Good on ya, Mike.  You and John are encouraging us to greater health efforts.

We bumped into each other downstate in Effingham area a few years ago.  A few more pounds and a little surgical overhaul on an endocrine gland later and all of the sudden I am in the gym by 545 or so several mornings a week.  I remember you saying how you felt better than you did at 40 and sure enough, I feel better than I did years ago.

Still working on getting rid of the excess weight but I can’t believe how grumpy I get the day after eating a couple cookies and missing the gym for the second day in a row.  Not sure I make much of a runner but my buddy and I do 25-35 minutes of ab workout/Pilates-type exercises and then hit the weights for 30-45 minutes. Just like most people on here probably can’t run 5 miles in an hour I bet most people on here can’t do crunches and leg kicks and burpees and planks for 30 minutes in a row either.  I sure couldn’t a mere 3 months ago.  I was surprised how fast my buddy and I built up an endurance, with a simple daily commitment of an hour or a bit more.