I have a friend who I have known since 1993. He is overweight. Not morbidly obese, but obese nonetheless. He has been this way ever since I met him.

Since I have known him he has never exercised other than extremely slow walks with his dog. A few years ago he was diagnosed with diabetes. For years I have suggested that he buy a bicycle and ride around the neighborhood with it, gradually building up to longer rides. I offered to ride with him at his pace and distance. He never took my advice.

Within the last two years or so he told me that the doctor said he has a weak heart. Last night I ran into a family member of his. She told me he has only 50% lung capacity and is always out of breath. I have noticed that he has had a productive cough for the past couple of weeks. She also told me he is the last one alive on that side of the family.

Another thing that I have noticed over the years is that he is always complaining that he is cold. Yesterday was a beautiful sunny day with record high temperatures in the 70s, but he was still complaining that it was "freezing". He does not smoke, although he used to many years ago when he was younger. He is 65 now.

Now for those of you who have wondered why I am so gung ho on hill climbing and hard efforts, there's why. I refuse to let myself deteriorate like so many others have over the years. I have lost two close friends to self-induced health problems, and I really don't want to lose another, although at this point I guess I'll just have to prepare for the worst.

For those who are interested, I received some excellent advice from the posters in this thread over on RBR.