269

is my weight today. It's creeping back up. I'm buying new shoes, some New Balance, tomorrow, and hitting the walking again every night!

264

264 is my weight and it's probably creeping up. I haven't walked in a few weeks because a bout with lower back pain got the best of me, and my diet is shot to 'ell. The mail today carried the results of my last blood work - the A1c, cholesterol, all that. But I figured there wasn't much point in opening it since I was headed to Molly's for supper anyway!

I'll tell you what it contains when I open it.

Monday 4-14-08

Friday. 4-11-08. 115/78 pulse 74
Monday. 4-14-08 117/84 pulse 76


I got in a hearty walk Saturday at MyFella's, but the wind was cold and cutting, so I didn't push it any longer than I had to, but I sort of insisted on a walk after that wretched lunch.

Ate poorly all weekend, unless you count that I had 5, count 'em 5, home made biscuits that MyFella's dad made Sunday morning. Yum! They weren't very big though.

I'll be able to do better back at work. Grilled chickens and vegetables will be on the menu!

Saturday's slug burger

There are hardly words in my vocabulary to describe this culinary deceit. It is at the same time disgusting beyond normal words, and yet completely unidentifiable and bland. MyFella loves them, and so I tried it. After a few bites, I had to turn the sandwich to him and say, "WHAT is this?" It wasn't ground beef. It wasn't good. It wasn't bad. It just was.

It was a deep fried patty of something. Something without real taste or real substance. Something that tasted only because of the condiments on it. And perhaps because of that tasteless ness, it seemed all the more an affront to nature.

A quick search on the internet turned up some chats about it that seem to define it as made up with hamburger meat and lots of filler, predominantly soy bean but in the past corn meal or potato flakes.

Double ugh!

Oh, just for the fun of it.

Sunday 4-6-08

112/84
139/60
110/85

That b.p. of mine just goes anywhere.

I'm sure supper last night of fried chicken strips and lots of pasta didn't help a bit.

With the additional fiber I've been trying to eat, I had three poops today. You know I hate pooping. I remember hating pooping all my life. But the fiber is supposed to help lower cholesterol. So there you go.

Had not walked all week. Between the bronchitis and sinus infection, coupled with the cold and rainy weather, I just had to pass on walking outside. So today I managed two 20 minute walks. Every little thing helps.

Saturday morning, 4-5-08

I haven't walked a foot all week. Between the bronchitis and the cold, rainy weather, I just couldn't do it. Maybe I should have, but I'm having enough trouble with snot and congestion and 3 prescriptions to over come it all.

A couple of days this week I had a package of tuna with wheat thins for lunch and I like it. I like the rough texture of the wheat thins and I like tuna right out of the package. Yesterday I had the lemon pepper tuna. So long as housekeeping gets the garbage in my office, it should be o.k.

BP today is 140/82 with 79 pulse.

Thursday morning, 4-3-08

B.P. this morning is 120/74 with pulse of 76.

I've ate a package of tuna with wheat thins for lunch yesterday, but blew it for supper with red meat on a cheese burger. And it's just been too icky to walk outside.

Oh well.

Wednesday 4-2-08

Today is my Daddy's birthday.

Morning blood pressure: 164/81 bp 78.

Yesterday for lunch I had a packet of tuna with wheat thins. Supper was some carefully prepared fajitas. In an electric skillet, almost no oil. spinach, peppers, etc. with some 'healthy' tortillas. Probably had a lot of sodium with the fajita seasoning.

Tuesday 4-1-08

April Fool's Day. yeah! lol.

Blood pressure 139/77 with a pulse of 90 at 7:a.m. The last two days I've been sucking down cold meds trying to stop a horrible nasal drip that has me gagging, so I've felt like I could feel my b.p. all out of whack.

Ugh!

B.p.

Yesterday's blood prssure: 99 over 69
Today's blood prssure: 131 over 74 with a pulse of 84

Diet Blog

Well, this got old a whole lot quicker than I thought it would! Ugh! Boring, boring, boring - me and posting every day about eating grilled chicken in the e.d.r. for lunch or Cheerios for breakfast. Blah, blah, blah.

I don't know how I'm going to turn this around, but I'll get to work on it.

What's the point?

I really should call and schedule an afternoon heart attack.

Tuesday, lunch at a meeting downtown offered little choice. A sub sandwich rich with red meat, kettle chips and a cookie. Adriane and I shared the cookie.

Supper was red beans and rice with brown rice and turkey sausage.

Wednesday I had yet another dried out grilled chicken breast, black beans and cottage cheese. For supper I had one of those Boca taco things and too much peanut butter. It's a weakness.

Oh, and did I mention yesterday was Rotary? So breakfast was one spoonful of scrambled eggs, a slice of toast, a spoonful of grits, and some fruit.

Monday 3-17-08

I might as well go ahead and call the surgery team for my pending heart attack.

Lunch was horrible, but I tried. Those chicken breasts at work are just left on the grill so long, they are just dry and tasteless. Carrots and corn.

Supper, I met T&M up at the Cupboard. I thought I'd have good, easy choices, but apparently home cooking restaurants don't offer up much for the heart healthy choices. A side of fried green tomatoes later, I knew I had to have my walk.

Ugh!

Sunday

I'd be hard pressed to believe that I've done anything but set myself back this weekend. Lunch was T&M at Soul Fish was blackened chicken with a side of broccoli. It was good. At least I tried huh? Until I scarfed a bag full of Fit & Lively cheddar cheese rice cakes. Then topped off supper at the pizza cafe with a Hawaiian salad, a slice of alternative with chicken, and two pieces of a red-meat heavy pizza MyFella ordered. I ought to be ashamed. I did manage to get in a 20 minute walk tonight. Ugh!

Saturday 3-16-08

Well, yesterday was just kind of shot to 'ell. It's just hard to eat good when MyFella's around. Sure, I'll blame him.

Breakfast: Well, we got up and just had cereal and what-not.
I went down to the church and helped them build on the ramp until the rain came in, came home and had a piece of whole wheat bread with a slather of natural peanut butter.
Lunch: A vegetable plate with half of a corn bread muffin: whole corn (with the pepper pieces - ugh! i hate that!), black eyed peas, broccoli with just a shave of fresh parmesan cheese on it.
Supper: We met Tamme at Dan MacGuiness before he play and I had a grilled chicken wrap with a side dish of potato salad. I know, I know, I should have asked for a green vegetable. And I'm sure there were carbs in the tortilla.

Friday

Breakfast: Oh but it never really changes, does it? I am such a creature of habit.
Lunch: Thanks to the employee dining room: Baked fish, broccoli and cottage cheese with mandarin oranges and a banana.
Snack: Raisins
Supper: Lost my mind and went to Molly's. Oh but how I needed it. I'm sure the beef fajita nachos with white cheese set my cholesterol and weight loss efforts back a week!

Thursday

Good gracious, but this is one boring blog!

Breakfast: cereal and juice.
Lunch: Tuna on crackers, cottage cheese with mandarin oranges
Supper: A splurge with my goood friend 'sandra. She's a doll and called me around 4 today. Her kids were gone with her husband to his family's, so she wanted a night out. We had supper at the Longhorn restaurant and then spent the evening shopping for her daughter's 1st Communion dress. Oh - and I had the chicken breast with a delicious salsa on a bed of rice with steamed vegetables. I splurged on one Cosmo. I am, for gawdssake, a queer remember. I'm sure I walked it off in the mall.
Came home and had Health Valley brand Dutch Apple granola bar that I am trying to convince myself tastes good.

Wednesday

Breakfast: Out of cereal. So it was one piece of that whole wheat bread and cheese, a swallow of milk.

Lunch: Ate lunch at a meeting. Was a slice of pork loin, some scalloped potatoes, and some cinnamon apples. Tea with artificial sweetner.

Supper: Two more of the boca-salsa tacos. Water.


Only one Diet Coke. No snacks.

Tuesday 3-11-08

Blood pressure checked this morning was "good" they said at

Breakfast: My usual, small bowl of Cheerio's and a swallow of orange juice
Snack: Raisins
Lunch: Turkey burger and small baked potato. On the potato, I had some margarine and a big squeeze of lemon juice. Tea with blue in it.
Snack: Small bowl of cereal that is so grainy it is practically horse food.
Supper: 3 fajitas made very carefully with almost no oil, fresh vegetables and chicken. plain yogurt instead of sour cream, and the tortillas were a 'healthy' brand.
Dessert: one Weight Watchers yogurt

Only had one Diet Coke today.

Monday

Well, all in all, probably a wash.

Breakfast: small bowl of cheereo's with blue top milk and a swallow of o.j.
Snack: raisins
Lunch: Grilled chicken breast and butter beans. (the vegetable pickings at lunch today were rather slim)
Supper: Healthy Choice cafe steamer
Unfortunate snack-attack: wheat thins and a blue cheese processed spread (i really should throw it out!) and a small bowl of an almond crunch cereal

Walk: I got in my 20 minute urban walk

John: Someday I will look like John Barrowman

Annoyance: The cousin Noodle and I share called from Iraq. He was drunk dialing and needed my advice on something to do with a transsexual. I didn't have the heart to tell him that transexuals are a little out of my range of experience. I did my best on how to handle the situation, but I think that his military mind and my gay mind had trouble communicating. Or maybe it was my sober mind and his drunk one.

The week so far

Well, the first week I didn't do real good, but I didn't do real bad either.

On Saturday, I started my medicine regime to "help with" lowering the cholesterol and high blood pressure. Low dosages. I'm only mildly bothered by the collection of bottles on my bedside table.

Sunday I got up and went to the nearby park for a brisk 20 minute walk. Then I had breakfast at the IHOP with a friend of mine, but I kidded myself by ordering the egg substitute scrambler and the whole grain paincakes. Later in the day, I went to a baby shower and had zero willpower. So for penance, I ordered blackened grilled catfish for supper, then did another 20 minute brisk walk in the neighborhood when I got home.

Using the employee dining room at work, I mainly had lunch of grilled chicken breasts and green vegetables. I had no bread during lunch on the work week. Once, maybe twice, I even had fish for lunch. Some baked white fish.

Supper wasn't bad, but I'm not really a cook. Tuesday I had with my friends beans and rice but she made it brown rice for the fiber and lightly pan grilled chicken for meat. We add a lot of tomatoes in our beans and rice, so there is some natural sugar, but a lot of tomatoes.

I only managed about two evening walks after work. One night I was very proud of myself and made a taco-ish meal using Boca crumbles and salsa and whole wheat tortillas. I've been eating Triscuits like they were going out of style. I've started reading the labels, looking for enriched flour, high fructose corn syrup, etc.

I was a little bad this weekend. I ordered a fish dish for lunch at this country diner, and I have a feeling I was the first person ever to order the grilled fish with steamed vegetables. That meal just got worse as the day went on.

Today I ate fish at Perkins. Not a particularly good meal, not a particularly bad meal. Broccoli was fine.

I don't know if I'll get a second walk in today. May have to do with just the one.

Tuesday's blood pressure was: 126/74. The nurse said, "That's a little high, but we wouldn't prescribe medicine for it." I replied, "You DID prescribe medicine and told me to come back today to get my pressure taken!"

6:30p.m. Sunday: got the second 20 minute walk in. It was a brisk one through the urban neighborhood here. 'course, when my grilled cod filets gave out on me, I ate some chicken strips left in the fridge from my SIL's supper last night. And it's 6:30p.m., so I'll be supper-hungry here in a bit.

Sigh.

The Physical: 2-29-08

I envisioned the physical as something out of a 50's dream: all black and white with me in a pair of white underwear and a nondescript voice saying "Cough." I was never sure why somebody said "cough" but you know that's the way it was portrayed.

Turns out most of the physical at this health center is done by the pulling of a couple of vials of blood that are sent off for some of the same tests as the biometric screening, but the results are more of an average over the last 90 days, rather than just the numbers of the day. I had a successful EKG, for which I am happy.

Triglycerides: 240
Cholesterol, total: 201
HDL: 31
LDL: 122
And the winner was Hemoglobin A1c, which for a non-diabetic is less than 6%. I was sporting 6.5

Yeah me! Well, that's written with some sarcasm.

So my health care provider told me the basics: Lower your blood pressure, lower your sugar, change your cholesterols and go exercise. She wants me to add fish into my diet 3 times a week. Or maybe twice. Well, any fish is added fish to me. That will help fix my cholesterol, she said. And of the typica "Watch what things have sugar in them."

So here we go.

Biometric Screening 2-13-08

The nurse practicioner said, "Were you fasting?" and I thought, "Yeah, and there's a peanut butter sandwich in my car just waiting for this to end." It was about 9 in the morning, and the work health clinic had this free biometric screening. I thought I'd, to quote an old Kenny Rogers song, "see what condition my condition is in." It didn't sound promising. Heck, it was just a pin prick of blood. I mean, how bad could that have been? "We're going to do a fasting blood pull and send it off for some more tests, and then we'll set you up for a full physical."

That started this odyssey. Yuck.

Height: 5' 9 1/2
Weight: 264
Total Cholesterol: 166
LDL ("bad") 102
HDL ("g00d") 31
Total/HDL Ratio 5.4
Triglycerides: 166
Glucose: 107
body Mass Index: 38.5
Body Fat % 35.8
Waist Circumference: 50 3/4
Blood Presure: 134/81

As she discussed the items, she spoke pretty plainly. Such as the LDL isn't real high, but it's a bit higher, and coupled with high blood pressure. The high blood pressure isn't high, but there's also high glucose. The high glucose isn't real high, but it was sort of like hitting the trifecta. I had all of them.

When she got down down to Body mass Index, Body Fat, she just pointed to the word "obese" and said, "I'm not going to say that word." I smiled and said, "That word sounds so ugly." she said, "Yes, it does sound ugly. It is, however, the medical term." So we left the word unspoken, but it hung there just the same.

I didn't really change my ways yet. I figured if a full physical was coming, why not just ride out the next two weeks.

P.S. Yes, I ate the peanut butter and jelly sandwich as soon as I got in my car.