Fitness.

For the first time in 2015, I am able to sit on our front steps and write a blog entry without fear of frost bite, sleet, snow, hail or other weather calamity. It’s a good feeling.

With the weather being less than stellar over the past month or so, I’ve been walking every morning in an effort to get ready for cycling season. The snow banks are slowly receding and we see a little more of our lawn every day.

They’re predicting that tonight’s low is going to be relatively sane for this time of the year (in the low 40s), so I’m determined to go on my first bike ride of the year tomorrow morning before work. My bike is in great shape, I’ll have my clothes readied before bed tonight so I will have very little in the way of excuses not to ride.

I’m looking forward to getting this spring thing in motion.

Even though it’s 19 degrees Fahrenheit today, I had a pressing need to get outside and get some fresh air. January can be a tough month for me if I don’t experience enough sunshine during the month. Living in Upstate New York puts me at a disadvantage.

I decided to bundle up in my ski jacket and get out there and walk. I was fumbling with my phone and forgot to smile.

I did my usual warmer weather walking routine, where I walk about 4000 steps in 20 minutes. The walk is up the hill from the house, around the nearby corner and then I backtrack and come back down the hill.

There was only one close call as I walked along the dirt covered shoulder of the road. A woman oversteered the curve up the hill and scared me enough to make me jump into the little snowbank. I glared at her.

The sunshine did wonders for my spirit and put me in a better mood. I miss being outside. It’s time to start braving the cold, look forward to spring and start getting fresh air again whenever I can.

So I checked my blood pressure the other day and it was at 118/81. This is a heck of a lot better than the beginning of the year when I was 156/98. I think there’s quite a few contributing factors to the lowering of my blood pressure, including the new position at work I started in April, my love of flying, my increase in exercise and probably the blood pressure medicine. I have been prescribed Norvasc 5 mg daily.

The Norvasc makes me feel like crap. I have a constant headache, I feel heavy and my neck and shoulder muscles constantly feel tight. I took Norvasc in the early ’00s for a year and while it did lower my blood pressure, I also gained 20 pounds. I’ve gained 8 lbs since starting Norvasc again. Last time I stopped taking the medicine and my weight went back to where it should be and the headaches stopped. I’m going to check with my physician about stopping the medicine again.

I hate the idea of being dependent on a medication. Some will tell me that it comes with the territory when we age, but there’s a part of me that hopes that’s not completely true, because I really don’t want to have my body chemistry altered if it doesn’t really need to be. There’s a hippy-dippy granola type in me at times that believes that if we eat right, maintain regular exercise and live a reasonable lifestyle, our body will find the balance that it strives to obtain. I’m not a huge fan of pharmaceuticals anyway, they lost me when they started advertising on television.

I’m going to carefully monitor my blood pressure for the next few weeks and see if I can maintain these lower numbers and then see about getting off the medicine. I know that once I’m prescription free I’ll feel much better.

So this morning I weighed myself and verified that I have gained 10 pounds since my trip to Minneapolis in mid-November. I’m not surprised at my weight gain, after all, there’s been plenty of holiday meals, other celebrations and a trip to Disney. Couple this with a lack of outdoor activity and my basic hatred of the gym during these wonderful winter months and it all adds up. A while ago I would have been sad about this but today I’m just more determined. On the bright side, it’s only a third of what I originally lost.

The thing is, I’m over what I consider my personal tipping point. When I’m above a certain weight my blood pressure tends to go up and I can just feel it. I need to get below that point and get back into a healthier place. Instead of freaking out and drop-kicking the scale, I did a couple of things today to get my mind back to where it belongs:

1. I’m standing at my home-office desk again. Sitting in a chair all day is awful on the human body. I don’t believe we were really designed for this and this is one of the reasons that I am feeling sluggish.

2. I’m headed back to the chiropractor today. I’ve had some schedule collisions with my regular chiropractor appointments and it’s been five weeks since my last visit. I need to get back on that regular schedule. Some debate the merits of chiropractic care, but I know that when I go to the chiropractor on a regular basis I always feel better. I have a cold for the first time in a couple of years and I think part of that is because I haven’t been to the chiropractor recently.

3. I recently passed my FAA Class 3 Medical Exam, which certifies me as being healthy enough to fly an airplane with a private pilots’ certificate. That is great, but the truth of the matter is that I want to be more than a private pilot, I want to be a Certified Flight Instructor someday, and in order to do that I’ll need to pass an FAA Class 2 Medical Exam. When I went in for my exam on Friday, I was worried about my blood pressure readings, which actually increased my blood pressure. The FAA requirements are actually quite liberal (my doctor would yell at me for having a higher blood pressure if I was well within the FAA requirements, which is at least 155/95) and to think that I needed to calm down to get my blood pressure below that liberal threshold kind of scares me. As I mentioned before, my blood pressure tends to creep up with my weight, so I need to get my weight down to naturally pull my blood pressure down.

4. Most importantly, I need to move. When I work from home I ride my stationary bike at least twice a day. While it’s movement, I don’t think it’s doing much for me, despite what the calorie indicator says. So today I went outside and walked, despite the snow roads and the cold temperatures. I walked my summertime route this morning and I felt fantastic afterwards.

It was most refreshing.

5. I started concentrating on eating *sensible* calories instead of just eating calories. I’ve been keeping track of my calories right along with the MyFitnessPal app, but the fact of the matter is, sometimes it’s eating the right calories that actually counts. So that’s where my focus is again.

I’m not hysterical and I’m not really disappointed in my recent weight gain. I’m sure I can lose the extra weight and then some just by getting back on track again.

Now, if I just had a magic way to make the weather cooperate!