2015 ORIGINAL POST

This is one of the tougher “fingers” to manage, I believe. Seems like when all the other aspects of my life are busy, my health is the part I slip on. My diet turns to crap, I never exercise, and over a long period of time, it has really caused me a lot of grief.

I look at myself in the mirror these days and I think… “Wow. Who is the old guy?” I know he is me, but I just cannot believe how much I have aged in the last 5-10 years. As I am writing this, I currently weigh 215 lbs. Not the worst. Not the best though. When I was 30, I was roughly 225 when I took up running (quite a feat considering I had never ran a mile in my life.) In fact the date was December 29, 1992. My wife had called me and said she wanted to push through with our divorce. Stress was high and I thought to myself “I have got to make some changes in my life.” So, I took up running. The first night… I made it to the end of the street. It’s a short street. By February 14th, I ran my first mile. I cannot even tell you the feeling. It was indescribable. My March, I ran in my first 5K race and by summer I was doing 10K races. After six months, I had dropped 30lbs and was so, so strong. This was one of the high points of my life.

Let’s skip way ahead. I have no spent the last twenty years of my life sitting on my butt, doing business stuff. My high weight topped 250lbs… and was approaching 260lbs. I was huge, being just 5’10”.

Since then, I have consistently taken off a lot of that. As i said, I am 215lbs now. I never dieted really. While I do love to eat, I did manage to mostly get away from soft drinks. I think that helps a LOT. The thing I have most noticed about myself is, I have no muscle. So, when I say I am 215lbs, I realize that it’s not a healthy 215. If I were more muscle, I would be a lot happier. Really, what I would like to accomplish is, to return to 190lbs, but have a lot more muscle tone.

I also smoke. I have off and on (mostly on) since I was 38 years old. So, for 15 years I have been doing that dastardly deed. Smoking is the devil. It’s slowly killing me so I know I have to stop. So, back on to Chantix I will go. I love Chantix. I have taken it twice before, and each time I was able to quit smoking for 8 months to a year. I am going to attempt it again.

So, let’s talk about my specific plans for getting healthier. Hopefully, you will follow my blog and help me stay accountable. I would like to know that people out there are following this, encouraging me.

201x PHYSICAL LIFE GOALS

 

1. Quit Smoking – December 29th, I will be seeing my physician and she will give me a prescription for Chantix. I suspect that by the end of February I will be off cigs again. I think this time if I have to, I will just stay on Chantix for a long period.
2. Drop Some Weight – I love to walk. Each year as the temperatures climb, so do my number of steps. 2015 was a good year for that. I was walking 3-4 miles a day, really humping. I have got to get off cigs. My real hope is to run. The best I have been able to do at a slow joggers pace was maybe 1000 feet. All because of smoking. I have no air. Nothing takes weight off and builds muscle like running. Walking is great for cardio. I can get my heart rate up just fine walking, but I want to add muscle as well. It’s not enough to go from 215 to 192. I need to be stronger. I would love to be 192 and have some good muscle tone.
3. Lower my A1c. About five years ago, my A1c had worked its way up to 12 (anything over 5.7 is diabetic.) So, yah, I am a diabetic. Comes from eating like shit and not exercising for 53 years. When I found this out, I began walking. Over a few months I lowered my A1c from 12 to 5.9. My doctor was thrilled and he labeled me as not being diabetic. ARGH. Two years later, it was back to 9 after I stopped walking.

All these things go together. My A1c, my weight… are largely tied to smoking. I have to quit. If I can quit, then I will end up with more air, and if I end up with more air, I will feel like I can walk (and dare I dream) even run again one day. If I walk and run, the weight will come off and my strength and muscle tone will increase.

If you care to follow along with me, as I write and talk about my life and whats going on as I work on all of this, please feel free to check out my Fitbit.com personal page. I love my Fitbit. There you can track my walking, diet, sleep, weight, etc. It’s a very cool page.

Our Physical life is just so very important. Without it we have death. LOL

I vow right here and now to dedicate more time in 2016 to improving this part of my life. I hope you will look at your life and make the same vow.

 

2023 UODATE TO THE STORY

As I read through this page it hit me on so many different levels that I thought I should update the information.

Since what I guess was about 2015 I have made some physical improvements I think. I have dropped another 10-15 lbs. I usually hover down around 205 with my weight occasionally dipping to the 190’s. I am a LOT stronger. 2023 has been my best year for walking and exercising. I have averaged 9,160 steps per day this year, which is about 4 miles every day of the year. Conqueror Events tells me that I have averaged 4.79 miles per day since I joined on May 5. Since then I have walked almost 700 miles (today is 9/27).

Since joining Fitbit in 2014 (and not counting my Google Galaxy days which are not tracked in Fitbit of course ), I have walked more than 11,800,000 steps.

Most importantly, I have not smoked cigs in a couple years really. Yep. It took me almost 10 years to quit from my original post. I did quit every year for 8-9 months, but in the fall, when I work seems like I always took them back up. The last two years I have felt the craving of course, but, I just do not do it. If you do not buy them then you cannot smoke them.

When the urge gets strong, I just simply exercise.

Exercise is good for the soul. I love my walking. No music. No earbuds. Just me alone with my thoughts. Todd-time.

I think the big news is Conqueror Events. CE is a company that puts on these wonderful virtual walks, runs, treadmill, swimming plans. You just have to visit there to learn about the trails. There are so many with some of the most wonderful rewards. CE has been a blessing in my life. The link is posted below. If you check it out with that link and decide to join a walk or run, you get 10% off.

Todd O. Fitbit Stats

Lives in KY 

Average steps per day: 9160 

PERSONAL INFO

Birthday | July 20th 1962 

Height | 5′ 9″ 

Weight | 207.3 lbs 

Joined December 2014

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT STATS 

Steps | 11,823,644

Floors | 37,998

Distance | 5,464.10 mi

BEST ACHIEVEMENT STATS 

Steps | 22,991 on May 21, 2023

Floors | 212 on September 23, 2021

Distance | 10.81 mi on May 21, 2023

Sites I Use

• Conqueror Events – This has been so much fun. This summer I completed the Lord of the Rings walk… 682 miles. I highly recommend it. Currently doing the Jesus Trail. After this, I will walk the Florida Keys (125 miles), then various South America walks, and then, NYC, DC, LA, and some American trails Maybe even Route 66. I don’t know. Athens, Paris, London are looking good too. Click the link. Check it out.
• My Fitbit.com – My daughter gave me my first Fitbit for Christmas more than 10 years ago. Today I am on my 7th one. Yep, they do break down a lot. Regardless, they are the best at what they do. I love my Fitbits. About to purchase another one. Wanna get my brother one too. It tracks everything.
• Snap Fitness – Wonderful gym off Clearwater way behind the Walmart grocery on Saron Way off Tates Creek Road. Nice people. Quiet gym. Come check em out.