May 2013 Results

I’ve decided to post my results any time I get blood work back, because, why not?

Accomplished in One Year, Three Months:
The ones in green are now in an “optimal” range.  In Feb. 2012, only one thing (glucose) was in green.  :)
The ones in orange are now close to being optimal.  By the end of the year, they should be green.

 

Triglycerides: up 12 points (yep, I slipped up on the DP recently)
Glucose: unchanged (was never an issue for me, though)

Total cholesterol: down 36 points
LDL (bad) cholesterol: down 41 points
HDL (good) cholesterol: up 3 points
TC/HDL ratio: down .9 points

Diastolic blood pressure: down 14 points
Systolic blood pressure: down 12 points

AST (liver function): down 46 points
ALT (liver function): down 45 points
GGT (liver function): down 37 points

Cardio CRP: up 2 points (but, I’ve got a cold right now, and it’s likely that inflammation was showing up on Friday when I was tested, just a day before I started feeling sneezy)

Hand weights used in training: up 35 pounds, hell yes!
5k time: down 5:15

Dress size: down a little over one size
Bra band (not cup) size: down 2 inches

Encouragement Is The BEST

Bob Saget: my guilty pleasure.

I’ve gotten some great encouragement lately that has been totally unexpected.  Guys, this is the stuff that sustains you when you just know you’re not making enough progress.

Yesterday – after dance, a fellow dance-classer told me that I have great “dance posture,” and apparently she knows what she’s talking about, because she’s an actual dancer!  She said my movements are graceful and musical.  Holy cow.  No one has EVER called me graceful.  I think joining this class was just a little bit of a good idea.  :)

Today – at a company-wide health screening, my blood pressure kicked ass.  I don’t remember the details (I’ll get them soon enough), but I want to say it was 114/70 or something along those lines.  Exercise sure has helped my edging-on-borderline blood pressure get back to a great number.

Also today – another fellow dance-classer came up to me between songs (someone I don’t even know), and said, “You look great these days!  You’ve lost a lot of weight, haven’t you?  How much?”  At which point, I did my fumbling no-pounds-but-lots-of-inches explanation.  I’ve got to find an easier way of summarizing my success.

Moral of the story:

If you know someone who is putting a great deal of effort into bettering themselves, and it’s paying off, please tell them so.  I know you think it might be awkward, but they will be so appreciative.

Of course, if said person has been very private about their efforts, you should probably tread carefully.  But try to find a way, even if it’s anonymous.  It might be just what they need at that moment.  Even if it’s not, they’ll need it at some point in the future.  I promise.

FRUIT

Banana Oat Smoothie recipe from NancyCreative: http://nancycreative.com/2012/02/04/banana-oat-smoothie/

I am not above admitting when there’s an area I can improve in when it comes to food, and in my last post I mentioned that I almost never eat fruit.  That’s easy enough to change, so I might as well just change it, right?

I asked my trainer for advice, given my dislike of the texture of many fruits (yes, I know that makes me sound like a toddler), and he suggested breakfast smoothies.  After my knee-jerk (internal) reaction of “ehhhhhhhh I dunnooooooooo, I’ve never really done the whole smoothie thinggggg,” I made a conscious effort to actually give it a chance.

I have now twice done the whole smoothie-for-breakfast thing, and I think it might actually stick!  It’s pretty easy, and actually faster than eating a bowl of cereal, since I can pour it into a double-walled tumbler and sip it on my way to work.

Here’s what I’ve tried so far:

1/2 c. plain nonfat Greek yogurt
1 banana
5 frozen strawberries
a few slices of frozen peaches
6-8 ice cubes

Easy enough!  I’m actually pretty excited to experiment with other standard (berries, citrus, melons) and non-standard ingredients (raisins, oatmeal, dates, carrot, avocado).

And the above recipe gives me an excuse to try cardamom, which is alright in my book.

Anyone have favorite smoothie ingredients I should try?

Sorry, Dudes

I am just the worst.  I have been a sorry excuse for a blogger these days (months).

Let’s get the excuses out of the way.  I was tied up for a while with an opportunity that eventually didn’t pan out a few weeks ago, and recently I’ve been both busy and sick.  And a bit uninspired.

I think my biggest problem with coming up with post topics is that I’m at a bit of a plateau when it comes to exercise.  Actually, scratch that.  I feel like I’m in “maintenance” phase with exercise.  I’m doing much more than the average bear, and it’s paying off, slowly but surely.  I try to keep passionate about it, and for the most part, I do.  I’m not sure that much will change until I’m in a position to try something new (which I’m totally up for).

Food, on the other hand, is something I should probably pay some attention to, according to every fitness expert, ever.  UGH UGH UGH

Let’s just say that food and I are not on good terms.  I blamed food for my weight for so many years.  I beat myself up over every little f*cking thing I ate for so many years.  And eventually, the stress-induced Godzilla reflux of my college years made food my very tangible enemy.  I was/am just SO over it.  Do we really have to eat?

I’m already overwhelmed.  Just thinking about my twisted-up relationship with food overwhelms me.  The fact that my diet is not that bad makes it even worse.  I start having Vietnam-like flashbacks to years and years of failed fad diets where my inevitable weight re-gain made me feel like shit about myself and the food I have to consume to live.

(breathe, Anne)

So, I think I’ve found an app for that!

Last week, I was sitting at my desk seriously considering designing a printable that tracks only food group consumption and nothing more.  Luckily, the smarter part of my brain decided I should shop the Apple app store, and look what I found:

http://slidetorock.com/apps/EatRight-daily-food-diary.html

And what have I learned?  I don’t eat fruit.  Like, ever.  Let’s not get too much into why I don’t (picky about the preparation, too lazy to prepare it myself, it’s so expensive pre-prepared).  It’s funny how once you’ve identified patterns, they look so silly.

So my new short-term, totally doable goal?  Eat one serving of fruit a day.  This I can do.  :)

Oh yeah, and: write some posts, sometimes.  Dummy.

Sometimes It’s Hard

Sorry for being MIA the past few weeks. I’ve really been struggling with a lack of motivation lately. I’m going through the motions because I know it’s what I need to do to be happy, but the fire’s been gone for a month or so.

Hopefully I’ll be able to look back on this time a year from now and be able to say, “Sure am glad I got through that plateau!”

I might really need to change up my routine. Ugh. Just when I think I have it all figured out…

*insert exasperated sound here*