Tuesday, August 21, 2012
Workie work
I've been working on a course for work so I might be a little scarce on and off for a while. It's a pretty intensive course and it's all so I'll get a couple of fancy letters at the end of my name. I'm excited though and hopefully I pass! Keep your fingers crossed!
Monday, August 6, 2012
The Road to Wellville
Recently I decided it was time to get off my chubby butt and actually start exercising. I've been slowly changing my diet (very slowly) and I figure that it's the next logical step to getting to where I want to be, which is healthy. Or at least healthier than I have been the last few years. I had a little motivation to get this started with the help of my doctor.
I had my six month appointment with my doctor not to long ago and he made me get blood work, something that I have avoided like the plague. I absolutely hate getting blood taken. It's my blood, you can't have it! I finally did it because he reminded me that I'm in my 30's and I know nothing about my medical history. I was adopted, that's another story, but if there are any questions about it, I'm not afraid to talk about it.
So, blood, yeah. The results came back and my doc was not thrilled. Apparently, my cholesterol sucks and I'm pre-diabetic. My "bad" cholesterol is a tiny bit high but the part that he really didn't like is that my "good" cholesterol was way low. What can I say? I like to be different. I tried to change it in a three week window between appointments to avoid having to go on medication for it, because I really don't need another medicine to take. The second blood draw (TWO in three weeks, what a nightmare) showed that my bad or LDL cholesterol, as the fancy doctors like to call it, dropped 12 points, which is good (yay!) but my good or HDL cholesterol also dropped, which is apparently very bad. I couldn't get out of it, he put me on a medication, Simvastatin, that is supposed to get all my wonky levels back in check. Of course, I mention to people that I'm going to be taking it and the first thing that I hear is about the horrible side effects that I can expect to experience. Fun! I'm glad to report that I haven't had any odd side effects so far. The pre-diabetes is something I'm going to try and control with my diet.
I have to say that eating better actually has been making me feel a little better. I've never been a big sweet snack lover, carbs are my enemy. I loves me some carbs. This has been my biggest obstacle so far. I get bored, I snack and I have to be doing 18 things at a time so if I'm not I'm "bored".
Anyway, I decided that it was time to go all the way with this whole healthy thing and started walking last week. I go at 6am so there will be less people to see me red faced and puffing down the street. I don't want to scare children or anything! I know I've gained some poundage the last few years too and I'd really like to be able to fit back into some of the clothes that I have stuffed in my closet that I have deluded myself into thinking that I still fit into.
When I was in school, many many moons ago, I was a swimmer and dancer and took it for granted I think. I could eat as much crap as I wanted and still looked and felt great. As the years have gone by, I still eat crap but I haven't had the exercise part to even it out. One benefit to this... shoe shopping. I'm in desperate need of new sneakers. Mine are split on the bottom and squish my poor little toes! Any good walking shoe recommendations are appreciated.
It's a slow process and I know I can't get frustrated at not seeing immediate results. Slow and steady and all that. Wish me luck!
I had my six month appointment with my doctor not to long ago and he made me get blood work, something that I have avoided like the plague. I absolutely hate getting blood taken. It's my blood, you can't have it! I finally did it because he reminded me that I'm in my 30's and I know nothing about my medical history. I was adopted, that's another story, but if there are any questions about it, I'm not afraid to talk about it.
So, blood, yeah. The results came back and my doc was not thrilled. Apparently, my cholesterol sucks and I'm pre-diabetic. My "bad" cholesterol is a tiny bit high but the part that he really didn't like is that my "good" cholesterol was way low. What can I say? I like to be different. I tried to change it in a three week window between appointments to avoid having to go on medication for it, because I really don't need another medicine to take. The second blood draw (TWO in three weeks, what a nightmare) showed that my bad or LDL cholesterol, as the fancy doctors like to call it, dropped 12 points, which is good (yay!) but my good or HDL cholesterol also dropped, which is apparently very bad. I couldn't get out of it, he put me on a medication, Simvastatin, that is supposed to get all my wonky levels back in check. Of course, I mention to people that I'm going to be taking it and the first thing that I hear is about the horrible side effects that I can expect to experience. Fun! I'm glad to report that I haven't had any odd side effects so far. The pre-diabetes is something I'm going to try and control with my diet.
I have to say that eating better actually has been making me feel a little better. I've never been a big sweet snack lover, carbs are my enemy. I loves me some carbs. This has been my biggest obstacle so far. I get bored, I snack and I have to be doing 18 things at a time so if I'm not I'm "bored".
Anyway, I decided that it was time to go all the way with this whole healthy thing and started walking last week. I go at 6am so there will be less people to see me red faced and puffing down the street. I don't want to scare children or anything! I know I've gained some poundage the last few years too and I'd really like to be able to fit back into some of the clothes that I have stuffed in my closet that I have deluded myself into thinking that I still fit into.
When I was in school, many many moons ago, I was a swimmer and dancer and took it for granted I think. I could eat as much crap as I wanted and still looked and felt great. As the years have gone by, I still eat crap but I haven't had the exercise part to even it out. One benefit to this... shoe shopping. I'm in desperate need of new sneakers. Mine are split on the bottom and squish my poor little toes! Any good walking shoe recommendations are appreciated.
It's a slow process and I know I can't get frustrated at not seeing immediate results. Slow and steady and all that. Wish me luck!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)