My Cardiologist's Million Dollar Tip

That's what he said at my followup exam after my normal (yea!) angiogram. He said my heart had no blockage. However, my triglycerides are somewhat high and the A1-C test showed my blood sugar to be just above normal.

He said, "I have a million dollar tip for you. Lose weight. If you would lose 40 pounds, your triglycerides and blood sugar would be normal."

Of course, I know that. Overweight people know all about the hazards of being obese. Having enough knowledge is never the issue. Making a commitment and sticking with it is the issue.

Still, hearing the cardiologist make those comments got my attention. Hence, I began to give Weight Watchers serious consideration.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Labor Day Weekend in the Heart Hospital

It was a weekend of new experiences for me.

In June, my husband had chest pains and was hospitalized twice. He had two angiograms, a stress test, and one stint placed in his heart.

Labor Day weekend of this year, it was my turn. I had been having some pain in my chest for a while, but chose to ignore it, because my focus was on my husband. Finally I got tired of ignoring it, and decided to go to my PCP. She did an EKG which was normal. Good. However, the pain did not go away.

A couple of days later, I asked Rick to take me to a heart hospital in my area. The cardiologist did an angiogram which was completely normal. Wonderful news.

The source of the pain? I'm still not sure, but I changed the time I was taking my GERD medication, and the pain went away.

Tomorrow: the million dollar tip.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Weight Watchers - Here I Come!

My daughter began Weight Watchers first. She has been very faithful to the program and is doing very well. I decided it was time to begin once again on my quest to become a healthy person.

About three weeks ago I joined Weight Watchers. Stay tuned for details of my progress.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Slowly Losing Still Results in Winning

Yes, the scales are ever so slowly going down, and my patience is being tested in a new way. However, because I have decided to keep on keeping on doing what 'is good for me', I am winning!

My clothes are not just fitting better, they are now looser. The exercise has made me feel stronger and more energetic. My balance has improved, and I can touch my toes! I can get down and up out of the floor with much less effort.

My blood sugar is staying in normal ranges. My blood pressure and pulse are much better. Last week I had blood work done and my cholesterol was normal!

Doing good things on a daily basis, results in positive benefits that would happen no other way. If you are facing something requiring patience, I encourage you to keep on keeping on doing what is good for you, and you too will be a winner.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Patience and Post Menopausal Weight Loss

I don't know why I was surprised. Perhaps I was hoping it was just an old wive's tale. Well, I am here to tell you from personal experience, that after menopause, metabolism soooooows down.

For several months now I have eaten very well. I have cut back considerably on salt, fat, sweets, and portion sizes. I have tested my blood sugar daily. I have consistently done Tae Bo three to four times a week. In all this time I have only lost 15 pounds. Before menopause I would have lost much more. Sigh.

Am I discouraged? In no way! In the next post I will share all that I am winning by losing!





- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

"I Can Make You Thin", by Paul McKenna

I have written before about this weight loss self hypnosis program. It was something I did for a while and had a good measure of success. Then like many other good things in my life, I just let it drop. I think I began to feel like it wasn't helping any more so I just quit listening to the cd. What happened then? I gained back all the weight I had lost because I began eating everything in sight.

Well, in an effort to do 'what is good for me', I started listening to the cd again. Thus time I am not worrying about how well it works. I just know it is just a piece in my overall health puzzle, and any help is appreciated! I'm listening to it fairly regularly and I do think it is helping me to control my desire to overeat. Yea!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Food, Food, Food

It it a necessary part of everyday. Eating that is. For some people, food is just that. Necessary. They eat to live. They like good food, but do not dwell on it. They don't spend hours thinking about food, preparing food, and eating food. They do just what is necessary, and nothing more.

Then there are people like me. I live to eat. I have barely finished eating one meal, then I am mentally preparing my next one, not to mention all the snacks that will be consumed between meals.

It is no wonder that my weight will be a challenge all my life. Next post: things that I have found to be helpful.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

How Distracting Are the Distractions?

Distractions happen. They just do. There is no way to prevent them. The key is "How distracting do you let the distractions be?

I was all in my Tae Bo routine. Yep, I had my schedule down. Then the distraction came in the form of 12 years old twin nieces coming to visit for a few days. They were fun and we had a great time, but not once did I do Tae Bo during their visit. Not once.

I was and still am self conscious about anyone watching me do Tae Bo. I didn't want them to see me do my 'old lady' version of kickboxing. I could have done it while they were sleeping in the morning, but I didn't. Distractions and excuses.

The good thing is that after they left, I got back into my routine the next day! Woohoo! Perhaps next time I will do Tae Bo during their visit.

If you are struggling with the distractions of life interfering with whatever is good for you, (It might be an exercise routine, or eating a healthy diet.) I encourage you to accept distractions as a fact of life. Then be determined to allow them to only be a temporary derailment in your quest to do "what is good for you.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Where Is the Battle?

My son and I and a conversation today about the necessary changes my husband and I are making in our lifestyle so that we can continue to be health in the coming years. We were discussing exercise as well as eating a healthy diet.

He made a statement that made me think. He said, "The real battle is in the kitchen." He meant that eating a healthy diet is more critical to being healthy than consistent exercise. I have thought about this statement quite a while this afternoon, and I agree with him. If a person consistently exercises, but has no dietary control, heart disease could still be a real problem.

However, I think that a person (like me) who has a problem controlling what and how much they eat, exercise is beneficial. Once I have given my very best effort to a Tae Bo session, the last thing I want to do is "ruin" it by eating a cheeseburger.




- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Whether I Want To Or Not

We got in from vacation yesterday evening, tired and happy. This morning i told my husband that after breakfast I was going to do Tae Bo "whether I want to or not". There I said it.

Yes. Deciding that I will do what is best for myself, "whether I want to or not", is a difficult but necessary decision that must be made on a daily basis. In order to maintain a consistent exercise program, my personal 'wants' have no place.

I have heard it said that a person's desires to be be healthy and slender must be greater than their desire to eat five slices of pizza. I understand and somewhat agree with that statement. However, there are days (yes, you know about those days), or perhaps minutes when that pizza just looks and smells so good that all desires to be slender just go into hiding, only to come out again in the form of guilt and self condemnation.

My preference is to decide that my wants and desires are not a factor in my commitment to do what is best for my health and well being.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Tae Bo on Vacation

Yep. This morning, before breakfast, I did Tae Bo. I used my husband's dvd player, connecting it to the tv in our hotel room. There was just enough floor space to punch and kick my way through another workout. Oh, I didn't want to, but I knew I would be glad when I finished. And I was!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Roundhouse Kicks and Uppercuts

Building the habit of regular exercise has always been a challenge for me. It has always been one of those things that I will start with semi enthusiasm, and then let it go the minute something else appeared to get in the way. Then once again this exercising attempt would be added to my list of unfinished projects.

With the coming of the events of the last few weeks, I have decided to make more than an attempt at regular exercise. This season of my life requires more in order to continue to be able to do the things I want to do.

In days gone by (at least a decade), I purchased and even used a video of Tae Bo, by Billy Blanks. I enjoyed learning and tried to keep up with those young, strong, 20 somethings on the video

Well, in this age of high definition, that old VHS just would not do. So I purchased a new Tae Bo DVD. Even though the guys and gals on the video have a thirty year or more advantage on me, I am enjoying the workouts. And with each workout I am a little stronger, have more endurance, and my techniques is less bad than the time before!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

My Husband's Story

Rick's story began two days after I had the cyst surgically removed. He began to have chest pains. A trip to the emergency room, an angiogram, and a stent brought him face to face with a serious need to begin to do things that were good for himself.

These were life changing moments for us. We were forced to pivot and immediately begin eating a "heart health" diet and begin a consistent exercise program.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Yoohoo! I'm Still Here!!

Yes, it has been a long time. I have spent the last two years, just eating and eating and lying to myself. The scales continued to climb, and my clothes continued to get tighter and tighter.

Well, I'm back now, because health issues have lifted the 'rose colored veil' and give me a crystal clear view of what I need to do to enjoy the rest of my life with good health. I have a story to share, well two stories. One about me and one about my husband.

My story began about May 1st. I noticed a large bump on the back of my neck. It came up quickly within just a few days and was the color of a bruise, black, red, blue. Every day the bump was a little bigger and more sore than the day before. I went to the doctor on May 6. She said I had an infected sebaceous cyst and prescribed Bactrim, an antibiotic I had taken various times in my life. I took my first dose that night.

Making a long story, well, not as long, I developed a severe reaction to the antibiotic, called Stevens Johnson Syndrome. a life threatening rash. Thanks to an excellent dermatologist, the rash was 'stopped in its tracks', and I recovered within a few days.

In order stop the rash, the doctor prescribed hefty doses of prednisone, a steroid which sends blood sugar of diabetics 'through the roof'. For the first time in a very long time, I began to test my blood sugar. I had no choice.

Once I began testing my blood on a regular basis and once again paying attention to what I was eating, I slowly realized that it was time for me to seriously begin doing some things that were good for me. Yep. It was time to begin a new project --getting healthy.

Tomorrow, my husband's story.