January 10, 2009 - A New Beginning

Good Day Folks,

It's been a while since my last posting. My apologies for neglecting this blog. My world was turned upside down in Novemeber. I'm just coming out of it now. I was scheduled to fly out to LA on November 15 and had everything ready - including my bathing suit. Unfortunatley the day before I was to leave, my father fell and broke his pelvis and hip. He got pretty shaken up and was rushed to the hospital. I postponed my trip to be here for him. He had to stop his chemo treatments in order for the bones to heal. He is still working on it. During the week I was caring for him my mother's health began to rapidly worsen. She had a couple of infected foot ulcers that needed attention. I was at wit's end dealing with the both of them at home. We were urged to admit mom to the hospital, which we did. Her stay lasted 3 weeks. I was by her side always. She became worse as days went by. She had conjestive heart failure, had an infection, was in isolation and the list goes on and on. I wrote a poem with her each and every day to pass time. We bonded and became very close. Something inside of me was telling me something was wrong, but I ignored it. I lived with the hope of bringing mom home and making sure she had the proper care to make that happen. I became very hands on with her and helped her like I would never have imagined. My three weeks with her felt like an eternity. On December 15, 10 days before Christmas, my mother passed away. Her funeral was held a few days after. We had hundreds of family and friends visit, which was much appreciated - thanks to them all. The day of her funeral was the worst day we had seen all year in terms of weather. The funeral took place during the eye of a winter storm. She definitely went out with a bang! Her loss is affecting me more now than ever. As I attempt to pick my life up I come accross everyday things and think of her and can't help but to cry. Apparently this is part of the greiving process I'm told. Dad is at home with me living life in a wheel chair and hates it. I'm here for him the way I was for mom. It hurts my heart to see him in pain. I do hope he can walk again and live a half decent quality of life. He is very optimistic, which is awesome. I believe together we'll get through this. I hope we can start going to the gym together some day soon.

So, now about me...as you can imagine the stress of caring for a dying parent kinda does one in. Unfortunately I have gained about 25lbs over the course of 2 months. I actually still went to the gym every night to let off steam, however, the area that totally f'd up was my eating habits and what I was eating - quality and quantity. I'm an emotional eater, so you can imagine my chomping as I watched mom hang on to life. I just wonder how much weight I would have gained back if I hadn't gone to the gym or followed other lifestyle changes I had worked so hard on. I'm on the mend now though - over the past 4 days I have lost 9lbs. I'm back at the gym and back at eating healthy. I can't believe that I was having bottomless cups of coffee and donuts - what the hell was I thinking? Friends, you can see how easily it is to gain back a few pounds without one even noticing. The important thing though is to catch it on time. I know that by the end of this month I will be where I was at a few months ago and all will be fine. I know how to lose the weight and trust me, it's going to come off. I have started my personalized program which I have written about in my book and the results are insane. I'll keep you all posted. I hope some of you haven't broken your new year's resolution yet!! Drop me an email and I can give you tips and tell you what's working for me.

I'm still writing the book. In fact I finished a few chapters with my mom by my side. She always became suspicious when she'd see me type away. She would always ask me what I was writing about. I would explain it to her and she'd chuckle. She told me flat out that what I was doing is going to change lives. She was proud of me for doing what I was/am doing. My dear mother was acknowledging my mission and actually believed in me. This had been one of my ongoing struggles with her throughout my life. Her belief in me has further motivated me to get this book out there and change lives forever. I promised her that partial proceeds of the book will be donated to charity. Iasked her to choose the charity and she responded with the Diabetes Association. Over the next few weeks I will be talking to them here in Toronto to see how I can make this dream become a reality and help them find a cure for this dreaded disease, or at least help prevent it. Watching my mother suffer with diabetes for 34 years has been excruciatingly difficult, let alone watching her die of complications from it. I promised my mother I'd help find a cure!

I'm not going to get detailed with what I'm eating or doing at this point, however, I will be adding entries over the next month to let you know my progress.  I encourage you all to share your journey with me. My advice for now is, drink lots of water!

Folks, I wish you all a happy new year and hope that your health flourishes!

Cheers and lots of hugs.
Charles

Comments

[Randy B.]

What an awesome guy you are. Looking forward to the book man. I have a feeling it's going to kick some major ass.

[Sandra]

Chuck, I'm sorry for your loss. I went through the same thing 4 years ago. I was a complete basket case and gained about 50lbs. I'm still trying to lose it. I do hope you get that book finished soon so that I can read it and lose wieght. Sorry, for the pressure. take care of urself and ur dad. thinking of you.