A little while ago, Ryan posted about some positive lifestyle changes, including a lot in the realm of health and fitness. His post is part of the inspiration for this one. There’s even a bit of a tip of the hat in the title. He named his for a Michael Jackson song — I went a little further back to The Village People.
Well, Nicole and I have been working on our fitness. We joined the local YMCA in March and we go there several times a week to do cardio and weight training. We also walk around our neighborhood a lot and typically each weekend we do a 1 to 2 hour bike ride on the Coyote Creek Trail.
Also, we’ve been eating a lot healthier, mostly inspired by Dr. Mehmet Oz and the book he co-authored: YOU on a Diet.

Last week I reached a couple of milestones. First, I reached 15,000 “FitPoints” on the FitLinxx system that the gym uses. For reaching this milestone, I got a towel. A towel is not terribly exciting, but it’s a symbol of progress. And then there is this most surprising (in a good way) chart from the FitLinxx web site:

Also last week, I did a mile in 11:13. OK, this isn’t the most impressive time ever, but for somebody who struggled to eke out a 15 minute mile in high school, I was pretty happy. And if I’m happy with my progress, I’m more likely to continue, so it’s all good.
I’ve lost about 12 pounds — not bad. I lost a few percentage points of body fat as well, according to our Tanita TBF-622 scale.
Good luck Ryan! And to anyone who is considering getting themselves into better shape, go for it.