Rising Up

I'm 35, and will be 36 in a little over two months. Like I said, my genetics from my dad are becoming a "concern." When his mother was 36, she had an aneurysm and passed away...dad was 16. When dad was 37, he felt a pain in his chest while running his daily 5 mile run, went to the doctor, and had quadruple bypass surgery. 17 years later, he had a repair, and has had several stints since including a pacemaker. What makes this awful strange is that he is a long-standing vegetarian, and still runs 5 miles a day. Is there hope for me...let's see.

At 32ish I had a cholesterol count of 236 and started medication. Also, I'm on blood pressure meds, and that started about a year after the cholesterol thing. I've been puttin' along for a couple of years with normal levels, and now my "bad cholesterol" is on the rise over the past 6 months, from 72 to 116. Apparently, 130 is when it's considered "bad", however this sharp increase is the "concern" I've mentioned.

Now, I've been in somewhat of a denial, not exercising regularly and not eating very well (not horrible, but not good either). It really upsets me that this is happening. STUPID GENETICS!!!! It's kind of a conumdrum...I don't want to deal with cardiac disease, and I don't want to change my bad habits. BUT...duh, I'm going to be changing my bad habits. I'd rather not have bypass surgery please, or get caught off gaurd with an aneurysm thank you!!

So, the doc said that he is going to check my numbers again in 6 months, and if no changes, then I will have to change my diet drastically. I figure, why wait 6 months. I work with a dietician, and she did some figuring for me today. I need to lose about 40 pounds of "my natural girlish figure", and do it on a 1600 calorie diet. I've done some research today...go google...and found out that to be successful I need to log my calorie intake. That seems extremely disciplined, and out of my league, but I'll give it a go. I've also been looking at meal plans. I thought it was going to look horrible, but it doesn't. We'll see how it plays out in reality. It's basically a portion control thing, and then then I'll add the low fat/low cholesterol thing in myself. Hopefully with losing the weight, I'll get to lower my bp meds, if not get off them completely. Also, I'm exercising 4-5 times a week. I started that with my training for my 40 mile bike ride last month. I'll just kick it back into gear...get it...gear...bike...haha? Anyway.

So, I've fought off cancer, I guess I can get my fightin' gloves back on and fight this too. Exercise and diet...my mother would be so proud :-) And she'd say she told me so...that's what moms are for, I suppose :-) My cholesterol is rising up, and so am I!