In my late 20s, several people commented that I had gained weight, which I was aware of, but hadn't really paid attention to the extent. Once I realized how much I actually weighed (about 35 pounds heavier than during college), I decided that if I wanted to make a change, I needed to get serious about it while I was young enough to make it relatively easy. So, I went on the "paleo" diet of low carbs and high protein/fat, and also cut out virtually all sugars for about 9 months. During that time I went from 210 to 167, which is honestly much more weight than I intended to/wanted to lose.

Fast forward 8-9 years and I have maintained those eating habits for the most part, although I have gotten less strict about them and am probably back near 190 pounds, which is a much more "natural" weight for me. I was diagnosed with Celiac disease several years ago, so that makes avoiding bread easy. Recently I moved into a new role at work which means for the first time in my life I'm sedentary at a desk, so I'm trying to adjust my food intake and exercise level outside of work to offset the lack of activity while at work. I went from averaging at least 10,000 steps walked each day (sometimes as many as 25,000) to usually below 2,500 now, and I've probably gained at least 5 pounds since starting my new position, so I need to get serious about exercising more outside of work. I'm recovering from a lower back strain in the fall that has made exercise difficult, but I feel like it's starting to heal now so I'm hopeful that I can start working out again.

I also suspect that I recently got served some food with a lot of gluten, as I've had some setbacks with my GI system, but for the most part, I'd say I still have a pretty good handle on my health and feel pretty healthy overall. Hopefully I can keep it that way. It's easy to take good health for granted in your youth, but as you age you quickly become aware how precious of a gift good health is.