Before but not quite after..Finished 5 months of restructuring my physical presence here on Earth. Suffice to say that I take up a lot less space than I used to. Dropping (so far) a small child’s worth of weight (37 lbs), I am now finally going to reach the undiscovered country that is the 160’s. By Saturday after our 200 yard move, I will weigh about 168. Granted, there will no doubt be some dehydration to take into consideration, but I doubt that’ll have any long-term negative (or should I say, positive weight) effect.
And the reason I wrote “Before but not quite after…”
….is that I have not yet hit my goal of 157. Oh, I’ve heard friends (the 2 or 3 I have left) caution me that dropping 50 pounds is not going to look good on me. But I’ve always known there was a 157 pound guy in here wanting to come out and play. He’s ready now. In any event it’s not so much about how I look as it is about how I feel….and what the medical tests say.After reviewing my EKG, Stress Test and Echo results, my cardiologists at Cedars graded me an A+, saying that if they didn’t know me they would have never guessed I was anywhere near 50, let alone 56 years old. God bless them. Consequently, I have been off all meds for 3+ months and only need to submit to next week’s colonoscopy to complete this self-imposed “200k mile check-up”.My blood pressure was actually getting too low on the sliver of Lisinopril I was whittling down from the 10mg pills. Even better, my resting/wake up heart-rate is now in the 50s. This from the guy who spent last year’s Labor Day eve in the hospital because he thought he was having a heart attack. One positive I discovered the other day after a double-take in the mirror was that I possess the faint sign of a…get-ready-for-it….six-pack. Damn, I never had one of those that didn’t start in a cooler at the store. But this is what one gets when one does 400-500 sit-ups 3 days a week and eating right- without fail. A huge negative is that none of my clothes fit unless I plan to camp in them with a friend. The silver lining to that though is I didn’t have anything one would describe as a “wardrobe” anyway. I have a couple of T-shirts that fit better though.
I suppose my “secret recipe” would include the planet-aligning of a consistent exercise program, a no-excuses eating regimen, mucho self-discipline, a couple of not-too-bad vices and a spiteful little attitude of “the best revenge is living well”. If I will not let “them” beat me, I will most certainly not let me beat me. Crazy?
Being a little crazy is what we all are. If we can channel that craziness into some serious life-changing or life-affirming dynamics, we just might find value, depth and self-worth where they were once sorely lacking. I find that a lot of people don’t like me. Shit, most people don’t actually. I’m not an in-your-face kind of guy by any means. It only took my belief system and lifestyle to make me persona-non-grata to family. Sure that hurts, but so be it. I’m just going to outlive ’em all- well the older ones at least. And I plan on living it well.
Life is speeding up for everyone. We can live it well, on our own terms, if we are willing to accept the repercussions. It’s tougher when its none of their business and you’ve never punished them for their flaws.
Bitter? Ya, I suppose. But, whatever.
What kind of world do YOU want?
From somewhere hot….
MichaelMufasa