Downtime - Exercising Halted Due To Injured Leg

Hello Readers,

Recently I had an opportunity to travel to Las Vegas, Nevada. I found an opportunity to attend the BlogWorld Expo 2008, and in exchange for my volunteering of my videography services, recording twenty presentations in two and one-half days, I was given a pass to the entire weekends activites. BlogWorld Expo was a gathering of the 'thought-leaders' in blogging and Affiliate Marketing on the internet. The conference ran for three days, beginning on a Friday, continuing on Saturday and finishing on a Sunday during September 2008.

Affiliate Marketing Overview

Commissions are paid to advertisers (Affiliates) by ad networks that negotiate deals with service providers or product manufacturers. Commissions are paid when someone responds to an advertisement on Google's, Microsoft's, or Yahoo's 'search results', marketing programs.

Those little text-ads you see down the side of Google's search results pages are ads placed there by companies, ('Sponsored-search') or Affiliate Marketers. ( 'Paid-search'). Anyway I am trying to make money on-line by 'monetizing' blogs like this one, to see if I can do it too!

Trip Preparations

In my haste to load my vehicle with the required equipment, I was lifting a heavy box, reaching way out beyond my toes, and overstretched or overextended my right calf and felt a strange pulling and a small snap in my calf, followed by a sensation of a tiny curling sensation in my upper calf.

To my chagrin I could not walk without extreme pain in the area, and I feared that I had pulled and snapped my hamstring muscle! And on the night before a very important four-hundred mile drive for work to begin the following morning in Las Vegas! I immediatly got off of my feet, and started the heat-pack and ice-pack rotation technique, ten to fifteen minutes of each method, to see if this was merely a cramp or 'charley-horse' type of injury.

I can say with assurance, it was painful! Finally at 12:00-midnight, I took some pain-relievers and went to bed. The next morning, my mother-in-law brought over some pads treated with lydocaine, and stated that these had worked for her. I went out to my car to see if I could still press on the brake pedal with enough force to stop my vehicle. Having some success there we decided to travel to Las Vegas. I applied the pad to the affected area of my calf, and hoped that this would help.

I had not finished the packing process the previous evening, so I did this with a slower pace than usual, as my leg was still tender and needed to be 'favored' a bit, to avoid aggrivating the injury.

We finally got on the road around 10:00 AM and the drive was easy, Thursday morning traffic was light, and we finally hit Highway 5 heading for the Bakersfield turnoff. We made it to Las Vegas in good time, only stopping for gas and lunch. By the time we reached the outskirts of Las Vegas, the sun had gone down, and coming over Baker's Pass we were treated to the full effect of the brilliant lights of that city.

Needless to say, I was on my feet for the next three days, from 5:00 AM until 6:00 PM, videotaping presentations from 'thought-leaders' in the web-blogging and Affiliate Marketing businesses. It was fascinating information for me as I had recently jumped in full-time in July of 2008 to see if I could make a living 'on-line'. I won a dinner with the premiere bloggers on the web, at an exclusive five-star steakhouse, private dining room and lobster macaroni, kobe beef, chocolate decadence cake, and lots of photos with the rock-stars of Affiliate Marketing! I briefly forgot about my leg injury during this exciting event!

This videotaping task diminished the pain in my leg, as my mind was in 'sponge-mode' soaking up every tidbit of information on how to be successful in my on-line marketing projects. The people I met were John Chow, Jeremy Shoemaker, Darren Rowse, Chris Brogan, Zac Johnson, Patrick O'Keefe and Jim Kukral, all highly successful entrepreneurs and web marketers. They all shared how long it took for their success to come, and I was encouraged by how kind they all were in giving their time to others just starting out.

I returned home with all of the videos from the weekend, and I wanted to watch them undistracted by all of the work I was doing during recording. I made copies for myself and prepared to send the master copies to the BlogWorld Expo management.

Excercise Program Put on 'Hold'

Needless to say, I halted my exercise and exercycling program until I was assured that my leg was healed. I never did go to the doctor to see if I had torn my hamstring, although I suspect I may have severed one tiny thread of it, as that weird 'curling' sensation made me believe.

Now it's October 20, and after mowing my lawn this afternoon, I am going to slowly ramp-up my exer-cycling again, starting with three miles the first day, gradually adding a mile per day until I am back up to fifteen miles per day on Monday through Friday. I rest on the weekends, and let my leg muscles restore and prepare for the next week's exercise. I have also been walking an additional forty minutes per day in order to use different leg muscles than the pedaling ones.

One good result of the trip and work in Las Vegas was that I lost two and one-half pounds as a result of all of the walking and lack of large meals except the steak dinner of course. When I returned home I was pleased to see the results were positive, just with constant activity in replacement of the exer-cycling process.

Let me know if you enjoyed this post as much as I enjoyed writing it!

Please leave me a comment below, and I will respond.

Respectfully, Nicholas

My Dinner with John Chow and Shoemoney!

http://ping.fm/CgZxT

Here is my blog, check it out!

http://ping.fm/Bl6O4

Back from BlogWorld 2008 and Lost More Weight!

Hello Readers,

My weight loss program took an interesting turn this weekend. Instead of exer-cycling on Thursday and Friday, I drove down to Las Vegas, and walked the 15~20 miles per day at the convention center!

Using Twitter, I found the show management contact and offered my videography services to the BlogWorld Expo 2008 show. They did not have a formal plan to record the video of each session, just audio. I managed to wrangle an unlimited access pass to BlogWorld Expo 2008 in Las Vegas over the weekend.

BlogWorld Expo is a gathering of internet Super Affiliates, Ad Networks, 'thought-leaders' and bloggers and newbies trying to learn how to make a living from their webpages and blogs, in their pajamas.

I spent all day Friday, Saturday and Sunday dragging my video gear all over the South Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center. The result...?

I LOST TWO MORE POUNDS! And won a dinner with the top echelon of 'thought-leaders' in Affiliate Marketing and Blogging in the world.

You can see some photos and my BlogWorld Expo post here:

http://donotreadthisblogunless.blogspot.com/

The weight loss was due to my not eating as well as I do at home, slamming down a triple-shot grande latte and a bagel at StarBucks, grabbing some snaks, fruit and pasta from the show management offerings, and extreme amounts of bending, lifting, walking and videography covering twenty sessions in two and one-half days!

This was a cool event, and the dinner was really five-star, including Kobe-beef and lobster macaroni, and raspberry chocolate mousse. As I stated before, I ride the exer-cycle 15 miles per day, Mon~Fri and on the weekends I eat!

My goal is still under 200 pounds by next month, October 2008. I'm currently down to 202.5 from an original 215 pounds. My next goal after that will be 185 pounds.

Please leave me a comment below, and I promise to respond.

Respectfully, Nicholas

Back From A Road Trip!

Hello Fellow Dieters! I took a brief break from all of my blogs, to travel out of town on business to the place you see above.

Upon my return I weighed myself on my digital scales. Guess what? All the time away having great meals with family and friends, bread, the large dinner or breakfast here or there, and upon my return? No weight gain!

No weight loss either, still at 203 1/2 pounds, which was what I weighed when I left! Of course, I could not take my exercyle with me, so I did not exercise at all during my travels, save a bit of a walk to the local coffee shop for a hot latte!

I am still continuing the 1/4-teaspoon of ground cinammon morning and evening as before. I did keep up this regimen while traveling as I wanted to gauge the success of this cholesterol-lowering test accurately. Once I make my appoinrment at the doctor in October, I will request the cholesterol lab work be done.

I will be really excited if my diet modifications, and weight loss goals, with exercise project proves successful. My doctor will be pleased that I have kept going on the exercise program too.

Please leave me a comment below if you enjoyed this post, and don't forget to check out my ads!

Respectfully, Nicholas

Thursday Update

DISCLAIMER: The author is not a doctor nor nutritionist. The author will not be offering advice for the reader to follow. Before starting any diet or exercise program be sure to consult with your medical practitioner. This blog was created for the express purpose of reporting the individual results of the author's weight loss and cholesterol lowering program.

Hello fellow diet and weight loss enthusiasts! I have been really busy lately, so this update has been somewhat delayed. Some good news. I weighed myself this morning, and I have lost another 3.5 pounds! The same regimen has been followed as before. Exer-cycling for 15-miles on Monday~Friday each week, adding a couple miles of walking per week as well.

Before I started on the exercycle, I was walking 3-miles per day, every day, but I was not losing the weight I was expecting to lose. The exercycle burns about 1200+ calories at 15-miles, and at about 39~40 minutes per workout this totals 6,000 calories per week burned.

The cholesterol-lowering project will continue into September, as I feel that testing the premise that 1/4-teaspoon of ground cinnammon, twice-daily will have had sufficient time to prove it's worthiness. I will then schedule a cholesterol screening, and we'll see what has occurred!

I must say that I have recently enjoyed greater energy, mowing the lawn and taking care of my own yard has been made easier by the increased stamina provided by exercycling. I am also sleeping like a baby, no doubt due to the increased physical activity.

My doctor has stated that walking is another excellent form of exercise, however it takes me approximately one-hour to walk three miles, and I do not know how many calories I am burning in one-hour of walking.

Suffice to say, I am pleased with the results of my diet modification and weight-loss experience to date. If my cholesterol screening returns with a positive report, then I will be doubly pleased!

Thank you for reading this blog about my diet and weight loss program. Please do leave a brief comment below, I promise to respond.

Respectfully, Nicholas

NOTE: You may click on the link below to learn about a proven weight loss program! And Thanks!

http://www.gopjn.com/t/Rj9LS0ZCP0NDREtCP0NDSUpE

Two Month Progress Report

DISCLAIMER: The author is not a doctor nor nutritionist. The author will not be offering advice for the reader to follow. Before starting any diet or exercise program be sure to consult with your medical practitioner. This blog was created for the express purpose of reporting the individual results of the author's weight loss and cholesterol lowering program.

Two months ago I decided to begin a weight-loss and cholesterol-lowering project, based on findings at my last physical.

The exer-cycle was dragged from it's storage shed, oiled and dusted off and put to use.

At the beginning of the exercise portion of this process, I weighed 215 pounds. After two months of exer-cycling at 15 miles per day, burning 1300 calories in 39 minutes of pedaling Monday~Friday each week, and modifying my diet to avoid the high fat items I weighed myself this morning.

My total weight loss for two months of effort is now 13.5 pounds! I will continue this regimen until I reach the 190 pound range, and eventually want to get down to 185 pounds or so. I may need to exercise a bit more, but not sure I want to subject my fifty-five year old knees to any more abuse?

The cholesterol lowering process includes 1/4-teaspoon of ground cinnammon mixed into whole-grain cereal two times per day. I will wait another month to get my lab work to see if I have dropped my LDL-cholesterol level to a more normal measure, than the pre-diabetes amount my doctor initially reported.

Stay tuned to more exciting news! I am enjoying the blogging experience, and your comments will provide me with even more encouragement! Respectfully, Nicholas

Dieting and Weight Loss

Weight Loss - Eating and Exercise Lifestyle Modification

DISCLAIMER: The author is not a doctor nor nutritionist. The author will not be offering advice for the reader to follow. Before starting any diet or exercise program be sure to consult with your medical practitioner. This blog was created for the express purpose of reporting the individual results of the author's weight loss and cholesterol lowering program.

Welcome to my dieting and weight loss blog. I have never really had much need for dieting until now. A recent doctor's visit revealed that my LDL cholesterol, the harmful one, was right at the pre-diabetes level, and it was recommended that I begin exercising and lose some weight.

This seems to be a common theme in modern America, so many news reports link soda and other foods to childhood obeisity, or other health problems occurring later in life.

An excellent article on two popular diets can be found here:
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5g5nH6bV4fr0ofSKGT8ZjkSVjbM_AD91V8CNG1

Certainly, if you follow a regimen of moderate exercise, and are selective when choosing foods with high sugar content and foods that are high in sodium or other ingredients you may experience exceptional health according to my health practitioner.

Check out this link: www.ediets.com for some excellent dieting options and nutritional information.

From www.americanheart.org comes the following information on cholesterol, LDL and HDL.

"Cholesterol can’t dissolve in the blood. It has to be transported to and from the cells by carriers called lipoproteins. Low-density lipoprotein, or LDL, is known as “bad” cholesterol. High-density lipoprotein, or HDL, is known as “good” cholesterol. These two types of lipids, along with triglycerides and Lp(a) cholesterol, make up your total cholesterol count, which can be determined through a blood test".

Source: http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=180

My weight when I started this lifestyle change was 215 pounds, and I am a 5-foot, 10-inch tall 56 year old male.

In order to follow the doctor's orders, I immediately began my diet and exercise regimen.

The first week, I gave up eating ice cream and drinking beer entirely.To begin immediate lowering of my cholesterol, I also began eating 1/4-teaspoon of cinnamon, two times each day mixed into some cereal with milk. Some recent university studies revealed that cinnamon has reduced harmful cholesterol levels in subjects in clinical trials. Here is a link to an excellent diet program: www.ediets.com

I also have substituted Cheerios and whole grain breads into my diet as well.

For exercise, I have a stationary exercise bicycle, with a small computer attached, which scans the following information as you pedal: Total pedal-cycles, Total-time pedaling, Speed in miles-per-hour, Distance traveled in miles, and Calories burned. I could substitute walking, starting with 10-minutes-per-day, and gradually increasing up to 1 hour per day which is approximately 3-miles-per-day. (See disclaimer above - consult your medical practitioner..).

This is a good level of exercise to begin seeing results according to my physician.

The Calories-burned data is encouraging, because I can see how many calories have been 'burned', and avoid eating this many calories for my first daily meal, and it has worked for me.

My results have been encouraging. I started riding the exercise bike for 10-minutes, twice per day for one week. After one week I increased this to 20 minutes in the morning only. Gradually with each passing week I added 10 minutes to my regimen.

Now I ride it Monday~Friday, for 40 minutes, travel a total distance of 15 miles per day, and burn approximately 1200 calories. My weight has dropped from 215 pounds to 204.5 pounds in approximately 2 months! Along with watching what I eat, (ok I do splurge on weekends at the occasional barbecue or meal out), my intent is to keep this regimen up forever.

My doctor stated that the most important thing to remember about exercising is to KEEP-DOING-IT! I will continue to report my weight loss and cholesterol-lowering results as they are revealed.

For an excellent website on diet and nutrition options please visit: www.eDiets.com

Please do comment on this blog, I want to build a community of others seeking weight-loss or exercise solutions.

Thank you! Nicholas