The Gift that Keeps on Giving

Each week I try to find a small gift for my wife, the Wonder Woman. Over the years I've got her all sorts of trinkets, from refrigerator magnets to glass butterflies that hang in windows. Nice stuff. Lately I've taken to shopping for the gift in the health food store. Some wives would find this too north of Boston virtuous. Not Wonder Woman. Her cholesterol is borderline, and a doctor once told her, "Why not just take a pill? It's easier." Wonder Woman decided then and there to try to maintain or lower her cholesterol through nutrition and exercise. She was (and is) adamant. This week, having gotten a lot of good advice from the sales clerks at the health food store, I got Wonder flaxseed to sprinkle on salads, steel-cut oats, stir fries or whatever.

At the check out, the woman was facing the same battle as Wonder. The checkout woman said what had worked for her was cutting out all four-legged meat from her nutrition plan, and being careful about any products containing saturated fat. Good advice. Perhaps Wonder and I can attempt to follow a similar plan in an effort for Wonder to get a lower cholesterol reading, and triglycerides readings, when she goes in for her annual physical late this spring. I hope so. I want her around for a long, long time.

Feeling Hip

I went to bed last night as a 54 year old and woke up this morning as an 84 year old. Or at least that is how I feel, now, with a right hip that is giving me fits. I try to listen to my body. Sometimes, though, it tells me to take it easy when I am better off plowing ahead and sticking to my program. I need the endorphins, the natural pain killers.

It was raining, it was pouring, I, the old man was snoring. Moaning anyway, as I rode the indoor bike. Typical late March weather. 61 in La Grande. Fog on Cabbage Hill. 46 in Milton-Freewater. The kind of weather that makes people my age feel every hitch in their giddy-up.

It's the kind of weather the indoor bike was built for — no excuses weather. It's always 65 and sunny in the beach condo and mountain cabin. Perfect sweat and burn weather.

Grow or Decay

Yesterday county commissioner Mark Davidson, in for an editorial board meeting, said economies either grow or decay. Funny how that is the same core message from "Younger Next Year" in regards to physical fitness. For years, La Grande, the city where I work, has been growing at an average rate of 1 percent a year. Hey, we need to send our town and our bodies growth signals as often as possible.

Surprise Storm

My goal in spring, summer and fall is to ride bicycle during lunch hour at work as often as possible. The new schedule calls for bicycling on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays. That means bicycle at work on Tuesdays and Wednesdays and then, most often, at the "beach condo" in Milton-Freewater on Fridays and Saturdays. This morning the weather looked promising so I put the bike on top of the car for the first time this season. Halfway to work I started to get blasted with 40 mph winds and then torrential rain. By lunchtime the weather may be much better. For now, I'll be satisfied with getting a good bike wash.

Dysfunction Junction

Some days at work are better than others. Yesterday was a bear. Today is a bear's bottom. I'm doing vacation relief, and our system is dysfunctional. This creates special challenges for keeping up an exercise routine, but the routine prevails. Sure, it's nice to keep the lights on and the groceries paid for. But exercise is even more important. I hope to be here long after this job rides off into the sunset.

The Sleep Diet

Oh, the glories of getting seven to nine hours of sleep a night. It's important to allow the metabolism time to repair itself from the rigors of exercise. It's also important for mood. The night before last, thanks to eating too close to bedtime and drinking beer, I got only five hours of sleep. Alcohol will help you get to sleep quickly. It also is known to awaken a person at 3 a.m. This time, because of an incident at work, minor albiet, I laid awake caught up in depressive rumination, looking for a solution. My usual tricks — 4-7-8 breath as taught by Dr. Andrew Weil, the mantra "freedom," visualizing Beartooth Pass and being on top of the world — failed to sooth me enough to gain sleep.

I survived the next day of work, and was glad when the salt mine whistle blew and the weekend began. The 8 1/2 hours of sleep I got Friday night was not without a few awakening incidences, fairly common for a man in his 50s. Yet it was a joy, and recharging.

Good sleep can help the body not pack on extra pounds. Combined with exercise and nutrition, sleep can do wonders in helping a person be Younger Next Year.

Challenging the Sand Dune

Sometimes in this pursuit of the Fountain of Youth you feel like you're trying to climb a sand dune. You take two steps up and slide one step back. And you dodge land mines in the form of food and drink temptations every day. Most days you make good choices. Some days you slip up, big time. The good part is, you get a new chance the next day. You start with a clean slate. You have a good breakfast of shredded wheat, a banana, blueberries, Greek yogurt and cinnamon topped with skim milk and are one-third of the way to a healthy day.

The important thing is, when you slide back, don't get too discouraged. Keep going. The view from the top of the sand dune, I'm told, is magnificent.

Efficiency Expert

Danes are known for their efficiency. As a Danish-American, I take pride in squeezing the most out of every day without letting my blood pressure soar.

To that end, I am contemplating changing my schedule. Currently I bicycle Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday and lift weights Wednesday and Saturday. I rest on Sunday.

The new schedule will see me riding bicycle on Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, lifting weights on Monday and Thursday and resting on Sunday.

When days are longer, and especially warmer, I can ride bike over the lunch hour at work. I can also squeeze in weightlifting during breaks at work. That will give me more evenings free to walk on the golf course and do chores around home.

Sounds like an efficiency expert's plan, Sam.

Feeling Groovy

It's nice to be getting back in the exercise and nutrition groove. Those eight pounds gained over a week of vacation, however, will go flying away if I keep up a good routine. The refrigerator is again stocked with healthy options, the exercise bike is ready to go whenever I am. With some intensive salt tablet and Tums therapy, the leg cramps that were giving me fits a week ago are starting to subside.

The secret to success in this program is building a habit and showing up, six days a week, an hour a day (or whatever time you choose). As the "Younger Next Year" authors say, this needs to be protected time. If you still work, it needs to be the first thing you do after work.

Over days, weeks, years, being in the groove, you will get "younger." Guaranteed.

Back in the Saddle

Last night I managed to ride indoor bike 15 minutes four times, or an hour total, at about 12 mph. My usual pace, sans cramps, is 15 mph. Still, I was happy to slog my way back with help of lots of salt tablets and Tums.

I also filled my refrigerator up once again with a healthy assortment of complex carbs, proteins and good fats. It's time to get back in the saddle and re-establish the healthy routines that will make me younger next year.

Salty dog

A bit of research tells me I need to boost my calcium and salt intake plus add some stretching to deal with the leg cramps. Yesterday I got back on the bike, but managed just 19 minutes before the pain became too severe.

A similar bout of leg cramps occurred just before I was to leave for RAGBRAI, the great bike ride across Iowa, and a few days rest plus adding potassium, magnesium, calcium and salt did the trick. I had been extremely worried all my preparation would be down the drain and I would not be able to ride across Iowa. But the combination of willpower and supplements worked wonders.

This time, who knows? I've added some Tums to the daily regimen, for calcium, and will begin taking salt tablets tonight, for a brief time, I hope. The recovery continues.

Cramping My Style

The last time I suffered leg cramps was right before RAGBRAI, the great bicycle ride across Iowa with 20,000 of my newest, closest. most personal friends. Then I added a mixture of potassium, magnesium, calcium and salt to my daily plan and was able to ride away just fine into the Iowa sunrise. Now I am getting cramps again. After a week's R&R, and a nasty cold to boot, I got back on the bike today only to suffer gripping pain. I had to get off after just 19 minutes and take some ibuprofen.

I will drink plenty of water and add some salt tablets to my daily regimen in hopes of making a quick and full recovery.

Life's a Beach

Finally we caught a break. The sun popped out Thursday afternoon and we made a run for the far northwest corner of Oregon, the south jetty at Fort Stevens State Park. Got some serious walking in there and at the Astoria Column, with its 168 steps to the top of the wind-swept tower. Good exercise. Not aerobics, but activity. And perhaps enough to send the body springtime grow signals.

Walking on the beach, we soaked in the power of the waves. The Pacific is the world's largest and most powerful ocean. I'll use that power to fuel my campaign to continue Younger Next Year through to a bachelor's degree in 2013. Then I'll amp up the program, if at all possible, to pursue a Gray Seals master's degree.

Pi Day

I just threw my nutrition plan out the window. We celebrated Pi Day March 14 with not only a slice of marionberry pie (shared) but also a small pizza from eateries at Cannon Beach. We did this special family holiday up right.

I also jogged a few blocks trying to dodge raindrops flying sideways, and spent some time turning inside out umbrellas back to right. It's not enough to burn off the calories, but I don't care. I know enough to feel just a tad guilty. And I'll be back from R&R soon enough, and recovered from this cold, with a fresh outlook and more motivation than a mule with a nose for molasses. Or pie.

Merely the Possible

Ah, vacation. It's a time to rest and recreate. I tell myself if I can't exercise an hour a day, six days a week, like normal, it will be OK if I just stay active.

Today our main "activity" was a hike to Cape Meares Lighthouse near Tillamook. We did merely the possible. The highway getting there was snow covered in its higher elevation stretches. Branches and trees had fallen, and crews were clearing the way. When we got to the turnoff, we discovered a gate across the main access road. We would have to park and hike the half mile down to the lighthouse and then back out again.

The Cape Meares hike was a good challenge considering I am under the weather with a cold and not at peak energy. Tomorrow maybe I will do more.

A person occasionally needs a short break from the grinding routine, the perpetual motion, the endless virtue of Younger Next Year. The main thing is, I will try to stay active enough to send springtime signals to my body to grow and not decay, to get younger in all the ways that matter.

Wafflemania

OK, so I'm a sucker for waffles. When some people go to motels, they look for the bar. I look for the waffle bar. I love a good bed and breakfast joint where I can make myself a waffle, smother it in peanut butter and honey and get two-thirds of the calories I need all day in one sitting. I'll also probably have a carb craving in a half hour and be tremendously hungry again. I don't care. Yes, I do feel a bit guilty. But one waffle now — or maybe two or three — could keep me from having a waffle a day back home. And that seems like a fair trade to me.

Where's the Pep Talk?

Welcome to the Common Cold Zone, Day 3. I feel about as peppy as a moss-covered rock. Normally, this would be my one-hour bicycling day, a time to sweat to aerobic bliss. Today, however, I think I'll just take my Dayquil and go into survivor mode. I need to get more rest, recharge my batteries.

I'm also in vacation mode. R&R is the order of the day. By the time we get home again, after a few days on the fabulous Oregon coast dodging rainstorms, looking at great and not so great art and eating crab, I'll be ready to hit the Younger Next Year program hard. In the meantime, I'll stay as active as I can, walking here and there, having a first dance each day, beachcombing.

If I'm lucky, I'll also get the seven to nine hours of sleep a night my body needs and doesn't often get when I am in work week mode. The body needs time for metabolism maintenance, and only with seven hours of sleep or more a night can it run most efficiently. Sleep is a gift. To do it right requires due diligence. To me, it's even more of a challenge to get seven hours or more of sleep a night than it is to exercise hard one hour a day.

Sure, there's a weight room downstairs at the motel. But today the Common Cold has removed my initiative. The weight room is not giving me a pep talk. If it's calling my name, today, it's only in a whisper.

The Not So Common Cold

Let your guard down and — wham! — here comes the beast of the common cold. I finished my Saturday morning weight workout, and then Teri and I went out to breakfast at our favorite Walla Walla restaurant, the Maple Counter, to celebrate our six-month wedding anniversary. I felt great.

Soon, however, I was starting to drag for no good reason. I was getting extremely crabby and my muscles were getting achy. Still, I kept thinking maybe I was just in some mood phase. We went on a long walk in the sunshine, before the storm hit, to see if that might help matters. It was fun, like usual, a great way to make connections and enjoy what Mother Nature has to offer.

However, I just could not muster any energy, and soon I was getting a sore throat. No denying it. I pride myself in not getting sick often, but now I had to face facts and admit that I was as susceptible as the next guy at getting the common cold.

I figure I have two weeks to suffer this beast before I kick him out of my life. Not for good. But hopefully for a long time. In the meantime, if my body gives the green light, I need to continue my workout regimen so I continue to grow, not decay. Rest is important. Exercise is important. We'll see which wins.

Vacation Trepidation

I look forward to vacations like some people look forward to root canal. Sure, I love to go to the Oregon Coast. And I absolutely, positively love spending time with my Sweetie Pie going through galleries, eating out at nice restaurants and shopping. Well, maybe not shopping.

Anyway, my goal on vacation is to get in my hour of bicycling or weights when I can, and otherwise just stay extremely active. Do a lot of walking in town, or on the beach. It's not aerobics. But if I can do enough to send those springtime signals the authors of "Younger Next Year" talk about, to grow and not to decay, I'll be fine. It's my choice. I want to make each day count.

My other goal is to make good choices in the restaurants. I need to watch the layering of fats, sugars and simple carbs and just be cautious when ordering, to stop at 80 percent full, to aim for moderation. But, as Oscar Wilde said, Moderation in everything, including moderation.

If I emerge from the week feeling refreshed, reinvigorated, less fat than a walrus and ready to plunge back into a full hour a day, six days a week heavy exercise program, that will be just fine.

Biathlon Beckons

The first test of the emergency exercise system (golf and Younger Next Year) went off without a hitch this week. Thank goodness for indoor bicycles. When the sun goes down, I just keep right on going.

Sunday we spring ahead to Daylight Savings Time, when we will get another hour of sunlight in the evening after work. That will make a huge difference. Living close to the eastern edge of the Pacific Time Zone, we face early sunrises and sunsets all year long. I've advocated everything east of the Blue Mountains in Oregon going to Mountain Time, to no avail. So we're stuck with our early sunsets, and less time in the evening after work to get in the golf and biking.

I have a golf membership for four days a week, Monday through Thursday. I will try to play nine holes of golf as often as possible — and do my hour of exercise on these days. It's a biathlon challenge that I look forward to, something that should crank up the metabolism big time as well as supply plenty of Vitamin D. Let the games begin.

Fore!

Four is my lucky number. It's also what golfers holler when an errant shot threatens to disrupt the serenity of other golfers on the course. Yesterday I bet myself $500 that I could play enough golf in 2012 to make a Monday through Thursday membership at Buffalo Peak Golf Course in Union pay for itself. I need to golf at least once a week through October to win the bet.

The hard part is not the golf, however. It's keeping up my six day a week, an hour a day Younger Next Year exercise routine. Golf is fun, a great social activity, and the walking, carrying of a bag and swinging the club is good exercise. But it's not aerobics. As Dr. Henry S. Lodge and Chris Crowley make clear, even if you golf, you still need to get your aerobics.

It's going to be one busy summer. But losing a spouse at age 48 to complications of diabetes and a dad at age 70 to bone cancer, I know that I won't live forever. If a window of opportunity opens, I need to climb through it and get all the Vitamin D I can. Watch out, birdies!

The Weight-ing Game

How to lose weight? It's easy. Just exercise hard, six days a week. You may well boost your resting basal metabolism by 50 percent. You'll be burning calories night and day, even when you sit on the couch watching TV and while you sleep.

There's no need to diet. But as the Younger Next Year authors suggest, quit eating crap. Ditch the french fries and Oreos. Stay out of the fast food joints, and the processed food aisles in the center of the grocery store. Fill your refrigerator and pantry with healthy foods. Eat half as much twice as often. Aim for 75 percent plant products, 10 helpings of fruits and veggies a day.

The weight will magically go away until you are at maintenance level. If you're like me, that might be even less than you weighed in high school. OK, exercising hard six days a week is not easy. It takes work. Discipline. But it sure beats yo-yo dieting, and spending lots of money on fad food plans that make the author rich and you fat.

Going Nowhere Fast

Riding indoor bike is a joy. Sure, you don't get the fresh air treatment. Or Vitamin D. But you do, if you have the right kind of indoor bike, get a lot of feedback, such as heart rate, miles traveled and calories burned. All this information is helpful if you want to get in the prime fat-burning mode, for me about 65 percent of heart rate capacity. It also helps to compare performance from day to day.

Another nice thing about riding indoor bike is watching taped programs on TV. My favorites are "Dr. Oz," "Rick Steve's Travel in Europe" and "Seinfeld." "Dr. Oz" in particular gives me lots of good health information and tips that I can use to improve incrementally my lifestyle.

Sure, I'm going nowhere fast on the indoor bike. And I prefer outdoor riding. But so far, in about a year's time on the indoor bike, I've traveled about 2,000 miles in the direction of the Younger Next Year Fountain of Youth.

Warning: Vacation Ahead

Just one more week of work and we'll be on vacation to the Oregon Coast. Vacations are great fun. They're also land mines for the Younger Next Year program. I'll make sure to take sure my journal along and accurately what I eat, drink and do for fun. I'll try to keep up my aerobics and weightlifting, but if I fall short of one hour a day, six days a week I'll be OK. If I get more calories than normal, I'll be OK.

The main objective is to try to stay active and to make good food choices most of the time. We want to sit less and be in motion more while making sure we do get the rest and recreation needed to recharge batteries. Hey, we're not 21 anymore. We're 54. But we are getting younger next year.

Man of Steel

Teri is making me into a man of steel -- steel-cut oatmeal, that is. And now, totally by happy accident, we have a back-up supply of Bob's Red Mill Steel-Cut Oats, our favorite brand. Unbenounced to me, Teri got a small bag while shopping Thursday after work at the health food store in College Place. I got a small bag as a "gift" for Teri Friday after work at the health food store in La Grande. Great minds think alike, and sometimes so do fair-to-middlin' minds too.

When in Doubt, Go Out

The wind was howling yesterday like a love-sick coyote. The car was shaking enough on the freeway coming down Cabbage Hill that I thought a tire might be going flat. I thought about how difficult riding bicycle outdoors might be and chickened out. I rode indoors while watching "Dr. Oz" and then a Rick Steves' travel program about traveling Basque country in Spain and France. Great shows. And I was happy with trying to do intervals, the calories I was burning and the "distance" I was covering. Still, the ride had no continuity. I kept finding reasons to get off and take short breaks.

That would never happen outdoors. If in doubt, I should ride outdoors and challenge the elements. It's good Vitamin D. It's also good training for conditions I might encounter on an important kedging trip, like the one Bill and I plan to take this July around the rim of Crater Lake, Oregon's only national park. Next time, if the conditions are at all favorable, in other words not downright totally miserable, with rain, sleet, snow and hail when only the postal service delivers, I'll ride outdoors.

The Ultimate Revenge

My former boss has to take seven pills a day to combat high blood pressure. I ride bike. My goal is to have the lowest blood pressure of any newspaper editor in Oregon. Of course, I also believe in the occasional news fast, as recommended by Dr. Andrew Weil in the book "Spontaneous Happiness." I am in the business of causing blood to boil. I am in the business of stirring up cortisol to unprecedented levels. I am in the business of entertaining curmudgeons and causing the petulant and judgmental to become even more so. No matter. This makes Younger Next Year all the more important as a natural antidote to the unhealthy vat of fires, crimes and accidents that make up a successful daily newspaper.

What an exceptional challenge. I love being able to stay healthy while other, supposedly smarter and more successful individuals, fly off the tracks.