Three years ago, I weighed 211 pounds and pre-diabetic with high blood pressure.
Today, I weighed in at 182.
Here’s a before and after:
My blood pressure went from 150/100 to 130/77.
My A1C (blood sugar level) is normal.
My triglycerides dropped from 288 to 93.
My LDL (bad cholesterol) went from 214 to 158.
I was your classic skinny fat gut, declining a little bit at a time.
I was headed for a heart attack and diabetes.
Now I’m “normal,” at least in terms of traditional health markers.
Yes, average.
Not perfect.
I’d like my blood pressure to be 115/75.
My HDL (good cholesterol) needs a bump.
I have some stubborn belly fat I want to get rid of.
And I’m still a terrible sleeper.
But I’ve come a long way.
Before I tell you how I did this (which involved saying “f*ck it, I’m running the New York City marathon”), I’m going to tell you why.
Because the why is more important than the how.
Getting health is simple, right?
Eat less. Move more.
But why can’t we just do that?
Because you need a why that outweighs your comfort zone.
What Happens When You Watch Your Parents Suffer
Losing your parents isn’t as bad as you think.
You’ll be sad and the pain will never go away.
But there are worse things.
Like watching your Mom or Dad lose their independence.
And their dignity.
And all the suffering they’ll endure along the way.
Physical decline is more painful and ugly than you can imagine.
At a certain point, when you’re withering away in a hospital bed, your life is pain.
Putting on your socks hurts.
Someone gently bumping your bed hurts.
Going to the bathroom hurts, if you can even do that yourself.
At a certain point, you might be using a catheter and calling someone to wipe your ass after you literally sh*t the bed.
We see sad-but-gentle goodbyes in the movies, but real life is so much uglier.
When death comes for me, I’d really prefer a surprise.
Because death is not the worst thing that can happen to you.
Suffering is.
After saying goodbye to my father, I decided I didn’t want to suffer if I don’t have to.
And I don’t want my family to see me suffer if I can avoid it.
I had a high school math teacher with a morbid sense of humor.
He always bragged about how healthy he was. And how one day, he would have an aneurysm in his sleep and just croak.
That’s my goal.
I want a long health span.
And then I want to die suddenly and painlessly.
It’s morbid… but it’s the truth.
I fixed my health because I don’t want to suffer.
And I don’t want my loved ones to suffer.
That’s what the 45 Alive project is all about.
The process of going from unhealthy to average.
And then average to superior, at the age of 48.
So I can stay alive in the way I want as long as possible.
I hope you’ll join me as I document the journey.