The Point of No Regrets
by blogrdoc4/12/2008
On Feb 02, 2008, I wrote down these ‘accomplishments’ that I had completed since Dec ‘07:
(note that this following list was written 2 months ago)
1. I’m getting up at 5am consistently.
2. I’m 90% vegetarian.
3. I’ve brought my blood pressure down to 120/75.
4. I’ve started a self-help blog.
5. I’ve turned $300 profit this year so far in craigslist business.
6. I’ve started a tech support service for which all profit will go to a charity.
7. I’m consistently leaving work ~4-4:30 pm.
8. I’m getting back to reading books.
9. I finally cleaned out my garage.
An Awakening and Saying Good Bye to Regret
I’d say for years, every Sunday, before the week would start - I’d have this tremendous sense of guilt that I didn’t have my act together better. And then, something happened. I’m not sure what it was. I ‘woke up’.
Since this ‘awakening’, I haven’t had this nagging feeling of guilt. I decided that I’m not going to put off my dreams. I decided that I’m not going to wait till I’ve ‘made it’ to begin to give back to my community. It’s as if I drew a line between myself and everything around me and I told myself that I’m going to stop being acted upon and that I’m going to be the one in the drivers seat. The world may crumble around me, and may even squash me, but I’ll live every day as if it were my last with one key idea in mind: no regrets.
A Brand New Day
Once I ‘woke’, I realized that in order to get to that ‘Point of No Regrets’, I need to get my life in order. The list above just came naturally. I’m proud to say that I’ve added a lot to that list. Most recently, I just found out that I brought my cholesterol from 201 (6/2007) to 165 (4/2008) with no medication, just change in diet and lifestyle. I am particularly proud of this achievement since there are no shortcuts to doing this. Other than genetics, there is no ‘luck’ that I’m aware of. It just takes consistency. This achievement is the embodiment of what I’ve blogged in the past about correlations, minimizing variations, and conservation. Most importantly, looking back, despite my knowledge that I wasn’t living a healthy lifestyle, I forced myself to go to the doctor to get my labs done so that I could at least establish a starting point.
Forget ‘Mike’, I want to be like ‘Peter Parker!’
Other accomplishments include: I’m up to 17 pull ups and 30 dips now. (A few months ago, I could only do about 7 pullups.) The 30 dips translates to me benching 50lbs over my own body weight (currently 155lbs). I’d love to be able to press 100lbs over body weight. Getting to 225 should be straight forward. Going from 225 to 255 is going to be tough. More important to me than maxing at 255 is the 100lbs over body weight. So, I hope I don’t gain in body mass!
About the Picture
I took this picture when we went to go to a Blazer’s game. I was struck by the gloomy background and the lit sign with the even more illuminating message.
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5 Responses to “The Point of No Regrets”
By Chris on Apr 14, 2008 | Reply
I’ve never heard that conversion before for dips to bench press. What formula are you using?
From my experience, I’ve done a lot of dips, and if I try to go over to the bench press, it takes some time to adjust to the bench press motion. I’ve often worked out with guys who could out bench press me by a good margin, but I would do more dips than them. I think this can be attributed to the difference in the motion and all the muscles used. (Although the main groups are the same, its not the same motion)
By Rx4Life.info on Apr 14, 2008 | Reply
Hey blogrdoc,
congrats on your cholesterol and bp improvements. One of the toughest aspects about being a pharmacist is the recognition that lifestyle habits are more important than the medications we’re dispensing - and to “educate” the customers about this.
Btw, what is your workout like? Are you mainly lifting heavy and low reps? Have you heard of the MAX-OT training program? really good for strength gains.
Tola
By blogrdoc on Apr 14, 2008 | Reply
@Chris: Oh.. it’s no formula… I actually went to the gym and maxed out. Sorry for the misleading word choice. I’m probably going to buy some of those push up handles to help me with my bench max.
@Tola:
Basically I just do three sets of whatever exercise. E.g. 3 sets of 20 on dips, 3 sets of 10 on pull ups.
My form gets pretty bad towards the last reps and last set, so I know I’m pushing myself. Once I find that I can maintain form and control, that’s when I know to increment higher.
I’ll do this 3 or 4 times a week in the evening. In the morning, it’s not unusual for me to just ‘max out’ on either dips or pull ups which I wait for my water to boil for my coffee.
By Sam Crockett on Apr 16, 2008 | Reply
Congratulations on accomplishing your goals. Getting up early has been a goal of mine for almost a year now.
When I first started out I was getting up at 4am so I could exercise, read, and eat breakfast before classes. Unfortunately, I was unable to keep 4am as the wake up time as getting to bed early enough was a difficult.
Currently, I moved wake up time to 5:30am and have been doing it consistently for a few months now. After much experimentation I’ve found this to be my prime wake up time.
By blogrdoc on Apr 16, 2008 | Reply
@Sam: “after much experimentation”… I think this is what its all really about - commitment to reflect on past result and accept natures laws (in this case, the natural amount of time your body needs sleep). Right now - I’m experimenting with eating a better breakfast (vs no breakfast and coffee). I’ve been skipping breakfast for a long time, but am finally bending to conventional wisdom that ‘breakfast is most important’. Honestly, however - I really never felt I needed it - but I accept that how can I be right and everyone else is wrong.. so - I’m changing this ‘bad habit’. Other than taking extra time in the morning, I’m finding no net affect so far (good or bad).