There is little I don't like about being up before dawn

There are very few things about waking up before dawn that I don’t like. In fact, the only thing I can think of is that not enough businesses are open that early.

I mean, Starbucks opens at 5 a.m. and you can usually find a 24-hour Starbucks in your city if you’re lucky. And of course, convenience stores and McDonald’s. But eat there at your own peril, no matter the time of day. It’s just not worth it.

I do love that I can usually find a Denny’s or local diner is open before the sun rises. And I love that no one else is hogging the roads. I love that the colors of the rising sun fill me with hope for the day to come. And I love that in the silence of morning I can listen even to the whispers within my own heart.

There will come a time when my mornings expire. Until then, I will keep getting up in time to greet the sparrow tapping at my window. Take stock and give thanks for all I have, and pray for continued hope in a world intent on knocking it down.

Maintaining a healthy diet on the road is tough but not impossible

 What do you do when you're on the road and are trying to be healthy without having access to a kitchen to prepare healthy foods? You either pay an arm and a leg at restaurants to get the healthy options, since only to bad-for-you choices are actually affordable. Or you live off of convenience foods, downing protein drinks and eating the available healthy choices, like bananas, yogurt, and hard-boiled eggs. 

Lately I've had to rely on eating out for several meals per week. I've tried to do it in as healthy way as possible, but I'm longing to have my own home and kitchen again, so I can get back to the business of getting my health back on track.

My main objective when I eat out is to get as much access to a variety of vegetables, both raw and cooked, as possible. It's tough. I like diners, and sometimes they really overcharge for the healthier options, which aren't really that thought out to be "healthy" but rather have an air of healthiness. 

Still, I'm doing the best I can. I feel I'm making good choices, and in fact my body tells me when I am and when I'm not, so via self regulation I maintain a decent diet. I am sure I can make it through the next few weeks without absolutely going off the rails. 

Try this McDonald’s breakfast sandwich hack!

Let me begin by saying that you should avoid fast food altogether. Avoid it like the plague! But in a pinch, you may find yourself pulling into the McDonald’s drive thru around breakfast time, ready to order your favorite biscuit or McGriddles sandwich. If so, then consider this McDonald’s breakfast sandwich hack to get a filling, protein-packed sandwich without so much fat and a million calories.

Remove the cheese and request no butter for a healthier McDonald's breakfast

What I do is order the regular McMuffin sandwich, which has the lowest calories at the outset. But then I customize the sandwich to remove the cheese. I also request that no butter be used on the bread. This cuts more than 100 calories, and a ton of the calories derived from fat. See, the round egg that is served on the McMuffin is an actual egg, cracked that morning, and cooked via a fat-phobic poached method. This means there are not strange ingredients or fillers like the scrambled eggs have. And by the way, you can replace the scrambled egg on any breakfast option with a slight upcharge. But the English muffin is still a better option, with fewer calories and less sugar and fat than the biscuit or McGriddles options.

With this life hack, you might just save your diet while on the road

Removing the cheese from your McDonald’s breakfast sandwich is a good idea, too, for many reasons. First, it’s barely able to be called cheese; it is actually some strange food product probably made of plastic or some undigestible gunk (allegedly). So not only will you feel better about what you’re eating (and not eating), but you will also be less likely to suffer from an upset stomach within minutes of consumption. So that’s it! Not a complicated hack for sure, but a very simple one. No cheese. No extra butter. Oh, and if you can afford extra calories, just double up on the Canadian bacon or add some regular bacon or another egg for more calories from protein rather than fat.

After years of declining health, sleep therapy provides hope

This has been a difficult year for all of us. I am no exception. Besides struggling financially due to rising costs of pretty much everything, I have been dealing with taking care of several health issues that had been going unchecked, leaving me very, very sick for the first time in my life. I was so fatigued, my bones and muscles were constantly causing me pain, and I couldn’t seem to get better no matter what I tried. It turns out I had a severe case of complex sleep apnea, and I had had it for years. Leaving my sleep apnea untreated was literally killing me, slowly but surely.

My dog was happy I was sleeping so much, but I was not

By the grace of God I have been surrounded by a loving church community over the past two years, and when I got sick many people from the church offered all types of support to me. Their compassion gave me the ability to seek out the medical treatment I so desperately needed. I was able to get on an excellent health insurance plan. And I started getting treatment for all that was ailing me, which as it turns out was more than just sleep apnea.

The sleep apnea had exacerbated and probably caused atrial fibrillation, which is a disorder of the heart which, left untreated, most inevitably leads to stroke and other severe issues. I was able to get on a medication to help me avoid such a fate, and immediately I could tell the difference in how I felt. I got on a blood thinner and believe it or not it felt like a weighted blanked had been lifted off me. Once I got that physical aspect taken care of it was time for the sleep study.

My sleep study was done in two parts and at two different locations, both within the UPMC hospital system. I had a split study done first. This is where you get hooked up to a bunch of wires and sleep in your normal state. After four hours they observed that I stopped breathing nearly 80 times per hour. Not only that, but of the four levels of sleep – the fourth being the all important REM sleep – I did not get beyond a superficial sleep. In other words, my brain was not getting any rest and was not able to process any of my thoughts overnight, which is essential for mental clarity and health.

After the first four hours, they began to try a CPAP machine at varying levels of intensity to see what I could tolerate. It turns out my case was a bit more complicated and required a second study. Then, for the second study, they tried a BiPAP ASV machine. This machine adjusts the intensity of the air pressure to match my specific, moment-by-moment needs. This proved almost miraculous. That night I slept like a baby for more than six hours without interruption and reached REM sleep multiple times.

Treating my sleep apnea with my ResMed AirCurve 11 ASV

After the study, the doctor prescribed me the top-of-the-line ResMed AirCurve 11 ASV. After having had such a great night sleep, the next few days I was on a high from the amazing night’s rest I got. Unfortunately, though, I had to wait nearly a month to get the machine through my insurance company, and by then I was back to my former groggy, exhausted, and mentally confused state. But then the day came for me to pick up the machine, and since that very first night my life has been completely changed.

I have loads of energy. I work currently as a Lyft driver, and while before I could only manage a two-hour shift before becoming too sleepy to drive, I can now driver for 12 hours at a time and not loose mental clarity and focus for that entire time. I have so much more energy now. And I finally have enough clarity to get control of other areas of my life, which had gotten out of control.

The result of all this is that I am back on my healthy eating plan and am getting more exercise in the form of stretching and walking. Soon I plan to rejoin the gym. From my top weight I hit during my illness of 455, I have lost about 40 pounds. I am hoping to lose another 20 by the end of August to finally be back under 400 lbs.