findings are published in the latest edition of Nature Immunology.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/he...ne-system.html

Also read this AMAZING report:
http://www.naturalnews.com/z028357_v...eficiency.html

For more on Vitamin D3, see my report below,
Grizz