I’m Attending the #140You Conference!

Jun18
by Dr. Marctagon™ on June 18, 2013 at 8:31 am
Posted In: #FitMinusFat
#140Conf Logo

Credits: http://twitter.com/140conf

 

Today and tomorrow, I will be attending the State of Now 2013 (#140conf / #140You) Conference, hosted by Jeff Keni Pulver and Mallika Chopra, daughter of Deepak Chopra, as part of their Twitter team at the 92nd Street Y on 92nd St. and Lexington Avenue in New York City. My job will essentially be tweet/Facebook/Instagram or whatever I see tomorrow as the conference unfolds. I was so excited by the invite and I can’t wait to be a part of the event.

The central theme for tomorrow’s conference is “Exploring the State of: Health, Wellness, Fitness and Food”. You know that is right up my alley, which was one of the main motivators for me wanting to attend. Not to mention I’ve always been a fan of Jeff’s 140 Character Conferences because he limits most of the speakers’ time to 10 minutes, essentially limiting them the way Twitter enforces a limit on us. It works though because it allows us to hear from more speakers and also keeps the speakers from rambling and cuts right to the nitty-gritty of each speech. A different approach, indeed.

Taken directly from an email I  received from Jeff, here is a small portion of what can be expected during the conference:

“Some of the many conference highlights include:

- A live tweeted yoga session w/ @tarastiles

- Listening to @mallikachopra talk to me (@jeffpulver) about how I changed my body and started my journey. This sets the stage for the #140you conference

- A #glutenfree lifestyle panel

- Learning about trying every health fad w/ @ajjacobs

- Getting inspired w/ @Gabbybernstein

- Losing weight and gaining confidence with @Sadiekurzban

- A panel on living with devices.

- How social media  makes us healthier w/ @carriekerpen

- A 1 ton panel for people who  have lost a ton of weight

- How food is medicine with @markhymanmd”

 

There is good news for those who’d like to see it but are unable to attend. The conference will be broadcasting live! Beginning at 9AM until 6PM, on both days, you can catch the live stream of the conference at http://140you.me/live. For a full list of all scheduled speakers and times, visit here.

Keep up with my live tweets at my Twitter, @drmarctagon. I may take a few photos on my Instagram as well.

 

Let the fun begin!!

 

 

 

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Health Month: Let It Be Your Motivation

May31
by Dr. Marctagon™ on May 31, 2013 at 9:00 am
Posted In: #FitMinusFat

Be Healthy

 

Hey everybody! Hope your week is going well and that you’re meeting all your goals whatever they may be.

As you know, I’m always trying a new challenge. As you may not know, I’m always trying out a new fitness app (I really should do a post about my favorites!). Well, this week I’m actually reintroducing myself to an oldie but goodie I first used about 3 years ago, a website called Health Month.

 

The description of the Health Month website as taken directly from the site is as follows:

“Health Month is all about making small improvements to your health, one month at a time. Players (that’s you!) can choose 1 or more rules to try to stick to for a month from the many different dietary, fitness, relationship, mental health, and financial health behaviors that are currently in the game. For first time players, 1-5 rules is a nice way to start. Choose rules that you want to work on, and try to make small improvements to your current behavior rather than going cold-turkey, whole-hog, or crazy-wombat. You can always ratchet up the difficulty next month, once you get the hang of it.”

That’s pretty much it in a nutshell. They have a bunch of preconceived rules that you can choose from or you can create your own if none of the rules you want are already provided by the site.

Continue reading 'Health Month: Let It...'

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Doc’s Log #7: I Have a Secret to Share

May22
by Dr. Marctagon™ on May 22, 2013 at 1:00 pm
Posted In: #FitMinusFat, Doc Speaks Life

Doc's Log (Notepad)

*whispers* Hey, come here. I have something I need to tell you. Can you keep a secret?

I don’t like working out.

Yes it’s true. I don’t like working out at all. It’s more like I have a love/hate relationship with working out.  I love the results but hate the work.

I envy how some of you are so excited about working out or can’t wait to get work out in. Yeah, that’s not me. That also explains my horrible consistency when it comes to working out.

I liken exercise to a job. I drag my butt to work, I do my job and it pays me in the form of health and fitness.

I love how working out makes me feel afterward and, when I keep up with it, how I look after a while but believe me if I could get by without it, I probably wouldn’t do it.

So why don’t I like working out? I guess because it feels so much like work for me. I’m generally out of shape compared to the average person so it doesn’t take much activity to make me tired. I’m usually huffing and puffing by the end of the warm up. That discomfort is what tends to discourage me and why I am often hesitant to return. My body doesn’t want to go through it again. It’s hard!

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Doc’s Log #6: Back Under 300, Progress Pictures, Hypertension Challenge

May17
by Dr. Marctagon™ on May 17, 2013 at 6:30 am
Posted In: #FitMinusFat

Doc's Log Notepad

 

Hey all! I hope all is well and that you’re excelling in your individual fitness endeavors. I’m going to keep this latest edition of Doc’s Log pretty brief.

As of Tuesday, I am officially back under 300 pounds at a weight of 299.8 pounds. I weighed 3 times and the scale said either 299.6 or 299.8 so I decided to just go with 299.8. I’m very pleased to be back on this side of 300 pounds and I look forward to the number going down even further. The next goal is to get under 290 by June 21st which is the first day of summer.

I also decided that as of this coming Sunday, I’ll be taking progress pictures weekly. I won’t be posting them on the blog but I’ll be keeping them in an album in my Google Photos that the menu bar above will have a link to. Feel free to visit when you want to but I won’t be drawing much attention to them except for every 3, maybe 6 months or so.

Finally, I took my BP this week and it was 163/82, meaning my systolic is at Stage II hypertension levels, while my diastolic is normal. From what I read, this is more common and normal in older patients but at my age it’s a concern if at this level for a prolonged amount of time. I wouldn’t consider it an improvement over my previous reading but it’s not worse either. It still remains that something must be done so I decided to put myself on a Hypertension Challenge.

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Doc’s Log #5: A Wake-Up Call and Lent’s Aftermath

Apr08
by Dr. Marctagon™ on April 8, 2013 at 9:16 pm
Posted In: #FitMinusFat, Doc Speaks Life, Flexitarian Life

Notepad

My how time flies, friends. Here we are, a quarter of the way through the year already. How have you all been doing on your wellness quests? Shedding those pounds? Running those races? Going those extra few miles? However you define progress, I hope you’re doing it fo sho.

Recently, I donated blood. This is not unusual for me. I donate blood, on average, 2-3 times a year. Anyway, they take my vitals every time I go: blood pressure, temperature, etc and I received some particularly troubling news. My blood pressure was 140/96! 

Now, my blood pressure has always been slightly high (hypertension runs in my family) but usually in the 130/85 range so this came across as a shock to me. 140/96 put me in the level of Stage I hypertension. Now, to put it in other terms, Stage I hypertension is the hypertension equivalent of an early diagnosis Type II diabetes, meaning meds may or may not be necessary but the situation isn’t so dire that it can’t be reversed with the right diet and exercise program.

So upon receiving this information, I said “Aww, hell naw! Something must be done and now.” I told a select few people and didn’t bother to measure again to see if the number had gone down. The initial reading was enough for me to know that something has to be done. I can’t lollygag like I have been or continue to yoyo as I have been. This is my heart and my life and I’ve seen too many male relatives die young due to heart conditions.

So, that leads me to my next topic…new challenges!

Now that my Lenten fast from the Internet is over (more on that later in this post), it’s onto the next challenge. Sparked by the  news of my BP, I decided to attack things head on and on an intense note.

Continue reading 'Doc’s Log #5: A...'

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