physical health

The numbers are in and some of them are good (like glucose and creatinine) and some of them aren't:

May 15, 2014

weight              186
BMI                  31        obese (30 and above is obese--I need to be at 174 to be merely over-weight)
body fat            40%
blood pressure  128/78  prehypertension category

triglycerides      429       high
cholesterol        272       high
HDL                   44       low (but you want this one to be high)
LDL                  can't be measured accurately because my triglycerides are so high
TSH                   3.9    high (indicator of hypothyroidism)



I've been reading health and nutrition books I got from the library. I really, really like the book Nutrition: An Applied Approach by Janice Thompson and Melinda Manore. I liked it so much that I ordered a copy for myself. I had been toying with the idea of looking into a nutrition class and this book is perfect.

I've also been reading The Calorie Myth: How to Eat More, Exercise Less, Lose Weight, and Live Better by Jonathan Bailor. The idea is to eat nutrient-dense foods and exercise intensely.

The problem I have with the food part is that he doesn't think grains, beans, and dairy products are nutrient-dense enough to be recommended as part of his diet (he leans towards the paleo diet). I love having the Word of Wisdom as a guideline. Grains are in. Meat is to be eaten sparingly which means my protein mostly comes from beans, eggs, and dairy.

The exercise part is a new idea for me--4 exercises that you do till you can't do any more, but they only take about 10-20 minutes. And you only do them once a week. You exhaust your muscles quickly so they are using something called the 2b fibers and then you allow your body to recuperate. I've often wondered if God really made us so that we needed to spend as much time exercising as some people seem to think.

I also looked at The Spectrum by Dr. Dean Ornish and The 30-day Heart Tune Up by Steven Masley as well as some things online.

So, this is what I'm coming up with:

--Eat lots of nutrient-dense foods, including grains, beans, and dairy.

--Avoid white flour and sugars (and with my numbers, I'm motivated to do this). Avoid transfats with limited saturated fats.

--And I might try the intense exercise, but my joints (right elbow particularly) may not like 2 of them. At any rate, it's almost summer and we usually walk 5-6 days a week in the summer, plus Hannah wants me to do zumba with her. I also plan on doing some yoga as my flexibility is in great need of improvement.

--I guess I should throw "drink plenty of water" in here, though I've never had a problem with that item. And sleep--I love sleep and never have to struggle with getting enough.

I'm not counting calories. I've always thought that our bodies' needs should be simpler than some people make them out to be (just like exercise). I really like how The Calorie Myth goes into the hormonal aspect of food...it really isn't just calorie in-calorie out. If you eat right, your body knows it and balances your energy input with your energy output and you will weigh what you "should."

Helping me on eating right is the realization of how important our bodies are. We need to feed them right and sometimes that takes a little bit of money. So I'm ready to spend a little more on fresh fruits and vegetables than I used to. We have money as a resource. If we can afford having hobbies, we can afford to eat better.