I'm trying to get healthier because I want to be around for my eight-year-old son for a long time, and because I want to be strong and healthy for a long time. I want to avoid, as much as possible, the shitty last decade both my parents went through. A lot of this is influenced by the book "Outlive" by Peter Attia. (Which I highly recommend.)
I am a 51-year-old, obese, diabetic, male with high blood pressure and high cholesterol. I have sleep apnea and use a CPAP every night. I lift weights twice a week with a trainer, go to martial arts class 1-3 times a week, and am trying to improve my running and cardio. I also go on long (5-10 miles) bike rides with my son, go hiking occasionally, and take a swimming class once a week. I'm doing pretty great on exercising, but my biggest struggle is eating healthy. I love (read that: am addicted to) my carbs and it's been hard for me to reduce them.
I'm posting this here in the hopes that my journey and struggles help other people in their journeys, and to keep myself honest and determined in my progress.
I've come up with the following 11 benchmarks that I'm going to track about myself. I'll list them here, with my goals and my current numbers.
- Weight: Goal is 199. Current weight (per Trendweight) is 256.1 lbs.
- Average blood pressure over the last 30 days: My goal is to have systolic below 120 and diastolic below 80. I'm at 133/78.
- Average blood glucose over last 30 days: My goal is to be in the range of 80 to 180. I use a CGM to take measurements every five minutes. Over the last 30 days my blood glucose averaged 208.
- VO2Max: As measured by my Apple Watch. My goal is greater than 41. (Which would put me in the "High" category for my age group.) Currently I'm at 25.7, which puts me in the bottom group, "Low," even lower than "Below Average."
- Time it takes me to complete a 5k run (3.1 miles): My goal is less than 30 minutes. I'm currently at 56 minutes.
- Pushups in one minute: My goal is 50 or more. I'm at 41.
- Situps in one minute: My goal is 50 or more. I'm at 33.
- Pull-ups in one minute: My goal is 10 or more. I'm at zero.
- Bench Press One-Rep Maximum: My goal is 1x my body weight, or 256 pounds. I can bench-press 262 pounds.
- Deadlift One-Rep Maximum: My goal is 2x my body weight, or 512 pounds. I can deadlift 430 pounds.
- Grip Strength: Goal is greater than 110 pounds in each hand. Currently my grip strength is 107 pounds in my left hand and 100 pounds in my right hand.
Conclusion: I'm doing relatively well to excellent in measurements related to strength. I need to work hard on my cardio in general, running ability, and on losing weight and eating healthier. Next month I hope to have more categories in green (or at least moving in that direction).