Final thoughts on American Heart Month

Moving out of the American Heart Month project, and maybe looking ahead to The Tribune-Democrat's Progress editions that come out next month, I was feeling the need for a little boost today.

I'm still fighting this nasty cold and cough that has been hanging in there for two weeks now, and I have a lot of story ideas I've been stacking up while I finished he project.

While it was encouraging that several people today congratulated me on the 8-pound weight loss during February, i am still looking at the long range goal for healthier living. Getting below 205 was important, if only because I feel like I've been ranging between about 205 and 210 for a several years. I couldn't really count it as weight loss until it dropped below 205. It was just a normal fluctuation until that threshold was broken.

Now comes the challenge of keeping it up.

I got some true inspiration when I started working on one of those stories that stacked up. It will be published later this week, and it details a study of cancer survivors to see how they respond to information and opportunities for a healthier lifestyle.

Lead investigator Tina Trimbath is a cancer survivor who is truly passionate about the benefits of physical activity and nutrition following cancer treatment. She is having participants keep an online journal of their exercise and diet programs and says her research has shown people are more likely to eat healthy and be active if they write it down as they go.

Of course, I thought of this blog and my own heart-healthy program this month. Will I be as conscious of the daily food intake and physical activity, if I’m not blogging?

We’ll have to see. I really don’t plan to continue this more than a few times a month at this point, despite encouragement from a couple of people who read it.

I recently saw a picture of me in cut off shorts by the pond at my parents house, taken probably shortly after I graduated high school. While some might say that represents my healthiest weight, I don’t have illusions of getting back there.

Baby steps, right? 

Next, I’ll shoot to break the 200 mark.