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In looking at my start point of exercising 5 miles a day of walking (and now running), today is the 3,285th day of my consistently walking or running 5 miles a day.  This is EVERY day.... no holiday breaks, no illness breaks, no birthday breaks... NO BREAKS. 

For me, the CONSISTENCY is the key for me.  If I were to take a day off, then I would be very prone to finding pretty much any damn excuse to take a day off and then I would be sunk.  I know that from my personality, I could easily (especially at 5am, when I usually work my walking/running in) find a myriad of ways to say, "To hell with it, I'm not going this morning!  I am too tired, or I am too angry, or whatever."  So, for me to really do this effort to try to improve my health, I have to do it every, every, every damn day.  But, I am glad I have done so.  Even the time when I was sick with the flu, and I brought along a bag in case I would vomit.... that day was one of the worst, but I have to admit that even on that day (I was walking only at that time, which was a few years ago.), I did feel BETTER having done the walk.... even as I crawled back into bed with my fever and slept away the rest of the day. 

So, my current stats are as follows.  My typical heart rate when I wake is now usually 58bpm.  My blood pressure typically is around 110/65 at rest.  When I get done with my run, I have usually boosted my heart rate up to between 144-150bpm, which for me is strongly into the zone to promote cardiovascular health. 

I typically drink an average of two gallons of non-sugary fluids a day (mostly water, but also a hefty amount of coffee, some PowerAid (sugar free) and some soda (my favorite is Diet Dr. Pepper, followed by Diet Pepsi).  I do not restrict my foods in any way other than I try to eat appropriate portions, and I try to avoid consuming most fatty foods... at least as much as I can easily and reasonably manage.   I eat meat, but it is not an everyday thing.  I probably have 3 or 4 meals a week that have some sort of meat.  I mostly eat chicken, turkey, or fish.  I personally dislike pork, so that is no hardship to avoid, and I generally am not overly fond of beef, so I may perhaps have once or twice every few months some thinly shaved roast beef, and perhaps once every year or two I may have a tiny steak.  Steak (unlike for many) is not something I crave or even enjoy particularly, so it too is easy to avoid.  I greatly enjoy eggs, and will readily have them scrambled, coddled, or hard boiled.  I probably have about 4-5 eggs a week.  My wife makes a variety of awfully damn good frittatas as well, and when she will occasionally make me one, my egg consumption is much bigger that week!

So, I did exercise for my 3285th day this morning (running).  I now sitting here on the back porch with my first pipe of the day while the dog does her "thing", I am pleased with some of the progress I have made in terms of trying to stay healthy, but I do have many things to work on of course.  Tomorrow, I probably will try to talk about at least some of those things.... the things I still should do in regards to my wellness.

PipeTobacco