When Reality Sets In

Almost a week ago, I gathered up the courage to go get my physical, bloodwork;  EKG and all. I wanted to get a real picture of where my health stands. Well, the news is less than desirable. My blood pressure and EKG were good, however,  I have high cholesterol, which I take very seriously. Which also tells me that up until now, I have to admit I myself that I wasn't taking it seriously enough. Geez, I've already given up sugar and white flour, now I have to drastically lower fat as well! I actually didn't think I was taking in that much fat, but drastic steps in my lifestyle obviously have to be taken. Now, of course, as is my nature, I'll start to do research in low cholesterol diets and the foods that increase cholesterol.  I'm good at the research, not good at the practice.  I scheduled a recheck with the doctor for weight and blood in 3 months, so let the games begin!! Ok, so what changes will I make first?

Let me say that I HAVE NO IDEA!! Just when I'm thinking I'm doing pretty well, and I've got my mind wrapped around a no added sugar or white flour diet, I'm forced to revamp it again. By the way, my blood sugar was just fine. So I'm sufficiently confused. I usually eat pretty good foods, nothing ever fried, don't eat out a lot, I just thought the amount of calories were off.  Maybe it would be time to consult a nutritionist.  But, I have to do something TODAY, so what I did the obvious, I made my usual food choices, this time being very aware of the fat and cholesterol in them.  I did come across some eye openers, that I thought I should have known, but maybe didn't want to.  Like chocolate and most dairy (that's not fat free).  I'm big on dairy, love cheese, and of course, the chocolate addiction goes without saying.  Actually, my chocolate weakness/obsession was what got me to give up sugar in the first place.  I had a relatively short time period when I was allowing myself to eat chocolate without chaperoning myself.  Perhaps that's where my cholesterol took a leap.

Obesity itself is a contributor or high cholesterol, which of course, I'm working on.  So, I'm making the tweaks and trying hard not to get discouraged.  But, my main purpose of this post is to try to get others who are afraid to go for a checkup to do so.  You have a pretty good idea of what your lifestyle is, and perhaps, what it should be.  But what you don't know is how that lifestyle is affecting your body, how your body is handling it.  I didn't realize my cholesterol issue, but now I do.  I also found out that I am perpetually dehydrated.  I definitely have my father's makeup.  We are prone to kidney stones, so staying hydrated is crucial!  Prevention is the key to long time health!

I am becoming aware that my way of staying motivated is to keep changing the focus of my health, meaning, trying new healthy foods, trying healthy new tricks, to keep me excited.  I don't try anything that will affect my weight negatively, and I try different ways of eating.  I don't want to get bored and discouraged, so variety is the way to protect myself from that.  I love food, healthy as well as not (except veggies, which are a constant trial for me, thus I ingest Macro Greens to get the nutrients and enzymes I need), so I want to use that to my advantage.

I'll take these steps to improve my health, and I am happy to do so.  Of course, I'll report how low my cholesterol is after the 3 months is up.  So many things to think about...