health check

Last night I received some semi-devastating news (devastating to me at least). I've been seeing this new doctor for diabetes, and she wants to keep a really close monitor on my numbers. My HbA1c (which measures out the average of my blood sugars for three months) was 6.9. Ideally it needs to be under 6.5, but preferibly at 6.0-6.2. 6.9 is okay, but it's the highest it's been in a long time - and that's with a higher dosage of diabetes medicine, so that was a bit of a scare for me. I really need to be more dilligent with checking my blood sugars, making sure that I don't eat too many carbs/sugars, and that I get plenty of exercise.

My cholsterol levels were a little higher than my last test, but those numbers were good. The doctor is concerned because it did go up. My cholesterol was at 170, with my HDL (the good stuff) at 63 (they recommend that this be over 40) and my LDL (the bad stuff) at 77 (as a diabetic, the LDLs need to be under 100; I take a small dosage of lipitor because even Lance Armstrong couldn't have LDLs under 100!). My triglycerides are 149 (the doctor wants this to be under 150, so this is cutting it close!).

The doctor also gave the lecture about pregnancy. Not that I'm going to be pregnant anytime soon. She said that if I don't monitor my diabetes now, if I plan on having a child, there's a high chance that the child will develop some kind of malfunction. Apparently, it's pretty common for diabetics who don't monitor their levels and are pregnant, to have children with undeveloped body parts such as the brain, liver, kidney, etc. This was a total shock to my body and gave me yet another reason to HATE it! I'm still swallowing this reality and will deal with it privately.

I spoke to my chiro practor about this. He recommended that I do a thirty day challenge for myself. He said to start with something small and simple. Name something that I will (or won't) do each day for thirty days. At the end of the thirty days, give myself a treat. So here's my first challenge to myself: NO FRIED FOOD for thirty days! This is tough because I have such a penchant for fried food, but I think I can do it. My health is worth at least that. The 1 hour deep tissue massage I promised myself is worth it too.

In the end, I just really need to get my ass in gear and get healthy. This is why today is the first day to doing all of this - slowly but surely adjusting eating habits, making sure I get at least 1 hour of good exercise Monday-Friday, and monitoring my blood sugars. It's hard and ambitous. But I just need to get through this one step at a time. Wish me luck and feel free to cheer me on along the way.