Today was awesome

nkovacs53804 · April 2018

It’s been a couple years since I went to the doc at the VA and was told “you’ll not make it to 70” if I didn’t change my lifestyle. I’ve never smoked or drank more than an occasional beer but I got lazy.
Once a fit Marine and good athlete I fell into what was easy but not smart. Food processed not created, meals served without much attention to nutrition but rather to quantity.
Over time my clothes didn’t fit, I couldn’t keep up with others and riding a bike was a really cool memory.
That one comment from the doc at the VA changed my outlook. I met with a dietitian and we formulated a plan. A long term plan that would work. Forget Keto, Atkins and any other “diet”. Focus on nutrition and activity and track it all. Measure it all and begin to understand what my body needs rather than taste buds want.
Eating well doesn’t mean tasteless, boring food. It means cooking rather than premade frozen foods. Understanding nutrition rather than calories.
I weighed myself once, when I began. The scale really doesn’t mean much but increasing my riding time on a bike, walking further and faster and doing resistance exercises with greater efficiency does.
Not shopping for clothes at fat man stores was a revelation. Second hand stores became my friend and paying pennies on the dollar for “new” clothes is awesome. $60 for jeans..no thanks, $8 at second hand store.
And then I found my Marine Corps uniforms. The ones I wore when I retired. Would they? Was it possible? It wasn’t, they were too big. Nothing worse than a baggy set of dress blues..looks like a abused bag of dog food.
Okay, I’m weighing myself I thought. It’s been a couple years. 54 waist to baggy high 30s. Walking one block to finishing a half marathon. Not running, finishing. Cycling hundreds of miles and actually seeing a waist again.
My wife is on the journey with me and in the process went from never riding a bike to completing 100 mile gravel races. I couldn’t have done any of this without her.
Folks, it’s not easy but it is simple. Eat better, move more. Understand what you are eating and why.
Ask questions folks, I’ll help anyway I can.