Lord, please help me get 10 pull ups

For some reason, I find myself thinking about my college days (daze). It's a mid-life thing….OK mid-life crisis thing. Hate to admit it, but true.

I guess some things can’t be avoided. At a certain point in life, you realize that life is probably half over. Time to re-prioritize goals. Pull ups are on the immediate horizon.

Back in the day, in my late teens and through my 20s, I was fit. Not rippling muscle fit, but much firmer and very strong. But we age. At some point, it just becomes especially challenging to keep fit, especially if in these times when most of us have desk jobs, an unlimited number of processed foods enticing us and all sorts of diversions to take our minds off of working out in any form.

Right now, I walk, anywhere between 1-1/2 to three miles a day, depending on how I feel. I just need to do more. I have no illusions about being a pure athlete. The NFL has no use for 40-something tight ends. However, in my quest to conquer sarcoidosis, I am committed to getting in getting to the point where I can do at least 10 pull ups – hopefully by July 27. My birthday. I'll be 44 (Gotta figure out how to illustrate this story line. Guess I’ll shoot a little video as proof of success or failure).

Last week, a dear friend of mine from my middle school and high school days found me through facebook.com and said hello. She has a vibrant freelance photography business, a loving partner, beautiful cats. Charlotte, everything you told me, it all sounds great and I am so happy for you.

Charlotte was the one that made me reminisce about times when I did not get winded or tired (I meant to ask her if she remembered our marathon bicycle rides from back in the day). It was in the dorms on at the Temple University Ambler, Penn., campus that I actually wowed folks with the number of pull ups I could do. I felt like I could do them forever.

I was not a jock. Always an artist; specifically a writer and cartoonist. But I to defray expenses, I was always on the prowl for jobs and they were manual labor gigs delivering paper routes - UPS truck packer (sorry about those packages, folks); carpet cleaner; mover, stuff like that.

I was always fit and lean. I'm six-feet, three-inches tall (I thought it was 6-2, but Northwestern nurses find the extra inch. I'm claiming it but I thought we shrank as we got older).

The battle with pulmonary and cardiac sarcoidosis has definitely made my weaker. I acknowledge that I am better now after treatment, but the road to recovery is long. And I need benchmarks, so I have the intermediate goal of pull-ups.

Back in the day, the pull-ups routine – besides keeping me in shape – was a straight-up “chick magnet,” my way of demonstrating strength and virility. I know that.

Now, pulling off 10 solid pull-ups is a marker of success along a long road to wellness. And the goal of building muscle and losing fat. I'll eventually add push ups and squats, just using my own weight. But today, we do 1-1/2 miles, some pull ups (which actually might mean me just hanging from the pole until my system recovers from the shock of my desire to actually do something).

Bottom line is this: I need a physical challenge. The drugs that are suppressing my sarcoid symptoms, prednisone and methotrexate suppress the immune system. A sweaty gym might not be the best move right now.

But I have a deck that is a perfect personal obstacle course. I am turning it into a jungle gym for a 43-year-old kid. I'm also eyeing a little outdoor playground on Ashland. Seems like a fun place to play.

Try not to laugh too hard if you see me there just hanging from the pull up station.

I am doing well with weight. Folks on large doses of prednisone gain weight I did, but began working immediately to fix it. My size-42 jeans are starting to sag in the ass. Awesome.

I have a crazy goal of getting back into size 34 or 36 – crazy, I know. But the pants, they are beginning to sag. So I am going for it.

Weight loss has many benefits. Obesity fuels so many diseases that slow down people. Even limited weight training helps, too; stronger bones and muscles, revved up metabolism; improved self image.

I'll never be 180 pounds again, but I can get to a better weight for my frame and heart. So, I am going for it.

The late, great NFL defensive end Reggie White - one of my favorite athletes - died of complications of sleep apnea and sacroidosis in 2004 at the age of 43. I was diagnosed with sarcoidosis in 2005, but it was dormant back then. It became active and raged for a year before being properly diagnosed in March.

I am cool with it and up to the challenge of getting well.

Lord, please help me get just 10 pull-ups.

What exercises do you do to get/stay in shape?

Avoiding the smokes, eating the good grub

Why is it the better I feel the more I want to smoke?

I have been dying for a cigarette for days. It must just be the stress of dealing with this sarcoidosis diagnosis, plus other things I'll get into down the road.

Anyway, I have been dealing with the smoke craving through exercising and creative writing. Hard to smoke when you're power walking two miles a day. Not that goofy-stride walk one sees so many doing, but trudging through mud and sand and up hills to maximize the workout. Hell of a lung workout even for the healthy. And I am not 100 percent. I can feel that. But it feels good to breathe heavy and break a sweat.

I feel alive. And fortunate. Every time I go to get checked out at Northwestern Medical Center, I get low because of my condition and circumstances. But then I run into someone who is in a wheelchair and sucking on oxygen, or someone who weighs 100 pounds more than me and is, desperately trying to lose weight.

I thank God that my condition is what it is. I can bear it and get better. I see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Besides smoking, the next hardest thing to do is control my desire for food. Prednisone has made me ravenous, 24-7. And I want the worst foods possibly: Salty, fatty and sugary foods. And I wanted them all the time, which is why I went from 290 to 321. But I am finally under control, I think and should be just under 300 on Friday! I will weigh myself and let you know.

Passed a major food test last night. My friends piled into a car and went to Popeye's Fried Chicken. Came back with boxes of fried chicken, fries, big-assed colas. I stayed home and made stir-fry chicken and broccoli, light on the oil. No salt. A dab of oil and pepper, garlic power and Mrs. Dash for flavor. The meal was delicious and satisfying. And will not add to the stomach, ass and thigh fat I am trying to lose.

I am good during the week now, diet-wise. I will reward myself with something fatty this weekend, but I'll be mindful of the calories. But I will be eating someone's fried chicken or a Chicago-style hot dog. Tasty and even decedent is part of living, too.