The Elephant in the Room

For most of my adult life I carried more weight than I wanted. I've managed to get into shape three other times since I turned 30, but it never "stuck" until my mid-50s. My weight ping-ponged so much that once at Amazon, I had a "fat" badge picture and had lost weight, so I had my intranet photo say "Click to Expand" to take you to the fat one. People loved it. Then I got fat again.

I'm calling it out here because hey, that's who I was for a long time. My amazing wife, together over twenty years, has been my constant companion and teammate through thick and thin. Very thick. Actually, everyone was lovely to me: my colleagues, my fans, even my haters. Nobody made fun of my weight, so you are all awesome.

After another long grind to bring my weight down in 2023, I finally took up running at age 55, and that's what did it. It has been life-changing. I run multiple times per week and have all the addiction to it that you hear about, like, can't shut up about it. That, plus regular strength training, and a pretty consistent Mediterranean diet, and I've been able to maintain my best quality of life ever.