Keith Ahrens

Today I attended the annual Holiday Lunch with the Mended Hearts Chapter of Las Vegas.  There were about 33 fellow survivors in attendance along with some friends and family.

One thing’s for sure, these folks take nothing for granted and cherish life’s everyday pleasures.

After Heart Surgery or Cardiac Intervention such as Pacemakers, Stents, Angioplasty, etc… Many people go through a depression phase. It’s not uncommon.

One of the best ways to get out of that “funk” is to be around and speak with others who understand what you’ve been through.

Support groups are a fantastic way to share personal feelings and experiences.

If you’re a survivor or family member of a survivor, please see if there’s a local Mended Hearts Chapter in your area and attend a meeting.

Many members are involved in hospital visits after patients have surgery or cardiac procedures.  I remember having a visit at my bedside by a member of Mended Hearts after my open-heart surgery.  I knew that I wasn’t alone. – Keith

I just watched the movie ELF with Will Ferrell as Buddy the ELF.  This movie inspires me to believe that anything is possible.  We limit ourselves too often by listening to what others tell us we can or can’t do, or more importantly what they believe is possible or impossible.

Belief, Magic, Hope, Faith, and the possibilities of infinity abound.

Imagination = Infinity!

Believe in yourself!

Did I mention I cry every time I see this goofy movie? – Keith

Heart Disease remains the leading causes of death in the US.

Obesity is an epidemic.  Obesity is a leading contributor and cause of Cardiovascular Disease.  It’s a well-known risk factor.

If Obesity is the most preventable of all the diseases, why are we having such a hard time doing something about it? – Keith

Americans born today have a greater chance of not living as long as their parents.  The CDC Center for Disease Control released new data that indicates that life expectancy has fallen.  Although it’s different for men, women, and minorities, the fact that it has declined is alarming.

A couple of the key trends noted in this report are that stroke has dropped to the 4th leading cause of death.  The article credits efforts of the American Heart Association as a reason for the trend along with major advances in stroke therapy.

Heart Disease and Cancer are still the #1 and #2 causes of death in the US accounting for 48{1ee8873d3da54571ef77633feec9b2f18618b0dba2f28faf42edb28003d1c6f7} of all deaths.

Obesity has risen to such high levels and contributes to heart disease and diabetes, both potentially leading to an early death. – Keith

To read the report click here: Center for Disease Control

OK, OK, When is enough, enough?

What would you do if you were told you can’t exercise?

The doctor just told me that I couldn’t exert myself until the first of the year. He said no more physical exertion such as treadmill, cardio, or heavy weightlifting until at least January 1.

I just had this biopsy on my bladder and it turns out I tried doing a little too much too soon.  (you can read my previous blog post) I’ve been climbing the walls and feeling like crap. I’ll spare everyone the details.

I need to allow sufficient time for healing at this point. No exceptions.

With the holidays here in full swing and not being able to exercise, how do I prevent a holiday weight gain.  The answer is quite simple although making it happen will be more challenging.

The only answer is to not consume more calories than we burn. That brings us to our BMR or Basal Metabolic Rate.

Your BMR is the number of calories you’d burn if you stayed in bed all day or sat on the couch and did nothing all day.  Our bodies burn calories even at rest.

At 5’10”, 210 pounds, male, My BMR is @1926 calories to maintain my weight.

To determine your BMR you can click on the link, enter your numbers, and find out approximately how many calories you burn by doing nothing.

If I consume fewer calories each day than my BMR shows, I’ll lose weight.  If I consume more, I’ll gain weight.  Simple but equally challenging.

What I can do is go for a nice walk.  I think I’ll be walking at the lake quite a few times in the next month.  At least I can walk. – Keith

Have you ever said that you’re dying for a certain type of food or treat?  I sure have.

What I didn’t realize over all the years was that I was contributing to an early death when I took each bite.  My heart and overall health were being sabotaged with every over-indulgence.

We should always strive for nutritional balance in our lives and we each need to decide at what point is that “little something” worth it.  When is “just one more bite” too much?  I think the answer is different for each of us but the healthy principles are the same.

The holiday season has descended upon us. Food is everywhere we look. Just getting through the grocery store or Costco or Sam’s is a challenge these days. Samples here, samples there.  Most offices look like a diabetic coma, heart attack waiting to happen or a saturated fat grenade.

Keep your eye on the “little something’s” this holiday season. That may just mean going without some of the foods that we love to die for. – Keith

We get so busy during the holidays. It seems that we have twice as much to do in half the time it takes to do it.

Our Stress levels rise. Many will turn to food; others will come in the front door and plop down on the couch. Believe me, I’ve been there. In fact, I used to plop down, overeat and then tell myself how tired I was and not necessarily in that order.

We need to manage our time better.  By developing a schedule of tasks it can make the daily chores during the holidays less stressful and thus better for our hearts. A “To-Do” list lets you DO.

Prioritize the tasks you have to do in order of importance. And NO, not everything you have to do is as important as the next.

The one appointment that needs to be at the top of your list is physical fitness.  You must schedule an appointment everyday for yourself for daily exercise or physical activity. Consider the extra running around you have to do a bonus activity for your heart.

It’s not so important when you do it but I believe that by getting your exercise completed early in the day, everything else will just seem easier.

My top 3 priorities each day are sleep, physical fitness, and heart healthy meals. Everything else is secondary.

So, pencil in that appointment for yourself each day. It’s one you can’t miss! – Keith

After a speech I recently delivered someone asked me what I meant when I spoke of “The Walls”.

The walls that I was talking about were referring to my “layers of fat” my obesity.  I probably didn’t articulate that well during that speech but it’s a heavy subject (no pun intended).  I was limited on time and couldn’t expand on every detail.

I often get asked in interviews or during Q&A after a speech why I became or got so big.  I get asked often, why I didn’t get the weight off sooner?  My response is that one of the reasons I put on the layers and kept them on is because it helped me keep people away–relationships, people, etc…

Although I was very successful in my career, I kept people at a distance.  I had and have a fear of intimacy.  It stemmed, I believe, from my parents divorcing when I was 13.

I never wanted to be put in a position to let someone down or not feel unconditional love returned. Jan Denise, a friend of mine who wrote a couple articles on me put it best.  She wrote a book called “Innately Good“.  In it she talked about why people have fear like I have.  She said that if someone has the capacity to love another unconditionally (which I believe I do), and in turn that person feels that someone can’t love them unconditionally, then they feel, as I did/do, that he/she shouldn’t let people in their lives as to not get hurt or hurt someone else.  I hope that makes sense.  That’s what I meant by walls.

I still work with this because my life has changed so much over the past few years.  I think this was one of the core reasons that I was so big for so long.

The walls made feel safe.

The journey certainly continues. – Keith

When I turned 50, I was wearing size 62+ pants (they were tight), 5XL shirts. I weighed 450+, that was the MAX weight on my scale. At 51 I have now gone BELOW 400 lbs. I have lost 85 lbs I am wearing 56, 3XL in shirts (I can shop at Walmart for clothes again).

I am 51 years old, Last year I hit my all time high in weight gain. 480+. I say 480+; my scale does not go past 450. I could not walk more than 10 or 15 yards without wheezing for breath. I could not stand for an extended time. I could not keep up with my grandson. I did not want to go anywhere; I would scope out restaurants and make sure they had ARMLESS chairs. After trying many diets, Apple, WW, Atkins, etc….and changed my life habits and eating habits. I also lost my job, which was a blessing in itself. I used to eat fast food 3 times a day. My job was sedentary, very little walking needed, lots of hours, and lots of stress. Death by Obesity in the making.

My weight loss has been thru life style changes and eating choices. I have also used a product line by Advocare. Which helped with energy, weight loss, and appetite control. I am amazed having lost 85 lbs, how much different I feel, and the things that I could NOT do, that I am able to do now. I am by NO MEANS healthy, but I am able to exercise with out loosing breath, or stopping as I did in the past.

Three tips for success…You have to have a desire to lose, you HAVE to change the habits that got you into your current weight. You need to reach out for support, being obese is a very lonely life.

My motivation comes from inside me. I am inspired by others peoples successes, Keith Ahrens book was like reading my life in print…except I have not had a heart attack, YET…. I am still in danger, but I am working my way to healthy living. I have a loving wife that is dealing with weight issues as well; I now have 4 grandchildren that need their grandpa. And I have 2 special needs children that need me to be there for them as well.

With the loss of 85 lbs, I feel more energy, I feel that I can succeed and continue to lose. I want to be able to inspire others that are struggling with obesity to lose weight and lead a healthy life style.

I went in for a biopsy on my bladder on November 24.

A couple months prior, a lighted scope was done on my bladder and it showed an area that the doctor said needed to be biopsied. The biopsy had to be completed in a hospital.

When the doctor said that I needed a biopsy during this procedure I had a flashback to when the surgeon told me I needed open-heart surgery to save my life.

While lying there, I kind of had an anxiety attack as far as softly shaking and just feeling all-alone.  I’m OK today and have a positive attitude. I’m not sure where I’m getting the positive attitude from but I know it’s deep. I’ve been through a lot the past few years.

Very briefly, almost 2 years ago this Thanksgiving I was in San Francisco writing my book and had blood in my urine… I freaked out, flew the next plane back to Vegas to see my doctor and was OK.  Later it was determined (Cat Scan) I had a Kidney Stone but it was not blocking anything.

I had approx 10-12 occurrences of blood in my urine since then, mostly after a treadmill or heavy workout.  In June, I went to the ER for kidney pain.  A severe Kidney infection was diagnosed and treated.

To be on the safe side, my primary doctor sent me to an urologist who ran some tests.  All came back negative except for that Kidney Stone which was still there.  He didn’t want to stop there. I actually praise this doctor because he just wanted to rule everything out except for the kidney stone.  He wanted to be thorough and a scope was done on my bladder a few weeks later.  That was an experience in and of it self.  When he went in to look at my bladder, the doctor saw something on the monitor and immediately said that was where the bleeding was coming from and it needed to be biopsied and removed.  He, and I, saw the problem area on the monitor.  He made me look.

I just couldn’t figure out, why me… again? First my heart and now I had to think about the “C” word. Could I have bladder cancer? Perhaps I could handle it better than someone else. I’m thankful, however, that it was I, and none of my family or friends going through this.

I met with the surgeon today and the pathology reports came back negative.  I don’t have cancer.  I was diagnosed with cystitis glandularis.  I’ll be doing my research but this is great news compared to what I expected to hear.

My message today is to get regular checkups, don’t ignore your body when it’s trying to tell you something, eat heart healthy and get regular exercise and activity.

Healthy days ahead for us all, Keith