After Pacific Christian Center’s lead pastor Rick Bloom lost his wife at the beginning of this year, he found himself home alone and depressed, he told the Sun. While taking time off from his ministry to grieve the loss, he found solace in an unlikely activity.
“I was just kind of sitting around the house depressed,” he said. “I just went out for a walk and felt so much better.”
Someone also told Bloom about the Fitbit, a fitness-tracking device that interfaces with smartphones and computers. The American Heart Association recommends 10,000 steps every day, which became Bloom’s daily goal.
Bloom walks around his neighborhood, Robin Ventura Park, and around the Pacific Christian Center during the day. He began doing “walking meetings” with his mentees and colleagues. He also makes a habit of parking his car on a far side of a parking lot, so he gets lots of steps in that way too.
“It changes your whole attitude; you’re not fighting for the best parking space anymore,” he said. “Or other things, like leaving the house and forgetting to turn the porch light off, it’s like, oh great, I get some more steps.”
The practice also helped Bloom lose some weight, he explained. His doctor had told him that losing 20 pounds would help his pre-diabetic blood sugar levels, which required medication. After loosing the weight, Bloom explained, he was able to stop taking those meds because his blood sugar is at regular levels now.
The life change has spread beyond his own life and into the lives of Bloom’s friends and the congregants at Pacific Christian Center as well, Bloom said. Many congregants now have Fitbits, walk regularly, and share their results with him on Facebook, Bloom said.
“I used to be known as the ‘doughnut man,’ because I ate doughnuts all the time, but this has been able to change my image, so now they call me the ‘Fitbit pastor,’” he said. “I feel good about inspiring people to get involved in some kind of exercise program.”
Bloom has also become more interested in fitness and installed a gym at home, he said. The room was his late wife’s tea room, and was filled with teapots and cups. He gave many of the pots and cups to friends and family but still has a shelf including a favorite set in what he calls “Jan’s tea room and gym.”
The gym allows him to walk his treadmill at night when he hasn’t reached his 10,000 steps but also work out with an elliptical machine and lift some weights.
His new active lifestyle has helped Bloom put things in perspective in his life and spiritual journey.
“I had neglected the physical aspect,” he said, “because we are body, soul, and spirit, and a lot of times the physical side can get neglected.”
This article appears in Sep 29 – Oct 6, 2016.