Think You Can’t Turn It Around in Your 40s? Read My Story

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In September, I stepped on the scale, and I felt like I would puke. I clocked in at 307.1 lbs, an all-time high.

All year, I had been hovering around 300, which was frustrating because I was trying to lose weight. In May, I walked 6,500 steps every day, and in August, I had a grilled chicken salad every day for lunch. Why wasn't I losing weight?

The donuts. It was probably the donuts.

Back in January 2023, my intuitive reader suggested I investigate Virta.

Virta is a medically supervised online keto program. At the time, I had GHC for health insurance, and Virta wasn't covered, but a year later, my company switched to Quartz. I decided to try it, so I filled out their application form and waited.

I talked with their triage staff, shared my medical history with their physicians, and had a blood panel taken. When my lab results were posted, I saw that my hemoglobin A1c was 5.8. I'm pre-diabetic.

I started my diet on October 28th, the Monday before Halloween. I guess I didn't need all that candy anyway. I controlled myself and made it through Halloween and Thanksgiving. On November 30th, I weighed 280.8. Wow, I had lost 26.3 lbs!

I couldn't believe that this was actually working.

I know it will take a long time to lose all the weight. For a "normal" BMI, I need to weigh less than 185 lbs. I just focus on the milestones.

On Christmas, I weighed 270 lbs.

Now, I'm not good with finances. I spend recklessly and have accumulated far more debt than I'm comfortable with. Over the last few years, I've used YNAB to track my spending. Notice I didn't say "to maintain my budget."

Yeah. It wasn't intended to be used every couple of months.

I was unprepared to see how much I spent between Black Friday and Christmas. Puke!

I'm not one for New Year's resolutions, but January 1st is as good a time as any to start budgeting.

Much like losing weight, reigning in my spending habits and paying off my debt will not happen overnight. But crafting a budget and reconciling it daily seems like a good place to start.

So far, I'm pleased with my progress.

That leads us to today and why I'm writing this long-winded essay.

I'm 43 years old and feel unmoored, like a ship without a rudder. My life is good, and I've had success, but I feel it's more from being in the right place at the right time or pure coincidence, not from a deliberate plan.

I have a 10-year-old daughter. Retirement isn’t some abstract concept anymore. If I don’t take control of my life now, I could be one illness, one layoff, or one bad year away from a future I don’t want. That’s urgency for you!

My wins with weight and budget have motivated me to keep going and see what else I can improve. I could benefit from some focus on time management, organization, and that little thing they call "finding meaning in your life." You know, no pressure or anything.

Mid-life crisis? Maybe. I don't see any sports cars or young models in my future, but I wouldn't turn away Cara Delavigne if she showed up on my doorstep. Lol.

I’m planning to write about what I'm going through. The challenges I’m facing and the experiments I’m running. I'm not sure if anyone will read it or find it interesting. Hopefully, it will be more action and less navel-gazing.

If this sounds interesting, shoot me a message and let me know what you think.