4th of July

Happy Independence Day to y'all!

I hope everyone is having a great day enjoying the gorgeous weather and whomever you are spending the Nation's Birthday. So far, I have been able to sleep in, get some cleaning done, watch some movies, and play with the dogs. Absolutely loving it.
So, some of you may be wondering how the training has been coming along? Well, very good and progressing nicely. I think I have dropped 20lbs since Jan, I am sure a little more. I am still working with a very wonderful Personal Trainer at the gym. Not the same one from day one, actually #3 since I bought PT sessions in Nov. for my birthday. However, most definitely, the best one there. A+ in my book for sure. I am with him 2x/week working on strength training and the other days of the week, about 3-4 days now, I am doing nothing but cardio. When I have the time, which is 1-2 days a week now, I am doing 2 1/2 - 3 hour cardio days rotating on different machines. Sounds insane, but it is fun and helps a lot. I have from now until Sept to get my endurance up as much as possible to cruise right through the 240 miles. My goal is to do more riding, competitive, next year. I think Sundays I will reserve for trail riding, so if anyone is interested, drop me a line!
Now, the hard part I am coming across is getting the donations in. I have had about $750 donated verbally, but need at the minimum $1000 turned in by Aug 1. So far, I am at $250. So, please, spread the word. My goal by Sept is to raise $2500 at the minimum. This is truly for a worthy cause and something that affects a lot of the general population. It is not just about those who are on dialysis, kidney awareness also applies to those who are in the pre-dialysis stage. Things like Hypertension or High Blood Pressure, Diabetes, Congestive Heart Failure, etc. all are conditions that cause wear and tear on your kidneys. Many of these diseases can be linked to Obesity as well which the American population is really having a problem with each year. We all hear or read about the studies that come out every year, healthiest cities, fattest cities, obesity is up by a certain % this year, kids are heavier by another % this year.
Every year, a long list of people make their New Years Resolution and the top being to lose weight. Approx 2-3 months later, the trying stops, until the realization of swimsuit season is around the corner. Then back to the gym to burn off years of calories. Or, how about when the doctor says he/she would like to see you lose 10% of your weight to help with whatever issues might be going on. The doctor offers to send you to a nutritionist or maybe suggests Weight Watchers or another support group. Sometimes we listen, most of the time, we are in denial and roll our eyes thinking its the doctors' job to say that so I can look like the people in the magazines these days. Well, what if the doctor stressed that if you keep down this path of unhealthy behavior, you could possibly suffer from these diseases. Believe me, there is a long list of things that could plague the body if you are not practicing a healthier lifestyle. Then the doctor tells you, by the way, the end result could be your kidneys shut down and explains the process of dialysis. I bet then, people would listen.
You may wonder, wow Mo, you are being so brutal. What gives? I'm not seeing this as being brutal, but more educational. Am I raising awareness in you reader about kidney disease? Are you going to look up on one of the many medical search engines and look up what kidney disease is and what could cause it? We all have been seeing the other charity events, primarily for Cancer, going on. This is another charity event who can hit us hard and whose disease can cause harm in many. However, the difference is most of us have the ability to control this disease and hopefully prevent it from happening.

So, those are my thoughts for today. I encourage you, please donate anything you can to my fundraising page on the right side of this blog. The link, Tour DaVita 2008, just above my fundraising page also has more facts on CKD. Once you are on the website, there are 2 places on the far right, one is the CKD brochure and the other just below is CKD facts. Good reading too! Other then that, have a most terrific day and enjoy the long weekend! Be safe in all you do!