I rarely miss a day without stepping on the scale.

For the past 38 years. I have dutifully marked down the weight that pops up on a calendar.

My obsession — it is fair to call it that — started when I turned 30.

And it was after I had gone from 320 pounds down to 180 pounds.

Doctors will tell you that weighing yourself every day can be counterproductive as various factors can impact weight.

Fair enough.

But based on my personal experience from a previous weight loss that didn’t stick — as well as similar experiences shared by others who have gone through a weight loss only to gain it back before getting to a better point in their life — it is a daily barometer, if you will, of how things are going.

I weigh myself when I first get up. 

I’m keeping the number on the scales between 175 and 180. I’ve done so for the past 19 years.

Not bad for myself at age 68 given I weighed 240 at the end of the seventh grade, 320 as I previously mentioned before I turned 30, and 220 at age 49.

But weight is not the number(s) I obsess over.

It’s resting heart rate and blood pressure.

And while it is not the original or the main reason I have been donating platelets every two to three weeks since 2006, the mini-health screening done by a trained Red Cross phlebotomists prior to each donation plays a role in keeping me focused on the need to exercise.

They check your heart rate, blood pressure, and hemoglobin. They also screen donations for nine communicable diseases.

And while it doesn’t take the place of a physical per se, it is a great way to have the effectiveness of your exercise and healthy living strategies monitored by using the readings of trained professions.

And after COVID eliminated three or four trips a week to the gym for group exercise classes, caused workloads to change that cut into my other exercise time, and a heredity leg issue becoming more of a pain, I have been able to use the Red Cross’ mini-healthy screening to effectively adjust my exercise routine.

For years, the Red Cross heart rate readings had been consistently between 58 and 64. Average for someone over 65 years of age is 70 to 73.

This might sound a tad crazy, but I use the Red Cross mini health screening as a barometer of how effective my exercise regimen is in terms of my health.

Back in my early 30s when I had a physical or gave whole blood — which you can do every 56 days — I was able to get the heart rate down to 50 or below.

But that happened in two back-to-back years of racking up 10,000 miles plus annually on a racing bicycle and a third year of stopping 45 miles short of another 10,000-mile year when I decided on Dec. 31 in 1989 that bicycling in pouring rain while coming down with the flu wasn’t healthy but certifiably nuts.

During that time I was also hitting four plus Jazzercise classes a week.

I figured I needed to hit aerobic-based group exercise classes four times a week plus run or fast jog for 3 to 5 miles a day to again see 50 a resting heart rate.

I was wrong.

For the past year, I adjusted my aerobic workout to 20 minutes of a fast jog punctuated with short stretches of walking five times a week to work around the leg issue.

In addition, I do a minimum of 300 reps with light weights plus three times a week using either a water rowing machine or a spartan-style stair climber for 20 minutes before going to bed.

It’s a long way from putting more miles on a bicycle than I now put on my car in a year.

I’d also be remiss not to mention during my “dinner break”, I jog in the hallway at the office building for 5 minutes. You can make most anything do to get in exercise.

That said, for the past two platelet donations I have come in at 50 in terms of my heart rate.

It has been something that concerns the phlebotomists. 

The reason is simple.

If I come in below 50 beats — which happened about 10 years ago when I managed a 48 — they have to call the charge nurse.

Low heart rates can be indicative of a health problem making donating risky just as a heart rate that is way above average.

What happens when your heart rate is below 50, the charge nurse needs to ask some questions. The answer they need to hear to clear my donation is that I exercise extensively.

I find it amusing that a heart rate between 50 and 55 for someone who is 68 years old is described by the American Heart Association as “athletic.”

“Athletic” is something I’m not.

Growing up I was ridiculed for throwing a baseball like a “girl” and to be honest if I could throw as good as the girls did back in my pre-teen years I would have been happy.

I’m even worse shooting baskets, my mile time is anything but impressive, and my general hand-eye coordination is horrible.

And let’s be clear. My body type, which is endomorph, plus genetics means if I ever get a one pack or even look semi-muscular it would be a major miracle.

I do qualify as “well-conditioned” which is the bottom-line.

Your goal shouldn’t be to look like some social media influencer or those gracing health and fitness magazine covers.

Using exercise to be healthy with the hand DNA dealt you should be.

And you can go a long ways toward that simply by walking.

Years ago when I thought it would be good exercise to run with my two Dalmatians at the time — Cruella and de Vil — I came across a woman walking her Dalmatian.

She shared her story. 

At one point she was carrying 200 pounds on her 5-foot-5 frame. Then she decided she’d start walking an hour a day. She got a dog to force her to do so.

Over the course of a year, she shed 60 pounds. Then she kept if off by walking.

And, as happened with me and others I know of, her exercising prompted changes in her eating and other habits.

It was the decision back when I was 29 to not go forward after losing weight by dieting but by exercising that got me off the weight yo-yo.

Equally important, as far as I’m concerned, is considering the opportunity to help others with a whole blood or platelet donation.

Between the former Delta Blood Bank and Red Cross I’ve now surpassed 370 platelets donations.

It is roughly three hours from screening to departure.

You can pass the time watching Netflix.

Even if you do it just a couple of times a year, you can help others.

And you can even use the “mini” health screening as motivation to work on lowering the number that count — your heart rate and blood pressure.

There are Red Cross blood bank donation centers in Stockton, Modesto, and Turlock. For more information call 1-800-733-2767.

As for the “mini:” health screening, they can be a carrot of sorts to keep you focused on exercise.

They helped me understand after a number of years of trying to push myself seven days a week and 52 weeks a year exercising, that being much less intense while staying consistent can keep you healthy.

And that is the real reason you should exercise — the health benefits.

Not because you want to look buff or harbor athletic fantasies.