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Cre8ive's Blog

 
108 Posts and 254 Comments
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Sober Life/November Grind...

By Cre8ive - Oct 29 2009, 10:10 PM

A couple months ago I posted about some blood work that I had done. I had an elevated bilirubin which is a function of my liver. They told me not to drink alcohol for three months and stay away from high cholesterol foods/fried foods. I didn't drastically change my diet. I drank more water and stayed away from soda and tried to eat fast food less frequently. I have never been unhealthy really so I wasn't sure how to tackle that request.

Anyways, this morning I went in to get my liver tested again. I won't know the results of the test for a couple days. Being sober and not having a sip of alcohol in my system for almost three and a half months wasn't so bad. I didn't go out too often but when I did it was boring for the most part. I only enjoyed going to places that played good music since that was all I could vibe to really. Most of my friends would drink and I would just feel left out. On the flip side I feel really healthy and don't mind not drinking one bit. It's funny to be on the sober side of nightlife and see how drunk people act (including myself when I would drink.) I never drank a lot anyways. In college I would drink a couple times a week like any normal college student. Since graduating, I probably would go out once every two weeks.

I'm not sure what will happen with this. They might tell me that my bilirubin levels have gone down to normal levels and I shouldn't drink anymore. They also might say it is still elevated. For the latter I would probably be more worried. I have been in a medical situation where doctors couldn't diagnose what was wrong with me. That was very scary. I ended up having surgery because a doctor thought it COULD fix the problem. The problem went away but it could have just been because of time (one doctor said I might have aggravated something and to take a couple months off from basketball -- I was a sophomore in college and was in the gym everyday so I wasn't going to do that since he didn't even know what was wrong.) I need more information all around. I have done some of my own research on the bilirubin and some elevated levels don't mean much so I will just have to wait and find out what's going on. They did an ultrasound on my liver, gallbladder, and kidneys which they were all normal. I'm not worried. We'll see what they say.

I plan on grinding hard online in November. I am debating if I should try to play all 30 days in November or not. I might go insane if I do that. I need to work on my mental toughness anyways. The fields on Thursday/Friday aren't as good as other days of the week and they don't have as many majors on those days either. I don't know if I will take those days off throughout November. It would probably be better if I didn't and I played every single day. Whatever I decide I am going to stick to it and hopefully I can accomplish whatever goal I set out to do.

My schedule would be: Wake up 9-10, go to the gym, eat lunch, play poker, go to sleep. I would probably start around 1pm or 2pm and play through the whole night. It's tough to sit in front of the computer for afternoon and night sessions but it can be done. I would probably be playing 10-12 hours of poker a day on average. That would be pretty insane over a 30 day period. 300-360 hours of poker in a month. Wow. Haha, maybe I shouldn't be thinking of it like that. I have a couple days to decide what I want to do and then I'm going to attack November. Either way I think it will be good to put that much time into poker and I should be able to fine tune my game and fix some of my leaks. The game is constantly changing and you have to adapt with it.

There is also a $1k Hard Rock tournament this weekend on Saturday. They run it the last Saturday of every month so I will most likely play that instead of play online. Sunday will be November 1st and the first day of the grind. If I do play that Hard Rock tournament I will blog about it and post the interesting hands.

I don't have any plans for Halloween but I might be down for something when it comes around. If I don't get deep in the Hard Rock tournament I might get in the mood to do something. I don't have a costume but I can handle it on a whim.

That's all I have for now. If anyone has any suggestions or advice about playing 360 hours in a month let me know! Just kidding. I probably won't do 30 days straight. Any advice is welcomed though. I'll update tomorrow or this weekend.

Comments

abakus73 

abakus73 said:

man I do 8 or 9 hours a day sometimes but its already

on the borderline for me coz I can't start b4  5pm due

to my job in weekdays and its tought to stay focused

the whole time and mostly the big decisions are at the

end of these sessions due to grinding MTT's...so its very

very tough - I suggest you to take at least one day a

week off and mix the times (some days shorter sessions).

October 30, 2009 5:00 AM
Cre8ive 

Cre8ive said:

Yeah I agree. I have gone some days playing the whole day 10-12-14 hours a day and those were exhausting. I will probably take a day or two off a week on Thurs/Fri but hopefully things go well so there is extra motivation to play frequently.

October 30, 2009 8:22 PM
swd805 

swd805 said:

Nice post.  Hope you get back to 100% soon, do they know how/why this condition started?

October 31, 2009 3:56 AM
StraightNutz 

StraightNutz said:

I think that playing everyday for an enitre month would be way too exhausting.  I've done two weeks straight and was mentally exhausted and took three days off because of it(way too long).  I think the best schedule is def taking Friday off to get your remind off poker and re-energized for the weekend, plus the tournamnet selection and field sizes are much smaller.  I also have been taking off Thursday nights and playing two to three hours earlier on Absolute poker.  I am still to figure out a perfect shedule for me, but one day off a week I think is a necessity!  Take Friday off Cre8ive in November and watch Football and hang out with friends.

October 31, 2009 10:50 AM
apestyles 

apestyles said:

I've quit drinking for the last 3 months and been working out nonstop. Insta-upswing and feel great. But yea, I feel the exact same way when I go out now.

November 1, 2009 1:39 AM
duclover 

duclover said:

www.lifeforce.net/body-balance.php. check it out.

PM with any questions or if you'd like to order. I've been taking if for 2 months or so now and feel GREAT. There have been many amazing health success stories from people taking Body Balance.

November 1, 2009 9:30 AM
dmschec 

dmschec said:

feel better buddy

November 1, 2009 12:04 PM
88_mustang 

88_mustang said:

From my experience, I have learned that I need a lot of variety in activities for me to achieve a good balance in my life.  I would definitely mix in some live play to break up the monotomy of online and maybe even switch games on certain days.  Just my two cents...

I definitely find that having a plan and routine helps to stabilize my life and helps me to perform better.

November 1, 2009 12:18 PM
Cre8ive 

Cre8ive said:

I had blood work done like two years ago... My bilirubin came back 1.4 normal is under 1.2 they said.. Then i went back again this year and it was up to 2.4 I believe. I don't think its anything serious. I'm not panicking or anything. Just concerned I suppose. But they told me not to drink/eat better and then they retested me so I will find out tomorrow probably what the results are and whats going on.

I don't think I've drank that excessively where I would have picked up some condition. I had some rough nights in college but nothing out of the norm but who knows.

November 1, 2009 3:10 PM
Cre8ive 

Cre8ive said:

Also I'm fine for everyone saying get better etc.. I don't have a problem with my health as far as I know but I appreciate the comments. I'm sure everything will be fine.

As far as all the comments towards taking days off and balance, I think you guys are right.

Ape: I always feel better when I work out before I play poker. I feel like my mind is clear and it's easy for me to play good. So I'll get my work outs in before I play everyday.

Nutz: I think youre right and I probably will just play 5 days a week and take off Thurs/Fri since those are the down days for tournaments.

November 1, 2009 3:15 PM
anignosaj 

anignosaj said:

gl Cre8ive in poker and in life.  best of luck to you  bro

November 1, 2009 9:06 PM
pikappraider78 

pikappraider78 said:

i think thursdays are a better day off then friday since atleast friday night u got the fri nite fight.  also after a sat-wed 5 day grind your motivation to play on a thursday where your biggest tourney of the day are the 162s is probably going to be low.  would be tough to play optimally on a thursday after a 5 day brickfest.

November 2, 2009 1:28 PM
Cre8ive 

Cre8ive said:

PiKapp: Yeah thats a good point. I know Fridays has the Friday Night Fight.. so that is a good tournament to play. We'll have to see. I guess for now I will definitely take off Thursdays.

I'm still trying to figure out the best schedule too of tournaments. Sometimes I think I have too many tables and too many smaller buyin tournaments but maybe I just need to get adjusted to playing 10-12 tables.

November 2, 2009 7:02 PM

About Cre8ive

http://tristancre8ive.blogspot.com - PM me if you're interested in coaching.


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