Fitness as a cure for another fatal disease: Aging

Hours after celebrating my 46th birthday, I had self-assessment done of how well my summer went for my body: I went to the gym for the first time in three months and did my usual workouts.

I worried I would be sluggish doing what I do at the gym because I hadn't done those things all summer. But I did take up mountain biking, which can be straining on one's cardiovascular system, even for novices. And even when I didn't pedal my still-heavy body up those hills, I got off and walked the rest of the way.

Turns out, I'm fitter and stronger than I've ever been. Having fun all summer led to a stronger, more efficient heart and lungs, and seemingly more muscle mass to carry me around. How do I know? I did far more with less heart. I monitor my heart-rate and know that it took a lot more to get it up to the top of the target zone than it did when I was last at the gym at the beginning of summer. I even ran out of incline on the treadmill. It's as if my heart grew five sizes this summer. (Sorry for the Grinch reference so early in the season.)

My birthday made me think of two things. Firstly, birthday's are a psychological challenge for me with my eating and binging habits. Everyone's different but my plan of attack is to eliminate "holiday reward eating." If you pig out on whatever you want on your birthday (I probably achieved 4000 calories or more in the past), you may want every day to be your birthday (or Christmas, etc.) If you're having a bad day, you may say to yourself, "I want today to be like past happy days so I'm going to eat a bunch of junk food until I feel sick."

I kept the cake small so there were no left-overs to have for breakfast or midnight snacks, and ate like I do every other day. It's bad enough I'm one year older, why should I knock days off my life by eating really badly? And one bad day of eating poorly usually leads to more bad days (for me.)

I spent the day mountain biking with my son on the the most beautiful of fall days you could imagine. Usually I'd be at home sprawled out on my bed will full belly, digesting in anticipation of my next birthday reward meal. Best birthday I've had in years.

My second birthday problem: Getting older.

Aging is a fatal disease. Eventually it'll kill you if nothing else does. I overcame most of the ill-effects of obesity by getting fit. I think I can do much of the same with my other fatal disease.

Instead of slowing down in my middle-age, I'm picking up speed, doing more things and having more fun, getting stronger and healthier instead of the opposite.

Fat or thin, aging will take it's toll. Getting active is the secret to warding off old-age.

Buffalo Pound Park: Then and Now

Entering Buffalo Pound from the north (Wikipedia)

I went out and had me some fun with the family at one of the closer provincial parks to the city where I live. It's in a river valley that cuts into the endless flat prairie. In other words, there's hills, something I'm not used to.

The last time we were there was about two years ago. I know because I took lots of pictures. That's about all I could do then. I was very concerned at the time with how little I could do and how I was letting down, if not embarrassing my family because of the unfortunate condition I had allowed myself to descend into.

It was all I could to walk to the beach from the parking lot and sit for awhile. I didn't enjoy myself, not only because I couldn't do anything, but because I was tense and generally sore and tired. But thus was my life at the time, the life I thought I would always have until one day the lights would go out.

I thought about the contrast between this visit and my last visit to the park. This time I was cycling up and down hills with my eight year old son. We had a great time looking at wildlife walk right in front of us as we glided down hills on our bikes, enjoyed the silence of the quiet park in the shoulder season and I had that missing energy and pep to live my life (almost) as I want to.

I didn't take any pictures this time. I was too busy living.

It seems to me that...

It seems to me that when you lose ten pounds at a lower weight, it shows up much more than at a higher weight.

Anyhoo, I got weighed by the Tanita scale yesterday and I'm finally under my home treadmill weight limit of 325 pounds. I also fit into the tables at the local mall food court for the first time in a long time. So that's nice.

I also thought I saw the tip of one of my toes yesterday.

Oh My Heart, My Lazy, Barely Beating Heart

I didn't sleep well last night and I was tired tonight at walking time. The usual excuses went through my head, "I'm close to falling asleep, I can't possibly do this tonight." But I persisted. Halfway through you always wonder how you could have possibly wanted to avoid the enjoyment that a walk outdoors provides.

Like I always say, the hard part is making the decision to go, the easy part is going.

Yet I was tired and my muscles may not have been fully recovered from the night before. I jogged a bit, slow like I did when I first started in the summer (barely a trot) and I couldn't believe my heart rate. It was a full 20 beats below what it was at the same jogging  speed last summer when I first got my heart rate monitor, and ten beats below what it was in the Fall.

My heart has come a long way. It's a muscle, you know, and it's gotten stronger and more efficient just like many of my other (lower body) muscles. And that's definitely a good thing! Just see the video in the post below to be reminded why.

And finally today: You know how some women have shoe fetishes? Well I think I've developed a balaclava fetish. I now own two new, very useful balaclavas. One for very cold weather that covers my mouth and nose and one for coldish weather that lets my whole face be exposed. Wore it tonight, loved it.

One Year Ago, I Asked My Doctor for Help

One year ago, I had the results of my annual check-up. Although my blood work was all good, my blood pressure was creeping up, as was my weight. It had increased far past the point I ever thought it could. And, although I surrendered myself to the idea of  having to do something, I continued to gain weight. I seemed helpless to stop it even for the following two months leading up to the first meeting with my nutritionist.

It had seemed to me that I was at a tipping point. My weight was so great and my overall energy and ability so low (and decreasing) that I was headed down a slippery slope. I couldn't move very much so my body didn't burn many calories. Since it didn't burn many calories, I got heavier no matter how much I cut back on excessive eating.

Fortunately, much of what ailed me then was miraculously cured by something called exercise, which strengthened my body simply by my moving in a fashion that kept my heart rate elevated but not too high.

If I could snap my fingers and go back to that time one year ago and feel my fatigue, that general feeling of being ill and the effort it would take just to walk across a room, I'm sure I'd fall to my knees and die. It's just that extreme, what has happened to me and how far I've come.

I never dreamed I'd jog again or ride a bike. I thought many fun things were over for me. I even spent time planning my funeral. I felt helpless about my situation. More than anything, I thought I had failed my children.

The journey I'm on has only just begun. I learn things every day about myself and about my condition. In recent months I have focussed soley on exercise and haven't worried about the number on the scale whatsoever. My overall weight does not effect the improvements in my health. My ever-increasing fitness is at the core of what I do. The reasons for my eating problems are so complex, I can't begin to understand them. I'll approach that aspect day by day, knowing that there is no quick solution to fix why I eat the way I do. Exercise and progress in fitness fuels my resolve to be in control of my eating.

Last night I was visiting with friends at a home where a nice spread of junk food was laid out before us. Each time chip dip reached my taste buds a ridiculously-euphoric psysiological reaction occurred in me. This can't be normal! Dealing with eating problems may take years for me to get a hold on. It will most likely be with me for the rest of my life at some level, but it matters not if I stay strong physically.

The night before last, I headed out on a very cold winter night with storm-like bitterly-cold winds. I walked the same half-hour route I walked last summer on the warmest and most beautiful of nights. I faced the threat of winter head-on. I learned that winter need not stop me and all I have to do is learn how to dress. I can't afford all the latest gear but I did invest in a good balaclava to keep my face warm. The rest of me was protected by layers of cheap and well-worn Walmart clothes.

Yesterday I returned home from a two hour shopping excursion. Out of habit, I collapsed on my bed and waited for the relief to set in. It didn't. My body didn't require any relief. It wasn't sore and fatigued. It was fresh and strong and ready for more.

And that's where I'm at, one year after deciding something had to give.

It's a Miracle! I'm Cured!

Here me out, exercise haters.

Something amazing happened today. I realized that I once had a hip problem. It wasn't huge but it seemed permanent, a product of my ageing body. It got worse over the last few years and was a real problem when I started walking in the early spring.

I hadn't thought about it in a long time but that's because it hasn't been present for...I don't know how long. I honestly don't! I don't think I've had so much as a hint of a hip problem since the spring. It's cured, exercise cured it! And, remarkably to me, I've long forgotten about it.

Sure my overall weight has gone down some but it's the strength I've gained from moving my body that has healed me. There's so much I take for granted these days and I only occasionally remember that just a few shorts months ago, I was very different physically.

I run of the steps in my home instead of avoided them.

I come home from shopping and I'm ready for more, instead of collapsing in pain and exhaustion on my bed.

I look at cold winter days in the eye and I head out there to do things. I look forward to shovelling. And just today I crashed on the toboggan hill for the first time.

I have to work to the my heart rate up where as last year, walking onto my treadmill was a task and I immediately began to sweat profusely. Three small fans weren't enough to keep me cool. Not any more.

Huge, huge progress without even thinking about weight loss.