Oh No! I Am Where I Used to Be

Image drawn (mostly) by ChatGPT. I literally grew old attempting this.

A month ago, my wife and I literally shook hands when we made a bet who could reach their target healthy weight first. Years ago, I entered into a competition with myself to lose some weight. Over the last year, I’ve allowed the pounds to creep back on.

My doctor tells me I’m healthy. I can still run 10+ miles at a time. However, lugging 25 extra pounds around when covering that many miles isn’t for the faint of heart. I sweat more. I have to work harder. I generally don’t feel as good.

The logical decision: change my diet because by the time you reach middle age it’s impossible to outrun a bad diet.

I just got home from a 3-day business trip. On that trip, I drank an incredibly unhealthy amount of soda, and I ate two huge meals, a couple of smaller ones, five donuts, two softball-size muffins, two Bobos, and about 15 pieces of Red Vines licorice.

Oh, and a protein bar.

Now wait! Wasn’t I just talking about entering into a contest with my wife to get back to a healthy weight?

Donuts + muffins + Bobos + Licorice + Soda ≠ A Healthy Diet¹

Here’s a reality for most of us. We don’t all have the discipline of Ashprihanal Aalto who ran the Sri Chinmoy Self-Transcendence 3,100 Mile Race in 40 days, 9 hours, 6 minutes, and 21 seconds. I know you’re…