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CoSIDA Goodwill & Wellness Committee
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Communicators Outside the Lines Feature Series
This is the next profile Q and A in a series entitled
Communicators Outside the Lines: Better Yourself, Better Your Community produced by the CoSIDA Goodwill & Wellness Committee. Read past profiles at
CoSIDA.com/CommunicatorsOTL.
HAVE IDEAS OR MEMBERS TO NOMINATE FOR THIS SERIES?
If you have any ideas for this series, which will revolve around CoSIDA member volunteerism and health and wellness, please contact Goodwill and Wellness Committee chair
Chris Mitchell, Washington University in St. Louis Assistant AD for Communications, at (618) 560-9280 or
mitchell@wustl.edu.
Orand (left) during his time at Alabama State.
Q&A with Darrell Orand
Coastal Carolina, Assistant Director of Media Relations
by Chevonne Mansfield, Director of Communications, LEAD1 Association
CoSIDA Goodwill and Wellness Committee Member
Darrell Orand of Coastal Carolina has battled health issues and suffered a heart attack in 2012, which led to a lifestyle change. With the support of his doctors and friends, he lost 70 pounds and found a plan that has worked for him which he shares below.
Darrell’s challenge
2012 was my 21st year in the business and I had gone from a one-man shop on a D-II level all the way to running a department on the D-I level. Along the way I had worked as an Assistant Athletic Director and as an Associate Athletic Director and never really paid attention to what the pressures of 21 years in the business was doing to me. I had always worked out, and never really paid attention to the weight I was gaining. I never really felt bad and even had a full physical exactly six weeks to the day of my heart attack. So, to say the events at 5:15 a.m. on Monday April 9, 2012 were a shock is an understatement.
Q: When did you become unhappy about your health and/or lifestyle?
Orand: As I stated above, I always got up went to the gym and worked out before work and still do to this day. So, exercise was not something that I would be giving up. I found out through research and classroom work with my recovery therapists, it’s not always about exercise, but mainly what you put in your body and as I had gotten older, I really had not changed my eating habits. Having the heart attack and going through the recovery studies, I understood that I had to make changes to what I put in my body as well as working my muscles (including my heart).
Q: What made you decide to make a lifestyle change?
Orand: In one word; PAIN...The thing I remember most about the heart attacks (I had two within five hours of each other) was the unbearable pain. I had broken bones, and hurt both knees during my life, but the pain with those injuries does not come close to the intense burning heat I felt inside my chest during those attacks, especially the second one. It was the worse pain I had ever gone through and knew then there had to be changes made.
Orand (second row center) with the BCSIDA group in 2011, the year before his heart attacks.
Darrell’s plan
Q: What were the most important changes you made to your lifestyle?
Orand: First thing I did was diet planning. I looked at what I was eating and drinking and knew there had to be big changes. A lot of what I learned came from the classes that were part of my recovery therapy. We met once a week after a cardio session to discuss the “Kitchen Work” that we had to put in. Chicken and reading labels became a staple of my diet planning and I don’t mean fried chicken. Water was also a large portion of my diet. While I have not cut out some “cheating”, a lot of my meals now are based on chicken and on some day's salmon (which I really like).
Another change was my workout. Gone were the days of pushing my heart rate to almost total exhaustion. I slowed down and each workout I try and build up to my exercise heart rate of 137 bpm and keep it there for 20-25 minutes. That’s not much, but for someone living with slightly damaged heart that is a good standard the doctor’s thought I should shoot for. I did add an extra 15 minutes on to my cardio work, I think mentally it was me telling myself that this heart attack was not going to slow me down. That extra 15 minutes is more of warming up and cooling down than extra heart rate work.
I don’t work out with heavy weights anymore. During our classes and research, I found out how much heavy weight work adds to high blood pressure problems, especially in people my age. So now I do a lot of stretching and some light weight work, just enough to keep my muscles in working condition, not that I am all that strong now, but my arms and legs and core still work fairly well.
Q: What was the most challenging thing you had to deal with during your lifestyle change/journey?
Orand: SWEETS...I have told a lot of my friends that if it weren’t for my girlfriend “Dairy Queen” I would weigh 99 pounds. To say I have a sweet tooth is an understatement and to say I don’t love ice cream, well, that would not be the truth. I still have days where I will grab a candy bar or eat some ice cream, but I don’t have those around the house or in the freezer like I once did. I also have cut out a lot of sweet tea and soft drinks, but again I do allow myself to cheat some.
Orand with the Coastal Carolina women's golf team.
Darrell’s life now
Q: How long did it take you to start to see results?
Orand: I am down almost 70 pounds from when I had the heart attack but need to lose a lot more. My doctor is pleased with the way it has taken some time to lose the weight he says it shows a commitment to a lifetime of change and not just losing weight over a year and then fighting to keep it off. A slow burn off the weight has worked well for me.
Q: How has your life changed?
Orand: I am not sure it has changed that much, due to the business we are in. I do realize that I have to take it a little slower because a couple of years ago I was diagnosed with congestive heart failure as the damage to my heart has started to show itself.
When I got that diagnosis, I decided to stop taking work home with me every night. That time away from the office was my time, even though I have found myself loading my computer up and bringing it home from time-to-time, I don’t do it every day and may go a few weeks without doing it.
I don’t stay out late like I used too. I was always out enjoying the single life and that getting in late and getting up early, well, there comes a time when your body tells you to stop and mine did. Plus, I just can’t hang with the younger folks anymore.
Q: How long have you maintained your current lifestyle and what are the most important factors for perseverance?
Orand: I think my current lifestyle has become the norm. If I miss a day or two of going to the gym, I get frustrated with myself and feel I have gotten lazy. I travel a lot with our men’s basketball program and I try to hit the fitness center at whatever hotel we are staying at to get in some workout time. There are times when I find myself not being as strong on my diet as I should be, so I have to make sure and make myself get back on it. But I have persevered for over six years and plan to keep going. There are still a lot of things I want to do in this life and I want to be healthy enough to enjoy doing them.
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