Health Awareness

I admit it - I've been in a dream world about my health. I always thought I'd be able to eat anything I wanted, but this is no longer the case. When I turned 30 last year I had a physical to have everything checked out. Blood pressure was good and while I was technically in my weight range (thanks to my height), the doc said I'd be better off to lose 15 or so pounds. Well then Thanksgiving and Christmas rolled around, and you can bet I didn't lose any weight, but have only since gained more (the stats: height 5'6ish" current weight 156lbs). Last week I had my blood work done. Needless to say the shock of the numbers is still sinking in and quite frankly it has scared me. I STRONGLY encourage anyone reading this to have yourself checked out - no matter what kind of shape you are in.

The good news is I am negative for diabetes, the kidneys and thyroid are working properly, the liver is functioning normally and I'm not anemic. The bad news is I have high cholesterol. The HDL (good cholesterol) is looking pretty good, but the triglycerides and LDL (bad cholesterol) numbers are way off. I've done some reading about it online this morning and talked to one of my co-workers. He had the same score I did when he had his blood work done and, after trying to control it with exercise and diet, eventually had to go on Lipitor.
This is starting to sink in and quite frankly, I'm anxious about what I have to do to get the numbers down. I know I'll start exercising and eating better, but I'm afraid I won't have the will power to keep it up. I always have good intentions, but that usually gets me nowhere.

I hope that by sharing this, you will get yourself checked out - even if you think you are in good shape. The hard reality is that none of us are invincible from anything. I'm sorry to sound so down, but I am anxious about this, and it is a bit depressing. I know, it's not the end of the world, but what a crummy way to start a Monday!