20/20 Lifestyles

In January, 2006, I weighed 293 pounds. I had high blood pressure, high cholesterol, Type II Diabetes and severe obstructive sleep apnea. Six months later, I weighed 218 pounds, I was off all my medications, and I was sleeping fine without CPAP. How did I do this? 20/20 Lifestyles.

This morning, I weighed 294 pounds. I'm back on CPAP and all the medications. In fact, I'm now taking even more medicines and my metabolic numbers are worse than four years ago. How did I do this? In a word, stress. Over the last three years, my mother passed away from liver disease at 62, my wife gave birth to twins, I left Microsoft and I spent six+ months helping with the newborn twins.

Any one of those events could have tripped me up. The combination was overwhelming. I reverted back to my previous sedentary lifestyle and unhealthy diet. Now that life has settled down again, and now that I've been re-diagnosed with Type II Diabetes, I've decided to take another run at 20/20.

Jill and I are both going to repeat the full program. We'll likely start around the beginning of November. This time, my focus will be on identifying ways to manage stress through sustaining an active lifestyle. Sure, I'll be following the 20/20 diet and exercise plans. And, the weight will come off. But, the most important thing I need to learn is how to be active every day.

I'll be posting progress updates as we go. Stay tuned.