I probably picked the worst time to promise myself that I would start writing again. I did it a day before leaving for vacation, while in the middle of working through an eviction (not the we-didn't-pay-our-bills type, it's the property-owner-died-daughter-is-now-moving-in type), which consequently has us trying to be first time home owners; oh yeah, while also trying to be a first time dad and a first time college graduate so that I might eventually be a teacher.
Whew! Maybe that's normal in your life, but mine, that requires some compartmentalizing so that I don't go batsh-t crazy. That brings me to my point (finally! you say) of exercise in my life. Any glance at my FB photos will chronologically catalog a growing mass of body and slowly a reduction of that same mass.
It was about three years ago and I saw a pic of myself and wondered just how I could look like that. I was a bloated mass of a man, literally double my wife's weight. I had found ways to rationalize things, a walk with the dog must have burned off the first hot dog at dinner, so it's okay for a second (not to mention heaps of Mac and Cheese, hold the veggies). I looked to Facebook and saw a very specific friend from high school who looked fantastic. I would love to name him and all my other friends who I continue to see working to better themselves, but as this is a public forum, I'll err on the side of privacy and thank them individually later. Anyway, by no means had he ever been fat or even out of shape, but here he now was even healthier than ever and I knew that I needed to change for me, for Lisa and for a chance at living after 40 without a heart attack (knock on wood).
I began with small steps and worked my way from 251 lbs (and morbidly obese by government health standards) down to 175 lbs (and simply overweight by those same standards). I've rebounded some as my college classes have interjected, or because we're now on a weekend hunt for an open home to wander, but my life-long goal is to now never let myself stand on a scale and weigh more than 200 lbs.
I can now stand after getting out of the shower, look down and see more than just a Buddha belly (TMI?, sorry!)...I mean my toes, sure! But I'm proud that I can use belt loops on a belt that wasn't getting too much use on that end just a couple of years ago.
It would be easy to rest on these laurels, but why slide all the way back? So this morning, in bright, 67 degree weather (at 8 am mind you) here in Rancho Mirage, I kept a commitment to that goal by jogging a couple of miles around the neighborhood where we are vacationing. And to be honest, I struggled part of it, since half of it is up a hill and of course that half is the path back home, but it feels good to sit here now and feel the fatigue in my legs and lay by the pool with a cup of iced coffee as my reward.
And I have many friends to thank. All those who are on FB, courageously posting their own goals and achievements as they work toward a healthier life. I have you to keep me motivated, I want to see you all at the 30 year reunion and we can share stories of our further achievements, not just about how we had a quadruple bypass.
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