Survivor
I went to the doctor today.
That sentence alone sounds deadly serious, and while I didn’t discover that I had some life-threatening disease, the news I had was still a bit unpleasant. My bad cholesterol is high, my good cholesterol is low, and I’m overweight. I knew the last one, and feared the first two. The doctor was going to put me on cholesterol medication (something my father, aunt, and uncle already use), but she was hesitant, and for one very large reason: no one at the age of 29 should really be in need of cholesterol medication. I should be able to control this with diet and exercise, and I’m simply not doing a good enough job.
And so, we have an ultimatum of sorts. I have four months before my next blood test to drop some pounds and change the direction that my cholesterol is taking me. It means 3-5 hours of exercise every week for the rest of my life, admittedly something that’s pretty difficult for me these days. It’s not physically difficult, exactly, but rather mentally challenging, as I don’t like exercise, and have never had very much skill at sports outside of swimming. It also means no red meat past once a week, tops, and it means cutting out fried foods as much as possible. It also means intense portion control, making vegetables the main ingredient in all of my meals while limiting starches and making sure that I’m consuming a good amount of protein without overdosing on meat, arguably my favorite of all the food groups. Additionally, I’ll have to bid a fond adieu to sugary snacks like cookies, and avoid snacking so much in between meals. When I do snack, it will have to be fruits or vegetables, avoiding unnecessary starches and fats.
Years ago, I lost 20 pounds. I felt better and looked better. Now, in my later years, where laziness and malaise have turned me into the lump of goo I am today, I need to lose closer to 50 in order to be at the weight that’s proper for a person of my height.
I expect this to be incredibly hard, and it will likely make me miserable until I start seeing some actual results. Again, I don’t particularly enjoy working out, even though I like the feeling I get from it. Sweating from your labor can feel very gratifying, but knowing that I won’t see any real weight loss for awhile is going to be tough. Likewise, watching what one eats, frankly, sucks. Watching people devour burgers and not gain a pound has always irked me, but now, as my portions really need to be controlled and my dietary choices need to be much more carefully regulated, I imagine that the constant growling of my stomach will be less Winnie the Pooh and more starving jungle cat.
Well, fat starving jungle cat.
April 1st, I have my next blood test which will determine the success of this new plan on beating back the tidal wave of my bad cholesterol. Of course, a potential reduction in my waistline will also give a decent picture of the potency of my new lifestyle, if I have indeed adopted one.
Failure in this endeavor would mean a number of things, none of which are pleasant: a lifetime of medication, constant worry over the state of my heart and arteries, concern over the ability to run around with my children…and a personal failure of my own willpower. If I cannot accomplish this, something that, literally, my life depends on, then what is the likelihood that I can accomplish anything that I set my mind to? What would be the point of setting my mind to anything if I cannot do something so incredibly important and vital to my own well-being.
While my diet over the next few days will not accurately reflect this change (Christine and I are going to a New Year’s party in two days, and it will be incredibly difficult to eat well there outside of simply drinking water all night and consuming nothing else), I begin my new exercise routine tomorrow. I’ll be at the gym for an hour and change from Monday through Thursday, spending an hour doing cardio and around 15 minutes each day doing different weight work and, occasionally, some abdominal work as well. Friday through Sunday will be days off, but if I’m able to stick to that routine, I should be fine as far as physical activity. Dieting, and everything already mentioned that relates to it, will start in earnest this Sunday.
I suppose that’s all for now. Hopefully, I’ll be able to look back at this blog post as the beginning of something bigger or, rather, the beginning of me turning into something not quite so big at all.
Emily Krasinski said,
December 29, 2010 at 8:13 pm
As an amateur psychologist and nutritionist, I am always here for advice with these types of things, feel free to facebook or email me.
Dad said,
January 2, 2011 at 12:45 pm
If you set your mind to it, you can do it. I am losing about a pound a week on weightwatchers ( 9 lbs so far), with a goal of losing a total of about 35 lbs, and it doesn’t seem particularly difficult; nor do I feel deprived. I am sure you can do it, though I now realize (after multiple diets) that it has to be a lifetime lidfestyle change in the sense that because so much is available foodwise to us, and so much of it is processed or otherwise bad for us, it is necessary to monitor what and how much we eat on a daily basis if we want to have good health and feel comfortable in our bodies.
Hang in there and let me know how it goes.
Dad