John M. Bottorff, D.C., C.C.S.T., is a 1981 graduate of Palmer College of Chiropractic and a second generation chiropractor. He is certified in Chiropractic Spinal Trauma. He is a triathlete and an avid cyclist, runner and swimmer. He can be contacted at Bottorff Advanced Chiropractic at 362-8833 or online at www.Cvillepainrelief.com.
“He may not do it,” Jason Austin said of his dad’s probable reluctance to be the subject of this week’s Health Hero article. “He doesn’t like to call attention to himself.”
Gary Austin considers himself an average guy, but his choices about his health and fitness tell a different story.
Gary is a West Central Indiana guy, growing up in Mellott. He was part of the “free-range” generation that woke up on a summer morning and played all day.
In his youth, running wasn’t for him, and since it was a big part of the training program for organized sports, he opted out of them. When he graduated from high school he had 165 pounds on his 6-foot, 2-inch frame. Jason Austin described his dad as being thin with a diet of mainly vegetables.
Starting in the workforce, Gary found mom and pop restaurants and would eat a large breakfast every day. He also became a “big Coke drinker.” Fast food, daily sweet rolls, along with the discovery of where the best donut shops were, started to have its effect. After his first year out of high school he was up to 185 pounds.
In 1978, Gary married his wife Vickie. There wasn’t much time or interest for exercise. Raising a family and going to work were his focus. At his peak Gary tilted the scales at 272 pounds. To counter this he started a Slim Fast diet that worked well. With sensible eating, his summer weight would be around 248 pounds, and with less activity in the winter it was 260 pounds.
Gary has been driving a fuel delivery truck for the last 30 years. It is a physically demanding job. It requires pulling a long heavy hose and climbing in an out of his truck all day. Things became more difficult when Gary’s abdomen became large enough to press against the steering wheel. Soon he earned the nickname, “Heavy.”
Around 2000 Gary developed back-to-back cases of pneumonia which ended up in a medical check-up and blood test.
“The test came back good and bad,” he said. “My cholesterol was high and my medical doctor wanted to put me on medication for it.”
But Gary looked up the effects of the drugs and decided that at age 42 it wasn’t going to happen. He cut a deal with doctor who gave him 45 days to change.
It was a cold February when he decided to start walking. Gary would get out of his fuel delivery truck at the end of a day wearing his overalls and heavy work boots and he started walking.
“It was so cold I started to believe taking the drugs might be a better idea,” Gary said.
But he stuck with it. Eventually, he bought an elliptical machine that he used every morning before work for a half-an-hour.
Part of his program included guidance from a dietitian. He was required to write everything he ate down.
“She went through it and started marking things off saying, ‘no more of this’ again and again,” Gary said. “She made me pack my lunch and snacks to avoid fast foods. I kept thinking can this get any worse.”
The guilt of not exercising and not eating right were motivating factors for Gary, but so were the rewards. He went from a 42 inch to 36 inch waist. He now hovers around 200 pounds, plus or minus a few, and his cholesterol dropped within normal limits.
When he recently complained at work about shoulder and low back pain, the 59-year-old Gary was told to do yoga. After realizing the suggestion was not a joke he bought a yoga video that looked to fit his need. The effort has helped but he has assured me we won’t see a picture of him in a pose with yoga pants on.
Gary could have gone the common path of the pharmaceutical solution with its many risks. He chose instead to take personal responsibility for his health care and make lifestyle changes that markedly improved his quality of life. And that is not average.
See you in the pool.
