Monday, September 14, 2009

"Eat Now, Pay Later"

Yesterday I was driving home from eating with the hubby (why does that have to be such a great pastime??) and I saw a billboard that said "Smoke Now, Pay Later". For some reason it hit me...that's what I do...I don't smoke, but I do eat what I want and I don't pay any attention to the calories, fat, cholesterol, etc. So, I thought "Eat Now, Pay Later". Working in the ICU, I see so many people that are in their early 60s with chronic health conditions, many of them due to the life choices they have made. I always think to myself "Big red flag, Ronnie, this is going to be you...".

This morning I went over to my in-law's house and checked my blood glucose before eating anything and my result was 136. For those of you that don't know, that's called hyperglycemia. I really should call my doctor and keep monitoring my blood glucose every morning to see if it's become a chronic condition or if I'm just having intermittent highs. Either way...BAD...I don't want to be a diabetic. Unfortunately, my father and all of my grandparents were diabetics, thus I'm predisposed as it is. When you add an extra 50 pounds to the mix...you have a 33-year old woman that's pre-diabetic.

At the age of 28 I developed hypertension. My cholesterol has been high since I was about 20 years old. After my second baby, when is seems like my body "broke", my triglycerides were 850 (normal is 150 or less). When you group all of these problems together you have Metabolic Syndrome and it's estimated that one out of six people have this.

"If you've just been diagnosed with metabolic syndrome, you might be anxious. But think of it as a wake-up call. It's time to get serious about improving your health. Making simple changes to your habits now can prevent serious illness in the future." This statement is from the WebMD site, and I'm thinking about how accurate it is. By adding frequent exercise and a healthy diet, I could lose weight. Weight loss would very likely lower my cholesterol, triglycerides, blood sugar, blood pressure, and I would probably wind up feeling better all the way around. That being the case, why haven't I done it? Why don't I do it??

So, I'm challenging myself to get well! Anyone else interested?

6 comments:

  1. I made some major changes to my life this year... the biggest was divorce... but second to that was changing my lifestyle. Saying no to fast foods... increasing exercise, etc. I'm actually working on my post for tomorrow, I just got the results of my cholesterol... and considering the changes I've made. I can't imagine how bad my cholesterol was before I started making these changes.

    The first step is that epiphany of "oh crap, I gotta do something, I mean really do something!"

    I wish you the best of luck and will have to come back and follow on your progress!

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  2. What's great about the Web MD statement is that you've been given a "warning" about your health, it's not too late to treat your body better and get back to where you should be.

    btw, Hi Ronnie!!

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  3. i love your new blog theme!
    you go girl!!

    i read webmd articles..

    shraddha

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  4. I've been doing my best to change my eating habits in the past few months. And just to pay more attention to what I eat. It's so worth it.

    Best of luck!

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  5. We are all killing ourselves with food, some fast, some slow. it has to be something delicious, though.

    Secretia Teller

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  6. I'm already on that train. Diagnosed one month ago with Type II Diabetes. Not happy about it, but I've lost 10 lbs. so far and have given up sweet soft drinks and cut way down on carbs. Oh well, I guess that's what I get. I was predisposed too and ignored it. I'm glad you are not.

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