Blueberries, Banks and Mechanics

I’m sixty years old now. Retired Army. I exercise. I eat clean. I run. I keep sugar low. By most standards, I’m in pretty good shape.

And yet here I am — Mr. Sugar Nazi himself — learning that even discipline can’t fully outrun decades of sugar exposure. If I could go back and talk to my 30-year-old self, I would. The problem is … we don’t get that meeting.

If you read the Life is Like Xbox blog, you already know where this is going....

When we’re young, life feels like early Xbox levels. Unlimited energy. Unlimited retries. You fall off the cliff, you respawn. No consequences. No damage that seems to stick.

So you push harder. Stay out later. Eat whatever. Drink whatever. Sleep less. Because tomorrow, you’re fine again. Except real life doesn’t really work like Xbox… Damage doesn’t reset when you wake up… It just accumulates quietly.

Relax — I’m not dying. But I want to share a personal story that emphasizes a point about health. Recently, what started as routine health inquiry (some bloodwork) turned into a quiet realization for me:

Lifestyle changes compound just like money – the Earlier you start – the bigger the pay off – the later you start – the harder it is.

Sugar — or more accurately, lifetime sugar exposure — has been doing its work quietly in the background for years. Ironically, while I was writing last week’s blog about metabolic damage… it was happening to me too. How ironic is that ?

The last month or so has been spent digging through years of bloodwork, long talks with my doctor, conversations with herbalists, visits with a beautiful acupuncture doctor, and more late-night research sessions than I care to admit.

And the verdict? Nothing catastrophic… Just the quiet collection of middle-age realities: mild insulin resistance, a little fatty liver, cholesterol creeping up, sleep not right. Nothing dramatic. Nothing urgent. Just… the bill arriving.

One minute you’re thirty — eating whatever you want, sleeping four hours, drinking too much, bouncing back like nothing happened… and the next minute you’re saying — What? How did that happen? When did that happen?

Metabolic damage doesn’t show up all at once… on the contrary — it accumulates quietly over time. Maybe little things start happening… a little of this… a little of that… nothing scary. So you ignore it.

Here’s the message for younger adults —

You don’t have to live like a monk… Eat the cake… Have a bourbon… Live! But be the head mechanic for your own engine. Give it some love so it still purrs in 30 years.

Small changes made early in life compound over time just like money in the bank — a few better food choices… a few more workouts… a little less sugar… a little more sleep.

Prevention is cheap. Recovery is not.

If I could talk to my thirty-year-old self, I wouldn’t tell him to skip the fun.

I’d just say this: Take care of the engine, man. Use premium fuel when possible & keep sugar out of the tank.

Because life doesn’t send the bill right away. But eventually… it will. And one day you realize you’re negotiating with blueberries like me. 

Your future self will thank you.