Haven’t run since October. Weight got up to 230. Resting pulse rate got up to 59. BP was “walking stroke.” Then at Easter I went on “the diet.” Started charting every calorie in and increasing my calories out – mainly by walking. Thirty minutes of activity per day via Fitbit. And (product placement) I started taking Olly gummies to “improve metabolism.” And added a meal substitute (Huel) to get away from the empty calories.

First month? Lost 8 pounds. Got back on my BP meds and I’m now down to “keep paying attention or I’ll bit your ass” and my RPR was down to 55-56. Ran out of Olly gummies. And the progress stopped for about two weeks. Purchased more Olly’s: weight dropped under the magic 220 and I’m now running again.

One mile yesterday. Under 11 minutes. One minute run, one minute walk. Today I’ll make it 2:1. I’ll increase that time spread gradually this week. After about 5-7 days like this and I’ll start tinkering with the miles instead of the time on task. The MIRACLE of smart phone apps is in its small increments. I used to increase my distances a mile at a time. Does NOT work as you age. But bumping it 1/10th is easy with my fitbit. The “overuse” formula I used last year has made me happy. I’m a systems guy and it provides a good system. Keeps me (usually) from over doing it, allows occasional steps back, and provides nice gradual trackable progress.

I’ll likely be back end of June with a spring/summer update.