I’m 63 on Sunday.

For the last 20+ years, I have tried to use my birthdays to make lifestyle adjustments, and for 20+ years, I have basically failed to produce any substantive change.

I quit smoking about eight years ago, but it wasn’t a birthday that prompted it, but rather, the need to get reasonably priced life insurance.  I’m nothing if not practical!

I can’t tell you why this next birthday will turn out differently, but I do know that being more open about it adds some extra pressure to accomplish a goal.  We seem to tolerate our own disappointments, but not when we disappoint others. 

So on this 63rd birthday (Sunday), I am using it as a reset to get my overall health in order.  I have pledged one year, which doesn’t seem as long anymore.

My current weight is 239.  Being 5’11”, I’m “obese,” according to the experts.  I like to think of myself as “big boned,” but the reality is that I was my best at 175.  I have only been there twice since high school, but when I think about it, those were my most productive years.  So that is my goal, get back to a BMI Normal weight.

How will I do it?  The same way I did it last time.  Quit drinking, eat mindfully, and exercise.  Not too clever, but it’s effective.   The mindful part doesn’t seem too complicated.  Food is starting to bore me anyway.

As for the drinking, well, it’s a process.  I have quit before, but I do seem to return often.  I don’t like to think of myself as an “alcoholic,” but I bet others do!

I grew up in the 1970s when teenage drinking seemed like the norm.  I was even “arrested” at age 13 for being passed out in some stranger’s yard.  Oddly, I wasn’t embarrassed but wore it like a badge of honor instead.  That sounds so stupid now, but it seemed funny then. 

So, it’s been 50 years since I first got drunk.  It was last weekend when I was most recently” over-served”, although “drunk” has taken on a different meaning.  I don’t drink and drive, meaning I reserve my drinking to the house.  I never drink before 5:00, but even the dogs gather at the ice machine at 5:01 without exception. 

When you ask why this is a “Virtual Tavern?”  I think it’s likely my best alternative.