One of the buzzwords out there these days is ‘inflection point’.
In mathematics, it means a point of a curve at which a change in the direction of curvature occurs. In business and life, it’s a time of significant change in a situation; a turning point.
My inflection point came recently when I woke up one morning and decided I want to hit 70 years old but the path I was on wasn’t going to get me there in three years.
Quite simply, my health has deteriorated over the last five years. And quite frankly, gluttony and inactivity have contributed to that sad state of affairs to be honest.
I’ve had a few wakeup calls. Too many people I’ve known have died at way too early of an age. Too many people have had health issues. Personally, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and gout have been issues in the past couple of years. And perhaps the hammer that struck me on the head was a trip to Shoppers Drug Mart to test out my blood pressure on one of those machines. Not only does it give you a reading on your blood pressure but it also weighs you.
The shocking words came out along with the weight (which I won’t mention here) – OBESE. YIKES!!
Talk about a wakeup call!
You wake up one day and wonder: ‘How did I get here?” But it’s the classic slippery slope. One step at a time you move from Point A to Point B. It’s the choices you make in life. The habits you keep.
As a journalist, one of my gigs is as Managing Editor of Canada’s Podcast (Canada’s Number One Podcast for Entrepreneurs) where I interview interesting guests for the show. I had the opportunity and pleasure to finally interview Sandra Bueckert-Davison, owner of One on One Personal Fitness, recently.
In our discussion, she talked about some great success stories that she’s had over the years. I jokingly said during the interview: “So I guess there’s hope for even an old fat guy like me.”
And so the idea of The Body Renovation journey began. Sandra and her expert team are taking on the task of transforming this obese and unhealthy person into someone who can truly enjoy life again with energy and vitality.
I have a goal to reach by my 68th birthday next July. It won’t be easy but it is doable. And I will be chronicling the journey along the way with regular posts about my progress and topics about fitness and health.
The other day the journey started with Sandra taking some body measurements of me and weighing me. That was a sobering moment let me tell you.
What followed next was a consultation with Lucas Schnurr, a nutrition consultant and personal trainer.
Part of the journey involves keeping track of my eating and drinking habits on an app. As Luke went through my eating and drinking of late, he gave me some helpful tips and advice in how to change things in my diet and what to watch for. We’ll discuss nutrition further along in the journey.
Then the physical assessment came from personal trainer Serhii Onyshchenko – that was a shocker as well.
I discovered how much muscle I’ve lost. How much flexibility I’ve lost. And how much cardio has disappeared.
A plan is being put in place to give me back my life. More on that to come in later posts.
I realized that I’m a wreck going through all those assessments.
But I’ve got hope for two reasons.
First, I’m in great hands with Sandra and her team. I’m confident they will help me reach my goal.
Second, my spirits are buoyed by my past experience. Twice in my life I hit inflection points where I had to turn things around both for my mental and physical health.
The first was in the early 1990s. After facing a personal crisis, I decided to do something about it to focus my attention on something other than my personal woes. I joined a course at the University of Calgary that prepared people to run a marathon – the Honolulu Marathon. That experience turned my life around. I realized I was capable of achieving what I set my mind to. That part of my life was probably the healthiest I have ever been. But after running four marathons I decided to stop.
The slippery slope then began. And my overall health started to slip again. Next crisis came in January 2016 when I was laid off from the Calgary Herald after 35 years. With a lot of extra time on my hands, I started to walk. Long walks. Really long walks. Every day. Within six months I was probably in the second best shape I’ve been in my life.
But again life got busy and my health slowly deteriorated over time to the point of where I am today.
I’ll be writing regularly about my latest journey (similar to what I did in the early 90s when I chronicled my marathon journey).
As I said, I’m confident I’m in great hands with Sandra and her team.
And I hope to be an inspiration for others who may be at their inflection point in their lives – or getting there.
Written by Mario Toneguzzi
