Good for you Harley. Glad to hear that lifestyle really can reverse/improve things so meds are no longer necessary. I haven't gotten to the point that I need meds yet, but I will honestly say that I have been to lazy about my health until six or eight months ago.
I finally dropped another pound (230 now) after a long plateau. I had been running/jogging a lot before a I went to the states and europe a few weeks ago, but my legs always hurt. I got a book on running (by Jeff Galloway) which advised the same as I had heard here shortly before my trip, to have rest days between running. He also advises that runners should iinclude walk breaks in their run, so I've been running every other day, and running 4 min walking 1 min. I find that I can go a lot further without tiring out, and I don't hurt like I did when I am finished.
I also read Younger Next Year...good book for learning about the processes that are going on in aging and exercise to slow it. Learned a lot of things I never knew, but at the same time, enjoyed a fun book. Bottom line: like Alan said, its a marathon, not a sprint, and ya gotta work at it every day.
Oh, got my bloood checked a couple days ago. LDL 129, HDL 55, Triglycerides 48. I need to work on the LDL a little, it seems. It not bad, but not optimal. All the other numbers were fine...with my weight, I was worried about glucose and metabolic syndrome, but doc said just keep exercising and don't worry.
R