good blood test results

I love the "Wellness Wednesday" our local hospital has. I can go on any Wednesday and have various lab tests done without a doctor's order.

Last May 15th, my numbers were really bad. On March 5th this year, I went to Wellness Wednesday, and then I went again this week to check on my numbers. Here's what it looks like:

                                     5-15-14                   3-5-15                      5-29-15

cholesterol                     272 H                     246 H                       220 H
HDL                               44                           52                             52
chol/HDL ratio               ---                           4.7 H                        4.2   
LDL                                ---                          164 H                       146 H
non-HDL chol                ---                          194 H                       168 H
triglycerides                  429 H                      149                           111
VLDL                             ---                           30                             22

On 5-15-14 they couldn't get a calculated LDL (and therefore a ratio) because my triglycerides were above 400.

At first I had mixed feelings about my cholesterol being 220 this time around because above 200 is considered high (200-240 is borderline high), yet I had dropped it another 26 points since March, so that was good. But then, since my ratio is considered good, I decided I was quite happy with the results.

For a female, a ratio of 3.27 is considered to mean that your risk to coronary heart disease is 1/2 the average. 4.44 is considered average. 7.05 is 2x average... Mine is 4.2, so my risk is average. I'll take that and be content.

My weight was 156 this morning. It was 182 back on May 15, 2014. My BMI was 31 (obese) and is currently a 26.8 (overweight). I hope to get it down to 24.9 by the end of summer so I can be out of the overweight category and into the normal weight one.

I will continue to not eat treats and get in my exercise. Now that summer vacation is here, I'll be walking more along with going to my zumba class.

day 25

My 25th day with my weight in the 150s. I weighed in at 155.5 this morning.

I am 10.5 pounds from moving from the "overweight" category to the "normal" category, which is a place I haven't been since the spring of 1991.

My weight levels off for a few weeks and then I seem to drop several pounds in a few days, and then it levels off again. It took me 65 days to lose this past 10 pounds, so if this holds true, I will be at my target weight at about the end of July. I'm starting to feel a bit impatient.

I'm also a bit concerned...afraid...that I won't be able to lose anymore. It is weird to believe something intellectually but then have the faith to live it. Doubts creep in.

I believe in my method (not having to count calories, just eating the good stuff--fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, getting moderate exercise...) but there's this hesitancy and I have to try and control the feeling that it won't work anymore. There is a tendency to want and try to restrict my calories even though I know that doesn't work.

"Montana"

So today was my 6th day in Montana, though just barely. My weight has been 158.5-159 this week and then this morning it was 159.5, so I'm standing on the state line and don't know if I'll be in Montana tomorrow or not.

Still freaking out a little and trying not to doubt myself in my methods that have worked for me so far. Don't know if I need to make any changes to my plan.

This is week 7 of no treats. I haven't been exercising much the past few weeks because there hasn't been zumba since the teacher was in the hospital. Zumba starts again on Monday, though.