Category: Brian’s Journey

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Organizing Your Tasks is the Key to Creating Flow

Written October 31, 2024

Hello Dear Readers,

I have been organizing my schedule. My routine has been disrupted this week due to a blood lab appointment. In addition to the appointment, I also wanted to make apple pies and pumpkin muffins for my wife. For weeks, I have noticed that some schedule changes could impact my daily routine. I want to keep my schedule so that I have accomplished something for the day.  

The best way to increase your satisfaction in your daily routine is to keep it organized and prioritize your tasks. Not all tasks provide me with an equal amount of satisfaction. However, it is still essential to do the tasks, such as going to the lab or my doctor,  that have a due date or must be done. My wife created the task list and put the rate on each task, which she learned in her teens and customized to fit her needs. I would not do the same way she does, but I adjusted my schedule to accomplish something I care about, such as exercise.

I created my tasks around the exercise because that gave me the most satisfaction and a sense of accomplishment for the day. Aside from finishing this blog entry, which I’m working on now.  I’ve completed most of my Friday chores a couple of hours early. After my exercise, I seem to gain more energy.

Procrastination is my biggest problem. Even after my exercise, I have much less energy than my wife. I’ve worked to eliminate the problem but still suffer from the temptation, even with the extra energy I seem to have. Today, I was tempted to pause my progress or put aside the tasks. I noticed those tasks accumulated so quickly in the later days, so I decided to complete everything before relaxing. It was a good decision I made. I created momentum to complete my tasks more quickly. Every time I complete my checklist, I gain more energy. As a result, I will likely have another hour or two until my friends become available to play our regularly scheduled games. 

Organizing and prioritizing my tasks help me sustain adequate energy to complete them. When I complete the tasks that mean a lot to me, I gain much more energy. When you get momentum, you will gain a flow. I could be better. I still struggle with the temptation of procrastination, but I am working toward it.

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A Happy Pumpkin Muffin Days!

Written October 29, 2024

Hello Dear Readers,

I want to make muffins today. My wife has an important company meeting on Thursday and has asked me to prepare some food for it. We had the Pumpkin puree from last year. Initially, I was to put nuts onto muffins; however, my wife said there were people with nut allergies. So, I thought I could use some pumpkin seeds instead. We bought the seeds to go with them because none were left from the pumpkin. 

My wife sometimes asks me to bake for her. I like baking, but despite how much I want to, I don’t bake as much as I would like to. My wife does not have a taste for sweets as much. Besides, she is watching her weight vigorously, so any baking will disrupt her calorie restriction. She asked me to bake them for other people whenever she could. 

My wife thinks that baking will have a therapeutic effect on my brain. Baking would bring smiles to other people and give me something I can do for others, which would make me happier. I usually get a recipe online. I love the part where I plan how to reproduce the bakery from the recipes. 

This time, we settled on pumpkin muffins and apple pie, which would be a great choice. My wife’s company has some Japanese people unfamiliar with American Bakery. It is almost Thanksgiving day. Pumpkin and Apple are things I will think of around this time. Both of them represent the taste of autumn. Since I cannot bake pumpkin and apple pie, I decided to bake muffins today and apple pie tomorrow. I like this period. The weather is much better than that in summer. I love watching the colors on leave. It is so lovely outside now since all the leaves are turning yellow. I have a lot of good memories of this time.

Speaking of autumn and leaves, we have so many to vacuum. I had to vacuum more leaves today, but I think I got enough off our yard that I likely won’t have to do another round on Thursday. However, I’ll need to reevaluate the yard tomorrow since I don’t know when precisely the trees drop their leaves.  

This week, we went to Extra Grocery to get some ingredients, such as apples, for the bakery. I am already very excited. Hopefully, they will turn out well and be enjoyed by her and her coworkers.

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Waffles, Vaccines, and Apple Sauce: A Cozy Weekend Tradition

Written October 27, 2024

Hello Dear Readers,

Last night, my wife requested waffles for breakfast, so today, instead of cereal, I made a couple of waffles for us to enjoy. 

Shortly after moving to Tennessee, I made waffles every Sunday for a while, but it resulted in my wife and I gaining more weight than we wanted. So, we stopped eating waffles every Sunday but still enjoyed it occasionally.  

My wife and I awoke today to soreness centered on our vaccination points. Yesterday, we got two vaccines: a COVID booster and this year’s flu shot. The soreness seems to be impacting my ability to mix waffles.

We usually eat our waffles with blueberries. I love blueberries, and I eat them every day. Blueberries are one of the foods recommended for people like me with a kidney condition, so I eat a little portion of them every day. Blueberries go with waffles very well. We sometimes eat applesauce with our waffles. Unfortunately, we have no more applesauce left from last year. The applesauce we made yesterday is too new to consume. We have maple syrup, so our waffle will still be good. 

Speaking of our applesauce, the applesauce marathon was successful; we peeled, cut, and cooked 3 bushels of apples and made around 7 gallons of applesauce. We canned it into several quart and pint jars and divided them between us, but it’s less applesauce than we’ve made in previous years, so we might make another batch after Christmas. 

While my wife and I don’t eat that much applesauce, my sister’s household eats much more and might want more after a few months.  Perhaps dividing the year’s applesauce into two batches will become our new preferred strategy, as we were all tired by the end of the day, and processing another bushel of apples would have added at least another hour or two. 

One concern is that apples may be hard to find or too expensive to buy in large enough quantities that late in the year. We’ll have to see how the later batch goes to determine whether this strategy is viable. 

I enjoy making waffles and applesauce despite the work we need to put into them. I love seeing my family happy with what I or we produce, which makes me happy.

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Balancing Health, Family, and Home Projects In A Busy Weekend

Written October 26, 2024

Hello Dear Readers,

Today starts with a hectic morning. My wife and I took the regular annual flu vaccination and COVID shot. We would have liked to have done it earlier, but we were too busy with deck repair this year. Besides, it is much better than missing the flu vaccination at all. 

My medical doctors recommend I take vaccinations with extra caution. Because of my health condition, even the COVID vaccination was earlier than that of any adult my age. They tell me I am high-risk. I cannot see why I should be at high risk. Doctors, however, have my biological data that I cannot see and feel visually. With their expertise, I assume that I am a high risk. So, no matter what I think about the vaccination, we make the annual appointment. 

We usually get the vaccination earlier in October. This month, we had to do the deck painting earlier in October. Since the deck painting has a shorter due date as winter approaches, we decided to push out our vaccination. 

My wife prefers vaccinations on weekends because weekday appointments disrupt her schedule. She could take 30-45 minutes to go to the doctor on a weekday but chooses not to. She meticulously plans her daily schedule. She is always doing something. 

We usually go to a nearby pharmacy to receive our seasonal vaccination, which takes approximately 15 minutes from our house. Our appointment was at 9:30 a.m., which left me in a somewhat awkward schedule position. My wife starts her day at 5:30 a.m. every day. 9:30 a.m. was her best time since she usually completes creating menus and groceries for the week. However, I started running later now, and the appointment was in the middle of my morning routine. 

If only this vaccination disrupted my day, I could still tweak my schedule. I forgot about this vaccination schedule and planned to go to my mother’s to help her and my sister make apple sauce. My wife already planned her schedule. This was a few days’ notice for us, so she could not make it to the apple sauce. My wife will drop me off at my mother’s house for our planned applesauce marathon.  It’s also my brother-in-law’s birthday so we can see him and give him a gift. 

I would skip running and enjoy a few cups of coffee. I am ok with it.

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How to Build A Sustainable Workout Routine

Written August 23, 2024

Hello Dear Readers,

My wife suggested that I create my new exercise schedule. She told me it was not a good idea to train my muscles on the same part daily since I already have problems repairing my muscles. So, I came up with a new exercise routine last night.  

Split up the muscle training routines on different days. For now, I do once a week per section, but I want to include multiple types of exercise for each session. One of my biggest problems was that I got tired so quickly. I could manage to break my muscle fibers, but they don’t seem to repair as soon as they used to. Due to the restriction, I cannot eat enough protein to accommodate my exercise.

M – Pullups

T – Dips/Leg lifts

W – Pushups

R – Arms

F – Pullovers

It is not so bad, though. With arm exercises, for example, I can target several muscles. I could work on the Biceps, Triceps, and Brachialis muscles. I could also add the Coracobrachialis, Brachioradialis, and forearm muscles. 

I tried the exercise today and discovered that I could spend more time on muscle training. I think I’ve designed it to continue even after the lawn mowing starts. Since I don’t train daily, my muscles have enough time to repair. For now, I will do each section only once a week. I may change around when I have more muscles, but I think I am all right with this schedule. 

I keep my regular 5km or 10km running. Running gives me more energy, and I gain a lot more endurance from it. My wife was surprised at how much I gained endurance when we hiked in the ground canyon. Our house is on the hill, so mowing on our lawn can be challenging. I have enough endurance to complete the whole lawn because I have enough endurance to do so. That’s a solid 3 hours of mowing on the hill, which is not easy. 

I am excited about my new exercise routine. So far, I can train more muscles per section. I plan to add more exercise types to improve my muscles.

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Celebrating with A U.S. Flag Cake

Written October 20, 2024

Hello Dear Readers,

My wife is working toward getting U.S. citizenship. Last Friday, she had an interview with an officer. She came back with good news. She has been studying for citizenship since April this year, and I was very happy for us. My wife said she wanted to eat a raspberry shortcake the other day. Today, I’ve made a cake to celebrate my wife’s successful citizenship test.

I’ve tried to decorate it to at least give the impression of an American flag using whipped cream, blueberries, and raspberries, a suggestion from my sister. I was worried it would take longer than I expected. Our oven makes baking a little tricky since its thermostat is known to be off, so baking times are always off. The house started to fill up with the delicious scent of a baking cake. Overall, it turned out pretty well. 

My sister and I love baking. However, my wife is not as fond of sweets, so I don’t bake as often as I used to. I still bake for a big occasion, such as a birthday parties, thanksgiving, or Christmas day. Passing the exam for U.S. Citizenship was an occasion well-worth celebrating with cake. Since she spoke of the raspberry shortcake, I took the opportunity to bake. 

My wife did not know I was making a cake resembling an American flag, so she was so excited when she saw it, making me proud and happy.

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Rebuilding Strength with Patience: My Journey Back to 10 Pull-Ups

Written October 17, 2024

reviewed 10/27

Hello Dear Readers,

For the first time this season, I completed all ten intended pullups. During summer, I had physically intensive chores, such as lawn mowing, and I had to drop off some of my muscle training exercises. Pull-ups are one of the exercises that dropped out. Due to my kidney condition, I am restricted in protein intake. In early summer, I noticed that I had difficulties keeping my ideal weight. Since I can eat less protein than a healthy adult would consume. I suspected I lost my muscles. I made choices to keep running and less muscle training. I wanted to get back to it in the Fall. 

I had difficulty doing my pull-ups for the first time since I dropped out of the exercise after a few months. I had lost muscle endurance altogether. I felt that lactic acid accumulated quickly, and I had no power to continue. It has been some time since I added back pull-up and pull-over muscle exercises to my summer routine. I gradually gained back my muscle endurance and strength. Today, I had to drop off after the first 5, but after a short break, I finished them. I’ll keep trying to get closer to getting them all done without having to take a break, but as long as I get them all done, I’m pretty satisfied.  

With the compromising kidney conditions, I need to be patient with anything I will do with my body. No matter how much I want to gain my muscles quickly, exercising more than my body can handle could cause unwanted muscle loss or, even worse, an injury. I still need to get my pullover count back up to 10, but I’m sure that happen. I have to be patient. 

My journey to getting back to what I could have done continues. I’ll need to work out a new exercise schedule today. After I can increase my pullups and pullovers to sets of 10, I can add dips and leg lifts to the routine and eventually start doing bicep curls again. My wife noted that doing the same exercises daily was not a good strategy and that I should spread them out more instead.  This way, I think I’ll focus on a single exercise type each day of the week, and this may be something that I can maintain during the lawn mowing season, too.

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Celebrating Milestones With a Pumpkin Spice Latte

Written October 18, 2024

Hello Dear Readers,

I decided to skip my run today since we planned to celebrate the milestone of her citizenship journey by indulging in a trip to Starbucks for coffee. My wife had her citizenship test/interview early this morning. Shortly after finishing my winter exercises, she called me to say she was on her way home. 

Her test was at 7:35 a.m., so she left the house at 6:40 a.m., leaving her an extra 20 minutes. When she goes to the office, she usually leaves the house around the same time, so the time itself does not bother her. She was worried that she would get lost or have an accident on the way. 

She has been preparing for the exam since April, but she gets distracted by something she finds curious. For example, she learned about the list of cabinets for the United States. She can’t stop there. She would dig through what each department does. She says time is her most considerable enemy because she forgets about time. Honestly, the way she studies or does anything, no time is enough. She got into so many troubles when she was much younger. She had to compromise with the environmental forces to prevent what she wanted, such as time. So whatever she does is planned for a long time. Some of her goals could be traced over a decade. 

I could not believe it when she told me she had never tried the famous seasonal treat, pumpkin spice latte. She had just found out about it and was eager to experience it. Knowing she would be back in roughly 30 minutes, I did not have time to finish a run before she returned. I wanted to be ready to leave for our coffee whenever she wanted.  Since it was freezing this morning, I was not too upset about skipping my run; I’ll have to commit to the full 10k to compensate for today’s laziness.

My wife had a pumpkin spice latte. Since I haven’t had a pumpkin spice latte before this year, I tried the Pecan Crunch Latte. I prefer a pumpkin spice latte. My wife loved her pumpkin spice latte. She was wondering how the coffee tasted of pumpkin. 

We are planning to donate the materials used for the citizenship process. My wife was worried that she had written something in them, but I told her that some people could benefit. 

I am happy that she has reached another milestone, as I know she has wanted U.S. citizenship for a long time.

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Building Strength: A Journey of Patience, Progress, and Support

Written October 15, 2024

Hello Dear Readers,

I woke this morning to confirmation that I had put enough effort into my pullups. My subscapular muscles and my biceps were sore. Even last winter, the pull-ups gave me muscle aches, although the aches were much less intense than today. 

I wear gloves my sister gave me last winter to protect my skin. My wife gifted me the pullup platform over a decade ago before I had a brain stroke. Due to the brain stroke, I could not use the machine for several years. My wife did not get rid of it. She adamantly told me that she would use it if I could not use it in the future. She usually gets rid of things we don’t use without hesitation, so this was abnormal behavior for my wife. I thanked her for not getting rid of the machine, regardless.

Because I have been working on muscle exercises, my wife wants to gradually add muscle exercises to her workout curriculum. She is more of a cardio person but says that is not good enough. She runs to keep her body, especially her energy, high. Still, she would get hurt without a proper body to handle her energy. She’s started stretching to be more flexible. Now, she wants to have more muscles. She has so many things she wants to do, and she wants to have a healthy brain to do them at a later age. I know she does not like muscle training as much. So, I want to help and support her in her muscle training.

Despite this soreness, I did another set of exercises before breakfast. I wanted to see how well I would do today. Completing a push-up set was more manageable than yesterday. I could complete more before needing to drop off for a moment.  So, I expect to be at least as sore tomorrow. 

I have loved training my muscles since I was young and did gymnastics. My training is about something other than bulking up muscles, though. You would need strong core muscles to complete some gymnastics routines. 

As we age, our bodies act a little differently. For example, retaining muscles while maintaining them will be easier. I also understand that I have restrictions since my kidneys are compromised. For one, I consume protein like I used to, which hurts me to gain muscles. But I also understand it is not impossible to gain muscles even if I am aged or have compromised kidneys. I need more patience with my body. 

Eventually, my muscles will catch up to what I’m forcing them to do, and the soreness will fade.  It might take a week or two to reach that point, but I’m in no rush.

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Adjusting to Winter: Balancing Workouts, Cold Weather, and Health Challenges

Written October 14, 2024

Hello Dear Readers,

Last night, I decided to start my winter running routine early. The day is getting shorter, and the sun is rising past 6:40 a.m. now. I used to run a little past 8 a.m. to avoid the Nashville heat. The later the sun rises, the chilly the outside temperature is. The coldest temperature of some of the day was below 40F.

I started to shift around my workout schedule so that activities involving going outside are done much later in the day. I began adding pull-ups and push-ups just like before implementing the summer exercise curriculum.  After setting my breakfast bowl and coffee on my desk, 

It had just been a few months since the change, so I decided to do push-ups like I used to. In reality, that is not what happened. I found doing the pullups to be much more complicated than I remember them being the last time I did them. Previously, I remember being able to do a set of 10 without pause, but today I could only manage 4.  I completed 10 in total but had to drop off for a few seconds between bursts of effort. At least the push-up exercise was easy for me to complete.

It was a little disappointing. Now, I wonder how long it will take me to return to where I was before summer. I’ll just have to keep working on them and doing what I can until they’re more accessible. The only way I will do this is to increase the rep per set gradually. 

In summer, I had to do much more chores outside. The chores can be stressful for my body, especially with the steep hill in our backyard. Some days, I didn’t have enough energy to complete both, so I changed my exercise routine. I have kidney conditions, so I get tired much faster than a healthy adult. 

I started adding muscle training to my routine in the last two years. It was better in the first year because my reps and sets for each session were much smaller. 

For next year, I should schedule a little differently so I can still do my muscle training, like push-ups or pull-ups. There are some solutions to this. I could have yard work split not into two days but three days. I could also reduce the days I work out but keep doing them.