As I said on the voice of the village, I am not a great vegetable eater.  Actually my wife says I am like having another kid that complains at the healthy food.  That said, reading all the efforts made by several thousand people around the village has inspired me to join.  Better late than never.

Last night I had salad, tomatoes and zucchini.  Today, I had fruit for breakfast and broccoli mixed with other veggies.  I added a lot of hot peppers so it would taste better.

Thank you for shaming me into being healthy!

Yo Fellow Travelers in the Journey of Life,

Alisa let me know I have some gaps to fill!

1. On Saturday July 26 I was doing serious mountain biking.  I had a banana during afternoon (did you already get the fruit serving at breakfast).  I had one serving of veggies at dinner, don’t remember the type.
2. On Sunday the 27^th, I had a half serving of fruit at breakfast.  I had a cup of fruit at lunch.    I had a serving of spinach at dinner.
3. On Wednesday the 30^th I did no exercise because I was sick.
4. On Thursday at lunch I had 3 servings of vegetables.  One of the great things about having our own cafeteria for the 850 teammates in world hq, is that Colt the chef is willing to make me up some doozies when it comes to tasty vegetables at lunch.  He adds some spicy sauces that makes them taste good when combined with a little chicken or salmon.

I believe that catches me up.

This morning, Monday, I started the day with an hour of work.  Now I need to get out and exercise for an hour or so, and then return to do a couple more calls.  Then freedom!  (and maybe sneak in a little planning work in the early evening).

KT

Good Morning DaVita Village !!!!!!!!

There are over 3600 of us now, locked arm-in-arm around the globe, pursuing better health.   Alisa, please tell me what countries are represented overseas so I can share that.

I did an awesome amount of email on the flight Saturday.  Part of that was for a bad reason – we had a burning smell in the cabin, and smoke in the cockpit, of the plane, and we made an emergency landing in Alliance, Nebraska.  That was quite unsettling.  But the time in Alliance waiting for another plane allowed for lots of email, looking on the bright side.

On Saturday I had a high fiber breakfast, in case I did not report it.  I had a 1.5 serving huge apple.  I had a full serving of broccoli for lunch, and maybe half a serving of green beans, maybe a little less.  And for dinner in Wisconsin I purposefully chose the restaurant that gives a big serving of vegetables, 1.5 servings of broccoli and cauliflower and carrots.   That with lake perch and some baby red potatoes, washed down by a couple of Porters, was pretty heavenly.  It also felt good to just be on the ground.

Alisa, did I already report on my modest Saturday exercise?  First time my body actually felt the old urgings.

On Sunday I had an AWESOME run in the nearby forest, Potawatomi State Park, great trails and I ran for 42 minutes and stretched/rehabbed for another 15.  I had to take 400 units of advil to keep my knee from swelling, but that was a small price to pay.  I track my routes so I can compare my times over time.  Monitoring the trajectory of demise, as it were …..

I had 1.5 servings of berries at breakfast, in addition to the high fiber cereal (shredded wheat).  The berries were strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries.  Lunch was purely carnivorous, not unusual when I am at the cottage.  One of my neices brought over hot dogs made from her own prize-winning steer.  At dinner I had 3 ears of corn with my beef brisket, so I would count that as one serving.  But corn is not high in nutritional value, I concede.

This morning Monday I had my high fiber cereal.  I will search for some fruit.  I will head out for a good bike ride, thru the relatively flat state park – so when I hit the one intense hill on the course, I do it 5 times to get the cardio rate going.

I hope you are all achieving your goals.  When you are wavering, picture the 3600 people surrounding you and yelling out support!

Someone named Collette once said “I had a wonderful life.  I only wish I’d realized it sooner.”

KT

Good Morning teammates of DaVita HealthCare Partners !

It is Saturday morning.  I am in for a rough stretch as we fly to our cottage in northern Wisconsin for several days.  I was raised in Wisconsin, in a small town outside Milwaukee.  But since I was born we have had a cottage up in northern Wisconsin, originally without indoor plumbing and then modernized bit by bit.  I have been there every year of my life, and a few years ago we built a cottage for me and my family, the 5^th cottage in the family compound up there.

The problem is usually our diets are pretty unhealthy there, compared to normal work-life.  So I will need to rely on the 3600 to help me do better than the norm.

Village Vitality you will have to let me know about any gaps, but let me return to yesterday.  I was still feeling enough better to go in the office again.  I had high fiber cereal for bkfast, and 3 servings of vegetables for lunch, one of them being broccoli, along with my chicken.  This was a good move because Friday night brought 130 DaVitans to our house for the annual summer party.  Denise and I invite all La Casa del Mundo and nearby directors and vp’s and their spouses/partners to our house for simple food and drink.  It is our way of trying to say thank you for all the good work, and invest in our notion of being a community first and a company second, a true Village.

BUT I only had one serving of vegetable, as I gorged on crabcakes, beef brisket, spicy beef, ice cream, etc.  Yikes.

Once again I had to go without exercise, as I am still coughing a tiny bit during the day, but quite a bit when I go to bed at night, which leads to lousy sleep.  Hopefully I can get back to that soon.  It is interesting, however, as typically my body craves exercise every day, as it is accustomed to.  But when it is sick that desire often shuts down.  One of the ways I can tell when I am regaining my ultimate health is the desire for exercise re-emerges.  This morning, for the first time all week, it has returned a bit.  Hope springs eternal!

I had a great HCP strategy session yesterday morning, for 3 hours.  I filmed two videos segments, one an intro for an HCP compliance video and the other the video for this year’s “Village Celebration – KT takes the Village to dinner” event.  That celebration attracted OVER 40,000 teammates, citizens and their spouses/partners last year, our way of saying thank you for another year of hard work and good service.  We can only do a dinner like that when we have a reasonable economic year, which we did!  Hopefully every one of those dinners will show the video AND do a couple Core Value awards.  This year for the first time HCP will be a part of the Village Celebration dinners.

Time to pack.  While in Wisconsin the typical day will be something like business calls from 7:30 to 8:30, workout between 8:30 and 11:00, business calls from 11:00 until 1:00 pm, then free time with family.  This is my mom’s first trip back to Wisconsin since we moved her to Denver to be near me, as she is in Long Term Care now.  We have daily nursing support to help us take care of her up at the cottage, and she was so excited.  I worry how sad she will be to leave there once again.

I hope all of you are well.  Picture the 3600 of us, locked arm in arm, proceeding across the country together, striving for better health.  I am already quite sure that I will be eating more fruit and vegetables after MTM VII than I was before it – and that is a very cool thing.  Thanks to all of you.

One for All ….. KT

Quick addendum !

I also had  a cup of strawberries yesterday afternoon.

One for all!