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The new world 

Posted by Rich Synowiec at 7:07 AM No comments: 

Whole 30, Back on track after a break...

July is a fantastic month for me!

The result?  I feel like total crap. 

A simple accomplishment... Just before I fell off the grid for a week, my good friend and dive buddy on many dives, Aaron Oaks posted that he had just completed the epic accomplishment of 200 logged dives.  Since I had been made aware that posting in the 100's is a big deal (on the 100th and 1000th dive you are supposed to make the dive naked or so they tell me) I wondered if on the Isle Royale would I make a century dive. As it turns out, if I worked a little at it I could.  I needed to double up on two of the dive sites. As it worked out, the rebreather let me do two additional dives as no decompression dives even though the previous dive had been to normal no decompression limits and my surface interval was about 10 minutes including the time at the safety stop.  Love theses machines.

On the last dive of the trip, on the epic dive site known as the Chisholm Engine,  I made my 3600th logged dive with Jill Synowiec, Wayne Rush, Jack Papas, Monica Dobies with Jesse Rush and Capt. Ryan Staley watching topside.  The trip was epic and the pictures will be posted at the Divers Incorporated Blog in the coming days on on the Divers inc Facebook pages.

Hope you are along with me on the destination for the 3700th dive... if my life is consistent it should be in Bonaire...   March 2017.. you need to be there.
Posted by Rich Synowiec at 7:38 PM No comments: 

The problem with raising your standards

Since the CDTC I have been faced with a dilemma.

The simple explanation is this:

Posted by Rich Synowiec at 10:09 PM No comments: 

Ran out of time at the CDTC... but this happened! I started with some awesome aspirations to write a blog entry every day but by day three it became too much work to add to what I had to do already. I actually had to blog as part of a marketing contest we were doing so I didn't want to let my group down by doing this one.  More to come but the simple truth of the matter is that I passed the program.

I am a PADI Course Director!
Posted by Rich Synowiec at 7:17 PM No comments: 

Day Two - PADI CDTC Punta Cana, Dominican Republic

It was an emotionally trying day.  As much as I tried I could not get over my nervousness.  The level of understanding and empathy that I have for my fellow candidates and for future IDC Students is something that, If nothing else, is the biggest take-away from this program.  That and the people that I am working with on my team.  They are simply the best.  We have people from all over the world on my team and they are amazingly talented individuals.   It is a joy to work with them and after today I feel that they will be people that I keep in touch with forever.  The other candidates are equally as talented, we have just been concentrating on working with our team.

So the day was supposed to be a day where we lecture in the morning,  do our first confined water presentation and out first confined water evaluation in the ocean in confined open water.  I had sat up late and prepared, double checked my outline and I was ready.   Then we had an announcement just before lunch.  We were not going to confined water in the ocean but were going to be using the pool and we needed to prepare our second confined water evaluation. We were given about an hour and a half for that preparation and lunch.  The nerves came back.

The level of perfection that I witnessed in the pool was awe inspiring,  the first three presentations given were flawless and it increased my anxiousness. I was the first evaluator.  Needless to say I was really confident but when you give a person such remarkable scores you get the feeling you may have done something wrong.   You see, as an evaluator we have to match the scores of the control or CD -Trainer who is also evaluating.   That has, in the past been something I excelled at so the only part I was concerned about was that I would miss something.  There were nearly 50 people sharing the pool.

When it came time for me to do my presentation I choked a little.  Got through it, knew I had made a mistake and also knew that I didn't have to be perfect just score better than average.

When it was all over we waited for the CDTC Trainer to give us our scores and counsel us on the mistakes we made.  Other than being the last one to sit for it, it was the best experience because I was able to remedy my nervousness and self doubt a bit.   I had passed...  with a perfect match on the evaluation and only having missed two of the possible points on the confined water presentation.  I know that they will not happen again.

Passed the second day.  Win!
Posted by Rich Synowiec at 4:06 AM No comments: 

Day One of the PADI CDTC in Punta Cana, DR

Day one is complete and I have a new empathy towards new instructors and even those divers who are learning a new skill or taking a new class.  I have been diving with sharks, places no one has ever been before, under ice, and a myriad of other challenging locations.  Never in my life have I been so apprehensive as yesterday when I stood up and introduced myself to 50 of the most talented diving instructors in the world today.   I was literally shaking when it was all over.  I will get through this but I guess the enormity of it all hit me at that moment.

Today was about orientation in the morning,  standards testing and in the afternoon we had a rescue diver workshop and a confined water evaluation workshop.   As much as I thought I knew I learned a ton and I am happy to say I passed all the evaluation points that were needed on this first day.   The course directors who are running the course are top shelf, approachable and ready to help. They are there to take us from wherever we happen to be and make us better.  I have no self-doubt about my abilities after yesterday, I just worry I will miss something.   The level of empathy that I have learned and the people I have met just this first day have made the trip worth it.  From a standpoint of the connections I have made with people who I may never have met otherwise makes this a goal worth attaining.

Today we have more classroom programs in the morning then in the afternoon we are doing our first confined water presentation/evaluation.   We play the role of students, Course Directors and Evaluators today and we get to do it in the ocean which is really exciting.

Mentally this first day was exhausting but the support we get from the people that are here helps a lot and the fellow candidates bring to the program a level of energy that is unmatched in my recent experience.

I am looking forward to today even though I am still a bit nervous, my confidence is growing.
Posted by Rich Synowiec at 3:58 AM No comments: 

PADI Course Director - Becoming a PADI Instructor Trainer #PADICDTC

This is an edit/repost from the Divers Incorporated Blog with an added dimension.  I wanted to let you know some of the details of my preparation and for people who follow me it will be interesting, for people who just follow diving, not so much.   You can read the other blog at blogspot.diversinc.com For the past three months I have been working on getting accepted to attend and then working on getting all my ducks in a row to become a PADI Course Director.  In non diving terms it is a position that will allow me to train scuba instructors and basically become an instructor trainer.   Its kind of a big deal with a lott of work involved.  I have to do a business plan, take tests, participate in workshops, take more tests,do some online training and basically prove to the powers that be at PADI that I am worthy of their confidence in me.  World wide only 50 people get the opportunity out of hundreds of applicants.  I am one of those people here to make it happen.

Long story short,  I didn't want to get this far and then mess it a up so I have been actually training for it.  I participated in programs to better myself and 27 days ago I began again the whole30 program.   I am going to keep on it for the duration of the program or until I really need a beer, whichever comes first. :)

I am in the best shape of my life. I even bought some new dive gear to be sure everything works as expected.  Today I feel fantastic and now that I am actually here and have gotten to walk around and relax I am ready.

So here is what I know.  The program that I embarking on is going to be an intense couple of weeks where they take you from wherever you are now and make you better.  They have a vested interest in you (me) becoming the best course director that PADI has ever seen. So myself and fifty or so other people from 20 countries who speak 5 different languages are going to spend the next couple of weeks working towards that goal.   I will know more after tomorrow but in case it really is that intense and I am unable to keep up with this blog like I want to the other basic understanding is that they are going to break the group up into smaller groups and that smaller group will consist of 7 - 8 Course Director Candidates who's soul purpose in life over the next few days  is to make the other 6 or 7 people in their groups outstanding course directors.  Piece of cake right?

In any case I am here, whole.  I have my stuff.  I am more relaxed than I was this morning.  Diet, habits, practice, paper writing, studying...   all have been my goal over the past two months.   I am ready for whatever they throw at us. On another note this resort where we are at is beautiful.   The PUNTA CANA Westin Resort. It is a little too much in the way of a "timeshare" for me to be comfortable with it as a dive resort, but it has palm trees, warm water, sand and a bar.   All the necessities for what I will have to assume is the most challenging of the PADI courses.  I just do not want to mess this up so I prepped hard for it.  I am in great shape and a new path is opened before me.

Today was a long day of travelling and tomorrow starts early. 

Skinny Clothes - Life story beyond the Whole 30

So Jill and I have been so busy lately that today I ran out of jeans to wear. Since this whole 30 diet thing started, I haven't given much thought to how loose my clothes have been on me. For those of you who know me best, you know that I am not a slave to fashion. This morning, having a little bit of time to kill before I left for a morning meeting I climbed into one of my storage areas and grabbed some clothes from a few years ago. I was thinking that I may have something not horribly small that I might fit into.

The first shirt and pair of jeans I grabbed fit. And they fit well. Goldilocks well. Chalk another project that I have to do on the board, now its time to pull out my skinny clothes and see what fits. There goes a day. Good thing my fashion hasn't changed in two decades.

I have not been on the diet formally for about two weeks but I am still eating as if I was. For those times that I have strayed there have been some interesting results. It seems beer tastes way better and if it is top shelf, microbrew stuff there seems to be no repercussions. McDonald's is another story. Wow is that poison. I had to eat it due to convenience for a couple of days in a row and I got some sensitive skin under my wedding ring and on my legs. After a couple of days of lots of water and eating back on the plan, it is clearing up. Gonna need to make sure I pack lunch more often.

My summer is starting and diving will become more of a weekly thing so I may not have to start formall exercise just yet. I have been keeping track of the stuff I eat (something you are not supposed to do on the plan) to see if there are changes like the one above that I can avoid. I have been delving into those foods that I put away on the diet the first time to see if there are things I wouldn't be sensitive to. Some things are fine. Others, not so much. Its funny that Beer is ok but bread is not. Cheese is really bad. I am scared to try chili again. Other stuff I wake up the next day like coming off of a three day, tropical island, where-all-I drink-is-rum kind of bender. Those mornings aren't all that much fun.

I am a coffee connoisseur now, or at least I am becoming one. Hard to believe since I only drink it black. whodathunkit?

I have created a couple of recipes that have moderate success and I love some of the spices that I am working with.

I am going to be going through my pantry again soon with a different motivation. Time to donate the stuff (poisons) that I know I won't ever eat again.

I am now down three pant sizes, and one shirt size since this whole thing started. I have more energy that I thought possible. (the coffee probably helps) I have a fantastic outlook on life.

If you are not satisfied with how you feel you should really try doing this program. Its free and I am not a paid spokesman, just someone who tried it.

I have talked with a lot of friends about the program, they ask about it, I tell them about it and it usually ends with "oh I don't think I could ever give up (fill in the blank here)" Or "I couldn't live without (fill in the blank here)" Personally, I thought the very same thing. Knowing what I know now and how I feel now, I wish I could go back and prevent all the damage I may have caused myself with the borderline high blood pressure, insecurities and pessimism.

Its only 30 days. One month. If you have made it through reading this blog I know you could give up anything for 30 days.

If you need motivation I am here for you.

And I will have a beer with you on Day 31.
Posted by Rich Synowiec at 6:14 AM No comments: 

Whole 30: This will probably be the way I eat for the rest of my life

I am pretty sure that this will be, more or less, the way that I eat for the rest of my life.  I feel fantastic and without following the strict letter of the law on this one I still lost another 8lbs.   The weight loss has been fantastic, but the overall feeling of health and well being has been even better.

This past 30 days I went off diet Six times,  two slices of pizza that would have been wasted, once for an amazing Creme Brule, once for an ice cream  (it was small), an unbelievable tres leche cake, and a couple glasses of wine (they are grapes Right?) and the loaded cheeze bread in Port Jefferson New York was totally "NOT FAIR."   I also didn't concern myself as much as I did before with the oils that food was cooked in, butter as a cooking agent, bacon, and the oil for salads.   As things worked out during this whole 30 I ate out a lot, for at least 12 of the 30 days so I was really surprised at the weight loss.

All in all I think what started out as an experiment will end up being more permanent.   I am going to see what happens over the next two weeks to see what comes of it. I had pizza this evening (sure to regret it) and I want CAKE! but  other than the occasional social events I am going to do my best to keep on the program.  I can't think of a downside other than it takes a little more "thinking" to figure out what I am going to eat.

The next two weeks or so will be telling.  If my weight bumps up even a little,  I will go back to being strict about it,  if the stress returns to my shoulders, I will go back on it,  if I find that I am angry at stupid things I will go back on it. Right now I want CAKE!  But I had pizza instead.  It wasn't that good.  Over the next few weeks I am going to use up some of the stuff that is borderline (like chili and some of my soups)  and not replace them.   I am going to continue to call candy bars and pop "poison."

All things in moderation but I know that I will never have high fructose corn syrup ever again if I can help it. Corn will never be back in my diet no matter what, popcorn is also a goner.  I think I am also done with pop except for a rare exception.  I am done with Ketchup and BBQ sauce and done with coffee creamers.  When I can find alternatives I will take them but so far its been fun cooking "healthy" and it has been an amazing ride watching myself get skinnier.  Would like to see if I can drop 13 more lbs to get where I was when I finished my first year of college (I was 145lbs when I finished High School so I am not going to try that.)   Diet has been all that I have done so far,  if I hit a plateau I will go back to being super careful, watch the calories and maybe (he types with a shudder) exercise.

If you want to challenge yourself I highly recommend the whole 30 program.  I know you love beer,  I know you love CAKE!  I know that you can't live without your double frappa-mocha-creamsicle-whipcream-dairy-delight Starbucks, I LOVE RUM!  But give yourself 30 days, a real 30 days where you do not cheat.   Follow the program as outlined at www.whole30.com  and stick to it.   I would not have believed it.   It's free. No calorie counting, you can eat potatoes and meat and other carbs.  I am not a spokesperson for the company, just someone who was happy to have found it.

I know you once told yourself "I would do anything to lose weight and feel better (except eat right and exercise)"  The "eat right" in this program is easy, eat what they tell you, as much as you want.  And I lost 26 lbs without any added exercise.    I will let you know how the journey goes from here.

Posted by Rich Synowiec at 8:21 PM No comments: 

The Whole 30 - Round Two

Motivations come in weird packages.

How is that for a kick in the head?

Posted by Rich Synowiec at 11:43 AM 1 comment: 

Diving into the Whole 30

This a post about a diet.  I want to be a better diver so I need to have a better functioning body.  I am well on my way because of this change in my behavior.  Enjoy the story - Rich

Since about mid October I have been keenly aware that something is just not right.  I  was tired, ached a lot, carried a lot of stress and had been struggling with my weight all summer.  I was beginning to "Feel My Age."  I wanted to do something about it but never could find the time.   A meme that I saw comes to mind,  "I would do anything to lose weight except eat right and exercise."  Seriously though, it was something I wanted to do but the only thing that seemed to work was binge drinking Monster Rehabs to take away the cravings.   Not wanting to dig an early grave I gave up Monsters last fall and started back on coffee.   I had it with lots of creamer but no added sugar.

I started reading a lot about how diet could be the cause of a lot of stress and anxiety along with weight gain and difficulty sleeping.  Not sure where to turn I started back to counting calories and controlling portions.

Then the Holidays arrived.  Out the door went counting calories, and I gained back the little that I lost.  The link between my stress and diet never occurred to me since I own my own businesses and stress is part of the formula.

While on vacation at Christmas, our host, Sue O'Brien started telling my wife about a diet called the WHOLE 30.  She said that it was simple, free to follow on their website, and if you were creative in the kitchen (like I am) not all that out of the realm of enjoyment even though it seemed to be one of the strictest diets I had ever seen.  I had been reading a book called "Grain Brain" by Dr. Pearlmutter.  That book had horror stories about what  an improper diet could do to you later in life and I was sure I was on the right path to my own well being. Thing was that Dr. Pearlmutter was all about supplements and I am not a big pill guy.  He was also about gut health and that wasn't something that interested me.

Back home and Done with the Holidays and a family time share trip at the end of January, my wife, Jill, and I started looking into the program that Sue had told us about. It looked easy to do but tough to stick to. Jill was totally for it and so, by default to keep it easy, I was too.  Jill had gone gluten free out necessity a few years back so I was keenly aware of the problems associated with trying to separate diets.  This diet was similar to the elimination diet but it took out a lot of those "Safe" foods too.

I did my research, (and I suggest you do the same) about the diet outlined at WHOLE30.COM.  It  was super simple and although at first glance it seemed extreme it really wasn't. It did take away most of my favorite snacks, took my drinks away and reduced my favorite beverage to a cold, black, bitter mess (much like my heart) but it was simple.  The why's  and how it worked escaped me at the time but that was way above my pay grade anyway.

Here are the Basics:
After all the NOs I was looking for a couple of  "Yesses" and they had a couple. You could have green beans, snap peas and snow peas even though they were technically legumes.  You could have fruit juice added as a sweetener, you could have vinegar and you could have salt.  No limit to quantities either.

Armed with these rules I attacked our kitchen pantry, fridge and freezer.  I figured if I got it out of sight we wouldn't be tempted.  I moved everything we were not allowed to have out of the area and pretty much stripped it bare.   I tell you, after taking out all the stuff we could not have my fridge looked like the one I had in college after my Mom shopped for me.  We had broccoli and Franks hot sauce but little else.   I saved it all figuring after 30 days I would want a break and I hate wasting things.  AND my kids didn't need or want to be on it since it was mostly stuff they wouldn't eat anyway.   But It was empty.  From there I had to restock.  I took the list of stuff that was on the WHOLE30.COM shopping list and went out to the store.   I read every package for ingredients.  Did you know that corn syrup, corn oil, peanut oil and Soy are in EVERYTHING!  For those things that aren't containing the above they added sugar.   My list was simple and although it was a little more specific than this it did not have to be.

We could eat a ton of stuff: What I ended up liking the most was the following

There was more but this was the majority of what we used.   One of the coolest things was Almond Flour.. Crushed raw almonds made and amazing chicken nugget.   Olive Oil was consumed way more than normal and so was Coffee.

So now we were ready for the final rule:  You do not need to count calories, no need to weigh, measure or portion and you can eat as much as you want of the approved foods. YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO STEP ON A SCALE AT ALL DURING THE WHOLE 30 DAYS!


I hated coffee at the beginning,  love it now.  I absolutely CRAVED CAKE.  I dreamed about a black forest cake around day 10 and it stayed with me for about two weeks.   I was hungry a lot but not uncomfortably so.  I snacked a lot and ate a ton of food but by day 21 I could really feel the difference.  I literally felt better, amazingly different.   This gave me a level of motivation towards a diet that I had never felt before.

The most horrifying thing about the process was eating out.  We avoided eating out except out of necessity.  We could eat almost anything but the salad dressing had to be olive oil and vinegar and we had to be super careful about sauces.  Everything is cooked in butter and oils that are bad for you.  It is also amazing how many things come with cheese on them. We traveled to the upper peninsula and this part was really difficult. But Jill and I ate a ton of nuts, fruit and meats.  Good meals, although simple. We cooked with olive oil and coconut oil. Baked a lot of potatoes and cooked a number of eggs. This diet was simple and as long as I got the mindset that people eating anything on the DO NOT EAT list were suicidal and poisoning themselves it was all good.   Truly the only downside was when I forgot to pack lunch.  You cannot find healthy stuff in a convenience store, gas station or fast food joint.  Don't kid yourself, it isn't there.  At first the thought was that it would be the longest 30 days of my life.  A week into it each day was better than the last.

Not to get too into the details but lets just say the first two weeks were horrible on the body processes and leave it at that.    Eating healthy after all the crap that I used to eat shocked my system something fierce but I did not get sick from the flu or rotavirus so that is a definite plus.


Bottom line is that I would like everyone that I care about who is struggling with their weight or  "feeling old" to try this.   This program worked better than I ever hoped or dreamed it would.  I feel fantastic.  Today was the last day of my whole 30 and I now have the knowledge of what can poison me.  My stress is gone, my aches and pains are limited to strains from exercise. I have more energy and I feel mentally sharper.  Most of all I lost 18.6 lbs in the 30 days and I am under 200lbs for the first time in 5 years.  I am 28 lbs off my heaviest and my waist size has shrunk by two.   I live for results and this one changed a lot for me.   I learned a lot about my diet and what works.  I do plan on taking a couple of weeks off from the strictness of it and try some foods sparingly to see what happens.  I like baked goods, Creme Brule, Chili,  Rum, Cheese, Ketchup and sushi.

I hope they don't kill me.

I will take it slow since I know my tolerance to bad foods will be lowered.  I would like to clean out my fridge and pantry without wasting it.  Giving it away feels like giving poison to a friend so I would rather "take one for the team" and get rid of it through limited consumption.

There are things that I will not go back to.  I will keep drinking my coffee black.   I won't use butter if I can use olive oil instead.   I will keep nuts on hand for snacking and roast them myself.  I will reduce dairy and keep away from ice cream.   And I will not consume sugar if I don't have to.

Like I said above I feel great.  There is an added benefit to knowing you will not have to go through your day in pain. The weight loss is something I would like to keep working on.   I am totally stoked about that.  And I have so much more added energy I may just have to start exercising.   Let me know if you have questions.  I love talking about the success that I have had with this.
Posted by Rich Synowiec at 8:49 PM No comments: