Okay, I want to brag a little.
I went to the doctor for my regular 6 month check up. About three years ago, I was diagnosed with type II diabetes, as well as high cholesterol and hypertension. With a family history of heart problems as well, I was not in good shape.
Since then, in addition to the medicine I take to help control the diabetes, I have made some life changes - I have reduced my work schedule a little, modified my diet some - but most importantly to my mind, I started riding a bike. I started with a hybrid riding five mile rides on the bike path, eventually started doing 10 miles on the path, and then tried going out on the road. Two years ago, I rode with a friend who owned a road bike and saw how much more efficient the bike was, and got one for myself. A bunch of miles later, here is a comparison of vital stats from before (the A1C is a measure of average blood sugar over several months, normal is 6.0, my goal is to stay below 7.0):
2005 - before I began cycling:
Weight - 206
Blood Pressure - 166/88
Resting Pulse - 80
Cholesterol - 267
A1C - 11.7
Fasting Blood Sugar - 260
2008 - after 3 years of riding (1.5 years of road cycling)
Weight - 166
Blood Pressure - 116/67
Resting Pulse - 58
Cholesterol - 120
A1C - 6.1
Fasting Blood Sugar - 110
Cycling rules!!!
8 comments:
WOW -- that is unbelievable Bob. What a turnaround -- great for you! I'm sure your family is equally as happy/proud of you.
Obesity is such a problem in this country -- I wish more people had the gumption to take the bull by the horns like you did and do something about it.
Thanks for sharing that great success story.
How was your ride after the split?
Did you catch up to those other two guys... and then drop them too?
It was windy. Whoa. How high were those wind gusts, anyhoo? Just curious.
Very good numbers there, Bob! :)
Thanks for the comments, folks. I'm going through pics for my kid's graduation - alarming to see the pics of me back a few years ago.
Gravy - they were long gone. Barely even saw them on the way home. I really should have stayed with you guys, but I was torn between staying with the group and getting some much needed miles in. Oh well, nice solo ride on the way home.
Nicol, gusts were reported in the 28-32 mph range, with a steady 20 mph. That first 15 miles was haaaard work. And naturally, about the time I headed north again, the wind started to die down.
Thats purty cool!
Oh, following up on Kevin's comment about obesity, someone was telling me last night that they heard that 'It's A Small World' at Disney is going to be temporarily closed down because people are getting too heavy for it or something. It's causing hold-ups? or something like that with the ride. It didn't surprise me.
Guess it's not such a "small world" afterall.
Anyone else ever correlate the jump in TV screen sizes with the jump in waistlines?
Or it could just be my sick mind at work.
The summer I worked at Disney World we would sometimes go to Epcot on our nights off, drink Guinness all night at the English Pub, and then go to the Magic Kingdom and ride the last ride of the night on It's A Small World, laughing uproariously the whole time.
It was the only way to do that ride without giving into the urge to get out of the boat thingy and start destroying the animated dolls as that insipid song slammed over and over again into your brain.
If you've ever been on that ride, you'll know what I mean.
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