Getting healthier

In spite of my recent health crisis and two surgeries coming up in the future (hip replacement more than likely this summer), I am getting pretty healthy on the outside. I had a long series of blood and urine tests done February 23, and for the first time ever, EVERYTHING came back normal, according to Dr. Lo, my primary care physician. Normal. Wow. I never thought I would see that word used in reference to me. The tests that I was mostly concerned with were my lipid panel (measuring the level of cholesterol and fats in my body), glucose (fasting), and my iron and Complete Blood Count (CBC). Due to my family history of heart disease, hypertension and diabetes, the lipid and glucose levels were very important. During many of my relapses into food addiction, my lipid panel indicated that I was courting serious danger, and I needed to make some dietary changes. On September 18, 2006, I was back into the food, big time. Here are the numbers for my lipid panel:
Cholesterol 233
HDL (good fat) 51
LDL (bad fat) 134 (my doctor marked H for "high" on this result)
Triglyceride 240 (same note as above)

The normal ranges:
Cholesterol less than 239
HDL (good fat) more than 45
LDL (bad fat) less than 129
Triglyceride less than 199

Obviously, I was hitting the fats real tough in '06. All that butter, brie, cheddar, jack, and Havarti cheese (along with a lot of whole grain bread, which probably kept me from having a heart attack) I was eating did the job. Not to mention the sweets.

And now, my most recent results, done on February 23 of this year:
Cholesterol 189
HDL (good fat) 47
LDL (bad fat) 124 I originally typed 134, but it's 124!
Triglyceride 90

I'm out of the danger zone, praise God! Constant contact (well, frequent)with God and working my recovery program has done it. I wish I could say that I take credit, but I can't. To be honest, I'm always one thought away from that French bread with Havarti cheese or a half gallon of ice cream. Only God keeps me away from those thoughts, one minute at a time. That's how it works for me. So the numbers have definitely improved, and the numbers on the scale are going down, and for the first time in my life, I'm happy with the numbers.

My glucose (fasting)level was 97, with a standard of 60-99. It could be lower, but I'll take it. My blood and iron levels are too complex to get into right here, but after many years of being severely anemic, I finally have some decent numbers. That's another big improvement. I starting taking my supplements faithfully after all those trips to the emergency room in 2002-2003. Passing out and waking up in a hospital bed is not much fun.

I have no idea what my normal weight should be. There's the chart in the doctor's office, but is that normal for me? I guess I'll just have to keep doing this one day at a time so I can find out. I trust that God will let me know when I have lost enough weight. In the meantime, I just want to get through today without addictive eating. When I keep my mind on today and what I have to do to get through it, I let go of the end results. Sure, I would l to have a nice round apple bottom, muscular thighs, shapely legs, and a small waist, but what if that's not possible? I would really like to have Serena Williams' body, to tell you the truth. I don't like playing tennis, but I wouldn't mind being able to put on black "cat suit" like Serena did a few years ago at Wimbledon. That was fierce!

Well, I need to get going. I still want to write about the emotional and spiritual healing I received at Bosch this past weekend, but I need to get ready to go my Tuesday recovery meeting. Ya Baha'ul'Abha'!