the results

I heard back from my doctor's office about my bloodwork. My triglyceride levels were lower, but my "good" cholesterol levels were a bit low. This isn't too surprising, and it just tells me that I need to continue living a healthier lifestyle. What I really need to do is add regular exercise to my new diet.

The problem is that the only exercise I enjoy involves the outdoors, and lately it is cold and often wet outside. Once the weather gets better, I would like to start riding my bike, going for hikes and maybe shooting hoops across the street at the park. The problem I run into is that none of my friends want to join me. I wanted to go on a hike today, but everyone I asked found some stupid reason not to go. I can't believe how hard it is to convince people to get up earlier than noon on the weekends. I never had a problem in college finding someone to go on a hike with. But then again I lived with Slye, who is much more active than my drinking buddies up here in Portland.

As for the diet, I am going to continue eating healthy and avoiding alcohol as much as possible. I am going to give myself one day a week as a "sin" day where I can eat what I want and then have drinks that night with friends. This weekend I had pizza, and it was great! I can tell that my thinking about food is already changing though, because I ordered the whole wheat crust without even flinching. Next week is Super Bowl sunday, so I will have to wait until Sunday to splurge.

i hope it worked

I'm going in to get more blood work done today in order to see if my triglyceride count is lower. I was supposed to go back 2 weeks after the last time, but that was the day it snowed and I kind of forgot about it. It has now been 3 weeks, and I've been pretty good about adhering to a low fat diet. I have lost some weight, and I feel healthier. It's been hard though. I have wanted to eat a cheeseburger and pizza for 3 weeks now. Maybe if my counts are lower, I can splurge a little to celebrate.

TGIF

I'm really glad that it is almost the weekend. It's funny because this week seemed long even though it was cut short by a holiday, a snow day and a snow delay.

With my new "diet" I can't really go crazy on the weekends like I prefer, but I try to allow myself one night of fun per week. Unfortunately, I already had that night on Tuesday when I didn't have work and met up with Judy at the bar and got drunk.

I'm thinking of maybe seeing a movie this weekend. I hate spending more than a few bucks on a movie, but I may have to buck up and spend $8 to see Pan's Labyrinth which opens this weekend.

4 day weekend

No work today! We finally got real snow. It's still coming down. I'm going to go play in the park across the street.

like being in school again

This morning I woke up at my normal time (6:45 am), took a shower, checked my email, got dressed in my work clothes and then checked my voicemail at work only to find out that the office was opening 2 hours late due to inclement weather. It did snow, a little bit, and it is a bit icy outside but it doesn't seem bad enough to open the office late. I guess I have to remember that some of the employees live in the hills or closer to the mountain, and they probably got more snow than we did here at my house.

Not that I'm not excited about working less today, that's not the problem. What I'm upset about is the fact that I'm up, awake and ready for work. All I can do is sit around drinking coffee and watching the news for 2 hours. I'd rather be sleeping in.

i hate global warming

I remember when I was kid that it would snow a decent amount every winter. I remember snow days every year where we would spend the day sledding and having snowball fights.

Now it seems like all we get is ice storms. Sure, every once in a while it snows, but it snows so little that you couldn't really go sledding or make very many snowballs. Most of the time the snow is gone before the day is over anyway.

The weathermen on TV keeping warning that it is supposed to snow today. There are news reports about how the buses are getting chained up and how the Department of Transportation is getting ready with plows and sand for the roads.

All the while I keep noticing that the snow level is supposed to be around 500 feet. That means that only the hills will get snow. That is, if we even get snow at all.

I know that I could drive an hour or so and be at Mt. Hood and play in the snow, but it is just so much more fun when it is in your own yard and your own neighborhood.

no longer invincible

For years I have always consumed whatever foods and/or beverages I wanted to. I never really felt like I had a reason not to.

I love food. Especially fatty food like pizza and cheeseburgers. I also love beer. I used to love Coca-Cola, but when I learned of the damage it was doing to my kidneys, my other internal organs and my bones I decided to quit drinking any sodas. That was a very long time ago ... 4 or 5 years ... the specifics are hazy at this point. I never cut back on my intake of fatty foods however, and it seems that it has finally caught up with me.

About a week ago I had some blood work done in order to figure out if I could take some medication in order to get rid of my acne once and for all. The nurse called back a day or two later to let me know that my triglycerides were really high, which pretty much means high cholesterol. I was asked to come back after fasting for 10-12 hours, which I did on Tuesday. Today I got another call from the nurse asking me if I was sure that I had indeed fasted before having my blood drawn. When I confirmed that I had, she told me that it was very important that I switch to a low fat diet and be re-tested in 2 weeks.

I looked up triglycerides on WebMD and learned that if your count is high it is probably due to an intake of too many calories, a lack of exercise and too much alcohol. That sounds like my lifestyle ... whoops!

So now I guess I need to trade in my pizza, burgers, fries, beer, etc. for a diet of grilled chicken, salad, rice, water and cottage cheese. Sounds great!

I guess anything is better than dying.