1 Year in the Forest - Wow, I put myself here. Just imagine someone volunteering to spend one year in the wilderness, cut off from things familiar to him or her. In my case, it's a him...so I'll use him from here on. But just imagine, him, or me, isolating myself from those very things that came naturally, almost every day, in my life. I'm talking about alcohol, and all the cultural and social mixers that come with it.
Some of you might not get the "1 Year in the Forest" metaphor, but that's just what it is, a metaphor. I have spent up to two weeks in the forest at a time, and you give up quite a few comforts to do that. Sleep, television, showers, internet, etc., but that's just a few. Just like in giving up alcohol for a year, you give up routines, comfort, and some associations to those elements of your drinking. For me, having given up comforts to spend two weeks in the forest, giving up Alcohol for an entire year will be the same as spending an entire year in the woods. Except, that two weeks in the forest (Wonderland Trail Hike, 2006) I didn't give up alcohol and had it three or four occasions during the hike.
Over the past few years, there have been several times where I asked myself, is this really enjoyable. I'd basically look forward to Happy Hour at Bridgeport Brewing on Friday nights with my wife and friends. And I really, really, really enjoyed using a copy of the Northwest Brewing News as a road atlas, navigating to and from brewpub to brewpub on weekends and holidays. If a new brewpub opened, I wanted to go and get their sampler tray to examine the quality of their craft. Even at home, I enjoyed a good movie and dinner with nearly a bottle of $8.99-Plus, full-bodied, bold red wine. My wife drank the other glass of wine out of the bottle. But several times, I asked myself, is this what's making me feel blah?
The second reason for deciding to conduct this mad science experiment was my health. As many of you know, I have a daughter born three years ago this month (Makenna, January 4). As a result of the child-birthing experience, I gained about 10 pounds of what I like to call my "baby weight" due to staying at home more, changing poopie diapers, and fixing baby bottles of milk. I'm just glad I didn't have to pump the milk. But on the very day before my Makenna's first birthday, I fell out of a tree and broke my leg in with the impact. My friend Peter reminded me that there are better ways of raking leaves. So with the broken leg, I gained another 10 pounds. Prior to Makenna's birth, I was biking 40 to 50 miles every other day from May through October, and hiking with my other semi-retired (out of work) friends in the Columbia River Gorge. Needless to say, 25 pounds later, I realized that something's got to change.
A couple of months ago, I had my first physical since the year before Makenna was born. Back in 2007, I was selected as a suitable match for a bone marrow recipient. Just imagine that, now some little old lady has my DNA in her. During that physical review, my vitals and blood work were just peachy. However, recently, in light of the baby weight and broken leg syndrome, my blood work revealed elevated levels of Triglycerides and when I Googled that, I realized what the technical term was for "Love Handles" meant. I'm sure some of you remember me back from my hard-body days where people used to confuse me with Tom Cruise or Brad Pitt. Needless to say the health impact surely took its toll on my self-confidence and ego. But I'll live without the ego, thanks.
Normal Triglyceride levels for average adults run all over the charts, but 130-150 is considered normal. Anything above 201 is considered alarming, and I was in the range known as "Suspect" or 151 to 200. My results put me at 193 which was just below the alarming level. You will find that caffeine, processed carbohydrates, sedentary lifestyle, fasting, and alcohol are the major contributors to elevated levels of Triglycerides, although there are a few more. Of the major contributors, I knew that Alcohol was the one that probably stuck out in the foreground as the main culprit in my health demise, and that said, I myself was the main culprit.
It has been 9 days, that's 9 out of 365, since my last drink and I feel great!
Stay connected and follow my blog as I share more about this subject and reveal life's baffling mysteries as I spend 1 Year in the Forest.
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