Nothing to see here, just an update about my health and well-being...
So let's start with the good news - in the seven months since I began actively trying to lose weight, I've lost 43 pounds! I'm really excited about it and I'm also really proud of myself. I'm down three jeans sizes, two dress sizes, and several bra sizes. I'm frustrated at having nothing to wear, but I also don't want to go out and spend a ton of money on clothes while I'm still losing weight. I met my original goal, and have now set a new goal for myself, which I'm hoping to reach by the end of the summer.
I saw my doctor three weeks ago about my blood pressure, which is definitely lower than it was. I can only assume that weight loss and exercise have helped, as I still had high blood pressure while on two different medications before losing weight. I'm glad that my BP is more in the normal range, and my goal is to get off my BP meds before the end of the year. Annoyingly, my doctor seemed very suspicious that I've been losing weight "honestly" just using an app on my phone that keeps track of my calories and exercise. She seemed to find it hard to believe that since the first of last October, I've kept track of every single thing I eat, every single day, and every bit of exercise I do as well. But truthfully? That's all I've done. I account for all of my calories, my exercise, my water intake, and I try to make good decisions about what I eat. I don't starve myself, I don't take weight loss supplements, and I even give myself a cheat meal or a cheat day once a week.
Anyway, I went to have my blood work re-done over the weekend, and the doctor called with the results this morning. My kidney function is great, my sugars are good, but oddly, my cholesterol is worse. Apparently since my last labs last September, my good cholesterol got better, but my bad cholesterol got worse. Yeah, I'm scratching my head at that, too! I've lost weight, lowered my BP and sugars, and yet my overall cholesterol is worse? How does that work? I even went back and checked with MyFitnessPal - I am well under my goal cholesterol every single week, apart from one week way back in October when I first started this weight loss thing. Often I consume less than half of my goal cholesterol for the week! The only thing I can think is that heredity may be a factor in this situation. My doctor thinks it's a good idea for me to try to lower my cholesterol on my own, through dietary changes, rather than putting me on another medication, which is a plan I agree with. So I'm adding a fish oil supplement to my multi-vitamin and biotin supplements, and I guess I'll be trying to eat some steel cut oats for breakfast a few times a week as well.
The most important thing, I think, is that I really feel (and look!) a lot better. I'm back at my pre-pregnancy weight, and while I don't think I'm ever going to weight the 112 (!) pounds the Wii Fit thinks I should weigh, I can see and feel my hard work making a difference, which is a pretty nice reward. I'd like to reach my next goal weight by the end of the summer, and after that, I think my next goal might be to start Couch 2 5K on the first of October this year, after an entire year of weight loss. That would get me running a 5K just before my 35th birthday, in January 2014, which would be quite an accomplishment!
I saw my doctor three weeks ago about my blood pressure, which is definitely lower than it was. I can only assume that weight loss and exercise have helped, as I still had high blood pressure while on two different medications before losing weight. I'm glad that my BP is more in the normal range, and my goal is to get off my BP meds before the end of the year. Annoyingly, my doctor seemed very suspicious that I've been losing weight "honestly" just using an app on my phone that keeps track of my calories and exercise. She seemed to find it hard to believe that since the first of last October, I've kept track of every single thing I eat, every single day, and every bit of exercise I do as well. But truthfully? That's all I've done. I account for all of my calories, my exercise, my water intake, and I try to make good decisions about what I eat. I don't starve myself, I don't take weight loss supplements, and I even give myself a cheat meal or a cheat day once a week.
Anyway, I went to have my blood work re-done over the weekend, and the doctor called with the results this morning. My kidney function is great, my sugars are good, but oddly, my cholesterol is worse. Apparently since my last labs last September, my good cholesterol got better, but my bad cholesterol got worse. Yeah, I'm scratching my head at that, too! I've lost weight, lowered my BP and sugars, and yet my overall cholesterol is worse? How does that work? I even went back and checked with MyFitnessPal - I am well under my goal cholesterol every single week, apart from one week way back in October when I first started this weight loss thing. Often I consume less than half of my goal cholesterol for the week! The only thing I can think is that heredity may be a factor in this situation. My doctor thinks it's a good idea for me to try to lower my cholesterol on my own, through dietary changes, rather than putting me on another medication, which is a plan I agree with. So I'm adding a fish oil supplement to my multi-vitamin and biotin supplements, and I guess I'll be trying to eat some steel cut oats for breakfast a few times a week as well.
The most important thing, I think, is that I really feel (and look!) a lot better. I'm back at my pre-pregnancy weight, and while I don't think I'm ever going to weight the 112 (!) pounds the Wii Fit thinks I should weigh, I can see and feel my hard work making a difference, which is a pretty nice reward. I'd like to reach my next goal weight by the end of the summer, and after that, I think my next goal might be to start Couch 2 5K on the first of October this year, after an entire year of weight loss. That would get me running a 5K just before my 35th birthday, in January 2014, which would be quite an accomplishment!