I want to write a little bit about some of the health issues I've dealt with over the last 10 years and then I'll write about what I'm going to do about it.
In 2011, I had a mild heart attack and I ended up with 2 arterial stents. In 2013 one of those stents failed and I underwent cardiac bypass surgery with a single bypass. I thought that I was finished with the martial arts and got pretty depressed about it. Roughly 6 months later, I felt better and and reopened Pear Tree in a new location. I bought a small building and had it moved to my backyard. My students and I converted that outbuilding into our kwoon to practice Jeet Kune Do.
In 2015 I was still working in the real world as an aircraft assembly mechanic and had to have my left shoulder replaced and about a year after that, 2016, I had an umbilical hernia and had to get a mesh patch put in. All went well until 2018 and I had to get the left shoulder replaced a second time. During this time I started practicing Wing Chun Gung Fu under Sifu Sam Chan to help rehabilitate my shoulder. A few of us started training in Wing Chun to the point that we added it to our curriculum.
During all of this time, my health was bad to mediocre to ok and back to bad. I gained weight without losing much of it until, at Christmas in 2020, I weighed 270 pounds. That is the biggest I have ever been. I retired from the working world to work on myself and get healthy. I started doing more exercise and eating better and not drinking as much alcohol and I started losing weight. I have had some backslides and such, but as of January 1, 2022 I weighed 267 so I have made the decision to change the way I eat and to get exercise, everyday. We started with the 10,000 kicks in 10 days challenge. It was tough, but I completed it. Then there was the Flexibility Challenge through January and I have been doing it and have really noticed a difference in my flexibility. I'll keep these in our regular JKD class.
The next challenge for February will be announced soon. It will be a good one.
So these challenges have gotten me off my duff and moving every day. I am eating much better now. It's close to a vegetarian diet, but I still eat eggs and some cheese. I am not eating any fast foods, gluten, sugar, or drinking alcohol. I am eating colorful raw vegetables, raw fruits and berries, cooked beans, mushrooms, and seeds. My arthritis has been better so I have not used any pain relievers in over a week. My blood pressure is normalizing and weight is coming off. I am down to 257 this morning and I am sleeping much better.
So, this is a change that I can live with and lose weight with. I decided to really take charge of my health so that I can enter this next stage with the right attitude and tools to get this done. My goal is to weigh 200 pounds by July 27, 2022, my 64th birthday.
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