TEACHING TO THE TEST A.K.A DIETING TO THE DOCTOR
Recently my husband came home from some business travel and looked in the mirror and declared he needed to start taking care of himself. I looked at him and politely smiled and said, “Honey, that’s a good idea. Where do you want to start?” I was thinking exercise and that I could help coach him and train him to get him into shape. He turned to me and said, “I’m calling the doctor.” It took me a minute and then I realized what he needed to do. He decided to make an appointment for a check-up. He hadn’t had one in over three years and with his family’s history of heart disease, he knows that if he doesn’t take care of himself, he could end up having some serious problems at a fairly early age.
He made the call and thus began his regime to ‘take care of himself.’ At the time of the call, he had six weeks to get ready for a battery of routine tests. His main concern was cholesterol levels. But he also realized he probably had about 8-10 pounds to lose and he wanted to get his heart in good cardio shape as well. Thus began the diet. He stopped eating most carbs, ate more protein and stopped drinking and eating dessert. I am always impressed with his will-power! He was easily able to drop a couple of pounds in the first week. This got him motivated and he began to exercise some more. After the second week, he dropped another pound or two. His appointment is in a couple of weeks now and he feels that he is almost ready and that he has done the best he could do in this short span of time. It’s a start. He knows that. He knows that he has to also make a lifestyle choice and that no matter what the test results say, he will have to keep up a healthy lifestyle. He knows that even if the results are better than expected, he stil will need to keep this up. As I mentioned before, he does have this history of heart disease in his family so it’s very important to all of us.
Here’s what I propose for those of you who need something to just kick-start your new healthy lifestyle. Make that appointment with your doctor! If you know that you have a cholesterol test on the horizon, you may make better choices when you plan your meals. Maybe you’ll choose oatmeal over eggs. Maybe you’ll get to the gym three times a week instead of once a week. There are many changes you can make in that month or so before seeing the doctor. And no matter the result at the doctor, you will be on the right track to getting healthier, stronger and hopefully living longer!
-Liz Samuel
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