The Rest of the Story

I have been going through a blogging drought. There are a few reasons why but y'know, let's just move on. I'm gonna try really really hard not to leave this space empty day after day any longer.



Let's move on, or rather, back, to the issue I brought up months ago and then never updated you on the outcome. That would be the news about my blood work - sky high cholesterol and triglycerides, the doctors and every person on the street telling me to take the pretty cholesterol reducing pills because everyone tries to change their diet and lifestyle but it never really works, and me determined to give it a shot anyway.



What happened? Well, I changed my lifestyle and my diet. I had already made a commitment to doing both, and had been making slow but steady progress. With the deadline of rechecking my blood in 2-3 months, I amped up all my changes. I walked more frequently, I stayed active, I cut out all refined sugars, bad carbs, extra calories, I lost weight. I lost a lot of weight. I was completely blown away at how much I could hide extra pounds. Truly, I had no idea. I've never owned a scale before this year.



Two months in, I had my blood work redone, hoping that I'd have budged those numbers at least enough to continue to work towards a new, improved, and pill-less me. I was very cautiously optimistic, everyone seemed to think it was such a long shot.



You could have knocked me over with a feather when the results all came back in the NORMAL range.



Since then I've continued my routines. I'm only about five pounds from my goal, the top of the BMI range for my age and height, and then I'll ease back to what I think is a life long sustainable degree of moderation. (Moderation in all things, including moderation!) And a few months after that, I'll have my blood work redone and make sure that I haven't swung too far back the other way.



I think things will be fine. Honestly, I think that the problem, far more than my diet (which wasn't terribly bad, although I'm surprised at how much it could still be improved), was my weight and recent years accumulation of sedentary activities.



I have a lot more to say on the subject. Like, how I feel about the medical communities perspective on it all. About people's reaction to it all. About wardrobe changes. About walking. About energy. About how the micro reflects the macro in life, and vice versa.



And I have lots and lots to say about food. About eating and cooking and gardening and the weirdness of the American Diet and eating away from home. Hint: As you can see by this series of photos, I haven't been eating celery and diet soda.

But, that's enough for now. Tackling all those points now would turn this post into a novel. Plus, I need something to talk about in upcoming posts. I don't want to disappear off the blogging radar screen again.