BELWOOD – Not content with being the King of TOPS, Doug Lucas has reached another milestone.
He has walked 20 million steps since January 2020, a goal he never imagined he’d reach when he started his weight loss and physical fitness journey.
The Advertiser wrote about Lucas in February following a weight-loss achievement he attained in 2020.
He lost more than 200 pounds – the most weight in the province and reached his goal weight.
For that he was named the 2020 King of TOPS Ontario (Take Off Pounds Sensibly).
At the same time Lucas started recording his daily steps and on Nov. 13 of this year, he hit a cumulative 20 million.
When Lucas decided it was time to improve his health, he could barely walk to his neighbour’s driveway, he said in a phone interview on Nov. 23.
“When I look back, I could hardly do 4,000 steps a day. Now I’m doing 20,000 or more a day,” he said.
It doesn’t hurt that he lives just five minutes from the Elora-Cataract Trail, which gives him lots of choice about where he will walk.
He’s also a dog walker, so he does many walks during the day.
“Anywhere I go I try to find a trail. You never know what you will see,” he said.
Once a chore and something he had to make himself do, Lucas now craves his daily walks.
Despite these high points, Lucas said he had a rough year, with several people close to him passing away.
That lead him back to the cookie jar.
“Comfort eating,” he said with a sigh.
“I lost 12 people in the past five years – three of them this year. That put me off my diet.”
And he has put on a few pounds as a result.
But unlike before, when events like this would send him into a tailspin, Lucas said he’s still on top of his weight, his daily activity, and his overall health.
“I’m 10 pounds from my goal and still down 200 pounds from my heaviest weight,” he said.
“I’m pretty happy with that. The big goal is to maintain a healthy lifestyle and I’m doing that.”
Lucas has many friends he walks with, and many joined him on Nov. 13 when he passed 20 million steps.
His advice to those on their own healthy lifestyle journey: get spikes for walking in winter and layer up; find friends who will join you in exercise; and don’t let negative thoughts and self-talk derail your motivation.
“If I can inspire one person to stick with it, that’s what I want to do,” he said.
