I went to the doctor last month for my annual checkup which I had put off for the last two years for various reasons. I knew she was gonna be mad at me because my blood pressure has been up and that day for some reason it shot way up out of range (high range) and the doctor freaked out and told me to go to the emergency room which turned out to be a clown show which I will write about at some point. Just know that had I been about to stroke out or have a heart attack the outcome would not have been good.
At any rate, I went home after a couple of hours and I am still alive and kicking unless I died and this is where you end up --- living the same life you left but in a parallel world. I don't believe that of course, but it would make for a good story if I was inclined to write a story. I used to write stories but then my brain ran out of stories or I lost my imagination or something. Although, lately my granddaughter wants me to tell her a story when I tuck her into bed and I have come up with some twisted versions of fairy tales which she thoroughly enjoys. But I won't bore you all with fairy tales.
The other day I went in for my annual (about as annual as my weekly journal is weekly which isn't) blood work.
I got the results yesterday and the first few tests were marked in RED. Those all had to do with cholesterol and A1C and triglycerides. I was kind of expecting that actually because for quite some time during all the chaos that my life had become the past couple of years, I have not been very active physically, nor have I eaten a very healthy diet. As a matter of fact, I had resorted to crackers and chocolate as a meal sometimes. Hey, it is quick and easy... Mind you, I do make sure my granddaughter eats healthy for the most part minus the once a week fast food that I allow her to have.
Now in my defense, I have for the last month changed my diet and exercise routine drastically. So hopefully that will help.
But for now, everything is higher than it should be.
I checked my email this morning and my doctor had put a note on my medical records telling me to watch my diet and get more exercise NOW. And she was looking forward to my next visit in two weeks to discuss treatment plans. I bet she is going to tell me that crackers and chocolate do not qualify as healthy...
Much love,
Lia
8/13/2022
Your doctor will definitely tell you crackers and chocolate do not qualify as healthy. Darn convenient though. I've gotten away from chocolate and sweets for the most part. Crackers too but lately I've been bad about that lol. Convenient right? You should be doing what I supposed to do as far as cutting back on salt and sugars. You would not believe how much sodium is in just about everything. I also do a regular cardio exercises but once again kind of slacked lately. I need to get back on it. Also with all that's been going on in your life it's no wonder your bp is up. Stress can punch you hard and sometimes you just don't know it. Glad you're back to a good walking biking routine. (-:
ReplyDeleteOh I have cut back on salt and sugar. No more cookies or chocolate. Funny, after the first couple of days, I don't even crave it anymore! I've also lost a few pounds between the diet change and the exercise.
ReplyDeleteI was wondering what happened to YOU! Guess I should have manually checked your blog! Didn't get a notification for this one.
ReplyDeleteI'm bad...had my last annual physical (actually a pre-employment physical) in 1999. Went to a Doc for my back late 2019 and he wanted to give me all kinds of shots which I politely declined. For the back they took a few x-rays and said they didn't see any damage...they gave me a few exercises and that was the end of that.
You can really get your blood work in shape with diet. I went on a serious low carb diet in 2002...lost 65 pounds and kept it off for 12-13 years...put about 20 back on which I need to work on. Anecdotal data...since I went on low carb my Mother did also (she was living with me since early 2001) and she was getting blood work done every 6 months. (Guess the Docs need the $$$$). Doc was amazed when she had blood work done 4-5 months after we went low carb...ALL her numbers were significantly better. For many people carbs are really evil...sugar, flours, fruit juices (fruit is fine...the juices are high concentration of sugar without all the other good stuff). The old diet pyramid is nonsense. There is a VERY good article about that for the Sunday New York Times ~2002 that goes into how this pyramid was created and it was not based on science. The cheap high carb food industry is no better than Big Pharma and the FDA will mostly do what it is told. Again, Lustig's videos and books are a good start. The NYT article is here: https://www.nytimes.com/2002/07/07/magazine/what-if-it-s-all-been-a-big-fat-lie.html
Diet is a HUGE part of health and what I have learned from the last couple years is that supplements of D3, K2, Zinc and Quercetin will help keep the flu + colds away.
Yes, I have started a low carb diet and I have already lost some weight, about 11 lbs since I went to the doc, so that is good. Next blood work in November so hopefully it is better.
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