Twelve Years of Rust: Not Just a Diet, but a Lifestyle

I don't think I've used the term in this blog, but that's what I'm calling this recent kick I've been on....Twelve Years of Rust. Twelve years ago, I was 16, at a decent enough weight that my senior pictures looked good, actually able to FULLY run a mile without stopping to walk. The years after that have been a gradual relaxation of all health sense. Yes, in that time I did WW twice, I did Spark once, I even took a running/jogging class. But every time, I just did it for a bit and let it go. Not realizing where I'd end up. I started off losing weight at 260 pounds, and I'm down enough that people are noticing, and I like that. I'm around 228 now, which isn't even halfway to my goal weight of 160, but it's the lightest I've been in probably 5 years.

But, what this entry here is about, is not just the weight loss. Because, just losing the weight really isn't enough. I've done diets before, I've lost weight before. With Shannon's cancer battle going on, I've realized I need to get EVERYTHING about my health back on track. It's really scary when I can't recall the last time I saw a doctor. I mean, I know the WEIGHT I was at (190, wow :-/) and I know it was during college, but before senior year, so we're talking at least 6-7 years ago. But in any case, that's 6-7 years of no checking blood pressure, cholesterol, and other general health things I'm sure I need to be watching for. I'm glad to say at 2pm tomorrow, that will be remedied. I'm going for my first doctor visit with Dr. Ruzbarsky. I'm a little nervous but a little excited. Because I like telling people I'm losing weight. It makes me feel accomplished. I'm sure he'll talk about what I need to lose still, and I'll need blood work, but I know a lot of things are already improved. My blood pressure for instance, was 164 on the systolic when I had pneumonia this year. Now I'm sure pneumonia was part of that, but 164 is almost stage 2 hypertension. Now, I'm down to the 120s. Still a bit high, but way closer to normal.

Another big piece of this is the exercise. I didn't do that any of the other times. I'm actually getting excited to run and try races and think down the road. I'm already planning the 5K in November and the Warrior Dash in 2012. Once that's done and I can really hit the ground with running, I'm torn on whether to go for 10K/Half-Marathons, or maybe start trying to train for a Triathlon. I know Ironman is out...EVER! And I don't really want to do the Tough Mudder...EVER! But apart from those two, I want to try these fun crazy runs like "Run For Your Lives" Zombie 5K. I loved when I went to do my 5 min run on Monday and despite thinking I was never going to make it, I pushed through and did it. Goal setting, goal smashing.