Move It, Big Fella!

This picture (recognize it?) depicts pretty accurately how I felt after beginning my exercise program exactly one year ago today. Although I had belonged to our local Planet Fitness for years, I also had not actually been there for years! (Maintaining my membership all along at $10 per month because I never knew when I'd get motivated. A helluva business plan at ye old PF but that's another story.) 

I had begun a healthy eating plan in September and had lost some weight but didn't notice any other improvements. In early October, within the space of two weeks, I had significant cancer and cardiac scares. Both turned out to be false alarms but they sure as hell got my attention, especially when I could do just a couple of minutes on the treadmill during the stress test, not because there was a problem with my heart but because I had no endurance. 

After two weeks of being poked, prodded, bled, invaded, and irradiated I knew one very important thing: Under no circumstances was I willing to get caught up in the jaws of the medical-industrial machine. To avoid that, I needed to be healthy. To be healthy I needed to get fit and that meant more than just losing weight. So, I made a commitment to exercise whether I felt like it or not. Long story short, I began exercising five days per week, a combination of aerobics and weight training, and I have now completed a year of doing so with very few days missed. The results? I've lost 55 pounds, dropped several sizes, had several new wardrobes, and I'm healthier, stronger, and more fit than I have been since grade school - and that's a helluva long time ago! I also now love to exercise and miss it when I can't. Who'd a thunk it?