Your Own Mortality

To this day, I hold a false belief (or fantasy if you will) that I’ll live forever. I really don’t think about my death at all, but it was my Mom’s failing health that at least got me to be serious about how I’m living.

She’s only 74 and looks like she could pass at any time. She treated her body poorly with drugs and no real sense of a diet. She’s diabetic, has heart issues, no teeth, etc., etc., She came to visit me, in Colorado, in 2018. Looking at her on the couch she seemed to be waiting for death but too afraid to die. Any encouragement to get her on a healthy path has been met with denial and scorn. But I’m very thankful for that experience. It was the triggering moment for me.

Before that day, I was already on a somewhat decent path. After years of drinking liters of soda on a daily basis, I had managed to cut back to one or two 20oz sodas per week. I had actually gone cold turkey for a whole year. I was actually drinking straight water for the first time in my life. After that experience in Dec 2018, I never drank another soda again. To this day I mostly drink water and black coffee. Occasionally I’ll have a beer or a Mocha.

Before that day I exercised a little but I was still 220lbs, had high cholesterol and blood pressure. I started taking fitness seriously. I got a Peloton Tread and started actually using it. It took months before I could actually start running because I had to do some core and lower body weight training to get my knees to the point I could run. The 2020 lockdowns were a bit of a blessing in that it got me to start seriously doing some weight training. Dumbbells three times a day.

I’m by no means jacked (that wasn’t my goal) but I dropped 40lbs and damn I looked good. 😁.

Last year I fell off the wagon a bit, but not totally. This was partly due to tendonitis in my ankles. I got up to 200lbs but seeing that weight on the scale woke me up and I got back work. I’m back to lifting three days a week and hitting the bike twice a week for cardio. Now back to 196 but this time I’m planning to build a bit more muscle.

I have a Grandmother that will hit 97 in June. She still lives on her own (though my Dad lives in the next town over) takes care of herself and will even drive her car within town limits. She’s pretty awesome. That’s the kind of ‘older’ life I want to lead. She’s never let herself get ‘old’. She’s still quite young from a mental standpoint. I was LMAO last month when she told me she was sooooo tired on Christmas Eve. It was because she had been partying almost every other night for the last week. Not a bad life, I’ll aim for that.