From Dennis – October 18, 2010

Hello Davita,

Well my alarm went off at 4 a.m. this morning. Slowly got up and asked myself “what are you doing, have you lost your mind? You should be sleeping!”

Got to the dojo (karate studio) at 4:50 a.m. Stretched a little then got started with my lesson. I had studied karate years ago in college and promised myself I would take it up again one day; I’m glad I kept the promise to myself! I love it.
My instructor, AJ, is half my age, but he is a very good teacher for such a young man. There are times during the workout that I don’t think I can go any further, I’m out of energy and I just hit the wall. He usually says “Dennis you can do this, come on, dig a little deeper, just a few more.”

What a great feeling when you find the extra strength and do it!

I sometimes ask myself halfway through the two hour class, why do you sign up for these long lessons? But as the clock approaches the end of my two hours, I smile. I know I made it through another class. I pushed myself beyond what I thought I was capable of. I didn’t give up and I found that extra little umph! What a wonderful feeling. I have to be honest, sometimes I bribe myself and say, if you just finish this you can have a snack tonight! I try and avoid the snacks though!

I have a busy travel schedule this week so I need to schedule some workout time and watch my diet. I’m flying to the east coast tomorrow, so between lots of sitting on the plane, room service meals and the temptation of eating those airline peanuts; I better find the time to exercise! Can’t resist the peanuts!

I never feel bad about taking a little time for exercise. It clears my mind and allows me to be better at my job and in my personal life.

I was a reasonably good boy Sunday; I tried to eat healthy all day, although it doesn’t come easy for me! Ice cream, banana cream pie and French fries are my vices.

Sunday night I was watching Dexter (love the show) and I ended up eating a huge bowl of fresh fruit that I got from a farmers market, instead of having that ice cream in my freezer that was calling my name!

BUT at 10 p.m. I couldn’t resist. I ended up grabbing some veggie sticks. About 30% less fat then chips but still bad, particularly at night when my metabolism is slow. So it’s a good thing I had a great workout Monday a.m. I owe myself a few extra minutes in the gym to work off those chips, although I must say they were good, but now it’s time to pay the piper for eating a little junk food.

Hope you all had time to take care of yourself, went for a walk, jogged, yoga, or any form of exercise that you enjoy. We all have lots of people relying on us, patients, family and each other. So it’s important that we do our best to take care of ourselves.

Have a great day and make time for yourself

One for all

Dennis your COO filling in for the mayor while he takes a little time for himself and his family.
Dennis Kogod
COO