My family history has a history of hypertension. Because of this, I’m at a higher risk for hypertension. May 2020 is National Stroke Awareness Month (#StrokeMonth). Interestingly enough, World Hypertension Day (#WorldHypertensionDay) is on May 17.
This is the world asking you if you know where you stand. Do you have Hypertension?
What Is Hypertension?
Just like most medical terms, there is usually a common, more relatable term to describe it.
Poop = Feces
Microorganisms = Germs
Hypertension is the term used to describe High Blood Pressure.
I may be hangry from my intermittent fasting or just irritable after working 21 straight nights, half of which were 12 hour shifts. Regardless, I am not mincing words. I am going all in!
The whole world has been ordered to Shelter In Place—of some form or another—by our governing officials. The majority of you have taken that ordinance and have decided to conveniently use that as your reason to DO NOTHING. Let’s be honest, you didn’t really need an excuse. If it wasn’t this excuse, it would have been another. You see, you are FULL of excuses (among other things). No amount of “Work From Home” or “Free time” would have ever been sufficient for you to Prioritize Physical Activity. You know why, because it starts with YOU and YOU don’t really want to change. You are satisfied with being one of the 40% plus of males either overweight or obese. You are comfortable with your lifestyle as is. Well, It’s Time To Move Beyond Comfort! Being a dad is not your issue. Time is not your issue. YOU are your issue.
You can make excuses or you can make progress. You choose.
I love sweat pants. They are arguably the most versatile, comfortable article of clothing ever made. EVER. I sleep in sweat pants, I run errands in sweat pants, and most importantly I PRIORITIZE PHYSICAL ACTIVITY in sweat pants. It’s no surprise when I say that a box of new sweat pants are enough to get me revved up about physical activity, or any activity for that matter. My stimulus package came early! You are overdue a stimulus package this quarter. Instead of waiting for your federal stimulus package, go out and get yours!
Since 2013, my wife and I have lived in four different states. From Florida, to Arizona, to California, to presently Maryland. That may sound a little excessive to some, but it’s not without reason. Nevertheless, our tendency to move around has unexpectedly honed one very important skill, the ability to connect with good people. Of course, my wife oversees the family’s Communication Department, because if it were up to me, we would only know work colleagues (she would be bored with us talking “Shop”) and people from the local real estate investor meetups (again, boring to her). It’s a big deal to me when dads connect.
I think the key for us is being open to getting out there and just moving!
Bernardy Darguin
As a family of four, 99% of all social gatherings must involve kids and/or be kid friendly. So when my wife mentioned someone invited our family over for a get-together, I was ready and willing. I was happy to meet Bernardy and his family of six (four kids, him and his wife) and enjoyed spending time with them. Not to mentioned they opened up their home! Bernardy not only has a good handle on Prioritizing Physical Activity, he is well vested in it. As the Showroom Manager of the Peloton Bethesda Row Retail Store, he lives, breathes and eats Prioritizing Physical Activity. Now that all gyms and fitness centers are closed, don’t you wish you had a Peloton?!?!
In July of 2019, facing some tough career decisions, I sought the guidance of the ALMIGHTY. I started fasting 12 hours a day and praying daily (early morning, noon and nighttime). During this period, I experienced so much clarity of my thoughts. My focus was laser-sharp. In concert with me Prioritizing Physical Activity, I also witnessed a decrease in body fat. This was an added yet expected benefit. I continued the fast for about 40 days. I felt good. I ate the foods I craved during my eating window and never felt like I was sacrificing good tasting foods. More importantly, to the purpose of this short-term journey, the answers I sought were provided to me.
We are in Extra-ordinary times which call for creative ways to be vigilant with your resources and guard your health. Here is a way to do both.
As soon as the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) was identified as originating from Wuhan, a city in China, and constantly in news coverage…Busta Rhymes’s 1996 hit came to mind. This was arguably Busta Rhymes in his prime; both music career and physical shape.
If you show up to your fitness center, you are likely to notice
a thinning of patrons. I can’t figure out whether this is due to the time
change and losing an hour (I’m an early riser), or the mass panic surrounded around
COVID-19 pandemic.
Is it COVID-19 or have your New Year’s Resolution gone OFF TRACK!?!?
If you’re not going to the gym out of an abundance of
caution, don’t give up on Prioritizing Physical Activity unnecessarily. You
Can Take Your Gym Membership and SHOVE IT! AND take your physical activity
outdoors! No one will be breathing, coughing or sneezing on you, and if people
get too close, YOU CAN RUN AWAY! (or briskly walk) 😊
Some things are just out of your control, and it is important to recognize it.
Just as important is how you react to those circumstances that are out of your
control.
Wipe down your equipment before you use it and after.
ACTIVE-DAD
In the same token, if you are in somewhat good health, don’t
have any underlying
conditions (heart disease, diabetes, lung disease), and not elderly (65 years or
older), you are not at a high risk of getting seriously sick from COVID-19.
But just because you are not likely to get “REALLY” sick, does not mean you won’t
get sick. I don’t want to be sick AT ALL regardless of the severity!
Additionally, you can’t be an ACTIVE-DAD, unless you are
first a dad. That means you have kids. Protecting them is always one of the
highest priorities. You may not get hit hard by a virus, but they are likely to
be impacted differently. I have a one-year old toddler. Although he’s a BIG
healthy boy, the last thing I want is him to get sick.
Higher than normal stress levels are linked to getting sick. It is hard to be anxious if you physically exhausted from physical activity.
ACTIVE-DAD
The gym can be a place of close proximity with individuals,
sharing of equipment, and sometimes fluids!
The “Official” World Obesity Day may have passed, but that does not mean we have move beyond the Clear and Present Danger of health of our time. Sure, there are sensational, sporadic events just about every other year. This condition remains a GINORMOUS problem. It is dull, yet insidious, and persistent. Because of this, it doesn’t get the attention it rightly deserves. People are quick to poke fun at it or poke fun at the people with this condition, but are unwilling to emphasize the underlying factors. Whether you like to hear it or not, obesity is preventable and treatable. We can, we must, take action now to break ourselves of our deadly routines.
Eat, eat, eat. Sit, sit, sit. Day, after day, after day…OBESITY!
ACTIVE-DAD
The Great american dream
You have strived to achieve the “Great American Dream”. This dream has been distorted into extended periods of sitting around and eating. You get up in the morning, eat cereal — which may be delicious—that is high in sugar. You chase that down with coffee that contains even more sugar. You get into your spacious Ford F-150, sit and drive to work. You get stuck sitting in traffic.
We get caught in a certain level of comfort. It’s not uncommon for the masses. We find a place where we have comfortable stress and adequate finances. We have friends and family that have accepted us as we are, and those associations are comfortable. They don’t think we are overweight, because the look no different. Besides, 37.9% of men over the age of 20 are obese. So healthy weight is NEVER a topic of discussion.
Something in human nature tempts us to stay where we’re comfortable.
Fred Smith
You do not like what you see in the mirror. Even worse you convinced yourself that you don’t care. But, you do. Deep down you really do care. You want to be better for yourself. You want to be better for your wife. You want to be better for your son. You don’t feel comfortable in your skin anymore and you are afraid that your kids are picking up on your lack of confidence. If this keeps up, he may grow up with the impression that on the Hierarchy of Needs (thanks to Abraham Maslow), Esteem is not really that important. At last, he had no examples of it from you growing up.
You might not have put much thought into it, but the moment your son was born he instinctively sought to fulfill his needs. Be it breathing air, water and food through milk, shelter from the environment, or sleep; everyday of your newborn son’s life revolved around all these Physiological Needs. Ask your mom, and she will tell you that you did the same. As your Physiological Needs were continuously met and you matured, your needs also matured. Your needs developed into the need of Safety. The need of security, resources, employment, safety of your family and of your HEALTH. As you worked to satisfy those needs, somewhere along the way, some of these needs were substituted. Somewhere along the way the need for the Safety of your Health was swapped out for the need for COMFORT.
Connecting with Dads is one of the main values embedded in Active-Dad. A main proponent of the platform is showcasing Every Day Dads Prioritizing Physical Activity. Distractions and excuses are behind EVERY single corner, but until you learn to not only say “Health is Wealth”, but follow through, put Physical Activity into your daily routine and LIVE IT; all you did was just utter a catchy phrase without merit.
We have plenty of time in the day to make time for what is important to us.
Steve Galvez
As the saying goes, “RockStars Know RockStars”. Equally so,
High Performers Gravitate Toward High Performers. When I first interacted with
this individual, he was actually interviewing me for a position. Are you
fortunate enough to know a person who is just easy to be around, genuinely
likeable and can depend on as a person and as a professional? Well, he is that
guy. So, when the GREAT NEWS broke that he and his wife were bringing a child
into this world, I was overjoyed to welcome him to the club! He has been
winning in life, pre-kid. I know he will continue his winning streak, post-kid.
Take note, because here is how he is doing it.
I am excited to introduce Steve Galvez for this feature of Ask An Active-Dad: Every Day Dad Edition. I asked Steve about his experience as an Every Day Active Dad.
You look up, and BAM! You are not the same man you were 10
years ago.
Two kids later, you look up and realize you haven’t found a
way to PRIORITZE PHYSICAL ACTIVITY daily. You look up and you are carrying way
more pounds than any other point in your life. You somehow went from a size 32
in the waist, to a 40. You would have thought you were the one who carried
those babies for nine months—no, that was NOT you. You look around, your family,
your co-workers, your friends, social media…they ALL look like YOU. Your group
of friends told you to “Just embrace it man, it’s normal.”. They all appear to
be in the same situation. They all look like they are heavier than they have
ever been. That makes it normal, right?
Just because you may be seeing more people in your day-to-day life, living unhealthy lifestyles, does not mean it is normal.
ACTIVE-DAD
But it isn’t just you and those around you. Thirty-seven-point
nine percent (37.9%) of men over the age of 20 are obese. Do you know what age
group of men are the fattest? Men aged 40 to 59 are 40.8% tubby tubbies!
