I'll state this right up front so that anyone who subscribes to this blog won't be blindsided. I'm a Christian. I promise you that as you read through the entries I won't get "all religious" on you, but on occasion you'll see me mentioning God and my faith since both play such a large role in the decisions that I make, as well as the direction of my life. If this is something you can tolerate, I think that's great. If it's not and you want to slam on the brakes to this blog you might as well do so now. But I promise I will uphold my end of the bargain.

That said, I've got a cool story to start off with, along with some pics to share.

I was over 40 pounds overweight last summer and my eating habits were typical of the Standard American Diet (SAD). From once being very athletic and in good health most of my life, I could tell that my health was declining rapidly and something needed to be done. Joining a free online nutritional tracking website http://sparkpeople.com was the key to my success in getting back down to a healthy BMI (Body Mass Index). Tracking calories and nutrition, along with reading everything I could about diet/nutrition has had the affect of turning me into an amateur Nutritionist.

Exercise is the other part to good health. I've been doing a lot of mountain biking on a Rails-to-Trails path http://www.railstotrails.org/index.html that I'm fortunate enough to live near. It's called the "American Tobacco Trail" (ATT) and it spans Durham, Chatham, and Wake Counties in central North Carolina. I've also gotten back into running after many years of having retired my running shoes, but it's been the vigorous bike workouts that have been instrumental in helping melt away the fat, along with "eating clean" as my diet.



In December I started noticing that a neighbor of mine, one who lives across from the ATT, was parking his Pete at his home. It was there every time I started out at the trailhead. I kept thinking to myself "I really need to go talk with the owner of that truck". Since last August I've been thinking about a career in trucking, and I've been mulling it over and researching some, but for some reason I haven't rushed into this major decision as I did recently regarding a failed attempt at IT (Information Technology). Let's just say that I was waiting on God to lead me and to let me know when the time was right, if indeed this was the direction I was to go with.

So after yesterdays ride on the trail, it finally seemed like the right time to go visit my owner operator neighbor. When I met Don we really hit it off. He's recently retired on disability due to back problems and COPD. A quick question that I had for him regarding a trucking company that I was interested in turned into a 2-hour conversation. But I can really talk. And so can Don. I guess I've met my match.



Don gave me the inside advice about trucking and I soon learned that he needed my advice when it comes to nutrition and diet. He's trying to lose weight and we soon learned that we both have important information to share with one another. A friendship has been struck. I'm going to his place in a few days and he's going to give me the grand tour of his '94 Peterbilt (for sale by the way) while I get him started by helping him on his journey in a healthier lifestyle. What a blessing.

Next up...

My visit with Don.