bad health, great workout

Apr 25
2009

I got a checkup a few months ago (1/23/09), and the doctor told me something I already knew – I was out of shape! My blood pressure was high – 160/120, my bad cholesterol (265) was high, my good cholesterol (37) was low, and my triglycerides (343) were too high. I also weighed about 220 lbs which is a Body Mass Index of 29.8 – not only overweight, but right at obese!

Well, I decided to change my eating habits and start exercising. I successfully quit my daily soda pop with caffeine. I started eating healthier – less cups of ramen noodles and more baked potatoes for lunch – less junk and more fruit for breakfast, etc.

The doctor prescribed lisinopril 30 mg for my blood pressure, but I didn’t take it because I was confident that I could fix my blood pressure through diet and lifestyle change alone. After all, my wife fixed her esophogeal ulcers by changing her eating habits! If she can do that surely I can lower my blood pressure by eating better!

On 4/23/09 I went back and got my levels checked again. My blood pressure was still high and my other numbers were even worse! Weight: same, Blood pressure, same, Triglycerides: 444, Bad Cholesterol: 263, Good cholesterol: 33

So, I started taking the lisinopril. Today (4/25)I have been taking it for three days. I was very sick the first night and didn’t sleep, was sweating and nauseated and had a migraine – but that may have been a coincidence. (I do get migraines.) I have been ok since then.

I also made the vegatable soup that is the main food of the Heart Patient Diet and started eating that. (I have not started the diet completely – I ate a yummy California Skillet at Village Inn on my friday date night, and today I ate popcorn with Michael and shared some chocolate cake with Melody at Flying J.)

Today, I got back from a 3 mile walk with the dog (in the rain and mud – great fun -really! I enjoyed it way more than I thought I would) and took my blood pressure and it is 139/90. Not bad! The doctor told me the lisinopril can take 2-3 weeks to start working. Not sure what to think after only 3 days. It is probably an immediate low from the exercise.

But after that walk, (I jogged a bit on the way back – it’s downhill) I feel great!

I also did 3.5 pullups on my PerfectPullup(tm) bar (you strap on 40 extra lbs and see how many pullups you can do!)

My goal numbers are:

Weight: 180 lbs (high end of normal weight) need to lose 40 lbs
Triglycerides: 200 (150 is better) need to move 244 points down
LDL (bad) cholesterol: 130 (100 is better) need to move 133 down
HDL (good cholesterol: 40 (60 is better) need to move 7 up
Pullups: 20. hey – I could do 30 when I was in the Marine Corps! Of course, I only weighed 165 lbs and was 20 years younger . . .
Walk : able to jog the whole 3 mile route I do

So, Here is how I will get there:

1. Keep taking the licinopril and monitoring my blood pressure. When my blood pressure is consistantly low, wean off the drug.
I am also taking a couple of teaspoons of psyllium mixed in water daily, and several capsules of fish oil.

2. Go on the Heart Patient Diet (Vegetable soup) until my weight is down to 180 – plan is 7 days on, 7 days (or less) off. If all goes as claimed, I should be losing 10 lbs a week so I should hit my target weight in 4-8 weeks.

3. Walk 2-3 miles every day no matter what the weather. If can’t go for some reason, ride exercise bike for 30-45 minutes.

This should fix all my numbers within a month or two. We will see.

I guess I should set some interum goal numbers to make sure I am on track:

Optimal:

Milestone date: May 2 (1 week)
have walked or biked 30-45 minutes every day
have eaten the heart diet without cheating
weigh 210 lbs
do 5 pullups

Milestone date: May 9 (2 weeks)
no missed daily exercise
2 round of heart diet
weigh 200 lbs
do 10 pullups

Milestone date: May 16 (3 weeks)
no missed daily exercise
3rd round heart diet
weigh 190 lbs
do 15 pullups

Milestone date: May 23 (4 weeks)
no missed daily exercise
4th round heart diet
weigh 180 lbs
do 20 pullups

Pessimistic:

Milestone date May 2 (1 week)
have walked or biked 30-45 minutes a couple of times
have eaten the heart diet’s soup every day
weigh 215 lbs
do 3.5 pullups

Forget it . . . I am going to do the good one!