A bunch of useless crap
Published on January 4, 2013 By MasonM In Blogging

One year ago I went for my required D.O.T. physical to be medically re-certified to drive a commercial vehicle. At that time my blood pressure was above the maximum allowed and I was given 90 days to get it down or lose my certification to drive. My blood sugar was also borderline. 

I managed to just barely get the blood pressure under the limit and was only certified for one year instead of the normal two. That was my wake up call. 

Advance to a year later. Today I went for my D.O.T. physical and it was a totally different experience. They weighed me, measured me, poked and prodded me. They were very impressed, especially when I told them I was not on any medication. 

My weight was down over 30 lbs, my blood pressure was not just under the limit but well within the normal range, and my blood sugar was also normal. 

I had three different members of the staff ask me what I had done to get myself in such better physical shape. "Diet and exercise" was my honest reply. Even though they are medical people they still seemed skeptical of my answer. Sometimes I think they believe only drugs can achieve results. 

They did say, twice, that I should be the poster boy for what a trucker should do to get healthy. I just shrugged that off. 

I walked out of there with my two year medical certification and feeling pretty good. I easily jogged up the two flights of stairs to the main floor (something I couldn't have done a year ago), and trotted out the door. I know some of the people were giving me funny looks but I didn't care. I had just received the "big pay off" for all of my efforts of the past year. 

Of course the real pay off is being healthier and feeling better, but having such a hugely different experience during a physical after only a year really showed me it is paying off. 

Now I'm going to celebrate by eating something really unhealthy. 

Just kidding about that last part


Comments
on Jan 07, 2013

Yeah, I finally got in again after starting from the top.  I am very proud of all your hard work this past year.  You made it work in spite of your schedules and now your certificate is for TWO years again!  Nice to be on here again Mason.  Have a great new week coming up.   judy

on Jan 07, 2013

Way to go, Mason.  Nice work.  Too bad there isn't a product, "Diet & Exercise", that you could sign a nice endorsement deal with.

But man, without sick people, how'm I to survive?

on Jan 08, 2013

Splurging now and again is not bad.  Go ahead!  Eat that Sicilian Pizza!

While not prescription, I started on the Niacin regime to control Cholesterol (mention it to someone who knows, and they tell you "Oh, so you know about hot flashes").  Since it was not prescription, my doctor had forgotten I was on it, and was surprised by my drop in Cholesterol level.

So yea, if they do not prescribe it, they forget about it too.

on Jan 09, 2013

73judy
Yeah, I finally got in again after starting from the top.  I am very proud of all your hard work this past year.  You made it work in spite of your schedules and now your certificate is for TWO years again!  Nice to be on here again Mason.  Have a great new week coming up.   judy

 

Judy, glad to have you back!

on Jan 09, 2013

Daiwa
Way to go, Mason.  Nice work.  Too bad there isn't a product, "Diet & Exercise", that you could sign a nice endorsement deal with.

But man, without sick people, how'm I to survive?

A lot of the credit goes to MyFitnessPal. Their site and app made the difference for me.

on Jan 09, 2013

Dr Guy
Splurging now and again is not bad.  Go ahead!  Eat that Sicilian Pizza!

While not prescription, I started on the Niacin regime to control Cholesterol (mention it to someone who knows, and they tell you "Oh, so you know about hot flashes").  Since it was not prescription, my doctor had forgotten I was on it, and was surprised by my drop in Cholesterol level.

So yea, if they do not prescribe it, they forget about it too.

Glad you got it down. I prefer the more natural approach whenever possible. I'm sure my cholesterol is down too but won't know for sure until I get my regular annual physical from my doc in July.