Health

I spent years putting off my health. Sedentary work and lifestyle caught up with me: my weight was way up and my lab work was getting worse. I’d received an Apple Watch as a gift, hoping it would help me get in shape. In mid-2025, it started flagging my rising resting heart rate, and that’s when, by the grace of God, I turned things around and built a lifestyle I can sustain.

This page is a record of what I’m doing and what’s changed. Publishing it keeps me a little more accountable. The detailed log lives on the Workouts page.

What’s changed so far

It’s been over a year, and everything has moved in the right direction:

Weight: down over 60 lbs (am near goal weight)
Cholesterol: total cholesterol is in the normal range for the first time in a while.
Resting heart rate: from the low 70s when I started tracking closely to the mid-to-upper 40s recently.
Fitness: VO2 max is up to “above average” and increasing.
Consistency: 600+ logged workouts since mid-2025, mostly cycling.
Sleep: better overall, and I usually wake up before the alarm now.
General feel: better posture, mood, and day-to-day energy.
Focus and productivity: has significantly improved.

What I’m doing

Exercise:

See my workouts page for some stats and a log.

I’ve been pushing hard to build a solid fitness base and get my health markers, like A1C, cholesterol, and blood pressure, into the normal range.

Cycling: the main thing, and the first routine that has really stuck. I bought a hybrid bike in July 2025 and ride most days: lunch rides during the week, longer rides on weekends when the weather cooperates. I track rides privately on Strava.
Walking: usually a couple of miles in the evening.
Dumbbells: short upper-body and core sessions.
Running: Now that I’ve dropped some weight, I’ve started to mix in some running, especially trail running.
Other: taking back up hiking - something I used to do regularly, mobility/yoga, and other assorted workouts here and there.

Diet:

No strict diet: I haven’t cut out any foods (except sugary drinks), just made more deliberate choices. I still have sweets, chips, burgers and fries, pizza, and ice cream, etc - just less of it and less often.
Calorie counting: logging everything in Lose It!, which adjusts my daily budget based on activity. I pay attention to portions and protein and keep sugar and refined carbs to a minimum. When I’m consistent with it, I see progress.
Fasting: 16:8 baseline, usually closer to 18:6, with occasional 24-hour fasts and longer ones planned. I use Intermittent: free, no account, and genuinely useful insight into fasting phases.
Supplements: a basic routine for general health, plus SALTT drops for hydration and longer fasts.

Habits:

Nicotine: quit.
Alcohol: cutting back; still in progress.
Soda: cut regular soda and sugary drinks a couple of years ago, and most diet soda over the past year.
Caffeine: cutting back, with tea in the mornings and nothing in the afternoon.

There’s still progress to make. This is meant to be a lifelong habit, not a project with an end date, but the direction is better than it was and I want to keep it that way.