Heart of Gold by Shannon GrishamI had a dr.'s appointment yesterday...and apparently I'm going to really need to change some of my habits. I'm so super excited about it I can hardly stand it. /sigh.
This is all because of blood pressure. My blood pressure has always been pretty good in the past, but apparently not the recent past as in the past couple of months it's been on the high side. Well...let's be completely honest shall we...it has been a little higher than I would have liked for longer than that, just not a lot higher.
Oh you want numbers do you? I use to be 124/80 always. Then a couple of years ago I was generally 128/84 and this year I have been between 128-132/84-ish. Yesterday...not good. I was 165/90...twice. So, I'm dying.
My doctor fixed me with that one doctor look they have, and you know "Oh my. Here it is...here it comes. He's trying to decide how to be kind but firm...here it comes down the pike...YES! It's here." And he's telling me, you need to exercise 4 times a week for 40 minutes each day and get your heart rate up to 150 BPM's. (Oh yes, I just said BPM...if you don't attend the doctor because you are in extraordinary condition, or perhaps complacent and just don't care, BPM=Beats Per Minute.)
I told him I was walking and etc., and he said "O.K. that's good. Baby steps are great, but you need to step it up a little. No running, but the ellyptical would be a great way to get what you need." My baby steps are not good enough. Boo.
So, I need to dust off my gym membership...it's somewhere with my swim bag...which is...hmmmmm...oh yeah...I think it's in the bottom of my closet where I put it this summer after my last venture out to the pool.
Here I go wrapping my brain around all of the changes that will need to take place.
Yay. Go me.
If you need a walking partner I'm your girl and please do not offer me anything that tastes good or has any flavor, because I will have to reject your hospitality and that will make me sad. But hey...if you have a celery stick...or maybe some escarole with a squeeze of lemon and some water on the side...I'm your girl for lunch. Is this chickie a little despondent and bitter...not too much...just a little bit. I'll get over it.
It's not that I don't want to be healthy and do all this stuff, because I do, I always do, I DO. It's just uber frustrating when you work so hard and you get little to no return on your efforts. But, if I want to live happily and healthfully it's something I need to do...and I do...I want to live! Maybe that will be my mantra "I WANT TO LIVE!!! LIIIIIIIIIVVVVVVVEE!!" Kind of like Frankenstein in Van Helsing. Franken-Tracy...only I have no bolts in my neck...and I was born of one person, y'know...not, like, 8. And the shunning...yeah...I don't have that either.
Anyway, so the doctor told me to go light on the salt. I must have had an odd look on my face because I'm not a salt hog. I enjoy salt but I'm not a super-salter or a regular salty snack eater...except for that one time a few weeks ago where I polished off the remainder of some Lays Vinegar Potato Chips while watching an intense movie...I didn't eat the whole bag or half a bag or anything p-i-g hoggish like that...but I did have enough to rough up the top of my mouth...ANYWAY...the doctor told me "Anything that tastes really great, usually has quite a bit of salt, so fast food and restaurant food are typical culprits." We don't do either as much as we use to but it still happens sometimes, so In-N-Out Burgers...it is with a tear in my eye that I say goodbye...at least for a little while.
Now, my doctor is super fit, post-military guy, probably in his mid-late 30's--just to set the stage and he says the following which gives me a ridiculous little bead of hope, who knows why... "I use to take blood pressure medicine. Now, I get up everyday at 4 a.m." I blink at him...he sees me blink. "4 a.m. is painful. It's painful to everyone, no exceptions. I get up and I go work out on my ellyptical in my basement for 40 minutes. I do it, because I don't want to be on pills. If I stop exercising for 2 weeks, I have to go back on medication. So to answer your question, no, you don't have to be on these pills for the rest of your life. It's your choice." Indeed. It is my choice.
I feel so stupid. I have been careless and I feel stupid because of that. I always thought I was doing moderately o.k. Not phenomenal, but o.k. There is heart disease in our family--but it always happens to the older people in the family and when you're young, you don't realize that 50's, 60's and 70's aren't that old, that's still a lot of life left. When you're young you think time in limitless and that age is far away. Have you ever realized ex post facto that perhaps you should have acted sooner, or changed your course earlier? Yeah. I'm there.
So here I am. I am embarking on a new path. It's a shift, a change, but needed. I'm going to be on these pills for awhile, while I get my regimen orchestrated and up and running. I can do this. I can. I can do this and it will make a difference. This doesn't have to be fatal or permanent.
This is not going to be easy but I'm determined not to die...at least not yet. Dramatic...maybe...but sometimes looking at the extremes with a little drama tossed in for good effect works for me to help me focus. Here I go...I'm jumping in. See you on the flip side of fitness. :D
I. Can. Do. It.
Ugh.
This is all because of blood pressure. My blood pressure has always been pretty good in the past, but apparently not the recent past as in the past couple of months it's been on the high side. Well...let's be completely honest shall we...it has been a little higher than I would have liked for longer than that, just not a lot higher.
Oh you want numbers do you? I use to be 124/80 always. Then a couple of years ago I was generally 128/84 and this year I have been between 128-132/84-ish. Yesterday...not good. I was 165/90...twice. So, I'm dying.
My doctor fixed me with that one doctor look they have, and you know "Oh my. Here it is...here it comes. He's trying to decide how to be kind but firm...here it comes down the pike...YES! It's here." And he's telling me, you need to exercise 4 times a week for 40 minutes each day and get your heart rate up to 150 BPM's. (Oh yes, I just said BPM...if you don't attend the doctor because you are in extraordinary condition, or perhaps complacent and just don't care, BPM=Beats Per Minute.)
I told him I was walking and etc., and he said "O.K. that's good. Baby steps are great, but you need to step it up a little. No running, but the ellyptical would be a great way to get what you need." My baby steps are not good enough. Boo.
So, I need to dust off my gym membership...it's somewhere with my swim bag...which is...hmmmmm...oh yeah...I think it's in the bottom of my closet where I put it this summer after my last venture out to the pool.
Here I go wrapping my brain around all of the changes that will need to take place.
Yay. Go me.
If you need a walking partner I'm your girl and please do not offer me anything that tastes good or has any flavor, because I will have to reject your hospitality and that will make me sad. But hey...if you have a celery stick...or maybe some escarole with a squeeze of lemon and some water on the side...I'm your girl for lunch. Is this chickie a little despondent and bitter...not too much...just a little bit. I'll get over it.
It's not that I don't want to be healthy and do all this stuff, because I do, I always do, I DO. It's just uber frustrating when you work so hard and you get little to no return on your efforts. But, if I want to live happily and healthfully it's something I need to do...and I do...I want to live! Maybe that will be my mantra "I WANT TO LIVE!!! LIIIIIIIIIVVVVVVVEE!!" Kind of like Frankenstein in Van Helsing. Franken-Tracy...only I have no bolts in my neck...and I was born of one person, y'know...not, like, 8. And the shunning...yeah...I don't have that either.
Anyway, so the doctor told me to go light on the salt. I must have had an odd look on my face because I'm not a salt hog. I enjoy salt but I'm not a super-salter or a regular salty snack eater...except for that one time a few weeks ago where I polished off the remainder of some Lays Vinegar Potato Chips while watching an intense movie...I didn't eat the whole bag or half a bag or anything p-i-g hoggish like that...but I did have enough to rough up the top of my mouth...ANYWAY...the doctor told me "Anything that tastes really great, usually has quite a bit of salt, so fast food and restaurant food are typical culprits." We don't do either as much as we use to but it still happens sometimes, so In-N-Out Burgers...it is with a tear in my eye that I say goodbye...at least for a little while.
Now, my doctor is super fit, post-military guy, probably in his mid-late 30's--just to set the stage and he says the following which gives me a ridiculous little bead of hope, who knows why... "I use to take blood pressure medicine. Now, I get up everyday at 4 a.m." I blink at him...he sees me blink. "4 a.m. is painful. It's painful to everyone, no exceptions. I get up and I go work out on my ellyptical in my basement for 40 minutes. I do it, because I don't want to be on pills. If I stop exercising for 2 weeks, I have to go back on medication. So to answer your question, no, you don't have to be on these pills for the rest of your life. It's your choice." Indeed. It is my choice.
I feel so stupid. I have been careless and I feel stupid because of that. I always thought I was doing moderately o.k. Not phenomenal, but o.k. There is heart disease in our family--but it always happens to the older people in the family and when you're young, you don't realize that 50's, 60's and 70's aren't that old, that's still a lot of life left. When you're young you think time in limitless and that age is far away. Have you ever realized ex post facto that perhaps you should have acted sooner, or changed your course earlier? Yeah. I'm there.
So here I am. I am embarking on a new path. It's a shift, a change, but needed. I'm going to be on these pills for awhile, while I get my regimen orchestrated and up and running. I can do this. I can. I can do this and it will make a difference. This doesn't have to be fatal or permanent.
This is not going to be easy but I'm determined not to die...at least not yet. Dramatic...maybe...but sometimes looking at the extremes with a little drama tossed in for good effect works for me to help me focus. Here I go...I'm jumping in. See you on the flip side of fitness. :D
I. Can. Do. It.
Ugh.
3 comments:
You CAN do it! I don't say it often, but one of the reasons I work out so much is depression. I really hate being on the pills, so I excercise. Like your doctor, all it takes is about 2 weeks of no exercise and it comes creeping up on me, no matter what is going on in my life, good or bad. And here is a secret, I HATE working out. But now after 8 years of doing it faithfully, I hate it less, and it's become a habit more than anything. Like showering or doing your hair. Just something that is on the list of things to do today. It will get easier. You go girl! Please don't die, you are too much fun!
I need a kick in the pants to step up my exercise efforts, too.
Do you feel energized or overwhelmed by this dr visit?
Thanks Kelly! I actually enjoy the ellyptical, and walking and swimming. What I don't enjoy is coming home tired and knowing that is still on my list of things to do. I'm working out a schedule though so I can just do, and don't have to think about it.
Ren--I feel a little overwhelmed, but not too much, and I do feel energized. We've been taking a number of baby steps towards changing and improving our lifestyle and now I just need to step it up to the next level. I lost about 8 lbs. this summer with all of the walking and increased water drinking, healthy eating etc. so I feel like I'm on the right track, I just need to pick up the pace. :)
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