I am not my numbers


Have you ever thought about how many numbers you are?

  • Weight
  • Height
  • Size - bra, underwear, shorts, shirts, dresses, shoes
  • SS#
  • Phone #
  • House #
  • Zip Code
  • Area Code
  • Age
  • Birth order
  • And so on


And then let them take your blood on a holiday and you get a whole boatload of numbers:

  • Cholesterol
  • HDL
  • LDL
  • A1c
  • Trigylcerides
  • Glucose
  • Iron
  • WBC

And lots of other things you'll need a medical degree or a doctor daughter to decipher.

I am married to a man who experiences diabetes.  (An energy worker told me to say it that way - he is a man first and not defined by the condition he experiences.  Word mean things, so I obey.)

Hence, I'm pretty aware of blood sugars and the consequences of highs and lows.  Out of curiosity, I tested my fasting blood sugar a few weeks ago.  I've been off sugar and flour for 2 1/2 years.  So, very cocky and confident, I expected a low number. 

Not so.  I test 126 - which is prediabetic range.  PANIC.  I know what that's like and I want no part of
it.  So I started testing several times a day, even in the middle of the night.  Always around 100 - 126.  I set up an A1c test through my doctor - that tests the damage from high blood sugars for the last 3 months. 

I held my breath waiting for the results.  Visions of his and hers matching glucometer cases and comparing numbers entertained the "I'm gonna die" toddler brain. 

Test results:  87 glucose/5.3 A1c.  I'm good.  I guess I'm just naturally more sweet in the morning that most.

But the Cholesterol is 118 points higher than healthy.  I wasn't even worried about that.!!! I eat vegan, for heaven's sakes.  I must be more lubed up inside that most, too.

Now another set of numbers is holding me hostage.  Now I get to study how to lower LDL and raise HDL.  REALLY?  And I'd just stopped weighing myself every day so THAT number didn't hold my day prisoner.

 5 Steps to lower LDL:

  1. Cut back on red meat and full fat dairy (I am a person experiencing VEGAN eating.)
  2. Quit smoking (I never have. Nothing to quit.)
  3. Drink alcohol in moderation (I'd have to start drinking to do it in moderation.)
  4. Lose weight (I've lost 60 pounds and gained back 14 - so I'll lose those again.)
  5. Exercise daily (I walk 3 miles every morning.)

So...  not sure what to do there.  So - not going to dwell on it.

Maybe I'm not my numbers.  Maybe I am a person EXPERIENCING my numbers.  (Hehe)  Somedays it feels like it takes all day to do all the healthy lifestyle practices my 2 doctor daughters recommend.  (One is an Ayurvedic intern and the other is a doctor of natural medicine, an herbalist, and energy worker.)

At some point I need to have time to have a healthy life as well as a healthy lifestyle and do what I can in balance.  (I can balance a Snickers bar in each hand. With all this Snickers talk, I haven't had one since January 3, 2017.  I even have a picture of me and my last Snickers bar.  I have enjoyed a few sugar -free Russell Stover's chocolates until my friend told me maltitol wasn't good for me either.  One joy after another ripped from my "healthy" fingers!!)

I gave my mom a birthday card when she turned 80 (I was only 42 and thought it was funny) that said,

Exercise, Eat Right - Die anyway!!  Hmmmm....


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