Weight

Weight has been a very thorny, yo-yo issue with me. Before my May 1993 accident I maintained a weight of about 190, largely by running, though I was by no means either addicted to running or an accomplished runner. Then, though, after I was nearly killed on May 22 of that year, and spent two months in coma (and was in the hospital until early December), I didn't give my weight a thought for quite some time—and was then stunned to step on a scale that fall in physical therapy, for the first time in months, and see "250" staring back at me. For some time, I assumed that they must have miscalculated my intravenous feedings when I was in coma—but then, eventually, Michelle confessed and reminded me of the nightly pint of ice cream she brought me. Coupled with my lack of any activity, the results were not surprising.

I continued to let it go until the beginning of 2005, when I had climbed to over 300 pounds—and that was a big wake-up call for me. I realized I needed to take action, so I got busy, first walking, and then with the resumption of running in early 2006, and continued to pare it down in pursuit of a goal of 200 pounds. I never quite reached it, although I did get to 202.5 at the time of my daughter's wedding in July 2008.

However, various health issues caused it to go back up again, until I was at 230 in December 2011, when I was forced to quit running due to arthritis. For some time thereafter, it climbed yet again, until I got to just over 260 in the spring of 2012, before I could begin to turn it around. Since then, it's continued to decrease steadily, and more dramatically this year with taking up bicycling, and participation in Weight Watchers. Currently I'm at 220, and am still in pursuit of that goal of 200, but now want to go beyond it. I'm hoping to be under 200 by the end of 2013, and, based on Weight Watchers recommendations for a healthy BMI (Body Mass Index) given my height of 5'10", I am aiming to get eventually to 174—and maintain it!