Saturday, September 01, 2007

Down...but not out!

This couple of weeks has been very challenging for me health wise. A nasty virus that turned into an upper respiratory head cold plus a severe case of Prostatitis, a bacterial infection in my prostate. The prostate infection left me going to the bathroom 10 times per night and needless to say I was getting ZERO sleep for days. The prostate infection I think I have had all summer; It just was a very low grade infection that got really, really bad. My urologist gave me six weeks of Cypro to knock it out. Now I now why my energy levels were so poor and my response to exercise was HORRIBLE! I am just so ready to start feeling better and to start training again.

How did I get like this? Well, for one I overwork myself, much like a lot of entreprenurial business owners do. Too much work, not enough rest, and not enough high quality sleep. Number two, my nutrition that past two months has been atrocious. Cookies, ice cream and other junk food have not helped contribute to good health. Yes, even trainers are human and get hooked on bad eating for weeks if not months at a time. Time to regroup and apply SELF CONTROL again. Having great health really comes down to a few simple, but often difficult to apply principles, such as:

1) Discipline
2) Lifestyle
3) Nutrition
4) Training intelligently

If any of these principles gets left behind or abused, health will diminish quickly and aggressively. Adversity with health serves as an opportunity for me to examine why I make some of the choices I do and where I want to be in the next year, 5 years and 10 years. With a baby on the way I must now put my health as a priority because I must be healthy for our little girl. Unfortunately because I am very stubborn an unwise at times, I often have to learn the hard way and let things get really bad before they get better.

What is the difference between a WISE MAN and a SMART MAN?

Think about!

A SMART MAN will find ways to get out of problems or precarious situations!


A WISE MAN will find a way to never get into that problem in the first place!

And that is a big, BIG difference. I am smart a lot of the time. I am not too wise. I need to ask God and for his wisdom and more importantly, learn to APPLY WISDOM!

Proverbs 2:10, 11

When wisdom enters your heart and knowledge is pleasant to your soul,
Discretion will preserve you, understanding will keep you!

16 comments:

Royce said...

Dude, sorry about the health issues. Infection of the prostate? Damn that hurt me just reading that!

Glad you're feeling better.

Pete said...

Franz,

One of my favorite quotes, "The healthy man has a thousand wishes, the unhealthy man, but one".

I am sorry to hear that your health was hit so hard by that virus. You definitely have a lot on your plate. It is always nice to see that you see the big picture and are always looking at ways to regroup and attack your health goals again instead of falling towards negativity.

I read an interesting article by Tom Venuto, and although it was a plug for his online group, it made perfect sense. The Fifth Element or principle is Social Support. 1.Suuportive Nutrition, 2. Cardiovascular Training, 3. Strength Training, 4. Mental training, and 5.) Social Support- those around us that help or hinder us to meet our goals.

I thought about that for a bit, and felt there was merit to that observation. When I worked in recruting, it seemed that every other day was someone's birthday, complete with cake and cookies. Even if I was watching my food intake, someone would say, c'mon, one slice isn't going to hurt...or what's wrong, you'll just work it off anyways, you workout. Then invariably, you miss one, two workouts which turns into weeks which for me turned into almost 20 lbs of weight gain. (up to 212 lbs.)

I think that's why I like the blogs so much. I didn't realize that I would get so much motivation or inspiration even if I got off track. Looking back to April 2006 RKC until now, I know that I had some ups and downs. But the important thing was to always get back on track and attack my health goals with even more ferocity.

Sorry for the length... just feeling very motivated lately!

I watched this clip this morning which also got me fired up. If you haven't seen this before it will certainly light a fire.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=-L4l_ie2aKo

Get well, bro.

Pete

Tommy Shook said...

Franz,

Geez buddy, that is awful. I hope you get to feeling better here really soon. You have to take care of yourself man! Best wishes and prayers.

Lauren Brooks said...

I'm soooo sorry to hear about your virus and the prostate infection. Sometimes when it rains it pours. And that is what is going on for you right now. I know once you get through this you will come out even stronger!

I am sure we can all relate with you about feeding ourselves icecream and a bit of other junk that can be hard to resist. Those foods just tend to comfort us in times when we lose a bit of control in our lives. But we always get back on track!

It's so wonderful to know that you have so much to look forward to with your baby on the way! Glad you know that your health is a priority for your family! Feel better!!! Great post BTW!

Franz Snideman said...

thanks Royce! Some days are good, some days are bad. It's a process, this whole healing thing :)

Franz Snideman said...

Pete,

Thanks Man. So true, so true, when we are sick, all that matters is feeling better. Interesting info by Tom Venuto. Who is he?

Rock on Pete!

Franz Snideman said...

Thanks Tom!

Franz Snideman said...

Lauren, yes, sometimes when it rains it pours. I am slowly getting better, although it feels like I have been sick and feeling bad for a long, long time. This summer has been rough, rougher than I would care for. But hey, sickness can be an opportunity to re-evaluate my lifestyle and start over again!!!!

Time to rethink why I do some of the things I do and get DISCIPLINED!!!!!

Pete said...

Franz,

Tom Venuto wrote the e-book Burn The Fat Feed the Muscle. It's a good read even if it's a long read. Good info even if it's geared towards the natural bodybuilding set.
Lot of sound principles as it focuses on goal setting and the mind set as well as interval resistance training.

Geoff Neupert said...

Sounds painful, Franz. I hope you're feeling better.

What're you going to do for training to get back in shape? I have some suggestions for you--just shoot me an email if you want them.

Heal up, wise one.

Anonymous said...

Aw, man! Heal fast, brother. :( You're in our thoughts and prayers! :)

Franz Snideman said...

Thanks Geoff! I will buzz you soon to talk!

Franz Snideman said...

Sara,

thank you for you thoughts and prayers. I will take them any time

:)

Mike T Nelson said...

Sounds like you are back on the road to health again!

I really enjoy David Allen's system of organization (overused word) in his Getting Things Done book. In short, empty your head into a trusted system and clear your runway for take off first!

Second fav book is the Four Hour Work Week by Tim Ferris. Excellent. His argument is that time is the most important since it is a non renewal resource. Plan out what you want to achieve NOW and take action towards it.

Personally, I love hiring someone else for my training program design. That way it is one less thing for me to do and keep track of--I just have to do what Neupert tells me to do!
I highly recommend Geoff Neupert's program design!

Rock on
Mike N

Howie B said...

Hey Franz,

Best of luck getting well. remember to take as much time and care of yourself as you do others. Myself with a one-year old have now refocused my goals toward being and staying healthy for a long time to come. Once you have a family all priorities naturally seem to change.

Reading your posts backward and hearing you talk about life and death, I thought I'd share this with you as well. Being married taught me about patience and understanding. Being a father has taught me about faith and hope. And all have taught me about love. Best of luck with all things!

Franklin said...

Hi Franz,

Wanted to let you know that I suffered through a bout of prostatitis about 10 years ago ... indeed very nasty stuff. That was 10 years ago and thankfully, its never been back.

As a proponent of "An ounce of prevention is worth pound of cure" together with a little research I did at that time, I have been supplementing my diet with dried cranberries (e.g., Trader Joe's brand are inexpensive and very good) and watered down cranberry juice to reduce the caloric intake per glass. Garlic is another great natural antibacterial agent ... I use it all the time when I cook.

Regards,
Franklin