Not sure how I got here this quickly. Just a year ago I wrote the post A Techie Looks at 40. Now here it has come and gone I’m officially over the hill or there abouts. I was talking with Sabrina and the girls last night about how I think at a certain point your true age is determined by three things:
Genetics – You can’t do much about that one.
Lifestyle choices – These are many little choices that add-up. I can tell you that I feel remarkably better than I did a year ago. I dropped my 20 year addiction to coffee (which started with my No Caffeine 35 Day Experiment), dropped fifteen pounds (didn’t Lose 20 by 40 but made some real progress), and am walking on an almost daily basis.
Outlook on life – This one I also have a great amount of control over. It’s a state of mind more than anything. My mother who is a young 76 years old chose to turn outward instead of inward after my dad passed away eight years ago. She cuts a rug on a regular basis with her friends and is currently off on another of her travels.
So from here forth my pledge is to take what I’ve been given, continue to make concrete goals that promote wise lifestyle choices and to keep dreaming. The greater part of failure must be in not dreaming, not believing in what is possible, not setting goals and not going for it. I think I’d rather “fail” at not accomplishing all my dreams or goals than “succeed” at reaching my goals by setting so few.
Maybe it’s entropy or just getting set in your ways, but as one gets older it seems on the outside that it gets harder and harder to change. In reality our lives and our bodies are in a constant state of change. It’s just that as we move through life some of those changes are not always positive, healthy or improvements to our overall well being.
A year ago I decided that some things in my life needed to change and while in no way it’s been easy, I’ve made some real progress in the right direction:
First change came on August 27th when I stopped drinking coffee and any caffeinated drink. Since then I still have tea but it has become so irregular that I am no longer tethered to caffeine to get me through my day.
The drop in caffeine resulted in the reduction of sugar due to the fact that I no longer try to keep the peak going all day instituted by large quantities of caffeine in the morning.
My overall weight has dropped a solid ten pounds from the peak of 202. I now bump along or just under the 190 mark. Partly a result of the decrease in sugar intake, small changes in diet and increased exercise.
Started walking this summer with my sweet wife Sabrina and our dog Sheba around the neighborhood for half an hour each evening. To my wonderful surprise at the dentist last week my blood pressure dropped a full 20 points on the top and bottom numbers from six months ago. I was on the high end of normal previously. While weight loss had a part to play I believe the daily exercise had the biggest roll.
Had braces put on a few weeks ago. It’s a strange feeling just prior to turning 40 years-old to be wearing a mouth appliance of teenager. All three of my girls and myself are in different stages of orthodontic care. Just image the ding that one is to the pocket book.
Grew a gotee. No health implication here but with braces and a gotee, a slightly trimmer me, I both feel and look a bit different from a year ago.
There are other changes happening in my life that are subtle and still brewing. Change brings change and almost like waking from a stooper realized that I need to be more tenacious to drive change in the right direction as I move through life. I realize that life will constantly change and I need to be aggressive to keep moving against the flow if I’m going to enjoy the ride. Those small habits affecting how we spend our time, our money and all the resources we posses brings big effects either positive or negative in the long run.
Another update in keeping accountable with the world in my quest to lose weight. So far I’ve dropped ten lbs. from my tubbiest 202. But officially I set my starting weight at 200, so I’ve really lost eight pounds. With four months left it’s a good start, but just the beginning. My pants certainly fit better. The shift in weight has come from some minor dietary changes. I’ve not yet gotten into any consistent exercise program which would help me break the 190 marker.
If it weren’t for those all-day staff meetings and working lunches I’d get there much sooner. I think that’s one of my major downfalls. Still, to get anywhere near 180 I’m going to have to work much harder. From what I’ve heard the first ten pounds are always the easiest. I’ve never gotten serious about weightloss before so this is new ground for me.
Efforts like this remind me of how challenging it is to make fundamental lifestyle changes as one matures in age. Hard but not impossible. I for one do not want to be one of those folks who gets more and more set in my ways as I grow older. I think you have to fight the force of habit all along the way. Otherwise I’ll wake-up one day fat, sedentary and suffering as a result of it.
I stepped on the scale yesterday morning and to my dismay, it read 199 lbs. Geeze, even for someone 6′ 2" that’s a little more tubby than I would like. So this morning I stepped onto our new nifty Gazelle Edge that I bought my wife for Christmas (for a cool $20 from Goodwill). My 40th birthday is coming this September and I aspire to be in better shape at 40 than I was at 35. So, I’m launching my second experiment.
For regular readers of thoughtsparks.net you’ll remember The 35 Day No Caffeine Experiment. On August 27th of this past year I stopped drinking caffeine for 35 days. The lasting effect has been that I permanently have stopped drinking coffee and my overall consumption of caffeine has dropped considerably.
So here goes experiment number 2. By lifting this to a totally public platform it keeps me accountable to my goal. The two objectives to reach this goal are: 1. exercise everyday, and 2. reduce my overall caloric intake. Both of these are real challenges for me. Exercise seems to be one of the easiest to measure. I’m still working on my plan to reduce calories. Any input on that would be appreciated. I figure increased exercise will take off the first five or so but dropping below that is going to take some real self-control on my part. Ah, such is life.
Ending day four of my 35 day no caffeine experiment. Surprisingly the headaches have been tolerable, especially with a dose of Advil. I’ve been groggy in the morning and that has returned in the afternoon at times as well. Some of my physical maladies have cleared-up already and to some degree I generally feel better.
But here’s the big discovery: I’ve got coffee on the brain. The hardest part is not the headaches or being a bit groggy. No, the toughest part is the reality of my mental/emotional connection to coffee. I’ve been one who has consumed coffee for the better part of the last twenty years, that’s two decades, a score of years. I have labeled myself a coffee drinker. How very attached I’ve become to that black substance that brings a spike of stimulus to the brain.
What is it about substances that we, not only can become physically attached to, but emotionally connected as well? Whether it’s food, caffeine, alcohol, you name it, we are creatures of addiction, at least some of us.
Somewhere along the way in my 30’s I think I resigned myself to a life of addiction. I have been ingesting high levels of caffeine and sugar to prop me up to keep me moving through my day. Somehow life is more than just getting by or getting through.
Coffee on the brain, oh yeah. I sure could go for a venti latte at the moment. I could sip that puppy down and let the fun begin. Instead, I think I’ll head-off to bed. Better get some sleep, I’m going to need it to get up in the morning.
To keep life interesting and to do some physical cleansing, I am fasting coffee (and other caffeinated drinks) from now through the end of September. And no, decaffeinated coffee is not allowed. Yes, I know for all of you coffee lovers like me, you may ask in complete disbelief, why would anyone deprive themselves of something so good? If you are not a coffee drinker, you just may not understand. That’s okay.
Coffee to me is the smell that greets me in the morning and reassures me that life will go on. It helps me awake and get my thoughts in gear when my mind otherwise would rather dream away in a mist of half thoughts and imaginations.
So, the next month or so may be a bit more hazy at times for yours truly. It’s an experiment for sure. You see, as I get a bit older, it is very easy for me to settle into these habits and get complacent with my health. Is coffee unhealthy? Well, if you are like me, it’s a bit excessive and yes it probably not the most healthy habit. I just don’t moderate myself very well.
Why 35 days? Well, it takes 30 days to make a habit and 35 days brings me to the end of the month of September, so it’s just easy to remember. Will I start drinking coffee again? Dunno, don’t think I’ve gone this long since my early 20’s.
Was there a time recently that you gave up something for a season? What were you reasons? Was it productive in some way?
