Jim's Place

C5...Disappointing, but still worthwhile...

I just completed C5 or frankly as I see it - about 6 weeks of C5. After starting off by dropping 15 lbs in the first 4 weeks, I had high expectations for the remaining 8 weeks. Unfortunately, illness interferred as it has so many times over the years. After several weeks of being profoundly exhausted due to severe sleep problems and issues with my hormonal disorder, I was tempted to just drop this challenge, especially when I saw that I regained 10 lbs since week 4...but I decided to stay the course the best I could, and make the most of the situation...

Finally, I got the sleep cycle issues under control, changed dosages on some of my hormone medications and stopped taking a blood pressure medication that was causing severe fatigue and lethargy.

The last 2 weeks have been very strong. I lost 6 lbs, increased the weights I've been lifting significantly and most importantly I've got my spark back... I feel I've got a good handle on the medical issues going forward and will give it everything I've got between now and the cruise June 19...

The net result is that due mainly to my "Hail Mary" effort the last couple of weeks, I dropped 11 lbs during C5 and almost 3% bodyfat. Not the stellar results I wanted, but under the circumstances I'll take it! Imagine what kind of shape I'd be in if I had just quit!

I'm so anxious gang to have a challenge with impressive results like C1 or C2...to finally get down to my goal weight. However, I feel that my next challenge, C6, will be THAT breakthrough challenge.

I didn't take pictures for week 12. I decided to wait a couple of weeks and take photos just before the cruise and add those on week 14...

Thanks for you support through just a rough time. I finally sailed through the storm and got back on track. This challenge didn't turn out like I had planned but it is a profound reminder that even a disappointing challenge is better than no challenge at all...

Just like going home...

Today, I returned to a place I have longed to be for years... I've fought the fight daily, hung on to my dreams and prayed that someday it would finally happen...I'm sitting here in my tent trailer looking out over Lake Jennings (that's right! I'm STILL camping!) reflecting on what happened this morning and the profound impact I'm feeling right now...

As some of you know, I used to sing in the choir until illness derailed my participation in 2002. The people in the choir were just like family...mainly because they WERE family. I've never enjoyed life more than being with my choir buddies...the rehearsals...the Christmas and Easter musicals...traveling to perform at other churches...the special get-togethers at the beach, camping, etc... It always felt like home...

Today, was Faith Chapel's 50th anniversary and I had been invited to sing with the choir. It was somewhat intimidating because I hadn't sung with the choir in 4 yrs...but as soon as I walked in the door of the choir rehearsal room I was warmly mobbed by one smiling face after another, endless hugs, a few tears and that comforting feeling of knowing I was where I belonged...All the wonderful memories of the priceless experiences I shared with these kind and giving friends choked me up with emotion... I wanted to keep my composure but at the same time I felt like just letting it all go... In a moment, the frustrations with chronic illness, the deep hurts and setbacks of the last few years seemed washed away, almost as if they never happened...

Soon it was show time! There I was on the big brightly lit stage with over 130 current and former choir members...excited yet a little intimidated. I looked out at the congregation noting numerous familiar faces of people I used to visit with every Sunday but hadn't talked to in ages. Even though Faith Chapel is a large church it always felt like I was hanging out with my next door neighbors...

Faith Chapel is known for excellence in its musical productions and the choir director wasn't going to let even  folks like me with rusty pipes catch a break! The songs were powerful and wonderful and as expected - a challenge. I'm a high tenor and since there are very few tenors in the choir I knew it was important for me to step up and carry my part... But I wondered if I still had what it takes... Would I be able to hit the high notes? Would my voice crack? Would I even sing the right notes?

But it was like old times almost immediately. Just like riding a bicycle, it was all coming back to me... In the middle of the most challenging song, it was time for the tenors to hit a powerful yet high phrase. If I messed up - everyone would hear it! But I simply nailed it! I was so stoked, tears came to my eyes and I had to fight to stay focused and keep my composure. The choir director Bruce - such a good friend all these years - glanced over at me and smiled. I know he was trying to let me know how pleased he was that I put my heart and soul into the song, but I also sensed that he was even more excited just to see me back with the choir, back where I belong...

Afterwards, I talked with my good friend Perry, who has been just like a brother to me for the last 10 yrs. He was so excited to see me back and had witnessed my struggles with chronic illness over the years. He's kind of a 'good ole boy' but his words were profoundly insightful, touching and powerful...

"You know buddy...We've all been praying for you for the longest time. I know you Jim. If you're not in choir it's because you're not well. We've all been very concerned but we've also been hopeful that someday you would finally be able to return to choir. It's not just about singing or even ministry. For you Jim, this is your family. This is where you belong. I know you've been hurting for a long, long time. How about just coming to rehearsals and choir when you can and if you need to miss due to illness, don't worry about it. We want you here and frankly we need you..."

I was amazed how he was able to look into my eyes and immediately understand what few people ever understood through the years... "Wow Perry! That sounds great! I really need my choir family right now..."

"Well, come to rehearsal this Thursday night. It's time to get you back singing...to let the healing begin...to get back to being with your family..."

"Thanks Perry...this means the world to me..."

"No problem buddy...welcome home..."

As you can tell, this has been and still is a very emotional day. When I got in my van to leave church, I couldn't keep my composure any longer...the tears burst forth. There I was  with a silly grin on my face crying...these were happy tears...cleansing tears...tears that had yearned for years to finally escape...to bring forth the relief and a feeling of victory that so long had eluded me...

Today was a breakthrough...It's starting to look like after all these years of struggling with illness and watching my life fall apart day-by-day, challenged to even continue dreaming, that the fruits of my faith are being harvested... I truly believe that God brought Body-for-Life into my life and that maybe - just maybe - the kid is going to get his life back after all...

I hope my post provides some inspiration to you. You all have been like family to me and sustained me when the times were hard and there was no one else...

All I can say is that it sure feels good to be home...I was away for a long, long time...but deep in my heart I knew that despite the adversity, the challenges and the difficult journey that someday I would find my way out of the wilderness and finally return to where I belong...

Thanks gang for listening...

Great progress this week!

Hope you're having a great Saturday night...   

I just wanted to let you guys know how jazzed I am about my progress this week! I'm sure you're wondering now how much weight I lost?...how much did my measurements decrease?...how much bodyfat did I lose??? Well...Let me just burst your bubble right now by saying I DON'T KNOW!!! That's right! Mr. Weigh-every-day hasn't even stepped on the scale all week! And to be an even bigger rebel I haven't even measured!!! Oh no say it isn't so!!! Well, it is so!!! I had a little different focus this week...

With all the frustrations and setbacks the last few months I simply wanted this to be a week where I lived the BFL lifestyle...not perfectly...but yet still with excellence, excitement and passion. This week was not about setting the world on fire with stunning results but simply getting that fire burning within me once again...that same blazing passion that fueled my comeback last year using BFL...

And I gotta tell ya gang, it's back!!! It's really back!!! The flame never went out...but it did flicker weakly at times constantly doused by the adversities in my life...illness...the deep hurt of broken friendships...loneliness and sometimes simply old behaviors trying to sneak back into my life...trying to take away the dreams that I've fought so hard to cling to for so many years, even when it seemed naive and unrealistic to do so...

I had great weight workouts this week and boy can I feel it! I got in some challenging and confidence-building bike rides climbing the hilly roads around Lake Jennings where I'm camping. And I even managed to follow the food program pretty well even while camping...

THIS is how I want to live...and THIS is who I am...and DAMN it feels good! It feels very good...   

Although I didn't measure I can tell that I dropped some pounds and inches and I can certainly tell I built some new muscle. I'll get back on the scale before too long but right now I want to stay right where I am...on top of the world...

Thanks gang! Your support is what really has made the difference in my life this last year and a half...   

Is somebody trying to tell me something?

I'm still camping here at Lake Jennings in my wonderfully cozy tent trailer...

One thing I really like about camping is that it gives me a great opportunity to sit back and take a good look at what is going on around me and in the world. Today, I was wrapping up my 10-mile bike ride climbing up the last hill to my campsite when I came upon the guy camping across from me. I had talked to him yesterday. He's a 55-yr old veteran and like me was camping alone. From the way it sounded he pretty much lived in his trailer, moving from campground to campground. He seemed to be angry and bitter at the world and really needed someone to talk to. We talked about a half-hour yesterday and I figured I would see how he was doing today...But before I could say anything he had to tell me how impressed he was that I had climbed to the top of the hill...

"Man, you're one tough guy! That hill you just came up is steep. I can hardly walk up it and never could I make it on a bike. You are one tough dude!!!"

The hill WAS steep but I wanted to be modest...

"Well, it is a challenge but after you train for awhile you build up the muscle."

He stared for a moment at my bright candy apple red bike which was really sparkling in the sun...then he gave me a nod and an approving smile...

"I see...but you are still one tough dude. My hat is off to you! We're not getting any younger and it's tough at our age to get in shape. So did you ride around the campground?"

"Well, actually I rode up towards Alpine and back..."

"You're kiddin' me!!! There's nothing but hills all the way! I'm impressed! Man you really are one tough dude! Where in the world do you get the motivation to do that?!!!"

I told him that I had been a very athletic 180lb bike rider in 1996 when the chronic illness issues started to balloon my weight up...hitting 330lbs in 2004, and that I was just grateful now to be able to ride my bike after being pretty much consigned to the couch for years. That even though I was over 100lbs lighter now that I was anxious to get the rest of the weight off. I emphasized that we never know what the next year, month, week...or even the next day will bring...and that we have to jump on every opportunity we can because we just can't take those for granted...

He chuckled, shook his head...

"That's incredible...amazing! Way to go! All I can say is you are one tough dude!!!"

When I got back to my campsite, I put the bike away and went inside the trailer. I looked out the window and noticed he was sitting over on his campsite underneath a very large American flag he had put up. He was drinking a beer and he just looked so alone. It hit me that right now in my life I was probably as alone as he appeared to be, but I don't FEEL alone. Of course, I don't know the man after only a couple of conversations but I still felt a compassion for him...

"Lord, I ask for your blessing on my neighbor. He seems to be hurting a great deal and I can tell he feels separated from the world. I pray that you watch over him and I hope that my example might help him in some way. And I'm so grateful that because of You, I am never really alone...Amen"

Tonight, I thought about this experience and realized that lately several people have come into my life and encouraged me...(in addition to my BFL buddies!)

The other day I was getting a haircut. A couple of the women there have watched my progress over the last year and a half. The woman cutting my hair commented that her sister needed to lose a lot of weight but decided to give up because she had a thyroid problem and was told that it wasn't very likely she would be able to. I then told her that I also had a thyroid problem (along with pituitary failure and sleep apnea!) and she was shocked. She said that my progress was amazing and she couldn't wait to call her sister and tell her in so many words that there was hope for her...

Last week at GNC, I was picking up some Myoplex shakes and ran into a sales clerk that I hadn't seen since last June - she had been gone on maternity leave. Even though I'm quite a bit heavier than I was last September when I was around 200 lbs, I was still quite a bit lighter than when she last saw me in June. She commented on how great I looked and that I looked so much leaner and healthier.

At the pharmacy, where everybody knows me by my first name (is that a good thing or a bad thing?!), one of the clerks I hadn't seen for awhile told me I looked great and she couldn't believe how much weight I had lost in the last year and a half...

I stopped by the Trek bike shop this week for the first time since last September. The manager, who has become a good friend had been concerned because he hadn't seen me for awhile and knew all about my illness challenges. I told him that I had some setbacks but he didn't seem bothered or worried...

"Well, Jim we got you back on the bike with the hybrid you bought from me in November 2004...you hit it hard all last year and made great progress... And now you're back riding. I know you...I'm not concerned. You'll be back up to speed in no time..."

Along with calls from my friends in the choir inviting me to participate in the reunion concert Sunday, it seems like someone up there decided to put certain people in my path, people to encourage me, help me regain my momentum and perhaps above all - remind me that I'm NEVER alone...

All I can say is "Message received!!!"

My big secret!!!

Here I am late at night...camping at Lake Jennings... Having a great time not only being here and enjoying my tent trailer but also feeling quite jazzed about life in general! To some people it might seem that I should feel less than thrilled about life than I do...

"You know Jim, with a chronic illness, you have to face the harsh reality that maybe you'll never be able to achieve your dreams..."

"I know you are a good man, but what kind of woman wants to be with a disabled man...a man who can't even earn a living..."

"Come on Jim! How in the world can you continue to live with such childlike enthusiasm and optimism? Especially when you have suffered through one setback after another...year after year?"

Well, gang... I can certainly understand how people can be puzzled by my endless optimism in what might appear to them to be a dire situation... Understandibly, if someone truly knew the adversity I went through starting in 1993 when my wife took off with my best friend they might have a hard time believing  or even accepting that I've still been pretty much a happy camper since then... And please don't misunderstand! There were so many times when I couldn't believe how far I was being pushed...On the edge of tears for over 2 years after she left...doubtful that I would ever make it through the storm... That as strong as I believed I was the frightening truth was I actually was scared that maybe I might have reached the the end of my rope... I desperately clung to my optimism but yet I questioned if I could still hang on...

Reading these words all these years later makes me a little concerned that people might not fully grasp the incredible impact of my victory over what at times seemed to be the end of the line for me...  I know that seems so dramatic of a portrayal to many, but the truth is that for years I was so devastated that I couldn't see a way to survive the storm... Not exactly what you would expect from the guy who so many have thought of as an optimist and the ultimate trooper...

But the thing that carried me through...the ONLY thing that I could count on when my world had been destroyed...when so many things I believed in and built my life around turned out to be a lie...was my faith in God. It turned out to be all I could depend on...my only option to triumph over a life destroyed by deceit, evil and betrayal... I never had imagined that a good man like me would ever have to face such darkness...

I've been pretty much on my own since then but ironically I've been much more content and happy than I ever was when I was with her... I don't regret those times with Patty but I still am so grateful to not be with her... She was like a cancerous tumor... It was terribly painful to have it removed but it was what was necessary for me to survive...  It's illuminating to realize that the person I was convinced for so many years I couldn't live without was actually the kind of person I could never really live with...and be the person I aspired to be...

I think I now know the real truth... That despite my willingness to settle for less than I could be, that God stepped in with bigger plans for my life. Even though my wounded past tempted me to settle for a life of escape, that He decided to intervene and chart a course far more ambitious and meaningful than I ever envisioned... He moved profoundly to inspire me to step up and become the kind of man He wanted me to be rather than let the world hold me back from being the best I could be...

I hope that my very personal diatribe illuminates where my greatest strength comes from... I'm certainly not going to tell anyone what they should believe, but despite my reservations and confusion about religion for most of my life, I've come to a point where I'm convinced that without faith in God your dreams will never come true. That without the strongest of faiths you will be consigned to living a life of pain, fear, regret and loneliness... I challenge anyone and everyone to show me a better way...to convince me that by counting on only the things of this world they are truly fulfilled, happy and content... I know the truth... It will never happen...

So gang, therein lies my secret... I'm so blessed to tap in to something far bigger than me... That no matter what adversity, suffering or disappointments may come that I am still able to experience the joy of the Holy Spirit... It's amazing because by any 'logical assesssment' I should be depressed but I guess I'm just a rebel! Don't get me wrong... There are so many times when I hurt deeply, wanting to just be able to be well enough to pursue the life I dream of... But, ironically, even in my most difficult times I still experience far more joy than I ever did before I was challenged with so much adversity... Go figure!!!

Jim

Let's hear it for my Mom!!!

I've been meaning to tell you guys just how proud I am of my Mom lately. Actually, I've always admired and respected her (can you imagine raising 4 out-of-control boys on poverty wages like she did?!!!) But last year, I went to visit her in February after being on Body-for-Life for 2 months. I had lost 37lbs and she was blown away by my progress...

We went shopping and I bought her an exercise bike. I knew in general that the odds were that it would be just another place to hang clothes to dry... And for several months it seemed that that might be the outcome. I consoled myself by saying that even if my Mom didn't use the bike, that I could justify the expense because at least I would have a bike to work out on when I visited...

I wanted so much to see her start working out but she kept hitting one obstacle after another...   

"The seat is so uncomfortable"   

"I just feel too tired most of the time"   

"There is just so much stress in my life right now"   

I spent a lot of time on the phone trying to encourage her to use my "Just Show Up!" approach...   

"Mom, I understand how intimidating it can be when you already feel so overwhelmed with what are admittedly difficult challenges in your life. But...How about just telling yourself that no-matter-what you'll ride the bike for 5 minutes. If after 5 minutes, you feel you don't want to continue, then don't... Surely, no matter what, you can find 5 minutes each day..."

Well gang I am so stoked to tell you that my Mom has now been riding her bike 50 miles a week consistently for several months! That is so amazing! The kicker was recently her doctors were puzzled about the breakthrough in her medical condition... Last year, her doctor told her that tests showed she had a 95% blockage in a major artery and since heart disease has been prevalent in our family, it appeared that the outcome would be dire...

But her latest tests showed NO blockage whatsoever and her heart function is better than ever!!! The doctor couldn't figure out why things had improved so dramatically for a 72-yr old woman...but me and my Mom knew that that bike played a key role in her comeback...Hey! Maybe using the bike to make a big comeback runs in the family!!!

I usually advise people not to expect that they can change others...but sometimes leading the way is just what those you love desperately need... So please gang, realize that you are an example and a role model to so many!

I'm so happy for her...she has carried so many heavy burdens for so long and she sees that daily bike ride as a way to empower her to take on whatever may come...

Go Mom Go!!!   

Greetings from Lake Jennings Campground!

I just finished setting up my beautiful Coleman tent trailer on my favorite campsite - site #94 - at Lake Jennings Campground in Lakeside,CA. If you look on my blog you'll see some nice pictures from my last trip here in November. I have my laptop, a broadband wireless connection using my phone and of course my bike!!! I'll be here for almost 2 weeks, mostly by myself but I do have some friends camping with me this next weekend.

I am so jazzed to be here! Even though I picked up a stomach bug that made it difficult the last couple of days, I still felt well enough to set up camp today and hopefully tomorrow I'll be ready to ride the hilly road around the lake and make my way up the old highway to the neighboring town of Alpine - all uphill!!!

One of my main goals is do a lot of work on the slideshow for the cruise. I also plan on working on my book, which has been pushed back by my recent challenges with illness.

For years, I always went camping with my now infamous former friends so camping alone is quite different. But frankly, the last 3 trips camping alone were better than recent trips with them when I was made to feel even more alone than I am now... I'm sure I'll make new friends to go camping with before too long but right now it's just me and God on site #94...and I gotta tell ya gang we're camping in style!!!

No matter what...keep on truckin'!!!

The last few days, I've experienced a great sense of excitement and passion returning to my life after several months of mostly just trying to hang on... Although I never for even a moment gave up or lost my commitment to BFL, the truth is that my gas tank - emotionally and physically - was empty, leaving me to run on fumes. I'm not trying to be dramatic, but I want my friends here to understand and be as excited as I am about the profound improvements in just the last week...

Most of the improvement is due simply to some recent breakthroughs in my medical situation (stopping a blood pressure medication that was causing extreme fatigue and even a little depression, adjusting my testosterone and cortisol medications to the right levels and taking melatonin to help correct serious sleep problems). Thursday I rode my road bike for the first time in months and Friday during my upper-body workout,I was startled to see big improvements in strength from even a week ago!

For the last several months I've certainly felt overwhelmed by the illness challenges along with trying to come to terms with the end of long-term friendships in September. So of course I knew it wasn't going to be an easy road and I truly believed that it was necessary for me to no longer try to be friends with people who were trying to drag me down every time I managed to drop weight or conquer my illness...

But I didn't fully realize how much of a burden all this has been on me until the last couple of days...coming out of the dark and back into the light...once again feeling well-enough physically and recovered-enough emotionally to get back to being the REAL Jim. I guess it really hit me Thursday when I was out riding my bike...

"You know Jim, the last few months have been a rough road. The illness challenges along with the subsequent doubt, discouragement and frustration started to make you fearful that once again your latest comeback might fall apart...and that your dreams would be dashed. But even though the spark flickered weakly at times you persisted... You never stopped believing and you never stopped trying... Yes, it was somewhat disheartening to realize that many times you were simply going through the motions...not exactly living with the passion that you emphasize to others is so important not only in Body-for-Life, but life in general...

How many times did you ask yourself 'What happened Jim? You were doing so great for 9 months and now it looks like you've lost it! Come on buddy! I know you've been giving it everything you have but it's not working! Is there something you or your doctors are missing? Is there some way you can do better? All these years Jim...of fighting illness...of being alone...of trying to get your life back...I just can't and won't accept another comeback falling apart...Stay the course buddy...and have faith because right now in the middle of the storm all you have is your faith...

And think about it... Are you not beginning to see the fruits of that faith? You're finally able to get to sleep when you need it and for the first time in months you feel rested... Your workouts are fun again and your spark is back! And best of all the kid is back... Certainly, you always want to focus on growing as a person and accepting responsibility for your life and your happiness...it's what you must do to be the kind of person you want to be. But, Jimbo, there's a lesson for you to learn here... The next time you go through such a storm, don't be so hard on the kid - that 6-yr old boy that still lives inside of you... You're not looking for excuses or trying to rationalize why sometimes you don't follow through with your grand plans for fitness...or life... But it's hard enough to face life's disappointments without making the child within you wonder if there's something wrong with him...

ALWAYS do your best but make sure to live with an attitude of gratitude...accepting that even with the burden of a chronic illness you have so many blessings that few ever experience and that even your worst times are better than the best times of most of the people in this world. That's pretty cool, don't you think?!!! This is about so much more than you Jim... There are people in your life who desperately need to believe that hanging on to your dreams is worth it even when the chips are down...even when the world is saying "Game Over", even when you are tempted to just settle for a life far below what you really wanted..."

Hope you can tell that I'm pretty jazzed right now! That's cause I am! I didn't really have to be validated or vindicated here to realize that my struggles were mostly just a medical issue, but DAMN it sure feels great to finally see the light at the end of tunnel!

I suppose this sounds like a very emotional post - and it is ... What else do you expect from a guy with a hormonal disorder?!!! (A guy with PMS! Yuk! Yuk! Is that scary or what?!!!) I shed a few tears today...of relief...of hurt...but mostly of joy... In some ways, I wish I could avoid riding such an emotional rollercoaster... But then again what I've learned as a result is that joy and pain live in the same place...and that it is important to remember that without ever experiencing deep pain, you can never feel ultimate joy...

So gang I'm really excited about the next few weeks! My BFL program is going full-force, I'm back on my bike, and I'm going camping this week and then I get to meet a lot of my BFL buddies on the cruise!!! What's not to love?!!!

Thanks for listening gang... I hope that sharing my struggles and the approach I take to dealing with them inspires you and helps you find to a way through yours...

And need I say keep on truckin'!!!   

On the road again...

After numerous setbacks in the last few months, today I finally returned to where I belong...riding my bike! I just got back from a short but vigorous 6.5 mile ride. Man! It sure felt great, not only physically but emotionally as well. My body quickly got back into the rhythm developed during months of riding last year...the pedal stroke was still smooth...my balance solid and steady...and my heart pounding from the excitement of once again cruising down the road.

Even though I've ridden the LifeCycle quite a few times over the last few months, it simply doesn't compare to being out on the open road. Even the small hills I climbed today pushed me to an intensity that just can't be experienced on an indoor bike. My heart rate today was often around 150bpm and even went over 170bpm a couple of times.

I never feel more alive or more confident than when I'm riding my bike. With every turn of the pedals, another burden, another care, another fear is tossed aside and quickly left behind... The silly grin comes back, the giddy laugh returns and an undeniable powerfully confident feeling that things are going to be all right after all...

After I put the bike away, I looked in the mirror at that silly grin that I couldn't seem to get rid of...   

"Hey Jim, great ride! Way to go! Even though it was only a few miles, do you know what this means buddy? Yes...yes, I do... The kid is back..."

My heart-rate-monitor saves the day!

Lately, I've been feeling very lethargic and tired...not normal for me, even with a chronic hormonal illness. I went through a period the last several months where I couldn't seem to ever get to sleep before 3-4AM, followed by the last few weeks of crashing on the couch at 8-10PM, waking up at 3-4AM, going to bed and then sleeping until 1-3PM... Talk about a whacked out sleep cycle!!! And to make matters worse, I would still feel exhausted and lethargic even after 10-14hrs sleep...what a mess!

I have still managed to get my workouts in lately, but I have been quite concerned that something was very wrong...but I just didn't know what it was... I have felt so down instead of the "Jim's always a happy camper no matter what" emotional state that I've almost always been in even with the chronic illness and other adversities of the last several years...

Well, yesterday while I was doing my HIIT workout on the LifeCycle I was quite alarmed because my heart-rate was far below what I usually saw on my heart-rate-monitor... I have been recording my workouts for over a year now and usually my heart-rate when I hit my "9s" is about 150bpm but it was going no higher than 120bpm... That was a red flag that something wasn't right! What could be suppressing my heart rate?! I suspected that the new blood pressure medicine I started 3 weeks ago was the culprit and didn't take it today to see what would happen.

I then talked to my pharmacist who told me that this medicine often had the side effects of making you very lethargic and tired and would dramatically suppress your ability to get your heart rate up. BINGO!!! I knew that the medication was the problem but without my HRM I'm sure it would have been weeks or even months before I would have solved this puzzle...

So, my suggestion is that you monitor your heart-rate at least occasionally... If nothing else it adds a little fun and interest to your fitness program...and in some case like mine it can provide vital feedback that can help you a great deal to be aware of and address physical issues that may arise...

And BTW - Tonight I'm sitting here feeling great because FINALLY I'm getting my spark back...