We Interrupt Our Regular Scheduled Broadcast...
...for this special public service announcement.
Well, the ride is over. Not completely over, but pretty much. The halcyon days are done. For me, in any case.
The way I've been eating for the last X years, the same amount of time I've been gloriously inactive and just sitting on my butt, have caught up with me. My blood work sucks, big time. Cholesterol is above normal. Triglycerides are above normal. And oh, glory be, blood sugar too. Why should I be surprised? My lifestyle hasn't been something either a dietician or a gym trainer would be proud of. And the clues were there: waking up in the middle of the night needing to slake some sudden, surprising thirst; tiring out in the middle of the afternoon; losing breath climbing flights of stairs. Still, surprise me it did. The news rocked my world.
So now I've got to adjust what I eat. Not that difficult, really. I like eating anything, so it won't be that hard for me to pile on the veggies the way I did with red meat. I can switch one for the other, easy. What will be difficult will be cutting down on sweets. My sweet tooth is a massive dragon that's going to take a really cool and hefty magic sword to defeat. Sodas, cakes, and ice cream all should come in moderation now. And "moderation" will be defined by the doctor, not by me. Crapola.
I've also got to find time to get moving. I blew my knee out when I was younger, which effectively took me out of regularly playing the game I love most, tennis. I prefer exercising while playing a competitive match, or practicing my ground strokes or volleys, over pumping iron and counting reps, or waiting for time to pass on a treadmill or stationary bike. Looks like I've got to adjust here too. How I wish one could read and lift a barbell at the same time. The distraction of a good book would have been a sure way to make time pass faster.
Sigh.
So where's the public service announcement here?
Simple. Don't let this happen to you.
You sometimes think that you have all the time in the world to take your health for granted, only to look at the clock and discover that, whoops, time's nearly up. Then, whoops again, you see that there are so many things worth not getting tired over. And in keeping with the theme of this blog, which is reading...well, there are all those good books still waiting for you to crack them open, which you can't do if you can't muster the energy to focus on the words and prefer to nap all the time.
Watch out for all that delicious, tasty junk food out there. Too much of that and you'll end up like me. Oh man, I'm going to miss the taste of junk food. Well, not completely. I think I won't be able to avoid indulging every now and then, but it's going to be a taste experienced only once in a blue moon from now on.
And I'm going to have to get used to reeking. Or rather, those around me will have to get used to me reeking. That's what's going to come of long minutes of brisk walking or biking, and mindlessly heaving heavy hunks of metal.
As I said in the previous post, aging is a biotch.
So there. Learn.
Unhappy. Unhappy. Very very very unhappy.
Well, the ride is over. Not completely over, but pretty much. The halcyon days are done. For me, in any case.
The way I've been eating for the last X years, the same amount of time I've been gloriously inactive and just sitting on my butt, have caught up with me. My blood work sucks, big time. Cholesterol is above normal. Triglycerides are above normal. And oh, glory be, blood sugar too. Why should I be surprised? My lifestyle hasn't been something either a dietician or a gym trainer would be proud of. And the clues were there: waking up in the middle of the night needing to slake some sudden, surprising thirst; tiring out in the middle of the afternoon; losing breath climbing flights of stairs. Still, surprise me it did. The news rocked my world.
So now I've got to adjust what I eat. Not that difficult, really. I like eating anything, so it won't be that hard for me to pile on the veggies the way I did with red meat. I can switch one for the other, easy. What will be difficult will be cutting down on sweets. My sweet tooth is a massive dragon that's going to take a really cool and hefty magic sword to defeat. Sodas, cakes, and ice cream all should come in moderation now. And "moderation" will be defined by the doctor, not by me. Crapola.
I've also got to find time to get moving. I blew my knee out when I was younger, which effectively took me out of regularly playing the game I love most, tennis. I prefer exercising while playing a competitive match, or practicing my ground strokes or volleys, over pumping iron and counting reps, or waiting for time to pass on a treadmill or stationary bike. Looks like I've got to adjust here too. How I wish one could read and lift a barbell at the same time. The distraction of a good book would have been a sure way to make time pass faster.
Sigh.
So where's the public service announcement here?
Simple. Don't let this happen to you.
You sometimes think that you have all the time in the world to take your health for granted, only to look at the clock and discover that, whoops, time's nearly up. Then, whoops again, you see that there are so many things worth not getting tired over. And in keeping with the theme of this blog, which is reading...well, there are all those good books still waiting for you to crack them open, which you can't do if you can't muster the energy to focus on the words and prefer to nap all the time.
Watch out for all that delicious, tasty junk food out there. Too much of that and you'll end up like me. Oh man, I'm going to miss the taste of junk food. Well, not completely. I think I won't be able to avoid indulging every now and then, but it's going to be a taste experienced only once in a blue moon from now on.
And I'm going to have to get used to reeking. Or rather, those around me will have to get used to me reeking. That's what's going to come of long minutes of brisk walking or biking, and mindlessly heaving heavy hunks of metal.
As I said in the previous post, aging is a biotch.
So there. Learn.
Unhappy. Unhappy. Very very very unhappy.
posted by pgenrestories at 4:09 PM
4 Comments:
My cholesterol levels were also high but I managed to bring them down with regular trips to the gym. No medication, except for fish oil and flaxseed. Not that I'd recommend this to anyone (or that anyone should believe me) because I'm not a doctor.
@Dominique: I'm not too eager to pump iron or walk on the treadmill, as you could probably tell, but I have to do what I have to do. Maybe I will try that fish oil and flaxseed, but I'm more inclined to try shifting to vegetables and fish, and lessening pork, poultry, and beef. I don't know though if I can stop sweets cold turkey. I do know that I do not want to take medication. Wish me luck!
No, my friend, you really do have to pump iron. And do the treadmill. Hurts at first, but you'll get the hang of it. (I pretend I'm piloting a mech...)
Aww, do I really have to exercise? Darn it.
I have to do at least 30 mins of brisk walking per day, according to the trainer. Weights at least twice a week, both upper and lower body. Argh.
I could be reading a book.
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