While rummaging through my desk I found three old photos of me. The oldest was from seven years ago. I had just lost65 pounds on an Atkins Diet. I went from 220 to 165 pounds. The second picture was from 2 ½ years ago on vacation in Greece when I weighed about 185-190 pounds. Check out my belly, that bulge revealed the pleasures of the “good life.” Both of my daughters had just graduated – Brittany from high school, Alexandra from college. My wife, who I adore, always looks beautiful, young and thin. She is always eating but in tiny morsels like a bird and rarely gains an ounce. I know she could easily fit into her wedding gown from 26 years ago. She still wears a size zero. Barbara is much luckier than most. I, like most of us, regularly gain and lose weight, and force myself to stay “within the limits.” It is all genetics. The third picture of me was taken within the last 2 months. I still weigh 185 pounds. What a positive change!
How did I make that change? About 18 months ago, health issues forced me to take a good look at myself and my mortality. I knew I needed to start exercising to stay healthy and keep my heart in the best shape possible. It’s easy to forget that we all need exercise. So what to do? Run? How could I start running at 50? Everyone I know who runs develop badly back, hip, knee, foot, or ankle problems. Swim? Swimming is great yet it forces you to join a gym and is a very antisocial sport. Row? Rowing a crew shell is another wonderful cardiovascular exercise, yet access to a crew shell is difficult. Besides, would you want to row in the intercoastal? Join a gym and become a gym rat was another option, but I don’t really like those machines and always feel like a hamster when I get on a treadmill.
My good friend, Phil, suggested that I buy a road bike. He reminded me that there was no impact on hurt knees, ankles, hips or back. The only drawback is the occasional motorist that can hit you with their car, so he told me “buy a rear view mirror for your helmet!”Camaraderie was automatic once I began riding with apeleton(until I began riding, I didn’t know that a peleton was a group of riders). Cycling appealed to me because it is a social experience as well as a good cardiovascular work-out.
So I bought a road bike. Not just any road bike, but one with a carbon frame. A cycling outfit, called a cycling kit; as well as a helmet, and a pair of gloves. Lance Armstrong, here I come! Hard to believe I would ever wear a spandex/lycraform fitting outfit in my always pudgy frame. So slowly but surely, I rode better, faster, and longer. Who would have ever thought that I would be riding 120-140 miles a week? Last October when I started, no way! But now look at my picture from 1-2 months ago. What did I learn?
I learned that getting fit is very important. Fitness is not merely getting a better, healthier body, but a better healthier mind, too. We can all agree that it is healthier to be thin rather than to be fat. But too thin is also a problem. After my 65 pound weight loss, I was too thin. But now, with some physical fitness and meat on my bones, I have transformed from once pudgy and big-bellied to a fit, lean cycling machine! I almost have a six pack! My body’s shape has changed----I am leaner, more muscularly well defined but not really ripped. My waist has decreased to a 32-33 and my neck size has decreased probably ½ inch. Not only do I look the best I have looked in the past 25 years but I also feel that much younger - without plastic or cosmetic surgery! Would cosmetic surgery have worked for me? Probably, since liposuction would have surely rid my torso and abdomen of unwanted fat. But would I be healthier?
I have always battled my weight and waste line, and was chubby even as a kid. I probably had a food problem because I had a very caring mother who only wanted the best for her overweight son: “Don’t have that roll,” or “Leave over the potatoes,” or “Don’t have seconds of the dessert.” Like most of us with a weight problem, losing the weight is battle number one. Battle number two is keeping it off. But by comparing the picture from Greece with the picture of me now, looking and feeling good is about more than just a number on the scale. It’s about the physical condition and fitness of our bodies.
Don’t misunderstand, cosmetic surgery is wonderful and I have helped many people with their cosmetic needs. But for some people, finding a recreational activity that provides physical fitness can do the trick. Cycling has rescued me – it has promoted a healthy lifestyle and given me a passion.
We should all be so lucky. Passion gives meaning to our day to day experiences. It creates excitement. It makes the heart race. I heard a Rabbi in a recent sermon say that it is important for us to LIVE, embrace and enjoy our lives, to have others say of us, “he/she really lives life to its fullest.” It is hard to live life to its fullest without passion. Participating in activities that we are passionate about causes us to be happier and better people by giving us a sense of self-worth and confidence. It helps us conquer bad days and alleviate our daily toils and stresses.
My advice: find a passion and pursue it. It will make you feel better about yourself. You will feel confident. When you are confident, you will take the necessary steps to keep yourself healthy. That seemingly hard “fitness program” or daily discipline will become as easy as brushing your teeth every morning. The benefits will become evident: a stronger mind, a stronger body, a better you.
Having said all this, I can’t escape from the fact that I am healthy, young 51. Unfortunately, my bathroom mirror only reveals the true me---my girls are right, I need a neck lift!
