I walk. But of course I do. I have since before I was one year old, but now I walk with more of a purpose than just getting from here to there. I'm walking for my health. I'm walking to save my life. Well, that sounds dramatic. What I mean is, my doctor has pointed out that my blood pressure has been trending up and my good cholesterol has been trending down while my bad cholesterol has been trending up. And what with a family history of high blood pressure, heart disease, clogged arteries and diabetes, I can't go through the world anymore as if I were invincible. As with these other maladies, my weight has been trending up as well, and has been for a good number of years. Doc says that while the proverbial "they" go back and forth about diet, the one thing that is certain when it comes to good health and longevity is, as he put it, "to get skinny." I used to run. Never as a competitive sport, but my brother often told me when we were kids that I should run track because I could run so darned fast. I didn't start running until I was in college. I had friends that were competitive twin sisters, and when one was having issue with the other, she would call and say "Bubba, I need to run," which meant she needed to hash out whatever new or continuing conflict she was experiencing with the other. So we'd run and run and run. I ended up liking it and doing it on my own. After I graduated from college and moved back to Kansas City planning the next phase of my life, I would go to my old high school and run for what seemed hours on their track. When I moved to New York City three years after college graduation, I had run so much, I weighed only 114 lbs. As I aged out of my 20s and into my 30s and 40s, I was well aware of my metabolism slowing down and my weight inching up. Sometime in my 30s I began going to the gym and working hard with a trainer. My body changed dramatically. I grew muscles and lost fat, and my weight inched up to 140 lbs, but it was a weight from good stuff, not fat. Then more life started happening and I had fewer and fewer hours to spend in the gym, so my physical makeup began changing again. Fast forward to now, careening toward 62 like a bat out of hell and my weight having crept up to 149! While I'd like to run again, my old knees will have none of it. But I can walk, so I walk. I downloaded an app onto my phone that tracks how many steps I take and prescribes how many steps I should take given my goal of wanting to once again weight 130 lbs. So, most mornings I walk 10,000+ steps in one fell swoop. At first it was difficult to get to 10,000, but now its common for me to be well over 11,000 steps. And after an evening of waiting tables, after I walked first thing in the morning, my step count will be well over 20,000 steps. And so I've lost weight. As of today, July 5, 2021, my weight has crept back down to 132. I can't tell you over what amount of time, but it's been only about a couple of months. I don't know where the weight loss will end. I still have jiggly parts I don't care for, so we'll see how far I can go. I eat. I'm healthy. So I'm not afraid of weight loss. But anyway . . .
The reason for writing this post was mostly to share photos from my morning walks. There are woods and wildflowers on both sides of the road I walk, and every day I notice something or meet someone new.
