Monday, March 30, 2020

Barely Normal - A Year Later

I know this seems frivolous in the midst of a pandemic. However, I've worked hard for a full year now - and I want to document the progress...yes, I AM talking about my health journey today.

My Doc insisted I come in yesterday. She had new labs to discuss with me.   Here's the health side of thing.... I'll post all the photos at the end of the post.

March 2019 
  • Cholesterol was near 200
  • Triglycerides were way, way, way over normal
  • Kidneys and liver were showing signs of taxing
  • My A1C was 7 (Type 2 diabetic)
  • BMI was 34.3
  • Weighed 199.8 

March 30 2020
  • Cholesterol is 98 (LDL is a few points down, HDL went up a lot!)
  • Triglycerides are normal - low normal 
  • Kidney and liver function completely normal 
  • My A1c is 5.6 - 3 months ago she told me I had gone from diabetic to pre-diabetic....today she said I'm, "barely normal" but normal. She cautioned me to consider to think of myself as diabetic if I want to control this via lifestyle...otherwise I WILL be diabetic again and the next time I will have to begin meds. 
  • BMI is now 26.9
  • Weigh 156.8 - a loss of 43 lbs this year
  • SURPRISE my thyroid is out of kilter...I am now hyper thyroid. She said we should have thought of this as I've lost 23% of my body weight and so it would impact how much levothyroxine I should take. I haven't been able to sleep so.....as soon as express script arrives I will be taking a lower dose. 
Sustainable Changes
  • Had been a vegan for 9 years; fairly high complex carb diet
  • Changed to Mediterranean/Blue Zone at Shelly's recommendation 
    • Added lean protein (Salmon, Chicken Breast, eggs, Greek yogurt and feta cheese)
    • Kept carbs under 100g a day - usually around 30 - 40 which makes me low carb by the doc definition but not by "keto" low carb definitions. 
  • I eat NO sugar - I use stevia 95% of the time and use a blend of stevia/erythitol or monkfruit when I can't use stevia.  
    • With that said - Shelly said I could have sugar once a month and so I do that from time to time...like the day after an A1C (back in July) or birthdays. 
  • Intentional to add meaningful movement to my days 
    • Gardening, walks, hikes
    • Shelly started by recommended 30 min of cardio "most days of the week" 
    • 3 months ago she suggested adding some strength training 
    • Today she suggested training for a 5K run because I messed up and told her I'd started jogging a "tiny bit" on the tread mill. 
  • I track it all with the WW ap (blue plan) as that plan mirrors and encourages the choices my doc told me to make. I would have used itrackbites - carb plan if I'd seen it first. 

The loss has been slow....an average of 3.58 lbs a month. I had a 3 month period where I lost nothing.....I'm seeing this seems to happen for a few weeks every 10 - 15 lbs. 

I DO feel the changes are sustainable. I have not given anything up (other than simple sugar) for LIFE....I'm learning how to occasionally add a treat into my plan, track it and keep going....

Health, improvement, appearance and a good relationship with food were my goals a year ago...I'm making progress in all areas. 

My Goals

I visited the military nutritionist and she suggested 130 lbs; BMI of 22.  I had been thinking 138 - BMI of  23.7...this is not a 20's weight for me....this is the weight I weighed during our Air Force life.

Photo is from 2013 
My Goal? 138
Shelly asked how I felt at this one year mark. I told her I really wanted to reach goal in a year...but I'm learning to celebrate progress. She said my health is great now...but, she would be happy if I go down to a BMI of 25; 145 lbs.  My current thought is I want to be a BMI of 24 so if I fluctuate I'm still in the healthy range. That would be 140.....basically the 138 I instinctively aimed for before being told to aim for 130. Hoorah!

I plan to continue with the changes I have made; eating well, moving daily, tracking daily.....keep my health numbers normal. 

My Goal - no idea what number on the scale that will be
  • Healthy Labs
  • BMI of 24
  • Size 8 pants
  • Guessing somewhere between 135-145
March 2019
Ugh - 199.8

March 2020
156.8

March 2019
YIKES - still can't bowl

March 2020
156

3 comments:

berrypatch said...

Nicely done! Thanks for the inspiration to continue working on my own health journey.

Linda said...

Awesome job, friend!

Lorelei said...

Great job, DeEtta! And I bet you feel so much better than last year! I'm 2 months into my own health journey and am aiming for progress, not perfection!