Back in February of 2015 (episode 324 of Phedippidations) I revealed to you the measure of my health, listing the vital clinical statistics of my internal and external physical and mental condition including: how active I was, how well I slept, how good my mood was, how much energy I had, and: “the overall quality of my life experience”.
I told you back then, that we’d revisit this personal health information in September…but due to a scheduling conflict with my Primary Care Physician, I had to push this back until today.
I told you at the time, that life is not predictable, but that I did hope for a return to where I once belonged.
Well, I’ve learned a few things this year: about myself, about my relationship with running and especially quite a bit about the pursuit and attainment of happiness.
That said, I have arrived.
Last years journey is over. I’m certainly not where I thought I'd end up...but it's good, it's all good...well, not all good, but it's got great potential. Let me explain.
Last year was the year that I decided to do something about my depression. I'm not embarrassed to talk about it anymore than I'd be embarrassed to talk about any physical disorder.
Depression is an illness and NOT a sign of weakness. Hey, I've run 22 marathons and have run thousands of miles throughout my running career: I may be suffering from mental illness, and my physical condition may have worsened over the past year: but I'm not weak.
So what did I do in 2015 to fight my depression? Alot of things: but the most important thing I did was to admit that I have depression: and that, despite my amazing powers of Information Technology and podcasting wizardry..I can't fix this on my own.
That's kind of a breakthrough for me, a guy who can repair just about anything with Duct Tape.
I had my annual physical examination on the last day of 2015 and as usual a total of thirty-two vital health statistics were collected. Of these, we’ll compare seven stats with what was measured back in February.
These are: Weight, Body Mass Index, Blood Pressure, Heart Rate, HDL and LDL Cholesterol and
Triglycerides.
Last February my five foot ten inch tall body weighed two-hundred twenty-two pounds. I should weight around 180. Today, I’ve gained 18 pounds. I started gaining weight at the end of February, rising to 233 pounds by early April but I got better control of my eating habits and started dropping again to 220 pounds by early June. But that’s when my weight started to rise again, steadily. By August I was at 225, in October I was at 228 and by early December I had climbed to 235. Today, I weigh more than I’ve ever weighed in my entire life. I’m 240 pounds.
Back in February my Body Mass Index was 31.8, which is clinically obese. I should have a BMI of 24. Today, my BMI is 32.43. Not good.
In February my blood pressure had been consistently above 140 over 90 which is stage one hypertension. My blood pressure should be less than 120 over 80. My doctor wasn’t pleased with this number and prescribed for me 10 mg of Lisinopril, an angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor. Almost immediately my blood pressure dropped to a healthier 124 over 89 as it is today.
The normal resting heart rate for adults ranges from 60 to 100 beats a minute. Back when we started this journey, my resting heart rate was around 80 beats per minute. Today, measured with my Fitbit Charge HR as I sleep…it’s averaging at around: 93 beats per minute, further indication that my fitness level has worsened since I started this journey back to where I once belonged.
HDL Cholesterol for someone who is healthy is above 60 milligrams per deciliter. On May 1st of 2015 my HDL was 40, at the end of the year it was measured at 44...a slight improvement.
LDL Cholesterol for a healthy person is between 100 and 129 milligrams per deciliter. Mine was 159
This isn’t good. My doctor told me that my 10 year risk of a heart attack or stroke is 7.9%. The American Heart Association recommends that anyone with a risk over 7.5% begin taking statins. I’ve been prescribed 20 mg of Atorvastatin, or Lipitor, daily.
And finally Triglycerides in a healthy person should be below 150 milligrams per deciliter. Mine was 110 in May and 102 at the end of 2015. So I've got that going for me!
These are the stats from my annual exam, and the conclusion of the results is that I'm extremely overweight…the one thing that I had claimed not to care too much about when I presented my first measure of health a year ago.
That, it turns out: was really dumb of me, but I’ll get to that in a minute.
As for my mood? It’s much better today than it was a year ago…as I’ve already explained. I'm still fighting depression, but it's not as overwhelming of a struggle as it was a year ago. It’s true that my energy level has dropped significantly and the overall quality of my life experience? Well: that’s kind of a mixed bag.
In reviewing my daily mood level journal, which includes a daily compilation of the things that I’m thankful for: there are definitely areas of my life that have improved: such as my sense of self worth.
Work is going really well. I’ve been promoted, within my company, to a position where I can really shine. My sense of self-worth has increased; and I’m not talking here about being pompous or overly proud: I’m just saying that the work I’m doing now is something that I know I’m really good at, and despite the incurred and increase stress of the position: I’m really enjoying it.
To review: my weight and BMI are higher than ever, before (the most I’ve ever weighed was 232 pounds…and now I’m 8 pounds over that mark).
My blood pressure is lower, but that’s because of the Lisinopril I was prescribed this year, my average heart rate is higher…as you’d expect due to my age and weight gain.
My Triglyceride levels are good and my good cholesterol level, my HDL, is better by 4 points but still well below the level is should be.
Finally my bad cholesterol level, or LDL is at 177 milligrams per deciliter, which is 18 points higher than last year. As a result, I’ve been prescribed Atorvastatin and an 81 mg aspirin daily.
I need to lose weight…and, more importantly, I need to eat better food. I’ve known this for a long time of course, but I focused so much on getting back into running as a way to battle mental illness and increase my metabolism…that I had a very laissez-faire attitude about my diet.
But, today: a year later, I am now taking 3 prescription and one over-the-counter drugs to compensate for my weight and cardiovascular health.
So here’s what I’m going to do, starting in this new year of 2016. First, I’m going to cut way, WAY back on my alcohol consumption. No more nightly glasses of wine with dinner.
I’ve recently watched the 2014 documentary “Fed Up” by Stephanie Soechtig. If you haven’t seen it, it’s your homework assignment for the next few episodes of this podcast. Watch it, please. Go to Fedupmovie.com to learn more. It’s on Netflix. The science discussed in that movie is going to be my guide for eating better in 2016.
There is no magic incantation or pill to help us lose weight, but it’s much more than just eating less and exercising more. That was my mistake: I invested too much in those two aspects of getting back to where I once belonged and was seduced by the dark side of nutrition.
BUT, as a runner…and yes, despite the lack of milage I am still Steve Runner…and as someone who appreciates the “systematic enterprise that creates, builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe”…I am going to make a focused effort to eat less processed food, reduce my sugar intake by 50% or more, and to start eating only REAL food…that you have to cook, or prepare, without dumping sugar on it or even too much salt.
That’s where I’m going in this upcoming year: yes, I’ll be running but that’s not as important as losing some of this weight…why? Because it all starts there. Lisnopril, Atorvastatin, Sertraline and Aspirin…I need to prevent the need to consume these little pills …and it’s not specifically about just the weight loss: it’s about changing the way I eat forever.
I don’t know about you, but that’s kind of a big challenge for me at this point. But I’ll keep you posted on my progress as we make it through another solar orbit.
As you listen to this I’ll have just celebrated my 54th year of life. 2015 wasn’t the best of years, but I’m reasonably optimistic about 2016.
My step son Mat is getting married in August to an amazing girl who we love and already consider part of the family.
My beloved Boston Red Sox signed pitching ace David Price, we signed a four-time all star closer Craig Kimbrel, outfielder Chris Young and right hand setup pitcher Carson Smith…let me be the first to say that “This is our year”.
The project that I’ve been helping to launch at work will “go live” this year, and that’s going to be interesting, challenging and actually alot of fun.
Do any of you remember how, several years ago, I told you that one of the reasons I loved to run was because I loved pizza?
It turns out, that pizza was a problem.
So I’m going to lose at least 40 pounds this year. But I’m not going to go on some “fad” diet, I’m just going to start eating better food and less crap. In fact, I’ve already started back on January 4th…I won’t bore you with how much I’ve lost since it’s really not important, but I will keep you posted as I go along.
To conclude this second measure of health…I’m not… healthy that is. 2015 was a wash for a bunch of reasons, and those reasons may only be excuses…but their MY excuses, and I have to live with that.
In the next episode I’m going to talk a little about what I’m eating and why. I will cite for you some of the things I’ve learned from that documentary I mentioned before (you’re homework assignment) “Fed Up” along with some of the things I’ve picked up from Dr. David Kessler’s book “The End of Overeating. - Taking Control of the Insatiable American Appetite”.
I’m also going to talk a little about the problems with “fad drastic diets” and how they can help you lose weight quickly, but they’re not a good way to keep your weight off. I speak from experience here.
BUT I have no intention of turning Phedippidations into a “Diet or Weight Loss” podcast….nor do I intenD to beat you over the head with thoughts opinions observations and rambling diatribes about how to get healthy…clearly, as you’ve heard: I’m not qualified to speak about such things.
Last year I told you that: In his nineteen-forty novel “You Can’t Go Home Again”, Thomas Wolfe explored the changes in American society during the Great Depression and the effects of his main character’s age as he learns this great truth: “That you can never really go home again”.
That’s why I didn’t “Get Back to where I once belonged”…because you really can’t go home again. I’m not who I was before and I’m never going to be that guy that first came to the podcast microphone over 10 years ago.
Careful listeners might have noticed a few minor format tweaks that I’ve made with this podcast. Call it what you will, but the truth is: It’s just entropy fellow runners: the gradual decline of the universe into disorder.
There’s nothing wrong with disorder by the way. Disorder can be both beautiful and amazing. To confront it you have to acknowledge it, and once you acknowledge it the clouds can start to fade away.
And that’s a good thing…since the instant we were conceived, which for me was exactly 54 years ago on the day that this episode will be published, our lives have been a quickly accelerating fall into the abyss.
Hey, let’s not let that get in the way of us having a good time.
Let’s have a happy new year together. It’s going to be a good one. I promise.
[Click HERE to download the episode]
[Click HERE to download the episode]