To quote JFK, why not? The observation that many nurses are not great at taking care of themselves isn't lost on this one.

However, I smoked for years AND did manage to quit the year I graduated (over 13 years ago). Yes, I too graduated as a "mature" student.

After several more years of NOT taking very good care of myself (too many Southern Fried Steaks and breakfast burritos in Texas), I whipped myself into shape and ran a marathon. That was in 2001.

This years, again after a period of once again not taking very good care of myself, I've decided to run another marathon. Yikes! And it looks like I'm getting older. Not quite as easy packing on the miles this time!

I'm 2 days into this program, and one thing that Coach Steve has said that really is true: every problem or situation truly is an opportunity.

Three months ago, my doc told me I have diabetes. A1C of 9! Since then, I'm running regularly again, have stripped off about 15-20 lbs. and have also been watching my BP, which was also too high. Am I born again? Not quite. It really is just one day at a time.

It's going to be a great day!

PS. I always wondered how it was that nurses that were sadly lacking in some sort of physical culture could pretend to preach to their patients about poor lifestyle choices. I think I've always known the answer. Time to get on with it.