Back in October, I visited a medical professional for some health and wellness advice. In a nutshell, I wanted to find out how I was doing internally and what I could do to stay healthy for my family.
I had a variety of reasons for doing this. First off, I’m over 30. It’s time to start taking care of myself a little better. I have a daughter and a husband, I work full-time, and I volunteer. I have people who depend on me. We all do.
However, my decision was based more on just who needs me. Let me be frank: my family history is a train wreck of epic proportions. It’s like a train wreck happened during a hurricane and, oh, here’s a tornado that ripped all the train cars apart and scattered them across the country.
When a medical professional asks for my family history, I kind of smirk out of self-deprecating humor. Cancer? Check. Heart attack/heart disease? Check. Diabetes? Check. Alzheimer’s/dementia/Parkinson’s? Check check check. Stroke? Check.
That’s just in my parents and grandparents – and that’s just the big ones.
When I had my blood tested a few weeks ago, I expected to see some results that echoed my family history. Maybe I was gluten intolerant. Maybe my cholesterol was sky high. I assumed I was anemic. I had high bets on that one.
My husband has been seeing Lucy Douglas, owner of New Beginnings Wellness Center and Spa, for his diabetes, and since I positively love her personally and professionally, I decided to let her check me out, too.
The results came in last month and…I really am as healthy as I feel. One of my cholesterol levels was a hair bit high (thanks, genetics!), but that was really the only genetic deficiency found. I actually am not anemic, though my levels were a little low. I did have a Vitamin D deficiency, which shouldn’t have been a surprise, considering how pale I am and how little I see the sun, especially since I tend to run before the sun ever comes up.
Lucy suggested to add a few vitamins to my diet and advised me to watch my carb intake – if I have a heavy-carb dinner planned, maybe eat fewer grains for lunch and breakfast. She also suggested that I change my usual breakfast of smoothies to something with protein – eggs and avocados, for example. I can handle that. I make a scrumptious soft boiled egg, if I do say so myself, and everybody in the household (including the dog) waits impatiently for me to peel the eggs.
Taking vitamins, eating fewer carbs, adding protein to breakfast – those are easy adjustments. I can do this.
At first, I was pleasantly surprised at the results and her regimen. In that case, I can basically do the same thing and maybe even add a few extra cheat days, right? Who says I can’t eat a billion bacon-wrapped jalapeños (well, other than the WHO, but that’s a rabbit trail I think I’ll avoid today)? Who says I can’t eat that second piece of cake? Who says I can’t skip that morning run?
Well…I do.
There’s a reason why my stats looked pretty positive – I work hard to take care of myself. I certainly am not perfect, but I do more good than bad. And that has paid off so far.
But just because it’s paid off so far doesn’t mean I can just give up now. It just means I’m doing something right.
In addition to what I’m doing now, I did start taking Vitamin D and a multivitamin. Kyle, after taking Vitamin D for a week, said he felt noticeably better, so I’m interested to see if I have the same results.
My daughter takes a multivitamin every day. In fact, she loves it and always asks for more. But I work very hard to take care of her – and I want to see her taking care of myself, too, so when she gets older, she’ll see the value of taking care of herself as well as others.
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