Can fat men be fit?

This process (or shall I call it a challenge) of walking 30 minutes 3 days each week started because I wanted to become healthier. So, this week I began to wonder what healthy would look like. Or, to put it another way, how will I know when I am finished?
The Merriam-Webster Medical Dictionary defines health as "freedom from physical disease and pain; the condition of an organism or one of its parts in which it performs its vital functions normally or properly." I like being free from disease - physical, mental or spiritual! I also want my body and mind to function properly. I want to be able to walk around Mt View, Arkansas without getting winded. I want to ride my bicycle on the River Trail and over the Big Dam Bridge without stopping to rest or catch my breath. I want to learn to speak another language. I want to place the Mountain Dulcimer until I die. Therefore, good health to me would mean being physically able to do what I want to do when I want to do it.
Now, my goal is NOT to look like one of those lifeguards from Baywatch or a Mr. Universe bodybuilder with washboard abs and a Hawaiian tan. (Hallelujah!) But, there are measurements that indicate when a person is healthy. Cholesterol, blood pressure, blood sugar, heart rate, and body mass index all measure a person's level of wellness or health. Obviously, some of those are affected by my weight, but I have discovered that walking also positively affects cholesterol, blood pressure, blood sugar and maybe it can reduce body mass and heart rate.
Monday I learned that even brief interruptions change the way I feel during a walk. I began walking and praying in the church as usual. Someone stopped me after the first lap to ask about Sunday night worship. After two more laps someone asked a couple of theological questions. It only took a few minutes each time but it changed the rhythm of the walk. It also loosened the connection I had with Father God. You see, the longer I walk and pray the closer I feel to God. That is one great benefit to walking! But, that day I felt like a child whose hand was slipping from daddy's hand.
I doubt that I will reach a finishing place in my holy healthy challenge this side of heaven because I like being close to God. How about you?
Until next time, God bless.