As I put off for a few more minutes doing another PCR, I'd like to write down a quick narrative of what has brought me to this point in my life, especially concerning health and fitness. This is my HPI, or History of Present Illness.
I grew up a farmboy; meat and potatoes and hard work. I ran cross country in high school in the fall and track in the spring. I sucked. But I liked it. After high school I became a Marine. It was the proudest moment of my life. The D.I.s kindly showed me all the things I was capable of: shooting very large machine guns and generally just kicking ass. They also showed me that I sucked at pullups and getting better at them was apparently going to take a whole lot more than "more pullups".
After the Marines I went to college. In my spare time I mountain and road biked, dabbled in triathlons, swam for fitness, and had one of my formative experiences in health and fitness...
It began soon after I transferred from NAU to ASU. I would make a habit of riding my bike approx 8 miles to school, lift in the weight room for about an hour and/or swim for a half hour, maybe play racquetball, learn some stuff (can't quite recall what), then bike home 8 miles. I did this for two years solid - spring, summer, winter, fall - rain, shine or dust storm - 18 degrees F to 118 degrees F. At the end of it all, I lost no weight, carried 25% bf, and looked the same in the mirror as two years prior. Hmmm... maybe, just maybe it was all the ice cream, fast food, burritos, pretzels, candy, etc., I was eating.
Fast forward 8 years, I'm now working for the local fire department as a Paramedic / Engineer / Haztech. I weigh 260lbs; at my height of 6'4" it's actually hard to tell how fat I was. I often argue that the best way to determine your adult weight is to complete Marine Corps boot camp. I was 180lbs and fightin' mean. My habit of ice cream, "muscle" shakes, crappy fitness had me up 80lbs with knees so bad that I couldn't run.
Stay tuned, next post will cover the turnaround...
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