A couple of days ago I was completing a survey online. In exchange for answering 5 questions, I was promised a lifetime of grocery coupons delivered directly to my email. In hindsight, I probably sold out my virtual soul as I immediately started receiving emails for anything but grocery coupons. Really bugs me as I usually don't fall for those ploys but I was heading off to the store and thought I would give it a shot as it was hanging out on the right side of the web page I was viewing. Obviously I missed the shot but the website that got my email address certainly didn't. Looks like I'll be shopping for a new delete key for my keyboard sooner than I expected. lol
But I digress. The part of the story that concerns this post is the survey questions I was required to answer.
Frankly I'm not really sure how they came up with these questions but they actually appeared to be directly aimed at me like they knew something about me already. I'm not really so naive to NOT think that some people on the interweb are compiling information about every website I visit and what I purchased in the past. Call me paranoid but frankly I just don't know if I can really trust Al Gore and his creation right now,especially after the survey questions....
1) Do you have Diabetes?
Hmmm, interesting and a little confusing since all I wanted was some stupid coupons. Actually one of the reasons I started to get serious about my health and exercise was because my doctor told me that I was borderline Diabetic and if I didn't improve on my next visit, "something" was going to have to be done about it. This was right at the end of 2007 and I really did take it to heart (pun sort of intended) and decided to start exercising after the beginning of the year as well as think about cutting out some of that white powder that I had become addicted to as a little kid. Fortunately, as I am constantly being supervised by my doctor as I pursue this project, I was happy to discover about 2 months after I started my training that my blood work came back excellent and my blood sugar levels were all fine. I answered NO.
2) Do you have high cholesterol?
Come on, let's get off of the health questions and ask me something more relevant like "Do you buy ANYTHING as long as you have a coupon for it?" to which I would happily click the YES button so my inbox would overflow with coupons for everything. To me that would make a lot more sense. Again, thanks to adjusting my diet and exercise I hit the NO button as my blood tests would confirm. Also by answering NO I figured they wouldn't hold back any coupons that they thought might increase my cholesterol...
3) Do you have high blood pressure, and if so, do you take anything to control it?
What is this, Prevention Magazine? Again, 8 months ago I would have had to hit the YES button three times, once for each pill that I took to control my high blood pressure, but again that has changed as well. I really wish I could say that I have stopped taking all three pills but unfortunately I have only stopped taking 2 of the 3. That said, the last time I had my blood pressure checked it was 140 over 80 which is right on the border of normal. I could have argued "White Coat Syndrome" (higher than normal blood pressure due to the anxiety of having your blood pressure taken at a clinic/hospital/etc) but figured I would just wait until my next test and try to get it deleted from my diet legitimately. I hit YES.
4) Do you exercise?
Why, are you going to send me some coupons for some running shoes or maybe some protein bars? Hell yes I exercise, all the friggin' time! Even the people who fold the towels at my club know me and I'm sure that the people at the front desk have said on more than one occasion, "Here he comes again". I hit YES.
5) Are you overweight?
So this is where I make a mistake and I mean a legitimate mistake. You see, I have been answering this question Yes for my entire life. Just like the answer to "Who's buried in Grant's Tomb", it's an automatic without any additional thought required. I hit YES.
I was about to hit SUBMIT so the coupons would magically flow into my inbox when I stopped and looked at the question again: Are you Overweight? All of a sudden my thoughts raced back to my conversation I had with my doctor when I started this whole project. When I asked her what my ideal weight should be, she replied after consulting some reference material "Somewhere between 165-170". As of February 7th, I weighed in at 169.6 and even though math has never really been my favorite subject, even I know that 169.6 falls between 165 and 170. As strange as it sounds, it was only at that point that I truly realized that I was no longer overweight! After ~40 years of struggling with my weight, I finally made it to the "other" side. I revised it to NO and hit submit.
Even though the results of hitting Submit this time did not have the results that I was seeking, I really don't care as I obtained something much more important; A realization that if you put your mind to something and don't let excuses get in your way, you really can accomplish anything. Being overweight has been a curse for me my entire life. As I got older and older, I gained more and more weight and I just made adjustments, justifications and excuses for it so that I could continue to lead the happy life that I had. Was I happy? Absolutely. I have a great wife, a wonderful life and friends that I know will always be there. But beyond that, I am much happier with who I am now and what I have accomplished.
And while the ultimate goal I set for myself was not to lose all of this weight but to run the Boston Marathon, I realize that losing the weight was a necessary component of this goal. It gave me and other people something tangible to focus on and gauge how I was progressing. In addition, based on the incredible positive feedback from family, friends and strangers, I have shown people that ANYONE can lose weight if you just put your mind to it.
Below is the usual information I post each month regarding my weight loss. To be honest, quite a few people have been telling me for several months that I need to STOP losing weight. And while I sincerely appreciate their concern, I am also aware that as I continue to increase my training and endurance, I will more than likely continue to lose more weight as I will burn more and more calories. I have changed the way that I eat (as I have said over and over, I now eat to live versus live to eat) so my body will find a point where I maintain a normal weight which is more than likely right around here. Therefore this will more than likely be my final weight post and will now change my focus on other stories regarding my goal of running the Boston Marathon. As always, thanks for reading.
Roger :)
DATE: February 7th WEIGHT: 169.6
LOSS FOR MONTH: 5.4 TOTAL LOSS: 107.1
LOSS FOR MONTH: 5.4 TOTAL LOSS: 107.1
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