Background Story - Part 3

2025 – A New Beginning

When the December 2024 flare ended exactly on December 31, I took it as a symbolic sign that perhaps the new year would bring change.

Blood tests from that period showed elevated blood sugar, cholesterol, and creatinine levels. My doctor advised eliminating sugar and fried foods and starting daily walking.

On December 31 I enrolled in a 100-day walking challenge.

At the time my bowel movements were still erratic, often occurring three or four times a day. Initially the challenge was simply to walk 5k steps daily, but gradually I increased the distance every ten days until I was walking 12k steps regularly.

In mid-January my brother suggested post-meal walking to reduce sugar spikes. Since this could be done indoors, I felt comfortable doing it even on days when my stomach felt uncertain.

By May 1 my weight had dropped from 78.3 kg to 71 kg, and my blood markers had begun improving.

Life intervened again between mid-May and late June when I had to pause walking to care for a family member with health issues. But I restarted in June and gradually regained momentum.

By July I began running again after several years.

This time I decided to train with structure rather than simply running by feel. A hand-me-down  Garmin watch was a blessing in disguise. I followed a 10-kilometer training plan. I began the program hoping to finish a race in around 70 minutes.

On September 30 I completed the run in just under 63 minutes. For someone who once used to run 10kms in 55 minutes every month, till a few years back and then not going out of house for 3-4 years, I felt I was back in the game. 

Around the same time, my August 2025 colonoscopy results showed significant improvement.

During this period I also read a book called One Word That Will Change Your Life by Dan Britton and others. The book encourages choosing a single word that guides your focus for the year.

For the final months of 2025 I chose the word Consistency, although I struggled to fully live up to it.

Later in November, after reflection and re-reading the book, I chose a new word for the coming year:

Live.

By December my walking and running had become consistent again. I completed two long walks—20 km and 30 km—both at an average pace of about 6 km per hour.

For the first time since my diagnosis, I went through the entire year without a single flare.

That alone was a blessing.

More importantly, my mindset had begun to change. Through online support groups I met people dealing with far more severe forms of IBD. Seeing their resilience helped me shift my perspective.

I focused more on reading —something I had always loved—and by the end of 2025 I had completed 82 books for that year. My total movement for the year crossed 5.3 million steps through walking and running.

By the end of the year I had begun sketching a plan for the future.

A plan guided by one word:

Live.

I made up my mind to Live. Not just exist. 

First step was to get fit. And what better way than run. I started a 15 week half marathon training plan in December. 

Second, to keep the momentum going, planned to do a full marathon and a 50km walk to Mahabalipuram by end of 2026. This was to test both my fitness and my health condition to see if they can withstand the long journey that i had dreamed about during college: a walk across india.

The pilgrim’s walk may be beginning now, but the inner journey started 35 years ago. 

Welcome to my journey. I hope it  will be  fascinating for you as it will be for me - God willing.